The strong is the new beautiful,You searched for a Box, faced this crazy mode, which looks more like a religion. Already learned to speak the crossfit, there are already some PR’s marked in his wodbook … In the beginning, as in a dating, everything is new. New exercises, new techniques to learn, your body responds quickly to the stimuli of intensity, the friendships … Love at first sight, or rather love the first WOD.
But one moment you reach a plateau you naturally begin to know your limits in strength exercises and WODs. The time of the benchmarks does not decrease as much as you would like, or your snatch does not take you to the RX yet and break that “friendly little pain” that limits you to go beyond.
And now, do what, ask for the divorce? Definitely not !!!
Here are some tips to break this plateau and rekindle your passion.
Listen to your body
As Rich Froning says, “During training you listen to your body. During the competition you tell him to shut up. ”
I would say that this is one of the most difficult skills to learn, to know the difference of when your body asks to stop due to severe pain (read as an injury), or when he is simply tired and does not want to finish WOD.
Be proactive about your workout, practice the movements in good shape and constantly work out technique, even if that means reducing the load. Work mobility, stability and neural activation can help you a lot to prevent injuries and improve the quality of movements. (I will discuss this in future texts).
Keep focus on a goal and share
Share with your coach, your team, your group of crossfriends, they can help you break this plateau with additional motivation. But beware, be realistic with your goals. Wanting in a week to increase 10kg of your Snatch maximum is surreal, will not happen. But perhaps setting a goal, staying true to good programming, this is absolutely possible.
When you share your goals with your teammates, they will surely help you stay on the line for success.
Programming and progression
Having a well-crafted schedule is key to monitoring and understanding your progress. Physiologically, it will promote adaptations and you will be able to clearly see the relationship of your goal with the current state. For example, let’s say you want to do the 21 pull-ups of a Fran without breaking, but the most you can do is 5. Volume programmed jobs like EMOM’s can be efficient, among other methodologies.
Work together with your coach to get back on the ground, reappoint the technique, force the movement in different situations of exhaustion. The constantly varied concept of CrossFit in different workouts, can give you a clear idea of its evolution.
Take a rest
If you train 6 times each week and strive 100% on all metcons, this is very challenging and exciting, but it will probably lead to exhaustion.
It is common to reach a plateau of strength when it is some time in the same schedule. You are looking for a load, you get very close to it but you can not reach it. Sometimes it is better to take a break, get some accessory work to improve your movement and vary the stimulus. You will be amazed when you return to the program, perhaps, you will quickly be seeking a new goal.
Understand that the process takes place in small steps
Believe in the process, enjoy every evolution, however small. Having the same goal as some teammates can generate healthy competition, this drives us to move on. A kilogram added in a survey, a second less in a WOD is a great achievement.
Progress takes time, if you allow this time.
The strong is the new beautiful!
