An article has been floating around the CrossFit pipeline about doing what they do better. Good. As soon as we believe our shit don’t stink, then we’re neck deep is ego poop. Journey over. So a little self assessment is a dar...
An article has been floating around the CrossFit pipeline about doing what they do better. Good. As soon as we believe our shit don’t stink, then we’re neck deep is ego poop. Journey over. So a little self assessment is a darn fine thing.
The article features the 7 “biggest” mistakes, technique, program design and motivation gaps that would behoove box members to consider addressing. But if a program comes from a holistic philosophical foundation, then these particular mistakes wouldn’t have any merit for a slightly hyperbolic blog title.
Heck, they wouldn’t exist at all.
The real mistakes we’re delving into here are not exclusive to the CrossFit world. The trend of alt-fitness has reached way beyond CrossFit, and, frankly, the entire fitness industry might see fit to consider this list.
The true mistakes would be major flaws in the foundations of structure, weaknesses in thought, and the poor conceptualized programming that results from the philosophy itself, or lack thereof. As usual, the Why trumps all. So, of course, that would be #1…
The REAL 7 Biggest Mistakes
1) Having no purpose. The Why is often forgotten in the quest for What and How. Yet without the Why, the What and How serve as much purpose as governmental red tape or bad pop music. Stuff that keeps us busy as a distraction from what we really need. As an example, let’s look at CrossFit. An interesting phenomenon that no one seems to be talking about is how the CF Games are simply a collection of challenging WODs done as serious competition. Nothing wrong with this. At all. But there seems to be a big point being missed. If CF is to live up to the modern idealized functional training model that it portrays itself as, then the games should actually be challenges that DON’T resemble the WODs. For all the talk of how CF preps you for all aspects of fitness, why aren’t the games representative of movement challenges that aren’t just the same basic movement patterns and combinations that could be found in any given box at any given time? It is as if to say CF makes ya really good at more CF. Are you training simply to get good at doing workouts? Are you training just to be good at being in the gym? God, I hope not. Life, ya know, is out there somewhere. Train for it.
Our definitions of strength and fitness need to be far greater than what’s on the CF homepage, or in textbooks, or taught in certification courses. In fact they need to be personal, carved from the nitty gritty experience of our time on this big blue party fun ball, and crafted from getting our calloused hands dirty and our curious minds exploded. If we have no concept of the physical influencing and bettering the metaphysical, then we’re just trendy fitness hamsters on a wheel.
2) Believing the power output model is the only way, or even the best way, to develop intensity. Speed without embodiment has no lessons. Doing more before doing better is simple poor training. I’ve babbled this many times before.
3) Calling yourself “coach” without earning it. Sorry son, but a couple years of training, a weekend certification and a shiny, new blog give no one the right to be a “coach.” This term used to be the athletic version of Sensei, something earned after years of apprenticeship, study and being constantly ass-deep in the practice and perpetuation of the art. When did it turn into kids thinking they had the chops to teach (or, in many cases, not so much ‘teach’ and ‘monitor’) complicated movement patterns done for speed by large groups of people?
4) Having no foundation program. Not just a beginner’s program (or ‘on ramp’) but a system of checks and balances for the foundation movements to ALWAYS be an ongoing journey of mastery. Covet the basics, both physical and metaphysical, and let it take you a lifetime.
5) Having no program, period. Scaling
