Quick Reminder – Northstate CrossFit will be closed tomorrow, July 9th. Many of our members will be judging and competing in the ‘’Never Forgotten Games” being held at the Civic Auditorium in Redding. It is free to spectate. If you’re not competing, feel free to come cheer on your fellow members!
5 Reasons Your Gainz Have Plateaued!
Competing Vs Training
This one is possibly the most important of the 5. There is a difference between training to get better every day, and trying to put up your best score on the whiteboard. These concepts war against each other in our minds sometimes daily. The mature athlete can set aside ego and focus on a particular aspect of a given workout in order to improve overall. On the other hand, many want to be recognized everyday for their performance but end up not achieving their potential for this very reason. There are days you need to compete and go all out, but certainly not everyday. Take the long term approach of improving little by little, and in the end you’ll put much better scores on the board day-in and day-out.
Cherry Picking Workouts
We’ve all looked at a workout after it’s been posted the night before and thought to ourselves, “I really don’t want to do that tomorrow!” In reality, these are often the very workouts we should be doing. We typically don’t like coming on days that shine a spotlight on our weaknesses, but improving them is the lowest hanging fruit to getting better. Don’t be soft, commit yourself to showing up anyway and giving your best effort. You won’t regret it.
Skimping Strength Workouts
I’ve seen so many people over the years skip strength workouts because they didn’t get a “good workout.” But again, a good workout should be defined as one which makes you better, regardless of how you feel afterward. It’s my opinion that athletes in the gym are held back from progressing largely due to their lack of strength. In fact, the biggest reason most people can’t perform movements like muscle-ups and handstand pushups is because they’re simply not strong enough. And oftentimes, even when most athletes come on heavy days, they typically don’t always push themselves. Show up on these days and give it your best effort. Remember, strength is never a weakness!
Not Recovering
Workouts only make you better if you can recover from them. Our fitness doesn’t improve during training, rather it improves while sleeping! And if you aren’t doing the things necessary to sleep well(not to be confused with being unconscious), and eating correctly, you aren’t recovering. Think of recovery like running. If you’re working hard but not recovering, you’re running in place. In other words, you’re expending energy…but you ain’t going anywhere!
Not Going Hard Enough/Working Out Alone
In regards to #1 above, there are days when you need to give it your best effort. On days like these if you can finish a workout and immediately put your equipment away, get right in your car and drive away, you aren’t going hard enough. This is also why working out alone is so difficult. Typically, athletes don’t reach their potential working out alone because it’s very difficult to give your best effort by yourself. Don’t finish a workout and regret your level of effort afterward. If you’re willing to tolerate not giving your best, then you must be willing to tolerate the results(or lack thereof) that come as a consequence.
That’s it for this round everyone, hopefully this helps!
-Jonathan