This post will segway to info on my next attempt to coordinate an Athletic Development Camp for the months of January and February… so you can just scroll down to the end… or read through the content… up to you!!
In the CrossFit world, the next two months lend themselves towards what I believe to be fitness insanity! The CrossFit Open is coming at the end of February… 3-5 testing opportunities for everyone to measure themselves against everyone else in the world… or just themselves based on previous Opens. It's in the months of December, January and February where I have witnessed "fitness insanity". There is a cliché out there that states the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results… and yes, that's insane! But in fitness… CrossFit ESPECIALLY… we see adult men and women do EVEN MORE of the same thing over and over again, expecting different or magical results (during the month of January), and expecting that craziness will improve their readiness for the Open tests.
First… volume isn't always the answer… most often times it is NOT! Second, increasing volume is most often NEVER the answer in a mixed modal, threshold training environment… specifically in January, when testing occurs in February or March.
If you find yourself training regularly, but no longer improving… something has to give… we can call this a plateau. Just use the internet, and you can find 1,000,000 ways to overcome a plateau! In fitness, I want to keep it very simple for you… CHANGE SOMETHING!
Too much of one thing can cause an imbalance. Our lives are based on rhythms and vibrations… some of us are really good at knowing and feeling this, and can tell when change is necessary… others are terrible at feeling these rhythms and vibrations because we want to be in control of EVERYTHING!! But if you can be calm enough to listen to your body, you will know when something has to give or change.
Overcoming a plateau can be as simple as:
- adding a rest day to your week
- drinking more water
- getting more sleep
- reducing sugar intake
- eating more vegetables
- scaling back instead of plowing through!
More examples specific to the gym could be as simple as subbing out a day of threshold training for:
- flexibility training/yoga/ROMWOD
- slow strength/functional bodybuilding
- pure aerobic activity/walking/hiking/running/biking/swimming
- pure skills practice in a non-invasive, untimed environment
- pure rest… meaning no "recovery runs"… (news flash – running is not recovery… more at 11pm!!)
When we ignore the rhythms and vibrations… when we ignore the signs of a plateau, and we forge ahead by just doing more, or simply doing the same thing expecting something to change, we walk ourselves to the edge to view our world below… teetering on retrogression.
When I joke about the insanity of what we do, the truth is we can lead ourselves back to where we started, or back to a place in our fitness journey where we don't prefer to be… this is retrogression. So much can play a part in walking this fine line… like ego and the ego of our past selves! Comparing yourself to others or your past self is a very dangerous and slippery slope that can push us over the edge, where we will find ourselves sliding down into the valley of retrogression. Think of it as taking 10 steps forward toward your goals, then 1000 steps backwards and having to start all over again.
I am here to tell you that I KNOW it feels like that some days in the gym… like you work so hard and not getting where you want to go fast enough.
Well, it's now 11pm… so here's the other part of the news flash… this shit takes time!! Developing and mastering skills, increasing muscular endurance and absolute strength, and improving your aerobic and lactic thresholds respectively… these things take time… it's a process called adaptation!!
Consider these factors for a moment:
- biology (female/male)
- biological age (how old you actually are)
- training age (how many years you have been training)
- genetic predispositions (family history)
- lifestyle (behaviors/habits/vices… eating/drinking/sleeping/screen time)
All of the factors listed above will have influence over how you adapt to a given stimulus, task or practice. The easiest way for me to make this point is athletic in nature… say I have two high school athletes who want to improve their 40yd dash times. One comes to me running a 5.5sec 40yd dash (this is not fast); the other comes to me running a 4.5sec 40yd dash (this is pretty fast). Based on some or all of the factors above, I could assume to quickly get the 5.5 kid down to a 5.0, just by making him sprint more, and apply some techniques. But the 4.5 kid is already fast… those factors listed above may not allow me to manipulate his training as easily as I did with the 5.5 kid. It will take a lot longer to get his 4.5 to a 4.4 because he is already fast, and needs more time to adapt to training and techniques that will make him faster.
Now apply that idea or philosophy to CrossFit! (insert "mind blown" emoji here)
The problem is simple… we are impatient humans. We live in a world where we get what we want immediately, no waiting… no respect for the process… we just don't have the time to adapt and overcome! In life now, we only have the time to overcome because we needed to overcome the next thing yesterday! I'm sorry to say that it doesn't work that way in fitness. Improvements in technology are sending us to that edge, thinking that more is better, that everything should just happen immediately… as we are blindly looking into that valley of retrogression. I think it's terrifying, because I have stepped off the edge more than once and it's no fun climbing back up… but I made it back up here so I can grab your arm and pull you back from that ledge, and hopefully guide you over and through the plateaus… helping you learn to find love in the process of patient adaptation.
With all of that said, it's time to bring back the ADC (Athlete Development Camp).
My vision here is to get 12-15 men and women who want to learn about fitness, expand their knowledge and experiences, enhance their sense of self, be exposed to true energy systems training… and are cool with listening to me talk about all of this stuff!! We will meet as a group 1x/week at a time that works for everyone. Sessions will be 90min to 2hrs… we will have whiteboard sessions and tons of training and sharing opportunities. I am not saying this is Open Prep (because it's not), but it shouldn't hinder your Open performance. There is no additional cost, and there are no physical requirements… the only requirement is having an open mind, and self-discipline… for you will be expected to do some work on your own.
All communications for this will happen via email… so I need all interested athletes to email me please… pjneill@ptd.net
If I can get all interested athletes to email me by January 7th, I can use that weekend to work with the group to lock down 6-7 sessions.
I'm happy to address any questions or concerns in the comments, or you can just email me or hit me up at the gym!
Thanks as usual, for your continued support and loyalty to the shed! I am grateful for the opportunity to work with each of you every day!!
Yours In Fitness,
Coach Pat
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