I’m sure we can all agree that joining CrossFit Austin has been life changing in some way. Whether that change came in the form of tackling your own fitness demons, reaching new goals or building solid friendships within the CFA community, we’ve all experienced CrossFit Austin’s “Circle of Awesomeness.” But before we knew what CFA had to offer, I can guarantee every single one of us joined because we wanted to pursue or maintain a healthy lifestyle. Little did we know that for most of us, we would reach our goals and make greater progress faster than we thought. We also didn’t know that because of these quick results, a new drive to excel beyond what we thought we were capable of would be planted into our brains and strengthened on a daily basis.
But what happens when that stops or isn’t as consistent as it was in the beginning? What happens when you hit that dreaded plateau and you’re not seeing the results you were used to seeing or that you want? That drive to do better is still in your brain but it doesn’t seem to be getting you anywhere. Most of us can relate to being stuck at some time or another.
Coach Aaron’s article on training age hits the nail on the head. I agree with everything he said, especially his explanation as to why progress hits a plateau. However, I’m going to expand a tad more on this, as it comes down to one more thing, and that’s an internal brain tweak: Ownership!
Are you taking full ownership for your personal fitness journey at CFA or are you finding excuses as to why you’re not seeing the results you want? Are you doing everything in your power to see change? You can’t take ownership unless YOU start taking responsibility for your own journey. We all have different goals and therefore reach different plateaus. Take some time to self-reflect, accept that there needs to be a change, and then ACT on it. Here are some common things we don’t think about but, if honed in on, will help continue your journey at CFA while achieving the results you’d like to see:
- Is nutrition dialed in?
- Are you getting enough rest for your body to recover properly, not only from the wear and tear from your workouts, but also from your day-to-day activities?
- Are you working on and understanding that proper movement patterns in things like Olympic lifts translate into a faster, more efficient you?
- Are you focusing on mobility and flexibility to allow for more consistent, stronger movements?
- Are you taking advantage of the varied, yet specifically planned out programming or skipping those days that have your weaknesses or may not be considered “fun” to you?
- Are you logging your workouts to keep track of one-rep max weights, good days, bad days, how you felt during a workout, etc?
If you are failing to do just a couple of these things, a plateau may be on the horizon. These aren’t the glamorous things about CrossFit and definitely aren’t as fun to do as doing a benchmark workout. However, if you don’t take ownership and address these shortcomings, you may never see any progress on that benchmark workout. Even worse, you may regress.
I challenge everyone to re-read the above bullets and pick one or two things to focus on. I guarantee, if you take the time to really hone in on some of these things, you will begin to see progress again. No more excuses or pointing fingers. It’s not your job’s fault, it’s not your kids’ fault, it’s not what is programmed on a daily basis, it’s not the fact you don’t have enough time, and it’s definitely not because “your dog ate your homework” that’s holding you back from reaching your true fitness potential. Your potential is something that no one but you can own. If you find yourself wanting to make excuses, remember to do the following:
- Self-reflect—Are you making excuses? Where are they coming from? Are you really doing everything you can to see the results you want?
- Accept— Ask yourself questions like the ones above in the bulleted list. Find one thing you can focus on and accept that that’s what you need to do at this stage in your journey.
- Act—Start putting your commitment to bettering yourself into action. Remember, progress/results don’t necessarily happen at CFA. A lot of action takes place outside of CFA’s walls.
Your ownership of your fitness will get you moving farther and farther away from the plateaus you once knew, and toward the goals you’ve always wanted to achieve.
Coach Leigh
