Check it out! Here are the movements you will see in our upcoming Night of Champions competition! Stay tuned for official workouts, weights, divisions, and standards to be released on Monday!
Cleans
Broad Jumps
Power Snatches
Burpees
Front Squats
Many times as we approach a lift we become our own worst enemy. Our minds fill with anxiety, fear of failure, and perhaps frustration as we try to accomplish the task at hand. Our intentions are good, but the inability to control our thoughts many time impedes our physical capabilities. Today, I’m going to go over a couple of “mind tricks” I’ve developed over the years to help in one of the most common scenarios we see in the gym: lifting weights.
My general rule of thumb here is the heavier the lift, the less you can think about what is happening. An example of this would be on a back squat if I’m lifting below 80% I’m going to be focusing on allot of elements of the lift.
Is my breathing sequence correct?
Am I tight through my core?
Is the weight distributed correctly in my feet?
Am I “spreading the floor” with my feet so my glutes are involved? etc.
Even in an exercise as simple as the back squat there are several moving parts and conscious effort needs to be directed to the movement to make sure things are on point. However the trick is stripping away that conscious thought as you get heavier and heavier. At 80-90% you can only focus on 2 maybe 3 elements of the lift, and once you get into the 90% to max zone you simply have to trust your training and focus all you mental effort into one thing. In our back squat example your focus should 100% be on being as aggressive as possible.
The problem is athletes, and especially novice athletes tend to approach this backwards. They go into “autopilot” and pay little attention to weights that are light and “easy” as they build to the heavier sets. Then once the bar becomes heavy enough to “notice” the athlete begins to over analyze and micro manage the movement. By the time max loads are reached fear, self doubt, and anxiety have taken over. Resulting in the athlete’s thoughts impeding their ability to reach the speeds necessary to perform a maximum load.
While our example above is a back squat this concept becomes more important the more complex a lift is. In simpler slower lifts (squats, deadlifts, etc) you can get away with more conscious thought at heavier loads, than you can in more complex faster lifts (snatch, clean & jerk). That’s why when I coach an Olympic lift my cues to my athlete become simpler the heavier the weight is. I might start with something like “stand longer, and keep you shoulders over the bar” and then move to cues like “tighter”, “more legs”, “more aggressive”, “big throw”, etc. If athletes are trying to think of multiple individual actions of the lift then they are for sure going to be moving to slow to be successful.
In closing, here are a few tips to keep your focus simple during a lift:
Night of Champions – Team Edition is an in-house member’s battle for the belt!
Are you a champion? Show us your stuff!
$50 per Team (includes registration for both team mates) Come show us how much of a champ you are!
(Only 1 registration per team – We’ll send an email to get division and partner name)
As many of you know, I tend to write about things that are more directly applicable within the walls of the gym. I write and post about this, but in individual conversations we are able to go a little further into what overall health means to me. Not just how to perform a lift properly or what you should/ should not eat. Find balance. Challenge yourself. Appreciating said challenge and attacking it with a win/win mindset can help us grow. We may not win them all, but with this mindset…even a “loss” can be viewed as a “win” if we contemplate and learn from the “loss”.
Here lately, your Coaches at CFA have been studying up on psychology and communication. We want to be able to listen and understand more effectively so that we can be more precise in communicating with you. Communicating …any and all knowledge we accumulate through continued education to make your experience here an experience of progress and growth. Physical. Mental. Emotional. Social. Growth.
The article below is something I stumbled across the other day in search of a different paper. However, I recently had a conversation with someone who had been in a rut. This hit home for me within the context of that conversation, but can be interpreted/applied by all in some form or fashion.
A couple of highlights that stood out in this article that I see/ hear reflected in people’s daily actions and responses;
This weekend, I challenge you to get outside. Be still. Be quiet and think.
What area of your life can you grow?
-Coach Tim
State your Name and/or Nickname please:
Liz
Words to live by?
“That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” – Nietzsche
What is your fitness background?
I’ve played volleyball since I can remember. It pretty much ran my life for about 10 years all the way through college, and I loved it. After that, I dabbled in the general gym arena, but it never much caught on. I love to hike and be out doors.
How long have you been CrossFitting?
2.5 years. How time flies!
Take us back to your first day of CrossFit… How did you feel? How do you compare it to workouts today?
I don’t remember the first day as much as I do the introduction class. I started when I still lived in California, so I wasn’t at CFA yet. I remember I felt pretty confident, definitely wanted to get stronger, and slightly intimidated…okay very intimidated. Everything was going along relatively smoothly until I had to do a clean. Let’s just say the execution was….awkward. Since then, I like to think things have gotten a little less awkward – although there are moments. Once I realized the only person I was competing with was myself, I was able to get a lot more comfortable with the workouts.
What’s your favorite part of CrossFit Austin?
My favorite part of Crossfit Austin is the people. From the amazing coaching staff to the evening workout crew. They’re the best!
Current Training Goals/PRs?
Working out 5 days a week. Most of it’s done with Crossfit, but I make sure to squeeze in a run or a hike, as well. I travel a lot for work so between that and a desk job, staying active when I can is very important.
What advice do you have for folks just starting out in CrossFit?
Technique, technique, technique. If you are not comfortable with the movement, go a little lighter with the weights – even too light. There is plenty of time to build up. And listen to your body, sometimes it just says ‘no’ or ‘I’m a little slower today’. It doesn’t mean don’t go out there and give it your all, just be mindful when you do it.
What is your cheat meal go to?
Would you like the full list or should I just seem like a normal person and name one thing? Let’s go with chocolate…it’s the root of all my weaknesses anyway. 🙂
Tell us about a moment you felt most proud of yourself during a workout.
I don’t have one moment. I have a lot of moments, which is why I think Crossfit is awesome. The more you work at it the more you succeed and achieve those wins, even the little ones. It’s an amazing feeling and it’s why I keep coming back for more!
If you could create a WOD and name it for yourself, what would it be?
Tall Person WOD
500 meter row
40 wall balls
500 meter row
20 wall balls
500 meter row
10 wall balls
What are your hobbies, interests and/or talents outside of CrossFit?
I love hiking and exploring new places.
Tell us something we don’t know about you…
I have no boundaries when it comes to my animals. I share my breakfast, lunch and dinner with them. They hang out with me all day in my office. They take over the bed at night. And they come with me pretty much everywhere.
Longhorns or Aggies?
Ummmmmm baseball? SF Giants all the way.
Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words…
Thank you to everyone for making CFA an amazing and fun place to sweat it out!
We will be closed on Monday, September 5th for Labor Day. Regular classes will resume on Tuesday. Enjoy your weekend!
As we finish up Test Week I have a quick update on what you can expect from our programming this cycle. We’re testing out some new concepts this cycle so the weekly format may look slightly different than in the past.
Some cool new things you can expect:
“Scaling Guides”
Most days will include a more in-depth scaling guide. This will give you the athlete, as well as your coach, a more detailed approach for the day’s workout. It will also help folks accomplish the “spirit of the workout” as opposed to the “letter of the workout” (I’ll explain more about this in a later article). Lastly we’re expanding our listed scaling options to help standardize the workouts a bit more.
“Weekly Format”
The biggest change here is we may not always have a dedicated strength day on Wednesdays. In an effort to offer a more complete programming package to those of you that can only train 2-3x a week some Wednesday’s will include a conditioning element. Not to worry, we will still always include a strength element on Wednesdays and we will still have certain Wednesdays in the cycle that will focus solely on strength and strength practice.
“Cash Outs”
Some days will include optional cash outs. These are designed for folks to grab a little bit extra conditioning, and auxiliary work. If you feel like you scaled to much or paced a workout to slow this is an opportunity to do a bit more work at the end of class. A word of warning this is not extra volume just for the sake of extra volume, and don’t “leave some in the tank” just so you can do the cash out.
I want to thank our friend Jeremy Jones at Thrivestry for the help on the new programming stuff. If you’ve been here for a long enough you know that I don’t stay static on what we do in the gym. We’re always pushing and experimenting to try and make things better. Our hope and expectation is that this will result in an even fitter and healthier community.