It Started Small
With CrossFit competitions popping up everywhere, applying and competing has never been easier. Back in the day you’d be lucky if you found 2 competitions a year other than The Open (https://games.crossfit.com/) to take part in. Now you’re able to find one almost every weekend if you really wanted to.
Know What You Want!!
With all these opportunities to compete, what does your training look like? Let’s start off by saying that CrossFit for competition and CrossFit to keep fit and healthy are two completely different things so it is important to understand what you want to achieve.
It’s For Everyone
We can tell you that the majority of people who start CrossFit are looking to be more physically active and lead a healthier lifestyle. If this is you, then your goal is to get to the gym as much as you can. Pushing your limits on a daily basis to rush will only get you hurt. It won’t allow you to get your workout in or you will have to scale more than you want to. Like we said before, there is absolutely no shame in scaling, the majority of people will do this daily. Although, there is a problem with scaling because you’re always injured because you’re trying to do things beyond your current limit. Most of the time you should be holding back a bit as your primary focus should be on movement quality! Always look to move better, more efficiently, more gracefully and not only on weight, time or speed. Only move as fast as technique will allow you to. Don’t let your ego take control of the situation. Remember that people progress at different rates.
Never Forget
The same goes for competitive training. Even though the volume is higher than a normal group session, the goal is still to develop good movement. Longevity is what you are after.
A Simple Test
How can you judge your level? Simple, enter the CrossFit Open and see where you rank among the whole world. If you are nowhere near making it to the next stage then you shouldn’t be on a program that is designed for advanced athletes…… it’s too much! Instead focus on getting better at the basics during a group session and adding a bit of extra work before or after.
The Goal Remains The Same
The goal of any training program is to get fitter and healthier, CrossFit is no different. Just because there are opportunities to compete, does not mean that you compete every day at training. Training is for development and progress. Depending on the session, you should be training at about 60-90% of what you think your maximum capacity is for that day. The 100% days are left for very rare days in training and competition.
Final Thoughts
A good way to tell if you’re doing too much is to ask yourself this simple question.
Am I always dealing with some kind of injury or issue? If the answer is yes then you might want to look at how you’re training or what kind of program you’re following. You should never accept getting injured during training. Yes sometimes things happen but you shouldn’t be battling injury on a weekly basis.