Make Every Rep Count!

There are so many times when I look at the whiteboard and see my time or rounds and think I could have done so much better, but then I think about speed compared to really doing the workout correct.  Keeping my hips planked on pushups, truly breaking parallel on squats and following through at the top, full lockout on the elbows at the top AND the bottom of every muscle-up, full overhead on thrusters, following through on every movement. These are the important things.  Think of it as having a little judge in your head at every workout and make sure that you make every rep count!

When it comes to CrossFit as a competition, I can give you an edge over the other competitors. This is a simple tip. I won’t even charge you for it, even though you will start performing better. It doesn’t involve a super secret training regimen. It’s not a crazy concoction of supplements that will give you superhuman strength. It definitely does not involve you following a strict nutrition plan. I can assure you that it isn’t performing multiple workouts in a day.

You gain a competitive edge by simply training with integrity in your movement. It’s simple really. What does it matter if you “kill” a workout, but your range of motion within that workout was half ass? Think about what I am saying here. Do you have a Facebook account? Do you check the comments section on www.crossfit.com? Everyone and their mother posts these outrageous workout results. Where are they when competition time comes around? Most are wondering why they can murder “Fran”, but their judge keeps “no repping” them and they are at the bottom of the pack.

Here are some simple tips to be better at performing full range of motion movement within your workout:
1. Know what “full range of motion” means. Learn that first, then finish reading the rest of this post.

2. Concentrate more. Stop getting WOD drunk. Slow down a bit in your training and pay closer attention to your movement. Remember that you have to walk before you can run.

3. Have someone watch your movement and call you out on it when you suck. Make sure that you get someone who isn’t afraid to tell you that you suck. Make sure that you can handle being told that you suck. If you can’t handle being told you suck, you suck so please don’t compete.

4. Buy a cheap video camera and film your workouts. I train a lot by myself, so I do this all the time. It’s eye opening to watch your workout after you are done. I always armchair quarterback myself. It’s a great way to see your movement, and it’s an even better way to learn about what you are and are not capable of when you start to fatigue. This is one of the ways I learned how to more efficiently strategize my workouts.

5. Don’t try and PR every workout, and don’t treat every workout like it is a competition. I’m not saying that you should NEVER go balls to the wall, I am just saying don’t do it day in and day out. Not only will your movement get better, you’ll be less prone to injury. It’s also an easy way to avoid CrossFit burnout. Yes, there is such a thing as CrossFit burnout. If you haven’t experienced it yet, you haven’t been CrossFitting that long.

So there you have it. Five surefire tips to make you a more successful CrossFit competitor.

http://www.crossfittherack.com/

Training Tips From Katie Hogan (CrossFit Games Competitor and Finalist)


5 smallest tips (in Crossfit) that I was given which had the BIGGEST difference for me.

1)   hollow position in handstand
I found balance!  Before this I was constantly falling off the wall or not able to stay up long enough to walk farther than a few steps on my hands.

2)   not over-extending lumbar spine in squat
Years of bad posture and walking around with an overextended lumbar curve, this same broken position carried over to my squats.

3)   squatting straight down on front squats and OH squats 
I finally found the best position in my front and overhead squats and all it took was the slightest shift.  Instead of reaching my hips way back, my line of action is now much closer to my heels; almost straight down.  Here I can get in a much better upright position to hold the weight.

4)   fast elbows (like a clean) on muscle ups
The day that Kris Clever cued me in the middle of a muscle-up/pull-up/run workout to move my elbows fast, like a clean, changed my crossfit world.  Not only was I able to complete the exercise more efficiently, but I was then able to finish the entire workout while wearing a weight vest.

5)   feet straight ahead on box jump (take off and landing)
This has brought speed back to my box jumps.  By maintaining my feet straight/knees tracking over feet or slightly out throughout the move I’m both protecting my knees and staying in the best position to rebound quickly and efficiently.