10 Ways To Be a Better CrossFitter

Daily Archives | February 22, 2011 by | 47 Comments

Warning: I wrote this post to myself. But if the lifting shoe fits . . .lisiscrooked

10. Hold the bar straight.

9. Pay attention to your breathing.

8. Use less chalk. Really.

7. Read the CrossFit Journal articles and watch the videos. What’s this going to take? Like 15 min a day? Worth the time and worth the $25 per year. Stop whining and commit.

6. Stop whining and commit. Yeah, that was so good and simple, it needed to be said again and for like all of life.

5. Put sh** away where it belongs. You might call it housekeeping but, really, it’s a form of discipline. You don’t want bumpers or collars or KBs or whatever all over the place. Pick your item, use it, and put it away. Mental discipline is as important as physical discipline, maybe even more so.

4. Get to class 15 minutes early, all the time. Use that extra time not to chat or work on stuff you’re good at — use it to suck. Suck at L-sits, suck at deadhang pull-ups, suck at KB snatches. All the stuff you and your ego have been avoiding. Put on your big girl panties and do the stuff you don’t want to do. It’s called being a grown-up. And a CrossFitter. Go do it.

3. Shut up about programming. Nobody’s ever happy with programming unless they’re the ones doing the programming. Do the workouts. If you’re getting stronger and quicker and feel better, guess what? The programming is working. And if you’re not getting stronger or quicker and you don’t feel better, grab a coach and address your concerns privately.

2. Pay attention. Stop chatting and daydreaming and goofing off. Focus.

1. Stop praying at the bar. Gather yourself, address the bar, breathe, and lift. Don’t make it more complex — in movement or thought — than it needs to be. Lift the flippin’ bar.

  • http://www.crossfitsouthbay.com Forrest

    Great post Lis! I love every single one. Maybe we should all expand the list to 100 ways to be a better CrossFitter. Now if we could just assign burpee penalties for breaking each rule…
    Thanks again Lisbeth for linking to us :)

  • Rich

    HOLY SHIT!!! Words to Crossfit too. BTW Lis is crooked because she was favoring an injury. Could be rule #11 “Listen to Your Body”

  • Lisbeth

    That’s a great question, Becky.

    I can’t speak for all the trainers – and I would URGE them all to contribute to the discussion — but here’s my perspective:

    I run late to many things. It drives Jen nuts but it’s simply a result of too much work, only one Lis. But, I know I perform better in class and I’m more settled when I get there at 5pm and I have a full ten minutes for individual warm-up before the group warm-up starts at 10 min past the hour. Likewise, when I’m the trainer. I want my members to be there on the hour but I understand when they screech in right at the start of group warm-up due to work issues. That’s just life. It doesn’t bug me — and it doesn’t disrupt the group.

    What does bug me? When someone consistently walks in late and disrupts the group. Key words are consistently and disrupts. Then, they should just wait until the next class starts.

    But the once-in-a-while doesn’t bug me.

    And, now, I’ll let the trainers and Jen give their perspectives . . .

  • Jen

    Let me add that if your five mins late just come in and give the coach five burpees don’t make us ask…..just be on time or early to avoid this! Ha!

  • Lisbeth

    Ah, Jen posted while I was composing.

  • Lisbeth

    Jen, where’s your gravatar? Or do you like that monster creature?

  • Lisbeth

    11 comments today and 5 of them are from Jen and me?

    People!

    Maybe we’ll start talking about you guys.

  • Lisbeth

    Then again, I’m waiting for Jen to post her 10 Ways to Better Your Love Life.

  • Lisbeth

    I mean 10 Ways to Be a Better CrossFitter.

  • Lisbeth

    What’s wrong with this keyboard?

  • Lisbeth

    Melis and Kirk are on a plane from FL. We could talk about them ALLLLLL day.

  • Lisbeth

    Or not.

  • Lisbeth

    Maybe we should talk about Rockstar.

  • Lisbeth

    I just had 4 posts in less than 60 seconds. Beat that, beyotches.

  • Lisbeth

    Have I ever told my life story?

  • Lisbeth

    It all began long ago, in a small town in CT . . .

  • Lisbeth

    A group of feral cats adopted a baby squirrel.

  • Lisbeth

    And decided to raise her as their own.

  • Lisbeth

    Oh wait, I need to make a fresh pot of coffee. I’ll be right back and continue with the story. Hang on.

  • David Kirk

    Thanks Lis,
    My list, not necessarily prioritized…
    1. Eat Better – need to remain mindful of what I put in my body every day, not just during a paleo or zone challenge.
    2. Get more rest – do I really need to find out what John Stewart has to say. I find it amazing that when I get a good night sleep, I feel good the next day. Why do I forget this?
    3. Play more – I’ve been wound too tight lately and need to lighten up.
    4. Stop thinking so much mid movement – I have to “shut up” and complete the movement
    5. More volume (at times) – I could stand (at times) to dial the weight back and focus on getting done faster and with better form. I believe that my overall progress will be enhanced and not hindered by this.
    6. Roll out/stretch – I need to make this part of my routine just like a warm up.
    7. Clean up – I do this, but can always be better. When I studied martial arts, we (the students) would clean before and after each work out. The before, would be to make sure that the stuff was ready and the after, well, thats just what we did.
    8. Set goals – I have to have something to work toward, a race on the calendar, a bench mark or milestone to hit.
    9. Jump rope more and Skin the cat with my sucky things
    10. Be patient – change isn’t always immediately visible.

  • http://www.idontdocardio.blogspot.com Eric

    1. Eat more food (6 chicken thighs for lunch today! 2.3 lbs of pork tenderloin in two days!)
    2. Fix my oly technique
    3. Legitimately warm up
    4. Take rest days seriosly – foam roll, skill work – don’t just eat gobs of chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream, but that’s fun too, especially when watching biggest loser
    5. Push Jerks every now and then
    6. Quit my job so that I don’t have to wake up at 4:30 every morning
    7. Help out more. Just because it’s not my gym doesn’t mean that I can’t give a hand, especially to noob’s
    8. Do a metcon, at least once a week
    9. Drink more water
    10. Get a coach (or at least somebody who will yell at me to keep my chest up, thanks PAMMER!!)

  • lisbeth

    Eric, it’s the same thing!

    Or not at all.

  • http://www.crankfire.com Nathan

    Here goes:

    1) Always have fun
    2) Do your best while not taking yourself too seriously
    3) The love you take is equal to the love you make
    4) Listen to your coaches
    5) You do this to better yourself, not to be better/faster/stronger than the person next to you (though if that happens that is fine too)
    6) The most impressive type of inspiration is born out of effort
    7) Always try to go a little heavier. And if you are not sure, wait for Sue to add something extra to her bar at the last minute and follow suit.
    8) Riches rule #11 is right on: Listen to your body!
    9) There is no point to skipping reps or rounds, see rule #5
    10) Always cheer each other on and be respectful to all!

    There’s my sappy and crappy list.

  • SueLoz

    This is my list for me…

    1. Work out with integrity. There’s no greater satisifaction than knowing you’ve earned every rep… and every sore muscle.
    2. When you are out of your comfort zone, don’t freak out and get grumpy. (See Burpee/Deadlift workout for my personal example) Do the best you can.
    3. Laugh. Laugh at yourself.
    4. Remind yourself of how far you’ve come. Cut yourself a break.
    5. When you want to give up, remember, there are people out there who stuggle just to live. (That always keeps me going.)
    6. Give gratitude to the coaches… without them, we’d be lost.
    7. Push a little harder than you think you can.
    8. Always try to go heavier. (Thanks Nate!) If you’re lucky, you’ll have someone next to you who pushes you to do that all the time!
    9. Cheer others on…and, in turn, allow yourself to be motivated by others who want you to succeed.
    10. Appreciate CrossFit Watertown: the trainers, the space, the people, the support, the friendship, the community and the fun… how lucky we are to have such a unique place.

    Ewww… I’m such a cheeseball.

  • jen

    Butt really my number 10 way to be a better Crossfitter is

    10. Enjoy the fact that we have Crossfit and that it makes us healthy and happy! Smile and lift something heavy! Then press your butt against the window and smile!

  • Rockstar

    1. Go in with an “I can” attitude. Set your goals high while being aware of your limitations.
    2. Increase your intensity and weight without compromising form ever.
    3. Tweak your competitive edge as to not create injury.
    4. Have fun with yourself and others.
    5. Focus when lifting or conditioning.
    6. Always strive for increase mental endurance and physical will follow
    7. Respect what your coaches have to say.
    8. Multiple coaching does not help.
    9. Support others.
    10. Always love yourself.

  • jen

    Jackie,
    I ALWAYS love myself!

  • Rockstar

    me too…hehehe…

  • Lisbeth

    Okay, inspired by Rockstar, I feel the need to share more:

    10. If going to the West Farms Mall, always park at Nordstrom’s. It’s the safest entrance and they have the nicest bathroom.

    9. If you need a new look, go see Jules at Jules Salon. Really. She’s awesome and she’s one of us.

    8. You’ve got to learn to live with what you can’t rise above.

    7. When in doubt, wear black. Johnny Cash was right.

    6. If you need a consult on mascara or making your face look fab, see Rockstar.

    5. Some guys they just give up living, others start dying little by little piece by piece, some guys come home from work and wash up, and go to CrossFit.

    4. If you need to learn some new swear words, see Viv.

    3. You spend your life waitin’ for a moment that just don’t come. Don’t waste your time waiting. CrossFit.

    2. If you need to open a beer bottle with no implement, see Nate.

    1. When in doubt, be kind.

  • Keri

    I have turned my car around b/c I was late would have showed up at 10 mins past, stupid dump truck, plus the time before I was late Jen called me out on it and made me run the stairs, so I knew right away that it was not cool :)

    This is my reminder list:

    1) Coming in last doesn’t suck, if you tried hard and maintained your form
    2) Sprinting the last bit may burn your lungs for a couple of seconds but how far really is it and you’ll feel good about the next day
    3) If your confused about what rep your on 3 or 4 then it is always the lower number
    4) I’m going to get out of bed on Saturday morning even though it is early b/c Crossfit is fun!
    5)Stop thinking about the movement so much
    6)Going to the gym will destress you from work
    7)Have fun and laugh at yourself
    8)You will beat that rower someday, it may not be in the near future, but someday
    9)Try and put this movement in your head so next time you don’t need it explained (hah, this one doesn’t seem to be working!)
    10)Dead hang pullups are your friend

  • becky

    10. “Get naked.” – Jen
    9. “Pick up the ball.” – Toon
    8. “Keep your lumbar curve.” – Kirk
    7. “Just get one more.” – Chris
    6. “Get my good side.” – Rockstar
    5. “Get back on the bar.” – Pam
    4. “Go faster.” – Melissa
    3. “Laugh at yourself.” – Sue
    2. “Stop whining. Kyle Maynard doesn’t complain and neither should you.” – Barry
    1. “Look up, when squatting and in life.” – Lis

  • http://www.crossfitwoodbridge.com Dan

    I need to be able to “share” some of these!! Not an option?

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