If you don’t do a workout one day, what does that mean for you, your progress and your ego? When it comes to CrossFit I typically see adults who have not exercised properly for almost 10 years who then discover a love for exercise in the form of CrossFit. Suddenly CrossFit makes it onto the diary every day of the week which from a business point of view is great but from a coaching aspect there’s a few red flags for some individuals.
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If you don’t workout today, do you punish yourself with negative talk for the rest of that day?
Does a cloud of “You didn’t go to the gym today” follow you around all day?
Do you think “Well I’m not going to the gym so I’ll have some ice cream and watch a film instead”? I say this because I’ve been there before and I help some of my members battle with this too. I know you love, love LOVE CrossFit but if these are some of the feelings you experience when you can’t get to the gym or you don’t feel like going, you may have lost sight of why you are exercising in the first place. Exercise is an option, it is a choice you have on a daily basis. If someone asked me how often should I exercise for best ‘results’ I’d say it largely depends on the person and the deep health factors that contribute to their success of whatever they do decide to do in regards to exercise. It isn’t written anywhere in any CrossFit training guides or exercise science books that you must exercise 7 days a week for best results. It just isn’t a thing. -
You have a choice
If you can’t get to the gym or you don’t feel like going, chances are your body is telling you it needs a rest anyway. A gentle walk, light jog, playing a sport, yoga session etc, etc might be your exercise for the day. It’s not as intense as usual but that doesn’t mean it’s not beneficial. You could feel just as great and not as guilty for missing your CrossFit class by simply substituting your type/style of exercise for that day. Funnily enough this is a principal of CrossFit that you forget and it’s our fault. -
Our affiliate is confined to four walls.
If I programmed run 10k for my gym I’d have the best coaching day ever.“3,2,1… see ya.”
But I’d also probably receive some nasty emails and also some emails expressing gratitude that it was a perfect day for them. My point is, if you are to be successful in training, you need variance or movements yes but you also need variance of loads, reps and time which results in variance of intensity. That’s right, you shouldn’t be hitting 6 workouts a week that all feature barbells, gymnastics and mono-structural pieces.
Here is an example 10 days of CrossFit with little to no restrictions in regards to environment, class capacity or equipment limitations.
DAY 1
5 Rounds For Time
30 Push Ups
20 KB Swings
10 Burpees
Day 2
Clean & Jerk
3-3-3-1-1-1
Day 3
AMRAP 16
10 Deadlifts
12 Toes To Bar
28 Double Unders
Day 4
Bike hard and fast for 1 hour
Day 5
Practice Handstands for 20:00
Day 6
Partner workout
3 Rounds For Time
100 Wall Balls
100 Sit Ups
100 Box Jumps
Day 7
REST DAY
Day 8
AMRAP 9:00
3 Power Snatches
9 Pull Ups
Day 9
Run 1 mile
Practice Double unders for 10:00
Run 1 mile
Day 10
Bike for 20:00
Stretch for 20:00
Practice a weakness for 20:00
You’ll recognise the first three days , these are a big part of our programmes in house, this is what you guys wake up at 5am for, RAW CrossFit. But biking for an hour, walking out in the sun, sleeping, stretching all have their part to play in your training. You can find ‘CrossFit’ anywhere in your real world. Don’t want to come to a class? Go for a walk, max distance in 20 minutes, not feeling it today? Hit the bike leisurely and prepare food that aid your recovery. Missing a day in the gym doesn’t mean your fitness has been put on hold, it doesn’t mean you’re not improving. In fact I see more people not improving through over training and under recovering more often than I see those who need to exercise more, those people don’t exercise which is why I don’t see them.
When you can’t make it the best, make less worse.
