"I've felt like sh*t latley, and I'm not getting any better." Stick to your game plan!

The phrase..."I've felt like sh*t lately, and I'm not getting any better." is one that coaches all over the world have the pleasure of addressing quite often. Given the athlete is a healthy individual (not battling any types of sickness, viruses or bacterias) we can generally identify the problem by addressing the training regiment as well as the recovery of the athlete. Today we'll look at the importance of sticking to your program...

The old school CrossFit mentality was "if you have anything left at the end of your workout, you didn't go hard enough". Unfortunately this mentality is still ingrained in some competitive "Exercisers". When CrossFit (and the CrossFit games) first began; volume, intensity, programming, and the relationship between the 3, was not taken seriously. Athletes believed that if they showed up in the gym and destroyed themselves physically and mentally on a daily basis they would become stronger. Like Lee Corso would say. "Not So Fast My Friend!" Beating the body and central nervous system down to a pulp on a daily basis will do nothing but hurt the recovery of the athlete. The relationship between Volume and Intensity in an athletes programming can be a beautiful piece of the puzzle that brings them to the next level. However, if not taken seriously it can seriously hinder or even stunt and athletes growth in his or her sport.

Training volume and intensity is a subject that many coaches in various sports have been studying, testing and retesting on. It really wasn’t until the past few years that competitive exercising has been blessed with great programming coaches such as Ben Bergeron, Rudy Nielsen and James Fitzgerald (just to name a few). These individuals have studied the sacred texts of great coaches in the past and applied these principles to there programming. They fluctuate between high volume: low intensity to low volume: high intensity. A good coach monitors reps, percentages, and energy systems being called upon; to be sure that not only the athlete(s) are growing, but that they're not overloading the body, and CNS.

With that being said.... Just because you did some stupid, 20 minute, heavy ass metcon that left you feeling like your internal organs were just surgically removed and sold on the black market, doesn't mean you got any better. The phrase "no pain, no gain" isn’t always true, and I hope whoever came up with it lived a very painful, non-rewarding life. Pick a program and stick to it. If you're going to follow outlaw then fucking follow outlaw. If you have a coach programming for you at your home gym, do what your coach says! Don't pick and choose what you will and will not do and fuck up a beautiful piece of artwork. Understand that every good program has its goal. Yesterday was programmed for a reason; today has a purpose, and so does tomorrow. If you're done with your days work and you feel like you have more in the tank, GOOD! It's meant to be like that. If you have a problem leaving the gym in under and hour and a half, then spend your extra time making love to a foam roller.

 

So, next time you're feeling stale, beat up, run down, and just mentally sick.. Look at your last 2 weeks of training. Are you following your program the way it's intended? Or are you adding, removing and changing a bunch of shit? Don't get me wrong, there is definatley certain times were you will feel like shit in a good program. But your coach generally will know when these times will be, so let your coach know how your feeling.