How to use the ‘What Are You Training For’ Board.

Complete as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:

15 Wall ball shots, 20 lb ball

15 foot rope climb, 1 ascent

Rest 5 minutes

Row 1 K for time

Frank Agz, hanging L-Sit.

You’ve seen it on our Community Board near the stairs, read some of the goals people have. And the answers are just as colorful as our clientele: Various competitions, Marathons, a rock solid butt, be a fit dad, look better naked, dominating others, pull ups without bands, muscle up, etc. You might even have seen people who have reached their goal already, erased it, and set themselves upon another quest.

Here’s our basic guideline on how to use the board. Ask yourself why you joined this gym. Why did you come to CrossFit? Once you’ve discovered that, reduce your reason down to something that is measurable, specific, and long term. After that, break it down further into small term goals, and if you have a date by which to reach it, that’s even better. For example, I want to become a Regionally competitive athlete before 2013. I know the fastest way for me to get there is to attack my weakness (running) with ferocity. I also know, insofar as running is concerned, that fast 800 meter run repeats are correlative with success in CrossFit (Gymnasics and weightlifting have similar analogs, if those are your weaknesses.) I knew after three years of CrossFit I had never broken a sub 3 minute 800 meter run before (shameful, I know) so that was my short term goal. Inside of a month of Track nights, I got 2:56 with the guys on an epic day. So then my goal became a 2:30 800 meter run, and not 3 weeks later, I got a 2:49. Sure enough, I noticed my overall WOD times becoming better, and I PR’d in the deadlift at the Tri County Competition after not having PR’d in years.

So the pattern was, I joined CrossFit to realize my physical potential, and to do and teach what I love. Aggregate WOD times are a great measure but even better still are how I would place at the highest levels of competition. Placing at those levels will obviously take years, and because the board only has room for a Primary Goal and Secondary Goal, I had to prioritize.

Primary Goal:  Sub 2:30 minute 800 meter run. 

Secondary Goal:  Make the top 200 in Regional Competition for 2012.

Now what if you didn’t make your goal by your stated time? That’s okay! Just reasess and adjust the goal to something a bit more realistic. I originally wanted a sub 2:30 minute 800 meter run by July.

It didn’t happen, but on the way I PR’d the shit out of myself twice, and destroyed my PR in the deadlift. Imagine yourself as a guided missle racing toward a target.

It runs into turbulence and obstacles and variables on the way and self corrects and makes adjustments and heads straight back toward it’s target.

What if you’re a dumbass like me and injured your leg and totally ruined your chance at a 800 meter run PR? Readjust and reassess, same as above. I don’t yet have a freestanding handstand, or a Front Lever or Back Lever, or planche, or a respectable L-Sit hold time. So my dumbass, injured, and adjusted goals would be:

Primary:  Reach a physical capacity superior to my pre-injury state.

Secondary: 30 Second Freestanding Handstand, One freestanding handstand push up, 10 second Back Lever, and 1 minute L-Sit, by November 2011.

So let’s hear some of yours. Some of you are just starting and may just want to link together 3 kipping pull ups, or do an unassisted push up, or do an air squat without bending the back.  Some of you want to lose weight or regain some of your sporting glory from the past.  But you did come here for a reason.  Boil them down and post to comments.

And for the rope climbs WEAR LONG SOCKS!