When the new year arrives, everyone start making plans on what to change in their lives to become a better version of themselves. While some might focus on career, it is commonly known that new year’s resolution often involve some kind of fitness promise to become healthier, maybe lose weight, or get stronger.

Although BOXROX is a fitness online magazine, today we are not going to focus solely on the fitness trend of new year’s resolution. We are focusing on lifestyle changes that you can make this year to make yourself even healthier and better than what you currently are.

The information you will see in the coming paragraphs was largely based on a video shared by Dan Witmer of the Jump Rope Dudes.

The Jump Rope Dudes are a fitness duo named Brandon Epstein and Dan Witmer. They gained popularity through their YouTube channel and social media platforms, where they share jump rope workouts, tutorials, and fitness tips. Their content is known for being energetic, engaging, and focused on promoting the benefits beyond jump rope exercises for fitness. If you’re into fitness or looking for a fun way to stay active, their videos might be worth checking out.

As we embark on a new year, it’s the perfect time to reflect on our habits and consider making positive changes to enhance our overall well-being. In this article, we’ll explore five straightforward lifestyle adjustments that require minimal effort but can significantly impact your health and happiness in 2024.

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Source: Pixabay

5 Easy Lifestyle Changes to Make in 2024

Without further ado, let’s dive into the 5 easy lifestyle changes to make in 2024 that turned things around for the better for Dan Witmer and that he believes you should strive for too.

1. Cut Back on Alcohol Consumption:

After the festive season, it’s common to indulge in alcohol, but it’s essential to find a balance. Consider participating in “Dry January” or “Dry February” to give your body a break from alcohol. A great alternative is embracing mocktails, like the refreshing “Mermaid Refresher” (shared below in the video). By reducing alcohol intake, you can still enjoy socializing without the negative effects on your health.

Additionally, using apps like My Fitness Pal can help track your caloric intake and make you more aware of what you’re putting into your body. This step can be instrumental in achieving weight loss goals and building a healthier you in 2024.

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2. Align Your Sleep with Natural Rhythms:

Adopting a sleep schedule that aligns with the natural circadian rhythm can have numerous benefits. Aim to go to bed shortly after it gets dark and wake up when the sun rises. This simple adjustment can lead to better sleep quality and overall health improvements. Utilise the extra morning time for personal activities, whether it’s a workout, work, or spending quality moments with loved ones.

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3. Limit Social Media Usage:

Source: Anastasia Shuraeva on Pexels

While this article might be on a social media platform, it’s crucial to acknowledge the potential negative impact of excessive social media use, especially on platforms like Instagram and Twitter. Set boundaries by limiting your daily usage or designating specific times for social media engagement. Embrace real-life interactions, and you’ll likely experience an improvement in mood and reduced stress levels.

4. Stay Hydrated with a Water Bottle:

Hydration plays a vital role in maintaining overall health. Invest in a reusable water bottle and aim to fill it up 2-3 times a day. The recommended daily water intake is 90 to 120 ounces, and this simple habit can ensure you meet this goal effortlessly. Staying hydrated has numerous benefits, from promoting better skin health to supporting overall bodily functions.

5. Prioritize Social Interactions:

In a world dominated by screens and digital communication, it’s easy to forget the value of face-to-face interactions. Make an effort to be more social by spending time with friends and family. Engaging in activities together, whether it’s a walk, a bike ride, or a spontaneous outing, can significantly enhance your mood and motivation to achieve your goals.

These five lifestyle changes might seem simple, but their cumulative effects can lead to a healthier and happier you in 2024. By prioritizing your well-being through mindful choices in alcohol consumption, sleep patterns, social media usage, hydration, and social interactions, you’ll set yourself on a path to a more fulfilling and balanced life. Cheers to a healthier and happier 2024!

For a deeper analysis of the 5 easy lifestyle changes to make in 2024, simply click and watch the video below from the Jump Rope Dudes.

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Sticking to New Year’s resolutions can be challenging for several reasons:

1. Lack of Specificity: Many resolutions are vague and lack specific, measurable goals. Without clear objectives, it’s challenging to track progress and stay motivated.
2. Unrealistic Expectations: Setting overly ambitious goals can lead to frustration and burnout. Unrealistic expectations may make it difficult to maintain the necessary momentum to achieve long-term change.
3. Lack of Planning: Failing to create a concrete plan to achieve your resolution makes it easy to get lost or discouraged. Planning is crucial for breaking down larger goals into manageable steps.
4. Too Many Resolutions: Trying to tackle too many resolutions at once can lead to overwhelm. Focusing on a few key changes allows for better concentration and increased chances of success.
5. Lack of Accountability: Without a support system or someone to hold you accountable, it’s easy to let resolutions slide. Sharing your goals with friends or family can provide motivation and encouragement.

To make your New Year’s resolutions more achievable, consider the following tips:

1. Set Specific Goals: Be clear and precise about what you want to achieve. Instead of a vague resolution like “lose weight,” specify a goal like “lose 10 pounds by March.”
2. Break Down Goals: Divide larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks. This not only makes the process less overwhelming but also allows for more frequent feelings of accomplishment.
3. Create a Realistic Timeline: Establish a realistic timeframe for achieving your goals. Avoid setting arbitrary deadlines that may lead to unnecessary pressure.
4. Build a Support System: Share your resolutions with friends, family, or a support group. Having a network of individuals who understand your goals can provide encouragement and accountability.
5. Track Your Progress: Keep a record of your achievements and setbacks. Regularly assessing your progress allows for adjustments to your plan and helps maintain motivation.
6. Celebrate Milestones: Acknowledge and celebrate small victories along the way. Recognizing your progress reinforces positive behaviors and keeps you motivated.
7. Adjust as Needed: Life is unpredictable, and circumstances may change. Be flexible in adjusting your goals or approach if needed, but don’t use setbacks as an excuse to abandon your resolution entirely.
8. Incorporate Enjoyable Activities: Choose resolutions that align with your interests and passions. Enjoying the process makes it more likely that you’ll stick with your goals in the long run.

Remember, the key to successful resolutions is consistency and persistence. Embrace the journey, learn from setbacks, and stay committed to your goals throughout the year.

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Sleep is a necessary break for both our bodies and minds. It happens when we become less aware and most of our muscles stop moving. It’s not just a nightly break; sleep plays a big role in keeping us healthy. It’s a crucial time when our bodies repair and refresh themselves, making sure everything works well when we’re awake.

During sleep, our conscious and unconscious minds do a sort of dance. As our bodies rest, our brains get busy. They process and organize all the information we gathered throughout the day, creating memories and getting ready for the challenges of the next day.

Not getting enough sleep has well-known consequences. It takes a toll on our bodies, slowly making our physical and mental health worse. It quietly contributes to various health problems, like a weaker immune system or not thinking as clearly.

But what if you do get enough sleep and still feel really tired? That’s what Joey Schweitzer talked about. Feeling exhausted despite sleeping enough is a puzzle that many people can’t figure out. It challenges what we thought we knew about sleep fixing tiredness.

In simple terms, the talk about sleep goes beyond just having enough or not having enough. It looks into the quality of sleep, making us think about what makes sleep truly refreshing and how it balances with being awake. Joey Schweitzer’s exploration starts a bigger conversation about sleep and how it connects with our overall well-being.

If being tired almost constantly is happening to you right now, check out what Max Posternak explained recently about the reasons that might be.

Max Posternak is the founder of Gravity Transformation, a website focused on giving tips and training guidance for people looking to improve their fitness and lose weight. His YouTube channel has almost 6 million subscribers.

Let’s dig deeper into the realm of unconsciousness and recovery.

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5 Reasons Why You’re Always Tired

In today’s fast-paced world, fatigue seems to be a common complaint among individuals. Regardless of how much caffeine one consumes or how many hours of sleep are obtained, a constant state of tiredness persists. This article aims to shed light on the five proven energy drainers that may be contributing to perpetual exhaustion. By addressing these factors, individuals can experience increased vitality, motivation, and overall well-being.

1. The Caffeine Paradox

Contrary to popular belief, excessive caffeine consumption can be a significant cause of perpetual exhaustion. While caffeine provides a short-term boost by blocking the neurotransmitter adenosine, habitual consumption leads to decreased effectiveness over time. The body compensates by producing more adenosine, resulting in a cycle of increased fatigue. To break free from this cycle, it is advisable to gradually reduce caffeine intake to no more than 400 mg per day, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.

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2. Dietary Habits and Nutrient Deficiencies

The standard American diet, characterized by processed foods, refined sugars, and unhealthy fats, often lacks essential nutrients. Nutritional deficiencies, such as insufficient iron, B vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids, can contribute to fatigue, weakness, and brain fog. Incorporating nutrient-dense foods, including lean meats, leafy greens, and a variety of fruits and vegetables, can provide the necessary micronutrients for sustained energy levels.

3. Sunlight Deprivation and Vitamin D

Lack of exposure to natural sunlight can lead to vitamin D deficiency, impacting testosterone levels, the immune system, and overall energy levels. Sunlight also regulates melatonin production, influencing the sleep-wake cycle. Spending 10 to 30 minutes in direct sunlight at least twice a week or considering vitamin D and melatonin supplementation in colder environments can help combat fatigue.

4. Sedentary Lifestyle and Lack of Exercise

Physical inactivity contributes to chronic fatigue by causing muscle loss, reduced blood circulation, and decreased energy efficiency. Incorporating regular exercise, whether through strength training or cardio, promotes cardiovascular health, releases endorphins, and enhances overall energy levels. Starting with simple activities like walking for 30 minutes a day or incorporating basic bodyweight exercises can make a significant difference.

5. Inadequate Sleep

Sleep deprivation has a profound impact on feelings of tiredness, fatigue, and overall well-being. Even a few hours less than the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night can result in difficulty concentrating, increased irritability, and impaired cognitive performance. Establishing a consistent sleep schedule, limiting screen time before bed, and creating a conducive sleeping environment can contribute to improved sleep quality.

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While addressing these five energy-draining factors can significantly improve overall vitality and well-being, persistent fatigue may be indicative of underlying health issues. It is crucial to consult with a healthcare professional if fatigue persists for more than two weeks, especially if accompanied by other symptoms. By taking proactive steps to eliminate these energy drainers, individuals can reclaim their energy, feel more refreshed, and enjoy a more fulfilling life.

For a deeper discussion on the matter, you can also watch the video below in which Max Posternak himself explains with more details these 5 reasons why you’re always tired.

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Is It Possible to Sleep and Still Feel Tired During the Day?

Yes, it is possible to sleep and still feel tired during the day. This can be due to a variety of factors, including:

1. Poor sleep quality: Even if you are getting the recommended amount of sleep each night if the quality of your sleep is poor, you may still feel tired during the day. For example, if you suffer from sleep apnea or snoring, you may not be getting enough oxygen during sleep, which can result in poor-quality sleep.
2. Sleep disorders: There are several sleep disorders, such as insomnia, narcolepsy, and restless leg syndrome, which can interfere with the quality and duration of sleep, leading to daytime fatigue.
3. Medications: Some medications can cause drowsiness or fatigue as a side effect, which can impact your energy levels during the day.
4. Medical conditions: Certain medical conditions, such as anaemia, hypothyroidism, and diabetes, can cause fatigue and tiredness.
5. Lifestyle factors: Poor diet, lack of exercise, and high-stress levels can also contribute to feelings of fatigue and tiredness during the day.

Source: Александар Цветановић / Pexels

If you consistently feel tired during the day, despite getting enough sleep at night, it may be worth speaking to a healthcare professional to determine the underlying cause and receive appropriate treatment.

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Whilst many people see Christmas as a happy, joyful time spent with friends and family, for many people suffering with depression, anxiety, stress or the loss of a loved one, Christmas can only make their symptoms worse.

Why people may suffer from negative mental health during Christmas

Pressure to get the ‘perfect’ gift

With more and more people spending more and more time on social media viewing products, consumerism is at an all-time high.

That means that by the time Christmas comes around, people have had a whole 12 months of saving things to their home page ready for Christmas time.

It’s no wonder that people are spending more money than ever at Christmas. In fact, research has uncovered that putting pressure on yourself to get the perfect gift for someone does a lot more harm to your mental health than good [1].

Excessive Eating and Drinking Alcohol

Christmas dinners, lunches, and excessive drinking at parties throughout the festive period is not good for anyone.

However, for those with pre-existing eating disorders or addictions, it can be extremely challenging during this time of year [2].  Seeing loved ones enjoy a drink can act as a ‘trigger’, and can even potentially cause relapse [3].

Worrying about the planning involved

In a 2015 study by mental health charity Mind [4], over a third of all individuals with a mental health problem admitted to harming themselves due to the planning and pressure of Christmas.

In addition to this, 76% of adults admitted to having issues sleeping during Christmas time.

Financial Concerns

It’s no secret that living costs are increasing rapidly. However, Christmas is also becoming more expensive than ever.

In fact, The Bank of England found that the average family spent approximately £740 more at Christmas time, which is a shocking 29% more than any other month [5].

Ways people can protect their mental health during Christmas

Eat & Drink Sensibly

During Christmas, in order to maintain a healthy mindset and body, try to eat and drink sensibly.

Whilst it’s okay to indulge in pigs and blankets and Christmas puddings at Christmas time, make sure that you eat lots of fruit and vegetables as well as watching your sugar intake.

Additionally, you should limit your alcohol consumption so that you do not over do it.

If you already struggle form a drug or alcohol addiction, then it’s important to avoid situations that might trigger a craving.

Exercise When You Can

In an attempt to create positive emotions and release endorphins, try to exercise throughout the festive period.

The best way to ensure that you find yourself motivated enough to get up and going is to schedule your exercise so that you don’t over do it the night before.

Your body will thank you, but your mind will too.

Plan & Buy Ahead

To avoid feeling overwhelmed, make sure you plan all your present buying and organising ahead of time.

This will mean that you don’t over plan and overcommit, whilst also helping you to spread the cost a bit more by buying Christmas presents throughout the year.

Ask for Help

Most importantly, ask for help when you need it. If you’re struggling with your mental health at Christmas because of the pressure or stress, ask your friends and family members for help.

Additionally, see the below organisations who can offer professional help as well as the below infographic that can be saved to your phone or device as a reminder.

Mental Health at Christmas – References

[1] https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/27/1/84/1791561?redirectedFrom=fulltext

[2] https://www.ahcs.ac.uk/2021/12/15/mental-health-at-christmas-by-rehab4addiction/

[5] Learn more about relapse in the alcohol rehab Bristol page.

[4] https://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/mind-warns-that-people-with-mental-health-problems-struggle-with-self-harm-and-suicidal-feelings-due-to-the-pressure-of-christmas/#.WikXzUpl82x

[5] https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/how-much-do-we-spend-at-christmas

Have you ever found yourself wishing for more discipline in your life, believing that with it, you could achieve everything you desire—whether it’s a sculpted body, a higher-paying job, or simply the satisfaction of going to bed on time?

Many people approach discipline as an elusive trait, something you either have or you don’t. However, the truth is that discipline is not an innate quality but a skill that can be developed over time.

But how can you become more disciplined for life, dieting and training? The information in this article was taken from a video shared by Marcus Filly.

Marcus Filly is the creator, founder, and CEO of Functional Bodybuilding. He is a six-time CrossFit Games athlete (2016, 12th fittest) with decades of experience coaching and designing individual and group training programs.

Let’s debunk the myth that discipline is all about sheer force. Merely forcing yourself into a routine, like waking up at 4:00 a.m. every day, might not be the most effective strategy. Instead, understanding the discipline equation can be the key to unlocking your potential.

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According to Steven Bartlett, a prominent figure in the field of discipline, the equation for developing discipline. Yes, it exists and it consists of three crucial factors:

1. Importance of a Goal (Subjective)
   • Your “why” is the foundation of discipline. To raise the importance of a goal, connect it to a deeper reason within yourself. For example, framing the goal around the stakes and consequences of not being disciplined can make it more meaningful.
2. Psychological Joy of Pursuing the Goal
   • Find joy in the pursuit of your goals. If a particular diet or workout routine brings you happiness, you are more likely to stick with it. Consider the joy factor when setting your goals, and make sure you enjoy the process.
3. Friction of Performing Tasks Associated with the Goal
   • Identify and minimize the friction involved in pursuing your goals. This could be the time it takes to go to the gym or the complexity of a workout routine. Reduce barriers to make it easier for yourself to stay disciplined.

Applying the Equation

Understanding the discipline equation allows you to manipulate these factors to your advantage. For instance, elevate the importance of your goal by connecting it to personal reasons or consequences. Ensure that the pursuit brings you joy by aligning it with your preferences, and reduce friction by eliminating unnecessary barriers.

Consider the example of a fitness enthusiast who strategically places workout tools at home to reduce the friction of going to the gym. By analyzing where friction exists in your life, you can take steps to remove those barriers and make discipline more achievable.

Source: Yaroslav Shuraev on Pexels

The Power of Self-Respect

Discipline is, fundamentally, about keeping commitments to yourself. It’s more socially acceptable to be our own biggest critic than our own cheerleader, but the commitments we keep to ourselves shape our self-view. Mark Manson’s wisdom rings true: “The person you have to listen to the most in life is yourself. Try not to lose their respect.”

Read More: Exercise Superior than Medicine to Manage Depression, Study Finds

In essence, discipline is a daily, lifelong pursuit that involves understanding and manipulating the discipline equation to your advantage. By becoming more disciplined, you not only achieve your goals but also shape a positive self-perception and foster a deep sense of self-respect.

In the grand tapestry of life, discipline isn’t a destination you arrive at; it’s a continuous journey that unfolds every day. The idea of waiting for the perfect Monday to embark on your disciplined journey is a common misconception. The truth is, discipline starts in the present moment, not in the future. Each decision you make, no matter how small, contributes to the development of this invaluable skill.

To truly grasp the essence of discipline, it’s essential to recognize it as a dynamic force rather than a static achievement. Waiting for the “right time” to start often becomes an excuse that hinders progress. The power lies in the small, consistent actions you take daily. It’s about choosing discipline in the seemingly inconsequential moments, whether it’s resisting the urge to hit the snooze button or opting for a nutritious snack instead of a tempting indulgence.

Moreover, understanding that discipline is a lifelong pursuit means embracing the journey’s ebb and flow. There will be days when challenges seem insurmountable, and discipline feels elusive. On those days, remember that setbacks are not failures but opportunities to learn and recalibrate your approach. It’s about resilience, adaptability, and the unwavering commitment to the goals that matter most to you.

Source: Helena Lopes on Pexels

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In this ongoing pursuit, self-reflection becomes a powerful tool. Regularly assess your goals, motivations, and the joy you find in the process. Adjust the equation as needed, aligning your actions with the evolving landscape of your aspirations. The discipline equation isn’t a rigid formula; it’s a blueprint that you can modify to suit your unique circumstances and ambitions.

As you navigate the intricate dance of discipline, cultivate self-compassion. Acknowledge that perfection is an illusion and that setbacks are part of the human experience. The journey towards discipline is not about never faltering but about rising stronger each time you do. By approaching discipline with a growth mindset, you transform challenges into stepping stones toward a more disciplined and fulfilled version of yourself.

So, don’t wait for a distant Monday to make a change. Start today, armed with the understanding that discipline is a continuous, evolving journey—one that shapes not only your external achievements but also the resilient, self-respecting character you are becoming. Embrace the process, celebrate the small victories, and keep moving forward, one disciplined decision at a time.

Watch the video below for more information.

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Consistency is the linchpin of success in both diet and training for several compelling reasons. Whether you’re aiming for weight loss, muscle gain, or overall well-being, maintaining a consistent approach is imperative for achieving and sustaining your fitness goals. Let’s delve into why consistency is the key to unlocking the full potential of your diet and training endeavors:

1. Adaptation and Progression:

• The body responds positively to consistent stimuli. Regular and predictable training sessions signal to your muscles, cardiovascular system, and metabolism that adaptation is necessary. Similarly, a consistent diet provides the body with the nutrients it needs regularly, supporting overall health and performance.

2. Establishing Habits:

• Consistency helps in forming habits. When you repeatedly engage in specific dietary and training behaviors, they become ingrained in your daily routine. Habits are powerful because they require less mental effort over time, making it easier to stick to your fitness regimen.

3. Long-Term Sustainability:

• Sustainable changes happen gradually through consistent efforts. Crash diets or sporadic workout routines might yield short-term results, but they often lead to burnout or rebound effects. Consistency, on the other hand, fosters long-term sustainability, ensuring that you can maintain your dietary and training habits over the course of your life.

4. Mitigating Setbacks:

• Consistency acts as a buffer against setbacks. If you deviate from your diet or training plan occasionally, the overall impact is minimized when compared to sporadic, intense efforts followed by periods of inactivity or unhealthy eating. Consistency allows you to bounce back quickly from setbacks.

5. Optimizing Results:

• Results in both diet and training are cumulative. Small, consistent efforts compound over time, leading to significant transformations. Whether you’re aiming for fat loss, muscle gain, or improved endurance, the steady progression achieved through consistent actions maximizes your overall results.

6. Behavioral and Psychological Benefits:

• Consistency provides a sense of control and accomplishment. Knowing that you can adhere to your dietary and training commitments fosters a positive mindset, boosting your confidence and reinforcing a belief in your ability to achieve your goals.

7. Maintaining Metabolic Health:

• Regular exercise and a consistent, balanced diet play crucial roles in maintaining metabolic health. Fluctuating between extremes, such as extreme calorie restriction followed by overeating, can disrupt metabolic processes. Consistency helps regulate metabolism and promote overall well-being.

8. Reducing Decision Fatigue:

• Consistency simplifies decision-making. When your dietary and training habits are consistent, you spend less mental energy deliberating over what to eat or whether to work out. This reduction in decision fatigue allows you to focus on other aspects of your life.

In essence, consistency is the cornerstone of sustainable success in diet and training. By making small, manageable changes and adhering to them consistently, you create a foundation for long-term health and fitness. It’s not about perfection but about persistent effort and a commitment to your well-being, day in and day out.

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We know, sleep is imperative for many reasons. Not only it resets your body, gives you energy for the following day, but it is also when your brain is creating synapses and fortifying memories and your muscles are repairing and getting stronger and bigger.

Needless to say that sleep is one huge contributor factor to a person’s well-being and health. But that doesn’t mean you cannot wake up at 5 in the morning to being a routine that could positively impact your life. That is what Mike Diamonds did, anyway.

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Dr. Mike Diamonds is a retired medical doctor who is now an online fitness coach and a YouTuber. He has close to a million subscribers on his channel and he usually uses his own body transformation as an example of how to help people become their better selves. He is also the creator of the website Sculpt by Science.

For an entire year, Diamonds took on the challenge of adopting Dr. Andrew Huberman’s morning routine. If you’re not familiar with Andrew Huberman, he is a neuroscientist and tenured Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

It was Huberman’s morning routine that Mike did it religiously for an entire year and decided to share the insights in a video he uploaded. Below you will find the key takeaways from his 5am morning routine that will change your life, should you choose to follow too.

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Before we get into the results and what Mike’s learned, let’s rewind 11 months, where Mike stumbled upon Huberman’s video. It hit him hard. Ever felt like the person you are meets the one you could’ve been? Mike was in that mental paralysis, screaming for help. Huberman’s wisdom became his lifeline, and he shared the journey on YouTube—1.4 million views later, here we are.

Now, Huberman’s routine, in a nutshell. First off, rise and shine at 6:30 a.m. No need to religiously follow the 5:00 a.m. club; just ensure it’s early. The golden hours from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. are your secret weapon against distractions—no texts, no social media. Time to execute the game plan.

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But how does one pull off waking up early? Simple. Set goals the night before, write them down, set an alarm in another room, and voila! You’re up, no excuses. Now, the game-changer—salted water instead of your beloved morning coffee. Delaying caffeine intake by 90 minutes syncs with your body’s natural rhythms, making that java jolt more potent.

Next up, soak in the morning sun. A 15-minute walk not only fuels your vitamin D but sets the tone for an energetic day. Combine this with intermittent fasting, a powerhouse for fat loss, muscle gain, and overall metabolic awesomeness.

Now, Mike’s personal favourite—fasted workouts. Caffeine becomes your workout buddy, and trust him, it’s a game-changer in a caloric deficit. But let’s talk cold showers. Tough to stick with, but the energy rush, muscle recovery, and immunity boost make them worth it.

Source: Pixabay

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Into the focused work zone. Dr. Huberman’s golden 90 minutes of distraction-free productivity. Turn off the phone, avoid the internet, and tackle your most important tasks. Break your fast with oatmeal or just find your flexible rhythm.

“It doesn’t have to be done in the order Andrew Huberman has done them, but including them into your day-to-day routine will be super effective and having this level of flexibility will be to your advantage,” Diamonds says.

Sometimes, Mike break his fast accordingly, sometimes sooner and sometimes earlier. “But I’ll make sure that I’m always eating in an 8-hour window period and that I’m fasting for 6 hours […] because those are the hours that work for me.”

In the end, it’s not about a rigid routine but incorporating these gems into your day. So, what’s your take? Have you tried any of these tips? Wake up at the crack of dawn, fasting ninja, or cold shower warrior?

Give it a go and you might inspire the next in line.

Watch the video below for more information from Mike Diamonds himself.

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The phrase “prevention is better than cure” has taken a whole new meaning. Or better, it has expanded its meaning. Exercise could be seen before as a prevention to ageing, diseases such as heart attack or obesity. Some would even say it keeps a person’s health issues at bay.

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In an era dominated by social media, where carefully curated images flood our screens, the issue of body dysmorphia has surged, particularly among the younger demographic. The relentless pursuit of an idealized appearance has become a pervasive challenge, with individuals preoccupied by their physical image, often to a pathological extent. This phenomenon extends beyond mere concerns about personal aesthetics; it significantly interferes with daily life, leading to increased levels of anxiety, depression, and distorted body image.

As we navigate through this complex issue, it becomes crucial to delve deep into the roots of body dysmorphia, exploring its connections with societal pressures, the influence of social media, and even the role of plastic surgery in attempting to attain an unrealistic standard of beauty. The rise of platforms like Instagram, where visual perfection is often the norm, exacerbates the problem, fostering an environment where individuals feel compelled to present only their best, filtered selves.

Plastic surgery, often misconceived as a solution to body dysmorphia, is debunked by professionals in the field. Plastic surgeons actively look for signs of body dysmorphia and emphasize that surgical procedures are not a cure for the underlying psychiatric condition. The desire for physical transformation through surgery is merely a symptom of the broader issue at hand.

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Moreover, the prevalence of filters and digital enhancements further skews our perception of reality. The unattainable standards set by these digitally altered images create a perpetual cycle of dissatisfaction, leading to a continuous quest for an elusive perfection that can never be naturally achieved. The societal pressure to conform to these unrealistic ideals has driven many to extreme measures, from cosmetic enhancements to the adoption of harmful practices.

In this environment, influencers and celebrities play a pivotal role, inadvertently contributing to the perpetuation of unrealistic beauty standards. The pervasive influence of individuals like the Kardashians and Kylie Jenner, who may themselves utilize various enhancements, can inadvertently fuel the desire for unattainable physiques and features.

The information below regarding body dysmorphia was based on a video shared by Will Tennyson. Will Tennyson is a Canadian YouTuber who uploads fitness routines, nutrition advice and lifestyle content on his channel which has more than 2 million subscribers. He struggled with body image as a younger kid but has since bounced back after discovering weightlifting and he wants to make people as enthusiastic about fitness and wellness as he is.

The article sheds light on the increasing trend of body sculpting procedures, such as high-definition liposuction and implants, as individuals seek quick fixes to meet societal expectations. The quest for an idealized physique has evolved, with procedures aiming to sculpt bodies into shapes that may be physically unattainable through natural means.

We need to understand the urgent need for a comprehensive understanding of body dysmorphia, considering its multifaceted origins and the far-reaching consequences of societal pressures and digital influences. As the article unfolds, it aims to not only illuminate the problem but also explore potential solutions and ways to foster a healthier relationship with one’s body image.

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Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

The Truth about Body Dysmorphia

The Influence of Social Media

The rise of social media platforms, particularly Instagram, has significantly contributed to the exacerbation of body dysmorphia. In an era where curated images dominate feeds, individuals are constantly exposed to idealized and often digitally altered representations of beauty. Filters and photo-editing tools further distort reality, creating unrealistic standards that can lead to detrimental effects on mental health.

The Kardashian Effect and Plastic Surgery

In the quest for the perfect physique, individuals often resort to plastic surgery influenced by celebrities like the Kardashians and Kylie Jenner. However, plastic surgery is not a solution for body dysmorphia; rather, it is a psychiatric issue that requires therapeutic intervention. The pressure to conform to societal beauty standards, perpetuated by influencers, leads to a dangerous cycle of anxiety, depression, and body image issues.

The Dangers of Unrealistic Beauty Standards

Social media’s visual nature perpetuates unrealistic beauty standards, setting unattainable ideals that drive individuals to extreme measures. From cosmetic enhancements to fitness fads, people chase after physical perfection, unaware that many influencers use filters and manipulations to present an altered reality. This constant pursuit takes a toll on mental health, fostering anxiety and dissatisfaction with one’s own body.

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The Rise of Aesthetic Procedures

The popularity of aesthetic procedures such as Brazilian butt lifts, liposuction, and body sculpting reflects the societal pressure to attain the “perfect” body. However, these procedures do not address the underlying psychological issues associated with body dysmorphia. Plastic surgeons, recognizing the importance of mental well-being, often turn away individuals displaying signs of body dysmorphia.

Plastic Surgery as a Solution?

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Despite the increasing demand for plastic surgery, it is crucial to understand that it is not a solution for body dysmorphia. Plastic surgeons emphasize the importance of mental health assessments before undergoing any procedure. The consultation process involves educating individuals about realistic expectations and dispelling the influence of filtered images and social media illusions.

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The Impact on the Younger Generation

The younger generation, heavily exposed to social media, faces immense pressure to conform to unrealistic beauty standards. Influencers and celebrities play a significant role in shaping perceptions of an ideal physique. Conversations with young individuals reveal a constant desire for physical improvement, driven by comparisons with digitally altered images on social media.

Source: Anastasia Shuraeva on Pexels

Seeking Solutions and Mental Health Awareness

To address body dysmorphia, there is a need for increased mental health awareness, especially among the younger generation. Encouraging open conversations, promoting self-acceptance, and fostering a culture of diverse beauty can contribute to a healthier mindset. Additionally, early intervention through therapy and counselling can help individuals confront underlying issues and build resilience against societal pressures.

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In conclusion, the pervasive issue of body dysmorphia demands our collective attention and a concerted effort to challenge the unrealistic beauty standards that underpin it. As we reflect on the complex interplay of societal pressures, digital influences, and the quest for an unattainable ideal, it becomes evident that addressing this concern requires a multifaceted approach.

Firstly, fostering media literacy is crucial. Empowering individuals, especially the younger generation, with the tools to critically assess and deconstruct the images presented on social media can significantly impact their perception of beauty. Highlighting the prevalence of digital alterations and the often deceptive nature of curated online personas can contribute to a more realistic understanding of self-image.

Moreover, promoting diverse representations of beauty is essential. The beauty industry, media outlets, and influencers hold significant sway in shaping cultural ideals. By actively showcasing a variety of body types, skin tones, and features, these influential entities can contribute to a more inclusive definition of beauty—one that embraces diversity and rejects the narrow constraints of an idealized norm.

Source: RDNE Stock project on Pexels

Education and awareness campaigns are instrumental in challenging the stigma associated with mental health and body dysmorphia. Encouraging open conversations about these topics not only reduces the sense of isolation for those struggling but also normalizes seeking help. Mental health professionals play a pivotal role in providing support and guiding individuals towards constructive coping mechanisms.

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Plastic surgeons and aesthetic professionals, too, have a responsibility to prioritize the mental well-being of their patients. Thorough assessments for signs of body dysmorphia, coupled with ethical practices that prioritize psychological health over unnecessary procedures, can contribute to a more responsible approach to aesthetic enhancements.

Ultimately, the journey towards a healthier relationship with body image requires a collective effort. From policymakers shaping regulations around advertising and media content to individuals challenging their own biases and embracing self-acceptance, everyone has a role to play. As we mark the one-year anniversary of this exploration into body dysmorphia, let it serve as a reminder that the path to positive change begins with understanding, empathy, and a commitment to redefining beauty on more compassionate and inclusive terms.

Watch the video below.

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Getting fit might mean different things for different people. There are multiple paths to take to try and change your health and how you look. Dieting is one way, exercising is another, or simply changing a few habits.

However, when trying to get fit, you want to be more agile, more flexible, stronger and, perhaps, even look more muscular and lean. And this is when most people’s mind go straight to the idea that you need to push yourself to your limit almost daily to get results.

Hampton Liu reflected on a significant mindset shift that transformed his approach to fitness. Hampton Liu is a renowned fitness enthusiast, coach, entrepreneur and has a YouTube channel with nearly 4 million subscribers in which he shares his thoughts and tips to get people more active and fit in the long-term.

Check out below what was this mentality shift that made him understand that getting fit does not have to be so difficult as most people portray.

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Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

The Mentality Shift that Makes Getting Fit Much Easier

Liu, raised in a military household, absorbed tales of gruelling training sessions that left a lasting impression on his perception of what it meant to train hard. His father’s stories, filled with excruciating hikes, rope swings, and intense physical challenges, painted a picture of training as a struggle for survival.

In his early adulthood, Hampton questioned the effectiveness and healthiness of such extreme training. Conversations with his father revealed that the military training wasn’t aimed at promoting long-term health; instead, it focused on developing mental endurance for life-threatening situations. Recognizing the discrepancy between this intense training and his fitness goals, Hampton embarked on a journey to redefine what a truly effective fitness routine looks like.

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Hampton delves into the common misconception that an ideal fitness life requires extensive time, motivation, and energy. He prompts his audience to envision their ideal fitness routine, often shaped by media influences like movies and cartoons where characters undergo intense training montages. The image of waking up at 5:00 a.m., jogging for miles, hitting the gym for hours, and maintaining a strict diet is a common narrative.

However, Hampton challenges this narrative by highlighting that most fitness goals—building muscle, increasing strength, improving mobility, and losing fat—don’t necessarily demand such time-consuming and intense routines. He shares eye-opening facts, stating that some people can achieve muscle growth and strength with as little as one set a day, taking just a few minutes.

Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

The crux of Hampton’s message lies in the importance of a mindset shift. He emphasizes that the ideal fitness routine, often perceived as an insurmountable mountain, doesn’t align with the more achievable and realistic goals most individuals have. By understanding that optimal health doesn’t require extensive time commitments, Hampton advocates for crafting a fitness routine tailored to individual goals.

Hampton breaks down the complexity of fitness routines, offering a more straightforward perspective. He suggests that a foundation of fitness can be established in just a few minutes a day, debunking the myth that achieving significant progress requires hours of dedication. Hampton’s own experience of shifting away from exhaustive routines and embracing shorter, more focused workouts serves as a testament to the effectiveness of this mindset shift.

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In conclusion, Hampton Liu’s transformative mindset shift in fitness encourages individuals to reevaluate their approach. By understanding that fitness goals can be achieved with shorter, more strategic routines, he empowers others to break free from the perceived barriers of time, energy, and motivation. The key, as Hampton illustrates, lies in simplicity, adaptability, and the realization that progress is achievable even in the midst of a busy life.

Of course, you should know that if you train hard every day you will get results, probably faster. However, the underlying information from Liu’s story is that consistency is the key. And if you are not accustomed to, or ready for training hard 5 times a week, dieting and keeping an active lifestyle, changing from one day to the next might prove an uphill battle that you more likely will fail.

Consistency will get you far, be it with little improvements in your fitness life or joining a gym to go multiple times a week.

Watch the video below for more information.

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Consistency in training for health and fitness yields a myriad of advantages that extend beyond physical well-being. Firstly, regular exercise forms the cornerstone of a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. By incorporating consistent training into your routine, you establish a foundation for overall wellness, promoting cardiovascular health, muscular strength, and flexibility. This holistic approach contributes to the prevention of chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, fostering long-term health benefits.

Secondly, a consistent training regimen fosters mental well-being. Exercise is a powerful mood enhancer, releasing endorphins that act as natural stress relievers. Over time, this can lead to improved mental resilience, reduced anxiety, and enhanced cognitive function. The psychological benefits of consistent training extend to increased self-esteem and body confidence, creating a positive feedback loop that reinforces motivation and commitment to fitness goals.

Moreover, the discipline cultivated through regular exercise transcends the gym or workout space. Consistency in training builds habits that permeate various aspects of life, promoting self-discipline, time management, and goal-setting skills. This holistic development enhances one’s ability to navigate challenges, both in fitness pursuits and daily life, fostering a resilient and adaptable mindset.

Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

In the realm of physical health, consistent training contributes to weight management and optimal body composition. Beyond aesthetic considerations, maintaining a healthy weight reduces the risk of obesity-related conditions and promotes better metabolic function. Regular physical activity also strengthens the immune system, providing a natural defense against illnesses and promoting overall resilience to external stressors.

Lastly, the social aspect of consistent training cannot be overlooked. Engaging in regular exercise often involves participation in group activities, classes, or sports, fostering a sense of community and support. The social connections formed through shared fitness endeavors contribute to a positive and encouraging environment, enhancing motivation and accountability. Ultimately, the advantages of training consistently for health and fitness encompass physical well-being, mental resilience, personal development, and a supportive social network, creating a holistic approach to a healthier and more fulfilling life.

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Staying young, both physically and mentally, offers a multitude of health benefits that extend beyond the pursuit of aesthetic appeal. First and foremost, maintaining a youthful lifestyle contributes to enhanced physical well-being. Regular exercise, a cornerstone of youthfulness, not only helps in maintaining a healthy weight but also boosts cardiovascular health, strengthens bones, and improves overall flexibility. These physical benefits, in turn, reduce the risk of chronic conditions and promote longevity.

Secondly, embracing a youthful mindset fosters mental resilience and cognitive well-being. Engaging in activities that challenge the mind, such as learning new skills or participating in social interactions, promotes neuroplasticity— the brain’s ability to adapt and grow. This can lead to improved memory, cognitive function, and a reduced risk of age-related cognitive decline. Moreover, a positive and curious mindset associated with youthfulness contributes to lower stress levels, better mental health, and an overall sense of vitality.

Lastly, the pursuit of staying young encourages healthy lifestyle habits, including proper nutrition and skincare. A well-balanced diet rich in antioxidants and nutrients supports cellular health, skin elasticity, and immune function. Adequate skincare, with practices such as sun protection and hydration, not only enhances external appearance but also promotes skin health, reducing the risk of skin-related issues. Ultimately, the holistic approach to staying young intertwines physical, mental, and lifestyle factors, fostering a comprehensive foundation for overall well-being.

Source: Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels

But how can one simply explain 3 habits a person needs to stay young? Well, we leaned into a video shared by Brendan Jones, from the Goal Guys, and his journey to achieve better health and longevity.

The Goal Guys are two brothers (Brendan and Cam Jones) with a YouTube channel with more than 400,000 subscribers. They share videos in which they take on “different goals in fitness and productivity.”

Hang on as this is going to be a lengthy ride as we learn through Brendan’s eyes how and what he learned about longevity and health. Or you can just skip to the last paragraph to see Brendan’s takeaways on the 3 habits you need to stay young.

3 Habits You Should Have to Stay Young

Brendan Jones, a 24-year-old man, has been worried about getting older since his hairline started to recede. He’s afraid of getting wrinkles, losing strength, and running out of time to accomplish his goals. However, he’s been told that many of his fears about aging are unfounded. There are a few key habits he can adopt to slow down the aging process and one major change he can make to avoid living a shorter life.

In her book “True Age,” pathologist Dr. Morgan Levine argues that rather than looking at Brendan’s chronological age (how many years he’s been alive), he should instead focus his attention on his biological age, which tracks the rate at which his body is changing and breaking down over time. It sounds complicated to track all this information, but everything Brendan needs can be found in a simple blood test. By tracking these changes, it’s possible for Brendan to enjoy a full year of life while his biological age barely gets older.

Hoping to find his own affordable way to biohack his aging, Brendan read through Dr. Levine’s book and discovered he had a number of habits that might be causing him to age faster than he originally thought.

When it comes to decrease biological age, the key is to increase capacity for resilience. If you push yourself out of the comfort zone, your body’s response will go into a different mode where it restores and repairs itself.

This repeated cycle of stress and response tends to cause biological age to flatline so the body can remain fit and ready to take on whatever challenge comes its way.

Easily the most studied approach for creating a stress and response cycle to slow down aging can be achieved through diet. By changing how much, when, or just what foods to eat, researchers first found a link between diet and longevity when they began testing subjects on calorie-restricted diets. The subjects were still getting the levels of nutrition they needed, but they were doing so in a 20-calorie deficit until their bodies reached the low end of their ideal weight.

As someone who spent a decent amount of time trying to build muscle, the prospect of cutting until he’s 15 pounds lighter and below 140 pounds is not appealing at all to Brendan.

He then explores alternatives to traditional calorie restriction for extending his lifespan, discovering promising options like time-restricted eating and fasting. These methods trigger a stress-response cycle similar to calorie restriction without necessitating significant weight loss. A six-month study on time-restricted eating showcased participants testing two and a half years younger upon completion, actively reversing the aging process.

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Seeking a manageable approach, Brendan finds time-restricted eating requires only willpower within a designated window of time. Diversifying his dietary strategy, Brendan reevaluates specific foods, uncovering that diets high in animal protein may accelerate aging. Considering plant-based protein sources like quinoa, lentils, or beans becomes an appealing substitute, aligning with his goal of extending life. This exploration signifies a pivotal step in Brendan’s journey toward a more mindful and intentional approach to nutrition and aging.

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The second way he can apply short-term stress to his life in order to slow down the effects of Father Time, and that is through exercise. If he wants to live longer, he needs to work harder.

Brendan’s commitment to exercise is evident as his alarm blares at 2 AM, signaling the start of his running routine with unwavering dedication. However, moderation is the cornerstone of his approach to exercise longevity. Striking a balance that challenges his body without risking overtraining is crucial—no excuses, no quitting, but no compromising recovery.

Acknowledging the pitfalls of extreme training, Brendan opts for a more sustainable path. Ultra-marathon runners, studied for their aging patterns, revealed that pushing too hard could accelerate aging. The quest for longevity through exercise involves finding the sweet spot—pushing oneself without exceeding limits. Enter high-intensity interval training (HIIT), a program hailed by researchers for its ability to strike this balance effectively.

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HIIT’s principle involves pushing to the maximum intensity for short bursts, followed by a break allowing the heart rate to settle back to around 60% of capacity. This cycle, coupled with resistance exercise, addresses the two vital components of long-term health: cardio and strength. Brendan’s commitment to this balanced and efficient exercise regimen underscores his dedication to optimizing his well-being for the journey ahead.

If Brendan knows how to slow down aging through the right diet and exercise, what are the areas of life that will cause his internal clock to tick faster, causing him to grow old ahead of his chronological age? Acknowledging the well-known culprits like smoking and binge drinking, Brendan focuses on the paradoxical relationship between moderate stress, daily stressors, and their impact on the aging process.

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In Brendan’s exploration, he recognizes that while the key to slowing down aging lies in building resilience through moderate stress, the day-to-day stress in our lives seems to counterintuitively speed up our biological clocks. Work-related anxieties, financial stress, or the perennial feeling of time scarcity trigger the production of cortisol, initiating the body’s fight or flight response.

While cortisol itself is not inherently harmful, the problem arises when its production remains active throughout the day, fuelled by a ceaseless influx of text and email alerts, social commitments, and even concerns about the taste of a meatless chili. Brendan reflects on Dr. Levine’s insights, emphasizing that, despite our stable physical needs for shelter and food, the modern era introduces higher levels of daily stress, impacting sleep quality and compromising the immune system’s ability to ward off sickness and disease.

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Understanding that reducing stress isn’t as straightforward as changing dietary habits or incorporating exercise, Brendan cites Stanford researchers who assert that transforming how stress is perceived can significantly alter its effects on health and performance. Individuals who embrace the positive aspects of stress, viewing it as an energy source and motivator, tend to perform better and experience positive health effects compared to those who solely perceive stress as a negative force to be avoided.

Brendan identifies a second key to mitigating the adverse impacts of stress—fostering a mindset that emphasizes the ability to succeed despite difficult circumstances and a willingness to reach out to others before feeling overwhelmed and run down. This insight leads Brendan to a broader societal observation, noting a sharp decrease in social connections and a rise in loneliness among young people. He laments the shift towards spending more time alone, a trend exacerbated by factors like technology, modern work culture, and urban environments fostering isolation.

Sharing a personal note about moving to a new city during lockdowns, Brendan admits to the challenges of building new connections and finding close friendships. Despite acknowledging the complexities of addressing societal changes contributing to loneliness, Brendan emphasizes the individual responsibility to invest effort in building and maintaining friendships. He encourages a shift in priorities, urging people to allocate time for social interactions alongside work, exercise, and personal pursuits.

Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

In Brendan’s view, there’s no ideal number of friends, but the consensus suggests that maintaining three to six close relationships is sufficient for a rich and socially fulfilling life. While building connections may not be inherently easy, Brendan underscores the significance of starting with one or two meaningful connections, positioning individuals halfway towards a socially fulfilling life.

According to Brendan Jones’ exploration of staying young, three key habits include:

1. Moderate Stress with Resilience Building:
   • Embrace moderate stress that pushes individuals out of their comfort zones, fostering resilience.
   • View stress as a positive force that energises and motivates rather than solely a negative to be avoided.
   • Cultivate a mindset that emphasizes the ability to succeed despite difficult circumstances.
2. Mindful Diet and Exercise:
   • Adopt a diet that promotes longevity, considering factors like calorie restriction, time-restricted eating, and choosing plant-based proteins over heavy reliance on animal proteins.
   • Engage in exercise with moderation, focusing on finding a balance that challenges the body without leading to overtraining.
   • Incorporate high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and resistance exercise for optimal cardiovascular and strength benefits.
3. Nurture Social Connections:
   • Prioritise building and maintaining meaningful social connections.
   • Acknowledge the importance of friendships for both mental and physical health.
   • Actively invest time and effort in fostering social relationships, understanding that even a small handful of close connections can contribute to a socially fulfilling life.

Drawing inspiration from Dr. Levine’s book, Brendan’s biggest takeaway is the power of small changes. He rejects the notion that drastic measures like working out for six hours a day or spending millions of dollars are prerequisites for slowing the effects of aging. Instead, Brendan advocates for meaningful changes tailored to individual lifestyles and schedules, urging others not to let stress weigh them down. In a concluding note, Brendan reassures readers to embrace the aging process and not to panic when blowing out the candles on their birthdays.

These habits, according to Brendan, offer a holistic approach to slowing down the aging process, emphasizing the power of small changes tailored to individual lifestyles.

Watch his video below for all the information you want about these 3 habits you should have to stay young.

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Max Posternak’s standing in the fitness realm is cemented as the founder of Gravity Transformation, a hub that has garnered substantial popularity by furnishing actionable tips and training directives to individuals striving to enhance their physical fitness and shed excess weight. With an extensive YouTube following exceeding 5.5 million subscribers, his reach and influence are undeniable.

Posternak knows there’s a plethora of quick fixes out there—detox drinks, cold showers, magical fat-burning pills, you name it. While these might contribute a bit to the weight loss process, Max isn’t here to sell illusions. He admits that, at best, these tricks might help you burn an extra 50 to 100 calories a day—not exactly a game-changer – but please, don’t take any medicine without talking with a doctor first.

And the truth is, no matter how lazy you might feel, weight loss requires some effort. There’s no way around it. But Max is here to guide you on how to mentally prepare yourself, even if you’re the laziest person on the planet. So, buckle up for five ways to get your head in the game and lose weight.

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First up, responsibility. Max throws the ball in your court—your body, your responsibility. No one else is going to do it for you. Not your doctor, not your family, not even your personal trainer. It’s all on you. Max emphasizes that the current state of your body is a result of the decisions you’ve made over time. If you want to change it, you need to change your daily decisions. It’s a call to take charge, no excuses.

Max’s second tip is about control. To be in control of your body, you need to align with the nurturer perspective, not the nature perspective. Nature might play a role in your genetic makeup, but nurture—your environment and choices—plays a more significant role. If you believe you’re at the mercy of your genes, it’s time to shift that mindset. Take control, believe you can change, and align yourself with the nurture philosophy.

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Moving on to the third tip: discipline. Max understands that every time you skip a workout because you’re tired or lazy, it gets easier to do it again in the future. Discipline is the key to building momentum. By pushing through the pain and staying disciplined, you’re wiring your brain for success. And guess what? This discipline spills over into other areas of your life. If you can take the easy way out with your body, why not in education, career, or relationships?

Now, let’s dismantle limiting beliefs. Max encourages you to write down all those beliefs that strip power and control from your hands. Whether it’s “I’m predisposed to obesity” or “I’m not naturally athletic,” jot them down. Then, list the consequences of holding onto these beliefs. Finally, dispute them with more empowering and objective beliefs. It’s about challenging those thoughts that hold you back.

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Last but not least, consistency. Max suggests introducing penalties for not sticking to your plan. The human brain, it seems, works harder to avoid losing what it already has than to gain something new. So, whether it’s giving a friend $100 to take $10 for every missed workout or buying clothes a size too small as a reminder, find a way to keep yourself consistent.

Source: Tristan Le on Pexels

So, there you have it. Max Posternak’s no-nonsense guide to preparing your mind for weight loss, even if you’re feeling a bit lazy. It’s about taking responsibility, seizing control, staying disciplined, challenging limiting beliefs, and finding ways to stay consistent. After all, weight loss might be a journey, but it starts with the right mindset.

For a full explanation in video format, click it below.

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Reducing body fat percentage involves a multifaceted approach beyond just nutrition. While diet plays a significant role, incorporating certain lifestyle changes and exercise strategies can also contribute to fat reduction. Here are some effective methods:

• Regular Physical Activity: Engage in a combination of cardiovascular and resistance training exercises to boost metabolism and promote fat loss.
• Strength Training: Building lean muscle mass increases your resting metabolic rate, allowing you to burn more calories even at rest.
• High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): HIIT can accelerate calorie burn and fat loss compared to steady-state cardio.
• Aerobic Exercise: Longer-duration activities like jogging or brisk walking help create a calorie deficit over time.
• Consistent Physical Activity: Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity each week, along with muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days per week.
• Sleep Quality: Prioritize quality sleep, aiming for 7-9 hours per night.
• Stress Management: Manage stress through techniques like meditation, deep breathing, yoga, or spending time in nature.
• Hydration: Drink enough water to control appetite and support metabolism.
• Mindful Eating: Pay attention to portion sizes and eat slowly to prevent overeating.
• Reduce Sugary Foods and Beverages: Limit sugary items, as they can contribute to weight gain and insulin resistance.
• Limit Alcohol: Alcohol can add extra calories and hinder fat loss efforts, so it’s advisable to limit consumption.
• Stay Active Throughout the Day: Incorporate movement into your daily routine, like taking the stairs or walking instead of driving.
• Track Progress: Keep records of your workouts and measurements to stay motivated and make adjustments if necessary.
• Patience: Sustainable fat loss takes time, so avoid extreme diets and drastic changes.

In conclusion, consistency is vital for successful weight loss as it establishes sustainable, healthy habits. It helps create a calorie deficit, builds momentum, develops discipline, offers measurable results, and ingrains new habits. By consistently adhering to a balanced diet and exercise plan, long-term weight loss success is achievable. Always consult with a healthcare or fitness professional before making significant changes to your routine, especially if you have underlying health conditions or are new to exercise.

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We will go on a hunch here and say you, the person who is reading this right now, have done a fast diet at some point trying to lose weight. Perhaps you have also tried a fitness challenge to see your body get leaner and healthier.

And, again with the hunch, it probably worked out. At least for a while. The thing with diets that you see online is that they work and give fast results if your eating habits were very bad in the first place. If you were accustomed to eating junk food every other day, cutting down on them completely will definitely help you lose weight as those extra calories are not getting into your body.

So the diet or fitness program helped you before, you saw some results, but eventually stop doing everything altogether and got back to square one. If this sounds familiar, it is because most of us have gone through this process at some point.

But how can we change that? Is it even possible? Is there a mindset trick that will get you fit forever? That is what Mario Tomic tries to explain.

Mario Tomic is an entrepreneur who helps other busy working professionals get fit and build a sustainable and healthy lifestyle.

Tomic talked about how to get fit and the mindset trick that will get you fit forever. See it for yourself.

Mindset Trick That Will Get You Fit Forever

One thing Mario Tomic explains and that most people already know, is that changing habits long-term is incredibly difficult. “There is a big difference between changing temporarily what you do, versus changing who you are. And that is exactly what most people fail to do.”

“if you want results that stick around, you have to start thinking about how do you make fitness a part of who you are, to permanently integrate into your life.”

The mindset trick that will get you fit forever is also thinking of exercise and nutrition as part of your personal hygiene. “If life gets busy or you go on holidays, you don’t stop brushing your teeth and taking showers.”

When it comes to losing body fat and staying lean forever, the mechanics are straightforward. You only need to:

• Be in a caloric deficit
• Get enough protein
• Lift weights
• Do more walking and stay active
• Sleep between 7-8 hours

The hardest part is consistency and making it part of your routine. One mindset trick that will get you fit forever that Tomic uses is thinking of consistency over perfection.

Some people think binary, you are either in a program to lose weight or you are not. That is not helpful in the long term and this is what we are after here.

“As soon as something comes up, which eventually will happen no matter what, because they are in quote-unquote program, it’s easy just to go off the program and then the whole routine goes out the window and everything just falls apart,” Tomic says. “This is a very flawed mindset to be in if you’re looking for long-term results.”

Don’t give up on your body when things get harder. Instead, you learn from your mistakes, you research better ways, you iterate, and that is how you get better over time.

And that is Mario Tomic’s mindset trick that will get you fit forever. To see his full explanation, click on the video below.

VIDEO – Mindset Trick That Will Get You Fit Forever

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Most experts agree that the best way to make lasting changes is to take it slow and focus on one thing at a time. Trying to change too many things at once is often overwhelming, and can lead to feeling stressed and overwhelmed. This can actually make it harder to stick to your goals in the long run.

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How to Build Good Habits for Life

It’s important to remember that change is a process, and it takes time. There will be setbacks along the way, but if you keep your eye on the prize and don’t give up, eventually you will reach your goals. With that in mind, here are a few tips on how to build good habits for life, sport, and healthy eating:

Set realistic goals

How to build good habits for life? Turn your goals into simpler and attainable tasks.

Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

Don’t try to change everything at once. Focus on one or two things that you want to change and set realistic goals. For example, if you want to eat healthier, your goal might be to eat more fruits and vegetables or to cook more meals at home. It’s important to be specific so that you can measure your progress.

Being vague won’t help you stick to your goals. For example, saying you want to “eat healthier” is not as specific as saying you want to “eat three servings of fruits and vegetables every day.”

If your goal is too general, it will be harder to stay on track. Hitting the gym three times a week is a more specific goal than saying you want to “exercise more.”

How to Build Good Habits for Life – Eat 5-6 small meals a day

Eating smaller meals more often is a good way to control your hunger and make sure you’re getting the nutrients your body needs. It can also help you avoid overeating, which can lead to weight gain. Planning your meals in advance can help make sure you’re getting the right mix of nutrients.

Smaller meals also tend to be easier to digest than large meals, so you’ll have more energy to power through your day. If you’re trying to lose weight, eating smaller meals can also help boost your metabolism. Most importantly, you need to make sure that each meal contains a balance of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. This way, you’ll stay satisfied and have sustainable energy throughout the day.

Read More: 7 Healthy Eating Habits All Fitness Enthusiasts Should Follow

Incorporate healthy fats into your diet

Healthy fats are an important part of a balanced diet. They help you absorb essential vitamins, keep your skin and hair healthy, and provide your body with energy. However, not all fats are created equal.

Saturated fats, which are found in animal products like butter and cheese, can raise your cholesterol levels and increase your risk for heart disease. Trans fats, which are found in processed foods like cookies and crackers, can also raise your cholesterol levels and increase your risk for heart disease.

On the other hand, unsaturated fats, which are found in fish, nuts, and seeds, can actually help improve your cholesterol levels and reduce your risk for heart disease. So, when you’re incorporating healthy fats into your diet, be sure to choose unsaturated fats over saturated and trans fats.

Get Enough Protein – How to Build Good Habits for Life

Protein is an important nutrient that helps your body repair and builds muscle tissue. It’s also necessary for a healthy immune system. If you’re not getting enough protein, you may experience fatigue, muscle weakness, and a decreased appetite.

It’s important to get protein from a variety of sources, including lean meats, poultry, fish, tofu, legumes, and eggs. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, it’s especially important to make sure you’re getting enough protein.

Drink plenty of water

Water is essential for good health, and it’s also a great way to get fuller on fewer calories. Drinking water before meals can help you eat less, and it’s also been shown to boost metabolism. Aim to drink eight glasses of water a day, and more if you exercise regularly or are in a hot climate.

Make time for breakfast

If you want to know how to build good habits for life, begin the day with a healthy breakfast. Skipping breakfast can make you more likely to overeat later in the day. That’s because when you skip meals, your body goes into “starvation mode” and starts to store calories instead of burning them.

Eating breakfast jump-starts your metabolism and gives you energy to power through your day. It doesn’t have to be a big meal, either. A bowl of whole-grain cereal with milk or a piece of fruit and some yoghurt is all you need. Eggs are also a great option, as they’re packed with protein and nutrients. It’s all about starting your day off right!

Get active for 30 minutes a day

Exercise is important for both physical and mental health. It can help reduce stress, improve your mood, and boost your energy level. Just 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day is all you need to see benefits. It doesn’t have to be all at once, either. You can break it up into three 10-minute sessions throughout the day.

You don’t have to go to the gym to get active. Taking a brisk walk, going for a bike ride, or even playing with your kids or pets are all great ways to get moving. It’s important to find an activity that you enjoy so that you’re more likely to stick with it. Think about what kinds of things make you happy and try to incorporate them into your daily routine.

Read More: Workout at Home – 14 Workouts, Additional Exercises and Extra Tips

Make time for yourself – How to Build Good Habits for Life

It’s important to make time for yourself every day to do things you enjoy. This can help reduce stress and improve your mood. If you’re struggling to find time for yourself, try waking up 30 minutes early or going to bed 30 minutes later so you can have some time to yourself.

Many people find it helpful to schedule their “me time” into their day, just like they would any other appointment.

This can help you make sure you don’t forget to take care of yourself. Your “me time” can be anything you want, whether it’s reading, taking a bath, taking a walk, or anything else that brings you joy. Make sure it’s something you look forward to so that you’re more likely to stick with it.

Stick to a sleep schedule

Getting enough sleep is important for both physical and mental health. When you’re well-rested, you’re more likely to have the energy to exercise, eat healthy foods, and stick to your goals. Most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep a night.

To help you get enough sleep, stick to a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends. This can help train your body to wind down so you can fall asleep more easily.

Wrapping Up

Building a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be complicated. By following these simple tips, you can make small changes that will lead to big results. Just remember to be patient, as it takes time to develop new habits. And don’t be too hard on yourself if you slip up – we all make mistakes. Just get back on track and keep moving forward!

Read More: Should You Eat Fruits While Working Out?

Are You Training Hard Enough?

“If you want to build muscle and see results then you have to train hard enough.  The problem is, many people do not and simply have no way to know if they are or not in the first place.  In this video, I show you how to tell if you are training hard enough to see results from your workouts.  The answer may not be exactly what you want to hear, but I can promise you that it is the answer that you need to hear if you are going to make gains.”

“The first thing you must realize is that getting gains has nothing to do with the type of music you listen to when you are working out, the sounds you make when lifting or even the amount that you sweat.  The only thing that matters is effort.  In fact, it can be summarized even more specifically by the fact that you want to take from your body more than what it is willing to give you at that time.”

Are You Training Hard Enough?

“Many of us never work out hard enough to see the results we are capable of.  Often times, we will have a set number in our head for how many reps we are going to perform in a given set.  When we reach that number we put the weights down, regardless of whether we could actually have performed another rep or two.  If you do this, you are selling yourself short and you will not get the results that you want.”

“Others will lose count during the set but it isn’t because they are revelling in the amount of burn that they feel as the reps accumulate or because of being lost in the intensity.  Instead, it is because of the fact that their mind is elsewhere and not concentrating on what they are doing in the exercise.  They are coasting through yet another workout.”

“Your goal when you train at the gym should always be to do something that you never did before today.  When you do, the goal should be to do that again tomorrow.  Nobody is ever going to be able to tell you whether your effort is what it needs to be.  Only you will know that answer.  That said, while nobody will know what true effort will look like, we all know what it should feel like…and it should never feel easy!”

Are You Training Hard Enough?

“Nothing in life is worth having that isn’t a struggle to get in the first place.  If looking great was easy, we would all walk around looking like Frank Zane but we do not.  The bottom line is, if you want to build muscle and get strong then you better get comfortable being uncomfortable.”

“At the same time, you don’t want to just train like an animal without a purpose.  Training intelligently with a plan is the only way that you will be able to work out at a high intensity day after day and still reach your goals without overtraining or preventing your body from recovering between workouts.  You see, the holy grail of lifting is to not just train hard but to see how smart you can be about training hard.  Purpose combined with intensity is where gains really come.”

Video – Are You Training Hard Enough?

Learn More

Add the Pallof Press and Cable Crunch into your training.

Try BOXROX Pro.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Mark Twain

What are SMART Goals?

SMART Goals are a technique for helping to define, describe and measure the conception, process and success of setting and achieving goals.

Source: Photo Courtesy of CrossFit Inc

Where do SMART Goals Come From?

SMART Goals are attributed to Peter Drucker’s Management by Objectives concept.

The term was first stated in the 1981 issue of Management Review by George T. Doran.

How Will SMART Goals Help Me?

The system will give you a framework to help you do what you intend to do.

They will help you to make your plans specific and clear, then provide you will the right methods to achieve those goals.

“Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity.” Bruce Lee

What does SMART Stand For?

SMART is an acronym that stands for the following:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time Based

The concept has been partially expanded to SMARTER, in order to include Evaluated and Reviewed.

For this article we will concentrate primarily on the original SMART plan.

Let’s break the acronym down.

Specific

Each goal that you set must be specific.

The process of defining a specific goal is a great micro exercise to help you focus on exactly what you want to achieve and why.

For example, the goals of “getting fitter” or “losing weight” are not specific goals. They are vague.

They would need to be defined more deeply in order to become specific.

Source: CrossFit Inc.

Let’s take a closer look.

• “I want to get fitter next year” becomes “I want to run three times every week and complete a half marathon in 2022”
• “I want to lose weight next year” becomes “I want to lose 5kg in 2022”

When you are thinking about your goal, ask yourself the following five questions:

• What do I want to accomplish?
• Why is this goal important?
• Who is involved?
• Where is it located?
• Which resources or limits are involved?

“You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” Carl Jung

Measurable

Each goal must be measurable.

This means that the goal is defined in a way where the progress can be tracked and the completion of the goal can be objectively marked as complete.

For example, “I want to save 500 EUR every month in 2022” or “I want to add 10KG to my Squat 1 rep max in 2022”.

With both of these it is pretty easy to sit down at the end of the year and see if they have been completed or not.

Ask yourself the following questions when you are making your goals:

• How much?
• How will I know when the goal is accomplished?
• How many?

Achievable

The goal needs to be achievable and realistic.

It should make you push beyond your limitations, but it must also be something that is within the realms of possibility.

Be honest about current fitness levels, training opportunities, facilities, resources etc.

If you are completely new to CrossFit and want to start in 2022, it wouldn’t be realistic to say that you want to make it to the CrossFit Games in 2022.

However, if you love to compete, an achievable goal might be to compete in at least one local CrossFit competition before the end of 2022.

Ask yourself these questions:

• How can I accomplish this goal?
• How realistic is the goal, based on other constraints, such as financial factors?
• Am I motivated for this goal?

Relevant

It sounds obvious and slightly odd, but you must make sure that each goal is relevant to your life, ambitions and conditions.

For example, let’s say an individual wanted to start open water swimming and complete a 5km sea swim in 2022.

This goal is specific, measurable, achievable and relevant…for some.

For example, to a keen swimmer that lives in Brighton in England (next to the sea) or a Slovenian athlete that lives near Lake Bled, the necessary training would be easy to do and the goal would be relevant to their conditions.

On the other hand, this same goal, to an athlete of similar physical capabilities, might not be as relevant if they lived in a land locked and arid state in the USA and lacked any way or resources to get to the sea or lakes to train and complete the goal.

Relevance is not a deal breaker, but it does play a big role in goal setting and should be thought about.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Is this the right time for this particular goal?
• Does this seem worthwhile?
• Does this match my other efforts/needs?
• Am I the right person to reach this goal?
• Is it applicable in the current socio-economic environment?

Time-Based

Every goal needs a deadline.

This will help to motivate you and give you a sense of urgency.

It also assists, psychologically, to force you to ascribe energy to the tasks that will actually help you achieve the goal itself, not just mundane and irrelevant other tasks that are not actually important in the long run.

For example, “I want to lose 5kg by the end of 2022”

Ask yourself these simple questions:

• When?
• What can I do today to get me closer to my goal?
• What can I do six weeks from now?
• What can I do six months from now?

Having Control over the Goal

This is another very important point.

You need to make sure that you set goals that you have control over.

For example, “winning one CrossFit competition” also depends on the other athletes that compete. You could improve 100x, become a phenomenal athlete and then a pro athlete shows up unannounced on the day and obviously takes the win.

In that case you shouldn’t be any less proud of the progress you made, however you would not have completed the goal.

You could realign the goal in order to maximise the control you have over it. For example, “My goal is to train 5 times a week, cut out sugar and take part in one CrossFit competition in 2022”.

Then whether you win or lose, you have still completed the goal and improved your ability, health and expanded your horizons as an athlete and human.

Trust in the Process

Maya Angelou said that “all great achievements require time”.

This is especially for goals.

When you design your goals they should scare you slightly, that is a good indication that they are worth working for.

Set you process up then trust in the process. Think about what you can do each day, week, month and year in order to achieve them.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” Henry David Thoreau

Learn More

Improve your body with the Wide Grip Pull Down or these Lat Exercises.

Success, in most cases, doesn’t mean qualifying to the CrossFit Games. For some, it means stringing double-unders, achieving a muscle up or finally being able to do a solid handstand walk. It can also mean getting fitter or losing weight.

Whatever success means to you, these five realities might be interfering with your progress and be the reason why you’re not more successful at CrossFit.

1. YOU’RE NOT CONSISTENT WITH YOUR TRAINING

Of course a good gym, a coach and a good program all impact your journey to success in CrossFit, however, if you’re not consistent with your training none of this will matter.

IF YOU ONLY SHOW UP SPORADICALLY, WHENEVER LIFE DOESN’T GET IN THE WAY, YOU WILL PROGRESS SLOWER THAN THE ATHLETE THAT IS AT THE BOX FIVE DAYS A WEEK EVERY SINGLE WEEK.

We all know of someone who will only show up when they’ve got a holiday planned and want to look well, or set a resolution to train but never stick to it. Many athletes who make excuses every week, and while they always find a different excuse not to train, the outcome is the same: they don’t show up consistently.

If you keep convincing yourself you’re too tired, it’s too cold, you haven’t eaten yet, you’re too busy today – who knows how many other excuses we’ve convinced ourselves of – you’ll only slow down your progress.

Psychological obstacles such as distractions, temptations and lack of motivation intervene in the same way for everyone, what makes an athlete successful is their capacity to tackle them.

2. YOU HAVEN’T DIALED-IN YOUR NUTRITION

Nutrition is the foundation for fitness and health.

If you spend hours at the gym, work on your power, strength, technique and endurance, but complement that with a bad diet you won’t reap the full results your training plan could offer. In addition, your risk of injury is increased and you’d be more prone to poor health.

“YOU CANNOT OUT-EXERCISE A BAD DIET. TO REAP THE FULL REWARDS OF THE CROSSFIT PROGRAM, WORK OUT REGULARLY AND OPTIMIZE YOUR NUTRITION,” STATES CROSSFIT.

The effects of nutrition in your performance and health are undeniable. Everything you put in your mouth, in either solid or liquid form, is either helping you achieve your goal or hindering your progress. Make sure you understand the basics and make them a habit.

Source: RX'd Photography

Ways to make nutrition easier for you include:

• Individualising your nutrition: what works for some is the downfall of others. Follow a healthy diet that fits with your lifestyle, dietary restrictions and taste. There are general healthy eating guidelines you should follow, but outside from that you should individualise your diet.
• Minimalise the stress of decision: deciding what to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, pre workout, etc. can be overwhelming. Employing some simple strategies to minimise the stress of making these type of decisions, such as meal prepping or having a quick go-to meal, can help you keep on track and stay on top of your nutrition regardless of the situation.

Eat the best quality produce that your budget allows for and dial in your nutrition, as this is the reason many athletes’ progress stagnates.

How to Build Excellent Nutritional Strategies for Training and Recovery

3. YOUR RECOVERY ROUTINE LEAVES MUCH TO ASK FOR

When we train we apply stress to the body. The body reacts in such a way as to meet the demands of the stress and prevent damage.

In the post training period the body will try to reverse the impact of stress induced by training, making us fitter and stronger. In order to get the most benefit, you should let your body recover fully from one workout before you train again.

If you’re constantly stressed, never take rest days, or sleep poorly every night, this recovery process is hindered and you won’t be able to make the most out of your training (an exponentially increase your risk of injury).

How Sleep Affects Recovery, Performance and Health for CrossFit Athletes

4. YOU’VE NEGLECTED FOUNDATIONAL STRENGTH AND MOBILITY WORK

One of the big reasons why you’re not able to do butterfly pull-ups, snatch your bodyweight or do three handstand push-ups is because you’re not strong enough, it’s that simple.

FOUNDATIONAL STRENGTH IS PARAMOUNT TO CROSSFIT SUCCESS. EVERY EXERCISE, FROM GYMNASTIC MOVEMENTS TO BAR COMPLEXES AND EVEN BODYWEIGHT WORKOUTS REQUIRE A SOLID FOUNDATION OF STRENGTH.

Good foundational strength in basic exercises will translate directly to more complex ones. For example, it is clear how a deadlift can help the initial stages of the snatch, however, deadlifts also improve your grip strength and they are a great exercise to strengthen your core, consequently making your Rope Climbs or Muscle-Ups more efficient.

Strength and flexibility are also intrinsically tied together. You might have good foundational strength, but you won’t be able to perform properly without strength and mobility working together.

For example, a squat requires full range of motion (heels on the ground, neutral spine), as well as the strength to support the additional load of the barbell. You need mobility to improve strength and strength to improve mobility.

To become a more successful CrossFit athlete you need to train to develop strength and flexibility in the specific ranges of motions each exercise demands of you.

5. YOU DON’T TACKLE YOUR WEAKNESSES

The first step towards CrossFit success is identifying your weaknesses, the next is working on tacking them. Start by identifying where there are issues; once you know and acknowledge there is a problem you can do something about it.

If you skip workouts because you don’t like running or cherry pick to only train those days where your strengths come up you might have lots of fun, but you’ll never get better at the things you don’t like because you don’t expose yourself to them.

It’s easy to avoid the things we believe aren’t our strengths because if you hate (or are scared of) doing something, you’re less willing to go through the process of doing it. This only means your progress will stagnate.

Sometimes, the sheer magnitude of a task can seem overwhelming, and every time you try to improve you simply get frustrated by your failures. Instead of trying to do all at once, start with small, manageable chunks and stay consistent.

For example, if you’re working on your double unders, practice them every day for five minutes. Set that time cap so you stop before frustration kicks in and make sure you practice every single day (if you’re serious about wanting to improve).

THIS APPLIES TO EVERYTHING: YOUR ENDURANCE, YOUR SPEED, YOUR POWER – WORK SEPARATELY ON YOUR WEAKNESSES AND YOU WILL CONTINUE TO PROGRESS ON YOUR FITNESS JOURNEY.

There will always be obstacles to doing something, however, to be more successful at CrossFit you should know to prioritise your health and learn how to navigate and overcome these obstacles.

Why not get started now?

Why Is Mental Fitness Important in CrossFit?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, mindset is “a set of attitudes or fixed ideas that someone has and that are often difficult to change.” Your mindset influences how you feel, think, and behave in any given situation.

In a sporting context, mindset can determine the outcome of your training efforts.

“The gym is one of the best contexts to build mental fortitude,” says Certified CrossFit Level 3 Trainer Juan Acevedo, who offers more insight into the topic below. “It is a controlled environment and the stakes are low.”

Mindset is much broader than what we realise when we first think of it, and its importance and how to best approach and optimise it varies from person to person.

Learn these important mindset tips from the best in the sport.

Important Mindset Tips from 6 Extraordinary CrossFit Coaches

Caroline Lambray

• “Find joy in the process. For many CrossFitters the guidance and constant challenge the workouts provided when we started fade away. As we start focusing on outcomes instead of the process. And the process has to be enjoyable. Everything is an opportunity.”

Caroline sees mindset as the defining factor of how we view the world and therefore, how we think we can or should respond to it. To her, its importance depends on our goals. “In the context of performance – whether that be in sport, business, arts, etc – when we are trying to be the best or even our best it matters more,” she says.

“It matters more because this is a controllable factor that we can work on to improve results.”

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To develop someone’s mindset, she first tries to understand who they are and where they’re coming from. “‘Improving mindset’ for its own sake can be detrimental,” she says, but once you understand a person and their goals you can establish a plan to help them develop or reinforce the skillset they will need improve their mindset.

“You’ll have good days and bad days of training but finding the opportunities that make it enjoyable in both is crucial,” she says.

Caroline Lambray is a Certified CrossFit Level 3 Trainer, owner of CrossFit Wonderland, and coach to the 5th Fittest Man on Earth in 2020, Jeffrey Adler.

James Townsend

• “Everyone believes in you but it’s ultimately up to you to believe in you. Tunnel vision.”

To James, mindset is everything, but you can’t work on building an unbreakable mindset without faith and trust first.

“Your faith is the foundation of your being. It’s who you are and who God is moulding you to be. Trust is the pillars of the foundation,” he says. “You have to trust and believe in yourself before achieving greatness or becoming the athlete you want to be. These two things will build a solid, unbreakable mindset.”

He teaches his athletes to be brave inside the gym before they try to be brave on the competition floor. “You have to go through the pains to grow through them on the comp floor,” he says. “The braver you are in the gym, the braver you will become outside of the gym.”

Source: James Townsend

James Townsend is the coach of teenage powerhouse Mal O’Brien. She recently finished 7th at the CrossFit Games (while being eligible to compete in the Teenage division) and won the 2021 Rookie of the Year award.

John Singleton

• “Everything starts with believing in yourself. How often do you say to yourself ‘well done’ or ‘great job’, being proud of your own effort each day and how far you have come is very important.”

John believes that if you truly think you can achieve something, it is significantly more likely you will achieve it.

Source: John Singleton

“To me, [mindset] represents someone’s approach to life and the underlying thought process of how they respond to situations,” John said. “I am sure we all know people who have the ability to turn a seemingly bad situation into a great opportunity, I believe that mindset plays a crucial role in this ability.”

To him, creating an environment where people are able to succeed – no matter how big or small that success is – is a major factor of both physical and mental development, and helps create a positive mindset.

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John Singleton is the head coach and founder at The Progrm, one of Europe’s most successful training programs. He is a Certified CrossFit Level 3 Trainer and coaches top CrossFit Games athletes like Gabriela Migała and Jacqueline Dahlstrøm.

Migała recently finished 3rd at the Rogue Invitational and Dahlstrøm became the third woman to win two Sanctionals in a season in 2019, taking gold at both the Reykjavik CrossFit Championship and the French Throwdown.

Juan Acevedo

• “Track your lap times. Most pacing errors come from not having a realistic sense of personal capacity, the anxiety created by how much of a workout you have left, and focusing too much on the score of the workout. Not falling for those errors is the true expression of mental fortitude.”

Juan believes that mindset is way deeper than what we associate the word with nowadays; he thinks the concept has become so popular it has lost its specificity. “When a person says mindset most of the time they just mean attitude,” he says.

“A mindset is formed by ideas that we use to define our sense of self in a deep way,” he continues. “Our mindsets mediate all our behaviours and therefore determine the outcomes of our lives.” He acknowledges they’re not the only variables, but it is one we can observe and change, and therefore mindset work is fundamental.

“One important aspect of mindset is that is not fixed nor universal. You can have different mindsets in different contexts,” Juan says. He sees this with his clients, who can have an incredibly awesome growth mindset for the activities they’re good at, but a mean mindset in settings they don’t think they excel at.

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The way he helps athletes is by shifting their focus, advancing them from obsessing over their current state to falling in love with the forging of their current direction. As a coach, he aims to provide the context for them to start believing they are resilient, perseverant, and capable.

Building self-belief through achievable challenges develops their mindset, although you should not focus on outcomes, but behaviours. Identify where you want to express mental fortitude – change self-sabotaging, perfectionism, avoidance, emotional illiteracy, or something else – and intentionally work on the area.

He recommends the following exercise: “If you were to write a celebratory journalistic piece describing your character and performance as an athlete, what would you want it to say? Knowing and visualizing your own personal biopic can become the ultimate motivation. Moreover, when you find yourself stuck it will become a super useful tool because it will allow answering the question: ‘what would this super version of me do in this situation?’”

Juan Acevedo, PhD, is a Certified CrossFit Level 3 Trainer and founder of Self Mastery Training, where he teaches people how to align their mindset, fitness, and nutrition habits. He doesn’t coach high-level athletes, but has transformed the lives of many everyday athletes like you and I. You can find more of his work here.

Rob Forte

• “Your body is a good servant, not a good master. Our bodies can be lazy and complain a lot (negative thoughts). You the consciousness needs to overcome and push your body in order to develop mental toughness. […] When you feel fatigued or want to stop, that’s your cue to go harder or get a few more reps.”

To Rob, mindset is the mental picture that illustrates to us the world we live in and thus influences how we act. “We don’t see the world as it is, we see it through our own unique lens which is projected from our beliefs and perceptions,” he says.

He believes developing your mindset can be the difference between achieving your goals and not achieving them, taking responsibility or being a victim of circumstances, happy and being miserable, contributing to your community or being a liability.

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A post shared by Rob Forte (@rob_forte)

To start to grow your mindset, you should develop high levels of self-awareness. “In order to achieve something different or to reach the next level, we must change or grow,” he says. “We need to become very aware of the aspects of ourselves that no longer serve us and begin to make different choices.”

“It is important to understand that thoughts influence feelings (emotions) and feelings influence thoughts- it’s a cycle,” he says. Pay attention to both, as knowing, understanding, and applying this can help you transform your mindset.

“You have been gifted with one of the greatest abilities- the ability to choose. You can choose to break the negative cycle by believing in yourself and your dreams again,” he says. “You’ll write down your goals and who you want to become so your vision of the future becomes greater than your limited past.”

Rob Forte is a CrossFit Level 2 Trainer and the cofounder of the online training program We Are Unifyd. He is also a seven-time CrossFit Games individual athlete and coaches incredible Australian athletes such as Jay Crouch and Maddie Sturt.

Juan ‘Maka’ Coronel

• “Spend time getting to know how your mindset works and its characteristics so you can start exploring and working on it during daily life. At high levels of stress characteristics of how our mindset is shaped and how we use it are revealed; we lose the ability to make up some excuses to invent others, […] it is our self-preservation instinct, but applying serious mindset work we can ‘hack’ this.”*

To Juan, mindset encompasses our history, upbringing, and experiences and conforms our mental resources. He knows it is ever present in sport and it can determine the final result, many times even independently of physical performance.

“The winner is the one who can best leverage the average of their resources (physical and mental) at a given moment,” he says.

Source: Juan Maka Coronel

He believes mindset, like any other capacity, should be worked on and trained daily, as part of your routine. Figure out which aspects of mindset you are strong and weaker in – anxiety, fears, expectations, losses and victories – so that it becomes easier to reinforce or revert them.

As a coach, he tries to guide his athletes towards identifying and dealing with their emotions and recognise positive and negative habits on a daily basis. He programs to expose athletes not only to their physical weaknesses, but also their inner frustrations, stresses, and limitations so they grow their self-awareness.

“Everything is modifiable as required, but not without hard work; talking to the athlete is the key, as is creating a bubble of trust so that they can say what is going on and how they are feeling on a macro and micro level,” he says.

“The capacity for Neuroplasticity that we possess is inexhaustible, but just like strength or aerobic power, it requires systematisation in its training.”

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A post shared by Juan “Maka” Coronel (@juanmakacoronel)

Juan ‘Maka’ Coronel is South America’s most prominent high-level CrossFit coach. Eight of his athletes qualified for the 2020 CrossFit Games, including powerhouses such as Simona Quintana and Maximiliano Arigossi.

*Juan’s answers were translated from Spanish by Caro Kyllmann.

Athletes of all levels have to know how to navigate self-talk and the stories each mind creates revolving around training sessions and perceived success.

Ben Bergeron, a celebrated CrossFit coach, is known for his unique approach towards mindset in training and coaches athletes such as Katrin Davidsdottir, Cole Sager and Chandler Smith.

During the episode “Mindset Strategies for your Next Workout” of his Chasing Excellence podcast, Bergeron outlines the power of mindset and discusses mindset strategies to use before, during and after your workout to help you succeed in the sport.

MINDSET STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE FULL ATHLETIC POTENTIAL

How to train your mind before a workout?

Sometimes, the prospect of facing a workout on the whiteboard can seem daunting, especially if it is full of exercises you don’t excel at.

Once you acknowledge that you experience negative feelings before the workout, it becomes a lot easier to try to deal with them. Our minds can play tricks on us and while in most cases this is a positive thing, in sport your self-preservation instincts and other feelings can set you back.

Many athletes seasoned in the sport have experienced how the mind can limit the body in its efforts to protect you – telling you for example that a box is too high for you to jump – and how training can teach the mind that your body is capable of much more than it initially thought.

Our bodies are capable of being extremely uncomfortable for a long time, and fostering the right habits, principles and protocols before each training session can lead to creating routines, which make diverse situations easier.

Mindset strategies for before your workout:

1. Start by asking yourself why you feel negatively to start with? Most of the time this is related to pressure. Realise that pressure is a fabricated feeling coming from past experiences and concern for future consequences.
2. Pull yourself away from the obsession with results. Stop focusing on results – in workouts this includes times, trying to beat others or trying to beat yourself – as you can improve more if you stop worrying and consider your training holistically instead. You’ve done the hardest part already by showing up.
3. Long-term success comes from consistently showing up; consistency yields very good results. When it comes to your workout, don’t worry about maximal intensity and results, but focus on what feels right.
4. Reward your character. Tell yourself a story of positivity instead of focusing solely on your results. This might look like something along these lines: “I am the type of person that shows up, I am the kind of person that works hard but doesn’t self-destruct, I am the type of person who is in-tune with his/her body.” An athlete with a strong character can stick to almost anything no matter how hard it gets.
5. Realise that every workout is a stepping stone. Every training session will bring you closer to your goal, so your result doesn’t necessarily matter; there’s no need to put that pressure into your training sessions.

How to take pressure away from workouts?

No one is inherently born with a set of abilities and weaknesses.

YOUR SELF-WORTH IS NOT TIED TO THE RESULTS OF YOUR WORKOUTS. IF YOU THINK IT IS, YOU WILL SHY AWAY FROM YOUR WEAKER AREAS AND EXPERIENCES.

This comes out of fear of exposing inabilities and not wanting to be beat, and happens at all levels of sport.

If you want to unlock your full athletic potential, you’ll expose yourself to the areas you need to work and develop way more than those you are phenomenal at. There’s a huge necessity for humility in sport, and being okay with not being the best today, so you can be better tomorrow.

MINDSET DURING A WORKOUT

The voice inside your head can be the missing piece of the puzzle or it can be your biggest hinderance.

If you were to put your mid-workout inner voice on a loudspeaker, would you be proud of it? Pay close attention to your self-talk, be aware of it and, from there, realise that you have control over these thoughts.

IT IS WIDELY ACCEPTED THAT YOU WON’T PERFORM TO YOUR FULL POTENTIAL WITH A NEGATIVE MINDSET. THEREFORE, SILENCE THE CRITIC INSIDE YOUR HEAD AND POPULATE THAT AREA WITH SOMETHING ELSE.

When negative thoughts spiral out of control, try to flip them; ultimately your performance, edge and motivation will thrive or crash depending on the story you tell yourself.

Problems start when things become bigger than they actually are and you become overwhelmed. Strategize mentally to separate things – be it reps, rounds or your overall training session – into smaller, manageable portions.

Top mid-workout mental strategies:

• Think about the round you’re about to start, instead of the round you’re finishing.
• Highlight the positive; anything that starts with ‘don’t’ or ‘not’ won’t be efficient (such as don’t ‘drop the barbell’, instead think ‘hold on to the barbell’).
• Focus on something that will be productive. That way, you’re not focusing on how hard something is but on your effort, technique and efficiency.
• Be grateful that you get to work out, instead of thinking you have to do it.

Practise these mental strategies every training day so you can recur to them on game day. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable and build your character through repetition.

POST WORKOUT MINDSET STRATEGIES

What your mind tells you right after a workout will set you up for the next session. This happens regardless of whether the self-talk is positive or negative. The note you finish your workout in will be the one you remember when things get hard next time (think peak-end rule).

Lay the foundations for your next training session by rewarding your actions at the end of your workout or training session. Give yourself credit for the workout you’ve just done, be proud of your efforts and enjoy your feelings.

IF YOU KEEP SHOWING UP AND DOING WHAT YOU JUST DID, YOU’LL GET EVERYTHING YOU WANT OUT OF YOUR FITNESS JOURNEY.

Be proud of the effort you put in, even if you think you could have done better.

Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

• “You can’t do this”
• “You will never finish”
• “If you skip one or two reps, no one will notice”
• “Take the easier version, you won’t feel so much pain”
• “Just give up and it’s over. Right here and now and the pain will end”

Every athlete feels like this once in a while, but it seems like CrossFitters are especially prone because their workouts demand so much from them regarding physical and mental strength.

HOW TO COUNTER NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

Luckily there are some pretty easy psychological tricks you can apply to destroy these negative thoughts and stop them harming your confidence and performance.

Source: RX'd Photography

1. BE INSPIRED BY YOUR FELLOW CROSSFITTERS

You know what one of the best parts of CrossFit is? The community. During a real hard workout it’s time to use this to your advantage.

In CrossFit we earn each others respect by going all out during a WOD and trying as hard as we possibly can. There may be people in your box who are not able to finish a certain WOD during the designated time cap. But more than once you may have seen them finishing a WOD anyway, even after the time has finished.

Or you have that really strong guy or girl at your box who does things you thought were impossible. Both of those are inspirational in their own way because they are pushing it to their very own limits. If you find yourself feeling terrible during a WOD, thinking you can’t go on anymore, take a look around you. See anybody else quitting? No? Then you shouldn’t either.

Be inspired by the other athletes at your box – you can’t read their thoughts, but you will see a mixture of suffering and willpower in their eyes. Use this for yourself and crush that WOD.

2. ADOPT A HERO-VERSION OF YOURSELF

The second option is fun: adopting a secret identity. As Jane McGonigal writes in her book “Super Better”, a secret identity helps you to practice your own strength and willpower whilst also reinventing and exploring yourself.[1]

Source: CrossFit Inc

Therefore, think of a hero you want to be, like Hulk or Xena or Iron Man or any other character from your favourite book, movie, video game or the like and use him or her to create your own secret identity by displaying your own strengths. When you feel like you can’t go on anymore during a WOD, think of your secret identity as a mantra, something like “I am the mighty XY and I will do everything to get stronger and slay the WOD-monster.”

This may sound silly at first, and of course you don’t have to scream this out into the world. But by saying this to yourself, you are programming your brain by positive affirmation. By adopting a secret identity on top of this you will feel like a different person, a hero who can conquer any obstacle. So, have fun, go crazy and invent that super hero version of yourself before your next WOD – and as a bonus you can write something like a symbol or the name of your identity with chalk on the floor to make yourself remember it.

3. ACCEPT FAILURE AS PART OF THE PROCESS

Don’t be scared to fail. First, remind yourself of the reason why you are doing CrossFit. Maybe it’s because you like the people there, want to get fitter or maybe you need it to counter depression and the stress you have in your life.

Whatever your individual reason, all Crossfitters are united by the fact that we want to become better versions of ourselves.

To accomplish this you have to push yourself to your limits and then exceed those limits during a WOD. That also means that you have to FIND your limits as well. These are the points, places and times at which you fail. Failure to hit a certain weight, perform a specific number of reps or finish a WOD within a time cap does not mean that you will never be able to do these things, it just means that you can’t do them right now. You want to get better, hit those targets and improve, then you need to put in the work.

Source: RX'd Photography

If you succeed at every WOD, you always PR with every lift and you’re always first, then you simply aren’t pushing yourself hard enough (or you are Rich Froning). Failure is part of the process, and it makes it all the more rewarding when you finally hit that lift or WOD time you’ve been chasing for months!

4. PRACTICE MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness just means being mindful of your surroundings, observing certain things that you otherwise may not focus on. During a WOD you can use mindfulness in different ways.

– Control your breathing

Breathing techniques can help to calm yourself down if you feel anxious during (or especially before) a WOD. Concentrate on making your breathing regular, and adapt it to each exercise. It is amazing the effect this can have on diminishing negative thoughts during workouts.

Another method  is to breathe in and count to four. Then breathe out and count to eight. Try to exhale for twice as long as it takes you to inhale. Doing this for at least a minute increases you heart rate variability and puts you into a much more calm and relaxed mood. Because you have to do this for at least a minute for it to really work, it is a great way to calm yourself before a workout or competition.

Source: Stevie D Photography

– Think about WHY negative thoughts occur and WHERE they come from

Another option is to pay attention to the emotions and negative thoughts you feel, and think about what is causing them. Observing them rationally may help you to use logic to diminish them. Being hangry (angry and grumpy because you feel hungry) is a great and example of this.

In this state your mood and thoughts are being influenced because your body needs feeding. The way you think is affected by your body. In a WOD when your legs are on fire because of the Wall Balls for example, try to rationalise this pain. I.e. “Well I only have 10 left to complete…there’s only 30 seconds left on the clock…At least I can rest them when I move onto the Pull Ups” etc.

Understanding why you are feeling something will help you to create a distance between yourself and those negative thoughts that make you want to quit. you are smart so use your head as well when you work out.

5. TRICK YOUR BRAIN BY REFOCUSING YOUR THINKING

You can use this trick to gently distract your brain away from thinking about the pain and the suffering you could end right now by quitting the workout. This trick is especially useful during longer workouts that include tabata or cardio sessions, but it can also be applied during any other exercise.

Source: RX'd Photography

When you feel exhausted and pain ridden, your brain concentrates on certain aspects in your body which are send to it by your nerves. What you have to do now is to distract your brain from these impulses by totally occupying it with something else. During a CrossFit WOD, the easiest way to do that is by giving yourself a mental task to complete.

Do your times tables, list every capital city in Europe, or play the following game with yourself: (Think of as many words as you can that contain two certain letters, like K and P for example). This way you deliberately distract your thinking away from the source of pain. It sounds trivial, but this technique can help the time pass when things get tough and that clock seems to be moving at half its normal speed!

So, that’s it. Do you like these tricks? Or maybe you have some of your own? Share your thoughts about this article in the comment section below.

[1]    See McGonigal, Jane, Super Better. A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient, London 2015, p. 291.

Success, in most cases, doesn’t mean qualifying to the CrossFit Games. For some, it means stringing double-unders, achieving a muscle up or finally being able to do a solid handstand walk. It can also mean getting fitter or losing weight.

Whatever success means to you, these five realities might be interfering with your progress and be the reason why you’re not more successful at CrossFit.

1. YOU’RE NOT CONSISTENT WITH YOUR TRAINING

Of course a good gym, a coach and a good program all impact your journey to success in CrossFit, however, if you’re not consistent with your training none of this will matter.

If you only show up sporadically, whenever life doesn’t get in the way, you will progress slower than the athlete that is at the Box five days a week every single week.

We all know of someone who will only show up when they’ve got a holiday planned and want to look well, or set a resolution to train but never stick to it. Many athletes who make excuses every week, and while they always find a different excuse not to train, the outcome is the same: they don’t show up consistently.

If you keep convincing yourself you’re too tired, it’s too cold, you haven’t eaten yet, you’re too busy today – who knows how many other excuses we’ve convinced ourselves of – you’ll only slow down your progress.

Psychological obstacles such as distractions, temptations and lack of motivation intervene in the same way for everyone, what makes an athlete successful is their capacity to tackle them.

When the buzzer sounded at the Aromas Farm to announce the start of Event 1 of the 2020 CrossFit Games; there was no cheering, no commentary, and no music. A notable difference from the thundering sound of the colosseum a year prior.

For some of the athletes this was incredibly off-putting; suddenly you're left with your own thoughts, and all you can hear is your laboured breath and that of your competitors.

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It is just way too easy to let yourself drown in self-pity rather than analysing what may have gone wrong, or even to just move on from there. However, you don’t have to surrender yourself to those feelings of frustration. These five tips will help you bear this annoying, but necessary part of CrossFit and progress in general.

1. REMEMBER WHERE YOU CAME FROM

When I started CrossFit, I had been working out moderately for a year or so. I couldn’t do a proper squat, push-up or skip, even before I had to start on all the other things I had to learn.

What I want to tell you here is this: We all come from humble beginnings. Everyone of us had to start somewhere.

So if you’re having a bad day at the box and all your training buddies are way ahead of you, just remember what shape you were when you started CrossFit. Even if you did a crappy time during a workout or didn’t complete as many rounds during an AMRAP as you planned on doing, remember how far you have already come – and that everybody has a bad day now and then.

2. CELEBRATE THE SMALL VICTORIES AND CHALLENGE YOURSELF

Celebrate your small victories. Adding a pound or two more onto your lifts, or being a second faster at a certain WOD is still a victory if it is better than last time.

Being happy about each small step forwards will help you feel good about yourself.

Although this is more of a preparation thing that won’t help you after a bad workout, you can try to prevent these days from happening if you challenge yourself during each workout. Commit to giving it your all every time you start a WOD at your box and you won’t have a true reason to be frustrated even if you didn’t beat your time.

In this context, the following quote comes to mind, and is applicable to a WOD or lift that might not go as planned:

If you try, you can lose. If you don’t try, you have already lost.

What you should remember here is that if for example you don’t feel well, or you’ve had a bad day at work, this doesn’t mean your workout has to go badly. Start with a clean plate when you walk in the Box, regardless of what happened during the day.

Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

Challenge yourself. Put a little more weight on. Try harder. Because if you go easy on yourself, you will become prone to frustration – just like when you use bad food for compensation. But if you challenge yourself and you win, you are bound to feel a lot better. And if you fail, you can at least admit that you tried and didn’t give in.

CrossFit was first introduced to the fitness industry as a strength and conditioning program used to improve “fitness” as a whole by optimising the 10 general physical skills (i.e. cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy), and has received great attention ever since.

Around 2007, though, since the start of the CrossFit Games, CrossFit has become something more than just a training system and it can almost be considered a sport. In order to become the “Fittest on Earth” it is not enough to be in a good shape and have good technique, but you also need to show great commitment, determination, courage, motivation and respect to the other people involved [1].

Because of the high intensity WODs, the rapid repetitive movements and high loads of weight, CrossFit has repetitively received a bad reputation regarding the potential injuries, especially in the shoulder, knees and lower back areas [17] it’s said to cause.

Others argue that CrossFit has lower injury risks compared to other sports, as the movements are more controlled compared to basketball, football or tennis, for example. However, epidemiological studies have shown that the injury rates of CrossFit athletes are very similar to related sports such as weightlifting, powerlifting and gymnastics [9], with competitive athletes having a higher injury incidence, probably due to the higher exposure to training.

Source: Stevie D Photography

Wherever we fall on this debate, we cannot question the impact that an injury has on a CrossFit competitor, both physical and psychological. Following a serious injury, athletes may need to rest and stop practising for a while, or keep practising but at a lower intensity. Others might need to have a surgery or even retire. How can this affect them?

 “I am mad, I am sad, I am disappointed… however this too shall pass.”

-Carleen Mathews after withdrawing from the CrossFit Games in 2017 due to an injury in her left arm [8]

“This is a tough decision and a tough post to make. The competitor in me can’t help but to feel like a quitter, although I know it is the furthest thing from it.”

-Kristin Reffett after retiring from competitive CrossFit due to some health issues [11]

“My self-esteem crashed a little bit after having to withdraw from the Games cause of my rib.”

-Sara Sigmunsdottir after withdrawing from the CrossFit Games in 2018 because of a broken rib (Morning Chalk Up interview, 2019)

Numerous studies suggest that a physical injury can result in negative changes in the athletes’ mood, lower self-esteem, intrusive thoughts and confusion about their (athletic) identity among others [3], [5], [6].

HOW CAN AN INJURY AFFECT CROSSFIT ATHLETES INITIALLY?

As mentioned above, injuries can have various consequences that can be divided into cognitive (thoughts), emotional and physical.

COGNITIVE CONSEQUENCES OF INJURY

When an athlete gets injured, they tend to think about and thoroughly process the event of the injury in terms of what happened, why it happened, the impact it had on themselves and their identity, and the possible future scenarios (e.g. “Am I going to train/compete again? Am I going to perform as well as before?” etc) [7], [16].

Looking back at this stressful experience can easily lead athletes to intrusive thoughts, ruminations and catastrophising [18].

Others might also respond with denial, which can be used as a cognitive strategy to cope with the distress and negative feelings caused by the injury. Usually linked with avoidance of feeling bad, denial is a form of “self-deception” and it can help the athlete to adaptively cope with a stressful situation and to protect their self-esteem.

In other words, the athlete avoids people, places and events that remind them of the injury, suppresses the negative emotional consequences of the injury and tries to console themselves by focusing on the perceived positive outcomes [6], [13].

That’s why it is very common for athletes to keep a distance from people close to them (especially from people related to their sport) and to avoid talking about the injury and their emotions about it [5], [7], [13].

EMOTIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF INJURY

A very important issue that most athletes face after an injury is a feeling of confusion about their (athletic) identity, as the new situation does not fit with their identity prior to the injury. For example, their capabilities might not be the same as before, their goals for the following months, season or year might need to change as they might be unable to compete or prepare for a competition, athletes might need to retire and stop competing.

Especially for athletes who are forced to retire due to an injury the confusion is more significant, as their retirement was not expected or planned. In response to that, athletes might either try to find ways to maintain and protect their identity, known as assimilation process, or form a new identity including a new role and goals, known as accommodation process [2], [10].

The above thoughts affect the athletes’ emotions. It is quite common for them to experience depression, anxiety (i.e. fear of the unknown) and negative emotions, such as rage, fury, shock, frustration, regret and self-pity, as well as loss of confidence [7], [12].

It has been shown that athletes feel that the injury increases stressors and demands, and that it has an impact not only on their athletic career and/or performance but also on their everyday functioning and on others’ lives, such as their coach, teammates, family.

Of course, the intensity of their emotional responses varies according to the injury’s severity [12].

PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES OF INJURY

Finally, athletes face physical difficulties after an injury, as in most cases they perceive that they are not at the same fitness level as before the injury, or they feel that they are unable or struggle to complete tasks that they used to complete with relative ease [7].

It is obvious that the first reactions to sports injuries are not usually positive and it is highly understandable.

Is it possible, then, for a CrossFit athlete who puts a lot of effort in their conditioning and training, nutrition, sleep and mindset to mentally and psychologically recover from such a setback in their career and/or performance?

The answer is yes. It has been shown that an obstacle or a difficulty during an athlete’s career might in fact be beneficial, as it could lead to adversarial growth and resilience.

WHAT IS ADVERSARIAL GROWTH?

Adversarial growth can be described as positive changes that benefit an individual’s level of functioning through the process of struggling with a traumatic, stressful and/or demanding event [6], [12].

According to a growing body of research, “people can grow following adversity to the extent that they report development beyond their pretrauma functioning” [6].

Specifically, most of the world’s best athletes experience some kind of sport or non-sport related adversity (e.g. an injury, a serious illness, mental health issues, bullying, bereavement or financial issues), which can work as a “developmental catalyst” in the athlete’s career and optimal performance.

Athletes who have endured a serious difficulty during their sports career have reported various beneficial changes in their attitudes, relationships and performance, such as a development of a greater appreciation of life, improved personal strength, enhanced relationships, but also improved performance and better engagement in their sport [6], [14].

Is growth always constructive?

Although growth is possible, it is not an easy and quick process, and some qualitative studies have proven that it might be “illusory” and not “constructive” growth [5], [6], [7].

An athlete’s growth is illusory when the perceived positive changes are not reflecting true changes from within the athlete but are based on self-deception and denial. Illusory growth is usually associated with avoidance, denial and self-deception, and are often associated with:

1. Seeking meaning: an athlete might experience intrusive thoughts and rumination that cause distress. In order to resolve this distress, they might try to understand and make sense of their experience by looking back at the onset of the injury. Through illusory growth the athlete just comprehends their experience, which is not enough to reach constructive growth. The athlete just focuses on why the injury happened (e.g. “I did not focus on my technique”), and does not seek to understand and reflect on all the factors that impacted them (e.g. possible overtraining or other stressors that might affect concentration), their thoughts (e.g. “I am useless”) and emotions (e.g. “I feel depressed”) [6], [7].
2. Cognitive manipulation and denial: an athlete might use cognitive techniques in order to reduce and avoid negative feelings, such as disappointment and distress, and to protect some parts of their identity. These techniques are also called “self-enhancement cognitions” and include (unrealistically) optimistic language and downwards social comparison [6]. Another example of avoidance of the negative emotions resulting from an injury is not disclosing information about their experience [12].
   “Also, having everyone ask me how I was feeling was tough, because I really didn’t want to tell them that I feel like shit.” -Annie Thorisdottir talking about her recovery period after a herniated-disk during an interview with BoxLife magazine.
3. Derogation of the injury experience: commonly, athletes will try to lower the significance of their experience in order to reduce negative feelings. For instance, they might compare themselves with other athletes who are in worse situations to feel better [2] or compare their current situation with a worse one they have experienced before.
4. Assimilation: when an athlete experiences a traumatic experience, such as a serious injury, their identity can be shattered. In order to maintain and protect their identity, some athletes tend to use distorted positive perceptions that fit their already formed identity prior to the injury (e.g. “I am the same athlete as before, I have the same goals and aspirations, I am as capable as before” etc), rather than form a new identity using the new information after the injury [5], [6]. A common example happens during the rehabilitation period, when athletes might not be ready to go back to training, but instead keep training or even compete in order to protect their (pre-injury) identity and avoid negative emotions.

Although illusory growth can seem quite negative, some aspects can be considered as beneficial at the beginning of the process of growth. Specifically, denial can be used as a “short-term palliative coping strategy” when the athlete is unable to cope with the amount of shock and distress caused after the injury.

When denial is also accompanied by an effort to cope with the traumatic injury, it can work as a function to support them psychologically and to help them develop their performance later [5].

Source: Photo courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

HOW CAN YOU CONSTRUCTIVELY GROW AND DEVELOP FOLLOWING AN INJURY?

Research has shown that there are personal and external factors that can facilitate constructive growth.

What you can do:

1. Reflection: making sense of and reflecting on your experience, your thoughts and feelings after the injury, and understanding what and why you are thinking and feeling the way you are. This way, you can find any maladaptive thoughts that affect your emotions and keep you from growing and start focusing on your sporting goals and aspirations. In turn, this will help you rationalize your thoughts, and finally regulate your negative emotions [7], [16].
2. Injury = challenge: seeing your injury as a challenge and not as a threat. It is your opportunity to take control, develop and become better based on what went wrong [12].
   “It’s crazy how our biggest challenges can become our greatest gifts” -Julie Foucher referring to her retirement and injury [4]
3. Acceptance: accepting your injury, what has happened and all its consequences, as well as the challenge to develop [7].
4. Perceived social support: having and/or creating a safe and reliant social network. Apart from the actual social support, the perception of having social support is very important as it provides you with reassurance and a sense of security that if you need support, you will have it [12].
5. Accommodation: a reformation of your identity, your role, your priorities and goals based on the new situation, all of which are very important in athletes forced to retire [2], [5], [7]. For example, an injured athlete who retires from competitive CrossFit might become a coach (new role) and set “supporting and training other athletes” as their new goal.
6. Personality: Mental toughness/resilience, confidence, creativity, openness to experience, optimism and emotional intelligence are some of the personality traits that are found to facilitate the process of growth [7], [12].
7. Prior experience: having already experienced (a more stressful) adversity (e.g. other injury, bereavement, illness etc) in the past, athletes might compare them and realise that their injury is not worth the distress [5], [7].

What you can use:

1. Physical and educational resources: reading, watching and/or hearing (e.g. autobiographies, documentaries, films, sport events) about other people’s recoveries, information on your type of injury, how you can heal, cope and recover can help and facilitate the process of growth [5], [7], [16].
2. Social support: emotional but also practical support from family, friends, coach and/or sport psychologist can be extremely helpful; you can be benefited by encouragement, talking about your emotions, and feeling that someone understands you [5], [7], [12].
3. Time: having an injury equals more free time which can be positive [12], [16]. Many injured athletes have mentioned that during their free time they were focusing on things that they didn’t focus on before, such as technique.

“I worked a lot on technique. I was doing Snatches and Clean & Jerks at 30kg (60lbs) for a month and a half. My technique has probably benefited a lot from that. Now that I’m able to able to add more load, my lifts feel the same or better. I also got to practice gymnastics movements that I otherwise wouldn’t have. The experience was good that way.”

-Annie Thorisdottir talking about her recovery period (interview with BoxLife magazine).

Other athletes might also focus on things irrelevant to their sport that they couldn’t before because of lack of time. For instance, Julie Foucher who retired after rapturing her Achilles tendon, focused on finishing med school.

IN WHAT WAYS CAN YOU GROW AFTER A CROSSFIT INJURY?

When an athlete experiences constructive growth, they can develop in various ways.

Particularly, some of the perceived improvements of previously injured athletes of different levels, from club to national level, are the following:

Intrapersonal development

1. Emotional regulation: increased ability to understand, express and regulate one’s emotions [7]
2. Increased sport confidence, motivation and focus [15], [16]
3. Improved resilience and personal strength [7], [13], [16]
4. Better coping strategies when faced with other problems [15]
5. Change in beliefs, values and attitudes [15]
6. Spiritual change [7]
7. Change of priorities and perspective: looking at the bigger picture [5], [7], [15], [16]

 Interpersonal development

1. Strengthened social network and enhanced relationships [15], [16]
2. Greater appreciation of friends and family [7]
3. Better relationship with coach [15], [16]
4. Increased levels of empathy and prosocial behaviour [7], [16]
5. Improved ability to speak to others and ask for help [7], [15]

Physical development

1. Improved physical outcomes [7]
2. Improved technique, strength, conditioning, flexibility [15], [16]
3. Lower risk of injury: there is an increased knowledge of anatomy and risk factors of injury [15], [16]

It is evident that a CrossFit competitor can grow and develop as an athlete and as a person, even after a serious injury that can affect their career. In fact, it is this adversity that gives them the opportunity to progress.

However, it should not be assumed that an injury or any adversity is desired or needed for someone to develop, nor that it is enough to thrive, as there are other aspects and processes that determine an athlete’s success.

It is also important to note that the psychological impacts an injury can have on an athlete should not be neglected or undermined, as these can be stressful, devastating and traumatizing. What is suggested is that despite the negative consequences, an athlete can benefit through an injury in many ways.

Internal or External Motivation – What Drives You to Train?

Athina Papailiou is an MSc Sport & Exercise Psychology student at Loughborough University, you can find more of her work here.

References

[1] Claudino, J. G., Gabbett, T. J., Bourgeois, F., de Sá Souza, H., Miranda, R. C., Mezêncio, B., … Hernandez, A. J. (2018). Crossfit overview: systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine-Open, 4(1), 11.

[2] Day, M. C., & Wadey, R. (2016). Narratives of trauma, recovery, and growth: The complex role of sport following permanent acquired disability. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 22, 131–138.

[3] Forsdyke, D., Smith, A., Jones, M., & Gledhill, A. (2016). Psychosocial factors associated with outcomes of sports injury rehabilitation in competitive athletes: a mixed studies systematic review. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50(9), 537 LP – 544.

[4] Foucher, J. [@juliefoucher]. (2017, May 31). [Photograph of J. Foucher at the CrossFit Games]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/BUu25WpDQ4w/?utm_source=ig_embed

[5] Howells, K., & Fletcher, D. (2015). Sink or swim: Adversity-and growth-related experiences in Olympic swimming champions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 16, 37–48.

[6] Howells, K., & Fletcher, D. (2016). Adversarial growth in Olympic swimmers: constructive reality or illusory self-deception? Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 38(2), 173–186.

[7] Howells, K., Sarkar, M., & Fletcher, D. (2017). Can athletes benefit from difficulty? A systematic review of growth following adversity in competitive sport. In Progress in brain research (Vol. 234, pp. 117–159). Elsevier.

[8] Mathews, C. [@teamcarleen]. (2017, August 4). [Photograph of C. Mathews at the CrossFit Games]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/BXWyM0tFrvO/

[9] Montalvo, A. M., Shaefer, H., Rodriguez, B., Li, T., Epnere, K., & Myer, G. D. (2017). Retrospective Injury Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Injury in CrossFit. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 16(1), 53–59. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28344451

[10] Muscat, A. C. (2010). Elite athletes’ experiences of identity changes during a career-ending injury: an interpretive description. University of British Columbia.

[11] Reffett, K. [@kreffett]. (2018, March 11). [Photograph of K. Reffett in the gym]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/BgMXfJkFtwW/

[12] Roy-Davis, K., Wadey, R., & Evans, L. (2017). A grounded theory of sport injury-related growth. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 6(1), 35.

[13] Salim, J., Wadey, R., & Diss, C. (2016). Examining hardiness, coping and stress-related growth following sport injury. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 28(2), 154–169.

[14] Sarkar, M., & Fletcher, D. (2017). Adversity-related experiences are essential for Olympic success: Additional evidence and considerations. In Progress in brain research (Vol. 232, pp. 159–165). Elsevier.

[15] Wadey, R., Clark, S., Podlog, L., & McCullough, D. (2013). Coaches’ perceptions of athletes’ stress-related growth following sport injury. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14(2), 125–135.

[16] Wadey, R., Evans, L., Evans, K., & Mitchell, I. (2011). Perceived Benefits Following Sport Injury: A Qualitative Examination of their Antecedents and Underlying Mechanisms. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 23(2), 142–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2010.543119

[17] Weisenthal, B. M., Beck, C. A., Maloney, M. D., DeHaven, K. E., & Giordano, B. D. (2014). Injury rate and patterns among CrossFit athletes. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2(4), 2325967114531177.

[18] Wiese‐Bjornstal, D. M. (2010). Psychology and socioculture affect injury risk, response, and recovery in high‐intensity athletes: a consensus statement. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 20, 103–111.

Kevin started counting his push-ups in 2015 when he noticed he could do over 100,000 in a couple of years. “My goal of doing 1 million push-ups will likely take 12+ years from starting until I reach it. That’s a long time,” he notes. At the time of this writing, he managed to do a total of 404,480 push-ups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Kevin Cullum – Motivation (@pandemic_motivation)

Perhaps the goal seems difficult, sometimes even unachievable, but Kevin knows a few things helped him keep pushing up (pun intended) to his limits.

Tip 1 – Start With One

Kevin Cullum sees push-ups as a metaphor for life. “If I want to do 1 million push-ups, I have to start by doing one push-up,” he said. “I call this ‘the power of one’ and it relates to our lives too. To get anything done, we must start by taking one step in the direction we want to go.”

Source: Courtesy of Kevin Cullum

Tip 2 – Have a Path Mapped Out

Just like anything in life, there are ways to get certain things done. To be able to do a muscle-up, one must be able to do strict pull-ups. When setting any goal, know how to achieve that goal.

“It’s really important to specifically map out what the goal is, why it’s important and how that person is going to get there. Without a detailed plan as to how the goal can be completed, it’s more of a ‘wish’ than an actual ‘goal’.”

Tip 3 – Record All Your Progress

Kevin says he records all his progress in a spreadsheet. “Being able to regularly track my progress in given areas, holds myself accountable to the goals I’ve set.”

He also notes that being able to visually see the progress made is a good motivation boost for moments of doubt. “Even if we aren’t getting the results we wanted, as quickly as we hoped, being able to visually see how much we’ve progressed in our tracking helps keep the fire burning inside.”

Read more: 15 CrossFit Push Up Chest Workouts for All Athletes

Tip 4 – Break Things Down to Smaller Pieces – Maintain a Fitness Discipline

One million push-ups will likely take Kevin around 12 years to finish. He knows it can seem overwhelming at times, but he breaks his goal into smaller, less intimidating, goals.

“I measure my goal by year, but also by month. I set targets to reach each month, and each year, which help keep me on track.”

Kevin Cullum does around 600 push-ups every day, on average. He breaks his push-ups into sets of 12 and 20. “Then I just do sets until I’m satisfied with how many I’ve done.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Kevin Cullum – Motivation (@pandemic_motivation)

Tip 5 – How to Maintain a Fitness Discipline – Tell Everyone

Kevin Cullum started an entire Instagram account to track his progress and also to tell everyone about his goals. According to him, everyone should be vocal about the goals they want to achieve.

“By telling people outwardly what I’m trying to accomplish, it’s made it so much more ‘real’ and it’s increased accountability,” he explained.

He also wants his family, especially his children, to be proud of him and to show that anyone can do anything.

Tip 6 – Remember Why You Set This Goal, And Remind Yourself Every Time

Sometimes telling everyone is not enough to maintain a fitness discipline, day in day out. “It’s important that we can cheer for ourselves,” says Kevin.

Another boost in confidence is to remind yourself of why you started your fitness goal. And keep reminding yourself of it as often as you can. “Life is hard, so the more reminders why we’re doing certain things, the higher probability we’ll complete that task.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Kevin Cullum – Motivation (@pandemic_motivation)

Tip 7 – Obstacles Will Come, Think The Bigger Picture

BOXROX asked Kevin if he makes up for a lost day without making any push-ups. His answer was a simple “no”. It is imperative to keep your eyes on the objective mapped out in the beginning (tip 2) and know that some hiccups will happen, no matter how prepared you think you are. Know they are coming, and keep moving forward.

“Life will always throw obstacles our way, so as opposed to being defeated by those when they happen, I already know they will happen, so they’re expected and don’t affect my overall plan,” he said, adding “it might sting in the short term if a goal is disrupted, but I expect it, so it doesn’t change my perspective in the longe run.”

Read more: 10 Push Up Variations to Build Strength, Power and Muscle for CrossFit Athletes

PUTTING THE CROSSFIT OPEN INTO PERSPECTIVE

It is 3 workouts over 3 weeks which equates to roughly 1.5 hours (based on 3, 30min WODs) of judged physical action (more if you repeat workouts). It can consume athletes for this period, and not always in a positive way mentally or physically.

Not everyone will be feeling the Open fear or feeling nervous, but those who have high expectations or pressure being put upon them could mentally talk themselves down or burn out before the competition even begins.

“The 11th Competent of CrossFit is Mental” –Rich Froning

Source: Ryan Edy

GOAL SETTING AND STAYING IN YOUR LANE

You’ve got to set goals and achieve them to become the best athlete you can be right?

Goal setting is an absolutely indispensable part of the sports training process. Proper goal setting enables you to get real with yourself and your expectations. Goal setting alone is a tool for motivation It can build confidence and self-trust, which are important skills for when you are training and competing. Setting goals it can keep you both grounded and focused at the same time. This is one hell of a combo for enhancing your dedication to training and competition.

But even with our goals in place we can still find ourselves putting our focus and energy into ‘Uncontrollables’.

These are elements and events that can zap the energy, passion and motivation right out of you. Just by changing your focus and working towards your daily goals makes a massive difference both physically and mentally.

We have put together a diagram highlighting the most common uncontrollables that have cropped up. Check it out and see where your focus and energy currently resides.

Source: Emma Hackett

With the CrossFit Open 2021 starting on March 11, now is a great time to analyse your own mental game. There is still time to apply mental techniques alongside your physical training. The good news is that for every Uncontrollable there is a Controllable that can be used to counter any negative effects. Below are 3 controllable elements.

1. SLEEP

• Make sure sleep is a part of your regular training schedule if it isn’t already.
• Sufficient sleep is hugely important to athletic performance so find a routine that works and try to make regular sleep a priority.
• Valerian root is a good natural herb that helps people sleep.
• There are also various digital tools and sleep monitoring apps to assist if you have trouble sleeping.
• Try drinking less caffeine or reduce it completely from your diet. If this is a problem, around 15:00 is a good a cut off point.

2. PROGRAMMING

You may be following a specific program but are you staying in your lane with it? Programming is a controllable of your training. Therefore it’s important to stick to the plan, trust the process and the coach.

Source: Ryan Edy

Watching what others around you are doing outside of your lane (social media, conversations with other athletes etc) and allowing that to influence your programming could be a conscious decision that may hinder your physical goal.

For example, say you have a bad shoulder and have been advised not to do any bar work. You should stick with the program and your coach’s advice. Your conscious on the other hand tells you to try that workout with bar muscle ups that you just watched on YouTube (through fear of not doing enough, and thinking that others are getting stronger than you based on what you’ve seen on social media). This could set you back in training and preparation or even cause more injuries.

You can’t control how others train, but you can control how you let it affect you. Staying focused and trust your own process, it will be much more beneficial long term.

3. TRUST

Most people wouldn’t think that trust can be a mental tool Because it isn’t something you actually perform, unlike meditation, visualization or routine.

Trust involves having confidence in the basic belief that you have prepared yourself well enough to achieve your goals, and your body will do what you have trained it to do when it counts. It also includes a fundamental faith that if you give your best effort and trust the process, then good things will happen. Trust enables you to approach competitions with confidence, commitment and courage without fear, worry or doubt.

• Having a go to word pre-comp and during a workout is a great way to instil trust in yourself: “Why not me?”, “Lets Go”, “We’ve got this”
• Training is a great way to apply rituals that will instil trust mentally and physically
• Acknowledging your progress and reminding yourself its progress not perfection
• Taking the small wins every training session

Take the time to remember why you do your sport and why it is your passion.

The Open is something amazing to be a part of and for most it’s about community, having fun and participating. For the elite, it is this and much more, but the truth is all levels benefit from physical and mental training and everyone benefits from participating in the test of fitness that is the CrossFit Open.

3 Ways to Improve Your Open Performance That Have Nothing to Do with Training

Athletes of all levels have to know how to navigate self-talk and the stories each mind creates revolving around training sessions and perceived success.

Ben Bergeron, a celebrated CrossFit coach, is known for his unique approach towards mindset in training and coaches athletes such as Katrin Davidsdottir, Cole Sager and Amanda Barnhart.

During the episode “Mindset Strategies for your Next Workout” of his Chasing Excellence podcast, Bergeron outlines the power of mindset and discusses mindset strategies to use before, during and after your workout to help you succeed in the sport.

MINDSET STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE FULL ATHLETIC POTENTIAL

How to train your mind before a workout?

Sometimes, the prospect of facing a workout on the whiteboard can seem daunting, especially if it is full of exercises you don’t excel at.

Once you acknowledge that you experience negative feelings before the workout, it becomes a lot easier to try to deal with them. Our minds can play tricks on us and while in most cases this is a positive thing, in sport your self-preservation instincts and other feelings can set you back.

Many athletes seasoned in the sport have experienced how the mind can limit the body in its efforts to protect you – telling you for example that a box is too high for you to jump – and how training can teach the mind that your body is capable of much more than it initially thought.

Our bodies are capable of being extremely uncomfortable for a long time, and fostering the right habits, principles and protocols before each training session can lead to creating routines, which make diverse situations easier.

Mindset strategies for before your workout:

1. Start by asking yourself why you feel negatively to start with? Most of the time this is related to pressure. Realise that pressure is a fabricated feeling coming from past experiences and concern for future consequences.
2. Pull yourself away from the obsession with results. Stop focusing on results – in workouts this includes times, trying to beat others or trying to beat yourself – as you can improve more if you stop worrying and consider your training holistically instead. You’ve done the hardest part already by showing up.
3. Long-term success comes from consistently showing up; consistency yields very good results. When it comes to your workout, don’t worry about maximal intensity and results, but focus on what feels right.
4. Reward your character. Tell yourself a story of positivity instead of focusing solely on your results. This might look like something along these lines: “I am the type of person that shows up, I am the kind of person that works hard but doesn’t self-destruct, I am the type of person who is in-tune with his/her body.” An athlete with a strong character can stick to almost anything no matter how hard it gets.
5. Realise that every workout is a stepping stone. Every training session will bring you closer to your goal, so your result doesn’t necessarily matter; there’s no need to put that pressure into your training sessions.

How to take pressure away from workouts?

No one is inherently born with a set of abilities and weaknesses.

Your self-worth is not tied to the results of your workouts. If you think it is, you will shy away from your weaker areas and experiences.

This comes out of fear of exposing inabilities and not wanting to be beat, and happens at all levels of sport.

If you want to unlock your full athletic potential, you’ll expose yourself to the areas you need to work and develop way more than those you are phenomenal at. There’s a huge necessity for humility in sport, and being okay with not being the best today, so you can be better tomorrow.

MINDSET DURING A WORKOUT

The voice inside your head can be the missing piece of the puzzle or it can be your biggest hinderance.

If you were to put your mid-workout inner voice on a loudspeaker, would you be proud of it? Pay close attention to your self-talk, be aware of it and, from there, realise that you have control over these thoughts.

It is widely accepted that you won’t perform to your full potential with a negative mindset. Therefore, silence the critic inside your head and populate that area with something else.

When negative thoughts spiral out of control, try to flip them; ultimately your performance, edge and motivation will thrive or crash depending on the story you tell yourself.

Problems start when things become bigger than they actually are and you become overwhelmed. Strategize mentally to separate things – be it reps, rounds or your overall training session – into smaller, manageable portions.

Top mid-workout mental strategies:

• Think about the round you’re about to start, instead of the round you’re finishing.
• Highlight the positive; anything that starts with ‘don’t’ or ‘not’ won’t be efficient (such as don’t ‘drop the barbell’, instead think ‘hold on to the barbell’).
• Focus on something that will be productive. That way, you’re not focusing on how hard something is but on your effort, technique and efficiency.
• Be grateful that you get to work out, instead of thinking you have to do it.

Practise these mental strategies every training day so you can recur to them on game day. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable and build your character through repetition.

POST WORKOUT MINDSET STRATEGIES

What your mind tells you right after a workout will set you up for the next session. This happens regardless of whether the self-talk is positive or negative. The note you finish your workout in will be the one you remember when things get hard next time (think peak-end rule).

Lay the foundations for your next training session by rewarding your actions at the end of your workout or training session. Give yourself credit for the workout you’ve just done, be proud of your efforts and enjoy your feelings.

If you keep showing up and doing what you just did, you’ll get everything you want out of your fitness journey.

Be proud of the effort you put in, even if you think you could have done better.

Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

In his podcast, Chasing Excellence, Bergeron recently talked about the hierarchy of mindset and how the story you tell yourself can impact your performance. He discusses how negative talk can give you an edge, when applied correctly. Find out more below.

DEALING WITH UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATIONS

Humans are hardwired to seek out comfort and follow the path of least resistance. We look for instant gratification and avoid adversity where possible.

Everybody, no matter how successful, has got limited willpower, and commitment is hard.

Yet people who are successful – in sport, in business, etc. – seek out the short-term discomfort. Why? Because they know they’ll come out as better individuals on the other side. They know that, if they endure the short-term discomfort (getting up instead of snoozing, saying no to that extra cookie) they’ll harness long-term gains.

NEGATIVE STORYLINES

Great athletes strive from competition. To them, competition is more than just wins and losses, but a necessary tool to help them become the best version of themselves. Without other people pushing the limits through competition, we would become complacent.

Competition can be bad if viewed from the wrong angle, it can lead to stress, low self-esteem and the certainty that others are better than you. But if viewed from the right angle, competition can be the reason you are your best self, and direct you into greatness.

This is what Bergeron refers to as “harnessing the dark side” and gaining power from it – turning stress into productive effort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Katrín Tanja Davíðsdóttir (@katrintanja)

THE HIERARCHY OF MINDSET

This is where the hierarchy of mindset comes in; how each individual reacts to each scenario they are presented with and their chances of success based on it.

• The victim: they think obstacles are put in their way constantly and life is conspiring against them.
• The pessimist: they see everything they have to face with a negative mindset, everything sucks and is terrible.
• The optimist: they see the hand they’re dealt with as an opportunity.
• The realist: for them, a thing is neither good nor bad, but thinking it is makes it so.
• The curious competitor: this is the ultimate mindset, where people seek out challenges because they know on the other side they become something greater.

Curious competitors can manufacture stories (sometimes negative) because they know it will drive them through hardship. They know they can only find the best version of themselves by not becoming complacent and seeking out challenges, so they create scenarios to help them walk through the discomfort.

THE 80/20 RULE

It has been shown that swearing, screaming and kicking can give people an edge when dealing with pain and adversity. Swearing as a response to pain can increase pain threshold and tolerance by over 30%. But it has to be used as the extra.

People with a positive mindset perform better than people with a negative mindset.

When applied to a sporting context, you can improve your performance by, effectively, swearing or creating negative storylines, to push yourself that extra mile.

But you have to be careful; if you start out swearing you won’t last long. People who are motivated by external storylines tend to not make it far. It’s the intrinsic motivation, why you’re doing what you’re doing for yourself, that will keep you showing up and making the right choices that are in alignment with your goals.

It’s only the athletes whose intrinsic motivation encompasses the great majority of why they do things (around 80%) that are able to tap into this negative space (around 20% of their motivation) for the added edge.

WHEN TO INCLUDE NEGATIVE TALK INTO SPORTS PERFORMANCE

Realise that there are two versions of yourself: the one that gets up when the alarm goes off and runs every morning, and the one who hits the snooze button and eats the whole packet of cookies. You are the one you see yourself as.

Reflect on the story you tell yourself. When your actions, decisions, behaviours and goals are in alignment with what you’re seeking, then negative storylines can give you that added, little edge.

Listen to the full podcast here:

WHAT IS THE ZONE?

It almost seems to emerge from no-where, a state of mind that we drift into where we are in perfect control, completely confident and easily able to complete the exercises that lie before us. It is the moment when your mental game becomes unbreakable.

However, it is still one of the most elusive phenomena in sport. This ‘natural high’ is a desired state of consciousness that athletes and coaches continually try to understand, harness and employ to their benefit. This article will help you to understand what happens when you are in the zone, and then how to perform in a way that makes it easier to enter that state of mind.

SIGN UP FOR THE BOXROX SHOWDOWN

CHARACTERSITICS OF THE ZONE:

1. THE MERGING OF ACTION AND AWARENESS

This is when you feel at one with the movements and exercises that you are performing. Instead of looking at your body and mind as separate entities, they merge as one. For example, when you have mastered Double Unders, you no longer have to think about the skill; in fact, it becomes even better when you don’t think about the movement at all!

2. A CLEAR FOCUS ON YOUR GOALS

You know exactly what needs to be done at that moment. This clarity of intention helps to focus your attention and make it easier to avoid distractions. No doubt feeds into your actions and you’re able to anticipate and control your emotions.

Source: © Stevie D Photography

Knowing that things are going well requires positive feedback that you are performing effectively.

A very clear understanding of how you are performing will help you to concentrate and perform well. BK Gudmundsson is an excellent example of an athlete that monitors the competition, yet remains focused on his own game. He is calm and calculated, and draws on his own competitive nature and confidence in his own ability when he wants to burn ahead and leave the other athletes behind. The following can be useful to think about when you are exercising, but don’t let them upset your own focus.

• What position are you sitting in?
• Are you 2nd, 3rd or 4th place etc, do you need to up your pace?
• How is your own natural pace in comparison with the other athletes?

4. ABSOLUTE CONCENTRATION ON THE TASK AT HAND

Complete absorption on your performance, and being able to ignore potential distractions is highly important. I once asked a client what they thought about a particular song that came on the speaker during their performance, they said they couldn’t tell me one song that had been played during the event.

Check out MIKKO SALO in the Zone…

https://www.instagram.com/p/-PCjENxnRm/?utm_source=ig_embed

5. A STONG SENSE OF CONTROL

An unbreakable self-esteem: No self-doubt or hesitations occur with an overwhelming feeling that you can’t do any wrong; you can take on anything and you will not lose.

Consistency is one of the most important aspects of training, but how do you train yourself to be consistent and stick to things? The good news is that willpower and self-discipline can be trained and turned into habits.

1. SET SMART GOALS

If you want to be disciplined, you need a “why”. Getting out of bed at 5.45 am for the early morning class takes a lot of willpower, so being able to quantify EXACTLY what this is going to help you achieve will make it much easier to do. You need targets to aim for.

SMART goals are a great way to define your goals, which in turn will give you a ‘why’ for each action you have to do.

SMART goals must be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timely

Source: Ryan Edy

For example, say you want to nail a 200kg Deadlift, a bodyweight snatch or your first pull up. These are all specific, easily measurable, attainable (relative to ability) and relevant to CrossFit. If you speak with your coach, work out exactly what you need to do, how often you must train etc, then you will be able to estimate a date for when you should be able to hit this goal by. Next step is to give yourself a deadline and get on with it.

However, it can often be more complicated than this. What if your new year’s resolution was to “become fitter” or “eat healthier”? As an exercise, try to turn these resolutions into SMART goals and see how you end up describing them.

“Become fitter” might mean making sure you go to the Box twice a week. “Eat healthier” may mean stopping eating chocolate from Monday to Friday, or it may mean cutting out refined sugar from your diet. It is up to you to decide.

2. WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS

Once you have identified your SMART goals, write them down and put them on your wall. Keep writing them down. Buy a notepad and write down your goals every day. It will only take a minute, but will turn this action into a habit, and ingrain these goals into your life.

#FITNESS #NEWYEARNEWME

This is usually followed three months later with feelings of discouragement and getting back to the same old habits you had in December. What is the primary culprit for this? It is bad goal setting. Instead of taking an honest look at where we are and where we want to be as an entire human, all we focus on is weight loss and muscle gain.

Here is why the muscle gain / weight loss resolutions generally do not work:

• Unless you are a competitive bodybuilder or physique model, the focus is too narrow.
• Results of just weight loss or muscle gain come slow. Usually too slow for most people to stick with.
• We go over the deep end with the diet and exercise standards we set for ourselves, again ruining adherence to the program

Competitive bodybuilders and physique models dedicate time and effort to their bodies that most of us simply do not have. For them it is a lifestyle and a career.

This is not a path to success for most of the population. In fact, for many people this can create some very unhealthy paths. Body dysmorphia and unhealthy eating habits can creep into the lives of people that are not mentally ready for a bodybuilder-type program.

Bodybuilders train for months to look absolutely amazing on stage for one day. How would that type of programming carry over to someone who wants to look and feel healthy all of the time? The answer: it doesn’t.

Weight loss and muscle gain take time. Constant monitoring of the scale becomes disheartening. Going up instead of down (it will happen) makes you feel like what you are doing is hopeless.

If you are dedicating your resolution to these goals alone, you are likely going to become frustrated quickly.

The initial excitement and motivation that you had on January 1^st will have faded, and in its place is now a feeling of failure.

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion applies directly to how we train. Going off the deep end on your diet and training will not have the effect you desire. If you spent the past year being inactive, not eating well, or generally making poor lifestyle choices, then what do you think is going to happen when you try to do the complete opposite? A rubber band can only stretch so far before snapping.

Source: Stevie D Photography

SET PHYSICAL GOALS

But not all hope is lost; there is a better way.

People that successfully lose weight and gain muscle know those achievements are the by-product of something much bigger. They are not actively seeking to lose weight or gain muscle, they are actively seeking to obtain new skills, PR lifts, and improve movements. They set physical challenges for themselves and program their fitness accordingly.

What physical goal have you always wanted to accomplish? Is it your first pull-up? Complete an obstacle course race? Become proficient at Olympic Weightlifting? Dig deep over the next few weeks and find what tangible goal you want to accomplish in 2021. Make that your New Years’ Resolution.

WHAT SHOULD A PHYSICAL GOAL LOOK LIKE?

Your physical goal should not be an easy one to achieve but needs to be attainable. Your goal needs to be complex. There should be smaller goals throughout the process (milestones).

I will use completing an obstacle course race (OCR) as it meets the above requirements as an example. In order to train for OCR you will need to work on multiple skills. This allows you to design a training program with variety as well as having those smaller goals.

You will need to improve your running, hiking, carrying heavy and awkward objects, and pulling your own bodyweight. You will also likely need to become proficient in the dreaded burpee.

While training for your first OCR, you are going to see progress being made. You may develop skills such as rope climbs and pull ups. You will see your run times improve. You will find you can lift and carry heavier objects over longer distances.

Achievement leads to adherence. When you are achieving small weekly and monthly goals along the path to your primary goal, you are more likely to stick with a program.

You will also start to feed yourself for both energy and recovery. The days you eat poorly will be followed by days that you do not perform as well in your training. This will start to stick. When you see those cookies at the grocery store, or your buddies are trying to get you to the bar, think to yourself “What do I have to train tomorrow?” and “Will making this decision now help or hinder that training?”

Sometimes you may say to hell with it and do it anyway, and that is ok. The feedback loop you are developing will set you on the right path. Your healthy, moderate, sustainable diet becomes the by-product of your goals.

See what is happening here? You are getting stronger, losing weight, and eating better. Of course this is not your focus. It is the by-product of the physical goals you are achieving. You are developing a mindset for performance which is far easier to adhere to than the mindset of misery that accompanies forced exercise and diet to reach a weight loss goal.

So here is your path to actually make a sustainable New Years’ Resolution:

Come up with a goal that will bring you pride upon its accomplishment.

Design (or have a coach design) a program to help you achieve that goal. Develop your eating habits to align with your goal. Just for fun, measure your weight, body fat percentage, and muscle percentage on New Years’ Day.

Test it all again as you approach the final days of your training. I am confident what you will find is that after developing those skills – getting stronger and moving faster – that the by-product is you achieved that same goal that so many people on New Years’ day set out to achieve, yet so few did.

What do you do after your goal has been accomplished? Rinse, lather, repeat. Find a new goal and repeat the cycle again.

Make 2021 your year.

1. MILESTONES AND END GOALS.

Milestones are marks of progress along the way to achieving your end goals.

It is important to remember that any progression IS progression. If the way you measure your CrossFit successes hinges on one ultimate goal in 2021, you may run the risk of disregarding the progression that you make towards that goal, just because you didn’t hit the end result.

For example, if your aim is to clean and jerk 100kg, and you begin the year with a PR of 65kg, even if you don’t hit your target yet increase your lift to 85kg, this is still a significant achievement to be proud of. Never lose sight of that.

Set incremental milestones along the way. Focus on the moment and raising your lifts and increasing your performances. The end results and your personal goals will become achievable and as you hit them. You can be proud of both the final results and the overall process.

Source: Photo courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

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Whatever the scale of your ambitions, these 10 tips will help you achieve them, provided you are willing to put in the work.

1. BE CONSISTENT

When it comes to hitting the goals that you have decided to set for yourself, there is simply no substitute for consistency. This doesn’t mean always performing at 100% (we all have bad days), it means showing up throughout the year, beating our excuses.

Think realistically about how much time you can set aside for training. Whether that is 2 nights a week, or twice a day for 6 days a week, this can help you determine what is, and what is not, realistic based on your circumstances.

Intelligent programming, volume, and time spent performing the movements and exercises that you wish to get better at will help you to hit your goals.

Don’t overestimate what you can do in a month, but don’t underestimate what can be achieved in a year.

GOAL SETTING TIPS FROM CROSSFIT INVICTUS

The following 6 tips come from CrossFit Invictus.

2. IDENTIFY WHAT YOUR GOALS ARE

This is important because you need to make sure your goal is in line with your values. Identify your core priorities and make sure your goal doesn’t detract from your overall values. Instead, your goal should support your values and work in harmony with them.

Source: Stevie D Photography

3. BE SPECIFIC

Identify what it is that you really want. Be very specific; don’t leave any room for questioning later down the road. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have to concentrate your efforts. Once you identify what it is that you really want (this can be a challenge within itself), then set your goal.

4. WRITE YOUR GOAL DOWN AND SHARE IT WITH A LOVED ONE

Make your goal visible so that you can have daily reminders to stay focused. This is very helpful because when you don’t write a goal down, it tends to become obtuse. The goal suddenly shifts depending on your circumstances at the time, gets pushed to the side if it is inconvenient and can change from its original purpose.

If your goal is written down and shared with someone then you can be held accountable for your goal. Your goal now becomes real and not just an idea that never comes to fruition.

Source: Lauren Fisher

5. CROSSFIT GOALS: MAKE IT MEASURABLE

Be precise when setting your goal. Give your goal a deadline and give your goal dates, amounts, times, etc. so that you can measure your progress.

How to Be More Successful at CrossFit

In general, CrossFit rewards the generalist and punishes the specialist. The sport encompasses both aerobic and anaerobic elements, it combines power and endurance elements and is known for its “constantly varied movements.”

Its speciality is not specialising, so athletes are – mostly – rewarded by being very good at many things, instead of being the best at a single discipline. To be good, you first have to be average, because CrossFit rewards consistency across multiple domains.

Source: Photo courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING TO WORK ON

CrossFit encompasses and prepares you for the unknown and unknowable. If you stop and think about that for a second, it almost provides an infinite number of improvement possibilities.

While you should always work to improve, you should also accept that there will always be something that you could be better at. This ‘something’ might change over time, and the definition of weakness is, ultimately, relative.

This is true for everyone; while you have weaker areas, so does the person working out next to you. When it comes to CrossFit, look at your level of proficiency in multiple skills instead of just one, and you might realise that, across the board, you’re probably quite good at the sport.

Why Consistency Is the Key to Success in CrossFit

Truth is, we could all be better at something – that’s the beauty of the sport. As soon as you accomplish a milestone, the next one knocks on the door. One progression leads to another one, and there’s always a heavier weight, better technique, added speed.

The secret is to try and stay consistent and keep yourself balanced across all of the movements and exercises.

This might be hard but is a big part of what makes CrossFit fun for elite athletes and beginners alike.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE GREAT TO ENJOY IT  

CrossFit has many positive psychological effects on athletes, such as exercise enjoyment, challenge, satisfaction, and goals achievement.

Besides, based on your previous activities and experiences, there will always be an area, task or movement you’ll be strong in or where you feel confident in your abilities.

You can measure your CrossFit progress by your goals. You don’t necessarily need to have muscle ups if your goal is to lose weight. The ability to scale CrossFit workouts means you don’t need to be great at everything for the program to work, or for you to enjoy the sport and accomplish your personal aims.

Source: StevieD Photography

HOW TO GET BETTER AT CROSSFIT

Identify your strengths and weaknesses and set a personal goal. Consistent training and focus work can match your weaknesses with your strengths and will make you an overall better athlete. However, always keep the big picture in mind.

• Follow the intended stimulus of each workout (what the workout was designed to train and improve). If this means scaling don’t be put off by the fact – consistent training like this will lead to big changes.
• Work on strict strength, even when you could use kipping movements. Develop your foundational strength, as it directly impacts all other movements. Work on building strength and control and power will follow across all exercises.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY

Plans are easy to make but hard to stick to. Being consistent refers to working on each of your skills, being dedicated to your diet and recovery, and training regularly – long term.

Dedicating time and effort to all of these areas day in and day out will see steady progress in every aspect of your fitness. Look at your proficiency as an overall athlete to measure this progress.

• Nutrition: it doesn’t really matter what kind of diet you’re following as long as you stick to the right guidelines. Ultimately, you should follow a plan you can see yourself sticking to for the next five years, not only two months. Even if a plan initially helps you lose weight or fat, if you can’t be consistent with it it’ll ultimately fail.
• Training: match your weaknesses to your strengths, do accessory and focus work, and most importantly, turn up. The athlete that will improve is the one that keeps going back to the Box, is consistent with their training sessions and knows how to prioritise what’s important to them.
• Recovery: your recovery time is where your body builds back up and becomes stronger after training. It encompasses time off, mobility and, most importantly, sleep. Taking good care of your recovery and sleeping enough consistently will both reduce your risk of injury and help you progress faster.

How Sleep Affects Recovery, Performance and Health for CrossFit Athletes

The secret to getting better at CrossFit is simply showing up and practicing skills.

Yet, in your pursuit of physical fitness, your mental game is much broader – and just as important.

Understanding the purpose and objectives of a given workout, analysing your own behaviours and movement patterns, knowing what to prioritise in training, understanding your nutritional needs beyond a macro breakdown, consuming information, programs, and supplements critically are all fundamental parts of getting you fitter and stronger.

All of these are mental or cognitive skills. They’re all encompassed by your ability to perceive and process information, to convert information into knowledge, to understand and employ your emotions, to orient toward a clear sense of purpose, to manage your time and resources and, of course, in some small percentage, to be mentally tough.

Get this: to maximize physical fitness you must optimize mental fitness.

And no, I am not saying you need to be able to prove the Galois Theorem while quoting Robert Musil and explaining the Lombard’s paradox to your mom (are those references obscure enough?). What I mean is that in order to be the most well-rounded athlete you can be, you must be able to make excellent decisions both on the fly and under stress.

You must have the critical thinking ability to discern if a given supplement actually works for you or not; if your relationship with your coach is hindering you more than helping you; or if pushing through an injury is the right or wrong decision at that moment of your life.

Source: Photo courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

All these instances of your fitness journey require that your mind is honed, as well trained as your quads, and as flexible as your shoulder. Well, maybe more flexible than the average CrossFitter’s shoulder, but you get the point. How much you can suffer through a workout – while important under a specific set of circumstances – will not help you all the time.

The ability to pragmatically assess your situation at any given time and make the right choices based on all the knowledge you’ve gathered during and outside your training sessions – in essence, to be mentally fit – is just as important as your physical preparedness.

TRAIN YOUR MIND

The cool thing is that, just like you can train and develop your physical fitness, you can train and develop your mental fitness and improve your mindset. Solving cognitive problems requires energy. It is an energetic bio-process and just as you can become more efficient at any movement, you can become more efficient at being smart. There is hope, people!

Just like you would do in training, you can push your cognitive limits beyond your current baseline to learn faster, reason better, make better decisions, and be more efficient with your cognitive resources.

On top of that, if you learn how to be vulnerable and accept that we all are emotional biological beings, then your mental game will strengthen exponentially. What I see with my athletes is that when they move from trying to not be/get too emotional to expecting emotions and analysing them, then they start making better decisions.

I see it all the time with male athletes and Olympic lifting, often they are scared, and they have a hard time understanding that emotion. It is not that they are faking it or covering it. It is just that they have been culturally raised to deny it.

Yet, if you think about it for a second, it is only natural your body produces the signal of fear when performing snatches or jerks. Throwing a heavy metallic object on top of your head putting yourself in a position that demands lots of flexibility and balance can be dangerous.

6 Ways to Improve Discipline for CrossFit Training, Nutrition and Life

Understanding that this can create a lot of fear, even if just in your body, is fundamental. It will guide your training to create skills and strategies to feel safe. For example, learning how to drop a barbell or developing strength and flexibility in the specific ranges of motions. The athlete that cannot understand or even detect this fear will always find other ways to explain why his Olympic lifts lack, which slows the whole process down.

When the athlete embraces that emotions are just a way our bodies perceive external phenomena then you can more effectively deal with those emotions and improve your mental game.  And this, my friend, will bring you to, believe it or not, a faster Fran time–which is all that matters, after all.

Now you are probably thinking: “Okay, cool, but where do I start?” Anywhere! Keep in mind that just like in physical training we have different domains that guide our training, in mental fitness we do too. Here are six areas, based on Dr Gareth Furber’s domains of mental fitness, that might help you understand how this works.

MENTAL FITNESS DOMAINS

1. Positive emotion and the ability to understand and regulate negative emotions
2. Sense of identity or purpose
3. Ability to modify your environment to achieve your goals
4. Memory and the ability to find, store and organize relevant information
5. Decision-making
6. Concentration power

For now, just pick one of these six domains. Choose the one that calls your attention for any reason and start working on it.

Get your mind super fit!

Juan Acevedo, PhD, is a Level 3 CossFit Certified Trainer and Precision Nutrition Level 2 Coach with over a decade of coaching experience. He is a humanist, destroyer of negative narratives, and constructor of positive change, and specialises in aligning the mindset, fitness, and nutrition habits of his athletes.

Find out more about him and his methods at Self Mastery Training or give him a follow on @selfmasterytraining.

What makes sport a complex experience which develops not only your body, but also you as a person, is the psychological dimension encompassing numerous mental processes such as the ability to deal with success and failure, determination, competitiveness, rivalry, decision making and finally, but perhaps most importantly, self-discipline.

Source: WODSHOTS

For amateurs and professional sportsmen and women alike, this trait is a vital component of performance. Although the athletic challenges the two groups are confronted with differ, psychological obstacles such as distractions, temptations and a lack of motivation intervene in the same way for both experienced sportspersons and occasional gym-goers, highlighting the inescapable traits of the human nature. In both cases, it is the individual’s capacity to tackle them that determines the efficiency of exercise.

Although, like any other mental skill, self-discipline heavily relies on one’s personality, upbringing and experiences, thus making it extremely difficult for any strategies of educating oneself in this sense to prove efficient in the long run, the following tips could help you stay motivated and maximise your results.

Source: Stevie D Photography

1. Learn to love sport with all its ‘flaws’

In sport, just like in life, there is no such thing as cherry-picking when you hope to achieve something.

There are no shortcuts on the way to your goal. The talents you were born with will not grant you direct access to the top. However, there is a high likelihood that hard work in the form of training will, which means that there is no way around the sweat, the exhaustion and the sore muscles. Faced with this situation, there is no better approach to accepting the inevitable than trying to take pleasure in the downsides of exercise.

Learn to appreciate pushing your body to the limits, feel the excitement of reaching the edge of your physical ability and the satisfaction of resisting under such circumstances. This will offer you self-confidence, keep alive your passion for movement and allow you to view the unpleasant side of sport in a totally new light, thus chasing away any pre-workout thoughts of repulsion or feelings of hesitation. Try to take every moment of your training one step at a time, enjoying and admiring the way in which your body obediently responds to your requests.

Here comes the separator – why there will always be people who are successful and people who will not – and it is called (LONG TERM): consistency!

I am not talking about the people who are getting sick or don´t have any chance at all to do anything as planned. It´s about still going for it even if you are not motivated and choosing and sticking to your priorities. You are what you consistently do, day in and day out. Of course, you will also reach your goals if you have days when you are consistent and days you are not. It´ll just take more time.

This is a pretty general approach, let´s try to apply this in the Crossfit world see how it fits in three important areas: Nutrition, Recovery and Training.

Nutrition

Consistency in your meal plan is a simple thing.

But we all love food and I´m sure that I am not the only one who likes to eat too much. I honestly think any diet can work if you have the right guidelines. If someone tells you their diet plan is not working and they have tried everything, they are probably lying. I also lied to myself for many years, but the past 6 months pretty much changed everything for me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ_nunnh-qn/?taken-by=mirik.cf

I got strict guidelines on my macros, prepared my meals because I wanted to lose fat and build muscles. It was very hard for me, but it worked. If you have a plan and you think you can´t have food with your friends or go out for dinner, that´s a lie. You can – just plan your day well ahead. I almost had ice cream in summer every day. I planned it and included it in my day.

It´s also okay, if you lose focus for a few days and eat too much – it just means that you might need longer to look leaner than the other person who is doing it every day.

But the most important thing I learned about nutrition is that you should not have a plan that makes you lose weight or fat and then change and go back to your normal eating habits.

Try to find a routine and stick to it – long term eating habits are the answer here.

Training

I will look at 2 different angles of consistency in training.

First of all, your quality of training. I like to think about mentality and how to approach training. If you never push yourself during workouts, the person next to you, who does challenge themselves, will be better than you one day. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but in the long term.

We don´t like to step out of our comfort zone, but CrossFit is about being uncomfortable most of the time.

Do your very best when you train, and as hard as you can. Now, a few people might think this is the wrong approach, so just to clarify: if you can´t go all out on a particular day, because it´s just impossible, you will also do the best you can even if it´s not the absolute maximum.

But you will always know if you didn´t give everything that was in your tank. Just think about a competition: you will outperform your competitors with a strong mental game, because you knew how to handle the pain during a workout.

Who you are on the competition floor is a reflection of who you are in practice: no more, no less.

Secondly, the volume of training. It´s simple, but let´s just write it down.

If you prioritize partying or a vacation over a training session, it´s called life and making decisions about what is more important. I know a lot of people, who say “oh this person is crazy or doesn´t have a life”, but also complain when they don’t make as much progress as they want to. That person, who goes to the gym every day with a clear focus and plan, will always outperform the one who prioritize something else over a training session.

Recovery

For me, recovery is about sleep, active recovery as swimming and stretching and mobility.

Plan your day in order to get enough sleep if you train hard and often.

I know a lot of people who don´t care about how much they sleep, but want to train the next morning and don´t know why their performance isn´t good enough. Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep if training matters to you. If you want to go out and party with your friends, don´t expect your body to perform well the next day. Consistency is definitely the key here.

If you don´t sleep enough for a few weeks, you might not feel it the first day or in the first week, but after a few months your body will suffer setbacks. The same goes for mobility work and stretching: I honestly think it´s one of the most important parts in Crossfit. Without it, you won´t be able to perform well with higher rep and heavier weights and your risk of injury will increase.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZtcx_BBwa-/?taken-by=mirik.cf

You can´t ensure good functional movements if you only do it once. Do it daily and include it in your warm up/cool down or before bedtime, even if it´s just for 10 minutes. You will feel the difference later.

If you have a plan for something in life, go for it. Don´t make excuses and do your best. That´s what makes the difference and draws the line between the ones who will succeed and the ones who will not.

It´s all about commitment and priorities.

How to Improve your Crossfit Performances and Mentality with Mindfulness Training

Visualisation is the process of imagining yourself performing a lift, movement or WOD exactly the way you want it to go, before you actually do it. Also called creating ‘mental imagery’, this works for almost anything, and is a great and simple psychological tool to use in order to accomplish your goals.

THE BENEFITS OF VISUALISATION:

1. GOAL SETTING

Visualisation can help with dreaming up where you’d like to be in the future; setting your athletic goals and planning how to accomplish them.

2. PREPERATION

It can create familiarity when competing at a new box/venue or unfamiliar workout or movement, to reduce anxiety and calm any pre-WOD nerves.

Source: Stevie D Photography

3. SKILL ACQUISITION

It helps you to Learning new skills or reinforce old skills or movements. It is also very effective for maintaining motor patterns whilst injured. Imagery can aid coaching cues and metaphors for learning. For example, ‘Prison Defence” when coaching a Kettle Bell Swing.

4. AROUSAL CONTROL

Visualisation can help with relaxation or motivation. Images of past or upcoming experiences (anchors) are incredibly motivating and reassuring if performed positively.

5. REFLECTION OF YOUR OWN PERFORMANCE

Evaluating the most recent performance and its strengths and weaknesses is essential, and can be done using visualisation when video footage is not available.

CrossFit might not be the cure to all of life’s problems, but it certainly will make you feel good. This feeling of elation can be traced back to a couple of reasons:

• The release of “positive” hormones during exercise
• Benefits to brain functions, such as memory and learning, as well as self-esteem
• Improvements in our body’s systems (increased health)
• The benefits of social exercise

The physiological effects of exercise include heart health, a stronger immune system, decreased risk of many diseases, and stable body structures – athletes have a reduced mortality risk compared to sedentary people. Next to the physical benefits of exercise, CrossFit makes you feel good for the following reasons.

CROSFIT IMPROVES YOUR MOOD

The link between exercise and mood is pretty strong, writes Kirsten Weir from the American Psychological Association.

“Engaging in a moderate amount of physical activity will result in improved mood and emotional states,” says the Association for Applied Sports Psychology. This is because physical exercise is known to stimulate the release of endorphins, creating a mild sense of euphoria that has rewarding properties.

Endorphins also have a protective effect against pain.

Resistance training specifically (exercises designed to increase muscle mass, strength, endurance, and power) has been proven to ease symptoms of depression.

Another study titled “Mental Health Benefits of Strength Training in Adults” listed many more benefits, including:

• Reductions in anxiety symptoms among healthy adults
• Reductions in pain intensity among patients with low back pain, osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia
• Improvements in cognition among older adults
• Improvements in sleep quality among depressed older adults
• Reductions in fatigue symptoms
• Improvements in self-esteem

While the study admits that social, psychological and neural mechanisms require further exploration and a greater sample size is needed to better estimate the magnitude and consistency of the findings, the results are promising.

Source: CrossFit Inc

EXERCISE HELPS YOU THINK MORE OF YOURSELF

Exercise improves your self-esteem and cognitive function. It has been found to alleviate symptoms such as low self-esteem and social withdrawal in healthy people and in clinical populations regardless of gender and age.

Especially rhythmic, aerobic exercises that use large muscle groups (such as running, swimming, cycling or CrossFit) were found to stimulate the most improvements.

High self-esteem is highly associated with positive physical and mental well-being, and resistance training has been shown to improve self-esteem in healthy younger and older adults as well in cancer, cardiac rehabilitation and depression patient populations.

Achieving, improving, becoming fitter

Regular exercise will help you improve, achieve personal goals and get fitter, all of which is rewarding in nature. Improving your body image, being able to perform and seeing results will bring happiness. Yet this happier state doesn’t necessarily directly correlate with getting stronger; you don’t have to see physical results to feel better during and after training.

Getting training done, irrespective of the results, can be of great psychological help.

Being able to perform “complex” physical tasks (such as presented in CrossFit) has been proven to increase confidence, self-worth and motivation.

EXERCISE MAKES YOU SMARTER

Maybe not directly smarter, but aerobic exercise has been found to have interact with brain areas important for learning and memory.

Your muscles, heart and lungs aren’t the only parts stimulated by exercise. What benefits the body benefits the brain and, just like a muscle, your brain has the capacity to change itself in response to internal and external influences. This is known as neuroplasticity.

Certain regions of your brain can change, adapt and grow throughout your life. Exercise increases the production of certain hormones which have been shown to cross from the blood into the brain, triggering changes in its structure and function.

“Exercise benefits brain function and may prevent or delay onset of neurodegenerative conditions,” concluded a 2018 study on the beneficial effects of exercise on Hippocampal Plasticity.

Source: Photo courtesy of CrossFit Inc.

GROUP EXERCISE BOOST HAPPINESS

Exercising together appears to increase the level of the feel-good endorphin hormones naturally released during physical exertion, an Oxford University study found.

The study, which was conducted on rowers, found that those who exercised alone withstood less pain – a key measure of endorphins – than those who exercised together.

Exercising in groups seems to release more endorphins than doing so alone – which is great news for athletes training in group classes. You don’t have to exercise harder or longer to experience the greater endorphin release (and potentially improve your performance as a result).

Exercising in groups is good for athletes in many other levels; it’s motivational and it’s social.

CROSSFIT CAN HELP YOU MANGE

Some researchers suspect that exercise can alleviate depression by increasing serotonin (the “happy chemical” targeted by antidepressants) or by supporting the growth of new neurons. Others suggest that exercise helps normalise sleep, which in consequence has protective effects on the brain.

Psychologically, exercise may help boost an athlete’s outlook by helping them return to meaningful activity and providing them with a sense of accomplishment (even if that means just turning up).

Stress is also moderated by activity, so exercise can be used as a way of toughening up the brain so stressors have less of an impact.

It’s important to note however, that exercise shouldn’t be treated as a cure for mental health. “Researchers don’t yet have a handle on which types of exercise are most effective, how much is necessary, or even whether exercise works best in conjunction with other therapies,” says Kirsten Weir from the American Psychological Association.

Until then, keep enjoying your training sessions and reaping the physical and psychological benefits of exercise.

This article is meant for general information purposes only and should never be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

However, during all those years in academia, I always felt there was something missing. Despite being surrounded by amazing people, both good students and brilliant colleagues, I always felt lonely. Teaching in a university and academic research are solitary tasks.

The whole building – the physical and the institution – is founded on medieval and early modern ideas. Books, authors, and teachers are the main players of the game, and everything revolves around them. It took me years of research to understand that universities by conception are not made for students; universities are made for authors.

It was when I started coaching that I understood all this. It was really after spending thousands of hours within the walls of my garage teaching people the basics a human movement literacy that I saw what I felt was missing.

8 Important Lessons from Over a Decade of Coaching

1. The personal goals of the people you’re coaching matter

You see, coaching is teaching but it involves much more than traditional teaching. In my experience, you can be an amazing teacher and never touch a soul, but you cannot be an amazing coach without changing a soul.

This resides in the fact that the scope of both professions is different. In teaching, there is a knowledge that precedes both teacher and student. The objective of the relationship is that the students successfully acquire this knowledge.

In coaching, the focus of attention is not a specific knowledge, the focus of attention is what the athlete or trainee wants to be.

This change of focus is fundamental. When somebody comes to me to help them learn a muscle-up, they don’t want to learn the muscle-up so that they can get a degree and get a job. They want to learn a muscle-up because they want to express something about themselves, they want to be capable of more, they want to challenge themselves, they want to change who they are in a very fundamental way.

In helping them with this project, I had to play the role of the teacher but also had to be a guide, a solid sounding board, an “impartial” observer, and finally a reliable supporter with no other objective than to get them where they want to be.

This not-so-small realization was one of the first transformational lessons I learned from coaching. It changed my views on learning and it created a big shift in my identity. Here, I share with you some of the other lessons I have learned from this fantastic profession.

2. You don’t need to be the best at performing, but teaching

Coaching is the job of getting people closer to where they want to be. Coaching is about making people better according to their measuring stick. Because of this, coaching can happen in almost any context.

Whenever you are guiding a person to perform better in any human skill, you are coaching.

This definition is important. Often coaches and trainees get trapped. They think the coach needs to be the best at whatever skill it is that is to be mastered. Nothing is farther from the truth: coaching is about making people better, not being better than people.

Read more: Three Characteristics that Define a Great Coach

3. Learning can be intellectual and physiological

Learning is a physiological process. I internalized this by teaching movement and nutrition. I always knew that our knowledge is limited by our humanness: by our perceptions and our biologies. But getting out of the classroom showed me I only knew this at an intellectual level.

I needed to learn this with my body, and my gut, and with my emotions, with my whole self. What we think is not only limited by our biologies – it is determined by it. Change your biology and the way you understand the world will change with it too.

I now know at a very deep level that physics is descriptive. Natural sciences never explain why things work a certain way. The laws of physics are not the laws of nature, they are just sophisticated expressions of how our cognitions interpret the world.

Don’t read this in the wrong way; I wish all my athletes knew more physics, it would make their lives easier. This implies that when coaching you have to provide a context in which this kind of holistic learning experience can happen.

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4. Coaches make knowledge accessible

Coaches are information parsers. We live in the era of information. We have created a monstrous system that produces more data than our brains can handle.

We are at a deficit because the rate of information production and availability is way faster than the rate at which we turn that information into knowledge.

This is the root of our confusion. We live in confusing times; everybody is confused about everything. The job of us coaches is to parse information, to turn confusion into practice and into sense. This is possible for us because of the limited scope we have to cover.

Our project is not to create universal knowledge or truths (thank heaven!). Our objective is to parse all the available information relevant to our client’s project. That’s very contained and doable.

5. Coaching is a craft, but not art

Art and craft are two very different things. When we have a deep love for a discipline, we always want to see it under the romantic lens of art. This initially naive analogy hinders more than it helps when it comes to coaching.

Art is an expression of the relationship of the artist’s self with the world. Craft is the mastery of a discipline.

Coaching is a craft, but it is not art. As a matter of fact, to be a good coach you have to be aware of your own self, not to express it, but to put it to the side. This is, of course, an impossible task, but we should always try to get there regardless.

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6. Training is specific, coaching is broad

When you are training somebody, both at something physical or something behavioural, that training is very specific – it should be if you want it to succeed.

Coaching, however, is broad. Knowing the specificity of the thing trained is important but it is only step one. A good coach must see the complexity of the person as a whole in order to get them where they want to go.

Knowing the technicalities of a muscle-up is not very useful if you don’t know how to interpret a person’s body language. They might be telling you that today is the worst day to learn and you might not read it. If you don’t understand what drives them, you will never be able to help them get unstuck when the grind gets real.

If you are oblivious to what their inflexible shoulder is telling you about their fixed mindset, you might end up prescribing a physical intervention when what’s really needed is a mental one.

A coach who does not know enough mathematics and logic to be able to destroy narratives of self-defeat is a coach who will always be limited and hence limiting their athlete’s abilities.

This implies that a coach should always be going for breadth in learning and development and to specificity in practice. Grow horizontally, coach vertically.

7. Think high of your clients

Everybody is doing their best. This is where I think coaching is the most effective. Do you want to get people where they want to go? They are doing their best. Work from here and you will help them.

Assume they are doing less than what they can, and you have already lost the battle. It takes ownership, it takes patience, but it does produce effective coaching.

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8. Understand people’s motivations, but coach through their actions

Evaluate people’s actions, not their motivations. What moves you and what moves me might be very different things. A good coach must understand what moves an athlete, or a client. This is a given, yet you need to really get onto the floor with your client and understand what moves them.

But you don’t have to share it. What you must do as a coach is make sure you are presenting to your trainee the contrast between their motivations and their actions. We quite often cannot see these two things together, our egos get in the way.

The job of the coach is to bring this contrast to light. This should not be done from a moral point of view. It is not about correcting, it is about providing the perspective that only an outside person can.

Don’t put morals into coaching. People don’t need that. The job of a coach is not to decide if somebody has earned something or not. That’s a moral distinction. That’s the job of a parent or a priest.

The job of a coach is to help the trainee decide what’s the best next step and help them take it, that is all.

Of course, I have learned much more than this. But these are lessons that I think we all can apply. We are all coaching somebody, most of the time we are just coaching ourselves. Even in this case, you can apply these lessons.

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Juan Acevedo, PhD, is an experienced Level 3 CossFit Certified Trainer and Precision Nutrition Level 2 Coach. He is a humanist, destroyer of negative narratives, and constructor of positive change, and specialises in aligning the mindset, fitness, and nutrition habits of his athletes.

Find out more about him and his methods at Self Mastery Training or give him a follow on @selfmasterytraining.

Brooke Wells was previously coached by the legendary Ben Bergeron and now is under the wing of coach Shane Orr, the same that takes care of Fittest Woman on Earth Tia-Clair Toomey.

Brooke offers a great deal of advice on both the physical and mental side of training. Try applying some of her lessons to your own life and training in order to become a better, healthier and happier athlete. 

This article contains multiple workouts from Brooke’s programming, accompanied by warm-ups and tips from the talented athlete. 

TALK to yourself, instead of LISTENING to yourself

“Discouragement can come in many different forms; sometimes it’s the voice inside your head that tells you you’re not good enough, or other times it may come from giving your very best and not succeeding. Fuel your heart with encouragement in these six ways:”

• how you talk to yourself
• what you visualize
• what you watch
• what you read
• what you listen to
• who you surround yourself with

“Then, choose to believe that everything that happens to you is in your best interest, and it will turn all your challenges into opportunities.”

Source: CrossFit Inc

“MY Number 1 ? to success; HAPPINESS! Have FUN. There’s times to be serious & put your game face on ? but don’t take every second of training so seriously!! It’s okay to LAUGH and ENJOY THE PROCESS”

SQUAT WARM UP

9 min EMOM:

1. 45 second bike. Increasing effort each round.
2. 8 Kang Squats with empty bar. Essentially a Good Morning into a squat. Great to open up hips & prepare hamstrings.
3. 15 banded squats. Focusing on pushing your knees out against the band to get your glutes firing & knees tracking correctly.

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WORKOUT: EVEREST

21-15-9, For Time:⠀

• Back Squats (315/225#)⠀
• Strict Handstand Push-ups

“Hey Ben, any suggestions on how I should break this up?” -Me

“You’re not.” – Ben Bergeron

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MOBILITY TIPS FROM BROOK WELLS

INTENSITY in your workouts starts with GOOD MOBILITY. How?

DISTANCE : move more comfortably in space by increasing range of motion

FORCE : optimize the ability to transfer strength with better levers and positions

SPEED : Faster execution thanks to the use of energy that is no longer wasted to correct a bad line of action

WORKOUT

“It’s a beautiful day for some barbell cycling ?”

3 Rounds NOT For Time:

• 15 Deadlifts (155/105#)
• 12 Hang Power Cleans
• 9 Front Squats
• 6 Jerks
• 3 Squat Clean Thrusters

“From Ben Bergeron of course ??‍ Not for time because focusing on making it pretty & smooth ?? I decided to do the rounds quickly and rest a little in between rounds. You do what ya want with it”

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YOUR HAND

“We’re all dealt a hand. It’s up to us whether to accept it, or to use it as a starting point. “I’m not a runner,” “I’m not a gymnast,” and “I’m not strong,” are just stories we tell ourselves. The truth is, you’re not a runner… yet. You’re not a gymnast… yet. You’re not strong… yet.” 

Source: CrossFit Inc

PARTNER WORKOUT

“I’ve got my favorite training partner visiting me this week. We have so much fun. Try this one”

• 4 Rounds For Time:
• 5 Deadlifts (325/245#)
• 25 WallBalls (30/20#)
• 75 Double Unders

“Tag your favorite training partner to do it with you!”

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SNATCH COMPLEX WORKOUT

6 reps total:

• 1 Snatch Pull
• 1 Low Hang Squat Snatch
• 1 Snatch Grip Push Press (BTN)
• 1 Squat Snatch
• 1 Snatch Balance
• 1 OHS

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WORKOUT

For time:

• 135-lb. thrusters, 15 reps
• 135-lb. sumo deadlift high pulls, 21 reps
• 135-lb. thrusters, 12 reps
• 135-lb. sumo deadlift high pulls, 15 reps
• 135-lb. thrusters, 9 reps
• 135-lb. sumo deadlift high pulls, 9 reps

In a previous article, we discussed three principles which go a long way to understanding the confusing areas of flexibility, mobility and movement.  A quick recap:

• The brain is responsible for muscle ‘tightness’. We should focus on it instead of muscles to address most range of motion issues
• The reason the brain does this is because it doesn’t feel safe or experienced at end range of motion, so it tightens the muscle(s) up to prevent the body from going into a position that it feels might cause injury
• The vast majority of muscle contractions are subconscious and reactive, rather than consciously deliberate. They react to changes in joint angle detected by proprioception (receptors in joints and muscles).

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. About how the place that a person’s motivation comes from affects how they train, how often they train, how they view their body, life and all the downfalls and setbacks they endure.

In my mind’s eye I visualize a list of names, in one column are the names of people who I see train regularly, who have ups and downs but overall seem to enjoy training and who see the best and most consistent results.

Then came dynamic stretches because static stretches would mean that your muscles lost all their power just before you trained or competed and that just isn’t an option for anyone who takes their performance remotely seriously.

Source: CrossFit Inc

So what are the habits you need to develop in order to climb up all the way up to the peak of your ‘success mountain’? Take a look:

1. A healthy athlete is a successful athlete.

Although performance and WOD scores are the ultimate goal of every competitive Crossfit athlete, health should be a huge priority. You can’t improve if you keep getting injured. Even small injuries bring setbacks, slower progress and weaknesses that in a sport as diverse as functional fitness, can lead to a decrease performance output and lower overall results. I’d like to argument this fact with a quote from Andrea Massi (famous coach to a 2-time Sochi Olympic gold medalist in alpine skiing Tina Maze):

‘Training should be designed in a way that even professional athletes can finish their career healthy.’

To finish his PhD, Matthew still needs CrossFit athletes to participate in the study’s survey.

Source: Ryan Edy

I’ll be using official scores from the 2018 CrossFit Open as a measure of CrossFit performance in this specific study, and will be collecting information on grit, mental toughness, and similar psychological characteristics from participants by using a short online survey that will take most participants less than 30 minutes to complete. No personal data will be reported in the final study, and all individual data will be kept confidential.

Participants should be from anywhere in the US, have officially participated in the 2018 CrossFit Open (that is, officially registered for the Open and submitted at least one score in the six scored events from that year) and should have been at least 18 years old at the time they participated in the Open.

This research should reveal some interesting insights into the minds and mental toughness of CrossFitters.

Contact him by email at mpetz1@capellauniversity.edu about being part of the study or simply click on this survey link to begin the study process is you are interested in participating.

7 Qualities of Successful CrossFit Athletes

CrossFit was first introduced to the fitness industry as a strength and conditioning program used to improve “fitness” as a whole by optimising the 10 general physical skills (i.e. cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy), and has received great attention ever since.

Around 2007, though, since the start of the CrossFit Games, CrossFit has become something more than just a training system and it can almost be considered a sport. In order to become the “Fittest on Earth” it is not enough to be in a good shape and have good technique, but you also need to show great commitment, determination, courage, motivation and respect to the other people involved [1].

Because of the high intensity WODs, the rapid repetitive movements and high loads of weight, CrossFit has repetitively received a bad reputation regarding the potential injuries, especially in the shoulder, knees and lower back areas [17] it’s said to cause.

Others argue that CrossFit has lower injury risks compared to other sports, as the movements are more controlled compared to basketball, football or tennis, for example. However, epidemiological studies have shown that the injury rates of CrossFit athletes are very similar to related sports such as weightlifting, powerlifting and gymnastics [9], with competitive athletes having a higher injury incidence, probably due to the higher exposure to training.

Source: Stevie D Photography

Wherever we fall on this debate, we cannot question the impact that an injury has on a CrossFit competitor, both physical and psychological. Following a serious injury, athletes may need to rest and stop practising for a while, or keep practising but at a lower intensity. Others might need to have a surgery or even retire. How can this affect them?

 “I am mad, I am sad, I am disappointed… however this too shall pass.”

-Carleen Mathews after withdrawing from the CrossFit Games in 2017 due to an injury in her left arm [8]

“This is a tough decision and a tough post to make. The competitor in me can’t help but to feel like a quitter, although I know it is the furthest thing from it.”

-Kristin Reffett after retiring from competitive CrossFit due to some health issues [11]

“My self-esteem crashed a little bit after having to withdraw from the Games cause of my rib.”

-Sara Sigmunsdottir after withdrawing from the CrossFit Games in 2018 because of a broken rib (Morning Chalk Up interview, 2019)

Numerous studies suggest that a physical injury can result in negative changes in the athletes’ mood, lower self-esteem, intrusive thoughts and confusion about their (athletic) identity among others [3], [5], [6].

HOW CAN AN INJURY AFFECT CROSSFIT ATHLETES INITIALLY?

As mentioned above, injuries can have various consequences that can be divided into cognitive (thoughts), emotional and physical.

COGNITIVE CONSEQUENCES OF INJURY

When an athlete gets injured, they tend to think about and thoroughly process the event of the injury in terms of what happened, why it happened, the impact it had on themselves and their identity, and the possible future scenarios (e.g. “Am I going to train/compete again? Am I going to perform as well as before?” etc) [7], [16].

Looking back at this stressful experience can easily lead athletes to intrusive thoughts, ruminations and catastrophising [18].

Others might also respond with denial, which can be used as a cognitive strategy to cope with the distress and negative feelings caused by the injury. Usually linked with avoidance of feeling bad, denial is a form of “self-deception” and it can help the athlete to adaptively cope with a stressful situation and to protect their self-esteem.

In other words, the athlete avoids people, places and events that remind them of the injury, suppresses the negative emotional consequences of the injury and tries to console themselves by focusing on the perceived positive outcomes [6], [13].

That’s why it is very common for athletes to keep a distance from people close to them (especially from people related to their sport) and to avoid talking about the injury and their emotions about it [5], [7], [13].

EMOTIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF INJURY

A very important issue that most athletes face after an injury is a feeling of confusion about their (athletic) identity, as the new situation does not fit with their identity prior to the injury. For example, their capabilities might not be the same as before, their goals for the following months, season or year might need to change as they might be unable to compete or prepare for a competition, athletes might need to retire and stop competing.

Especially for athletes who are forced to retire due to an injury the confusion is more significant, as their retirement was not expected or planned. In response to that, athletes might either try to find ways to maintain and protect their identity, known as assimilation process, or form a new identity including a new role and goals, known as accommodation process [2], [10].

The above thoughts affect the athletes’ emotions. It is quite common for them to experience depression, anxiety (i.e. fear of the unknown) and negative emotions, such as rage, fury, shock, frustration, regret and self-pity, as well as loss of confidence [7], [12].

It has been shown that athletes feel that the injury increases stressors and demands, and that it has an impact not only on their athletic career and/or performance but also on their everyday functioning and on others’ lives, such as their coach, teammates, family.

Of course, the intensity of their emotional responses varies according to the injury’s severity [12].

PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES OF INJURY

Finally, athletes face physical difficulties after an injury, as in most cases they perceive that they are not at the same fitness level as before the injury, or they feel that they are unable or struggle to complete tasks that they used to complete with relative ease [7].

It is obvious that the first reactions to sports injuries are not usually positive and it is highly understandable.

Is it possible, then, for a CrossFit athlete who puts a lot of effort in their conditioning and training, nutrition, sleep and mindset to mentally and psychologically recover from such a setback in their career and/or performance?

The answer is yes. It has been shown that an obstacle or a difficulty during an athlete’s career might in fact be beneficial, as it could lead to adversarial growth and resilience.

WHAT IS ADVERSARIAL GROWTH?

Adversarial growth can be described as positive changes that benefit an individual’s level of functioning through the process of struggling with a traumatic, stressful and/or demanding event [6], [12].

According to a growing body of research, “people can grow following adversity to the extent that they report development beyond their pretrauma functioning” [6].

Specifically, most of the world’s best athletes experience some kind of sport or non-sport related adversity (e.g. an injury, a serious illness, mental health issues, bullying, bereavement or financial issues), which can work as a “developmental catalyst” in the athlete’s career and optimal performance.

Athletes who have endured a serious difficulty during their sports career have reported various beneficial changes in their attitudes, relationships and performance, such as a development of a greater appreciation of life, improved personal strength, enhanced relationships, but also improved performance and better engagement in their sport [6], [14].

Is growth always constructive?

Although growth is possible, it is not an easy and quick process, and some qualitative studies have proven that it might be “illusory” and not “constructive” growth [5], [6], [7].

An athlete’s growth is illusory when the perceived positive changes are not reflecting true changes from within the athlete but are based on self-deception and denial. Illusory growth is usually associated with avoidance, denial and self-deception, and are often associated with:

1. Seeking meaning: an athlete might experience intrusive thoughts and rumination that cause distress. In order to resolve this distress, they might try to understand and make sense of their experience by looking back at the onset of the injury. Through illusory growth the athlete just comprehends their experience, which is not enough to reach constructive growth. The athlete just focuses on why the injury happened (e.g. “I did not focus on my technique”), and does not seek to understand and reflect on all the factors that impacted them (e.g. possible overtraining or other stressors that might affect concentration), their thoughts (e.g. “I am useless”) and emotions (e.g. “I feel depressed”) [6], [7].
2. Cognitive manipulation and denial: an athlete might use cognitive techniques in order to reduce and avoid negative feelings, such as disappointment and distress, and to protect some parts of their identity. These techniques are also called “self-enhancement cognitions” and include (unrealistically) optimistic language and downwards social comparison [6]. Another example of avoidance of the negative emotions resulting from an injury is not disclosing information about their experience [12].
   

   “Also, having everyone ask me how I was feeling was tough, because I really didn’t want to tell them that I feel like shit.”

   -Annie Thorisdottir talking about her recovery period after a herniated-disk during an interview with BoxLife magazine.

3. Derogation of the injury experience: commonly, athletes will try to lower the significance of their experience in order to reduce negative feelings. For instance, they might compare themselves with other athletes who are in worse situations to feel better [2] or compare their current situation with a worse one they have experienced before.
4. Assimilation: when an athlete experiences a traumatic experience, such as a serious injury, their identity can be shattered. In order to maintain and protect their identity, some athletes tend to use distorted positive perceptions that fit their already formed identity prior to the injury (e.g. “I am the same athlete as before, I have the same goals and aspirations, I am as capable as before” etc), rather than form a new identity using the new information after the injury [5], [6]. A common example happens during the rehabilitation period, when athletes might not be ready to go back to training, but instead keep training or even compete in order to protect their (pre-injury) identity and avoid negative emotions.

Although illusory growth can seem quite negative, some aspects can be considered as beneficial at the beginning of the process of growth. Specifically, denial can be used as a “short-term palliative coping strategy” when the athlete is unable to cope with the amount of shock and distress caused after the injury.

When denial is also accompanied by an effort to cope with the traumatic injury, it can work as a function to support them psychologically and to help them develop their performance later [5].

HOW CAN YOU CONSTRUCTIVELY GROW AND DEVELOP FOLLOWING AN INJURY?

Research has shown that there are personal and external factors that can facilitate constructive growth.

What you can do:

1. Reflection: making sense of and reflecting on your experience, your thoughts and feelings after the injury, and understanding what and why you are thinking and feeling the way you are. This way, you can find any maladaptive thoughts that affect your emotions and keep you from growing and start focusing on your sporting goals and aspirations. In turn, this will help you rationalize your thoughts, and finally regulate your negative emotions [7], [16].
2. Injury = challenge: seeing your injury as a challenge and not as a threat. It is your opportunity to take control, develop and become better based on what went wrong [12].
   

   “It’s crazy how our biggest challenges can become our greatest gifts”

   -Julie Foucher referring to her retirement and injury [4]

3. Acceptance: accepting your injury, what has happened and all its consequences, as well as the challenge to develop [7].
4. Perceived social support: having and/or creating a safe and reliant social network. Apart from the actual social support, the perception of having social support is very important as it provides you with reassurance and a sense of security that if you need support, you will have it [12].
5. Accommodation: a reformation of your identity, your role, your priorities and goals based on the new situation, all of which are very important in athletes forced to retire [2], [5], [7]. For example, an injured athlete who retires from competitive CrossFit might become a coach (new role) and set “supporting and training other athletes” as their new goal.
6. Personality: Mental toughness/resilience, confidence, creativity, openness to experience, optimism and emotional intelligence are some of the personality traits that are found to facilitate the process of growth [7], [12].
7. Prior experience: having already experienced (a more stressful) adversity (e.g. other injury, bereavement, illness etc) in the past, athletes might compare them and realise that their injury is not worth the distress [5], [7].

What you can use:

1. Physical and educational resources: reading, watching and/or hearing (e.g. autobiographies, documentaries, films, sport events) about other people’s recoveries, information on your type of injury, how you can heal, cope and recover can help and facilitate the process of growth [5], [7], [16].
2. Social support: emotional but also practical support from family, friends, coach and/or sport psychologist can be extremely helpful; you can be benefited by encouragement, talking about your emotions, and feeling that someone understands you [5], [7], [12].
3. Time: having an injury equals more free time which can be positive [12], [16]. Many injured athletes have mentioned that during their free time they were focusing on things that they didn’t focus on before, such as technique.

“I worked a lot on technique. I was doing Snatches and Clean & Jerks at 30kg (60lbs) for a month and a half. My technique has probably benefited a lot from that. Now that I’m able to able to add more load, my lifts feel the same or better. I also got to practice gymnastics movements that I otherwise wouldn’t have. The experience was good that way.”

-Annie Thorisdottir talking about her recovery period (interview with BoxLife magazine).

Other athletes might also focus on things irrelevant to their sport that they couldn’t before because of lack of time. For instance, Julie Foucher who retired after rapturing her Achilles tendon, focused on finishing med school.

IN WHAT WAYS CAN YOU GROW AFTER A CROSSFIT INJURY?

When an athlete experiences constructive growth, they can develop in various ways.

Particularly, some of the perceived improvements of previously injured athletes of different levels, from club to national level, are the following:

Intrapersonal development

1. Emotional regulation: increased ability to understand, express and regulate one’s emotions [7]
2. Increased sport confidence, motivation and focus [15], [16]
3. Improved resilience and personal strength [7], [13], [16]
4. Better coping strategies when faced with other problems [15]
5. Change in beliefs, values and attitudes [15]
6. Spiritual change [7]
7. Change of priorities and perspective: looking at the bigger picture [5], [7], [15], [16]

 Interpersonal development

1. Strengthened social network and enhanced relationships [15], [16]
2. Greater appreciation of friends and family [7]
3. Better relationship with coach [15], [16]
4. Increased levels of empathy and prosocial behaviour [7], [16]
5. Improved ability to speak to others and ask for help [7], [15]

Physical development

1. Improved physical outcomes [7]
2. Improved technique, strength, conditioning, flexibility [15], [16]
3. Lower risk of injury: there is an increased knowledge of anatomy and risk factors of injury [15], [16]

It is evident that a CrossFit competitor can grow and develop as an athlete and as a person, even after a serious injury that can affect their career. In fact, it is this adversity that gives them the opportunity to progress.

However, it should not be assumed that an injury or any adversity is desired or needed for someone to develop, nor that it is enough to thrive, as there are other aspects and processes that determine an athlete’s success.

It is also important to note that the psychological impacts an injury can have on an athlete should not be neglected or undermined, as these can be stressful, devastating and traumatizing. What is suggested is that despite the negative consequences, an athlete can benefit through an injury in many ways.

Internal or External Motivation – What Drives You to Train?

Athina Papailiou is an MSc Sport & Exercise Psychology student at Loughborough University, you can find more of her work here.

References

[1] Claudino, J. G., Gabbett, T. J., Bourgeois, F., de Sá Souza, H., Miranda, R. C., Mezêncio, B., … Hernandez, A. J. (2018). Crossfit overview: systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine-Open, 4(1), 11.

[2] Day, M. C., & Wadey, R. (2016). Narratives of trauma, recovery, and growth: The complex role of sport following permanent acquired disability. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 22, 131–138.

[3] Forsdyke, D., Smith, A., Jones, M., & Gledhill, A. (2016). Psychosocial factors associated with outcomes of sports injury rehabilitation in competitive athletes: a mixed studies systematic review. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50(9), 537 LP – 544.

[4] Foucher, J. [@juliefoucher]. (2017, May 31). [Photograph of J. Foucher at the CrossFit Games]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/BUu25WpDQ4w/?utm_source=ig_embed

[5] Howells, K., & Fletcher, D. (2015). Sink or swim: Adversity-and growth-related experiences in Olympic swimming champions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 16, 37–48.

[6] Howells, K., & Fletcher, D. (2016). Adversarial growth in Olympic swimmers: constructive reality or illusory self-deception? Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 38(2), 173–186.

[7] Howells, K., Sarkar, M., & Fletcher, D. (2017). Can athletes benefit from difficulty? A systematic review of growth following adversity in competitive sport. In Progress in brain research (Vol. 234, pp. 117–159). Elsevier.

[8] Mathews, C. [@teamcarleen]. (2017, August 4). [Photograph of C. Mathews at the CrossFit Games]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/BXWyM0tFrvO/

[9] Montalvo, A. M., Shaefer, H., Rodriguez, B., Li, T., Epnere, K., & Myer, G. D. (2017). Retrospective Injury Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Injury in CrossFit. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 16(1), 53–59. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28344451

[10] Muscat, A. C. (2010). Elite athletes’ experiences of identity changes during a career-ending injury: an interpretive description. University of British Columbia.

[11] Reffett, K. [@kreffett]. (2018, March 11). [Photograph of K. Reffett in the gym]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/BgMXfJkFtwW/

[12] Roy-Davis, K., Wadey, R., & Evans, L. (2017). A grounded theory of sport injury-related growth. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 6(1), 35.

[13] Salim, J., Wadey, R., & Diss, C. (2016). Examining hardiness, coping and stress-related growth following sport injury. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 28(2), 154–169.

[14] Sarkar, M., & Fletcher, D. (2017). Adversity-related experiences are essential for Olympic success: Additional evidence and considerations. In Progress in brain research (Vol. 232, pp. 159–165). Elsevier.

[15] Wadey, R., Clark, S., Podlog, L., & McCullough, D. (2013). Coaches’ perceptions of athletes’ stress-related growth following sport injury. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14(2), 125–135.

[16] Wadey, R., Evans, L., Evans, K., & Mitchell, I. (2011). Perceived Benefits Following Sport Injury: A Qualitative Examination of their Antecedents and Underlying Mechanisms. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 23(2), 142–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2010.543119

[17] Weisenthal, B. M., Beck, C. A., Maloney, M. D., DeHaven, K. E., & Giordano, B. D. (2014). Injury rate and patterns among CrossFit athletes. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2(4), 2325967114531177.

[18] Wiese‐Bjornstal, D. M. (2010). Psychology and socioculture affect injury risk, response, and recovery in high‐intensity athletes: a consensus statement. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 20, 103–111.

But what exactly is it about competition that makes us improve, and why doesn’t daily training enforce the same effects?

The shadow of a competition in the horizon is a great motivator. With the knowledge that we will be challenged with something we don’t normally do and the desire to do well, athletes find a reason to work on their weaknesses, push harder and become better at what they do.

Source: Revenge Competition

“What drives many of us is to challenge others,” Revenge Competition, an innovative functional fitness app where opponents can challenge each other in a ladder format, states on its website.

And it’s true, rivalry has been found to increase motivation and result in improved performances.

Humans are wired to search for ways to improve, whether it’s at the workplace, daily life or in sport. This is especially true for CrossFit athletes, who show relentless grit and determination every day to get through the workouts.

Find out what competition does to our brains and how this can improve performance.

ENHANCED MENTAL TOUGHNESS

Competition has been shown to increase physical motivation and improve effort-based learning and attention. It also inspires people to do their best, not just enough.

A competition is a situation where the athlete perceives and experiences a big emotional charge; this can vary between nerves, determination, anger, elation and everything in between.

Source: Revenge Competition

Competitions can be character-building. The setting pushes athletes to try things they hadn’t dared to before. Once a big feat becomes possible, a hurdle in the mind is knocked down. Competitions help us prove to ourselves that we are capable of our goals and targets.

“[…] Emotions influence our behaviour and actions in every aspect of our life, including sport,” says Sport Psychology at HU Berlin Prof. Darko Jekauc. An athlete has to be emotionally intelligent to perform successfully in competition, and a way to gain this emotional intelligence is through experience.

The prospect of overcoming a challenge, combined with the knowledge that the outcome will have a broader impact beyond the self – unlike finishing your daily WOD – toughens an athlete’s mind no matter their fitness level or amount of experience.

In a ladder competition setting such as Revenge Competition, an athlete has got to earn their position on the ladder; the outcome of a workout not only helps their fitness level but will determine whether they climb up, successfully defend their position or are bumped down.

Challenges increase in difficulty as athletes climb higher up the ladder, reflecting their fitness level and maintaining the competition a challenge for everyone taking part.

Challenging ourselves whilst seeing how we stack up against others can be an incredibly positive and rewarding experience. Ultimately, it doesn’t have to be about your performance, but about the process you go through to get to the competition and how it allows you to grow and find facets in yourself you might not have been aware of.

GREAT SOURCE OF EXTERNAL MOTIVATION

Once you have committed to a competition, you’re more likely to train for it. There are many reasons behind this: some people like to perform well or have a preference over difficult tasks, others feel satisfaction in improving their performance and some have a big desire to win.

Participating in competitions might bring an extrinsic form of motivation, such as a prize or the promise of some form of external reward; or an intrinsic form of motivation, such as the achievement of a personal goal.

Whichever one you feel more inclined towards, competition provides the setting to fulfill that desire and has been proven to increase internal and external motivation, as well as improve productivity and performance, and provide accountability and validation.

Revenge Competition separates tournaments by level, so the competition remains a challenge for every athlete regardless of expertise. All levels are awarded prizes, which gives everyone a fair chance at winning something special from the event’s sponsors. This also means everyone can be competitive within the same event.

With workouts mixing up gymnastics, cardio and weightlifting, every athlete has to ensure there are no gaps in their fitness if they want to hold on to their position or, even better, climb higher up the ladder.

Here’s to your next challenge!

CLOSER RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH SHARED EXPERIENCES

Competition doesn’t have to be serious to be effective. In fact, people are more likely to perform better if they compete against a rival (someone they already know), as the psychological stakes are higher, Jillene Grover Seiver, PhD, professor of psychology, concluded in a 2016 study.

Competing against people with similar skills and talents promotes a bigger boost in performance – the quality of your competitors plays a big role on the effort and motivation you ultimately put in.

Another study, from psychological scientist Gavin J. Kilduff of New York University, looking into rivalry, motivation and performance found that longstanding personal rivalries between similar contestants can boost both motivation and performance.

“How we behave in competition situations depends on our relationship and history of interaction with our opponent,” Kilduff writes in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. “This suggests that we may be able to boost our own levels of motivation and performance by either forming rivalries or harnessing the ones we already have.”

Adding competitions into one’s training routine will not only add variety into your workouts, but also make you mentally stronger and bring you closer to the people you compete against and with.

With Revenge Competition you can compete against your friends from your local box or challenge members from all over the world. By challenging athletes within the tournaments you’ve joined, you contribute to your and your opponent’s growth and development.

Source: Revenge Competition

Box owners can partner with Revenge Competition to introduce their own ladder tournament. With little to no need for external judges or video submissions, the work needed to see the competition happen is remarkably low and the process straight forward. The workouts are selected at random from Revenge Competition’s database.

Be part of the functional fitness app that aims to contribute to every athlete’s general fitness, growth and pleasure in the sport, regardless of their level.

Try it out

The former Ironman triathlete also owns CrossFit New England. In his podcast, Chasing Excellence, he shares his thoughts, ideas and beliefs about what it means to lead a life of excellence. On episode 43, he talks about dealing with weaknesses.

Here are seven methods to help you work on your weaknesses, both in and outside the Box. All information for this article was taken from the podcast episode above.

• ROOT OUT PROBLEMS

Whether at the gym or your day-to-day life, the first step towards working on your weaknesses is to root out the problems.

Start by identifying the issues; once you know and acknowledge there is a problem you can do something about it.

Break down the issues and find what principles would allow you to improve – what exactly is stopping you from performing to the level your potential should allow you to perform? For example, is it your swimming technique or lack of time in the pool, or both? And what exactly is it about your technique?

Source: Stevie D Photography

“This year is going to be the most challenging both physically and mentally that you’ll have ever encountered at the CrossFit games”.

He’s not alone in identifying mentality as a huge influence on performance. Only a week before this announcement the CrossFit Games site posted the journal Mind Games in which Julie Foucher and Scott Panchik stress that:

“it’s completely mental strength that determines your final performance” over physical ability.

The week before that I listened to Katrin Davidsdottir on the Road to the Games series talk of focussing on the process and not the outcome, and the influence sport psychology has upon her training.

THE ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGY ON PERFORMANCE

The role of psychology on performance is becoming more apparent within Crossfit, the question is, are we born with this special power or is it something we can improve upon?

Well, just like we can improve any gymnastic skill or develop strength beneath a barbell, mental skills can also become a strength. Some people are born with a healthy dose of mental toughness and others less so, similarly to any skill or ability.

WHATEVER YOU WERE BORN WITH YOU CAN ALSO IMPROVE UPON

The field of sport psychology has been supporting this for the last century and with current research from neuroscience around plasticity we know it is the case.

So how does someone develop such an ability? Let’s look at physical development around the Deadlift as an example. Some athletes are naturally capable of picking a weight from the ground, however as resistance increases those with well learnt techniques end up lifting more, having less setbacks and reaching their potential. Whilst those that don’t get injured or hit a ceiling in their ability quickly.

Source: RX'd Photography

The mind works in exactly the same way. Some individuals can push themselves extremely far and as mental resistance increases during a workout their ability to withstand the resistance becomes apparent. What techniques do you use when motivation is low, what skills do you apply to ensure you do your best when you lack confidence? What do you do to ensure you don’t have a setback or a mentally “tweaked back”?

3 TECHNIQUES TO TRAIN YOUR MENTAL STRENGTH

Imagery, Self Talk and State management are used in some way by every athlete, However, that said how many athletes use them and hold their technique when mental resistance is high.

1. CONTROL NEGATIVE SELF-TALK: THOUGHT STOPPING

Once you become aware of negative self-talk, it must stop immediately! In competitive Crossfit, you can’t afford the luxury of adverse thoughts. They snowball quickly and before you know it, you are hoping for it all to be over – or worst of all – you have already stopped!

2. BAND TECHNIQUE FOR SNAPPING OUT OF NEGATIVE THINKING

Actions can aid ‘thought stopping’ and it’s common for athletes to wear bands around their wrist to snap when a negative thought arises. This behaviour reminds you to ‘snap out of it’. Try this in your next workout to help keep your crossfit mindset positive. Pick something individual that works for you – either way, use a psychological cue to keep your positive thoughts, and strong performance, on the right track.

3. COUNTER NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

Keeping negative thoughts completely out of your own consciousness is difficult, and requires a good amount of mental toughness. However, don’t look at this skill as repressing negative thoughts through effort.

It is important to be mindful of each negative thought as well as the cause of it. Once restructured into a positive statement, you need to counter the argument put forward by the feeling of doubt with a positive ‘case’ (such as a lawyer would do in court). This can be a memory from your past where you performed well at a particular skill, or a time you exceeded your perceived ability.

Source: Crossfit Inc

By presenting the case you are essentially convincing yourself that the original thought was irrational. This will reduce the chances of it returning and improve your crossfit mindset, additionally giving yourself a positive outlook.

TURNING YOUR MENTALITY INTO A STRENGTH

Mental skills are coachable and can become a strength. They call it mental toughness, some are born with it, some aren’t, what is clear is that both can make it stronger. The key is being aware that confidence or motivation is holding you back and taking the responsibility to turn the weakness into a strength. How fitting it is that Julie Foucher claimed “the best games mentality wins it” and Katrin Davidsdottir takes her second title at the 2016 CrossFit Games.

Try workouts that are designed to push your mental strength and toughness, because they will build your self confidence and help you deal with any negative thoughts that may arise. Try this one from Sara Sigmundsdottir.

Workout from Sara Sigmundsdottir called KETTLEBELL HELL!

Sara: ‘If you want to work on your mental strength I recommend this workout: Kettlebell Hell.’

Source: RX'd Photography

4 Rounds for increasing load:

• 10 Double KB Clean
• 10m Double KB FR Carry
• 10 Double KB STOH
• 10m Double KB FR Carry
• 10 Double KB FR Lunges
• 10m Double KB FR Carry
• 10 Double KB FR Squat
• REST 3 minutes b/t rounds

‘Recommended starting weights 16/12kg (35/26lbs) or more if you dare.. Take it with someone who pushes you! Thanks BK Gudmundsson for the competition’

Ben Bergeron “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

You’ve had enough of that wibbly, wobbly stuff around your stomach and you are going to do something about it once and for all.

But as our most beloved Sport is going to change your body for sure, it is also going to have a big impact on your mentality as well. Here are five ways in which Crossfit will change not only your body, but also your mentality.

1. YOU WILL BECOME MORE SELF-CONFIDENT

I remember when one of my coaches said to me, ‘You know, when you first came here you were all shy and guarded – and now, when you walk into the Box it’s like you want to say “Look at me, I am here, bring it on.'”

I took a minute and thought about it before realising that she had been right. In school I hated sports. I loathed P.E. so very much that I had nightmares before class. Therefore, I felt severe restraint working out with or in front of other people and I had problems with my body image. Crossfit changed that.

Source: RX'd Photography

In half a year I had learned things I had never been able to do before and never even thought of doing. While trying and failing and trying and finally succeeding I became much more confident that I could master anything if I did try hard enough. Some time ago I also transferred this new won self-confidence onto other aspects of my life – I decided that I would not let myself be bossed around by what I thought other people would expect of me. And more often than not I catch myself thinking: “Oh, that seems hard – let’s try it.”

 2. YOU WILL BECOME MORE PATIENT

Progress takes time. When training Crossfit you will learn that – as your body composition changes slowly over months – your progress with every exercise also need to be well nourished by your patience. But trying things like Double Unders over and over again until you have finally mastered the movement can be one of the most satisfying and life-changing experiences you may have – everybody, who remembers their very first Muscle-Up or Handstand-Walk or what have you, knows what great feeling of conquer it is to have finally done “it”. In the long term this causes you to become more patient in other parts of life as well. You will realize that constant work pays off and more often than not will finally get you what you want.

3. YOU WILL IMPROVE YOUR MENTAL STAMINA

One of the first things you learn at your local Crossfit-Box is that the expression “I can’t do that anymore” doesn’t exist.

Source: RX'd Photography

When you observe a common WOD, you will see people spurring each other on to push themselves through the next few minutes of a gruesome Workout. The community encourages you to try harder and not give up. Within the first minute of my very first Crossfit WOD I knew I would finish any workout no matter how long it would take or how much it would hurt – just because I had seen how hard the others had slogged away.

You will establish routines of thinking “Oh, I can do one more rep of those [insert most hated excerise here]”. After a while, you will be able to transfer this resilience onto other aspects in life, always remembering that you can take on everything after you completed a total Murph-Workout!

4. YOU WILL CONQUER YOUR FEARS AND BECOME MORE OPEN

As I said before, I myself felt weak and thought my body hated me, because I couldn’t do a handstand or even normal single unders. But as I got accommodated with the world of Crossfit, I also discovered that I was a pretty adventurous person.

Once we did Sledge-Pulls at the Box by pulling tires with a rope hung around our shoulders like a sash. Just before we had done Farmers Walks. I loved the Sledge-Pulls and my coach noticing that and asked me if I would like to combine the Sledge-Pull with the Farmers Walk. I thought to myself: “Cool, that sounds totally crazy, let’s do it.” And seconds after I was pulling the tire with my shoulders while carrying two 24kg kettlebells in my hands.

Source: RX'd Photography

I had so much fun with that workout – and I will always remember that when the next opportunity to try something crazy comes around the corner. What you can take away from this story is that Crossfit will encourage you to try new things. Since you have already learned that constant work pays off, you will also conquer your fear of trying certain things for the first time. Nobody other than yourself is going to stop you. That is what you will learn best through Crossfit, because at a certain point you have to do a workout you are afraid of – and that’s the time you will finally lose your anxiety.

5. YOU WILL BECOME MORE RESISTANT TO STRESS AND BUILD A STRONGER MENTALITY

A Crossfit WOD is a brutal, stressful entity of pain – every decent Crossfitter knows that. But what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, doesn’t it?

Crossfit will build up your stress-resistance not only for physical exertion but also for other aspects of life, work for example. Your boss is pissing you off? You got a deadline to meet? Well, all of that breaks down to the same principles as a Crossfit-WOD does: You are under a lot of pressure and you need to perform.

But Crossfit teaches you how to deal with that pressure. When you can say to yourself “I did 350 kettlebell swings in 10 minutes today” that isn’t going to finish your next presentation. But it allows you to realise that if you can manage such a bucket load of stress, you can also calm down and handle stress at work more effectively by noticing that nothing is as bad as it seems at first.

These are my five ways in which Crossfit is going to have an impact on you mentally. Do you have any others to add? Let us know in the comments!