Celebrate the Small Gains

Posted by on April 23, 2015 with 0 Comments

success

We have lofty goals at CrossFit Bloomfield. We strive to be the best versions of ourselves. We want to challenge our bodies to do things that might at first seem impossible. We aim to push, pull, lift, swing, squat, sweat and move more, every day. We utilize whole body, core-to-extremity, functional movements that are highly technical, and demand concentration and control. It isn’t easy and it can be frustrating. As a beginner, the variety and complexity of the movements can be overwhelming and alien. A few years in and you’ll be feeling pretty good, but there will still be goats that haunt you and seem insurmountable. Whether you are fresh out of On Ramp, or a long-time member, stop dwelling on what you can’t do and start figuring out how you are going to get there. Success will come through the small, gradual gains.

Your fitness is not a 6-week challenge. It is for life. Everyone wants to lift more, now, but you don’t get a new back squat PR by putting an extra 50lb on the bar and hoping for the best. You keep track of the weights you use in a training journal, and each time back squats come up, you aim to add a little more. This is particularly true for more experienced athletes. The gains can be fast and large in the beginning, because you’ve just learnt proper technique and are attempting things you have never done before. A year or two in, when those numbers slow down and you hit a plateau, is when you really need to focus on minor adjustments and small improvements.

You know those tiny 1lb plates that we always disregard? Those plates are made for plateau breaking. A 5 or 10lb PR is far more glamorous, sure. But a PR is a PR. Consider this. If you were to add 1lb plates each week for 5 weeks, you’d be lifting 10lb more in a little over a month. As you start to max out on your snatch or clean, an extra 5lb on the bar can feel MUCH heavier. 2lb, not so much. Here’s a personal anecdote. I was stuck at an inconsistent 90lb for my max power snatch, and for months failed at 95lb. It felt significantly heavier on the first pull, and I did not have the confidence to transition and drive under the bar. One day, it struck me to try out those little 1lb plates. 92lb was no problem. I got 95lb straight after. 97lb went up. And then 100lb. The incremental increases allowed my body to adjust slowly, and I was no longer scared of the bar. Small gains add up!

Stop setting unrealistic goals. If you want to lose 20lb, focus on how you are going to get there, rather than the end result. Make your goal showing up to the gym 4 days a week, or packing a healthy lunch every day. Goals are useless unless you have a plan of action. Want to get better at handstands? Plan to spend 5 minutes upside down, every day. I guarantee you will get better at handstands. When it comes to high skill movements, focus on one aspect of the movement at a time, before you try and put it all together. Very few people are fortunate enough to just look at the rings and get a muscle up on the first try. For most, it is months or years spent on false grip pull-ups, kipping swings, transitions and dips. Eventually the pieces will come together and you will achieve your goal.

Celebrate the small gains. Focus on what you have accomplished and be proud of what you can currently do. Scaling is not failing. It is how you build the foundations for more advanced movements. Those dumbbell shoulder press and wall walks translate into more than just a handstand pushup. More importantly, they create the shoulder strength, midline stability and confidence that make a handstand push up possible.

There is power in small wins and slow gains. This is why average speed yields above average results. This is why the system is greater than the goal. This is why mastering your habits is more important than achieving a certain outcome. 

– quote by James Clear

Filed Under: CrossFit Bloomfield

Respond

Mandatory fields are marked as *

You must be logged in to post a comment.