Confront Your Goat

Because we speak a different language in the CrossFit world, a weakness is not a weakness; it is a goat. Do not ask me where the term came from, I’m at a loss on that one, but it is an expression used by CrossFit boxes all over. Your goat is the movement that terrifies you, that makes you want to skip your training session, which leaves you frustrated and sure you will never improve.

You might have a whole herd of goats. I sure do. Rope climbs, handstand walks, toes to bar, handstand push-ups, muscle-ups. They all scare the f*** out of me and they make me feel weak and doubt myself. Confronting your goat will not only make you better at CrossFit. It is empowering to achieve something you believed to be impossible and it requires mental toughness to stick with it. We aren’t only aiming for physical strength here; we are exercising our determination and commitment too.

Every few months I sit down and make a list of the movements I know I need to work on. It can be overwhelming, but look at that list and pick just one or two things you want to focus on. Be realistic, you can’t get better at everything at once. Commit to working on your goat daily before or after class, or set some goat slaying time every week. Do not be discouraged if you don’t see improvement straight away, it will take a long time and you have to start with the basics. Struggling with pistols? How’s your air squat? If you want to get a muscle-up, assess your strict chest to bar pull-ups first.

If you feel at a loss for how to progress on a movement, ask us! That is what we, your coaches, are there for. Even if the movement is not on the whiteboard, if we have a spare moment between classes, we will be happy to share tips with you. If you really want to tackle your goat head on, arrange a personal training session. This way, you can spend a solid 30 minutes or an hour breaking down and completely understanding the movement with a coach. We can give you drills and write you a personalized plan to keep you on track to succeed.

Use our goals board to hold you accountable. Write down your name, your goat, and a realistic date by which you would like to achieve it. Don’t skip a WOD because it contains a movement you dislike. That’s most likely a sign you need to be showing up that day. It is satisfying to do well on workouts we are good at. I get a nice ego boost every time we have double unders posted. There is nothing wrong with that, enjoy the days when the programming gods are working in your favor. However, it is far more satisfying to succeed at something that has previously baffled you.

Don’t ignore your goat. The longer you leave it unaddressed, the more it will haunt you. Chip away at it day by day, until your weakness becomes your strength. You will be a better athlete, and a stronger human for having overcome it.