3/22 #transformationTuesday

Kelsi is not letting knee surgery hold her back. She is using the adaptive techniques used by wheelchair bound CrossFitters to modify workouts to meet her needs.

We coaches get asked frequently how long it will take someone to do something as prescribed. Or how long it will take to improve in CrossFit. Our answer is always, "It depends." Not satisfying, we know. 
It really does depend though. It depends on your current level of conditioning, it depends on how consistently you attend classes, it depends on how much extra work you put towards skill development by taking specialty seminars, skill sessions or private training. It depends on how well you eat, how well you recover, how many hours you sleep. It depends on your lifestyle. 
However, our good friends at Beyond the Whiteboard, who are data geeks like us, have crunched the numbers for us. They looked at Fitness Level data from over 65,000 athletes over the past 6 years and analyzed it to see how long it takes to increase your Fitness Level. They found, on average, it takes 5-6 months of consistent CrossFit to improve your Fitness Level by 10 points. The only challenge with using your BTWB Fitness Level to track your improvement or transformation is that it's dependent upon you completing a workout as prescribed. Not all of us are at that level, yet. 
Repeating workouts is an excellent way to see if you've increased your fitness. CrossFit defines fitness as increased work capacity. Before we found CrossFit, most of us lacked an observable, measurable and repeatable definition of fitness. We thought we were fit if we felt better or looked better. Sure, those are aspects of fitness, but they are aspects that are hard to measure. 
One of the benefits of CrossFit training is the measurement of fitness through how fast we run or row, how many unbroken pull-ups or double unders we can do, how much weight we can deadlift, squat or press, etc. In fact, we try to measure as many fitness variables as we can.
While all of these measurements can validate our hard work and help us stay motivated to continue our training, they can also highlight our weaknesses. It takes only about 2 months of consistent CrossFit training for us to be unceremoniously humiliated by our weaknesses. 
It takes a lot of mental toughness to work on our weaknesses. Its way more fun and wholly enjoyable to work on the things we're good at. But, to deliberately practice what we suck at, well, that takes letting go of our ego and being willing to admit we're not perfect. Why is this so damn hard?
Most folks would rather avoid the things they're not good at. But, they remain frustrated and angry when those things come up in a WOD. What are they waiting for, a Festivus miracle? Working on our weaknesses will help increase our mental and physical fitness. Want to be a better person? Work on the things you suck at. Good luck! ​

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