Crawl Before you Run
Written by Holden Rethwill
In today’s society people are always wanting the next big thing. The latest and greatest item on the market. We can make this same argument about the sport of CrossFit.
With social media at the helm, we are constantly seeing high caliber games athletes posting about some of the crazier things they are able to do. Whether it’s a PR lift, upper level gymnastics, insane metcon after metcon after metcon, etc., your everyday viewer sees this and instantly wants it. They begin to think that’s exactly what they need to be doing if they are to ever get to that level.
But, what is something all of these high level athletes have in common? They do the simple tasks uncommonly well. They didn’t, well Rich Froning might have, just become amazing overnight. It took time; months, even years, for some to get to the level they are at. They all did it by starting to crawl before they could walk or run.
Sometimes it takes an internal reality check, and a slice of humble pie for us to realize this. Instead of running out and trying to PR everything and perform high level gymnastics, make sure you’re able to master the basics first.
A couple examples we see quite often in the sport:
1) Attempting to learn butterfly pull-ups before taking the time to develop the strength in a strict pull-up or mastering the basic kip.
2) Going out and trying to PR an Olympic lift every day rather than working on proper positioning and performing quality reps.
3) Trying to learn a ring muscle up before you’ve been through countless progressions with the low rings, jumping muscle ups, and working on your swing.
The list goes on and on.
Rather than let yourself be influenced by social media, take a couple steps back and work on mastering the basics of the sport. You’ll be amazed at how much more progress you’ll make in the end.
Remember, we all had to learn to crawl before we could run!
Also Check Out…