Small, subtle, but important change: “Coach Mark’s Blog” is now “Coaches Blog” We will have semi regular blog posts from not just me, but other staffers on various topics. Here is Coach Brandon Creasy with his thoughts on SugarWOD:
How Do You Know If You Are Getting Fitter?
Brandon Creasy
You may have noticed the blue screen on the TV that shows movement demos with people you haven’t seen before. It’s the same screen that has all the names scrolling through during the workouts. You may even recognize a few of them. However, if you aren’t seeing your own name then you are missing out.
One of the great things about CrossFit is the fact that everything is measurable; the weight on the barbell, the distance you run or row, and the time is takes you to finish. This means that every workout you do; can (and sometimes will) be repeated. Since everything is measurable, you can track how much fitter you are since the last time you performed the workout. That 5-minute Fran time can go down to 3 minutes and this time with kipping pull ups instead of ring rows. If you aren’t keeping track of your scores you won’t know if, or how much better you did.
We understand that sometimes you don’t have access to pen and paper, or you may forget your workout journal at home. We try to make it as simple as possible for you to track your progress with us. We use an app called SugarWOD. It’s that thing that your coach keeps bringing up after the workout. It’s surprisingly easy to use (after you figure out the password to join the gym). All you have to do is enter the same score you gave your coach. You can even do this as you are stretching before you leave 😉.
“Why should we record it on the app instead of writing it down?” Great question! The first reason being writing it down is just for yourself, while posting your results is for you AND the community. It lets everyone know you completed the workout and have earned that score and are proud of it (you should be). In addition to adding to the community, you are able to encourage and congratulate each other. There are many athletes you won’t run into unless you go to our social events, or attend the same class at the same location (especially you crazy morning people). SugarWOD lets you get to know one another without leaving the gym. You can think of it as our own private social media platform (without all the political posts and cat pictures).
“I just started CrossFit and I’m embarrassed to post my score because I didn’t go RX.” We have all been there, trying to understand the CrossFit lingo and abbreviations, wondering how many rounds we completed and feeling like we aren’t very good. YET. Every journey has a starting point and far too often we look back and say I wish I would’ve wrote down this or I wish I would’ve taken pictures ect. Your fitness journey is no different. One year, 6 months or 90 days from now you will be looking back thinking “I am so much better than when I first started!” I know it seems intimidating posting scores that you think aren’t very good, but I can promise you that you will never get any negative feedback about your scores, only words of encouragement.
“I don’t want the app because I’m competitive and will leader board the whole day.” What if I told you that score you aren’t entering could inspire a new athlete? What if I told you that you’re isolating yourself from the rest of the community? We understand the competitive nature of CrossFit. As Coach Glassman said “Men will die for points” and for many of us CrossFit is our sport and the points are our scores. The difference in the sport of CrossFit is we are competing with each other, not against each other. So use your knowledge and experience to light that fire in someone else, inspiring them and yourself to be a better athlete and part of a stronger community.
The last reason to track your scores is to help us adjust the programming. You can enter notes about how much you liked the workout, whether or not you are still sore from Monday’s Back Squats etc. This gives us actionable feedback to help make you better and allows us to make sure you’re achieving your goals. So log your scores, give someone you don’t know a fist bump and tell them they killed the workout.