More isn't better, better is better.

Several people have asked me recently about some other bits they can do on top of the daily programme to help them get better at CrossFit. 

It's tempting, I know to want to do more, to think if the daily programming is good then double that must be better but more isn't better, better is better.  If you just add volume without thinking about the stress on your muscles and joints and without making sure that these things are well-balanced so you aren't increasing or developing muscular imbalances, you will pick up injuries, without a shadow of a doubt.  Injuries are rarely sudden, traumatic events, they are slow, niggling annoyances that develop into things that ultimately stop you training.  If your aim is to train a lot, you want to avoid this at all costs.

It's tempting also to stop following a program and work only on those things you think you need to improve on. In creating workouts that genuinely do work on your weaknesses, you can, in the process, get rid of any discernible plan and forget to keep on top of the rest of it. The thing about a coach is that they can see the things you can't see.  They might agree with you that you really need to improve your handstand waking for example.  You might know in your heart of hearts that all you need to do is practice handstand waking all day every day.  Your coach, on the other hand knows you have a shitty overhead position and if you made a bit more effort to work on improving that with a combination of targeted mobility and stabilising exercises, your handstand walk would instantly improve.  Thus saving you time and stress on your shoulders and freeing up time to work on all that other stuff you're shit at.  I'm talking about myself here, btw.  Even with coaches to tell me this shit, I waste a lot of time!

So what's the plan?  What's the best way to go about getting better at CrossFit?  Really, just do more CrossFit and do it with more integrity!  That's it.  If you currently train 3 or 4 times a week, up it to 4 or 5 in order to make the most of the programming.  And just do it better.

Getting the members of a CrossFit gym better at CrossFit is no different than trying to get a class of children better at schoolwork.  You can't read about Biff and Chip or Romeo and Juliet if you don't know your alphabet.  You can't get better at creative writing without scaffolding the skills you have with adequate support to build confidence in new skills. You aren't going to learn your times tables if you don't make a sustained effort daily to learn them. You can't focus on an algebra problem if you are tired and hungry! You aren't going to learn anything at all if you keep bunking off!  It's no different with CrossFit.

So, this is the plan:

Start simply by adding intensity to your workouts.  
When it's a heavy day, go heavier than you want to, go heavier than you think you can; you'll get stronger more quickly.

On a sprint day, go faster than you want to, rest less than you think you need to; you'll get fitter more quickly.

On a skill day, be ruthlessly honest with yourself, if your toes to bar were a no rep, no rep yourself and do the movement properly. Go through the full range of motion and for goodness sake, use your core, your glutes and your lats - don't fake it; you'll get better more quickly.


Secondly, recover better! 

There is absolutely no point adding more volume if you aren't first sleeping well (at least 7 hours a night) eating well (count your macros stop eating sugar, stop drinking alcohol!) and recovering well (keep well on top of your mobility!)  Seriously.  You're wasting your time and risking injury if these things aren't in place!


Thirdly, go back to basics.  

Are you trying to skip ahead without getting all the basics in place first? If you don't have a good air squat, your snatches are not going to be any good.  If you can't hang in a good hollow position for 30 seconds, a load of core stability and control is going to missing from a lot of your key movements.  If you can't do beautiful strict pullups, you really have no business working on kipping pullups and if your kipping pullups suck, forget about butterfly pullups.  Don't even get me started on muscleups!

Lastly, Stick to the programme!

To be honest, stick to any programme.  Just follow it religiously for at least 6 months, to the letter, before you decide if it does or doesn't work. (A word here - any programme will work if you stick to it - just like any diet will work if you stick to it but unless it's incredibly rubbish, the programming at your own gym will work the best because your coach knows where you are, where you want to be and can draw a line between those two things taking all your mobility issues into account.)



In my experience, the clients who do the best, who progress the fastest in the long run, are those who are patient and work really hard on building the basics. 


So if you do want to add some more volume to your training, at CrossFit Uckfield we have two additional ways to do this. We have the CompClass and MasterClass programming that are bolt-on programmes to the daily board.  And we have Olympic Weightlifting classes. They both take into consideration the daily programming you already do and your age - which is very important - once you hit around 35, things start to slow down and get creaky and you often have more responsibilities, which really do impact on your training - the Masters bolt-on programme reflects this and adds a little less volume and a little more mobility than the CompClass; other than that, they are essentially the same.


The two extra Olympic weightlifting classes a week focus solely on the snatch and the clean and jerk and accessory movements to support these lifts.

These two bolt-ons are included in Gold membership and are well worth it but they don't replace the main workouts, they complement them.

For those of you who don't want quite that much additional work, who just want to add a few little extras in, I'm going to divulge three important secrets to you.

1 - Vary the movements you practice each day  More isn't better.  Better is better.  Doing a million pullups every day hoping to get better at pullups won't work; you won't give your muscles a chance to recover and you won't get any better.  Do extra pullups or pressups etc 3 days a week max.









2 - Work out why you can't do what it is you can't do (this is where a coach comes in really handy!) and work on strengthening your scaffolding.  A million banded pullups won't make you better at pullups, they just wont help you get stronger lats and a stronger core, which is why you can't do pullups.  Do bent over rows, do hollow body rocks, do lat pulldowns - work on those muscles you need to be stronger to do the movement - your coach can help you work out where your scaffolding needs strengthening or tightening.

3 - Combat your daily life - prolonged sitting creates imbalances that seriously affect how you move. 99.9% of people, even people who are already strong and fit, come to CrossFit with comparatively weaker lats and overactive traps and comparatively weaker glutes and tight hip flexors.  So pretty much everyone would benefit form strengthening their glutes and lats, foam rollering their quads and stretching their hip flexors and mashing up their traps.


Take aways: more isn't better, better is better.  Make use of the valuable resource that is your coach.  Trust the programme and be consistent. Have integrity in your movements.