STRENGTH:

OFF DAY, MAKE UP A MISSED LIFT (3-3-3+)

5 ROUNDS FOR TIME:

10 Handstand Push-ups

10 Overhead Walking Lunges

10 Front Squats

CASH OUT:

:10-:20 Hollow Holds alternated with 3 sets of 5-10 Parallette Shoot Thru’s

“PAIN, IT’S WHAT’S FOR DINNER”

I couldn’t come up with a better eye grabbing title for this post, but hopefully it got you started reading this.  Pain is something we all have experienced, I’m talking specifically about physical pain in relation to your muscles during a workout, and each of us has differing levels of tolerance for it just like we have different fitness levels.  In terms of your CrossFit workouts that means how soon your legs start burning on a set of 50 squats or 21 thrusters and when it does do you stop and rest because of it…do you really need to?

When you see the CrossFit firebreathers on the videos they don’t rest hardly ever during a workout, and that’s the way they are designed to be performed.  Sure, they’re fitness levels are above most of ours (insert “mine”) but something you may or may not see on the video is that they push through the pain.  They have trained their minds and bodies to go on despite the muscle pains, to quiet the voice in their head saying, “stop, that hurts”.  I coached someone to a PR on a workout yesterday and it hurt them.  When they finished they were in the fetal position hugging a fan…but they pushed themselves harder and got a PR on the WOD.  And they did not regret it afterwards I guarantee you.

I have watched videos of myself doing a workout and when I stop to rest I say to myself, “I didn’t need to rest, I could have finished those reps”, but when I think back to the workout I remember I was hurting then…and I gave into my mind and rested…and that doesn’t lead to increased PR’s once you’ve been training for a period of time.  Once you’ve gotten to a certain point PR’s come harder and harder…maybe it’s because you need to push through the pain…I know I do.

What does all this mean to you and I?  It means that when you’ve trained your mind and body to push farther and farther you’ll reap greater fitness rewards, and on the whiteboard that looks like faster times, more rounds, and more weight lifted.  If you feel like you’re stalling on your workout progress check yourself.  If your nutrition and sleep are adequate then maybe, just maybe, you need to shut down that voice in your head that tells you to stop because it hurts.

CrossFit Invictus has something to say about it HERE.