Where's the progression?

[Dan Fong]

General question, I guess. I've been doing CF for about 9 months now, and absolutely love it. That being said, I don't feel like I'm getting the amazing fitness gains I see so often posted. I still can't do most workouts as RX'd and metrics like the time on my 5k are still dismal. Am I reaching a breakover point, or is there something I'm missing? Thanks!

[Darrell E. White]

Ooo, Dan, we need to know way more about you to answer that one!! How old are you? How much do you weigh? %BW fat? Height? Exercise and fitness background? Interval improvement on benchmark WOD's? Tastes great or less filling?

[Tom Fetter]

Hmmm ... for me, the progress simply occurs. I know it occurs not because the workouts feel less draining ... but because my training log shows weights going up, or times coming down, or both.

I can also see that there are a group of workouts where the progress isn't happening at the same pace - for me, they're all workouts that call on shoulder strength. Thruster or HSPU centric stuff. For me, observing that's been a wake-up call to do some ME shoulder work in addition to the WODs, to bring up that weakness.

If you're not showing regular, sustained progress, I'd examine:

• workout regularity
• workout intensity
• CFWU regularity
• sleep
• diet
• lagging in specific exercises or bodyparts

Probably in that order.

Or it may just be that you're not as young as some ... I'm 45, and my teenaged son's progress is outpacing mine ... for obvious reasons. But I'm still seeing regular improvments, reflecting my body's capacity to adapt.

t

[George Mounce]

Sounds to me like you need to push yourself, either by upping the level (meaning how you scale) or the intensity.

Most people here know what its like to feel exhausted after a workout. Do you know what its like to be flopping like a goldfish out of water...in those last moments as it sucks air through its gills and gets nothing...the white light is just ahead.

Ya, thats how I like to feel after workouts and the only way to get there is to stop thinking and when it hurts, go harder. Unless you are predisposed to killing yourself through intense workouts (at 9 months in, I'd think you are able to know how hard you can push yourself) you can go harder than you think you can, always.

I'd change the order a bit:

1. Nutrition - backbone of everything.
2. Intensity - unless its active rest you must be going 100%. There is no 110%, there is no 90%, you must give 100% because that is all you have to give. This doesn't mean burn out fast on a 30 min workout such as the Filthy Fifty, it does mean keep going though, catch your breath for 5-10 seconds then start up again. You'll never learn to push if you don't push.
3. Sleep - 8-9 hours a night. If you aren't getting it, readjust your priorities. Sleep is needed, you can't bank it, and you don't need to stay up, the same problems we all have exist tomorrow.
4. Weaknesses - make them part of your warm-up. Pick days to concentrate on them.

[Dan Fong]

Ok, here's some more info. I'm 24, 6' 3" 195lb. Wasn't a big fitness guy when I was younger but have been "traditional" weightlifting since H.S. I'm a firefighter now, so the physical demands are pretty high. I've been a poor record keeper as far as the WODs go, just enough to know my general times (scaled, of course). Also, I've been doing the WODs exclusively as my workout...good idea? Tom, thanks for the pointers, I'll start keeping closer track of those metrics.

[Dan Fong]

George-

Thanks for the help! I definitely know the goldfish feeling. I'll keep those tips in mind. Off to conquer Lynne!

[Tom Brose]

Dan, there is some good advice here. I would agree with George that the nutrition would be the first thing to examine.

I would add: get fired up! Set some goals and time frames to accomplish them. Record your WODs. Figure out whats holding you back and goafter it.

Keep us posted.

[Larry Lindenman]

I think you need to push yourself every WOD. One of the ways to do this is with good record keeping. You are always trying to shave time (or increase reps, etc.) from repeating workouts. You will be amazed at how much time you could cut, when you have a personal benchmark to beat. I would try workouts as RXed. Some you may not be able to do, but I bet you could do more than you think. I would also move from one exercise to the next, without any rest. Just get two or three reps in. I think most people are surprised at how much work they could get in, when they feel the last set gassed them! Do 21 1 pood kb swings (your not going to feel as if you could jump to another exercise), then jump up on a pullup bar and crank out as many as you can...surprising! You also need to work your weak points with extra workouts. A great way to increase #s of pull ups is to have a goal of doing 50 pull ups a day. Space the pull ups out all day, 10 here 5 there, you will drastically improve you pull up numbers rather quickly this way.

[Gavin Harrison]

Keep strict records of your WODs. Weight used, subs used, time completed in, etc. I think you'll find that actually SEEING your progress will be encouraging

[Carlos Cristan]

Dan try this, I don't know if it'll work for you but it has worked for me. Really helps me keep track of what i've done and what I want to do. In the comments I put my time / score. I use FYI to put a note on scaling, if sets were broken how much rest I took, and if something gave me a hard time what was it and why. I use NT (next time) for what I hope to do better, bump the weight up if it was scaled down, and if sets were broken to help me decide to take less breaks next time or less rest between events / rounds. Then of course I have the stats page which helps me keep track of my PR's and max lifts.