What a busy life we lead. We rush from place to place trying to maximize the most experience with the least amount of time. We probably should learn to stop and smell the roses, but that’s a topic for another day. Regardless, everyone can agree that time is a very limited resource. We should maximize our time by making everything we do count.
“The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” -Vince Lombardi
Whether it is spending time with your family, working at the office, playing with the kids, or working out, make that time matter most by being prepared and by putting your best efforts into the activity. This article discusses how you can make each and every CrossPit workout or Kajukenbo class count.
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” -Colin Powell
Come prepared for your workout. Your body needs water, energy, and to be limber. You should hydrate throughout the day, and you might want to add extra hydration before the workout.
Bring water with you so you can replenish after the workout. During summer time, add even more to your daily intake. Guzzling the water just prior to beginning the workout will not provide the desired results!
Food for energy is critical, and what you eat and when you eat it is important. Eat healthy always, and make sure your caloric intake matches your needs. Don’t eat hard to digest foods just before your workout as it won’t help your energy level and may even make you ill. Eat smart. For example: Pasta is a carb that can be used for quick energy. But if you are trying to lose weight you will want to let your body utilize the fat it already has for that energy. Eating energy foods when overweight nullifies the purpose of the workout.
Limber up! Stretch before the workout. And stretch a lot after the workout. Stretching protects your body against injury, improves circulation, and improves your balance and coordination. Injury-reduction, circulation, balance, and coordination? Who doesn’t need more of this?
Make the most of your workout by maximizing your qualitative and quantitative efforts. Qualitative efforts are basically your full range of motion or correct posture and maintaining a high intensity while performing the activities. Someone executing a full range of motion in a pushup is going to receive better results than someone halfway executing a pushup, even if the person doing halfway pushups does many times the other person’s. Correct posture for the activity means that the appropriate muscles are doing the work and thus it maximizes the actual intended benefits of the activity being performed. Incorrect posture not only negates the intended benefits but it may also cause injury.
“What gets me upset about with the newer players is their lack of intensity. They tend to go through the motions a little bit. They don't understand that you've got to practice the way you play.” -Al Kaline, Former Major League Baseball Player
Maintaining a high intensity is important as well. This is usually expressed in the forcefulness of the punches on the bag, or the speed in the movement when jumping or running. Increased speed also adds to the quantitative efforts as the faster you move, the more you accomplish. Increasing the slowness of movement, or the amount of breaks between activities, decreases the intensity of the workout.
Increasing the intensity causes an increase in cardio capacity and an increase in the rate muscle development.
Why do we workout? Among the many reasons we have we probably include: to get stronger and faster and to have better cardio. Increase your intensity and you will start improving in those areas. If you are not pushing yourself, then you will not increase, it really is that simple.
During your workouts, remind yourself the goals you have and why you are doing this. And then work like you want to achieve those goals.
If you want to read more about qualifying and quantifying your workouts, read the article by the Pitmaster that he wrote for the CrossFit Journal in 2009.
So you came to class prepared and you gave it your best effort. What’s next? Do it again, and again, and again. Your consistency in continual preparation and execution will actually give you the results you want. Sporadic execution will not work as every time you take time away you will feel like you are starting all over again. Make it count!
Train Strong! -Sigung
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