The question is posed "What is FITNESS"....Where are you on this continuum? Where are you with respect to where you want to be? Are you constantly evolving? Do you even know? Have you asked yourself that question lately? What are your objectives for training? Is it mastering a movement or a skill? Is it increasing stamina, cardiovascular health, stability, strength, power, etc...?
If you are missing answers to these questions then you might as well hang it up. Either that or start trying to wrap your brain around the fact that without objectives you are wasting your time. Sure, the general approach (which no athlete should perscribe to) to moving towards "FIT" is to keep showing up and keep doing what your coach tells you to do. Great! but that's only the first step and that step only accounts for about 50% of the result. Where's the other 50% ? That's stuck up in that space between your ears. The key is for you to trick it into letting the body know that IT'S OKAY! It's okay to push harder without sacrificing form. It's okay to peg the throttle to full blast no matter how lactic your muscles have become....why? Because you know that intense efforts and big repeated spikes on the POWER GRID will yield the best results. It's okay to get a little OCD with your nutrition because you know that if you put good into the body, the body will produce the performance you are looking for when the time occurs. Let's face it, one of the most fundamental mistakes any athlete can make is to lose focus. Bring it for two days and you're back on track. Forget about focus for those same two days and you'll find you're simply going through the motions, and at that point why even bother showing up. When you hear your coach say "focus" or "get your mind right", that coach is begging to see your best performance. Best effort athletes get best results. Anything else is unacceptable to the coach as well as it should be the athlete.
Enough of the rant. The following statements are meant to provide a roadmap, if you will, of how to navigate the mental challenge of objective setting and athletic achievement.
MIND SET - BELIEVE IN THE RESULT: Set 3 objectives today. Look at what you need improvement on with respect to your current training regimen, and base ONE goal on one of those items. Next look at what you are good at and base ONE goal on one of those items. Finally, ask yourself how often in a one month training schedule do you just "show up" or go through the motions for whatever reason? On the flipside, ask yourself how often in that same 30 day training schedule do you put forth your best, and I mean YOUR BEST EFFORT! IF your show ups outweight your BESTs then that just became your final of 3 goals. Start learning to outweigh the show ups and replace them with BESTs.
So now what? I need to set goals or objectives, or targets or whatever....how do I do that properly? The answers follow. That's right athletes, it's finally time for Johnny to apply his real corporate world knowledge to CrossFit training. Shockingly enough, there are numerous parallels and the MBO method applies perfectly.
MBO - Management By Objectives: When picking these objectives, you should make sure to meet the following criteria in making sure that your objectives for training are;Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and finally the objective must be Time-Based.
Specific: There are several key factors which should be present in the objectives that are set in order for them to be effective. They should be specific. In other words, they should describe specifically the result that is desired. Instead of "a better C2 rowing efficiency," the objective should be "improve 500m C2 Row by 5 seconds by focusing on the keys of rowing technique and efficiency."
Measurable: The second example is much more specific and also addresses the second factor—measurable. In order to be able to use the objectives as a part of a review process it should be very clear whether the person met the objective or not. This determination is usually made at the end of the timetable for objective achievement.
Achievable: The next important factor to setting objectives is that they be achievable. For instance, an objective which states "a 30 second improvement for a 500m row" isn't realistically achievable. It's not possible unless prior to your quest you had a broken arm or leg. A goal of "5 seconds" is better—but may still not be achievable. Therefore you need to make sure that the goals are realistic, which brings us to our next rule.
Realistic: Realistic objectives are objectives that recognize factors which cannot be controlled. Said another way, realistic goals are potentially challenging but not so challenging that the chance of success is small. They can be accomplished with the tools that the person has at their disposal. Your tools as an athlete are better body mechanics and better mindset...use them to your advantage always.
Time-based: The final factor for a good objective is that it is time-based. In other words, it's not simply, "improve 500m row by 5 seconds" it's "improve my c2 row by 5 seconds within the next 90 days". This is the final anchor in making the objective real and tangible. This final factor is often implied in MBO setting. The implied date holds the athlete accountable for the commitments that they've made through their objectives.
Take this forward. If you have not seen this before, use it in your career or personal life. I highly advise that you apply it to your evolution towards FITNESS. MBO works. Find 3 and write them down. Work to achieve them. When you knock one down, replace it with another. It's one sure way to keep progressing in life. **For more on "What is Fitness" please link to http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ-trial.pdf
Stay strong!
-Johnny
Bibliography
*Peter Drucker's Management By Objectives from TechRepublic
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5683094.html
*What is Fitness By The CrossFit Journal
http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ-trial.pdf
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