"The Perils of Self Programming and training alone"

Rest Day

Training over the past couple of years has been, in the main, a pretty solitary experience. Following crossfit principles, I have sought to make my training as diverse, functional and intense as possible. However, there is an inherent problem when you march to the beat of your own drum. With all the best will in the world, and I am pretty self disciplined in this respect, you end up programming what you like rather than what you need. When you train by yourself, you are only answerable to yourself. If the truth be told I have been a wee bit guilty of cherry picking my workouts. Without seeking to make excuses, my lifestyle (family, work etc.), often means that I have to squeeze in workouts when I can. Very often I simply do not have the time, energy levels or mental fortitude to engage in what would be the most appropriate workout pertaining to my particular deficiencies. Having said all that, lets keep things in perspective, despite my frustrations I can snatch, do muscle ups, overhead squat my bodyweight, perform full squat cleans, and cyclical "butterfly" pull ups. All functional movements a couple of years ago I had never even heard of.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that it is easy to fall into the trap of being a little "glass is half empty". I have to remind myself not to dwell on, or get demotivated by my perceived failings, weaknesses or frustrations. Yes we would all like the luxury of unlimited time to train. I would love to be able to focus on my olympic lifts in the morning and rip into a screaming metcon in the evening. I would love to be able to warm up appropriately for every session and finish off with a lengthy cool down and post WOD meal (zone paleo of course). But my reality does not afford me these luxuries. It can get a little frustrating when you follow the crossfit main site and see all the crossfit celebrities preparing for the games, talking about three WOD's a day, zone dieting, busting PR's left right and centre and then see them destroy a benchmark workout in the California sunshine. Just remember, their reality is not your reality and there is equal merit to be found in dragging your arse into a freezing garage at 10.00pm on a freezing night in January because that is the only time in your day you can fit it in. Accentuate the positives and remember you are developing fitness for the rest of your life, not for tomorrow.

What has also given my training a real boost of late is the fact an old mate from school and former rugby team mate has just moved in around the corner, and is swigging the kool aid in a big way. We are both inherently very competitive and after training by myself for such a long time I have loved the energy and competitive edge training sessions now have. It is great to have somebody to "go at it" with and to compare myself against.

It is all well and good comparing times to all your virtual training partners in the community, but there is no real replacement for the "in the flesh" competitive element training alongside somebody else brings. This is true of metcons and strength sessions. But in true crossfit style there is a genuine thrill in seeing someone else produce top drawer performances alongside you, and praise and encouragement are always free flowing in an environment of mutual respect.