So, here’s the continuation of our previous blog about things to be wary of if you’re a CrossFit newbie who’s addicted to fitness.

1. A bad night’s sleep? Surely that shouldn’t change my plans?

The Craziness

We get it: you really love CrossFit and you hate to miss a planned session. Last night you slept very badly indeed and you’re feeling, to be honest, fairly dreadful. But you’re a trooper, right? A bit of tiredness won’t stop you training, no Sir! So you go to spend some time with your community and get a sweat on. But everything hurts - even the warm up feels like a WOD and you’re a bit fuzzy headed, not as focused, nor feeling as pumped, as normal. But you carry on regardless, because you don’t want people to think you’re shirking. Push through fatigue – isn’t that what heroes do?

The Warning

A bad night’s sleep effects how well you recover from your last workout and how well you can focus in today’s. We’re not saying you can’t train when tired. If you’re just a little beat, rather than completely whacked, then getting the blood pumping and seeing your CrossFit mates will help you through the day, no doubt.  But – just be careful – these are the sessions where mistakes can be made and things can go wrong. So be ready to switch things about a bit if you’re going to train on a bad night’s sleep. And, more than ever, listen to your body. Maybe today is the day to put your ego in your pocket and take some of the weight off?

2. What’s all this rubbish about strength training? I just want to do the WOD!

The Craziness

Some people go on about strength training this and strength training that. But you’re really interested in the WODs. They’re what gives you that buzz, after all. You’re not really sure if you care about out-lifting the other guys and girls, you just want to get beasted every time you train. When you travel, you tend to focus just on metabolic conditioning only, and if you could find a box that just did a warm up and a WOD (and they do exist, you’ve heard…) then you’d join that one, not the one that has squats, cleans and deadlifts programmed in every week with loads of rest inbetween sets. It’s boring. It takes forever. And you just want to go hard

The Warning

Avoid strength training at your peril. It should be your priority, the bit that you keep in your programme when life takes over and subsumes all the rest, the bit you devote the most attention to in the gym, and read up around outside of it. Make sure you’re part of a box that loves helping clients get their muscles stronger as much as we love to support muscle growth with our products. If you’re tired, or haven’t slept enough, cut out the fast-paced WOD at the end of a session, rather than scrimping on that day’s strength training.

“Strong people are harder to kill,” says CrossFit coach at CrossFit Hackney in East London, UK, StreTch Rayner: “At any point in your life, you’re either getting stronger or getting weaker (though, granted, as we age, our strength decreases, very slowly). Strength training is part of training, especially for beginners, or new CrossFitters / box members who have not been physically active prior to joining. Weakness, pure and simple, is the primary reason for many of the pains and discomforts suffered by many people.”

Our next blog features a more in-depth chat with CrossFit Coach, Stretch Rayner, about mobility and injury…