Foreword:

To us here at CrossFit CBD we fully & wholeheartedly believe in the CrossFit Methodology. We don't believe its a fad, a 12 weeks to glory program, etc. Its a lifestyle plain & simple. Its certainly not an easy program, I mean if it were easy everyone would be doing it right??

We also, as Coaches, often get asked "how long before i can do xx?" or "When will i be able for that?" Or our particular favourite "i Should be doing this xx by now". The funny thing is that we sometimes lose sight of the forest for the trees. What we mean is that we are either getting asked questions from a relative newcomer who may be comparing themselves to a long term member, or the person asking is a long term member and they have actually achieved so much already yet they yearn for more & have forgotten where they were in the past.

There isn't anything inherently wrong with this & and ambition is critical if you want success, we applaud that. However we would remind you that Rome, (or the Opera House to keep it Aussie!), were not built in one day. 

We went ahead & asked our very own Coach Steph if she would put pen to paper on her journey in CrossFit so far. We remember the young lady who first walked up our stairs and we can tell you now the person you see today is a LOT different to the person who came then. Please read on whilst she shares here thoughts on her journey so far...

Over to you Steph.......

Pic: Angela Clancy

"It always makes me laugh when people don’t believe that when I first started CrossFit I couldn’t do a single pull-up. But not only that, that I was actually no-where near it.

 I grew up dancing from a very young age. The women in my family were all dancers so my mum was pretty keen to get me into it straight away. I did some type of dancing for a good 18 years of my life and I think that it created a base of fitness that lends itself well to body awareness and coordination. 

I stopped dancing in 2007 and didn’t start CrossFit until 2013.

"It makes me laugh when people don’t believe that when I first started I couldn’t do a single pull-up. ... not only that, that I was actually no-where near it.

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Trying to pull that bar back!!
Pic cica 2013

Almost 7 years of doing not much in the way of fitness. 

I was not strong, I was not fit and to be honest when I walked through the doors of CrossFit CBD in February of 2013 I was a pretty regular weekend binge drinker and really just wanted to meet people (working out was a bonus). I had been told that CrossFit had a strong community around it and I didn’t really know anyone in Melbourne at that time. I did know that I had the right personality type to get addicted to progress but what I didn’t expect, was to get so addicted to the process.

The process of this fitness thing we call CrossFit is where the magic happens! 

I want to share with you some of my first Whiteboard scores. I really cannot advocate enough the importance of recording your scores. If you have taken any of my classes you’ll know how much I insist on writing your scores down and keeping relevant notes. Data in this sport is your power. You can only know how far you’ve come, how much you can push yourself and where you’ve made mistakes - if you record it. Ever looked back on a score only to realise you lifted more than you thought and it spurred you on to try to match it or better it? If you hadn’t had that recorded how would you know what to aim for? You might end up hitting the same number over and over.

The first ever WoD on the Rod Games, Oct 2013.
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Pic :Frankie Lee Matthews

"You can only know how far you’ve come, how much you can push yourself and where you’ve made mistakes - if you record it".

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Here are some old scores from way back when I started.....

One was a CrossFit Open Re-test called "11.5" workout & the other a Strength Day WoD involving Weighted Pull Ups & Dips ......

February 2013  -Open Workout "11.5":

27/02/13 - Open WoD "11.5" = AMRAP 20: 5 Power Clean (62/42kg, 10 T2B, 15 Wall Ball (9/7kg, 10/9ft)

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April 2013 - Strength Day:

April 2013 - Strength Day = Weighted Pull Up 3-3-3-3-3-3-3. Weighted Ring Dips 3-3-3-3-3-3-3

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What do I see here? Empty barbell cleans, knee raises, a 3kg wall ball and multiple bands for pullups and ring dips. This is where I lived, (in the scaling arena) for a long, long time.

What did I also see when I was looking back through these old results?

I was consistently coming in 4 - 5 times, and then 5 - 6 times a week, every.single.week. This is the one thing that has not changed in 5 years. The other glaringly obvious trend here - I didn’t do the same scaling over & over again. I changed it up and often. Sometimes it worked and other times it didn’t but I wasn’t scared to give it a try and I wasn’t afraid to fail.

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"I didn’t do the same scaling over & over again. I changed it up and often. ..... I wasn’t scared to give it a try and I wasn’t afraid to fail."

Pic: Angela Clancy

I’d love to tell you that I have some kind of secret to “getting better” at CrossFit and I say it that way because I don’t know that you ever really make it. There is always a degree of scaling in everything we do and there are still many scales out there that are too difficult for me now – I think there always will be. However here are the steps I took to getting fitter:

• Hard work. That’s it. Show up with the intention of giving each workout everything you’ve got. If you do that you can go home with a guarantee that you got fitter and your’ll know that you couldn’t have done anything more.
• Push yourself and don’t be afraid to try out something new. As long as you are safe doing it and you’re confident, the results that come from this can be incredible. Now I’m not talking about adding 20kg to your next power clean workout, but maybe add a small amount, a fractional? Keep making those small incremental steps toward where you want to be rather than sticking to what you know works.
• Surround yourself with people you admire, watch them and see what they do. Talk to them and ask them about where they started and how much hard work they had to put into their fitness journey to get where they are. (I guarantee their answer wont be “ah nothing, I just rocked up to the box one day and have been hitting workouts Rx ever since.)
• Consistency, consistency, consistency. The biggest killer of fitness is coming to class once or twice a week and expecting to improve. You need to continue to expose yourself to as many different movements and modalities as you can and at least 3 – 4 times a week.
• Get to class early and utilise the pre-class warm-up. Be engaged during the group warm ups & skill sessions your coaches provide. These are often the times to work on your skills and try something new. These are also the times in which your Coaches are assessing you and gauging where you are at that particular day. Haven’t ever tried a particular dumbbells weight before? Try it out in the movement prep. Still struggling with double unders? Practice them as a way of getting in your own pre-class warm-up. We know that it isn’t always practical to stay after class for Open Gym, but there are pockets of time within your class that you can utilise to your advantage. (The best part of trying out a heavier weight in the movement prep is that your WoD weight will feel all the more manageable).
• Clean up your diet. Are there foods/drinks in your current diet that you can remove or replace with healthier options. Controlling the amount of carbohydrates, proteins and fats that I ingest on a daily basis has had a hugely positive impact on my overall performance and fitness.

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There is absolutely nothing else that what I have written within this blog post that I have done over the last 5 years to get me where I have gotten to. Show up, be open to options and give it your all every time and you WILL see the benefits.

Trust me, after all I am one of YOUR Coaches! 🙂

Coach Steph, out!

By the way, here is a shot of my first ever kipping pull up way back when!

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If you enjoyed this Blog post & would like to hear more from Coach Steph or any of the CBD Coaches don't hesitate to let us know! Throw us an email here of any subjects you'd like to see covered.

Steph also offer Personal Training right here on the Rooftop of Dreams. If you think you'd be keen to try it out why not shoot her an email here to enquire. The CrossFit Open is very close!1