On Being Coachable…
You show up to class. You’ve been coming to the box for several months and you feel like you really have a handle on what is going on.
You kinda pay attention in the warm up, I mean, you’ve done these movements before and there are two incredibly adorable kids running around competing for your attention.
You’ve had a busy, stressful, day. You’ve been looking forward to this workout. You’ve peeked at the scores from the day and set your goals. You are just waiting for the countdown so you can work up a good sweat, blow off some steam and feel less guilty about that beer you are going to have this weekend. (Well not YOU. YOU aren’t having a beer. You are in the midst of a 6 week challenge after all).
It finally happens, the clock starts and the coach signals you to go. You are off to hit your goal for the workout. Then it starts, that mean lady who just wants to ruin your day and slow your time down starts saying trivial things like, “Widen your hands”, “Toes and heels in a straight line”, “Squat lower”, “Keep your heels on the ground”, “Push those knees out”, and of course, “Elbows up!”.
You might think, “who cares where my feet are”. “Nothing hurts and I am feeling better than I ever have!”, you say. That might even be true.
For now .. da da dummm.
We, as your coaches, have big, lofty goals for you. No really. We talk amongst each other about where we think you’ll be in a year. We discuss all the awesome things that we know you can do but you don’t yet believe. We may dream bigger than you about you. Wait…that sounded weird.
Anyway.
Remember the little corrections we are making are with your long term health in mind. We make changes out of care for you. We know it can be frustrating when you are trying to move as fast as you can, can’t hear what we are saying between your breathing, pounding heart, and Taylor Swift. However, taking the time to slow down, understand the correction, actually make the correction and then continuing to focus on the correction for the rest of the workout could avoid long term frustration, injury, and being unable to workout for long periods of time. And that would make us all sad and we aren’t here to be sad.
Respond with the number one correction you hear while working out.
Pull the bar into my hips. I have a tendency to pull the barbell out too far & not close to my body. Also, James loves to correct me on my squats lol. Practice makes perfect even after doing CrossFit for so many years!
Shut up Tash ad pay attention.
Catching the bar from high pulls as part of a more complex movement ie cleans etc. including but not limited to full extension and neck alignment. Also, I get frustrated and go too easy at times.
Remember to breathe. I tend to hold my breath a lot when I’m in the middle of the workout.
Hi all,
The number one correction that I hear while working out has to be “chest up” or “proud chest”, especially when the fatigue has settled in well and good. đ
Itâs a toss up between âkeep your chest upâ and âelbows upâ…but when I keep these corrections in mind, it really helps! Oh, and âjump straight upâ when doing double unders because I tend to bend at the waist which causes me to travel around the gym…backwards…lol!!!
âHey (fill in the blank with a Dolan) point those toes straight!â I find that more as a joke, and I can speak for my family on this one because we canât help it. Weâre certainly not annoyed by that because itâs funny how it applies to all 4 of us
Itâs a tie between: âKeep your chest up!â AND âYour squat is too low.â
How I get both feedbacks in equal frequency, I just do not know.
My legs are too far apart for a squat. I have to improve that
I’m sure all the things; Chest up, hand position on bar, ECT. The one I here the most is keep moving. Lol
Too many to name but âelbows straightâ and âsquat lowerâ for sure.
âHead out of the clouds, Paul.â Oh wait, thatâs my own correction.
Keep moving!
Knees apart, squat lower. Dang it…. I hope I don’t fall on my behind. đ
Too many to name lol, but I think itâs a toss up between âelbows upâ , âdrop under the bar, Michele!â, and âpress your knees out when coming up from the squatâ. But, I appreciate the corrections!
Feet wider….not that wide…..a little wider than that, donât shift your weight forward/backward, keep moving, lift the bar closer to your hips yadda yadda yadda.
âDonât let your knees go in when you squatâ and âchest upâ
The most common correction I hear is âLOWERâ. Iâm feel like Iâm hearing it a less than the norm these days, so thatâs progress. HOWEVER, itâs permanently stuck in my head, so I hear it all the time!
There is not enough space to comment. So itâs easier to talk about what I do right. Double unders. Ok thatâs it…..