We have 18 athletes competing in three teams over the weekend at the Allstar Affiliate Series at the Melbourne Showgrounds. For a number of these athletes this will be their first CrossFit competition. Everyone has been training hard, strategising and planning ever intricate detail of each of the 7 team WODs at the competition for the past 2 months. The work has been done and there is now little that can be done to physically prepare the athletes for the weekend ahead.

For me CrossFit Competitions are an awesome way to challenge myself. I have always been very competitive so when I am placed in an arena setting against other athletes I tend to find away to push harder and get more out of myself than I would training at the box on my own. I tend to PR more and do things that surprise even myself! There is a negative though, along with competing individually there is always anxiety by placing pressure on myself to do well or not fail. I set myself some high expectations which in turn, build’s that nervous feeling at the pit of my stomach. Over time I have developed some strategies that I use to help overcome these anxious and nervous feelings before competition WODs:

1. Lately I have been really enjoying the team competitions. I enjoy these a lot more as competing with a group of mates just takes the pressure off and makes competing a hell of lot more enjoyable. Cheer, Support and do what you can for your teammates. Focus on helping them be their best for the day.
2. Don't try and do anything new on game day, eat what you always eat, wear what you always wear and you will perform the way you usually do. I don’t eat too much between WODs so I try make sure I eat my usual breakfast in the morning, and drink plenty of water throughout the day.
3. Focus on what you have to do, your technique and the WOD itself.
4. Remember that you are competing to better yourself. These are workouts and training stimuli that will make you stronger and fitter. At the end, no matter what, you will be better for the experience and the awesome training you got to complete! Enjoy it!

Here is a great article on CrossFit Mental Training. I especially like the part on the ‘Annie Smile’: “Smiling not only helps you maintain a positive mindset, but scientists have noted that smiling lowers blood pressure and releases endorphins and serotonin, both known to produce feelings of well-being.”

http://www.tabatatimes.com/crossft-mental-training/

Good luck to all Bring It On CrossFit athletes competing over the weekend and especially those competing in their first CrossFit Competition. Enjoy it. It is going to be a lot of fun, and you are ready for this!

“Success in no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing.” – PELE. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

Cheers,
Coach Jared.

Congratulations Jared Toyne who is the Bring It On CrossFit Member of the Month for September 2015! Jared has been making outstanding progress across the board, posting regular PR's and hitting his first ring muscle up not too long ago. Jared is a well deserving winner of this months Member of the Month! Well done mate! 

Hey team, I’m going to try to make this a weekly blog but all depends on the week! On this blog I will be sharing articles that I have found interesting, training and mobility V-Blogs, Nutrition notes and Bring It On CrossFit event updates, so keep your eye on our bringitoncrossfit.com.au website!

So as you all would be aware I have been away for the majority of the month of September enjoying some Italian wine, plenty of pizza and pasta and very little exercise! After now being back in Geelong and training again for a little over a week I wanted to share with you my experiences in getting back into regular training, work and life, plus share some articles on the subject.

It is not an easy thing just walking back into the gym and just picking up from where you left off, in fact that’s pretty much never going to happen! After getting over the jet lag and getting back to some normal sleeping patterns I was able to start back into some training at the box. Through the first week everything feels HEAVY & SLOW! For me the cardiovascular side of things wasn’t too bad and I’m putting this down to some insane walking adventures up 1400 steps and cliff edges while on holiday. With my strength training I have cut back the volume and load a fair bit. Squats are light 50%-70%, doing sets of 5 for 3 sets, and staying very light and only 2-3 sets on accessory work. To avoid injuring myself I am working back to higher volume and load sets very slowly...but there is no rush so no need to squat heavy to early!

Probably the biggest obstacle is the mental game. Having not picked up a bar for 3 weeks, no snatches, no clean & jerks, it is hard to imagine a world of training every day again after loving life without it! Especially with the Olympic lifts I think you lose your ‘groove’ very easily. Getting this back is tough. My approach was to dial back the pace and complexity a little bit, rather than go all out at every WOD, I paced it and only focused on finishing the workout rather than the time at the end. I also have been keeping my lifting and WOD’s simple, back to some basic couplets and triplets.
It definitely helped training in the group classes alongside the BIOCF team. As they are such a motivated and awesome group to train alongside it just made completing some WOD’s so much easier. I have tried very hard to not over do it as well. I think prior to my holiday I was overdoing the training and some small niggling injuries were arising. The trip did me plenty of good and allowed my body to fully recovery and all niggling injuries have since gone away. Coming back I have put more time into recovery, mobility and nutrition which has improved my ability to build my strength back up. Layoff’s from training are also a great opportunity to reassess your health and fitness goals, and I have been able to do that myself.

Nutrition, as always, is crucial. Since being back I have been following a Zone diet eating 5x5 block meals per day. My biggest focus here was to make sure I was eating enough calories while training and coaching again. The Zone plan basically assured that and I’m feeling and recovering very well from it. The Zone itself can be a headache to follow, however having done it before and taking a more relaxed approach to it this time it is much easier. I have added in some whole grain bread and oatmeal into my diet which I don’t usual do, but have increased my vegetable and healthy fats intake. Overall all, if you are eating enough of the right foods your performance training is going to improve a hell of a lot faster.

Last bit of advice; Always be your best for that day which may not be your all-time best. Do what you can for that day but don’t forget to enjoy it! Enjoy your life, take long holidays, take rest days, get outside and see the world, take risks. Training isn’t everything. We train to live, not live to train. So when you take a break, enjoy it then come back, train some more so your next adventure will be just as awesome!

Cheers,
Coach Jared.

Articles to Read:
http://crossfitmanatee.com/coming-back-from-a-break/
http://www.crossfitsantarosa.com/training-protocols-and-strategies/5-steps-to-get-back-to-working-out-after-a-break/
http://www.crossfitoakland.com/coming-back-from-a-layoff-in-training/