Strength Sunday Reflections and Goal Setting

For this week, there will be no Strength class Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday. Sorry in advance for any inconvenience. Take the time to do the regular workout and enjoy the holiday. 

Next week I'll ask you to post your SMART goal for Jan-Mar (first quarter) and Apr-Jun (second quarter). Fill this out when you've figured out your goals. 

SMART: specific, measureable, ambitious, realistic, timely. So a SMART goal would be: "I want to squat double bodyweight by the start of the CrossFit Open." The ambitious/realistic part of this would be that you currently squat around 1.8xbodyweight. But otherwise, it is specific and has a timeline. A goal that is not so smart would be "I want to be more competitive by the Open and maybe drop 5lbs." More competitive isn't a measureable goal, unless maybe you're talking about your Open ranking from last year compared to what you'd aim for this year. 5lbs isn't a terrible goal in and of itself, but I'd prefer you focused on a performance goal. "5lbs of fat as measured by calipers" would scrape by if accompanied by a nutrition/lifestyle change goal. Additionally, your goals don't need to be strength-oriented, I know some of you have road races or mobility/injury-related issues that you might want to prioritize. An intermediate goal could be "come to the gym and do a workout 4x a week." But, to the extent you focus on strength-related goals, I can adjust class programming. 

I still have your PR/goal sheets I requested earlier this fall. So, there are 2 things that need to happen in order for you to set SMART goals. 1) List out all of your current barbell lifts and benchmarks (WODs, 400m runs, 500m rows, etc. Whatever's relevant to your new goals). 2) Review your old goals and see what you hav accomplished and what prevented you from accomplishing the ones you have yet to achieve. Was it inconsistency in attendance? Injury? Change of goals? If you need to reference your old sheets, I will bring them in next week. Easiest way for feedback and tracking would be to put on Beyond The Whiteboard if you already utilize it for goal-setting, or filling out this google form I've created. Even if you're not a regular member yet of Strength class, consider filling it out if you think you'll come in the future. 

Bonus goals of competitions (qualifying for American Open, hitting a 10lb PR total in a powerlifitng meet, being in the top 10 at NorCal Masters) can be utilized also. 

As I mentioned earlier, we'll test 1RMs after our next two cycles from Dec 30th through Jan 19th and Jan 20th through Feb 9th. So that means the first quarter PR harvest is Feb 10th through Mar 2nd. Consider these PRs your taxes, and me your benevolent dictator hording your crops for my own use and validation. Thanks for your participation! Can't wait to help you guys exceed expectations.