There is a phenom in CrossFit that I can never understand. The peeps who can’t count! I get it if every now and then you momentarily get sidetracked in a workout. You were thinking about what round you were in. Suddenly that gets twisted into your rep count and the next thing you know, you are thinking “I think I’m in round five….um….. rep six, rep seven, rep eight.” You miss a rep or two. Shit happens. Occasionally, spun around is ok.
I’ve never had a problem counting reps. I’ve videotaped my workouts literally 100’s of times and gone back and counted my reps on each video. Always nails. I keep it simple while working out. I think only about counting and resting. I always have a plan on how I’m gonna attack the reps in a workout so it’s easy to keep track of the reps. If a workout has 20 reps of something I can’t do 20 times straight, I have a plan on how many reps I am going to do before I take a break in the action. It’s pretty easy to count when you know the end of that count is a time to stop and wonder once again, “Why am I doing this?!?!"
I have no idea what people are thinking about when they are counting their reps. If there are 25 reps in a movement, you would think that 1 to 25 would be easy to concentrate on. I would love to be a fly on the wall inside the brain of a person who regularly fucks up their counting. You see, I like to believe in the good in people. I think that most people who regularly mess up their counting DO NOT do it purposely. Sure, it’s a coincidence that they never count OVER the rep scheme, but I still think that in the 8 years I’ve been a coach at One World the worst counters were never doing it to be “Number One.” Soooo, I have to believe that some funny shit is going on inside their brain. “One, two, three, four, five, six….hey I never noticed that that banner hanging on the wall has a jet pilot on it…..twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, TIME!!!"
Over the years, I’ve seen some horrible counters. I almost always heard about it first, but then I witnessed it firsthand. As a newer coach, it’s always an awkward position to be in. I first had the attitude of, “Oh well, everyone knows that person can’t count so no harm done.” If I see you missing reps, I’m calling you out. I want you to be better. Get your head on straight and learn how to count when you are in the middle of a workout. It’s just as important as doing the workout.
Concentrate. If you lose your mind in a workout, then you are way out of your league. Scale it down. The workout has a purpose. The goal is to increase your level of fitness. If you short change it, you are defeating the purpose. Count those reps!!!
******************************************************
WORKOUT 6/23/2014
- Front Squat 3 reps on the minute for 5 minutes @ 70% of 1 rep max
- Front Squat 3 reps on the minute for 5 minutes @ 75% of 1 rep max
Then....
Complete 3 rounds for time of:
- 30 wallballs (M:20#-10'/W:14#-9')
- 20 Abmat sit-ups
- 10 alternating one arm dumbbell power snatches (pick weight)
********************************************************
I heard a saying one time: "If you lose count, the next rep is 'One' because getting old sucks!"
Posted by: Brother Mike | June 23, 2014 at 10:01