We all have goals, but sometimes it is hard to know where to start the process of achieving them. Grab a pen and paper, it’s time to take the first step.
How many skills or movements do you want to get better at? Write them all down.
Now look back at that list and break them down further.
How many of them are you just trying to get your first rep?
How many of them can you do a rep or two, but you cannot string them together or the weight used is very limited?
How many can you do some unbroken reps, but they fall apart once you try to do them in a WOD?
How many are you trying to progress to strict, weighted, deficit or with a weighted vest?
If you are continually just trying a skill over and over again, usually it leads to frustration, little to no improvement and in some instances physical pain. (double under attempts got you looking like you took some lashings?) Have you looked at a WOD and thought I can’t do that many of fill-in-the-blank movement so I’m going to scale or modify to another movement? If you never work the movement outside of a WOD and always change to another movement within the workout, how are you ever going to acquire the ability to do it? There is also another frustrating point when you can do multiple reps of the movement, but not when it counts in a workout. Long story short, skills should be learned and progressed in a planned format. No matter where you fall on the spectrum, a specific program can provide you the direction you need to fill up that PR board.
Here is a 5-step process to progress your skills.
One rep before Fifty: Before you have day dreams about smashing a ton of reps unbroken, how about we focus on ONE first. Getting your first rep of any skill in a timely manner requires a plan that can provide each individual the specific steps they need. This is not a “one size fits all” kind of thing. For some, they simply do not yet have the strength to do the movement. For others, it all comes down to breaking down the movement to learn the technique and rhythm. Think about what your biggest limiting factors are that prevent you from acquiring the ability to do the skill. Strength? Technique? Rhythm? How much you weigh? Each of these answers require different starting points. Choose your biggest area of opportunity and ATTACK IT!
Build: Now that you have got your first, we begin the process of building volume. This must first be done under no fatigue or very little. If you can’t string reps together while fresh, there is no chance you can do it in a workout. When building skills we usually take an opposite approach as we do in traditional linear periodization for strength. Instead of moving from high reps to low reps, we move from low reps to high reps. EMOMs are a great way to go about this. Patience is huge during this phase. You must understand that with each workout and each week the volume will build, allow your body the time to adapt. If you ramp up the volume too quickly it usually leads to frustration and stalls your progress.
Breathe and Build: Once you have increased your unbroken volume to at least 3 in something like a Muscle-up and 10 in things like pull-ups, hspu and pistols we can now move on to building volume under a pre-fatigued state, but still getting rest in between sets. Formats such as Alt. EMOMs, every 2 min or every 3 min are a good starting point. Utilizing movements that elevate your heart rate like burpees, double unders, row, run or assault bike then moving directly into your skill will help you put this principle into a play. Starting with lower reps and higher rest, then progress to higher reps and lower rest.
Will WOD for Skills: You have put in a lot of hard work, now it’s time to start putting your skills to the test in a workout. Keep the other movements in the workout simple, the reps low and the time frame low to start. Then progress to more challenging movements, higher reps and/or higher time frames.
Ninja: This is where you progress to building volume in strict movements or increasing your ability to do “giant” sets. In a way we jump back to step 1 and progress back through the 4 levels with the more difficult variations of the movements.
No matter what skill you are looking to improve and what level you are trying to achieve, you need a progressive plan. GET STARTED TODAY!
GO BEYOND better, to your very best.