Why Comparing Yourself to Others Can Hinder Your Progress

Competition is an important part of any sport. If you want to be the best, you have to see what those around you are doing and strive to work even harder than them. When done in excess, however, comparing yourself to other individuals may be counterproductive.

Social media has made it easier to track the accomplishments of others. People constantly post videos from their training sessions, their PRs, and even their failures. These posts allow athletes to get insight into the routines of their competition. The unfortunate part, however, is that it is very easy to see what others are doing and feel as though your own performance is inadequate. I know many people (myself included) find themselves comparing their own progress to that of a friend or athlete over the internet.

Your fitness journey is your own! Here's why you shouldn't compare yourself to others:

1. You don't know their athletic background. Even though someone just started lifting, he/she may have been a competitive dancer. He may have been a Division I athlete in another sport. All of these factors contribute to a stronger, more coordinated lifter. If you were completely sedentary, or have never previously worked out at the level you do now, it's impossible to compare yourself to someone else who has trained at a higher intensity.
2. You have no idea how they're training. Perhaps this person is a full-time athlete. They may not have a family to support or a 9-5 desk job. Maybe they have time to train several times-a-day, whereas you can only train once. You don't know what kind of coach this person has. There are so many factors that go into programming that can positively or negatively influence the end result. You need to tweak your training to cater more towards your own needs and limitations.
3. You have a completely different body type. Weight classes in sport exist for a reason. It's really impossible for me to compare myself to girls who compete in higher or lower weight classes than I do. They're lighter, and they move completely differently. Genetics also play a big role. Someone who has shorter limbs, or smaller levers, is generally going to be able to produce more force than her lankier counterpart, because a.) the bar has a shorter distance to travel, and b.) her muscles will be more compact. Unfortunately, some people are also just gonna have more of a genetic inclination towards certain activities.
4. Everyone progresses at a different rate. We all have different strengths and difficulties. Some movements will come really easily to you, whereas you'll struggle through others.  Your strengths will be someone else's weaknesses. If you don't pick something up as quickly as a friend, that's completely okay.

Yes, when it's game time, you absolutely need to try to outdo your opponents--that's the point of competition. However, for training purposes, I think it's more beneficial to be absolutely laser-focused and self-centered. You need to concentrate on your own improvement, rather than invalidating yourself because you don't stack up to someone else. If you got a bench press PR, and you see someone else who's doing reps with your max, don't let that phase you. In time, you will get there.

Never miss a chance to quote "Office Space..."

Instead of consistently comparing your progress to that of others, compare your progress to where you were at this time last month, or even last year. Focus on what your weaknesses are, and train as hard as you can to improve upon those areas. Ultimately, this fitness journey, wherever you may fall on the spectrum, is about bettering yourself, however that may be. There should not be an "end destination," but rather a constant stride towards health. Every workout is going to make you stronger, mentally and physically. One of my favorite quotes, which is painted on the walls of my gym, is, "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." This quote serves a daily reminder for me to push through every workout, no matter how tired I may feel or how difficult it might be. Someone can have more of a natural ability for something, but if you get in the gym and bust your ass everyday, your efforts will pay off in the long run. You might not see a change today, or even next month, but when you reflect in the years to come, you will be amazed with your progress. Trust the process, and sweat now, so you can gloat in that success later.

Regress to Make Progress

When starting out in a new sport, whether it may be weightlifting or snowboarding, it’s easy to look at what the most elite athletes are doing and say to yourself, “I want to do that!” You may see Shaun White doing a backflip at the Sochi Winter Olympics, and immediately look for the nearest mountain to go and replicate it. While I applaud your determination, mastery of any sport takes time, and it is important to appreciate the process. Sometimes, it is more important to practice regressions as opposed to progressions.

I believe that CrossFit has facilitated this pseudo-mastery of movement. As a CrossFit coach, I see people trying to rush to try tricks that they’re not quite ready to do. Introduce the ever-elusive muscle-up, and everyone will jump onto the rings to try it for themselves. I know the muscle-up looks like a fun party trick, but there’s a necessary foundation of strength that one must possess to execute it safely and efficiently. For example, some of the fundamental movements one should have mastered before even attempting a muscle-up include the freestanding handstand (for basic shoulder stability), the kip (to learn how to navigate your center of mass), the pull-up (to get your body over the rings), and the ring dip (to press yourself up at the top). If you are not comfortable with these four movements, then frankly you have no business trying to hurl yourself over the rings into a muscle-up.

Olympic movements are no different. I don’t want to see you attempt to PR your snatch until your overhead squat looks immaculate. I don’t want to see you throw 135 lbs onto your overhead squat if you can’t even squat the PVC. When I see that you can support a weight overhead in a controlled fashion, then you are ready to dive into a dynamic, explosive movement like the snatch. I see far too many people with horrible overhead stability trying to snatch 215 lbs because they want to look like Jason Khalipa. I’m not saying you can’t and won’t get there, but you absolutely have to lay the groundwork first.

In my opinion, one of the biggest causes of injury is ego. Just because you think you’re strong, doesn’t mean your body is ready for these complex Olympic lifts or gymnastics skills! There is a difference between brute strength and motor control. One allows you to lift heavy things, while the other allows you to do so with finesse. I’m not impressed if you pick up a 520 lbs deadlift with a rounded back right off of the floor. Show me that you can do it with control, maintaining a good position throughout and you’ve got my attention!

You'll get here...I promise.

In the greater scheme of things, quality of movement is far more important than how much weight you can move. I know that you want to lift big weights--we all do. Strength, however, takes time and a ton of repetition at more manageable weights. Just because you’ve decided you want to squat four plates doesn’t mean that your body is ready for that yet. If you’re flopping around on the rings like a dead fish trying to get your first muscle-up, you need to take a step back and reevaluate your strategy. Once you’ve learned how to properly maneuver your center of mass with ease, then, and only then, are you prepared to practice your muscle-ups.

I’ve been down that road myself. I would watch strong athletes and dream of getting to that level. The result was me overworking my body and stunting my own progress, rather than moving forward and getting stronger. Now, I’ve started to regulate myself. I only lift weights that I know I can control, and if I miss a lift, I go down in weight rather than trying it over and over again. The payoff has been huge, I miss fewer lifts, and my body is thanking me everyday.

We have to remember that all of these elite athletes that we see on television have had a lot of time to practice. Shaun White certainly didn’t learn these intricate movements in a month or even a year--he’s had years and years of practice, refining technique and he’s also had the help of experts to watch him and help him perfect his movement. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet was a competitive gymnast her entire life, and she’s been competing in CrossFit competitions for more than five years. You have to remember that you can’t become an elite athlete overnight. If you’re willing to dedicate the time and effort to the little things, you will, one day perfect the most challenging movements.

I urge you to slow down and take baby steps; focus on the details of every movement in the gym; try to be objective about your own performance, and ask yourself questions like, “Can I do this with control?” or, “Did that look sloppy?” If it looks sloppy, take some weight off of the bar and try it again.

I understand that it’s easy to want to rush into these complex, impressive tricks, but you have to trust the process. I promise you will be able to do them eventually. In the meantime, however, you need to make sure you set yourself up to get there; adequate strength, stability, mobility and motor control are crucial pieces of the puzzle to executing the more nuanced movements. I assure you that if you pay attention to the regressions instead of rushing into the progressions, you will be at a lower risk of injury, and you will be better prepared for the progressions when you’re ready!

I love to finish off my blog posts with a great quote: “Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.”

Make sure you're practicing "perfect."

Working Out for the Wrong Reasons

The other day, when I was at the hair salon, my hairdresser said something that caught me by surprise. We were discussing our professions, and how we both enjoyed what we did for a living. I told her that I was a CrossFit coach, and she responded, “Good for you! I can never seem to stick to a workout routine for more than a few months. I’m skinny, so I don’t really need to workout.” I didn’t really know how to respond. Her words had really resonated with me, though. I thought to myself, “because she’s thin, she doesn’t think exercise is a priority?”

This is neither cute nor healthy...

I can’t lie though, I’m sure at one point when I was younger, I felt the same way. We have come to associate working out with the pursuit of losing weight. Someone who is thin must be healthy, too, no?

First of all, I want to just express how much I loathe the word “skinny.” Let me just read you some of the adjectives that I found when I looked up the word “skinny in the thesaurus: “undernourished,” “emaciated,” “scrawny,” “skeletal,” and “scraggy.” Do any of these synonyms sound desirable to you? I certainly don’t find any of those terms to be endearing. I would much rather be “lean,” “fit” or even “muscular.” The word skinny denotes weakness.

Exercise is about so much more than improving my body composition, in my opinion. I want to be able to be prepared for anything life throws at me, I want to defend myself against a potential attacker on the streets, I want to move heavy objects without fear of hurting my back in the process, and of course, I want to ensure that I will avoid decrepitude as I age! Vitality is so much more important than physical appearance.

Building a lean, fit body is a wonderful perk of exercise—I certainly can’t deny that. I have grown more comfortable with my body in the process, but I have also become healthier and more resilient.

UCLA physician Preethi Srikanthan surveyed more than 3,500 participants in her research. She found that those with more lean muscle mass had significantly longer lifespans than those who lower percentages of muscle mass. Additionally, she did not find any dramatic differences between those with higher body fat percentages versus lower body fat percentages. This means that muscle mass is more important than body fat in estimating one’s overall life expectancy.

We all want to live a long, fulfilling life, right? Exercise and a healthy diet are integral ingredients in the recipe for longevity. On the other hand, those who are sedentary and eat poorly have weaker tendons, more fragile bones, weaker immune systems, and shorter lifespans than their active counterparts.

Just remember: someone who is "skinny" is not necessarily healthy.

Positive Self-Talk

I believe that success is a direct result of confidence and hard work. When I hear my clients and my friends put themselves down, it frustrates me. If you tell yourself you aren't weak, or that you aren't fast enough, then you are right. We set ourselves up for failure by entering a negative mindset.

Learn to become your own best friend, rather than your own worst enemy. I challenge you to change the way you talk to yourself, both in and out of the gym. Stop saying "I can't," or "I won't," and start telling yourself that you can and you will! When the mind and the body work together, you will be amazed with the result.

6 Ways to Overcome a Plateau and Start Getting Stronger Again

In fitness, as in life, we are always looking to move forward. If you're putting in the hard work in the gym, you should only continue to progress, right? Well, ideally, yes. Many, unfortunately hit a plateau somewhere along the way that may leave them feeling unmotivated or discouraged. If you approach your workouts the right way, however, you will only continue to progress and grow.

Here's a really helpful (not) diagram of a plateau for science.

Here are 6 reasons you aren't progressing in the way you want:

1. Intensity- Are you giving your workout your all, or are you texting in between sets? Each week, you should try to add more weight or increase the number of reps you're performing. If you just continually squat 135 lbs week after week, how do you expect to get stronger? If you're not gasping for air at the end of your sprints, you're not pushing yourself hard enough. The only way we can create adaptation is to give our bodies something to which it can adapt! It's important to make sure you enter your sessions in the gym with 100% effort. (Well...most days, anyway. We all have our "off" days...)
2. Variation- It's nice to have a set split or program and follow that week after week, but if you're only doing the same handful of exercises ad nauseum, it can get pretty dull. Every once in a while, add a few new exercises into your routine and get rid of a few of the older ones. Not only will it keep your workouts interesting, your body will find a completely new way to challenge itself with a new task.
3. Muscle imbalances- A weak or underactive muscle might be preventing you from advancing as you'd like. Let's say you have really strong quads, and you can squat 300 pounds for reps. Just imagine how much more you could squat if you actually learned to use your butt! When our muscles work together in force couples as they're supposed to, beautiful things happen.
4. Program- Maybe it's time to either ask a friend for help programming your workouts (preferably one with lots of experience) or do some research online. Unfortunately, strength doesn't progress linearly, so it's important to make sure you account for that when you write out your program. Play with the number of sets, reps and the amount of weight you're using and find out what works best for you.
5. Planning- My father always tells me "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!" You need to set real, tangible goals for yourself. For example, one of my goals is to deadlift 300 lbs before the end of the year. As you can see, I gave myself a set number and a date by which I want to achieve it. Your goal might be to lose 10 pounds by June. Whatever those goals may be, make sure you've clearly articulated them to yourself and written them down so you can hold yourself accountable.
6. Recovery- Perhaps you're not giving yourself enough time to recover between workouts. Make sure you're eating enough food to sustain your activity level and drink a lot of water. A lot of people I meet have a tendency to deprive themselves of the food their body so desperately needs to rebuild and repair itself. Remember: food and water are fuel!

When you start to see a flatline in your progress, it's time to step back and reassess your approach.

"Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

-Albert Einstein 

Work Your Weaknesses

Weaknesses--we all have them.  Unfortunately, no one can be an athletic superhero who excels at everything. Everyone has one thing (or multiple things) that gives them knots in their stomachs just thinking about it. For me, it's rowing or running.

Whatever that "thing" may be for you, the worst thing you can possibly do is avoid it. For years in high school, I tried to get out of running the mile because I hated it that much. You know what? I never became a better runner, until now. I do not proclaim to be on the same level as an Olympic sprinter, but I'm certainly miles better (no pun intended) than I was in high school. Now I force myself to do maximum effort sprints at least 1-2 times a week. Yes, there are many times I want to keel over in the midst of it, but I don't--I just suck up my pride and get it done.

There was a very long period of time when I was unable to do double unders (two revolutions of the jump rope for every one jump). Everyday, I practiced and came out of the gym with bruises and whip marks all alone my arms and legs. I may have looked ridiculous, but guess what? Despite all of my welts, I kept on trying. Today, I can finally perform multiple consecutive double unders with relative ease, and I will only continue to progress.

My point is this: in order to truly see progress, you have to force yourself to do what inspires terror within you. If you've never been able to do a pull-up in your life, practice pull-ups every damn day until you get one. Start with a band and focus on the lowering phase. Do whatever it takes to make your weaknesses into your strengths. No change comes without dedication and practice.

I leave you with this wonderful quote from Robert Louis Stevenson:

"You cannot run away from weakness; you must some time fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?"

"I Don't Have Time to Work Out"

You may think you're too busy to work out, but chances are, you're just making excuses for yourself. More than likely, you have have time to work out. If something is enough of a priority to you, you will make time for it. If you can sincerely tell me that you don't have at least an hour or two in the course of the day of free time, then maybe you're really too busy for exercise. However, for 99.9% of the population, that is not the case.

This post is not intended to make you feel guilty--but rather to help you realize how easy it is to get a short, efficient workout right in your own home. You don't need to spend 3 hours in the gym to get a great workout. If you have half an hour and some floor space to spare, you'll be able to kick your own butt into shape.

You can use circuits or intervals to get the most out of a short workout. If you don't have access to weights, use your own body. Exercises like burpees, push-ups, v-ups, air squats, lunges, and plyometric (or explosive) movements can provide you with significant results. One great interval workout I like to do is called Tabata. Tabata intervals are 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds. For example: start by doing as many push-ups as you can in 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds. Repeat this 8 times. You can do this type of interval with any exercise, and you can even play around with the amount of time in the intervals. You may want to try doing 1 minute of work followed by 20 seconds of rest. Find out what works for you. Tabata intervals are 4 minutes long. If you do four separate Tabata intervals, that means you've gotten a great workout done in only 16 minutes. Now if you don't have 16 minutes of free time throughout the day, you're either lying to yourself, or you're far too busy and you need to let yourself relax a little bit!

I'll end with a great quote from Florence Nightingale:

"I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse."

What is CrossFit?

Within the last year or two, CrossFit gyms have been popping up everywhere. But what is this fitness craze that is rapidly gaining popularity? CrossFit defines itself as being "constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movement,” and their specialty is "not specializing."

I walked into my first CrossFit box a year ago ("box" is what we call a gym), and never looked back. I was intrigued by all of the videos I saw. For me, CrossFit was the transition I needed into the world of heavy lifting. Of course, like many, I was extremely intimidated at first. "I can't do this," I thought to myself as I looked at the workout: 21-15-9 reps of dips, box jumps and push press at 45 lbs. I got it all done in about seven-and-a-half minutes. In under 8 minutes, I got an amazing workout. That concept was revolutionary to me. How could one possibly get such a great, total body workout in such a short amount of time? It just didn't seem possible. Trust me, though, once you find yourself laying on the floor with your heart in your throat, you too will know that it is, in fact, possible.

The idea behind CrossFit is that you're never adapting; each day, the workout is different than the last. One day you could be climbing ropes, and the next day you might be doing front squats and rowing 750 meters. This constant change helps the athlete to expect the unexpected and become more well-rounded. Instead of going through the same, redundant 3 or 5 day split routine, you're always doing a different workout.

For me, CrossFit forced me to lift heavier weights, run faster, and push myself in ways I'd never imagined. From someone who was not an athlete in high school or college, I felt completely revitalized and invigorated. Each week, I pushed myself to new limits. Now, I am in the process of getting my CrossFit Level 1 certification and becoming a coach so that I can push my clients like my coaches have pushed me. I want to show people that, just as I have found in myself, the sky really is the limit. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be deadlifting 220 lbs or running half a mile in 3:20; I would have laughed in your face in high school if you had told me I'd be addicted to this lifestyle, yet here I am.

So many people say "CrossFit isn't for me--I'm not strong/fast enough!" I say, "yes you are." You are much stronger than you think! Whether you're a 65-year-old woman who has never lifted weights before or a 24-year-old elite basketball player, CrossFit is for you. Every workout can be modified and tailored to your needs or abilities. At my gym, CrossFit Annex (and most other CrossFit boxes), your first workout is free! The way I see it, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving it a try.

Staying Motivated in the Gym

Some days it's difficult to find the motivation to work out. Don't wait until the start of the new year to jumpstart your healthy lifestyle; make today the day of a new you.

In this video, I outline 3 simple tips to stay motivated:

1. Set quantifiable goals for yourself. Without articulating a specific goal, e.g.- I want to go to the gym 3 times-a-week, you may lose track. Keep a clear schedule where it is easily accessible to you.
2. Switch up your workouts! Don't get stuck in a redundant cycle. Try something new--take a spin class or try kick boxing! Find multiple different activities that you enjoy and keep your workouts interesting.
3. Alter your perception of exercise. Perception really is reality. If you go into your workouts dreading them, they're never going to be enjoyable! Real fitness is living and loving what you do. Look at exercise as a way of self-betterment. Break personal records or work towards something you've never done before (e.g.- running a 5K)!

Work hard and don't give up!