Remember when I made that post about the newbies? The one where I talked about how this doesn't get easier? Well... many of you have been around the gym for a decent amount of time now and have moved out of the beginner cateogry and into the intermediate phase.

There are a good number of you that have been training with us for almost a year now and the days of daily pr's are almost gone. You now know how to read a workout to a degree. You have your favorite and least favorite moves. I am sure many of you think that it should be getting easier; remember what I talked about before? It does not get easier.

When you reach a more advanced stage as many of you have CrossFit becomes harder than ever before. Why? Well, it is pretty simple. In order to progress and set new records you work some much harder for minimal gains. Struggling for that extra 5 pounds on that deadlift is going to be way harder then it was for that extra 20lbs months ago. Getting 10 seconds faster on your 400m run is going to be tougher.

It can be easy to start having less fun in the workouts. It can become tougher to show up on a regular basis when things get this way, especially if you have been around for a while and all of a sudden there's a new group of crossfitters that you are training with. The newbies are setting pr's on the board while you struggle to match your best or even come close to it. This can be very demoralizing. It can make you not want to show up as often, and when you don't show up often it is only going to get worse. The speed or strength you added recently is going to be tough to maintain. Before you know it the 3-4 visits a week can turn into 3-4 visits a month. It gets even worse if you look at the workouts the morning of or the night before and think, "I don't like that wod or those moves... I think today can be a rest day" (yes, I am calling YOU out...  you know who you are).

I am sure that when you first started here there was a reason. We probably asked you directly. We probably asked, "why do you want to start crossfitting?" For some of you it was losing 10 or 20lb, for some it was getting stronger or faster. You signed up and started attending classes. Guess what? You did lose that weight, and you got faster and stronger.

Now, the more important question is- "why are you going to CONTINUE to CrossFit?" What else do you want to accomplish, what else do you want to get better at? Could it be possible that you have become complacent with your accomplishments, and now it is harder to find that motivation to come to class and really push it like you use to?

Leon made a great post about goal setting the other week and if you haven't read it yet I would highly recommend it.

I would also recommend looking at what we do in CrossFit, where you struggle and where you tend to do better. Try to find something that you do well and work on really pushing it so that you continue to excel at things you're naturally gifted at. Equally as important I would find something that you know you are not as strong at and focus on that weakness. I have a goal on the goal board (you know, the one Leon talked about in his post? The one with only 3 names on it, 2 of the 3 of which are the coaches?) One of my goals is a 500lb deadlift; the deadlift is a strength of mine so I know that it is very possible to get that with some focus. My other goals are a body weight of 210-215 lbs and 50 pull ups. These will be more challenging because they will require me to focus on my diet more then I normally do and focus my training to involve more moves that I tend to shy away from. I do this to keep my training fun and challenging in all areas.

Everyone goes through the same phases with CrossFit. Whatever problems you may be have and think are special and unique to you- they are not. Everyone else goes through the same growing pains. With that said, how about we get some more goals up on the board and start talking with the coaches about how to to get there? Any goal, nutrition, training or life-based is valid. Lets get after it!

Coach P