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Intention
Mika staying focused - photo Oscar Bravo
There are a lot of things that you can think about before a wod - am I wearing the right shoes?, did I choose the right weight?, and what were the reps again? While you definitely want to know what the reps are, virtually all of those thoughts are actually secondary to the intention you carry into the workout with you.
Intention defines what your objective is for that day's particular challenge. It sets your mindset, affects your pacing, and definitely will impact your choice of scaling and your time or score.
There are essentially three types of intention that I like to set for myself prior to a workout. Some people may have more variants, but these three have worked for me, and make sense in the overall flow of my training. I'll go through them one by one.
1. Compete / Race / 90-100% - this is the top tier of effort, focus, strategy, and intensity. By nature, this type of effort (whether it is applied for lifting or a metcon), is draining both mentally and physically. Therefore, it can't be and shouldn't be your only mindset going into a workout. If it is, then over time, you will be more likely to burn out or plateau your performance. As a general rule, I spend about 10% of my training time in this full on Compete / Race mindset.
2. Train / Practice / 70-90% - When I come in with this intention, the primary objective is to become better technically while still getting a very strong fitness stimulus. This might be scaling a skill up or down, purposefully going slightly slower to maintain good technique, or working on different styles of pacing. By dialing back the intensity just a small amount, you can really rehearse better movement patterns while still getting a very potent stimulus for getting better. This is where I spend about 45% of my training time.
3. Move / Recover / 40-70% - This is all about just getting the body moving and enjoying the process. Yes you can still build tremendous base level fitness and technique here! At the same time though, there is relatively little mental or physical stress and this allows for a more restorative workout experience. I spend about 45% of my training sessions at this level, mostly to balance out stress in my training and life, as well as to allow my body to recover for those more intensive workouts.
Think about your own intention when coming in to train, and try to match that up with what the workout is on that day. Most people will naturally take the benchmark wod days as Compete / Race, but depending on your focus, you may choose to max out on an aerobic base day like partner nurwor.
The main take away is to make sure that you read the workout in advance and have at least part of a plan when you come in. This will prepare you well for the class and help you avoid the pitfalls of either maxing out all the time, or not going hard enough at any time!
Cam
TRAINING FRIDAY - SATURDAY
WARM UP: EMOM rotations x 3
Assault bike
Double Crunch / ttb / hkr
Russian Swing
Skipping
WOD: CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE!
Choose your workout and enjoy the process :)
Option 1: Fran
Of course! But feel no pressure
Rx: 21-15-9 of thrusters (65/95) and pullups
Scaled: 55/75, jumping pullups
CP: 75/115, CTB
Option 2: Jackie
Rx: 1000m row, 50 thrusters (45), 30 pullups
Scaled: 750 row, 35 thrusters (35/45), jumping pullups
CP: 2000m, 55/75, ctb
Option 3: Open 11.3
AMRAP in 5 min of:
Rx: Squat clean and overhead (110/165)
Scaled: 75/115
CP: 135/205
Cash - Out: 5 rounds, not for time of - 6-10 burpees, 16 lunges, 30 du or 60 single skips