On Thursday I did something that I’m 99.9 percent sure I’ve never done before: I set three new PRs in one class.

After getting a new three-rep bench press PR at 215 pounds, I was feeling good and there was some time left in the lifting session, so I jumped up to 230 pounds and set a new one-rep max. Both were 5-pound PRs for me. In the metcon a few minutes later, I rowed the 500 meter buy-in in 1:42 for a one-second 500 meter row PR (see, every second really does count!).

I left the gym that morning pretty darn pleased with myself. And to think, I almost took a rest day!

Later that evening, I checked the whiteboard in Wodify to see how everyone else had done. I noticed that my three-rep bench press was ninth out of 17 male results on the day and my 500 meter row time was 11th out of 16.

Not even in the top 50 percent.

That’s why understanding what a PR is and why we even record them is important. I’m pretty sure that most of us know know that PR literally stands for “Personal Record.” But I think many of us often forget about the “personal” part. We forget that it’s a measure of our personal best performance on a given activity. It’s meant to see how we, as an individual, have improved (or not) since the last time we performed that activity. And we use it as a benchmark we strive to improve upon in future performances.

This is why it’s important to make sure that we accurately and honestly record our performances. CrossFit is different from most other fitness programs because we recognize the value in tracking our performances and measuring our progress. There’s value in seeing that our hard work is paying off in the form of improved fitness.

But how do we know we’re improving if we don’t record our results, or even worse, if our results aren’t accurate?

We don’t.

There’s a time and place for competition, but as an overall, we shouldn’t worry about where our results stack up on the leaderboard. In fact, if Wodify gave gyms the option of not ranking results and ordering them in alphabetical order or by the order they’re entered, we would probably do that.

The truth is, if I put much value in how my performances compare to the performance of others, I would have been sorely disappointed in my efforts on Thursday. Instead, I was ecstatic to get multiple PRs in one day, after going more than a month without one. I left the gym feeling great and motivated to keeping working hard and keep achieving more PRs.

Our results and our personal records aren’t meant to be compared to anyone else’s performance. Doing so diminishes our own fitness improvements and the hard work we put in to achieve them.

Christmas Week Schedule

• Monday, Dec 24th: No evening classes, regular schedule through noon Vitality class
• Tuesday, Dec. 25th: Closed
• Wednesday, Dec. 26th: 9 am class only
• Thursday-Saturday: Regular schedule

New Year’s Week Schedule

• Monday, Dec. 31st: No evening classes, regular schedule through noon Vitality class
• Tuesday, Jan. 1st: 9 am class only
• Wednesday-Saturday: regular schedule

Week at a Glance: December 17-22

Monday – December 17, 2018

Context: Mental Toughness – Push hard to go unbroken as much as possible every round
Skill Work: Spend 12 minutes working up to a challenging (80-90% effort) shoulder press x 1 + push press x 3 + push jerk x 5.
Metcon: “Helen”

3 rounds for time

400m run

21 American KB swings (53/35)

12 kipping pull ups
Scaling Guide: 8 – 14 min, about 3-4 min per round.
Compare to: CrossFit Benchmark (last done July 05, 2018)

Tuesday – December 18, 2018

Context: Practice – Skill practice is the most important time to improve technique
Skill Work: Spend 10 minutes working up to a challenging set of 3 overhead squats
Metcon: “Cabin Pressure”

3 cycles for rounds. 1 min rest between cycles.

In 8 minutes:

1200/1000 meter row

Then max rounds with the remaining time:

12 supine ring row

12 front squats
Rx+: 135/85 overhead squats instead of front squats
Rx: 135/85 front squats
Scaled: ring rows, 85/55 front squats or goblet squats
Scaling Guide: 5 – 9 rounds, about 2.5 rounds per cycle.
Compare to: NEW WORKOUT!

Wednesday – December 19, 2018

Context: Competition – Check your previous score before the workout starts
Metcon: “Bottoms Up” plus Bonus

12-minute AMRAP

10 burpees

25 double unders (scaled: 50 singles)

2 minutes rest, then 4 rounds for time.

16 single-arm DB hang power clean and jerk – alternate as desired

35 cal row or ¾-mile bike
Rx: 50/35 DB
Scaled: 50 singes, 35/20 DB, 25 cal row
Scaling Guide (first part): 6 – 11 rounds, about 1:30 per round. Log as separate workout
Scaling Guide (second part): 8 – 12 minutes, about 2.5 min per round. Log separately
Compare to: CrossFit Classic (last done January 15, 2018) For “Bottoms Up”

Thursday – December 20, 2018

Context: Practice – Why full range of motion is so important (mechanically)
Skill Work: Every 90 seconds for 6 rounds perform 1 pause power clean, 1 pause squat clean, and 1 front rack reverse lunge per leg.
Metcon: “Chariots of Fire”

5 rounds for time

5 power cleans (135/85/55)

5/3 strict chin-up

40′ walking lunge with medball held at chest (20/14)

200m run with medball

1 min rest
Rx+: 155/95 cleans, 20/14 med-ball, hold med-ball between legs for chin-ups
Rx: 135/85 cleans, 20/14 med-ball
Scaled: 85/55 cleans, 5 assisted chin-ups or ring rows, 14/10 med-ball
Scaling Guide: 13 – 20 minutes, about 3.5 minutes per round including the rest.
Compare to: May 22, 2018

Friday – December 21, 2018

Context: Practice – Pacing large sets of wall ball balls
Strength: 2-2-2-2-2-2-2 Back Squat (7 sets of 2 reps, adding load each set if possible).
Super Set: 7×6 Single-Arm Dumbbell Bent Over Row (7 sets of 6 reps – per arm)
Metcon: “Cheese Wheel”

For time

120 wall balls

Every minute stop and do 6 knees to elbows (starting at 1:00)
Rx: 20/14 wall ball
Scaled: 80 wall balls at 14/10, hanging knee raises
Scaling Guide: 5 – 10 minutes, about 15 wall balls per minute
Compare to: NEW WORKOUT!

Saturday– December 21, 2018

To be announced