Stick to the Basics (Part III)

In Stick To The Basics, we talked about technique, consistency, and intensity.  In Stick to the Basics (Part II) we talked about writing it all down.   I would like to expound a little more on the basics today. . .


So, it always seems like someone is telling me something different when I get coached at different CrossFit gyms.  At times I get frustrated, other times it makes the world of difference to my lift, and at other times I don't listen I just keep doing my own thing. . .

My inner athlete has a way of blocking the coach in me.  Coach in me says, "Listen to what they say, listen to their cues, adjust accordingly, execute."  Inner athlete, "What the hell is he/she talking about?!  I do have my feet underneath my hips.  The bar is on the rack position!  And if my elbows go up any further my chin will be in my chest! Just do the the movement!".

Take a step back before you take that first step.  Once we have started doing a movement incorrectly, it will be a journey to get back to the way it should be.  It is in our CrossFit community blood to want to try something that is riskier than a Air Squat. . . . say a front squat or an overhead squat, but it is the air squat that is the foundation of those movements. 

Foundation - The basis on which a thing stands, is founded, or is supported.

Most people that enjoy video games will buy the video game and immediately start playing.  The point is to enjoy the game.  Most people learn as they go.  Their impatience leads to negativity when they have to pause the game and look something up because they don't know how to do something in particular.  Chances are that they would have gone through the game a lot smoother, and enjoyed it more, if they had read the instruction manual first.

A little bit of history we can learn from:

Let's look at Apple Inc, Steve Jobs wanted an innovative exciting company.  The Apple Board of Directors didn't want an "innovator" as the CEO of their company.  Apple hired a CEO in 1983, John Sculley, and that CEO happened to force Jobs' resignation.  It wasn't long before, actually the same year, that Jobs started Next Inc.

In 1997, Apple's CEO acquired Next, Inc, and along with it, Steve Jobs.  Wouldn't ya know it, that CEO was fired by the Board of Directors, and Jobs became the CEO, touting an innovative, exciting product line.
 
My main point; stick the basics, this is just a part of achieving those goals.  All Jobs wanted was the ability to keep innovating, and look where it got him?

"Because if you have a strong foundation like we have, then you can build or rebuild anything on it. But if you've got a weak foundation you can't build anything. "
                                                           -Jack Scalia 

-Coach Tony