The White Board

I have had several of the new people ask me why we use a white board.  In addition, we have had some people who have shaved reps or misrepresented their times on the white board...and recently we have had some disagreements about what the white board is for.  The following is by Chris Spealler.  He is one of my idols, I agree with the article, and I couldn't say it any better myself...so I'm posting his article here.  When I see the white board becoming a negative for people, I will say something, and sometimes I will use strong or exaggerated language...it's fine if you don't like it or don't feel it is necessary....but understand it's also fine, that I don't care.  You may make a point differently than I do, and I respect that.  Respect that I made a point differently than you would.  Here is Chris Spealler making a point about white boards:

 

Why do we write our scores on the whiteboard?

By Chris Spealler

Accountability. One of Greg Glassman's, the founder of CrossFit, favorite quotes is, "Men will die for points."  The idea is everyone's score will be posted on the whiteboard at the end of the workout.  It's a public posting.  Knowing that what you do will be posted on the board for everyone to see has a strong psychological effect, and should help improve your results.

Take a moment to think about these questions:

If everything you ate for a week was going to be posted on the whiteboard for everyone to see, don't you think you'd eat better for that week?

If your back squat goal was the only one circled and written on the board for 4 weeks for everyone to see, don't you think you'd push a little harder when testing that PR?

If you saw Rich Froning’s score posted on the board, would that fire you up to try and compete with him?

The goal of the board is to elicit positive psychological responses such as motivation, positive self-criticism, and self confidence.  Unfortunately, the whiteboard can also evoke negative psychological responses, such as fear, intimidation, negative self-criticism, and self doubt.  When those things happen, the white board can be detrimental.  Take some time to think about how the white board makes you feel.  It is meant to be a tool for improvement, and that's how it should be used.

If it makes you feel negative thoughts, you should re-evaluate the point of the board and why you feel that way.

The white board is often inaccurate, and that’s okay, coaches make mistakes.  The white board is just a guide for the workout.  Precise records of our accomplishments and personal best records at benchmark wods and specific lifts should be kept in our personal workout journals.  The white board is just a guide, a motivation for that workout, and should be forgotten when you leave the box.  I’ve had members text me days later that their time was wrong on such and such day, and my reply is, “So what?”.  It will be erased in a few days, as long as it is accurate for you, in your personal record, which is what matters and elicits the goal of personal improvement.

At one time, we stopped using the white board for a week at CrossFit Park City.  People had been overly concerned with how others were doing, and making it into a competition rather than a guide.  CrossFit is about lifting each other up, not trying to beat each other.  When things settled down, we started using it again, and attitudes changed.  The white board was then being seen as a way to encourage others and improve ourselves, not “keep up with the Joneses”.  I love to see a member put a smiley face or an encouraging word next to someone else’s PR or time on the white board.  That is what we are after.  That was Greg’s intent when we instituted the use of the white board.

Think about that for a second, change your mindset, and use the board to see what can be done.  Then work on making yourself better.  Ultimately, competing for yourself, or using whiteboard times to set a goal is good, but feeling bad because you don't beat someone on the whiteboard is not good for you.  The goal is PERSONAL RECORDS.  When we do the CrossFit tour, or the Competitor’s Course, I regularly get beat on the white board.  I'm ok with that.  I use the white board to see what I could possibly do, and I understand that everyone has different athletic abilities, genetics, sleep patterns, nutrition, etc. etc.  I may have the top time, I may not, but I still write it on the board.  I never feel bad about my efforts.  I never draw a sad face next to my name.  I do the best I can.  Then I write my time proudly on the board, and in my book, and 6 months from now, I can look back in my book and see where I've come from.

It's very important you use the whiteboard.   Use the goal board to set goals and hold yourself accountable.  Use the PR board to proudly display where you are on your journey.

How do you use the boards?

Being better...

Here’s 5 simple rules to follow. Not only for CrossFit but in life…

No Quitting

No Whining

No Bragging

No Excuses

No Cheating

But, we can go deeper into things that will make you a better CrossFitter:

Quitting?   I don’t know what that is.  You come to my class, you finish the workout.  Period.  The only exception is if you get injured and are physically unable to continue, and even then, I will be the judge of that…did I mention, I’m a Sports Medicine Physician?

Don’t whine – It’s okay to cry, just make sure that we can’t see or hear you and remember to clean up your tears when you’re done. Maybe the song that comes on isn’t your favorite, in the immortal words of Josh Everett “If you need music to motivate you, go find something else to do”. Be careful of asking me to change the song, I might just put on Miley Cyrus’ Party in the USA on repeat. I’m your coach, not Mix Master Mike. You have a task to accomplish, so do it. Yes I know that every workout is hard and I know that you hate running and I know that the bar hurts your delicate hands, but there comes a time when we have to put up or shut up…or both. CrossFit is constantly varied, so the odds are that you will see some workouts you hate. That’s why it’s CrossFit and not allthestuffyoulikeFit. When you come to CrossFit, be ready to work. Come prepared to face all those pains and things you hate head on. Accept the suck.

Bragging has no place in CrossFit.  If you hit a PR, or totally kick butt on a particular wod, or nail a skill for the first time, celebrate in whatever way you want, but don’t brag.  The definition of bragging is to talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about one's achievements, possessions, or abilities. The key word is excessively.  In those examples, you should be proud, and you should talk about it, but show some restraint.

No excuses.  I have heard all kinds of excuses as to why someone was sub-par.  If it is random, fine.  If you didn’t eat right, or are coming back from a vacation or injury…those are reasons.  Reasons are different from excuses.  Reasons are rational explanations given for thinking in a particular way or for doing a particular activity. They are basically logical justifications in accordance with some motive. While excuses are an attempt to convince oneself or others about the difficulties involved when a promise is not kept or there is lack of progress, or simply, when something is not done.  An excuse is a reason that attempts to excuse your behavior. It occurs in a very special situation -- where you believe you should have done one thing, but instead, you did something else.

No Cheating.  We have all lost count of reps and guessed as to where we were, but to blatantly shave reps is just plain stupid.  The only person you are hurting is yourself.  No one cares what your time on the whiteboard is, except you.  And believe me, if you cheat...people know, and they throw your time right out, and ignore it anyway.  If your time is a few seconds off from the CrossFit Games athletes on "Karen" or any other benchmark wod then people will know.  Never think that someone isn't sitting in the chairs counting your reps for every movement.  If they find out you cheat, everyone will know.  That respect is almost impossible to get back.  If your goal is competition, there will be someone counting your every rep.  All of a sudden you won't be the athlete, we thought you were.  That is not fair to your team, or Crossfit Iconz.  At some point, you have to take this seriously enough to have bad times, and just freaking get better.  That's what we are all doing is getting better...and it happens quicker without cheating.

Give it all – More than strength, speed, flexibility or endurance, effort is what matters most. I don’t care if you’re Joe Thruster with a sub 3 minute Fran, if you half-ass a workout, you’re being a wuss. Grandma doing jumping pull-ups and thrusters with a PVC kicked your butt because she gave everything she had just short of a stroke. Times and weights matter, but they fail in comparison to effort. Keep pushing yourself to your most extreme limits. I don’t care if you have a 500 lb or 50 lb deadlift as long as you put forth the effort and don’t sandbag.  We are asking you to leave every ounce of energy on the floor. Your puddle of sweat or that nauseous feeling you have is what we are looking for. Remember INTENSITY = RESULTS. You are the only one who knows how hard you are pushing, but if you leave the gym and feel like you didn’t exhaust yourself in the wod you didn’t go hard enough. CrossFit is about pushing yourself through uncomfortable and into the miserable every single day. You have to dig deep inside and accept the fact that it’s going to hurt but it’s going to make you better.

Listen to your coach – We are here to help you get more fit and accomplish your goals. When we say things like “you’re lifting with your back, use more hips” don’t act surprised when your lower back is sore. When we tell you that the foam roll and lacrosse ball works, we aren’t just being sadistic. We tell you to rest because you need rest, just as we tell you to get in the gym more because you need to be in the gym more. If you want to get better at something, you have to practice it, plain and simple. Yes there are some of you who are naturally good at some things, but why not get better? Why not be the best? Our goal is for you to accomplish your goals.

Fail sometimes – The unique thing about CrossFit is that the only way to achieve excellence is through failure. The strength portion of our workouts are designed to where you may fail at a set. If you don’t fail you aren’t trying hard enough. CrossFit is an environment where no one will laugh at you or put a permanent letter in your file for dumping an overhead squat. Don’t be afraid to fail, there’s always next time. Pushing yourself to fail is more of a mental thing than it is a physical thing. We have conditioned ourselves to think that failing is bad and therefore don’t push ourselves in fear of failure. Take that fear away and see what you can accomplish. I just got one of the worst Rx times in a wod, because I programmed Farmer’s carries at almost half my bodyweight.  Farmer’s carries have always been a weakness for me, and I failed …again.  And again, and again, but I finished, and damn did it feel good.

Eat good food – The short answer is eat Paleo. If you don’t want to eat Paleo, just eat meat, some fruit, vegetables, little starch, no sugar, no grains, and no dairy. If you’re low on energy, then you’re not eating enough. I remember a lot of people starting off on Paleo complain of low energy then proceed to tell me that they didn’t eat anything all day because they didn’t know what to eat. Is it that hard to eat meat and vegetables these days?

Count it – Tracking your workouts matters.  When you don’t count the reps on your workout, you lose valuable information that will keep you accountable for your progress. Make sure to record as much information as you can. Write down what you ate for the day. Everyone has those days where they ate like crap and had a crappy workout. Those are the hardest days to write down, but those will provide you with the best motivation to get better.

Be nice – CrossFitters are notorious for making fun of people who go to globo gyms. People achieve their personal fitness goals in their own ways. Some may like the pace of a spin or Pilates class and some may like the intensity of CrossFit. Instead of pointing out their propensity for douchiness on the elliptical, try introducing them to CrossFit. You’ll get a better reaction and won’t come off like a jerk. You were once that guy on the bicep curl machine or that girl on the eliptical. If someone made fun of you and then said CrossFit was the way to superior fitness, you would tell them to go F themselves.

If you can just do some of these things, you will start to progress faster as a CrossFitter. 

Thanks for reading,

Coach Tony