We talk constantly about the importance of consistency in training. Magic happens when you show up and put in the work week in and week out for years. That you do something consistently is much more important than that you do the “perfect” thing now and again.
I stand by it. Consistency wins.
That said, there does come a point where just showing up and training in a way that’s not a perfect fit might not get you to where you want to be. And that’s where it pays to get specific. CrossFit has always preached a generalized fitness: meaning a program that makes a person pretty good at many, many things. It’s very cool. But it’s a tradeoff. If you’re pretty good at many, many things, you’re unlikely to be really good at any one thing. Jack of all trades is a master of none.
For 80% of the people we work with, the goal is to be healthier and more capable. And for that, a general fitness program, followed with consistency, is an amazing place to start, and often, can be enough by itself, even over years.
But for the remaining 20%, it might not be the best approach. If a person has a chronically achy knee, or a low back that’s prone to spasms, or really, really wants to get a pull-up, or a 300lb deadlift, or compete, a general approach might not actually be best. In those instances, a specific approach to training is going to be better.
What does that look like? I don’t know! It depends. Which is kind of the point.
Once you have consistency down, where you’re training 2-5 days per week 90% of the time, you may end up with specific goals around resolving pain, increasing range of motion, or building a capacity or skill. The approach to each of those will be different. If you keep doing a generalized program, hoping that it will solve your issue, it absolutely can work, but it’s likely to take way, way longer than a specific program.
The specific program is something that suits that exact individual. It’s certainly informed by things that have worked in the past with people with similar goals or issues, but we really are all unique snowflakes, which means that a program your friend did might not work for you the way it did for them. This is why we don’t only offer CrossFit anymore. We do personal training and habit coaching and nutrition coaching and a whole range of 1-on-1, personalized options for when a general approach just isn’t cutting it.
The first step in health and fitness is showing up consistently. That’s a tough nut to crack for a lot of people and we work really hard to help them with that. And sometimes that first step is all a person needs.
But if that first step still isn’t solving your problem, know that a second step exists and might be exactly what you need. Ask your coach to help you do something more specific. And if you train with us already, we’re so glad to help you with that.