“Am I training enough?” A question all of us coaches get asked very often. There are 24 Hours in a day. You need 8 hours sleep, 8 hours at work, and let’s say an hour in traffic… that leaves 7 hours which you could be spending at the gym.
(in case you can’t tell, I’m being sarcastic).
If you have found yourself asking this question, the first step is determining where the question is coming from, and why you’re asking it? Did you look in the mirror after looking at an Instagram post of someone half your age and compare yourself to them? Then wonder why you dont look like them? Did you just finish a CrossFit class and get crushed by the person next to you? then figured the reason they crushed you was because you aren’t doing enough training? Or have you been training for a while now and you keep moving the goalposts, so you’re not satisfied with your current results?
Maybe it’s something else, but it’s important to identify if it’s a valid question to begin with, or coming from a place of unjustifiable comparison. It’s likely coming from a self imposed comparative or standard that you’ve set yourself which is completely arbitrary.
The next step is, consider your goal.
Are you aiming to win a local comp or trying to qualify for the CrossFit Nationals? If the answer is no, then you likely need consistency in your training and nutrition more than anything. If the answer is yes, then you might need a bit of extra skill and strength work. Alternatively, maybe you are pursuing mastery; you want to learn how to Muscle up or Snatch your body weight. This is awesome! We love mastery-based goals. If this is the case, then next consider your life. Are you aiming to be one of the top 1% in your training field and willing to sacrifice earning good money, spending time with family and friends, and forgoing holidays/weekends away? 99 times out of 100 the answer is “no”. Firstly, you are likely a combination of the following:
A Mother or Father
A Husband or Wife
A Boyfriend or Girlfriend
The bread winner or a Homemaker
A Boss or Employee
A Friend
A Son or daughter
Being a combo of these is part of your identity. It’s likely that your core values are tied to these. All of them come with commitments, of which add amazing joy to your life, but also stressors. For most of us, the above list is our main priority then after we have ticked the above we can add: I’m an Athlete, CrossFitter, Weightlifter, Yogie or Gym-Goer.
It is very rare that when someone asks if they should be doing more, that they actually should be, when considering all the factors in their life. So what is the ideal amount of training? The ideal amount is the amount that fits in with your goals and your life:
- Consider your goals
- Consider your life and your identity
- Consider your values
- Map out your time based on the above commitments
- Factor in recovery and down time to prevent burn out
- If you have mapped everything out and you still have plenty of time to work towards your training goals, then great, add a bit more training
- If you don’t, then take a deep breath, remind yourself that you are likely already doing plenty and that consistency is going to be the key to great results
CONSISTENCY OVER INTENSITY!
