How can you take advantage of the other athletes in your class to improve your experience? Consider this:
Accountability
When you attend a class regularly, other athletes come to expect you. Make an effort to attend at regular times and make connections with others who are also consistent. Knowing you’ll be missed is a strong motivator to get to the gym. If you haven’t seen someone for a while, let them know they’ve been missed.
Learning Opportunities
It’s the coach’s job to oversee the instruction of a class, but she can’t watch every athlete at all times. When possible, pair up with someone of a similar ability and critique each other’s performance. Your partner might notice something you’re doing that hasn’t been pointed out before. As you develop a critical eye for others, you’ll become better aware of your own performance.
Shared Experience
Doing Murph on Memorial Day is rough enough. Now try doing Murph all alone. The act of completing a goal in a group is far more energizing than completing it alone. Use others to push yourself and gauge your own performance. Although you’re ultimately competing against yourself, it’s this friendly competition that can push you further than you would alone.
Next Steps
So how do you take the team dynamic to the next level? Glad you asked. First, consider joining the CFCOA Team Class. It’s on Saturdays at 8 a.m. for intermediate athletes (Core grads) and above. We’ll be working toward some actual team competitions this year. If you’ve been curious about doing a competition, a team challenge is one of the best ways to get your feet wet. You’ll have the camaraderie of teammates, and you’ll have a built-in structure of support to help you through the triumphs and challenges of a competition.
Second, if you’re still on binge mode from the holidays, join the team that will be participating in the Eat For Life Challenge. It’s a six-week program built to instill permanent healthy eating and exercising habits in order to help you reach your desired body composition goals. Having a support group is one of the best ways to maintain a healthy diet. The introductory meeting is this Saturday, Jan. 24. There will be a 30-minute informational Q&A, and you can get measured, weighed, and photographed to get yourself started. Contact Coach Rose for more information.
Most important, a team is inspiration that can help you achieve more than you ever could on your own. As author Antoine de Saint-ExupĂ©ry put it: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”