3 Tips to Become a Better Athlete in the Gym
By Jacob Wellock
1. Showing up early and being productive.
What that means is when you come in early, what are some things that you should do? Some things that you should do is some preworkout foam rolling or individual stretches to help open what you know is already stiff. That doesn’t mean you go to town on your soft tissue with long holds like yoga, because that will make you feel lethargic when you go to train, that is the last thing you want to do. You want to be in the zone when you are about to work out and to optimize your training, pick that certain one stretch that you know is going to help open you up for that snatch or that squat so you get the best out of yourself. The only way to kick some ass in your workout is to feel like you want to kick some ass before you start. Be proactive with that time.
2. Supporting fellow athletes in the gym.
A lot of people are shy when it comes to supporting another person, especially if you don’t know who they are. Supporting a fellow athlete is one of the best ways to develop a friendly relationship with someone when you are going head to head in a workout. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t want to be one of those obnoxious people that are shouting in someone’s face the whole time while they are trying to finish a workout, especially if that person already feels like dying and they might kill you in the process. Don’t be that guy. But there is a difference from being obnoxious to motivating and being positive. This can help push you harder in your workouts and in doing, it will help you become a better athlete. Especially if you develop a friendship where there is a good chance that either of you can kick each other’s ass. It is a mutual friendship.
3. Confidence.
I would say that this could quite possibly be one of the single most important qualities a person can have, inside and outside the gym. Before you walk into the gym and you don’t think you are going to hit a PR because you haven’t had the best day or you aren’t going to get a good time because you know they aren’t your best movements are just excuses. I can guarantee that there are lots of people that think this way, myself included, but what I don’t do is let it defeat me before I start. I may be able to recognize that someone might be better than me at that workout, but I just don’t accept an automatic defeat. Go down trying. It is better to give your all and lose than to give a little and still come out on the bottom. Make yourself better everyday, so if you let the workout defeat you before you start, then you have already lost. I’m not talking about the fastest time on the board or the heaviest weight that was snatched. If you go in to a workout confident and do better than you expect to do, that is what we call a ‘WIN’ my friends. Do not just walk into the gym and tell yourself that you are just going to go through the motions because you ‘feel like it’ or it’s ‘been a long day.’ No, you need to go in there and kick some ass and I can guarantee that you will come out the winner every workout no matter what anyone else has done or based on how you feel. Be a better you every single damn day.
GROUP CLASS WORKOUT
Warm Up:
Trainer Choice
Strength:
Back Squat 2:30 Minutes Between sets
2×5, 1×10, 1×15
(2×5 should be at 75-80%)
Metcon:
Welded
“Annie”
50-40-30-20-10
Double Unders
Ab Mat SItups
Cooldown: 4 minute machine
Mobilize!
Welded Lean
12 Minute AMRAP
40 DU
20 DB Lunges 35/20
20 Ab Mat Situps
Mobilize!
Mobility Of the Day: Adductor Smash (pg. 340)
Improves: Knee Out Position, Knee Pain, Back Pain
OPEN GYM
8 to 9am
SKILLS CLASS
* Ring Muscle-ups
* Grip accessory
MOBS AND YOGS
5:30 to 6:45pm with Coach Joel and Yogi Master Savina
LADIES NIGHT CLASS
Warm up:
500m Row then:
2 Rounds
15 Air Squats
15 PVC PT
15 KB Swings
Banded Hip Capsule Mobilization
Skill of the Month:
Rope Climbs Progressions
L- Sit Progressions
Metcon:
20 Min AMRAP
Buy in: 500m Row
50 DL @ 50% BW
40 Air Squats
30 Cleans @ 50% BW
20 Lunges
10 S2OH @ 50% BW