“Keep It Simple, Silly”
When we take on a new member at CrossFit Kent Island, one of the first things we want to know is “what is your goal?” Keeping the KISS principle in mind, I like keeping it to one goal, hence the singular – it is easier then to focus. The number one answer is “to lose weight,” which is great because that establishes a vision in your head of the future – I look like this, and I’d like to look like THIS. Perfect, we like that goal.
In order to help you achieve it, we need one thing from you – consistency. We need you to consistently come into the gym, do our workout of the day, and go home with a smile.
If I’m trying to help a new member come into the gym consistently, I need them to be focused and motivated. On weight loss? That’s a good start, but it’s realistically more of a long-term goal, as all of us who have been on that path know. So how about a more short-term target to keep their sights on? Keep It Simple, Ryan – give them one movement to improve on, where we can see measurable results, and soon. But there are so many movements that we practice in CrossFit, where to start?
The pyramid of fitness and health that you experienced CrossFitters might have seen starts with Nutrition at the base (see below for more there…), and then has Conditioning stacked on that, Gymnastics after that, Weightlifting next, and then Sports or applied fitness. I can’t very well say, “get better at Nutrition,” and send them home where I can’t see them anymore. I will address that eventually, but for now I’m going to move up the pyramid a bit. Sports and Weightlifting are super cool and sexy, but also complex and nuanced and take time to master. What I can more readily improve, and if I do I improve everything else, are Conditioning and Gymnastics or bodyweight strength movements.
With all of my new personal training clients, one of the first things that I do is an assessment workout called the “Baseline”. It is very simple and quick, and very effective at ferreting out a good Conditioning or Gymnastics strength goal. Here it is:
“Baseline”
For time:
Row 500M
40 Squats
30 Sit-ups
20 Push-ups
10 Pull-ups
Imagine doing that workout. What movement would give you the most trouble? Could you complete some of the movements without having to stop, but one of them would need a lot of breaks? Are there any that you can’t do at all? Would the 500M Row be a tough way to start the workout, getting you really winded?
After completing this workout, I will debrief with my client and highlight one movement that, if improved, could make that workout go a lot faster if we completed it in another month. And there we go – we have a short-term mission that will lead to consistent work in the gym and the overall result we’re looking for, whether it was weight loss or building muscle or a faster 10K time.
Going back to Nutrition, the same KISS principle can be applied, and I think this is the most common advice I give people who want to take the plunge into a weight loss plan. If you’re asking, “what should I eat?” the KISS principle would dictate that we focus on one thing. If you lay out your current diet over the last week for me and I notice a significant lack of vegetables, there it is. Eat more vegetables. The cool trick here is that vegetables contain a lot of fiber, which makes you feel full because our human bellies do not digest it very efficiently. And because we do not digest it efficiently, we don’t absorb many calories from vegetables. So, eat more vegetables = feel more full from eating = absorb less calories = Keep It Simple.
If you’re already a vegetable-eating pro, then you’re probably all set. Two more KISS tricks to get on the weight loss train, master these one at a time. Don’t regularly drink alcohol. Don’t regularly eat (or drink) sugar.
No need to overcomplicate things! Keep It Simple, Silly, and focus on one small thing at a time. You’ve got this!
Ryan