Advice to a 12-Year-Old CrossFitter (2:00 Drill #22)

The 2:00 Drill is back this week, answering your questions about discipline and consistency, why I no longer do certain movements in my training, and my advice for how to work with and lead "sled dogs."

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01:35 - I have a question on discipline and consistency. I have good intentions, however I get distracted and my intentions aren’t reflected by my actions. I get excited about things I want to accomplish, I may be consistent with it for a week or a month, but then I tend to fall off the track and the whole thing makes me feel a failure

05:00 - What would you say to athletes who only post their scores when they have a top score for the day?

07:28 - I’m 12 years old. I have been doing CrossFit on and off for about 4 years. I play football, Olympic lift and can do all the CrossFit moments like muscle ups and stuff. What advice do you have for someone my age using CrossFit to preform in other sports and in life?

09:20 - Why have you chosen to no longer include those movement in your workouts?

14:35 - Would love to hear your take on getting a sick and physically limited person into the gym. Someone in my life, in their 50’s is severely impeded in movement and functionality (has a severed tendon in one shoulder and was told they either need two full knee reconstructions or spend the rest of their life in a wheelchair). This person also suffers from recurring Barmah Forrest disease as well as chronic fatigue. They get in and work as hard as they can when they can, but it takes it’s toll and sometimes they have to stay in bed for a week or more to recover. Being an avid CrossFiter myself, I believe that some form of functional movement could hold the key to higher quality of life and this person has asked me to help them in this regard, but I don’t know what to suggest.

20:00 - Is it better to have been in a significant calorie deficit (1,000+ deficit) for the day or to hit your maintenance calories with lower quality food?

22:25 - You always talk about not leader-boarding, but at the same time you recommend “posting results to comments” or writing them on a whiteboard. How do these two go together?

23:45 - Why do CrossFit competitors wear a weight belt during metcons, especially when they are training at light/medium weight at high reps? Seems like they should wear a belt as little as possible to continue to build core stability.

25:30 - Why are sit-ups programmed so often in CompTrain? So few programs use them, I’m curious the team’s reasoning.

27:10 - As a coach (or leader or manager, etc), how do you get your "sled dogs", be they athletes or employees, to pace themselves and trust you to make the best long term decisions? I know from experience this is harder with younger athletes and employees, especially. Or even more relevant for right now, how do you get your team to buy into long term goals during the pandemic with all the current distractions?

33:15 - Do coaches ever feel like they are being hypocritical if they aren't practicing what they preach? At the moment my nutrition is less than optimal. I'm training regularly but feel pressure to be perfect. I was wondering if other coaches ever get stuck in this rut? How do I short circuit this thinking?

37:15 - How do I increase my coaching confidence without overwhelming myself by taking on too much too quickly?

42:00 - I would love to hear you and Ben’s thoughts regarding diversifying the CrossFit space.

About the Show

Chasing Excellence is dedicated to dissecting what it means to live a life of excellence, inside the gym and out. New episodes every Tuesday.

About Ben

Ben Bergeron is a best-selling author, coach to 7 CrossFit Games champions, and founder of CFNE and CompTrain.

About Patrick

Patrick Cummings is a long-time CrossFitter, podcaster, and brand coach to gym owners & entrepreneurs.