Seven years ago I did my first CrossFit workout, was destroyed in less than 7 minutes of a scaled “Cindy,” and I was hooked. Over the years I’ve changed my approach many times, done a lot of add-on programs, and worked out in a lot of different gyms. Here are seven things I’ve learned.

• Almost everyone should scale a lot more often.
  I bet I’ve scaled more workouts in the last year than I did in the previous two or three years combined. Intensity is king in CrossFit.
• Going hard more than three days in a row should be rare.
  Our bodies need to rest, recover, and rebuild. Especially as we get older. Not many people can go HAM five or six days in a row without eventually getting injured or sacrificing progress.
• Nutrition / Diet – what might work for your friend might not work for you. Experiment. Find what you enjoy and what works for you most of the time. Give yourself time to enjoy food and have fun eating though.
• A Concept 2 Rower is one of the most powerful pieces of equipment for improving conditioning.
  Monitor keeps you on pace and you don’t beat up your joints like you do running.
• Track your workouts.
  Helps with percentage work, estimating maxes, setting/recognizing PRs, seeing progress, etc. Keep a notebook, write blog posts with notes, and/or use a service like BTWB (my favorite).
• A CrossFit (or functional fitness gym) is worth the price.
  I have enough equipment in my garage gym to do 90% of the workouts, but I don’t get the intensity I do when I workout at the gym with everyone else.
• You don’t need to spend more than an hour in the gym.
  A lot of people want more results sooner, but a lot of times less is more. These days if I do more work, it tends to be technique or accessory work instead of extra conditioning or strength stuff.

Over the last year and a half, the tweak to my back, really changed my perspective and goals. I want to keep doing this because it makes me feel good and is a healthy life. This quote by Pat Sherwood sums it up…