Benchmark Testing and Leaderboardning

By: Sam Stuart – CFL2

By now you have seen our new leader board full of personal records (PR’s) from across the gym. While we understand that a PR is not the ultimate goal of regular training, it is certainly worth celebrating! The 410 Leader board displays the top 5 PR’s in several different lifts and workouts. It was created to help motivate each other, help recognize hard work and help celebrate others achievements. Here are 3 things you need to know about the leader board:

1. You can only attempt a leader board PR within the same week that the lift/workout is programmed for class. It is not safe to continuously attempt PR’s, especially in weightlifting. If you are not happy with your 1 rep max Snatch, don’t try it again for the next few weeks or even months. Try deliberately practicing that lift by using different drills and skills until you feel strong and confident enough to attack it again. Sometimes things require more practice and time. The leader board is only updated the week it is programmed for two reasons. One… to avoid having people attempt too many “tests” outside of the program and two… to avoid constantly updating the leader board. It is a challenge to recognize a new leader if it is updated once or twice a week.
2. You are still a good person, even if you don’t make the leader board. PR’s don’t happen everyday. A newer person to the gym always gets to experience a bunch of PR’s as they are learning new skills and moving in new ways. If you have been CrossFitting for a while, training hard, pushing yourself in workouts and have been steadily getting stronger and faster, you may be at a place in your training where PR’s are not going to come frequently. There are also things like sleep, diet and stress that impact performance. Don’t stress a bad day. Learn from it and move on.
3. No room for a “negative Nancy”. The leader board is a place that allows a person to build momentum and change their perspective about themselves. Sue has a full time job, 4 kids and a lot of stress. She doubts herself but works hard and makes it onto the leader board. She starts replacing her doubts with positive thoughts while getting support and encouragement from her community. Positive energy is contagious. Make sure you celebrate your own accomplishments, support and encourage others, and enjoy the process.

We have had the leader board up for about 3 weeks. The joy that we see when someone finds their name on the board is heart warming. We have seen people jump up and down, we have seen people clap and oooh and we have seen people push a little bit harder.

This is a new tool we are using but remember it is just one small tool. Nothing can replace your hard work and positive attitude. Use all of the things we give you to help you get better. From the leader board to the warm up to the cool down. We have the whole of the community in mind when we add anything to our program. Hope you enjoy this new little twist!