Good advice on getting better

1. Show up ready to give everything you’ve got no matter what. If you come to the gym today simply because that’s what you did yesterday, you’re wasting your time. Pushing hard is nice, but if you’re going for a PR you have to do more than just push hard.
   
2. Don’t make excuses. Everyone has something that hurts – a torn callus, a sore muscle (or lots of them), a tweaked shoulder… If you have a legitimate injury then we can work around it and get you stronger. If not, suck it up and get to work. At Flow (as in life) you can either have excuses or results – not both.
3. Practice the movements like you’re doing them for real. Simply going through the motions is boring and doesn’t yield any benefit at all. Practice frequently and practice hard. Like every coach says, “Perfect practice makes perfect.” I would finish that with the opposite, “Crappy practice makes crap.”
4. Nail the fundamentals. If your fundamentals are strong, everything else will be too. If you’re having problems with your cleans, you can fix them easily by going back to the fundamentals. Don’t be afraid to take a few steps back to fix it once and for all. If your car has a flat tire, ignoring it won’t improve your gas mileage.
5. Eat right and eat well. The advantage you get from eating well is so intense it could almost be considered cheating. Eating right may not turn you into a fire breather, but I can assure you that you will never become one if you don’t.
6. Check your ego at the door. Better yet, leave it at home. Come into the gym ready to work hard, suffer through the pain, and be generally miserable with everyone else. Flow isn’t about who’s better, it’s about being YOUR best.
7. Be patient with yourself. No one was an expert the first time they tried something. Or even the second time. Most often it takes months or even years of relentless practice to become really proficient at anything worth becoming proficient at. If you’re having trouble with something, ask one of the coaches to help you get better at it – we live for that. Which leads me to the next tip…
8. Be coachable. Our main goal is to help turn you into the ultimate badass you want to be. Ignoring the coaches (or worse, arguing with them) because you’re sick of hearing them telling you to get to full extension or to stay back on your heels will insure that you never rise above “the cream of the crap.” We’re here because we love to help people get better and because we’re very good at what we do. Let us show you how great we can help you become.
9. Never stop learning. Subscribe to the CrossFit Journal, read Mark Rippetoe’s website, bookmark the Catalyst Athletics website, and actively seek out other valuable resources to help you become better.
10. Be honest. If your chin went ALMOST all the way up on the last of 100 pullups, do another one. If you didn’t hop on your last of 100 burpees, do another one. If you did 149 perfect wallballs and the last one went 6″ below the target, do another one. You’ll be better off for it in more ways than in just the WOD