1)You are only competing against yourself for your fitness-Many athletes make the mistake of looking around a Gym and thinking they are competing with everyone else there.  WODing is all about plateaus and especially if your just starting out, push yourself over them, don’t try to compete with others.

2)Eating Right is as Important as an Effective WOD-Why make the mistake of doing an awesome WOD and eating a burger, fries and a beer.  In my experience results come much faster if you are feeding your body high protein, unprocessed foods, mostly meats, veggies and eggs.  I start with a shake in the morning and eat many small meals through the day.

3)For a sort workout do a long warm up and vice versa-The shorter the WOD generally the more intense keep this in mind and do plenty of stretching, light lifting, jump rope and a short run before starting a ‘Murph’ or any other short WOD.

4)Don’t be afraid to wear hand protection to protect your hands-I don’t get other athletes who get over hyped about their torn up hands after a WOD, I’ve had much more effective workouts wearing gloves and the gloves I like the best are NewGrips, check them out.

5)Fast prior to training-Eating before working out is a myth created by the Bodybuilding Community, it takes some getting used to, but I promise you, working out on an empty stomach will lead to better workouts, you’ll no longer have to fight through that lump in your stomach to get your WOD going.  Also I’ve noticed that every time someone pukes from a WOD, they ate just before.  Some food for thought.

6)Train more on your weaknesses-Its easy to want to avoid the things you’re not good at.  The great thing about functional fitness is that its about whole body/holistic process.  Meaning if you have a weakness it will effect every part of every WOD. Try developing the weaker parts of your body in your warm up.  This will serve you much better moving forward and make you a well rounded athlete.

7)Do plenty of research on technique-Many athletes starting out have a friend or family member who just got in the best shape of their lift, the tendency is to jump in feet first.  I would suggest before doing your very first WOD, do some research, read some blogs, and most importantly start with a good personal trainer.  If your doing WODs with improper technique, you are wasting your time and money.

8)Find the right gym/community-Every athlete is different and every box has a different vibe.  Visit a few, and find the one that fits your personality and fitness needs.  Most importantly find a gym where the other athletes are supportive more than competitive.

9)Push it every day-Functional Fitness works best when you push yourself, do the harder version of the WOD, don’t cheat on technique, throw in an extra Pull-Up or Weight lifting rep, the results will come faster and you’ll become the best athlete you can be.

10)Have Fun-Functional Fitness has taken off because its fun, don’t take yourself or your workout too seriously.

Written By Ryan Sollee