A “personal record” (PR) is performing better on a workout than you ever have before. This includes lifting more weight, finishing a workout faster, or completing more rounds/repetitions in a set time period.

We track and congratulate PR’s regularly at RxFIT because they’re big accomplishments.

Our most consistent athletes PR almost weekly. After interviewing twelve of them last week, here’s what I learned.

Pay Attention to Nutrition

One athlete I spoke with said, “I didn’t have a single PR for four months. So I decided to start eating whole foods and eliminating the junk food. Once I did that, all of my scores started to improve.”

Seven of those I interviewed are currently working with an RxFIT nutritionist. The other five said that they either eliminated completely or saved the junk food for the weekends.

The bottom line is this: Better nutrition improves performance.

Set a Goal Before the Workout Starts

All twelve athletes I spoke with last week said that they look at their previous PR in Wodify before starting the workout. This helps them set a goal and break up the workout into sections to help them stay on track.

For example, let’s look at “Helen” — one of our quarterly benchmark workouts.

3 Rounds For Time:
400-meter Run
21 Kettlebell Swings
12 Pull-Ups

If my previous best time was 9:00, I would know that I need to finish each round in at least 3:00 to have a chance at a new PR. Theses twelve athletes suggested that they then choose certain periods of the workout to look at the clock and make sure that they’re on pace. In this example, you would look up at the clock before going out on your run each time.

Takeaway: Set mini goals within each benchmark workout.

Join a Specialty Program

At RxFIT, we have three specialty programs: Plus, Gymnastics, and Forte. Nine out of the twelve athletes said that they do a specialty program in order to work on their weaknesses. Of these nine, all of them reported going to their program’s semi-private classes weekly.

The key here is that the athletes who PR regularly have a desire to work on their weaknesses.

Here’s your cheat sheet:

• If you want to get fitter by doing more metcons, Plus is for you.
• If you want to get your first pull-up, muscle-up, or walk on your hands, Gymnastics is for you.
• And if you want to get stronger, Forte is for you.

Daily Directive

Health is the capacity to do anything, anywhere, anytime, with anyone. PR’s are an indication that what you’re doing to improve your health is working.

Your directive today is to download this sheet and enter in your benchmark scores. I have an equation set up here to give you a score between 1-30 next to your PR. Identify the lowest numbers–these are your weaknesses.

Then, consider joining one of the accessory programs in order to work on those weaknesses.

Tyler

PS – Use Wodify to fill in the scores on the sheet that you don’t have memorized.

PSS – If you don’t have a score for a workout yet, don’t worry. We’ll be testing it at some point in the next 12 weeks.

Other Articles In This Series:
BY THE NUMBERS: PURSUING HEALTH
BY THE NUMBERS: # OF WORKOUTS
BY THE NUMBERS: BENCHMARK DATA