My name is Tim Sellars and I’m a professional musician and a CrossFit enthusiast. These are my two passions in life and what I love to do. Through my years of performing, teaching music, and training, I’ve been connecting the dots and analyzing how both music and CrossFit relate. In my opinion, both music and CrossFit can be approached in a similar way. In music, I am splitting my time between numerous instruments; working on technique, building endurance, reaching the ‘flow’ state, and have very clear goals. With CrossFit I am also splitting my time between numerous movements; working on technique, building endurance, reaching a ‘flow’ state, and have very clear goals. As you would’ve noticed, I’m doing the same actions to get results. I’ve taken the principles that I use in my music career and apply them straight to CrossFit. For both music and CrossFit, I’ve lived by a mantra of “Practice, Patience, Consistency”. Below I break down this mantra and how it can benefit your training in CrossFit.
Practice:
Practice, practice, practice! In the sport of CrossFit, music (or anything for that matter), we need to practice. There are many movements involved which will result in a time to train and a time to practice. A common thing you will hear is “I can’t do this” or “I’m never going to get this” and my response to this is “How much have you practiced this particular goal of yours?”. A common response to this is “Well…I haven’t practiced it”. If you haven’t attempted a task, then it’s unfair to tell yourself that you CAN’T do it. Once you set your goal and your vision then we need to put it into action.
An example of a practice routine could be 10 minutes after class (every second day) working on one or two specific movements or skills. Don’t try to practice every movement. Pick one or two and work through these for weeks/months. These small increments are going to speak volumes in the future. On the reverse to this, if you are working on a skill one day then don’t attack this for another month then you will most likely be at the same place you were originally at. Sometimes there is this expectation that practice has to be for hours on end to get better. 10-15 minutes can be perfect when trying to get into a new routine and this will allow for small initial achievements.
Enjoy the practice and the routines that you can set for yourself and be kind to yourself through the process.
Patience:
A lot of society wants instant gratification and instant results. They want things to happen one day and have it mastered by the next. The reality is that most things take time and patience. I think once we can accept that some goals will take longer to get, then we can begin to enjoy the learning process and thrive on the ups and downs while reaching a particular standard. Where is the fun in mastering something straight away!? It’s such a buzz to be struggling and attacking a goal and then suddenly…it clicks. How did that happen? How did I just do that? You were most likely patient and TRUSTED the learning process. We have our whole lives to get something, refine it, and master it. Enjoy the process; whether it is long or short. This leads to another mantra that I live my life by. Good things take time; Play the long game.
Coach Tips with Coach Royce & Tim ;)
Consistency:
This one feeds into “practice” and is just as important. Consistency gets results. If you are consistent in your routine and/or practice, then you will succeed in your goal. Consistency means showing up everyday, having a plan, and executing that plan or desired goal. Write down your big goal with your training. This could be anything from getting your first box jump, stringing together multiple muscle ups, or improving your snatch. Then write down some smaller goals that can be ticked off on the way to the big one. This is going to hold you accountable and will help with your consistency towards a chosen task. Every week or two check in with yourself. How am I tracking? What went well or what didn’t go well in the lead up to one of the smaller goals? Being consistent in your training and your goal will allow you to get results and will translate to other parts of your life.
Any questions then please feel free to come talk to me or DM me on Facebook or Instagram @timsellarsdrums
