cognitive rigidity
Oct 2 2019
Cognitive flexibility vs. cognitive rigidity: who you got?

Human beings are strongly attached to their belief system and there’s an obvious reason to that. These principles are the byproduct of our interaction with the environment, which means many of them have been around for a long time… how not to get clingy?

The problem is that sometimes this attachment can go a little too far meaning we consider our beliefs to be universal truths. We tend to forget that precisely because these ideas are born from our own personal experiences, they’re entirely subjective. 

They’re continuously changing and that depends on life circumstances that come and go. So basically, two ideas that were forged in different life stages can coexist even if they’re completely opposite; and we still act like our belief system is the law!

This is where cognitive flexibility and cognitive rigidity come into play. An example of cognitive rigidity is an athlete that decides to go Rx in an Open Workout and isn’t able to keep moving the weight in the second round. The athlete went in believing it was achievable and in the face of not being able to continue they fail to adapt to the situation (scaling the weight and finishing the workout) and become frustrated and angry.

An athlete with cognitive flexibility faced with the same situation would decide to switch to a more manageable weight in order to get the intended stimulus out of the workout.

So… both styles can have the same beliefs?

Correct. The content of our beliefs doesn’t necessarily establish a rigid or flexible cognitive style. How we use them is what ultimately sets the tone.

Consequences of cognitive rigidity

Cognitive rigidity can have a negative impact on our social relationships. Also, it can help initiate and maintain a variety of psychological disorders – which makes a lot of sense if you think about it –.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder are both characterized by excessive worrying. Depression disorders involve recurring thoughts of insecurity and hopelessness towards the future. Cognitive rigidity makes it harder to rebuild those thoughts and reinterpret situations.

The content of our thoughts and belief system are essential for our behavior. Feelings are guided by our beliefs and ideas as we saw in this article; that’s why it’s so important to train flexibility.

Learn to unlearn

cognitive rigidity

Imagine your thoughts like a full snatch. You have the the first pull, the transition, the second pull, the turnover, the catch and rising from the squat position. Some people fail to finish the second pull and others miss the catch; ergo, we all fail at different stages… and the same thing happens with our thought process.

There are people who’ve been snatching for 3 whole years with barely any hip extension and when they want to go back and fix it they realize that changing the pattern is a lot harder this time around. Identifying mistakes in an automatized pattern is very difficult, surely, but possible through training.

Use your inner lawyer

Your belief system plays a relevant role in your life and you should acknowledge it as such but don’t be afraid to put it into question from time to time. Maybe you’re one to think that the end justifies the means in Olympic lifting or that weights will make you look too muscular. But ask yourself why. Just that. Open your mind for different views – as Metallica would say –.

It’s almost offensive to assume we’re only able to provide one perspective. Our little heads are able to withhold a great deal of interpretations and it’s helpful for our mental health to use as many as we need.

I like to call it my “inner lawyer”. When a preconceived idea hits me – and I’ve managed to identify it – I start a little interrogatory. Let’s see how well these ideas stand up against my questioning. Try it some day and let me know how long it takes to smash it into the ground.

Bend before you break

In summary, cognitive flexibility will open more doors both physically and mentally. And if you’ve convinced yourself to stretch on a daily basis to improve your flexibility because you know you’ll see the benefits in CrossFit, it can’t be that hard to try and do it for your brain in general.

Desiree Mejia-Naranjo 0 Comments
asumir riesgos
Aug 19 2019
Taking risks: are you reflexive or impulsive?

“Humans have an additional capability that allows them to alter their environment as well as respond to it. This capacity both creates and reduces risk.”

Slovic, (1987)

Decision-making is key to success in sport because it usually involves taking risks to achieve our goals. We must select relevant information from the environment and proceed to choose the necessary course of action to respond to these contingencies. The question is: is our proficiency in decision-making dependent on situational variables or our personal characteristics?

Situational variables such as time restrictions, immediate reward (prize money, championship titles, etc.) or behavior of the opponents influence this process and can change our perception at will. However, individual factors exert an effect of their own and these could be of more relevance.

Several authors argue that cognitive styles should also be held accountable for athlete’s success or failure in the decision-making process. Cognitive styles refer to consistent ways in which people organize information provided by the environment before responding to it (Ezquerro & Buceta, 2001).

Taking risks under time constraints

In general, time is a game-changer when it comes to decision-making. Being able to gather all valuable information and design the best course of action in response is rarely an option in sports. And, of course, CrossFit is no different.

The “Sport of Fitness” can be heavily demanding on a cognitive-emotional level because the process of decision-making is both slow and fast. Strategizing for an Open workout entails a different process than racing another athlete mid-workout to try and beat them. The mental space in both situations is drastically different.

How do we handle these time domains based on individual differences? Well, it depends on which cognitive style is predominant. In this sense, we may find ourselves on either end of a continuum: reflexive – impulsive. Main differences between both cognitive styles are:

  • Speed: impulsive individuals make decisions faster than reflexive individuals
  • Precision: reflexive individuals make less mistakes than impulsive individuals
  • Tendency: to choose between a risky or a more conservative action: impulsive athletes usually take more risks

You don’t have to be a psychologist to distinguish reflexive from impulsive individuals in the general public or even among elite-level CrossFit athletes. Brent Fikowski “The Professor” is considered one of the best strategists in the game. He narrows his actions down to the very smallest detail and sticks to it like glue. This gives him the winning hand in longer workouts because people usually surrender to the adrenaline of competition and go out too hot while Brent is just chilling, slowly snatching the lead from whoever has it.

Mat Fraser, on the other side, is highly impulsive. He rarely makes mistakes (because his ridiculous level of fitness backs him up) but when he does, it’s usually because he rushes into things. If you want to know what I mean, just go back to the semifinal round of the Speed Clean & Jerk in 2018 where he missed the clean and then the jerk on the final bar because he got on it too fast and ended up missing the cut for the final heat.

So… do I take my time or do I go for broke?

taking risks
Fikowski at the 2017 CrossFit Games. Source: Morning Chalk Up

That’s a tricky question indeed and I’m afraid there’s no universal answer. First of all, just accept the way you’re made. Both cognitive styles have their perks and you can’t go from impulsive to reflexive or the other way around. These variables are heavily rooted in our personality so you’ll have to figure out how to work with what your Mama gave you.

As we’ve seen, impulsiveness allows for quicker decisions which is useful for short workouts where you lose if you blink. Reflexive athletes tend to suffer in those. However they find their groove when they’re given time to strategize and pick their moves.

My advice? Try and train for both:

  • If you like to take your sweet time to plan and control every little detail of your performance, make sure to set yourself on fire and learn how to deal with uncertainty. CrossFit loves short power outbursts and the “unknown” so you need to be familiar and competent with it.
  • If you enjoy taking risks and usually give little to no thought to strategies (or you’re the kind of athlete that changes it as soon as you hear 3, 2, 1, go!), learn how to pace yourself. Learn how to find a method to the madness from time to time. Thank me later.













Ezquerro, M., & Buceta, J. M. (2001). Estilo de procesamiento de la información y toma de decisiones en competiciones deportivas: Las dimensiones rapidez y exactitud cognitivas. Análise Psicológica, 19(1), 37-50.
Slovic, P. (1987). Perception of risk. Science, 236(4799), 280-285.
Desiree Mejia-Naranjo 0 Comments
best crossfit athlete
Aug 9 2019
Who’s the best CrossFit athlete in history?

Whenever someone asks me who’s the greatest CrossFit athlete of all time only one name comes to mind: Rich Froning. 

Tia-Clair Toomey and Mat Fraser both make arguable cases for holding that top spot in history. Both are extremely dominant and have been so for the last 4 years. They’ve never placed lower than second and they don’t just win the CrossFit Games, they decimate the field. 

So why not them? Here’s why:

Froning is the ultimate competitor

The impressive thing about Froning is that he didn’t only crush Individual competition, but he’s also doing it at a team level. Since 2015 he’s earned four gold medals and a silver medal. He literally copy-pasted his individual accolades into the team competition. Only the best CrossFit athlete can do such a thing.

Nobody has more medals than he does. And I don’t know if he has it in mind but wouldn’t it be awesome for him to compete as a Master when his time comes and become the only athlete with gold medals in the Individual, Team and Masters Division?

Rich if you’re reading this… just saying.

He makes competition better.

Source: CrossFit

He did it as an individual and he’s doing it again. He puts the target on his back and sets the standard for other competitors. Or why do you think so many superteams showed up all of a sudden? Top-notch individual athletes started turning their sights towards Team competition the year Froning got in the mix. Because competition got tougher – meaning the challenge is more motivating – and because everybody wants to beat Rich.

You wanna dethrone Mayhem? You better train like a jackass. You better have no holes in your fitness. You better bring your A-game to Madison. Just like Wasatch did in 2017.

Oh and that silver medal proves that Froning hasn’t gone soft because Mayhem Freedom is on a whole different level since they missed standing on top of that podium.

Excellent programmer

Here’s the kicker for me. Both Fraser and Toomey leave their programming in someone else’s hands. Obviously they execute their training sessions at a ridiculous level of excellency and their results can show for that.

My boy Froning designs his own programming. As an Exercise Science graduate he has the knowledge. But he also has some sense of intuition when it comes to programming. For years on end he’s known how to tackle all areas of fitness, all energy systems in order to produce outstanding results. Granted he neglected running and swimming for a few years, but those chinks on his armor didn’t take away any medals.

And he’s not only designed effective programming for himself but also athletes at his affiliate and team members. He’s had Games’ athletes, regional athletes and affiliate members on his team…and they’ve stood on that podium every year they’ve competed at the highest level.

He’s a killer strategist 

He must be onto something because individual and teams are two whole different ball games and he’s still holding a consistent success rate. Picking the right athletes to go, how to break up the sets, … it changes in that kind of setting. And I might be going out on a limb here but it would seem to me that Froning is the one in charge of all the little details.

Mayhem Freedom has a very froningesque approach to workouts: they sneak up on you when you least expect it. If that isn’t the work of the Champ then I don’t know…

A die-hard fan of the sport

best crossfit athlete
Source: CrossFit

My favorite thing about him is that it’s obvious he loves CrossFit to death. He’s being doing it since 2010, he runs a successful affiliate and I can honestly picture him doing CrossFit 20 years from now.

He’s relatable in the sense that if he weren’t good enough to be competing, he’d still do CrossFit and coach classes. I feel like he’s the major ambassador of the sport and will be for as long as it exists.

Because of all of the above, I truly believe he’s the best CrossFit athlete in history. Of course it’s only an opinion and it’s just as valid as any.

Desiree Mejia-Naranjo 0 Comments