The other day I was working on my box jumps.
I worked my way up from an 18-inch box, and eventually did approximately 20 box jumps onto a 27-inch box.
As I was finishing, one of the coaches at my gym was nearby. I asked him if he could look at my box jumps and offer some feedback.
He watched as I performed 3 more box jumps, then offered me some coaching on my technique.
He then had me implement the coaching with 3 more box jumps.
Those final 3 were the best ones I had done all day.
In retrospect, I could have saved myself a lot of time, energy, and effort if I had asked for feedback earlier in my process. I didn’t need to do 20 reps with poor technique.
The experience highlighted the error of the common myth that says consistency and repetition will lead to improvement.
There’s no question that consistency and repetition are important elements in the process, but if you really want to improve, it’s going to take more.
6 Ingredients to Improve in Any Skill
Improvement — in any domain — is a function of consistency, repetition, technique, feedback, integration, and time.
Consistency is the buy-in. Without consistency, you won’t accumulate enough reps within a meaningful period to practice the skill.
Repetition is where the work happens. You don’t improve by doing 1 rep. You need to acclimate to the skill. The more reps you can do in a given time period, the more you can acclimate to and practice the skill.
The “given time period” varies depending on the skill. Some skills require daily practice; others have a less frequent cadence. I’ll improve my box jumps faster if I practice once or twice a week versus once a month.
But repetition alone doesn’t lead to improvement.
Technique is essential. Repetition without proper technique only reinforces bad habits.To improve, you must repeat the skill with proper technique. This is where feedback comes in.
Feedback is crucial to staying on track with good technique. Without feedback from an objective, outside source — like a coach — you don’t really know if you’re performing with proper technique.
Once you receive the feedback, you must integrate the feedback into your next reps. That’s why my coach had me do the box jumps again after he gave me feedback. Otherwise, the feedback just lives in the cognitive realm.
Finally, improvement is not an overnight result. It happens over a span of time. I’m sure that the next time I do box jumps, I’ll have some faulty reps, but over time, I’ll be able to better integrate the technique and improve my box jumps enough to land the 30-inch box.
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