Remembering Weights

[khurram79]

Hey, yall. Sorry if this is silly, and for the novel. I started CrossFit at the end of May, and yesterday was my first using percentages. I also have a learning disability called dyscalculia, which makes numerology, number sense, and basic computations on the fly really hard.
For example, I’ll put a 10 on a bar with a fifteen, because I struggle generalize it’s the same as replacing it with a 25. This is all complicated by a 33 pound bar.

It wasn’t too bad when I first started because the focus was figuring out what I could do. But, I guess I’m pretty strong so now that the weight is changing constantly, sometimes even between my sets, I’m really struggling to know what weights to use when, especially when the time is involved.

This culminated with me being off the interval yesterday, and the coach was frustrated, and then my anxiety was through the roof and I was pretty embarrassed, because it’s hard to be an adult who can’t do basic math on the fly, and it messed up the rest of my lift because I was emotional.

I’m going to try to make an if…then (if I’m doing x weight, I need x plates) chart for myself, but I was wondering if anyone has anything they use to assist with this? Any advice would be helpful.

TL;DR: learning disability makes figuring out what plates to use hard; please help, lol.

 

[deniseoli]

@khurram79 I’m sorry yesterday was so frustrating!

If you’re comfortable disclosing your dyscalculia, it might be helpful to let your coaches know what that means and what you’ll need to be successful.

Some tips that come to mind:

If you can, plan out your percentages before the workout. So if you’re starting at 65% of your max deadlift and building, plan out what those weights are before class. I might even set out those plates in order before the timer starts.

Does your gym have individual whiteboards? I’d recommend writing everything out on one or having a note open on your phone with the numbers.

I think the cheat sheet of what the plate combos are is super smart. I’m a nerd, but I’d almost print that out and laminate it to have near me while I work.

Does your gym have an app where they post and record WODs? Ours uses Wodify, and it does a great job of keeping track of our percentages for each lift. There are tons of apps out there that do this if your gym doesn’t have one.

As for the intervals, if you need to skip one to reorient and figure out your plates, as long as you’re being safe and respectful of other class members, go for it. It’s your workout.

 

[khurram79]

@deniseoli Oh, I am totally planning on printing and laminating mine. Wish I kept my little laminator from my teacher days (I taught language arts, so no need to worry for the youth, lol).

 

[theological1988]

@khurram79 I’ve done this for my home gym because limited weights meant I had to load each end differently to make up some totals.

I just used excel and have a column for each plate weight I have and a row for each weight total
Then on each row I’d colour in the cells for the plates I’m using and colour them differently too.
I have several rows for totals that can be made many different ways

Also though, in a lifting workout I usually plan, so if I want to hit 150, and I want to go up 10 each time, I’ll start at 100, then each round I don’t add up the total again I just add two 5s or swap out two 5s for two 10s. Sometimes I get confused and hit a PB by mistake!

 

[theological1988]

Also finally, our coaches like it if some people are off the interval because they can watch you lift. They can’t watch the whole class if everyone lifts at 1:00, 3:00 or whatever but they can if everyone lifts at different times. As long as you’re having approximately the right time interval between it really doesn’t matter if you life on the buzzer or approximately 20, 30, 100 seconds after it each time.

 

[khurram79]

@theological1988 I think that’s a good perspective to have, and I like the idea of color coding as well. I appreciate it!!!

 

[theological1988]

@khurram79 Also I’m an engineer and I get confused with the bar weight too sometimes - nobody is going to think you’re an idiot, I promise!

 

[khurram79]

@theological1988 Seriously, thank you!

 

[linda1010]

@deniseoli This is the way. I get to class early and write everything down on a whiteboard, calculating my target weights. I don't have too much trouble with numbers but I have Autism and it really helps to have a plan before I begin. My whiteboard is my lifeline. I don't log anything on an app during class. I just write it all out on the board and take a picture so I can remember what I did later when I'm logging in the app.

 

[johnbateman]

@khurram79 I use the Apple app called bar is loaded it lets you enter the inventory of plates and tells you which to load onto the bar to get whatever weight by percentage.

 

[khurram79]

@johnbateman So many apps have been suggested here that I didn’t know about!!! Can’t wait to check them
Out!

 

[m0rdecai89]

@khurram79 First of all, your coach should be more helpful. You've got to be patient with all of your students for a lot of reasons. They should not be getting frustrated or rushing you.

I can tell you two things. First, the percentages are hard for everybody to follow. Because you might not know your 1RM, or it might be so long ago that it's not relevant, or it's something odd that translates to a fraction (83%, for example, which is 5/6).

In your situation, if you can't think that fast on the fly when it comes to numbers, plan ahead. Track your lifts so you have at least some rough idea of where you are. When in doubt, go lighter. This will give you a starting point.

Then, make a cheat sheet in advance of class. If it's 5x3 at 75%, for example, do the math ahead of time. If 75% works out to 150, and you have a 33 pound bar, then you would need 117 pounds of weight. That's not realistic, so instead go for 110. This would be a 45 and a 10 on each side. If that's too light, add 10 pounds to each set. Maybe even have a band on your wrist like a football quarterback.

The point is to make it nothing more than looking up an equivalent, not doing math of any kind. Have a plan going on, and have contingencies to go up and go down. It doesn't need to be complicated.

 

[khurram79]

@m0rdecai89 Thank you, this was so helpful. Im definitely going to make a cheat sheet, and I think your point to the 117 not being realistic will make my life easier— I think I also got flustered trying to be super exact, which also didn’t help.

 

[dontspammebro]

@khurram79 You mean creating a "cheatsheet" like this:

lb.......plates

45 = Barbell only

95 = 2 green

115 =2 yellow

135 = 2 blue

145 = 2 green

155 = 2 red

205 = 2red + 2 green

I think that might be a way to cope with that. If you add the colors of your small plates you can make a full list with 2lb incrementing steps.

Additionally you should speak openly about your status with your coach, if he is a good one he will care about it.

 

[khurram79]

@dontspammebro YES, exactly!!! I think a visual like that would
really help me.

Just sucks I start with a 33lb bar. Who in the world decided that?! I think I might get the 1lb weights to make it an even 35– I think that may help.

 

[nebula1]

@khurram79 Those who use the superior metric system decided it. 15kg for the “womens bar” and 20kg for the bigger diameter bars. Such a pain to have to add that to your list of calculation headaches!

 

[khurram79]

@nebula1 It really is!!!

 

[dontspammebro]

@khurram79 lol, yes, always add 2x1lb to the empty bar so you have a 35lb bar in every way.

If you tell me what colors of plates you have and what lb they weigh I can write you that table if you want (from 35lb to 300 f.e.)

 

[khurram79]

@dontspammebro Omg that’s so kind of you to offer!

 

[yaoshi]

@khurram79 There are websites and apps out there to help. You might have to try a few to find the one that works best.

Search for a barbell calculator in your favorite search engine and/or app store.

There are a lot of people who struggle with knowing how much weight is on a bar, even if they just loaded it themselves.