Coach Sam Smith

Coach Sam Smith I help CrossFit competitors break through plateaus with individualized coaching.

Fitness Coach; Inspiring others to reach their highest potential through challenge and commitment to the journey.

09/08/2026

Struggle with pacing or blowing up? Here’s a great tool you can use to improve it (see comments for the workout).

3 key benefits:

1. Improving pacing and decision making in real time (software improvements)
2. Improving recoverability between intense efforts (hardware improvements)
3. Building volume and sport practice (blend of the two)

How I’ll approach the progression:

I’ll keep the layout and rounds the same for the entire block, but change the movements inside of it.
I’ll always keep 1 machine within the piece, which has a varied intensity. That allows the athlete to better manage fatigue.
I’ll keep burpees present in some form since that is a priority movement for this athlete.

Give this format a try 1-2 times per week for 4-6 weeks.
After that, you could then move to some faster, more traditional work:rest intervals to see how your output and recoverability has changed due to the work you did in the prior block.

This is part of how I diagnose limitations for athletes. If you want to see my full system, DM “MAP” and I’ll send it over.

Struggling with a movement?Train it twice per week—but with a purpose.Fast(er) progress can come from separating “practi...
09/07/2026

Struggling with a movement?

Train it twice per week—but with a purpose.

Fast(er) progress can come from separating “practice” from “performance.”

Software session = develop the movement.
Low fatigue, lots of quality reps, build your mechanics.

Hardware session = stress the movement.
High(er) effort, contextualized, challenge weak points.

Software → Hardware.
Practice → Stress.

This is one heuristic in The Coach’s Map.
DM “MAP” and I’ll send you the waitlist.

09/06/2026

3 positions carry most of the weight in CrossFit:

1. Overhead Squat; Full shoulder, hip, and knee flexion
2. Handstand Hold/Walk; Thoracic extension, full wrist extension, minimal lumbar extension
3. Front Rack in the bottom of a squat; Full grip, shoulder external rotation, thoracic extension, upright torso

Get comfortable and competent here. Competitive follows.

Find your lowest hanging fruit first. Chase expression later.

Moral of the story:

You better be comfortable with your arms overhead.

This exact breakdown — the diagnostic, the progressions, the “lowest hanging fruit first” approach — is in The Coach’s Map.

It’s live. Waitlist only right now (check your inbox).

DM “MAP” and I’ll get you in for the next round.

The biggest separator in CrossFit isn’t work capacity.
It’s movement efficiency.Move better, and the same rep costs less...
09/05/2026

The biggest separator in CrossFit isn’t work capacity.
It’s movement efficiency.

Move better, and the same rep costs less.
Less cost, more volume.
More volume, faster recovery.

The goal was never to work harder.
It’s to move better — so you can do more, and recover faster from it.

But knowing this isn’t the hard part. Most coaches can tell you efficiency matters.
What they can’t tell you is why an athlete’s stuck — or what to do about it.

That’s what the Coach’s Map is for.

It’s live today — but only for the coaches who joined the waitlist. If that’s you, check your inbox, it’s already there.

Not on it? I’ll open it up again down the line. DM “MAP” and I’ll let you know when.

How do you determine if the problem you’re facing is a matter of getting stronger — or something that needs to be learne...
09/04/2026

How do you determine if the problem you’re facing is a matter of getting stronger — or something that needs to be learned/developed?

I learned this framework from my long-time coach and friend, Michael FitzGerald. It’s been massively impactful for how I look at individual athletes and figure out what they’re actually dealing with. That’s why it’s in The Coach’s Map.

The course goes live tomorrow for everyone on the waitlist.

DM me “MAP” to join the next one.

09/03/2026

A key component of having great work capacity that often gets ignored is called “recoverability.”

Think of it as your overall ability to recover from work.

The fitter you are, the faster you can do this.

This session is aimed at helping develop that characteristic.

5 min Rowing @ 2:10-2:15/500m
2:30 min Rest
10 minute AMRAP @ high effort/repeatable pace:
15 Cal Row
10 Thrusters @ 95lbs
5 RMU
2:30 min Rest
5 min AB @ 54-56 RPM
2:30 min Rest
10 minute AMRAP @ high effort/repeatable pace:
15 Cal Row
15 BJSD @ 24”
15 Alt DB Power Sn**ch @ 50lbs
2:30 min Rest
5 min Rowing @ 2:10-2:15/500m
2:30 min Rest
10 minute AMRAP @ high effort/repeatable pace:
10 T2B
15 WB @ 20lbs to 10’
30 Double Unders
2:30 min Rest
5 min AB @ 54-56 RPM

3 key points to note:

1. Hardware is being challenged here through increased training volume and leveraging work:work intervals.
2. Software is also being challenged here through challenging their ability to forecast fatigue across the entirety of the task (and being able to “thread the needle” with their effort to ensure they don’t fall off).
3. This is a challenging format, so start with easier combinations before advancing to more demanding ones like the one above.

The Coach’s Map goes live this weekend to the waitlist.
Excited to share it 👊🏽

A bad program will wreck your progress. So will ignoring the small things it’s not accounting for.2 rules to always fall...
09/01/2026

A bad program will wreck your progress. So will ignoring the small things it’s not accounting for.

2 rules to always fall back on:

1. Stay consistent
2. Don’t do anything that disrupts it

Always protect the next training session.

Save this for the next time you’re tempted to push past what your body’s telling you.

And tag your friend who’s always getting hurt 👊🏽

08/31/2026

What separates them:

1. Lower cost per rep.
2. Faster recovery between reps.

Every repetition has a cost.

For you, a ring muscle-up might cost ~70% of max power.
For an elite athlete, it costs ~30%.

Your job is two-fold:

1. Lower the “cost” of every rep — hardware improvements.
2. Improve your pacing through “deliberate” practice — software improvements.

This is the exact diagnostic I built into The Coach’s Map.

Which one is costing your athlete reps: hardware, or software?

Waitlist closes tomorrow.
DM “MAP” to get in before I open the doors.

A great month away from home in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. Lots of great memories.And shout out to Crossfit CDA | Group Fitne...
08/30/2026

A great month away from home in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho.
Lots of great memories.

And shout out to Crossfit CDA | Group Fitness | Personal Training | Kids CrossFit
A great gym with great people. Highly recommend if you are visiting.

Now back to the heat 🌞

A skill that’s plateaued isn’t always undertrained.
It might just be trained wrong for where it’s actually at.Every skil...
08/29/2026

A skill that’s plateaued isn’t always undertrained.
It might just be trained wrong for where it’s actually at.

Every skill sits somewhere on a spectrum — Fragile, Resilient, Anti-Fragile. Where it sits determines what it needs.

Not more effort. A different approach.

The Coach’s Map breaks down this framework — and others — so you can design training that actually challenges your athletes for where their ability is right now.

DM “MAP” to join the waitlist.

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Scottsdale, AZ
85250–85271

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