Coach Sam Smith

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Scottsdale, AZ
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.

10/28/2026

In an open-system sport like basketball, pace is woven into the game. You still have to respect your energy limits.

In a closed-system sport like CrossFit, the work requirements are known. Pacing becomes the key variable.

Past experience lets you anticipate what’s ahead. The more trained and self-aware you are, the better your strategy fits the task.

Whether the pace is dictated by the game or self-imposed, success comes from knowing your limits, trusting your preparation, and adapting to the demands of the moment.

Save this for your next training session.
 “Follow” for more on training the skills that decide how workouts play out.

10/27/2026

They are not the same.

Competing is the act of expressing where you are right now. Training is where we expand what’s possible.

If we use the ceiling of a room as an analogy for your current performance level, competition is about getting as close to that ceiling as possible with your performance.

Training is where we raise the ceiling, creating more space for the next time we compete.

There’s a small sliver of possibility that can be tapped into on the competition floor, but you aren’t making drastic changes out there.

As the saying goes:

“We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our preparation.”

Send this to the athlete who treats every training day like a competition.

10/26/2026

2026 Desert City Classic

🥇- Tracy Grube - Women’s 55+
4th - Shari Wels - Women’s 50-54

Tracy

This was the first competition Tracy and I have worked together. She’s a Masters Games athlete and a very seasoned competitor. My goal for the weekend was to learn more, watch how she competes and handles things in real time, and take notes for next year’s competitive season.

A trait that often gets overlooked but is vital to being a top athlete in this sport is balance across all disciplines. Big gaps in your abilities can be detrimental as you move higher in the sport. Tracy has very few gaps, and you could see that play out this past weekend. Equally important is poise in the face of inevitable setbacks and mishaps in competition. Tracy handled them well, and not everyone has that skill.

She’s a great competitor with a lot of possibility still ahead of her. I’m excited for next year’s competitive season.

Shari

I’m not sure how many competitions Shari and I have worked together on at this point, but it’s a lot. Shari is the type of athlete who makes small improvements each and every time she competes. It might not seem like much, but over 4-5 competitions, it adds up to big changes.

Two big improvements this past weekend were swimming and sn**ching. In years past, she always finished middle to bottom of the field in the swim event. About a year ago, we decided to add one dedicated day in the pool each week to improve her swimming and see if we could bump her up the leaderboard. She finished 3rd in the swim event. That’s a big win and a sign of real competitive progress in a skill.

As for the sn**ch, it’s been a bumpy road getting that movement more consistent at heavier loads. The event this past weekend asked for reps at 90+% for her, and she performed extremely well. It was great to see her handle that challenge with confidence and finish 3rd in that event as well.
All in all, it was a great competition for both of them. Strong performances, good learnings and takeaways for me, and great outcomes.

This competition gets better every year. I love seeing how involved and excited the Arizona CrossFit community gets for this one. The venue is great and the we

10/24/2026

If there was one test you could give a CrossFitter to gain as much insight as you could on how competitive they “could” be in the sport, it’s this one:

For Time: 30 Ring Muscle Ups

Like the best tests, it’s simple and gives you a lot of information.

Swipe through for my standards and thoughts on the test.
Test it out this week and let me know how you do!

Want to know where you actually stand on gymnastics?

Comment “Skill” and I’ll send you my gymnastic diagnostic for CrossFitters.

10/23/2026

You’ll never train as hard as you compete. And it’s not a character flaw.

Motivation tracks importance. The closer you get to something that matters, the more effort you’re willing to spend.

Motivational Intensity Theory explains why:

→ Effort rises with task difficulty, but only up to a ceiling
 → That ceiling is how important success is to you (potential motivation)
 → Higher importance, higher ceiling, longer you persist when it gets hard
 → If success doesn’t matter much, fitness doesn’t matter. You won’t spend the effort.

Your willingness to act sets how much difficulty you’ll take on. And that willingness comes from how much it matters.

So the Tuesday session in the off-season isn’t going to feel like the final heat. Stop expecting it to.

More on this topic coming November 9th 🧠
Follow so you don’t miss it.

10/22/2026

Not all movements are created equal. Here’s why👇🏽

Fixed Intensity (The Switch)
Each rep has a minimum cost.
If you can’t pay it → you must stop.
Examples: Lifting, Gymnastics

Varied Intensity (The Slider)
You can slow down and keep working.
Examples: Running, Rowing, Cycling

Takeaway for your next workout:

👉 Is the movement a “Switch”? (Fatigue forces rest).
👉 Is the movement a “Slider”? (Fatigue allows modulation).

The Strategy: Pacing is about managing the Switches while adjusting the Sliders.

One of the most important concepts for elevating your performance intelligence.

More on this November 9th. 👀

10/21/2026

Before I assume it’s a fitness problem (hardware limitation), I want to ensure their ability to pace isn’t holding them back (software limitation).

Majority of people start too fast, leading to unnecessary fatigue.

And replenishing that fatigue takes far longer than it does to accumulate it.

The solution:

Before starting the workout, ask yourself one question:

What’s the “totality of work” I have to perform here?

Use that to help build your pacing strategy.

In most cases, it will require you to start a bit slower.

Save this for your next hard workout.

10/20/2026

The easy option is to make it harder and assume
you’ll get more out of it.

You won’t.

The hard option is asking yourself: what do I actually need to do to get better?

That’s a tough question. But it’s the one you have to ask.

Ask these three mid-session:

1. Am I in control, or getting slapped around?
2. What am I learning?
3. Can I do it well, with just enough stretch?

Too easy? Too hard to do right?

Change it.

Making it harder is easy. Making it better is the work.

Save this and run your next session through it.

10/19/2026

This is something I first wrote down in 2017. I’m not 100% sure where—or who—I heard it from, but I’ve adopted it as my own personal slogan.

Whenever I’m feeling stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed, this serves as a great mantra to fall back on.

Most of these “sensations” are connected to things I can’t control.

I’m stressed because I’m uncomfortable with uncertainty. I’m anxious because I’m not sure I’ll perform as well as I hope. I’m overwhelmed because I’m dwelling too much on these “uncontrollables.”

As a competitor, it’s easy to drift outside of what’s within your control. And when that happens, you start to lose control over your thoughts, emotions, attitude, and reactions.

The competitor who has the greatest control over themselves is the one most likely to succeed.

Having a mantra like “Control the Controllables” gives you a tool to return to when those sensations start creeping in.

Like anything, it’s an ongoing process—one that must be continually revisited and practiced.

Control the controllables, and let go of everything else.

Address

Scottsdale, AZ
85250–85271

Website

https://www.proof3.com/coaches/sam-smith

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