Hi, I’m Shaldon, one of the coaches here at Waya, and I’m excited to share some thoughts with you on unlocking your full potential. At Waya, we believe fitness isn’t a one-size-fits-all journey—it’s about finding your rhythm, setting meaningful goals, and building the strength to push past what you thought was possible. Whether you’re stepping into your first class or chasing down a new personal record, your journey is yours to own. My role, as both a coach and a researcher at heart, is to help make sense of the process, so that every rep, every lift, and every goal has purpose.

In our fast-paced world, maintaining good physical health is more crucial than ever. Fitness isn’t just about hitting the gym and getting it done; it’s about cultivating habits that promote overall well-being. Whether you’re a novice stepping into something new or a seasoned fitness fanatic, we each have our journey.

If you know me well, you know I’m a researcher at heart, and everything must make sense before I can fully commit. This is why GOALS matter. Doing something without having a goal is just doing something – cliché, I know.

Have you seen the elation on someone’s face when they get their first bar muscle-up or PR a lift out of the blue? That’s the excitement of achieving something that once felt so far out of reach. You might have tried endless times or only a few times; it’s the getting it done that’s most exciting.

Setting clear and achievable fitness goals is paramount to your success. Goals give you direction, keep you motivated, and provide a benchmark to measure your progress. Without goals, it’s easy to lose focus and become disheartened by the lack of visible improvement.

I have a very simple approach to the goals I set for myself. I center all of my goals around the minimum strength standards to achieve, and progress from there. Let me give you an example:

To butterfly pull-up efficiently, you first need to build the foundational strength to complete at least 5 strict pull-ups. To become even more efficient, it’s recommended to further increase these strict pull-ups via further strength development, like weighted pull-ups. Now, there’s no direct correlation, but let’s say 5 strict pulls result in 8 efficient butterfly pull-ups, that would mean 10 strict pull-ups would result in 16 efficient butterfly pull-ups, and so on – you see what I’m getting at.

Strength development is key, and we need to dedicate the time to become stronger in our foundational strength movements, to efficiently progress.

How do you measure up against the bare minimum strength standards? These are taken from crossfit.com:

Bodyweight – Male Bodyweight – Female

60 – 70 70 – 80 80- 90 90+ 50 – 60 60 – 70 70 – 80 80+

Back squat 100 120 140 160 80 90 100 110

Deadlift 120 140 160 180 100 110 120 130

Bench Press 80 90 100 110 50 60 70 80

Clean 70 80 90 100 50 60 70 80

Snatch 50 60 70 80 35 40 45 50

While your linear progression will eventually get less as you become stronger, that additional kg will become even harder. You might be above on some of these, or below some of these, it provides a guide and can be used to set those goals.

We’re not all blessed with some good genes to be Superman or Superwoman, but we can surely train to become the best version of ourselves and the strongest we’ve ever been.

To achieve continuous improvement, gradually increase the intensity of your workouts. This could mean doing those additional squats at the end of a WOD or those additional runs, which eventually all add up. To become better and stronger, one has to do more, and for this, there’s a direct correlation. This principle, known as progressive overload, involves slowly adding more weight, reps, or sets to your exercises. It ensures that your body is continually challenged, leading to better results over time.

I always say to my son, the more hours you put in studying, the better your test results, and after seeing the true result of this, he dedicates the time to do more.

Embarking on a fitness journey is a commendable decision that will benefit you in countless ways. By setting clear goals and staying committed, you will eventually not recognise the person you were months before.

I could write another 1000 pages, but let’s catch up in the gym, and we can have a lekker face-to-face around some of these strength standards…

We are Waya…wayawaya!