The following is a guest post from our friends at Coach’s Eye.

We’ve found that almost every athlete is pushing for their next PR. A better time on Fran, a heavier clean and jerk, the list goes on. But eventually, every athlete will hit a training plateau. In fact, breaking through a plateau is usually part of the addiction to CrossFit! So how do you overcome these obstacles and move on to your next personal record?

The benefits of performance tracking tools are undeniable when it comes to breaking through plateaus. A coach can tell you over and over again to fix something about your lift – bigger pull, pop your hips farther – but sometimes it’s difficult to parlay those words into changes without seeing it.

That’s why apps like Coach’s Eye help you correct what you can’t feel. The phrase “seeing is believing” is a tough mantra to live by in a CrossFit box, where mirrors are almost impossible to come by. With Coach’s Eye, you have the power of instant video feedback in the palm of your hand.

Additionally, coaches know they can’t improve the things that aren’t measured, and athletes will never know how to improve if they don’t know where they’ve been. In that sense, performance tracking apps like Wodify also make sense, so athletes can see their weightlifting improvements and progress over time. Here are three more simple steps to help break through those pesky plateaus:

• Examine your lifestyle. Take a good look at your sleep, nutrition, and how you’re living your life. Are you doing everything in your power to be your best athlete? You may not be sleeping enough or getting enough food fuel to power through your workout. Track your food and water intake, your sleep schedule, and your lifts in Wodify for a week and see if you notice patterns, then adjust accordingly.
• Go back to basics. If you just can’t nail the heavy lifts you’re trying to hit, sometimes you need to go back to a light weight and really concentrate on proper form and technique. It may seem counterintuitive, but you can’t improve without a solid grasp of the basics. Make sure that you’re performing every aspect of the lift correctly by filming it with an app like Coach’s Eye. Analyze it and adjust. Then go back and see if you can hit the heavier weights you’re striving for.
• Change it up. Been lifting at 6 a.m. for weeks? Try to squeeze in a p.m. session. Been trying to log extra miles on the trail in addition to your time inside the box? Try biking or swimming instead. Change up your routine to push through a plateau and see if it brings the results you’re looking for.

It’s time to break through those plateaus –and you should use every tool at your disposal to meet your goals. Good luck!