One thing I loved about CrossFit and still do is there are measurable skills and tasks. If you back squatted 200lbs last month for 3 reps, and this month you squat 215lbs for 3 reps, then you have improved. If your GRACE time went down 30sec then you have improved. I think CrossFit boxes still do a good job of this today; and with programs like WODIFY it makes it easy for athletes to track and chart progress. But have you ever asked yourself why you're testing? The obvious answer is to see if you are getting stronger, faster, etc. However, maybe we should look past the numbers.
When I heard Chad Wesley Smith of Juggernaut Training Systems talk this past January, he said something that stuck with me. He said you need to build not test. What he means is; you need to build for a purpose and not test just for the sake of testing. Is there really a reason you are taking another 1 rep max in the deadlift after testing that lift last month? Chad is a world class powerlifter, and his seminar is geared towards that sport. So they follow a cycle to get them to peak at the next meet and beyond, even having yearly plans or multi year plans.
What Powerlifters & Olympic Weightlifters can teach us...If we are willing to listen.
Powerlifters train to complete the heaviest squat, bench press, and deadlift in one meet. So they obviously have a very specific goal. They train the main lifts and accessory movements to help them in the three lifts of their sport. However, because their training has to be so specific they make large gains in these lifts. They don't have to worry about 7 minutes of burpees, or muscle-ups.
Olympic Weightlifters train for two lifts; the snatch and the clean and jerk. So they obviously train those lifts, the variations of those lifts, and accessory movements. They have to be precise and technical. They don't have to worry about 30 snatches as fast as possible, or having to climb on the rower after a set of nasty cleans.
These athletes have very specific programs that slowly build them up to the next meet. An Olympic athlete may have a 2-4 year program in place. They do the work given, and peak when they are supposed too....on the platform.
The platform, is where they get to express all their training into the sport they have chosen. The platform is the culmination of all the hard work, and weeks upon weeks of building.
So where do CrossFit athletes express their training? In competition of course. Local competitions are a great place to show how hard you have worked. And in the case of regional & games athletes, this is the culmination or peak of their training year. And if you think a top level CrossFit athlete just does an hour a day, your dead wrong. They have very specific plans and programs. They just have to split their efforts into the many movements CrossFit will throw their way.
Exercising and the regular CrossFit athlete
I am now talking to the regular gym member. I'm talking to the rest of us who are content to do local competitions, and work are butts off daily. I'm talking to the moms and dads who come 5-6 days a week to better themselves.
Once your body adjusts to the rigors of your daily class and you are able to come 5 days a week and still sit on the toilet without making a pain face, you will want to do more. Maybe its training for a competition. Maybe its doing a few 2 a days, or train for a weightlifting meet. This is a great transition from daily survivor to someone who wants more out of training. This is also where you may make some poor training choices.
I see this same scenario over and over. Coach: Hey Suzie, nice to see you at open gym, what are you working on? Suzie: I did the 6 am class and now I'm back to do this WOD I found online, then test my FRAN time. Coach: Hey, that's great that you want to do more work but I don't think that these 3 WODs are going to be good for you or your CNS (central nervous system). Suzie: But I want to do a competition next month and I have to get WOD ready.
Your daily WOD is exercise NOT training. Your training is done with the warm-up, the strength work, the accessory work, and mobility work. Your WOD is your chance to express your training. Completing HERO or Benchmark WOD's everyday is going to do nothing but slowly destroy you and could lead to injury. Those are meant to be tests of your fitness.
Lets use FRAN as an example...since it's CrossFit's version of "How much ya bench Bro."
To be better at FRAN you must start with the thruster. If you have been training your front squat, then the 95/65# weight should not be an issue. If your front squat is on point then you should have a good front rack position and a very upright torso which makes thrusters much easier. If you have been steadily working on your overhead pressing...then each rep will end in a strong position on active shoulder and proper head position which will cut down on fatigue.
Now the pull-ups. If you have been working your strict pull-ups then your strength for the pulling motion should be stronger than the last FRAN. Your grip strength will be stronger to allow you to stay on the bar without dropping off, which saves you time. By practicing the skill work of the butterfly pull-up, you should be efficient and able to string many together without breaking momentum.
So with those movements taken care of, what's left? GO FASTER. This is where your daily WODs come in, as well as sprint work. I can bet that if I take a very strong guy/girl and get their engine built up in a month or so and they will beat the bodyweight "fast guy" every time. Because he hasn't trained enough to get strong or be efficient in the movements need for the workout.
I am not saying you can't do another WOD every so often. In fact the better you get the more WOD's you will do. BUT... you have to eat your veggies before you get dessert. So eat your Veggies "training and skill work," then you can have the dessert "WOD's."
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