26
Jun 2015
CFM Programming – Why We Do What We Do
By Coach Chris
CrossFit has and always will be a “Core Strength and Conditioning Program”, and when implemented properly, an increased level of fitness can be achieved by anyone.
For those of you in question about the type of work we perform on a day to day basis at CrossFit Magnitude, and often wonder why we do what we do, the following is a basic overview of the fundamentals our programming is based off of…
As the head programmer at CFM, it is my duty to pave a long, winding road for you to follow allowing you to effectively make progress towards reaching your goals. Some of the days will be filled with short, brutally hard WOD’s, some a bit longer that will leave you laying in a pool of sweat, your body rushing with endorphins, while others being a bit “boring” because there was no time component, or mastery of movement and working on our weakest link was the goal that day. Regardless of how hard or how fun it was or how much you sweat, there will always be sound reasoning behind everything that is programmed.
Lets take a quick look at the different types of WOD’s we see on a day to day basis and gain an understanding as to why we do them and what we should look out for along the way…
Short Met-Cons – These are conditioning WOD’s typically in the 2-8 minute range. The shorter the duration of the WOD typically means your intensity will be much higher. Intensity is the key to eliciting the greatest hormonal response to exercise. The greater the response, the greater the outcome.
Long Met-Cons – These are conditioning WOD’s typically in the 9-45 minute range. These types of WOD’s typically have you working at a lower intensity and tend to lend a greater hand at increasing your aerobic capacity. Longer Met-Cons usually mean more repetitions, which often lead to increased soreness in the under-trained and can lead to overtraining if performed too often.
Strength Work – This is used to increase raw total body strength. Competence in the strength lifts will allow everything else you do become easier. Movements such as Dead lifts, Squats, and Presses and Pulls of all types are best used in the development of strength.
Accessory Work – This is implemented to allow you to help strengthen the weakest link in the chain. Often times, some of the big lifts (squats, dead lifts, and pressing) don’t do a good enough job to strengthen all of the musculature in the body and with that, there will always be parts of the body that get less stimulation than we would like. Accessory work allows us to specifically hit those areas and make them as strong as the rest of the body.
Skill Work – This type of work allows you to work on mastery of movement so you will be better able to apply intensity with said movements in future WOD’s as well as linearly make progress in strength work with out getting injured (because you were lifting a heavy weight with improper or underdeveloped form and technique).
Power Work – The Olympic lifts, the Snatch and Clean and Jerk and their accessory lifts are used to develop power and speed, along with strength, balance, coordination, flexibility, and agility. With proper training, olympic lifts allow you to apply large amounts of force and activate more muscle fibers more rapidly than any other form of lifting. It also does not tax the CNS as much as other types of heavy lifting (squats, deads, etc…)
Benchmark WOD’s – These are tests that allow you to note where you currently are, how far you have come in your training, and allow you to monitor and track progress effectively into the future.
NFT (not for time) WOD’s – Allows you to get some volume in with your lifts/movements, make good increases in strength, and allow for recovery from high intensity met/con based work.
Odd Lifts – Movements like the Turkish Get-Up, Yoke Carry, Farmers walk, etc… allow you to train in not so optimal positions placing excess demand on muscle groups you never knew existed. They also allow for development in the bodies ability to stabilize and support, maximize your ability to brace from the core, and let you venture out of the controlled environment of balanced bars and even weight distribution, all leading to a stronger, stable, and less prone to injury self.
Now that we’ve covered some of the different types of work we perform at CFM, lets go over some general rules of training…
Beware the lure of the sexy Met-Con – This is a strong dose of medicine and is very easy to over train with too high a dosage. More people arrive at an over-trained state performing Met-Cons than doing anything else. Too much Met/Con work will actually decrease testosterone and hinder strength gains. Don’t be a Met-Con addict!
Control your Volume – Making gains toward your fitness goals is always the key, and using the least possible volume to get there is always preferred. When you work out beyond your current capacity or volume threshold, you tap into your reserves, which at some point will have to be paid back. Once you’ve overtrained, or used too much volume, getting back to baseline is always an uphill battle. Factor in injuries as a result of too much volume and the goals you have set for yourself become that much more difficult to attain. Lastly, soreness is never an indicator of a good workout, rather a sign that your volume was too high and you’ve done too much.
Recover – Do I have to? Working out with insufficient recovery in between often leads to declining performance, injury and even sickness. Always monitor the way you feel, sleep, eat, and perform, and make the necessary adjustments until you feel just right. Where over-training lives, injury is right around the corner.
Easy days and WOD’s with NFT (not for time) work are done to allow for proper recovery, especially if you train 4+ days a week. Don’t make the mistake of thinking “that was to easy, I’m going to add a little bit more at the end” If this is you, re-read “Control your Volume”.
Strength work is the basis for everything else. Once you become strong moving your body with an external load using functional movements with good technique, everything else will become that much easier. Strength gains are hard to come by, and it’s a slow process. The more you focus on Met/cons, the harder it will be to reach your strength goals.
Longer aerobic-based Met-Cons fatigue the body and mind and are hard to recover from. Fatigue will certainly not lead to any strength gains and as hard as it is to make gains in strength, it is that much more difficult to do so when you aren’t recovered.
Start off slow with your CrossFit training and shoot for a training schedule that allows for 3 days on one day off, followed by two days on and one day off (ex M-T-W-Th off-F-S-Su off). As a beginner to CrossFit, spend the bulk of your time working towards mastery of technique, rather than how fast you can get it done. Remember the hare and the tortoise???
I hope this answered some of the questions you may have had regarding our programming here at CFM.
Stayed tuned for more on the subject…
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