I raised the question yesterday regarding CrossFit changing from a GPP program & what people thought about it. This has been running through my mind for a while now & I have started & re written this same post a few times over the last month or so, as I have chopped & changed my view slightly. When I first done my CrossFit Cert Course, the programing was certainly more of a GPP program & in some ways a lot more easier to program (schedule) workouts. However with all the coompetitions coming through & CrossFit becoming a legitimate sport (Enter the CrossFit competition Athlete) the programing across most Affiliates has evolved with it. Ill cover a bit more of it tomorrow perhaps, as what I wanted to cover today was how an athlete at CFP should approach their WODs on a daily, weekly & monthly basis.
As coaches,we get a lot of people coming up to us & saying "Its sooo hard to do this everyday, & now I havnt hit a PB in a while" Whilst the advice verbally from our Coaches is usualy the same, for some reason somethings still get lost in the translation. So as Head Coach & the guy who programs, heres some tips that might help.
An Athlete must work hard to provide the stimulus to improve, but improvement will not occur without sufficient recovery. Given that everyone does a variation of the same workout and that workouts are programmed on a four day cycle, only one of which is rest, what is the best way to continually move forward while avoiding stagnation or performance regression?
The general CrossFit recomendation is 3 days of work with 1 day rest, however at CFP I still program a WOD on that day which is why you will see Rest Day Then For those coming in to CFP (The WOD) as not everyones lives permit a 3:1 workout format, & for those people we have outlined somewhat of a plan, but more of that another time.
When I program, I aim high & the workouts are designed to provide a stimulus significant enough to challenge the fittest people in the gym. Add to this a demanding three on, one off schedule and the tools are provided to make great gains. Enter periodization.
While it is easy to get lost in the complexities of the subject, periodization involves performing periods of work towards a goal, followed by periods of active rest and recovery. Then the cycle starts again. Almost no athlete can withstand exerting maximum effort during every workout. You should not try to do so, either. Within a four day cycle, it is important to approach each training day intelligently and to choose those workouts which you will tackle more aggressively. Freddy Camacho of CrossFit One World recently provided some excellent ideas related to this topic. You must choose your battles.
Progress occurs incrementally. It will be rapid at first and slow down as time goes on. As the gains begin to slow, it is time to consider some periodization. For many people at CFP, it will make sense to divide your training into monthly and quarterly blocks. For three weeks, you workout as you normally do, keeping Freddy's ideas in mind. On the fourth week, you deload, or scale things back by 50%. What does 50% mean? Good question. It may mean doing half the number of repetitions. It may mean using half the weight. If you are really tired, it may involve both of those ideas.
You should finish your workouts without being exhausted. In fact, you should not be tapping into your reserves during this week. It is active recovery. Take the time to work on precision and technique instead of intensity. When a workout with 100 double unders for time comes up, do 50 at your own pace and concentrate on becoming coordinated and efficient. Work on getting proper depth in your squat with good bar speed at a light weight instead of setting a new 5 repetition maximum. Do you flail around on your kipping pullups? Deload weeks are the perfect time to practice that tight kipping technique Kelly Starret recommends. The goal is to be standing upright at the end of your workout and feeling good. We have three days on, one day off. This can be thought of as three weeks on, one week light.
The quarterly part is the most difficult for many CrossFitters to do. Every twelve weeks, take a week off. That is correct. Don't work out. Make friends with your foam roller instead and focus on getting 9 or 10 hours of sleep a night. Go for a walk. Then come back to the gym the next week and slay.
When i first started CrossFit and up until recently i would train too many WODS in a week at to high an intensity and load and this is when i realized that CrossFit is a tougher sport then first grade rugby league if you let it be. For me, It is real easy to get caught up in the 3,2,1 GO mentality of CrossFit and the friendly competition amongst us all on a daily basis. Jumping in and doing WODS just to be apart of it but my performaces were suffering in comparison to where i needed to be for my goals so i stopped. I had an epiphany not long after when i realized that like rugby league, competitions for CrossFit are measured on weekends and with the introduction of our Team Training on Saturdays i have adopted a Game Day Saturday approach to the week and have been improving every week since. Although i don't schedule particular days off during the week as sometimes some workouts suit my goals better then others, I do schedule the days i do train to have me at my best for Saturday and most recently on Fridays as well. I have found this approach, along with Glenn's programming gave me the best physical & mental preparation i needed going into last weeks competition at Newcastle and was pleased with how i performed. After all, isn't that what we all want out of the sport of CrossFit, a feeling of pride in oneself and in our team.
ReplyDeleteThanks great advice it is good to know you dont have to go heavy or go home. Go a little lighter and work on technique!
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