A Note on Intensity

I love CrossFit. Without CrossFit I would have no idea what a muscle-up is, let alone something I could do. Same thing with the handstand push-ups. I knew about the snatch and clean and jerk but those were considered highly specialized movements. I too, for a very long time, have been a "met-con junkie". The thrill of the intensity, the spiritual experience as you push your body to its limits. You cannot beat the adrenalin rush. But here's the problem, and this is something OPT, Robb Wolf and many other very reputable coaches have been saying for a very long time - constant intensity is a guaranteed path to adrenal fatigue and burn out. Google CrossFit and Adrenal Fatigue and all the evidence points in the same direction - excessive metabolic work! What often happens with CrossFit is that the daily wods are set up in such a fashion that you are basically "testing" the body every single day by going at 110% intensity. Smart programming will design testing days around other workouts so that you can truly measure your performance. Here's an example with two different scenarios: let's say I have a 4 minute Fran time and I do it again and take 20 sec off my time. I throw up, experience serious muscle cramping and dizziness and I am wrecked the next day. Now, let's say I do Fran again, my time is the same as my previous PR on Fran but I walk away without having to collapse on the floor and I feel pretty darn good, like I actually had a bit left in the tank. So is my faster Fran time evidence that I am 'fitter' or just that I pushed myself to that dark place? I can guarantee you that pushing your body to its limits every single day is a recipe for disaster and leads to an unhealthy body.

I am a Virgo so I come by my need for perfection honestly. It kills me to witness someone going at 100% intensity with ugly form. Let's keep the Fran example. I kill my previous PR but I was rounding out my back, I had a butt wink and I haven't locked out my elbows since the 80s. IS that a sign of improved fitness? I would argue no. It is important to build skill work into the CrossFit programming and this includes isolation work like the body line drills. CF focuses on the big, multi-joint movements and with good reason; but, to only focus on the compound movements will not address the nuances of the musculature of the human body.

CF does a poor job of training gymnastics. This has been said by many, many coaches. I suspect the reason for this is that coaching gymnastics is much more challenging than coaching powerlifting or even olympic liftins. One of the main reasons is that you also have to coach people how to spot properly. If you have a 300 lb deadlift or a 200 lb squat but you cannot lift your body weight you are not "CrossFit". Similarly, if you can squat 200 lbs but have trouble touching your toes you are not 'CrossFit'.

Skill work does not necessarily mean low intensity. And before I go further, what is intensity exactly? Most people understand it only in its metabolic sense. But a 1RM snatch is also pure intensity in that it is very taxing on the Central Nervous System. The ring sequence workout we did last week was a blend of skill work, strength work and intensity.

Sooo, I have not completely removed the traditional met con wods from our programming but I do hope that for those of you who are doubting me, please stick with it and give this new programming a chance!