Thursday, July 7th, 2016
WHAT WAS THAT?!
The last two days we have had TWO very challenging workouts with aggressive time caps. In fact, the majority of our athletes did not finish either workout and dancing with that time limit was something we expected to see!
We wanted to shed a bit of light on WHY this was done and help people understand how to modify workouts so that it is doable (maybe). We will write more on programming strategies in the weeks to come, but the general CrossFit philosophy is that you program for the best and scale the rest.
CrossFit borrows a lot from the military and programming is another example of how that is done. The “tip of the spear” is a military terms meaning the first to go into battle . They are your elite troops, the best of the best. When a workout is developed at “RX” it is meant to be a CHALLENGE for the best of the best. From there, scaling up or down plays a critical role. We offer RX + as a “scale up” option but also provide a “Fitness” level for those who are striving to build to RX eventually. But many of us may never get to that “elite” level (or may not even WANT to!). So that’s when things like volume, weight, distances, etc. come into play in finding what is right for YOU as you work to improve your own individual level of fitness.
Take Wednesday’s workout as an example. For argument’s sake, lets say that some of the coaches represent the “best of best” at the Cove. The RX programming is developed for those kinds of athletes. And so was that time cap of 35 minutes. We estimated that, when done EFFICIENTLY by an ‘elite level’ athlete, they should come very, VERY close to that time cap. And they did. Coach Josh and Coach Marina fought hard to stay under 35 minutes as they did the WOD as prescribed… and based on their times we’d say it “worked”. For those choosing other options than RX, the goal was to find a scale that allows them to also finish the workout within (or at) 35 minutes, but with modifications.
Do NOT be frustrated with time caps! Use them as ways to strategize the best way for YOU to attack the workout. We are very deliberate with our programming and aim for specific outcomes (long burners, sprint/rest, etc) and how you optimize that is really up to you. The coaches are here to help you find that sweet spot and we want you to always feel better about yourself when you leave that door than when you walked in… and if that didn’t happen, we are not happy!
Embrace all the good things you did during the workout. Revel in all the long term improvements you are seeing. And don’t let a stinking clock bring you down!
STRENGTH WOD
For 10 minutes
Even: 3 Back Squats
Odd: Farmers Carry (one lap around the gym) choose your own weight
Record Back Squat weight and put KB weight in the comments
WOD
20-15-10
Front Squats
Box Jumps
Fitness: 115/75, 20/18
RX: 155/105, 24/20
RX+: 175/115, 24/20
Coach’s Tip: The goal is to finish in under 10 minutes. Unlike yesterday’s long burner, this is meant to be quick!
Hallie is on a mission in a game of triangle tag!
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