Wednesday, 1/4/11
INTENSITY
Intensity is the independent variable most commonly associated with maximizing favorable adaptations to exercise.
Intensity is the independent variable most commonly associated with maximizing favorable adaptations to exercise.
-Greg Glassman, CrossFit Founder
The CrossFit prescription is this - constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movement. Highly varied? Do you check the blog or the whiteboard with anticipation/ anxiety/ excitement to find out what the next WOD will be? That’s because you never know what is coming next - it is highly varied. Functional? Do you ever sit down and then stand up again (we call that a “squat”) or lift a heavy object to a high shelf (a press)? The movements are all functional. What about high - intensity?
WODs are designed (yes that’s right, though varied, they are not random) to encourage you to work with high-intensity. As many reps as possible, as fast as possible, rest intervals, tabata - these are all strategies to allow you to work with intensity. And increases in strength, performance, muscle mass and bone density all arise in proportion to the intensity of your effort.
But only you control the intensity that you actually bring to your WOD. If you approach your WODs with the thought, “I just want to finish this,” you are sacrificing your intensity (and all of the benefits of intensity) before you even start. You are sabotaging yourself before you begin and preventing yourself from really learning what you are capable of. WODs are designed to be all-out, max efforts. If you are holding back in a WOD, out of fear that you won’t finish, you’ll probably finish with gas left in the tank. If you finish a WOD and think, “hmmm… maybe I’ll get a little cardio in tonight,” you missed the point.
Promise yourself that you will commit to work with intensity. Promise yourself that you will give everything you have to the WOD at hand so that you may reap the rewards of your efforts. And if you fail, if you don’t finish a WOD before your coach yells time, if you fall down somewhere on your 800m run? Someone will come pick you up. Through your failures, you will find your personal best. Don’t waste time wondering what you’re capable of. You have the opportunity to find out every time you walk in the doors of your box.
The CrossFit prescription is this - constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movement. Highly varied? Do you check the blog or the whiteboard with anticipation/ anxiety/ excitement to find out what the next WOD will be? That’s because you never know what is coming next - it is highly varied. Functional? Do you ever sit down and then stand up again (we call that a “squat”) or lift a heavy object to a high shelf (a press)? The movements are all functional. What about high - intensity?
WODs are designed (yes that’s right, though varied, they are not random) to encourage you to work with high-intensity. As many reps as possible, as fast as possible, rest intervals, tabata - these are all strategies to allow you to work with intensity. And increases in strength, performance, muscle mass and bone density all arise in proportion to the intensity of your effort.
But only you control the intensity that you actually bring to your WOD. If you approach your WODs with the thought, “I just want to finish this,” you are sacrificing your intensity (and all of the benefits of intensity) before you even start. You are sabotaging yourself before you begin and preventing yourself from really learning what you are capable of. WODs are designed to be all-out, max efforts. If you are holding back in a WOD, out of fear that you won’t finish, you’ll probably finish with gas left in the tank. If you finish a WOD and think, “hmmm… maybe I’ll get a little cardio in tonight,” you missed the point.
Promise yourself that you will commit to work with intensity. Promise yourself that you will give everything you have to the WOD at hand so that you may reap the rewards of your efforts. And if you fail, if you don’t finish a WOD before your coach yells time, if you fall down somewhere on your 800m run? Someone will come pick you up. Through your failures, you will find your personal best. Don’t waste time wondering what you’re capable of. You have the opportunity to find out every time you walk in the doors of your box.
WORKOUT OF THE DAY
CrossFit Endurance
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