I’d like to begin a series of posts on the different types of workouts that we do at CrossFit Kent Island, and why we do them. It’s tough to categorize every workout because there certainly are some that fall not-so-neatly between these broad training archetypes that I’m about to list, but I would say most of the time you should be able to look at a workout and say, “oh, we’re training {INSERT WORKOUT TYPE} today, got it.”
The major workout categories that I’ll include in our training plan are Strength, Endurance, Stamina, Work Capacity (or Power), Speed, and Flexibility (or Durability). Fans of CrossFit’s Ten General Physical Skills might note that I’m leaving out Accuracy, Agility, Coordination, and Balance. I do not discount these, and we absolutely develop them as a result of sound training in the six “major” skills or workout categories that I list above. Another good way to train these last four skills is to get out and play some pickleball. What is fitness if you can’t use it?
After reading that list, many or maybe all of us get super pumped up about one or more of those workout types. Annnnnnd maybe not so pumped about the others. That’s OK! It’s good to know what you like to do and what you don’t like to do in the gym, that’s all good information for yourself and for your coach too! We tend to like doing things that we are good at.
Do you like weightlifting, working on Strength? Guess what, I would bet other people would say you’re pretty good at it, maybe even genetically blessed with a few extra fast-twitch muscle fibers.
Do you like longer, Endurance-based workouts? You’re probably in the minority in the CrossFit world, but that’s a great place to be, and you’re probably a pretty good runner. That gives you a leg up in many benchmark CrossFit workouts.
The important thing to note is that we all come into CrossFit training with a bias, something that we are really good at that will help us perform very well in those types of workouts. But at CrossFit Kent Island, we’re not going to limit our training to any one particular category or skill. We want to be good at… well, everything. Maybe not great, but good. And so we can’t focus solely on what we like to do and are naturally gifted at. If anything, we need to lean in on the categories that make us not so pumped about the day’s training plan. Get in the gym and work on it, and become a well-rounded athlete!
Having said all of that, I’ll focus today on one of the foundational skills in CrossFit training, or sports, or life. STRENGTH. Strength is a foundational skill because without a baseline level of Strength, it is really hard to work on the other skills – except for another foundational skill of Endurance which I will cover next time.
A Strength-focused workout is characterized by working at near-maximal output for very short periods of time, measured in seconds. Today’s workout of building up to a one-rep max Back Squat is a classic example. It doesn’t have to be all about powerlifting though, or have a barbell involved at all. Gymnastics movements like pull-ups, dips, muscle-ups, sit-ups, toes-to-bar, and pistol squats all involve a crazy amount of strength, and a workout dedicated to practicing one of those movements for 20 minutes is absolutely a Strength workout. Bodybuilding workouts that we do at the end of class 1-2 times per week also are focused on building Strength in a hyper-focused way.
We generally focus on Strength workouts in class right after a warm-up, so that our muscles are not too taxed from a previous workout to exert enough force to produce Strength gains. We will sometimes focus on Strength at the end of a session though, to create a mental challenge to step up to the plate and get some hard Strength work in when in a fatigued state.
Training for Strength obviously creates a huge physical benefit. Mark Rippetoe, author of one of the preeminent books on the subject, Starting Strength, says that “strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general.” Well said! But I think training to eliminate physical weakness in the gym also creates mental and emotional strength that can power you through hard times outside of the gym.
Until next time, let’s work on getting stronger. Beach season may be over, but the carry-over benefits of Strength training will propel us to new heights in the other types of workouts we will encounter as well.
Lift heavy!
Ryan