For time, AMRAP, EMOM, x-reps for x-sets.. why is it we do what we do? Well, CrossFit has been defined as “constantly varied functional movements performed at relatively high intensity.” Let’s just throw a bunch of movements on the board, scramble the rep scheme and go for it, am I right? Maybe back when CrossFit was in it’s infancy, but today, I want to make it clear that this mindset is wrong. The methodology of CrossFit does not mean that there’s no direction in training. It simply means that if you train the same way repetitively, you will not get the results you want. However, simply randomizing movements, times and rep schemes does not equate to quality programming. But what does?
Firstly, quality programming should have a goal in mind. When choosing a goal for the program being written, there are many things that need to be taken into account. For instance, what is the skill level and fitness level of the gym population being programmed for, how many days a week does the average person participate in training, and more specifically - what is the population looking to get out of the training. If an individual's goal is to make it to the CrossFit games, a wide array of skills must be taken into account. Furthermore, there are much higher volume requirements and basic necessities that an individual needs to be able to compete at such a high level. For example, honed gymnastic skills, heavy and consistent weightlifting skills, swimming skills, hell.. who remembers the softball toss?! Point being, a competitor's training method is complete overkill when looking at what to program for general fitness.
Consequently, our programming should line up with the priority of the gym population. In many programs I see, this is the most missed point. CrossFit, the fitness program, is not CrossFit the sport. In fact, today, the two are barely even the same. Although the sport of CrossFit follows “constantly varied functional movements performed at relatively high intensity” - it does so in a much different way. For example, the volume is much higher, the weights much heavier, and the skill movements that come from gymnastics are much more difficult compared to the average person's fitness needs. In fact, there are movements seen in the games that shouldn’t even be attempted until certain benchmark movements are completed beforehand. This isn’t saying that athletes following CrossFit for fitness won’t be able to one day do the more skill intensive movements such as ring muscle ups, it means that there should be progression to these movements and that they are not a necessity to everyday fitness.
Fitness, designed for efficiency in daily tasks and movements must adhere to what we see in daily activities. For this reason, so too must our programming. The easiest way to do this, is to break down the movements into three categories. CrossFit wisely suggests that we use weightlifting, gymnastics, and monostructural as these categories. For all intents and purposes this is great, but for some people it may make more sense if it’s broken down into weightlifting, bodyweight, and aerobic. For example, deadlifts fall under weightlifting, pushups under gymnastics/bodyweight, and rowing under monostructural/aerobic. When building a program, balancing these movements will make the athlete better across all domains. This translates to raising the base of all fitness markers, and not singling out or specializing one over the other.
Finally, having an understanding of the three major metabolic pathways is necessary to great general fitness programming. These pathways are: ATP-PCr (anaerobic), Glycolysis (anaerobic), and Oxidative Phosphorylation (aerobic). I won’t be getting into the science behind the metabolic pathways, but to understand how to implement this, I’ll touch on the basics. Metabolic pathways are simply energy producing pathways. In essence, all of the pathways are simply trying to yield Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). ATP is cellular energy, and is necessary for all functions that take place in our body. So, if an individual's metabolic pathways become more efficient, effectively, he or she will be able to produce more ATP and have more energy. This means faster recovery, and definitely better performance. So how do we train each pathway? The good news here is, we know the time frames in which each pathway dominates (it is important to note, that each pathway is always working). ATP-PCr dominates from approximately 0-10 seconds, Glycolysis from roughly 10-120 seconds, and Oxidative Phosphorylation from 120+ seconds. With this information, it isn’t extremely hard to match movements/workouts with pathways. For instance, a one rep max would fall under the time frame of ATP-PCr, a 400m sprint would fall under glycolysis (for most people), and a 5k run would fall under Oxidative Phosphorylation. When building a program, if the goal is general fitness, it is highly important that we hit all metabolic pathways. To accomplish this, balance is necessary. On a side note, science has proven that working in anaerobic thresholds will actually improve your aerobic capacity; so for purposes of keeping strength, we want to live more in the glycolysis and ATP-PCr pathways, but should not completely neglect Oxidative Phosphorylation.
In conclusion, there is a lot of information and time that must be taken into creating a well devised program. Don’t be a person who just throws things on the board for the day and hits it hard. Be smart, be decisive, and keep striving towards your goals!
Example template for general physical fitness programming:
