Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast: Recent Episodes
Legion Strength & Conditioning
Coaches Jon, Luke and Todd have decades of combined coaching experience, and they've each worked with multiple CrossFit Games athletes. They’ve seen every coaching method, programming trick, and mindset hack under the sun, and, in the Legion Strength & Conditioning podcast, they deconstruct what works best to get CrossFit athletes results -- better and faster.
For busy individuals competing in CrossFit, it’s rare to complete a training week exactly as planned. Sessions may be missed, accessory work moved, or entire training days shifted around.
Athletes often worry that these adjustments will compromise their progress, especially those receiving individualised coaching. However, when asked if it’s okay to adjust training, our answer is almost always yes.
The added stress of forcing a rigid training schedule usually outweighs any benefits of perfect sequenced programming.
One way to manage these adjustments effectively is to build a high-low sequence into training. This approach prioritises certain high-stress, high-priority days while incorporating lower-stress, lower-priority days. Using this and getting athletes to understand how to assess their daily readiness, can help stack up consistent and productive training, even with a demanding schedule.
Check out this episode, where we dive into methods that help busy athletes juggle their training alongside other commitments.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:00] Listening to your body is always more important than following a training progression * [3:00] Planning training with priority and non-priority days * [5:45] High low sequencing of training * [11:00] How to programme easier days * [13:00] Managing training stress for talented athletes * [15:00] Day to day variation in training readiness * [18:00] Scoring daily readiness before training * [20:00] Constructing training based of exposures to priority training progressions * [26:30] How does repetitive training look in the programme
Ever taken time off from training and found getting back to it feels like an uphill battle? In this episode, we dive into some of these challenges of returning to CrossFit competition and training after a layoff. Luke reflects on jumping back into a team competition after a five-year break, and Todd shares his journey of rebuilding post-Achilles injury. We discuss the hurdles of getting reacquainted with volume and intensity, dealing with unexpected cramping, and how to develop durability and resilience to help with this.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:00] Luke’s return to CrossFit competition * [6:15] When general training doesn’t transfer over * [7:45] Carryover for different populations and beginners * [10:30] When specificity in training becomes essential * [12:45] Todd’s Achilles recovery and return to training * [15:00] Managing cramping in competitions and high-volume sessions * [23:00] Building your threshold for volume and intensity * [27:00] The endurance component of team competitions
In a varied sport like CrossFit, athletes often gravitate toward specific areas of focus, which can be influenced by their height and weight. Since weight is a changeable factor, some athletes set specific bodyweight goals. For example, some aim to lose weight to enhance bodyweight movements like pull-ups and handstand push-ups, while others seek to gain weight to increase strength in heavy lifts, particularly during off-season training.
A crucial aspect of CrossFit is determining whether a weight gain or loss plan translates into improved performance. For some athletes, increased weight can boost raw strength numbers, but it doesn’t always enhance repeated heavy lifts during a metabolic conditioning (metcon) workout. Conversely, losing bodyweight might make certain gymnastics skills easier, but applying this into the sport can present challenges.
We apologize for the audio issues in this podcast. There are moments of overlap, but we do manage to get to the main points each time.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:00] Jon's semi finals athlete looking to gain weight for next years season * [5:45] Keeping up with the carbs as a competitor * [8:30] Managing training volume with non-exercise activity * [12:00] Does it translate back into the sport? * [19:00] Luke waking up at 2am to take some weight gain shakes
Every athlete has probably experienced it at some point—hitting that wall in the middle of some mixed-modal intervals. One second, you're holding pace, and the next, it feels like everything falls apart.
Bonking on mixed modal intervals is more common than when doing cyclical work because you don't have immediate feedback on paces from the machine. There is also a lag effect: You will likely push too hard on one movement but not feel it one or two movements later.
In this episode, we take a closer look at why bonking happens and explore different strategies to navigate and adjust a session when it does. We also touch on the mindset athletes often have around numbers, paces, and metrics—how attachment to these can hinder performance when not recognising session to session variance.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:20] Jon's aggressive interval programming * [4:00] How to avoid this in the workout prescription * [7:00] Alternative ways of using RPE * [8:00] The benefit of using machines in intervals * [11:20] When athletes are stubborn on certain numbers and interval paces * [14:00] Understanding the psychology of the athlete with pacing suggestions * [17:15] How to respond in the middle of the session when this happens * [21:00] Changing the movements on intervals
There comes a stage in training where week-to-week progress grinds to a halt, and it is often met with feeling like you have regressed or are stuck. You can even stretch this timeline out, and it might feel like noticeable progress doesn't happen for months. This can be a difficult realisation to overcome, and it is a constant battle that challenges many athletes and coaches.
But progress doesn't have to be measured by adding more weight to the bar or knocking off seconds on your interval split times. A lot of CrossFit is about maintaining your abilities under more duress and fatigue.
In this episode, we discuss some other, more discreet ways to measure progress and see if an athlete is improving. We talk about how this applies to different training modalities and how we can harness it to help motivate athletes, along with some other thoughts and ideas about programming.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:30] The goal of training is to create adaptation * [4:30] Alternative and discreet measures of progress * [6:00] Progress happens under the curve * [8:45] Athlete confidence or progress? * [10:00] Tricking athletes with different styles of programming * [11:30] Accumulating work as a form of improvement * [13:30] Making your performance more durable * [14:45] Durability of gymnastics skills * [17:00] Being flexible with gymnastics programming
For someone devoting themselves to the sport of CrossFit, the way they train and approach competition is pretty clear-cut. Similarly, for the person doing classes to be healthy and stay fit, the way you train is clear-cut. But for the person who wants to do local competition, treat CrossFit as a recreational sport, but isn't interested in overstretching themselves, it can be more challenging.
It's this messy middle ground that can be hard for athletes and coaches to navigate. The sport of CrossFit is different from the training methodology, and it's a challenge to try to get the best from both.
In this episode of the podcast, we discuss our experiences working in gyms where this comes up and remote coaching athletes who try to do this. We also talk about some ways CrossFitters can take themselves a little less seriously in their training but still get something from the competitive side of the sport. We also discuss the recent move towards endurance activities for many CrossFitters as they get older and transition out of the sport.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:00] Competing but not taking it too seriously * [2:20] Competitors at South Loop SC * [4:30] Competitors at CrossFit Omnia * [6:30] CrossFit as a methodology versus a sport * [8:13] Competitive landscape in different countries * [9:30] When it might be inappropriate for someone to compete * [13:30] Behaviour and competitiveness other recreational sports compared to CrossFit * [16:00] Compartmentalising training and competing in CrossFit * [17:30] Magical thinking in competitive CrossFit * [19:00] CrossFitters transitioning into more endurance style events
Continuing with our very timely podcast release schedule about this year's CrossFit Games season, this week's podcast features a recap of the semi-finals for one of Jon's athletes, Jacob Schmidt.
This year, Jacob switched to individual competition after competing at the games for CrossFit Omnia's team in the last few years. Jacob's preparation was by no means a walk in the park. He had to get used to a different competition style, start training for a competition he didn't plan on doing and manage an acute back injury right when he should have been practising the workouts.
Check out this episode to hear Jon's reflection on all of this, as well as our usual unsolicited opinions on scoring, competition organisation, and the structure of the games.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:20] Making the jump from team to individual competition * [4:20] Switching training focus from the games to semi finals * [7:00] Scoring in quarter finals, semi finals and the games * [9:30] Managing an acute back injury during prep * [12:20] Training for the tests after workouts are released * [16:50] The Snatch event
A little late on posting this topical podcast. Here are our thoughts on the quarter-finals penalties that happened this season. Jon experienced firsthand as a coach how these penalties were rolled out this year. Check out this episode where we discuss the events of this season, live versus in person competition as well as how these situations could be resolved in future years and competitions.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:00] The penalties in this years quarter finals * [5:00] Jon's experience with the penalties and his athletes * [7:30] Judging online versus in person * [10:30] Nitpicking movements in slow motion * [15:00] Video review in other sports * [17:25] Real time movement versus snapshot movement * [18:30] Grouping recreational athletes with the world elite * [19:30] Balancing bad calls and nitpick enforcement of the rules * [22:00] Logistical burden of running the CF Games season * [25:00] Not reviewing everyone
It is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture in the fitness and performance industry. There is a lot of misleading information that coaches and athletes have to sift through, which is difficult when the information is accurate most of the time.
But do many of these claims move the needle and improve an athlete on the things that matter? Does doing a lot of zone two work help with CrossFit performance? Do certain mobility protocols help with recovery?
In this podcast, we discuss developing skepticism with certain things in training and coaching and share some of the things we have fallen for as younger, more gullible coaches.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:30] Overly scientific claims in the fitness and training industry * [3:00] Knees Over Toes * [5:15] Structural balance * [9:30] Overly mechanistic explanations * [11:30] Using studies to support claims * [14:00] Making claims about the 'one' missing thing * [17:30] Going all in on something * [19:20] The appeal of very technical explanations * [20:00] Luke's zone two rant * [24:30] What slows people down in CrossFit workouts
This year's quarter-finals workouts were well received by the CrossFit community as a whole. Many enjoyed the simplicity of the workouts, which provided a good challenge for athletes of various levels.
We saw workouts that were more compartmentalised than in previous years. There was less chaos, simpler skills, and no crushingly high volume of work on things like GHD sit-ups. The workouts this year actually present some useful retests and KPIs for athletes to use in their training.
In this episode, we discuss what we liked and didn't like about the workouts, where we see their utility in testing and benchmarks, and how we will change our programming to adjust to these changes. If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:30] The ever changing landscape of the CrossFit Games season * [3:00] This years quarter finals programming * [5:20] Compartmentalising skills in * [7:00] Using this years workouts as benchmarks and KPIs * [9:00] You don't need to be peaked to do these workouts unlike before * [11:00] Balancing the workouts for different levels * [13:00] The legibility of the workouts helping make training decisions * [18:00] What we're going to change in our programming this year
Qualifiers can be a stressful experience for athletes. The online leaderboard and the doubt created by not seeing other athletes perform all make for potentially neurotic self-comparison. With quarter-finals being much easier to qualify for, the open has less weight than in previous years. And now you're starting to see athletes say they are not interested in peaking for the open, who then get upset when they perform not to where they expected. Managing the psychology and framing expectations for athletes is very important. Because letting emotions spiral out of control and overreacting can be a big disservice to your performance in the later stages of the season. This week, we discuss all things disappointment in qualifiers and specifically the open. We also touch on the importance of enjoyment in training and why in-person competitions are the way to go. If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:00] Why can athletes get too caught up in qualifiers * [3:00] Self comparison spiralling out of control * [4:15] The variance in the tests have a significant impact * [6:30] Doing the open when you're not peaked yet * [8:00] Getting carried away with competition when you don't need to * [9:30] Training during the open for an athlete focused on quarter finals * [11:00] Framing what a good performances are for the athlete * [15:30] Being objective with the leaderboard * [17:00] Enjoying your training and doing in person competitions
Often, when someone comes through the ranks of class workouts and starts to contemplate competing in CrossFit, they conjure up an image of their training having to dramatically change to "take it to the next level". In reality, they need to get more exposure to the sport and develop experience.
Telling someone to do more of the sport can seem like a cop-out answer, but there is so much to work on and develop in CrossFit; it can take a few years to see where you need to focus your training. In this episode, we talk about how an athlete can get more exposure in an intelligent and structured way. We also discuss the timeline of progress that different athletes have in the sport.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:30] Getting more exposure to the sport * [3:50] Structuring your training more like a competitor * [7:00] Getting experience to help with pacing * [8:30] The low hanging fruit when getting started * [11:15] Benefits to focusing on training hard and being consistent * [14:00] Quickest timeline from beginner to semi-finals * [22:00] Patterns of progress with different athletes
After a competition, athletes are usually keen to get to work and train for potential weaknesses highlighted in the competition. But often, this is too hasty, and it's wise to have a process figured out on how to approach the review and planning post-competition period.
This week, we discuss some of our processes for reviewing an athlete's performance after a competition, reducing the noise, and clarifying what needs work. Do you follow what the leaderboard says or go off of the subjective experience of the athlete? Do you let the athlete take the lead, and what happens when their intuition is wrong? Often, surprises come up in competition, which might be hard for the athlete to deal with, but it usually creates a more profound learning experience. Check out this episode to learn more on how to approach this period.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [3:00] What Luke does in his coaching * [6:10] How to debrief after a competition * [7:30] Getting surprised on things in competition * [9:15] The effects of competition on your health * [15:00] What changes do you make in training * [17:30] Keeping training reactive and dynamic * [20:00] When athletes have the wrong takeaway * [22:00] Letting athletes having their input even if they're not on the right track
Since Adrian Bozman has led the programming for the CrossFit Games, each season has seen more variety in the skills and movements involved.
From the max sandbag to shoulder event at the games to learning cross-over single unders in class, everyone in the sport has felt this inclusion of new skills in some way. This shift in the programming pays homage to the roots of CrossFit, and acts as another variable to progressing the sport, as you can only increase weights and volume to a certain extent.
In this week's episode, we discuss developing these new skills in training, which skills have been good inclusions (or not), and how to best introduce these skills into competition.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [3:00] Why are we seeing more higher skilled gymnastics movements * [6:00] Having to learn new movements on the spot at the CrossFit Games * [7:00] What skills are good to learn that shouldn't be tested in competition * [9:30] Trying to get ahead on the possible new skills coming up * [11:30] What makes some of these skills harder to judge * [15:30] Does "just figure it out" make a good event * [17:00] Does CrossFit test athleticism * [19:30] How can CrossFit include new skills better
In a data-heavy sport like CrossFit, it can be pretty easy for athletes to get overwhelmed when setting goals. You have your placings in the open and other competitions and your training numbers. We don't have much control over leaderboards and tend to overestimate what we can achieve in our training when increasing numbers.
In this episode, we talk about goal setting for CrossFit, how it can be easy to get overly invested in the open and why competing can help you enjoy your training and give you the experience you need to improve.
Check out this episode to learn when data can be helpful and when it can be less helpful in goal setting and know why athletes who manage chaos and setbacks tend to do better in the sport.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:30] Goal setting in CrossFit * [2:30] Over investing in the open * [5:30] Enjoying your training * [6:30] Glorifying obsessive and driven CrossFit Games Athletes * [10:00] When people do well with goal setting * [13:00] Keeping people engaged in training * [16:00] Using competitions to guide your goals * [22:00] When data isn't helpful * [27:00] Managing chaos and handling setbacks well * [30:00] Jon is mentally tough
Recently, CrossFit announced a price increase for the yearly affiliation fee and that you must also hold a CrossFit Level 2 qualification to open an affiliate. This episode is a topical one, where we talk about the value of the CrossFit name now, whether the price increase is warranted and whether this is acting as a filter to elevate the brand name of CrossFit.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:30] What is the CrossFit affiliation fee * [3:30] Why is there a price increase? * [6:00] Jon's thoughts on the price increase * [11:00] Is CrossFit becoming less popular * [19:00] Why do you need a level two before opening an affiliate now? * [23:00] Is the level two prerequisite overall a positive thing? * [30:00] What does Greg Glassman say about all this on Instagram
Since the first CrossFit Games, there have been certain trends that athletes have adopted to excel in the sport. There have always been those athletes who do well under the direction of a coach and others who might be more independent or even train with a group of fellow competitors.
But as the sport grows and coaching businesses grow with it, you're starting to see a lot of athletes training under a training camp model. You're even finding that many of the best athletes from years past are heading up these camps. But how many of the top performers at the CrossFit Games train at these camps?
Using training camps to facilitate competition in training has its advantages, but does the group aspect of the training get in the way of long-term development for athletes?
This week, we talk about the upsides and potential drawbacks of a group training model versus an individualised approach and discuss what the role and impact of a coach might be to higher-level athletes.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:30] Training camps in the US and Europe * [4:00] When athletes bounce around training camps and programmes * [5:00] How much do the interpersonal dynamics effect athletes staying on * [7:00] Balancing training environment, competitions and individual training needs * [9:30] Athletes getting paid to follow programmes * [13:00] What would yield the best results - unstructured group training or structured individualisation? * [16:30] Athletes not feeling good enough for a individualised programme * [19:40] Does coaching matter at the top level? * [22:30] What kind of impact can coach actually have on an athletes overall development
Team competition back in the earlier days of CrossFit consisted of relay-style workouts, where the total score was the sum of individual efforts. This style of workout meant that the training could primarily be individual, and often you would see a broader range of abilities in team, maybe with one athlete always getting bottlenecked by a certain weight or skill. Now we see elements like the worm, synchronised reps and different workout structures that make team competition more about the team.
In this episode, we discuss balancing a CrossFit Games team's individual and team training, with Jon providing insight into the preparation for CrossFit Omnia. Here are some of the interesting topics discussed in this episode;
We often hear about teammates pushing each other in workouts to go harder, but does it work the other way around? Do athletes subconsciously slow down and go easier when others call for rest? Do those team dynamics work both ways?
One of the key things to consider when managing the distribution of team and individual is weighing up the trade-offs between practicing team workouts and not quite getting the right stimulus for everyone versus doing individual workouts where it's easier to get everyone hitting the desired stimulus. If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:00] How does Jon manage the team training at CrossFit Omnia * [5:00] The distribution of team workouts vs individual workouts for team athletes * [7:00] Why is doing team workouts important? * [8:00] Worm work for teams * [13:00] Does teamwork detract from an athlete's overall fitness * [17:00] Team dynamics slowing performances down * [21:45] The right distribution of team and individual training for team athletes during the season
CrossFit recently announced another round of season changes to the CrossFit Games, most notably increasing the field for quarter-finals qualification and decreasing the available games spots at semi-finals in some of the strongest regions. With frequent changes to the season structure in the last five years, who has been the most affected by this, and how does it impact the sport for some competitors?
This week, we talk about how the bubble athlete usually gets affected the most and how this can be frustrating when this majority makes up the ecosystem for the sport. We also discuss other ways in which the season could work and how fewer qualifiers and more in-person competitions are more of what every athlete needs in the sport. We'd like to hear from you, the listeners, and see if you have any ideas on how this could work better and how you feel that the season changes will impact your season as a coach or athlete. Drop us a message on Instagram.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:00] News, entertainment and British tabloids * [3:45] Barbell Spin is "of the people" apparently * [5:00] Recent season changes announcement * [10:00] Does increasing the field for quarter finals impact qualification for semi finals? * [15:00] Does the programming matter as much now as the field becomes stronger? * [18:00] Bubble athletes getting the rough end of the changes all the time * [20:00] Is there a better way to structure the season * [25:00] Athletes placing different at in-person competitions compared to qualifiers? * [27:30] Can we structure the season like other sports?
This week, we look at Flux Training intervals again and how a coach might programme that for a CrossFit athlete. We also touch on some different, less tangible KPIs to look at when measuring an athlete's performance or improvement, mainly an athlete's ability to recover while doing work and how Flux Training can help build the fitness and pacing skills to do that.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:00] Luke's recent use of Flux Training with his athletes * [4:30] Making work intervals slower to keep the recover intervals more productive * [6:10] Using flux training with mixed work * [10:30] Alternative ways of measuring improvement in interval training * [14:30] Keeping workouts aerobic or being able to recover while doing work * [18:00] The difference between endurance sports and CrossFit * [21:30] How to programme this for a CrossFit athlete?
Zone two training has done the rounds and is gaining much attention from the competitive scene. CrossFit, being an “endurance sport”, is an idea that is gaining popularity, and big names like Mat Fraser and Chris Hinshaw talking about the importance of low-intensity endurance work has made this training type of training pretty popular recently. But is it effective for improving someone’s endurance for metcons and typical CrossFit? It could be what a powerful and fast twitch athlete needs, but it might also be like trying to get a stronger squat by just doing accessory work. Flux training is an approach to interval training that is more flexible, emphasising rolling on and off of higher and lower intensity paces, which captures the sports-specific pacing of CrossFit quite well. The circuit nature of CrossFit usually entails that pacing is more variable and less consistent than your usual endurance event, and this is something that flux training embraces. Check out this episode for why flux training might be a better option than traditional intervals. If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [3:30] Easy aerobic work is like doing accessory work for strength training * [5:00] Do people have enough time to do all these extra zone two sessions * [7:00] Figuring out how to sneak in easier endurance training * [10:00] The opportunity cost for regular people versus professional athletes * [11:15] Increasing volume tolerance for the sport or junk volume * [13:30] The ceiling on someones endurance * [15:30] What is flux training? * [19:00] Starting with very structured intervals as a beginner athlete/coach * [20:00] Athletes trying to turn fartlek or flux style training into structured intervals * [21:30] Flux training being a better tool for the average athlete * [23:30] Developing intuition as an athlete * [26:15] Is running a better training tool than other endurance modalities
In this episode, Jon shares his experience at the CrossFit Games, coaching CrossFit Omnia to another top-ten finish in the team division. We talk a lot about balancing the weight and order of the events with cuts at the games. This year saw the cuts happening after two days of a heavy engine focus in the programming, which would have affected a lot of teams and athletes that might be more suited to typical CrossFit style events. Is this something to be expected at the CrossFit Games, or could it be managed better? Check out this episode to hear about Jon’s experience at the games and our thoughts on all things programming, cuts and strategy for the games.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:45] Jon’s reflection on the 2023 CrossFit Games * [2:00] Omnia’s performance on the first two days * [5:45] Taking risks in competition * [8:00] Is there a way to ‘game’ the games? * [9:30] The engine biased events at the games * [11:30] Why are European teams generally better at endurance based events * [13:30] The tactics of the bike event * [17:30] Heavily strategy based events at the games * [20:00] Cuts at the games and the order of the workouts * [24:30] Is the games improving and getting better? * [26:45] The testing determines the results
Is a testing phase of training a reliable assessment for a new athlete coming on board? It's practical, but it's essentially condensing the things you'll find out in training and competition into 1-2 weeks. Many athletes don't want to do it as well. They are usually more eager to start training and stay productive through that initial stage.
One direction all of our coaching styles has moved towards more is creating an initial training phase, where testing might be a part of that, but the emphasis is on the training. Having a common starting point for your athletes is a good way of covering all your bases as a CrossFit coach. From there, the programme can evolve, and the training priorities emerge from the training as time goes on.
In this week's episode, we talk about how we onboard athletes and how using common training progressions can help create more predictable and reliable results and give something more familiar to navigate when trying to move an athlete forward on something. Imagine writing different progressions for the problems you often see in multiple athletes. Recycling previous progressions, and making adjustments of course, can help you make more effective decisions as you start to notice patterns in various athletes.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:30] Creating a common starting point for athletes with a programme * [1:45] Using repeated progressions with athletes to make results more predictable * [3:20] Using a Saturday throwdown style workout to build the athletes profile * [4:00] What does the first week of training look like * [5:00] Distribution of working on specific and general things for the athlete * [6:15] How the training programme evolves through iteration * [8:10] Do people actually want to do testing weeks? * [10:20] Using competitions as more reliable data than testing in training * [15:00] Using the first period of training to identify training priorities * [18:00] Structuring and organising progressions
What makes training difficult isn't the challenge of getting someone fitter and stronger. It's understanding how to keep athletes improving for a long time
What happens when it feels like you stop improving? In a sport where you get punished more for your weaknesses than you do rewarded for your strengths, finding ways to progress long-term is essential. But maybe our framing of improvement needs to evolve with time spent in sport. We might need to look more granularly at our skills and develop them this way.
In this episode, we look into some of the ways we can start feeling like we're not improving and ways to combat this and still make training challenging, engaging and ultimately get you closer to your training goals.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [3:00] When do athletes start to feel like they're not improving * [4:00] Athletes should reframe their expectations * [6:15] Ceilings on performance in CrossFit do exist * [9:00] Structuring training priorities for more advanced and experienced athletes * [10:50] Good responders to training are not the norm * [12:30] Finding a way of making yourself productive on things you're limited on * [14:30] Going down the specificity route too hard * [16:00] Repetition without repetition with skill acquisition * [19:30] Giving people more variation to keep motivation * [21:00] Keeping training different and interesting for those that train alone * [23:00] Do coaches know if what they programme is going to work? * [24:00] Working on your weaknesses and GOAT day! * [25:30] Making training progressions more narrowly defined
There are a lot of subtleties in coaching that you can't pick up in textbooks and from theory.
We all probably know a coach that doesn't have all the qualifications, but they grasp the craft better than others who might have always had their head in a textbook.
Tacit knowledge is what you pick up from doing the activity, and it's something that can be tremendously valuable in a dynamic field where you're working with people, like coaching.
You'll often go to a course and start learning models and progressions (explicit and codified knowledge) that organise a lot of the tacit knowledge you already have.
In this week's episode, we talk about the differences between tacit and explicit knowledge and share examples we've encountered in our coaching and helping other coaches.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:20] Seeing what other coaches notice in situations and stealing those ideas * [3:20] How Luke threads tacit knowledge into weightlifting courses * [5:00] Watching other coaches coach * [6:15] Internalising and mimicking other people's behaviours * [9:00] Behaviours of more experienced coaches * [11:30] Being less boring explaining the workout before classes * [13:15] When inexperienced coaches care about the details more and care about the wrong things * [16:00] Should warm-ups be fun, and should you play games? * [18:30] Does the explicit knowledge organise and structure a lot of the internal models we develop through tacit knowledge * [20:45] Getting further with just tacit knowledge * [21:15] Finding a balance between tacit and explicit knowledge and which one in what situation should be emphasised
Have you ever returned after doing a course with your brain frazzled and unsure of what to do on Monday?
Well...that is part of the journey in upgrading your knowledge and coaching model, but how can you extract the helpful information to make it workable with the people you coach.
If you're working with people in person, maybe you can experiment with things immediately. But if you coach athletes online, you don't have that luxury, and you need to make sure that the things you include in someone's program are the real deal.
Experimenting in your training will be the best way of trying out new things and extracting valuable information to help solve the problem set you to tackle in your coaching. We continue this series on coach education and, in this episode, discuss coach education and specifically cover how to use new information in your coaching practice. Listen to find out why breathing drills are the hardest thing to get any online client to do, why the last course you did might have a 30-day challenge and more.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:00] How to include material from a course into your practice * [3:00] Practicing things in person versus online * [4:00] Trying things on yourself in your own training * [6:00] Why breathing work is really difficult to coach * [8:30] Translating your own personal experience into someone else's training * [10:00] Developing the skill of extracting the useful information and passing it on * [11:45] The curiosity amongst early adopter coaches in CrossFit * [15:45] Similarities between CrossFit and MMA * [20:00] What's the goal of taking the next course? * [22:30] Engaging in material fully to eventually upgrade your own model * [24:30] Getting repeated exposure from challenges after courses
Curiosity is what gets a lot of coaches into training and eventually becoming coaches, and usually, these people continue to digest a lot of information, content and education about training. But being able to apply this information in a practical setting can be challenging. Especially when much of the information out there isn't delivered in a way that makes this transition easy.
In this episode, we share our background in continuing education, going into detail about the courses we've done, books we've read and how we came across and discovered a lot of that information.
We also discuss the importance of making information workable and how some education is purposely watered down so it speaks to their respective audiences better.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:45] Luke's journey with continuing education * [5:40] Making a point to take in some educational content every day * [6:00] Making ideas from education workable for coaches * [9:00] Luke's new learning and education in biomechanics * [15:00] Learning for the fun of it versus learning to solve a problem * [18:00] Reviewing old learning material * [19:30] Luke's attempts of creating educational content * [23:00] Offering a different perspective to help change someones mental model * [26:00] Todd's experience doing a masters in computer science * [30:00] Learning through rapid trial and error
With the changes in the structure of the CrossFit Games in the past few seasons, the stakes of the open have changed, with many athletes not needing to take it as seriously. But what happens when CrossFitters see a leaderboard...well they approach it like any leaderboard. Misaligning expectations with the open like this is detrimental, especially if their training is not preparing them specifically for the open.
Although qualification to quarter-finals might be a lot easier for some folk, we can still get some valuable things out of the open. In this episode, we talk about how to manage expectations during the open and where it can be a great tool in sharpening that competitive edge before quarter-finals.
Check out this episode to learn more about how you should structure training around the open and quarter-finals if your goal is quarters, how to practice competing with open workouts, and we share our thoughts on programming new skills at the games.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:10] Less emphasis on the open for Jon and his athletes * [3:00] How training during the open looks different now * [4:30] Is the open a good gauge of your performance and how useful is the leaderboard * [5:30] Do you need to manage training volume during the open? * [9:10] Using the open to prepare and practice for quarter finals * [10:20] Using the open to practice high stakes workouts * [12:55] Getting athletes to practice filming workouts * [15:00] Learning how to navigate doing qualifiers in busy gyms * [16:45] Live competitions versus in-the-gym qualifiers * [21:00] High level athletes getting exposed on low skill open workouts and having a wake up call * [23:30] Still using the data points of the open even if that's not the goal * [26:30] Creating good and varied open tests without just pushing the volume on everything * [31:00] Is the programming better with Boz in charge? * [33:00] Luke has superior CrossFit Games knowledge than Jon * [35:00] Are games athletes athletic? * [36:30] Are new skills being introduced at the games good for spectators? * [39:30] Trade offs of including new skills at the games
Ever had a very structured training plan that you were almost certain would come together, but when you did the competition or the qualifier, it didn't go as well as you'd hoped?
Relying on very structured approaches of preparation for CrossFit is a standard failure mode we find in the sport, coming from athletes and coaches that are pretty analytical.
The problem with this approach is that it can mean you lose a connection to the real world and the sport and not be exposed sufficiently to the challenges you'll come across in the sport.
In this week's episode of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast, Todd tells a story where he was reviewing the training of someone from his university who wanted to do parkour...but there was no parkour in his training. Todd has since helped out this parkour enthusiast, suggesting that you can't Stairmaster your way into doing back flips off of a wall and that he needed to do the actual thing.
Listen to hear more of our examples of how people lose their connection to the sport and how we should approach our plans, being more adaptable and learning to fail fast. If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:20] Todd's story * [4:45] Over analysing and over-planning failure mode * [5:30] Similar failure mode with training for CrossFit * [6:20] Rigid and structured approaches versus a managing the chaos approach * [8:30] Creating false barriers and prerequisites in the plan * [9:20] Building the skill of competing * [12:15] Losing connection to competition and the sport * [13:50] The importance of failing fast * [15:00] How to adjust plans quickly * [16:20] Everyone learns at different speeds * [19:30] Messy skill learning processes * [21:45] Learning through iterative trial and error * [23:30] Preparing someone for competition with lots of exposure to the sport
The book Luke mentioned: How We Learn to Move: A Revolution in the Way We Coach & Practice Sports Skills - Rob Gray
We're a week away from Quarter Finals, and the qualified athletes have already had three workouts to sharpen the competing sword with the open. But as the workouts become more high stakes going into the next round, how do we support athletes?
Some athletes need encouragement and a good luck message, and they are good! Others will require a warm-up, a detailed plan and potentially some video review.
Although we might set boundaries on communication, and we tried to set our athletes up to be reasonably autonomous during competition, they will need help when they need help. And it's crucial that, as a coach, you're there to support them as best as you can.
Check out the latest Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast episode and hear how we manage competition time with our athletes. What types of things are we sending them when workouts get released, and how are good strategies overrated but poor plans can end disastrously?
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:00] Managing a coaching relationship during online qualifiers, the open and quarter-finals * [2:30] Setting boundaries and coaching your athletes on how to communicate with you * [3:30] What do you need to send your athletes when workouts are released * [5:30] Chunking and batching tasks together * [7:35] How are quarter-finals different * [9:10] Being proactive and reaching out to athletes during competitions * [10:30] What to do when athletes want an individualised strategy for the workout? * [11:45] Setting your athletes up to push themselves * [13:15] Managing anxiety with clearly structured warm-ups * [15:30] Athletes having misguided expectations of strategies * [19:20] How to coach athletes to make better plans for workouts * [22:10] Getting logistics in order - assigning videographer and judge * [24:00] Getting others to help you in quarter-finals * [26:30] Having strategies can be overrated * {27:45] Repeating workouts is less commonplace
Ever found yourself or one of your athletes having a block in increasing the cycle speed with specific movements? You do 100+ burpees in a long workout, and it's the same 'step down, step up' style you do in a shorter sprint-style workout. Is it that burpees are just hard, is there a particular technique you should use, or is it that you have a strong distaste for burpees regardless of the workout?
It's probably going to be a combination of all three. It's not as clear-cut as following a certain linear progression with the movement. You will most likely have to simultaneously develop your fitness, develop the movement and intentionally practice the sport.
One way you can get unstuck with a movement could be to polarise the scenarios in which you are training the movement. Just like long-distance runners practice sprinting now and then, and weightlifters have a broad range of percentages they practice their lifting, using burpees as an example, you could regress the movement to something easier, some sprints and then your usual range of metcons with burpees included.
Check out episode #112 to find out how we work on getting athletes to move faster on things like burpees, box jumps and dumbbell snatches.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:30] Only developing one gear in CrossFit * [2:00] Having different movement strategies and different gears * [4:30] What stops people from moving as fast * [6:30] Why regressing a movement is important to increase cycle speed * [9:20] Learning movements correctly for competition * [10:45] Internal maps * [13:30] Using higher paces as a training tool for slower movement strategies * [15:45] Long-distance runners using sprinting to develop their slower-paced running * [17:30] Building more movement strategies to develop confidence * [19:30] Prescribing specific paces on machines in mixed training * [22:00] Being intentional when practising the sport
With a week to go until the open, there are probably a lot of athletes on the bubble of quarter-finals putting in those final touches to their training. But is it too late to work on those training progressions?
Many of the athletes on the bubble likely have one thing that prevents them from being more certain about being in the top 10%.
They are either not strong enough, don't have the skills or need to work on their engine. It might be heavy deadlifts in a workout or getting multiple muscle-ups at the end of a workout that stops them in their tracks. Or, even though they might have all the skills, they get a pretty average score on the more engine-focused workout.
So what can these bubble athletes do to set themselves up for success in the next few weeks? First, having clear expectations is going to be essential. Then, knowing how much improvement is realistic and how you can maximise your current abilities in a competition scenario will put you on the front foot. After that, you've got to do more of the thing you struggle with in open-style workouts.
Check out episode #111 and hear what we think might need some slight adjustments in the training before the competitive season starts.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:00] The three things that prevent people from qualifying * [4:00] What you should be focusing on in your training before the open * [6:00] Having realistic expectations with your skills during a peaking phase * [7:00] What to focus on during a peaking phase * [9:10] Practicing realistic scenarios in training * [12:00] Working on smaller details during workouts * [14:00] Practice being judged and film yourself in your workouts * [17:00] Being clear on what it is that will move you forward to quarter-finals * [19:00] challenge of quick wins not being the thing * [20:00] Challenging yourself in * [21:10] If you don't have it - set yourself up for that point * [24:30] Make sure you're working on the right thing * [27:00] Recreating the intensities and the stakes involved in a workout
Do CrossFit athletes need to train more in the transverse plane? It definitely sounds nice to those interested in programming, but if we look at the demands of the sport, we don't see movements challenging the transverse or frontal plane much.
It's not always clear what level of variability in movement we should include in a CrossFit athlete's training. Giving someone more options in their movement can offset repetitive training and help with longevity, but it often doesn't directly affect someone's performance, making it hard to get buy-in.
Listen to this week's episode to hear how working in the transverse plane might help you look a bit more athletic on those shuttle runs in quarter-finals, how we sneak in movement work into our programming and how playing sport might be the easiest and best movement work for someone's training.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:30] Getting CrossFit athletes bought into movement work * [3:00] Why we should train to have more movement options * [4:50] Benefits of being functionally adapted to your sport * [6:45] What are the movement requirements for the sport * [10:00] Addressing longevity in someone's training * [10:55] Low-hanging fruit in developing someone's movement * [11:45] Transverse plane and sports * [13:30] People who are athletic in CrossFit * [14:30] Going out and playing sports vs movement work * [16:15] Sneaking movement/skill work into training * [16:45] Importance of low-level skills and easy movements * [17:30] CrossFitters are always trying to make something difficult * [20:00] Getting optionality in movement * [22:15] Having one movement strategy can put you in a difficult position * [23:05] Encouraging athletes to try new activities and sports * [23:30] Threading in movement work with other elements of training * [26:00] CrossFitters going too hard in other sports * [28:00] The challenge of letting go of your ego going into a new sport * [30:20] Where does prehab fit into someone's training? * [32:45] Using prehab work to add volume to someone's training * [33:40] Why would you want to add more volume to someone's training?
Is working on your mindset all it's hyped up to be? Is it actually what people need to maximise their potential, or can it misalign expectations and cause a lot of wasted time?
In this week's episode, Todd talks about 'Collective Teacher Efficacy', presented to him in his rationality group. We draw on some of the parallels found in fitness.
Collective Teacher Efficacy claims that teachers having a belief in making an impact is what helps teachers be effective educators when the evidence points towards a different, much simpler direction, whether home life values and supports education. We see this in fitness a lot, with specific coaches claiming that their methods or less tangible things like mindset make people successful.
Listen to learn more about our thoughts on having a helpful outlook on mindset in training. For example, when having an anything is possible mindset can help get someone off the couch, but not so beneficial in unpredictable competitive sports.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:50] Fitness knowledge in rationality groups * [2:10] Common problems in education * [4:20] What is Collective Teacher Efficacy * [6:20] Parallels in fitness * [7:30] The actual cause of success in a student's education * [8:45] Problem with mindset stuff in fitness * [9:30] Causation, correlation and speculative YouTube videos * [11:45] Mindset and misaligned expectations * [13:30] Cultural narratives trickling down into sports * [14:40] Can you accomplish whatever you want? * [15:30] Messages that sell in the training world * [17:20] Helpful messages for the average gym goer, but not for the competitive athlete * [21:00] Encouraging a realistic outlook with clients * [22:18] Is having a mindset of anything possible the way you achieve your best * [24:45] Parallels in the business world * [27:10] Coaches should build their athletes up with small wins
In a data-heavy sport like CrossFit, athletes are always working towards ironing out the holes in their game to progress and bring up the bigger picture. But when does focusing on priorities become myopic and make athletes pessimistic about their performance and training.
There are many examples in elite sports where dissatisfaction with where you are can lead to great performance. However, when recreational athletes who do their sport for fun start doing this, it can lead to that hobby and fun activity becoming a bit of a drag and them getting burned out.
In this episode, we talk about the different motivational tendencies of athletes, particularly those that lead to self-deprecating comments and a negative attitude towards yourself. We discuss when it's time to harness that and when to keep it in check and create some guard rails so you continue to enjoy the process. Along with references to Greek Black Metal and Conan the Barbian quotes!
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:45] When you can be too focused on priority training areas * [2:40] The different motivations of athletes that Luke has come across * [4:45] Self-comparison and framing of time with skill development * [6:00] Aligning training or competition goals with what people want to do in their training * [8:00] The selection effect of people who choose to compete in CrossFit and get remote coaching * [9:40] How to harness negative motivational tendencies to get to the desired outcome * [11:30] Examples of negative motivational tendencies in elite sport * [14:30] Can negative motivational tendencies be unhelpful for the recreational athlete * [20:30] Creating balance in training to maximise motivation * [22:45] Creating opportunities in training to check in with yourself * [26:00] Being 'stuck' on the treadmill of always working on something and how to manage that
The CrossFit Games season structure has changed again, and the qualification stage of the semi-finals is set to be more structured moving into next season. Every year since the sport stopped doing regionals, qualifying for the CrossFit Games has always looked a bit different every year. The changes moving forward look to centralise the programming back to CrossFit and some changes to the distribution and the availability of spots to the CrossFit Games.
Overall this looks like it will create more standardisation in the sport, which for athletes and coaches is a good thing. This will give more clarity on how to train, prepare and approach competition. Give this week's episode a listen to hear more about the changes from Jon, our very own human Morning Chalk Up feed, and our thoughts and anecdotes over the last several years of consistent changes.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
- 1:30] Overview of the new changes in the CrossFit Games
- [4:00] Positives and drawbacks to the changes
- [5:00] The benefits of standardised programming across events
- [6:40] Jon's experience with programming asymmetries
- [7:40] Will the smaller semi-final events be organised and programmed by CrossFit in the future
- [11:30] Can this make competitions more entertaining
- [14:30] Overstretching part-time competition organisers
- [17:00] Getting better organisation with dedicated competition staff and organisers
- [19:00] Missed opportunities with the sanctional structure
- [20:45] Do events make money
- [22:30] Implications for athletes and their training
- [25:15] Virtual shovelling and obscure events at the CrossFit games
- [27:30] Where to fit new skills and movements into someone's training
- [29:45] Better clarity to organise travel for athletes
In many sports, you can get reasonably frequent exposure to competitions which can take the pressure off these competitive experiences. But in CrossFit, the ratio of training to competition is significantly one-sided. Competitions, even during the 'season', don't happen that often, so when they do the pressure is on. But one part of the sport that might be even more high-pressure and stressful is qualifiers, especially during the off-season.
Managing qualifiers in the off-season can be challenging for several reasons. First, you have to start filming your workouts and working to deadlines. The self-comparison and leader-boarding can create doubt in your training direction if you don't perform well. You are usually out of competition shape, and the workouts disrupt the flow and momentum you've built in the off-season. Generally, qualifiers are a very stressful time for a lot of athletes.
Check this episode out, where we unpack why they can be very stressful and how to manage that. But we also highlight the importance of qualifiers in the off-season, why they can help in staying sharp, having focus in training and how to navigate them better.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:20] Why qualifiers can be stressful during the off-season * [4:00] Understanding when you need to be peaked for competition * [6:00] Balancing sports practice with structured training * [7:30] What goes into being peaked for competition * [9:45] What do you change in a high-level athletes training during qualifiers * [12:45] Managing and handling the stress of qualifiers * [15:30] Old-school cheats and qualifiers * [20:30] It's important to have periods of non-comparison in training * [22:30] Having qualifiers and competitions on the calendar have focus and intention in training * [25:30] Handling self-comparison from qualifiers * [27:40] Todd's DIY medicine ball back in the day
What are the essential parts that make up a programme? Is it the sets and reps, the exercise selection, or the weekly progression scheme? We'd argue that having a clear understanding and picture of what you want the programming to lead to is the most critical element when writing training.
Often people can get wrapped up in the minutia and the details of a programme, leading to less focus on the end goal. As a result, they try to do too much, not achieving much in the end. So how do you create training programmes with the end goal in mind?
We continue our series on template writing with a more tactical episode focusing on how to reverse engineer in programming. We discuss how knowing what to sacrifice is a big part of pushing the bigger picture forward in someone's training, and choosing the right things to work on and being consistent is more important than fancy rep schemes. Listen to find out more about how we set up a training week and what we consider baseline engine testers for the sport of CrossFit.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:20] Difference between pre-competition and off-season training cycle aims * [2:00] Establishing training priorities * [3:00] Creating the training template * [3:30] Finalising the details of sets and reps * [5:00] What matters is having consistency and making it challenging * [5:45] Sacrificing areas in a training cycle * [7:30] How Jon creates a training week with priorities * [8:45] Big chat on engine testers * [13:40] Burpee and Row EMOM key performance indicator * [15:00] Mental toughness with hard testers * [17:45] Learning to move at paces that are required in the sport * [20:30] Developing progressions with the Burpee Row tester * [23:30] Approaching the goal and outcome while being dynamic
With so many different areas to develop in CrossFit, knowing how and what to prioritise in someone's training can be challenging. Once you've created a training split with all the different elements of the sport, there's not much room for anything else...unless you're a full-time athlete with high bandwidth for training.
Balancing priorities while maintaining other qualities found in the sport is more a process of subtraction rather than adding in extra training. The sport, competition and leaderboards can help indicate what needs to be maintained, but it can be tough to let go of all that chest-to-bar pull-up practice for better overall performance, when you've spent a long time developing them.
In this podcast, we continue to talk about designing templates going over how we can identify areas that need to be prioritised and maintained and then how to balance both. Listen to learn more about how sports practice can be a good tool to maintain certain qualities, how baseline ability often dictates a lot of this balancing act and why getting caught up in short-term adaptations can detract from the bigger picture.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:00] How to identify what needs maintaining in training using competition experience * [4:00] Getting too wrapped in short-term training progressions * [5:30] The challenge of moving from very general training to more prioritised training * [7:15] Success from a blunt force approach for people who have a lot of bandwidth to train * [9:30] How progress varies with people of different baseline abilities * [13:00] Starting with very broad training and then prioritising with time * [18:00] Todd's scepticism with "everything is everything" * [20:20] Using sports practice to maintain different areas in training * [25:00] Staying dynamic once adaptation has been made * [27:00] How regression and progression work once adaptation has been made
Since the semi-finals, there has been much talk about PED use at the CrossFit Games. Many athletes were caught this year after the testing at semi-final events, and it has received a lot of attention from YouTubers, blogs like The Morning Chalk Up and finally, our very own podcast!
If you're after hot takes and gossip, this topical episode has all of that, with Todd and I making wild guesses on questions like- "how many people were on PEDs in this year's season".
When we look at PED use in CrossFit and those that are getting caught, it is evident that there are areas around the globe where this is happening more and that the culture around PED use in different regions of the world is different. As CrossFit grows and becomes more global, this is something that the sport will have to navigate more so.
Check out and listen to this episode to hear our cynical views, hot takes and wild guesses on PED use in CrossFit.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:00] The culture of PED use in different parts of the world * [6:00] PED use coming from top down influence or other factors like previous sports history * [9:20] PED use leading to people quitting the sport early * [11:25] The balance of CrossFit as a sport vs the methodology * [17:00] Is everyone on the sauce? * [20:30] What percentage are on or have used at the games? * [21:40] What percentage were using during this season? * [23:30] Todd and Luke's cynicism * [26:00] PED using in teams at the CrossFit Games * [29:00] Contaminated supplements * [30:30] Teams that haven't qualified are not on the drug testing list * [32:30] Justifying PED use because someone knows a high level athlete using
Writing progressions to get someone fit and strong can be pretty straightforward. But the challenge with programming is managing all the different training elements, balancing priorities, covering each part of the sport and progressing in the right direction.
Template writing can be enjoyable or one of the more difficult parts of writing a programme for someone, but it is an essential skill for coaches. Writing effective templates and managing how to tackle athlete priorities throughout the week becomes necessary when working with intermediate to advanced athletes. Layering strength templates onto conditioning workouts can be effective for beginners and a lucky few advanced athletes, but CrossFit is a sport where many competing areas need to be managed.
In this podcast, we discuss some ideas about creating training templates, from how we manage the training stress throughout the week to why progressing conditioning and muscle endurance might be the most crucial element in someone's training. Listen to learn more about how we write templates and our latest Program Design Workshop on 'Writing Template', which we will be doing on Saturday, 17th September.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:00] Being less rigid in template designs for advanced athletes * [2:57] Managing training stress through the week * [4:35] Layering metcons and conditioning into a strength template * [5:20] How elite athletes can progress from straightforward templates * [6:20] Structured conditioning is more important for CrossFit than strength * [7:30] Developing muscle endurance for CrossFit * [9:00] Why intermediates mistake strength as the main priority for the sport * [10:35] How Todd progresses someone's muscle endurance and gymnastics * [11:30] Setting athletes up for success moving at speed required in the CrossFit * [14:20] Integrating structured conditioning back into chaotic sport practice * [16:38] Incorporating grease the groove style skill practice into training
As a coach, the last thing you want to be dealing with is a barrage of unread text messages from clients in different timezones about workouts you don't quite remember off hand.
One of the steepest learning curves for many coaches that start remote coaching is managing communication with their clients. When coaching in person, you can often deal with things more reactively. However, when working online with clients, you need more of a system otherwise things can get missed, and problems can arise.
In the final part of this series on remote coaching, we talk about our systems and ways of communicating. We discuss the different tools we use, how we organise and separate buckets of communication and why some clients need to be coached to communicate in a way that helps the coach best serve them. Listen to find out more about communication and hear about why Luke did a 35-minute AMRAP of just chest-to-bar pull-ups after a communication mishap.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:30] Buckets of communication - results, questions, check ins * [3:00] How Todd communicates with clients * [8:30] Luke's 35 minute AMRAP of Chest-to-bars * [10:00] Coaches do make typos...it happens * [13:00] How Luke communicates with clients * [15:00] Using screenshare video reviews * [17:15] Getting more out of check ins * [20:00] Coaching clients to communicate * [22:30] Creating different tiers for check ins * [23:30] How Jon communicates with clients * [27:45] Managing communication with remote clients as gym owners
It's CrossFit Games week, and in this special 100th episode, Jon gives away all of his secrets in preparing CrossFit Omnia Black and Abigail Moore for the team competition and the 14-15-year-old division at the CrossFit Games this year.
CrossFit Omnia qualified for the games being, as Jon called it, a true affiliate team. The team is made up of athletes who live and are based in the Denver area, with some of them having full-time jobs outside of the gym.
Jon's teen athlete Abigail Moore has been training with Jon for the last several months. She has a background in weightlifting and swimming, and Jon has worked a lot on her basic gymnastics in the run-up to the games.
In this episode, we chat about how Jon manages the dynamics of working with a team, what training looks like at different stages of the season, as well as many other insights about programming and preparation for the games.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [01:45] The true affiliate team at the CrossFit Games * [03:00] How much team training is actually going on * [05:45] The breakdown of individual training session * [08:30] How much guidance and coaching goes on * [12:30] What are the individual sessions like for the team * [14:15] How does training differ and develop through the season * [21:00] Navigating injuries within the team * [25:00] Training for the novel events at the CrossFit Games and Jon's secret notepad * [31:45] How are team workouts like swims, bike rides and ruck runs planned out * [37:30] What are the differences between the training of a teen versus an individual * [40:00] Jon's teen athlete qualified for the games * [44:00] How much variability is there in the training for a teen athlete * [48:20] The volume of training teen athletes can handle * [49:50] Training the basics for games preparation
Everyone that get's into remote coaching most likely does it because they enjoy the process of writing programming, but what happens when you have many programmes to write, and you might be up late on a Sunday churning out the final few programmes for the following week?
A good process is important if you want to enjoy programming because that process will help you stay organised and avoid situations where you may be in the crunch.
In this episode, we take a big picture look at how we write and organise programming and talk about some of the mistakes we have made along the way that have helped us refine our processes. We discuss balancing being organised, writing programming in advance, and being more reactive and responsive to training week to week. Also, we have another conversation on how and when to include variance in conditioning for beginners and advanced athletes. Check out the next part of our series on remote coaching to learn a bit more about how we write training for our athletes.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:50] Luke's attempt at making programming more efficient * [2:20] A bottoms-up approach to programming writing things week to week * [5:30] Long-term planning, athlete priorities and periodisation * [8:15] Being flexible and going with the athlete's rate of adaptation * [10:00] How much variation does Luke write in conditioning * [12:00] Using a fortnightly training split for conditioning * [13:30] Progression and variation with beginners * [14:50] Advancing athletes through more varied training * [16:15] Matching variance with an athlete's motivation and keeping them engaged * [21:00] How Todd plans out training progressions * [22:30] Maintaining long-term planning while being adaptable week to week * [24:45] Being self-aware of tendencies and biases with different programming styles * [28:50] Coming up with progressions week to week or in advance * [30:00] Including workouts that athletes excel at periodically * [32:00] Jon's a nice guy, apparently
The first hurdle many have in remote coaching is getting through that initial stage trying to get your first clients. Even for well-established coaches, acquiring new clients can be a real challenge.
Looking for remote coaching 7 years ago was difficult, and you would have been lucky if someone in your local city was coaching people via email. Now you'll find coaches everywhere offering online services.
So what do people need to get started and build momentum? A significant social media following with a fancy funnel? Do they need to be part of a larger coaching company?
Many people don't realise that the best place to start is coaching on the gym floor, delivering value to people and helping them. There are various ways to move in-person coaching online, and it is a lot easier to build trust with someone who will then hire you.
In this part of our series on remote coaching, we get into the helpful and not-so-helpful strategies for acquiring new clients and discuss the different games people play on social media and the importance of referrals to help grow that client list.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: SHOW NOTES [DRAFT]— * [1:00] The challenge of getting clients in remote coaching now compared to when we got started * [3:00] The importance of starting on the gym floor and being in front of people * [5:10] The benefits of delivering value and developing trust in person * [7:00] Clients passing on trust to referrals * [8:20] Creating trust with a group of online clients * [11:10] Get trust with the intention of just helping people * [13:00] Playing the content game to get new clients * [14:50] Helpful and unhelpful social media tactics * [16:55] The importance of being responsive early on with prospective clients * [19:10] Playing the realistic game for a coaching business on social media * [23:45] Creating useful content or content just to attract new clients * [25:15] Being clear with what you want to accomplish with social media * [28:00] Helping the network around your athletes and encouraging athletes to train with others * [32:15] Bad quality coaching that exists in the marketplace
To kick off our latest podcast series on working in remote coaching, we are sharing our personal experience working online with athletes and how we got started.
With all three of us coming from different places in coaching, coincidently, we all started at a similar period when working online was still a very new method of coaching in CrossFit.
Several themes become apparent from each of our own stories, one of them being the importance of working with people in person. Although the coaching profession has elevated considerably in the last several years, there are still many people out there who haven't experienced the value of having a bit of feedback or coaching in person. Sometimes giving a lot of value here can be leveraged to gain remote coaching clients.
Listen to episode 97 to hear old tails of qualifying for regionals, Jon's secret double under training for open workout 11.1 and how the online coaching space has developed over the years.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:15] How Jon started with remote coaching * [4:50] How Jon's competitive - regionals * [8:00] Jon's secret training methods for Double Unders * [9:30] When competitors started transitioning from blog programming to coaching * [11:40] Luke's experience with coaching * [16:00] Benefit of working with people in a hybrid setting * [20:30] Shifts in client goals since the pandemic * [21:45] How development in the sport is changing the typical client * [24:40] Todd's story * [27:00] Reality of being in the right place at the right time as a coach * [28:30] The benefit of being in person with people * [29:25] Influence of continuing education with OPEX for Todd and Luke * [33:00] How people thought you should train for CrossFit pre 2014
A coach needs to know how to deal with the athlete who requests to add on a Smolov squat cycle to training and the experienced competitor who felt they were lacking in certain areas in their last competition. We want athletes to have autonomy in their training, and making programming requests to their coach is part of that.
Coaches should consider things like experience, time of the season and motivations when receiving requests from athletes. Athletes do a good job of identifying the problems they are experiencing, they have valuable insight, but they are usually not as well-positioned to come up with reasonable solutions. The coaching process is about extracting useful information from athlete feedback and then guiding them through a plan to overcome challenges and ultimately progress.
In episode 96 of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast, we talk about our experience managing programming requests, how an effective feedback loop is at the heart of the coaching process, what we should do to set athletes up for long term progress and more.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:50] Looking at the long term progress and giving athletes autonomy * [4:30] Where motivations for programming requests come from and experience level * [6:50] Requests concerning where someone is in the CrossFit games season * [8:10] Different goals- requests from competitors versus general population * [9:20] Setting athletes up to carry out the consistent and appropriate behaviours * [10:30] Using requests to recognise problems that athletes are having * [12:50] Are athletes hitting the right stimulus in remote coaching? * [14:50] Consequences of performing the training incorrectly * [17:00] Being more descriptive in prescription to hit the right stimulus * [20:00] The importance of communication between athlete and coach to create better direction * [24:00] The feedback loop is the coaching process
Jacob Tsypkin is the owner of Anarchos Training Methods. As a long time coach, he has helped people and athletes at every level in CrossFit, from being a former affiliate owner at CrossFit Monterey to helping athletes qualify for the CrossFit Games.
I first remember reading about Jacob's coaching when he coached the winner of the UK CrossFit sectionals, Owen Satterly, back in 2010. Jacob was one of the earliest adopters of remote coaching for competitive CrossFit athletes, with his most notable athlete being multiple time games qualifier Sean Sweeney. In addition to coaching, Jacob has organised his thoughts and methods over the years contributing writing to Juggernaut Training Systems and has done podcasts with Reactive Training Systems.
In episode 95 of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast, we discuss many ideas around managing the training of a competitive CrossFit athlete. Jacob shares his thoughts on balancing variance with repetition in training, explains his methods for creating more emergent styles of programming for his athletes and much more.
You can check out Jacob's work on Anarchos Training Methods website here: https://www.anarchostrainingmethods.com/
Jacob also writes a blog called Exercise Philosophy where he goes in-depth on some of the ideas we discuss on this podcast, you can find that here: https://www.exercisephilosophy.com/
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:15] Balancing variance with progress through repetition * [5:20] Transference to training with individuals * [8:55] Diminishing returns with strength training in CrossFit * [10:00] Importance of resource management in CrossFit * [11:30] The profiles of different elite athletes * [14:30] Emergence cycles * [17:00] Designing mixed training via limiters * [23:00] Balancing the chaos of CrossFit using rational variance * [29:00] What is happening when people repeat a workout * [31:30] Making smaller changes to workouts to make training legible * [33:45] How to manage variation with beginners * [34:30] Importance of enjoying your training * [36:00] Being specific with gamified workouts * [39:34] Learning how to improvise for competitive CrossFit * [43:00] Sports specific practice in other Rowing compared to CrossFit * [45:00] How much training is iterative with Jacob's athletes? * [46:10] Where does Jacob start with athletes? * [51:00] Managing daily variance in performance with iterative training * [56:30] Cost of miscalculating expectations and pacing * [59:35] Phases of learning in pacing * [1:02:00] What Jacob is currently into with training and coaching
Those who are pretty tuned into modern strength and conditioning and training for a sport like CrossFit have probably seen the use of data to improve performance. With complex systems, we can use data to make things more legible, show patterns and give us helpful information. But what happens when that information is not used correctly?
One example is the recent widespread use of stretching and mobility apps to improve someone's movement and performance. We are seeing the use of virtual movement assessments to prescribe mobility interventions when human movement is a lot more complex than measuring how many degrees of mobility you have at a particular joint.
There are many ways to make marginal gains, but we should be careful in what we chase and why we choose that. In episode 94 of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast, we talk about how you can 'keep the goal the goal' and appropriately use simplified, more legible information properly instead of optimising for data and metrics that don't represent the bigger picture.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:15] What's triggered Luke recently * [2:45] Movement and mobility applications and how they are being used * [4:50] How Todd uses movement screens * [8:00] Creating problems for the sake of legibility * [10:00] How overly simplified messages can cause problems * [15:45] Simplifying complex systems to make things legible * [17:35] Goodharts Law - chasing metrics * [20:10] Data averages and cycle rate of movements in CrossFit workouts * [22:00] Causality in workout performances * [24:00] Using data to make useful changes and improving their technique * [27:20] Appropriately using data versus optimising for data
We've all been there. You come into the gym feeling tired and run down, and the day's programming calls for a 1RM back squat. Easy decision to change it up! But, what happens when you need to change the plan in the middle of the workout?
It's competition season in CrossFit, so you may see more people than usual writing out spreadsheets of split times on mini-whiteboards. But what happens when those target split times become too much of a stretch?
In a sport like CrossFit, the skills of racing and improvising are essential. Rarely does a detailed workout pacing plan survive past the first few rounds of a long AMRAP.
Athletes need to be able to extract the relevant information from their plans and "metcon mathematics" to make better decisions in workouts, rather than hoping to come up with the mythical perfect splits that they can execute to perfection.
Episode 93 of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast dives into the details of planning workouts, split times, and pacing. Listen and learn more about developing the skill of improvising, how training with others makes you better at racing, and how prescribing split times can be used to create learning experiences in training.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:10] Compounding effect of athletes practicing and improving their decision making * [2:00] The importance of being flexible with plans and having back up plans * [5:25] How to develop the skill of improvising * [8:00] Executing plans very precisely might not be going hard enough * [8:45] When retrospectively looking at split times might be useful * [10:15] Training split times versus racing split times * [12:10] Using target splits to give athletes a very specific learning experience * [14:50] Utility of start slow and speed up style workouts * [16:40] Changing plans in live competitions * [18:30] Practicing unexpected situations in racing while training with others * [21:10] The value in jumping into training with others whilst on an individual plan * [22:15] Getting athletes to make better decisions over time and not being overly worried about them making the right decision
To improve, do we need to faithfully execute everything in our training program exactly as written? Not really — the goal of training is to stimulate adaptation, not to check everything off of a list.
Athletes often get caught up in the details of plans and progressions and may lose sight of the overall goal of training. To create long term progress in training, we need to be adaptable in order to hit the right training stimulus. Sometimes, this means changing the plan and being flexible.
Making the correct change requires an understanding of the intention behind our training. Is the priority in a session hitting a specific pace? Or a certain rate of perceived exertion? Is the goal to push to the limit, or to feel paced and sustainable?
Making adjustments to training in order to reach the desired stimulus empowers athletes to create great results in training.
Check out the latest episode of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast to learn more about training with rate of perceived exertion in CrossFit and how to use other markers of progress (like technique, movement quality and average performances) to help with long term development.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [3:00] Training is the activity to create the desired response * [4:15] Being too invested in the day to day performance of training and more nuanced markers of progress * [7:00] Why communicating the intent of training is important for athletes to auto-regulate * [10:00] The goal of training is to create adaptation not to perform * [12:00] Being adaptable is better for long term progress * [13:45] Creating training progressions based on athlete response * [17:10] Using the programme as a means of communicating * [17:35] Choose your own journey style training progressions * [19:55] Results not giving us all the information * [22:40] Using RPE to let people adjust training easier * [25:50] Is progression at the top-end really the main driver for adaptation?
How much does your performance in the Open matter if you are confident that you will make it to Quarterfinals?
Many athletes have shifted their focus in training away from the Open and onto Quarterfinals, but staying focused on the bigger picture goal after a disappointing Open finish can be difficult.
While Open finishes can provide helpful data points in guiding training priorities, it's dangerous to get too attached to specific scores. In previous years, many athletes would specifically train for and peak for the Open. Now, with the focus on Quarterfinals, Open performances will be a bit more all over the place.
As we head into Quarterfinals weekend, this episode of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast discusses the challenges in maintaining focus on the primary goal with for athletes who know they are going to make it through the Open. Listen to learn more about how to adapt to new challenges in the sport, prepare for a competition like Quarterfinals, and cope with difficult results in qualification stages of competition
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:30] How the new structure of the CrossFit Games season effects goal-setting * [7:35] How to handle underperforming relative to the field * [9:45] Anomalous workouts in CrossFit competitions * [11:45] How to stay focused on the bigger picture goal * [13:45] Getting exposed due to not building enough functional volume in certain movements * [16:30] Training has to reflect what will be tested at your goal stage * [19:10] Quarterfinals simulation weekends * [20:30] The importance of being rested and healthy going into competition * [26:00] Being flexible and dealing with unexpected challenges in competition
When is it appropriate for athletes to adjust their training based upon how they're feeling?
If an athlete is fatigued and stressed going into a session and they're supposed to max out their snatch, should they adjust the session?
For a sport like CrossFit, athletes and coaches should consider the goal of the training session. Are we trying to target a specific training stimulus? Are we hoping to prep an athlete for a competition on a specific date? Are we looking to build resilience and the ability to perform under sub-optimal conditions?
Recognizing what our intention is for a session can be a challenge since training for CrossFit looks an awful lot like competing in CrossFit.
There are situations where the right thing to do is to push through and attempt to perform at your peak abilities in a given session. More often, adjusting the training session based upon how you feel - or potentially scrapping it all together - will be better for long-term development.
Check out episode 90 of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast to learn more about how trying to force improvement can lead to a cycle of bad training, how training experience will affect auto-regulation, and how to create flexibility in your training.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: [0:30] When should we modify our training programme? * [1:40] The mental side to maxing out * [3:10] What is an acceptable range in variability of performance? * [4:20] The value of "pushing through" in the sport of CrossFit * [6:25] How to change the structure of training to simulate lifting under fatigue in competition * [8:30] Purposefully developing the skill of lifting under fatigue vs. pushing through a training session when not feeling good * [10:00] Creating flexibility in group classes * [11:30] The joys of trans-Atlantic podcasting * [12:15] How training age and experience level impact resilience * [14:45] Training to create a competitive feel vs training to create stimulus and adaptation * [17:10] When to totally change a training session * [18:00] Trying to force "good days" in training * [21:00] Fatigue that comes from missed max effort attempts
How often should CrossFit athletes compete? Only the Open and Quarterfinals? Do a local throwdown every weekend? Hit every online qualifier workout that comes up? As coaches, we see people make mistakes by both competing too often and be competing too infrequently.
Some people place all of their focus on the CrossFit Games season while not getting enough experience in live competitions. Others will compete too much, getting caught up in a cycle of constant peaking and sport specific training which doesn’t give them enough time to develop in lacking areas. In episode 89 of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast, we look at how we help athletes decide when they should focus on competing more, and when they need to spend more of their year training rather than competing.
Jon and Todd discuss the dichotomy between specific training for the sport versus developmental training, as well as why many athletes find it difficult to make a clear distinction. Confusion here can cause an athlete to either place too much emphasis on their work in the gym, or to constantly replicate competition in their training.
Listen to find out more and learn about some of the nuanced skills involved in competing, how the feedback from competition can help refine your training, and when to focus on that local throwdown and when to pass it up in favor of training.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:20] How to use feedback and exposure in competition to help your training * [2:10] Being too focused on the CrossFit Games season * [3:10] The differences between live competition and training * [6:15] Learning the skill of improvisation * [8:05] Using local competitions to know where you sit relative to the field * [9:20] Choosing to compete for the hobbyist and for the serious competitor * [11:00] Specific skills athletes pick up at competitions * [12:35] Too much competition and not enough development * [14:00] Talented athletes that are able to improve but still compete too much * [17:00] The cycle of under-recovering from competitions and qualifiers * [19:00] Training to compete or training to develop and improve long term * [22:00] Taking time off after competition * [24:30] Load management and the risk of injury * [27:00] Another Whoop rant… * [29:20] Developing intuition based upon how you feel * [30:20] Political allegories and sofas * [34:15] Recommendations for the competition shy * [35:45] Recommendations for the competition fiend
In a rare topical episode, Luke, Jon, and Todd weigh in on the recent drama surrounding the firing of Dave Castro.
CrossFit firing Dave Castro is like WWE firing Vince McMahon. While Castro had a clear creative vision for the CrossFit Games, there were also obvious downsides to having so much responsibility for an entire sport's ecosystem in one person's hands. The guys discuss where this has worked well and where it has caused problems in the past.
Give this episode a listen to see what other programming options there are for the CrossFit Games, how this could benefit the sport's growth, and what goes into planning and testing out competition workouts.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [1:00] The surprising timing of the announcement of Castro's firing * [6:00] Does CrossFit lose its connection to its past? * [7:20] Will more structure to competition be better for athletes? * [10:30] Reactions from "old school" versus "new school" athletes * [12:30] WWE style spectacle and entertainment * [13:45] Balancing novelty and consistency in the Games programming and the potential benefits of more structure to the programming * [19:40] Developing an infrastructure and ecosystem in competitive CrossFit * [21:00] Hells Angels or CrossFit HQ? * [22:00] Changing workouts during competition * [23:30] Considerations for testing and planning competitions
When getting back into training after injury, it's easy to compile a laundry list of corrective exercises to throw into warm-ups and accessory work to add to training sessions. But, how much do these things actually help when we are chomping at the bit to get back into "real" training?
This episode wraps up the mini-series on injury and pain in CrossFit with a deep dive on returning to sport-level intensity. Just as the gap between skills and drills and doing fatigued ring muscle-ups can seem impossibly large, there's a big difference between banded rehab exercises and full-on competitive intensity.
Episode 87 of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcasts covers how Luke incorporates rehab/prehab work into his training for the gym and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu while dealing with chronic adductor tendinopathy. Luke, Jon and Todd draw parallels from Luke's situation to injury prevention for competitive CrossFit athletes.
Listen to the full episode learn more about incorporating rehab/prehab training into your sessions and how to think about volume as you return to training.
Listen to this episode to learn why some more experienced athletes ‘get-away’ with bad technique, what the guys think about Brooke Wells elbow injury at the games this year and how other factors such as lifestyle relate to pain and injury.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * 1:00 - Luke's training while being injured * 2:40 - Luke's long list of injuries * 4:35 - Luke's rehab/prehab protocol for adductor tendinopathy * 5:20 - David Grey Rehab (not David Gray the 90's singer-songwriter ) * 6:30 - Working on general movements from PRI * 7:45 - Bridging the gap between rehab/prehab work and specific movements in the sport * 8:30 - Knee injury example of a return to play in CrossFit * 10:30 - Creating problems through too much rehab/prehab volume * 11:50 - Jon's suggestion to put Luke down like the old racehorse he is * 12:50 - Where rehab and prehab work fits into training * 16:40 - Implementing rehab/prehab work throughout the day to focus on adherence * 19:45 - How people with different training ages should approach this differently * 20:35 - The similarities between movement skill work and other types of skill acquisition * 23:20 - Load management in BJJ vs sports like CrossFit or running * 25:15 - How to separate rehab/prehab work in warm-ups and cool-downs * 28:50 - Reframing rehab/prehab work and movement work similar to other skill work
In episode 86 of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast, Jon, Luke, and Todd continue their mini-series on injury and pain. This discussion focuses on recovering from injury and the return to play process. Athletes and coaches often overreact to an injury, either pushing through pain and discomfort too much or, on the other end, catastrophizing and freaking out.
Strategies for injury management differ between acute injuries and chronic injuries, and the guys talk about what these strategies might look like for a competitive athlete.
Check out this episode to learn more about how to effectively use bulletproofing methods in training, how you might be able to find something to work on while injured, and how to build resiliency.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [3:00] Working through injuries and managing pain while training with chronic issues * [4:00] Managing chronic tendinopathy while still practicing your sport * [5:00] Overreactions to injury * [7:30] Unrealistic expectations for return to play * [9:00] How to build back into training * [10:00] The importance of training around an injury * [12:30] The drawbacks of compartmentalizing injuries too much * [14:30] Bulletproofing without reducing overall training volume * [15:35] Jon’s adventures with bulletproof coffee * [16:25] Todd’s opinion of Dave Asprey * [17:00] When athletes overvalue ‘bulletproofing’ * [18:15] Specializing in movement training benchmarks * [19:30] Keeping diversity in your training versus specializing * [21:45] Using movement training to add volume to a competitor’s program * [22:55] Putting athletes in a position to improve their resiliency
Episode 85 of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast is the second part of a mini-series about pain and injury. Specifically, this episode goes over the relationship between technique, fatigue and injury. Whilst technique is essential to reduce the risk of injury, fatigue often plays a significant role, especially in a sport like CrossFit. Todd and Jon discuss the different factors that could cause injury when technique is often the main focus.
Listen to this episode to learn why some more experienced athletes ‘get-away’ with bad technique, what the guys think about Brooke Wells elbow injury at the games this year and how other factors such as lifestyle relate to pain and injury.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:00] How the risk of injury decreases as technique develops amongst beginners * [4:00] A beginners ability to create tissue damage compared to a competitive athlete * [6:00] Fatigue tolerance level and risk of injury * [7:00] Brooke Wells elbow injury and fatigue * [9:00] More experienced athletes getting away with poor technique * [10:30] Stressing tissue when under extreme fatigue * [12:30] Why the relationship between technique and injury can sometimes be unclear * [14:00] Dealing with the subconscious and injury * [19:00] Developing technique or tissue tolerance to reduce injury * [23:20] Creating safe training with appropriate programming * [25:00] How lifestyle factors impact injuries * [27:00] Decoupling the relationship between the activity and pain/injury
For the next mini-series on the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast, Todd, Jon, and Luke discuss injury and pain and how it relates to CrossFit. Episode 84 kicks things off with a discussion on the relationship many athletes have with pain.
Whether an athlete is dealing with a long term overuse injury or a dislocated shoulder, it’s important that they have realistic expectations of what the relationship between their injury and their level of pain will look like.
In this episode, we talk about some of the differences between a beginner’s experience with pain compared to someone with a more advanced, competitive background.
Check this episode to find out what injuries are typical amongst CrossFit athletes, what navigating a chronic overuse injury might look like, and why top athletes are almost experiencing some sort of injury.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:55] What are the typical issues that we commonly see with athletes doing CrossFit? * [4:30] The difference between being “hurt” or being “injured” * [6:20] What answers are people searching for when navigating pain in training? * [8:30] Chronic overuse injuries like golfer’s elbow * [9:25] How should athletes at difference levels think about pain? * [11:50] Upstream and downstream causes of pain and injury * [14:45] Distinguishing between pain and discomfort * [16:15] Giving athletes knowledge and frameworks to understand pain and injury * [16:50] When should athletes train through pain? * [19:00] Working through chronic pain and injuries as a competitive athlete * [22:45] Jon’s dry wit * [23:30] Top athletes getting injured and tissue damage
Episode 83 of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast finalises the series in affiliate programming. In this episode, we get tactical and talk about programming specifically for strength training.
A big challenge when programming for groups is balancing the needs and wants of a diverse membership. Some people coming into the gym may never have touched a barbell before, whilst others may be ex-athletes looking for a new recreational sport. Jon and Todd dive into finding the right balance, and they share what has been helpful for them both at their gyms.
Listen to this episode to find out how to use levels in group programming, what different structures keep people engaged in boring old progressive training, and why percentage ranges and flexibility can be more effective than traditional textbook programming.
Listen to this episode to learn why some more experienced athletes ‘get-away’ with bad technique, what the guys think about Brooke Wells elbow injury at the games this year and how other factors such as lifestyle relate to pain and injury.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:38] What does leveled programming look like in strength training? * [4:40] Is there a role for training weightlifting and higher-skilled movements for general population clients? * [6:20] Is Olympic Weightlifting actually dangerous for general population * [08:30] A cost-benefit analysis of using high skill movements for group classes * [9:45] Balancing appropriate training and CrossFit as a recreational sport * [12:35] What do beginners need in strength training? How should a program balance the needs of beginners with the needs of more advanced athletes in classes? * [14:50] Creating progression in a general group program * [19:00] How to program assistance work while keeping members engaged * [23:00] Creating progression throughout a training cycle in group training * [26:00] Using percentage ranges rather than specific percentages in programming * [27:20] How muscle fibre types can affect peoples stimulus in strength training
Episode 82 of the Legion Strength and Conditioning podcast is part three of our series on affiliate programming, with Luke and Todd getting in the weeds on how to actually write a week of training.
Figuring out what to include in a training week can be difficult when working with members who have inconsistent attendance habits and poorly defined training goals. Todd and Luke outline some things they include every week/fortnight to cover all the programming bases bases while keeping members engaged, happy, and improving.
Check out this episode to learn more about applying a biweekly template, balancing structure with traditional CrossFit, and some nitpicky details of what to include in a week of affiliate programming.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [4:30] How to interpret member feedback on programming * [8:00] How using general observations can help inform programming direction * [9:00] Designing programming cycles with different priorities * [11:10] What are the challenges of programming for people without specific goals? * [12:40] The key buckets of training to touch on each week * [15:50] Balancing structure and less-structured training * [19:50] Using an A-week and B-week split to cover all bases in group programming
Episode 81 of the Legion podcast continues our series on programming for affiliates, with Luke and Todd diving into more details on what’s helpful and important for gym programming.
A gym and its coaches must build trust and buy-in with the gym members, but this becomes more challenging as more people are added to the mix. Todd and Luke outline how to minimize discrepancies between what is programmed and what is actually delivered in class.
Being overly detailed in prescriptions can create more opportunity for mistakes and miscommunications. As much as progression, clever exercise selection, and fancy structures can be very effective in one-to-one coaching, it’s a different story when having coaches leading group classes. You’ve got to find ways of keeping them engaged, consistent and improving, all whilst being an enjoyable experience.
In this second part of the affiliate programming series, we discuss using programming levels and avatars to communicate with members and coaches, and focus on how detail-oriented coaches can decide when things are “good enough” for the average member in class.
Listen to this episode to learn why some more experienced athletes ‘get-away’ with bad technique, what the guys think about Brooke Wells elbow injury at the games this year and how other factors such as lifestyle relate to pain and injury.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [3:00] What programming can the coaches at a gym successfully deliver to build trust with members? * [4:30] The different training cultures that exist at gyms and how that affects programming * [9:30] How smaller groups in a gym can dominate training culture and clash with values of the business * [14:50] Educating clients by programming with different levels * [17:00] Pulling back on the details and not being over-analytical * [20:40] Creating different avatars within general population groups to help coaches * [28:30] Understanding what is “good enough” for your average gym member
Episode 80 of the Legion podcast is the first part in a series where Todd, Jon and Luke discuss programming for group classes at gyms.
Programming for individuals is more straightforward than programming for groups. Individuals usually have specific goals, specific strengths, and specific weaknesses which guide the program design process. However, when programming for a gym, there needs to be a balance between the fitness and health goals of the members, what they like doing, and what they need to do.
Groups can be finicky, and may not find structured, progressive training to be “fun enough.” However, just giving them hard metcons all the time is not the best solution.
One of the biggest challenges with gym programming is aligning the members, the coaches, and the gym’s ownership. It’s not as simple as just coach and athlete now.
Listen to find out some of the biggest trade-offs you need to consider when programming for a gym and group classes, and how to communicate to create trust between everyone involved in the programming process.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:25] What group classes members “want” vs what group class members “need” * [3:45] Logistical considerations when programming for a gym * [11:20] How to anticipate likely problems in your programming * [18:30] Educating gym members through effective communication of programming * [23:20] Reducing session volume to promote better quality coaching
In Episode 79 of the Legion podcast, we discuss how much CrossFit people should be doing — particularly intermediate athletes. How much time should they spend doing training with structured progression and how much time should they be doing chaotic CrossFit workouts?
Athletes often get to an intermediate level either through the brute force method of a “just doing a lot of CrossFit,” or through a more structured strength and conditioning program. There is value in both approaches, but how do know when it’s time to switch from Turkish get-ups and rowing intervals to more thrusters and pull-ups?
Luke, Todd and Jon talk about the merits and drawbacks of biasing training too far in one direction, the importance of buy-in from athletes, and how social influences affect training decisions.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [2:50] How to find the low hanging fruit in someones training * [6:35] What are the competing priorities in training — and how should they be balanced? * [08:50] How do social influences affect buy in and training decisions * [15:00] Why adherence is so important * [21:10] How does being the best in the gym affect an athlete’s training?
Episode 78 of the Legion podcast gets tactical and provides strategies for breaking up your reps in different conditioning workouts.
When performing conditioning workouts, there are a lot of moving parts to consider when devising a plan. For example, how many reps should you do unbroken, how much time should you take between singles, and is it better to break things up into small sets or big chunks?
In this episode, Jon and Todd discuss some of the different pacing strategies you can implement while you do conditioning workouts, and how to tune into your body’s fatigue signals so you can adjust your plan as needed.
Listen and find out some things like how to break up a fifty rep chipper vs a high turnover workout like Cindy, why failing in training can be necessary, and why some athletes seem to have a magical intuition and pace their workouts perfectly.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [5:10] The importance of developing intuition through training experience — and understanding your body’s fatigue signals * [7:05] Why hitting failure in training can help us learn to pace more effectively * [19:20] How should break up reps in long workouts? Short workouts? Chippers with big sets? * [28:50] How should athletes who tend to occlude or “blow up” on certain movements pace those movements? * [41:45] Summary and practical takeaways on breaking up your reps
In episode 72 of the Legion podcast, we discussed translating improvements in weightlifting technique into actually getting better at weightlifting in conditioning workouts.
Improving your positions in a non-fatigued state doesn’t always translate into better lifts after you’ve been running around the block and doing a bunch of double-unders. This isn’t just an issue with weightlifting movements, though. We see the same thing with muscle-ups, handstand walking…and even grunt work movements like wall balls and dumbbell snatches.
In this episode, Todd and Luke develop some general strategies for bridging the gap between skill work and conditioning work.
While some athletes can just throw their weaknesses into metcons a few times per week and see consistent progress, others need to be much more deliberate with how they design their training. How do we bridge the gap so athletes can actually improve their skills in conditioning workouts — not just in drills and warm-ups?
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:13] The difficulties in translating improvements in skill work to improvements in doing movements while fatigued. * [3:48] How to create training scenarios that allow you to “practice” doing new skills while fatigued — and still have success. * [15:08] What is the difference between intermediate and advanced athletes in the mental game about progressing movements? * [21:42] Wrap up and summary of tactical recommendations for bridging the gap between skill work and conditioning
People talk about “fast twitch athletes” and “slow twitch athletes,” but does categorizing people this way hold any water? Are muscle fiber types relevant for performance? Can muscle fiber types change with training? On this episode of Science with Sergio, we discuss the paper Human Skeletal Muscle Fiber Type Classifications in an attempt to translate both the academic jargon and the bro science surrounding muscle fiber types into something useful.
While most coaches and athletes aren’t going out to get their myosin heavy chains tested anytime soon, we can still improve our training by understanding what differentiates muscle fiber types and how that impacts the way that different athletes fatigue.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:13] How should we think about muscle fiber types for athletes competing in the sport of fitness? Does thinking about "fast twitch" vs "slow twitch" athletes hold up? * [11:11] Technical categorization of different muscle fiber types. What is the mechanism for fatigue in muscle fibers? * [21:00] Production of lactate as a proxy for fast twitch vs slow twitch muscle fibers — and the difference in recovery between fast twitch and slow twitch. * [36:50] How do muscle fiber types relate to recovery and potential for overtraining? * [42:50] How muscle fiber types change over time in response to training. Why does training make muscle fibers more oxidative? * [54:41] How should coaches and athletes use this information in the gym?
Everyone has seen the Instagram posts of heavy snatches or ring muscle-ups with a caption that says something like “Finally! Been chasing this one for awhile…” This combination of exasperation and relief is palpable for anyone who has been tormented by a training plateau.
Athletes often get stuck at a specific skill level in training, and it can feel like they’re never going to make progress. This can look like attempting ring muscle-ups over and over — without being able to turn them over and actually catch in the dip. This could be loading up 225# on a snatch — and never quite being able to stick the receiving position. This could be trying to do chest-to-bar pull-ups or handstand push-ups in a workout — and completely blowing up every time.
Athletes and coaches on these training plateaus often start looking for secrets to get them to the next level. Is there a specific exercise that will help? A magic progression? A clever, counterintuitive drill? Instead, most people would be better served by just getting more “shots on goal” with whatever they’re working on.
What does this mean? Create training scenarios with a reasonable chance of success. Work on these training scenarios regularly. And, simply through repeated exposure, most people will see progression.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:13] Athletes often plateau just before “getting over the hump” with new skills like muscle-ups. One of the best ways to break through these plateaus is to get more “shots on goal.” * [09:50] Progression is rarely linear, and this can trick and confuse people. Plus, understanding “regression to the mean” can smooth out emotions in response to training results. * [21:37] Improving the “floor” of performance — in terms of both day-to-day variation as well as performing a skill in the worst case scenario” — is one of the highest leverage things an athlete can do.
Links and Resources Mentioned: * South Park episode on World of Warcraft * “The New Science of Fatigue Resistance” from Alex Hutchinson * Regression toward the mean
The CrossFit Games Semifinals are underway, and we are starting to see how the new qualification structure for the CrossFit Games will play out.
After a few seasons of chaos — precipitated by some sudden and, quite frankly, nonsensical changes and a global pandemic — we are starting to see how the season will look going forward.
In an ideal world, the Semifinals will build on the best of the Regionals format and the best of the Sanctionals format. This would result in a competitive ecosystem with a clear structure, and more opportunities for athletes to win prize money — and it would allow event organizers to innovate on the competition structure.
In a less ideal world, we end up with multiple event organizers causing inconsistent qualification standards, competitive outcomes being overly determined by the “luck of the draw,” and frustrated athletes and coaches.
Having dealt with a near worst-case scenario for the competitive CrossFit season for the last few years, it seems like we are now headed in the right direction. Jon also just coached Omnia to a first place finish at The Granite Games this past weekend, so congratulations to Omnia!
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:13] How does the current Semifinals qualification process compare to the Regionals structure and the Sanctionals structure? Is it good to have large differences in event structures that are qualifying people for the CrossFit Games? * [07:57] Is the point of the test to crown the fittest or to get the “right” people moving on at each stage? How much does event design impact who qualifies for the next stage? * [12:17] Is the opportunity for Cinderella stories and unexpected qualifiers good for the sport as a whole? Does more variance give more opportunity for “exciting” outcomes? * [19:26] How will the seeding process impact which athletes qualify out of different events? And, how important is it to make sure that athletes are doing certain movements or certain styles of events in the qualification process?
When designing weekly templates for athletes, it can be overwhelming to think about all of the things that they could be doing. Most people want to get stronger, improve mobility, build their engine, and improve their technique — all at once. This is hard to do!
When designing training templates, it’s important to pick clear priorities. But, how much training does someone need to do to maintain traits that they’re not currently prioritizing? And, how much training does someone need to do to improve traits that they are prioritizing?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but, on this episode of the Legion podcast, we give coaches and athletes some keys to understanding how to decide how much training to give people for maintenance vs progression.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches a few times per year. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcast are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:13] How much training is necessary to “maintain” something compared to how much training is needed to “progress” something. And, using “high demand” and “low demand” days to organize weekly training templates. * [5:53] Communication with athletes regarding what they need to work on — and how to give them enough of the stuff that they want to do to keep them happy. And, how much work needs to be done to “bring something back”? * [11:37] Individuals vary in both baseline ability in a given trait as well as their speed of adaptation to training. * [18:35] Athletes will accumulate different amounts of fatigue from different types of training. Some get tired from strength work, some get tired from conditioning work. * [26:25] Summaries and take aways for organizing a week’s training priorities.
We recently received a question about improving weightlifting technique for CrossFitters — especially for folks who are trying to hit heavier lifts in conditioning workouts.
It’s challenging to incorporate skill work into training in addition to the volume most athletes are already doing in order to get stronger and improver their conditioning. And, even if an athlete does make technical improvement, they often revert back to bad habits once they reach a certain weight threshold or once they’re tired enough in a conditioning piece.
So, how should athletes think about incorporating weightlifting skill work into their CrossFit training? Luke has experience on the Burgener Strength (formerly CrossFit Weightlifting) seminar staff, so he breaks down some of his favorite ways to improve technique for CrossFitters. We also discuss the value and application of skill transfer exercises like snatch balances, overhead squats, and no hook/no feet/no touch snatch and clean variations.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
These interviews are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:13] Ways to incorporate weightlifting skill work into CrossFit training: EMOMs, special exercises, etc. How to blend technique work with lifting heavy and doing metcons. * [10:27] Improving your “worst possible performance” is more important for most than improving your “best possible performance” * [18:13] The role of squatting and snatch balances in improving weightlifting numbers. And, there’s not one “special exercise” or “special cue” that will fix technique issues.
Coaching athletes remotely has its challenges — and they aren’t just limited to communication.
On this episode of the Legion podcast, we discuss the subtle cues we look for when watching athletes train in life, and how we can try to get that some information from athletes who are training remotely.
While the improvement in cell phone camera technology and the ease of sending video around has made remote coaching a lot easier, it’s still tough to be able to see when an athlete is starting to “lost it” early on a conditioning piece or when they’re beating their head against a wall attempting the same heavy snatch weight over and over again.
In a remote coaching relationship, the goal is to teach athletes to be able to make subtle adjustments to their training themselves.
Check out this conversation with Jon, Luke, and Todd to hear our thoughts on remote vs in person coaching.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:13] Working with athletes and transitioning from in person coaching to remote — or vice versa * [5:03] Learning from training with more experienced athletes. And the challenges of communicating technique tips in a remote coaching environment. * [12:03] What are things that coaches can pick up while watching athletes train that are hard to spot remotely? * [18:31] How do we recognize when someone needs to be pushed more and when they need to be pulled back? What are the common types of mistakes that athletes make in training? * [26:37] Athletes often continue making the same types of mistakes: being too rigid, being too sloppy, overpaying, underpaying, etc.
Our previous Science with Sergio episode was focused on a preprint paper discussing predictive coding and fatigue. This was a pretty dense paper that relied heavily on Bayesian models of cognition. Basically, this means that our brains our constantly trying to predict what is going to happen, and that we are making little updates all the time to what we are doing (and what we are predicting) to make those predictions more accurate.
Now, this may sound like some pretty esoteric stuff…and it is!
So, for this episode, we figured we’d go to one of the sources and cover Karl Friston’s “free energy principle” for brain modeling. Friston has done a lot to popularize some of these concepts, so we chose his review paper “The free-energy principle: A unified brain theory?”
Now, you may be wondering what esoteric models for thinking about consciousness and cognition have to do with exercising.
Well, a lot of folks in the fitness space spend a lot of time talking about mindset. Rather than talking about mindset, we at the Legion Strength & Conditioning podcast would like to talk about prediction error and updating our priors. (Sidenote: This is a really great marketing strategy! You should try it!)
Any sort of exercise performance is going to be largely mediated by the brain. Want to get less tired? Want to have better technique or learn skills more quickly? Want to learn to intuitively pass your way through workouts. All of these can be better understood through Friston’s free-energy principle, even if it doesn’t translate into immediately actionable fitness advice.
Oh and in this episode I wonder what the deal is with positive prediction errors — meaning what happens when we make a significant prediction error, and the outcome is positive. The deal is dopamine. Dopamine is released when you receive an unexpected reward.
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These interviews are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes: * [0:13] Introductions to Karl Friston’s free energy principle and the concept of prediction error * [11:31] Better prediction results in fewer errors which results in the opportunity to do more which results in more learning — the virtuous cycle of good prediction * [22:40] Thinking about the free energy model in terms of improving technique on a snatch — and two common coaching mistakes * [35:02] How does the concept of “athleticism” relate to the free energy principle? * [46:52] Ways that organisms reduce free energy: manipulating the external world or updating their models of how things work. And, how does “rate of perceived exertion” relate to all of this?
Links and Resources Mentioned: * The free-energy principle: a unified brain theory? * Free energy principle * Bayesian reasoning * Homeostasis * Information theory * Gibbs free energy * Dopamine reward prediction error coding * Allostatic load * Erythropoietin (EPO) * The psychobiological model: a new explanation to intensity regulation and (in)tolerance in endurance exercise
Athletes can often worry that they are “out of alignment” or that the little hip shift that they have in their squat is limiting their progress.
And, to be fair, movement issues can cause some significant problems for people!
Still, many folks think of their movement as being either “correct” or “incorrect” in a way that can be unhelpful. There’s also many misconceptions about the need to “activate” certain muscles or that things “aren’t firing.”
While this colloquial way of talking about things can be a useful shorthand, it can confuse people in a way that results in them spending a bunch of time doing silly warm-up routines or burn a bunch of brain power worrying about minor asymmetries that everyone has.
Check out the full conversation with Luke and Todd to hear how we think about movement, asymmetries, and muscle imbalances.
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Show Notes: * [0:13] Some common misconceptions surrounding muscle activation, asymmetries, and overly mechanical ways of looking at movement * [06:57] Movement is more about the nervous system than the muscular system. Asymmetries are natural and aren’t something to “fix” * [13:55] Many things — like Active Release Technique, stretching, and low carb diets — can be effective, but often not for the reason that gurus say they are effective. * [22:30] Doing things “to feel good” is a better framing than doing things to “correct imbalances” * [30:30] Some of the downsides to athletes thinking that they are fragile. Plus, an update on Luke’s Catalan progress.
Any sort of remote coaching relationship requires excellent communication between the athlete and the coach. Without a foundation of trust and clear expectations from everyone involved, relationships can quickly sour.
In my time as a remote coach, I’ve seen all kinds of things go wrong — either in my own coaching or in observing the relationships that other coaches have with their athletes.
Aloof, disorganized coaches who only follow up with athletes intermittently? Check.
Weird, co-dependent relationships? Check.
Controlling and manipulative behavior? Check.
Athletes looking to their coach for constant validation? Check.
A lack of trust resulting in an athlete questioning and doubting every aspect of their program? Check.
There are all kinds ways that a coaching relationship can go wrong, but, in this episode, Luke and Todd discuss how communication should work for remote coaches.
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Show Notes: * [01:23] How should coach and athletes lay the groundwork for communication in a remote coaching relationship? It’s not just about sending people their programs. * [13:40] The two types of communication errors that coaches make: excessive hand-holding or having weird “rules.” Building trust is necessary to establish good communication rhythms. * [25:59] The dangers of the “authoritarian coach” — and some strange controlling behavior we’ve seen from coaches. * [36:12] Some people want their training micromanaged by a coach, so coaches need to be prepared to discuss exactly what clients are looking for. And, the things that observant coaches should be paying attention to when communicating with athletes
Serious athletes often develop overuse injuries. Nagging elbow tendinitis, knees that get cranky with too many squats, stiff low backs after heavy deadlifts. If you’re pushing your performance, some of this is the cost of doing business.
Sometimes, these irritations turn into actual injuries which demand time off from training — or at least time off from certain movement patterns.
But, what about returning to training? Many athletes end up in a grey area where they are cleared to resume their normal activities, but they are not ready to jump back into 100% of their previous training volume or intensity.
How should coaches and athletes think about navigating return to play in sports like CrossFit?
Check out the full conversation with Todd and Luke to learn more.
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You can follow us on Instagram as well for regular training tips and crunchy tactics: @legion.sc
Show Notes: * [00:13] How should people navigate the grey area between injury and returning to full training? * [08:40] How to modify painful movement patterns to continuing training * [18:33] Being injured is not a binary state. And, how to think about improving stress tolerance in tissues. * [24:58] How to add variation to training to help people return to play and work through irritation — and how to increase volume across weeks sustainably * [31:00] Why providing a simple solution to a complex problem is effective for getting attention — but not as effective for getting results
In this episode of Science With Sergio, we go down the rabbit hole on the predictive coding model of cognition and how it relates to fatigue.
As a quick reminder, on Science With Sergio episodes, we dig into a specific scientific paper and attempt to apply it to practical training advice through reckless, hand-wavey assumptions and careless oversimplifications.
On this episode, we discuss Towards the unity of pathological and exertional fatigue: A predictive coding model from Aaron Greenhouse-Tucknott, Jake Butterworth, James Wrightson, Nicholas Smeeton, Hugo Critchley, Jeanne Dekerle, and Neil Harrison.
The predictive coding model of cognition can be opaque and challenging at first, but it offers deep insight into what may be happening when we want to keep exercising but just get too tired.
The authors of this paper argue that the sensation of fatigue may emerge as a response to the brain making poor predictions and realizing that there are huge differences from the data it is taking in from its sense and the predictions it made about what was going to happen.
Basically, if you exercise too hard, you start to lose the ability to predict how your body is going to react, so your brain slows you down until it finds its footing again.
While getting into the weeds of the model can have a sort of hall of mirrors, infinite regress feel to it, there are still practical takeaways for any coaches or athletes looking to better understand why people get tired.
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Show Notes: * [00:13] How does the brain experience fatigue? What is the “predictive coding” model? * [08:15] A summary of predictive coding — how brain researchers use this model to understand consciousness and how this is related to exercise performance * [20:31] How the body attempts to regulate systems during fatigue — and what happens when it starts to make errors both in its ability to maintain homeostasis and in its ability to predict what’s coming next * [27:14] Marcora’s psychobiological model of fatigue and how that relates to the predictive coding model of fatigue * [34:18] How does pre-workout anxiety fit into this model? * [47:05] How would an athlete improve their conscious and subconscious predictive abilities? Is this just “good training”? * [54:49] Is physiological compensation rooted in prediction error? * [01:04:08] How much of “rate of perceived exertion” is associated with exercise induced discomfort? * [01:08:40] Practical takeaways: good training pushes people just past their current abilities, which improves both conscious and unconscious self-regulation and results in improved performance
Links and Resources Mentioned * Towards the unity of pathological and exertional fatigue: A predictive coding model * Karl J. Friston * “Karl Friston: Neuroscience and the Free Energy Principle” from the Lex Fridman Podcast * Information theory * Bayesian statistics * Allostasis * Moxy Monitor * Samuele Marcora * Psychobiological Model of fatigue * Lactate Dynamics Training * Fartlek
We recently received a question about using heart rate in training, so we though it might be useful to record a podcast on the topic.
People often wonder whether they should be tracking their heart rate in training—especially if they have a background in endurance sports like running, cycling, or triathlon.
Should CrossFitters be tracking their heart rate in a similar way? Are heart rate zones applicable to mixed modal training in the same way that they’re applicable to running intervals?
As always, the answer to this question deserves a bit of nuance. While heart rate isn’t useless for CrossFitters, it doesn’t have the same correlation with intensity or rate of perceived exertion as it does for endurance athletes training in one cyclical modality.
Still, heart rate can be a valuable tool for athletes to understand their different “ranges” of intensity, and it can also help us utilize some of the tools developed for endurance athletes as “energy systems accessory work.”
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Show Notes: * [00:13] What is the value in data tracking for CrossFit athletes? Can we compare the way that endurance athletes in sports like marathon or triathlon track heart rate to the needs of CrossFitters? * [06:19] What are the challenges of using heart rate in a “mixed” environment (like burpees, pull-ups, and kettlebell swings) vs in a cyclical environment (like running or cycling)? * [10:10] How do the Legion coaches use heart rate for athletes? What have we seen be helpful for our athletes who do track their heart rates? * [19:35] Using heart rate to do “Zone 2” training focused on mitochondrial adaptation and building an aerobic engine * [29:38] Overly analytical athletes can have a tendency to “take everything apart” and focus too much on things like heart rate numbers, building an aerobic base, and doing their accessory work—at the expense of practicing their sport. Avoid this trap!
While we are still waiting for some details to be announced, the 2021 CrossFit Games season is starting to take shape.
In an ideal world, we will see the best aspects of the Regionals system and the best aspects of the Sanctionals system combine.
In a less than ideal world, Covid will throw a wrench in the 2021 season much like it threw a wrench in the 2020 season.
With the uncertainty in the air, how should athletes approach training for the 2021 Open? What should change for people who are prioritizing The Open compared to people who know they stand a good chance of making it to the Semifinals?
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You can follow us on Instagram as well for regular training tips and crunchy tactics: @legion.sc
Show Notes: * [00:13] Quick breakdown of the announcements for the structure for the 2021 CrossFit Games season. * [07:40] How should athletes approach The Open vs the Quarterfinals vs the Semifinals? * [17:20] How will the semifinals era compare to the Regionals era? * [23:04] Adapting to potential shifts in the season structure based upon new announcements and the situation with Covid. * [32:00] What is Jon doing for his athletes—some of whom are prioritizing the Open, some of whom are prioritizing the Quarterfinals, and some of whom are prioritizing the Semifinals? How should people think about training for and peaking for The Open?
Having spent time in a lot of different gyms and seen people following a lot of different competitive programs, I know for a fact that many of the coaches who write those programs would have a meltdown if they saw what was being done in their name.
I’ve seen athletes in my own gym who I personally coach doing things that have made me freak out. And, when I’m like “Ok, wait how long have you been doing this that way?” the answer is sometimes, “Well, basically the whole time.”
Misalignment on how an athlete executes a session and how a coach intends a session to be done is inevitable. Taking this gap all the way to zero is not only unrealistic, but it would also eliminate many of the opportunities athletes have to learn about their own abilities through trial and error and making mistakes.
If a coach hand holds too much by always prescribing paces, always correcting form, and always giving suggested rep schemes for fractioning, athletes become dependent and fail to develop autonomy. Just like helicopter parents can make children fearful and dependent, helicopter coaches can stunt the development of athletes.
On the other end of the spectrum, athletes will often learn the wrong lesson from their mistakes or repeatedly fail to achieve the proper training stimulus without some guidance.
How do we find the balance between being overly prescriptive while also making sure that we are still providing the necessary guidance and nudges for athletes? Check out the full conversation with Jon and Todd for our perspectives—as well as a pretty nasty assault bike challenge from Jon.
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Show Notes: * [00:13] How can coaches help clarify the goal of a training session for athletes? And, the surprising multitudes of ways that athletes will figure out how to do sessions incorrectly. * [04:50] How to find the right balance between making sure that athletes have guidance in executing their sessions vs excessive hand-holding * [12:20] Jon concocts a sadistic workout. And, the tacit knowledge that people acquire about how to train correctly from training in groups. * [23:37] Reprise of the Colborn Challenge: Bike starting at 60rpm for males and 50 rpm for females. Increase by 3rpm every 3 minutes until failure to maintain pace. * [27:27] When is it appropriate for coaches to prescribe unreasonable paces that may be outside of an athlete’s comfort zone? * [34:02] If 20 people complete the Colborn Challenge, Jon will also do it. Please send images of the completed test to @legion.sc on Instagram.
As athletes improve in the sport of fitness, their weaknesses become obvious and apparent to them.
“Man, I really struggled on those handstand push-ups.”
“My weightlifting numbers just aren’t up to snuff.”
Driven athletes home in on their weaknesses and will want to work on them obsessively.
However, especially for a lot of intermediate athletes, improvements will come over time simply from more exposure to the movements and the demands of the sport.
How can athletes and coaches know when they need to focus in on specific movements through targeted training, focused cycles, and special accessory work? And when will athletes just improve over time from doing the movements more? Check out the conversation with Jon, Luke, and Todd to find out.
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You can follow us on Instagram as well for regular training tips and crunchy tactics: @legion.sc
Show Notes: * [00:13] Why do some athletes improve just from being exposed to a training stimulus—even without focused work or a structured program? * [02:50] How can athletes find a balance between “doing the sport” and dedicating specific time to doing skill work on target movements? * [10:52] Some people are very capable of figuring things out on their own. Their success can mislead others about the best way to acquire skills. * [19:47] Many impatient athletes and coaches look for complicated solutions to stalled out progress in intermediate athletes. In reality, they often just need more exposure over time to a specific movement or skill and will improve eventually regardless of the structure of training.
Intensity and volume reign in the competitive fitness landscape.
While debates go back and forth about which is more effective for adaptation (Hint: It depends), very few people are asking whether they should just stop training when they still have something left in the tank.
In fact, many athletes who we coach often ask if it’s ok that they feel like they could have done more.
In some cases, they want to add in more accessory work. In other cases, they wish they had done more intensity and/or volume in their daily training session.
But, leaving something in the tank is a crucial part of long-term development.
Check out the conversation with Jon, Todd, and Luke to hear how to balance the concepts of “minimum effective dose” and “maximal tolerable dose” in training, when it’s appropriate to do extra work after a session, and when you should empty the tank in training.
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You can follow us on Instagram as well for regular training tips and crunchy tactics: @legion.sc
Show Notes: * [00:13] Am I leaving gains on the table if I feel like I have more in the tank after a session? Pushing too hard on a specific session can limit overall improvement from a training cycle. * [07:50] Minimum effective dose vs maximum tolerable dose and how to apply these concepts to specific training sessions * [12:58] Achieving the best possible result in a session and getting the best training dose are not the same thing—more advanced athletes can often intuitively find the correct balance here * [17:19] Is it ok to add in extra “easy work”—like skill work, easy biking or running, core exercises, etc. * [25:08] When is it appropriate to actually push to the limit? What kind of mistakes do athletes make in training sessions that prevent them from finding their actual performance limits?
We’ve got another episode with Sergio going deep on the metabolism of lactate—and its underrate role as a signaling molecule and a preferential fuel source for many internal organs.
In this episode of Science with Sergio, we review some of the highlights for performance-based athletes in George Brooks’s extensive 2018 review of lactate shuttle theory in Cell Metabolism: The Science and Translation of Lactate Shuttle Theory
As we discussed in our previous Science with Sergio episode, lactate gets an unfair bad rap—being blamed for all kinds of things like muscle soreness and fatigue.
Like most biological systems, it can be difficult to disentangle causation from correlation in the metabolism of lactate, and we attempt to do so in this episode. While this does get pretty deep, we try to offer explanations for some of the more technical concepts and jargon as we go.
Check out the full conversation with Todd and Sergio for a technical perspective on what’s actually going on with lactate and lactic acid—as well as some wild speculation about how to apply these concepts to practical training for athletes.
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Learn More from Sergio * Medium: @pecirnosergio * Instagram: @sergiopecirno
Links & Resources Mentioned * The Science and Translation of Lactate Shuttle Theory * Calcium ions * Conjugate acid-base pairs * Lactate dehydrogenase * Todd Nief’s Show: Evan Peikon (Training Think Tank) * Partial pressure * Torr * Maintained exercise-enhanced brain executive function related to cerebral lactate metabolism in men
Show Notes: * [00:13] Some common misconceptions about lactate: it causes soreness and fatigue. * [06:45] How does pH work and what does it mean for something to be an acid-base pair? * [13:10] How do metabolic byproducts actually cause fatigue? And, is there a separate role for lactate in fatigue other than through the production of hydrogen ions? * [20:14] Does lactate have anything to do with soreness? Is there value in “flushing” after a training session? * [33:14] Why do some tissues seem to prefer lactate as a fuel source? And, how can the correlation of elevated blood lactate levels with negative health outcomes confuse us? * [41:14] What is lactate’s role as a “signaling molecule?” * [44:30] What are actionable takeaways for athletes and coaches based upon a better understanding of lactate metabolism on interval training and recovery protocols?
Like everyone else in the CrossFit world, all of the Legion coaches wasted at least a few hours a few weekends ago streaming the CrossFit Games instead of doing whatever work we should have been doing.
And, like everyone else in the CrossFit world, we all each have some opinions on the programming and the testing—some positive, some negative, and some just flat out armchair pontificating.
Check out this conversation with Jon, Todd and Luke to get our take on the design of the events for the 2020 CrossFit Games—and our thoughts on how CrossFit handled the variety of challenges thrown at them for the entire 2020 season.
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Show Notes: * [00:13] Some quick takes on the testing for this year’s Games—and the challenges of running the event given the variety of changes to the 2020 season. * [07:47] How having only 5 athletes changed the dynamics of the competition. * [13:22] Some critiques of the events—and the benefits of not having anything “shocking” this year * [19:09] Somes positives of the events—and commentary on what the actual separator was on a few events * [26:00] Final thoughts on the Games workouts
And now, for a new segment on the Legion podcast: “Science with Sergio”
Lots of CrossFitters talk about lactate or “lactic acid,” like joggers from the 1970s—saying things like “my legs were burning with lactic acid” or “my lat are so sore from the lattice acid from that workout yesterday.”
Our understanding of the metabolism of lactate has progressed quite a bit, so we wanted to dig into a paper from Iñigo San-Milán and George Brooks that gives a more detailed and accurate framing of how lactate functions in the body as a fuel source, a signaling molecule, and—in some cases—as a fatigue mechanism.
On this podcast, Sergio and Todd break down “Assessment of Metabolic Flexibility by Means of Measuring Blood Lactate, Fat, and Carbohydrate Oxidation Responses to Exercise in Professional Endurance Athletes and Less-Fit Individuals.”
By better understanding the in-the-weeds metabolism, we can better filter fitness snake oil and have a more accurate framework for how athletes get through conditioning—and what actually slows them down.
Check out the full conversation with Todd and Sergio to learn:
- How elite athletes metabolize lactate
- How aerobic and anaerobic metabolism relate to lactate production
- How to practically apply this understanding of metabolism to training CrossFitters
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Links & Resources Mentioned * “Assessment of Metabolic Flexibility by Means of Measuring Blood Lactate, Fat, and Carbohydrate Oxidation Responses to Exercise in Professional Endurance Athletes and Less-Fit Individuals” by Iñigo San-Milán and George Brooks * ATP/ADP sycle * Citric acid cycle * Electron transport chain * “Fast-Twitch Vs. Slow-Twitch Muscle Fiber Types”
Show Notes: * [00:13] Introduction to “Science with Sergio” and “Assessment of Metabolic Flexibility by Means of Measuring Blood Lactate, Fat, and Carbohydrate Oxidation Responses to Exercise in Professional Endurance Athletes and Less-Fit Individuals” from Iñigo San-Milán and George Brooks. * [03:45] Some key foundational concepts: metabolic flexibility and fat and carbohydrate oxidation, lactate, the citric acid cycle, the electron transport chain, and aerobic vs anaerobic metabolism * [12:08] Does lactate actually cause fatigue and soreness? What’s the deal with “lactate threshold”? * [17:04] A breakdown of the study’s methodology and findings: elite athletes, recreational athletes, and metabolically damaged individuals all rode a bike 🙂 * [25:17] Lactate as a fuel source and why lactate both correlates with and potentially causes fatigue * [35:27] How can people apply this understanding of lactate to actual performance in fitness? What is the value of Zone 2 training? How do CrossFitters do it wrong? * [43:52] Why CrossFit has more complicated limiters than just mitochondrial function. * [49:51] “The fat burning zone” doesn’t have anything to do with people losing weight or body fat. * [53:37] Science with Sergio wrap up
Athletes who are in between classes and being high level competitors can often feel “homeless” in their training. They may also struggle with calling themselves a “competitor” if they’re not interested in trying to qualify for higher level events or if they still struggle with certain aspects of their fitness.
Still, these athletes often enjoy using the framework of CrossFit as a sport to guide their training and tap into their competitive energy.
In this episode, we try to give these athletes some questions that will help guide their training—and also support their desire to push themselves to improve without feeling like they need to push themselves for elite performance.
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Show Notes: * [01:19] A lot of people are interested in treating CrossFit as a sport, but aren’t interested in really dialing in elite performance or doing corny “athlete” stuff. What should these folks think about in their training? * [03:52] What kind of goals could someone have for improving in the sport of CrossFit? Just the joy of competing? The process of self-improvement? Having fun in the gym? * [08:10] Some people are good enough relative to other people that they feel like they “should” compete, but that doesn’t mean that they have to go all in on developing elite performance. * [13:47] Even people who don’t have strong competition goals enjoy getting better—and hate getting worse. * [19:52] How can athletes find a local competitive structure that allows them to find fulfillment. And, the value of training with people a bit above and a bit below your current skill level. * [24:58] Summary of recommendations for “in between” athletes
The Morning Chalk Up recently posted an article by Hilary Achauer called “Remember When Gyms Programmed Their Own Workouts?”
Since all of us Legion coaches have combined decades of experience programming workouts for group classes at gyms, we felt it only right that we vent our thoughts on whether gyms should write their own programming into our microphones for your listening pleasure.
With the rise of several very high quality online programming options available for gyms, it can seem like a no-brainer to outsource the programming aspect of running a gym and focus on more pressing aspects of growing and managing the business.
What is lost by doing this, though? What are the downsides to coaches, and is there a reasonable business case to be made for spending the time and energy writing a custom program?
Also, it’s important to keep in mind that the alternative to a gym hiring out their programming isn’t necessarily a well-designed and fun program that keeps all of their members engaged, safe, and coming back for more.
It’s often a haphazard, WOD that an overburdened owner/operator found while searching Google in between responding to emails.
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Show Notes: * [00:13] How has the landscape changed over the last 10 years for gyms writing their own programming? * [02:42] What are the concerns with following a more generalized program? What can go wrong when gyms templated programs. * [07:37] What level of skill do coaches need in programming in order to be able to effectively deliver class programming? * [15:11] Every group program is going to have people who question the program or argue. How can coaches and owners build trust in the program that they are following? * [24:03] There’s a difference between actually coaching and just “administering” a class * [27:32] Summary of the positives and negatives of purchasing a templated program or hiring someone outside of your gym to write programming
As people get into CrossFit, some percentage of them start to get pretty excited about the training.
While they just start off coming to classes, enjoying the workouts, and maybe making a few friends along the way, they start to realize that there’s a whole world of skills, personal records, and faster times to be uncovered.
For these folks, there often comes a tipping point when they decide that they want to do more than is in the typical CrossFit class.
But, what does that look like? It’s not just about jumping from doing a few 60 minute classes per week straight into multiple double days and 90s minute sessions that we see CrossFit Games athletes posting on Instagram.
So, how should people think about making the transition into doing more work outside of classes and focusing more on competing?
How does an idealized version of this journey compare to the often messy reality of how many athletes transition into more competitive training?
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Show Notes: * [00:13] What is the typical journey from just doing “CrossFit classes” to becoming a competitor — and what bad advice do people get along the way? * [07:14] What is the most important thing someone can focus on as they attempt to transition to doing “more than in a class”? * [14:00] Following “absolute best practices” isn’t necessarily realistic or important for people just getting into competing. How can people find low hanging fruit to focus on in training? * [20:34] Training in a group — while often devoid of “best practices” — teaches athletes many of the tacit skills that they need in order to understand how to compete. * [29:39] As long as people are learning and not pushing themselves too hard, it’s ok to do “stupid stuff” in training and almost every competitor has a period where they go through this process. * [34:17] A lot of people do not necessarily want to push for absolute peak performance — it’s ok to just want to work out and throw down with their friends.
Tight shoulders? Difficulty getting overhead for squat snatches and overhead squats? Struggling with handstand push-ups or handstand walking?
The market in fitness wants to sell you a simple solution.
You can’t get overhead because your muscles are “tight.”
What do you do with a tight muscle? You loosen it!
You can stretch it, since muscles are basically just pliable bands that can easily be lengthened.
Except when there’s adhesions — for those you need a $300 mobility tool and regular bodywork with a certified practitioner.
And, of course, don’t forget that Famous Athlete X and, of course, Famous Athlete Y use these solutions!
If you haven’t picked up on it, this is sarcasm. People always want simple solutions to complex problems, and there are plenty of companies willing to provide them.
But, you, dear listeners, come to the Legion Strength & Conditioning podcast for nuanced discussions on difficult topics with lots of grey areas and few, if any, feel good takeaways other than “It’s really hard, most of what people are telling you on social media is wrong, and the way to get better is to do unsexy stuff for a longer time than most people want to commit to.”
In the case of overhead mobility, the “simple solutions” often provide a “good enough” result, so few people are interested in digging in further.
However, for those who do want to learn more, understanding the interplay between ribcage positioning and scapular motor control opens up a whole new world in terms of thinking about overhead positioning.
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Show Notes: * [00:50] People incorporate a lot of movement practices in competitive fitness. What actually works for getting people into the positions necessary for overhead squats, kipping, and handstand walking? * [03:18] The “simple solution” paradigm — a simple problem statement, an easy “cause and effect” solution, someone famous promoting the solution, and “good enough” results. What should people do who want to dig deeper? * [14:52] Movement doesn’t just get “fixed” with a quick trick. How should athletes do things that actually translate to long-term improvement in their movement patterns? * [27:52] The difficulty in bridging the gap from doing mobility drills to actually seeing improvements in your snatch positioning. Improved positioning rarely results in immediate PRs, but it can result in better training results over time. * [34:32] The difficulty in training movement quality since it’s often not very fun, nor does it have an easily trackable score.
Testing protocols are huge in the sport of CrossFit.
Since we have so many things we can measure, we always want to know “how we are doing as athletes.”
Still, as we’ve discussed many times on the podcast, the relationship between testing results and performance in events that we care about is often looser than either athletes or coaches would like.
So, when is testing valuable? What kinds of athletes benefit from testing protocols? What kinds of athletes can be harmed by consistent testing protocols?
And — for coaches — how do we design testing protocols that get at the actual traits that we want to measure?
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Show Notes: * [00:13] When is it important to focus on developing and repeating testing protocols? And when is it counter productive? * [06:18] Sometimes athletes do fantastic in testing and are not able to reproduce that same level of performance in competition. What can testing protocols actually tell us about an athlete’s performance? * [15:25] How can we create tests that actually get at what we’re looking for. * [19:45] What are the trade-offs between trying to improve multiple aspects of fitness at once?
Yearly training plans are often built around competition schedules.
Even casual athletes who just enjoy participating in local events will usually have a few events that they plan their years around. For some, that’s the Open and a few local competitions.
For others, that used to be Regionals and is now Sanctionals…and may be Regionals again?
Right now, though, we have no idea what the competitive landscape will look like for not just the next several months due to COVID-19, but for the entire next year due to the shake-ups at CrossFit HQ.
When will live events return? What will the structure of next season’s CrossFit Games look like?
With all of this uncertainty, many athletes are struggling to find the motivation to train, since they don’t have any qualifiers or throwdowns to look forward to.
So, how should folks be structuring their training? And how can they motivate themselves through the uncertainty — and potentially gain ground on those who have let their fitness slip?
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Show Notes: * [00:13] It’s unlikely that large-scale live events will happen any time soon — and the competition season for the CrossFit Games will almost certainly be significantly restructured for the next year. How can people motivate themselves to train without events on the calendar? * [09:30] Yearly training plans are often structured around competitions like the Open and local events, even for casual competitors. How should athletes be structuring their years with so much uncertainty? * [15:58] How can people learn to “enjoy the process” and be disciplined with training without an external event to train for? * [23:19] How can athletes learn the skill of “competing” in a landscape without in-person competitions?
“What’s the point of this session?”
“What time should I be shooting for on this?”
“What muscle group is this working?”
While these questions are often relevant, coaches need to be able to help athletes zoom out and see the bigger picture, rather than getting caught up in the weeds of their day-to-day training results.
This isn’t just about preventing temper tantrums and insecurity from a bad day in the gym. This is also about understanding that the sport of CrossFit is extremely messy and chaotic, and simple performance metrics rarely capture enough information to be very helpful.
So, if athletes can reframe their focus from trying to hit specific metrics in every training session and instead optimize for bigger picture learning and development, they will get better faster – and have less emotional pain while doing so.
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Show Notes: * [00:13] Athletes often want to know what time they should be shooting for on a specific training session. Or what the goal of the session is. Or what muscle group they’re targeting. These are all good questions – and are best answered by understanding how to know when to focus on the “trees” and when to focus on the “forest.” * [06:15] Training sessions are often better thought of as “an opportunity to learn and gain experience” rather than super specific session with a very particular goal. * [11:23] Any time people have a metric to shoot for, they will inevitably end up gaming their results to hit that metric. This is especially dangerous in a sport like CrossFit where the most commonly used performance metrics like 1RM strength, cyclical time trials, and max sets of gymnastics don’t have a lot to do with actual performance in the sport. * [20:29] The role of a coach is often to interpret athletes’ questions and figure out what they’re really asking – rather than just giving an answer to the question on the table.
With all of the upheaval in the CrossFit world, it’s no surprise that we will likely see huge shake-ups in the qualification process for the Games starting in 2021.
How can CrossFit take the best of the Regionals era of qualification and potentially integrate some of the aspects of the Sanctionals era?
Will CrossFit develop a better relationship with athletes, event organizers, sponsors, and coaches under Eric Rosa’s leadership?
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Show Notes: * [00:13] What were the positives of the Regionals-era of the CrossFit Games season? What were the positives of the Sanctionals-era of the CrossFit Games season? How can the sport be legitimately professionalized for the athletes involved? * [11:47] What’s the possibility of multiple different “seasons” or competitions for functional fitness – including the CrossFit Games, the IF3, and Loud and Live events? How should qualification for the CrossFit Games work in the new era? * [22:20] How do we differentiate CrossFit as a participatory sport vs the CrossFit Games season? Are there things to learn from other sports that have an ecosystem with multiple tiers of sanctioned, live events (like weightlifting)? * [31:40] How should CrossFit HQ support the grassroots development of local competitions?
It’s one of the most important things that an athlete can improve in the sport of CrossFit. However, it’s not very exciting. It’s not something that people can post about on Instagram and get a bunch of engagement. We’re talking about reducing variance in training results. This means that - as you improve - you will often find that the range of possible outcomes or a given session gets narrower and narrower. This means that you’re more likely to hit a similar weight on your squat clean - no matter what you’ve done before in the session or in the training week. You’re more likely to be able to maintain the same pace on rowing intervals. Even when you’re having an off day on strict handstand push-ups, they never totally fall apart. Once you’ve acquired all of the necessary skills to compete, the most important thing for most athletes isn’t necessarily improving their best possible performance - it’s improving their worst possible performance.
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Show Notes: * [00:13] Why is reducing variance in performance one of the most important things that an athlete can train for? Is “variance” the same thing as “consistency?” * [07:52] What does it mean to “bring up the floor” – and how does the scoring structure of most events impact the way that athletes should train? * [16:14] How should athletes think about combining different movements or doing different kinds of workouts in training? How should athletes balance “progressions” with doing more chaotic, sport-specific sessions? * [24:15] Quick summary of practical recommendations for reducing variance in training results
This week, we’re getting super tactical and specific and discussing improving chest-to-bar pull-ups. Many athletes are capable of hitting gymnastics movements when they’re not too tired, but things unravel quickly when they have to do big sets in workouts. How should athletes think about improving chest-to-bar pull-ups? What are the requirements from a mobility perspective? From a strength perspective?
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Show Notes: * [00:13] A lot of people can do chest-to-bar pull-ups when fresh, but lose them quickly when fatigued in a workout. What should these people be thinking about when trying to improve the movement? * [06:43] What should athletes think about for an assessment process in improving chest-to-bar pull-ups? What are the movement and mobility requirements? What are the strength requirements? How can athletes figure out what is the limiting factor for them? * [23:57] What are the strength requirements to be able to do chest-to-bar pull-ups? How often should athletes train pulling strength if that is something that they need to improve? * [31:00] How should athletes balance training to improve a skill like chest-to-bar pull-ups with incorporating that skill into sport specific training scenarios? * [39:00] Summary of practical takeaways
As athletes start to get back into the gym, a lot of people are going to be touching barbells and pull-up bars for the first time in months.
Even if you’ve been doing a lot of push-ups, running and DB snatches, that doesn’t mean that you’re going to be prepared to jump right back into thrusters and pull-ups.
What should athletes be thinking about to avoid injury? How much should athletes expect to have lost in their strength? What’s the first really high intensity workout back going to feel like? And, how should you react when your performances are much worse than you’d like?
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Show Notes: * [00:13] If people are getting back into the gym after only doing lunges and push-ups for the last few months, what should they be thinking about in terms of jumping back into more “CrossFit” movements? * [06:18] What are some ways to create intensity that don’t rely on high volume of movements that we may not be used to – like kipping pull-ups? What should people be expecting in terms of their ability on strength work if they’ve been away from barbells? * [15:10] What will it feel like getting back into conditioning at high intensity? How often should athletes be doing “hard” workouts? * [21:12] Most athletes will be worse at things they haven’t been doing while out of the gym. Even though it will probably come back, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t painful to do worse. How should athletes handle the emotional hit of performances that aren’t up to their expectations? * [31:12] Summary of recommendations: pay attention to eccentric volume, especially of movements you haven’t been doing. Understand the timing for regaining “lost” fitness. Be prepared for the negative emotions you’ll probably experience when getting back into training.
In a break from our usual efforts to provide evergreen content based upon solid training principles, we instead theorize recklessly and rampantly about what the 2021 CrossFit Games season may look like. With the precarious financial state of many Sanctional events exacerbated by late event cancellations as well as likely extension of travel restrictions and potential second waves of COVID-19, we are likely to see continued disruption of the competition schedule. Will local competitions step in to fill that gap? Will athletes be willing to do events that involve multiple people in close quarters? And, what will the training implications be for athletes who likely won’t have any significant in person competitions on their calendars for awhile?
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Show Notes: * [01:03] With significant alterations to the 2021 competition season – both at the Sanctional level and the local competition level – how will athletes stay motivated to train? * [09:39] While there are plans to run the CrossFit Games in Aromas, how likely is that to actually happen? And, how many Sanctionals will be able to run in 2021 – and how many will be put out of business due to 2020 event cancellations? * [17:26] Will local competitions be running again anytime soon? * [22:34] Will people be motivated to train without an event circled on their calendar to compete in? * [27:53] What will the impacts of taking significant time off from competition be on people’s performance? Will this further the separation between elite athletes and everyone else? Will some athletes benefit from a forced deload rather than a packed competition schedule?
This is the second part of our interview with MaryKay Dreisilker after our first interview got cut short due to some internet connection issues. MK qualified for the 2020 CrossFit Games with a 35th place finish in the Open, and she recently did a well-received workshop for members at South Loop Strength & Conditioning on how to handle the stress of COVID-19, as well as the inertia and difficulty getting things done that many of us feel while stuck at home. We figured that these concepts were worth sharing with a larger audience, so we had MK back on to discuss how she thinks about mental resilience during challenging times.
Check out more from MaryKay here * Instagram: @marykaydrei
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Show Notes: * [00:58] How to manage stress in uncertain times – and how MK is dealing with the difficulties of “self-starting” with unstructured days and lack of motivation. * [13:20] How does MK manage the rigidity of having structure to her days with the necessity to have freedom and adaptability? * [24:20] How to handle plans going awry – and how to react when you’re unable to finish what you think you’re going to be able to do in a given day. * [29:12] The dangers of negative feedback loops – and how to prevent yourself from starting a downward spiral of negative emotion when things aren’t going well. * [39:52] “Action brings clarity” – How should people start to take action when they’re feeling overwhelmed? * [47:15] How is MK dealing with emotions related to the uncertainty of the current CrossFit Games season? And, what positive habits is MK focusing on to stay centered? * [01:03:53] How to learn more from MK
MaryKay Dreisilker qualified for the 2020 CrossFit Games with a 35th place finish in the Open. She’s been working with Legion since 2017, so we figured it would be good to get MK’s thoughts on training - especially in times of wild uncertainty. This is the first part of our interview and was recorded in March, so things have obviously been changing rapidly since then. MK’s advice on dealing with uncertainty and the emotional rollercoaster of training is salient as always.
Check out more from MaryKay here * Instagram: @marykaydrei
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Show Notes: * [00:53] MaryKay’s background in both gymnastics and ultimate frisbee * [06:02] Starting CrossFit on a Groupon – and gradually transitioning into taking training more seriously and eventually pursuing competition * [14:45] How does MK handle bad days in training? And, the process of separating the emotions of training with the actual effort you put into training. * [22:27] How does MK handle modifying training – and how to avoid feeling guilty if you have a bad day in the gym or need to skip something. * [25:48] How is MK reacting to the uncertainty in the 2020 CrossFit season?
It may seem a bit crass to be talking about "gains" in the middle of a global health crisis, but - with a lot of people moving from training in gyms with barbells, pull-up bars and assault bikes to training in their living rooms with a dumbbell and maybe a backpack full of heavy stuff from their kitchen, people are wondering if they’re going to lose all the progress they’ve made in the gym. While some things will definitely take a hit, the good news is that you’re not that fragile and adaptations in strength and aerobic capacity are relatively persistent. Check out the full episode to learn what you can expect in terms of losing fitness, what the process of regaining that fitness will probably look like, and what you can prioritize while training at home with less than ideal equipment selection.
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Show Notes: * [00:15] What is the current status of the coronavirus situation in Barcelona (where Luke is), Chicago (where Todd is) and Denver (where Jon is)? * [03:02] It may be crass, but a lot of athletes are wondering if they’re going to lose all of their gains. * [08:24] What types of adaptations are people potentially going to lose and which are more resilient even if you take significant amounts of time off? Why does it feel so bad when you come back to doing hard CrossFit workouts after some time off? * [19:25] What is the difference between athletes who handle adversity and things not going to plan well and those who do not? * [28:50] What should training focus on given that people may not be able to do as much “CrossFit”? What can athletes work on given that they may not have access to a lot of equipment – and what can be improved even in non-ideal circumstances?
There’s been a shift over the last several years in the fitness community towards a better understanding of "training as a stressor." This is a fantastic thing, since folks seem to recognize that more is not always better, and training is not helpful if you’re not able to recover from it. However, this has also led to a industry of recovery tools - often with associated highly mechanistic and scientific-sounding explanations of things like upregulating parasympathetic tone and and influencing the cortisol signaling cascade. But, do these things actually do anything? How much does recovery really matter in terms of long-term progress for athletes? And, can we actually do anything to change our ability to recover?
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Show Notes: * [00:15] How much do things like saunas, massage guns, supplements, and breathing drills really impact recovery? * [06:12] A framework for thinking about recovery: What are the most important variables that impact recovery? Which of these do we have control over? When is it worthwhile to focus on marginal gains? * [15:08] Do people really have a genetic ceiling? * [19:44] How do we design training programs appropriately relative to someone’s ability to recover? * [24:04] What are tangible takeaways for people in terms of thinking about volume and intensity – and how should people design their programs to balance volume and intensity? * [31:10] Why the “high/low” model from endurance training is relevant for CrossFitters – and why it helps us find the appropriate level of training stress.
Lots of athletes are doing most of their training either on CrossFit classes at their affiliate - or in small groups of friends who are following an online program. In these situations, athletes are often trying to figure out how much additional work they can do "on the side" of their main program in order to get better. For athletes who want to get stronger, this often takes the shape of adding in additional sessions that follow some sort of squat or weightlifting cycle. But, how much additional strength work should an athlete do in order to actually see improvements? And, what should they be prioritizing in their additional sessions? This all comes down to understanding the concept of "adaptation currency" - meaning how much training can you actually adapt to. Spend your adaptation currency wisely when adding in additional sessions - especially if you want to get stronger.
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Show Notes: * [00:13] What are the trade-offs between doing classes with additional programming vs following a fully individualized program? * [10:00] Why training with others can help people who don’t always have the time or energy to train? * [15:13] How should athletes think about their priorities in training – especially if they’re already doing a standard CrossFit program in their classes? * [25:30] How to think about spending your adaptation currency wisely – and why athletes should focus on low-hanging fruit. * [30:34] Some specific recommendations for mapping out a training week and selecting priorities for additional strength work.
Michele Fumagalli finally made it to the CrossFit Games as an individual in 2018 after several near misses at Regionals - and sitting out the 2016 to have a baby. But, her Games were cut short when she crashed on her bike a few yards from the finish line during the first event, fracturing her wrist and tearing multiple ligaments. Michele has made the transition from training like a professional athlete to training like an every day athlete. And, in her work as a registered dietitian with her consulting company Fit Plate Nutrition, she helps clients filter the noise on Instagram and blogs while focusing on the most important thing for their specific goals.
Check Out More from Michele Here: * Website: www.fitplatenutrition.com * Instagram: @fumagalli_fitplate
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Show Notes: * [01:22] Michele finally made it to the CrossFit Games in 2018 as an individual athlete – then broke her wrist on the first event. How did she deal with the disappointment? * [09:09] How Michele stopped feeling sorry for herself after the 2018 CrossFit Games. * [15:09] Michele’s transition from working in marketing for Gatorade to being a dietitian and working in oncology. And, what are the main differences between eating like a “professional athlete” and eating like an “every day athlete?” * [26:45] What is the role of tracking for both elite athletes and for every day athletes? And what about for people who are in a “gray area” and are aspiring to be elite athletes? * [34:27] How should people balance performance and aesthetic goals in their nutrition? * [43:15] Why hard-charging, goal-driven people may not want to “back off” – even though it could be the most beneficial thing for them to do. * [51:11] How does Michele work with clients in her practice? And, the importance of focusing on one thing to make long term progress.
Test and retest. Most people have an understanding that they should be checking in on their numbers by retesting workouts that they’ve done before. If those numbers are getting better…then great! Progress! But, if they’re not, then something must be wrong. In reality, once athletes get past the beginner stage, progress is much lumpier than we think. Our day-to-day performance varies significantly. We get stuck on long plateaus where we don’t feel like we’re making any progress. And we periodically taste a higher level of performance - but then quickly drop back down to our previous level. While this can be frustrating and psychologically challenging, this is, in fact, par for the course.
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Show Notes: * [00:15] While knowing your testing numbers is helpful, being too attached to numbers can have negative consequences. And, beginner, intermediate and advanced athletes all need to think about their numbers differently. * [06:32] Even if you improve your strength, your cyclical time trials, and your max unbroken sets of gymnastics movements, you may not actually get better at CrossFit. * [11:29] Managing expectations is key to going through testing periods. If athletes think that they’re always supposed to set a new record, they can get themselves into some psychological trouble. * [17:16] Performance is more variable than people think – especially amongst folks who aren’t the ones who are always at the top of the leaderboard. * [19:13] How often should athletes go through a testing period? How can they manage the psychological aspect of testing?
When figuring out pacing for a workout, there’s a few common ways that athletes calculate what they can expect to accomplish. The first (and most common) is to pace off of someone else who you know is typically around the same fitness level - maybe plus or minus a few reps or rounds. The second is to do a round at a moderate effort then adjust the pace up or down from there. While these are both reasonable strategies and can give an idea of what is realistic, it’s also important to be able to calculate an expected pace from "first principles" so-to-speak. Doing this is a skill just like any other, and requires knowing a few tricks: how long do certain movements take, how long do transitions typically take, how often can you expect to lift a heavy barbell, and how much can you expect to slow down during a workout?
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Show Notes: * [00:15] The 2 most common strategies that people use when approaching workouts: pacing off of their own first round and pacing off of someone who tends to be at a similar capacity. How can we use basic rep math to get an outside perspective on how long our rounds should take? * [13:10] How do we account for fatigue accumulating as we work? And how do we deal with barbell-based movements like heavy squat cleans when estimating time? * [25:09] Cyclical pieces like rowing and biking give us a monitor - but how do we know what paces we should attempt to hold?
Some athletes are able to get pretty good at CrossFit pretty fast. But, these athletes often find themselves hitting glass ceilings in their performance. Even though they are able to do most of the gymnastics movements, hit decent weights, and grit through conditioning workouts, they plateau earlier than they think they should. What’s going on here? Often, these athletes have skipped steps in their development and are able to compensate their way through training. To improve long-term, these folks need to be willing to go backwards in their training and rebuild. This can be a huge ego hit, and - to be frank - not everyone is mature enough to do it.
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Show Notes: * [00:15] Some athletes are able to get pretty good at CrossFit pretty fast. But, what are some surprising ways that these athletes find glass ceilings on their performance? * [7:41] People think of “compensation” as a bad thing, but better athletes are often better at compensating. Compensation isn’t just about lifting technique – how do some elite athletes compensate in their conditioning work? * [17:41] Why taking a step back threatens athletes’ egos – and why the measurable aspect of CrossFit has a dark side that can have a negative impact on performance.
Pacing is important in just about any workout, but it’s particularly crucial when there’s a heavy barbell looming. If you don’t have a good understanding of how quickly you can move with different weights in conditioning workouts, and if you don’t understand how long you need to rest between heavier attempts, you can end up getting chewed up pretty badly on these kinds of workouts - even if you’re strong enough to move the weight. How can athletes best learn to pace themselves on “heavy metcons” - and how do they actually get better at lifting heavy under fatigue?
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Show Notes: * [00:15] How to pace for battery workouts or “heavy metcons” – and how to get better at them. * [06:53] What do you need to think about to improve your battery? Hint: It’s not just about getting stronger. And, how should people who tend to be more explosive train their battery? * [13:15] Why experience is one of the best teachers for pacing in “heavy” workouts – and how to train so that you can learn as much as possible. * [20:39] Is there a difference between women and men in ability to do heavy weights in conditioning workouts? * [25:16] How do tests of strength usually appear in CrossFit competitions? And – what should people do in their training sessions or in their next “heavy metcon” to get better?
Anyone who has coached or competed in CrossFit for awhile sees things that kind of don’t make sense. Athletes with 15+ unbroken ring muscle-ups and a 6:30 2k row who are surprisingly bad at “metcons.” Athletes who can only do 5-10 unbroken strict handstand push-ups who are able to quickly chip away at a set of 50 and beat athletes who can do 20+ unbroken reps. Evan Peikon from Training Think Tank has done a lot of work with the Moxy unit on measuring muscle oxygen saturation and blood flow, and he’s developed a model that is able to explain a lot of these seemingly confusing contradictions in performance. While this conversation gets a bit into the weeds, a lot of these details are necessary to understand the complexity of fatigue in CrossFit as a sport. If you’ve ever seen something that doesn’t make any sense in CrossFit, Evan’s framework may give some insight into what’s actually going on with different “types” of athletes.
Check out more from Evan and Training Think Tank here:
- Instagram: @evan_peikon | @trainingthinktank
- Website: Evan’s Interviews and Articles | www.trainingthinktank.com
- YouTube: @trainingthinktank
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Show Notes:
- [01:10] Evan’s opinions on metalcore
- [10:55] The basic physiology of oxygen delivery and what different measures like VO2 max, muscle oxygen saturation and heart rate can tell us about performance
- [16:58] What are different types of fatigue that can occur at the muscle level? And – the 3 different types of limiters in CrossFit athletes.
- [23:35] What is the difference between Evan’s model of fatigue based upon his work with muscle oxygen saturation and more traditional models of fatigue based upon acidosis?
- [31:45] What is happening when athletes feel “burning” in the muscle vs when athletes feel a “pump” in the muscle? How do these sensations in the muscle create global feelings of fatigue? What role does the “mind” play in governing our effort?
- [41:44] Psychological gamesmanship in racing – particularly in track athletes
- [45:00] What role do occlusions play in creating fatigue for athletes in CrossFit? And – the 2 different types of occlusion and what those mean for your ability to “push through.”
- [01:03:40] Why do some people always have one specific muscle group “blow up” – like their grip, their shoulders, their low back, their calves, etc.
- [01:09:23] How can athletes who tend to get muscle pumps improve their ability in CrossFit? What would an ideal training session look like for this athlete – and why do some common training protocols potentially make this kind of athlete worse?
- [01:17:25] What does Evan think the most common limiting factor is for athletes who do not tend to occlude in their muscles? These athletes often struggle to build strength – how should they structure their strength training protocols so they can actually get stronger?
Links and Resources Mentioned
- Norma Jean
- Josh Scogin
- Cory Brandan
- Norma Jean – Redeemer
- The Chariot
- CTP
- Underoath
- Slipknot
- Pound Classes
- What is muscle oxygen saturation?
- NIRS(Near-infrared spectroscopy)
- Moxy Monitor
- VO2 max
- The Phosphocreatine System
- Anaerobic glycolysis
- Cellular respiration
- Energy system utilization chart
- Bicarbonate buffer system
- 5-1-5 Step Test
- Improvements in Cycling Time Trial Performance Are Not Sustained Following the Acute Provision of Challenging and Deceptive Feedback
- Max El Hag
- Travis Mayer
- James Jowsey
Most people have some sort of plan going into a workout, but there are 3 key things that need to be considered when creating that plan. Getting a bigger max set of chest-to-bar pull-ups won't necessarily improve your ability to do large sets during workouts, so you need to have a plan that takes into account all of the variables of the workout - like interference between movement patterns, overall level of metabolic fatigue, and your own characteristics as an athlete. It's also crucial to develop an intuition about when to suck it up and stick to your plan and when to call an audible and adjust on the fly.
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Show Notes:
- [00:17] Most people have some sort of plan going into a workout, but what are the 3 things you should be thinking about when coming up with a strategy?
- [07:33] The best time to learn what works best for you is during training. Here’s what you need to focus on.
- [17:10] How does overall metabolic fatigue impact fractioning strategies? And how do you know when you’re going to redline?
- [21:29] What is the balance between sticking to your plan – and being adaptable and adjusting on the fly?
In this podcast, we’re going to break down how to effectively design conditioning workouts so that you can actually get better at doing the things that you struggle with under fatigue. Struggle with pull-ups? Do a bunch of metcons with pull-ups in them. Struggle with heavy squat cleans? Do some EMOMs! Unfortunately, it's not always that simple. Listen to the full episode to learn how to design conditioning workouts to actually get you better at the things that you struggle with under fatigue.
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Show Notes:
-
[00:15] Conditioning workouts can have a different “feeling” and a different stimulus. Your conditioning workouts should have a goal, and shouldn’t be thrown together haphazardly.
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[04:56] The mistake that many athletes make when thinking about training for a competition vs training to get better at something.
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[12:03] Training isn’t linear – don’t expect to improve immediately from each training cycle.
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[18:31] They key to designing conditioning workouts that are appropriate for your skill level
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[25:25] Why some athletes can get better at CrossFit just by doing a strength cycle and focusing on “heavy metcons” – and why that’s a disaster for the wrong kind of athlete.
Athletes typically go through a few stages when learning how to pace in CrossFit. First, they go way too fast, fall apart halfway through a workout, then barely hang on in order to finish. Then, they learn that they should pay attention to their pacing and have a plan - but often become overly rigid and stuck on their plan, and they don’t adapt well when they’re unable to maintain their split times or their fractioning strategy. At the highest level, they are able to go into a session with a plan, but make intuitive adjustments throughout based upon how they’re feeling - and they know what feedback from their body they should ignore and “push through,” and what signals they need to actually pay attention to in order to adjust their pacing.
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Show Notes:
-
[0:15] There’s a standard trajectory that many athletes follow while learning to pace: not having any strategy and going out too hot, then learning to plan and over-planning, then developing an intuition for how to react on the fly based upon how they’re feeling in a workout.
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[3:52] Workouts are not “just work” – athletes should be trying to learn about their pacing strategy and their reaction to different scenarios (ie splits for each interval of a rowing workout, fractioning strategies for gymnastics, etc)
-
[8:31] Athletes tend to go through a phase of over-calculating pacing. At this stage, attempt to force adaption through strict structure; instead, there needs to be acceptance and understanding of the need to deviate from the ‘spreadsheet’ in certain situations.
-
[12:02] Elite athletes cannot always be trusted when explaining pacing since they have an overdeveloped intuitive capacity to make pacing decisions – and they often don’t even realize that they are using certain strategies.
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[16:16] Athletes can often learn a lot about their ability to pace by working through very specific pacing scenarios (ie “Row 500m at 1:55 pace, then do 1 clean every 10s for 10 reps”)
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[20:00] As athletes improve, they will need to increase their paces. Many athletes will settle into a specific range of paces or reps for certain workouts – without realizing that they’ve increased their capacity and need to start to push themselves harder.
-
[25:45] Pacing in a competitive scenario isn’t just about how you feel relative to the workout – it’s about how you feel relative to other competitors around you potentially going a lot faster than you.
Most masters athletes have some understanding that they may need to train a bit differently than their 24-year old peers. But, what exactly should they do differently? And what about masters athletes who haven’t really done serious training before? In this episode, we dive into how masters athletes should prioritize their training programs - and discuss the importance of having clear priorities and being willing to put some things on “maintenance.” We also explain why people underrate the ability of masters athletes to acquire new skills - and the mistake that most athletes make when trying to refine or develop their skills.
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Show Notes:
-
[0:12] Understanding the difference between “biological age” and “training age” – and how the difference between those can dictate how much volume and intensity a masters athlete should have in their training.
-
[4:40] Athletes with higher “training age” (more experience in the gym) as well as higher “biological age” will adapt more slowly to training. Athletes with high biological age but low training age can still experience “newbie gains” and get better quite quickly.
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[9:05] Masters athletes often have much more stress and responsibility outside of the gym – in addition to a slower rate of adaptation. Because of this, masters athletes need to be clearer in their training priorities, whereas younger athletes can often work on everything at once.
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[15:17] Don’t fast track introducing higher volume and higher intensity training programs for masters athletes. And – how to retrain faulty movement patterns that have been ingrained through potentially decades of compensatory movement.
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[23:20] Jon’s magical thinking detour into using visualization and PVC pipes to replace heavy squatting sessions.
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[27:42] Masters athletes can still acquire skills through deliberate practice and technique work – often at a similar rate to younger athletes. However, very few people have the “skill of acquiring skills,” and masters athletes often have less unstructured time in their schedules to engage in the practice and play necessary for skill development.
When we talk about skill acquisition in CrossFit, we often think about things like “getting a muscle-up” or “improving double-under technique.” These are all important aspects of improving your abilities in the sport, but there’s a huge difference between simply improving movement quality and improving the ability to do high repetitions when fatigued. So, how do more standard models of skill acquisition apply to getting better at skills in CrossFit? How do we differentiate between the information related to improving skills in areas like music performance and chess to improving in individual sports like CrossFit?
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Show Notes:
-
[0:16] The concept of skill acquisition in sport can mean different things depending on the characteristics of the sport. What does it mean in a sport like soccer or basketball where you have an adversary trying to stop or outwit you? What does it mean in individual sports like running or powerlifting? What does it mean in non-sporting scenarios like chess, music or computer programming? And, how do we differentiate between skills that can be learned vs “physical capacity?”
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[11:26] Learning to react against others and execute on complex motor patterns when being “defended” or “attacked” is not the same thing as being able to have good technique under fatigue. And, in CrossFit, technique is usually not the separator between athletes. However, technique still matters – so how can we develop athletes from the start to have good technique?
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[18:33] Will there come a point where we’ve started to see the maximum physical potential of CrossFit athletes so there’s no longer as much “surprise” in CrossFit Games events? Will the sport still be as exciting when people aren’t obviously getting better every single year?
Links, Resources and People Mentioned:
-
“Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” by David Epstein
-
Tiger Woods
-
Roger Federer
-
10,000 Hour Rule
-
K. Anders Ericsson
-
“The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance” by David Epstein
-
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
-
International Functional Fitness Federation (IF3)
What do we actually mean when we talk about “peaking?” How should an athlete structure a peaking phase in their training? And, how do we get CrossFit athletes to be be able to do competitions when they’re not in top shape without getting hurt and without judging themselves harshly for their performance relative to others? Structuring a season for a CrossFit athlete has become a lot more complicated based upon the somewhat confusing structure of online qualifiers and Sanctional events, so figuring out a plan becomes all the more important.
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Show Notes:
-
[00:15] What does it mean to “peak”?
-
[07:55] How should we plan a season based upon a confusing schedule of qualifiers and Sanctionals? How often can we peak in a season? How should we structure an off-season – and what are the unique challenges of structuring a season in CrossFit compared to other strength and endurance sports?
-
[16:44] How to detach your identity from your performance so that you can stick to a larger plan for your season – rather than getting caught up in the hype and comparison of every qualifier that you do.
-
[25:18] How often should we touch on “sport specific training” throughout the season – even during a non-peaking phase? And, what is the role of “mental toughness” training in our sport?
If you want to get strong, you have to stop doing conditioning, right? While you may find that athletes do often get stronger by focusing only on strength development, this does not carry over well to mixed modal sport. Instead, a concurrent training model (working on strength and conditioning simultaneously) creates a more robust adaptation that carries over to running around the block and doing deadlifts - in a way that just focusing on running and deadlifting independently does not.
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Show Notes:
-
[0:12] Will conditioning limit your development of strength? Maybe. But removing conditioning from a competition program does not work well for CrossFit athletes. Even in fields such as weightlifting and powerlifting, where sufficient conditioning performance is not necessary to succeed, athletes are completing some form of regular conditioning.
-
[4:31] Athletes will often need to do a focused training cycle in order to gain muscle. However, it’s difficult to change body composition (by either adding muscle or losing fat) for most individuals. Having an off-season during a yearly training block can be a useful tool in putting on muscle while also allowing the body to take a break from stressful, high-intensity work.
-
[7:13] Certain populations (those who struggle to cycle moderate weight with consistency, those whose one-rep max limits them competitively) can benefit from strength-focused training. Most athletes still need to do a substantial volume of conditioning work in order to do well in CrossFit.
-
[16:00] Training both strength and conditioning at the same time builds robust adaptation. There may be trade-offs in terms of the amount of strength that you can build relative to your absolute potential, but the strength will carry over more to mixed modal sport if you are training conditioning simultaneously.
-
[21:52] The volume of movements like squatting done in conditioning workouts needs to be taken into account when programming strength development work.
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[29:16] Having a plan for a “season” of training is essential. Coaches and athletes should have priorities, and structure training throughout a season to focus on developing those priorities.
As has been the case throughout the entire 2019 season, there was much controversy surrounding the 2019 CrossFit Games. Luke coached two national champions this year, so we get some “behind-the-scenes” insight from him - and learn about the process of having his coaches pass snipped when his athletes were cut. We dig into the controversy surrounding the cuts and try to unpack the reason that people are so upset about them - as well as come up with some possible solutions to make the cuts more fair. And, we also discuss the necessity of creating an ecosystem for the sport of fitness as a whole that gives everyone competing a great experience - not just the folks standing on the podium at the end of the weekend.
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Show Notes
-
[0:20] Luke’s behind-the-scene takes from coaching some national champions at the Games - and having his coaches band snipped.
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[5:30] How do you communicate with your athletes relative to the cuts? How do you speak to them so that they can go into an event with confidence and leave with their head held high - even if they’re cut early in the event.
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[13:39] What are the positives and the negatives of the new structure with the cuts? How could the cuts be structured to make the competition more fair?
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[23:35] The order of the events - and the optimal balance of luck and skill in sport.
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[31:45] What happens to the folks who are not on the podium? What should their experience be?
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[37:20] What should the CrossFit Games qualifying process look like for 2020?
As we’ve discussed many times on the show, the way that elite athletes train for the sport of CrossFit can be confusing and often negative for people who aren’t yet at an elite level. Many athletes want to improve their conditioning and be able to do better in longer workouts, but - in many cases - simply doing more longer workouts with a lot of different stuff in them is not sufficient or effective to create improvement. Instead, athletes need to balance building up an appropriate base of support (so they’re not just “compensating” their way through workouts with high power output strategies) while still keeping an appropriate dose of chaos and sport specific work in their training.
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Show Notes:
-
[00:18] Beginners often get a lot better quickly just by doing “CrossFit.” Similarly, advanced athletes have a large base of support so they need to do less base-building and accumulation and are able to adapt quickly to sport specific training. However, people in the middle can often develop compensatory strategies in their conditioning workouts if they do too much sport specific training without having built the base of support to do high intensity mixed work appropriately.
-
[09:07] There needs to be a balance between building up a base through appropriate principles of long-term development and having enough chaotic, sport-specific training so that individuals don’t get fit in ways that don’t translate over to their sport. There also needs to be an understanding of the psychology of athletes – while coaches can’t cater to athletes’ every whim, they do need to allow them autonomy and understand that long-term compliance is more important than the perfect program.
-
[17:49] Intermediate athletes often need more specificity in terms of prescription: split times, weights, fractioning strategies, etc. Advanced athletes will self-organize and do things “correctly,” so they need less specific guidance. However, too much direction from a coach can prevent athletes from learning how to pace workouts and make decisions on the fly based upon how they’re feeling.
-
[26:24] It’s much more interesting to see what someone has done to make steady improvements year-over-year rather than to see what someone has done who catapults quickly to the top of the sport. Steady progress likely shows an understanding of how to build sustainably and correct weaknesses over time, while extremely rapid progress likely shows more “talent” and gives less generalizable information.
This week, we have a rebroadcast of the audio from a webinar that we did with Michael FitzGerald of Optimum Performance Training Calgary a few months back. Many athletes want to improve their endurance in the sport of CrossFit, but what should they be doing? More running? More biking? More thrusters and pull-ups? Going faster? Going slower? Michael breaks down how he thinks about improving the aerobic system for CrossFitters - including common misconceptions as well as some things that he's changed his mind about in the last few years.
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What is the lifecycle of a CrossFit athlete? How does one progress from starting CrossFit as a fitness program, deciding to do a bit of additional work, then progressing into doing competitions. How do athletes balance training with a group vs working on an individualized program as they get more serious about their training? And, how should athletes think about structuring a season with the myriad of opportunities to compete now available?
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Many athletes are limited by their muscle endurance in conditioning workouts. Their shoulders blow up and their burpee cycle time turns into a crawl. Their grip is shot and they can’t hang onto the bar for another 75# power snatch. Their abs are gone so they can’t get their toes to the bar for another rep. It’s not just about doing more accessory work and dumbbell exercises at the end of your sessions to improve muscle endurance. Instead, we need to understand what work an athlete can do in a sustainable environment, then learn how to progress that to more chaotic scenarios with more movement interference, more repetitions and more intensity.
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When designing conditioning sessions, it’s a challenging to understand how much sustainable work should be done (meaning paced, repeatable efforts) vs how much unsustainable work should be done (meaning high effort testing or competitive scenarios). Our bias is generally towards accumulating more volume at sustainable efforts, but having a balance of both types of training is crucial for long-term development in the sport.
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People often talk about wanting to improve their “engine,” but this can mean a lot of different things. Some people struggle with cyclical pieces based upon rowing, biking and running, but are great with mixed pieces of double-unders, thrusters and box jumps. Others can do well with long, grindy pieces, but fall apart when they have to do fast, high-turnover movements with quick transitions. How can we think about the different aspects of “having an engine” and what are some key concepts to keep in mind when working on training them?
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As coaches who generally love us some aerobic work, we’re generally onboard with athletes getting in a bunch of sustainable, well-paced training. We also often have folks asking if they can do “too much cardio” - between their high intensity conditioning, riding their bikes for commuting, and adding in supplemental aerobic training sessions. As you’ve come to expect, there’s no simple answer to this question, but there are some things to think about when considering adding additional aerobic training to your program. Check out the full conversation to learn more.
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Athletes must have intent when they train. They must understand exactly what they’re working on, and be relentlessly focused on observing their experience and learning both tacitly and explicitly how they can improve their pacing, their movement quality, their self-talk, etc. throughout their sessions. They must put in focused work, understand the difference between play, practice and competition, and develop the capacity for self-reflection that allows for constant improvement and learning from every session that they do.
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We all know someone who has done a Smolov cycle or a weightlifting program in an attempt to get stronger - and they usually throw that on top of their typical CrossFit “metcons.” But, is layering a strength program on top of a typical CrossFit program the best way to get stronger for the sport? Not really. The integration of multiple different aspects of fitness into performance in mixed modal settings is messy and unpredictable, and the principles for balancing the stress of a training program throughout the week can also be complex. It’s not enough to just do a squat program to get stronger. And, even if you do get stronger, it might not make you better at CrossFit.
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“I’m not feeling so good right now - I’ll just move through this at 80% to finish it off.”
Athletes can get themselves in trouble when they start negotiating with themselves on pacing during a workout. As coaches who often advocate slowing down and understanding your rate of perceived exertion, this can come across as a bit contradictory. However, there’s a key distinction here: Athletes should decide on what the goal of a training session or a training piece is before starting, then modulate their pacing throughout in order to hit that specific training goal. You can slow down and speed up as you go, but you have a target feeling and stimulus in mind. Issues start to pop up when negotiation happens about the goal of the session - ie “I was going to try to PR, but I’m off from my target pace so I will just quit."
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You may recognize Phil Mansfield from his recent hit appearance on the Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast a few episodes ago. Oh yeah, and he’s also Sara Sigmundsdottir’s coach. This time, the gang is all here - as Phil and his partner in RedPill Training James Jowsey (who coaches Samantha Briggs) join Jon, Luke and I for another podcast extravaganza. Jowsey and Phil’s expertise ranges from a detailed understanding of biomechanics and how it integrates with sport, as well as a higher order understanding of how to communicate with athletes and create buy-in for a long-term plan of development.
Check out more from Phil, James and RedPill Training
-
Instagram: @philmansfield_msi//@jamesjowseytraining//@redpillcoach
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Website: www.redpilltraining.com
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YouTube: @redpilltraining
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Podcast: www.redpilltraining.com/redpill-pod
Show Notes
-
[0:31] Clarifying the mobility/stability continuum in fitness athletes. “When we walk on ice, we have a smaller step than we do when walking on a stable floor”
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[16:46] After going through an assessment, how do you work in corrective work for things that come up as a problem? And, the difference between “can’t get into” vs “can’t get out of” range of motion problems.
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[26:11] How do you peel apart an assessment when someone has a range of motion in an unloaded situation (like reaching overhead with their arm) but struggles to achieve that position in a loaded situation (like hanging from a pull-up bar)?
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[32:14] “The functional continuum” – how to return to sport from an injury, correct dysfunctional movement patterns, and move well under high metabolic fatigue
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[39:31] How do you get buy-in from high-level athletes to take steps backward and work on basics?
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[48:31] “If you need someone to shout at you to do five more reps, you’re not going anywhere anyway.”
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[57:58] How do you structure an environment for competition amongst competitors? And how much competition do you encourage between athletes?
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There’s a lot of “fun” stuff to do in training. Snatches and muscle-ups, long grindy chippers, heavy squatting or clean and jerks… But these aren’t always the things that we need to do to get better. How do we set ourselves up to spend the time necessary in training to get better at all of the stuff that isn’t as fun and doesn’t have clear testing numbers or progressions associated with it. Stuff like movement quality work, corrective exercise, pacing strategy, and skill work. Luke and Todd discuss how they approach this in training with their athletes - as well as common pitfalls for athletes in terms of how they organize their focus in training.
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What's up with the programming at the Sanctional events? Are events doing a good job of selecting and testing the athletes that are going to be moving on to the CrossFit Games? Should HQ step in and create specific standards surrounding how they want the testing to run? Now that we've seen a few of these Sanctionals - and Jon and I were at Wodapalooza in person soaking it all in and jostling for position to be able to see our athletes compete - it's time to break down some initial thoughts on how these things are going.
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Phil Mansfield is a multi-disciplinary coach with a history competing and/or coaching in rugby, cycling, swimming, triathlon and more. In the CrossFit world, he is best known as the coach to multi-time CrossFit Games podium finisher Sara Sigmundsdottir. We got up early - well, early for me (Phil’s internal clock was still on Denmark time) - after Wodapalooza to have a quick chat before Phil did a postmortem on the competition with Sara.
Check out more from Phil and RedPill Training
- Instagram: @philmansfield_msi
- Website: www.redpilltraining.com
- YouTube: @redpilltraining
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Show Notes
- [00:14] A proper coffee
- [01:34] What are the consequences of fast tracking an athlete - and having someone who is very good in sport but who has skipped steps during athletic development?
- [06:04] Almost all training can be broken down to either working on skill acquisition or threshold training.
- [09:51] How to find the appropriate amount of variation in skill acquisition training. “Once we say ‘for time’ everything changes.”
- [20:49] How do you convince an athlete to potentially back off and focus on rebuilding if they’ve “skipped steps” in their development?
- [33:18] The value of mindset coaching in competitive sport - and where a lot of people go wrong with their approach to mental toughness.
- [44:04] How do you help athletes create organization and structure for their thoughts? And how do you translate practicing meta-cognition into training and competing?
Links and Resources Mentioned
- Dunning–Kruger Effect
- James Jowsey
- Gary Gray
- Sara Sigmundsdóttir
- Dubai Crossfit Championship
- Wodapalooza
As soon as someone training in CrossFit gets past that initial hump and starts to see some improvements in their training results, a common question starts to haunt their thoughts.
A question vocalized by Peter Steele in Type O Negative's 1996 classic "Love You to Death."
"Am I good enough?"
And...."How long until I get good?"
Like most of these kinds of questions, there's not a clear cut answer. But there are some lessons to be learned from the typical trajectory of development observed for thousands of athletes over time.
There are also some psychological quirks involved that can trick athletes and give them a distorted perspective on their improvement and what their maximum potential may be - and these tricks function in both the positive and negative direction.
In this conversation, Jon, Luke and Todd discuss:
- The hedonic treadmill - or Assault runner - of adaptation, and why it feels like you're always just short of being at the level that you want to compete at
- The fast feedback loop of the internet and social media and why this may be great for elevating performance...but terrible for fulfillment and sense of well-being
- A disagreement in how long it typically will take for an athlete to be able to transition from beginning CrossFit into doing full fledged "competitive" training
- And finally...Jon's philosophy of coaching based upon disappointment, regret & shame
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You've probably heard of the 10,000 hour rule.
And it probably sounded really good.
Put in 10,000 hours of work and become a world class expert at anything!
Problem is, the common explanations of the 10,000 hour rule miss the mark.
The rule originally came from some of Anders Ericsson's research on deliberate practice and world class performers - then gained notoriety through Malcolm Gladwell's distillation of the rule in his book "Outliers."
Now, we've got all kinds of goofballs throwing around the "10,000" number in CrossFit like it's the secret to success.
Not only do they not understand the true discomfort of the deliberate practice concept (meaning that you have to spend an inordinate amount of time deeply focused and right on the edge of your ability with constant feedback and correction), but they're also improperly applying a concept related to skill acquisition to a sport that is more determined by physiological adaptation (ie how quickly can you recover between a heavy set of power cleans, how much oxygen can you transfer in and out of your muscle cells while doing chest-to-bar pull-ups and burpees, etc.).
We've had enough!
In this conversation, Jon, Luke and Todd discuss:
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Why the amount of data available on the performance of elite CrossFit athletes is both a blessing and a curse - and how people use this data to confuse themselves about where they sit relative to the elite
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What are the true key performance indicators for CrossFit performance
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Why adaptation to training over time isn't linear - and why the rate of adaptation is true "talent"
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And finally...why everyone should quit talking about 10,000 hours
If you're enjoying the show, https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/legion-strength-conditioning-podcast/id1413580668?mt=2">why not a leave a review? It makes a difference in terms of other people finding the show.
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Andy Edwards is one of the CrossFit OGs on the British Islands. He’s been on the CrossFit Level One seminar staff for years, and he’s also coached Jamie Greene to an 8th place finish at the CrossFit Games in 2017, an 11th place finish in 2018, and a nail-biter of a second place finish at the Dubai CrossFit Championship last week.
Check out our interview with Andy Edwards on intensity in training to learn:* Why some athletes can put up crazy numbers in training...but struggle to have success on competition day * How Andy structures a week of training for his elite athletes...including how often he has his athletes touch high intensity training throughout the week * Why Andy prefers prescribing specific paces in conditioning workouts instead of using an RPE scale (rate of perceived exertion) * How Andy figures out what Jamie is capable of...given that she is one of the best competitors in the world and doesn't have many athletes with whom she can compare her scores
The training of many elite athletes involves seemingly endless intervals suffering on the assault bike and the erg.
While there seems to be a general understanding now that the flashy 1RM PRs clogging up our Instagram feeds don't necessarily translate into improve performance in the sport of CrossFit - what about the long hours of grunt work spent rowing, running, biking and skiing?
Are you wasting your time sweatin' to the oldies on the assault bike? Does hard work actually pay off here?
There is certainly value in putting in work in cyclical modalities, and we use running, rowing, biking, etc. regularly in the training programs for our clients.
However, the link between improving aerobic capacity in something like a 5k row and getting better at twenty minutes of burpee box jumps and DB snatches is a bit more tenuous than one might think.
So, how should we think about integrating running and rowing into our programming?
Is it enough to do some "CrossFit metcons" and layer an interval-based endurance program on top of that?
What is the relationship between improving scores on tests of cyclical aerobic capacity (like a 2k row, 3k run or 10 min assault bike test) and improving mixed modal tests (like Open workout 18.1, 17.1, or named workouts like Kelly or Eva)?
Jon and I both worked with Kristin during the NPGL's amateur GRID tournament - remember GRID? We put together a team of misfits and went out to LA to compete, and we actually did pretty well. We took second overall, which meant that we got an automatic bid to the next year's tournament. Still waiting for that invite...
Kristin has gone on to make two CrossFit Games appearances with OC3 Black (in 2017) and CrossFit Mayhem Independence (in 2018). She will compete with CrossFit Mayhem Freedom in the 2019 season - which is shaping up to have quite the interesting structure.
Show Notes* [0:14] How did Kristin end up at CrossFit Mayhem? And the anxiety of “trying out.”
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[7:03] Commuting several hours to compete with OC3 in 2016
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[13:19] Kristin’s dietary restrictions
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[19:44] Getting started with competing in CrossFit
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[23:42] What actually happens at Mayhem on a daily basis (There are no schedules)
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[34:53] Mayhem athletes mostly train individually - so how do they develop the team communication skills necessary to compete?
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[46:36] How is Mayhem approaching the changes to the 2019 CrossFit Games season?
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[52:21] How do Mayhem athletes work on their own individual weaknesses while still training as a group?
In competitive CrossFit, most people tend to either consistently go out too hot on every workout (and have a melt down a few minutes in), or they tend to overpace everything and always feel like they had more in the tank to give.
Based upon this, a coach needs to be able to understand what kind of prescription will give each athlete what he or she needs in order to improve understanding of the appropriate effort for a given situation.
So, is the best way to do this by giving athletes freedom to feel things out? Or is it to give them prescribed paces and weights so that they have to learn how the feel when tasked with accomplishing a specific prescription.
If you're enjoying the show, https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/legion-strength-conditioning-podcast/id1413580668?mt=2">why not a leave a review? It makes a difference in terms of other people finding the show.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to http://legionsc.com">www.legionsc.com and get with the program.
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When it comes to "effort" in skill training, it seems that less is more.
Athletes who compete in CrossFit often thrive on giving full effort. They enjoy the process of pushing themselves - and they also believe that, unless they've given everything they had in a session - that they did not maximize their time on the gym floor.
In skill acquisition, however, full effort is not necessarily full victory.
In fact, many athletes need to learn to relax as they perform skills like muscle-ups, handstand push-ups, and barbell cycling. Being too tense during workouts with high volumes of these kinds of movements is one of the easiest ways to get really, really tired.
It can be challenging for folks to take a step back and work on improving the quality of their movement through consistent, low intensity practice - and it can also be difficult for them to work on movement in an unstructured "play" type environment without prescribed reps and sets.
If you're enjoying the show, https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/legion-strength-conditioning-podcast/id1413580668?mt=2">why not a leave a review? It makes a difference in terms of other people finding the show.
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Todd and Luke continue to talk through the changes to the 2019 CrossFit Games season.
The incentives for people to participate in the different competitions will change significantly - and we will see people having to put much more thought into their training as they decide which competitions to truly peak for.
No longer is everyone on roughly the same schedule in terms of shooting to make it through the Open to Regionals, then shooting to make it through Regionals to the Games.
Now, we will see some gamesmanship as far as attempting to schedule the season in a way that makes sense.
We will also see variation in athletes between those who actually have a plan for how to approach multiple events in a season compared to those who just want to throw down all year.
Todd and Luke break down:
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What will the toll of repeated online qualifiers be on athletes?
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Is it possible to create a points structure that allows athletes to bypass the typical qualifying process?
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Is there an opportunity for a crowdsourced peer review process to cut down on the amount of dishonesty in online qualifiers?
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How many teams can an athlete peak in a season? And how will athletes game which events and which qualifiers they choose to do?
Jon and Luke talk through some of the changes to the 2019 CrossFit Games season (which are still not fully clear yet) - but we do have enough information for athletes to start planning their training.
The structure of the season for most athletes will likely change as the focus shifts away from the Open and more toward the sanctioned CrossFit events.
We will see how this continues to shake out, but here's some initial thoughts in terms of how to structure training and what to expect.
For many athletes, every training session is a competition and they're constantly evaluating themselves on their results.
While having an idea of where you sit and what you need to work on is generally a good idea, this can also swing too far.
Athletes often find themselves getting caught in negative emotional spirals when their training results don't match up with their expectations.
However, there is also a natural variation in daily results. How do you know if you're outside of that range of acceptable variation? And how do your emotions surrounding your results impact your ability to improve over time?
Todd, Jon and Luke break down:
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How to know when you're actually overtraining - and when you're just having a bad day
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What percentage of your max you should be able to hit consistently on your lifts
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Why being overly focused on the outcome of your training sessions can make it more difficult for you to actually get better
If you're enjoying the show, https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/legion-strength-conditioning-podcast/id1413580668?mt=2">why not a leave a review? It makes a difference in terms of other people finding the show.
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Athletes love to get wrecked by a really difficult workout.
People training hard often feel that they didn’t do anything productive unless they’re completely destroyed at the end of a session.
While this desire to push to maximum potential can often be helpful, there is a point past which it is no longer adaptive.
The best in the sport are often pacing just under an all out effort – they’re able to do most of their training at a high but controlled effort. Things that look like crazy difficult EMOMs are actually a blend of skill work and muscle endurance work.
So, how often should an athlete push to full on, rolling on the ground, can’t walk afterwards redline in training?
Todd and Jon break down:
•The dangers of redlining too often
•When in the season to push hard – and when to dial it back
•The psychological reasons that athletes feel that they always need to push themselves as hard as possible in their training sessions
If you're enjoying the show, https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/legion-strength-conditioning-podcast/id1413580668?mt=2">why not a leave a review? It makes a difference in terms of other people finding the show.
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Tempo training has recently become quite popular in the functional fitness space - probably thanks largely to Marcus Filly's popularization of Functional Bodybuilding.
The folks at OPEX have long been teaching and prescribing tempo training, and Marcus's functional bodybuilding training started with his work with OPEX head coach Mike Lee.
As I said in this podcast, I kind of like it when solid training principles end up reaching a more "mainstream" level of recognition and acceptance. However, there's the danger of people starting to take tactical pieces from the internet like tempo training without understanding where it fits in the bigger picture of a training plan.
Todd and Jon break down why we might use tempo training for a competitive fitness athlete - and some of the common pitfalls and errors that athletes run into when attempting to apply the use of tempo in their own training?
If you're enjoying the show, https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/legion-strength-conditioning-podcast/id1413580668?mt=2">why not a leave a review? It makes a difference in terms of other people finding the show.
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Jon, Todd and Luke break down when to modify training and when to do it as written.
People tend to either constantly tinker with their training - making modifications without understanding what they're doing or why they're doing it - or they tend to relentlessly follow every letter written in their program - regardless of how they're feeling on a given day.
The best are able to find a happy medium, which results in them getting the best training in for them over time. How can we find that sweet spot?
If you're enjoying the show, https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/legion-strength-conditioning-podcast/id1413580668?mt=2">why not a leave a review? It makes a difference in terms of other people finding the show.
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