I have just given up my regular Saturday classes at Crossfit London. Two plus years of great coaching experiences. This time away has given me time to reflect on what I have taken away from all this. To follow is a refined list of some the best and by no means the complete list and to quote a popular TV show in no particular order.
1. HIPS. Before Crossfit I thought my hips were for holding up my jeans and showing off my dance floor prowess. Despite a junior athletic back ground I never realised their massive importance in explosive movement such as the long and triple jumps. If I only knew that back then. Come to think of it none of my coaches seem to recognise this either! Training focused on mono structural, isolated weight training, leaning towards hypertrophy and practicing the phases. Not once did we ever consider the explosive importance of my hips. Madness!
2. SQUAT. Functional movement why do so many people train solely for aesthetics, hobbies/sports but never consider being fit for life. Apart from the services Crossfit is the only regime that considers functional fitness. I look at my full time job and they consider a brisk shuttle walk as a reasonable standard and we always conduct our self defence lessons in training kit rather than what we actually work in. The squat is a classic functional movement simply getting out of your chair, preparing to jump, setting up to lift objects/people the list is nigh on endless. It has so many training applications too, body weight, weighted, kettle bell swings, box jumps, olympic lifts and so on. Get squatting its an essential foundation to all your fitness needs.
3. REAL FITNESS. In athletics we have five strands to fitness, Strength, Skill, Suppleness, Speed and Stamina. In Crossfit they have taken this further; Strength, Power, Endurance, Stamina, Skill, Agility, Flexibility, Balance, Accuracy and Coordination. Now arguably the five "S"s do cover these but Crossfits ten domains high lights the detail and details are important for total fitness. If you want to be able to claim that we produce the fittest people in the world then attention to all aspects is required. A friend of mine recently stated that Tri-athletes are the fittest people in the world and oft claimed title but if you compare them to the above ten domains they do fall short, in my opinion.
4. NEW SKILLS. I could go to any globo gym and learn a new skill. I could learn to rumba to music with others while holding a 3 foot weighted bar, I could learn to grape vine and step up and down in time to music or learn how to jab, hook and front kick to music too. Instead I went to Crossfit and learned how to squat (correctly), snatch, push jerk, dead lift (correctly), clean, muscle ups, hand stands (one handed too), back tucks, back levers, kipping and learned how to coach properly too. All to music but not necessarily in time. When I say these things out loud I sound awesome!
5. MENTAL FORTITUDE. I often say this but it cannot be said enough this should be number eleven on the list of fitness domains. By exposing myself to the intensity of Crossfit in a very short time I was able to take a minute plus, off of my 10k time. Simply by knowing I could push harder by getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. No other general population fitness system offers this outside of high end competition.
6. THE PEOPLE. We love being Crossfitters, we love to be stared at, talked about, even hated, it makes us feel even more apart from the perceived dullness of normality. We also love training together, helping and supporting each other, hanging out together, sharing our thoughts and experiences for the greater good, welcoming new people and talking to the inquisitive. We also love taking our tops off, wearing impossibly short shorts and doing hand stands at any given opportunity. Why not?
7. COACHING. I touched on this earlier before Crossfit I was a Physical Training Instructor and coached other disciplines too. But Crossfit has taken my coaching ability to a whole new level. Its not just the courses and the seminars, but the people you are surrounded by. The coaches are of such a high standard, their knowledge, enthusiasm and patience matched with a personal interest in your success makes them a fantastic resource. Then there are the coached, they are such a willing audience, hard working and committed they are joy to coach and only help you to grow with confidence. It is the perfect recipe for coaching development.
8. QUALITY . Coach wrote an essay some time ago about virtuosity, you should read it. I have learned there is no substitute for quality of movement. You should always be honest whether its range of movement, reps counted, performed correctly and safely. Never feel pressured to complete a WOD as Rx'd. If your not capable you know you will cheat on the ROM or drop a rep or two or take so long that you will have lost all intensity or all or a combination of these. Never sacrifice true reps for time. With consistent quality training you will Rx nearly all the WODS one day. Along side this you need quality nutrition, simple clean foods, along with quality rest and recovery. Patience is a virtuosity.
9. INTELLIGENT TRAINING. This follows on from the above but always, always be realistic with your goals. Unrealistic training is not clever and leads to disappointment and possibly injury. Realistic or intelligent training will set you up for success and in the main keep you injury free. Training is NOT risk free. But a strain or sprain is better than a herniated disc or torn shoulder. Agreed?
10. REAL STRENGTH TRAINING. In the past I thought I lifted big weights, bicep curling, lateral shoulders, cable tricep extensions all done for tons of sets of reps of ten. Read Starting Strength its not a massive book and its all simple and straight forward with lots of pictures so there is no excuse. Compound movements, lift heavy, linear strength program based on your 1RM. It does not have to get much more complicated than that. And remember its all about doing nothing and the biscuits. ;-)
