Strength Training

Have you ever strength trained for an extended period of time? If you have, then you know that the life is not very glamorous. It is hard, tedious work and it's very slow. Some will go a long, long time just to see a bit of improvement. Now there are your novices who can make some very large gains in strength and size in a short amount of time. This is because they are just that, novices. They would get strong doing any kind of weighted work, whether it was sound programming or not. But for most others, once this initial phase has passed, the gains come a lot slower.

Herein lies the problem with strength training, at least in the eyes of some. It's boring. Getting strong is boring. Consider the tag line, "highly UN-varied, functional training performed at high intensities." You have to find your motivation within. You have to see the end goal. You have to have an end goal. How strong is strong enough for you? Why are you trying to get stronger in the first place? These are questions that must be answered prior to starting any strength program. If you don't answer them, you will burn out quickly.

There are few that can be considered strong but for most, we can only be considered stronger. Stronger than the next person or not as strong as the next person. Either way, we need to define goals so that when we reach those goals, we can redefine them and alter the course if need be.

Once these questions are answered, you then need to give everything you got to reach those goals. They won't come easy and like I just mentioned, it will be boring. If it was easy and not boring, everyone would be strong. That, unfortunately, is not the case as evidenced by most people in our society today. Even those that try to become stronger, sometimes fail because they will not do what it takes to stay the course in spite of slow progress. The sad part of all of this is, at least with most CrossFitters, is that they don't feel they are progressing if they aren't wallowing in a puddle of their own sweat while laying draped across the floor. There is something to be appreciated with that kind of fitness but it isn't the end all, be all. In fact, strength training is the at the top of the food chain and this is evidenced by the inability of most crossfit trainees to use prescribed weights.

These prescribed weights are in place because they allow a balance, if used properly, of strength and speed. This balance is power. If you are not strong enough and try to go heavier than you should, you will go too slow to see OPTIMAL gains in fitness. If you go too light in weight for the appropriate reps, you will be able to move fast but it will be too fast which means that the weight is not enough. A good analogy for both examples would be like pitching from the mound to home plate. In the first example, we take a shot put and try to throw it as hard as we can from the wind up. What would be the results? You might hurt yourself and the shot wouldn't get very far. How about a wiffle ball? Again, you might hurt yourself and the ball wouldn't get very far. As you move from differing sizes and weights, you might come to the conclusion that throwing a baseball is the most appropriate size and weight to get the most out of your strength and speed.

Maybe it's not though. Maybe you need something a bit heavier or a bit smaller. The point is, in order to gain the most results from your crossfit training, you need to move the right amount of weight with the right amount of reps. Usually, you can get away with just changing either the weight or the reps but sometimes, depending on how weak you are, you may need to change both. If a workout calls for 15-10-5 reps of two movements: the dead-lift and burpees and the prescribed weight is 300 pounds, you need to take a look at total volume. In this case, we have 30 total reps. I would say that anything over 50 reps, the weight on the bar should be around 50% of your 1RM, anything between 40 and 50 reps should use 55%, 30 and 40 reps should use 60%, 20 and 30 reps should use 65%, 15-20 reps should use 70%, 10 to 15 reps should use 75%, and anything 10 reps and lower should use around 85% and higher. These are just educated guesstimates and should only be seen as such.

So if we look back at our example workout of 30 dead-lifts at 300 pounds and 30 burpees, in order for us to get optimal power output or a balance of strength and speed, we would need to take a look at our individual 1RMs. If my 1RM dead-lift is 455 pounds and I see that using the chart above that I need to use between 60 and 65%, then the weights I would choose from would range between 273 and 296. Which weight I choose would then be determined by my ability to handle burpees or their effect on my metabolic system. But you get the idea.

Now looking back on all this and wanting to improve within CrossFit or any type of sport. What is the overriding factor here? STRENGTH, right? How do I get to heavier and heavier weights? I improve my strength. You might be able to get through a workout like the one above but if you don't follow what I propose, you won't A) meet the cut-off or B) barely meet the cut-off but won't get everything you could have out of your workout. It would be like spending money for a burger but only getting half of it. Does that sound like a good deal?

In the end, only a few of us will have what it takes to get stronger and some will just be satisfied with where they are at. Some will just believe that lying in a puddle of their own sweat is what fitness is all about when in reality, they can't produce enough force to really feel the effects of a crossfit workout. Whatever your goals are, you should consider strength training because who wants to be weak? And even if it isn't for the sake of being stronger but for your love of crossfit and/or crossfit type workouts, at least strength train so that you can get the results you were meant to get from that type of training or any type of training and/or sport. This includes distance events such as running, swimming, biking.

On a side note:
I always give distance running a bad name but really, it's not the fact that I don't like distance running, it's the fact that I don't like how people train for distance running. They are all under the same umbrella. In order to be able to run distance and get better at distance, you need to run further and further and that strength training will only bulk you up and slow you down. This is a huge fallacy and it goes back to strength training being hard. I don't mind distance running but there is a better way to train for it. A way that takes half the time if not a quarter of the time you spend out on the pavement. It also equals less injuries, more appealing body compositions, and you won't be weak. Along with all that, you have an opportunity to run faster or at least use less energy running how fast you already run.

Your ability to apply more force by way of being stronger allows you to move faster or run the same distance at a certain pace and not feel as fatigued. Improving your 3 mile time will not make you faster at 1 mile. Only improving your 1 mile will improve your 3 mile. With strength training, you can improve both of them without actually running them. You still need to run because that is sport specific but you don't need to run longer, now you only need to run smarter.

All in all, stay the course and no matter how boring it gets, know that you have an end goal and that you are tired of being weak or that you want to improve your crossfit experience. Whatever it may be, stick with it. You will be glad you did.