While I've committed myself completely to CrossFit for the foreseeable future, I want to do so with enough objectivity that I can judge its effectiveness against my past training and personal feats. Below, I chronicle a few of my personal records for a variety of different exercises and events. My memory serves me rather poorly, so these PRs are not exact, but it should be a close enough approximation to use as a benchmark. I am certain, however, that these estimates are conservatively biased.
- 5K run: 20:00
- 10K run: 42:00
- Deadlift: 285 lbs
- Back squat: 225 lbs
- Bench press: 225 lbs
- Dead-hang pull-ups: 15+
CrossFit seems to suggest that if I train under its regimen to a fairly high level of fitness, I should be able to perform the above activities as well or almost as well as I did when I trained for them specifically. There isn't much supporting evidence to suggest how close I can come, so I'm arbitrarily deciding that I should be able to achieve at least 90% of my PR for all of these movements. That translates to:
- 5K run: 22:13
- 10K run: 46:40
- Deadlift: 257 lbs
- Back squat: 203 lbs
- Bench press: 203 lbs
- Dead-hang pull-ups: 14 pull-ups
These targets aren't intimidating when viewed on their own, but to have the capacity to do any one of them at almost any time is downright unbelievable.
I promise to put forth the effort and intensity that gives myself the best chance of hitting these benchmarks. If I am successful, I will have no problem getting behind CrossFit as a legit strength and conditioning framework.
The thing I wonder about is whether the mentality of the CrossFit athlete is what helps them across activities. The cult seems to draw a particular type of person.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow... get in 2-3 WODs a day and you'll be ready for any activity. But is that what Crossfit is selling? Is it 1 WOD=elite athlete?
Totally agree that I see a very different type of person at this gym. I haven't really observed them enough to begin labeling them, but the place has a different vibe from typical gyms. On one hand, these people are extremely supportive of one another, cheering you on and wishing you success. People tend to be much more social and outgoing as well; I guess making friends is part of the "Rx". I appreciate this, but it's very new to me. On balance, however, I occasionally get a feeling of false modesty, in that some are overly proud of their CrossFit badge and silently mock those who are still members at the local "Globo gym".
ReplyDeleteI believe 1 WOD per day is sufficient to achieve steady and good results. More generally, it doesn't appear that CrossFit typically recommends more than 6 WODs per week. If you're doing the WOD with the prescribed intensity, you wouldn't *want* to do another one later in the day. At any rate, part of CrossFit's appeal to me was the compactness of the workout. I specifically do not want to spend more than an hour of my day working out.
A quick Google search reveals that Rich Froning Jr., "Fittest man on Earth 2011", would do powerlifting 5 days/week and metabolic conditioning 6 days/week. So my guess is 1 WOD isn't going to cut it if you want to be elite.