was talking some CrossFit shop the other day with a friend and they told me about a CrossFit newbie that had said to them that a CrossFit WOD was not hard enough.
CrossFit…Not Hard Enough.
Almost a contradiction in terms, right? I think I experienced some cognitive dissonance when I heard it. My head swam. Something was amiss.
I did some more investigating and found out the following: the WOD was:
For Time:
21-18-15-12-9 reps of
ring row
db step up thrusters (20″ box)
push up
single arm overhead db weighted lunge
sit up
back extension
Suggested load was 20lb db’s. The coach said to feel it out and possibly drop the last two rounds (126 reps) as a way of scaling the WOD. Turns out the newcomer went from 20’s to 15’s to 12’s through the first three rounds and dropped the last two as the coach had suggested. The time was maybe 25 minutes or so? He said he was tired from the “cardio” of it all but did not wind up on his back gasping for air in your typical CrossFit RX’d WOD recovery position. This was disappointing to him. Never mind the fact that he probably had some pretty good DOMS 48 hours later.
The load seemed to be adequate to generate some discomfort or it would not have been reduced each round. The volume was certainly high at 450 reps.
So what was missing?
Intensity.
At 25+ minutes for this WOD it’s an average rep rate of about 1 every 5 seconds. Not exactly fast given the loads and not a work rate that would induce a visit by the clown in most people with some training background.
From my perspective — that’s a good thing. I don’t want first timer’s puking or putting themselves in traction with DOMS because they threw themselves 100% at a WOD.
Inexperienced in CrossFit, he simply did not know how hard to go. And, in my experience, the longer a WOD, the harder it is to bring intensity to it. And that’s a good thing too, though he may not realize it, but it is. Here’s some text from CrossFit.com’s “Start Here” section…
In any case it must be understood that the CrossFit workouts are extremely demanding and will tax the capacities of even the world’s best athletes. You would be well advised to take on the WOD carefully, cautiously, and work first towards completing the workouts comfortably and consistently before “throwing” yourself at them 100%. The best results have come for those who’ve “gone through the motions” of the WOD by reducing recommended loads, reps, and sets while not endeavoring towards impressive times for a month before turning up the heat. We counsel you to establish consistency with the WOD before maximizing intensity.
It’s hard to reconcile the videos of firebreathers ripping through WODs at the 2008 CrossFit Games and then getting handed a piece of PVC pipe to train with or a very scaled workout. I can see how watching those videos and reading about CF in the media can lead someone to assume that a CrossFit WOD will crush them (just show up and it’s automatic!) and really and very actually want it to happen. The cart is before the horse. Ego’s need to be checked at the door. Cups need to be emptied and all that.
Assuming an athlete is ready for it, intensity does trump volume. That’s what Fran’s for.
