WOD 9/4/10

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Share The Pain Saturday

Teams of 2 complete for time any how:

100 Hang Power Snatches

100 Push-ups

100 Sit-ups

* Any How means any order or reps.  One person working at a time

Finding some classic and definitive work on Overtraining

I’ve recently been reading some of Stuart McRobert’s outstanding older stuff. Notably Beyond Brawn and Further Brawn. There is so much great stuff in there! Stuart is huge on avoiding overtraining. Rightly so. If you are overtrained you simply WILL NOT progress in your chosen endeavor – whether that’s powerlifting or weight training where the goal is more weight or reps or CrossFit where the goal is (usually) a faster time with the weight held constant. Overtraining will pretty much kill your progress in whatever you’re trying to excel in.

Here’s Stuart’s take on the relationship between training, gaining and resting from Beyond Brawn:

“As long as you’re truly training hard and seriously, and really are eating, resting and sleeping well, if you’re not gaining well, then you’re almost certainly overtraining. You need to find the amount and frequency of training that does the job of stimulating increases in strength and muscular size, but without exceeding your ability to recuperate. Some people need to abbreviate their training more than do others.”

Stuart makes a great point that is profound on a number of levels:

1.    His statement really makes you look at your program. If you actually ARE eating and resting as you should and training hard, then not gaining means only one thing – you’re overtraining. Could it be any simpler?

2.    Since most CrossFit types are probably training “hard and seriously,” Stuart’s statement pretty much leaves you with eating, resting and sleeping as the places where you’re messing up.

3.    There is some implied “individuality” in here when he says “Some people need to abbreviate their training more than do others.” As a side note, guys like Robb Wolf and James “OPT” Fitzgerald have elevated individualizing program and diet to an art form. This kind of stuff is what’s been missing from athletic training since day one.

For Stuart and in the “bodybuilding world” in general, the most common variable to work with is training frequency. I can remember in my peak bodybuilding days (Is bodybuilding even relevant anymore?) that taking an extra day off from training was enough to ensure a great workout when I went to the gym next. In fact, when I got into the Dorian Yates and Mike Mentzer “Heavy Duty” style training I made my best progress ever. And that was with a MANDATORY 1 day off completely between workouts and sometimes 2 days.

- PracticalPaleolithic.com

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15 thoughts on “WOD 9/4/10”

  1. I am not sure how this article is “definitive” or based on anything more than one persons opinion. I appreciate the recent emphasis on rest but wholly disagree that it impedes performance gains in the way it has been communicated. Insinuating, as this full article does, that going over 80% effort once a week will lead to adrenal fatigue and forms of depression is ridiculous. A few points:

    1) There is a myriad of empirical evidence that points to the physical, neurological, and physiological benefits of frequent high intensity training.

    2) The top 10 male and female Crossfitters all train 5-6 days per week and often do multiple daily WOD’s. They have obviously seen performance gains and I’ve never heard of how depressed they all must be from “overtraining”. The same for all top professional athletes.

    3) The next argument will be they are all freaks of nature and “normal” people can’t train like that. Dr. Tabata’s study is one of many studies that refute the above.

    Personally, I was in the worst shape of my life, by far, during 2009- I worked out six days a week consistently, was happy, and saw huge gains in fitness. In 2010, I have been gone a lot and only working out 3-4 days a week. I have made limited progress and feel like I am missing something when I can’t work out.

    The truth in this debate may be somewhere in the middle, and more than anything, capacity relating to frequency and intensity is unique to each individual. Ultimately though, I’ll stick with the merits of what the CrossFit methodology was built on, which is a “three on, one off” approach to “constantly varied … at high intensity”.

  2. Well Lincoln while you make some very solid points I have seen a huge improvement while building a strength base. It’s a different kind of intensity but we all know getting stronger and subsequently a better crossfitter isn’t always gonna happen by doing wod’s every day. I thunk this is where the skill work component has been really helpful in assisting with lifts.
    I also think you need to acknowledge as we get closer to our goals they become a more difficult task to obtain taking more time and patience. Maybe you have just been distracted by a certain female athlete whose name will remain unmentioned. Hint: she happens to have the best squat form and subsequent result in our “pit”!!!;)

  3. I most definitely believe that training frequency and intensity is an individual matter. It depends on so many factors that it’s hard to “give someone a generic prescription of 3 on 1 off.” That can be said about any program, not just Crossfit. You also need to consider what your goals are for your training program. Given your set goals your body may not require more than 3-4 days per week. Why do more work than you have to?

    I do think genetics and lifestyle are the two major factors that will help determine training intensity and frequency. I agree that all of the top crossfit athletes have a nice genetic makeup which carry’s them that extra step. You can’t out train that. Also, the top Crossfit athletes lifestyle choices are conducive to recovering from incredibly hard training. Regular sleep, steady diet (primarily paleo), post workout recovery, soft tissue work, foam rolling, icing, etc. So given that they treat their body’s well and they have an incredibly high work threshold due to genetic factors, the training tolerance of a top Crossfit athlete would be entirely different than that of the average male or female that enters a Crossfit training program.

    So what’s the solution? Individual variables will always control ideal training frequency and intensity, as will many other factors. I think those who feel the need to train 6-7 days per week and/or multiple times per day are missing the mark.

    In my humble opinion,
    Freeman

  4. Amy, there is strong evidence for why building a strength base is important. I certainly wasn’t saying that it’s not. A “WOD” generically can imply anything from a 1-1-1-1-1 max lift to a long metcon like Murph, but it falls under the methodology of CrossFit, whereby frequent intensity is a key ingredient.

    Freeman, the post was in response to the full article (only part was posted). I certainly didn’t say that training 6-7 days / week with multiple WOD’s was smart. My point was refuting the article in that top CF or any semi-pro -> professional athletes have proven the article wrong in that frequent intense training doesn’t lead to adrenal fatigue or lack of performance gains, as it was suggested. I did say that “three on, one off” has proven to be effective and it is hard to really argue that based on both the definition and success of CrossFit. Lastly, the “Tabata” and “Little study”-below, reinforce this re: “normal athletes”.

    And yes, agreed that everyone’s individual fitness goals are different and thus their training and regimen should parallel achieving their goals.

    Fun, healthy discussion.

    http://jp.physoc.org/content/early/2010/01/20/jphysiol.2009.181743.abstract

  5. Lincoln I love your passion and knew of the article you were referring too. Lots of good food for thought for everyone to find what is right for them. I think Freeman’s point of all of us needing to find our individual homeostasis is a very key factor in our training no matter what our goals may be. Once again CFM has done a incredible job at providing so many resources and tools to give members tools to do just that….

    BTW …. When we get another GHD I want a rematch!!!;)

  6. Here is the study you sighted

    Thirty one healthy adults were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) SIT (n = 12): six sessions of repeated (4–7) 30 s bouts of very high-intensity cycle ergometer exercise over 14 days; (2) sedentary control (n = 10); (3) single-bout SIT (n = 9): one session of 4 × 30 s cycle ergometer sprints.

    6 sessions of 4-7 30 second sprints on an exercise bike is hardly crossfit (over 14 days). In fract the study you sited proves that you don’t have to train much all to improve. Bodybuildes that train hitt often do one set to failure

    Since you keep sighting pro Athletes as someone that has trained pro athletes forthe last 15 years. At the end of there carier most are beat up And burned out and have many injuries. (many of this depends on the sport)

    Everyone is different if you want to do an activity or sport for a long period of time you have to listen to your body and adjust your training to your needs. I hold rob wolf in very high regard and I would reccomend what he says for 90% of tue people doing crossfit.

  7. Sorry my spelling and grammer is not as good
    As my lifting numbers lol

    Typing to this iPhone is a pain lol

  8. Halarious. It’s like watching a bunch of guys at a Star Trek Festival argue over which phaser was used in episode 217.

  9. Type II Hand Phaser – Comprising a Type-I phaser with a pistol-grip attachment containing a power pack (the whole pistol handle), this featured a wider range of settings and beams. Carried openly by security personnel, and by all crewmembers on hazardous missions.

    Just sayin.

  12. All I know is Crossfit aliens are hot!! And I hope some are at The Pit for the 3:00 Team WOD.

    Live long and prosper………