Skip to main content
Blog

More is Not Always Better….

Many people have this flawed since of reality when it comes to working out.  Number one, they think that if they aren’t laying out flat on the floor at the end of a workout then it wasn’t a good workout, and number two, they feel that the more work they do the better they will get.

Both of the logics are flawed.  There is a huge difference between testing and training.  Fran is a test, running a 5K is a test, going for a 1 rep max clean and jerk is a test.  Those things should not be done all the time.  You should not be testing constantly.  If you are, you will break down.  You will also stop progressing.  Any athlete that trains regularly knows that you do not go all out every day.  Football practice isn’t full pads, full contact every day.  Basketball practice isn’t game speed every practice, they run drills etc.  400m track sprinters don’t run 400m all day.  They train aspects of it.  They train longer with less intensity sometimes.  Sometimes they train shorter with more intensity.  At CrossFit Bartlett, the workouts that we do are designed with a specific reason in mind.  There is a plan involved.  If we just pounded the crap out of you everyday, you would end up with over use injuries, over training, and you would have a case of adrenal fatigue.  

The workouts that we do are designed to create a potent stimulus on your system.  What most people don’t understand is that the point of training is to create a stress that is potent enough for your body to accommodate from that stress and make you more fit.  This has nothing to do with length of time spent working, or the amount of workouts you did in a given day.  It has to do with the design and intensity of the workout presented to your body at that given moment.  Therefore, we can create enough stress with a workout that lasts 2 minutes if we wanted to.  We can’t do that all the time though.  There are very complex physiological systems that we need to stress, tax, and improve upon.  Some of these will leave you flat on your back at the end of it, and some will not.  Regardless, there is a plan in place and you are becoming more fit from the stimulus.  

In order for that to happen though, the most important part of training is recovery.  It’s the second part of the equation that gets forgotten about.  Everyone who trains with us, wants to work hard, but they never want to rest and recover.  When you train you create break down, when you recover is when you rebuild and make the gains that you are looking for.  

The process is multi factorial.  Training and creating the right stimulus, not over training, and allowing for recovery.  If you do all these things you will progress much faster.

IMG_9790


9-30-13 WOD

Strength:

To be discussed in class

Dumbbell Snatch x 5 each arm 

Dumbbell Lunge x 5 each leg 

Burpees x 5 

AMRAP 12 minutes