My thoughts on CrossFit/CrossFitEndurance (CFE): I love CrossFit and CFE at their foundations (I will save my soapbox displeasure at the CrossFit Games for another day). CrossFit is, and I’m paraphrasing, a fitness methodology that focuses on high intensity, work capacity, consistent challenges by measuring reps/weight/time, and improving fitness across multiple facets. Fitness as defined by CrossFit covers cardiovascular, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. To read more on what CF/CFE defines as fitness look up the 2002 CrossFit Journal Feature Article "What is Fitness". My journey to my current point of view came after a realization that my fitness level, even after completing a half-ironman in Morgantown, WV (picture mountains), was not what I believed it to be. I had gone to Ireland for work and stopped over in London to see my friend Patrick Vickers. Pat is an extremely fit person and has been since I’ve known him (’93). He and I decided to take part in a British Military Fitness (BMF) class at a local park, which his brother Ben Vickers, often taught. (Btw, Pat, I won’t forget those 1970s fitness shorts I had to borrow...thanks for humiliation mate.) On getting there we were offered to try the beginner, intermediate, or elite BMF workouts. Being arrogant we both said let’s go elite. For the next 45 minutes I proceeded to have my rear handed to me. Light sprints for a warm up and then sprints up hills, up/downs, push-ups, sit-ups on an angle, more sprints..repeat repeat repeat. I made it through but as we were jogging back the trainer pulls up next to me and goes “a bit different than a triathlon eh” but he didn’t need to say anything. I was already thinking that I wasn’t really prepared for this. My training was missing something. I started to incorporate lots of push-ups, pull-ups, incline workouts, and other body weight exercises into my training. A year after changing my programming I was on vacation with my friends and family in Florida and discussed some of what I was doing with Major Steve Banks. He said,” if you like that you should do this thing called CrossFit”. So after a good 4-5 mile beach run we went over to a park and attempted to do a CrossFit workout that was 10 rounds of 10 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 10 lunges...I think we got through 7 rounds before I couldn’t do another pull-up. I DNF’d but it was an awesome feeling. So I looked into CrossFit when I got back to Ohio. I did the main site workout and that’s when I was really hooked. I had to sprint, do pull-ups, row, and do dumbbell thrusters. My heart rate was way up and I was sucking wind like I had sprinted up a 2 mile hill. As I researched CrossFit, I also researched CFE. Being an endurance race person I definitely felt more akin to the CFE goals. Shocking to me was that each program incorporated something I hadn’t done in a long time – lift very heavy with your legs. I consumed everything I could on their methods, rationale, articles..if you name it, I was reading it. I was excited about lifting heavy again as I used to lift in college until I got to the point Carol said I looked “dumb”. I was also inflexible and the only thing I was good at was bench pressing and looking “big”. It resonated to me to want to lift heavy things again but this time with a purpose. The other parts of the training registered with me too - sprint hard, improve work capacity by lifting weights quickly, and train the entire body. I jumped in full tilt. I saw immediate improvements in my run and bike times. I saw immediate change in my body composition – yet I never gained a single pound. That’s a long introduction but background often helps provide context. In summary, I was an endurance athlete who wasn’t strong nor was I able to do different types of workouts. I was also injury prone. I was often struggling with knee or Achilles pain. If I didn’t have very new shoes, then running long distances hurt. I struggled with knee pain all through high school running as well. Suddenly, I was pain free. Now, I’m stronger. I’m faster. I’m not injured. I’m not burnt out. I have better body composition. These reasons are sufficient enough for my point of view but I also believe in the method for logical reasons. Building muscles that support a person’s movement is key to long term health and long term success in sporting events. Deadlifts, front/back/overhead squats, and kb swings directly improve muscles that a person uses for running and biking. They, along with the gymnastics movements (push-ups, pull-ups, lsits, planks, hollow rocks, etc..), help improve my posture daily and maintain posture during events when my body starts to break down. My body doesn’t lose form and get sloppy on the bike because my midline and posterior chains are stronger. My running form has changed thanks to constant focus by CFE on proper form in all the things you do. It took significant work, and I still work on it, so that I learned to land supported under my body with my larger muscles doing the work. Strong hips, quads, and hamstrings don’t force your body to compensate for weaknesses in those which then leads to injuries as you start to use smaller muscles to do more work or change your stride and become severely insufficient. Additionally, the sprints and high intensity workouts improve my cardiovascular systems while also altering my conception of my own pain thresholds. Another benefit with this programming is I don’t get burnt out. I’m not chugging along doing long runs all the time; which often leads to dreading the workouts without seeing much improvement. I’m continually altering workouts so my mind and body don’t plateau. I force my body and mind to constantly adjust. This leads into my last benefit – its great programming for triathlons. Workouts, like the famed Murph workout, that prescribe running after squats or other leg tiring exercises very much mimic the feeling of running after getting off the bike. Being able to replicate this feeling in a short workout is excellent preparation for race day. Where I, and Carol, disagree with the CFE methodology is that we believe you must go long. Mentally, you have to know what distance feels like. You must be able to suffer through gruelling miles where every muscle hurts on every landing or every pedal stroke. You have to know how your body responds and what you need nutritionally to be successful in these distances. While you don’t have to go long all the time to be successful you still need to put one long workout in a week. Going long is also a great stress and depression reliever. You run til you are no longer mad or sad and then turn around...your mind will be clear. After your weekly long run you can use the CF/CFE programming as your strength and conditioning programs. Now, can you be elite by only doing the CF/CFE methodology? I’m not sure – I think you need more volume in your area of focus. I believe if you want to be an elite triathlete, then you need to spend most of your time doing the three sports with a lower base of lifting and cross training. However, the elite athletes also get significant sleep, have their meals scheduled, and get massages all the time. They live to train not train to live. Now, I still believe even the elite athletes should lift heavy and do hard speed work. Don’t take my word for it – six times Ironman athlete Mark Allen has the same point of view (see the GPTV episode with him). However, if you want to look good, feel good, and still have successful times completing events that make you feel super human then I believe in the programming wholeheartedly. Note: you must include the Mobility Workouts as part of CF or CFE. Kelly Starratt is a wicked genius in my opinion and without proper self-maintenance you can’t perform the lifts and exercises at the appropriate range of motion. I also have a great array of stretching routines from a PT friend of mine (thanks Kristian aka Superman). By continually rolling out fascia I don’t have muscles pulling on my knee ligaments or Achilles. Combine that with after exercise stretching and I haven’t had an injury in nearly 3 years.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 22:01:46 +0000
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