CrossFit
Training in the modern fitness center is close to impossible.
Athletes need specialized facilities. Anyone serious about physical endeavors
should consider themselves an athlete. It is difficult to train in an
atmosphere where the experts are inexperienced pretenders.
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| Fads do not work for long. |
The top fitness goals are to lose fat, to be more physically
active, and to build enough vigor for daily activities. Athletes do not need to
think long about achieving these goals. If something needs to change they work
on changing it. If emphasis is on a greater goal the sub-goals are easier to
achieve. Be an athlete. Work on the greater, long-term, goals and the whole
entity aligns. Competitions are great for goals. Whether you love contending or
not; enter a competition your physical fitness will advance. Training to a peak
performance displays needs also. Life is easier when we know what is wrong.
Speaking of competitions we will look into some parts of fitness
which are relatively new and out of line.
Fitness fads, personal training,
coaching, and functional training are worth consideration.
The language of training has been around for decades and
does not require newborn definitions. Re-inventing the wheel is not innovation.
It is a recipe for disappointment. Look at the training of champions ten and
fifty
CrossFit is a good idea. After that CrossFit sucks! The entire idea
underlying CrossFit is to get more physically fit. Physical fitness is a matter
of meeting the needs in everyday life and emergencies with ease. Fitness is
relative for everyday people and athletes. Getting leaner and stronger are
common fitness goals. CrossFit does not make anyone stronger or leaner. Getting
lean is tricky wording. My bother, the lawyer, thinks too rigidly. He believes
lean is skinny. Lean is a clinical term well established in science. It refers
to muscle and bone. Getting leaner is a matter of adding muscle (lean tissue)
not losing fat necessarily. If an athlete loses ten pounds of fat and does not
gain any muscle they only appear leaner. That athlete is no leaner than before
the fat reduction. Adding muscle is sarcoplasmic hypertrophy or myofibrillar
hypertrophy. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is achieved with higher repetition
training. The sarcoplasmic reticulum is part of the muscle cell where energy is
produced. The electron transport chain produces ATP after a certain duration of
contractions. ATP is the fuel our cells use. Myofibrillar hypertrophy is the
addition of new contractile proteins, actin and myosin. ATP must have additional
muscle to produce a higher forces. This may be a higher activation pattern and
it may be additional contractile proteins. Either way, muscle is metabolism.
Add one pound of muscle to your frame and it will burn calories all day, all
night, and all year. More metabolism equals less fat if nutritional obligations are addressed.
Getting stronger is simpler than losing fat in our society.
Getting stronger is a matter of absolute strength. The repetitions required to
improve absolute strength are well established. To improve strength one must do
work between 1 – 6 repetitions. The abilities gained with more repetitions are
not strength as such. Strength endurance is also a clinical term. It is not as
influential as absolute strength. Absolute strength is the only, the only,
strength which influences every component of physical fitness. CrossFit is founded
on full body “functional” movements. These movements can develop absolute
strength if the repetitions are appropriate. Snatch, clean, squat, row, run,
jump, and other functional positions. CrossFit does not address the proper
repetition ranges required for absolute strength gains. The characterization of
functional is practical, meaningful, or useful. Training has always been founded
on these principles. There is not a lot of new information regarding training
contrary to what your personal trainer is telling you. The durable science has
been done for decades.
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| I am sure he is sorry he does not know how the elbows should track. She will be. |
Personal training is business not training. Training is what
athletes do. If a trainer has never been a competitive athlete they cannot
understand training. Can one understand law never having practiced law? No!
Yes, we know we are not supposed to exceed the speed limit. Yes, we know we
must not steal anything from others. This is a rudimentary understanding with
regard to laws. Most personal trainers are at this level when it comes to
understanding training as a practice. Training cannot be found online. Training
is done in the weight room, in the gym, on the road, in the pool, on the court,
or on the field. Training is done in the most related arena to competitions. Training
happens in the weight room for weightlifters and powerlifters. Training, to a
degree, is in the weight room for all athletes because absolute strength is
gained in the weight room. I have been a champion and I have trained champions,
I know.
Coaching is more complex than training. Training is a small
part of coaching. A coach is a sports psychologist, a friend, a boss, a
physical therapist, and a teacher. The most important personality trait a coach
must possess is the ability to listen. Communication is more than 80%
listening. Do not take this the wrong way and ask your football coach a
question about training in the middle of a game. The time for teaching is not
in the heat of competition. Ask coaches questions after training or before. Ask
the questions. If your trainer or coach does not listen to you they are of inferior
quality. Get the coaching. Make certain your coach is listening to you. If they
do not listen find another coach.
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| Do not ever pick something up like this in real life. It will injure you. |
Functional training is anything but functional. Training is
purely functional. It does not need a new classification. Throwing a ball
against a wall is only useful if your life requires this act. Footwork on an
agility ladder is useful for athletes. Agility ladder work is not terribly functional
for everyday applications. Squatting is more functional with regard to balance
than almost anything else. Functional training is a catch phrase
invented by
the fitness community to sell personal training. It is a fad. All training is
distinctive to one’s goals. Make training efficient. Do not do five exercises
when one is more than enough to supply the return on investment.
I say that fitness is relative a lot. There is a training
term called specificity. This means that we must apply stressors to the
organism which are specific to the desired result. If I am training for
powerlifting I do not want to run ten miles the week or two before the
competition or test. If I train this event in the off season to be physically
fit, great. Know what is incompatible and what is beneficial in training. Most
training strategies apply equally well in life. Work hard with specific goals
in mind and reap the rewards. If the rewards are not forthcoming the work which
has been done is not specific to your current needs or wishes.
Training is a simple practice. Know where you stand. Set
goals. Work on strengths and weaknesses. Work as hard as you can and recover.
Competition is a valuation. If combat is not interesting to you evaluate your
work more diligently. Train to be an athlete. Keep your vision unrestricted and
be careful with fads. If something is new in training it is a fad. Fads are
whimsy. Do you remember step aerobics? Strength secures more accomplishment.
Get stronger! docsgym@live.com
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