This issue comes up quite a bit in individual conversations… and is addressed every few months here on the blog- it is regarding how many WODs/training session to do each week. Today I am going to approach the issue with a slightly different approach.
- There are FEW, if any, athletes at CrossFit Malibu that benefit physically from training 6 days (or more) each week. Said another way:
- YOU will not become more fit by training everyday, Or try this one:
- If YOU train everyday, you COULD train LESS and be MORE fit.
Statements of fact. Not my opinions, but facts that I KNOW from quite few years of experimentation and observation, working with athletes using the CrossFit training regimen.
Coach Glassman was running his early CrossFit training program and determined in his experimentation that a 3 day ON, 1 day off program provided the most bang for the buck. More days in a row and progress was NOT made- actually it resulted in sub-par performance and interfered with the rest necessary to recover. Personally, I feel best doing 2 days ON, 1 day off… I simply cannot go hard on the 3rd day of training in a row.
But what if you just LIKE coming in and training everyday? What if it is a part of your daily routine that provides benefits other than physical training, like stress release, social contact and maintaining healthy habits? Then HERE is what you need to do (the following is stuff that I have repeated weekly for almost 7 years!)
- train 3-4 days per week- go hard, take a rest day between every 2nd or 3rd training session. If you experience a strain or injury- take an active rest day.
- attend one WOD each week where you show up just to get in the group warm up, individual skill and practice and SKIP THE “WOD”- and go straight into some mobility work on your own. Yes, I said skip the WOD! Get the blood flowing with a warm up, learn or reinforce something with the skill work and then spend 30 minutes getting after some tissue that needs attention. Ensure that you are NOT skipping workouts that you need to work on and only hitting your strengths!
- If you are a 6 day-a-week attendee- perhaps you should go hard on 3-4 days and go for the “skip the WOD approach” twice a week! Try it. Ask if you have questions.
And seriously, I will say it once more… you should NOT go hard every day. It is counterproductive and may actually be responsible for delaying your “gainz.”
Wednesday’s WOD at 7 and 9am, 4 and 6pm
Midday Open Training Hour at Noon, 5pm Run Specialty Class***
Five rounds, on a running clock every five minutes complete:
Shoulder press, five reps as heavy as possible
Max effort unbroken pull ups
–athlete MUST start presses ON the 5 minute mark, rest between presses and pull ups need to be paced “correctly”
Post load and number of pull-ups for each round to chalkboard/journal
ex: Mike- 50kg/22, 50/16, 50/16, 50/12, 50/15
***Today the Run Specialty class meets on Alumni Field grass at the corner of PCH and Malibu Canyon Road at 5pm. Park ON Malibu Canyon Road- as close to the intersection at PCH as possible. Meet up with the others and begin your warm up together.