A Framework for CrossFit's Theoretical Programming

A Framework for CrossFit's Theoretical Programming

The purpose and goals of our program

Are examined in the CrossFit Journal article "What is Fitness?" from the October 2002 issue. The majority of you are aware of the Workout of the Day (WOD) from our website, so you have a good idea of how we carry out our program. The reasoning for the WOD, or more particularly, what drives the particulars of CrossFit's programming, is probably less obvious. To further develop the CrossFit concept and possibly inspire useful discussion on the topic of exercise prescription generally and session architecture specifically, we intend to provide a model or template for our workout programming in this issue.

Therefore, our goal is to close the gap between knowledge of our fitness philosophy and actual workouts, or how we move from theory to practice.

The template initially appears to be offering a routine or schedule. This may appear to be at odds with our claim that exercises should be highly variable or unpredictable, if not random, to most accurately simulate the unpredictable obstacles that warfare, sport, and survival demand and reward. What your regimen requires is for it to stop becoming ordinary, as we frequently say. However, the model we present allows for a wide range of exercise, rest, intensity, sets, and reps. In fact, according to mathematics, each three-day cycle is a singularly distinct stimulus that will never be replicated in a lifetime of CrossFit exercises.

The template is designed to allow for a broad and continually changing stimulus that is true to the objectives of CrossFit as outlined in the "What is Fitness?" problem while still being randomized within some boundaries. Our template has enough structure to clarify or specify our programming goals without imposing rigid guidelines that must be subject to change if the workouts are to match our requirements. Our goal is to combine structure and flexibility in an optimum way.
We do not want to imply that your exercises should or should fit neatly and cleanly within the template because that is not at all the case. However, the template does provide enough structure to promote understanding, reflect the majority of our programming concerns, and not obstruct the requirement for drastically different stimuli. To avoid being repetitive, we are stating that the template's intent is both prescriptive and descriptive.

An overall trend of three days on and one day off can be seen. Compared to the numerous other methods we've tried, we've discovered that this one provides for a comparatively higher volume of high-intensity work. With this format, the athlete can train at or close to the maximum intensities feasible for three days in a row, but by the fourth day, both neuromuscular function and anatomy have been severely taxed, making further work difficult without reducing intensity.

The three-day-on, one-day-off schedule's main flaw is that it is out of sync with the five-day-on, two-day-off pattern that tends to guide the majority of people's work patterns. The schedule conflicts with a seven-day work week. A large portion of our clients manages initiatives within institutional contexts, frequently academic ones where the five-day workweek with weekends off is expected of them. Others have discovered that arranging workouts on particular days of the week each week is necessary due to the demands of family, work, and school schedules. We came up with a five-days-on, two-days-off schedule for these guys, and it has been successful.

Five-on, two-off was the original pattern for the Workout of the Day, and it was flawless. However, the three-on, one-off sequence was created to boost the workouts' intensity and recuperation, and based on our observations and the comments we've had, it appears to have been beneficial in both of these areas.
Don't be afraid to use the five-on, two-off pattern if it makes your life easier. It might not be necessary to completely restructure your life to fit the more advantageous pattern given the probable differences between the two. Convenience, attitude, exercise choice, and timing are among other elements that will ultimately outweigh any drawbacks of the potentially less successful plan.

The three-day cycle will be discussed for the remainder of this article, however, the majority of the analysis and discussion also holds for the five-day cycle.

It is clear from the Template Macro View (Table 1) that the workouts consist of three different modalities: weightlifting ("W"), gymnastics ("G"), and metabolic conditioning ("M"). The primary goal of metabolic conditioning, which is frequently referred to as "cardio," is to increase cardiorespiratory capacity and stamina. The gymnastics discipline consists of body-weight exercises and callisthenics, and its main goals are to increase functional upper-body capacity, trunk strength, and neurological abilities including coordination, balance, agility, and precision. The primary goals of the weightlifting modality, which includes the Olympic lifts and powerlifting, are to enhance strength, power, and hip/leg capacity.

Running, biking, rowing, and jumping rope are the exercises for metabolic conditioning. Air squats, pull-ups, push-ups, dips, handstand push-ups, rope climbs, muscle-ups, presses to handstand, back/hip extensions, sit-ups, and jumps are all part of the gymnastics discipline (vertical, box, broad, etc.). The deadlift, clean, press, snatch, clean and jerk, medicine ball drills and throws, and kettlebell swings are all part of the weightlifting style.

Each modality's components, or workouts, were chosen based on its usefulness, neuroendocrine reaction, and general ability to have a significant and widespread impact on the human body.