If you’re curious about how a constantly varied routine finds it’s balance, that’s what I’m here to explain to you.
To make a generalization, those who join a CrossFit affiliate are intentional about their fitness. You’ve decided to ditch the “commercial-gym-do-it-yourself-guess-work” training method. In exchange, you are given workouts and guided by your coach to help you learn to move safely, effectively, and efficiently.
These workouts may seem random, but I assure you they are anything but. They are intentional and purposeful.
We can start by understanding the root of our aim, which is to improve fitness.
What is Fitness?
CrossFit’s Definition: Increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains.
My Personal Definition: The endeavor to improve oneself against physical and mental limitations.
In other words, the ability to move your body and external loads short and long distances for short and long periods of time. That means we must expose ourselves to all possible demands. As Greg Glassman says, “We fail at the margins of our experience.” Therefore, if you increase your experience, you will decrease your failures. That’s elegant.
CrossFit lists 10 General Physical Skills.
The first 4 require training and organic adaptation.
Strength
Endurance
Stamina
Flexibility
The next 4 require practice and neurological adaptation.
Balance
Agility
Coordination
Accuracy
The final two require both training and practice and neurological and organic adaptations.
Speed
Power
Herein lies the backbone of the programming that you are receiving. If we can improve all of these 10 skills with balance, we avoid specificity and therefore improve fitness.
Any programmer is bound to favor one or several of these skills, so I’ve aimed to create a system that forces creativity and unpredictability without being entirely random. Here’s how.
Comprehensive Waterfall Randomization
As if we haven’t nerded out enough already, right? This system is based off 3 priorities. The primary priorities are the 5 skills deemed most important. The secondary priorities are the skills that must support the first 5. The tertiary priorities are the workout themes, meaning how many modalities that will be used (couplets and triplets are most effective and are favored).
As you can see in the table below, when listed vertically and falling indefinitely, it will be quite some time before the same iteration appears (182 days, to be exact). Even still, the modalities chosen will not be the same, which gives us an infinite catalyst of creativity.
For instance, Day 1 lines up “Endurance/Balance/Single” as priorities. This combination forces us to find a single movement to focus on that trains us aerobically and involves balance. Are your creative juices flowing yet? Give it a shot! What can you come up with?*
If you’re following, you may ask how the specific movements, durations, loads, reps, and energy systems get balanced. Don’t you worry! I have a separate spreadsheet that tracks that.
You can follow the graph down and see how this system might create your workouts. For instance, Day 3 is more simple. Just 3 strength movements. That could be any combination of 3 movements like Bench, Bent Over Row, and L-Sit, or it could be a benchmark workout like the “CrossFit Total.”
And there you have it. A system that prioritizes all physical skills prescribed in constantly varied demands.
I have to say it’s an honor to program for you and I’m fired up about joining you all on our endeavor to improve our physical and mental capacity!
-Chad
*As an example for a potential Day 1:
AMRAP 9
Single Arm Thruster 35/20#
*switch arms when needed
Did you come up with something similar? That one definitely forced some creativity!