Purpose: Crossfit programming has appeared in many different variations and iterations since the inception of Crossfit and the emergence of competitive program design. The early Crossfit.com programming was one “piece” a day and varied from conditioning, strength, or skill focused. Eventually coaches began writing a strength program layered into each day of training to go alongside the day’s conditioning portion. From there things continued to escalate. Training day’s quickly had several lifting components, multiple conditioning workouts, dedicated skill work, and accessory work. Programming, like art, is a reflection of the artist or coach writing the programming, so the number of components per day in a program and the way they are displayed is often unique to the coach writing the program and the needs of the athlete.
Despite the variety of ways programming can be designed the goal of programming is always to move athletes toward specific training goals that will yield to improvements on the competition floor.
Overview: In this article we are going to cover what a well rounded competitive Crossfit training plan should look like and why.
What is a CrossFit Training Plan?
Unlike typical programming you may find at your local affiliate a competitive training plan is much more comprehensive, detailed, and designed to increase performance in all of the different modalities within Crossfit practically simultaneously,
As mentioned above a training plan can be broken down into different sections or “pieces” to a training day. These can vary more than many athletes realize based on the needs of the athlete, but we will dive more into that later.
Strength training: Strength training is an essential portion of a comprehensive training plan for Crossfit athletes. Strength is the foundational unit for all other athletic movement and capacities so it deserves a premium spot in training. Generally, this will encompass movements such as squats, deadlifts, presses, and the olympic lifts the snatch and clean and jerk.
Metabolic conditioning (MetCons): Metcons are the fun classic Crossfit style workouts everyone knows and loves. These can be written in many different styles with an almost infinite variety of movements. The goal of these pieces in training is to better prepare athletes for the demands and types of workouts they will experience in competition and increase their level of conditioning.
Skill development: Skill development can include a variety of movements depending on the needs of an athlete. Typically skill development includes gymnastics movements, but many times athletes will need skill development work in other modalities such as running and olympic weightlifting. Any movement that an athlete needs to improve their ability to perform at a basic or high level can be addressed with skill development.
Conditioning: Conditioning specific work differs from Metabolic conditioning. At Ascend Athlete we define conditioning work as a conditioning piece focused on 1-2 movements with the aim to increase overall fitness in a more controlled manner than a metcon. This could be something like rowing or running repeats, a long ruck march, Zone 2 conditioning, or an interval piece of burpees and fan bike calories.
Mobility and recovery: The always overlooked but critical pieces of training. Mobility and recovery work is CRITICAL to athletes reaching their potential in training and avoiding injuries along the way.
The framework outlined above gives structure to the training days and weeks, but also allows for flexibility in how coaches design each day and tailor the training plan to the specific needs of their athlete such as their training time, age, training age, and the level of the athlete.
Types of CrossFit Training Plans
At Ascend Athlete we offer several different training plans, all of which utilize the themes previously discussed.
Ascend Train is our generalized program designed for the everyday athlete. Someone who likes to train hard and throw down on the weekends, but doesn’t have the desire to compete at the highest levels of the sport.
Ascend Compete ramps things up a notch. Compete is our generalized program for the Crossfit competitor. This program is designed to make athletes well rounded and dangerous at any competition they decide to compete in.
Ascend Weightlifting is the weightlifting specific arm of Ascend Athlete. This program is designed to increase athletes max Snatch and Clean and Jerk above all else. While that program is very heavily weightlifting specific there is a generous amount of GPP (general physical preparedness) built into the program to keep those who follow it fit and healthy.
Key Components of an Effective CrossFit Training Plan
Periodization: Periodization is one of the oldest and most studied training principles. Whether the goal is to get stronger, run faster, or do more repetitions the best way to get there is through periodization. Part of periodization for sports is building phases of training on top of one another with the goal of laying these phases in a specific order to increase the end result. This is called phasic periodization. ALL of Ascend Athlete programs utilized phasic periodization to some degree as we believe it is the most effective way to design training across a long term time horizon. Using phasic periodization allows for the training cycles to build upon each other over time leading to a true athletic peak for our athletes when their most important competition comes up! *Disclaimer: Yes there are MANY different types of periodization and ways to organize training. We will save that for another day.
Goal Setting: Picking the right training plan for the right athlete depends largely on the athlete's goals. Every program is designed to help athletes reach specific goals. With Crossfit training plans it’s sometimes harder to see the differences from program to program, but one of my favorite examples for why it’s so important to pick the right training plan is this. Imagine someone wanting to run their first marathon, but the training plan they choose is designed to improve performance in a 5K run. It’s pretty clear that the 5K training plan isn’t going to help them reach their goal right? This is similar to what it’s like when choosing the right Crossfit training plan. Programs are going to differ in what they ask of athletes and the difficulty of the training based on the athletes goals.
Recovery: For YEARS Crossfit athletes didn’t properly respect the importance of rest and recovery. The hard truth is if an athlete isn’t recovering from their training their performance and adaptation is going to be blunted and slowed no matter how phenomenal their training is. Athletes should emphasize recovery to ensure they can continue to train hard. This includes recovery modalities such as foam rolling, ice baths, sauna, and stretching. All of these play an important role in allowing athletes to recover properly and perform their best.
Tracking Progress: Continuing to track performance improvements overtime is a key part of the Crossfit methodology. Training can be difficult and sometimes progress may seem slow and nonexistent. Testing and retesting max lifts and benchmark workouts is one of the most effective ways to see progress as an athlete to stay motivated in the process and serve as a way to stress test if training is working!
How to Choose the Right CrossFit Training Plan
Assess Your Fitness Level: There are many ways to determine the level of Crossfit athlete you are. The EASIEST is to look at your performance in the previous years Crossfit Open and Quarterfinals. Additionally looking at the skills an athlete is capable of is a helpful tool as well. If an athlete cannot perform a ring muscle up or snatch over 185 lbs as a male they are likely a beginner-intermediate athlete.
Define Your Goals: Setting attainable goals is CRITICAL to ensuring athletes don’t become discouraged and give up on their journey. As an example, if an intermediate athlete has the goal of competing at the Crossfit Games one day and sets their only goal to qualify for the Crossfit Games they are setting a goal that could take half a decade or more to achieve. Setting small milestone goals along the way allows the athlete to gather wins while still on the journey to their ultimate. These milestones can look like: add 10 lbs to their clean and jerk, hit a muscle up PR, hit a 2K row PR, add 15 lbs to their back squat, etc. These small goals will continue to fuel an athlete in the short term through the long journey to their ultimate dream.
Consider Your Schedule: A third and not to be overlooked factor to take into account when deciding what training program to follow is time availability and lifestyle. Different training programs are going to require different levels of time commitment to training. If an athlete can only train for an hour and a half a day but signs up for a training program the requires two separate sessions a day that are each two hours or more there are going to be issues. The athlete will feel like they aren’t adhering to the program and they are going to miss portions of the program that the coach intended to be completed for progression and periodization within the program. This is why it’s CRITICAL to choose the right program based on how much time an athlete can commit to their training.
Consult with a Coach: By far the easiest and most effective way to ensure all of the points discussed above are taken care of is having an individual coach. An individual coach is going to take all of those variables into account when creating their athletes programming to ensure their athlete is getting the right amount of training for their current level and training needs that moves them toward their goals. On-top of this, a coach is going to walk step by step with an athlete through the training journey helping guide and counsel them along the way.
Recap: We covered a hefty amount of information above. It all boils down to this. Having a structured training program matched to the current skills and abilities of the athlete is ALWAYS going to outperform random programming or a mismatched program. Good athletes don’t just train hard, they train smart! Having the right programming is a MASSIVE piece of that.
Call to Action: Think you are ready to start training with a plan, purpose, and like a professional? Reach out to Ascend Athlete today for a free 1:1 consultation!
Final Note: No matter what your goals are, take the time to evaluate what training program is right for YOU to make sure you are getting the most out of your hard work in the gym!
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