Intensity

Intensity, as defined by Crossfit, is exactly equal to average power (force x distance / time). In other words, how much real work did you do and in what time period? The greater the average power, the greater the intensity. This makes it a measurable fact, not a debatable opinion.  In the Crossfit Level 1 Certification, we learn that "Intensity is the independant variable most commonly associated with maximizing favorable adaptation to exercise."

 Where functionality defines the CrossFit path, it is intensity that most controls the rate of progress for any particular individual. Intensity is essentially the rate of work or power expressed in completing work. It correlates to heart rate and how quickly you complete any WOD where we’re looking for time to completion.  Do more work in less time (without overdoing it), and you’ll get fitter faster.

Greg Glassman, Crossfit's founder states, "Strength and conditioning gains come fastest for athletes who hold the highest average intensity over sustained periods. Consistency must be established at any general intensity level before it is appreciably turned up, or the specter of burnout looms. Countless people have after three spectacular CrossFit workouts stated a preference for a fiery death over coming back for a fourth workout. They went too hard – too intense."  He goes on to say that time is the most important variable in the equation above.  Coach Glassman recommends that we hold off on going up on the load or weight, if that increase in load or weight will cause our time to be much slower than the average time for that particular workout.  He states that if you use heavier weights and finish 5 minutes behind the nearest athlete that you might feel strong, but you have not trained with intensity.  His simple quote of "use speed as an intensifier before weight"is a lesson several of us could benefit from.

 Not being able to complete a WOD doesn’t mean that you can’t do CrossFit. Taking a WOD and reducing the load, cutting the reps, dropping a set, taking longer rests, and sitting down three times during the workout is still doing CrossFit. In making these modifications the athlete is merely turning down the intensity.

 This brings us to a few final important points about intensity. Intensity and results are directly proportional, but intensity and comfort are inversely proportional. Choosing for greater intensity is choosing for more fitness, but, also, greater personal sacrifice in the form of discomfort. Expecting elite fitness from comfortable efforts is naïve, while going too fast is dooming. No formula can sort these issues out for you; the intuition of athletes and coaches everywhere has smartly outperformed all formalized approaches.

Knowing the taste and feel of intensity is no less than coming face to face with the real cost of elite fitness.

Now, a quick example of intensity that was presented by Unit2 Crossfit:

 

Example A: Jack trains at Unit 2 Fitness 5 days per week and does CrossFit. Jack feels that the classes are getting easy for him so 2 days per week he will do two classes back to back. On the days that Jack only does 1 class he stays after class and does a few extra reps on abs. Jack is getting fitter but more slowly than he would like.

Example B: Jill trains at Unit 2 Fitness 4 days per week and does CrossFit. She ends every class in a puddle of sweat laid out on the mat feeling like death may come and get her at any moment. Jill has never considered doing 2 classes back to back. It takes her a good 10 minutes of staring at the ceiling after class just to get up the energy to just get up move off the mat. Jill is getting results faster than she ever thought possible.

Why: Jack spends 3 more hours per week at the gym than Jill does yet is getting results slower than Jill. The reason is very simple yet is counter-intuitive to many people. Jill's intensity for her 4 hours is very high whereas Jack's intensity is low enough to allow him to do extra reps or another class. Jill's higher intensity workouts are getting her faster results than Jack can ever hope to accomplish at his lower intensity level.

As trainers we see this scenario regularly. It is great that Jack is in the gym 5 days per week. However, Jack needs to raise his intensity level to a point that he cannot even think about doing two WODs per day. If you want fast results then your intensity must be as high as possible.

-Coach Tony

CrossfitICONZ

Hips don't lie!

“Powerful hip extension alone is necessary and nearly sufficient for elite athletic performance. That is, our experience has been that no one without the capacity for powerful hip extension enjoys great athletic prowess, and nearly everyone we’ve met with that capacity was a great athlete.”

That quote comes straight from the Crossfit Level 1 manual.  Hip extension is the center of all athletic movements and it would be a crime to not utilize it to it's full capacity.  Athletes need to train movement, not just develop muscle. By training proper movement patterns in the gym, you will see improvement in speed, quickness and jumping ability during play or life.  Hamstrings are knee flexors only in nonfunctional settings. During activity—life and sports that require running and jumping—the hamstrings also extend the hips. Some degree of hip dysfunction that creates postures and mechanics that reduce power and stability and are
generally unsound are lumped together in the term, Muted Hip Function, or MHF.  MHF is, ultimately, the postures resulting from the legs compensating for the hip’s failure – specifically, and foremost, using leg extension to compensate for weak or nonexistent hip extension.  MHF can be very evident during the push press, where instead of relying on hip movement (opening and closing) during the dip and drive, we see the knees jut forward and the pelvis roll backwards, pushing the belly forward.  Even the mildest cases of MHF will result in loss of power and instability.

So, how do we fix it?  Deliberate and focused training and practice of demanding hip extension movements is the only way to eliminate the effects of MHF.  The hamstrings are powerful hip extensors and they extend the hip in two positions:  straight-leg and bent-leg.  Thus we should practice explosive hip extension in both positions.  The squat and kettlebell swing are exercises where hip extension starts in the bent-leg position.  The GHD Hip extension, the good morning, and the Romanian Deadlift are examples of powerful hip extension with a straight leg.  In addition to deliberately training these movements, we shouldn't neglect mobility as a contributor to MHF.  In my opinion, the single best way to improve hip extension, other than training the movement, is by stretching the hip flexors.  My personal favorite is one from Mobilitywod.com, called the couch stretch.  Shown below, it should be performed almost everyday.  Followed by some foam roller or Lacrosse ball work to the anterior hip and hip flexors, the couch stretch will make a world of difference in your hip mobility, stability, and power.  Give it a try!