At what intensity should you be training at CrossFit Kensington?
One of the main points about CrossFit is the intensity with which the workouts are performed.
The quote that is often repeated in CrossFit is “Intensity is the independant variable most commonly associated with maximising favourable adaptation to exercise”. And I agree with that.
But, intensity is different for different people.
The needs and desires of the office workers differ from the emergency services which differ from the armed forces.
CrossFit is always touting that it will forge elite fitness and I do believe it will. But, is that why you joined CrossFit? Do you want or need elite fitness? Or do you just want a fitness program that delivers results, gets you really fit, moves you in functional ways, gets you away from the globo gyms and the crowds that go with them, eliminates all of the useless machines you so often see in gyms these days, makes you strong as well as fast as well as aerobically fit and keeps you interested with the varied workouts?
I know I train people who need elite fitness. I also train people who want elite fitness. I also train people who don’t necessarily want or need the elite fitness, they just want the other things I listed above.
When you commence your CrossFit journey, you should establish where you fit into these categories.
You can achieve some fantastic results by training regularly, not necessarily at full intensity all the time.
So how many sessions should you hit each week?
When you are in full swing, there is no problem to train 5 sessions per week. But, that doesn’t mean you should be going at 100% intensity all of the time. If 3 of your sessions are at full intensity and 2 are at 80%, then you are doing great.
I cannot write some higher intensity workouts a week and some lower intensity workouts a week because I never know what days everybody is turning up on. Imagine if on the days you were able to train next week, they were all lower intensity. It just wouldn’t work. My workouts vary between heavier and lighter, shorter and longer, but at the end of the day, any workout can be done at 100% intensity or less than 100% intensity and this is where your judgement has to come into it.
So how do you train at less than 100% intensity?
Firstly before I answer this, I need to say something about the competitiveness of CrossFit workouts.
The competition that drives a CrossFit workout whether it be the fastest time or the Rx’d weight or the most amount of reps is fantastic and it is what I believe sets CrossFit apart from other workouts. BUT…..
You DO NOT have to be competitive 100% of the time!
There is no problem to attend a class and know you are having a light day. This doesn’t make you soft, it makes you smart. I am in no way saying you should turn up to class and go easy all the time, I am saying that if you are feeling fatigued or you have had a hard session the day before and you know you’ll be in tomorrow, then use today as a lighter day.
So how do you train at less intensity?
Don’t go for that Rx’d weight today. Know your limits on certain movements.
Don’t worry if you are a few minutes off the pace of somebody else who may not have trained since last week.
Train for yourself! Get your diary, nut out which days you will train this week and think about which days you might go a bit lighter. I promise that if you have an easy day on day 2 of a 3 day cycle, you will be able to go harder on day 3!
If you don’t want your score recorded on a certain day because you are not going to be clock focussed, then thats fine, I will commend you for your judgement. Just make sure you go hard on the other days either side of it.
This is in no way an excuse the slack off, it is me telling you to be realistic and don’t smash yourself 100% of the time, and don’t have several days off a week to compensate a really hard workout. Train smart!
Your body will thank you for it!