Every 3:00 for 5 sets:
8 Back squats
Then, every 2:00 for 5 sets:
3 Front squat + 1 thruster
Post weights to BTWB
Most of us are lucky enough to get into the gym as many days a week as we would like. Sometimes there is that urge to do more than what’s programmed into our daily workouts. We look at a workout and it may only be 10 minutes and we feel like we should do more for that day. At Verve, the trainers build our class plans to take advantage of a shorter workout, by spending time working on skills, refining movement, creating warm ups that get you ready for the day’s workout, and leave time to cool down and begin the recovery process or at least recommend post WOD recovery and accessory work should the class take a little longer than anticipated. Our goal is to make the whole hour important, not simply the workout or the results that are going to be on the whiteboard.
Box Life Magazine ran a good article about increasing your training volume and why you have to be aware if it’s the right direction to take your training. Below are a few excerpts from the article, but click HERE for the full read. Having difficulty recovering from workouts and losing the motivation to train, are two things that I’ve personally dealt with. Finding a balance has helped me train more intelligently and led to better quality training sessions.
When you lose intensity in your workouts
CrossFit workouts are designed to maximize intensity. When training with intensity, athletes experience greater adaptations to their physical fitness and health, hence why CrossFit founder and CEO Greg Glassman advises all CrossFit trainers to be impressed with intensity, not volume. While many athletes will look to increase their training volume to seek further gains, Games athlete and Level 1 Seminar Staff member James Hobart writes not to “mistake volume for intensity and end up training for 90 minutes at 60 percent when 60 minutes at 90 percent might have been more valuable.”
When you have difficulty recovering from workouts
Part of the reason you aren’t able to sustain your intensity is likely due to your inability to recover from a high-volume training program. Remember, it’s the time spent in rest where we actually become stronger, faster and fitter. Your body needs time where it’s not under physical stress in order to repair the microscopic tears to your muscle fibers. When these fibers are ‘rebuilt’, the muscle grows and becomes stronger. If you’ve increased your training volume to the point that you enter the gym feeling fatigued and weak, then not only have you set yourself up to have a poor training session, but you’re also increasing your risk of injury. In this instance, you need to either place more emphasis on the quality of your recovery, or reduce your training volume.
When you lose motivation to train
Just as your body will let you know when it needs a break, so too will your mind. High intensity training fries the central nervous system, which connects your brain to the motor units in your muscles. Without sufficient rest, you’ll start to experience mental fatigue.Getting up to train will start to become a chore. Instead of looking forward to your workouts (which should be the best part of your day, especially if you’re so serious about your goals that you’re beefing up your volume), you begin to despise them. And when you lose the desire to work out—and to work out with intensity—then there’s really little point in turning up to the gym at all.
Adding in some active recovery days or days away from the gym are things that athletes and coaches recommend to help you recharge your battery and let your body recover. A day spent hiking, riding your bike around town, or playing sports with your friends, might not seem like the workout we’re accustom to, but these recovery days are what lead to great training days.
Much more can be found in the full article, so click the link above and give it a read.
