CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program. The goal of CrossFit is to get you stronger and fitter in a wide variety of ways, not just one or two. It is effective, efficient and safe, and for absolutely anybody!

The phrase “General Physical Preparedness” (GPP) is often used to describe this goal. Prepared for any physical task that life throws at you – at work, playing sport, playing with your kids, moving house, running for a bus, accidentally signing up for a half-marathon…

Not knowing in advance what all the requirements of life might be, it’s important to be able to do practically anything, and do it well! CrossFit achieves this with the following prescription:

Constantly Varied, Functional Movements, executed at High Intensity.

The appropriate application of each of these three components is critical to maximising your GPP, your overall strength and conditioning, your ‘fitness’. They will be explored in greater detail another time, but for now this is what you need to know:

1.      Functional Movements are what we do. They move large loads a long distance, quickly. This makes them unique in their ability to produce power.

2.      Intensity is identical to power. It is the variable most commonly associated with maximising the rate of return on favourable adaptation. That’s a fancy way of saying it’s the most effective way to achieve your goals!

3.      Constantly Varied is how we program. Smartly designed, neither random nor repetitive. The breadth and depth of a program’s stimulus (the movements and intensity) determines the breadth and depth of your adaptation. We do a lot, to get a lot!

With an understanding of these fundamental principles, we can begin to answer common questions such as “why don’t we do a lift then a metcon every day?”, “why do we do heavy days?”, “why do we do squat snatches and handstand walking?” and many others!

We also need to dive into CrossFit’s definition of Fitness to help with some of these questions, so this and many other topics will be explored in future posts.

See you in the box!

Coach Rishi