Beyul Training

Sorry, I have been MIA on the blog for a little bit. Had a strange week, and had many ideas to post, but couldn’t bring myself to focus on one topic to write about.

Over the weekend I competed in the PA, MD, DE Crossfit Sectionals. The top 20 athletes (Male & Female) got to move on to Regionals.

I had mixed emotions leading up to the event. As I evolve as a trainer, and as someone who is more aware of their training philosophy, I find it hard to completely be gun-ho over Crossfit. I think Crossfit has some great aspects about it (focus on powerful movements, challenging gymnastic elements, some brilliant coaches, and best of all a great community), however, I also myself getting rubbed the wrong way by Crossfit headquarters and their programming. The complete lack of periodization and assumption that increased power output across modal domains equaling fitness for EVERYONE bugs me.

Would I do the same exact thing for a 45 year old golfer that is post-rehab, as I would a 14 year old volleyball player that is looking to get on the varsity team? The short answer is no. Different goals mean success is measured in different terms. We want to provide increased performance in whatever domain the client wants.

Mixed Modal Work is great (think the traditional Crossfit beat downs), but keep it in smaller doses people! The problem is, is that certain people get addicted to them, because of the cardio high it gives you. It may feel great to beat yourself down consistently, but your body will pay for it in the long run.

We have to think of health in the short/long-term as well as performance in the short/long term. Many times when we are talking about athletes (where performance is stressed) we can get on the verge of compromising health for performance. I don’t want that. I owe it to any athlete I train to make sure they can enjoy life down the road, as well as be successful now.

Sorry for that tangent.

How’d the weekend go? Good, I finished in the top 20, and am through to the next round. The results speak for themselves, and my training method/diet got a little more evidence to support their effectiveness.

But, I still can’t shake the feeling I am training for something I ultimately don’t believe in… just not sure how to feel about it all. Is performance measured by my standings in a crossfit competition? Not sure, but I do know that everyone should have clear goals and reasons for their training. Just trying to figure out my reason.