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Monday, August 8, 2011

Volume

      Morning everyone. Frosh here, fresh and back in the saddle... or on the wagon.. something like that. Anyway, yesterday I promised you a ramble about Volume. Today, I intend to deliver! So sit back and get ready... it's ramble time!


     Obviously, Saturday I had quite the bout with some high volume training.What is that exactly? Well, in the aerobic world volume equals more miles on the bike/road/water. In the strength world volume is more reps (not neccesarily more weight). And, fo course, in the CrossFit world volume is more WODs.

     In CrossFit you will hear of elite athletes, or those training for competition, will routinely throw multi-WOD days into their training. This is going to do a few things. It prepares that person for the rigors of having multiple WODs in a day, like most competition. Not only that, but it can test a person how well their body can recover between WODs. or the day after.

     Experience (recently as last weekend) has told me that being able to perform that many WODs is physically and mentally taxing. At competitions you know you've already hammered yorself on WOD #1, so you have to put faith into your training and into your abilities, that you can still attack the next WOD with just as much... let's say, "gusto". CrossFit competitions are the ultimate proroving grounds of your training methodology. If you are not prepared for extra volume, you may not be prepared for a competition.

     That being said... Is volume training right for everyone? No, definitely not. CrossFit is a strength and condition program. It's a simple 3 on 1 off prescription. You will not see multiple WODs in a day on the mainsite (unless they post CF Games WODs). If you're not prepared, increased volume can lead to overtraining. And volume-induced overtraining does take a while to recover from.

     Basically, there are times to have a double day, or a triple day... certainly not every day. It all depends on what you're training for. Want to go to the Games or compete regionally? Maybe so. Preparing for a military/LEO job? Hell, that may help. Increasing your fitness? Maybe not, just hit one WOD. What do you guys think? Anyone played with muti-WOD days before? I'd like to hear your thought on the matter. So do the WOD, maybe do another WOD... and do burpees!


Crossfit Vortex Teaser from Jazeen Hollings on Vimeo.

3,2,1 GO!
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Yesterday's Training:

Rest Day
Much needed

Day 115 Burpee Challenge / 6670 Burpees Completed

*3511*

7 comments:

  1. Hit two wods the other day. I did Barbara then later in the day was a 10min running/burpee wod with accumulating burpees. The next day I was pretty beat up. Spealler talks about his training like this leading up to The Games and has some interesting comments. It's in the Journal. A coach's prep course in which he talks about programming in general. I have it saved because of what he says about heavy days.

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  2. I like this conversation. As an athlete, I feel as though I generally fully recover from even pretty brutal morning WODs by mid-afternoon. I feel like I could handle a heavier volume, such as regular two-a-days. However, I have declined to do it 'cuz there are so many other interesting things to do and be every day!

    A wise man once said that a person's life satisfaction is a product of three variables: health, wealth and relationships. If you put too much effort or energy into any one of these, you lose another. So WOD on for greater health, but remember to save time and cherish the other things in life, too! =)

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  3. Libbie, I think I know the video your talking about. Speal is one of the guys that limits himself to 1 WOD a day, unless he's gearing up for a competition. Maybe this speaks about his age (though I doubt it) or, better yet, his maturity. CF is for health, mutiple WODs a day is for performance.

    Greg, I really like the "wise man" quote you have there, and I agree with you. I wouldn't be destroying myself if I wasn't on deployment, and I will taper down once I get back to the good ol' US. However, on deployment and you really do is eat, sleep, work and WOD.

    Basically, I'm doing this to gain strength. I want to be competitive at local competitions. I usually finish dead last. Don't get me wrong, I have a blast at every competition, but I want to be the one that someone has to chase. We'll see if it pays off.

    Thanks for the comments guys!

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  4. I just had my first competition and it was a four WOD day and it was fun. I felt like I had strength for all of the WODs and was fresh for all of them. I think training hard and having a few multiple WOD days really helped mentally and keeping the energy levels up. But one thing about it is the extreme soreness I have. it has been three days since the competition and I am still struggling to put my arms overhead. I feel as if multiple WOD days are something that should be part of crossfit programming. They may require a few rest days afterwards but I was on a single WOD a day routine and no matter how hard I hit it soreness never got to me. Having a multi-WOD day is truly a key part in muscle confusion and keeping your muscles on their toes. But the biggest part is to recognize that three WODs in a day may mean three consecutive rest days because it could be horrible if you try to lift and workout again with sore and destroyed muscles.

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  5. Nothing like some good ol' Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Congrats on your first competition. How did you do?

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  6. It went really good. Everything that was gymnastics and bodyweight I absolutely destroyed. My biggest weakness is form on my snatch, I have the strength to move the bar but just cannot hold it in the catch. It was a team WOD so thankfully we had a strong dude to make up for it. But I did almost all the rowing and everything else. We also had atlas stone lifts that were new to us but we ended up getting 7th out of 20 in the WOD. So far it was the best experience of my life despite the massive rips I have now

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  7. A hearty congrats bud! Way to kill it! I bet those atlas stones were no joke. Haven't got to play with those yet.

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