{"id":2028,"date":"2012-11-23T15:55:23","date_gmt":"2012-11-23T22:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libernetics.com\/?p=2028"},"modified":"2012-11-23T16:01:51","modified_gmt":"2012-11-23T23:01:51","slug":"crossfit-peak-fitness-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libernetics.com\/?p=2028","title":{"rendered":"CrossFit: Peak Fitness Revisited"},"content":{"rendered":"

A while back someone asked me if my goal for my workouts was to get good at CrossFit. \u00a0The answer is no. \u00a0For me, CrossFit was (and is) a means to an end. \u00a0That end is “fitness.” \u00a0 The big\u00a0problem\u00a0is how do we define fitness? Well\u00a0I admit I suspect a lot of what passes for “fitness” is actually culturally driven. \u00a0But that bias aside CrossFit has the “10 Modalities<\/a>” which is probably as a good a definition as any.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of my CrossFit training I told myself ” just do the WODs!” (99.9% of which I scaled way down) and I assumed that I would eventually figure out what “fitness” actually meant to me. \u00a0Well not so much. \u00a0I didn’t have a\u00a0particularly\u00a0clear goal, and the modalities were a bit too abstract to be useful.<\/p>\n

The good news is that CrossFit does provide a way to measure relative fitness by having everyone do the same workouts, and publish the scores for comparison. These are the named WODs. \u00a0 And of course that helps. \u00a0But for me there was still something lacking — a specific goal. \u00a0To put it another way, how would I measure my<\/em> fitness?<\/p>\n

Among the many WODs that are out there, the one that stands out for me as the best example of true fitness is “Cindy.” \u00a0The Cindy WOD is 20 minutes of 5 kipping pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 air squats — do as many reps as possible in 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

After thinking about it, I decided that the\u00a0easiest\u00a0way to manage and measure my goal of peak fitness (besides focusing on VO2<\/a>) was to emulate\u00a0athletes\u00a0who had proven themselves to be capable (an idea I’ve mentioned before<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

And that brings us to Josh Stonier. \u00a0Josh is an\u00a0exceptional\u00a0athlete<\/a>, and among the many things he excels at is the Cindy WOD. \u00a0He does 27 reps in 20 minutes. \u00a0Now that is incredible. \u00a0The last time I tried Cindy I did 11, and I thought I would pass out (several times!) \u00a0It was\u00a0grueling. \u00a0So a score of 27 for Cindy is awesome.<\/p>\n

So let’s use Josh as an example of how to set a fitness goal. \u00a0I think the first best step is to set the problem up correctly. \u00a0Instead of saying “I can’t do what Josh does” say instead, “how much of what Josh is doing can I do now, and how can I improve my current ability?”<\/p>\n

Given that objective, let’s examine what Josh does. \u00a0A score of 27 for Cindy means Josh does almost 7 reps every 5 minutes. \u00a0That’s helpful, but let’s break it down a bit: a score of 27 for 20 minutes mean one rep every .74 minutes, \u00a0which we could round up to .75, which means 1 rep every 3\/4 of a minute, or 1 rep every 45 seconds.<\/p>\n

So by that standard if I can do sets of 5 kipping pullups and 10 pushups and 15 air squats in 45 seconds on average, I’m as fit as Josh! Well, not quite — I would have to continue that\u00a0progress\u00a0for 20 minutes (which isn’t likely in the\u00a0foreseeable\u00a0future.) \u00a0So let’s be pragmatic, and\u00a0establish\u00a0a starting goal of doing 1 rep every 45 seconds for 5 minutes.<\/p>\n

As it so happens I did 5 minutes of Cindy recently, and it took me 5:15 to do 5 reps. \u00a0So right now I’m quite a ways off — at 1 rep every 63 seconds. \u00a0Which is 18 seconds off the mark per set. \u00a0Plus I was doing knee pushups. \u00a0But let’s put that aside and assume that being able to do 7 rounds of Cindy in 5 minutes (actually about 6 full rounds and 30 seconds left) with knee pushups is a good start. \u00a0And for me it would be. \u00a0As it so happens\u00a0the first set I did came in at 44 seconds.<\/p>\n

I think 5 minutes of 45 second sets of Cindy is something I can accomplish. \u00a0The pullups and\u00a0squats I can do — it’s the pushups that really slow me down. \u00a0After the third round I start to fade really fast. \u00a0I end up doing 3 at a time, then 2, then 1. \u00a0Slowly. \u00a0So I need to improve on pushups.<\/p>\n

If I get to my goal of 7 sets of Cindy in 5 minutes scaled with knee pushups, I’ll try 10 minutes. \u00a0And if I get that far, I’ll try full pushups for 5 minutes. \u00a0And etc.<\/p>\n

Will this make me as fit as Josh Stonier? Not exactly. \u00a0It will mean that I am as fit as Josh for 5 minutes. \u00a0I’m OK with that. \u00a0At least for now.<\/p>\n

Cheers!<\/p>\n