Today is a rest day or a make-up day...
From CrossFit Journal
To Game or not to Game
By John Mc Evoy July 2010
In our world, the stopwatch is king. It doesn’t lie and it doesn’t have favorites. It simply states.
On our journey to ultimate fitness, we work on strength,
speed, agility, etc. to help us achieve more rounds or faster
times in any given workout. A lot of variables will come
into play and dictate how the workout goes: time of day,
food intake, hydration, personal proficiency with the
movements involved, injuries … . The list goes on, and
an article could be dedicated to how each variable can
affect a workout. This particular article is about strategy for
WODs, which some refer to as “gaming a WOD.”
You can approach a CrossFit workout in a host of different
ways, and you have no guarantee that any approach will
result in success given the amount of variables at play. Still,
some athletes rip into workouts with reckless abandon
and come out the other side with PRs. Other athletes
maintain a steady pace throughout and achieve equally
impressive results.
In the recent Data Driven video by Patrick Cummings,
we see exactly how athletes move through a workout.
Pat Padgett gets out to an early lead but fades down the
stretch and is passed my Mat Frankel, who kept a steady
pace even as he fell behind early on. Would Padgett have
been better served by a slower pace?
This is not a new question, but it’s interesting to note that
many athletes, even those competing at regional and
sectional levels, do not have a plan for the WOD they are
facing. And some don’t need one. Chris Spealler needs no
strategy when he does Fran. He will go all out until he’s
done. Others, however, might benefit from thinking about
the workout and creating a simple plan to get the most
work done in the shortest amount of time.
At the Europe Regional, for example, competitors were
given 15 minutes to complete two tasks: run 2.2 kilometers
and then complete as many reps as possible of ground to
overhead lifts at 70 kilograms. So how fast do you run to
allow yourself the most time and energy to complete the
highest number of reps?
Stick to the Plan?I discovered one method for gaming WODs in the
beginning of January when I did Cindy. My score was
18 rounds and 2 pull-ups. Every time I have done this
WOD I have gradually been progressing. After analyzing
my performance, I came to a realization: I was able to
complete 12 rounds in the first 10 minutes, and then in the
remaining 10 I only managed 6 rounds and 2 pull-ups. My
main weakness in the workout at the time was push-ups.
After the 12th round, I was pretty spent and failed several
times during the sets of push-ups, which forced me to rest
while the clock ticked.
After thinking about this for a while, I decided to retest
myself and use some strategy. Rather than go balls-to-wall
after the “3, 2, 1… go!” I used a little tact. I worked out that It
takes me a little under 30 seconds to do each round when
I don’t fail on any movements. I figured that if I did 1 round,
rested 30 seconds and went on the minute every minute,
I would achieve 20 rounds. I managed to do this and even
squeeze in an extra round at the end, giving me a score
of 21 rounds. I made it through each set of everything
unbroken, and the push-ups were really not a problem.
This is a respectable score on this workout, especially
when you take into account that I was actually resting for
half the time!
Does having a strategy like this neglect the purpose of
the workout? I don’t think so. The goal is to complete as
many rounds as possible in 20 minutes. We are trying to
maximize our work output. As long as we are getting the
work done quickly, it doesn’t say anything about how you
have to go about it. Maybe a little tactical planning can be
your ally.
This approach has one pitfall: you can get to the end of the
workout with too much left in the tank. Another approach
would be to think of the WOD as being four quarters of
five minutes each. Say to yourself, “I’m going to do six
rounds in each quarter and rest for the remainder of the
five minutes.” This would then give you 24 rounds total if
you could maintain your pace. This is a very good score on
this WOD and can be very achievable if you simply have a
think about it beforehand.
And, of course, you always have the option of forsaking the
plan and sprinting to the finish line if you have a lot left in
the tank.
As another example, I recently put one of my classes
through a workout that consisted of 100 thrusters for time
(65/45 lb.). Every minute on the minute they had to do 5
box jumps.
The majority of people fell into the realm of 12-15
minutes. Watching them all suffer through this, I noticed
that everyone went out hard in the beginning. Some
achieved 20-plus thrusters in the first minute and were
then completely gassed for each subsequent round,
sometimes achieving no more than four in the minute.
With a little strategy, you could say that you are going to
do 10 thrusters, then rest for the remainder of the minute.
Do your box jumps, then do another 10 thrusters and
rest. Following this strategy might allow you to complete
the workout in 10 minutes, which would be faster than
the times that were commonly produced when athletes
attacked from the word go.
A very similar example of this WOD appeared on the main
site on May 22, 2010, with a video of Jason Khalipa doing
100 dumbbell squat-clean thrusters for time in a hotel gym.
Every minute on the minute he had to do five burpees.
Khalipa’s time was 10:53. The video shows him doing 20
dumbbell reps in the first minute, meaning it took him 9:53
to complete the remaining 80. Khalipa is an animal and
crushes pretty much everything put in front of him, but
could he have achieved a faster time if he had adopted
the above example of hitting 10 reps then resting the
remainder of the minute? It’s debatable. The bottom line
is who knows? All I’m saying is that these kinds of experiments
are interesting and definitely worth some thought.
Use Your Body—And Your BrainThis kind of approach to WODs can add a whole new
element to your training. I would not advocate that you
approach all your WODs or even the majority of them in
this fashion, but it is definitely something to think about.
In order to increase your work capacity across broad times
and modal domains, you simply need to work to your
limits and go to that dark place you don’t want to be in—
and break through it. You will not become the fittest you
possibly can be if you try and nitpick and strategize every
little thing. Mental toughness plays a huge role in this
sport, and the only way to get mentally tougher is to go
to that place. Strategizing too much can certainly backfire.
Having said that, implementing some strategy from time
to time can be extremely helpful, especially when it comes
to competition.
CrossFit is often described as “evidence-based fitness.” We
record data, compare times and evaluate performances. If
you are an athlete competing soon, look at your data and
look at the WODs you will be competing in. How fast is
your 400 meters? How many muscle-ups do you have?
You should know all this information in your head so you
know how to get the best performance out of yourself on
competition day. If you are serious about competition, you
need every little edge you can get.
But, as with everything, don’t take my word for it. Test
yourself. Go out and attack any given workout and analyze
your performance. Film your workout and see where you break down.
Then repeat the same WOD at another time
and utilize some strategy.
An example could be a WOD consisting of five rounds of
something. Get your coach or anyone else to time each
round individually and see where you are losing/gaining
time. How does your first round compare to the last? Did
you go out too hard? Too slow? What work output are you
able to sustain for the longest period?
The bottom line is you will never know if this style of
training works for you unless you give it a shot. Having
said that, this type of training may not suit you. Many
people have reached the top simply going balls-to-wall
on everything, and I’m sure many more will follow. This is
just another element to think about and possibly include
in your training schedule as you push to get more work
done faster.
I’m sure that some of you are reading this thinking, “I do
that already,” but for others, I’m certain this will be another
one of those moments where you think to yourself, “It’s so
simple I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner.”
About the Author
John Mc Evoy is a Level 1 CrossFit trainer working out of CrossFit
Newton in Massachusetts. He also owns his own strength and
conditioning company, Craic Conditioning. John moved to
Boston in October 2009 after having lived in New Zealand for
three years. He is originally from Ireland.
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