The definition of CrossFit is “constantly varied functional movement performed at high intensity.”
Let’s talk about that “constantly varied” part.
Constant variation means that we’re doing lots of different things in lots of different combinations. Not only are we varying our Foundation and WOD every day, but we’re also varying the kinds of Foundation work and kinds of WOD that we do within each mini-cycle (Mon-Tues, or Thur-Fri-Sat).
In other words, we don’t just vary our workouts; we also vary the ways in which we combine the many kinds of workouts that we do. Sometimes, we’ll have two or three nice little fun 21-15-9 WODs in a row. Sometimes, four consecutive workouts will involve pullups. Sometimes, we’ll go for two weeks without repeating a single movement.
That’s part of the programming here, and also part of life. You can’t control how many days in a row you’ll need to move something heavy, or how often you’ll have to chase after an escaped dog or small child. Our training reflects this.
This doesn’t mean that our workouts are selected at random — a lot of thought is put into programming days, weeks, and months of workouts that make sense, build on each other, and work to improve your fitness as effectively, efficiently and safely as possible. While it might sometimes seem random (“Turkish Get-Ups? Who made this stuff up?!”), I promise you that everything we do has a purpose in our pursuit of fitness.
With that in mind, I ask one thing of all CrossFit Manatee members: Don’t cherry pick. “Cherry picking” is when you choose whether or not to attend class based on what the workout is for that day. If you’ve ever thought, “That looks like a long one — I’ll skip it,” or “I hate deadlifts — I’ll just go tomorrow,” then you’re guilty of cherry picking.
Cherry picking only hurts the person who cherry picks. If you don’t like deadlifts, that’s probably because you suck at them and need to practice them. If you dread longer WODs, it’s probably a good sign that you need to work on your endurance.
In short, cherry picking means that you’re no longer doing CrossFit, as defined by “constantly varied functional movement at high intensity.” Instead, you’re doing something more like “functional movements that I feel like doing at the intensity I feel like doing them at.” That’s not CrossFit.
You didn’t sign up for CrossFit because you like sucking at things. You signed up because you want to get better. You want to be the strongest, fastest, fittest, sexiest, most-highly-capable version of yourself that you can possibly be — and you can’t get there by cherry picking.
This blog post was originally published on 11.01.12
Foundation
Split Snatch
5×2
WOD
2 min AMRAP
handstand pushups
2 min AMRAP
double-unders
2 min AMRAP
pistols (alternating)
