Chances are you’ve been doing CrossFit for long enough to realise it’s a branded functional Strength and Conditioning program. You’ve probably worked out that by following structured CrossFit programming that you’re going see an increase in your general fitness, but how do you RX that bench mark workout, ring-muscle up or even get that first strict pull-up? Well, put simply you need to get stronger.

Okay, so you’ve established that strength is a vital component of your physical fitness and will help you unlock your physical potential however how do you do that and what is strength training anyway?

Strength is achieved by following programmed and structured doses of force production and velocity cycled with adequate rest periods to achieve adaptation. You don’t need to be concerned too much about what these training traits are as obviously that’s the concern of a professional strength coach to program and deliver these protocols. However, as some background information I’ve listed them below:

Absolute Strength <0.5 m/s Accelerative Strength .75 m/s Strength-Speed 1 m/s Speed-Strength 1.3 m/s Starting Strength >1.3 m/s

These traits listed fit nicely into something called a force-velocity curve and are measured in m/s, again background information. More importantly, what do you need to do to get stronger? In simple terms, you need to be able to lift something at absolute strength through the required range of motion and move something at speed through the required range of motion.

You’ve probably experienced a 1RM lifting day by now and recorded your max lift. Maybe you’ve experienced a so-called plateau when re-testing the same lift or just struggling to RX workouts. Many factors can influence this including not a significant time for the central neuromuscular system to recover, not incorporating appropriate strength traits into your training, not using periodisation and absence of accessory work to bring on lagging weaknesses.

If you’d like further help in unlocking your Strength Potential then please drop by to speak to one of the Coaches.