With all of the changes going on around CFSF, it’s important that everyone knows what’s happening when it comes to the programming. I get many questions and comments about this subject (and I know many questions and comments float around that I don’t hear) so let me take this chance to clear the air so that we can all be on the same page.

First, I feel like the word ‘programming’ is thrown around quite a bit with regard to planning the WODs. My strength and conditioning background has taught me that an exercise program is written to address the goals and needs of a person or group of people. A program is a plan to systematically progress toward those goals and needs. Making a program for a few athletes with the same goals and needs is easy; making a program for 150+ people of varied fitness levels, ages, wants, and needs is a totally different beast. So, what exactly is our goal here? Do we want to build cardiovascular capacity? Yes. Do we want to build strength and power? Yes. Balance and coordination? You bet!

I have three main goals to fulfill when putting things together for ya’ll.

1: The program should be broad, general, and inclusive. Expect to run, jump, lift, throw, swing, and insert any verb you can think. Also expect to work in a variety of time domains. By this I mean metcons/WODs of all different lengths; mostly 15-25 minutes in length (intense), some less than 15 (very intense), and some up to 35 (somewhat intense). By utilizing constant variation in choosing movements/exercise modalities, we as coaches will be constantly teaching and you as athletes constantly learning, which leads into my next goal…

2: Every day, you should leave feeling accomplished. Whether this means doing your very first pull up, making a heavy lift, or pushing your body further than you ever thought you could. Every workout has a specific goal, a bit of instruction or practice to help you reach it, and a warm up planned to prepare your body for the movements and demands about to be placed on it.

3: Safety. This one is obvious. Goals 1 and 2 pertain to effectiveness. Yes, this program will improve your fitness, but it also needs to guarantee that you can be fit tomorrow, in two weeks, ten years, and beyond. Many people believe that in order to get more fit, you need to do more and go harder every single day. In reality, though, your body can only withstand so much pounding before it breaks. With smart planning we can avoid overuse injuries and mental/physical burnout. This is done by making sure there is a balance of movements (pushes, pulls, squats, etc) and volume (sets and reps), everything fits! The other side of the whole safety thing is in the coaching. Leading a solid warm up, teaching proper technique, and scaling as needed are important parts of our job.

As a coaching staff we’re putting a lot of emphasis on this stuff because it’s essentially the reason we’re all here. Each day is carefully planned out to meet a specific goal. Each week is laid out to build upon the week before, and then checked, revised, and changed several times to ensure balance and that it provides a wide assortment of challenges and opportunities. All of the coaches also have input, so there’s sort of a system of checks and balances, keeping everything as broad, general, and inclusive as possible.

If there are any ever questions, comments, or concerns on the program, PLEASE don’t hesitate to contact me by email: casey.mouw@gmail.com. It’s your membership, your money, your fitness, you should be informed in how it’s developed. I also have no problem with sitting down and setting up an individual plan with somebody, you need only ask. Keep working hard!

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Casey Mouw
Lead Trainer, CrossFit Sioux Falls

This entry was posted on January 7, 2011 at 6:08 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.