At CrossFit Ventura, we are not about volume. In fact, one of the greatest things about our type of training is how little volume it takes to achieve elite levels of fitness. It is a common fallacy to think that doing more will lead to better results. This fallacy in thinking often leads to doing more to achieve the same results, or even less. Not to mention an increased chance of injury due to not allowing yourself to recover, as well as the psychological burnout you can get from doing too much high-intensity exercise too often. If you greatly overestimate your ability to recover from these workouts, your days doing CrossFit WILL be numbered...and they shouldn't be.
Deciding how many days a week you should workout can be tricky. A good bit of common sense is important but here are somethings you should be looking at.
AGE. Your age is very important because as you get older, your ability to recover slows down big time. Are you in your early 20s? If so, you can probably get away with quite a lot. How about 30s? Maybe your recovery is quick, maybe it isn't...the other factors dealt with below are going to be real important in deciding that. 40s? Your recovery is no where near a 20 year olds. Understand this and use it to your advantage by allowing yourself to recover more! 50s+? Be smart folks!
NUTRITION. Keeping great nutrition (paleo, zone, fish oil, post wod meals) is very important to how well you'll recover. Got crappy nutrition and you are 33 years old..., consider yourself a 40+ year old as far as recovery. Have a little too much fun on the weekend? It's all good, but know your recovery is in a sink hole for the next 3 days. So if your in your 20s and play too much crunk bat, consider that you now have the recovery of a 30 year old.
SLEEP and STRESS. By sleep, I mean 9 hours in a completely dark room. Not possible for you? It isn't for most of us, but this too slows down recovery. Stressed out? Your recovery is shot! If you're 50 years old and really stressed out, you have the recovery of a 60+ year old. Workout and Rest!
No matter how old you are, and how good or bad your recovery is, you can still get great results and do CrossFit for a long long long time, as long as you are smart about how much volume you are putting in. Huff pays great attention to this, and being in his early 30s following a fairly strict paleo diet, he only works out 4 days a week. And he is extremely fit! Rest on your rest days, recover well, and be ready to bring it when you do workout. If you can't think of anything else to do but workout when you should be taking another rest day...you need a "Rest Day Hobby"!
Post a "Rest Day Hobby" to comments!
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This Could Be Your Hobby
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Workout of The Day
A1: Hang Snatch + Snatch; 1.1 x 5 sets; rest 120 sec
A2: Clapping Push-ups: amrap x 5 sets; rest 120 sec
B1: Kettlebell Swing @ 2pd/1.5pd; 15 x 3 sets; rest 30 sec
B2: Toes to Bar; 10 x 3 sets; rest 90 sec
score = best snatch + highest & lowest # of clapping push-ups + lowest # of unbroken KBS + lowest # of unbroken toes to bar
Post score, loads for A1, reps for A2, as well as comments for B1 ad B2 to com
