Time plays a big role in our program at Defy Functional Fitness. We either try to get as much work done in a set period of time or we try to do a set amount of work in the shortest amount of time.
But why?
Well if you don’t use time as a measurement, how do you know if you ever improve? There are also other obvious measurements in fitness too like weight, distance, speed, etc. but that’s not what I’m getting at with this post.
The problem with For Time (FT) is that this can sometimes be the sole focus, as can some of the other measurements too. Most of you will have been in a gym and have seen someone with way too much weight on the bench press whilst his mate is doing most of the work by “spotting” him. The sole focus of doing that exercise for these people is how much weight is on the bar.
Similarly, in a CrossFit class, people can be solely focused on what their time was in a particular workout.
When we say 3 Rounds FT – what we actually mean is 3 Rounds For Time (with great movement). In fact, let’s spin it the other way. 3 rounds of perfect movement For Time! Since the movement should always be the priority.
We don’t want to eliminate the For Time aspect because we do want intensity in certain workouts, but we don’t want that to jeopardize the quality of the reps. We also want to know our time so we can repeat the workout and see if our training/lifestyle has helped us improve.
Being too focused on how fast or how much weight lifted is what has given CrossFit a bad rep in some cases. While tracking our workouts is what sets us apart and turns exercise into training, it can also be detrimental if we ignore our technique.
CrossFit INC. teach in their level one seminar the process of Mechanics – Consistency – Intensity:
Mechanics – This is pretty obvious, learn the correct mechanics for the movements you are performing.
Consistency – Once you have learned the mechanics you need to become consistent in these mechanics at different loads, different speeds and different amounts of reps in order to perform them well in a For Time setting.
Intensity – Now that we are consistent we can introduce intensity into these movements. The reason the sled push or the assault bike can be so devastating is because people can actually reach intensity on these movements. The mechanics are pretty simple so we can increase intensity fairly quickly.
Every day is a training day, not a competing day. Until you have become consistent at the movement you will progress faster by limiting the intensity and focusing on your movement.