Adaptation: Period, Persistence, and Prioritization

[stef]

by MAJ Damon Wells

“The recent surge in the quest for a “well-rounded” and/or “functional” training program (and visible abs) has become the greatest inhibitor to effective training programming. The current trend in “fitness” training involves a complex array of what most perceive as balance of fitness parameters: strength, flexibility, skill specific, and high or low intensity endurance training. Becoming proficient in many skills or modalities is an attractive proposition and has become the fashionable gold standard for flashy, trendy workouts. Often, these techniques are applied haphazardly or in a method that emphasizes variety over consistency and progress. Terms like “muscle confusion” and “broad time and modal domains” are common and many will tell you that these are sound exercise principles. In fact, they are useless techniques that are the opposite of progress and are often gimmicks promoted by greedy
entrepreneurs.”

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[Tiburon]

great article. timely. thanks a bunch

[danimal1991]

I agree with alot of this article, and I'm not a crossfit fan, but all of the Crossfit bashing and the like is getting so old. Now when I read these articles it reminds me of teenagers arguing on facebook. Everyone needs to get over themselves. You can find posts by Rip himself from a couple years ago saying crossfit is the best GPP program he has ever seen.

[csauer52]

WOW! Outstanding article and really reinforces to me why I'm here and what I'm currently doing.

I'm not ashamed to say that I actually did two rounds of P90X, but that was before I knew any better as I hadn't ever worked out in my 38 years on this globe. I did lose 50lbs and lots and lots of fat on the program, but it left me feeling like there was a whole lot more to training.

Luckily for me, I stumbled onto Dave Drapers site while researching protein powder (of all things). After perusing through the forums and into Dan Johns thread, I eventually found SS and had my "lightbulb" moment.

I'm convinced that this is the way for me to progress and I can't wait to see where I am a year from now. At 40 I'm definitely no spring chicken, but I think I can still make decent progress in the next 3 to 5 years with respect to building pure strength and prior to heading into my golen years....

[homerj742]

Really interesting read. I particularly enjoyed the part of taking a 30 day layoff from strength training to prepare for the physical fitness test. When he returned to his strength program, he found it only took 2 weeks to get back to 95% of his prior strength.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I agree with alot of this article, and I'm not a crossfit fan, but all of the Crossfit bashing and the like is getting so old. Now when I read these articles it reminds me of teenagers arguing on facebook. Everyone needs to get over themselves. You can find posts by Rip himself from a couple years ago saying crossfit is the best GPP program he has ever seen.

Do you regard the criticism as unwarranted or inaccurate? CF is very good GPP, but the argument here is whether GPP produces elite athletes.

[gamedog]

Do you regard the criticism as unwarranted or inaccurate? CF is very good GPP, but the argument here is whether GPP produces elite athletes.

Say Rip, I've been thinking a lot about this...

There's a lot of @Fitters out there who believe that they are "Elite Athletes" by virtue of the fact that they successfully complete @Fit workouts (many of which are indeed tough workouts), and in the microcosm of their own Box, they've got their name written at the top of the white board. Fine.

However ... I was at the local WAL MART the other day. And I saw a family of morbidly obese people there, dad was plodding along, mom was scooting along beside him in a rascal, and their young son, about age 7 or 8, who looked as if he easily weighed a buck 25, was walking beside them, and he had his Pop Warner or whatever football gear on... I'm sure he didn't weigh that much, but you get what I'm saying.

Could it be, that the CF mentality that steers away from "Great GPP" toward "I'm Fucking ELEET!!!" could be correlated to America's trend toward obeisity? In other words, as the American public lowers the bar, more and more mediocrity floats to the top, thus lowering the bar of athletics as well?

[Mark E. Hurling]

Good article there. It's funny but much of what I'm doing now seems to align itself with his recommendations. Not because great minds think alike, I just maybe stumbled into the same territory by accident.

I did workouts of 6 exercises organized into 2 groups of 3 exercises. I would run this triple circuit with no rest between them other than what it took to add weight or move from one to the next. This would be one triple circuit followed by the second. I did this for several years and while I didn't stagnate I didn't get a lot stronger either. The whole theory was cardio and strength at the same time and in the same workout.

As I look at what I am doing with Wendler's A and B twice a week template alternated every other week with 3-5 rest periods between sets, I am having good results. The cardio I do is dealt with on seperate days with 15 minute GXP's, the jujitsu I practice, and some other low intensity cardio. I am just now learning that even more recovery may be necessary with deload weeks if I want to continue to get a little stronger at my advanced age.

[president kang]

On the unwarrented, I'd say yes. On the inaccurate, I'd say depends. GPP does make superior athletles in many cases. If you are looking at say, Basketball or Soccer, then GPP is a far superior asset to strength by itself. If you are looking at football, baseball, or track and field, then no, you would value strength over GPP. It all depends on what your definition of "athlete" is, and what your goals are, as is the case with any training program.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Could it be, that the CF mentality that steers away from "Great GPP" toward "I'm Fucking ELEET!!!" could be correlated to America's trend toward obeisity? In other words, as the American public lowers the bar, more and more mediocrity floats to the top, thus lowering the bar of athletics as well?

An interesting point. Elite means less than what it used to, especially in the minds of the non-athletic public that so thoroughly outnumber us.

On the unwarrented, I'd say yes. On the inaccurate, I'd say depends. GPP does make superior athletles in many cases. If you are looking at say, Basketball or Soccer, then GPP is a far superior asset to strength by itself. If you are looking at football, baseball, or track and field, then no, you would value strength over GPP. It all depends on what your definition of "athlete" is, and what your goals are, as is the case with any training program.

Why is it unwarranted? You didn't say.

And you actually think that the NBA is full of good CrossFitters? GPP "specialists"? Manchester United is recruited from the CF Games? Name a CrossFit "athlete" that went from CrossFit into professional sports after having honed his/her body into Elite status. Or college sports, for that matter. That would meet my definition of an athlete, squishy as that definition may be. There are, after all, 2500 affiliates churning out elite athletes every day, and 20,000 CF Level I trainers of these elite athletes. The name, please.

CF is fine for what it is and what it actually does, but when grandiosity, hubris, and mental illness get in the way, it becomes much less than it can be.