Training Vs. Testing

Disclaimer:  I love Crossfit.  It has turned fitness into a sport and at the same time turned millions onto a fitness program. It is my belief that the main site or Crossfit.com is an excellent tool for attracting newcomers to Crossfit. I do not believe it is long term program to follow every day for 3 days on and 1 day off.  I believe it can get people started and enjoying Crossfit.  However, for long-term fitness I believe there is a MUCH better way to approach things.  (Which is what we are all after anyways, right?  It doesn’t help to be fit for a short period of time; we want to be fit for the duration of our lives.)

Testing is any workout we wish to record or use as a benchmark for progress. Examples are 1RM back squat, 1 mile run or “Fran.”

Training  is essentially all the workouts that are not tests. In training we utilize submaximal efforts, often repeated efforts, to achieve long-term progress.

We utilize testing to measure results and progress. We utilize smart training protocols to improve the results on tests.

If, as part of your workout program, you are constantly asked to “test” you will eventually become burnt out and progress will stall. No matter how varied these tests are, by continually training at the maximum of your capabilities, it will happen.  Some Crossfit training programs have their athletes doing “hero” workouts or 20 minute plus met-con workouts weekly or even daily.  Most new Crossfitters can expect constant improvement regardless of the quality of coaching and training program for 6 to 18 months depending on their level of fitness- 6 months for those with a strong beginning fitness level and 18 months for those coming right off the couch.  Past those timeframes are where a more advanced knowledge of training and fitness comes into play. If you desire your fitness gains to last past 6-18 months  (and who doesn’t? After all we are doing this for lifetime fitness right?), then you must seek out coaching and program design guidance from someone with an exceptional education, understanding, and knowledge of exercise and program design.

Here are two examples to better illustrate my point:

The workout is:

20 minute AMRAP

10 pull-ups
10 front squats @ 95#
10 burpees

For the novice that has pull-ups but generally weak leg strength (many new to Crossfit ), this workout will largely serve as a strengthening workout.  For them 95# front squats for 10 reps serve as difficult and taxing strength work.  Let’s say they get 4 rounds. The stimulus for this workout has been sufficient for strength gains in pull-ups and in front squats because the athlete will need long breaks between movements and reps.

For an intermediate or advanced Crossfit athlete, just looking at this workout should create a feeling of nausea and an understanding that this workout is doing NOTHING to make them stronger or fitter.  It is, in fact, a complete beat down of a workout.  An intermediate to advanced Crossfit athlete may achieve 10-15 rounds on this workout, totaling 150 front squats and 150 pull-ups, maybe even more for an elite athlete.  For someone at this level, strength is not a limiting factor so it is feasible to go through many rounds completely unbroken until the total volume of the workout puts them into a fatigued state.  At this time the athlete is certainly not getting any stronger doing this volume of reps fatigued at such a light weight. This workout would take DAYS to recover from and would inhibit good training for long after. 

This workout can certainly be used as a test for some athletes depending on their goals, but this type of training (long met-con with simple movements, leading to plenty of fatigued based reps and diminishing power) should not be a staple in any strength and conditioning program.  If you recognize this coming from your gym, be very weary as this can be a recipe for disaster in any athletes’ long-term development.

At Crossfit Binghamton, we utilize specific tests to ensure our clients are progressing and structured training to improve strength and conditioning over time.  Our goal is to build you up with smart strength workouts and develop a variety of energy systems through conditioning that will lead to steady progress in work capacity over time.  Learning to dig in deep for a short  ALL OUT effort,  resting, and repeating is critical to the development of an athlete. It has great application for power production, energy system work and is efficient for fat loss.

EACH one of our training sessions at Crossfit Binghamton is carefully thought out and planned with specific adaptions in mind. This isn’t a Crossfit gym where we come up with devious ways to make you suffer during a workout.  Occasionally the training will be painful and difficult, but rest assured with the knowledge that it is training with a specific outcome and objective in mind. We will then test and re-test different things periodically to ensure our athletes are progressing.

As a side note that I know some people are asking, “what if  I only want to look good naked?”  We chase overall physical performance here because looking good naked will follow your performance.  When a female can row an 8:30 2k, squat her bodyweight for reps, and complete Fran in 5 minutes, you better believe she looks good naked!  For males the same concept applies.  To look better, follow a structured training program to perform better.

-Written by Patrick Skinner, Trainer and Co-Owner of CrossFit Binghamton