Fitness is the ability to perform daily tasks (work, chores, family responsibilities, play) and still have energy leftover to continue the day. Imagine if we had to sleep after every task we did, not much would be accomplished. Therefore even though our goals are ” X, ” we really need to be going for ” X ” and then go home and be able to cook dinner, or spend time with family, or study, etc.
CrossFit is a program that builds General Physical Fitness (not specific to one activity) to ensure we can take on a multitude of tasks that are either knowable or unknowable. Why….? Regardless of what we have as an established routine, life likes to throw us curve balls and we have to be ready (both physically and mentally) to get IT done. Training for only one specific activity can lead us to failure and usually at a high price. For example, the typical gym goer will work on maybe only three physical skills: Strength, Cardiovascular Endurance and Flexibility (very rarely). It is agreed that these are essential, but what about the guy that trains for strength all the time and then throws out his back picking up a pencil…is he FIT? Or the highly flexible yoga participant that has trouble lifting groceries…are they FIT? Now imagine the repercussions if our Police, Fire and Military personnel were good at just running or just lifting. Do you think they might need to be able to run then lift something heavy? Athletes can also benefit from this programming, because their strengths and technical skills can be augmented by building up weaknesses (which usually impede progression to begin with).
I hope the importance of general fitness and its impact on health/longevity is a little more clear now.
The 10 General Physical Skills:
1. Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance- The ability of body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen.
2. Stamina - The ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy.
3. Strength - The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply force.
4. Flexibility - the ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.
5. Power - The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time.
6. Speed - The ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
7. Coordination - The ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement.
8. Agility - The ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.
9. Balance - The ability to control the placement of the bodies center of gravity in relation to its support base.
10. Accuracy - The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.
(http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ-trial.pdf)
AJ hitting the Front Squats hard - although his form is not the best in this photo he has shown tremendous improvement over a short period of time and will continue to do so due to his eagerness to improve his flexibility and range of motion.
Todd- Good posture with elbows driving high!
Tue, Jan 19, 2010
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