Monday 5/23

3 Rounds for time:
9 Bar Muscle Up
400m Run

Hey guys it's Calvin again.

Every once in a while I feel it's important to write about this topic because,as you'll see in the article listed below, we kinda forget. The topic I'm referring to is volume vs intensity as it pertains to your training. Often times, it's looked at as the same thing. For those of you not familiar with the different methodologies, volume says to train multiple times a day many days throughout the week. This might mean a strength WOD then a Metcon right after. Or let's say, doing a 5-5-5-5-5 Shoulder Press and a mile run in the morning and then do Fran in the evening. (Actually a reoccurring nightmare of mine...) But the idea is to do this type of process day in and day out 5-6 days a week. This is obviously a daunting task to say the least and requires a good deal of time and energy. But the though is to jam as much movement and different exercises to get fitter.

The counter argument comes from the Intensity side which says that in order to do all that volume, you can never truly give any of your efforts a real hard go at it. That there is only so much power you can give to one thing without sacrificing in other areas. For example, what if the only time you ran a mile was after heavy back squats for an hour? One, no way are you ready to really do any running or give any true max effort in the run. Your legs barely work at that point. Or/also you don't go as hard on the squats and never really get after your true potential on them because you're worried about the run afterwards. Either way you're short changing you effort. And Intensity folks would say that it's only when you are going to that limit, that near breaking point and giving it everything you have, that you make real strides in your fitness.

The article does a much better job of breaking it down. And when you see who wrote it, that will only make sense. Just keep this stuff in mind when you're training. Think about how you train and what goals you have. As always, work hard. I'll see you guys in class!

Catch the article I'm referencing here.

Calvin Kenan