Metabolic Conditioning
By Greg Glassman
Metabolic training refers to conditioning exercises intended to increase the storage and delivery of energy for any activity. Generally, all out efforts of two minutes or less are anaerobic while efforts lasting more than several minutes are aerobic. In this article, Coach Greg Glassman writes why the Crossfit approach is superior for getting results.
Anaerobic efforts are relatively high powered, while aerobic efforts are relatively low powered. Aerobic exercise is nearly universally regarded as being heart protective, but there is compelling evidence that shows that anaerobic exercise is evenly matched in this regard. Recent studies have shown that anaerobic exercise is a vastly superior protocol for fat burning than it’s less intense aerobic counterpart.
Counter to popular belief kettlebells, obstacle courses, and CrossFit WODs performed at similar exertion levels can surpass bike riding and running at conferring increased aerobic capacity!
Ultimately the CrossFit position on metabolic conditioning, or “cardio”, is summed up in two points. One is that anaerobic training can match endurance training for aerobic benefit. Additionally, metabolic training with varying and mixed exercise modalities avoids specificity of adaptation allowing for additional first wave - cardiovascular/respiratory adaptations, and increased functional strength.
CrossFit athletes have demonstrated improved endurance performance without classic endurance training. Even in clinical trials CrossFit’s high intensity regimen has produced improvements in endurance measures that rivaled those achieved through programs comprised largely of endurance efforts.
Check out the article:
http://library.crossfit.com/premium/pdf/Jun03_metab_cond.pdf?e=1262902657&h=a72041de6a276fd1b9f6921ed8f34ff9In Nov. 07, an excellent article was published in the CrossFit Journal by CrossFit Kansas City/Bootcamp Fitness owner Michael Rutherford. The article was based on Dr. Izumi Tabata's research on maximizing your VO2 max with interval training. Check out the link:
http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/63_07_Tabata_Dumbbell.pdfToday's W.O.D.
Tabata "Something else"
Pull-ups
Push-ups
Sit-ups
Squats
Tabata intervals (20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest repeated 8 times) is applied with each exercise: Squat, Pull-ups, Sit-ups, and Push-ups with a one minute rotation break between exercises. Each exercise is scored by the weakest number of reps in each of the eight intervals. During the one minute rotation time allowed, the clock is not stopped but kept running. The score is the total of the scores from the four stations.
Scoring example: A total score is determined by adding up the lowest number of reps in any set of each exercise - 4 pull-ups, 6 push-ups, 13 sit-ups, 18 squats = 41.
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