Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

Speed and power training is something that is gaining traction in the training world and trickling into the CrossFit world. Elite athletes are posting videos of the more "out there" training they are doing, some people in the community are calling out the testing body of the CrossFit Games, and GPP purists in CrossFit are getting involved.
Should speed and power be tested at the CrossFit Games, and is it something appropriate to give to general population clients in classes?
In short, yes and yes. In both cases this is a gap in the testing and training we typically see in CrossFit.
Interestingly, this was something tested more often in earlier iterations of the CrossFit Games, and CrossFit originally targeted sports athletes, with the programme said to provide a more well rounded form of GPP than most strength and conditioning programmes out there.
In this week's episode we discuss how CrossFit should start to use this in the testing of athletes, how it might be tested, and the additional benefits of training these qualities. Check out the episode to find out more, including how you can include this in group class programming at a CrossFit box
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes:
[1:00] Is speed and power a big gap in CrossFit's GPP methodology
[3:20] Speed and power tests that have been at the CrossFit Games
[5:45] Slow strength being at odds with speed and power
[7:30] Is Olympic weightlifting a good expression of speed and power
[9:30] Manipulating strength training to target power
[12:45] How much can an average CrossFitter improve on this
[15:00] Not testing speed and power work properly in CrossFit
[20:00] How can you build this type of work into CrossFit classes
[26:30] The risk factor of programming this for general population

CrossFit's primary message has always centred around health, but how healthy is competing in CrossFit at a decent level, and how healthy is taking any sport to its highest level?
The trade-off between performance and long term health can be a murky line. Many hobbyists who take the sport seriously push performance to a point where it starts to affect their short and long term health.
The common trade-offs range from general aches and pains and reduced immune resilience through to more catastrophic injury. CrossFit training tends to build an extreme tolerance to training volume, which means the first two are far more common than serious injury. They also tend to creep up gradually, often to the point where you realise it is not worth it a little too late.
In this episode we talk about where that line sits for some competitors, when high performance nutrition becomes unhealthy, and why basic lifestyle guidelines are probably not the marginal gain for elite level athletes. Check out the podcast to find out more and see what our longevity training split would look like.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes:
[01:00] Longevity, health and the trade-offs with competing in CrossFit 
[02:30] Can you have both? 
[05:30] Aligning expectations with your level of competition 
[10:19] The main trade-offs with taking performance too far 
[14:00] Nutrition for high performance 
[19:00] Basic lifestyle guidelines for elite level athletes 
[21:00] What does our longevity training split look like? 
[25:30] Choosing a sport or activity for longevity

Training that is structured has its upsides, it is predictable and a safe bet, but progress can be slow and it can become boring. Chaotic training can produce quick results but tends to lead to plateaus and a lack of direction.
Finding the right balance between the two is one of the more constant challenges in programming, particularly in a group class setting. How much variation is useful noise and how much is just randomness is not always easy to judge.
Managing the expectations and psychology of different members is often harder than writing a smart progressive programme. You are never going to please everyone. But direction in training matters, and so does writing something people actually want to show up and do.
In this episode we talk about finding the right level of noise in a group class programme. We get into why members will often accept strength progressions but resist the same approach applied to conditioning, and we discuss whether CrossFitters would actually enjoy other group fitness formats like F45 and Barry's Bootcamp. Check out the episode for a few useful takeaways for anyone planning cycle progressions for group classes.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes:
[0:00] What is noise in CrossFit training
[2:00] Why this is challenging in a group class setting
[4:45] Managing structure and variety in class programming
[7:15] Is Barry's Bootcamp random or structured
[11:00] Making class programming varied but legible and progressive
[13:30] Would CrossFitters enjoy things like F45 and Barry's
[17:00] How to trick CrossFitters into doing conditioning progressions
[22:30] More chaotic progressions for CrossFit benchmarks
[27:30] Discussion on how linear progressions work

This year's CrossFit Games Open workouts ruffled some feathers. The constraints of having only three tests mean that overdoing certain movement patterns, time domains, or workout styles can significantly skew the testing.
This can really impact the enjoyment of your average CrossFit box member, who is not overly invested in their results but genuinely enjoys taking part. Ultimately, these situations raise the question of who the Open is for, what the main goal of this competition is, and whether the programming is aligned with these factors.
In this week's episode, we talk all about the Open, the tests, and what it could look like if there were some level of standardisation or predictability to make it more engaging for every CrossFit box member.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes:
[1:30] Unbalanced testing with the CrossFit Open workouts
[5:00] Making the Open more enjoyable
[7:30] The purpose of the CrossFit Games Open
[11:00] Who is tracking their scores seriously in the Open
[15:00] How can CrossFit separate itself from other fitness competitions with the Open
[18:30] Does standardising the Open workouts make it more engaging
[22:30] Is the unknown and unknowable useful for CrossFit

Striking a balance between using metrics and standards to guide fitness, without overdoing it, is more important in CrossFit now than ever. Fewer people are participating in the sport, both seriously and recreationally. The demands of the sport keep getting higher, and the competitive scene is unclear and somewhat chaotic, so more people are taking part in events like Hyrox or simply training for the sake of training.
Todd has recently put together some standards for South Loop Strength and Conditioning, and in this episode we continue our discussion about what fitness standards and metrics have to offer, using some of the examples in the standards that Todd has created. Listen to find out what some of these standards are, how to design good benchmarks, and how to use them.
If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.
We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops
These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.
Show Notes:
[0:45] Standards in fitness and motivation for training
[3:00] How to use standards and metrics in training
[6:30] Using metrics to balance out fitness and having a reference on weak areas
[12:00] Keeping tests contextual to CrossFit
[17:30] Are old school CrossFit benchmarks still valid data points
[20:00] Designing tests to avoid bottlenecks
[22:00] When certain tests don't tell us much about someone's fitness