blog

In the last installment, I discussed how Strength is the Glass, it forms the ability to perform tasks. When we combine strength with metabolic conditioning we get work capacity. CrossFit’s mission is to ‘Increase work capacity across broad times and modal domains’. Clearly strength plays an integral role in increased work capacity, but how does one define strength. Ask 10 different people and they will give you 10 different definitions of strength. Is it absolute strength, like a 1 Rep Max squat or dead-lift? Is it strength endurance like gymnast holding form on the rings? Maybe it’s explosive strength like an Olympic shotputter… The answer is that all of these are demonstrations of strength. And a high level of strength is required for any of these tasks.
In Supertraining, Strength is defined as, “… the ability of a given muscle or group of muscles to generate muscular force under specific conditions.” Read that over again and notice how comprehensive a definition it is. What resonates most with me is the ‘specific conditions’ whereas there are many different conditions where Strength can be demonstrated. They are:
Maximal Strength: A 1RM squat or dead-lift
Strength-Endurance: An iron cross on the gymnastics rings
Speed-Strength: An Olympic shotputter
Strength-Speed: An Olympic clean and jerk
Explosive Strength: A max vertical jump
Starting Strength: A sprinter coming out of the blocks
-A new term that has found its way into strength training and become quite popular is Functional Strength. You can think of functional strength as a combination of strength, stability, and flexibility. We also refer to this as Mobility: An example of Functional Strength would be a deep Cossack squat

All 3 of these are different examples of Strength
Clearly there is a need for all levels and varieties of strength in CrossFit. As our goal is not mastery in anything but competency in everything. Paying equal attention to all forms of strength is key in our program design.