Jesse O’Brien here. I am a previous CrossFit affiliate and have been a part of the CrossFit community since 2008. I have witnessed the tremendous growth of CrossFit, its evolution and even some of its shortcomings. Now don’t get me wrong. CROSSFIT WAS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL component of my early adult life. It was the gateway to physical subculture: Olympic lifting, gymnastics, mixed modal high intensity training...
What I witnessed through my own training, as well as through that of countless clients, were stagnating results, the higher their training age. Our clients would get incredible results for the first 12-24 months, but beyond that, they would begin to notice halted progress, and in some cases, decreased markers of fitness.
Zack was one of those clients. This guy was massively strong and hungry to succeed in the sport of fitness, yet he stopped seeing the results he was hoping for with his CrossFit Group Class Training. His snatch stalled at 155 due to overhead mobility and stability issues, as well as limited exposure to the movements. Doing snatches once every three weeks in CrossFit Group Classes was not in line with his goals.
CrossFit is not the problem. In fact, CrossFit is the most revolutionary model of fitness that we have ever seen. There are more people following CrossFit than any other fitness modality to date. People experience incredible results, become stronger and leaner, and often get into the best shape of their lives. The problem is that in order to spread CrossFit to the masses, CrossFit built a platform: GROUP CLASS TRAINING. If you are looking for a results-oriented program, this is not the best way to train.
Introducing Individual Program Design
This is a program tailored to your goals, lifestyle and current state of fitness. A client comes in and meets with an Experienced Strength and Conditioning Coach. The coach reviews the client’s goals, training history and the motivation behind these goals. Then the client enters a testing period in which objective data is collected to determine where to start. Only then does the coach design a long-term plan of attack.
The secret that some people don’t realize is that training plateaus are often avoidable, given the right model for success. You do not need to change anything necessarily, just the model in which it is performed.