Competing in a sport is a skill. Over years of coaching we’ve see time and again that many athletes believe the keys to achieving success in sport are grounded in the idea that the physical training is the most important variable. In the early years of CrossFit, it was a commonly held belief that in order to excel, you needed to hurt every day and amass as much volume as possible without getting injured. As the sport has evolved, the testing bodies have changed, and more athletes have aged from rookies to veterans, there has been a shift towards taking a more mindful approach with balancing volume and intensity. But, even with changes in better training approaches, we’ll still encounter athletes who fail to translate their fitness capacity to their ability to execute under pressure.

When working with competitive athletes, you should strive to have intention behind every aspect of the training that you prescribe. The goal of bodybuilding training for a competitive athlete should be to support sport performance.

Purpose of this blog:

1. Detail the two most popular styles of bodybuilding in the CF Performance market (isolation / functional)

2. Introduce Integrated Bodybuilding and explain why it’s a better method for helping CF athletes.

3. Provide a framework for periodizing each type of BB’ing into a season

In Part 1 of this blog, we discussed how we think about improving movement for people that want to participate in competitive CrossFit. Once those basic movement skills are developed, athletes start to move into an intermediate or advanced stage of development where they have to actually learn to train for the sport. In this blog, we will explain how we think about long term development in the sport.

Following up on our Train for the Open Blog Series from the first two weeks (hyperlink) here is our final open related two part blog. In this blog we will illustrate how we apply Training Think Tank’s philosophy and methodology to improving performance in CrossFitTM Open workout 24.3. Below you will find a long term approach to development of both general physical preparedness (GPP) and performance in the sport of CrossFitTM…

The 2024 CrossFit Games Open is over and if you are reading this, it likely means that you made it through the top 25% cut line and are moving on to the next step - Quarterfinals! In the open there is just one test per week and you can focus more on your “game day” performance…

The bar muscle up has become a staple in CrossFit competitions, frequently appearing in workouts designed to test athletes’ gymnastics proficiency.

The movement involves transitioning from hanging below a bar to pulling the body up and over it finishing with locked out arms above the bar. It’s a seamless combination of a pull-up, a powerful hip drive, and transition into a dip position.

In Part 1 of this blog, we discussed how we think about improving movement for people that want to participate in competitive CrossFit. Once those basic movement skills are developed, athletes start to move into an intermediate or advanced stage of development where they have to actually learn to train for the sport. In this blog, we will explain how we think about long term development in the sport.

Below you will find a long term approach to development of both general physical preparedness (GPP) and performance in the sport of CrossFitTM. We will elaborate using our academic and data driven approach to sport development. Part 1 will cover how we think about the movements that were tested in 24.2 and how to improve them over the long term…

In Part 1 of this blog, we discussed how we think about improving movement for people that want to participate in competitive CrossFit. Once those basic movement skills are developed, athletes start to move into an intermediate or advanced stage of development where they have to actually learn to train for the sport. In this blog, we will explain how we think about long term development in the sport.    

In this two part blog, we apply Training Think Tank’s philosophy and methodology to improving performance in CrossFitTM Open workout 24.1. Below you will find a long term approach to development of both general physical preparedness (GPP) and performance in the sport of CrossFit

In this blog, we will explore the strength levels required at various stages of CrossFit competition, as well as introduce new strength ratios for balanced CrossFit strength development. This blog was inspired by a recent Corpus Animus podcast we did on strength in CrossFit, click the link below to watch that discussion.

Recently, Max and I filmed a video where I walked him through some ankle mobility drills intended to improve alignment of the ankle bones making mobility work more effective….

Recently we received the following questions from our audience:

From @chris_eaton: “How do you coach mobility/prescribe it?”  

From @jan_sharkt: “How do you improve ankle mobility?” 

What is in this Blog:

1. How training too much or too little can influence pain and injury.

2. How a loss of movement variability can contribute to pain and injury.

3. How the concept of allostatic load contributes to pain and injury.

Dear Fellow Coaching Nerds, It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to write to you….