General physical skills of a superior athlete

1. Cardio/Respiratory Endurance - The ability of body systems to gather, process, deliver, oxygen.
2. Stamina - The ability of body systems to process, deliver, store and utilize energy.
3. Strength - The ability of a muscular unit or a combination of muscular units to apply force.
4. Flexibility - The ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.
5. Power - The ability of muscular unit or a combination of muscular units to apply maximum force in minimum time.
6. Speed - The ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
7. Coordination - The ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement.
8. Agility - The ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.
9. Balance - The ability to control the placement of the bodies center of gravity in relations to its support base.
10. Accuracy - The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.

How is CrossFit the most effective program

Our program will cover all movements and intensity an athlete would utilize in their sport. We target specific training by time, load and intensity but never forgetting all the domains of fitness that make the optimal superior athlete. Which means we must not focus just on one movement or exercise specifically but rather on all functional movements applied by the athlete in his or her skills?

In training facilities around the world the typical workout consists of isolation movements and extended aerobic sessions. The fitness community from trainers to articles has the exercising public believing that lateral raises, leg curls, leg extensions, sit-ups combined with 20-40 minute aerobic/skills session is going to lead to some kind of great fitness. We believe we should be applied, the way it is applied on game day. I would not have the athlete who plays football run as cardiovascular workout when they utilize anaerobic energy during the majority of the game.

It is our belief the athlete would perform better by utilizing actual time frames and movements that would be applied on game day for example: one minute intervals of max output at different exercise stations covering speed, power and agility exercises followed by a one minute break then repeat for four rounds. This would be more ideal to one quarter in a game than just an ideal weight room workout. Athletes in the sport of volleyball must have strong skills in plyometrics, power and a high anaerobic energy pathway.

But that is not only what they should focus in. the athlete who has more speed will make the save of a lost point, the athlete who has the accuracy will put the ball in perfect setting for each play. With this being said the athlete who is well balanced in all fitness domains will be superior on game day. It is our job to give athletes an optimum balanced of fitness domains relative to their sport to perform the skills you teach much more efficient and effectively.

Who is using CrossFit

Josh Everett (sports and conditioning coach at UCR)

Many athletes, MMA fighters, Baseball players, basketball players, colleges and everyone in between. Are utilizing the CrossFit program. UC Irvine and UC Riverside incorporate this program as a summer program and more to almost all sports teams using many CrossFit's benchmark workouts and methods. We are able to have such a variety of athletes because our workouts differ by degree not kind, meaning we scale loads, times, and intensity for different athletes. A basketball player still needs to squat just the same as an athlete in the sport of rugby or baseball does but at different loads, type and intensity.

Excerpts taken from CrossFit Journal. Click here to download the original article.

Men's Baseball (UCR)

“Following Fall Ball we moved into a three-days-a-week strength and conditioning program consisting of heavy cleans, squats, and CrossFit storms. My bread and butter as a strength coach is Olympic lifts, squats, and hill/bleacher sprints. When I began using CrossFit three years ago, I was worried that I might be sacrificing some of my athletes’ clean and squat numbers for the broader fitness they would gain from CrossFit. I was willing to make that sacrifice because I believed so much in the general physical preparedness foundation that CrossFit delivers. I was happily surprised that our strength and power numbers have actually gone up using hybrid programs like the ones I describe in this article.

Here are some of the performance results of this program. Keep in mind that seven of the sixteen guys were new to the program and only one had ever done cleans before. Out of the sixteen players who made the roster, thirteen power cleaned 220 pounds or more. Three guys cleaned 300+. On back squat, thirteen lifted 300+, with the same three guys hitting 400+. We also have thirteen guys who performed “Helen” in less than 9:00. (That’s 3 rounds of 400-meter run, 21 kettlebell/dumbbell swings, 12 pull-ups, done on the track with 24-kilogram Russian swings.)

This was the team’s best off-season with me since I arrived at UCR six years ago. We have better power numbers than ever before. The coaches have remarked that since implementing “CrossFits” a year ago, the athletes are able to sustain a much higher energy level longer at practice. Our team will at times simulate extra-inning games in practice, going as long as twelve or thirteen innings. The coaches have noticed that the team’s energy and ability don’t drop off in those late innings like it did in the past. The true test will be how we do on the field during the season. Our season begins February first and ends in June. In Baseball America’s pre-season poll we are ranked 26th in the nation in NCAA Division 1.”

Excerpts taken from CrossFit Journal. Click here to download the original article.

Women’s basketball (UCR)

“Here are some of the results we’ve had with this program. As of February 20, we are in first place in the conference, with a conference record of 11-1. The highlight of our non-conference games was victory over then-undefeated Wisconsin of the Big-10. As you read the lifting statistics, keep in mind that four of the players are brand-new to the program this year and have not had time to achieve great numbers as our intensity drops greatly once November rolls around.

On the power clean, we have five athletes lifting 150 pounds or more, and seven who have power cleaned more than their body weight. Three have squatted 200+ pounds(we need work here), and eight have 20+ chin-ups, with three of those being able to do 30 or more (and, remember, these are not gymnast-sized athletes). We have eight players with a sub-10-minute “Helen” time (with a 16-kg Russian swing), with three of those under 9:00 and two of them under 8:30”.

Excerpts taken from CrossFit Journal. Click here to view the original article.

Interval training

The key to developing the cardiovascular system without an unacceptable loss of strength, speed, and power is interval training. Interval training mixes bouts of work and rest in timed intervals. We can control the dominant metabolic pathway conditioned by varying the duration of the work and rest interval and number of repetitions. Note that the phosphagen pathway is the dominant pathway in intervals of 10-30 seconds of work followed by rest of 30-90 seconds repeated 25-30 times. The glycolytic pathway is the dominant
pathway in intervals of 30-120 seconds work followed by  rest of 60-240 seconds repeated 10-20 times. And finally, the oxidative pathway is the dominant pathway in intervals of 120-300 seconds work followed by rest of 120-300 seconds. The bulk of metabolic training should be interval training. Interval training need not be so structured or formal. One example would
be to sprint between one set of telephone poles and jog between the next set alternating in this manner for the duration of a run.

Information from CrossFit Journal. Click here to visit the CrossFit Journal Web site.

World-Class Fitness in 100 Words

• Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.
• Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast.
• Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense.
• Regularly learn and play new sports.

The CrossFit dietary prescription is as follows:

Protein should be lean and varied and account for about 30% of your total caloric load. Carbohydrates should be predominantly low-glycemic and account for about 40% of your total caloric load. Fat should be predominantly monounsaturated and account for about 30% of your total caloric load. Calories should be set at between .7 and 1.0 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass depending on your activity level. The .7 figure is for moderate daily workout loads and the 1.0 figure is for the hardcore athlete.

What Should I Eat?
In plain language, base your diet on garden vegetables, especially greens, lean meats, nuts and seeds, little starch, and no sugar. That's about as simple as we can get. Many have observed that keeping your grocery cart to the perimeter of the grocery store while avoiding the aisles is a great way to protect your health. Food is perishable. The stuff with long shelf life is all circumspect. If you follow these simple guidelines you will benefit from nearly all that can be achieved through nutrition.

The Caveman or Paleolithic Model for Nutrition Modern diets are ill suited for our genetic composition. Evolution has not kept pace with advances in agriculture and food processing resulting in a plague of health problems for modern man. Coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, obesity and psychological dysfunction have all been scientifically linked to a diet too high in refined or processed carbohydrate. Search "Google" for Paleolithic nutrition, or diet. The return is extensive, compelling, and fascinating. The Caveman model is perfectly consistent with the CrossFit prescription.

What food should I avoid?
Excessive consumption of high-glycemic carbohydrates is the primary culprit in nutritionally caused health problems. High glycemic carbohydrates are those that raise blood sugar too rapidly. They include rice, bread, candy, potato, sweets, sodas, and most processed carbohydrates. Processing can include bleaching, baking, grinding, and refining. Processing of carbohydrates greatly increases their glycemic index, a measure of their propensity to elevate blood sugar.

What's the problem with high-glycemic carbohydrates?
The problem with high-glycemic carbohydrates is that they give an inordinate insulin response. Insulin is an essential hormone for life, yet acute, chronic elevation of insulin leads to hyperinsulinism, which has been positively linked to obesity, elevated cholesterol levels, blood pressure, mood dysfunction and a Pandora's box of disease and disability. Research quot;hyperinsulinism" on the Internet. There's a gold mine of information pertinent to your health available there. The CrossFit prescription is a low-glycemic diet and consequently severely blunts the insulin response.

Caloric Restriction and Longevity Current research strongly supports the link between caloric restriction and an increased life expectancy. The incidence of cancers and heart disease sharply decline with a diet that is carefully limited in controlling caloric intake. "Caloric Restriction" is another fruitful area for Internet search. The CrossFit prescription is consistent with this research. The CrossFit prescription allows a reduced caloric intake and yet still provides ample nutrition for rigorous activity.

General physical skills

If your goal is optimum physical competence then all the general physical
skills must be considered:

1. Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance: The ability of body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen.
2. Stamina: The ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy.
3. Strength: The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply force.
4. Flexibility: The ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.
5. Power: The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time.
6. Speed: The ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
7. Coordination: The ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement.
8. Agility: The ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.
9. Balance: The ability to control the placement of the bodies center of gravity in relation to its support base.
10. Accuracy: The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.

Information from CrossFit Journal. Click here to visit the CrossFit Journal Web site.