Aerobic capacity and lactate threshold training

A note on spring programing:

For all of those that are paying attention to our accessory work beyond our regular class times. There will be a slight shift in accessory conditioning for the next few months. Expect 1-2 days of aerobic threshold training (typically running) which will be programed in. These will be slightly longer workouts to build up aerobic capacity while still providing enough speed and glycolytic adaptation to push the needle forward. This aerobic base building is needed for the next part to be effective.

When we do high intensity work the muscles quickly fill with lactate. This will hit high enough levels that motor recruitment begins to shut down and we lose power and capacity. Typically this is the moment where you double over catching your breath or the muscles are too pumped out to do another set or lift. To make maters worse, lactate quickly dumps into the blood stream. This will directly cause pre-fatigue in muscles that haven’t even been worked yet making it hard to recover.

This is where lactic threshold training comes in. If we can teach our aerobic system and the muscles that are not at work to process blood lactate faster, we can have more head room in the muscle groups that are hard at work. How do we do this? Brief bouts of extremely high intensity followed by slow active recovery. High intensity work will cause lactate to dump into the system, the recovery work teaches our body to use that lactate as fuel and tolerate it better. This is about continuous motion. During metcons we often have to take breaks. This work will make it so you need fewer of them. Expect to see things like 5 min EMOM 10-30 seconds of ME work (and I really do mean maximum effort) followed by a period of extremely easy but continuous movement. Things like time, movement difficulty, or weight will go up as we progress through spring.

-Jake

Why choose CrossFit?

CrossFit is defined as constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity to improve work capacity across broad time and modal domains.  That definition tends to bring to mind the hugely muscled, shirtless dude lifting 400 pounds or hitting sets of 5 muscle-ups on the rings.  And I get it, that image in our heads feels impossible to ever match.  When I tell people that I do CrossFit, reactions vary from “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of that,” to “I’m not fit enough to do that!”  But the vast majority of people who CrossFit are not the top 3% athletes you see on TV - they’re everyday people who want to make their bodies move more efficiently, have a healthier cardiovascular system, and maintain mobility as they get older.  It is my firm belief that CrossFit is universally scalable, for any individual at any fitness level and age, and I want to help you break that stigma of “I can’t,” and see what you can achieve.

From Greg Glassman’s article “What is Fitness?” published in October of 2002 at the beginning of the CrossFit era: “The question regularly arises as to the applicability of a regimen like CrossFit’s to older and deconditioned or untrained populations. The needs of an Olympic athlete and our grandparents differ by degree not kind. One is looking for functional dominance, the other for functional competence. Competence and dominance manifest through identical physiological mechanisms.

We have used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and intensity; we do not change programs.”

So why do people keep coming back to CrossFit, to the point where the internet memes jokingly refer to it as a cult?  We asked some CrossFitters for their answers, and overwhelmingly it comes back to the community.  As Rebecca P., a CrossFitter for 10 years, put it: “The community is the best aspect.  I have never been in an environment where all athletes are supportive of each other, whether you are the most fit and seasoned athlete, or the new person trying their first class.  CrossFit forges long lasting friendships and a family-like community.”  Everyone is supportive of each other, regardless of fitness level, regardless of what weight you rack up.  If you’re hitting a PR (personal record) or a new skill for the first time, then everyone is right there, cheering for you.  As adults in an increasingly divided and isolated society, the shared suffering and desire to improve builds a bond that lasts for years and crosses miles - even if you drop into a CrossFit box in an unfamiliar town, the sensation of community is the same.

Tonya V., a CrossFitter for 8 years, speaks to the variety of workouts as a draw for her: “I started CrossFit after getting bored with my at home workout routine, trying running and yoga (but not sticking with them), and wanting something that would challenge me.  I didn’t realize when I started CrossFit in 2015 that I wouldn’t just become physically stronger, but it also helped mentally and emotionally, too.  I was someone who got bored with workouts easily, often becoming too routine, but CrossFit varied movements.  I was never doing the same workout twice, so I was working different muscle groups constantly and seeing results.”

As Jay, another longtime CrossFitter, states: “This is something people need to hear. CrossFit can seem scary or extreme if you haven’t done it. But with the right CrossFit coaches and community, people of all skill levels, physical challenges, injuries, ages, and body types can find a way to do the same workouts together with modifications as needed. Proper mobility training and modification of the exercises are in my view a key to developing a personalized workout during each session. It’s not about seeing what the athlete next to you is doing, it’s about being honest with yourself about where you are and pushing to your best without letting your ego get in the way and overdoing it. Ego leads to injury. Comparing yourself to others leads to injury. Working with coaches and your own awareness to personalize your training gets crazy long term results, without injury.”

Nicole B. also mentions the atmosphere of CrossFit gyms: “Why should you join CrossFit?  There are many reasons and I am sure you will fit into at least one of them!  So here we go: a community that becomes family inside and outside of the gym, motivation to learn new skills leading to new disciplines.  These new skills help further develop strength and coordination leading to better quality of life!  Functionality that applies to everyday life in how we move our bodies.  Overall a fun and positive place to better yourself and set examples for loved ones as you crush your goals!”

Both Jake and I love the community of CrossFit and watching others achieve their goals.  For me, exercise is one of the best tools I have to help with my mental health.  As for my physical health, I figure if my body is going to hurt anyway as I age, it might as well be for a beneficial reason!  On a more personal note, both of my parents have degenerative diseases that have accelerated in the past three years - seeing them go through this decline has only strengthened my resolve to keep my body as healthy and physically active as I can, for as long as I can.  I want to be able to get down on the floor and play with my grandkids when I’m 80 - and be able to get back up.  And I want to help others find that same strength and functional movement so that they can do the same. 

Want to see for yourself?  Check out our *free* Community Class every Saturday at 9:00 AM!

Let’s talk programming…

January 20th, 2023 

Hello, Kraken Athletes!

I want to take a moment to talk about our upcoming few weeks of programming as we hit the ground running. 

For our general programming, our base will be CompTrain’s affiliate program. This program is a CrossFit centric program. You can expect to see tough metcons, which are heavy in classic CrossFit movements, chippers, couplets, and triplets. We plan to have a metcon, as well as some sort of strength or accessory work before or after the workout if time allows. We will let you know where the best place to spend your energy is and what the intended stimulus of the workout is whenever possible. Expect high intensity work, heavy in gymnastics. Remember this is CrossFit, and intensity is often better than volume.

That said, we will offer several tracks on our daily workouts. The trick here will be to pick the track which will be most beneficial to your athletic ability and which meets the target stimulus; that may not always be the “RX,” weights or movements.  

These will be:

Sweat: Expect lighter weights and more accessible movements. 

Train: This is where most experienced athletes should fall, you can expect classic CrossFit on this one.

Comp: Higher weights, and most highly technical movements.

We may also offer a “+” version of our tracks to help modulate the stimulus. 

It should go without saying, but these are general guidelines. Weights and movements should always be tailored to the ability of the athlete. Rome was not built in a day, and neither is your fitness. We’re here to guide you to improve in a safe and effective manner.

Now the fun part, accessory work.

Here at Kraken we firmly believe that a daily class will be enough to provide amazing results for most athletes. We will make you fit. There is also a trap in too much volume. If you take on too much without your body being able to recover, you may see burnout or performance regression. What is listed below is optional training for those who want to push things to the next level. We do not recommend athletes tackle this kind of volume unless they are sure they can recover from it. This is intended as a “pick and choose,” not an “all the above,” list of options.

Now that that’s out of the way.

Strength

We will have a mix of Westside Conjugate Method programmed into our classes some days and alongside classes on others. We will run a few cycles of this and reassess its impacts in our programming. Westside will push your maxes, our WODs should cover the volume work for most other athletes.

Westside programming looks like this:

Dynamic Days: Work will be lighter - lots of 8x3’s, 10x2’s at 50-60%. The goal for these days is to be as explosive as possible on all reps. If you’re starting to slow down, drop weight. Movements will rotate often. By using specialty movements, we can break down major lifts into its components and eliminate weaknesses.  

We are trying to recruit fast twitch fibers that will directly translate into our WODs and generate explosivity. Westside is known for large gains up front due to varied stimulus. Some of our dynamic days will be programmed into our daily WODs as a strength piece.

For example, a Back squat Dynamic workout may look something like this.

Week 1 8x3 @ 55% Dynamic BACK squat based on estimated or Max effort attempt

Week 2 8x3 @ 55% Dynamic BOX Squat based on estimated or Max effort attempt

Week 3 8x3 @ 55% Dynamic FRONT Squat based on estimated or Max effort attempt

This may repeat for 1-8 weeks before changing the main stimulus with mild % bumps. 

Max Effort days:

Work will be Heavy – On a max effort day we want to see you hit 3-5 singles at or above 90%. This does not mean that you are trying for a new 1RM every session!

An example of a ME day:

Work up to 3-5 singles @ 90%+

The rep scheme may look something like this, this will largely be based on feel and is not set in stone.

Warm up/volume work - Resting 2-3 minutes between sets (or more if needed) 

2x4 @ 60%

2x3 @ 70%

3x1 @ 75%- 80%- 85%

Then

3-5 Singles at 90+ % 

These are the days to push the heavy weight. Movements will rotate often and be paired with the dynamic days. 

It’s important to note this though. This kind of lifting is hard on your CNS especially when coupled with metcons or high volume. Westside typically programs additional accessory work with the main lift, we plan to cover that additional accessory work inside the metcons and during “afterparty,” work. CompTrain will be our primary source for metcons, and Westside will be our primary source for strength pieces.

Most athletes should start with only dynamic days until they are sure their body is responding well to the stimulus and recovering properly. If there are form issues or you’re overtrained, you can risk injury. Be humble, be smart, and put in work. 

Now the dreaded word: Cardio.

Do you want additional training to improve your cardio, in and out of the gym?  First give this a read:

https://www.crossfitinvictus.com/blog/aerobic-zones/ 

Metabolic systems/Anaerobic capacity work:

Does your motor suck? There’s a way to fix this. Unfortunately, it will hurt. 

This accessory work is simple. Expect to see things such as 4x400m run @85%, 6x200m Sprint with 30 seconds rest, or 2x2k row with rest 1 to 1. 

Basically, this will be interval work and mostly monostructural. This additional programming is all about buckling down and putting in the work. It’s not flashy but I believe it will pay off in dividends down the road. Most of this work will be sprints or fast pacing work. This is meant to increase anaerobic work capacity as well as overall efficiency in those workouts that are at or near redline. 

Aerobic Threshold work: The other end of the energy system. 

First, this kind of work is shown to have statistical health benefits over the course of the human lifespan. Ask yourself this question. Do you struggle to run a mile at any real speed? Can you run a 5k or a 10K quickly or without stopping? Are you metabolically capable of putting in 30-40 minutes of rowing or swimming with real output? If you cannot, then your aerobic system needs work. The aerobic systems in our body are much more efficient than our anaerobic ones. If we can train ourselves to have more aerobic capacity, it will directly translate to how long we can hold on in those hard workouts and how much work you can get done before you’re anaerobic. 

Expect this to take 30 minutes to 90 minutes several times a week. A heart rate monitor is highly recommended for this sort of training (chest strap is best, watches have a tendency to be very inaccurate). Your heart rate will be what determines your pace. Athletes should aim to do about 1-4 hours a week of this sort of training. Basically, pick a modality you can be consistent with, whether that’s Run, Swim, Bike, Row etc.  If you're good at this sort of thing then less is more, if you struggle with it, then you may need 3-4 hours a week. It also may take 3-6 months of work to get you to where you need to be. 

Here are some articles to get you started. 

https://www.crossfitinvictus.com/blog/zone-2-training/

https://misfitathletics.com/articles/a-crossfitters-guide-to-zone-2-training/

Now that you’ve read those here is my suggestion.

Conduct a field test for your heart rate and use that for your numbers.

https://theathleteblog.com/calculate-maximum-heart-rate/

Zone 2 running has the benefit of injury reduction and positive nervous system response. Zone 2 runs will take longer to show metabolic results but are significantly easier to recover from than the training at higher heart rates. If you're a distance athlete or have a high training volume (this is relative to the athlete themselves and how well they recover) you want to do this work in Zone 2. 

Some athletes will do better with Zone 3 work. You may get a greater aerobic response for your time spent.  Looking at it in only that light is somewhat disingenuous though. These runs will be 2-4 times harder to recover from.  Zone 3 seems to be best used to work on pace or stride and push those boundaries. It is a tool to supplement your aerobic base with harder efforts.

You will need to figure out what works best for you. Do not go into Zone 4 during this sort of training (you go from aerobic to anaerobic quickly above Zone 3). Again, I stress the point is to work on your aerobic system and not PR on your 5k every session. Consistency and adequate recovery is key here. 

With this training, you need to make sure you warm up well and let your heart rate settle before getting into the bulk of the work. Cool downs and stretching are mandatory. 

Note: start slow here, maybe only a few miles a week if you’re running. Build up the legs before putting in serious mileage or you can easily hurt yourself (trust me, I’ve fractured my shins twice). Also, if road running, make sure you invest in good shoes and replace them every 200-400 miles (maybe sooner). CF shoes are not recommended for this kind of work.

Understand that this is a very general outline of our expected programming over the first few months, subject to change as we get our feet under us and learn as we go. We can’t wait to help you achieve your fitness goals!