Something that I notice when I look at a great deal of boxes training is that there is some sort of emphasis. If the box owner likes is an Olympic Weightlifter you can see a great deal of that in the programming when they are getting ready to focus on a competition. Similar to a runner in which they don’t emphasize strength quite as much but have longer timed METCONs multiple days per week. What does this mean for you as a coaches and athletes?
It means that you need to start being humble in your training. There are many sports including CrossFit, Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Strongman have all created a system that is documented to create great results. However, we often times tend to specialize in one area of the spectrum or the other. Most training programs veer away from General Physical Preparedness and assistance work. They continue to focus on just the specific movements that pertain to competition. Being humble in your training means finding a balance between different and complex areas to balance. We must find a balance in our programming. There needs to be variations in the movements that you are doing but they need to be repeated enough that your athletes know how to perform the movement correctly. The second thing that you need to attempt to balance which I think is often misinterpreted is that you must find balance in the central nervous system. Most CrossFit workouts are usually 5 minutes to 20 minutes long. Weightlifters do primarily compound barbell movements draining the sympathetic nervous system. Very few gyms also incorporate bodybuilding, or GPP on a regular basis. Remember you must create a suit of armor; this is done by having balance in your training so that you can continue to grow. First we need structure, then stabilization, then specialization is possible. We normally think that “Elite athletes” can specialize, or your “average joes,” just need simple movements. I argue this isn’t the case. Yes, specialization is key for an elitist, but there is a time for stepping back and working on widening the base so that we avoid injury, and so that elitists can continue to grow their performance. Yes, average joe’s can literally improve off of simple stimulus for a long time, but if we widen the base from the beginning with GPP and other simple movements besides just the barbell and gymnastics we can avoid injury and work on imbalances.
You have to be humble enough to identify that you cannot do all the things you like to do and we must do that things that we NEED to do. As coaches we must do what’s best for our athletes and sometimes that’s not a popular decision, we must have an understanding of what our principles are as a gym and coach, not follow trends, because trends die and so will your business. My last bit of advice is to attempt to seek out experts in fields that you may not be as knowledgeable in. Taking bits and pieces from these experts and their training principles that are more “Movement Specific,” and putting them into your workouts can be a great attribute to your programming. You have to constantly educate yourself so your members can keep growing and progressing to reach their goals in all areas of fitness.