“Typically the worlds best athletes are minimalists when it comes to their training. They work hard and fast with few exercises. They master the fundamentals and work with them for years. This is the secret that no one wants to hear.”
– Greg Glassman, Founder of CrossFit
Shortly after I started CrossFit (but not quickly enough) I came across a short (2-page) essay by Greg Glassman (the guy who started this whole CrossFit thing) about a concept to which I had never been introduced. It was a turning point in not just my training, but in how I approached many other skill-based aspects of my life. The article Fundamentals, Virtuosity, and Mastery introduced me to the idea of Virtuosity. In his article, he defines it as “Performing the common uncommonly well”, and explains how it applies to the “Novice’s Curse” in CrossFit and life outside the gym. Virtuosity isn’t necessarily a tangible trait, it is however, identifiable by even those who don’t know that they are seeing it. When you see Camille Leblanc-Bazinet effortlessly cycle butterfly Chest-to-Bar pull-ups, watch Kendrick Farris snatch 157kg, witness Coach Eric take his shirt off, or catch a glimpse of Geo receiving a heavy clean in a flawless front-rack position, you may think to yourself “Wow, they made that look easy”. It is, in the end, their mastery of the foundational positions that makes the movement look like more of an art, than a science.
The idea of Virtuosity is to master the fundamental movements so well that they are second nature. Without these movements as a base, it will be near-impossible to fulfill your true genetic potential or movement mastery. When I started skateboarding, it took me forever to learn to kick flip, because I didn’t have a good ollie. I couldn’t land a 540 on a snowboard, because I was still shaky landing a 180. I couldn’t make chocolate chip cookies, because I couldn’t stop from eating the dough. That last one isn’t relevant, I just love raw cookie dough.
In CrossFit, it’s easy to get distracted by the flashing lights and pretty sounds of things like muscle-ups, hand stand pushups and pistols, but the impressiveness of the real athlete doesn’t lie in the glamorous skills, it’s in the virtuosity of the basic movements. If you’re reading this, you have, at least, a moderate interest in CrossFit, which means you also have the type of personality that loves the idea of a challenge. You see the opportunity to conquer a new achievement and add it into the growing mental list you have of “Cool Shit I Can Do”. This, in itself, is a blessing and a curse. If we blow past the fundamentals in a rush to conquer the advanced, it will be almost impossible to master any of it.
Virtuosity as an idea may seem like a hard sell, but I promise, if you dedicate your time and attention to achieving it, the benefits will far outweigh the effort. Every movement we do, inside the gym, and out, is built on the same basic principles. If we continue to work towards improving these, the progress will come. My request as a coach, and my advice as an athlete is this:
– Spend more time in the bottom of an air squat.
– Find out what is full range-of-motion on your ankles, and then increase it
– Work the rack position, even if it means slowing down, or cutting down the weight on the bar
– Hold an empty barbell overhead and wiggle around a little bit, find the proper position without lumbar tilt or bent elbows.
– Practice kipping as a gymnastic movement, staying tight when flexed and extended, before breaking at the hip.
– Get back into the bottom of an air squat and keep your chest up.
– Keep your forearms vertical and your elbows to your side in a pushup.
– Do a few hang clean-pulls without bending your arms.. at all.
– Mobilize
– Get lower into that air squat, without your ankles caving in or knees collapsing.
If you take your time with the fundamentals, focus on moving well consistently, and continually return to them throughout your training, the elaborate and youtube-worthy stuff will come much easier. Now, get back into the bottom or your squat, and read Glassman’s article here.
Strength WOD
Clean Pulls 3/3/3/3/3
(Go heavier then your 1 RM Power clean. Hold onto the bar for all three reps)
WOD
20 Power Cleans (135/95)
400 M Run
20 Front Squats (135/95)
400 M Run
20 Squat Cleans (135/95)
For Time
20 min Cap
Coach Eric pushing Chris and Mark on Front Squats