My Crossfit Training Result/Experience (Page 5)

Here we go. This is where the rubber hits the road on this issue. Unless an AG'er can train the kind of weekly S/B/R volume that a pro can, there's really no available time to do other training that will DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TO MAKING YOU A BETTER TRIATHLETE. It's really very simple. It's not an indictment of strength training or even CrossFit. Although there's no evidence they help triathlon perfromance they are certainly healthy acitivities with other benefits which should be acknowledged. And as said above, if you choose to do them, more power to you. But do so with the understanding it's not maximizing your triathlon athletic potential as an AG'er as it's taking time away from S/B/R.

No, it's not. You mentioned in a post that your goal is to be a better triathlete. This is not the way to do it. I can assure you, if I am not doing enough S/B/R to maximize my potential, neither are you. And I am not simply becuase there's no additional time.

Edited by bryancd 2012-02-08 7:40 AM

I don't take an off season. I train year round. The fact that I train triathlon consistantly is likely why I have the results I do. I do some functional core work for 30min or so 1-2x per week and during the winter when I am not racing, but still training, I have done some upper body free weights. I do so NOT in an effort to improve my triathlon perfromance, i do so as a mid 40 year old man combating muscle loss as I age.

Possibly more importantly, it takes away from your recovery from all those activities.

Any non-CF sources?

Shane

The answer would be (in general) for elite endurance athletes, it depends. First, Kobe is not an elite endurance athlete and Phelps competes in events that have a huge strength component (i.e events lasting under 4 minutes) so strength training is very likely a key part of his work. However amongst the elite endurance athletes, you will find some that incorporate strength training and others who do not.

Shane

The issue here is when someone tries to apply their n=1 to everyone. Further, while there are individual differences, human beings response to training is more similar than different so while there may be minor differences in the most effective training programs for individuals, at the broad level these programs will be very similar.

Shane

I have been doing Crossfit for almost 2 years, and about a year ago incorporated the Crossfit endurance program.  If you already have a solid base, doing the two together can offer improvements.  My Half marathon time went from 2:06:19, to 1:56:59 and ive cut my training time in half.  However, crossfit isn't for everyone, but if you are trying to get more free time it is a viable option.

If you look at the Crossfit Endurance WODs, they are simply S/B/R intervals, tempo workouts and time trials. These are things that have been around long before crossfit or CFE. All triathletes should be doing these things if they want to maximize their race performance.

CFE stresses technique. Traditional tri training always has as well. It just doesn't have to be Pose running or Total Immersion. Cleaning up your diet is always a good thing. It just doesn't have to be Paleo-Zone.

What's wrong with CFE is the premise that you can replace LSD, recovery workouts or steady state workouts with CF workouts and maximize your racing potential. Again, if optimium race performance is not your goal, and good GPP is, by all means do more strength and conditioning. If you are extremely limited with your training time, then spend it all S/B/R.

Do people achieve PR's using CF/CFE? Yes, but it's probably due to the high intensity S/B/R that was lacking from their programs before. If they had done more sub-threshold S/B/R instead of CF workouts then that 10 minute PR might have been a 20 minute PR.