Training In Silence vs With Music

You know those moments when mid wod the music stops and all you hear is breathing and weights moving. Its weird and not ideal right? It may even sound gross, but it’s the most natural and raw our environment can sound while we use our fitness.

We all typically workout to music in a gym setting or sometimes outdoors. It gives us motivation and something to get hyped to when we lift. It can be the thing that determines your output in a wod. Either being with a speaker or headphones this method no doubt of working out is popular.

Depending on your ability to by scheduling or access to equipment/ locations the method of working out to silence may be rare. You're probably saying "why would I not listen to music?". Well there are some reasons to. First without external motivation (not including coaching) the output can be seen. We can see various normal things such as lifting the same weight, finishing below time caps, or even simply performing advanced movements. Also this can reflect how our fitness can be used in real life scenarios (not in competitions or events). These can be things such as moving a refrigerator, fixing a tire on the side of the road, hiking, or even saving yourself/ someone in a dangerous situation.

A very special benefit of working put in silence is that it helps reinforce the mind-body connection. In forms such as Hatha Yoga, Qi-gong, and Pilates this method can be seen. This allows us to focus our attention to various parts of the body. To focus on activation of muscles to practicing meditation, this method can be utilized. Even if being used for weightlifting or a wod, being in tune with your body can have its benefits. Plus if you do workout in silence, to most people you'll seem nuts.

Try it out if you are able to. It may even decrease your stress levels while hearing the natural sounds of your environment. If not then theres nothing wrong with listening to music on whatever you're using.

Functional movement vs Isolation exercises

You've heard about a curl right? Maybe even a chest fly. Well chances are you probably have done either isolation exercises(body building) or the split routine system(leg day on fridays, back/biceps on mondays, and chest/triceps on wednesdays). This type of training is fine in itself, but if performance and work capacity is on the mind, there are the functional movements that we know and love. The lunge, clean, snatch, burpee, muscle up, and rope climb are just a few of the many possible movements. Both types of movements can be utilized effectively for the CrossFitter or the average person.

We know we can do Deadlifts. We know we can run, but what happens when you pair the two? A stimulus is achieved in which only the pairing of exercises can produce. Lets say we are doing a CrossFit type program 3-5 days a week. This means we have multi joint strength training of either lower body or upper body. We also have a WOD everyday. We have the whole shabang. Or do we?

Well the answer is yes and no. You have a strong basis of your training, but the accessory is missing. There can be accessory work that is multi joint that works skills left out of the original hour training session, but we can target muscles that potentially are unbalanced. This is called a muscle imbalance and can cause synergestic dominance of other muscles. Basically when the primary muscle doesn't fire, but a secondary one does. Take a bench press, the pec major should be the prime mover and not the triceps. This is where isolation training or body building comes in.

If you are truly isolating a muscle you may need additional equipment, but it can be done with things you already utilize at the gym. Take myself for example. My left knee isn't as strong as my right one because of a past injury. I perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps of an assisted pistol squat ON BOTH LEGS. Even if I need to prioritize one side, it doesn't mean I have to neglect the other. Train both sides evenly even if this includes balance and agility training.

A good range for this hypertrophy  technique can be seen as 3 sets of 8-12 reps at 75% to 85% of 1rep max. Remember your training should be targeting your weaknesses. Everyone is different and may require different areas of focus. This is why we do the additional accessory work.

Remember theres nothing wrong with doing a little bit of body building after or before a CrossFit class. If it improves your abilities utilize it, but remember to track your workout history so you can see your progress.

Also please keep in mind functional movements do burn more energy and increase calorie expenditure, while the isolation movements do not produce the same levels with most of the movements.

The Pistol Squat

You've seen people do low pistol squats right? If you're not a Crossfitter then you probably don't come by them that often. This movement is one of the harder body weight movements because of the technique and weight distribution. A little different than the average air squat if you can catch my drift.

The pistol squat or single leg squat can be very beneficial that provides us with a way to not only test our balance, but to increase muscular endurance per leg. Specifically we are working the quads and glutes as our prime movers. Now in order to achieve greatness through this exercise, we will list the cues below. Keep in mind this movement should only be done to where balance is maintained and without pain.

1. Stand on a single leg. Begin to hip hinge by pushing the hips back first before the stance knee bending.
2. Keep the stance knee tracking out over the toes. Its acceptable to have the knee outside the toes, but if it caves inward come out of the movement.
3. Keep the raised leg out in front preferably not touching the ground.
4. Use arms out in front  to maintain counter balance.
5. Once the bottom of the squat is reached stand up. Maintain the knee tracking over the toes on the way up.
6. Throughout the movement keep the chest raised with a flat back. Also try to distribute the weight across the foot evenly.

Remember the full deep pistol squat may not be for everyone, but a variation of the pistol should be able to be achieved by most people. If its difficult to keep the front leg raised, try adding a box to stand on. This allows a little bit more depth for your raised leg. Also if you're somewhat proficient at pistols, try adding some weight that can be held out in front. We hope this gives a sense of performing the exercise. We will release a quick video also that shows the movement.