Does the way you workout and train each day you’re in the gym reflect what your goals are?

With the new Track System, the goal is for you to be able to train in a way that more easily reflects your goals and your “why” for working out. Each day all three tracks (Sweat, Train, Compete) will follow the same workout, only on some of the days there will be some slight changes. Sweat will have some lighter weights and kipping movements. Train will have some heavier weights with a focus on strict movements. Compete will have the same heavier weights as train, but will also include higher skill gymnastics movements for those who want to do competitions. Sound simple right? Well, lets talk more in depth about the differences.

SWEAT

Sweat, as stated above, is going to have lighter weights and kipping movements. The goal here is to increase maximal power, AKA, work. With lighter weights and kipping movements, the hope is to be able to move as much as possible during each workout with less time spent resting, therefor getting the absolute most amount of time spent moving as possible. What happens when you move for longer? Your work capacity increases, conditioning increases, and best of all, if you can only workout a few days a week, its the best bang for your buck. Sweat is perfect for those who just want to get a great workout, sweat a lot, increase their fitness and functionality, build some muscle, increase their conditioning, and are not worried about high skill gymnastics movements.

TRAIN

Train has more of a focus on strength. Train will have heavier weights than sweat, but with greatly reduced kipping movements. The reason for this is that the goal with Train is to increase strength with both external objects and bodyweight. This track is perfect for those using CrossFit as a means of training for something outside of the gym, such as a sport or job (football, softball, rugby, LEO, military, etc.), or even someone more concerned about getting strong. This can almost be thought of as a strength and conditioning style focus.

COMPETE

Compete is fairly straight forward. This track will have the same weights as Train, but will also include high skill gymnastics rather than strict movements. With an emphasis on the higher skill gymnastics come a slightly increased injury risk, however the trade off is increased ability to perform in competitions/the CrossFit Open. This track is for those who want to compete, or even those who just want to work on those higher skills in a MetCon. Now, an important thing to make a note of, Compete is not necessarily going to teach you how to get your first muscle up or handstand push up, or any other high skill gymnastics movement. Instead, it will make you more capable of doing them at higher volume in MetCons.

At the end of the day, some movement is better than no movements, however, what is suggested to do is figure out what your goal is and then follow the track every day accordingly. For example, if your goal fits the Sweat track the best, then you follow Sweat every day rather than switching around. Every tack is still able to be modified and tapered to each individual every day, but being consistent with one track at a time is going to help you achieve your goals the most efficiently.

Lets get an example of a workout that would have three different variations for each of the tracks, shall we?

“AMANDA”

9-7-5

Ring Muscle Ups

Squat Snatches (135/95)

SWEAT: Lets change it to 15-12-9 reps, but do Burpee Kipping Pull Ups and (95/65) for the Squat Snatches. Lighter weight, simplified gymnastics, increased volume, however it should be able to be completed in the same time domain, but with less rest.

TRAIN: Keep 9-7-5, keep (135/96), but do Burpee Strict Pull Ups, or even Strict Chest To Bar Pull Ups.

COMPETE: Exactly as written.

The athlete who is less worried about strength and just wants killer workout will complete the Sweat version. Tom Brady needs strength, but shouldn’t risk messing up his shoulder with kipping, so he does the Train version. Rich Froning competes, so obviously he does the compete version. All athletes finish within the same time frame, but follow the workout as it best suits their goal.

What is your goal? What is your track? Stick with it, be consistent, crush your workouts, and smash your goals.