Each of the 10 general physical skills is important. An athlete with a healthy balance of proficiency between all 10 will be superior. However, there is not one physical skill more foundational than strength. Strength allows us to achieve power and speed. It also assists us in improving our balance, agility, coordination, and accuracy. Strength even provides the building blocks for stamina and cardio-respiratory endurance. Properly conducted strength exercises also increase flexibility. Thus, serious athletes include a good portion of strength training in their programs.
Strength is one’s ability to apply force. Power is the ability to apply a force over a distance in a certain amount of time. CrossFit’s typical measure of performance is an athlete’s power output. It is easy to understand how a strong athlete who can apply a large amount of force would have a high power output. He applies that large force over a long distance in a very short amount of time. The power clean is a good example of this.
Speed is the time it takes to repeat a movement. Consider the same athlete doing 30 power cleans for time. The force and power parts of the equation are still there, they are just multiplied by 30. The ability of his muscles to efficiently contract, expand, and repeat the exact movement will determine his speed. Without a significant amount of strength, our athlete would break down quickly.
Balance is the athlete’s ability to control his center of mass in relation to his base of support. Our athlete now does a set of low-bar back squats. Each time he does a repetition he is practicing balance. As his strength increases, the weight on the bar increases, magnifying the importance of balance. This is because his center of mass (athlete + load) is moving further and further away from his base of support (feet).
Agility is the ability to minimize transition time from one movement to another. Coordination is the ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into one. The power clean requires a fast transition from a deadlift, to a vertical jump, to a landing under load. Being an essential strength exercise, the power clean allows the athlete to improve agility and coordination while developing strength.
Accuracy is the ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity. The power clean is also great practice for accuracy. Each time the athlete does a power clean, he is landing under a heavy load. If his bar path is not accurate, then he will be off balance when he lands, and possibly miss the lift. Accuracy also applies to the athlete doing efficient squats, deadlifts, presses, and bench presses.
Stamina is the body’s ability to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy. Stamina is, essentially, muscular endurance, and may be best measured in medium duration exercise in the glycolytic pathway. Cardio-respiratory endurance is the body’s ability to gather, process, and deliver oxygen. Cardio-respiratory endurance may be best measured in long duration exercise in the oxidative pathway. The athlete trains his body systems to deliver energy primarily in the phosphagen pathway while strength training. He is also exercising and improving the efficiency of his cardiovascular system. A stronger cardiovascular system leads to improved cardio-respiratory endurance. Efficiency in the phosphagen pathway also provides a foundation for efficiency in the glycolytic and oxidative pathways. This is not to say that strength training is sufficient for stamina and cardio-respiratory endurance. However, a judicious application of strength training will significantly assist the athlete in longer duration challenges such as WODs or a triathlon.
Flexibility is the ability to maximize range of motion at a given joint. In most cases, the average person off of the street will not perform the squat, deadlift, press, bench press, or power clean correctly. Even those who have strength training experience often don’t know the proper technique. The most common fault in the squat and press is short range-of-motion. When executed properly, the squat significantly stretches the hamstrings in the bottom position. This allows for the most potential energy from the posterior chain. When conducting a set of squats, our athlete starts with an empty bar and works his way up to a heavy set. This allows him to practice the movement, get warm, and stretch his hamstrings under a light load before placing them in a full stretch under heavy load. Again, this is not to say that strength training is sufficient for flexibility, but it definitely trains it. That is, unless your idea of strength training is a circuit of single joint, partial range-of-motion exercises.
It is important to make a distinction between strength and some of the other physical skills, especially cardio-respiratory endurance. We already know that we can improve our cardio-respiratory endurance with strength training. The opposite does not apply. In fact, overtraining in the oxidative pathway leads to significantly decreased strength, power, and speed. It also causes oxidative damage (aging effects) to the body, and limits testosterone production/utilization. A similar, but much less drastic, distinction can be made between strength and stamina.
In conclusion, the best athletes incorporate strength training into their programs. There are many ways to do this. A good general guideline is two to three strength focused workouts per week along with three to four metcons. If you are doing a strength workout and a metcon on the same day, then do the strength one first. If possible, get a few hours rest between the strength and metcon workouts. A beginning strength program should revolve around the squat, press, bench press, deadlift, and power clean. Sets should be of 5 or less, working up to weight as discussed earlier. Do two to three lifts each strength day. Go get strong!
Erik with Mark Rippetoe at the Basic Barbell Cert
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