Effort IS NOT the same as Intensity. Â Intensity is pushing through the pain to get those last few push presses before time is called. Â Intensity is pulling as hard as you can to pick up that deadlift PR. Â Intensity is the high level of drive needed to reach our desired results. Â You cannot try to be intense in your workouts: you are either attacking your workouts with full intensity, or you are not. Â But using intensity without maintaining proper form and range of motion leads to injuries. Â That is where Effort comes in.
If you have been around CrossFit for a while, you have likely heard the technical definition, “CrossFit is constantly varied, function movement, performed at high intensity.” Â We could spend an hour breaking down that definition, and maybe we will some day at a CFE. Â Before we get to high intensity, we have to start with proper mechanics. Â In order to avoid injury, progress faster, and be able to do CrossFit for a long time, you must follow “Mechanics, consistency, then Intensity” . . . in that order.
The concept behind “Mechanics” is nothing more than learning proper form and range of motion. Â This concept is what makes CrossFit so frustrating. Â Maintaining proper Mechanics is where the Effort is required. Â It is not enough to simply bend down and pick up a bar to do a deadlift. Â The athlete must engage a series of muscles and move his/her body into a proper position to allow the weight to be lifted while preventing injury. Â Coaches often cue the athlete through a deadlift with “knees out, chest up, flat back, pull with your hammie.” Â The athlete applies effort to the movement when he/she listens to these cues and “tries” to follow them. Â In other words, the athlete may not have the flexibility to maintain a flat back or slightly arched back while deadlifting. Â But if that athlete puts effort into trying to maintain a flat back, he/she will achieve proper internal mechanics. Â The same can be said for any movement we perform in CrossFit. Â During heavy back squats, knees tend to bow inward. Â Applying effort to drive those knees out and track them over the toes will result in maintaining proper mechanics and prevent the athlete from lifting a weight that is too heavy and will cause injury.
As an athlete makes a conscious decision to apply effort to everything they do in CrossFit, it is amazing how proper mechanics will eventually be achieved both internally and externally. Â In other words, actively trying to maintain a flat back throughout a deadlift will eventually lead to the strength and flexibility to actually maintain a flat back. Â Actively trying to drive your shoulders into your ears while holding a bar overhead will eventually lead to the strength necessary to stabilize a lot of weight while overhead squatting.
Being constantly reminded of the need for Effort is one reason your coach is there. Â Coaching cues might sound like we are constantly on top of you pointing out everything you are doing wrong. Â But in reality, a good coach is trying to drill in those proper mechanics until they become second nature. Â Then, and only then, can intensity be properly applied to your CrossFit workout.
— Matthew “CrimLaw” Becker