Endurance classes are Tuesdays at 6am and Thursdays at 5:30pm
Let’s face it, most Crossfitters try not to think of running or rowing at all. Crossfit Endurance is like Crossfit’s drunkard cousin, you have to invite us to the party, but you kind of hope we don’t show up.
If you watched the Games this year you may have noticed a lot of events focused on or included Endurance type movements. Day one’s 2nd event was a half marathon row that when announced put a stunned look on every athletes face.
Day 2 started off with a 2 mile run and Naughty Nancy on day 3 included 4 rounds of one of the sickest 600 meter courses I would never want to run.
So if Crossfitters hate Endurance so much, why is there so much of it? To answer that, you don’t have to look past what Crossfit is “Constantly varied functional movement performed at relatively high intensity”
If you only want to lift weights, there are places you can go for that, but it’s not Crossfit. If you just want to put in long slow miles there are groups out there for that, but they aren’t crossfit. If you’re somewhere in the middle and want a good boot camp like experience…well, you know the rest.
Going back to the games for a second. If you did get to watch Naughty Nancy, (if you haven’t, you should be able to see an archive online) take a look at how Froning ran compared to Khalipa. There’s a reason why Froning keeps taking the championship. Was he as fast as Josh Bridges? No. Did he need to be? No again. As important as any of his lifts, Froning knows all about pacing and form and you don’t learn that 400 meters at a time.
If you’ve ever run outside of Crossfit you know what a long slow slog it can be. Before Crossfit did you ever think of running technique? Probably not. You put on shoes and went till you couldn’t go anymore, it sucked and that was it.
Crossfit Endurance puts technique first. Think about it, we drill every lift we do over and over. We break them down into tiny bits then put them back together. If we put that much attention into a shoulder press or a backsquat you’re about to perform maybe 45 times in a wod, why wouldn’t you want a similar attention to detail placed on your running or rowing technique?
You may take 1500-2000 steps per mile when running. Take each of those with poor form and is it any wonder why 75% of runners get injured EVERY year?
Same with rowing. You’re probably pulling 10 strokes for every 100m. Do you set each stroke up with the same care and attention as you do the deadlift? You should, they’re essentially the same movement.
Come join us for a class and you may learn something you’ve never thought you needed to learn. At best you’ll be one step closer to the games. At worst you’ll get a tough workout with a bunch of happy sadists.
We alternate between running and rowing workouts during the week and plan a chipper type wod about every 3 weeks to break things up. Workouts are announced the day before the wod on the RVA Endurance Facebook page (come like us) and Twitter: @rvaendurance