RVA Performance Training Articles

Remember the first time you set foot in our gym? Maybe it happened after following our website for days, maybe after watching us work out from afar, maybe after getting sucked into it by a friend. Whatever your reasons, wasn’t it a little scary? Like going to the first day of school? Some of might be so well-adjusted that you …

There’s been some confusion from old heads and newbies alike concerning what those crazy numbers mean whenever we lift. For example, our workout on Monday, 11/30/09, included snatch balances in a 10×2 rep scheme. Before you have flashback nightmares to those 3rd grade timed multiplication table tests (I was terrible at them), let me break it down for you nice …

As CrossFitters, we employ a wide range of training tools that have been deemed “functional”; compound/multi-joint movements which replicate the stresses of life, and carry over to all forms of physical activity, be it sport, work, or a healthy active lifestyle. From the very beginning CrossFit has borrowed extensively from the well established disciplines of powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, and gymnastics, …

As many of you have experienced from your first few weeks of training, recovery plays an important part in your overall training plan. We scale the workouts to the best of our abilities, trying to ensure that you get a good workout without having you never come again. Inevitably, you’ll run into a workout that’s going to have you limping …

I want to make this simple for everyone so we can get back to training. Insulin is bad. Well, elevated insulin is. Let me explain: The body uses the hormones leptin and insulin to communicate the status of energy in your body. Simply, insulin tells your body how much energy is available and leptin how much food is on the …

I’ve been trying to write a post that addresses nutrition for two weeks. Obviously, no dice. The problem is I’m not an expert and I don’t have any advice. I do not know how to properly restore depleted glycogen after heavy metcon training, I have no clue how high GI food interact with blood chemistry, and I still cannot say …

I’m not sure why but I’ve always felt that the ability to do many consecutive pull-ups was a true indicator of strength and fitness. The pull-up: the act of hanging with your elbows completely extended and pulling yourself up until your chin reaches the bar. The better pull-up: the act of hanging with your elbows completely extended and pulling up …

I’m feeling posty lately so I’m going to give it another go: Yesterday I insisted that specialization was the bane of fitness. Fitness was the choice of working as many of those 10 recognized physical skills as possible, preferably possessing a minimum level of competency in all of them, and maintaining a balance with random functional movements executed at high …

I’ve been reading a lot lately about the definition of fitness. You’d think there’d be some consensus on this one. Let me tell you if you don’t already know: there is more discord on this subject than anything else. Dan John, whom I respect immensely, defines fitness roughly as the ability to complete a task. Any task. I agreed with …