[ 🏃♂️ ] Can I get fit doing only partner WODs?
[ 🏃♂️ ] Can I get fit doing only partner WODs?
An easy strategy to complement a gym's programming
On (most) Mondays, we revisit one of the listener questions we’ve answered in a previous episode. It’s been edited for clarity & brevity here.Question
from Joe:
My gym is limited in size, so in the morning class, we often work in pairs (you go, I go). A typical session includes 20 minutes of strength focus followed by an 18-minute AMRAP in pairs.
Is this sufficient?
I'm concerned that I'm effectively only working for 9 minutes. I'm not a competitive athlete, but I want to push myself and make steady progress.
Answer
BEN: Here's the first thing: You do what you can, with what you got, for where you are. So, I think what Joe has laid out is a pretty cool way for this gym, with its limited space, to be able to get both strength and interval work done consistently.
Is that enough to get fit? Yes, it is.
Is it comprehensive? Is it all-inclusive? No, but very few programs are and I don't think he needs to go in search of something else as a result of these limitations. Particularly if he just spends one day a week going for a 30-minute run on his own, which is my suggestion.
One day a week, after or maybe instead of the class workout, go for a 30-minute run - especially if this is gnawing at him. Like, if he really feels like he’s lacking an aspect of overall capacity, he’d move forward with something as simple as a 20-45 minute run once a week.
PATRICK: And that’s just a time domain thing? That's just assuming he’s only doing a metcon for 10 minutes or so, and he wants to get into that 15, 20, 30-minute timeframe?
BEN: He says he’s in a CrossFit gym, so I’m assuming they’re doing what we’d all consider CrossFit-style movement and programming, which are going to promote a very high level of intensity.
It’s going to be a lot of one-minute on, one-minute off for 18 minutes, for example.
So it’s going to be a lot, but there’s not a ton of variance to it. And so one of the things that he’d be missing out on is that longer, slower stuff.
I’m not saying he’s got to go do a bunch of Zone 2 work. Like I said at the top, Joe is doing enough to get and stay fit. But if he’s worried and doesn’t want to completely up-end his training, hitting the pavement once a week will complement what he’s already doing in the gym really well.
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