Sheldon’s Corner: By The Numbers
CrossFit can seem very fast passed…before you know it, you have become immersed into a workout, movement, or position that is completely new to you. This can be a wonderful thing as you are now beginning to conform your body into a new style of training. However, before you progress any further in these new workouts, movements, and positions, you have to make sure you are executing them correctly. The best way to do that is to learn slowly, step by step, through a methodology called “By the Numbers”. By the Numbers is a system for instructing movements that emphasize progression at every level. It builds exercises pose-by-pose, movement skill exercise-by-exercise, and tests movement skill with incremental increases in volume, load, and intensity.
By the Numbers breaks down all the exercises CrossFit utilizes into a series of discrete, numbered positions. Think about a cartoon artist who draws a character’s expression one pose at a time, until the animation is complete. That is the same concept that will be used here. By the Numbers will focus on teaching drills that will break down positions one at a time, working slowly and carefully from static pose to static pose. Each pose will have its own energy, rhythm, and balance. Once the poses have been mastered, each athlete will then be able to effectively transition into the exercise associated with that movement.
5 Reasons Why This Works:
- It standardizes instruction so that every athlete is getting the same information and cues, no matter what level of CrossFit he or she is at or who is coaching.
- Holding these poses helps athletes to form muscle memory of proper positioning…which will aid in swiftly learning the basic mechanics used in executing an exercise with precise form.
- Working pose-to-pose improves an athletes’ perception of the movement…as holding a pose gives them time to make sense of the relative positions of limbs and trunk.
- Very effective in large groups when teaching complicated movements, like the Turkish get-up, snatch, or clean.
- Teaching poses allows corrections to be made in real time, while the errors are occurring.
Now I know what some of you are thinking…All these steps to teach simple movements seem like it would over complicate things? However, this careful, one-pose-at-a-time approach makes it a lot easier for new athletes to pick up more complex movements. It also helps prevent you from moving forward with bad form. Learning these simple movements will aid drastically when progressing onward to more complex exercises.
For example, let’s take a look at the animated sequence of the simple yet important air squat…
If you look at the position above, each position is drawn out and numbered. As an athlete is taught each pose, he or she can hold that position and have it reviewed by the coach to confirm form is correct. This is very similar to hip hinge progression we all worked on in class for months. As a number is called out by the coach, the athlete will move to that position and will be given instruction for any adjustments as necessary. This may seem very simplistic in nature, but it will drastically improve fluid movement of exercises and decrease chance of injury or bad form.
This style of training is the future of CrossFit. It is an excellent way to perform beautiful movements through positional drills. As in the example of the squat mentioned above, this step by step focus will translate into more complex movements like thrusters, wall balls, cleans, and even box jumps. These are the basic steps in CrossFit that beginner and seasoned athletes can benefit from, and is a simple yet effective way to improve your CrossFit game.
To read more about CrossFit By The Numbers, Sean Manseau has a great book called “By the Numbers” that explains in further detail about how it all works. You can purchase it from the Amazon store. See the following link:
http://www.amazon.com/By-Numbers-Sean-Manseau/dp/0692475915