The best programming in the world will not work if it is not executed well. Sets, reps, movements, percentages, workout formats and time domains are only as good as they are implemented and coached. On the other hand, the way things are programmed should not only have proven methods for continued improvement, but also provide a format that creates opportunities for your coaches to coach.
Here are five things to consider:
Number of new movements programmed
Open time blocks vs. controlled work to rest ratios
Total work time programmed within the hour
Specificity to individual strength and skill levels
The why behind the what
Number of New Movements
If you are spending all of your time teaching new movements that does not leave time to actually coach them. Back in the day during my high school sports years we followed a plan called: Bigger, Faster, Stronger. The program involved three main lifts (squat, bench, clean) along with standard auxiliary strength movements. This plan got criticism from some about all the movements or lifts that were being left out. In response, the strength coach who created the plan said, “Instead of spending time on a ton of different movements only to end up mediocre at best on all of them…why not spend time fine tuning these three movements and become great at them.” Think about that.
“Doing a movement consistently will make that movement better. But, seriously....read that again.”
The constantly varied portion in the description of CrossFit can lead a lot of programmers to continuously introduce new movements from day to day and week to week. This requires the coach to spend all of their time in class teaching something new instead of helping each member consistently get better at movements that were previously implemented. Remember, variation can still occur over the entire training year while following 4-8 week training cycles within the annual plan.
Open Time vs. Controlled Time
During your strength, olympic lifting or skill sections is there an allotted amount of total time or specific work and rest times planned for each set? In my early days as a strength coach I worked with several teams of various sports with 20-40 kids at a time. I learned very quickly if I didn’t plan exact times for everything it always turned into a $h!t show. Some groups would be done with their prescribed sets in five minutes while others only had a couple sets done when it was time to move on to the next section. Instead of giving them 20 minutes to get the 10 sets done, I programmed one set every two minutes for 20 minutes.
This allows several important things to occur:
Everyone stays on task
Everyone completes their sets at the same time
Athletes could partner or get into groups to share a rack and all have time to complete their sets
Allows the coach to have a controlled setting to specifically coach each athlete over the allotted time
Controls the work to rest ratio which allows for appropriate percentages to be programmed according to that ratio
Total Work Time
Within a typical one-hour class there should be no more than 30 minutes of actual work time programmed on the high end, but most frequently in the 24-27 minute range. (This excludes when special occasion workouts are programmed like the 12 Days of Christmas WODs and others.) There has to be time given for warm-up and transition in between sections of class along with the time to actually coach athletes on the movements. Simply demonstrating a movement is not coaching…you might as well just have videos up on a screen if this is all you are doing or allowing time for. Yes, you have to show what the movement is but most importantly coach people through how to improve their technique and efficiency on that movement.
Individual Specific Class Programming
What is provided for your coaches besides a scaling option? Having someone work on drills for a Ring Muscle-up when they do not even have the strength to do a single pull-up is a complete waste of their time and yours. On the other end of the spectrum, teaching the basic mechanics of a toe to bar to someone who can already efficiently string together 20+ unbroken is not the best use of their time or yours. Of course anyone can benefit from going back to the basics, but in this situation there are much more productive things that can be done. Having specific things programmed for these different levels allows the coach to more effectively help each athlete. For more on specificity programming, check out this article.
The Why Behind the What
Are your coaches learning or just implementing? Understanding why certain movements are programmed, specific formats are used and how it all goes together allows the coach to more effectively communicate this to the athletes. Even something simple like learning and explaining that programmed work on the technique of a squat clean is to eventually allow you to lift more weight, not to just make the clean more difficult can really improve the buy-in from everyone. If someone is struggling with a drill or exercise, helping them understand why they are doing it can help shift their mindset from frustration to focus. Training and coaching should never be mindless. You need to be present and take ownership of what you are doing to reach your maximum potential.
Go Beyond
Coaches are not lifeguards there to only make sure everyone stays safe. Coaches are not cheerleaders there to only shout motivational sayings at everyone. Coaches are coaches. Does your programming allow them to be that?
Program, coach and train harder…smarter.