CrossFit is an Incomplete program for military and first responders

There are few words more controversial than “CrossFit” in the fitness space, and there are myriad reasons for that.  But if you’ve been in the military / first responder fitness world for any considerable length of time, you remember pre and post-CrossFit.  That juxtaposition alone will drive most to give credit where credit is due, in that CrossFit drove an evolution in fitness for tactical professionals that was unquestionably efficacious.  Never before have so many in military units and firehouses around the world been training at such a high level in a way that drives true physical readiness and preparedness, and love ‘em or hate ‘em, CrossFit deserves a lot of credit for that.  

Here at Rescue Fitness, we were in the game before CrossFit was founded, meaning that our training sessions were largely informed by Muscle & Fitness - think lots of bodybuilding coupled with lots of running (which ironically has come full circle with the “Hybrid Athlete” trend that we’ll address in another post).  Fast forward a few years, and let’s just say that wasn’t exactly the best method to get you ready for the mountains of Afghanistan.  We evolved.  

As CrossFit came on the scene, and subsequently took over unit gyms and firehouses everywhere, we traded the preacher curl for the power clean, and the endless running for high intensity metcons.  The name of the game in CrossFit was (and is) high intensity - how they define it themselves is “constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity.”  What that ended up meaning in practice was pushing the pace and competing in workouts daily - constantly redlining.  There were a lot of good things to that: competition is healthy for making progress; work capacity improves tremendously; movement quality increases with a focus on more functional movement patterns; etc. 

So while the results are irrefutable, there is a hole in the CrossFit program.  We would contend that the biggest hole for the rescue athlete (firefighter, PJ, EMT / paramedic, USCG AST / rescue swimmer, etc) and for the general population in CrossFit’s methodology is an underdeveloped aerobic system.  CrossFit is tough to beat for the glycolytic pathway / developing work capacity, and it is likely sufficient for building strength too, but it lacks in the aerobic system (even though CrossFit teaches the importance of developing all 3 systems in its seminars, etc).  There are a lot of reasons for this, not least of which is the fact that CrossFit largely delivers its programming through its affiliate boxes in a 60-minute, group class format, and suffice it to say that a 45-minute zone 2 run is not exactly the best way to engage your client base.  

With that said, the aerobic system is wildly important (for performance as a rescue professional, but also for your overall health and longevity), and it’s foundationally important for performance across all energy systems.  In fact, better development of the aerobic system with long, slow work leads to enhanced performance in traditional CrossFit 20-minute metcon type workouts (versus only living in that high-intensity zone) … and thereby is also transferable to enhanced performance in high work capacity demand activities on the fireground, in a rescue scenario, in a firefight, and so on.  Take a look at 5-time CrossFit Games champion, Mat Fraser - the best of the best in the sport of CrossFit - and a big piece of his training and competitive advantage was long, monostructural, endurance / aerobic work on the stairmaster, bike, rower, etc. 

The way to build a formidable aerobic engine is not high intensity, all the time.  It is low to moderate intensity work over sustained duration in lower heart rate zones.  It’s not sexy, it doesn’t make for a good group class, and it doesn’t make for good viewing on ESPN … but it’s essential for performance, and for health.  We’re talking lots of zone 2 work over months and years to build that aerobic base and capacity, ultimately creating a foundation for you to do more work, to recover fast, and to perform better.  This is the hole in CrossFit’s program - CrossFit in its purest form does not fully develop the aerobic system in its athletes.  That does not discredit CrossFit and all that it has done for the fitness world, it’s just a hole.  It’s incomplete.  

If we’re going to develop the best possible program for Pararescue, rescue swimmers, firefighters, medics, and more, the aerobic system is essential and cannot be neglected.  Neglecting it is just leaving performance on the table.  That’s why we hit Zone 2 work at least twice a week, both monostructural and also multi-modal, to build the engine that everything else stacks on top of.  If you’re not currently doing that low to moderate intensity work, fill that hole in your game, and you’ll be a more capable professional and teammate.  Be ready for anything.