Goat Training Template

You are only as strong as your weakest link.  This is especially true in the sport of CrossFit, where one major hole can keep you from qualifying or getting on the podium.  It is an interesting thought experiment to realize that every sport has the ideal "Athletic Profile", and CrossFit is no exception.

If we use the 10 General Physical Skills as the basis for this profile we can begin to see the major differences between sports and how they lead to General Physical Preparedness (GPP).  For example, it is rather obvious that a powerlifter's skill set would be very different from an endurance athlete's.

POWER LIFTER                          ENDURANCE ATHLETE          

MALE GYMNAST                   RICH FRONING

The exact numbers could be argued all day, but that isn't the important message.  The take-away from these graphs is the realization that while the Endurance Athlete and Power-Lifter have amazing capacity in some areas, the majority of their GPP is lacking.  Interestingly, while the Gymnast is more well rounded, he still wouldn't be able to compete with Rich in a well rounded GPP test like the CrossFit Games or Regionals.  

We know that you are as fit as you are competent in each of these 10 skills.  And, we can take this theory beyond the 10 Phsyical Skills to specific modalities that are know to our sport.  If you are really good at box jump, pull ups, handstand push ups, running, and everything related to a barbell but you suck at double unders - there is a good chance you won't be competitive.  The idea is to be good at everything, great at one or two things, and suck at nothing. 

So, now onto what we will be doing for the next 4-6 weeks.  We will be continuing to work on our O-lifts and strength, but we need to eliminate some weaknesses.  The first and most important aspect to improving your weaknesses is knowing what you need to improve.  Everyday you will need to take a serious assessment of yourself and honestly figure out what needs the most work - not what looks like the most fun.  The next step to killing your goats is getting exposure to them.  Don't do the "Goat Training" as extra work or supplemental training.  This is the focus of this next month.  Work hard and kill some goats.  

Monday

Snatch 

Squat

Monostructural Goat:  Choose Running or Rowing 

Overhead Goat:  Choose HSPU, HSW, or PP

Tuesday

Clean/Jerk

Squat

Below Parallel Goat: Squat Cleans or Pistols

Upper-body Pulling Goat: C2B Pull ups, Muscle ups, Weighted Pull ups or Heavy KBS

Wednesday

Rest Day

Thursday

Snatch

Squat

Metcon

Choose 2 Goats: Choose Running, Rowing, Double unders, Box Jumps or Strength

Friday

Clean/Jerk

Squat

Choose 2 Goats:  Overhead Endurance, OHS, Ring Dip, Rope Climbs, L-sits, TTB

Saturday

Big Metcon

Sunday 

Rest