Layering in CrossFit Programming and the birth of the "Reckless Recluse" WOD
When looking at each day's programming, it can be easy for coaches and clients to become overwhelmed with the amount of different layers and prescriptions that we use to create the best experience for everyone.
I personally like the term 'layer' because it reminds me of how famous television painter Bob Ross used to paint. He'd start with an outline here, a smudge there. Then some trees, a lake, then all-of-a-sudden BOOM. An amazing painting.
These layers may seem unrelated at first, but their importance to the big picture is pretty evident in the end. (And who doesn't love Bob's afro and his 'happy little trees'!)
Coincidentally I made a timelapse video of my own and used the exact same score (and I had never seen this piece)!
One of the tools I developed over the last few thousand workouts was this spreadsheet. It is a basic list of every movement (or category of elements) that we do in our gym programming. I set it up so that I keep records of how many times per month we do each movement. I also added the feature that it turns darker and darker red, the longer the movement goes unused.
This ensures that we hit all of the movements in the right ratios, and no movement gets left behind!
You'll notice at the end of the piece, I go back and 'unhide' the columns going back to when I started this particular document.
To see another (possibly better) example of the Layering, here is a more recent video I did to show the birth of a workout I named after the song I chose to use on the video "Reckless Recluse":
Using layers in your own programming, or being able to explain it and share videos like those above if you are using one of our programming packages, will help your clients understand why you are different that the gyms up the street.
You aren't just making this up as you go along. There is science, art, and craftsmanship behind it.
And they get to enjoy the rewards.
Thrive on.
-jj
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