By Benni Jeffree
It’s quite common to see games athletes or Instagram junkies posting non-stop about training multiple sessions a day and needing to do so to be a regionals athlete let alone a Games athlete.
This leads into a question that I get asked quite frequently.
‘Is training three days a week enough?’
When answering this question there are a few things you need to consider.
What do I want out of my training? Am I training to make it to regionals/The Games?
Training to make it to regionals/The games is a full time job.
There are many things which need to come together to make it happen. Nutrition, recovery, programming and the support team around you needs to be like nothing else. The level that Crossfit is at currently means that it needs to be your life!
You need to ask yourself. Can I make the sacrifices to make my dream happen?
What is my recovery like?
Recovery is a huge part of Crossfit. When first starting out a few sessions a week is all most people’s bodies can handle.
Are you able to recover enough to train 5 days a week? What are you doing to help your body recover properly to give maximum intensity every time you step into the box? Its very common for people to train 4-5 times a week but lack the intensity and believe that because they’re training everyday of the week they’re going to make gains. This is not necessarily correct. If the intensity isn’t there (obviously good form rules all) then you may just be plateauing. Scale it back.
The general structure for most full time athletes is 3-on-1-off or 5-on-2-off, allowing them to recover between workouts.
REMEMBER: If you make 3 sessions a week and leave everything on the table, it is greatly more beneficial than doing 5 easy sessions.
What are my other commitments?
Sometimes work/family life/other commitments have to take priority. You’ve gotta make that bread.
How many days can you commit to a week? If it’s only 3 than make 100% sure you make all three of those sessions. If you get held back at work or you’ve got a sick child, hell, life goes on. There’s always an opportunity to catch that session up. Just remember, you’ve made a commitment to your health as well.
At the end of the day you need to think about what you want from training. Grab it by the scruff of the neck, commit and go for broke!