One of the principal tenets of CrossFit: that aerobic capacity shares such a large overlap with anaerobic capacity, an athlete can train both just by focusing on the latter.
To that end, we do METCON – METabolic CONditioning – workouts lasting 4-16 minutes. Fran, Grace, Linda…they're all METCON. We already know it works; testimonials on CrossFit Endurance, personal empirical observation, and anecdotes of others all support the idea. We just want to see how, and why.
In April, Chris is going to put this type of training to the test with all the science and measuring tools at our disposal. Four Catalyst members, not currently involved in OnRamp or running groups, will have their Vmax and Tmax measured. They'll do CAT Testing. They'll follow a month-long training plan revolving around wattage output, heart rate, and ever-stretching METCON. They'll wear heart rate monitors. They'll never run more than 400m. They'll do Fight Gone Bad on April 2, and again at the start of May, to measure progress. They'll sit, pink-faced, at the edge of the ditch and wish for snowbanks.
METCON workouts will be built around heart rate ranges OR maximal wattage outputs. The notion of 'prescribed' weights will be tossed, in favour of loads that will elicit the most work in the timeframe provided.
Chris will be the fifth member of the group. He'll blog his times, heart rates, wattage outputs and other scores daily. At the end, we'll report back to you. This may be something big – this was exactly the type of group we first ran in March 2008, when we were toying with this "CrossFit" thing. That group produced Philsy, Coach Whit, Coach Ty, Kube, and a host of other front-runners.
Want to throw your hat in the ring? We have a few prerequisites:
A heart rate monitor (we can recommend some, if you don't have one)
Fight On Friday, on April 2
Vmax and Tmax testing (NOT V02Max, but max effort at max speed on an inclined treadmill)
Participation in at least 90% of prescribed workouts in the Enduro program and CAT Testing, starting April 3rd
No other coaching or training outside of normal CrossFit groups
Tracking on the wodomatic.com site
…a little math, maybe. We may also use your name in our summation at the end.
It's one month. No charge, but we're only taking four people. It's going to take some commitment to finish. If you're serious, email catalystfitness@yahoo.ca .