Have you ever felt the urge to flip the table and completely change your training or someone else's programme? Maybe a few small competition experiences have made you feel like your training is heading in the wrong direction. Perhaps you're getting tired of working on the same things. Or maybe you want to change your training goal entirely.

Whether you're making big changes to your training goals and what you train for, or you're shifting the direction and focus of your training while keeping the same goal, some of these changes can be reactionary and driven by frustration—this is where you need to be careful.

In this week's episode, we discuss where these changes may come from, whether from an athlete or a coach, and how to manage some of the unhelpful tendencies behind them. Tune in to hear more about general programming strategies that help you stay agile and pivot your programme, when the programme actually doesn't matter that much, and why naming a training cycle is an essential programming skill.

If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.

We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops

These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.

Show Notes:

• [0:30] Introduction
• [2:45] Making changes to overall training goals versus training focus
• [4:45] More options to compete in fitness
• [7:30] Changes stemming from frustration
• [10:00] Minimum Viable Programme
• [13:00] How to communicate programming to athletes
• [15:30] When coaches make big changes to programming
• [18:00] Does programming actually make that much difference
• [24:00] Doing conditioning before strength

Having a formal education in sports science, kinesiology, or a similar field may seem beneficial for a CrossFit coach. However, you might end up learning a lot of technical information without any context or knowledge of how to apply it.

Conversely, you may develop extensive coaching experience and navigate situations in the moment with ease but lack the technical knowledge or critical thinking skills to tackle more complex challenges.

This week's episode is all about striking a balance between being book-smart and having the coaching experience to handle situations effectively. We discuss Jon's background with a sports science degree, the drawbacks of an overly mechanistic view on training, and the importance of knowing what to communicate to athletes—and how to do so effectively.

If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.

We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops

These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.

Show Notes: [1:00] Is book learning helpful in CrossFit [2:30] Jon's background doing a Sports Science degree [4:30] The gap between knowledge and a coaches eye [8:00] Being able to connect knowledge to context [10:00] Overly mechanistic view of biomechanics [12:30] Skepticism about biomechanical explanations [23:30] How to effectively filter your communication to athletes

When learning anything, it can be difficult to step back from the details, and this is especially true for CrossFit programming. Often, you'll find coaches who are highly focused on the means (the exercises, the sets and reps) rather than the methods (the programme, the desired stimulus, the weekly plan, etc.).

As much as constructing a programme or workout based on the latest sports science information is considered the best approach, sometimes it doesn't hold up, and you need to rely on your own training or coaching experience to create something more contextual and effective.

In this episode, we discuss some of our own self-reflection while programming, as well as other programme methods. We also explore how MGW and the programming information provided by CrossFit have their limitations.

If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.

We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops

These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.

Show Notes: [1:00] Being able to abstract workouts into bigger picture programming [2:00] Where CrossFit's programming methodology can lead you [3:30] Focusing on the details too much as an inexperienced coach [5:45] Writing programming in layers [8:45] Not seeing the higher order pattern when starting out programming [10:00] What is this workout going to feel like? [12:30] Programming more variance for experienced athletes [14:30] Using your own experience in training [17:00] Writing programming that is influenced only by the CrossFit world [20:00] Being self reflective in your programming [23:30] Treating all movements as equal through an energy system lens

In the past couple of months, a new type of fitness competition has been generating a lot of anticipation.

Headed by multiple-time CrossFit Games athlete Will Moorad, the World Fitness Project is entering the competitive landscape in a year when the CrossFit Games is undergoing its biggest changes yet.

The competition consists of two tour events and a finals event at the end of 2025. There are 20 professionally signed male and female athletes, along with 10 challengers at each event. Additionally, team and masters competitions will take place at these events.

Overall, this competition appears to create a clear pathway for athletes to compete in the sport and make a living as professional fitness athletes. They have released a movement list for the season, already demonstrating standardisation we haven't seen in CrossFit. The WFP has signed many of the sport's top athletes, with several planning to compete in both the CrossFit Games and the WFP season.

In this week’s episode, we discuss what this could look like from a training perspective and whether it provides mid-tier competitors with a more structured and potentially rewarding outlet than what CrossFit has offered in the past.

If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.

We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops

These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.

Show Notes: [0:30] What is the WFP? [3:30] CrossFit lending itself to a tour-style sport [4:30] The challenge of making money from events [6:30] Streamlining competition for athletes [8:30] Frustrations with online competition [11:30] Getting structure in training through competition [14:30] Competing in person vs. focusing solely on qualifiers [18:00] Standardisation in competition [22:30] Will the WFP offer more structure than CrossFit? [24:30] The “no man’s land” for many competitors [26:00] The importance of having direction from competition

There are a few qualities in CrossFit that can be quite difficult to improve for certain people. It’s usually a mix of different problems that manifest in one or two specific styles of workouts in CrossFit. It’s not quite this, but not quite that, either.

One of those qualities is moderate-weight barbell conditioning pieces—typically something like a 135/95 barbell performed for high reps with a lot of other movements included in the workout. It’s not a heavy barbell where strength is going to slow you down, but it’s also not a lighter barbell where your breathing is going to be the main limiter.

It is an endurance issue, but due to the movements this issue arises on, there is a strength element at play as well. The important thing with training this quality is not to let yourself blow up and reach that point of no return. You want to develop as much capacity and training volume below that point to try and push this further.

Check out this episode to hear how we work on this issue, how we structure workouts for endurance limitations, and how this problem relates to other qualities required in the sport.

If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.

We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops

These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.

Show Notes:

• [0:30] The issue at hand
• [2:00] Adjusting traditional CrossFit metcons first and then going deeper if needed
• [5:00] Structuring workouts to target more enduring qualities
• [9:40] Hard workouts are easy to programme
• [11:00] Not a clear-cut route to improving this quality
• [12:30] 80/20 rule with pulling and pushing your training
• [14:15] Breaking the movement down to keep the athlete moving
• [16:00] Interval Weight Training
• [17:30] Is this a movement-specific problem?
• [20:00] Difference between barbell battery work and moderate-weight conditioning
• [21:15] Squatters versus hingers

Now that the Open is advancing significantly fewer athletes to the next stage of the CrossFit Games—online semi-finals—will we see athletes shifting their training to become more specialised?

Looking at the numbers, only a very small number of athletes will make it into the top 1% of the Open. This means even the best of the best cannot afford a poor performance in any of the three weeks of competition.

Given the constraints of needing to complete Open workouts in an affiliate —most likely able to be done in regular classes—we can make some educated guesses about how these workouts will be programmed. With three workouts, and potentially up to four scored events if there’s a two-part workout, the variety of movements will be limited. This means the weighting of any single movement could become disproportionately important—especially if one of the events involves a max lift, which would be scored on a single movement. It's likely we’ll see workouts designed with progressive skill levels, such as moving from pull-ups to chest-to-bar pull-ups, and then to bar muscle-ups.

These factors point towards a particular style of CrossFit workout that athletes may need to focus on in their training. For example, those who struggle with movements like burpees, wall balls, or rowing will likely need to dedicate significant time to improving in these areas.

But is it worth making such changes to your training? Considering the Games season is still evolving and will likely continue to undergo smaller changes and iterations in the coming years, it’s possible that next season could demand a different skill set.

In this week’s episode, we continue our discussion about competition and the changes to the season. We take a closer look at how these changes might impact athletes’ preparation and the decisions they’ll need to make about their training.

Listen to find out more about how these changes could impact athletes’ preparation, whether the Open now comes down to the luck of the draw, how to allocate training time for different competition styles, and the shift towards local events.

If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.

We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops

These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.

Show Notes:

• [1:00] The structure of the new CrossFit Games season
• [2:20] Taking the top 1% from the Open
• [4:20] What does removing the Open do for athletes?
• [5:45] How many athletes will qualify for semi-finals?
• [6:30] Mistakes, penalties, and judging live or via video
• [10:20] Should people specialise just for the Open?
• [12:30] Will things change again?
• [13:30] Prioritising and allocating training time for different styles of competition
• [15:00] Is the Open now all about the luck of the draw?
• [18:30] The shift to local events
• [21:00] Archetypes of athletes making it through the Open

With the recent announcements from CrossFit regarding changes to the 2025 season, some athletes are exploring alternative avenues for competition, placing less emphasis—if any at all—on the Open and the CrossFit Games season as a whole.

While the top athletes in the sport excel in both in-person and online competitions, at the mid-tier and local level, the profile of athletes who perform well in online competitions often differs from those who thrive in local, in-person events. This disparity largely comes down to the types of workouts, movements, and equipment used in these formats.

Online competitions, constrained to the four walls of a gym and a more limited equipment list, generally rely on one key element: volume. Over the years, the volume of movements in online competitions has increased substantially. For example, in the very first Open workout (2011), top scores included 270–300 double-unders in a 10-minute workout. Seven years later, in 18.3, the best scores reached 800 double-unders in a 14-minute workout.

In contrast, in-person local events often incorporate challenges that cannot be replicated in an online format. It’s not uncommon for up to 20% of the testing body to consist of a single movement, such as a running-only event like a 5k trail run.

In this week’s episode, we explore the differences between these types of competitions and discuss whether it’s worth adjusting your training to prepare for more in-person local competitions.

If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.

We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops

These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.

Show Notes:

• [2:00] A renewed interest in other competitions following the CrossFit Games 2025 season announcement
• [3:00] Key differences between online and in-person competitions
• [8:00] Equipment considerations for online competitions
• [12:30] How running translates into general aerobic fitness and conditioning
• [16:00] The importance of volume tolerance versus general fitness
• [20:30] Using online competitions to build training volume early in your career
• [23:30] The trade-off of building volume for movements that are less frequently tested

In this episode, we dive into the upcoming 2025 CrossFit Games season, sharing our initial concerns about the increase of online stages. Recorded before the official details were released, this discussion reflects many of the common opinions circulating within the community about the new season. We talk about the logistical challenges faced by affiliates, the high potential for cheating, and how lower scores are impacting athlete qualifications. We also explore how these changes are affecting the overall ecosystem of the sport, particularly in comparison to more accessible events like Hyrox. While we acknowledge the immense difficulty of organising the semi-final events and the Games, we question whether it might be outside of CrossFit's scope to manage these events if their focus remains on affiliates and education. Is it time for an external group to take charge and bring much-needed stability to the sport?

If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.

We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops

These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.

One common issue for athletes with some experience in their sport is struggling with 1–2 specific movements in grunt-style conditioning workouts. Even after extensive effort to develop these movements, they can still be a weak point, especially in competition or qualifier workouts.

How can we help athletes improve at these movements? Should we focus on mastery, or reframe progress by mitigating their impact in competition to make them less of a weakness?

Adjusting technique can provide quick wins, but the same stumbling blocks often reappear over time. In this episode, we discuss different approaches to structuring training progressions, strategies to keep athletes motivated, and what we can realistically expect when working on these "goat" movements in conditioning.

If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.

We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops

These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.

Show Notes:

• [1:00] Goat movements in conditioning
• [2:00] Identifying why these movements are difficult and being realistic with progress
• [4:20] Using variations to give athletes more movement options
• [6:20] Learning how to recover on these goat movements
• [8:00] Don't redline with these movements
• [10:45] How to measure progress with these movements
• [14:00] Setting expectations for athletes
• [17:00] Assessing movement or technique
• [19:00] Polarised exposures of movements
• [22:00] Delaying the breaking point in the movement

For busy individuals competing in CrossFit, it’s rare to complete a training week exactly as planned. Sessions may be missed, accessory work moved, or entire training days shifted around.

Athletes often worry that these adjustments will compromise their progress, especially those receiving individualised coaching. However, when asked if it’s okay to adjust training, our answer is almost always yes.

The added stress of forcing a rigid training schedule usually outweighs any benefits of perfect sequenced programming.

One way to manage these adjustments effectively is to build a high-low sequence into training. This approach prioritises certain high-stress, high-priority days while incorporating lower-stress, lower-priority days. Using this and getting athletes to understand how to assess their daily readiness, can help stack up consistent and productive training, even with a demanding schedule.

Check out this episode, where we dive into methods that help busy athletes juggle their training alongside other commitments.

If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.

We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops

These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.

Show Notes:

• [1:00] Listening to your body is always more important than following a training progression
• [3:00] Planning training with priority and non-priority days
• [5:45] High low sequencing of training
• [11:00] How to programme easier days
• [13:00] Managing training stress for talented athletes
• [15:00] Day to day variation in training readiness
• [18:00] Scoring daily readiness before training
• [20:00] Constructing training based of exposures to priority training progressions
• [26:30] How does repetitive training look in the programme

Ever taken time off from training and found getting back to it feels like an uphill battle? In this episode, we dive into some of these challenges of returning to CrossFit competition and training after a layoff. Luke reflects on jumping back into a team competition after a five-year break, and Todd shares his journey of rebuilding post-Achilles injury. We discuss the hurdles of getting reacquainted with volume and intensity, dealing with unexpected cramping, and how to develop durability and resilience to help with this.

If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles.

We run online workshops for coaches as well. Find out when our next workshop is here: https://legionsc.com/program-design-workshops

These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.

Show Notes:

• [1:00] Luke’s return to CrossFit competition
• [6:15] When general training doesn’t transfer over
• [7:45] Carryover for different populations and beginners
• [10:30] When specificity in training becomes essential
• [12:45] Todd’s Achilles recovery and return to training
• [15:00] Managing cramping in competitions and high-volume sessions
• [23:00] Building your threshold for volume and intensity
• [27:00] The endurance component of team competitions