The Truth About Strength Training: No Excuses, Just Focus
Saying you’re “working on technique today” is nonsense. Technique should be a daily priority, not an occasional focus.
Telling yourself, “I’m taking it easy on this part to go harder in the workout” is just a way of avoiding discomfort. If you’re constantly holding back, you’re not pushing your limits.
We structure our training for a reason. If the workout was our only priority, we’d do it first, but we don’t. Strength comes first because it is the foundation of progress. When you feel drained from the strength block and notice the workout is harder because of it—that means you’re doing it right!
If you’re saving energy during strength work so you can “crush” the workout later, you’re missing the point. Building strength is about embracing the grind, and it doesn’t happen overnight. Want to master pull-ups? It takes strength. Want to squat twice your body weight? Strength. Want to nail a handstand push-up or just do burpees faster? You guessed it—strength.
Gaining endurance or aerobic capacity happens more quickly than developing real strength. That’s why we program specific percentages for your lifts—to ensure you’re training within the threshold where growth happens.
Strength training is uncomfortable, and that’s exactly why it works. It requires lifting heavy, and doing so with proper form. The sweet spot is usually in the 78-98% range of your max effort. Anything lower is just warm-up, endurance, or speed training. Of course there will always be an asterisk based on your movement, mobility, stability and other factors specific to you.
And yes, “old man strength” is real. Lifters who’ve been at it for years have built strength over time. The importance of maintaining muscle mass as we age could fill another blog entirely, but let’s stay on track.
Here’s the bottom line: focus on the task at hand. When warming up, prime your joints, muscles, and lungs. When strength training, make it challenging. When it’s time for the workout (WOD), attack it according to the stimulus your coach provided.
This is how you keep progressing. No shortcuts, no excuses—just work.
Nick Carignan
CrossFit 8 Mile
