#166 - Right Amount of Legibility in Training
Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast
There is a fine balance between using metrics to guide your training and becoming overly fixated on daily results. Tracking data too closely can lead to counterproductive habits, such as "rep shaving" during classes or attempting to force progress, often undermining long-term consistency and general enjoyment. But failing to track performance at all can result in a lack of clarity regarding progress and this is something many people in CrossFit expereince. In the earlier years of CrossFit, single-modality testing and benchmarking were popular. Standarising tests like a 2km row, a max set of...
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#165 - How to Write Programming Faster
Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast
Getting stuck writing programmes on a Sunday night, with creative energy at zero, is an all too common occurrence for coaches and is probably where a lot of copy and pasted programming comes from. Writing programmes needs some creative input, but having systems in place to make it easier, and understanding the many small tasks involved in programming and stacking them together, can be really helpful. In this episode we talk about our ways of managing dips in creativity, where we get inspiration from, and how we batch certain tasks and programmes together. Check it out if you want to learn a...
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#164 - Templates for Group Programs
Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast
The programme for a CrossFit affiliate’s group class programme versus a CrossFit competitor is obviously going to look different, but does this mean the process for writing the programme has to be any different? We have spoken a lot on this podcast about the importance of templates, how to structure them and why this is how you should start a programme for a CrossFit competitor, and we have all written programming for a CrossFit affiliate in a similar way. However, there is still a large portion of affiliate programming that uses a very zoomed out method. This might work for balancing things...
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#163 - Staying Power of Fitness Racing
Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast
Weird and wonderful fitness races and challenges have been around for a while. Over the years, CrossFit has created a sport that provides the variety and spectacle we see in other sports, but now we are seeing many more styles of fitness races becoming very popular. Hyrox has gained a significant amount of momentum over the last couple of years and still seems to be on the way up. Athx is trying to create an event that sits somewhere between Hyrox and CrossFit, providing a one hour fitness race like Hyrox, spread across three different workouts that test strength, endurance and mixed modal...
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#162 - Learning How to Program
Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast
We often hear programming referred to as an art grounded in science, and learning to write good programming can take time. You get those with some academic background who struggle to match it with real world application, often leading to programming that is not feasible or that misses the forest for the trees. On the other hand, some coaches may struggle with the theory behind programming, which can create challenges in long term development or in understanding how to go deeper when training certain qualities. A combination of learning the essential theory, like learning basic multiplication,...
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#161 - Coaching Catnip
Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast
Enthusiastic coaches can be susceptible to focusing on the details or the shiny new coaching idea they come across rather than the basic, simple things that matter the most. This coaching catnip might come from a good place of curiosity and a desire to share information, but it neglects the big rocks. This week we talk about some examples of the coaching catnip you might see in a CrossFit gym or in remote coaching, and reflect on what is actually important and what truly moves the needle forward in coaching. Check out the episode to hear more about breathing drills, secret weightlifting drills...
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#160 - How does Coaching Competitors Benefit Coaching Gen Pop
Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast
While the goals, training, and purpose of training between a competitor and the general population may differ greatly, there are many skills a coach can develop by working more with the other group. Most would assume that the focus and attention to detail shown by a competitor are what would be transferable, but in fact, the opposite is often true. Competitors showcase what is important, what is possible, and in some cases simplify how a coach views training. Some of these athletes do everything “wrong” according to certain strength and conditioning textbooks, yet they still improve. Check...
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#159 - Getting Better for Stagnant Class Members
Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast
There are always a few class members who, after a while, begin to progress at a very slow rate or become stagnant in their performance. This is often met with frustration and sometimes inaction, which raises the question of whether some people actually want to improve or if they are content simply turning up. This week, we discuss how class members might be able to improve and progress without necessarily doing additional work. Sometimes, having better intention and pulling the right levers can go a long way. If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to to get a weekly...
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#158 - Minimum Effective Dose for Former Competitors
Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast
Moving into a phase of lower training volume as a competitor taking things less seriously can be a difficult transition. CrossFit demands a great deal, and when you’re accustomed to putting in the work to improve and progress, letting go of some of that progress, or even just slowing the rate of improvement, can feel like a big ask. Is it possible to improve at a lower volume than competitors typically maintain in such a high-volume sport? Keeping intensity and strength doesn’t require much, but the ability to tolerate the demanding nature of competition and qualifiers can fade quickly. It...
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#157 - Overused Coaching Cues
Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast
Hang around a CrossFit gym for ten minutes and you’ll probably hear some coaching of hip extension going on. It might be “popping the hips” during a kipping movement, “finish the pull” in a snatch or clean, or the old “squeeze your butt” at the top of a squat or deadlift. All coaching cues have a degree of truth behind them, but some are overused to the point where they are unhelpful or even misleading. An overemphasis on hip extension in movement is definitely one of those cues that are overused. In this week’s episode we discuss the use of coaching cues, rant a little about...
info_outlineHave 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.
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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