On the Rule of Specificity

JT Scott | 01/26/2020 | 1

Here we are in the fourth week of our “CrossFit Total” cycle – but this 10 week cycle isn’t just about increasing our max lifts. Remember, we also have to retest our 2k Row time at the end of it. To that end, we’re going to be spending more time on the rower over the next 6 weeks, including 2k meters today.

It’s broken up, but don’t sleep on these intervals! Get after them aggressively and minimize the transitions in and out. The time you spend on the rower will definitely predominate over he time spent doing pushups and burpees etc. This is a rowing-focused workout, so treat it accordingly.

You’ll be back on the rower twice more this week, and it’s no accident. While we train in a General Physical Preparedness fashion that encourages broad competence across a range of power output requirements, the basic “rule of specificity” still holds true in some ways – particularly when it relates to a specific task or skill. (If you haven’t heard Michael reference it, I can summarize it as: “if you wanna get better at a thing, you gotta do the thing.”)

This is why you have to practice. This is why sometimes you gotta do shitty reps until they turn into good ones. This is why double-unders don’t materialize by thinking about them… you have to keep trying and failing until it clicks. That’s how, suddenly, months or years of work turns into an “overnight success”.

So, embrace the suck and get used to that rower. You’ll get better at rowing as a result, which will help your 2k benchmark time… and thanks to the transferability of the capacity gained there, you’ll also get better at a lot of other things as well.

STRENGTH:
Power Snatch (TNG)
5-5-5-5-5

WOD:
Row 500m
25 Pushups
Row 500m
20 Air Squats
Row 500m
15 burpees
Row 500m
10 pullups