WHAT IS CROSSFIT??
FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENTS HAVE THE ABILITY TO MOVE LARGE LOADS, LONG DISTANCES...QUICKLY!!
This also means that these movements are unique in their capacity to produce a lot of POWER!!!
So, what do we mean by large loads?? Well, when we are talking about the loads we are talking about whatever it is you are moving. In the air squat it is your bodyweight. In a clean it is the weight on the bar. It is the same for CrossFit and non-CrossFit movements alike. For example, in a bicep curl it would be whatever it is you are curling. In the mathematical equation for measuring power this would be FORCE.
When we are talking DISTANCE we mean the distance the load travels. This will include the total distance across multiple reps or the single distance for 1 rep. Again, this is the same for CrossFit and non-CrossFit movements.
Then of course we talk about the movements being done quickly, so now we are talking about TIME. How long does it take for the load to be moved across this distance???
The mathematical equation for measuring POWER is FORCE X DISTANCE DIVIDED BY TIME!
As we get further into the What is CrossFit discussion we will talk about the importance that producing POWER plays on results. Right now, let's talk about how and why the movements we use are so much better at producing POWER than some of the regular movements we see in the gym.
Let's take the regular old air squat for example. If you are a 185# man of average height and you perform an air squat...we can measure the power output of that. We can do the same for....let's say...the calf raise machine (an old favorite of mine). So, with the air squat we would measure the distance traveled by taking your center of mass (around your belly button) and seeing how far it moves throughout the range of motion (around 2' for an average man).
So, let's say this 185 lb guy does 60 air squats in 1 min. That means he's moving 185#x2ft which equals 370 ftlbs. He does this 60 times, which now equals 22,200 ftlbs. We divide that by 1 min and you get your power output...in this case it is 2/3 of a horsepower.
Think about using this equation for the calf raise now. Let's say you could load up 300# or even more onto the calf raise. Think about the heaviest load possible. Now, how far do you move that...2 maybe 4"?? Even if you did 100 in a minute which is FAR fetched at that kind of loading..the short distance tells us that the power output would be nowhere near the air squat version.
In order for you to bicep curl the same amount as our guy holding a 22 on tabata squats for 4 min, you would have to bicep curl 185# 176 times in 4 min. What do you think??
Post comments on this article, lets see what ya'll think
very good explanation. my question is how do you measure the distance on the power clean? would it be from the ground to shoulder height and back to the ground? or would you exclude the distance back to the ground bc you aren't generating any force (i can't drop the bar bc we have metal plates), gravity takes over right? also, i took physics my senior year of high school, but i dont remember much of it though kind of prefer letters over words...where P = power F = force etc. so if P = F x D/T, F then is F= W x D correct? As in 185(w)x2ft(d) to get 370ftlbs(f)?
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also what is the equivalent to 1 horsepower? kelly :-)
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