Our favorite question! The short answer is that we believe a CrossFit training program along with specific training in your sport(s) will increase your sport specific results while keeping you in the game longer and allow you to enjoy more of life (fewer training hours). Read on for more details:

Our lives have centered around either playing or coaching in the endurance world. Road cycling, mountain biking (even on snow in Alaska), triathlon, nordic skiing, running up 14,000' mountains, competitive swimming and even lifting kettlebells for ten minutes straight are primarily about aerobic performance.

For the past decade or so the generally accepted training track for aerobic endurance sport has gone something like this: Build (or inherit) a big aerobic engine (V02 max), train the capacity to work at your lactate threshold (LT), practice your sport to obtain work economy (technique), but for gosh sakes don't build too much bulk because it will only slow you down on the climb, right? Oh, and don't forget to read the latest article in Outside Magazine on building your "core", whatever that means this time around.

What we have learned, through 25 years of experiencing different volumes of training, at various levels of performance, with many types of stress (work, pregnancies, running businesses, raising kids), more than a few rounds of injury, all while steadily growing older, is that relatively narrow sport specific training can be counter productive over time. Or maybe a better way to say it is that we think we need a broader fitness base if we really want to enjoy this stuff for a long time.

Way back in the day, we built all our training off of something called "the endurance base". Hours and hours of LSD (long slow distance) were first and foremost. Then we would slowly mix in higher intensity sport specific training as we got closer to the competition season. Strength was something we did if there was time, but usually it was relegated to the off season.

Things are different today. Athletes are beginning to embrace a more complete strength program and are taking a different look at the traditional periodization model. The approach to intensity has evolved over time. Most of the research and resulting programming driving these changes has focused on the elite levels of a particular sport. The individuals targeted are usually full time athletes who can afford a singular focus on their sport and are looking at relatively near term consequences of their efforts, say the next 1-10 years.

We think there is a vast group of athletes out there who have a slightly different focus: From recreational level to elite, they are often practicing multiple sports, living in the real world with families and work, and trying to figure out how to enjoy a lifetime of endurance sport while trying to hold onto that slippery thing called "balance". In short, endurance sports have grown to be part of their lifestyle.

We think we have a viable answer for this group. In the simplest terms, CrossFit training is our base. Sport specific training is added on top. Because we are building work capacity in all three metabolic pathways with our CrossFit training, the sports specific volume is greatly reduced. We become stronger, more resiliant endurance athletes with a broader range of fitness than we had previously. We also reduce our sport specific training volume and thus lower the chance of over-use injury.

We are learning that there is an incredible amount of crossover benefit from the high intensity CrossFit training in modalities that most of us would normally consider too anaerobic to be beneficial to the endurance athlete. We are also convinced that unless one's goal is really to win the Tour stage up Mt. Ventoux next July, a couple of pounds of lean muscle mass in the upper body can actually be a good thing if it comes with increased work capacity and a healthy dose of strength.

This realization did not come to us the day we discovered CrossFit. We've known for years that there are more efficient ways to train than putting in 20 hours of LSD a week. Like many athletes in our situation, kids, work and multiple sports forced us to deviate from the typical endurance training model. But the notion that there could be a healthier and more effective way to prepare physically for life and all of our endurance sports has brought our thinking full circle.

We invite you to give it a try. We think you will be impressed.