Training with Purpose: Escaping the Hamster Wheel

In the world of fitness, it’s easy to fall into the trap of “working out for workout’s sake.” You see it all the time in open gym sessions: people grinding through endless sets and reps, chasing that elusive feeling of being “worked.” But often, this effort lacks a clear purpose, a defined goal. It’s like running on a hamster wheel, expending energy without moving closer to your desired destination.

The Pitfalls of Aimless Training

While high-volume workouts can be beneficial for building capacity, they’re not the most effective way to achieve other fitness goals. In fact, they can even be detrimental. These marathon sessions can hinder recovery, slow down or even reverse strength gains, and increase your risk of injury.

Sometimes, the best workout is no workout at all. Using that time to rest, nourish your body with good food, or prepare healthy meals can be far more productive in the long run.

Reverse Engineering Your Workouts

Effective training starts with a clear purpose. What are your goals? Do you want to get stronger, improve your technique, master a new skill, or increase your overall work capacity? Once you know your destination, you can reverse engineer your workouts to get there.

  • Strength: If your goal is to get stronger, focus on low-volume, high-intensity strength work with ample rest periods.
  • Technique/Skill Acquisition: To improve technique or master a new skill, break down the movement into its basic components and practice them diligently.
  • Capacity: If you want to increase your work capacity, incorporate workouts that challenge you across different time and modal domains.

Overcoming the Dopamine Trap

For many of us, exercise is a form of dopamine rush. We crave that feeling of being “worked,” even if it’s not serving our long-term goals. It’s important to recognize this tendency and shift our mindset towards purposeful training.

Remember, it’s not about how hard you work in a single session; it’s about consistent effort over time, directed towards specific goals.

CrossFit Chiltern: Programming with Purpose

At CrossFit Chiltern, our programming is designed to help you achieve your fitness goals in a balanced and sustainable way. We follow the 10 components of fitness as defined by Greg Glassman, ensuring that you’re constantly improving your strength, power, speed, agility, endurance, stamina, flexibility, coordination, accuracy, and balance.

Every class WOD (Workout of the Day) has an intended training stimulus, and our coaches will guide you through appropriate scaling and adaptations to ensure you’re getting the most out of each session.

Train Smart, Train with Purpose

So, next time you’re planning your workouts, take a step back and ask yourself: “What is my purpose?” By training with intention and focusing on your goals, you’ll escape the hamster wheel and achieve real, lasting results.