"Small glass, little water"

It has been a while, had a bunch going on but things are going much more smooth now. I feel very compelled to write an article on this topic because I've had this conversation 2 days in a row.

This is my most current analogy for CrossFit/strength/technique.

Our goal is to carry as much water as possible from A to B.

CrossFit is the water in the glass. You can fill it as much as you want but you will be limited to the size of your glass and how well you carry it.

The size of your glass is determined by how strong you are. If you are obnoxiously strong ie have a big glass. You can fill it half way with water have crappy balance and let it slosh all over the place and most of it will remain in the glass and still be carried.

Your technique is what determines how well you carry the glass. It determines how steady you can be without spilling any water.

First, you must determine your goal. How fast do you want to move the water from one place to another. Then what is the best way for you to move the water? It's very person dependent:

Do you want to make your technique so good that you can fill your small glass to the rim and not spill a drop?

Quite often in CrossFit we see people that have a small glass and get so good (technique) at CrossFit they can fill the water up to the rim, but eventually they realize they need a way bigger glass to hang with the big boys. This is where a bunch have jumped on Westside for Skinny Bastards, Starting Strength, 5/3/1...

Do you want a big glass so you can recklessly run with a big glass and little water?

It's a good idea in theory but it is super hard to be that disciplined. It often requires working out alone on weakness and once you've done CrossFit you remain thirsty and need to fill some water in. Why? because it's fun. There's a sense of adrenaline. You first push how close you can fill it to the rim. Then you get another rush from seeing how fast you can or can't walk with it loaded up. You get none of that while you are working on getting a bigger glass. Quite often some of that water evaporates and you feel like you have less than what you started with. Also, with a bigger glass the water looks less.

It is in my opinion the best way, as well as for longevity sake, you increase the size of your glass slightly, You then fill it with water, not quite to the rim where you need to be perfectly balanced but enough that you have to learn how to walk with it. Once you are skilled enough to handle how full it is, you move on. You get a slightly bigger glass, you fill it slightly with more water, and you continue learn to not spill much.

Scientifically we can't increase the size of the glass and the water at the same time (mTOR pathway... inhibiting protein synthesis...). It is very easy to get sick of pumping water into a glass that won't hold more water. It takes much longer to increase the size of your glass than it is to pour more water.

Technique/skills is something that ALWAYS needs to be worked on.