Do CrossFit athletes need to train more in the transverse plane? It definitely sounds nice to those interested in programming, but if we look at the demands of the sport, we don’t see movements challenging the transverse or frontal plane much.

It’s not always clear what level of variability in movement we should include in a CrossFit athlete’s training. Giving someone more options in their movement can offset repetitive training and help with longevity, but it often doesn’t directly affect someone’s performance, making it hard to get buy-in.

Listen to this week’s episode to hear how working in the transverse plane might help you look a bit more athletic on those shuttle runs in quarter-finals, how we sneak in movement work into our programming and how playing sport might be the easiest and best movement work for someone’s training.

Listen Here:

Show Notes:

  • [0:30] Getting CrossFit athletes bought into movement work
  • [3:00] Why we should train to have more movement options
  • [4:50] Benefits of being functionally adapted to your sport
  • [6:45] What are the movement requirements for the sport
  • [10:00] Addressing longevity in someone’s training
  • [10:55] Low-hanging fruit in developing someone’s movement
  • [11:45] Transverse plane and sports
  • [13:30] People who are athletic in CrossFit
  • [14:30] Going out and playing sports vs movement work
  • [16:15] Sneaking movement/skill work into training
  • [16:45] Importance of low-level skills and easy movements
  • [17:30] CrossFitters are always trying to make something difficult
  • [20:00] Getting optionality in movement
  • [22:15] Having one movement strategy can put you in a difficult position
  • [23:05] Encouraging athletes to try new activities and sports
  • [23:30] Threading in movement work with other elements of training
  • [26:00] CrossFitters going too hard in other sports
  • [28:00] The challenge of letting go of your ego going into a new sport
  • [30:20] Where does prehab fit into someone’s training?
  • [32:45] Using prehab work to add volume to someone’s training
  • [33:40] Why would you want to add more volume to someone’s training?