10 Elements of Fitness
-Clark Hibbs
When Greg Glassman started developing the CrossFit methodology, he knew that he wanted to create a well rounded fitness ideology that would hit all areas of fitness.
He saw problems with the bodybuilding community — there wasn’t enough emphasis on cardiovascular health, flexibility, and coordination.
He saw problems with the strongman community — there wasn’t enough emphasis on and endurance or stamina.
He saw problems with the endurance community — there wasn’t enough emphasis on strength, power, or agility.
He felt that every facet of fitness that people built their identity on was failing them in some shape.
CrossFit, a strength and conditioning program built to help fight chronic disease, is never going to make you an elite bodybuilder, strongman, or triathlete. This is for certain. It is, however, going to make you extremely healthy and increase your longevity and vitality. To sort of contradict the first sentence of this paragraph, CrossFit will give you an unbelievably solid foundation to begin a journey to elite status in any other facet of fitness.
Basically, this stuff is going to help you feel great and live a long life.
We’re going to get there by following and working the 10 Elements of Fitness.
- Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance – The ability of body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen.
- Stamina – The ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy.
- Strength – The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply force.
- Flexibility – the ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint.
- Power – The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time.
- Speed – The ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
- Coordination – The ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement.
- Agility – The ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another.
- Balance – The ability to control the placement of the bodies center of gravity in relation to its support base.
- Accuracy – The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.
We *could* go through a giant breakdown of each one of these elements, but this would be a 10,000 word article by the end of that. There’s really no need.
Here’s what you need to know: everything that we do in this gym will have these elements in mind so we can help you live a long and happy life.
Power cleans? Power, speed, strength, coordination.
Wallballs? Coordination, stamina, accuracy.
Rower and Airbike? Cardiovascular strength and stamina.
There is always a “why” behind our workouts. The why is for you to live a long and healthy life and so no physical task will keep you from experiencing life. We’re going to get there by emphasizing the 10 elements of fitness in our programming.
-Clark Hibbs
