Workout of the Day:
Five rounds for time of:
32 kg/24 kg Kettlebell Swing x 25
Sit-Up x 25
Back Extension x 25
Knees to Elbows x 25
 

Efficiency = Efficacy
Written by Mike Hom 

As coaches, one of our priorities is to make sure our athletes succeed in their quest to change their lives in a positive manner. In the context of physical training, we endeavor to improve human movement by improving someone’s ability to maintain proper technique and form over any given time period. We help our athletes become as efficient as possible in various activities because efficiency is a key driver to obtain high levels of performance.

Look at it this way. We each have engines churning away to produce the power needed to operate on a daily basis. Do you want to be able to go for miles on one tank of gas with minimal horsepower? Or, do you want to get maximum horsepower with bad gas mileage? Well, I want both – good gas mileage and as much horsepower as I can generate! Efficiency is the key to linking that sustained horsepower over the long-haul. We want to get as much work done as possible with the least amount of “metabolic work” or “metabolic cost.” Taking a page from Stephen Seiler (http://home.hia.no/~stephens/), we can define efficiency as (mechanical work)/(metabolic work). Efficiency improves when mechanical work increases and/or metabolic work goes down.

What does this mean to you? It means that sometimes you need to back off the intensity and improve your efficiency (i.e., movement mechanics) to see an improvement in your performance. It’s easy to get blinded in the heat of a work out and let primal instinct dictate the way you move. But we coaches are there to guide you towards victory through virtuosity, whether it be to push you when you need to be pushed, to slow you down for your safety, or to stop you from getting hurt. So when a coach cues you or stops you in the middle of a workout, it is to ultimately benefit you in the long-run. 

We want each and every one of our athletes to go home with a victory, no matter how small or large, every day they walk through our door. But we stay focused on the long-term to ensure that our athletes are strong and healthy for the long run.