#125 - Team Training vs Individual Training

Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

Team competition back in the earlier days of CrossFit consisted of relay-style workouts, where the total score was the sum of individual efforts. This style of workout meant that the training could primarily be individual, and often you would see a broader range of abilities in team, maybe with one athlete always getting bottlenecked by a certain weight or skill. Now we see elements like the worm, synchronised reps and different workout structures that make team competition more about the team.

In this episode, we discuss balancing a CrossFit Games team's individual and team training, with Jon providing insight into the preparation for CrossFit Omnia. Here are some of the interesting topics discussed in this episode;

We often hear about teammates pushing each other in workouts to go harder, but does it work the other way around? Do athletes subconsciously slow down and go easier when others call for rest? Do those team dynamics work both ways?

One of the key things to consider when managing the distribution of team and individual is weighing up the trade-offs between practicing team workouts and not quite getting the right stimulus for everyone versus doing individual workouts where it's easier to get everyone hitting the desired stimulus.

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Show Notes:

• [1:00] How does Jon manage the team training at CrossFit Omnia
• [5:00] The distribution of team workouts vs individual workouts for team athletes
• [7:00] Why is doing team workouts important?
• [8:00] Worm work for teams
• [13:00] Does teamwork detract from an athlete's overall fitness
• [17:00] Team dynamics slowing performances down
• [21:45] The right distribution of team and individual training for team athletes during the season