The Spinal Engine Theory

For the longest time, sports science considered the legs and arms the primary drivers in locomotion, but that understanding is now being questioned.

Prepare yourself for a pendulum swing in training to accommodate this changing understanding of human biomechanics. And brace yourself (pun intended) for the pendulum to swing too far to the detriment of athletes before injuries lead to a course correction and hopefully equilibrium.

What's the problem with braced core training?

What’s the problem with the braced core training? It promotes rigidity. And while this is ideal in the weight room when we are doing strength training, it translates poorly into sport outside the gym or life in general. When you watch heavy, muscle-bound strength athletes move, their trunk is permanently locked, and their bodies no longer flow naturally or athletically. This will lead to chronic pain and dysfunction and is the result of training exclusively in the sagittal and frontal planes. And no, adding a few Russian twists will not solve the problem.

Don’t blame it on CrossFit. The CrossFit formula for athletic excellence always included playing and practicing as many sports as possible outside the gym. When Glassman said this, he didn’t mean monostructural activities like rowing, running or cycling or strength sports like Olympic or Power lifting. He meant field sports, arena sports, martial arts, dance, frisbee, tennis and even pickleball. All of these athletic pursuits require rotational force, agility and movement in the transverse plane that is largely missing from gym-based strength and conditioning programs.

Why do good strength and conditioning programs generally not include rotational and transverse plane exercises? Because these movements are best pursued outside the structured environment of the gym. They are best practiced in the chaotic setting of sport and nature. Problem is, most people aren’t playing sports outside the gym and as a result, their strength and conditioning program, important as it is, contributes to their movement dysfunction.

In 2020, we incorporated Original Strength into our Empower programming

That’s why in 2020 we saw an opportunity to improve training outcomes by incorporating Original Strength in our Empower programming. Tim Anderson’s Original Strength explores the spinal engine and helps us release our locked-up trunks to move and feel better. It is a perfect complement to CrossFit training and easy enough that anyone can do it. It is a good starting place.

But it doesn’t go far enough. What Original Strength lacks is power. Sport is explosive. And if you want to develop a pain and injury free body, it must be resilient to powerful, explosive movement in every plane and range of motion because life is chaotic.

FightFit is the answer to this deficit

FightFit is an answer to this deficit. Over the past several years, my body has benefited from weekly kickboxing and grappling training that requires me to generate rotational power in the transverse plane that is quite different from the way I generate power in the gym. Martial arts have helped restore the suppleness of my spine and core training it to move more fluidly.

With the introduction of our FightFit programs at Empower we are giving our athletes the opportunity to explore new expressions of force production in planes of motion that CrossFit does not address. Original Strength serves as a great entry point and FightFit is a natural extension of this dialling up the intensity in a fun and playful way. Today’s reset will blend some Original Strength with some basic, entry-level combat conditioning drills.

If you aren’t going to go out and play other sports, then it is up to us to bring them to you. Fight on!

The workout for Friday, June 27 - Make Up Day

1) Empower Reset #56: Combat Reset

1 min Breathing
30/30 sec Head Nods/Rotations

5 mins:
20 Deadbugs
20 Windshield Wipers
10 Shrimps
10 3 Point Bridge

1 min each:
Rocking Chair
Backward Breakfalls
Sideways Breakfalls

20 Bird Dogs
1 min Elevated Roll/1 min rest
1 min Elevated Roll to Sit through/1 min rest
2 mins Elevated Roll to Sit through to Crab to Bear Roll

3 rounds:
1 min Reverse Lunge Cross Body Reach
1 min 180 degree jumps
1 min Bear to Monkey Crawl

3 rounds:
A. 30 sec Weighted Lateral Lunge Shifts/30 sec rest
B. 30 sec Sprawl to Broad Jump/30 sec rest
C. 30 sec Barbell Hang Clean to Forward Punch/30 sec rest

3 mins:
Banded Twists

2) 21-18-15-12-9-6-3

Power Cleans @115# (or 50% 1 rpm)
Pistols Left (or Shrimp Squats)
Pistols Right

3) HeroWOD Michael

3 Rounds:
800m Run
50 Back Extensions
50 Sit Ups

4) 7 Sets

1 thruster + 1 push press + 1 push jerk + 1/1 split jerk left/right