1:53

In light of Jason Kaplan’s sub-2 Fran, there's a variety of observations that can be made. Butterfly kips aside, the largest noticeable factor that contributed to his record breaking performance, besides raw freak levels of work capacity, was his transition time. For most of us, we’ll likely spend the next few years attempting to break the sub-3 minute or even the sub-4 minute mark. But by examining our transition time we can find seconds that are “easier” to shave off than increasing our cyclic rate of movement. After reading the last rant and rave you hopefully got off the shitter, signed up, and starting printing off copies of the CrossFit Journal. Hopefully that means you saw Greg Amundson’s recent article on efficiency and forethought when approaching the workout. There are a variety of gems that can be taken from his observations, so if you can find his article, read it. But beyond reading we must act, we must take what we find and execute under stress. Jason a few weeks ago posted a 2:08 Fran, a feat within its own right, but after clocking his transition time there were obvious seconds that could be shaved. Whether conscious of this fact or not he achieved remarkably faster transition times in his 1:53 attempt and it is unlikely that he cycled through his reps any faster since that is usually built over periods of time longer than just a week or so. As always we really only care how this type of knowledge and our experiences here in the gym transfer to real life. If it doesn’t then what’s the point? Transitioning quickly and efficiently in the real world is likely going to mean that you are the one who is the winner and still standing or at least give you the best possible chance at winning, no matter what your vocation. Transitioning quickly and effeciently under stress is one of the easiest and fool proof ways to increasing work capacity in a short amount of time. Because are you really going to recover by taking those 5 breaths? 10 breaths? You are breathing faster than an out of control locomotive, you’re screwed, it’s all going down. No sense being that person that is feebly attempting to save themselves. Once you’ve made the psychological decision to stay on the pain train and go for a ride, you might as well attempt to help speed it up, get from the furnace to the coal pile in an increasingly expedient manner. And the easiest way is efficiency, not just in the movement but rotating from one to the next.



Apply this to the street or even just to other arenas out where the rubber meets the road. Effeciency from one activity to the next, transitioning with the greatest economy of movement is, in the severest of circumstances, going to save your life. Look at a pit crew at the Daytona 500 or an operator transitioning from his primary to secondary weapon or even just changing a magazine. They don’t stop, have a cup of tea, raise their hand for a timeout and say “Hey everybody, I need a breather for a second”. They do what must be done. Simple as that. If you’ve made the conscious choice to be here and to suffer through the concoctions of the hated whiteboard then it is in your best interest to do what must be done.
CrossFit is going to hurt, it is going to be uncomfortable, you aren’t going to be able to breathe, your heart will feel like it is going to either explode out of your chest or go flat line. Your hands will rip, your legs will feel like they’ve been given cement shoes, your hip flexors at some point will seize, your chest will feel like it is caving in, and when it's all over picking up a pencil is going to feel like a laborious task because your forearms are so lit up. But remember, you chose to be here, you alone choose to keep coming back. From “3,2,1,Go” until “Time” account for every second because every second counts. Here on the training ground and out there in the world.
Ante up and get back on line, moving forward.
You’ll see your times drop and your work capacity increase because of it.
-whit.