“3-2-1 GO!” elicits a bunch of different emotions for CrossFitters, and the clock is often looked at as the enemy that must be defeated in order to has fitness. In my opinion, the time it takes to finish a workout is the least important use of the clock, and here are 3 uses that are more productive.
#1 – COMPLETE EACH ROUND IN ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME
This is more for workouts that have consistent movements/reps each round, like Helen, not so much for 21-15-9 type workouts, depending on the movements.
An easy way to think about this is with running 400m repeats around a track. You want each effort to be the same, and in order to do that, you have to rest 2-5x as long as the 400m took. So if you run a 1:30 400m, that is 3:00 – 7:30 of RESTING before doing another interval. Most CrossFit workouts aren’t set up this way, so it would be physiologically impossible to hit each round as hard as you can, so each round needs to be SUSTAINABLE. A good goal is no more than a 5-15 second variation between each round, and no more than a 15-30 second variation between your fastest and slowest round. Variations greater than this indicated you started out too fast. If over time you can minimize the round-to-round variations in the workout, your total time will DECREASE EVERY TIME. #math
This is another good indicator you started out too fast. A message I can get behind from CrossFit Hippo here, be The Congratulator!
#2 – MANAGE YOUR REST BREAKS
This strategy is for workouts that include barbell cycling (light weight Olympic lifts or light to moderate weight barbell work) or body weight/ gymnastics movements (push up/pull up/HSPU).
Cycling a barbell takes a lot of power, which goes away quickly, but comes back relatively quickly depending on your strength and conditioning levels. The key is to rest before you need it, then take 5-10 seconds before starting again. If you don’t want to watch the clock, one of my favorite things to do is just step over the bar and get started again immediately. This keeps rests breaks consistent.
Body weight stuff and gymnastics require stamina, and muscle failure IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. Once you go to failure on a body weight exercise, you will be doing nothing for awhile. It is important to rest before you need it, maybe 5-10 seconds, maybe even 15-20 seconds depending on the movement, rep number, and your fitness level. I recently did a workout with 40 push ups per round, so I did 6 reps, rest ~ 3 seconds (2 breath cycles), 4 reps, rest 15 seconds, and I did that 4 times and it worked well. If you don’t like watching the clock, a good strategy is to just walk some distance away, come back and start up immediately. That will keep your rest breaks consistent. I like reducing the reps before I increase the rest, but play around with one of those variables before doing both.
#3 – KEEP TRACK OF HOW MOVEMENTS AFFECT YOUR TOTAL TIME
This refers to total length of time and how much that movement takes out of you
. A great example of this is rowing. I often see people rowing at greater than 30 strokes per minute (s/m) during workouts. This is a good strategy if you are a Winklevoss twin (they are each 6′ 5″). Take a look at Concept 2’s website on how to row harder here. They recommend 24-30 s/m with most workouts, and less than 36 when you are racing. Technically, we are never really racing, so that lower s/m is ideal. I’d even recommend lower, 23-27 s/m, until you see how rowing affects you. Your 500m pace may drop, but it won’t be enough to make the workout slower. A good example is a workout with a 250m row. A lower stroke per minute may drop your pace by 10 seconds, but that’s actually 5 seconds since 250m is half of 500m, and YOU WILL BE LESS TIRED to start the next movement. Which means less rest, a faster round, and a faster overall time.
Burpees are another example. Ten burpees as fast as you can versus 10 at a controlled paced may save you 5-10 seconds, but the extra tired you are will slow you down later, so that advantage is negated. With “functional movements,” the movement itself causes the stimulus. Doing the movement faster is not necessary, and is usually a detriment to performance
To sum it all up, performance is improved not by doing faster reps, but by resting less. These 3 strategies are more effective at improving performance than just knowing your “score” because you score is the result of repeatedly doing things correctly. If you can keep each round about the same, appropriately managing your rest breaks, and understand how different movements affect overall performance, improving your overall workout time is easy.
3FN 
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