O.K., the title might not be what you think. Hopefully, it caught some attention. No, I am referring to “WOD” or the concept of the “workout of the day” that has become quite popular in fitness.
My students know well that I am not a fan of the WOD. True, it has some benefit in the general sense. For example, team coaches might plan workouts as such—that is, in a more broad, all-inclusive fashion. These are purposeful, however, and should be well thought out. Your average WOD at Joe’s Gym—scrawled on a whiteboard at the start of the day—is not necessarily so. Too often these are overly general and simplified—and often biased by the trainer’s own likes and interests. It neglects one or more of the important principles of adaptation—in particular, specificity and individuality. Frankly, I find it lazy.
WODs neglect the fact that no two exercisers are the same. They may have similar needs, but they are different are far too many counts.
Skill. WODs assume that everyone is able to perform the exercises with the same level of skill and expertise. That there is a huge gap between beginner and even intermediate opens the door for injury and/or overuse.
Need. WODs assume that everyone needs to perform the same exercise in the same proportions. They assume that the individual goals are the same as the trainer’s. In reality, the exercises need to be prescribed on the basis of individual need. Otherwise, we waste time doing one less necessary activity at the expense of another more critical activity (“opportunity costs”).
Effectiveness. Not all WODs are even that effective when it comes to specific adaptations to the component part of fitness. Many, for example, are so general that they benefit overall fitness sub-optimally but no specific area of fitness optimally. I have a great struggle with the “Tabata” label that gets thrown around a lot. “Tabata”? You can’t handle Tabata! (To be read aloud in one’s best Jack Nicholson impersonation.) Tabata (i.e., the IE1 protocol proposed by Dr. Izumi Tabata) requires 20-second bursts at 170% of VO2max—all-out effort. This intensity can only be reached by extremely well-trained athletes (the original study was performed on Olympic speedskaters, and some were excluded from the study because they could not maintain the intensity for the prescribed duration) and, certainly, cannot be sustained doing burpees, air-squats, and the like. This is not to say that these workouts (I prefer to label them “high-intensity interval resistance training” or “HIIRT”) aren’t of some benefit. These are great for fat-burning. They are less effective for cardiorespiratory endurance and muscle strength/hypertrophy.
Risk of injury. WODs present a higher risk of injury. For one, they push people to compete against others. It is easy to go beyond one’s limits—do one more rep, go faster (despite a breakdown in technique), etc. They also don’t account for individual differences in joint structure, stability strength, fatigability, etc. Frankly, they lack a level of control that is necessary to assure that each exercise benefits most optimally.
Responsiveness. Genetically, we all respond quite differently to exercise stimuli. Thus, while the WOD may greatly benefit one, it may quite useless for another. Exercise must be prescribed to the individual. There is also the matter of recovery. WODs do not take into account the present training state of the individual (has he/she recovered from the last workout) or the extent to which the individual will be able to adapt to the scheduled workout. The landmark volumes (see How Much Should I Train? by Drs. Mike Israetel and James Hoffmann)—maximum recoverable volume, minimum effective volume, maximum adaptive volume, and maintenance volume—are pretty much ignored. WODs also do not consider the effects of other training and non-specific daily activities will have on adaptability.
WODs are not the worst of trends in the fitness industry, and some find them beneficial. One should be cautioned to examine the place that they have in their exercise and ask whether they are the best use of the available opportunity to achieve one’s goals.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!