Chris B sent me a link to some videos about Chris Paul’s training and diet and asked me if he would not be better off training CrossFit. After watching them, I thought that the videos were a good segue into talking about two (or more) topics that I have been wanting to write about, so hold onto your hats.
Regarding Chris Paul, I have never trained an active professional athlete. However, part of the validation process in the S & C community is having a trainer who trains professional athletes use the system or process in need of validation. Most S & C coaches have some idea of the basics of training a professional athlete, because most the “elite” S & C coaches are pretty honest about their situation. First and most importantly, professional athletes are amazingly gifted in their genetics and/or their willingness to do whatever is necessary to win (usually both). Because they do a certain workout does not mean to get where they are, you should do that workout. Second, there is a crazy amount of money involved for both the team and the player. You absolutely cannot, under any circumstances, for any reason, hurt a player trying to get them stronger. Conversely, adding another year or two to their career can be a huge benefit to the player and possibly to the team. Finally, these three minute videos don’t really tell us where Chris Paul, or any of the other athletes, are in their training cycle, i.e. we see what they want us to see and/or what they have time to show us.
Having said all that, it looks like a good program for someone going into his 7th season. And, for what it’s worth, many of the things that his S & C coach is talking about is pretty current thinking. There seems to be some strange editing in the beginning of his personal trainer Steve Kostorowski’s discussion of how to build spinal stability, but from a Grey Cook podcast I just recently listened to and after reading this book and several others, it is not really clear if traditional strength training alone (deadlift, press, clean, squats, etc.) will get athletes, especially in contact sports, a stable spine/core.
In summary, CrossFit, at least the way we, and many other gyms, practice it, is not for everyone. In particular, experienced, athletically mature athletes who are working towards specific goals, may be better served by getting personal training that is specifically targeted towards the finer points of motor control and injury prevention. That personal training may not look like what the worlds fittest men and women are doing, but if that athlete feels stronger going up against someone like Kobe Bryant, then that training is effective, at least for him. Lest you think that he’s all about movement and technique, check out some of the single leg exercises Chris Paul is doing near the end of the conditioning video, they seem pretty challenging. And the jumping split squats look like they really suck.
Next, the edges, CrossFit at MDSoF and how to make it work best for you.