Good afternoon CFTP
Level Method
We are about to start our Global Level Method Assessments! This is a 3-week course where we will test all 15 tests to see what level you are currently sitting at. We do these level tests throughout the year but this is the only time where you will see them programmed back to back to back. This will not only give an opportunity to test those of you who have a full level score but also test all you newcomers. Getting your Level Method on each category is a huge step for us to be able to ensure each and every day you are doing the correct level and improving.
Let's talk about what the Level Method is all about.
It’s a system that will show you and your coaches exactly where you stand in fitness.
It gives you the knowledge, and your coaches the tools, to help you achieve your goals faster than ever before. ⚡️
Now there’s a whole lot of psychology and science 👨🏾🎓behind everything we do -- but the simplest way is to think of martial arts - white to black belt.
The MAP (“Method of Athletic Progression”) is a detailed yet easy-to-understand chart of athletic tests that measure and reward greater achievements in physical capacity.
You'll see a colorful board consisting of Levels moving left to right (separated by vertical lines), and Categories from top to bottom (separated by horizontal lines).
Each category has an upper number (MALE Standard) and a lower number (FEMALE Standard) and there are 32 Levels in each category.
The Level Method measures your fitness across 15 categories that cover 10 "energy systems" and over 60 different functional movements and variations. 🏋🏽♀️
Basically, you're going to see a TRUE snapshot 📸 of where your fitness is!
The 15 categories are comprised of things like Upper Body Pull, Deadlift, and Running.
Each category moves from left to right →, from beginner to advanced, and corresponds to colored levels, similar to a martial arts belt ranking system.
The information you obtain through these tests will show you exactly where you are in your fitness journey.
Knowing exactly where you are in your fitness journey is the first step needed to safely and effectively progress toward your goals.
Assess, Address, Progress
The Level Method uses a 3 step system: Assess, Address, Progress -- rinse, repeat!
The first step is to ASSESS your current ability by going through your initial assessments.
You can use the app to log your results and keep track!
*FYI... the MAP is not online, it's printed and hanging in the gym.*
This is so all assessments take place in the gym.
Once you complete an assessment of a category, look at the corresponding color on the MAP and log the results in your Chalk it Pro App. 📱
Simple!
Then, with your new-found information, you'll ADDRESS your weaknesses.
You can simply keep training regularly, then do an assessment in 3 to 4 months and see how you've improved OR you can work with one of your coaches and target your weak areas in a refined way so you Level up faster!...💥
Finally, PROGRESS!
If you are working on your weaknesses and training you WILL improve, and you'll level up when you re-assess!
It's a great time to celebrate your awesome achievements, ⭐️ and then back to working on the next weakness areas.
Level Method arms you with information
The Level Method gives you information you simply can't find anywhere else.
It shows you the EXACT next steps you need to make fast progress.
If you want to hit your goals, nothing beats having a clear plan of action.
Here are just a few benefits of using the Level Method...
Clarity fueled by Millions of Data points.
The Level Method has been developed over many years -- and is fueled by millions of data points 🤓 - to create standards for each level.
You'll understand objectively where you are in YOUR fitness journey.
Armed with this clarity, you'll be able to go wherever you want.
What are you training for?
To stay healthy? To lose weight? The clearer the target, the more likely you'll hit it.
The Level Method gives you targets in each category to shoot for, so it's easier to have concrete, measurable goals. 😎
Plus, every time you do hit those targets and level up you're recognized for your achievement 🏆 -- which feels amazing!
Faster Progress
The big colorful MAP (Method of Athletic Progression) is also a map of fitness.
Once you know where you are, you can pinpoint weaknesses and work systematically to improve those areas.
This is not available anywhere outside of Level Method, and gives you a big advantage in terms of improving as fast as possible.
Improved Safety
Most often times injuries happen when someone is trying to do a movement or weight that they aren't ready for.
For example, if the strength to do a weighted strict pull-up is absent there is risk when doing kipping pull-ups.
Making sure you progress through the levels and build the right skills and strengths will prevent extended layoffs due to injury and minimize downtime so you can keep improving!
Your Overall Level
In real life, weaknesses hold us back.
It doesn’t matter how fast you can read if you don’t know the language. 🈳
Or how fast you can run a mile, if you’re dangling from a cliff and can’t pull yourself up.
In the Level Method, your Overall Level is based on your weaknesses, just like life.
Your Overall Level is calculated using the RULE OF 2's.
It's simple: take your two lowest levels, apply two stripes to each of them, then look for your lowest score, and that's your level. You may have some levels in BLUE and PURPLE, but have an Overall Level of YELLOW or ORANGE because of your weaknesses.
Here's the good news.
Work on those weaknesses and your Overall Level will improve quickly.
Work to continually improve, and keep working on those weak areas!
Real Strength
Lifting heavy things, objects … that’s objective strength.
Being strong ‘for your size’ -- that’s relative strength.
Both are important, and the Level Method measures both.
If you have to move a boulder, being big and strong is an advantage.
If you have to climb a long rope, being small and strong is an advantage.
But nobody gets to choose the emergency -- we have to be prepared, whatever the crisis!
Lose fat, gain muscle💪🏼 -- acquire strength and skill!
The LEVEL METHOD gets all of this done and shows you exactly what to do!
Stay strong in your strengths, get strong where you’re weak, and improve your OVERALL LEVEL!
Understanding the BASICS of Energy Systems🤓
Energy Systems is a complicated word for how the body uses different fuels to do things.
Why are energy systems important?
Energy systems give us insight into how workouts should FEEL!
This sounds really weird, but the body is complicated, and to make the best progress, you shouldn't be crushing workouts all the time.
Energy systems give us a language and framework to understand these concepts.
And we use a House analogy to teach and simplify these concepts.
But even in simplifying, much of this can seem complicated.
That's ok, just know you are gaining knowledge that only a tiny percentage of people have.
In our model, there are three broad systems: Electricity, Plumbing, and Ventilation
We use these words to indicate the roles that they play in a house.
In a house there is electricity, with wiring that provides shocking power, it has plumbing with pipes that deliver and flush fluids, and it has ventilation, with ducts and windows that keep the air flowing and temperature controlled.
It’s the same way with the body, but for us, electricity is the signals from brain to muscle 💪🏼 for powerful contractions, plumbing is the cellular fueling elements like capillaries and heart , and ventilation is how we get air through the lungs and blood.
Each one of the 15 categories of the Level Method falls into a specific energy system.
And here’s where it gets really interesting!
By taking the appropriate scores from your levels, we can determine what your energy system strengths and weaknesses are!
These are known as AGGREGATE scores -- a complicated word that basically means a SUMMARY OVERVIEW of what systems you are best in!
Your Electricity score is an aggregate score of your overall muscle strength.
Your Plumbing score is an aggregate score of your overall cellular fueling.
Your Ventilation score is an aggregate score of your overall aerobic fueling.
What is "RX" really?
You’ve probably heard it -- Rx … “did you rx that workout?!”
But, what is the Rx? You may know, it stands for “PRESCRIBED” -- just like a drug.
But what is being prescribed? The weight? Or the stimulus? Because they are two VERY different things.
Weight is OBJECTIVE -- it’s outside of you. 95lbs. Stimulus, on the other hand, is all about what’s happening INSIDE OF YOU!
When we think of “the Rx” we should be thinking about the stimulus.
We should ask: is the workout delivering the INTENDED STIMULUS?
If you went to the Doctor and she gave the exact same dose to everyone, would that make sense? Of course not!
Each person needs their own prescription…
As an example, say you were going to do the workout “Cindy”
The workout is:
20 min AMRAP
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 air squats
Person A can do 10 rounds of this workout. Pull-ups are very tough. And it takes a while.
Person B can do 30 rounds, they are so fit that they’re basically going as fast as they can move.
Now -- is this the same workout? Well, from the outside it looks to be… but INSIDE the body, it’s very different.
For the first person it’s basically a strength workout. For the second, it’s cardio.
With the Level Method, we go after STIMULUS! We can deliver you a PERSONAL, customized workout so you get better, faster! 🚀
You will get exactly the right dose for you!
By assessing your current fitness and using those levels to adjust movements in your workouts, you are getting the REAL RX.
You are also doing workouts at a level that will ensure safety and FASTER results.
Now, competition is a different story altogether, and a topic for another day :)
In Conclusion
Hopefully you all made it this far as understanding the concepts above are going to give you a huge advantage in the upcoming 3 weeks and in your overall fitness journey.
CrossFit The Point did Rx and scaled for the first 9 years of our existence. While it worked, when we decided to move over to this level method, I saw much more progress and much less injury. As athletes learned what they were capable of and where they were on the Level Method, they were able to achieve the appropriate stimulus every day and I was more equipped to provide that in our programming.
This method may seem complicated and a lot of thought did go into it but at the end of the day the level method is a way for us to know where we are and to track our improvement. That's all it is and it is super important in our pursuit of fitness.
I cannot wait to see you all test through the next 3 weeks and for us to continue to improve going forward.
Coach Dan
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