Emulation is core to the human experience. From the beginning, babies mirror the expressions of their caregivers. Later in life we find men and women who are further along to emulate from a goal setting perspective. And, frankly, if you’ve been in a gym before, it’s not unlikely that you found another student to emulate.
The trouble with emulation is that we often forget that we’re emulating someone in the present moment without considering that they’ve had a hidden, rich history. Classically, folks look to the world’s best CrossFitters, for example, and emulate their training protocols. Meanwhile, these athletes’ previous decade of work in a weightlifting hall or on the track or in a collegiate program are not a part of the mental representation.
This is key because the person you’re emulating is training specifically the way they are training because of the background that got them there. If you want to emulate someone’s training in the gym, then, the best method would be to recreate their entire training journey from the beginning.
If you’re going to mimic someone in the gym, dive into their history.
This would force a prioritization of key, underrecognized foundational training years over high volume, highly technical training that is so prevalent today. So, sure, have a role model, but when you mimic him/her, do it right.
5/25/23 WOD
DEUCE Athletics GPP
Complete 2 rounds for quality of:
:10 Back Squat Walk Out @ 110%
— Rest as Needed–
Complete 4 rounds of the following:
4 Back Squat
AMRAP 6
Bull Run
Max 1-Arm DB Power Clean and Press (60/40)
— Rest 4 Mins —
Then, complete the following for time:
(AMRAP Score)
DEUCE Garage GPP
12-12-8-8
Bent Rows
AMRAP 16
8 Unbroken Shoulder-to-Overhead (155/105)
24 Unbroken KB Swings (70/53)
36 Unbroken Lateral Plyo Skier Hops
3x 20 Push Ups