If you’ve ever done a CrossFit Workout of the Day (WOD) then you may wonder just how the hell they come up with their routine. When I first started, I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if a monkey just flung poo at a bunch of random exercises scribbled on a white board and whatever he hit was the workout. Turns out there is a bit more to CrossFit routines than just manic randomness.

Why this picture? Because F*$# You, that's why!

There are three categories of exercises that are incorporated into CrossFit routines.

- Weight lifting: cleans, push presses, dead lifts, front squats — Basically anything that uses more than just body weight.

- Gymnastic: dips, pull-ups, push-ups, box jumps — all done with body weight only.

- Monostructural: sprinting, skipping, rowing — Most people would call this cardio, and it can be continuous or intermittent.

WOD’s are then designed to include one, two, or all three of these categories in either a singlet, couplet, or triplet.

A singlet could be any one type of exercise, such as Squats. A couplet would include two, such as push ups and sprints, and a triplet (wait for it) would include all three, such as a run, push press, and body weight squats.

All seems simple enough, but from here on it gets a little trickier. CrossFit is done on a 3 on, 1 off schedule. An article published in CrossFit Journal nearly 8 years ago goes into quite a bit of detail on the theoretical template for CrossFit routines, but I’ll do my best to summarize.

Over a 12 day training period you would have 9 on days, and 3 off. On day 1, 5, and 9 (the first of the 3 on days) you would focus on 1 category of exercises only. Either weight lifting (W), gymnastics (G), or monostructural (M). On days 2, 6, and 10 a couplet of any combination. The couplet would be performed for a certain number of rounds and would last as long as it took to complete the full workouts. Days 3, 7, and 11 would combine all three categories into a tripet and would last for a specific amount of time while the exercises were repeated as many times as possible in the time given. Make sense? Perfect!

It’s a good thing that the article I mentioned previously sad “theoretical” template, because I rarely see workouts that follow this pattern on the CrossFit main page. I really enjoy the workouts, but I honestly can’t say that I can see any rhyme or reason to how CrossFit routines are designed. I have seen multiple couplets in a row, successive days of weights, and some workouts that were designed by some deranged personal trainer. All body parts are definitely hit with CrossFit workouts eventually, but I’ve also seen the same body part blasted in all 3 on days sometimes.

I can’t seem to find a pattern with CrossFit routines. I’m sure there has to be some reasoning behind why each workout is chosen. There is a framework in place at least, so it isn’t just a shot in the dark. I guess until they stop being effective I’ll just run with it.

Can you shed some light on this subject? Please leave a comment if you understand the method to the madness.