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This week, we’re diving into the best way to structure your CrossFit training for maximum performance—and why most athletes get it wrong.
Too often, session order is an afterthought.
Poor sequencing can limit strength gains, reduce endurance adaptations, and leave you feeling unnecessarily fatigued.
That’s where proper training order comes in.
Follow the steps below to order your sessions better and maximize your gains from training.
SIDE NOTE:
With the CrossFit Open beginning this week you'll see that Fridays are listed as TBD.
When the workout gets announced it will show in the week of training.
You'll also see notes regarding optional sessions based on whether you will or will not repeat the Open workout on the following Monday.
Lastly, please vote below if you would like the next three newsletters to be Open WOD breakdowns or our usual training topic deep dives!
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This Week's Training
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Day 1 - 2/24/2025
A) Power snatch - 6m E2MOM 1 rep - first 3 building, second 3 same weight across
B1) Front Squat - 20X1; build to a tough single in 5-7 sets; rest 1' and move to B1
B2) Banded Anterior Hip Mobilization - :30e; rest 1' and move to B1
C) Metcon
3 Rounds for Time
20/18 Cal Assault Bike
15 Dumbbell Thrusters 50/35#
10 Burpees
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Be sure to snap a pic of your training and tag @WillMurtagh_DPT on social!
Deep Dive
4 Ways To Maximize Your Strength & Metcon For CrossFit
You train hard, push your limits, and expect to see progress from your training.
But what if the way you structure your training sessions is holding you back?
Over the last 12 years of coaching, I've seen many CrossFit athletes unknowingly sabotage their results by ordering their workouts incorrectly,
Leading to stalled strength gains, inefficient aerobic conditioning, and poor lactic tolerance.
CrossFit is a form of concurrent training, blending strength training, endurance exercise, and high-intensity conditioning into a single program.
While this approach builds well-rounded fitness, it also requires careful planning to avoid interference between different training elements.
If your goal is to get stronger, build aerobic capacity, and improve your metabolic conditioning, you need to optimize how you sequence your workouts.
Below I'll break down the principles of concurrent training and show you how to structure your sessions for maximum performance, recovery, and long-term gains.
What Is Concurrent Training?
Concurrent training combines strength training and endurance training within the same training program or day.
In CrossFit, this means balancing resistance training with aerobic exercise and high-intensity conditioning to develop a broad spectrum of fitness.
Unlike single-modality programs that focus solely on muscle hypertrophy, endurance capacity, or maximum strength, concurrent training challenges multiple energy systems at once.
For you as a CrossFit athlete, this approach offers several advantages.
It allows you to build muscular strength while improving your ability to sustain high-intensity efforts.
It enhances power output, endurance capacity, and metabolic efficiency—essential qualities for thriving in workouts that demand both strength and conditioning.
Concurrent training also improves work capacity, helping you recover faster and handle higher training volumes without burnout.
However, there’s a catch.
When not structured properly, concurrent training can create an interference effect, where endurance training blunts strength adaptations and vice versa.
The wrong exercise order can compromise muscle strength, slow down aerobic adaptations, and reduce your ability to tolerate lactic fatigue.
Understanding how to manage this interference is key to unlocking your full potential in CrossFit.
Poor Training Order in CrossFit and Why it Matters
How you order your training sessions directly impacts your strength gains, endurance capacity, and overall performance.
Strength training, aerobic training, and lactic tolerance each rely on different energy systems and place unique demands on your nervous system.
When exercises are performed in the wrong order, you risk reduced strength gains, compromised aerobic performance, and excessive fatigue that limits adaptation.
Many CrossFit athletes make the mistake of performing lactic conditioning before strength work, combining high-intensity anaerobic efforts with aerobic sessions, or training without considering fatigue and recovery.
These mistakes create interference, making it harder for your body to adapt properly.
Think how you would feel if you did "Fran" and then attempted to do heavy back squats or row a 2k chances are it would significantly hinder your performance.
The Correct Training Orders
To structure your CrossFit sessions effectively, follow these training hierarchies:
- Strength → Aerobic → Lactic
- Aerobic → Strength → Lactic
- Strength → Lactic
- Aerobic → Lactic
Examples:
Strength: 3 x 5 Back Squat
Aerobic: 3 sets @ sustained pacing; 10 min AMRAP; 10 Cal Row, 10 Box Jumps 24/20", 10 Deadlift 135/95#
Lactic: "Fran" @ 100% effort 21-15-9 Thrusters, Pull Ups
Strength and aerobic training can generally be swapped without major consequences, but lactic work should always be performed last.
This is because lactic conditioning creates excessive fatigue, negatively impacting both strength and aerobic adaptations if done earlier in your session.
The only exception is when preparing for competition.
If an event requires lactic conditioning before strength or endurance work, you’ll need to train that way to prepare your body for the demands of competition.
But, for general training, sticking to this order will ensure optimal progress in strength, endurance, and overall performance.
Why Lactic Training Should Always Be Last
High-intensity anaerobic training, often referred to as lactic work, generates extreme muscular and neural fatigue.
This type of training depletes energy stores rapidly, compromises movement quality, and negatively affects force production.
If you perform lactic conditioning before strength training, your ability to lift heavy and maintain proper technique will suffer, reducing long-term strength gains.
Additionally, lactic work interferes with aerobic efficiency by shifting how your body utilizes energy substrates, making endurance training less effective if performed afterward.
By placing lactic work at the end of your training session, you prevent unnecessary fatigue from limiting your strength output and technical execution.
This ensures that your most skill-dependent and strength-focused work remains high-quality while still allowing you to develop the lactic tolerance needed for CrossFit performance.
Making Concurrent Training More Effective
Separate Sessions When Possible
If your schedule allows, separating strength and endurance training by at least three hours can significantly reduce the interference effect.
Strength work performed in the morning followed by endurance training in the evening or vice versa allows your nervous system and muscle fibers to recover, leading to better adaptations in both areas.
Monitor Recovery and Fatigue
Improper training order can lead to excessive fatigue and diminished performance.
If you notice a drop in strength numbers or endurance capacity, your session structure may need adjusting.
Tools like heart rate variability (HRV) tracking or rate of perceived exertion (RPE) can help you assess recovery and ensure you’re not overloading your system.
Wrapping Up On Ordering Your Session
To recap, to get the best results from your CrossFit training, start by identifying your primary goal—whether it’s building strength, improving aerobic capacity, or increasing lactic endurance.
Once you have it, structure your sessions to minimize the interference effect.
Strength and aerobic work can be done interchangeably, but lactic training should always come last to prevent excessive fatigue from limiting performance.
Pay attention to how your body responds, making adjustments based on recovery, energy levels, and competition demands.
If your performance starts to decline, reassess your session order and overall workload.
Tracking key metrics like strength numbers, endurance capacity, and fatigue levels will keep you progressing long-term.
While competition prep may require breaking these rules, for general training, keeping these sequences will maximize adaptations and keep you progressing without unnecessary setbacks.
If you'd like me to help identify where your current training program is lacking and create a plan to improve it, book a free consultation here.
Read more about training for CrossFit performance (HERE)
This Week's Blog Post
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The 7 Best Gymnastic Grips For CrossFit In 2025
In this guide, we'll review the best CrossFit hand grip options. Looking at their pros, and cons so you can select the best ones for your training.​
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Talk to you soon, Reader
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Dr. Will Murtagh, PT, DPT, MS, CSCS, CISSN
Physical Therapist | Remote Fitness Coach
P.S. I'm looking for 5 2 CrossFit athletes frustrated with poor progress in the gym and achy joints.
​Click here for a free consultation on how to train-pain free and look and perform better in under 12 weeks.
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