Bastian Ohr has spent seven years programming for student CrossFit athletes across multiple university clubs. We asked him about the specificity mistakes that quietly sabotage long-term development.
Training everything, developing nothing
Q: What is the core specificity mistake you keep seeing?
Bastian: Students want to improve their Olympic lifting, their gymnastics, their engine, and their strength all in the same eight-week block. That is not periodization, that is just doing CrossFit without a plan. Specificity means accepting that during a strength-focused block, your conditioning numbers might plateau. That is not a failure, it is the design. Students struggle to accept temporary regression in one area while building another.
The problem with chasing weaknesses every week
Q: Is weakness-targeting a bad idea then?
Bastian: Not inherently, but the timing matters. Students often chase their weakest skill every single week regardless of what phase of training they are in. If you are in a peaking block before a competition, hammering your worst movement pattern at high volume is a poor trade. Weakness work belongs in a base-building phase when the stakes are low and the body has room to absorb new stress without compromising the primary goal.
How to structure specificity realistically
Q: What does a practical fix look like for a student?
Bastian: Pick one primary adaptation per eight-week block. Write it at the top of your program document. Every session should either directly serve that adaptation or actively support recovery from it. If a workout does neither, cut it. Students are often surprised how much cleaner their progress becomes when they stop trying to develop everything simultaneously.
Bastian Ohr consults on CrossFit program design for university sport clubs and competitive amateur athletes.