Crossfit Land

[Chad]

First time I have checked out this group in quite a while, I noticed that you guys are opening up the club to other fitness areas including crossfit, pretty cool stuff. 

I have been doing 99.9% crossfit programming for the last 10 months. Figured I would share the good, the bad, and the ugly... 

First by the numbers:

Lift                 Start                   Now                    Best in Prime (~18 years ago)

Squat             320                     405                     405

Deadlift           430                     475                     500 (gym is very strict about no rounded back, this has really limited this lift, but I suppose safer)

Bench             250                     275                    265  ( crossfit never works bench, and well I have always sucked it at)

C&J                250                     290                     285 (clean only for best in prime never really worked the jerk back then, also all lifts are Power cleans)

Snatch            185                     220                     ~200 (think this is right)

Shoulder press 180                    220                      NA (these are standing strict)

Rack Jerk        250                    325                      NA (325 is btn, 315 from rack position)

Front Squat      245                    325                      NA

Body Composition:

height 6' 4"

Weight        220 ish                   240                     mid to low 180s

Body Fat%   18%                      18%                    much lower than 18% (Caliper measured, ya I know its not the most accurate but the test sites are consistent)

Should note that before I started crossfit I lost 30 lbs via diet 

Diet

I did paleo for about 4 months and the results were really good, right now my diet is pretty shitty trying to get back on track.

Supplements

Progenex Whey about 2 months worth... was expensive and I was not consistent with it so just stopped.

Daily vitamin again about 2 months

Glucosamine about 5 months, this stuff is working well for me (for joints, I am 36 so give me a break lol)

Work capacity

Really hard to put any meaningful numbers on this, but lets just say I went from huffing and puffing going up stairs (really sad) to being able to do the most insane workout RX for up to 20+ min.

The Ugly (reflective thoughts)

So first of all the above is not a brag sheet, it is what it is I could imagine similar results could be achieved with other training styles...

Injury count 3

1st: hip flexor strained (caused by side to side jumping movement I was not ready for, 3 weeks of annoying pain)

2nd: 6 stitches on shin (caused by me doing 48" standing box jumps, on an up note I made the first jump, 2nd jump well not so much, this was really just me being stupid it was not assigned)

3rd: tweaked elbow - minor (caused via "man makers", really unexpected as the weight was low, but in a moment of fatigue the weight angled out and well that was all it took)

Tossed - Cookies

1 Time .. first work out, just totally over did it and did not listen to the coach who told me to sand bag it. 

Movements

Kipping pullups - I boycott these and do strict instead (everyone is ok with this at gym)

Sumo Deadlift High Pulls - to me this is an injury waiting to happen (normally assigned at high reps light weight)

Box jumps - done right these are awesome however they are frequently assigned at very high rep ranges, at which point I stop doing muscle flex jumps and do jump up / step downs.. 

Cost:

Gym is over $100 a month (stupid expensive considering I can go to the RIT gym for free)

The Good

I think in general the results especially in work capacity have been pretty good, also I have been able to maintain going to the gym 4 -5 times (gym visit is always an hour long) a week for 10 months, the atmosphere in the gym is great and the people are awesome. 

They don't throw me out for yelling when I lift... and ya I am the only one in the gym that does this.

Feeds my desire for competitive atmosphere on nearly daily basis (suppose never deloading and always going 100% could be a negative but so far it is good stuff)

[Chad]

Its been almost 3 months since my last post, nothing but crossfit programming has yielded the following results:

Lift                  New Max                  

Squat              425   (+20)                                     

Deadlift            485   (+10)                   

Bench              290   (+15)                    

Power C&J       295   (+5)                  

Power Snatch   225   (+5)             

Strict OH press 225   (+5)   <-- While only 5 lbs this was a big break through, been stuck at 220 for nearly 5 months       

Rack Jerk         345   (+20)       

Front Squat      325   Have not tested yet.

[Bob Stevens]

How has your body composition changed (if at all) with the strength increases?

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[Chad]

I did the on campus fitness lab test that uses an Ultra sound body composition analysis (good deal $5)

It put me at 18% body fat @ 240 lbs (6' 4", 37 years old) that was about 3 weeks ago.

Using my accu-measure calipers I am at about 16% (yesterday) @ 240 (this is using the 1 point test site, I am lazy)

I guess for that to mean anything I need to tell you where I started...

August of 2011 I was upper 250s @ ~25% -30% ish BF (guessing, in short I was obese by any measure) and had done 0 physical activity in ~17 years)

December 2011 I was down to 217 with floppy muscles (at this point I signed up for bootcamp and then a month later crossfit)

Now I have my FFMI up to 24.7 ... within 1/2 a point of my theoretical physical drug free max. (and not that my lifts or for that matter anything else would suggest otherwise, but I have never taken any PEDs of any kind (well except caffeine but one must have coffee)

As far as change with the past 3 months, my weight has been steady (I feel good at 240), but I have been continuously shifting BF to muscle, exact amounts I don't know.

I am debating on dropping down to 231 lbs (105KG) as my olympic lifts are good enough now to get me into the Pan American games (Master Division), I think I will wait until after Empire State game trials and see how I do under competition before I make that decision.

[Chad]

Some of you might get a kick out of this... working on BTN Rack Jerks here.. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKJgSN8j6GU

[Dan]

Nice lifts.  When you say "crossfit programming" what does that entail?

[Chad]

Well each crossfit affiliate does things a little different, in the end the affiliates have 2 goals... 1: make you has fit as possible, and 2: if you are capable, get you crossfit games ready. (I am trivializing it a bit)

Diet is also really stressed (either paleo, or zone) frequent competitions are held to keep people on the straight and narrow. 

Also it is important to note that every crossfit workout is performed as a friendly competition, where each WoD (workout of the day) is scored and posted for all to see. 

A work out is never more than an hour, and the only thing you can be sure of is it is going to be hard.

A typical workout consists of 3 components, however you never know what you are in for until you go do the workout. (this is typical crossfit)

1: Warmup

2: Strength (this was a lot of german volume training, but has shifted recently to more 5X5, 10X5, action as the open nears)

3: Metcon (think circuit training)

This is yesterdays workout it skipped strength and instead did 2 Metcons (brutal):

Warmup (from memory): Warmup is done on your own...

  4 rounds of:

        300 M row

        10 pushups

        30 sec Hand stand (I have been using this to practice walking handstands lately)

        couple different stretches 

Metcon1 (pulled from board): This was done in 2 waves with each group counting the reps and checking the form of the other (coaches also circle around the gym and monitor, as well as shouting encouragement)

12 min AMRAP
150 Wall Balls 20/14
90 Double Unders
30 Muscle Ups

RX:

Male:  20 lbs

Female:  14 lbs

Metcon 2:  

02142013  (Time)

Every Minute On the Minute (EMOM)
10 minutes
3 Body Weight Deadlifts
3 Box Jumps

Crossfit -> English translation

AMRAP: As many reps as possible ( in the given time )

Wall balls: Do a full squat and then thrust upwards tossing a 20 lb medicine ball to a target @ 10 ft, (after about 50 these begin to really suck)

Double Unders: This is really a skill movement, spin the jump rope under feet twice in one hop... it is worse than sprinting.

Muscle Ups: This is a gymnastic movement, using rings pull yourself from a full hang to an upright position (kipping is allowed) I am a lot better at doing these on a bar than rings

For the 2nd metcon I upped the weight a little and went to 265, I had planned on doing 315 but the first metcon destroyed me.

For those that are shooting to compete, or really push themselves there are sessions called Games prep:

These are posted at the beginning of the week and typically consist of olympic lifting complexes and metcons, along with more skill work.

Here is this weeks programming, I don't feel to bad sharing as they stole it from invictus website anyhow. (It is not uncommon from gyms to post workouts and then other gyms cherry pick the good ones, the really good ones get named)

Tuesday: 
Six Sets: Clean Complex (sorry for all of you who did it earlier in the week, feel free to do it again or come in and do something else)
Hang Clean - Clean - FS x 2 reps - Jerk 

Skill: 
10-15 Rope Climbs
5x :20 sec L-sit hold

Metcon: 
Mary: 20 min AMRAP
5 HSPU
10 Pistols
15 Pullups

Sunday: 
Six Sets: Snatch Complex
Hang Snatch - Snatch - 2 OHS

Back Squat: 
5x3 @ 80-85%

Metcon: 
7 rounds for total reps: 

2 min AMRAP: 
30 DU
ME MU (Cap: 6 for men and 4 for women)
ME Burpees
Rest 1 min

Note: Once the cap is hit on the muscle ups (6/4) then drop down and perform burpees for the remainder of the 2 minute cycle. Your score is total number of MU and burpees performed over the course of the workout. 

Crossfit -> English

Pistols are 1 legged body weight squats (shows flexibility more than strength imho)

HSPU: Hand stand push ups.

DU: double unders

MU: Muscle ups

Pullups: really means kipping pull ups (which I boycott and do strict)

OHS: overhead squat (more of an assistance lift for squat snatches)

.........................................................................................................

As you can see the programming is much different than specific goal oriented lifting programs (ie: I want a big squat), however it does result in all lifts increasing and creating a potent power/oly/body building/endurance hybrid of an athlete. (ie it makes you strong, powerful, and able to work your ass off for up to about 20 min, and for a lot of people if they follow the diet they get ripped, there are a shit ton of ripped men and women in crossfit)

..........................................................................................................

[Chad]

Crossfit open starts today... about 120k people are doing it this year. If you would like to play along at home and see how you stack up here is the first workout.

Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 17 minutes of:
40 Burpees
75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
135 pound Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
165 pound Snatch, 30 reps
10 burpees
210 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible

--- For the burpees: After each rep you need to jump up and touch something 6 inch above your reach to count.

You can see the on going results @ games.crossfit.com under the leader board.

I will do this one on Saturday and post my results.  

[Chad]

Ended up with 111 reps, burpees are not really my thing.. but the workout was good fun.

[Chad]

Its been almost 5 months since my last post, nothing but crossfit programming has yielded the following results: Increases seem to be slowing down a bit, but I am still having fun and my endurance has seen some decent gains. 

Lift                  New Max                  

Squat              435   (+10)                                     

Deadlift            505   (+20)                   

Bench              290   Need to test                   

Power C&J       295   0                  

Power Snatch   230   (+5)             

Strict OH press 230   (+5)          

Rack Jerk         350   (+5)       

Front Squat      325   Need to test

[Nicholas Battista]

Those are some good numbers! Nice work!

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[Chad]

Finally got around to do some squat testing

230 OHS - felt light sure I could do more

365 front squat, 40 lb PR .. but its been a long time since I tested

445 back squat, another 10 lbs.. I will take it.

[chris]

Just out of curiosity, how have your general performance metrics been tracking compared to the PRs on the big lifts?

[Chad]

Good question, lol no really good question. 

So crossfit prides itself on being constantly varied which in turn means that very rarely do I do the same workouts so it is hard to get direct comparison. Which is why I focus on max lifts for the "pay off" something that is very clear to me on whether or not all this work is paying off. 

I guess I could say things like I did a 15 min emom (every min. on the minute) the other day which consisted of 3 X 135 lb high hang power snatch and 3 burpees and there is no way in hell I could done anything like that 18 months ago /shrug.. not a very satisfying answer I know.

I could say that after a year of doing crossfit I ran a mile for time and it was something like 10 min and I felt like I was going to die when I finished it, but in all honesty I would rather drop a 200 lb altas stone on my head than run a mile lol... 

I will give that some context in that I did the RIT full fitness test about 1 year after I started crossfit (this past january). my VO2 max was 25.4 mKm (that basically means I don't have a V02 max and while you can train up a VO2 max a meager amount I basically pulled the short genetic stick when it comes to distance work) so just completing a mile is one hell of a feat for me. 

Other test results:

Pushups 46 (you go until failure no time limit, can rest but most be in an up position, chest goes down and makes contact with counter)

Situps: 80 (timed YMCA test)

Sit and Reach: 17.5 inches (95% percentile ... really proud of that considering I could only get to about mid shin before starting crossfit)

Legpress: 763 (had about 1100 in plates on it, the angle math took it down to 763, frankly I could of done more but the tester I think was getting worried lol)

I do intend to do this test again in January but right now I have nothing to compare it against, so again not a satisfying answer...and those results are 6 months old.

Hmm when I started crossfit I could do like 2 strict pullups @ 220 now I can do 6 @ 250 hmm not nearly as good as that should be.

Started crossfit I was happy to do a hand stand  now I can do 10 handstand pushups (not strict, but I do use 1 plate deficit) and can walk on my hands about 15 feet

I did a 52" strict standing box jump at a power seminar but nothing really to compare it against.

Not really a great answer I know.. but that is about all I have...

[Dan]

Nice work on the lifts.  FWIW I delved into crossfit about 3-4 years ago out of interest being in the military and because I was partially sold on their message, but not their methodology.

 

I think there is some merit to doing "metcons" but not at the expense of strength unless you have a very specific requirement for anaerobic/aerobic conditioning.  There are plenty of programs/variations of crossfit that utilize a strength-based progression with maybe 2 or 3 metcons thrown in per week/microcycle.  It seems like thats a logical approach.

 

A friend I work with is doing a crossfit-westside program (sounds funny) and he's made some really good progress in the last 6 months.  His back squat went from the low 300s to 395x2 and clean from 225x3 or so up to 300x1.  His bench is high 200s and incline bench mid 200s...all at like 160 lbs bodyweight and being a vegetarian.  I'm not sure what he has programmed for conditioing, but im willing to bet its fairly "random" like the rest of crossfit.  But bottom line he has a consistent strength progression (albeit with waves for his main lifts ala wsbb) then throws in the metcon stuff.

 

Programs like Crossfit football and 70s big have a pretty good take on all this IMO.  However, randomized programming (no planned progression) will likely give you less than optimal results.  If you plan your strength movements (powerlifts, olympic lifts) properly you will certainly see improvement as these are both specific and systemic (i.e. you need to work your C&J to improve your C&J).  Conditioning (like metcons) can be more randomized as CV/CR changes are more systemic, and less specific (though local muscular endurance plays a role).

[Chad]

Thanks for the input! Those were some serious gains made by your friend, was he an experienced lifter before he started? I guess one of the reasons I am generally satisfied with my programming is because I don't really have ultimate goals.. I enjoy competing in strongman (have done 4 events now), crossfit, and Olympic lifting... I intend to do some power lifting competitions as well but would really like to hit a 500 lb raw squat first so I am at least notionally competitive. 

As far as the cardio type stuff..  being a little older (37) with 2 kids running around I sort of enjoyed the other day when I was playing soccer in the backyard and ended up with half the neighborhoods kids there and I never got winded. So the cardio to me is just real world activities and the general desire to be able to do what ever I want whenever I want and not have to be sucking wind the entire time. Before starting crossfit I was sucking wind going up 2 flights of stairs lol (wish that was a joke).

I guess the one big goal I have is to compete in the Pan Am games (masters weightlifting) this year. I had a qualifying total last year but only 2 valid judges, I am stronger this year so I just have to make sure I hit the right competitions. 

On a good note my squat is starting to take off hit a solid 465 last week, and finally hit a 300 CJ (felt light actually but ran out of time).

On a crossfit note I did heavy Grace (30 CJ @225) in 12 min. That was really fun... 

Ok rambling now.. so laters!

[Chad]

Squat 465 (+20)
Split clean and jerk 325 (+20)
Split snatch 240 (+10)

Not sure if I really should count using split gains as a PR over a straight power lift.... Frankly I am just interested in putting more weight on the bar, now if I can hit the two oly lifts together in a meet I will qualify for world masters.

And yes I am actually split cleaning lol, after trying and failing at the squat style for almost 2 years I am trying something new(errr old), and it has been working well for me.

[Bob Stevens]

Nice job, does your gym have anyone who's good at teaching the oly lifts? Or are you capable? I ask because I've noticed a significant increase in the amount of poorly performed olympic lifting at RIT, and thought it would be a good event for the team to host, an olympic lifting seminar. The major flaw in my plan is that no one on the team is an oly lifter. 

[Dan]

Look for a USAW club or club coach maybe?

 

I would search but I can't get on the TeamUSA site at work.  Maybe there's one in Buffalo that does seminars...

[Alex M]

Pssh..

Snatch = Do the wave and donkey kick

Clean and Jerk = reverse curl then push press

I know what I'm doing I'll teach everyone.

[Chad]

While I know what I am suppose to do, my form is perhaps 1 or 2 grades above shit... Getting my body to cooperate when the weight gets heavy has been a big problem for me. The nearest real usaw club is in buffalo. If you are looking for someone to do a seminar try asking "coach Dick" he placed 2nd heavy weight oly trials in his day and currently a coach at Fairbanks elementary school. He was a judge at the boomtown competition I tried last spring... Nice guy... Cool part is he teaches proper weightlifting form starting with kindergarten (my Kids go to the school).

http://www.biggerfasterstronger.com/uploads2/07_SepOct_ChurchvilleChiliHigh.pdf

[Chad]

Did some overhead work, box jerks hit a new PR 355.

[Nicholas Battista]

Awesome!

On Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 9:03 AM, Chad <theon...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Did some overhead work, box jerks hit a new PR 355.
>

[Louie P]

sweet picture

[Timothy Copeland]

Isn't James Dickinson a crossfit trainer? would he be able to teach olympic lifts?

[Sereni]

lol

[Chad]

Strict OH press 235 (+5)
Front Squat 375 (+10)

[Chad]

Over Head Squat 245 (+10) actually felt really good, core was solid and paused at the bottom, there is more in the tank just ran out of time.

Split Snatch 245  (+5)

 

Had a fun kicker workout today

 

5 rounds of

Row 250 Meter

Push Jerk 135 X 10

 

9:54