So, I just got a Rockwell SonicCrafter can't wait to use it!!! I probably should have got it before I had to score 25000 sqft of 3/8 rubber but whatever.
As CrossFit is becoming more and more mainstream more and more people are talking about how CrossFit sucks! Here goes analogy time again:
Say my goal is to hammer in a nail.
What happens if I use a screwdriver? Probably not a damn thing.
What happens is I use an adjustable wrench? Probably will eventually do the job but will be more work and as I get close to the end state I may ruin the foundation?
What happens when I use a hammer? It does the job the absolute best but is going to take me a bit to work on the skill of a single strike for numerous nails.
The point: USE THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE RIGHT JOB!
CrossFit is a GPP program.
If your goal is to get stronger, use a proven strength program like 5-3-1 or WS methods or Starting Strength.
The problem with CrossFitters is that we want everything now and we get caught with the misconception that more is better. Periodized strength programs work to get stronger and CrossFit works for cardio and general fitness so if I overlap those I'll be all good in both domains. I'm not going to lie, I misled myself into believing this was truth.
It's very difficult when you see gains with anything to believe anything other than it works. When we first started doing 5/3/1 with a short metcon we thought it was solid. It worked for about 6 months for all of our members but then the gains started to slow. The fatigue and injury (when I say injury I mean chronic aches and pains ie should pain, knee pain... not traumatic injury). I'm going to give away a couple of things that are going to make people rethink their programming.
Alwyn Cosgrove has one of these great sayings... If you are going to do any program, do that program to a "T". If you add ANYTHING or take away anything, it no longer is that program. It's your own sh*t.
Wendler's 5/3/1 is a solid program. It works if you are looking to become stronger. CrossFit works to build GPP. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but they don't work together. The initial gains we got I'm going to assume was from the stimulus of more frequent exposure. That's it. Sad but true, you do something a little more often and you are going to get slightly better at it even with no muscular adaptations you neurologically are going to get better. Also, there's the saying that any program (that you aren't doing) works for 6 months, yes, this includes super-slow, circuit training... It's just a new stimulus for your body to adapt to. The problem with overlapping 5/3/1 with CrossFit especially on 5-3-1+ days... CNS fatigue. Also, accessory work is super important and also person dependent but it's not like any of that was going down for anyone anyways.
Wendler/Louie/Rippetoe have created programs that maximize exposure, rest time, accessory work... Add more and it's your own sh*t and you have no clue what the outcome will be. So where does this leave you. Figure out why! Why 5/3/1 reps? Why does Westside only max effort 2x a week? Why do they use Prilepin's Chart for their three week wave? Why to they even use a pendulum wave? Why and when to use a linear periodized program?
This is really interesting. I was wondering why we had moved away from combining strength and metcon. I understand why now. It will be fun to see how this type of programming works. On a side note, I would love to know how you figure out what to program each day, how many weeks you program in advance, etc.
ReplyDeleteso it seems like the new programming is focusing on strength a couple days a week and metabolic conditioning the other few days, with some of the met cons being of the heavy variety. So if I am understanding your article correctly, you can't really make real gains at both simultaneously? So then why do we have a split week focus simultaneously during the week? Is the programming precisely planned out so that we do not get cns fatigue (what is that exactly?). Shouldn't the programming be all strength/technique for a cycle, and then all met cons/technique for a cycle if we are trying to maximize ourselves? I understand that doing met cons on the days we are doing real strength can take away from the goal of getting stronger, but does this not apply to a lesser extent to doing them the next day? Just a little confused. Thanks.
ReplyDelete@Alison, I'll be getting into more in a bit.
ReplyDelete@Brett, You can consider the lift only days we are dong either skill development or strength maintenance. Yes, If you truly want to get better you need to do strength only to increase the size of your glass.
ReplyDeleteHigh intensity works may inhibit protein synthesis therefore stunting muscle growth, not to the point of LSD endurance catabolising muscle mass, just not allowing possible growth.
love the reflection! i've been torn for the past 6-8 months and i'm "just" now finding a little bit of a rythym that works... thanks!
ReplyDeleteGood post, Rudy...it all makes sense.
ReplyDelete