Congratulations Stella Z. on her strict pull-ups!
CrossFit Total this Sunday!
This Sunday we’ll be running a CrossFit Total! The Total is a CrossFit style Powerlifting meet in which each athlete will have 3 attempts to find a 1-rep max in the Squat, Press and Deadlift.
Instead of regular classes we’ll be running three 90-minute waves:
Block 1: 9:00AM-10:30AM
Block 2: 10:30PM-12PM
Block 3: 12:00PM-1:30PM
Please arrive 15-20 minutes prior to the wave you’d like to attend to do your own warm-up as we will start warming up with barbells almost immediately at the start of the wave. In the interest of efficiency please come in with an idea of where you’d like to open each lift and what warm-up weights you intened to use to get there. You can use this 1RM calculator to help give you an idea of what to shoot for. Just make sure to add a few pounds since we’ve been doing 3×5 instead of 1×5.
Novice athletes will do 3RMs instead of 1RM
Preparing to 1 Rep Max
By Coach Fox
“What are you hoping to hit for the CrossFit Total?”. When your mate asks you this question you may exaggerate a bit but when it comes time to get under a bar you’d better have a plan. Here’s how.
1- Take it easy in the gym or rest completely for a day or two prior to doing a CFT. If you were going to total on a Saturday it would be a good idea to work at 70% or so effort on Thursday, rest completely on Friday (maybe some light mobility work or active recovery type stuff) and go for it on Saturday. Make sure your nutrition is in line with your goals. Do you want to perform well on the total? Do you think that boozing it up the night before and eating offensive (for you) foods will help, or hinder, that performance? If you take your training seriously and want to better yourself then act like it.
2- Have goals. Know what numbers you’d like to hit. You can take numbers that you’ve been working at recently and extrapolate 1RMs using a nifty 1 Rep Max Calculator. Preferably you will have some rep maxes in the 2-5 rep range since the further away you get from that the less reliable the predictions become. If you haven’t been training long and don’t yet have any 2-5 rep max then use the CF Total to establish those and wait until next time around to do 1RMs. There is still so much learning to do on the lifts and hence no sense hitting 1RMs with such little experience, ego be damned.
3- Have a plan. Map out your warm ups. Today is not the day to be doing a metric ton of warm up reps. Let’s take a hypothetical lifter with a previous 1RM of 355 hoping to establish a new 1RM on the squat of 365lbs, his or her time under the bar should look something like this.
45×5, 135×5, 185×5, 225×3, 275×3, 315×1, then
1st attempt – 335
2nd attempt – 355
3rd attempt – Set a new 1RM at 365
Establishing a new 1RM of 185 with a previous best of 177.5 might look like this.
45×5, 75×5, 105×5, 125×3, 145×1
1st attempt – 165
2nd attempt – 177.5
3rd attempt – 185
This is obviously subject to change depending on how the warm ups feel and how the 1st two attempts go. Maybe you have more in you than you and the 1RM calculator thought you did, but maybe you don’t. As Rip says “Don’t be pig-headed. If your first attempt tells you that you need to lower your second, do so, without a misplaced sense of diminished self-worth. It’s a test, and it’s designed to measure what’s there, not create something that’s not. That’s what training is for.” There is a world of difference between training and testing, but that is an entirely different topic. Just remember that today is a test day.
4- Realize that the press is a finicky lift. Gains made are often small and hard won. To go from a 1RM of 85 to 87 represents a 2.5% increase. If you have been training long enough you may (read should) be thankful for this type of increase. My point is to say that you should not be greedy with the press. Instead be frugal and take small rewards. Also, don’t overdo the warm ups as this lift fatigues quickly. Usings the example above of hoping to set a new 1RM of 87, here’s a possible warm up scheme.
33×5, 53×3, 63×2, 73×1, 77×1
1st attempt – 81
2nd attempt – 85
3rd attempt – 87
5- The deadlift will be largely warmed up by the squat and will not need a lot of warm up reps on it’s own. Here’s an example of the above 365 squatter hoping to establish a new 1RM of 405 with a previous best of 395
135×5, 225×3, 315×1, 365×1
1st attempt – 385
2nd attempt – 405
3rd attempt – Go for it, it’s the last rep of the day!
6- You need to rest between attempts (possibly 3-5 minutes) and if you are doing the CrossFit Total in a group class, you also have time constraints. During the warm ups is not the time to dilly-dally and wonder what you should load on the bar next. Having a plan allows you and your rack mates to move smoothly through the warm ups and into the reps and allows time to rest between attempts. If you don’t have a plan you will also cost your rack mates valuable time…don’t be that guy or gal.
The CrossFit Total should be a fun day where you get to move some heavy weight around but that doesn’t mean don’t take it serious, too. Approach each lift with intent, unrack each squat from the uprights with authority and readiness, set up with a BIG BREATH for all your att
empts today. And if you don’t 1RM but gave your all, then celebrate that as well and live to lift another day. You’re a TFBA for showing up regardless.
Fight Gone Bad T-Shirts and Hoodies are (Still) Here!
If you raised $150 or over $500 for FGB6 and haven’t picked up your shirt or hoodie please make sure you do next time you are in the gym!
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What are are your opening numbers for the CF Total? Even if you aren’t participating in this weekend’s total what is your perceived 1RM and how would you approach finding 1RMs in the three lifts?
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Probably the Craziest Man in the World Youtube
Nicole and Zac do the CrossFit Total CrossFit
“DogFit” CrossFit
