Attack of the 50ft Bethany
Coach Fox's Active Recovery will be at 8pm this evening.
Happy Birthday to one of our newest members Ramon E.!
The next Strength Cycle begins Saturday! The movements for the upcoming moth will be as follows:
Saturdays (Squat Variant): Front Squat
Mondays (Full Body): Power Snatch
Wednesdays (Squat Variant): Front Squat
Thursday (Upper Body Variant): Strict Press
Due to the success of last month's twice weekly squat schedule we are looking to continue the trend. How does everyone feel about keeping that second squat day? Any personal success stories from the last month?
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2 day a week squats!
I love it. Like I said in my last post of the last cycle. I showed a lot of gains from squatting twice a week. I feel like Ive really dialed in my own personal LBBS form.
As a three day a week kind of guy, I really appreciate this schedule.
Devil’s advocate here: Is it really “constantly varied” if 40% of the WODs are squats?
Thanks for all the bday wishes, guys!
In case you are ever in the Detroit area: http://www.motorcitycrossfit.com/
They have a new box and it’s pretty huge. Also, check out the chick doing a really wonky SDHP!
Matt,
In the words of Mark Rippetoe “There are few things graven in stone, except that you have to squat or you’re a pussy.”
In all seriousness, constantly varied is a fine concept but it doesn’t define a smart workout program in and of itself. Intelligent programming involves having a plan that addresses the needs of the athletes. Since every athlete needs to get stronger and squats are the best exercise for developing strength, it should come as no surprise that they have been and will continue to be an integral part of our programming.
I said it before, but I’m a big fan of the new 2x squatting. We only do 3 sets, so we also had some good metcons afterwards. I added 20lbs in the last cycle (and missed a couple exposures too). Looking forward to adding more lbs in the next cycle.
I’m a big fan of 2x squatting. i just got around to the last exposure yesterday–hit 215 for a set of 5. 10# over my pre-haiti PR!
made up the rowing wod2601 (i think)My stroke rate was correct most of the time, but my splits were all over the place.Gonna try this a few more times.
Happy B-day Ramon!
I’m also digging the squatting 2x a week. I missed several exposures of the last cycle, but I still feel like I gained in strength while also improving my form. And like Sarah mentioned, the 3 set scheme has allowed for shorter metcons at the end of these lifts. After experiencing the hour-long Murph last week, I’m perfectly happy sticking with the 5-15 min Metcon.
Looking forward to the all of the movements in the upcoming cycle!
I’m a 3x/week person and I got 4 out of the 8 squat exposures (I usually come Mon/Fri/Sun). I’ve lost a lot of strength from when I did Starting Strength this winter, so I appreciated the chance to at least stave off further strength loss. I also liked the 3-set rep scheme and additional met-cons & skill work in the last cycle. *reeeally* hoping for some ring action this time around! (I’ve only got 6 more months to get my one-year goal of a muscle up…)
Jeremy: That Rippetoe quote is HILARIOUS. And great answer.
Matt,
In addition, since e also cut down to the 3×5 squats we usually finish quicker, and have time for a constantly varying Metcon– or workout at the end.
So instead of thinking of it as 40% squats, its like getting a 2 for 1 deal!
2,645M for Monday’s WOD (today)
It felt like today’s rowing WOD was all gamesman(woman)ship. It seemed like holding off just a bit on the 2 min. at 24-26 S/M piece allowed for a strong finish. Mentally, going at that piece at 80% made it more manageable.
Or basically I pussed out on the 2nd to the last set.
I’ll also play devil’s advocate a little…
Constantly varied IS the motto of crossfit, which is fantastic because there are so many movements that are to be learned and improved upon. Also, mentally, it keeps you fresh. Having that feeling of, “oh what hell is awaiting me today?” is what kept me coming back.
Squatting 2x/wk is definitely good, as far as building strength and seeing improvement. BUT isn’t that why we have the wonderful starting strength program at our box? For people who want to be on a strength cycle, and squat, press, and deadlift multiple times a week with a specific goal in mind? It’s a program everyone can/should partake in when they want to train in a more focused way.
But for the rest of the time, more variety = more beneficial and more fun!
I would love to squat at much as possible.but more importantly i really like the idea of strength and metcon often.Banging out 3 sets press, then doing a short metcon, sounds like a great class. You can leave feeling like you hit it both ways. it was what first got me doing CFFB, but I started to miss the group atmosphere…Mostly I started missing Ryan
Constantly varied is short hand for the concept of not stagnating, specializing and becoming a poor generalist.
What it is not is saying that all exercises are created equal, nor is it saying that truly random programming is good.
It would be constantly varied and functional to throw in a workout such as “Run 100 miles for time”. It wouldn’t be a particularly good idea but it would fit the tag line.
Even when we compare workouts we actual do the frequency something comes up should be different for some functional movements, due to carry over to other training.
A nice comparison is weighted chin-ups versus heavy squats (I love both movements so this isn’t me picking on anything). Squats will help just about every other lift you can think of, and will cause a massive hormonal shift in your body. Chin-ups will probably have some carry over, but not nearly as much. Additionally the amount we can tax our system with the squats will be greater such that the shove out of homeostasis from the squats will be more profound.
If our goal in Crossfit was just constantly varied, functional movements then squatting twice a weak might be sub-optimal. But if our goal is to get as good as possible at a broad array of physical traits then I would say squatting twice a weak is great for our population.
On the other hand if our gym was filled with folks who had walked in with a 400 pound squat I would assume that the current programing would look completely different.
I believe our coaches are trying to get us as fit as possible in a very CrossFit sense and that includes working our weaknesses more than our strengths.
Sounds like a great discussion we’ve got going with the programming at SBK.
As someone who did 7 out of the 9 exposures of back squatting, the prospect of another 8 exposures of front squatting and OHS is unappealing. Although I do like the 5×3 with a metcon and some skill work.
I doubt anyone would argue strength gains from squatting being transferrable to other lifts, but I do questions if 8 exposures is actually what everyone needs. Was it that everyone attended 8 sessions and made gains? Or was it that having 8 exposures allowed more people to attend at least 4 of them. I didn’t chart the attendance or gains, but from the above posts, it appeared that the additional offerings were paramount in allowing folks to attend enough of the cycle to demonstrate significant gains.
What I’m getting at is perhaps it’s the scheduling of the programming that needs to be altered so our members improve. Not necessarily increase the number of mandatory exposures of squat for all members.
What if you offered 8 days with the choice of two workouts with the intention that athletes attended at least 4 squat exposures. For those who needed more work in squatting, they could elect to do the squat WOD — that could means squatting, box squats, or other variant to target sticking points/known issues. This way there would also be a choice for those who have a strong squat or who need the variety, to hit another workout.
With the new pullup bar by the entrance, and the promise of more pullup bars on the west wall, there’s an opportunity to make these kind of changes. In fact, I can see doing workouts that involve running, pullups, KB, dumbbells, wallball, that have little affect anything going on indoors (when the weather is good), and little impact on bad weather days (row and do some nasty burpee, dumbbell thruster, KB swing, tabata madness).
The other day, I watched how well the space handled 3 different training groups. Is it not possible to offer some tailoring to our athletes as opposed to a catch-all-squat-more philosophy?
If 8 exposures to squat in a cycle allows more of our athletes to get in for at least 4 of them, then that’s great, and certainly better than less. That is one of the thought processes in going with 2x/wk squatting. Really, in a perfect world we’d love to see all of our athletes get in all of the exposures and make better gains across the board.
More squat = more better.
I love the squat plan. my schedule is constantly varied so i’m never gonna hit all 8. I think its the most productive, big muscle, full body lift. its really applicable to my work and life. And if we can do it quick and do something else after, I’m all for it.
In keeping with the squat theme, I made up some squats today.
LBBS:(45×5, 85×5, 115×5, 1355, 155×1)work: 160x5x3-Felt hard but good. Would love to keep making a 5lb increase but don’t know how to incorporate this into the next cycle.
Weighted Chins:-BWx2 on the rings (sooo glad the rings are back up!–gives me hope for one day getting a muscle-up!)-BW+5lbs x 3-BW+5lbs x 2.5
Bonus work:Butterfly Kip! I was able to teach myself these tonight and got several unbroken…although they weren’t the prettiest. Defintely plan on working on this movement. It’s so exciting to know how much faster I can be with pullups if I butterfly them! Woohoo!!!
21-15-19OHSburpee
8:16 w/ 45# (RXd is 65#)
did some warm ups at 65 and it was really tough – to keep it quick i scaled down. nice little burner, want to do it again sometime soon
PS: Jess – AWESOME job with those butterflies!! if only i could catch on!!
@Fox – for athletes that do want 4 exposures, but make it to class every FSQ day, can there be alternate WODs posted?
To clarify, I missed the last cycle because of my torn pec, so I don’t know the advantages/disadvantages of a double exposure to squatting. I love doing squats, but I especially enjoy the challenge (and camaraderie fostered in the community) by a good metcon.
At the very least, I like that we got a good discussion on a rest day.