Fitness: 3×5 linear progression
If possible, add weight to last week’s exposure. It’s normal to miss reps this late into the cycle, aim for 3-5 reps per work set.
Performance: 5/3/1 Three week
70%x3
80%x3
90%x3+
Increase your training max by five lbs.
e8/8
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4 Rounds for Time of:
25/20 Calorie Row
25 Box Jumps 24″/20″
Post workout results to comments.
Congratulations to super CFSBK couple Meghan and Rich A on the birth of their first son, Teddy. Born 7/24 2:32 am. 7lbs 10oz. 21″ Meghan trained at CFSBK through much of her pregnancy!
- Thank you to everyone who came out to watch the Games last night at CFSBK! We had a great time with you! Check out a video from our instagram account!
Failing, Bailing, and Training Culture at CFSBK
The original version of this article appeared on Inside the Affiliate.
At CFSBK, we discourage members from failing slow lifts—squats, presses, and deadlifts—on a regular basis. Of course, failing is an inevitable part of training for experienced CrossFitters, since we want to push our limits and really discern our capacity. But the key is that it’s inevitable for experienced CrossFitters. We particularly encourage new members at CFSBK not to hit failure on their lifts for at least four to six months of consistent training, since they don’t have a solid enough foundation to be working with training maxes. We believe that how we approach hitting failure on lifts strongly correlates to our gym’s culture, safety, and training appropriateness.
How we handle and teach failing is related directly to the intentionality of our programming and our overall culture of how to train well. For more information about CFSBK’s programming, check out previous ITA articles “Effective Programming Strategies at CrossFit Affiliates” and “The Benefits of Leveled Programming,” which address how we program and offer our members different options based on training age and goals. In this article, I want to focus more on how failing should happen only within certain programming contexts.
Training Versus Testing, and Its Impact on Gym Culture
Failing lifts too often can be seriously taxing on the central nervous system and frustrating for athletes—in addition, it adds psychological stress and creates negative expectations when approaching lifts. To prevent it from occurring too often and to gain control over teaching our athletes to fail well, CFSBK works testing our lifts into our programming macro cycles. For more experienced members, testing new rep maxes at the end of our cycles is an acceptable and inevitable part of serious training. But every day is not a limit test and we don’t want anyone maxing out to failure with any regularity. Our day-in, day-out workouts should be considered training, and an opportunity to go a little bit heavier or hit prescribed percentages without reaching absolute limits.
Teaching the difference between training and testing significantly impacts the culture of a gym, since training intelligently enables athletes to learn when to push through a difficulty instead of giving up. If an athlete is trained to think, “Okay, when things get hard, I’ve got an easy escape route in bailing,” they learn to give up more often and expect missed reps to be a regular part of their training routine. Missed reps should be meaningful as an indicator of one’s current capacity, not simply the norm. When missing reps and failing become the norm, the experience can subtly undermine an athlete’s self-expectations and the mindset with which they approach their lifts.
We teach our advanced members to respect heavy weight, and teach that when it comes time to work, you should grind. Of course it should feel difficult and it should feel heavy! You should expect to fight for lifts! But just like in real life, you don’t start fights you don’t think you can win—especially on a regular basis. A skilled athlete doesn’t need to constantly miss reps to know their potential on any given day. A mark of real skill and intelligence in training involves developing an innate sense of one’s capabilities, and knowing when to call it quits. Missed lifts should be considered learning experiences for an athlete’s physical capacity, psychological outlook, and technique, and they always should be put into the broader context of the intended training stimulus for that specific day.
Why Novice Lifters Should Avoid Failing Lifts
Having novice lifters attempt rep maxes on their lifts is both dangerous, inappropriate, and an ineffective use of training time. All our new members should start out with weights that feel “too light” and then gradually add weight on a weekly basis and as your technique warrants (better technique equals more weight). Over time, you’ll develop the requisite motor patterns, soft tissue integrity, and experience to handle heavier weights and test your limits. But before that, the proper foundation needs to be established. Remember, literally anything will “work” if you haven’t been training. You could squat on Day One, take a Zumba class on Day Two, run five miles on Day Three—and then a week later, test your squat and see some improvement. So the key is optimizing your novice training stage in a way that sets yourself up for long-term success.
Long-term success happens through progressive overload and good coaching. As coaches, we want to provide you with the appropriate stimulus for your strength and experience, and most novice athletes have a pretty low baseline for what’s required to stimulate an adaptation. Having someone walk off the street and attempt a 1RM deadlift is well in excess of what they need to produce a meaningful adaptation. If you have no deadlifting experience and sit behind a desk all day, why not work up to 75lbs (which may feel “light” to you) for a set of five and focus on being perfect at the movement? The next time you come in, you can try 85lbs, and so on and so forth until you’re gradually moving some significant weight with the confidence, experience, and consistent form that you need to get stronger.
An overarching goal of our programming is to teach you how to train responsibly with longevity in mind, so you learn how to slowly approach gaining strength and competence with the required lifts. That’s why we start you slow and let you know that just because you could go a little heavier today doesn’t mean it’s optimal for you. If you focus on going a little heavier each week, you keep pushing the ceiling of your potential a little bit higher—instead of slamming into that ceiling and having nowhere to go but back down. When we see you missing reps out of the programming context, we’ll probably pull you back and have a conversation about training versus testing.
How to Fail Well
Proper spotting and bailing techniques need to be taught and initially supervised—the same as anything else at CFSBK—so that when it comes time to test training, you are prepared and safe. Spotting technique for the back squat and bench press can be found in Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training (Third Edition), pages 62-64 and 172-172 respectively, if you’re curious. All other lifts require teaching proper bailing technique through demonstration and practice at sub-maximal weights. If people are going to potentially miss reps, it’s important that the area is clear of loose plates and other athletes that could make a good bail go bad.
Conclusion
At CFSBK, we seek to address your needs at the various stages of your development—so listen when a coach tells you to temper your loads to be safe, and also when you might need to put more weight on the bar to get better.
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What did you think of this years CrossFit Games? Here is an event list to jog your memory.
If Fraser was allowed to wear his nikes he would've won the REEBOK crossfit games…. just saying
Congrats, Meghan and Rich! Teddy is quite a looker! So happy for you guys.
6am. Press: 98×3, 112×3, 126×6. Shoulders are sore and stiff from Sat. and Sun. Metcon: 10:07 Rx. I was happy to see some basic movements this morning. Just kept on moving. Fun to have Dan L. back. Kept me honest.
David and CFSBK crew, great event last night.
came in early for 20 min of pec/psoas/upper back lax ball time.
press–shoulders have both felt fine for a week for the first time in months so i'm trying not to be stupid and go hard at all. 45×5, 55×5, 60x5x3.
metcon in 12:17 maybe? notebook's missing. round one with jumps and 2-4 step-ups. again, trying not to be over-zealous. training not testing after all.
TEDDY! The cutest!
630am – week 2 of strength cycle.
LBBSQ: 185x5x3. My knees were collapsing a little on these this morning. I think that happens when I lose focus, so I just have to, y'know, not lose focus.
Press: 110x5x3. The last rep of the last set was a total grind. This is probably my least consistent lift, but I'm looking forward to dialing it in better and moving more weight.
DL: 250x5x1. This moved well, but my grip pinched the skin on my palms a bit.
Then I went home and fired up my new (to me) Vitamix. Holy hell, I feel like it could juice a cinder block.
I watched the majority of the Games coverage and for the most part I was entertained and really enjoyed watching the athletes compete. But this was the first time that I was actually concerned for the safety of the athletes. When multiple athletes need saline drips between events you have to ask yourself if you are pushing them too hard.
Also, the peg board… The men were able to manipulate it well but the women struggled big time. Something is off with the programming when over half of the competitors can't get a single rep. Sort of like starting a chipper WOD with a 500# deadlift. I saw a funny quote on facebook where someone said, "I paid $90 for a ticket to watch 9 women stand around on crash pads and one woman ride a stationary bike."
But enough negativity. Castro would have gotten skewered no matter how he programmed this. Just like he got skewered during the open. In the end, I think the right man and the right woman won. Which is really all that matters.
First day back after 9 weeks away. I was training at the CF NYC on the UWS in the interim
Worked at 105 125 140×7 on the press. Felt solid.
Metcon was rough. I will never be good at box jumps. 10:36 rxd.
It was great to be back!
Congrats Meghan and rich! What a cute baby!
It was super fun watching the games at OG last night!
@MattyChm exactly my thoughts about the pegboard. It was so frustrating and boring to watch. If they were going for the America Ninja Warrior entertainment factor, they definitely failed. And the paddle boarding… And assault bike in the final event… I was not the games biggest fan this year. It's still inspiring to see super fit people be challenged and push through adversity. The physical and mental strength of these athletes is quite impressive.
Press 60#: 2 sets of 5, 1 set of 3. : / glad to have ended on 60, though.
WOD: 13:14. Pushed as hard as I could, tried not to slow down. Was surprised by how lead-like my legs felt on that first box jump. I just kept thinking abut the girls in the games while rowing- they just don't quit! It got me through it. I feel like I've finally figured out how to properly CrossFit!!!
Congrats Meghan and Rich!
@Matty and Allie: I hear you guys on the peg board, but I think a similar situation happened with legless rope climbs a couple of years ago (perhaps not quite as dramatically). My guess is that we could see the peg board again, and, when we do, the athletes will know what's up.
And Matty, I totally agree with you re: the brutality of the events this year. I know the idea is to push these athletes to their limits (and to continue to explore where their limits are), but this year was extreme to the point of silliness (IMO).
Anyone else like to wonder what it would be like to turn on ESPN2 during the CF Games having never heard of CrossFit before? I think I would be stunned and fascinated.
Still taking it very easy because of my back. Mobilized hips, lats, t-spine after coaching this morning, did some core work, crossover symmetry, then:
3 rounds not for time:
5 ring muscle ups (unbroken)
15 air squats (focusing on keeping spine very neutral, these feel nice)
1 minute plank drills (adding various elements of instability each time)
75# 3×3 press
14:21 20" box
Great day yesterday. Noon class with C+J reps at 215, and the Metcon Rx in 8:11. Tried to keep up with Andrew M, but lost him right at the end. Showered at 608 and ran a few errands before settling in to watch the games, but even with that, I don't think I've ever spent that much time on Degraw St. in a single day.
As for the Games themselves, I have mixed feelings. Overall it was entertaining and awe inspiring as usual, and I enjoyed watching – especially yesterday with the crowd at SBK. Taking into account how freakishly fit all of the athletes are, I didn't think the difficulty of the programming was particularly brutal on paper, but obviously it was. When athletes look like they're on the verge of collapse like a few were during Murph, they're not competing anymore – they're in trouble and need medical attention more than a camera in their face. I thought the Games really looked bad there, and played into all the negative stereotypes that people have about CF.
I liked throwing the peg board into the mix, and I get the idea of the erg & assault bike spiking everyone's heart rate before getting into a really heavy movement with the DB snatch or KB deadlift, but c'mon – that was a terrible event from a spectator's perspective and I would have much rather seen either of the other closing workouts (Heavy DT or Triangle Couplet) swapped in position. For the women's final, Sigmundsdottir and Webb were totally sidelined by the peg board and deficit HSPU, so not much of a race to watch there. Would rather have seen Davidsdottir win a race for the top spot than win because she was the only one able to get through the first movement. If it hadn't been for Fraser throwing the giant DB like a gorilla, and looking for a second like he might come back on those KB deadlifts in the Men's final, it would have been completely unwatchable for me – but that was him and not the programming.
Enough griping though. On the whole the Games were great, and the people on the podium deserved to be there.
Strength day at Diablo CF
HBBS
405×5
386×5
365×5
BTN Press
190×5
185x5x2
Bench: 315x3x3
Congrats Meghan and Rich!!! Teddy is adorable 🙂
Short lifting session today. Worked up to my openers for Sat.
Squat-
45 x 10, 95 x 5, 135 x 4, 185 x 2, 225 x 1, 247.5 x 1. (112.5kg)
Bench (pause)
45 x 5, 75 x 4, 95 x 3, 115 x 2, 126.5 x 1. (57.5kg)
Kinda nice to just lift for a normal amount of time lol!
I did not watch the Games- I had work and stuff going on. Got all my info from FB and IG.
My thoughts from Saturday's competition at 718:
-super fun day!! was great to roll deep with a high-spirited, fun-loving SBK crew. gosh, I love you people.
-I really enjoyed competing after not really doing so for a year (Hail to the Queen last summer). It was a great check in point for me. A year ago, anything overhead seemed to hurt my shoulder. Now, I'm feeling strong and (relatively) healthy. Patience is key.
-I'm really proud of everyone; I think we represented well!
-Brendan and I both hit more than we expected on the snatch. I hit 53kg (121#, which is 2# off my very recent PR) with the men's bar on a tilted platform with meaty barbecue smells wafting at me… so yay!
-I go to a deep, dark place when I know that other people are depending on me. I pushed myself really really hard in the partner chipper because I was on a team with someone else. I love that aspect of CF.
-The finals workout was soul-crushing. Just a 7 minute sprint. woof.
Today:
3 position snatch: 5×1 @65%
(63×2), 78×1-1-1×5
-kept it simple. focused on FOOTWORK and PULLING THE EFF UNDER. successful!
HBBS: linear 3×5
45×5, 95×5, 135×3, 165×2, 175×1 (belt)
185x5x3 was the intention
-Failed on rep 4 of first set. This is the edge!
-185 is actually a PR on high bar, so i guess I can take 185×3.
-Dropped back to 165x5x2 and considered it a reset.
-I added 35# to this in 6 weeks (today would've been 40#), so that's good progress.
Have to think of where to go from here… a first reset on high bar, or start working percentages?
Devised some conditioning based on a few outlaw WODs:
For time:
12 Thruster (85# barbell)
3 Muscle Up
9 Thruster
3 Muscle Up
6 Thruster
3 Muscle Up
Time: 8:22
MU: all singles within about :20-:30 of each other. no misses. kip is feeling smooth. really need to work doubles, but I just didn't feel like missing today.
Thrusters: 7-5, 6-3, 6
the slightly heavier thruster felt okay today! next time I gotta beast up to 105-115 i guess :-/
couch stretch, hip mobz, and calf mashing during the meeting
Hi guys! I made it to Montana and jumped in the lake as soon as I got to my destination yesterday. Heaven.
I dropped into TC Total CrossFit last Monday night in Traverse City, Michigan while I was on the road, which is co-owned by Christine Watts, a 2013 Games competitor. Everyone was super friendly and let me make up my press exposure in the corner and do a Cindy-ish workout. My hamstring is still not 100%, so Cindy remains my jam. Will write up a travel gym rec soon! Press, adjusted training max of 95.5#: 45×7, 62,5, 72×5, 80×7, drop set of 75×10.
Went to a globo-ish gym this morning to press and do lots of dumbbell work. No fractionals, so I rounded my numbers up: 45×7, 70×3, 80×3, 85×6, drop set of 75×10. I shared a bar with an older gentleman who used to compete as a powerlifter. Fun. Except it now throws me off to have a mirror in front of me while lifting.
Sets of DB rows, benching, and French curls, some ab wheel stuff, and lots of stretching.
Go David on running the blog again!! And congrats to Meghan and Rich.
Performance Press:
45×5
65×2 (oops, forgot I was using the 45# bar and not the 33# bar)
70%x3@53#
80%x3@60#
90%x5@67#
WOD Rx'd in 13:47. I felt really nauseous today. Probably the result of not eating so great yesterday. Being on the erg with an upset stomach is the worst so I took it slow. The first set of box jumps were rough. Then my left calf seized up so stepped down with the right leg for each remaining box jump. I don't think it's injured- think it's just tight.
My biggest takeaway from the Games is that I am not Icelandic enough. I am considering changing my name to Paulsson. Not as exotic as "Sigmundsdottir" but still, I figure it can only help me during this Saturday's total.
@Jay, I think you'll have much better results if you just change your name to "Thor." You'll also probably want to start referring to whatever barbell you're using as "Mjolnir," but that's probably a feature of the plan rather than a bug.
4:30
Last Volume Day before the meet, cut back to 3 sets instead of 5. Lack of sleep and abundance of heat conspired to make the bar feel a bit heavier than it really was.
Squat
305x5x3
Bench
225x4x3
First rep paused.
Congratulations Meghan and Rich!
Hi Kate R !
Press w Kate B
33# x5
51# x3 (70%)
58# x3 (80%)
65# x4 (90%)
4 RFT
20 cal row
25 box jumps 20"
11:33
Rows went pretty well for me. Tried to make up the time on the box jumps
I agree basically with what everyone else said about the games. The volume was too high, probably on the dangerous side. While being able to buffer lots of volume is I think a valid part of the 4 day competition, 13 events was too much. I remember the 2009 Games in Aromas which previously many said was the hardest games to date. Competitors were dropping out left and right. I hope they go back to the drawing board and focus on elegant, interesting and valid tests, not just dragging people through the grinder. I was pulling for Sarah Sigmundsdottir and Matt Fraser, but alas, not meant to be this year. That being said, Ben Smith has worked his ass off for the past 7 years to get here, so good on him and Katrin is up there in terms of earning her title. My favorite events this year were Murph (which perhaps should have been done much earlier in the day), Trinagle couplet and the oly events. I thought the final was too cluttered to be viewer friendly.
7:30 with Ro and DO
68 x3
68 x3
68 x2
These past two weeks have been so sad for my press. Ready to test the 1 RM and promising I'll beat my last one by at least a pound.
WOD: women's RX. 12:05.
So much sweating.
I enjoyed the games and the incorporation of different challenges. I didn't like how many competitors needed serious medical attention. As sad as it was to watch people fail on the peg board, I think it truly separated some of the competitors who could adapt quickly. Predicting rock climbing in some iteration again next year.
Also!! Welcome to the universe, Teddy!!! We live in a pretty hospitable corner and you've got some great parents so it should be smooth sailing from here. 🙂
7:30 (yes, twelve and a half hours late — I had PT this morning) sweatbox.
Press: 75×4, F5; 72.5×5, x4, F5. Sigh. I know in pre-injury days I've made 72.5x5x3.
WOD 11:57 with running instead of rowing. Yay, a WOD I didn't have to modify at all!
Spent some serious time calf mashing on the parallette afterward. Holy crap. Ow.
Thanks guys, for the congratulations. I am looking forward to getting back to CXfit soon. We'll get Teddy in Crossfit kids soon enough!