Thursday, November 5th, 2009
CrossFit Omaha is a few weeks out from finishing a strength program that started on the last day of August. We used a two day on two day off schedule for strength training and a three day on one day off schedule for met-cons. This meant that on day one and day two, there was both strength development and metabolic development going on at the same time, day three metabolic development only, and on day four we rested. I like how this worked out/is working out but I would also like to try a strength program where there is actually full strength development on one day and just met-con on another day. Maybe a two day one day off schedule where we utilize accessory lifts on strength days and just met-con on day two.
I really just want, for myself, is a full-time strength program with met-con intermittently dispersed. I am going to finish this program and then go back to just lifting heavy full-time with a met-con here and there. I haven’t decided what I am going to do but I will probably go Mon/Tues/Thur/Friday, take Wed and Sat off, and a full blown met-con on Sunday. I’ll probably even throw in some type of met-con (sprints, couplets, triplets, etc.) on Tues. and Thurs. This will mean that those two days will have to be shorter in regards to accessory lifts.
My goals are to improve my hamstring strength at it’s insertion point or as a knee flexor, improve my squat strength, improve my pressing strength (both vertical and horizontal), horizontal row a lot more (db’s, barbell, inverted pull-ups, etc.), and just try and get bigger. I haven’t quite decided where I want to be. It’s going to be a bit of a testing period for me in the fact that I have to see what works for me. Initially, I am thinking around 160 to 165 but I gotta make sure that works for me. I need to be able to keep my ability to do body-weight stuff at a high level. I have been eating a lot more and drinking milk more often. I guess I have done this more so for my son because he needs the stuff and he wasn’t drinking it. He’s really scrawny and just with all the playing he does, he needs those growth properties that lie within milk. I would also like him to get more involved with lifting but I think I will hold off another year. I am not talking a periodized program but just picking stuff up and throwing stuff around. Jumping on stuff, climbing up stuff, and all that jazz.
We’ll see how all this works out for me. I have seen some differences in my strength coming from the current programming but its not enough for me. I need more focused work by utilizing a lot of special exercises. I hope that you all know that I didn’t start CrossFit and got strong doing CrossFit. (Ha-ha, strong is such a relative word. I am by no means strong in absolute terms. My strength lies within relative terms. I am strong relative to my body-weight.) I spent the better part of 5 to 6 years focusing only on squatting, benching, and cleaning. I also did a bunch of rows, hamstring work, pull-ups, and so on. I never snatched that often, I never overhead squatted that often, I never did a lot of things I do now. I just squatted, benched, cleaned, and anything else that would help improve those lifts.
When I found CrossFit, because of the strength base that I had, I was able to mesh right in. I started to do some of the other stuff and was good at it because I was already a fairly strong lifter, relatively speaking of course. I mean, at a body-weight of 150 pounds, I was able to squat over 300 pounds, bench about 275, and clean about 260. My lifts have gone up a little since then plus I don’t bench anymore. I am a much better dead-lifter than I am a squatter and I don’t really care to dead-lift that often. I am still a relatively weak squatter at about 330 pounds or so, I can press about 160 to 165 pounds, I know I can still bench quite a bit because I have just always been good at that, and my clean is at 273. I can snatch 200, I can power snatch about 175/180 or so, I can power clean about 230/240, I can split jerk about 260/270, I can push press about 230, and I dead-lifted 452 yesterday. So CrossFit has helped me quite a bit in this area but I want more. I want to snatch 230 and clean and jerk 300. I want to dead-lift 500. I want to press 180 and eventually 200. I want to bench 300. And I want to finally squat over 400. I will reach this and I will keep the ability to do massive amounts of pull-ups and handstand pushups at a high level.
Man, I love this shit. Why would anyone want to be weak? Why would anyone be content with being frail? I look at people all the time and see despair and disgust. I can see that they are tired of where they are but don’t know what to do. Some of them don’t want to pay what it will take to get where they want to go, whether that is money or blood, sweat, and tears. And the women who are scared of being strong because they have this, excuse my french, fucked up view of what a woman is supposed to look like. They complain, my thighs are too big, my shoulders are too broad, or any other nonsense like that. You don’t have any where near enough testosterone to even look remotely unlike a woman. Those changes you are seeing are what women are supposed to look like, be like. Strong, lean, and with child rearing hips. Hour-glass and not pencil. Oh well, to each his own.
Anyways, back on topic, I plan on pursuing strength and competing in CrossFit, my way. I am not going to be mis-lead into thinking one way is superior to another. I will still CrossFit because I love to CrossFit. It is my sport, but my development will shift towards strength training and sprinting. (By the way, I hate sprinting. It is hard.) I will CrossFit too but it won’t be the emphasis of programming for myself. It will be supplemental. I will use it to sharpen my edge. Who shares this passion with me?
Thursday’s WOD 091105
For time:
100 Double Unders
50 Cleans @ 164 pounds
100 Double Unders
Time: 9:57
Wednesday’s WOD 091104
Dead-lift 1RM – 452 (seven pound pr)
followed by,
For time:
400 meter run
50 chest to bar pull-ups
400 meter run
Time: 4:52 (I sprinted. I got a little of the black lung after this one)
Tuesday’s WOD 091103
Snatch 4×1@92.5%
1 x 186 pounds (miss)
1 x 186 pounds
1 x 186 pounds
1 x 186 pounds
I share your passion with you Ricky. I have also just started a strength program wanting to get stronger apposed to bigger tho, and with that I hope to improve everything you mentioned there from Hamstring strength,Squat,Presses to Deadlift and so on. I looked forward to watching your programming!