Test, Retest

CrossFit Games Event 10

For time:

20 calorie Row

30 Wallball Shots, 20 pound ball

20 Toes to bar

30 Box jumps, 24″ box

20 Sumo-deadlit high-pull, 108 pounds

30 Burpees

20 Shoulder to overhead, 135 pounds

120 foot Tire Sled pull, plus 45 pound plate

Compare to 8/5/11

Aimes gettin strong, that bar is totally bending!

I have gone through many phases in my training since beginning CrossFit and I have experimented with many variables.  Today is the end of my first month of a new training cycle and I wanted to share my program with you, along with my reasonings for doing so and a few more tidbits of information.

Starting with my goal, (aside from the live a long and prosperous life goal) is to make it to the podium of a local CrossFit competition.  Having trained and competed in three events over the past 9 months, I find my conditioning and skill sets have increased to a competitive level, but my strength is holding me back.  This was not a recent discovery by any means, yet I failed to really initiate a program that would focus on building my strength.  Enter the 5/3/1 Strength Program.  After having read and commented on many different strength training styles over the past year, I settled on this program due to its ease of implementation and methodology.  This became the foundation of my programming.  I told myself that no matter what happened in a given week, I would stay true to this program in the long run.  One lesson I have learned in my training is that consistency is king.  I know that progress will be slow, but steady, and in the long run I will get strong.

There are a lot of ways to implement this programming, so if you are interested in implementing a strength program and want to learn more, I plan on offering a gym meeting this Thursday night at 8:30pm open gym.  We will discuss how the program works and hopefully answer any questions you may have.

The program is based upon performing 4 basic lifts each week on a specific percentage:  Squat, Deadlift, Press, and Bench Press.  The program outlines using supplemental work and assistance exercises to compliment these movements.  For instance, on Bench day, follow it with 5 sets of 10 dips or strict pull ups, in other words, more arm work.  Or, on Squat day, follow it with some Good mornings for your hammys and midline strength work.  They advocate the classic weight training protocol of x number of sets for x number of reps, but I decided to take their movements and used them in a CrossFit style, so I went back through the past 6 months of wods and chose and altered to create a list of workouts that complimented the lift of that day.  The assistance exercises are similar for the Squat and Deadlift, focusing on the back, legs, grip, hips, and abdominals, while the Press and Bench focus on pulling, pushing, pressing, and shugging primarily.  Read the assistance wods for Squat/Deadlift and Press/Bench to see the differences.

To clarify.  I started the day with one of the four lifts (squat, deadlift, press or bench), followed by an assistance wod.  From there, I would rest ideally 3-4 hours and then perform another wod.  That was the outline for the program.  The devil, of course, is in the details.  Here is how it has gone down:

Through this program, I have reduced the number of days that I workout from 6 down to 4 days, while increasing my volume from 6 workouts 12.  Nutrition and sleep are top priorities in my life in order to make this possible.  In case you are interested, I have written about my nutrition in the past, but this is the closest explanation that I have found to how I eat currently.

The program is a 4 week program, in which every 4th week is considered a “De-load” week.  During this week, the weights dramatically decrease, to the point where you feel silly even considering it a real set.  But the idea is that this is necessary for recovery of your physiological systems, both neurological and physical.  During this week, I have only performed the deload lifts as warm up and one additional workout focused on more skill work,  mobility and lower intensity.

Today will be the first day of month 2  and I am excited about the programming so far!  The multiple wod days are preparing me physically and mentally for the realities of competition days, including how to eat to handle such days.  I know this is not the ideal programming for everyone, but I wanted to share to start the conversation about how we can make CrossFit our own.  Remember, if you are interested in implementing the 531 program into your training, join me on Thursday night, open gym at 8:30pm to learn more!