**Don’t forget to make your donation to Steve’s Club or bring it on Saturday for our Beat the Streets Fundraiser.**
Workout of the Day:
Deadlift
3-3-3-3
and then,
“Randy”
For time:
75 Power Snatches (75/45 lbs.)
The Hammer and the 5:30 Crew
Is Our Programming CrossFit or CrossFit Strength Bias?
Written by C.J. Martin
If you have not already read the CrossFit Journal article titled “Strong Medicine,” you should do so today. In it, Bingo White and Jeff Martin (Brand X) explain the gains they have seen in themselves and their athletes from a “strength biased” program. The program incorporates a heavy lift almost daily, followed by a short, intense “met-con” workout. A version of a similarly “strength biased” program can also be seen on the CrossFit Football website – a site programmed by a team of guys for whom we have a great deal of respect.
I should note up front that Jeff Martin is regarded as a superhero in the eyes of the CrossFit Invictus coaching staff. So it is no coincidence that our programming resembles that which is explained in the article. But is our program CrossFit Strength Bias?
I don’t know, and frankly, don’t care much what you want to call it. As a lawyer (no longer practicing since January 1, thank you very much) I have an awkward obsession with the words of important documents. And as a coach who had the opportunity to lecture at CrossFit Certifications, I have read the CrossFit foundational documents more than a few dozen times in preparation for weekend certs. So when I heard about the “strength bias” concept of lifting before a met-con, it sounded awfully familiar. In fact, it has been around since the very beginning of CrossFit. As noted by Jeff and Bingo, CrossFit Founder Greg Glassman states in his seminal article “What is Fitness?” that:
“One of our favorite workout patterns is to warm-up and then perform three to five sets of three to five reps of a fundamental lift at a moderately comfortable pace followed by a ten-minute circuit of gymnastics elements at a blistering pace and finally finish with two to ten minutes of high intensity metabolic conditioning.”
Unfortunately, you might run across some CrossFit affiliates that have strayed a bit from these foundational principles and have fallen in love with the long grinder workouts. Sure, everyone loves to get their ass kicked in a 30-plus minute grinder every once in a while, but I don’t believe the road to elite fitness should be paved by these drawn out battles. I want our athletes to develop strength, competence in the fundamental movements and intensity over various time domains. I believe that performing fundamental lifts more frequently with the guidance of our coaches will better develop proper mechanics and recruitment patterns. I also believe that focusing on high intensity over short durations (3 to 15 minutes) will lead to better all-around development of our athletes. That is not to say I won’t throw a longer event at our athletes every once in a while; I still want proficiency in all time domains. But I am betting that Filthy Fifty, Murph and 10k times aren’t too adversely affected by focusing on increasing power output over shorter durations. And the good news is that our crew of adventurous and capable athletes are always up to the challenge of testing our hypothesis.
Tags: CrossFit Invictus
Awesome article CJ. Coming from a background of nothing but lifting I don’t know I could handle (or fully subscribe to) doing nothing but long grinder endurance focused workouts. The program you guys run at Invictus is perfect I think. See you later…
B
CJ when it comes to leading edge inovation in the CF domian you’re certainly the man i would like to have as a CF coach. so far in the 3 months that we’ve been coming i have seen substantial results in both strengh and cadiovascular fitness……and well you see my wife perform daily there’s no question about her performance. I’ve become a hard-core addict to CFI and wouldn’t go any where else if i had too. thanks for such a magnificent program and don’t change a thing!!
C-Jigga- you had me at heavy lift/met-con combo. CFI programming completes me. Anyone have a good massage place recomendation? I am talking deep tissue/sports massage. Nothing shady- i.e. “hmmm, it feels drafty in here like the sheet isn’t covering my booty”.
Lizzle, there’s a guy that I work with on a regular basis who will come to you. Shoot me an email and I can get you his contact information.
Lizzle, my wife is a massage therapist, and more than capable. shoot me an email, and i will be more than happy to give you her contact info. she can come to you, and her prices are extremely reasonable
CJ-
i cant really imagine that your workouts are anything less than perfect. i love the foundational lifts, and the met/con work definitely does the job. i would personally prefer to work my fast-twitch muscles for the explosive power gains, than to train slow-twitch muscles that i dont want to spend that much time on anyhow
ps Mark-
not trying to take away from you or your friend, i know some women are leery of having a guy work on them
Tomato, Tomatoe….. All I know is that it works, and works well. April 6 we had 3 sets of Deadlifts x3 I was pulling 380# for the last two, today last two sets of 3 were at 395#.
Sorry I just couldn’t do Randy today so I did 5 rounds of Hang Power Clean x 10, 15 Push ups, and 5 CTB pull ups (6:12) No long grinder for me today! Which means watch out for tomorrow’s workout.
Mark, how far is your friends travel radius!
What time is the fundraiser WOD tomorrow? Is it at both times?
Yes, our schedule is normal tomorrow. We’ll be raising funds for Steve’s Club at both the 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. sessions.
Good post CJ. On the money with your programming at INVICTUS, and the results speak for themselves.
Another quote from the article ‘VIRTUOSITY Fundamentals, Virtuosity, and Mastery and open letter to CrossFit Trainers’:
“There is plenty of time within an hour session to warm up, practice a basic
movement or skill or pursue a new PR or max lift, discuss and critique the
athletes efforts, and then pound out a tight little couplet or triplet utilizing these
skills or just play. Play is important. Tire flipping, basketball, relay races, tag,
Hooverball, and the like are essential to good programming, but they are
seasoning like salt, pepper, and oregano. They are not main courses.”
-G. Glassman-
2005