Max Lewin did not give me brand new information. It was great information, presented in a very organized and thought-provoking fashion… but it’s not brand new information. I’ve known for a long time that my CrossFit limiting factor is strength. That’s been personally confirmed and reconfirmed and beaten into my head by plenty of folks. But I have selective memory, and at times, choose to ignore logic and reason and Things I Know To Be True in favor of (a) what’s easy, (b) what’s fun or (c) something else that for no apparent reason I decide to pursue.
When I first started CrossFit, by my definition, it was a met-con biased program. (My definition: “For Time” = Met-Con.) I didn’t hear CrossFitters crow about their back squat or deadlift nearly as much as their Fran time or Fight Gone Bad score. So I figured to be better at CrossFit, I needed to met-con my ass off. Which I did. And when I didn’t get THAT much better, I figured I should met-con more. So I did. Light weight 45 minute met-cons were my specialty. I did ‘em almost every day. But when I’d try to do (heavily scaled) Fran, or Grace, or Fight Gone Bad, I’d fail miserably. And I couldn’t figure out why, since I’d been doing SO MANY
In May, I had an all-day certification style seminar (dubbed “AssFit”) with my trainer. And there, for the first time, he made the light bulb click. My straight-up cardio capacity was fantastic. But if I can’t lift a 65# barbell, how the hell was I ever going to be able to complete Fran? I realized he was right –I needed to get STRONGER, not met-con-ier. So I embarked on a strength based program.
Except that strength gains don’t come easily for me. I’m scrawny by nature. I have to work really hard to put on weight, both on my frame and the bar. So this building strength stuff was slow going. My heavy lifting days were discouraging… but I was still rocking my dedicated met-con days. And that felt good. So I would slowly lighten up my “heavy lifting” days and extend my met-con days and pretty soon, I’m back to the same old 45 minutes using insignificant weight. (Confession - I once secretly did seven straight days of chippers, 50 reps per exercise.) It was fun, and it was certainly “easier”, but I still wasn’t getting any BETTER. So I’d come to my senses after a week or two, and return to my 3x5s and shorter, heavier met-cons. And the cycle continued.
I’ve said this before – sometimes, I feel like I’m getting a very specific message at exactly the right time. When Max busted out his awesome strength versus cardio analysis, I realized it was exactly what I needed to hear. (I heard a lot more of it yesterday, too, after my post… lots of people out there were doing the Damn, Byers, I Told You So dance.) CrossFit Full Circle's Jason M. Struck also sent me a note on the subject. He agrees with Max, saying, “Transfer from exercise is limited by specificity. Strength is specific to almost everything. It's possible to argue that all other bio-motor abilities, if not completely reliant on strength, are at least probably most significantly affected by strength. Sure, there are other factors, but when talking bang for the buck, broadly transferable strength exercises are the way to go.” And finally, he uttered the phrase that gave me yet another LBM (light bulb moment)… “That's why smart folks don't do cardio. Cost versus benefit sucks.”
Brilliant. So again, if I KNOW this to be true, why can’t I stick to a strength-based program? Maybe I’m too driven by instant gratification. Cardio capacity improves quickly. Strength does not. So I’m going for the cheap and dirty satisfaction, instead of toughing it out in pursuit of greater rewards. Or maybe my “build your own sundae” approach to programming is not as objective as I’d like to think. I get to make up my own workouts every day, which means I subconsciously perhaps don’t do the things I don’t want to do. And often, “don’t want to” includes a 5x5 deadlift day, or 3x5 sets across of heavy back squats. (I’d much rather pull for a new 1RM, but we’ve already covered that one.)
Knowing is half the battle. First, I've got a new, structured program. And second, rediscovering all the reasons why I really DO need to get stronger will help me move past all my old tricks. And it only took 8 months, 72 different people and 244 utterances of the “stronger is better” mantra for me to finally pay attention. My husband would say that’s actually not bad.
Buy-in
- 50 DUs
- TGU, 3L/3R (16K)
- Perfect practice - thrusters (45#) and push-ups, 10/7/4/2
"Fat Burpee Jackie"
- 3 rounds of
- Row 500m
- 10 thrusters @65#
- 10 burpee-pull-ups
Cash out:
- Not much. (Armbar stretch, 12K, 1:00L/1:00R)
22 people drop some props (leave a comment here):
It seems you are on the right track now. By the way you are a good candidate for GOMAD (Gallon Of Milk A Day) via Rip.
A few clarifications: the ideas I presented you mostly come from Coach Mark Rippetoe, author of Starting Strength. If you don't own it order it NOW!!!
Also, I am not suggesting altering CrossFit in the long-term you left the following out of the interview:
"For intermediates/ low advanced and all but the elites like Nicole Carroll or Jason Kalipha) I believe that out-of-the box CrossFit 3-on 1-off with two to three weeks at full intensity and every third or fourth week at half intensity and every ninth or twelfth week COMPLETELY off will yield the highest gains.
Coach Glassman is a genius of the highest order, possibly the most important figure in fitness who has ever lived, and his programming is an amazing gift. If you never have, I suggest trying this for six months with no additional training at all, and a proper animal based zone or zone-like diet, preferably Paleo. It is likely that you will be amazed with your gains.
High advanced/elite athletes may need more complicated personalization schemes."
Keeping the above in mind, I still think periods of focused strength work will advance your GPP in the long term unless you are already really strong.
I am thinking of taking a year to achieve 500/400/300/200 Deadlift/Squat/Bench/Press. I'm pretty sure my CF performance would improve markedly after 3 month post-strength.
Also the Fran/FGB etc hating is silly. People don't want to do this for the same reason that many won't commit to the big lifts. It is HARD - the comparison of FGB to jogging is ludicrous. Talk to me when you have a sub-5 (or better yet sub-3) Fran and a 300 (or better yet 400) FGB with perfect form and we will see if it bears any resemblace to jogging!
I have noticed, at our affiliate (Max's CFEB), that attendance dips on strength days. Some folks clearly cherry-pick the metcons, and skip the strength stuff.
I think I can understand why. Strength work is slow, frustrating, and doesn't leave sweat angels. People - particularly beginners focusing on form over weight - feel like it's not enough work to justify their time. Personally I really LIKE those days, because the camaraderie of doing it with the class beats the hell out of doing it alone in the corner.
Max has said that he's noticed that the more brutal he makes the workout, the more people show up. (Unless it's a 5/10k. Nobody ever wants to run.) While I think the masochism that runs through Crossfitters is valuable, I think it can go too far if you focus purely on the ass-kickery, at the expense of actual performance gains.
The trick, I find, is balance. Strength is my limiting factor as well. I would love to take some time and do a SS cycle or two, focusing purely on strength. But this would mean giving up working out with the CFEB crew, which makes me very sad. So the best I can do, I find, is twice-weekly 5x5 routines instead of the CFEB WOD. This worked very well for me over the summer, and I hope to start a new cycle of it in the new year.
I would also echo what Max said about the GOMAD... You are extremely lean, and its going to be hard for you to get stronger. One thing Ive tried with others is Ice Cream (there's a thread on the boards re: this). Because well, a gallon of milk is just disgusting, but ice cream is the exact opposite. You will have to put on a little size to get those strength gains up, and with the way you train, putting on body fat won't be an issue for you.
Justin/Thor: I love you for not calling me "skinny". I might have to get on that ice cream kick... I'm pretty sure we've got some Breyer's Mint Chip in the freezer right now!
I like lifting heavy things. I hate met-con. Somewhere out their there's someone who'll only do gymnastics. The important thing is that they all give CF an honest shot, and find out that there are some important things that they suck at. Then they will become better. Athletes. People. Whatever.
""To say today did not go well is an understatement. Had Richard Simmons himself been clapping and cheering and kicking his little short-shorts next to the squat rack, I still could not have gone any faster. I know exactly why I tanked, too. Dammit. I'll discuss in tomorrow's post. ""
I'd imagine it has something to do with 65lbs being 55% of your bodyweight, and hence really heavy, especially after a 500m row.
I am gonna get me some of them shorts. 'Call me Coach!'
Melissa,
I won't compare myself to you because lets face it, you are an amazing athlete, but I understand your frustration with strength vs. metcon workouts. I've been CF'ing for a year and I have cherry picked the shit out of the WOD's because I'm just engineered to favor metcon-ier WOD's. I've played soccer, and swam and hiked and thrown my body weight around vs actually throwing weight around my whole life, so developing my power plant for anything else never really appealed to me. I always poo poo'd the Oly stuff and shrugged it off as meathead crap to justify (internally) why I wasn't fucking with it. It hasn't been till recently that I've dedicated myself to perform the coach workouts every day that I've humbly realized if I want to actually be "good" at CF vs, good at parts of it, I need to develop the whole thing. Clearly a no brainer but sometimes ya just can't see the forest for the trees.
It's great that you have dudes like Max and and Struck posting up on this site because Max's advice to "For intermediates/ low advanced" athletes (me to a Tee) is excellent and is exactly what I decided to do even before he posted that today. It's nice to hear my decision being supported by folks who actually know. Yet again, I got something right completely by accident :P
I know it was a fairly long winded way of saying "I know where you're coming from/understand your dilemma" but I hope the meat of my post is there somewhere. Once again, you've provided a great post. Keep doing the great job with your fitness and this blog. It's all awesome.
Peyton,
I appreciate the compliment, but I am not an amazing athlete. In fact, it's weird to hear someone even refer to me as an "athlete"! I have zero natural athletic ability and am not in any way "geared" towards strength. I just WORK HARD. Which just goes to prove that if you stick with a program, you WILL become more fit. The trick, however, is working a program that ALSO meets your fitness GOALS.
I appreciate your comment - clearly, you and I understand each other. I'm glad I'm not the only one hearing the right thing at the right time around here. Keep up the strong work.
My wife is the same way. She needs to be in the right frame of mind to "hear" what you're saying. Took me a year to get her to take fish oil. Now all I get is "Why did you take so long to get me to take fish oil?"
I have read your last gfew days of posts.
You finally did it... I am very proud of you; that you have had such a reasonable journey of exploration to the conclusion of strength!
Good job. Now - go get strong! Good luck and God's speed!
much love,
tuck
Melissa,
Their are lots of people with "natural athletic ability" Thats not worth a damn If they lack a worth ethic and the determination to WORK HARD and develop it. I'd say you're pretty athletic. Keep it up!
melissa!
the other thing about being 'strong' is that outside certain groups like leo, mil, etc - strong is generally more life functional. im not sure ive ever been tasked with the filthy 50 outside my cf box. but ive never been like, "oh, shoot - im just too strong" when i have to schlep my luggage or bags of groceries
i would recommend to keep the programming interesting enough so that you dont lose interest in strength. to be honest, i wish i had the ability to see SS through. i think my gains would come more quickly - but there's just not enough variation for me to enjoy the workouts (it might be related to my bias for the olifts). but, as a novice, ive found that just lifting heavy more days than not is good enough "programming" for getting stronger.
I love strength training, in fact when EC advised me to go paleo and lift heavy weights I felt relieved. I did SS and made big gains, then went back to metcon for a bit and it didn't take long before i got my timing back. I got a 1RM bench press of 130#, from 100#, now thats motivation. Def keep it interesting and practice what you suck at...how are you at the clean? snatch? front squat? if I had my way I would split jerk everyday. but that's not very balanced. I have my clients practice what they suck at, why shouldn't I?
Incidentally, have you ever tried the gallon of milk a day? I wasn't mentally able to handle it. To think that a gallon of milk could be so emotionally destructive... *shudder*
It may require building up to, but it would certainly help eliminate any shrimpy, twig-ish, tiny, and generally "Uh oh, the wind's picking up. Tie Melissa down qui... never mind, too late" problems.
Not that you actually have those problems.
And I most certainly don't so stop looking at me so weird.
Keep lifting!
“That's why smart folks don't do cardio. Cost versus benefit sucks.”
Melissa, a little piece of my soul just died. (:
Oh yes, I fully remember the time when you would do 1 long wods for days on end, haha.
why does strength training = boring?
same but different. wanna squat? you can front, overhead, back. single leg. 3x9, 4x7, 5x5, 7x3 etc.
bands, chains,kettlebells, sandbags kegs. Fast, slow. high bar, low bar. wide stance, narrow. Olympic, power.
WTF.
Smolov.
Melissa needs a GOMAD like she needs a barbell to the face. This is the most frequently understood part of Rip's programming.
Is that to imply that she does or does not need to be hit in the face with a barbell?
Good point, Derek. I should have been more specific since most gym-goers do, in fact, need a barbell to the face.
Melissa does not need a gallon of damn milk every day.
My post should also have said "misunderstood." Rip understands nutrition just fine, but it's a lot easier for him to say "drink the damn milk" than it is to explain the reasoning behind it. The "magical" properties he speaks of in milk include loads of protein (and AA's), sugar (total calories and insulin spikes), and milkfat.
Most people don't know how or don't make the effort to eat for strength gains. When that happens, the 2,344 extra calories (124g P) GOMAD provides comes in handy (not to mention the skyrocketing insulin levels throughout the day since you don't drink it in one sitting).
I agree whole-heartedly with both Gant and Derek. I need neither a gallon of milk a day, nor a barbell to the face.
I'm not trying to bulk up to 180#, for fuck's sake. I just wanted to put on a few, which I've been very successful in doing with just my Hungry Hungry Hippo approach. (See good, clean food... eat it.)
I do, however, very much like Thor's ice cream recommendation. In fact, I've been on board with that one for a long time now.
PS Derek, unless you insult my sister, you will never be banned or suspended from my blog. Keep visiting, please.
It's actually not called the "Hungry Hungry Hippo" approach. It's called the "Hungry? Eat the Hippo" approach. But either works. Real food probably tastes better than a gallon of milk anyways.
The barbell to the face may happen inadvertently as a result of Olympic lifting. I hit myself in the head with a PVC snatch once - that hurt. I can only imagine what a fully loaded bar would do (notice how I skillfully dodge the fact that a fully loaded bar for me looks suspiciously similar to PVC).
Hey Melissa, first, I just started reading your posts on a regular basis and love them. Partly because you're pretty entertaining (in a good way I mean) but also because I can relate.
I've been struggling with Fran for a while too. I fly through the pull-ups but can't do more than 6 or 7 thrusters at a time with 65lbs. At a recent barbell cert, Rip suggested I gain at least 15 lbs. Mind you, his exact words left some doubt as to whether that was a training recommendation... "you would look good if you weighed about 125..."
I've been lifting heavy more often, but apparently not enough. Gaining weight without feeling like crap all the time is harder than you'd think. Like you, I don't think I can do the milk, but hungry hungry hippo and ice cream I can definitely do.
Great post. Keep us updated on your progress.
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