I Want to Be a Crossfit Champion

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

I’m just kidding with the title, but in all fairness. All this hype around Crossfit has really made me want to become somewhat well-rounded and a more athletic version of myself. I am not planning on doing any random workouts but rather pick out the most popular exercises that are prevalent in crossfit workouts and specifically get better at them.

Here is what I had in mind:

Day 1)

Skill: Pistol Squats

Strength:
Squat variation
Deadlift variation
Lunges/KB Swings

Conditioning:

  • Some form of jumping

Day 2)

Skill: Muscleups

Strength:
Bench press/Pullups
DB Incline Bench/ DB Rows
Weighted Dips/Bicep Curls

Conditioning:

  • Rowing on C2 rower

Day 3)

Skill: Handstand pushups

Strength:
Overhead Press variation
Power Snatch/Power Clean
Weighted Dips/Weighted Carries

Conditioning:

  • Sprints

*To clarify some things, the Bench/Pullups for instance is a superset of the two exercises back to back.

  • Rep ranges for the mentioned exercises will be a combination of ramps and or low/high reps depending on how I feel.
    *Abs are thrown in here and there
  • I do 3 on/1 off and repeat.

Its a very general overview of the program, I would really love to hear what you guys think. My age is 25, i’ve been into sports most of my life (Basketball, soccer, football) and i’ve been strength training for 4-5 years. I would love to just stay healthy, be athletic while improving my performance.

Here are some of my lifts:

Bench Press 330 pounds
Back Squat 330 pounds
Deadlift 507 pounds
Overhead press 200 pounds

My squat is extremely weak I know, I bench what I squat and my front squat is almost as high as my back squat numbers. I usually squat high bar medium close stance. My inner thighs are relatively large while my outer thighs are almost completely flat with no sweep. Not sure what the reason for my weak squat might be. I am 6 feet 4 inches tall and I weigh 230 pounds.

Question: Would you say this routine is balanced in terms of movements? And also in terms of ratio of pulling to pressing? Anything you dislike? Are there some foundational errors in the program itself?

I guess I could see myself eventually join a Crossfit box, but I want to become more efficient at some of the movements first. I know it would probably be smarter to just join one now and make use of the coaching there but I really want to see how far I can make it on my own and plus save my wallet from abuse since its extremely expensive joining an affiliate in Sweden.

Thank you=)

2

Look up the Gant Grimes hybrid Program.

3

I’m following a variation of it. You can see my log over in the training log area. Its called “Trying Something New.”

4

Thanks buddy=) Will follow!

5

[quote]Asoss wrote:
I am not planning on doing any random workouts but rather pick out the most popular exercises that are prevalent in crossfit workouts and specifically get better at them.[/quote]
I’m not sure if you were exaggerating or what, but I just looked back at the last six weeks of Crossfit WODs. The “most popular exercises” - meaning those that appeared most often - were:

Deadlifts, power cleans, pull-ups, handstand push-ups, and rowing (like cardio on a C2, not barbell rowing). They appeared 11 or more times in the last six weeks.

The next most common exercises were: Running, box jumps, thrusters, and overhead squats. Each appeared 5-8 times in the last six weeks.

Basing a training program around those could help build a pretty solid athletic foundation.

[quote]Strength:
Overhead Press variation
Power Snatch/Power Clean
Weighted Dips/Weighted Carries
…
*To clarify some things, the Bench/Pullups for instance is a superset of the two exercises back to back. [/quote]
So you were considering supersetting snatches and cleans? Yeah, no, don’t do that.

Why do abs deserve to be treated to recklessly? It’d make more sense to train them deliberately and with maximum efficiency.

FWIW, a front squat almost equal to your bench, and both being about 1.5x bodyweight, is pretty solid.

Unless you ever plan on stepping on a bodybuilding stage, you can completely forget thinking in these terms.

Asked and answered. I’m not saying it’s necessarily an excuse at all, but taller dudes will generally have a harder time squatting.

Check these articles for some ideas on how to program things:

Those should give you a better idea of how to lay things out more effectively. Or just jump on one of those plans as-is.

6

olympic lifts, steroids ,handstands, repeat.

7

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]Asoss wrote:
I am not planning on doing any random workouts but rather pick out the most popular exercises that are prevalent in crossfit workouts and specifically get better at them.[/quote]
I’m not sure if you were exaggerating or what, but I just looked back at the last six weeks of Crossfit WODs. The “most popular exercises” - meaning those that appeared most often - were:

Deadlifts, power cleans, pull-ups, handstand push-ups, and rowing (like cardio on a C2, not barbell rowing). They appeared 11 or more times in the last six weeks.

The next most common exercises were: Running, box jumps, thrusters, and overhead squats. Each appeared 5-8 times in the last six weeks.

Basing a training program around those could help build a pretty solid athletic foundation.

[quote]Strength:
Overhead Press variation
Power Snatch/Power Clean
Weighted Dips/Weighted Carries
…
*To clarify some things, the Bench/Pullups for instance is a superset of the two exercises back to back. [/quote]
So you were considering supersetting snatches and cleans? Yeah, no, don’t do that.

Why do abs deserve to be treated to recklessly? It’d make more sense to train them deliberately and with maximum efficiency.

FWIW, a front squat almost equal to your bench, and both being about 1.5x bodyweight, is pretty solid.

Unless you ever plan on stepping on a bodybuilding stage, you can completely forget thinking in these terms.

Asked and answered. I’m not saying it’s necessarily an excuse at all, but taller dudes will generally have a harder time squatting.

Check these articles for some ideas on how to program things:

Those should give you a better idea of how to lay things out more effectively. Or just jump on one of those plans as-is.[/quote]

Thank you for your detailed response Chris=)

Yeah I think I have a pretty good idea on what type of movements I should be focusing on and as you can see I pretty much nailed all the popular movements before the open even started. Also, my statement regarding ab work was maybe too blunt, I actually do a circuit of toe2bars, v-ups and ab rolls with the bosu ball staggered in between or after the general strength stuff.

I’ve gone through my split four times these two weeks and it feels pretty solid, I know it seems a lot in terms of volume but I make an effort to really listen to my body and cut volume if necessary. I would be lying if I said that I haven’t trained for a while.

I will definitely look through the links you posted and your advice will not go in and through. Also yeah I did the mistake of pairing cleans and snatches as a superset but I actually do them separetely and for the moment I don’t even go above 90 pounds because I really want to eventually learn the full lifts. I also don’t go over 3-5 reps on the cleans and snatches. I just do more sets instead like 5x3 or 7x3.

I believe CT said that doing too much of the power variations will make it more difficult to learn the full lifts later since you basically imprint the easier versions making them a bad habit.

Lastly, for mobility I follow Defranco’s limber 11 routine with 4-5 extra movements that I do to fix my anterior pelvic tilt and my hip mobility.

8

[quote]Jlabs wrote:
olympic lifts, steroids ,handstands, repeat.[/quote]
lol

9

[quote]Jnatural wrote:

[quote]Jlabs wrote:
olympic lifts, steroids ,handstands, repeat.[/quote]
lol[/quote]

Yeah me too…Not a bad idea though eh?

(snigger snigger)

10

[quote]Jlabs wrote:
olympic lifts, steroids ,handstands, repeat.[/quote]

forgot to add the constant social media posts about crossfit

11

Why don’t you just join an actual crossfit gym that knows what they’re doing, or get coached by someone who knows how to train for crossfit competitions? With those lifts you have some good potential so you might as well train for the actual thing and maybe start competing.

12

does anyone actually get anything out of the rowing machine? I find it useless whenever I include it in a workout, unless it’s a general warm-up.

13

[quote]PB Andy wrote:
does anyone actually get anything out of the rowing machine? I find it useless whenever I include it in a workout, unless it’s a general warm-up.[/quote]

Absolutely. I love doing intervals on the ergometer, or even just all out 250 - 500 meter sprints. Closest I’ve ever been to blacking out from “cardio.”

A few months ago I played around with supersets of farmer’s walks with rowing. I’d do a couple sets as heavy as I could, no straps, superset with a 250 m row; then increase the weight, add straps, superset with a 250 m row. Abusive.

14

[quote]myself1992 wrote:
Why don’t you just join an actual crossfit gym that knows what they’re doing, or get coached by someone who knows how to train for crossfit competitions? With those lifts you have some good potential so you might as well train for the actual thing and maybe start competing.[/quote]

I get what you’re saying and I agree, however i’m pretty strapped for cash right now because 1) I am doing my masters in a different city so I’d rather not be bound to a specific box location and 2) I am getting married this August and we have about 400 guests minimum sooooo cash money my friend…

But I will definitely take up on your suggestion the moment I have a stable economy. Just for a comparison, the standard price for a year long membership in any of the major crossfit affiliates is 2300 US dollars here in Sweden, and that is what you pay directly up front.

15

[quote]PB Andy wrote:
does anyone actually get anything out of the rowing machine? I find it useless whenever I include it in a workout, unless it’s a general warm-up.[/quote]

Well I actually really like the rower, I feel that after a chest/back workout the rower gives me a good stretch and also after they announced the half-marathon at the games last year I thought trying to pace myself for something similar in the future might be good. There is actually a lot to the rower than just pulling back and forth and I think working on a proper rowing technique could be worthwhile.

I have also promised myself to finish that half-marathon event some day, I believe it was 21,097 meters. Have you tried it yet yourself by any chance?

16

[quote]baugust wrote:

[quote]PB Andy wrote:
does anyone actually get anything out of the rowing machine? I find it useless whenever I include it in a workout, unless it’s a general warm-up.[/quote]

Absolutely. I love doing intervals on the ergometer, or even just all out 250 - 500 meter sprints. Closest I’ve ever been to blacking out from “cardio.”

A few months ago I played around with supersets of farmer’s walks with rowing. I’d do a couple sets as heavy as I could, no straps, superset with a 250 m row; then increase the weight, add straps, superset with a 250 m row. Abusive. [/quote]

That sounds horrible. I’ve done 1,000 meter go’s a few times and it knocked my dick in the dirt. I can’t imagine all out sprints. What’s your best time?

17

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:

[quote]baugust wrote:

[quote]PB Andy wrote:
does anyone actually get anything out of the rowing machine? I find it useless whenever I include it in a workout, unless it’s a general warm-up.[/quote]

Absolutely. I love doing intervals on the ergometer, or even just all out 250 - 500 meter sprints. Closest I’ve ever been to blacking out from “cardio.”

A few months ago I played around with supersets of farmer’s walks with rowing. I’d do a couple sets as heavy as I could, no straps, superset with a 250 m row; then increase the weight, add straps, superset with a 250 m row. Abusive. [/quote]

That sounds horrible. I’ve done 1,000 meter go’s a few times and it knocked my dick in the dirt. I can’t imagine all out sprints. What’s your best time?
[/quote]

Yeah man, it’s a rough exercise if you really put the effort in.

500 m - 1:33.8
1000 m - 3:45.0
1500 m - 5:27.0

18

Concept 2 is great for conditioning, I love 1k intervals

19

[quote]Asoss wrote:

[quote]myself1992 wrote:
Why don’t you just join an actual crossfit gym that knows what they’re doing, or get coached by someone who knows how to train for crossfit competitions? With those lifts you have some good potential so you might as well train for the actual thing and maybe start competing.[/quote]

I get what you’re saying and I agree, however i’m pretty strapped for cash right now because 1) I am doing my masters in a different city so I’d rather not be bound to a specific box location and 2) I am getting married this August and we have about 400 guests minimum sooooo cash money my friend…

But I will definitely take up on your suggestion the moment I have a stable economy. Just for a comparison, the standard price for a year long membership in any of the major crossfit affiliates is 2300 US dollars here in Sweden, and that is what you pay directly up front.[/quote]

In that case I’d look online for how these guys train for the competitions (since I’m sure they don’t just do the WOD and actually have a reasonable structured program). Just make sure that the info you find is legit. I’d help you out with that if I could but I don’t know much about crossfit.

20

Why not ask Thibaudeau at his subforum?

The guy coaches Crossfit athletes.