Friday training is all crossfit.
A conversation on this sport can go down many paths, all of which I hope to cover in due time, but let's try to accomplish one mission at a time.
I'll identify one thing it is here and explore the how and why in context of programming.
Crossfit is....100%
No, not your 1RM. It's your 100% of all the effort you have at any given moment in time. I remember a thought I had at the end of a WOD one time. I thought how at the end of a traditional strength training session or event you could come out of it feeling like you prepared yourself really well. You came, you did your lift or whatever, success, cheering, and you feel great. Yet a lot of times, even if you finish in first place, you come out the other end of a crossfit workout questioning your programming, life, religion, your purpose, your intelligence, everything. Your soul will feel DOMs.
I love this about crossfit. I don't see WODs as a time to work at 70% of your 1RM to increase muscle mass on your quads. It's not technique work time, or where you fix muscle imbalances. I go into a WOD to test my resolve.
I believe this is one area where it gets a lot of friction from too. It can come across very unspecific. Anything that tries to claim to be something while appearing to not really be about any one thing will seem weak, and the weak get attacked. Look closer at it though and you will see that it is the sport of resolve, just as I said. The athletes show up to the games not knowing anything about how they will be tested. They spend the entire year focusing in on weaknesses, polishing their strengths, while redlining their work capacity here and there, and then they show up on game day with all they have ready to put it on the line.
It's in this same vein that I program my Fridays.
2 workouts, because 1 is too easy of a mental hurdle to overcome. The first one is to bring you down even lower from the beating the week has taken on you so far, then the second one is where you get tested. A great way to go into the weekend too (well, it is from a nutritional stand point because you get to eat a ton).
If we look at the progression in terms of volume and intensities through the week, we see a daily load undulating pattern.
monday - wk1, 60-70%. wk2, 5x5. wk3 3x3. wk4 1x1
wednesday - wk1 60-70%, wk2 70%, wk3 75-80%, wk4 80-85%
Thursday - intensity stays at 50% bar weight, plus 15-25% band tension, but volume goes from
24 total sets in squat and deads, to 20 to 17 and then to 12 sets in the 4th week.
Then crossfit wods on friday will never work with loads in lifts above 70% of a 1RM.
-http://suppversity.blogspot.de/2015/12/mix-things-up-up-your-gains-altering.html
In addition to being a mental resolve training day, I also view Friday as an integral day in training the cardiovascular system and increasing work capacity through HIIT like training, which has been shown to be incredibly effective at increasing mitochondrial volume. (even at just once a week!)
-http://suppversity.blogspot.de/2014/03/sprint-strength-training-dynamic-duo.html
-http://suppversity.blogspot.de/2014/02/24-hiit-workouts-in-three-or-eight.html
-http://suppversity.blogspot.de/2013/12/4x4-minutes-of-hiit-per-week-thats-all.html
Those are a few of the perspectives I have on this day so far. I am still learning everyday about how people believe crossfit should be programmed for, extracting the core beliefs from those guidelines, and experimenting how to best train the qualities needed to do well in it.
Today was:
10am -
Technique work: ring handstand push ups
Fran:
-in a 21, 15, 9 rep scheme
thrusters with a 95lb bar
pull ups
+for time
6pm
Double DT
with a 155lb bar
10 rounds of
12 deadlifts
9 hang cleans
6 jerks
+for time
