I'll let Urban speak for herself here.
• Program Initiation: July
The 603's PTP Program
Sunday, 26 July 2009
In keeping with the sentiment of June 22nd’s “We All Want To Be Stronger” post, we’re starting a deadlift and press cycle tomorrow. Yes, I know that CrossFit’s program is constantly varied. But it’s my contention that some physical characteristics have more impact on general physical preparedness (GPP) than others. And I believe that strength is a gateway to improving GPP faster than focusing on, say, balance or coordination. I’m not proposing a comprehensive hierarchy of importance, but for the 603, strength matters.
For the next few weeks, we’ll be performing a 603-modified progressive wave cycle. We start at an arbitrary (easy) weight, then add weight for a few workouts, then drop a little weight for a workout or two, then add again… so the overall trend, of course, is more weight. I originally encountered this program in Pavel Tsatsouline’s Power To The People (PTP), but have seen various iterations of it elsewhere over the years. From here on, I’ll simply refer to it as the 603’s PTP Program.
Here’s how it goes: we are going to deadlift and press 4 times per week. No, that’s not a typo. This is not an intensity-driven program. It is a frequency-driven program. In fact, I do not want you going anywhere near failure. Your body adapts and gets stronger when you stress it and then let it recover. How quickly you make progress on any individual aspect of fitness is limited by how often you can stress that system and still recover between workouts. This is, in some senses, the opposite of CrossFit’s maximal-intensity approach. It’s a maximal-frequency program, but at an intensity and volume low enough that you are always able to recover sufficiently. You with me so far? Good. Let’s look at a hypothetical program.
Since we recently did a 1RM for both the deadlift and press, it’ll be easy to get a rough estimate of where you should start. We’re going to do two (and ONLY two) work sets of 3-5 reps. Do your two deadlifts sets first, then your two press sets. Start with 3-5 reps at 60% of your 1RM, and then do a second set of 3-5 reps at 90% of the weight you used for the first set. You’ll add 2-5 pounds with the same rep/set scheme for most workouts, gradually building strength and familiarity with complex movements.
603’s Sample PTP Program – Deadlifts
Deadlift 1RM: 200 (I like easy math. So should you. Round to the nearest… whatever. Don’t get too carried away with fractional plates or tiny percentages. Remember, this is a quality-over-quantity program.)
Workout 1 - 120# x 5 - 110# x 5
Workout 2 - 125# x 5 - 115# x 5
Workout 3 - 130# x 5 - 120# x 5
Workout 4 - 125# x 5 - 115# x 5
Workout 5 - 130# x 5 - 120# x 5
Workout 6 - 135# x 5 - 125# x 5
Workout 7 - 130# x 5 - 120# x 5
Workout 8 - 135# x 4 - 125# x 5
Workout 9 - 140# x 4 - 130# x 5
Workout 10 - 135# x 5 - 125# x 5
Workout 11 - 140# x 4 - 130# x 5
Workout 12 - 145# x 3 - 130# x 5
This takes us through roughly 3 weeks. Basically, it’s a 2-steps-up, 1-step-down pattern. This pattern is highly flexible based on how you’re feeling, and will require a little more input from you as far as when you go up, and when you go back down. I’ll give general guidelines on up/down, but I’m not going to tell you how much or by what percentages. Start with that 60% of your 1RM, and go from there. If you get to the 4th workout, and the weight was effortless on the 3rd workout, go up instead of down. But… I want all the reps of all the workouts to be gorgeous and easy. In that same vein, if you stayed up late and missed a meal or two the previous day, drop down a few pounds, and don’t beat yourself up for it.
You should not be sore from these workouts. In fact, the first few workouts will be strangely… easy. It does get harder, though. Don’t discount the frequency at which you are performing these movements. Four to five times a week is a LOT. I’ll continue to program buy-ins, cash-outs, Olympic lifts, gymnastics, and some tasty met-cons, but the primary thrust of the next 4+ weeks is: get stronger. A LOT stronger. Don’t overreach, get greedy, or lose patience. This is a slow progression, but very effective in building strength. With a stronger pull and press, you’ll find other previously-challenging activities somewhat… easier. Huh.
Feel free to post questions, but I’d also encourage you to do a little research of your own on linear or progressive wave strength cycles. You might not want to actually do what you find, but it’s good to learn about other (non-CrossFit) training options.
________
• A Sample Workout looked like this (July):
Buy-in
Accumulate 1:00 of the “down dog” stretch
Accumulate 1:00 of Tucker’s shoulder opening wall stretch
The 603 PTP – Workout #3
Deadlift
Set 1: +5# from Tuesday’s WOD, 3-5 reps
Set 2: 90% of Set 1, 3-5 reps
Press
Set 1: +2-5# from Tuesday’s WOD, 3-5 reps
Set 2: 90% of Set 1, 3-5 reps
Cash out
Back squat 5-5-5-3-3-3
You get a day off tomorrow, so go hard on your squats. Remember, though, that your DL and press movements are not to approach failure. ________
• The follow-up: December.
From Whole9: Beware the Lure of the Sexy Met-Con
If you’ve been following our affiliate (CrossFit Whole9, formerly CrossFit 603), you’ll know Dallas builds all of our custom programming around strength and quality of movement. Because of this strength focus, we’ve yet to program a high rep, high volume chipper like the Filthy Fifty. Our met-cons usually come in the form of a short, heavy, simple drill done after a strength or power workout, or a track or “strongman” day where we sprint, jump, throw stuff and carry stuff. We’re in the business of strength-based fitness, and our programming reflects that focus.
A few months ago, Dallas took that strength focus to the next level and created a Power to the People style program. The 603 PTP was a high volume, low intensity series of workouts designed to do one thing – make you stronger. We chose to work the deadlift and press at the same time, hitting both of those movements four days a week, for eight weeks straight. We threw in some gymnastics and Olympic lifting skill work, short, heavy met-cons and a few track days, but for a two solid months, we did a whole lot of deadlifts and presses.
And almost all of our virtual trainees disappeared.
Up until then, we’d had a good amount of people following our programming on line. CrossFitters and exercise enthusiasts from all across the country (and across the pond) were posting after workouts like Overhead Math and the Sissy Test. But come week three of the PTP program, all but a few loyalists had abandoned our workouts. When we asked why, people commented, “the workouts got boring,” or “it seemed too easy,” or “I missed my met-cons.” Fair enough, maybe… but also a crying shame. Because the people who DID stick around put up to 25# on their deadlift and 20# on their press in just two months. And on top of that, they PR’d workouts like “Cindy”, put weight on their clean and jerks and got a lot more comfortable under (or over) a heavy barbell. Boring or not, the PTP program worked, and the people who saw it through reaped the benefits.
People often make misguided assumptions about CrossFit workouts based on what grabs their attention on paper. “Tough workouts”, “elite athletic training” and “high intensity” translates as high repetitions, endless rounds, a grab bag of exercises (often seemingly chosen at random), or some combination of the above. And there’s a trend, especially among those new to CrossFit and inexperienced with programming, to ride that met-con train all the way to Cortisol Crazytown.
I’m here to caution you… beware the lure of the Sexy Met-Con.
For some (especially those new to CrossFit), the lure of something like the Filthy Fifty or the “300” workout is undeniable. Hundreds of reps of various bad-ass exercises all in one workout? That MUST be good fitness. New trainees doing their own programming fall quickly into the Sexy Met-Con trap, piling on the reps, adding more and more exotic movements, needing an excessive amount of time to complete the workout. They get beyond creative, making up workouts so complicated that you need a map and a flashlight just to follow along.
Trainees aren’t the only victims of the Sexy Met-Con pull. New coaches and affiliate owners fall into this trap as well. What looks like you put more effort into your programming – seven rounds of five different exercises with a complicated rep scheme, or “Back Squat 5×5”? What’s an easier group class workout – a 20 minute light-weight met-con, or a structured PMenu-style Olympic lifting session? This isn’t a dig on those coaches or affiliate owners – I get it. The pressure to get creative and put out fresh “unknowable” workouts every day is enormous. There is also a need (real or perceived) to drastically distinguish themselves from their Globo-Gym competition. Add in the pressure from clients to make them SWEAT so they feel like they’re getting what they pay for and the Sexy Met-Con becomes an easy go-to on all counts.
But while it’s an easy trap to fall into – some affiliates never bear-crawl out. I follow several gyms’ custom programming, just to keep an eye on what everyone else is doing. With one, I counted back a few months and found 22 days of met-con out of a month’s worth of programming. Twenty. Two… not including rest days. Another programmed “find your deadlift one rep max” workouts two months apart – without a single day of strength-oriented deadlifting in between. Sure, they did some light deadlifts during met-cons… but how much does your 1RM go up without putting the work in on your 5×5s?
There are a few things wrong with this phenomenon. First, longer length met-cons (even those that go “heavy” for time) will not make you as strong as you could be. Sure, your cardio will improve, and you’ll most likely see some strength gains, but nowhere near the gains you’d see picking up heavy stuff with a tried-and-true 5×5, 3×5 and 3×3 protocol. (Of course, this point is only valid if you believe, as we do, that prioritizing strength is the most effective way to get better at everything.)
In addition, these types of workouts miss the bus by focusing on quantity at the expense of quality of movement. The never-ending pursuit of improved met-con “performance” overlooks the important component of quality-based training. You can learn your nine foundational movements in a group class and “practice” them in a chipper, but none of those movements (performed fast and loose, as these met-cons tend to inspire) prepare you for moving a real load. Sloppy air squats won’t translate to more weight on your back, and a hundred med ball cleans won’t prep you for a heavy clean and jerk. What you are doing, unfortunately, is reinforcing bad movement patterns for literally hundreds of repetitions. And that’s hard to recover from if and when you decide you want to start adding weight to the bar.
Want to be a better CrossFitter? Make sure your workouts are constantly varied, right? On first glance, these met-cons seem to fit the bill. The structure makes you THINK you’re working a good “constantly varied” program, with fresh-out-of-the-hopper movements and convoluted rep schemes. But “constantly varied” means more than just swapping out exercises in your 30 minute met-con. These Sexy Met-Cons work primarily one metabolic pathway, with a very limited range of strength and power. So all those randomized exercises and rep schemes, when contained within the same longer length, light-weight met-con, aren’t really variety at all.
But the biggest danger by far is this – these Sexy Met-Cons can quickly take a dive into “overkill” territory, where your training starts to hurt more than it helps. You can’t tell me that day after day of Filthy Fifties won’t produce a sharp decline in movement integrity, and the overuse of certain muscle groups, joints and tendons. (How many days of kipping, ring dips and push-ups can you do before your elbows starts to hurt?) In addition, the body goes into serious cortisol production around the half-hour mark, so these day in, day out, longer length workouts wreak all kinds of havoc on the body. These kind of met-cons (much like long distance “cardio”) are notorious for pushing people into over-trained territory, and where over-training lives, injury is soon to follow. (Not so awesome for you, but serious job security for Dallas.)
But who wants to work a boring 5×5 when there are plenty of sexier workouts to choose from? I’ll tell you who. People who want to be stronger. Nothing builds muscle and strength like the big lifts – squat, press and deadlift – supplemented with gymnastics skills for core strength and low repetition Olympic lifts to develop explosive power. And I’m not taking a bunch of one rep maxes, either! Sets of 3’s and 5’s are your money-makers – where you train the body and build the strength. Missing your met-con? Work them in, but hit them hard and keep them short. Piling 30 minutes of “cardio” after a serious strength workout is, in a word, counterproductive. And for the love of Pavel, keep them simple. Thrusters and burpees, broad jumps and overhead carries, sprints and swings – all simple, all brutally effective.
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