Stick to the basics.
CrossFit training seems to go through cycles. Partly driven by the Games (whatever Dave Castro cooks up in his devious mind seems to turn up at every local comp for the next year) and partly by the latest celebrity coach who just so happens to have had a top athlete do one week of their training style and then claim the success was theirs…
Last year it was all about Olympic lifting. This year it seems to be squatting. Closely followed by aerobic base work….
The Russian Squat Cycle known as Smolov is all the rage.
Up to four times per week of high volume, high load training, for up to 16 weeks.
It works, no doubt about that. But the important thing is who it works for.
Most novice lifters don’t need it (it would actually be WASTING the effects of such an advanced program). Good old fashioned linear (trying to add a bit more weight each week) programming works best for the newbie.
After the results have slowed, maybe you might try a 5/3/1 cycle with Coach Craig in his Strength Division class.
If you have not made it to a double bodyweight back squat by then, the answer is not Smolov. It’s keep training.
Training age (ie how long you have actually been lifting weights and performing high intensity conditioning) is another important variable, if you have only been squatting heavy for a year, your body wont handle the volume of an advanced program. Sorry Veruca Salt, I know you want it now, but there’s nothing I can do about basic physiology.
And what about the rest of your training? If you do Smolov, then you better stay clear of metcons if you want to avoid self destruct mode. Is that what you want to do? You joined CrossFit NZ to get fit and have fun didn’t you? Not strong and bored silly……
Simple, progressive training will get most people consistent results for 2-5 years.
Now in saying that, there are people in the gym doing the Smolov Squat Program – but they have an upper body injury and are not able to participate in many classes. This is one way to give them a goal to focus on during the rehab phase. The Comp Team are using a vastly scaled down version simply as a means to offer a structured LINEAR progression during their off-season training. For the rest of you, our programming offers heavy squats twice a week on average, more than enough to make great gains.
We’ll talk about steady state cardio next time, but in the meantime good luck trying to read a magazine on an airdyne or rower….
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAIR SMITH!
POWER
Jerk
1-1-1-1-1
Then,
12 Dead 70/45kg
9 HPC
6 S2OH
AMRAP in 7mins
(yes we did this only two weeks ago……bet you can still beat your score if you try hard enough….)
S+C
Pushpress
sets of 5
Then,
4 Lengths DB Farmers Walk
5 DB Hang Power Clean
6 DB Front Rack Reverse Lunge
AMRAP 7mins
Ahhh Smolov! I had been doing CF for almost 3 years when I hit up that old Russian (recovering from a shoulder injury and had plateaued in my back squat progress)
Didn’t listen to Daz when he said “You should probably just stick to squatting”
After attempting metcons for the first week ALONG with Smolov…I nearly died! Definitely couldn’t sit down/bend over/string sentences together (Lesson: listen to Daz. he knows stuff)
DEFINITELY saw results, but man, I spoke to Jeebus many times during the cycle. And I was pretty sure I never wanted to see a squat again by the end of it. Great post, as usual.