Starting Strength and GPP

[R. Alan Hester]

Originally Posted by Coach Rutherford

If your relative strength is down your times on workout challenges will suffer. Build up your base BUT as Everett mentioned don't drop your GPP work. You can do the WOD's on alternative days while rotating ME focus OR a 5-12 minute mix at the end.

Everett is stronger but he fails to mention the new wardrobe and food bill.

Coach Rut:

I have read your articles on ME days and will transition to that plan after I attain some respectable numbers. I figured for now, I would focus on strength and sprinkle in some metcon post-workout (5-12 mins) to fight the happy-fun belt, as per your and Greg’s suggestion.

Sweet picture—I now have a goal to strive for.

Thanks

Alan

[Allen Yeh]

I'm currently following the Strength workouts outlined in The New Rules of Lifting book by Alwyn Cosgrove and Lou Schuler. I also didn't want to give up completely on metcon and I have been adding in things after my workout that last like Coach Rut mentioned 5-10 minutes on average.
Here is an example of what I have been doing:
last M - heavy squat day - 5 minutes of kb swings
last T - heavy bench/row - nothing had to run out of the gym
last W- rest
last Th - heavy deadlift - 10 minutes of buellers and farmers walk
last Fr - heavy chins/overhead pressing - run/row
sat - rest
sun -rest
M - heavy squat day - I threw in tabata rows
T - heavy bench/row day - I did 1/4 Angie so I'd end up around 10 minutes
W- rest - only thing I did was some stretching
Th - heavy deadlifts - I did 1/2 Jackie (from Coach Ruts website)
Fr -Heavy chins and overhead press - Running/rowing

I'll see how I feel this weekend but at the least I was planning on doing mobility exercises from Super Joints and some foam rolling and I might join the CF DC crew for a workout Sunday.

[Chris Forbis]

Geez, why did you have to post a picture of Mangino? Every time I see him I throw up a little inside my mouth...

[R. Alan Hester]

Originally Posted by Allen Chu Yeh

I'm currently following the Strength workouts outlined in The New Rules of Lifting book by Alwyn Cosgrove and Lou Schuler. I also didn't want to give up completely on metcon and I have been adding in things after my workout that last like Coach Rut mentioned 5-10 minutes on average.
Here is an example of what I have been doing:
last M - heavy squat day - 5 minutes of kb swings
last T - heavy bench/row - nothing had to run out of the gym
last W- rest
last Th - heavy deadlift - 10 minutes of buellers and farmers walk
last Fr - heavy chins/overhead pressing - run/row
sat - rest
sun -rest
M - heavy squat day - I threw in tabata rows
T - heavy bench/row day - I did 1/4 Angie so I'd end up around 10 minutes
W- rest - only thing I did was some stretching
Th - heavy deadlifts - I did 1/2 Jackie (from Coach Ruts website)
Fr -Heavy chins and overhead press - Running/rowing

I'll see how I feel this weekend but at the least I was planning on doing mobility exercises from Super Joints and some foam rolling and I might join the CF DC crew for a workout Sunday.

Thanks for the workout ideas; I will use some. I will also have to modify some of Coach Rut’s workouts and get creative on my own in order to create some brief metcon workouts. Let me know how it progresses.

Alan

[Craig Cooper]

This is a great thread. I too have been struggling with focusing on one particular thing. I definitely need to build a strength base, but I've always been scared of letting my conditioning slip.

By the way, where can I get a copy of Coach Rutherford's ME template/articles on ME days?

[Russell Greene]

I wrote an article partially relevant to this subject on my blog a few days ago:

Training has been pretty lackluster for the last two weeks. Lack of sleep, stress, schoolwork, all combine to mean poor recovery, which leads to overtraining at first, and undertraining later. I miss the good old days of last year when I could train hard much more frequently since I was doing almost entirely metabolic conditioning workouts. Every workout was hard, challenging, and rewarding, yet I would usually wake up the next morning ready and raring to go again. With heavy lifting, gymnastics, and sprinting, which I am less used to, I am not able to train as hard, as regularly. Consequently my training is less psychologically rewarding. It is worth it however, because though last year I had great endurance, I struggled with 205 for 6 in the squat and my deadlift had gone nowhere for two years, in addition to flexibility and form problems. Now I am more flexible, much stronger, and my metcon has improved in some areas and stayed the same in others. Not a bad deal. But I still miss training all metcon all the time. Coach Glassman said "Optimal physical competency is a compromise, a balancing act; a compromise between not only conflicting but perfectly antagonistic skills. The manner in which you resolve this conflict defines the quality of your fitness and is the art of exercise prescription." This compromise is the essence of Crossfit, and it is also the essence of the problems that most people have with Crossfit. This includes myself. I am naturally predisposed to endurance efforts by both talent and taste, yet I know that progress comes through training my weak points. Training a weak point sucks. You're not good at it, it takes a lot of concentration, and because you are less skilled, you ultimately can't push yourself as hard, which means that it is less mentally rewarding. Furthermore you must cut back on training your strong points all the time. Effective training must be mentally rewarding, yet it also must address weakpoints. You must be strong and powerful, yet you also must have a high degree of endurance, if you want to be good at Crossfit, and also if you want to be fit for most physical challenges. Another problem is that I have this idea in my head that I must do a certain amount of volume of work to stay fit, regardless of whether my results are improving or not. Power training is so much less volume intensive than metabolic training, and thus when I do it I feel lazy even if I am making progress.

While my training this Fall has not been exemplary, I have done some things right. I got my overhead squat up to 155 X 6,5,5,4, got up to 90 lb. one arm snatches for a triple each arm, doubled 205 in the split jerk, improved my hip flexibility, finally cut the sugar and processed carbohydrates completely out of my diet, improved my rowing a bit, improved my front lever, got up to 75 X 5 in the weighted ring dip, rowed at 250 watts for 12 minutes, did triples with 265 in the back squat, and sets of 5 with 305 in the deadlift, ran 200's on 45 seconds for 7:30, and improved the grip of my left arm. I have no idea what I can do on the main crossfit workouts like Fran, Fight gone Bad, Mary, Grace, etc., and that thought scares me. On the other hand I know intuitively that the training that I've done will prepare me well for training in that style when I return to it. Maximal strength improves strength endurance, and I have been training my metabolic conditioning, though I have not been making it a priority and I have not been training it consistently enough in the crossfit fashion.

[Eva Claire Synkowski]

jesus. i dont think 15 minutes on the rower will fix greg's new happy fun belt.

that was awesome, coach rut,

[R. Alan Hester]

Originally Posted by Craig Cooper

This is a great thread. I too have been struggling with focusing on one particular thing. I definitely need to build a strength base, but I've always been scared of letting my conditioning slip.

By the way, where can I get a copy of Coach Rutherford's ME template/articles on ME days?

Issue 3, April 2005 of Performance Menu has one of Coach Rut’s articles. Also, one can find a lot of info in regard to ME days on the Crossfit board.

Alan

[Greg Everett]

Originally Posted by Eva Claire Synkowski

jesus. i dont think 15 minutes on the rower will fix greg's new happy fun belt.

are you calling me fat?

[Ron Nelson]

Originally Posted by Allen Chu Yeh

I'm currently following the Strength workouts outlined in The New Rules of Lifting book by Alwyn Cosgrove and Lou Schuler. I also didn't want to give up completely on metcon and I have been adding in things after my workout that last like Coach Rut mentioned 5-10 minutes on average.
Here is an example of what I have been doing:
last M - heavy squat day - 5 minutes of kb swings
last T - heavy bench/row - nothing had to run out of the gym
last W- rest
last Th - heavy deadlift - 10 minutes of buellers and farmers walk
last Fr - heavy chins/overhead pressing - run/row
sat - rest
sun -rest
M - heavy squat day - I threw in tabata rows
T - heavy bench/row day - I did 1/4 Angie so I'd end up around 10 minutes
W- rest - only thing I did was some stretching
Th - heavy deadlifts - I did 1/2 Jackie (from Coach Ruts website)
Fr -Heavy chins and overhead press - Running/rowing

I'll see how I feel this weekend but at the least I was planning on doing mobility exercises from Super Joints and some foam rolling and I might join the CF DC crew for a workout Sunday.

I just started these same workouts this week. How are they working out for you, Alan?

Also, I see the final supersets of each workout as sort of a GPP thing. No rest between exercises and minimal rest between sets using single-limb and body weight movements. Got me huffing and puffing. I also add in the barbell complexes that Dan John and Steve Shafley have talked about lately as part of my warm-up.

BTW, I reviewed the MM DVD on that thread, per your request.