benefits of CF vs. o-lifting

Rachel Izzo · 05-15-2008, 05:44 AM

So this has been bothering me for some time. I've been doing CF for 3ish years, always on and off in the lacrosse season, but have been going at it steadily, and have always loved it. I recently participated in my first o-lifting meet, and found that I had a (potential) talent and love for the sport. I'm now training with a former Olympic alternate. But the problem is: no crossfit, no running, no cardio whatsoever. And my question is this: is purely o-lifting enough activity? Since I love all activity, it's going to be SO hard for me to not do anything else (although I will have lacrosse twice a week) ... is it really that detrimental to do some light stuff (CF or running) on the side? If it is, why is that? What's better for you? Will it be bad if I commit to purely o-lifting? What are the benefits of doing just O-lifting?

Sorry for the longish post, but it's been nagging at me for some time!

John Alston · 05-15-2008, 07:12 AM

Steve Liberati · 05-15-2008, 07:54 AM

Might want to give the CA WOD a shot. Combines the best of both worlds. Coach Greg is the operator behind the programming so you know its top notch.

I would think O-Lifting by itself is not enough physical activity if your looking for an overall high level of general fitness. While you certainly will see the benefits of greater power and strength from O-lifting, done by itself, other fitness skills will most likely drop off (namely metabolic conditioning and stamina).

But I suppose incorporating O-lifting into your overall training regimen is a great strategy.

Allen Yeh · 05-15-2008, 08:18 AM

I'd like to echo what Steve said about the CA WOD, I'm currently NOT coing it because of a injury. Take a look at EC's log, Leo's log and Gants log. All 3 of them doing Oly + metcon's plus other stuff and they do pretty well.

There will come a point if you do well enough in Oly that you may want to think about dropping all metcon's. Greg is a great example of this, he used to be a CrossFit stud, one of the top guys in most of the workouts. Since picking up Oly and wanting to compete in Oly, I'm pretty sure he's given up all metcon's at this point.

As an competetive athlete I'd say give the CA WOD a try and see how it goes for a few weeks to see what you should add/subtract.

Steven Low · 05-15-2008, 08:32 AM

As I posted on CF forums... if you're looking to get to national and possibly world level then excessive GPP will hinder your development of power. So if you really want to focus on this, you'd be best off cutting back and only doing the amount of GPP in the CA WODs because anything else is just gonna hurt your Oly development.

Well, first you should decide overall what you want to do.

John Alston · 05-15-2008, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Low

Well, first you should decide overall what you want to do.

That's the first step. Awesome like Huster in the pic I posted above or not - that's the issue.

Dave Van Skike · 05-15-2008, 09:52 AM

Focus is key to Karate.

Mike ODonnell · 05-15-2008, 12:28 PM

White men CAN jump!

Rachel Izzo · 05-15-2008, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Liberati

Might want to give the CA WOD a shot. Combines the best of both worlds. Coach Greg is the operator behind the programming so you know its top notch.

I would think O-Lifting by itself is not enough physical activity if your looking for an overall high level of general fitness. While you certainly will see the benefits of greater power and strength from O-lifting, done by itself, other fitness skills will most likely drop off (namely metabolic conditioning and stamina).

But I suppose incorporating O-lifting into your overall training regimen is a great strategy.

What's the site for that?

Yeah I'm not sure what I want to do, that's part of the issue. Really want to get better at the lifting, but also want to be in over all good shape. It'll take some time to think about. I'm also going to be doing 2 days of lacrosse, so I'm not going to be doing 0 aerobic activity, but just probably won't be doing CF.

Mike ODonnell · 05-15-2008, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rachel Izzo

What's the site for that?

Yeah I'm not sure what I want to do, that's part of the issue. Really want to get better at the lifting, but also want to be in over all good shape. It'll take some time to think about. I'm also going to be doing 2 days of lacrosse, so I'm not going to be doing 0 aerobic activity, but just probably won't be doing CF.

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