My favourite Day CFT
CrossFit Total Strategy – the Warm Up
Whether this is your first or 20th time doing the CrossFit Total, you need a strategy.
The first thing to remember is that you will have plenty of time to warm up in advance. Under no circumstances should you load the bar with a heavy weight and do your first attempt without any warm ups. That is a sure fire recipe for injury.
The goal of the warm up is to prime the nervous system and practice the movement. It is not to exhaust yourself before you make a first attempt. As a result warm ups should not be slow, grindy reps.
As the squat is usually the first movement, it will be where warm ups are most important. Once you have finished the squat you will already be relatively warm, so you will need less time for the press and deadlift (although you should still take some warm up attempts).
If you are going to attempt your first big squat/ Bench press at 90%, a warm up would be something like the following:
5 reps x 20%
5 reps x 50%
3 reps x 60%
1 rep x 70%
1 rep x 80%
Notice how the reps decrease as you approach the first attempt. All of your warm up lifts should be executed as smoothly and quickly as possible. They should not be difficult.
You do not need to rest excessively between warm ups, just enough time to change the plates on the bar.
Choosing the Numbers
You should decide in advance what your attempts will be. If you already know your 1 rep maxes then this is fairly simple.
For your first attempt you should choose a number that is 85%-90% of your 1 rep max. This should be a number you know that you can confidently get anytime. The goal of this is simply to get a score on the board. If you start too high and miss all 3 attempts, your score is zero.
If your 1 rep max squat is 100lbs, your attempts should go something like this:
THEN Your 3 Total attempts
1 rep x 90%
1 rep x 95-97%
1 rep @ 103-107%
Base attempts 2 and 3 off attempt 1. If attempt 1 feels good you can increase the weight. If it is a grind, you might want to take a small jump (5-10lbs) and then maybe go for a small PR on your third attempt, so something like this:
Attempt 1 – 90% (tough but ok)
Attempt 2 – 95% (very tough but completed)
Attempt 3 102%
Don’t get greedy and take huge leaps in between lifts and remember jumps of 5-10% are ok in the squat and deadlift, but in the press smaller jumps are going to work better (2-5%).
Spotters
Spotters are going to be important for the CrossFit Total, mainly for the back squat. Please don’t attempt a max effort back squat without having 2 spotters, 1 on each side of the barbell.
Spotting is not permitted (or necessary) for the press and deadlift.
Other than that enjoy it and have fun. Make sure to record your scores so you have something to beat next time you do the CrossFit Total as well as we use these numbers for our percentage work in our strength cycle.
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Final reminder…
A 1 RM is a perfect lift. Not a Shit Ass rep that has you out of position and technique is broken. No one cares if you can deadlift 300lbs with a rounded back and we won’t tolerate or count the lift. Only good solid reps count, stay tight, squat below parallel, brace your core.
Have fun, lift heavy!
Stouty
Wednesday October 25, 2017
Focus:
Warm Up 15 minutes
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Workout Of the Day: 45 minutes
CrossFit Total Day
Find your 1 RM in:
Back Squat/ Bench press
Dead Lift
Sh. Press
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