CrossFit and Starting Strength
Here is a brief summary
- Before choosing a training program, make sure your goals match what that plan can deliver.
- The popular Starting Strength program will make a beginner stronger in the basic exercises while teaching them excellent technique.
- The ever-changing CrossFit workouts keep the training interesting, but there is little in the way of planned progression if you are only doing the WOD(Workout of the Day). This type of training is a good choice for those who want to lose some fat and exercise but not the best choice for those who really want to train and progress.
We invest hours in the gym and expect it to pay off. If our workouts aren't giving us what we want, then we have to ask ourselves if it's our plan or us. Following the wrong exercise program can result in masses of wasted time and energy. Even a proven, reliable plan that has helped many succeed can be the wrong choice if the exerciser's goals are not aligned with what that plan can deliver. After all, you wouldn't use a low-volume program focused on strength development if fat loss is your primary goal, and you wouldn't follow a training program consisting solely of bodyweight exercises if your goal is to break the 250 kilo mark in deadlifts. Let's look at two popular training programs to see if they really are the best choice for those who use them.
Starting Strength
Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program has been lauded for nearly a decade as a straightforward program that introduces beginners to strength training. And Rippetoe would argue that if you've never really focused on the basic exercises, using his method and basic linear periodization, you're probably still a beginner in terms of the gains you can make, even if you've been "training" for years.
The squat-centered program has exercisers training three days per week, with each session starting with squats, followed by either flat bench presses, deadlifts or shoulder presses and power squats. A relatively low volume for each session (3 x 5 for most exercises after the warm-up) helps the trainee to focus on the technical mastery of each exercise, while allowing sufficient recovery between workouts. The progression of weights is straightforward. For each training session, the weight is increased by 5 to 10 pounds per exercise using a linear progression to allow the beginner to make continuous progress while slowly and steadily adapting to the workout as expected. This consistent, progressive load allows the exerciser to make tremendous progress by combining the new experience of training with weights with significant recovery time. Although some beginners may benefit from higher volume workouts, Rippetoe argues that recovery (which means adequate nutrition and rest) is more helpful than simply doing heavier workouts.
Another key benefit of Starting Strength is that by limiting the number of work sets to a lower volume, the exerciser builds strength and perfect technique in the key foundational exercises. Prioritizing these two fundamental aspects from day one can help the trainee get ahead of their peers. However, it is an unfortunate fact that safe and efficient training technique is rarely high on the priority list of beginners. In addition to the extremely thorough analysis and description of exercise execution technique, Starting Strength allows the trainee to focus on just five repetitions at a time. Perform five perfect repetitions, pause, perform another five repetitions, pause and perform another five repetitions and that's it. It's hard to mess up a set of five reps. It's possible, but it's hard. After several months of Starting Strength, a trainee will generally work heavier weights with better form than a trainee with similar experience who has not followed a similar plan.
However, one of the biggest criticisms of Starting Strength is the limited exercise selection. It's true that the five basic exercises - squats, flat bench press, deadlift, shoulder press and power deadlift - don't directly train arms or calves and also pay limited attention to chest, shoulders, back and leg flexors. Even though Rippetoe talks about supporting exercises such as Romanian deadlifts and barbell curls, they are not considered essential to the basic Starting Strength program. The intent is to allow the beginner to focus entirely on improving at just a small handful of big foundational exercises.
This idea certainly has merit, as evidenced by countless successful Starting Strength followers, but there are also some individuals whose muscle development, due to particular limb length ratios, varying lever ratios or poor muscle activation, will ultimately not benefit as much from a program that focuses solely on a few heavy basic exercises. However, reaching 80 kilos on the shoulder press, 125 kilos on the bench press and 200 kilos on the deadlift should help build some fairly well-developed arms, especially if the trainee has built up a dozen or two dozen pounds while reaching that level of strength, but that certainly won't be the case for everyone.
Would it hurt to include a few barbell curls and some lying tricep presses in the program? Probably not, but then you're close to crossing a red line. Why not add a few sets of side raises and cable rows? And finish with a few sets of leg curls and calf raises. Before you know it, you'll be doing more sets in a single training session than in an entire week of classic Starting Strength.
If you're following Starting Strength and feel the urge to add more exercises to your program, this is a good indicator that some combination of your self-discipline, willpower and/or attention span has reached its limits. And at this point, it's definitely time to reconsider whether your actions are really aligned with your goals. Another common criticism of Starting Strength is the idea of drinking four liters of whole milk every day. This is a decades-old method of increasing muscular body weight. If you add 2,400 kcal to your diet, you will gain weight. But gaining weight is not always better - not even in the world of weight training.
Starting Strength has become synonymous with this high-calorie diet tip and is seen as the culprit for more than a few extra inches of body fat. The problem with this, however, is that nowhere in Starting Strength does it say that every exerciser who follows this training method must also drink those four liters of whole milk per day. In fact, Rippetoe, who repeatedly emphasizes that this particular nutrition tip is for underweight beginners, has clearly described the basic recommended diet: "Plenty of protein, vegetables, fruit and clean carbohydrates. However, no effort should be made to reduce fat intake, but watch out for low-quality carbs and sugar."
Simple? Yes. Muscle friendly? Yes. Easy to get wrong? Sadly, yes. Four liters of milk plus three or four meals a day can help an exerciser build mass, but is definitely not the ideal diet plan for every exerciser attempting Starting Strength, and should definitely be followed.
CrossFit
In 1916, Alan Calvert, founder of the Milo Barbell Company and publisher of Strength magazine, said that an exerciser who followed his training advice "will be able to press a 70-pound barbell up over his head or tear two packs of playing cards....I also expect him to have enough strength and stamina to do the following: scale a 5-foot fence in one jump, move 500 to 600 pounds of dead weight, and row, walk or swim several miles without exerting himself or tiring." For nearly an entire century, the idea of an athletic strength athlete in every sense of the word was a popular goal that served to avoid the "all show" stereotype. The most current and well-known training method that promotes this concept is CrossFit. CrossFit training is officially defined as a workout in which constantly varying functional exercises are performed at high intensity. This may sound like a random collection of adjectives, but it is an accurate summary of the core CrossFit methodology.
No two workouts are identical - exercisers can train for more than a month before repeating a workout exactly. Workouts are built around "functional exercises" in the sense that they combine heavy basic barbell exercises with basic or not-so-basic bodyweight-only exercises, and they are performed at near-constant high intensity by timing them and aiming to complete a maximum amount of training volume within a set amount of time. If the constantly varying WODs (workouts of the day that are regularly posted on the CrossFit homepage) have anything in common, it's that different physical attributes are regularly trained during each session - most commonly agility, strength, endurance, speed and anaerobic endurance. One could argue that these attributes are crucial, if not fundamental, to athletic performance and that training them regularly is a surefire way to create an athlete who is always ready to play a game of basketball, participate in a "fun run" through the mud or help friends move.
With variations on Olympic weightlifting exercises, basic barbell exercises (everything from flat bench presses to controversial exercises like sumo deadlift high pull), classic bodyweight exercises (push-ups, pull-ups, squats, handstand training) and a penchant for rowing machines and jump ropes, CrossFit workouts burn a lot of calories - which is especially true since these workouts are done in a circuit format with very few breaks. Combine the intense workouts with basic CrossFit nutritional advice - base your diet on vegetables and especially green vegetables, lean meats, nuts and seeds, low starch and no sugar - and it's easy to see why CrossFit has a reputation for burning fat. In addition to this, CrossFit is nowadays often associated with a Paleo or Stone Age diet. As controversial as a Paleo diet may be, the idea of focusing your diet on meat, vegetables and healthy fats is a surefire way to improve body development.
However, the inherent randomness of CrossFit's WODs is also a point of criticism. "Regular inconsistent" workouts can make it difficult to evaluate progress. Even with a detailed training diary, this presents a challenge if it takes a long time to reuse a particular exercise or repetition range. If you were simply training with the WODs where each session is a surprise, there's no real way to predict what's coming - except that three training days are followed by a rest day, that each training session consists of a new series of exercises with new repetition ranges, and that these training sessions often but not always include some type of cardio/conditioning workout such as rowing, running or jumping rope.
If you look at a random example of 6 week WODs, 50, 21, 15, AMRAP (as many reps as possible) reps and single reps to test strength are the most common repetition ranges. Although it is often recommended to adjust the WODs based on your capacity or to break high repetition ranges into smaller chunks if needed, these workouts have two extremes. You are either training with high or very high reps or using the heaviest weights possible, with little training in between these extremes. This lack of training with heavier weights is another common criticism. Pure strength training is absent from most WODs, and even though training weights are one of the most important variables influencing program design (everything from exercise selection to volume to weekly recovery), training with heavy weights is another undeniable foundation of a successful athlete.
The sport of CrossFit can have a bit of a blurred outline compared to CrossFit training, but this is comparable to competitive powerlifting. Even though X, Y and Z are necessary on the day of competition, the exerciser does not necessarily have to perform X, Y and Z exclusively during their training sessions. This can be seen in the example of many successful CrossFit competitors who modify or completely forgo WODs when preparing for a CrossFit competition. When the best of the best at the CrossFit Games do not strictly follow the CrossFit training program to perform well in the sport of CrossFit, it can lead to confusion and uncertainty for recreational athletes. For the non-competitive athlete, following the WODs with appropriate adaptations based on personal ability can be a reliable and good way to achieve the old-fashioned goal of "getting in shape". One trap that exercisers sometimes fall into is that this goal gradually morphs into the goal of getting good at CrossFit or training to get better at training.
But is this much different from an amateur powerlifter who doesn't compete and whose primary focus is to increase their weights on squats, bench presses and deadlifts? That's a blurred line too. Having a goal that keeps you coming back to the gym will always help you move forward, rather than just treading water and achieving nothing.
Does your plan match your goals?
If you have read this article carefully, you will have noticed that almost every "problem" associated with a given exercise program is equally the fault of the exerciser. This is because the human factor will always determine whether a program leads to progress, keeps you stuck, or even leads to regression.
Some people who work out are already satisfied with just doing something in the gym a few days a week. For these people, the program they follow doesn't matter, as the "results" will almost always be the same. Other people try to improve on each training session compared to the previous one, while making overall progress. These are the exercisers who invest mental energy into choosing or designing the right program to help them get closer to their goals. And some people train for something specific - generally for a sport or to achieve a specific goal at a specific time. These are the exercisers who can benefit most from regularly assessing their progress and adjusting their training plan accordingly. Which group do you belong to?
By Chris Colucci
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/crossfit-and-starting-strength