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| Congrats to Brett, Corey, Abigail, Rick, Montel, and Chris on attaining their level 1 Blue bands! |
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Carryover, Carryover, Carryover.
By Coach Jan
"Functional
movement" is one of the three tenets of the CrossFit prescription.
(Constantly varied, functional movements, executed at high intensity.) One of
the major reasons we use these movements exclusively is that they all have a
high carryover into real life. In other words, these movements mimic something
we do outside the box, whether you realize it or not. When you pick up grocery
bags off of the floor, you apply concepts of the deadlift. When you heave a
heavy bag of sand over your shoulder, you apply concepts of the clean and
snatch. When you hit the latrine the morning after a cheat meal, you apply
concepts of the squat. Hopefully we all understand that the things we do in the
box are intended to help you outside of it. However, one thing you may not know
is that a lot of the movements we do also have a carryover into each other!
I'm sure some of us have
experienced setting a personal record on a lift we haven't trained directly in
a long time. Let's use the deadlift. Louie Simmons, one of the most renowned
powerlifting coaches of our era, once said "To build your deadlift, don't
deadlift." What he meant by this was that everything, from back squats,
power cleans, kettlebell swings, and even pullups built his deadlift by
training the muscles involved. In the box, we train pretty much every part of
our body each week, so it's no wonder that we PR lifts on the regular, assuming
rest and recovery are in order. This, my friends, is the magic of carryover.
Unfortunately, although
all the movements we do have a positive carryover into outside the box or each
other, a select few also have a relative negative carryover. Let's talk about
the famed "Low Bar Back Squat". The fact of the matter is, our body
will adapt to the demands imposed on it. The low bar back squat trains our body
to squat with a very forward-inclined torso position due to the placement of
the bar on the back, as opposed to the "High Bar Back Squat" that
forces your torso into a more upright position. The low bar torso position is
very similar to that of the deadlift, and while it may have good carryover into
that movement, as well as a huge strength carryover from training the core,
hamstrings, and glutes, it has a negative carryover into movements that call
for a more upright torso. If you list all the movements that require being
strong in an upright torso position, and list all the movements that require
being strong in a bent over position, the upright torso position wins by a long
shot. Think, front squat, over head squat, thrusters, squat clean, squat
snatch, wall ball, etcetera. Remember, I said STRONG in these positions. A lot
of movements we do have us bent over, but being strong bent over versus upright
is less important, and plus, all the movements we do actually WILL help you get
strong in a bent over position. It is for these reasons that as a box, we
should stay away from too much low bar back squatting, as well as frequent
heavy deadlifts. If you look up legendary CrossFitter Josh Everett, this was
his advice as well, because years of low bar and deadlifting have made it
nearly impossible for him to get strong in an upright torso position.
Furthermore, if you are worried about training the posterior chain, I can sit here
and list the plethora of movements that we do daily that do just that, so rest
assured that not low bar-ing as much will not affect you in any way but
positively.
In no way am I saying
don't low bar, or don't deadlift. What I AM saying is that before you do
ANYTHING in the box, think about the carryover it will have into other
movements and outside the box. Practice your low bar back squat, and practice
your deadlift. More times than not, the low bar back squat will yield higher
numbers than the high bar back squat, so when it's time to hit the CrossFit
Total, pull that out of your tool box. But for the most part, stick with the
movements that will have the highest overall carryover into the rest of your
CrossFit tool box. Are you a low bar squatter or a high bar squatter?
Monday
Skill Builder
Clean & Jerk
Metcon
10 AMRAP
5 Clean & Jerks 155/135
250M row
Tuesday
Strength
Deadlift
3-3-3-1-1-1 @85-90%
Metcon
M.R. 3 minutes
3 Thrusters 95/65
6 Box jumps 24/20
9 Kb swings 53/35
- Beginners
Review
Air squat
Press & Push press w/pvc
Deadlift
Skill Builder
Thruster
Metcon
3 Rounds
Row 200m
10 Thrusters
Post reps, loads or times to comments.
