Variance Allows Creativity

One of the great things about programming CrossFit workouts is the amount of movements you can choose from.  Having so many movements allows for a great amount of creativity.  Take the pull up for example.  You can do strict, kipping, weighted, chest to bar etc.  And within these general ways to do the pull up, there are many ways to program each variation.  Max effort, for time, AMRAP, strength sets, skill work, and combinations therein - you get the point.  The amount of options for even just one movement gives you an idea of that magnitude of variance in CrossFit programming.  
Today we went with some classic strength sets in the pull up.  Here Greg is with his weighted face getting his chin clear over the bar.  

Workout:

3 Rounds:
5 Weighted Pull Ups
5 Weighted Dips

4 rounds:
3 minute clock:
30 wall balls (10/11ft)(14/20lb)
3 rope climbs
- remaining time shuttle run
2 minute rest

Not All Deadlifts Are Created Equal

There was a recent post about the movements in Crossfit and how almost all of them, sans thruster, come from other schools of training.  A caveat to that discussion is how the deadlift or for that matter, any other traditional power or olympic lift, is used in a Crossfit metcon.  When we lift for strength, in the deadlift for example, we do not touch and go or rebound.  The reasons could be for another post but essentially if you get good at rebounding you skip an integral part of the lift.  A good analogy here is comparing the kipping pull up.  If you always kip, you leap-frog a very important part of the movement, the initial change of inertia at the bottom. 
Anywho, todays deadlift was heavy, but it was not about a powerlifting perspective.  It was about, in a healthy position, getting the bar from point A to point B as fast as possible.  The example of this is the amount of knee flexion in the bottom of the lift.  In a classic deadlift set up you want to find good tension for force production in the posterior chain by limiting the amount of knee flexion.  But when you're talking about rebounding, as some folks noticed today, there is an extra benefit to letting the knees bend a little more at the bottom.  If you can time this knee flexion with the rebound of the plates, you'll find the bar firing back up.  Here is Mark today hammering through some deadlifts with a little more knee flexion than we'd probably see him with in a classic deadlift strength workout.

Workout:

12 Deadlifts (315/205lb)
24 Burpees
48 Double Unders
9 Deadlifts
18 Burpees
36 Double Unders
6 Deadlifts
12 Burpees
24 Double Unders