To Weightlift or Not To Weightlift
/That last little bit of extension in the elbows can be very tough in the ring dip. Natalie was showing great lock-out in her elbows this morning.
Weightlifting (that's the sport of it - Clean and Jerk, and Snatch) is a big part of Crossfit. We post a lot of weightlifting videos on our site. There has been some criticism in Crossfit that it has become too weightlifting biased. In other words, there isn't enough gymnastic work (which seems to be changing after this years regionals) or even monostructural exercises (what you may consider cardio-type movements, running, rowing etc.), which are the three foundational movement areas of Crossfit methodology and programming. This also seems to be more of the trend since "the sport of fitness" has taken off. There is just a power and strength threshold that has to meant in order to compete.
But let's look at it from an average Joe's perspective. Competitively speaking, isn't it the closest thing to a sport we can practice, perform and play around with out of the three foundational areas? The difference in what a lot of us are doing in weightlifting compared to the best in the world is simply a matter of barbell weight. We can clean and jerk, and snatch just the same (of course technique/efficiency can be largely different, but no two people shoot a basketball the same way either), but there's no way we're doing a lot of or any of the routines you see in the Olympics in gymnastics. The muscle up is not even a scored movement in gymnastics and it's one of if not the most challenging movements in Crossfit (average Joe perspective).
There's the theory (shout out to the Strength Specific Seminar guys) that weightlifting lends itself better to Crossfits 10 components of fitness (let me know if you'd like me to elaborate) better than any other movement, inevitably making you fitter by practicing the clean and jerk, and snatch more than any other movement.
We do run and row a lot, but again that's not the same thing. Most gyms have funky routes mapped out for their distances. It's completely different to run an Alley Loop (our route for the 800 meter run) than it is to run a half mile on the track.
Any of us can walk in the gym and practice an olympic sport today. There are an infinite amount of variations that can be programmed, the mental side of weightlifting is incredibly challenging, the Snatch is the most powerful movement on the planet, and what's funner in Crossfit than cleaning, jerking and snatching??
If weightlifting makes you fitter than any other movement, should Crossfit then not be weighted towards weightlifting? I'd be interested to hear some perspectives on this.
On that note, here's a very impressive recent 400kg total in training by top 105 American lifter Pat Mendes.
Workout:
3 Rounds:
5 x 1 Squat Clean - every 30 seconds
*Rest until 5 minute mark, i.e each round is every 5 minutes.
Hang Power Clean (115/175lb) 10-8-6
Ring Dip 20-16-12
