Crossfit anyone?

If it's possible learn all the olympic lifts you can, they're amazing for building muscle and or strength and power but like others have said; avoid Crossfit like it's the ****ing plague. Some of the WODs have you doing heavy olympic lifts for high reps which is a very bad idea for technical lifts.

 

Nearly every weight I do is an olympic lift though I could do with brushing up my technique if anyone can pint me in the direction of some good youtubes.

 

www.cathletics.com

 

Even the best olympic lifters need to always be examining their technique, olympic lifting is a skill and a sport in itself. It's not something you're going to just 'learn', it's something that the more you do and the more you examine your technique the more proficient you will become. Bodybuilding isn't anywhere near the same thing, you need some technique but basically anybody can pick up a weight and move it without any trouble across one joint.
Olympic lifting is a whole body movement that requires strength, speed and timing.
Before you try them you should be doing strengthening exercises like back and front squats along with different presses and try the different components of the lift before you try the full lift. You need to be mobile so you want to be doing regular flexibility work as well. It's not something you're going to pick up and just be good at, before you start also try to understand basic technique so you don't hurt yourself. And forget about your arms, oly lifting is all legs and traps. So many people try to lift the bar up with their arms when they start so that's the first thing to overcome. Also start very light and focus on technique, it's all technique.

 

For $25 annualy, you get a subscription to the Crossfit Journal. The "CFJ" is full of videos, audios, pdf articles, interviews, etc.. invloving the crossfit community. Honestly at first I though Crossfit was overlyhyped marketing BS, but since I am in the fitness industry, I didn't hesitate to folk over the money to lean more about the culture of Crossfit.

Wlell I can vouch for it. In the last year or so, they have intoduced crossfit striking, crossfit endurance, crossfit powerlifting, etc.. which to me has greatly improved my view on the CF community. I reguarly log in to my CFJ account and see what the latest info is.

Now am I a 'Crossfitter" persay (?), not really. But thats problaly b/c I have been training somewhat silmiliar to this (myself and clients) for quite a while, in regards to circuit training or General Physical Prepardeness (GPP) butI am not a big fan of compound lifts done at max speeds w/ minimal rest. Plus I perfer to design my own training program rather than follow random Workouts of the Day (WOD) which don't appear to have any purpose (unless you are competing in the crossfit games)

That being said, it's probaly one of the best ways to condition a combat athlete though (probaly more of a MMA fighter than a boxer) due to the high anerobic focus of high intensity in as little time as possible. I guess the disadvantage would be learning the OLY lifts which as previous poster already pointed out is a skill sport itself, so an amatuer/pro fighter wouldn't really have the leisure time to master these lifts w/o interfering with the skill work for their sport.

All in all, it is a powerful movement that is getting people strong and fit and you can't hate on that:good

 

Though you bring up good points, I have to disagree with 1 part of your post. Boxers primarily rely on the anerobic threshold not the aerobic threshold. Yes most boxers do road work (i.e. long jogs) but when studying the sport, you will see that they gain the most benefit (aside from skill training of course) from circuit type training that mimics a 2 or 3 minute round. Boxers don't just coast through rounds. Their constantly moving, pucnhing, dodging, blocking, etc... The anerobic energy system(s) is perfect for this because of the work capacity, followed by short rest (boxing round, followed by 1minute break).

Now yes they do have moments in the aerobic phase but boxing is constant stop ang go, high energy, lower energy, back up to higher energy and so forth.
Also, due to the durations of a crossfit type workout (30 minutes or less), I don't think boxers would burnot as quickly as you are indicating. But I would agree that learning and training with oly lifts would be too time consuming for a boxers training schedule if they are in camp for a bout.

Good post though

 

cross-fit does use olympic lifting and variations of O-lifts (only the snatch and clean & jerk are Olympic events). if you're in the first year of boxing then i'd advocate cross-fit because your first year should be mixed with variety (circuits are good) for general fitness. don't start working too early on "boxing muscles" or you may end up with injuries and imbalances if you have a long career.

with O-lifting keep in mind that your primary is boxing and this is secondary AND it can be very beneficial on so many levels (flexibility, learning to use your body's muscles and joints in efficient combinations, etc). i can critique O-lifting a bit but teaching it is not a forte. but i love it when my athletes are able to do a (light) over head squat for reps because you need to have full arm extension and locked to hold the bar overhead (strong full range of motion tendons across the elbow joint will fight off that sting when "hyperextended"); traps are engaged to strengthen muscles around neck; the angle of the hips are similar to the way i teach slipping a jab; the explosive use of knees and hips for countering off a slip; balance.

also, my experience with cross-fit has been very "community" which aids in motivation and accountability. if you happen to have a fight coming up, tell the instructor. i can't imagine any responsible leader wanting to do soemting detrimental towards someone's primary goal. and if it does happen, you have the free will to not follow them ... no matter how much they're yelling at you, lol.

do your research though and find a place with knowledgeable staff. i'm a huge advocate as long as it is taught properly which may be a slow progress (the place i learned from ( http://www.hyperfitusa.com/ ) has a ten private policy and they let me know when i'm ready to take classes, because of safety for myself and others).

and my first introduction to O-lifting was through Sean Waxman ( http://www.waxmansgym.com/ ) who uses O-lifting to crosstrain elite highschool volleyball players in Southbay Los Angeles to championships and scholarships. i watched him as he broke every movment down to perfection and would not progress them until they were ready.

and don't just learn off the internet unless you can find broken down instruction, but even then you won't have a coach there to give you feedback on form so, still not as good as a live coach.

 

Yeah Sean Waxman had an Olympic lifting segment in my MMA Conditioning Certification. I like how he teaches you how to hold your breath as you begin your lifts. I believe his company is Pure Strength

 

yes, that's him.

funny, i just finished a conversation about breathing with a strength coach a few seconds ago. we discussed that form of breathing.

 

I thought I wrote anaerobic threshold. Regardless of terms, most people do not have a clue what this truly means. It is referred to as many things. Under no circumstance is the "anaerobic energy system" perfect as it has a capacity of 4-12 seconds of work, that is all. The second that the heart rate goes above anaerobic threshold, there is a very short period of time before a fighter will "gas." Again, boxing is a sport that relies far more heavily on the aerobic energy system than any other energy system, regardless of higher/lower energy. That is why it is called an aerobic/anaerobic sport. There are many things I do not know about, but I am positive that I am spot on with the information I have given.

Thanks for the reply don't sleep, and I appreciate you reading my post. Please know that I hope none of what I typed seemed condescending or arrogant, as that is the last thing I wish to come across as. It is difficult to convey this over a post.:good

 

No problem man. I didnt take it as arrogant. I surely don't know at all as well. I just happen to be a fitness professional who has some credentials which allow me to comment with facts instead of just trying to sound smart,lol. There are a few of posters here on ESB who seem to have somewhat of an idea of how to train the combat athlete .......... as for some other posters ...atsch

Also, though I have bene training similiar to a boxer for years, it wasn't until I started my MMA Conditioning Coach Certification, that I really began to study deep into the science of training a combat athlete and realize what the human body is capable of, once it is understood how and why you train it to adapt to a certain stimulus.

 

Good points. I would even up ypur percentage and say that boxing is only 10% actual fighting and 90% mental. That's why fighters like Floyd and Hopkins (and up and comers like Canelo Alvarez and Andre Ward) are/will be very successful becusae they understand that technique, balance, positioning, staying relaxed, remaining in shape year round, etc.. is what wins fights and perserves long careers.

 

Make sure to read Joel Jamieson's stuff and buy his Ultimate MMA conditioning book. It is by far the best and most informative book I have ever read for the combat athlete. It dispells a lot of myths, misconceptions.