Starting Strength Takes a Big Crap on CrossFit, P90X, Insanity

Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore is one of my favorite go-to guides for information on proper Olympic lifting technique. I've learned a ton from watching Rippetoe's online videos and reading his old CrossFit Journal articles. Sadly, he's one of many well-respected ex-CrossFit affiliate owners who appear to have had a falling out with the folks at CrossFit HQ, and he's no longer conducting CrossFit barbell certification trainings.

Still, I was a little surprised to read this recent article on the Starting Strength website, which takes great pains to slam the fuck out of CrossFit. The author, Damon Wells, musters some strong arguments against "muscle confusion" and "broad time and modal domains" as concepts that are "useless," the "opposite of progress" and "gimmicks promoted by greedy entrepreneurs." P90X, Insanity and CrossFit are called out as "glorified and well marketed versions of circuit training."

The bottom line in training is the realization of improvements that are quantifiable. A runner should get faster. A powerlifter should get stronger. An athlete should improve on sport-specific skills. By incorrectly training a carelessly tossed together hodgepodge of techniques, you are essentially training to be good at nothing. Some proponents of these methods preach the opposite: variety leads to improvement in everything. An example of this is CrossFit’s claim that they train for the unknown and the unknowable. Unfortunately, this is not how human physiological systems work. You become better at that which you practice, both metabolically and mechanically. Practicing everything makes you better at nothing.

The conclusion: "[S]trength training is more useful for humans over the long haul. The goal of training in general should be to develop a robust, injury resistant body that is harder to break. Strength training accomplishes this goal. As useful as it may be, cardiorespiratory training does not."

I'm a devoted CrossFitter, but I don't disagree with everything Wells has to say. One of my main complaints about CrossFit's main site WODs is the randomness of the daily workouts and the lack of consistent strength development or periodization. If my affiliate didn't operate on a Max Effort Black Box model (which emphasizes strength training over long, draining, random WODs), I don't know that CrossFit would hold my interest. Building strength is important to me.

But who says that enhanced metabolic conditioning can't also be a useful goal?

What say you?

Friday's Workout

Finally -- a (sort of) easy CrossFit skills workout!

At the friendly neighborhood CrossFit gym this morning, we worked on dead hang chin-ups by doing 3 sets of 5, and then 3 sets of 3. Thanks to months of chin-ups in various P90X workouts, this was a breeze. Noticing the ease with which I cranked out my first set, Coach T started adding weights. But even with a heavy dumbbell jammed into my crotch, this wasn't much of a challenge. I know the point of today's session was to develop neuromuscular connections and to master the technique, but three chin-ups per set are nothing compared with the high-rep sets in Chest & Back, Back & Biceps, and 30-15 Upper Body Massacre.

Thank you, Tony.

On the other hand, today's metcon was a killer:

• 10 ascending-rep sets (i.e., 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10) of Sumo Deadlift High Pulls

alternating with

• 10 descending-rep sets (i.e., 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1) of Barbell Thrusters

Here's what a sumo deadlift high pull looks like:



I finished in 10:54, but I barely put any weight on the barbell (75 pounds). Also, the girl in my 5 a.m. class who usually SMOKES me in metcons finished over a minute after I was done, which leads me to suspect that I miscounted my reps/sets and ended up doing less than I should have.

Or she miscounted and did too many.

Or I am awesome. Which is highly unlikely.

Monday's Workout

Jerks! Lots and lots of jerks.



And then, we tackled the metcon for the day.

Every minute, on the minute:

3 Power Cleans
6 Push-ups
9 Air Squats
1 minute rest

Do AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) in 4 minutes, and then repeat twice for a total of 12 minutes.

I thought this looked easy, but I was so, so wrong.

My results: 5 rounds + 1 Power Clean / 5 rounds / 5 rounds + 1 Power Clean. I used a 95-pound bar. The other person who showed up for class this morning at 5 a.m. smoked me, beating me in reps by a decent margin. And did I mention that she: (1) weighs barely 100 pounds, (2) is a new mother, and (3) ran a half-marathon yesterday?

Wednesday's Workout

Waking up at 4:20 a.m. is a drag, but I need a good half-hour to clear the fog out of my head before heading out for my morning workout. I tend to get a little nervous before arriving at the CrossFit gym; I have no idea what metcon hell's been planned for the day. But usually, the anticipation of the workout is much worse than the reality. It's a crazy challenge, to be sure, but it's manageable. (Barely.)

Today, for the skills portion of the session, we continued working on front squats. I've hit a bit of a ceiling at 175 pounds, which is about 1.3x my bodyweight. (I'm currently about 135 pounds.) Every time I try to go heavier, I end up gassing out and tossing the barbell away while still down in the "hole" position of the squat. I suck right now, but I'm determined to work on my front squats at home (I've set up a squat stand, Olympic bar and bumpers in our increasingly crowded home gym) and thereby suck a little less in the future.

As for the aforementioned metcon hell, this morning's wasn't too bad. We did a half-"Nicole" -- AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) in ten minutes of:

• 200-meter run
• Max rep pull-ups

I managed 6 rounds, but my pull-up numbers left a lot to be desired:

14 / 8 / 6 / 8 / 7 / 9

I desperately need to learn how to properly kip.

Monday's Workout

I rolled out of bed at 4:45 a.m. this morning and popped into my friendly neighborhood CrossFit gym.

Skills/Strength: 5-5-5-7-7-7 kettlebell snatches (from the looks of my forearm bruises, I'm not yet proficient at this yet)

Metcon: Modified half-Kelly -- as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:

• 200-meter run
• 15 plyo box jumps (using a 24-inch box)
• 15 wall balls (using a 16-pound medicine ball)

I made it through only five rounds. God, this is tough.

Round 3 / Day 102: CrossFit - Jerks

Okay -- I think I'm done pretending I'm going to focus on recovery this week. We're heading off on vacation soon, and I'll have plenty of time for R&R. Today, I decided to squeeze in another CrossFit workout.

On the menu this morning:

Warm-Up: I rowed 1000 meters, did some push-ups, and tried to learn how to crank out some kipping pull-ups:



Jerks: 3 sets of 5 reps, followed by 3 sets of 3 reps. It took some practice, but I finally managed to do them with plates on the bar.



Metcon: Today's ass-kicker consisted of 3 circuits of the following: 400-meter run, 21 ring presses, and 12 deadlifts (I only lifted weights equal to my bodyweight) -- all for time. I finished in 11:03, which ain't as great as I'd hoped.



I'm ready for tomorrow's 5 a.m. beat-down, provided I can make it out of bed in the morning.

Round 3 / Day 101: P90X X Stretch + CrossFit

I got all nice and bendy with the P90X X Stretch video this morning -- but then I attended my first CrossFit class today, which whupped me thoroughly.

We started with a 15-minute warm-up (1000-meter row, push-ups, pull-ups), and then, while the other two people in class today practiced crisp, explosive squat cleans with barbells and plates, I started learning how to do them with a hollow PVC pipe. "Learning" may be too generous; I had serious trouble following along with the movement. I kept flailing around, arms and legs akimbo, and although I finally managed to "advance" to practicing with a 45-pound bar, I never got proficient enough to justify putting plates on it. I'm pretty sure Tim was getting exasperated by my total inability to follow his very specific pointers. By the end, I was just heaving around the bar like a crazed, sweaty moron.

God, I hate homework, but I'm going to have to figure out how to fix my form by watching videos like this one:



I fared better with the metcon portion of today's class. The task was to do as many circuits of 3 exercises (five 24-inch plyo box jumps, 10 push-ups and 15 Abmat sit-ups) as possible in 10 minutes. I managed 9 circuits, but had to lie down afterwards. While I mopped up my sweat, Tim kindly pointed out that he intentionally programmed an "easy" one to give me a gentle welcome to CrossFit. Gee, thanks!

Holy hell, I'M TERRIBLE AT THIS.

But I'm hooked. Definitely coming back for more.