Muscle snatch 1-1-1-1-1 reps
Power snatch 3-3-3-3-3 reps
Snatch 5-5-5-5-5 reps
Aja Barto 155/225/215lbs, Neal Maddox 195/215/210lbs, Jason Khalipa 185/195/190lbs, Jared Davis 145/165/165lbs.
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“A Language to Diagnose: Part 1” with Kelly Starrett, CrossFit Journal preview video [wmv] [mov]
What do you like or dislike about following “mainsite” (crossfit.com) programming at CFI?
What if it was delayed by two weeks?
Please leave us your feedback in the comments.
Lots to love about main site programming. I like being in step with the rest of the crossfit world. I don’t enjoy waiting a couple of days to tackle an enticing main site WOD.
The only negative I see (and this is purely form the athletes perspective) is the relative bias of Mainsite programming towards the average sized athlete. Larger athletes should add 10% or more to their metcon loads to really push themselves like the smaller athlete. However, Mainsite programming works well for me considering my very average build, and so I will continue to follow main site for the foreseeable future.
I do understand though that as a gym it is convenient to delay main site a bit to more adequately prepare for for difficult WODS. However, main site programming is to athletes as it is to gym owners as well. Preparing for the unknown and unknowable is the duty that extends to an athlete as well as a box. Following Mainsite implicity infers that the gym owner believes and it confident in Mainsite’s approach. It is them beholden onto them to try recreate the intended effect that Mainsite programming is trying to create, namely constantly varied, daily updated programming on a specific schedule with a bias towards short distance runs, , medium intensity metcons and bodyweight AMRAPS. This in effect extends the ongoing experiment that Crossfit represents to another BOX.
Speculating as gym owner however, I do see benefits to programming Home Grown WODs versus Mainsite WODs. That primary benefit would be the accessibility of ready made test groups to experiment with various programming techniques that are available to the gym owner as his clientele. For instance it would be nice to form test groups form members to test out various programming techniques such as possibly a 10% Metcon weight bias program or a Phosphagenic centric, Glycogenic centric, or Oxidative centric program, or even more generic speed training or highlighted movement and technique centric training or goal specific training like weight gain or strength gain. These programming techniques can be tested on groups in the gym and their relative success and failure compared in a controlled environment across a broad range of athletic physiques and mentalities. The research would benefit the entire Crossfit community, but it could take years of data collection and experimentation before any far reaching interpretations could be made. If I was a gym owner I would at least consider this approach. However before I embarked upon such a lofty venture, I would like to lay out a defensible research plan instead of trying new off the cuff programming techniques daily without a plan.
Just my thoughts. You asked for them!
Thanks,
-db
Muscle snatch 1 rep max 85#
Power snatch 3 rep max 85#
Squat snatch 5 rep max 85#
Fun WOD with the morning crew. I just could not get past 85 on any of these. Thanks for the coaching on the last set of 5, Christina.
1) Love keeping the main site programming. I can see macro patterns in what main site does and I trust that they are keeping the big picture in mind. Two examples: (i) we’ve had 4-6 week periods that were shoulder-centric but all in different ways and (ii) we re-did the 5K 1 month after the previous 5k. I believe they are onto something and it’s part of what I love about CF.
2) I’d say stay real-time, but I think that reaction is primarily because that’s all I’ve ever known. It’s like the Catholic Church… no matter where you are in the world you get the same Mass. I love the idea that whether I’m in Japan, South Carolina, or Madison, AL I’m doing the same workout.
Ultimately, however, I trust the CFI trainers/owners most of all. I’ll follow your lead!
What do you like or dislike about following “mainsite” (crossfit.com) programming at CFI? I have been doing mainsite workouts for about a year at CFI and I can’t say that I have any dislikes. A couple of the items I do like on mainsite programming is that I can read the comments section and see feedback on the workout of the day, whether it is times, scores, strategies, or whatever. Also, more often than not, they have a WOD demo available to watch.
What if it was delayed by two weeks? This is something I think would be beneficial in programming for mainsite rest days so there is little to no overlap in the next day’s mainsite workout. Sometimes I think Mainsite comes to CFI’s page to see what we did on our rest day and uses that in their programming the day after (kidding…kinda). Also, I am a bit of a planner so I naturally would like to see what type of workouts are comming up in the next week or two. On the other side of that coin there is some excitment to wondering what the next day’s workout will be. Overall, I think the delay would suit me better.
Obviously, this is just my personal opinion.
I feel main site WOD’s focus on intense competitive WOD’s (strength/skills days aside). I love it, and I hate it. I love coming in to the box and know I need to be fully focused and give it 100% in order to see if I can beat someone else’s time/weight, or my old PR. It’s motivating, provides an adrenalin high and forces my to be at my best every day. I love the concept and I hope to excel at it and someday make it to regional competition (but I’m not holding my breath).
However, the part of me which wants to workout for general physical health feels this is ultimately destructive on the body since you push to the brink on such a consistent basis. Now, I know some of you will say, “just take extra rest days” or “don’t go so hard on some days”. But it feels like that shouldn’t be necessary to think that way when you’re following a an official training program. Additionally, I am personally completely and utterly unable to hold back during a WOD (perhaps just a lack of discipline); and I doubt I am the only one who finds it hard to tone it down a notch. That leaves taking extra rest days, or doing a completely different WOD. Taking more than a couple days off a week sucks; plain and simple. Besides, I’m not paying so I can avoid working out. Doing a completely different WOD than the rest of the class also sucks, since part of the enjoyment of CFI is doing workouts with other people; at that point I might as well go to a globo gym where I don’t know anyone.
Perhaps my feelings on this are heavily tainted by months of achilles, calf and shoulder problems which are only now starting to fade after nearly 3 months of reduced physical activity and another month of no physical activity. This thought is also compounded by the fact that too my knowledge, it does not appear that the top CF athletes follow the main-site WOD’s. When asked, they all seem to do their own programming; granted most are doing 2-3 WOD’s a day. However most of those WOD’s don’t appear to be brutally intense (for them).
So what does this leave? What would be my preference? Maybe more of a focus on Olympic weight lifting and powerlifting. Or maybe more classes focused on skill work. I know most of the rest-day WOD’s do tend to focus both those areas, but I feel those WOD’s should be more common throughout the week with maybe 2-3 intense/competitive WOD’s. Ultimately I believe the CFI trainers will do what they think is best for the general health and well-being of the athletes.
One thought would be to have 2 WOD’s a day. The main-site WOD and an alternate WOD which doesn’t interfere with the main-site WOD, so athletes can choose what they would like to do and still (likely) be working out with other folks. I know this adds more work to the trainers and requires a divided floor space, but it’s just a thought. Additionally, if the main-site does a strength or skill WOD, then the alternate CFI WOD could be an intense metcon.
Well, I didn’t mean for this to go on so long, but it’s my $0.02 on the subject. I feel for the most part the main-site has it right, and I will not be upset if CFI continues to follow the main-site programming exclusively. I will continue to train at CFI and enjoy every minute of it regardless of the path forward (assuming I am ever back in town). I hope to see you all soon, and look forward to being back!
Muscle Snatch – 175
Power Snatch x 3 -175
Snatch x 5 – let’s just say lots of technique practice here with PVC and 65lb
I might be reading into the question too much and completely missing the point, but here is my opinion with my apologies if it is misguided or out of line.
I think in the end, following or not following mainsite comes down to a decision of what you, the trainers, want CFI to be. For me right now, CFI is perfect. For the most part, mainsite has a nice blend of METCON and strength, always different, never boring. To me, CFI fits its “Life. Changing. Fitness.” motto perfectly. What you guys are doing is changing lives, you have changed my life. What you guys to expertly is make CrossFit accessible for people like me, while satisfying the elite athletes at CFI. Thank you for that.
My experience with other CF boxes, although limited, is the opposite. The other boxes I have been to program their own WODs and they are all extreme. In Las Vegas, we did a 3×5 deadlift with max effort pullups between rounds, followed by a 20-minute METCON. CF Las Vegas had a male competitor in the finals at the Games and a team that just barely missed making it in. For these extreme boxes, every day they program a workout that is as difficult as a Hero WOD. I think boxes like CF Las Vegas are the reason CrossFit, as a fitness system in general, has developed the “it’s too hardcore for me” mentality among the athletic public. I’m not saying they don’t add tremendous value to the CrossFit community. They’re awesome! I think the hardcore stuff is badass, but it isn’t for me and they don’t anticipate having to scale their workouts for non-elites.
What I’m getting at is, I think it’s more of a decision on whether CFI wants to be an elite box or continue to change normal people at the local level, which is certainly an uphill battle in the state with the second-highest obesity rate in the US (thank God for Mississippi!). In my opinion, the best way to satisfy both worlds is to stick with mainsite. That way everyone is guaranteed good work, and those of us not quite to the point of being able to hit these RX’d, have some great options provided by the incredible CFI staff. That said, I think one improvement would be Alex’s idea. Specifically for days where the WOD is only 5 minutes long, or on a designated strength day, I’d like the option to get more work in. On shorter days, I leave feeling like I didn’t accomplish much. Maybe I’m missing the point of the 5 minute AMRAP, but I get a little disappointed if the main event is less than 15 minutes.
I like the idea of delaying the mainsite programming. Working on a delay would allow us to keep any long term periodization the mainsite may be using. It would also prevent overtraining in circumstances where mainsite wods end up being very similar to CFI programming from the prior day.
I also like Alex’s idea about more frequent or additional powerlifting/strenth wods.
In any case, I’m committed to the fitness philosophies that I’ve learned from the CFI owners and trainers. Regardless of programming, I will continue to go to CFI, do my best, and peel myself off the floor afterwards 🙂
Strongly agree with this comment
Travel… 5 rounds of 10 burpees, 10 toes to bar, and 10 pushups. 9:50ish.
I’m pretty new to crossfit, but I can say that I trust th CFI staff to (1) program “home grown” WODs, or (2) push athletes using the main site program. I don’t necessarily see a need for change, but home style programming might allow the CFI training staff to rise to the next level.
Regardless, I’m sticking with CFI whatever the outcome.
Personally, I have to say that I enjoy following the mainsite programming. I love being able to check at exactly 7:00 P.M. everyday to see what the next day’s workout will be. There’s a certain visceral experience of finding out what a WOD will be on the night beforehand that I love. I’m not saying it’s logical, but I definitely think it is something that I would miss if mainsite WOD’s were on a delay so that we know what is coming up 1 or 2 weeks in advance. Knowing that Fran or hero WOD’s like the one from this past Sunday are on the docket would almost be something to dread instead of feeling like a challenge to tackle as they do now.
With that said, I completely understand the challenge of rest day programming. Personally, I would rather only see modifications on those occasions where CFI and mainsite seem to program similar WOD’s back to back instead of always delaying everything for two weeks. For example, move a conflicting mainsite WOD to the following rest day and let CFI program a WOD for two days in a row before hopefully getting back on schedule the following cycle. Of course, this presents the obvious potential for then having the second mainsite day conflict with the second CFI WOD but it’s less likely that the problem would occur two days in a row. If all else fails, just toss a mainsite WOD into the trash on occasion to get back on schedule.
The bottom line is my preference would be to stick with mainsite as much as possible but with the flexibility to modify the schedule slightly in whatever way the trainers see fit during the WOD cycles where there are problems. But if we go to a delay I will certainly not have a major problem with it.
Also, I would like to say that I absolutely love some of the changes that CFI has made in the last few months such as acquiring the wall, having a wall clock, and getting some great new trainers. I am really having a great time and absolutely love CFI!
As far as today’s WOD results go: 105/115/115 was my score.
Thanks for all the feedback! Keep it coming. I am glad you all are being honest by giving the good and bad. We are toying with some programming ideas. This is the type of feedback we need and we will take into consideration when and if we make any changes to the way we program.
To echo what David said, thanks so much for the feedback. We always want to know what you like that we’re doing right, but more importantly, what you don’t like that we may be doing wrong.
To add a little more detail, we aren’t considering going wholly home grown programming. We think main site WODs are very, very effective. We’re primarily considering moving to a delay of 1-4 weeks where we would know the WODs in advance. This removes the cool factor that I personally enjoy of having the WOD sprung on me every evening at 7 PM. However, it offers some unique advantages. Warmups and scales could be published with the WOD. Rest day programming would be in line with the upcoming cycle. And we can make some backend processes a little more fluid.
However, there’s no way we are changing if doing main site WODs on the same day as crossfit.com is an important part of your experience. That’s why we want to gage your input. I’m really honored by all the votes of confidence in our leadership team. While it is we who are leading, we’re going to lead where all of you want to go, so never feel bashful about letting us know where that is. Thanks again!
Today’s WOD for me
Back squat 1×7
290-300-310-320-330-340-350 (PR by 15)
Previous PR of 335. Hit 340 and decided to try for one of my mid-term goals of 350. When discussing my depth, Jason called the squat a “ball dragger” so I’m gonna assume that’s legit.
Ball dragger = deep enough! Nice squat
Awesome work tonight man. A 15# PR is madness for any movement and you’ve been running rampant lately. Keep it up!
Thanks guys!
Muscle Snatch-135
Power Snatch-145×3 (150×2)
Squat Snatch-95
I dropped the weight down on the squat snatch to work on catching it low.
Had fun with our “snatch off” tonight! Thanks for the motivation.
70/70/55
Tried twice to get 60 and failed in the same spot on the fifth rep both times. I think my shoulders were more wrecked from yesterday than I thought…
As for my opinion on programming, I’ll be happy with whatever you guys decide to do. I trust all of you to make a good decision about this, and I believe you have your athletes’ best interests at heart–whether they be an average Joe, a firebreather, or somewhere in between.
While it is kind of cool and exciting to not know what I’m doing tomorrow until the night before, I think the benefits of going on a slightly delayed schedule far outweigh that one small aspect of training. I usually only look at mainsite if for whatever reason the WOD isn’t posted here by the time I’m ready to go to bed, so that doesn’t really affect me much, anyway.
I like the idea of being able to see the warm up and scales prior to coming to class. Sometimes I’ll look at the WOD post and think I’ve come up with an appropriate scale for me (if necessary), but when I come to class I find that you had a completely different idea. It would just allow more time to get mentally prepared for the WOD.
I really do like Alex’s idea of offering two different types of classes each day. I agree with him that it can be frustrating and difficult to be motivated when you’re doing a different WOD than everyone else. Community and competition are some of the major reasons I enjoy training at CFI, and training on my own diminishes that aspect. That being said, I think we would need more space, more equipment, and more trainers to be able to pull that off sucessfully.
Thank you guys for asking for feedback on things! I’m glad you’re always trying to make CFI an even better place to train and that you really take our opinions to heart.
Just wanted to echo what has already been said by Jeff and David. Thank you all for your feedback. I feel honored to train with such a great group of individuals! I am looking forward to hearing more form you all about what you like or do not like about going on a possible delay.