Sunday 8.11.13

We are very proud of Alisha, Erica, Brooke, and Monique for representing The Compound at Femme Fit today. We know you girls worked hard. Great job ladies! 

The Compound Weightlifting Club:

The Compound Weightlifting Club (CWC) begins tomorrow, and will be held every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at that time.  There will be no CrossFit Classes at 7 pm on those days.  We are the only Weightlifting Club in Solano County and welcome anyone to join who wants to compete, learn, or simply improve their weightlifting with The CWC.

Many high level CrossFit Games Competitors compete and train in Weightlifting (Lindsey Valenzuael, Matt Chan, Chyna Cho, etc) as it has the most carryover for CrossFit; improving strength, power, balance, flexibility, etc.  Many Weightlifters have made the switch to CrossFit as well.  It also has a huge carry over to other sports.

Weightlifting, the sport, is a competition involving the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk.  It should not be confused with "weight lifting", simply the act of lifting weight.  And certainly don't confuse it with Powerlifting, a competition involving the Back Squat, Deadlift and Bench Press.  I have nothing against Powerlifting, in fact I love the sport and think it's awesome the amount of weight these people can move.  Powerlifting's heavy weight at lower speed movements are best for developing muscle strength and size.  This has a good affect on power and performance.

However, You can argue that weightlifters generate more power and move at higher velocities than powerlifters at all percentages of 1RM because they are pulling the bars much quicker than powerlifting movements.  As I have changed much of my training from less of the traditional "slow" lifts and added many more weightlifting variations (power snatch/ clean, hang snatch/ clean, high pulls, jerks, etc) I have seen an improved quickness and capabilities in my CrossFit workouts.


Here's some reasons to train in Weightlifting:

• For most athletes (like CrossFitters), the ability to generate high levels of power and move explosively is far more important than the ability to generate high levels of force in a single effort.
• Training in weightlifting involves movements that emphasize both high force (squats) and high velocity (cleans) exercises, believed to be the best approach for developing strength, power, and speed.
• Training that emphasizes high velocity training, (e.g., weightlifting) is thought to be advantageous for increasing power output and speed.
• To maximally improve power, both the force and velocity components must be increased. Research has shown that combining heavy resistance and high-speed training may be more effective than focusing only on high force or high power.
• As long as the weightlifting movements are performed with correct technique and proper equipment, they're as safe or safer than other sports or training activities.

What is expected from Club Members:

Our Weightlifting Club is going to be a different format than before.  If you choose to join the club there will be a fee to save your spot.  There will be three Weightlifting classes in a week.  As a club member, you need to commit to an average of 2 classes a week (exceptions for travelling military, of course).

The reason we want you to attend more classes, is that we need you to give the programming a chance to work.  Hitting weightlifting class sporadically certainly allows you to practice the skill more often, but does not allow you to progress.  We want to progress you from lower percentages and volume to higher intensity as we work towards new maxes.  The only way to do that is to commit to coming to the classes as often as you can.

If you cannot make a class, currently you will not be able to make the workout up at another time.  You can join the regular CrossFit Classes, which will still provide you with great workout, focused on improving your high speed training and improve your weightlifting power.

I understand the time might not work for everyone.  But that is something we can look into changing in the future, adding more classes, open gym time, etc.


When should you do your CrossFit workouts?  

Anytime that is convenient to you.  I would suggest refraining from the strength portions in the regular CrossFit classes and use that time to stretch and warm up and foam roll a little more.  Allow the CWC programming to be your strength for the days you attend the Club.  I would also programm CrossFit style supersets for accerssory work after Weightlifting that compliments the Weightlifting program if that works better for some people.

We will continue to discuss with all members how best to work their Weightlifting goals and CrossFit goals concurrently.