Sunday 5.25.14

The Compound Weightlifting Club Expands!

Beginning Monday, June 2nd, The Compound Weightlifting Club (CWC) expands to an 8 am class, and will be held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at that time. 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 Valenzuaela, 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 and my "slow" lifts.


Here's some reasons to train in Weightlifting:

- For most athletes (like CrossFitters, but all other sports as well), 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.
-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.

- 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.

**CrossFit calls that increasing Intensity.  The higher the Intensity, the higher the fat loss!

What is expected from Club Members:

Our Weightlifting Club is program based and requires attendance to improve. So 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, etc. 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, you can certainly make up the class at Open gym times, or attend the evening weightlifting class. 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.

When should you do your CrossFit workouts?

Your CrossFit workouts can be done 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 or work a skill. Allow the CWC programming to be your strength for the days you attend the Club.  I prefer to do the CWC programming, then I will do the WODS afterwards, but scaled with more gymnastics style movements co compliment the weightlifting.

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

Cost is $25/ month to save you spot in the club.  Contact any coach to sign up now!

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