That force be with you!
Phrase discounted? Who knows… But as stated many times, CrossFit® is the multimodal sport par excellence.
In order to excel an athlete must be: strong, fast and resistant at the same time and the perfect balance of these characteristics is fundamental in order to express maximum performance during the WOD.
Index
How is it possible, however, to be strong, fast and resistant at the same time?
Simple!
Focusing on basic conditional capacity: the force. By adapting the results obtained from an improvement of this component, we can then work on the execution speed of the motor gesture and on lactacid resistance.
Let's see together the 5 exercises which can lead to overall strength improvements e how to train them.
deadlift
"There is no reason to be alive if You can't do Deadlift"
The great Jon Pall Sigmarsson used to say and as CrossFit® athletes we certainly cannot agree with him.
The deadlift represents the best way to strengthen our body and allow it to face more complex or compound exercises.
In order to make the best use of it, the first thing to do is to build one solid technical basis that allows us to train safely and build a reproducible line even under fatigue.
Once this base is obtained, we can move on to a programming of strength, remembering that the DL is very taxing for our Central Nervous System and, therefore, it would be better not to train it heavily for more than once a week.
Squat
Or to be more precise back squat, because this version of the movement will allow us to move more demanding loads even if we have some mobility problem of the humeral shoulder girdle.
It is the best for the fortification of the lower limbs, since it uses practically all the muscular districts of the legs, its role is also important for strengthening the Core.
To do this effectively, in addition to solid technique, good hip and ankle mobility are essential.
Take seriously consider introducing a mobility routine for these joints in order to improve yours depth of squatting and yours hole stability.
To increase the ceilings there are many approaches and the consolidated and famous programs of strength, such as those of the Russian or American school, can be right for us.
We could mix the two approaches, dedicating ourselves to a day with heavy double or triple in search of our maximum fast lift (MAV).
And a second dedicated to more voluminous work with lower percentages, perhaps in EMOM to try to force the adaptation to the lactacid work of the muscles concerned as much as possible.
Push press
Why the Push Press and not just any Jerk technique?
After all, you gain more pounds! Because if you can press it, you will surely succeed in Jerkarlo, but I am not so sure of the opposite.
The OverHead Press is the best way to recruit your Upper Body to generate strength. In this exercise it is important to learn the correct coordination between the push of legs e that of arms.
In fact, this exercise will be done efficiently based on improving your coordination between muscle groups. Subsequently the muscles will be the masters, especially deltoids e triceps.
So to put on pounds, we must first go from building one perfect execution technique, with an effective coordination between push of legs and arms, we can subsequently specialize the gesture using a programming that I really like: the MAP.
It is an Italian method to increase the loads on the flat bench, written by Bomboletti and Vaccaro, applying it to OverHead exercises I think is a good way to increase the loads.
Power Clean
How can we not include this exercise in the search for a stronger and better body?
The Power Clean is firmly part of the athletic training of contact sports players and fighters of various combat disciplines for its transfer in expressing fast force in a relatively short range of motion.
The ability to reverse movement between pull, aerial phase, squatting and ascent is a highly stimulating mix for our Central Nervous System and the ability to differentiate muscle activation at various times of the lift is a feature that generally improves our way to move 360 ° with the barbell.
Improving this exercise is fundamental for all these reasons and the correct execution technique, which allows us to be effective in every phase, can never go into the background.
The correct gesture technique, therefore, must be acquired while increasing the pounds on the barbell and this will be a natural consequence.
Referring to the classic weightlifting schools, I reach out to recommend a Bulgarian-type method, precisely because the repeated correct gesture with percentages very close to the maximum, or even the maximum of the day, will allow the athlete to structure a concrete and repeatable motor program. under fatigue, since he will acquire a solid technique having to work with such high percentages.
Kettlebell Swings
Last, but not least, the KettleBell Swing, in its Russian variant.
This exercise allows us to teach our body how to use the most powerful joint it has: the hip.
The movement of Hip Hinge, in fact, can improve practically any exercise that sees us lifting, pushing, pulling, running or jumping. It is a formidable engine to move explosively and to transmit the maximum force generated on the ground upwards.
The technical component, also in this case, is fundamental, since this movement is not a mere oscillation of the tool, but a real exercise in strengthening the hip extension; therefore we must learn to load the posterior muscles of the legs well at the bottom, to then be able to explode by tightening the buttocks and abdominals vigorously.
Being aimed at improving strength, I invite you to explore heavier kettlebells, also advising you to try the Double Hands version in order to also move loads close to your body weight.
I advise you to dedicate a day away from the other four already mentioned and to work with sets of five repetitions in ascending load ramping, in order to find yourself attempting a final series with a load that is difficult to manage.
Always remember to give maximum acceleration to the tool and not to use your shoulders to complete the ascending phase, the focus is the hip extension.
I hope I have given you some useful ideas to improve your strength within the fantastic discipline of CrossFit®. Always remember that, before you put on the pounds on the bar, you must be sure of your technique.
If you have any doubts, do not hesitate to contact me, good training.
Antonio "Kong" Chiarelli
- Instructor B48 level II
- Coach II level
- Federer weightlifting level I
- Instagram page: @ kong_coach_b48