Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell.
On Thursday, I'm off to Columbus, OH, to attend a 2 day powerlifting course presented by Louie Simmons. I'm really excited to learn more about the Westside conjugate system. I'm hoping to gain more knowledge to share with those of you who are more interested in the strength portion of "strength and conditioning."
Some of you might be looking at the picture and think, "No way I want to lift that much or look like that!" If you aren't a serious powerlifter, I would agree with you that I wouldn't want to lift that much or look like that either. Our programing at One World is geared toward general physical preparedness. If you have 600+ bench press or an 800+ squat, likely your ability to perform interval conditioning workouts or long, slow distance training is going to suffer immensely. BUT..... You can be EXTREMELY successful with a squat in the 400-500 range, a bench in the 400 range and a deadlift in the 500 range (obviously ladies, the numbers are going to be smaller for you). Those are great numbers to shoot for, and (except for the bench press) are numbers that some of the top CrossFit athletes in the CrossFit Games are putting up.
If you have the time, and have been training at One World for awhile now, you should consider following the Power Hour template. I've preached it time and time again..... Being stronger makes everything else you do at One World much much easier.
Case in point: I spent the last five months of 2010 working on increasing my strength numbers. I made some pretty decent increases in all my major lifts, all the while conditioning at a level I would call "maintenance" or slightly less than then maintenance. A funny thing started to happen about three months into my strength program. On the occasions I would perform benchmark CrossFit workouts, I was crushing them! Sure, I am a few minutes slower in my 5k run time, but I hate to run that far anyway, so I am not really upset about it. For me, being stronger and fit to fight hard for a short span will benefit me much more in my cop job than the ability to run a fast 5k.
Is the Power Hour for you? Meet with me, and I will explain how the Power Hour works, and if you are ready for it. Basically, I just like to make sure that you are well acquainted with all the lifts, and you move well. If you have been training consistently at One World for a 4-5 months, you are likely ready to make the jump.
Here is the link if you missed the original post introducing the POWER HOUR programming:
http://crossfitoneworld.typepad.com/crossfit_one_world/2010/11/introducing-the-power-hour.html
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WORKOUT 1/13/2011
Start a running clock. At the start of every minute, do 10 box jumps (M:24"/W:20"). In the remainder of the minute, complete as many push-ups as possible. In the second minute, do the ten box jumps and complete as many pull-ups as possible. Continue alternating until ten minutes is up. Score total push-ups and total pull-ups.
Rest ten minutes.....and then,
Row 1000m for time.
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Wait till you do some power clean & jerks with bands or zercher squats from the deck!! Pretty amazing shit.
Posted by: Aaron | January 13, 2011 at 16:44
The powerlifting cert at Westside is pretty badass. I really enjoyed being able to rub shoulders with the best in the world. Considering that the most competitive powerlifters use steroids i dont't consider it a black mark on Westside's record in the least bit. Of all the Crossfit certs i have been too i learned the most from Simmons. Plus he has the record to back it up.
Posted by: Aaron | January 13, 2011 at 16:39
Ken, I am sure you feel safe in your crossfit environment, "crossfitters" dont use gear huh ? I am sure Freddy will have a good time "with all things considered" be careful Freddy, that unholy place you are going to just might change you.
Alex, Amused ? When you are squatting that much weight you want a wide stance. You go wide for extra leverage and also knees do not move forward over the feet ay all, Ass goes back instead of knees going forward.
I see box squats coming to One World in the near future.
Posted by: Eric | January 13, 2011 at 10:06
Not only that...that is a whole heckuva lot of weight he is squatting there. I think you need a wider base to make that happen. I agree with Freddy that strength training is a necessary step to improve and raise the bar (pun not intended, but..). I also am with Alex...just trying to figure out how to incorporate the Power Hours into my workout cycle. For instance, I did Tuesday's AMRAP WOD at the box in the morning, then at night hit the BS 5 x 5 at home. Next day we did that crazy C&J Complex thing (at least the way Brad and us interpreted it)...that was a Power Hour and a half! Guess I need to chat with Freddy on what combo or cycle works.
Posted by: Jor | January 13, 2011 at 09:58
Huh. Maybe it's just the angle of the picture.
Posted by: Alex Bond | January 13, 2011 at 09:57
Alex, don't let the picture fool you. That's a typical powerlifting squat stance. Wide,yes. Toes pointed out, yes. Knees tracking in, definitely not.
Posted by: freddy c. | January 13, 2011 at 09:23
I've already seen how boosting strength helps with the conditioning workouts. Just doing "Daisy" last week added 10 to my max pushups. I'm looking forward to when I'm ready to throw in a power hour workout occasionally.
As a side note, I'm amused at how Louie's stance is really wide, his toes are pointed really far out and his knees are tracking inward instead of over his feet. :)
Posted by: Alex Bond | January 13, 2011 at 07:54
Check out the documentry biggerstrongerfaster. Louie is in it and talks about his steroid use...we could all improve and lift a ton if we were abusing steroids. I'm sure you will have a great trip, all things considered.
Posted by: Ken | January 13, 2011 at 07:41
I love your programming. I am training at Crossfit Infusion in Puyallup, WA now and they do their own programming, too, but CFOW has the best so far.
Posted by: Ben Brown | January 13, 2011 at 01:24