SIMPLE STRENGTH PROGRAM TO PROPERLY SUPPLEMENT YOUR CROSSFIT ADDICTION
An article from an 11 year Strength & Conditioning coach
So you enjoy Crossfit. Blood, sweat, and chalk is the main seasoning on all of your meals and lactic acid screaming through your veins kinda gets you feeling all tingly down there. But there’s a problem. You're weak. There was a time where you just didn’t stop getting stronger, but the rookie gains have left you like your girlfriend did after the honeymoon phase, and now everytime you see a heavy barbell on the white board a tear forms in the corner of your eye. You want to get stronger and you want to do it now, and just working out in the classes ain't cutting it any more. You have decided to join the quest for power.
Enter the linear progression.
The following information is the fastest, simplest way to get strong when you’re out there scratching your head on what to do. Provided you have given yourself enough recovery time, and the workouts you do aren’t too taxing from a weight perspective, this is the damned near perfect way to begin your strength journey. Get after it.
Week 1
Monday: Back Squat 3x5, Press 3x5
Tuesday: Deadlift 1x5, Pullups 3xME (Max Effort)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Back Squat 3x5 (+5), Bench 3x5
Friday: Power Clean 5x3, Chin-ups 3xME
Week 2
Monday: Back Squat 3x5 (+5), Press 3x5 (+2.5)
Tuesday: Deadlift 1x5 (+10), Pullups 3xME (Max Effort)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Back Squat 3x5 (+5), Bench 3x5 (+2.5)
Friday: Power Clean 5x3 (+2.5), Chin-ups 3xME
Week 3
Continue adding 5 lbs every time you squat. 2.5lbs everytime you press or bench. 10 lbs every time you deadlift. And try to PR the total volume of pullups/chinups every time you do them.
Week 4
Continue the progression
Week 5
Continue the progression
Week 6
Continue the progression until you die. Then reset.
The Squat
Okay. Let's break this down dear disciple of strength. This is the iron god’s initial path to enlightenment. Every Monday and Thursday you squat. Each day you squat the mission is simple; complete three sets of five. Each time you complete 3 sets of 5 reps, you are to increase the weight by 5 pounds. (That means adding 2.5 pounds to each side of the barbell each time you squat.) So, for example: If you squat 135 pounds on Monday, then you are squatting 140 pounds on Thursday, and then the next Monday you are squatting 145 pounds. If this seems slow, it isn't. Follow this perfectly and will have added 40 pounds to your squat from where you initially started.
The Press and the Bench Press
The press, and bench press follow a similar pattern except you’re only doing each movement once a week. Every single time you press on Monday after squatting, you will add 2.5 pounds from last week's weight. Same goes for the bench press on Thursday. Yes, that means you will be adding 1.25lbs to each side of the barbell. Yes this means you will need to buy tiny specialty plates if your gym doesn’t have them. Yes, adding 2.5 is more effective than adding 5 lbs. Your press will progress more slowly than the squat and deadlift because you’re using smaller muscles. It will take time. This is a good thing. The iron gods have ordained it to be this way.
The Deadlift
The Deadlift is a little bit different because you only have to perform 1 set of 5 repetitions. You will add ten pounds from the last weight you did every Tuesday. Perform plenty of warm up sets before attacking your single set of five. Then leave it alone.
The Power Clean
Power Clean is the same pattern weight wise as the bench and press. However, the only difference is you’re doing 5 sets of 3 repetitions. No, it was not a typo. Power Clean form is beyond the scope of this article, but whether or not you need to hear this, hear it now. Your form should be immaculate.
Pullups and Chinups
Pullups and Chinups. ME stands for Max effort. Which simply means for three sets you are going to attempt to get as many reps as possible. Your first set will in all likelihood be bigger than your subsequent sets. It could go something like, set one: 9 reps, set two: 5 reps, set three: 4 reps. This would be a total volume of 18 reps. The next week, your job is to simply beat the total volume of last week. So long as you’re getting at least one more rep somewhere within those three sets, you’re on the right track.
What Weight do I Start At?
So. You’re looking at the above program and wondering what weight to start at. In some ways this is the most important part of the entire program, and you need the ability to have an honest conversation with yourself. The initial weight you begin your 3x5’s at needs to be what we’ll call a moderate weight. The first set of 5 needs to be heavy enough that you feel it challenging your position, however it should be easy enough that none of the repetitions force you to break your form in the slightest. Er on the side of too light rather than too heavy. Trust me, you’ll thank me in two months.
Resetting
What’s a reset you ask? A reset needs to happen when you can no longer complete the work. What? Did you think you were just going to continuously add 40 pounds to your squat and deadlift every single month forever? Did you think you were going to add 520 lbs to your squat in the space of a year? For 3x5 no less?
No. Somewhere along the line you are going to fail. You will be broken. There will be a day where putting the bar on your back puts the fear of god in you. You’ll say your prayers, bend your knees and on one of those reps you won’t come up; you’ll have to bail. When that happens the solution is simple, you reset the weight for that particular lift. You go back to where you were 3 weeks ago and you start lifting at that weight. Then you continue adding plates with business as usual while stuffing your face with as much food as humanly possible and you break through that plateau. Keep going until you must reset again.
The program is over once you have reset the squat and the deadlift three times. Yes, this is a traumatic experience.
Where Does Crossfit Come into Play Here?
So if you haven’t noticed, these workouts aren’t exactly long. Each day is a total of two movements for usually 6 sets of real work. So here’s what you do. You get to the gym early, and bang out your strength work. Then you go and join the class.
Generally speaking, you should not try to do the sets after the class workout. Most of the time this will decrease your chances of successfully adding more weight to the bar and may trigger you to reset the weight when you shouldn’t have. You may be able to get away with it in the beginning, but once you begin to start getting near your 3x5 potential you’ll need every molecule of strength you can summon to complete the reps.
Hell, by the end you may just leave the gym after your 3 sets of 5 and call it a day. Have a steak and potato and no one will think any less of you.
But again, this is written with a Crossfitter in mind, someone who loves the class but needs to get strong. In all honesty, this is just stealing from the ole Crossfit Football days. Strength WOD, then Crossfit WOD.
To Conclude
The purpose of this program is simple. Establish your base level of strength. There are so many people who love Crossfit but always have the jealous glint in their eye when someone else has more strength and in general performs better than them in the class workout. This is an antidote to that.
See how strong you can get on the most basic of linear progressions. Go down the dark dark hole of trying to add 5-10 pounds on your lifts every single week. It becomes soul crushing - and that's what’s exciting about it. You’ll be harder to kill, and may even develop an appreciation for the monsters in the back of your gym chained to the squat rack.
Enjoy the darkness, and enjoy the gainz. Todaloo