Ahhh the good ole days of the heavy barbell
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Photo Credit: Angela Clancy
“I’m getting weak”. “I’m going to lose my gains”
..... Or are you????
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Is this something you have heard someone say (or even thought yourself) since everything was shut down??
Just because we are working with minimal equipment it does NOT mean we are suddenly going to get weak and lose all of our strength. It doesn’t have to work that way. For sure, if you lose a bit of rhythm & motivation and not exercise as much as you have been, (or stop altogether), then yeah you are going to start to lose what you built. But we all know you aren’t doing that now are we??
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Now talking objectively, The cold hard fact is that our very very top-end strength will change. We just don’t have access to the heaviest weights that we would normally have handy & that will have an effect on us. And interestingly enough even though we do CrossFit which, in its methodology, consists of being very varied with the choices of exercises & movements, we have inherently become very accustomed & attached to barbell strength as our metric of choice. In many ways this could be seen as unavoidable as, when we test strength, we are for the most part testing it on a barbell with plates. This has been something that we at CFCBD HQ have been taking note of & are reviewing. The lockdown is offering us up more insight into strength training & testing in other ways (odd object, gymnastics moves, etc etc). Not just whilst we are at home BUT also when we get back & go play in the gym again.
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"...we have become very attached to barbell strength as our metric of choice"....
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At this stage we should point out that any strength gained with a barbell is meant to have some carryover to other areas of our life. In sporting measures such as contact sports or distance running times. In “real life” situations like being able to unload the trailer of soil & turf you bought from Bunnings last weekend. Or even something as basic as getting off the couch or toilet without using your arms as support. These are all shows of strength gained.
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But we get it. Believe us when we say that. We too love our barbell & the “RMs” (rep-maxes) We are proud of numbers lifted in the past. But you need to look at it in a couple different ways. Firstly, strength numbers do NOT define you as you person, just like your "Fran" time doesn't either. We have said it a million times before in the gym. Strength is relative and so are the numbers lifted. Be proud of it for sure but don’t let it consume you and define you. And secondly, strength numbers gained & fitness levels earned are like the rent/mortgage. You need to pay your dues regularly & not just live off off of past glory days (or previous payments if we are keeping to that analogy!).
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....."strength numbers do NOT define you as you person"......
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IF we put in the concerted effort to keep moving, keep lifting, keep on turning up, then our strength gains will not all be lost to the annuals of time. At CFCBD we are constantly reviewing our program & programming to help us all stay afloat with our numbers. (We too do not have regular access to a barbell or gymnastics rig so we are right there with you working to keep our “gains”). You will already noticed newer, or “uncommon” movements pop up in our strength days (Yes, we are keeping our strength days. You can read about them here). And in the met-con workouts themselves we have been thinking long and hard about how they can play their part given we are working with less loading/items of equipment.
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There are heaps of ways we are going to combat & keep our strength as best we can. We are working TEMPO work (example being DB squats). We are working UNILATERAL moves (examples being single arm presses, thrusters, single arm or leg deadlifts. Single arm or leg anything basically). Another way is MOVEMENT REDUNDANCY. This is where you do similar movement patterns/muscle groups in the same session/WoD. (Think jumping lunges coupled with Jump overs or even air squats) The stamina required to buffer the fatigue builds strength-endurance. These all have great value to overall system.
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...."There are heaps of ways we are going to combat & keep our strength"....
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Keep turning up to Zoom Class with us. Keep on working out 4-5 times a week. Keep on getting out of the house for those sneaky runs you have been adding in there. Keep doing that mobility routine daily. It all helps you maintain your fitness levels which in turn help maintain your strength levels.
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Stay patient, before you know it we will all be told the streets are open to play again and then we can barbell the hell out of ourselves!!
