Muscle is essential for CrossFit (and also beautiful). If you do not have muscle, you will not be able to lift as much or be as bad as as the Rxd boys and girls. To speed up your progress in crossFit, you will need to get strong. And to be strong you need to gain muscle before you specifically train those muscle fibres to get you stronger.
Here are the main lifts you need to work on consistently:
Deadlifts
Squats
Bench Press
Chin Ups
Bent Over Rows
Flat Bench Rows
Strict Press
Have a look at the video below for a demo of some of the movements and more, of the basic lifts you need to be strong at.
In your initial 3 months of CrossFit, you should be spending up to an extra hour in the box during Open Gym times to work on your strength of these 5 lifts. For maximal improvement, hit these movements minimum of twice per week to get the best results.
Hypertrophy means muscle building. So you will need to be training in the muscle gain rep range the body builders constantly use in the gyms. The rep range you will need is 8-12 reps per set. By the time you hit this rep range, you should be in struggle town for the last couple of repetitions.
Normally you would be aiming for 3-5 rounds of that movement at those reps with at least 3 rounds being your working set. Vary up the tempo of the movements, but do not rush it at the start. Keep all repetitions slow but sure. That way the entire muscle fibre gets loaded up.
During the set, do not take long walks in the box kind of rests. You need to complete all reps in that one go. You may have to re-grip which is allowed but definitely no single reps, dropping or dumping. You will miss out on a very important aspect of the strength training which is the descend/eccentric phase of the lift.
Keep your thoughts on the movement and the muscles being used. Do not just blast out all the reps for time. Movement speeds are slow to moderate pace. Sometimes cued as “being in control” of the bar.
In between sets, rest between 60-90 seconds and then get back in for your next set. It should be just enough time for you to shake it off or add a bit more weight if the reps seem easy towards the end of your round.
PS do not forget your cool down run, row and stretch. Your workout is not complete if you do not finish with a cool down.
