Dynamic legs

Hi all,

So I'm at bodyweight 85kg and have no trouble putting out my 10 SLS, all ims and 90kg lunges / 20kg archups 3x a week, training MWF 3xF7 as we speak. Pleased to discover this volume is taking me very well these days, after 6 months on the 5x a week schedule.

I'd like at this point to commute some of my leg strength training to dynamic leg work. I am looking at keeping on with the lunge/archup combo for strength, upping the weight gradually following the full 12 week cycle, but turning each alternate workout into a dynamic session, along the lines of the WoDs. So I'd have 1 str/2 dynamic, 2 / 1, 1 / 2, 2/1 (deload) in each microcycle.

Seems to be the simplest way to develop some springs; I have always had strong legs but lack in speed and bounce. Would appreciate guidance, advice, thoughts or discussion cheers as always.

I'm interested in learning more about this too Jon! Do you mind further explaining your training schedule / split? In particular, how are you setting up your week so that you fit in all the courses now? Thanks man!

 

 

So I'm at bodyweight 85kg and have no trouble putting out my 10 SLS, all ims and 90kg lunges / 20kg archups 3x a week, training MWF 3xF7 as we speak. Pleased to discover this volume is taking me very well these days, after 6 months on the 5x a week schedule.

F7, stretch each on MWF. Handstands a fair bit on the other days, and in between exercises. Plenty of walking, bike riding and bits and pieces. I think I may like the five day/week schedule better, but I come out a bit better with the active rest day between workouts. Bent arm strength in particular has really responded to 3* a week training.

Put H2 away until I get my tuck planche nailed down, still giving me grief. Hopefully I will have a cool success story in another month of working physio rehab advice

Yesterday due to waiting on using the stall bars I just did lunges/archups first in my workout, THEN a 15min plyo session after the whole thing. Felt great.

have you thought about senders or doing some power OL? the only thing I really see tackling first when entering OL after clearing the Lunges/archups will be working on Power cleans and Power Back squats. start very light and SSC the weight conservatively + box jumps upto chest height.

Keilani Gutierrez said:

have you thought about senders or doing some power OL? the only thing I really see tackling first when entering OL after clearing the Lunges/archups will be working on Power cleans and Power Back squats. start very light and SSC the weight conservatively + box jumps upto chest height.

Senders and box jumps of course, but I'm wary of OLing as I'm just not v familiar with it. Maybe I'll do some research in that direction.

Jumping rope.  If you're looking for springiness it is great.  Skill work will build coordination and foot work ability and doubleunders (or more!) will build power and stamina. 

I use heavy ropes when i do them so it's also pretty taxing on the shoulders and grip. 

Nothing builds speed like the snatch if you can find someone to coach you on proper technique. 

Jon Douglas said:

Senders and box jumps of course, but I'm wary of OLing as I'm just not v familiar with it. Maybe I'll do some research in that direction.

Just don't do box jumps as a conditioning exercise.  That is dumb.  Doing high ones is great for power though. 

Jon Douglas said:

Senders and box jumps of course, but I'm wary of OLing as I'm just not v familiar with it. Maybe I'll do some research in that direction.

Catalyst athletics on Youtube. great channel, im saving to buy the book. i wouldn't go so deep in it, only dabble in the necessary pieces that would play well with GST.

Single leg bounding will work well. Power cleans will help develop vertical leap. I would be cautious about the Olympic lifts landing in the full squat as they can be rough on the knees.

Doing SLS quicker, but with control for higher reps would also work.

Mark Collins said:

(..)Power cleans will help develop vertical leap. I would be cautious about the Olympic lifts landing in the full squat as they can be rough on the knees(...)

 

you mean like these, Mark?

I picked up technical gymnastics classes instead for basic dynamic training

On the extracurricular side I am working two days of low rep plyometrics just to lay down some groundwork. It's coming along.

Cheers guys

Yes. Olympic lifters usually have some knee pain. With the rise of popularity of Crossfit there has been a huge increase in people starting Olympic lifting past the age of 25. Most good lifters start young under the supervision of good coaches that progress them slowly. Unless you are competing in Olympic lifting or Crossfit I am not sure if adding Olympic lifting is the best for the long term health of our knees.

Interesting that today most Crossfitters are wearing knee sleeves whereas 2009 and earlier it was not that common. I think it is due to heavy Olympic lifts and the volume of them combined with the other training. I think in the next 10-15 years we will see a lot of long term Crossfitters with chronic knee pain. It is too young of a sport to make any strong conclusions at the moment though.

Small update;

Well, I confuse the hell out of the coach at gymnastics club-- He's trying to figure out how the heck I managed such a weird combination of strength/flex/some basic strength skills without the rawest basics of swings etc

It is HUGELY fun to train this stuff. It all feels half-remembered from reinforcing these shapes from day one GST, and my conditioning is always going to be far ahead of my fledgling technical ability, so I will be able to progress as fast as I can learn, rather than waiting for my body to be capable of the skill I'm trying to learn.

In terms of strength/conditioning, the gym I'm at is a relatively low-level compared to what I've seen of US gymnasts-- there's a lot of skills thrown, especially in tumbling, but not so much strength on display. I've heard a number of people complaining about joint pain etc. Oddly enough doing skill work only at class and doing GST outside is a perfect situation for me-- I get the best of both worlds.

There is a low level adult competition in September-- I'm a little unclear on the details yet, but coach encourages me to enter it, on the basis that I have enough str/flex skills to enter basic routines and can learn what else is necessary in that time. So here's hoping that comes together

Related, high bar swings are hugely fun, and I want a sprung floor throughout my whole damn HOUSE.

That sounds pretty awesome Jon.  I'm hoping to find something like that when I move this winter.  Where I currently live there is only one place that charges $80 for one friday night class per week.  Hopefully the university where I'm going has some intramural gymnastics i can look into. 

Oh, and naturally this has forced a change to my training schedule--- I tried to train rope climbs / hspu the day after high bar and my shoulders were not interested in that.

Last couple weeks I have done;

M- sPL, FL, HBP, RC / 2hrs gymnastics class

T- Off

W- SL, SLS, Mn / 2hrs gymnastics class

T- Off

F- F7.

- I've noticed I don't like doing hard thoracic bridge stretch the day before upper body workout, I tend to fatigue quickly. I may even move that to the weekend in future.

- This way I'm keeping it down to only days strength training/week, giving me plenty of time to recover, learn, consolidate. I suspect this is going to take me very well as I get used to it.

- Stretch courses go in either after an F-series workout or after some light cardio on an off day.

Jon Douglas said:

Oh, and naturally this has forced a change to my training schedule--- I tried to train rope climbs / hspu the day after high bar and my shoulders were not interested in that ...

LOL. You F4 guys need to seriously man up.

What's next? Watching chick flicks together on recovery days?

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach Sommer said:

LOL. You F4 guys need to seriously man up.

What's next? Watching chick flicks together on recovery days?

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I'm not coming up sore or anything, just finding a little less snap in the spring the next day after concentrating hard on learning all this new stuff. I put it down as an adjustment and figured I'd ramp up the volume over again from negligible to high. Too cautious?

Naturally an 'off' day for me is full of stretching, handstands, and lower level physical activity, it's not as if I'm on the couch...

Coach Sommer said:

LOL. You F4 guys need to seriously man up.

What's next? Watching chick flicks together on recovery days?

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Lol, no holy cows on this forum!