From GST to weightlifting

There are several posts on this board from people who did weightlifting and then started with GST.

I wonder if there are _any_ people who did GST and suddenly did weightlifting for one reason or another.

Me! Thinking about doing the same?

I've been trying to incorporate the two. I've found that mixing them is a fabulous way to build a very well-rounded level of strength. I'm stronger than I have ever been in the main barbell lifts and I have been doing this while improving my flexibility throughout working through the foundation 1 course, stretch series, and handstand course. I guess I've been working on multiple things at one time and my progress has been slow, but it's still been a good process.

I definitely believe that working on the GB moves and mobility drills has improved much of my general preparedness for weightlifting.

Yes, there are people who started with gymnastic strength training and started using free weights for supplementary work. For senior national team members using free weights for supplementary work is common. 

In previous posts, Coach Sommer has stated to complete your Foundation workout first and IF you have the extra energy do your supplementary training. Generally speaking, the strength developed with gst is a result of tendon development not excessive muscle tissue.

14 hours ago, Michael Vetter said:

There are several posts on this board from people who did weightlifting and then started with GST.

I wonder if there are _any_ people who did GST and suddenly did weightlifting for one reason or another.

What do you mean with weightlifting? in the general work sometimes it is confused with bodybuilding, but usually I refer to weightlifting to Olympic sport which includes snatch and clean & jerk.

Thanks for all the replies.

On 12/13/2017 at 9:10 PM, Jin Liu said:

Me! Thinking about doing the same?

Maybe at some point. But not yet

However I have to say that recently I got this feeling in my legs that they want to push against something. I think about adding weights on a barbell into my workout for lower body. Though I am not sure how/what etc.

Looking around a bit the split squat seemed like a nice exercise to do, to both develop strength and maintain/maybe even improve flexibility.

Anybody doing that one?

I love the split squat! I started using it during physical therapy for an imbalance, and now keep it in rotation because it can suss out those imbalances before they become too severe, plus they give the glutes and hips and legs a good workout. My preference is the Bulgarian split squat, which raises the back leg, and holding weight in the front rack position so I can feel when I tip forward sooner.

@Jennifer Marie I have no experience with weightlifting at all. What would you recommend to me to learn how many sets/reps to choose, how often to train per week?

Once per week or maybe twice might be what I can do.

That's a tough question Mike! I'm not a coach... yet. But, from my own experience, I prefer to keep these lighter with more reps. I use that style because I"m using this movement to keep imbalances in check, and to make sure my glutes are firing since I've had periods of time where they just don't play along. I'll go once a week for 5x8 each side. 

If you want to use them to build strength instead, more weight/less reps would probably be okay. (For example, sets of 3-5 reps, building weight up each time until it's challenging to complete the last rep.) Plus sometimes it's fun (and surprising) to find a one-rep max with just about any movement.

Experiment with it, and listen to your body. Like your GB work, you'll want to feel out how you recover from the movement and you can adjust from there.

4 minutes ago, Jennifer Marie said:

 Like your GB work

What I really like here is that I actually just have to follow the plan, the progressions, and just do the work. I can develop my understanding while I already train and am on the way.

The weightlifting would be something totally new to me where I don't understand the concepts/rules/etc yet. But just training something might not be the best thing

With GB I really see how I make progress when I really follow the schedule.

@Jennifer Marie do you have a coach for weightlifting who creates the workout for you?

I read a small bit about things now and it seems that it's quite important to know ones 1RM and from that basis creates the training schedule.

However finding that, in a safe way, I am not sure how to do

Probably I'll just postpone the weightlifting once per week until I have more infos, and in the meantime get better with GB. But some work for the legs would really be nice. I imagine this split squats also gives you nice jumping power.

Hi Mike, yes I have a coach, a couple of them actually. I weightlift at a CrossFit gym, so I take advantage of their weightlifting (Olympic lifts) and powerlifting certified coaches. There are a lot of ways you could get the same experience besides CF -- many towns and cities have lifting gyms now (they've grown with CF's love of lifting) - or even a personal trainer, if you can find one with free weight experience. I do agree, learning that stuff without a coach is very tough. 

I do believe Coach Sommer has said that one shouldn't add weight to squats until the SLS is mastered. I thought I'd throw out that reminder even though I'm not personally following that advice since I started with the lifting before GB.

@Jennifer Marie one more question

If I may ask, what does you schedule look like? I'm interested on which days you do what (combining GST with your weightlifting/CrossFit).

Hi @Michael Vetter, I'm still playing around with a good schedule. It's a lot to fit in! Currently, I'm off programming for a "rest" cycle, since I broke a finger on a stupid pull chain rinning a bell.

I spend about two hours at the gym five to six days a week, and do mobility, core, and some handstand work at home too. So my schedule isn't ideal for a lot of people. I get antsy when I'm still though, so I love it! 

My biggest suggestion is to keep your schedule a little fluid to account for extra recovery time or last minute adjustments when needed. For example, my Tuesday is a lighter day that can be spread out over Wednesday and Thursday if I just want to stop and rest or focus on mobility on Tuesday. This also helps when combining GST and lifting/CF. I won't do GST upper body session on the same day as a shoulder intensive CF workout -- it's just too frustrating and not productive -- so I'm always willing to change up the order, maybe trade core and upper body GST sessions to match up the workload.

As I prepare for the all-clear on my finger, I'm also considering a program change to an eight or nine day cycle, instead of trying to fit it all into a regular week. 

What is actually the goal of Crossfit by the way?

I suppose the main goal is to increase work capacity, right? (Since they do stuff under time pressure)

Hi Michael,

"Functional Fitness" -- to be fit in a way that transfers strengths in the gym to every day use.

I've seen dozens of examples of this in the athletes at my gym. One, for example, shared a photo of a good sized tree limb blocking her street. Pre-CrossFit she would've turned the car around, but instead she moved it to the side of the road and continued her journey because she'd learned how to lift safely and had the increased strength and practice in moving under load.

Parents love this functional fitness because they keep up with the kids better -- carrying the baby around, helping kids practice soccer or other games, etc.

What you said is correct too. Endurance is a big part of the workouts. I've found it more efficient to build lung capacity for my running than running itself because running every day is too much for my back and hips, but I can attend CrossFit workouts more often, and even create my own (which I only recommend to people who have studied programming and coaching, because too many people do foolish things when they think they know what they're doing but don't.)