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Powerlifting and Crossfit [Article]

Posted by Pascal Landshoeft

Oct 23, 2019 9:30:00 AM

Powerlifting and CrossFit

Powerlifting and CrossFit 

 
Powerlifting and CrossFit are good additions to each other. Powerlifters might see better results by investing time in Olympic weightlifting to increase their performance if veering into other sports is considered. 
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What is your why 

 
Before we go into the details of powerlifting and CrossFit, let me ask you a couple of questions: 
 
  • Why do you want to do powerlifting and CrossFit? 
  • Why do you want to change your body? 
  • What happens when you do? 
  • What happens if you don’t? 
 
These questions are essential for your personal success and failure. Research shows that people who write down and reflect on their goals tend to be more successful. When was the last time you did this? Can you even remember? If you can’t it is time to get out a pen and paper and start planning. Many people go about their lives like this: 
 
  • What do I want 
  • How do I get it 
  • Why do I want it 
 
This is a pretty good way of getting confused. What you want changes hundreds of times a day based on what you see, smell, taste and hear. Making this the center of attention will spread your resources thin and scatter your time between too many activities. Something interesting happens when you flip these questions on their head: 
 
  • Why do you want something 
  • How do you get it 
  • What needs to be done 
 
This way your long term goals and dreams will take charge. You will feel more fulfilled and happy. If you want to know how this works on a psychological level read Daniel Kahneman's thinking fast and slow. Simon Sinek's TED talk on the golden circle will change your life. 
 
It all starts with better habits and rituals. A good way of improving is to keep a daily journal. I found the self journal from best self to be the greatest option for me. I have been using it for two years and since then my marriage and salary have dramatically improved. 
 

What is your goal 

 
When I hear that people want to do two sports in parallel I like to question what their real motivations are to do them in the first place. 
 
Lack of focus is a common beginner mistake which I fell victim to myself. This is why this website is called marathon CrossFit. I wanted to run marathons and do CrossFit in parallel. That did not last too long. So if you are just starting out ask yourself which one of the two you enjoy more and focus on getting good at one of them. 
 
If you are a seasoned CrossFit athlete who lacks strength, powerlifting might be for you. If that is the case you are well advised to focus on the squat and deadlift and save some time on the bench press. Most qualifiers and the CrossFit games are more likely to test a variation of the squat or deadlift as it fits better with their overall fitness philosophy. Really good Programmes are Wendler 531 and The Juggernaut method. You can swap bench press days for kettlebell work to make them more rounded and fitting for CrossFit purposes. 
 
If you are a seasoned powerlifter who wants to introduce more agility and speed to their lifts than you might want to opt for Olympic weightlifting. CrossFit will immensely help with recovery rates between workouts or heavy attempts. However, this is a less transferable skill to powerlifting than the explosiveness you develop in Olympic lifting. CrossFit can also be great offseason just to mix things up a little when you get tired and bored with your old routine. 
 

Powerlifting 

 
Powerlifting is the sport of the total. Your total consists of three lifts. These three lifts are the bench press, deadlift, and squat. For each lift, you get three attempts. The best qualifying attempt for each lift will be counted towards your total. Based on your total you will be ranked against the other competitors. 
 
A big difference to lifting in the gym is that you will be judged. Three referees will observe your performance from different angles. They decide whether you performed according to the standards of the federation you are competing in. Two out of three referees have to agree for the lift to qualify. You need one qualifying attempt for each lift to make it on the board. 
 
Your total usually splits into 40/40/20. The deadlift and squat will usually contribute 40 percent each while the bench press adds 20%. You want to have strong legs to be a successful powerlifter. 
 

CrossFit 

 
CrossFit aims to create the fittest people on earth. The core idea is to challenge you constantly with new movement patterns and combinations. 
 
The best way to get an idea of the sport is to watch the documentary the redeemed and dominant on Netflix. CrossFit creates machines. This is why it is so popular for tactical training and fitness for the military. 
 
CrossFit is great for creating resistant, flexible, all around badasses who will survive anything you throw at them from a mind and body perspective. They will not create top performers in a specific sport like powerlifting or ice skating. To get an idea of this watch Ben Smith in his training session with Brian Shaw. 
 
When I did CrossFit I was definitely at my fittest, but not strongest. It annoyed me that I had to scale most of the WODs to meet my personal fitness level. I decided to get into powerlifting to get stronger and still have not reached my goals in this area. 
 

Powerlifting and CrossFit 

 
Powerlifting technique has a lot of carryovers to CrossFit to improve the Olympic lifts and perform better in strength focused WODs. A good program to run for Crossfitters to get stronger with the barbell is, in my opinion, the Wendler 531 and Juggernaut Method. 

Topics: Powerlifting