OL Mon

Many if not all of you will be happy to hear OL started a 16 week
squat program yesterday. Starting with a 4 week Smolov program, 1 week
deload/retest, then the Hatch program, neither of which I'd heard of
before yesterday. Looking forward to this since I haven't seriously
squatted since finishing the LP in Sept/Oct of last year.

"After multiple discussions with Coach Pendlay about what he thinks is
the biggest weakness with CrossFitters, and novice lifters in general,
I have decided to focus the first 16 weeks on the single most
important movement in all of strength training...the Squat. We will
start with the 4 week Junior version of the world's most feared Squat
program, Smolov. Then, after a week to de-load and re-test, we'll move
on to an old Outlaw favorite, the Hatch Program.

"While discussing this topic with Coach, and Travis Cooper (currently
the number one ranked lifter in America), and seeing Travis both Squat
245kg (539#) for five reps last week, and PR his total at 350kg on
Friday, I am convinced that adding strength to the Squat is the best
way to add to all lifting numbers. This is especially true when
considering most of our athletes have lifting numbers that are
completely out of proportion when compared to their relatively low
Squat numbers. The fact that we have almost no 450/275# plus squatters
(in fact, we don't have many above 400/250#—especially with the high
bar), but have multiple athletes with 330/220# plus Clean & Jerks, is
something that Travis called "really weird". Even Spencer "The
Machinist" Arnold, at a rail thin 155# BW, has pushed his Squat to
almost three times bodyweight, and his lifts have risen almost every
time his Squat has. [Josh's note - I have no idea what these ratios
(450/275, 400/250, 330/22) are referring to - holler back if you have
any thoughts]

"Our sport is one that rewards gains in overall strength with gains in
overall capacity. The Squat is the most basic and useful tool for
strength development. If you disagree with this notion, or think that
there is a "too strong", first watch this—which was a full year ago,
then click here and see what kind of capacity squatting strength can
give you.

"There will be some tweaks to the template to fit the overall volume
of the programs, but the majority of the daily work will remain the
same. For the Smolov Jr. portion of the cycle (the first three weeks),
our Weightlifting (BBG) volume will be paired back slightly. For the
entire cycle (16 weeks), our conditioning pieces will show the most
overall change, as they will focus more on gymnastics, calisthenics,
and general aerobic capacity work.

"Side note: No, you should not try to eat 14,000 calories a day, and
"get big" before the next competition season. Let your body tell you
when to add more fuel, if you need to at all."

Set/rep scheme for each of the 3 weeks looks like this:

Day 1 6x6
Day 2 7x5
Day 3 8x4
Day 4 10x3

% of 1RM increases as reps decrease, obviously.


Monday

BBG - Skipped, shoulder still preventing me from Snatching/OHSing

7X1 Snatch + 3 Snatch Grip Push Press - heaviest possible, rest 60-90 seconds


Strength

Smolov 1/1 -

HBBS 6X6 @ 70% - rest at least 2 minutes

\\ 6x6 @ 210#, working off a 300lb 1RM, actual 1RM is probably closer
to 325 but I wanted to err on the lighter side, especially cause I
won't be able to make every single training day over the next 3-4
weeks.


Conditioning

15 rounds for total calories of:

30 seconds ME Airdyne or Row for Calories
90 seconds Active Recovery (AD or Row) @ 55-65% RPE

*Notes: Airdyne is the preference. During each 90 second recovery
interval try to record the exact same caloric total, but make sure you
allow for a true max effort interval after. Yes, this is a 30 minute
piece.

Rowed - averaged ~12 calories