CrossFit Total
This reflects an athlete’s strength capacity.
Back Squat – Work up to a 1 rep max
Press – Work up to a 1 rep max
Deadlift – Work up to a 1 rep max
(Arrive on time – You will have 10 minutes to do what ever warm up and mobility you want to do then grab a bar and get started)
Some advice to follow:
The first attempt would be a weight you know you can do for a
heavy set of three. The second attempt would be a weight you
know without any doubt that you could do for a single, having
just done the first attempt. And the third attempt is the weight
you want to do, based on your performance on the previous two
attempts. If you have made a mistake setting your first attempt,
the next two will need to be adjusted, but you should know what
you can triple, and this will always be a safe first attempt. And
since you know this weight, you know what weights to use to
warm up for it: you’ll use the lightest weight that you normally
start with for your first warm-up when you train, and 90% of
the first attempt for the last warm-up, with either three or four
relatively even increments in between these two. For instance,
warm-ups for a 405-pound first attempt on the squat would be:
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
275 x 1
325 x 1
365 x 1
If you don’t have a damn good idea of what you can do for a
heavy triple, you don’t need to be doing a CrossFit Total yet.
After the squat, rest a while (long enough to rest, not long enough
to get cold) and follow the same procedure with the press.
Since press numbers will be much lighter, the warm-ups will be
closer together, and you might choose to use fewer intermediate
warm-ups. This is fine, since the squat has provided quite a bit of
systemic warmup, if not actual fatigue. After a rest and a drink
following the press, the deadlift warm-up might be abbreviated
even further, with a heavier first warmup and only two or three
intermediate sets before the first attempt.
Done correctly, the CrossFit Total is perhaps our best tool f