|
Back Squat 5-5-5-5-5
That is all.
No more to it than that. The general consensus is that dashes mean "add weight" versus a sets across approach. Even so, this simple, no extra detail WOD prescription leads to all sorts of questions, and I think that's the point.
Does it mean you should do five sets of five back squats?
Yes.
Are those all work sets?
Yep.
Should I just do five sets, increasing the weight each time?
Yes.
Does it mean work up to a 5RM?
Sure.
If you go down in weight, will the CrossFit Police come?
Definitely.
Should you do more than five sets total?
Yes.
And so forth....
This is a standard CrossFit WOD with close to 5,000 posts on Beyond the Whiteboard. For whatever reason, the powers that be at BTW decided, when they entered this WOD, that the person with the higest max load out of the five sets was the "winner". To me, if that were the case, the WOD would be written: "Find your 5RM back squat". What about overall volume? It's quite possible to stay below your max, carry heavy weights across the board and wind up with more overall tonnage than you would if you stair stepped your way up to a max.
Let's look at the #2 and #3 males for this WOD on BTW:
|
|
Name |
Loads |
Date |
Total Work |
|
| 4 (2) |
99th (99th) |
Aaron Marsters |
225 lbs, 315 lbs, 375 lbs, 405 lbs, and 425 lbs | Rx'd |
2009-05-11 |
23,111 |
|
| 6 (3) |
99th (99th) |
JAVIER SANJUAN |
365 lbs, 365 lbs, 385 lbs, 385 lbs, and 395 lbs | Rx'd |
2010-05-24 |
25,213 |
Javier moved 2,102 more pounds than Aaron, and on a lift by lift comparison, outlifted Aaron in a series winning three out of five lifts, but Aaron gets the props. Is this fair? Yes! Standards for scoring are often arbitrary. The right approach for you could be to phone in a WOD using 65% of your 1RM, to max out or carry sets across. Our job is to help you with that.
|
Feed Entries 
