Snatch, 1 rep
Clean and jerk, 1 rep
As many rounds and reps as possible in ten minutes of:
55kg Squat clean, 6 reps
12 Pull-ups
24 Double-unders
Add together the best snatch (in kg), the best clean and jerk (in kg), and the total reps performed in the triplet for your final score. Post score to comments.
Today is the start of the USA Weightlifting Championships…and CrossFit's part of the event!
HickockSports has a neat little history. But there's a lot more to it than that….
In the USA, Weightlifting was a big part of the 'physical culture' of Muscle Beach and the early 1960s popularity surge toward Bodybuilding. Cleans, Presses, handstands, snatches…they were all a big part of the muscle-building efforts of early bodybuilding heroes. Charles Atlas and Bob Hoffman (founder of York Barbell) sold their workout programs in comic books to the pigeon-chested, sand-faced wimps….
While any US reference to Weightlifting includes the high points, they've never really been a dominant force since the 1950s. They blame steroids, largely, but what Team USA really faced on the platform was a system of identifying, training, grooming and producing the most technically-proficient athletes the world has yet seen.
The USSR's training model was uniform, but it was also plastic; it was constantly being tested, altered, and measured. With ten thousand young people learning the techniques, it was simple to draw out small sample groups, or modify very small elements within subgroups and measure the results. Kids did 'athletics' training from a very young age, including tumbling, dance, and ping pong; those most graceful were chosen for the Weightlifting program, which they started around age six. Though the kids didn't lift heavier than 20kg until after age twelve, they eventually became some of the strongest humans to ever walk the planet. Did steroids help? Absolutely…and they were measured and tested and administered in precise dosages (available in the 1970s USSR Weightlifting Research Journals.) Also tested? The effects of different types of military marching music on snatch performance; the effects of walking through different types of forests on recovery, with and without snow; the effects of sex pre- and post-workout; the effects of plyometrics, up to 10' box drops; the effects of colour on the walls (bright green is best. And NOW you know why we use it!)
Powerlifting evolved from the 'assistance lifts' for Weightlifting: the clean pull (deadlift), the back squat (squat,) and the bench press (assistance for the "Press," a third lift which was eliminated in the 1970s.) Powerlifting methods – the use of chains, speed, dynamic work, plyometrics, and conjugate periodization – all came from Weightlifting. Where Alexeyev pulled cleans from the bottom of the Danube River, WestSide Barbell attaches bands to their deadlift bar.
Unfortunately, Weightlifting is dying. Nobody's passionate about it anymore, except for Eastern European countries and other fringe elements. Nobody, that is, until CrossFit. Greg Glassman started posting his videos on YouTube, and talking about work capacity instead of biceps head separation, and people – you, me, Captain America, and grandma – all started learning to clean and snatch again.
Since the elimination of the Press, Weightlifting rules have remained exactly the same. No change in 40 years makes Jack a dull boy….. until today. Today, CrossFit will add a third element to the competition. And you can watch it all….free. Do yourself a favour: watch. It's ridiculously heavy; it's shockingly tense; it's a ballet of bulldozers. It's speed and guts, not ripped glutes.