Westside for Skinnies

Here is the protocol that I modified from a series of articles by Joe Defranco. The basic outline is such:

Monday: Max Effort Upper Body: work to a 3-5RM upper body movement. I have been replacing the bench-centric movements with press/ dip/ chin-ups etc. The goal being to strengthen the motor patterns that will be present in Crossfit movements. And yes, those are bicep curls. The bicep is the primary source of power at the top of a dead hang and during fatigue/ weighted pull-ups. Plus, they make the sleeves pop.

Tuesday: Dynamic Effort Lower Body: This is my favorite change from a traditional 'westside' program. The dynamic movements have been replaced by jump work. Box jumps, depth jumps, single leg jumps etc. I think this just works so much better for Crossfitters as we do so much jumping in WODs and most Crossfitters don't have the training age to handle/ perform correctly the dynamic effort days as prescribed in westside programming. Also key is the inclusion of Isolateral movements. 

Thursday: Repetition Upper Body: This day is all about increasing muscle mass. A bigger muscle is a stronger muscle, and a whole lot of Crossfitters could use another 10-15# of muscle mass. In addition the high volume of horizontal pulling in this protocol will help prevent the 'cat-back' deadlift and help train to 'pack' the shoulder.

Friday: Max Effort Lower Body: This is the day that Crossfitters need the most. Building strength in the lower body takes a long time, but once it's there it doesn't go away. I think most high end crossfitters are decent at squats, so this day should focus on deadlifts/ good mornings/ box squats. Training the posterior chain is essential. Also, no one is 'Quad-Dominant,' people just have weak hamstrings. It's not about how strong your quads are, it's about how strong your hamstrings are as a ratio of your quads.