What? Was I frothing at the mouth? Like some sort of rabid fanatical X-Fitter? ;D
I think we agree on more then we disagree on.
As for simple weight routine being backwards I disagree other then to add in Ruck marches. If he could get a small weight lifting book and do 3-4 exercises per body part from that book for a month I truly believe he would see better strength and fitness results adding in cardio in the afternoon if he did weights in the morning.
I actually said "weight training" is too vague a term for this discussion, and it could give the impression that you're advocating bodybuilding.
The bodybuilding method, in my opinion,
is not conducive to the goal of military fitness.
Strength training, on the other hand, does have it's place in military fitness. In hindsight, I think this is the kind of training you're talking about. This is the kind of stuff that, when combined with rucking, may be superior to Crossfit - at least some of the time.
As far as
strength training goes, I think we're coming from the same place. My current program follows. I think it's pretty much the kind of thing you're advocating:
Workout A
3x5 Back Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift
3xMax Reps Ring Dips
Workout B
3x5 Back Squat
3x5 Shoulder Press
5x3 Power Cleans
3xMax Reps Strict Pull Ups
I alternate workouts A and B, on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. (eg. I did workout A today, will do B on Tues, and A on Thurs. Next week it will be Workout B, A, then B) I go for a long slow run on Mondays. The above workout is lifted from Mark Rippetoe's original
Starting Strength program, with the addition of pull ups, dips, and the run.
So why am I doing Starting Strength, and not Crossfit? Basically, my strength has always been cardio. I can run like no one's business, but BM, we know that you and I are both skinny kids who can use a bit of meat. Crossfit is great for building all around fitness, but for a few months I think it would do me good to focus almost
exclusively on strength training. I think, over the next few months, I'll become a better rounded athlete. For me, today, Starting Strength is a better system then Crossfit.
Why do I advocate Crossfit? I believe that it is a well rounded system, and a good place to identify personal weaknesses. It is designed from the get-go to be equal parts strength training, bodyweight, and cardio. It might not be "sport specific" to the infantry do to it's lack of rucking, but with that addition I believe Crossfit to be a pretty good method of conditioning soldiers.
So, to sum up, I recommend Crossfit as the go-to system for most people because it's so
general in it's goals. Once people have a decent base in overall fitness, they'll be able to identify their own personal weak areas, and have a bit of direction in how to work on them. In my case, that weak area is strength, and I've deviated from Crossfit into something more like you've described in order to balance myself out.
Take care,
WB
