When and how to switch from SS to Crossfit?

[Marc Ohmann]

I'm 31 years old and weigh 190lbs now with 20% bf. I've ran Starting Strength twice in the last 8 months for 2 months each time with great gains. When I started I weighed 167lbs. I've gained 12lbs of lean on SS and about 10lbs of non lean.

In an ideal world I would be able to continue on SS or an Intermediate program and add the WODs into my routine but I know my body can't handle that. I want to continue strength gains and to improve form, flexibility on the big lifts. But I also like to maintain a higher level of metcon -- I ran my fastest mile last year at 5:52.

Should I just switch over cold turkey to WODs when I stall on my lifts again -- which will probably be in the next week or so. Or is there a program that transitions the athlete from SS to WODs?

TIA for any insight

[Johan Nederhof]

a lot of people do a ss day oin the ,middle of the 3 day cycle, you might want to do the reverse, do a crossfit metcon (metabolic conditioning) in the middle day.
Remember to start easy, metcons are deceptive and pack quit a punch.
Have fun, Johan

[Tom Fetter]

I suppose it depends on your goals, and your current level of strength.

If you've done two SS cycles already, why not dive into WODs full-time now, scaling where necessary. Many people have great success with scaled WODs, even without any lifting background to build a minimal strength base.


Once you've been at WODs regularly for a couple of months, you'll know whether you need more strength right away, or whether your goals are being realized with your current starting point. WODs by themselves will make most of us stronger - especially newbies - especially if you do the CFWU.

I did SS before jumping into WODs, and got to the "novice" level on coach Rip's charts. It helped a lot, leaving me strong enough that I could do most metcon WODs as metcon rather than as strength workouts, and didn't need to scale the majority of the WODs.

But still had to scale some of them - which ticked me off more over the months. 8 months of WODs later, my overhead strength was the primary reason I was still getting a brutal Fran time. Linda was right out as Rx'd, because my bench was garbage.

So I'm a few weeks into another SS cycle, to shore up those weaknesses. I'm scheduled to return to WODs in mid-late March, though I'm missing them now pretty fiercely.

t

[Luke Pliakis]

I finished a 6 week starting strength program on the 12th. I waited from the last work out Saturday till Tuesday to finish drinking the milk, then I dove into the WOD's. I upped my shoulder press today higher than I could do when I finished the program. From just the last two weeks, I'd say dive into the WOD's for a month and see how you feel / if the results you're getting are what you want.

Nice gains for doing the program two times. Good luck with whatever you decide

[Marc Ohmann]

Originally Posted by Johan Nederhof

a lot of people do a ss day oin the ,middle of the 3 day cycle, you might want to do the reverse, do a crossfit metcon (metabolic conditioning) in the middle day.
Remember to start easy, metcons are deceptive and pack quit a punch.
Have fun, Johan

This was my initial thought. I know I heard Ripp mention this method once somewhere. Just to add a metcon on Sat during a regular M, W, F SS series. Now I am gravitating more towards pure WODs.

Originally Posted by Tom Fetter

I suppose it depends on your goals, and your current level of strength.

If you've done two SS cycles already, why not dive into WODs full-time now, scaling where necessary. Many people have great success with scaled WODs, even without any lifting background to build a minimal strength base.


Once you've been at WODs regularly for a couple of months, you'll know whether you need more strength right away, or whether your goals are being realized with your current starting point. WODs by themselves will make most of us stronger - especially newbies - especially if you do the CFWU.

I did SS before jumping into WODs, and got to the "novice" level on coach Rip's charts. It helped a lot, leaving me strong enough that I could do most metcon WODs as metcon rather than as strength workouts, and didn't need to scale the majority of the WODs.

But still had to scale some of them - which ticked me off more over the months. 8 months of WODs later, my overhead strength was the primary reason I was still getting a brutal Fran time. Linda was right out as Rx'd, because my bench was garbage.

So I'm a few weeks into another SS cycle, to shore up those weaknesses. I'm scheduled to return to WODs in mid-late March, though I'm missing them now pretty fiercely.

t

I just last week made the PP novice stage on my last 2 lifts (DL, and Squat). This is what has made me wonder if the time is right to move to crossfit or if I should try to get to the Intermediate level first. I think you are right on in that I can do WODs for a while and always come back and run SS again for a 6 or 8 week period later on.

Originally Posted by Luke Pliakis

I finished a 6 week starting strength program on the 12th. I waited from the last work out Saturday till Tuesday to finish drinking the milk, then I dove into the WOD's. I upped my shoulder press today higher than I could do when I finished the program. From just the last two weeks, I'd say dive into the WOD's for a month and see how you feel / if the results you're getting are what you want.

Nice gains for doing the program two times. Good luck with whatever you decide

Thanks, right now I am thinking I will probably switch over to WODs next week and just use the warmup to the fullest to work on lifts that I would like to concentrate on.