5/3/1 (nSuns) with CrossFit question

[nessofonett05]

@bfall 15mpw as well, wow. I definitely will not be doing that, haha.

Seems like you did what I was thinking - essentially used the metcon side of things to condition. I guess "listen to your body" is always good advice. I am mainly concerned with a scenario like wall balls after squat day, where I am capable of doing it but hindering my recovery potentially.

I feel like I am just overthinking it now, your advice is very common sense. Just try it and if it feels overwhelming or crazy back it up to a normal 5/3/1 or less. Appreciate you taking the time to comment.

 

[bfall]

@nessofonett05

I am mainly concerned with a scenario like wall balls after squat day

Think about it this way. You're not going to hurt yourself doing wall balls. You might be slower than normal, need to take more breaks, etc..., but there isn't really a danger there. And you're probably not squatting the next day (depending on the template I guess). So you should be recovered by the next squat session.

 

[antonio99]

@nessofonett05 @bemerritt and others make some good points that I can only echo. nSuns is 12 working sets of your primary and secondary lift 4-6 days. It really helped me in about 3 months crack through some plateaus in all four lifts (DL, BS, Press and Bench) that I never got over doing CF. I ran 5 days flexibly ie took and extra day's rest sometimes, and maybe an extra day work others. It takes time to do properly... most people over one hour, closer to 1.5 per session if you do any accessories. And I really would not have wanted to do CF in parallel. My advice would be just focus on one for three month cycle... it may feel "inefficient" now, but over a six months you will be more advanced than if you mix and match.

 

[nessofonett05]

@antonio99 This makes a lot of sense - helps a lot to hear someone else who has been in my position and what worked for you. Thanks!

 

[niko4460]

@nessofonett05 Most 5/3/1 variations would be a good fit for this, since Crossfit would effectively just be your conditioning for the program. But the nSuns templates are all much higher volume and have more aggressive progression schemes, so integrating Crossfit 2-3x/week won't give you a lot of room for error in your recovery.

If you're determined to give it a shot, make sure you're eating and sleeping a lot. Also don't be afraid to cut back on assistance volume if you start to feel a little beat up after a couple of weeks.

 

[nessofonett05]

@niko4460 Would you say this is true whether the wods are metcons or not?

Appreciate the insight.

 

[niko4460]

@nessofonett05 I'm basing this on the assumption that your CrossFit days will be usually be metcons, since HIIT tends to be pretty taxing for most people. This could be managed with scaling, or subbing metcons with LISS.

 

[nessofonett05]

@niko4460 Sorry to ask this but I am a complete newbie:

LISS stands for... lower intensity something something?

 

[niko4460]

@nessofonett05 LISS = Low Intensity Steady State

Basically traditional cardio, where you run/bike/swim/row at constant pace for 30+ minutes. Boring, but great for building an aerobic base and easier to recover from than metcons.

 

[commentator]

@nessofonett05 You’d do better putting together your own metcon workouts for off days than following your box’s WOD.
Your box is programming the WODs for the bulk of members, not for individuals working on their own strength program. You have no control over their classes.

 

[question123]

@nessofonett05 Did nSuns and Crossfit. 4 day variant. Saw great gains, but wore out after 8ish weeks. Maxes are still close to what I was putting up. I would suggest going for 4 weeks and back off just like the 5/3/1 format. After a week of backing off go big again. It was very addictive to get 2+ at 90% and see what I could next week! Have fun!