Thoughts/Opinions/Review of Linchpin's Private Track?

stairesdustin86

New member
Any and all comments welcome!

*Edit* - would love to know what clowns are downvoting a question about programming. Why the f**k are you on a crossfit subreddit?

*Edit 2* - I genuinely had no idea that Pat Sherwood ran linchpin. Just picked up on the programming from another thread. I feel a bit of a dumbass now as I understand the pedigree of the programme!
 
@stairesdustin86 I’ve been running it for 6 months now. Of course, there are pros and cons to everything, so I’ll try to highlight both:

Pros:
1. You are going to last longer as an athlete. I feel more bulletproof and am less injured. I have followed CompTrain and Mayhem in the past and would burn out after a while. Linchpin cycles intensity/volume pretty well. It’s a long term game.
  1. The private track community is awesome and supportive. There’s always someone to chase and some real fire breathers.
  2. All of my lifts and benchmarks have gone up. I can’t explain it, but Pat’s programming is magic. All of my domains have improved.
  3. Inexpensive!
Cons
  1. Sometimes you will finish a workout and think “that wasn’t too hard...” Don’t fall for it! I think there is a feeling in CF sometimes that you have to go hard EVERY DAY. Unless you are 18-25, you can’t. In fact, you’ll be moving backwards. That said, you may finish up some days feeling unchallenged. You have to be okay with that.
I tried to think of more cons but I can’t. Here are some random thoughts: Get ready to run. Sprints, distance, shuttles... you’re going to be running at least once a week. - Get ready to lift heavy. We hit the heavy weights once a week. - Always do at least one accessory. Pat programs accessory work everyday. Use it! - Take the two rest days. You get Thursday and Sunday for active recovery. Once I actually started using them, my performance improved. - Utilize the private FB group. It’s worth creating an account. It’s fun to see everyone suffer together. Pat will program a brutal WOD every once in a while and it’s fun to share our experiences there.

It’s an international community with some real beasts. I enjoy trying to climb the leaderboard. I hope I see you on there!
 
@dawn16 You mention your lifts have gone up. I just signed up two days ago and am wondering, where is the squat cycle? I can't see past this week and have gone forward two weeks and not one day has any squats. Am I not looking in the right place?
 
@dawn16 I used to think this too. When I do I’ll do both accessory workouts if not all 4 and feel great! The gains are insane this programming is the best!
 
@stairesdustin86 Been a Private Track member for over 2 years now. Absolutely love it. I had shoulder surgery a couple of years ago. This was the reason I switched to JUST Linchpin. Was doing the stuff programmed at the gym I was going to and then doing Linchpin workouts "for fun" afterwards. The high volume played a huge part in my labrum tear. Decided to heed Pat's words and realize that more isn't always better. In that same vein, I've also learned to embrace scaling. If my shoulder is feeling janky, I'll scale weight/movements as needed. It's encouraged and actually applauded by other members of the Linchpin community. For a 40yr old with bad knees, a surgically repaired shoulder and no competitive aspirations, it's the perfect programming. It's all about increasing your life expectancy and quality of. Plus, $10 and you get Beyond the White Board is a steal.
 
@deecruz I had a labrum tear too. I'm 35 and had been over training for about 2 years, which I'm pretty sure lead to the tear. I don't follow Linchpin, but I have significantly cut back the intensity. I do WLing 2 days a week and metcons 3 days a week. The other 2 days are rest. Before the tear I would WL 4 days and do metcons 5 days a week. It was way too much! I coach now and try to preach this to the younger guys. They still don't listen. If I can just reach one lol
 
@stairesdustin86 An absolute STEAL of a price.

In my opinion, Linchpin is the absolute best option for 95% of people.

To show that I’m not biased, I don’t follow the program. But I do recognize that it is the best for the vast majority.
 
@stairesdustin86 I started it 2 months ago. It changed my life just like when I first started crossfit.. If you have the foundation for the movements it's an amazing program, coached by a Lv4 coach.. The warmups are included. For each wod the coach has a video explaining details. Each WOD have different options depending on the equipment you have available. Super thoughtful and flexible.

The private community is amazing. I absolutely love the experience of working out in my garage gym, but I can see how it could be a downside for some if you are used to working out with other people together (there are partner WOD options programmed twice a week. Highly recommend to try the 14 day trial.
 
@stairesdustin86 It's the best GPP out there, in my opinion. I used to be a volume warrior, partly because I enjoyed it, partly because I thought I needed it. I've always been a decent athlete, around that 90th percentile mark in the Open since 2017 as my first official yeah (though I've been CFing since late 2012). Since cutting the volume and going straight Linchpin I've gotten better.

Pat is perfectly situated in both CF land and the real world, he knows life happens and programs to make us more physically (and mentally) resilient human beings.

I'm going on 2 years of exclusively Linchpin and it's the best 10 dollars a month I spend!
 
@stairesdustin86 My buddy follows it and is getting pretty fit. He had been bouncing around from program to program for a while, but now he's just doing Linchpin. It's really paying off from what I can tell. IMO, it is "old school crossfit programming". The kind of programming you would get back in the day on dotcom. I really liked that programming. Like one person said you feel like you didn't do anything some days but those are the days that are important. Not every day needs to leave you feeling dead inside.
 
@stairesdustin86 This subreddit has it's fair share of trolls, take another upvote.

I guess I'll get downvoted but I tried it for a month and didn't like the WoDs. I had a few specific reasons but I mostly remember the weights being very light, and largely feeling bored.

I have a friend that really enjoys the private track however and it's an enormous value package with a huge audience of happy people so I think you should start the 2 week trial and decide for yourself.
 
@stairesdustin86 Easily the best 10 dollars a month I spend. Linchpin is fantastic. Tons of review from people that have been following all kinds of programing for 10+ years. No joke. Better results and less injuries when you listen to the programing and following the plan.
 
Back
Top