Powerlifting and Crossfit??? …. WTF???

just turned 40. Big milestone. You make summaries, evaluations, new goals, new plans. Your body is different. Mindset is different, goals change.

When I was 20, I wanted to be strong and jacked. Hell, when I was 30, I still wanted to be strong and jacked. Now, when I am 40, have two kids for whom I feel greatly responsible and need to be in top shape to run my company, I want to be strong, jacked, fit and healthy.

But how the fuck can you combine powerlifting and crossfit? It’s like porsche and John Deere tractor …

Nope, not like this …

Like that:

So, how the heck do you combine it? Focus on the benefits. Take out the best and leave the crap.

What can you take from powerlifting?
Best: basic movements, low-medium reps, multiple sets, multiple times per week.
Crap: conditioning, general fitness, mobility

What can you take from crossfit?
Best: Exercise sequences with almost zero rest between sets, high reps, metabolic conditioning, tons of variations.
Crap: high-rep olympic lifts, sometimes lack of strength programing

So far I’ve been doing it for 6 months, my strength is the same as before and on some lifts I hit new PR’s, conditioning improvement is through the roof and yep, you guessed it, I lost 6kg (13lbs) of fat and got significantly leaner. I was 102kg, now I am down to 96kg.

Is this ideal training? I don’t know and I don’t care. I still can build strength, improve conditioning and I am more jacked than ever. So far, it is working.

Here are some typical training sessions as of late …

squat: 5 sets of 5
bench press: 5 sets of 8
3 rounds of:
seated DB presses
15 reps, 15 reps, 15 reps
incline sit-ups
30 reps, 30 reps, 30 reps
rope jumps
200, 200, 200

(1 round would be: 15 reps of shoulder presses followed by 30 incline sit-ups followed by 200 rope jumps; no rest between exercises, 3 min rest between rounds)

or

front squat: 4 sets of 4
overhead press: 5 sets of 8, hypertrophy set 15+
3 rounds of:
heavy-as-fuck T-bar rows
8, 8, 8
KB swing
50, 50, 50
rope jumps
200, 200, 200

or

conventional deadlift: 5 sets of 3
floor press: 5 sets of 8, hypertrophy set 20+
3 rounds of:
rope jumps
150, 200, 250
leg press heavy
50, 50, 50
rope jumps
150, 200, 250

or

squat: 5 sets of 4, hypertrophy set 15+
sumo deadlift: 5 sets of 5
3 rounds of:
push-ups
30, 30, 30
dumbbell thrusters
20, 20, 20
rower
4 min, 4 min, 4 min

Endless variations, you keep your powerlifting programming and are getting stronger plus you get more jacked and way more fit. Works for me. Give it shot 😉