Originally posted by: brikis98
Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
While I'm comfortable with deadlifts and squats.....I'm not familiar with some of the other lifts OH squats, Power Cleans, Snatches, KB swings, ring work etc...
Judging by the seattle CF Fitness sheets (
http://www.crossfitseattle.com...1-IV%20spreadsheet.pdf I am easily intermediate in all categories.
How long will it take me to learn these new skills and work my way to advnaced category? Is a year a reasonable goal?
Depends on a lot of factors. First, to obtain a
basic competence in the new exercises:
OH squats: highly dependent on the flexibility/mobility of your rotator cuffs, wrists, and ankles. If your flexibility is decent and you already have a good squat, it will only take you a few sessions to become reasonably competent at these. If your flexibility sucks, it could take a whole lot longer.
Cleans & Snatches: the olympic lifts also rely heavily on flexibility - the OH squat is part of the snatch and the clean rack and a deep front squat are needed for the clean. Once you're past the flexibility limitation, the technique for these lifts is still damn complicated. If you have a competent coach, it will probably take a few weeks to become competent in these lifts. Without one, it can take a whole lot longer.
KB swings: you should be able to learn these in 1-2 sessions.
Ring work: depends on how much shoulder, chest, and core stability/strength you have now. If you struggle now to hold yourself in a support position on the rings, then it'll take a while to build up the requisite strength. If support is easy, then it probably won't take you too long to develop some of the basic abilities like ring dips, skin the cat, and l-sits. Muscle ups require a lot of strength, but also a lot of technique. If you're already very good at pull-ups/dips, then you can probably get your first one in a few weeks. If not, then it could take a while longer. Front and back levers are relatively easy to learn but require enormous strength (esp. the front lever), so most people have to follow progressions to build up to them.
Other exercises: personally, I also had to learn a number of other exercises when starting CF, including kipping pull-ups (2-3 sessions to do a basic one, but much longer to learn to efficiently chain them together), split/push jerks (3-4 sessions), double-unders (unpredictable - anywhere from 2-3 sessions to 2-3 months), handstand push-ups (depends on strength and ability to do handstands), sdhp's (1-2 sessions), and thrusters (1-2 sessions), pistols (4-5 sessions, although lots of flexibility is required).
Now, as for becoming
advanced in all categories, that depends on how far away you are now, how hard you work, how good your genetics are, how good your diet is, and how good the programming is at your affiliate. I've been doing Crossfit for a little over a year and looking at the skill levels now, I'm advanced for the vast majority of the exercises, elite on a handful of them, and there are 6 or 7 that I've never tried. To be honest though, I wouldn't worry too much about comparing yourself to these skill levels: they are a reasonable guide, but it's far more useful to just monitor your own progress. If you do CF consistently, you'll unquestionably see huge improvements in your fitness, and that matters far more than how you stack up against a random chart.
