Barbell Cycling Training

Being able to cycle a barbell at a fast rate efficiently has become a very crucial part of the sport of CrossFit as the competitive field deepens every year. There are many factors that affect an athlete's ability to cycle a barbell, the two major ones being strength and fitness level. Outside of those are movement pattern, grip strength and endurance, and breathing. This program can be used to address any of those five factors. The factor you choose to address is dependent on how you approach each day of your training and what modifications you make to your strategy. Below I will touch on how each of these different factors can be the focal point of your session.

STRENGTH FOCUS: If your goal is to use this program to develop general strength pacing all the mono-structural work down to a conversational/comfortable pace (even if that means scaling down a few calories) is very important. Doing that will allow you to put all of your focus on performing the barbell reps at the highest level possible. Make it your goal to always be working at the upper end of the percentages provided and keep the barbell unbroken.

FITNESS FOCUS: If your goal is to use this program to develop general fitness the focus of each interval should be to complete it at a fast, but repeatable pace. This is done by pushing the tempo on the machine, then choosing a weight for the barbell that can be completed unbroken even under high amounts of fatigue. The goal is to finish each interval as fast as possible, with minimal difference from the first rep to the last rep of the day.

MOVEMENT PATTERN: The ideal movement pattern you use to perform a 1RM Clean & Jerk efficiently and effectively is very different from the on you would use to perform "Grace" (30 Clean & Jerks@135/95) as fast as possible. For a 1RM lift you are positioning yourself to have as good as leverage on the bar as possible to lift maximum load and for "Grace" you are positioning your body to move a light/medium load as fast as possible. As for the movement pattern itself everyones will look a little different. The point I am trying to make here though is how you move the barbell during these intervals will look different from your max attempts if your goal is to cycle at a fast rate.

GRIP STRENGTH/ENDURANCE: To maximize your grip training the first goal will always be completing each intervals with all reps unbroken on the barbell. As you are able to complete reps unbroken continue to increase the load of the bar to tax your grip strength to a higher degree. iIf you are still capable of completing all reps unbroken even at the highest intensities within the recommended percentages, then increase your speed on the mono-structural machines to put your body under more strain prior to starting the barbell reps.

BREATHING: I believe breathing is the most overlooked aspects of barbell cycling ability and also the lowest hanging fruits to increasing your barbell cycling performance the easiest. The biggest issue I see is athletes (including myself) holding their breath for the entire duration that they are cycling the barbell because they are so focused on being powerful and fast only, they forget to relax. This may work for the first round or two of a workout, but eventually it catches up to the individual and they can't continue to cycle the bar while holding their breath. To focus on this during training, I recommend slowing down your pace during the mono-structural portion of the interval, so when you get to the barbell you are under control. Then, when you pick up the barbell during each rep breathe out during the concentric portion of the movement and in during the eccentric portion of the movement. This will get you in the habit of breathing during every rep and be very helpful, especially in longer workouts.

FOR ACCESS TO DOWNLOADABLE BARBELL CYCLING PROGRAMMING GO TO THE LINK BELOW: