Is Crossfit enough or add additional lifting?

Dmkolls

I crossfit mostly 4, but sometimes 5 times per week. They do incorporate lifting with squats (front and back) deadlifts, and lifting during the CWOD (conditioning workout of the day). I feel so much stronger than I did when I started in April 2013. Example: I started at a 10 lb kettlebell and am now at a 27 lb kettlebell.

I can see more definition on my arms and my legs seem more solid than before. SO commented that I'm getting "shapely." This is a compliment from him.

So, my question is this enough in terms of lifting or should I add some OLY lifting classes? My box offers only 1 I can make it to, which is Saturday mornings before the WOD. So, should I add that to my routine or use that in place of one of my crossfit days?

Thanks, guys! And can I honestly say that upping my cals and following what you guys suggest has made me feel better than I have in years of restrictive dieting?! My recovery time has been great. I sleep better than I have in years. I'm not as cold as I used to be, and my hair stopped falling out!

heybales

Wow, great progress.

If by what you mean by additional lifting you mean to help retain muscle mass, as long as it's an overload on the muscle because of weight, not endurance, it's the type to illicit a response of growth from the body, if diet allows it. That's what tells the body this is needed muscle, and allocate protein for repair to it.

So if the squats and deadlift were such that 15 reps is nothing, so they have you do 30-40 with several sets, that's intense cardio with strength component almost.
And while it is better than just straight cardio, it's not the same response as true lifting either.

But really, as long as deficit was correct for that type of activity and reasonable, not bad at all.

Does the lifting workout time include some overhead press or bench press or pullups, working the upper body? If so, all's good then.

jordymils

I also do crossfit 4 times a week (but will be upping to 6+ in the next couple weeks when I'm back home) and the sessions I do almost always do 1-2 exercises for strength before the WOD. These exercises could be dead lifts, front/back squats, bench press, handstand push ups, chin ups, lunges, turkish get ups, snatches, clean & jerk, etc etc and will usually be done in 5 sets of 5 reps, so definitely strength focussed rather than endurance. Then there will be more lifting in the WOD but depending on the day, sometimes the reps in the WOD can be as high as 20-30, and sometimes as low as 5-7, so obviously weight is adjusted accordingly.
For me, that's usually enough lifting (with the strength lifting before WOD, as well as lifting during WOD) but some weeks I'll do an extra lifting session on my own if I feel like it.
Crossfit is supposed to be an all round type of training so you shouldn't NEED to do extra lifting, but it's all personal preference on whether or not you want to work specifically on strength training for a designated time frame, rather than incorporating it into your normal sessions...

Fittreelol

It depends on what your goals are. If your goal is to be reasonably fit, and to keep LBM it should be fine. If your goal is to become the strongest lady in TX, then you would want to add in some specific work for that.