Crossfit claim: sub 5 mile and 500 lb squat in next 10 yrs

CWG wrote:

For the same reason you were being difficult about the difference between 2x and 3x.

What are you talking about? Nowhere in my post did I say 2x or 3x. The numbers I used were 909 and 1000.

But even if i had used 2x and 3x, your response is dumb. The difference between 909 and 1000 is not the same as the difference between 2x and 3x.

I like the Bryan Clay idea, he's like me (multi's), only better.

Since nobody else on here does anything close to a 4-plate squat, I will tell you what it takes:

1) Density throughout the middle of the body, for stability, because that's a lot of weight, and packing on another nearly 100 lbs to get to 500 is very serious territory.

2) Technique, which can get you a very, very long way, but which takes a very, very long time to learn.

3) HUGE energy reserve and the ability to output it all at once, bulging eyeballs and elevated blood pressure, and everything else. As much as anything, this ability to output it all at once is a learned ability.

So the squat takes a guy who has trained heavy squats, seriously, for a long time. Nobody gets to these levels cleanly, in short order.

There's a step function for brute strength--I know, I am on the "weak" side. I'm a smaller guy at 180-185, nowhere near strongman stuff, but pumped up pretty much as strong as anyone could possibly get at that weight. There are guys who go 250+ who could get to 500lbs in not too long, but there is no way in hell they will go sub-5. This will take not a strongman, but instead, someone who is middle-of-the-road--not a runner, not a strongman, but a sprinter/multi type of guy, biased toward strength and away from aerobic endurance.

I like the Bryan Clay guess, he would be my #1 choice.

Hey Bryan, what about it?

Bryan Clay was actually a very poor miler. His best 1500m was 4:38 which barely equates to sub-5 and he made a living in part by running that distance. Someone with similar ability but who is not making their living in Track would be even less likely to break 5.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

1) Density throughout the middle of the body, for stability, because that's a lot of weight, and packing on another nearly 100 lbs to get to 500 is very serious territory.

I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment that it will take insane core strength. That is probably my weakness with both squat and dead. When I get to 300+ lbs, it isn't my legs that can't do it, it's my underdeveloped lower back muscles, and the rest of the core.

For me, leg day isn't about being sore so much in my legs, but in my core. For me to be sub 5, id have to be sub 160lbs, and that would be roughly 3.15x bw for squat.

lslsl wrote:

CWG wrote:

For the same reason you were being difficult about the difference between 2x and 3x.

What are you talking about? Nowhere in my post did I say 2x or 3x. The numbers I used were 909 and 1000.

But even if i had used 2x and 3x, your response is dumb. The difference between 909 and 1000 is not the same as the difference between 2x and 3x.

You know, earlier in the thread when you got torn apart by numerous posters.

You've probably never heard about the last straw that broke the camel's back?

The difference between 909 and 1000 can be vast. Think about it.

Well, the requirement is not to be a good miler, just to be sub-5, which it appears according to your conversion, that Clay was/is.

Plus, I was over 40 when I had those numbers. Heck, maybe I could have done this had I cared to, in my early/mid 30's. Considering Clay's age, he has to be considered an excellent candidate to have been able to do something like this.

Then there is dope. Who the F knows what is possible on dope. If I could get that close in my 40's, it is likely possible today by some doper who cares to train for it.

What people on this board don't realize is that a 500 full squat is no joke. For that kind of weight, a guy who is not a big guy needs serious core density, and technique, otherwise injury will result. Sure, huge guys can throw around that kind of weight, but will never sniff even 6 minutes in the mile.

500/sub5 is an interesting balance. Most likely it will be achievable by somebody who is just a natural freak in the squat, which some guys are. I remember working out with a guy who at 5'8"/165 would do reps with me at 4 plates. Yes, he was fully wrapped and I was neat, but still, that guy was just a natural, his body was just naturally conducive to doing a big squat.

Another candidate from the track world has to be Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who has a demonstrated ability to front-squat 420 in this vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXZrfVS3KK4

Notice that he is gassed, but that he could go heavier in a rear squat.

Note also that that squat is still a full 80 lbs away from 500, which is very, very far.

Note also that not even considering the mile, he is generally considered too big for the 100m!

Note also that he has a big upper body, which is not necessarily required for a big squat, but which in practice always does come with a big squat unless someone accidentally naturally has the perfect squatting body.

500 lbs is no joke. I stopped doing 4-plate squats because my wife kept ragging on me that it was stupid, because serious injury could result and it was unnecessary as I am only a recreational track guy. I respect her wisdom, and converted to huge leg presses instead, much less chance of injury.

I have been a powerlifter for 3 years and I can squat 500lbs at 165lbs bw. I used to run cross country and track in high school but fell off running until recently. I managed to run 4:10 for 1500m. I believe it is possible to sub 5 and squat or deadlift heavily and not let one sport get in the way of another.

CrossFit is just for a bunch of posers at a pick up, meat market gym.

Junk Master wrote:

I could do a 5:15 mile while squatting well over 500 at 230 pounds. I have to believe it's possible, especially for a taller athlete. I'm just 6''0.

Now that I'm a hobby jogger I doubt if I can squat 400 and can barely break 6 minutes...ugh! Getting old sucks.

Lesson to the young-- you have no idea how hard you can train.

Yes. IIRC I did a 4:58 when I used to squat 4 plates for a few reps—and I was older at the time. Or maybe the two things weren’t too far apart. I weighed around 183-185, but I have seen a squat-freak guy smaller than me squat 5 plates. IDK about energy systems and running efficiency, but maybe he could have done it with training, he was fit—and clean, btw. He used to squat with huge wraps, though.

Real squatting involves a lot of technique, and the right equipment—good wraps help save joints and stabilize, good shoes put everything into alignment. Shoes alone can be a huge advantage.

I think it’s possible, but only someone like me who is inferior at both events would ever come close, and then only in a hobby setting because there is no competitive reward.

If there was a decent competitive reward, IMO you would see a class of guys who would do it, especially if juiced. IDK if crossfit tests. Oh, I just remembered an ex-400 runner fireman who would also have been close...and, of all things, a Taekwando guy I used to know, who ended up a math teacher. Both were 500-lb squat guys.

Weightlifters would be the pool, not crossfitters. Olympic lifters know how to squat 500 lbs even at low body weight, and might be trained to run, if lighter.

Ryan Hall could do that easy.