Programming With Matt Chan: Implementing Westside Barbell Into CrossFit

“I saw the benefits of it and decided that I would like to implement a strength focus,” Matt Chan says of Westside Barbell programming.

Chan, who was a top competitor in both the 2010 CrossFit Games and the CrossFit-USAW Open, says he started implementing what he learned at a CrossFit Powerlifting Certification last February. Although he doesn’t have all the specialized equipment, Chan uses what he has and then gets creative to replicate pressing with boards, squatting to a box and squatting with accommodating resistance.



And the program works. In a four-month period, Chan says he went from a 405-lb. back squat to a 435-lb. back squat, which was more progress than he had made in the last two years. Chan says he will continue to use a strength focus for three months, then re-evaluate. His programming will blend a modified version of Westside programming with CrossFit met-cons and Olympic lifts.

“It’s still CrossFit. It’s still constantly varied,” Chan says.

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Courtesy:http://johnjcortes.blogspot.com/2010/12/programming-with-matt-chan-implementing_25.html

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Matt Chan is Implementing Westside Barbell Programming into CrossFit

Matt Chan, the top competitor of 2010 CrossFit-USAW Open and CrossFit Games, said that he is he saw the benefits of Westside Barbell programming and has decided to implement a strength focus based on it. Westside Barbell, a club for serious powerlifters, advocates the use of conjugate method. The legendary powerlifter Louie Simmons is the strength trainer of this club.



At the CrossFit Powerlifting Certification that he attended last February, Chan learned the program and started implementing it in his strength training workouts. However, Chan does not possess all the specialized equipment, and uses what he has. Moreover, he uses certain creative approaches to replicate squatting to a box, pressing with boards and squatting with accommodating resistance.

Chan experienced the benefits of the program; within four months, he went to a 435-lb back squat from a 405-lb. back squat. This was his record progress that he made during the last two years. Matt Chan has decided to use a strength focus for the coming three months and then re-evaluate the progress. The programming includes a modified version of Westside Barbell programming along with the CrossFit met-cons as well as Olympic lifts.

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