Maguid Asks: Hi Greg et al., I am up in Toronto, running a Crossfit and working towards the goals of increasing my capacity and technical proficiency across all of the modalities under the CF umbrella.

I have been on the 2-phase cycle you programmed in April 2009, with some modifications on the volume of course. Five weeks in, I have seen some huge gains across the board! I am planning for the next phase of my training a little early knowing how fast the remaining weeks will fly by, and I have a couple of quick questions:

1. Looking at the current 18 week program, I'm wondering what the rationale is behind it. I'm noticing a lot of RMs each day similar to the strength by feel program. How does this one differ from strength by feel exactly?

2. On the training side, since starting the 2-phase cycle I have developed occasional irritation/swelling in one of my knees, presumably from some positioning issues I have with the squat. I got knee sleeves and those help, as well as working to really make space for the joint with mobility work before training sessions. It has improved, but I'm hoping you might have some tips or experience with managing knee issues.

I love the site, and read the articles regularly. I especially loved Jocelyn's kicking the metcon habit article. I found it to be mature and thoughtful, as well as honest. Thanks a lot!

Greg Says: The 3-phase 18-week cycle is similar to the strength by feel cycle in the sense that I don’t prescribe weights as often and instead just prescribe reps and sets with the expectation that the lifter will find the appropriate weight each day. I honestly prefer prescribing weights, but the reality with programming for a bunch of athletes I don’t know and never see is that I can’t do that with any accuracy. With my own lifters, it’s possible, and even then, I don’t always prescribe weights; sometimes I will prescribe a range of percentages and always explain what I expect them to do.

The 18-week cycle is broken into 3 distinct phases that each has a different emphasis. The first phase is focused on building squatting and pressing strength (the latter might be better called overhead strength, as this includes jerk and snatch-related work); the second focuses more on pulling strength; and the last focuses on the classic lifts. The first two phases taper and test maxes on the last week, both as a way to keep an eye on progress, to give a break from the volume, and to make sure we’re not going too long without feeling heavy snatches and clean & jerks.

The strength by feel cycle is like a more generalized version of the above. That is, there aren’t distinct emphases at any given point. And of course it’s half the duration. This cycle is more appropriate for more beginning lifters. I tend to post programs with fairly high volume, which will often be more than many who follow the site can manage, but I have expectations that they will modify it as necessary (as you state you did with the 2-phase cycle).

Regarding the knee, I genuinely believe that the only reason a knee ever hurts from weightlifting is if something is being done incorrectly. There is nothing inherently damaging about the movements themselves. That being said, people who do every lift perfectly and have no strength or flexibility imbalances don’t exist, so there will always be potential for the aggravation of joints.

Since your description of the problem is vague (and I’m not a medical professional), I can only make guesses regarding what the problem is. Typically, as you said, there is an issue with the squat movement being improper in the sense that the knee is not able to move smoothly through the range of motion with a perfect balance of forces on it. This could be something as simple as a tight ITB that tugs the kneecap to the outside a bit too much and as a result causes some abnormal friction in the joint, which could cause enough irritation for some minor swelling. Or you might have some scar tissue built up somewhere in the joint capsule that creates a similar problem. In any case, the smart course of action is to try to identify the cause by tracking when the swelling occurs—e.g. after what movements, what time of day, what activity you do before and after that may affect it, how much or how you warm-up, etc.

In addition, I like doing a shotgun approach to cover as many bases as possible. If something in there works, you will eventually figure out what it was, and any superfluous work isn’t likely to harm you. Tons of foam rolling on all aspects of the quads, hamstrings and adductors; extra work with a lacrosse ball or similar on the ITB; stretch the quads and hip flexors aggressively pre- and post-workout. Post workout, stretch all the hip musculature as well—we want to make sure you’re not crooked. Doing unilateral stretches should make it pretty obvious if something is tighter on one side than the other.

And finally, try to identify any movement dysfunction during squatting or movements involving squatting, e.g. that knee shifting inward or outward, always throwing that foot farther out than the other during a clean or snatch, or that foot being rotated out more or less than the other, etc., and work to correct this through stretching, strengthening and technical work.

Christine Asks: I just had a private session with my coach at Crossfit Inland Empire and my major problem with cleans is that the bar hits the top of my shoulders after I get my elbow out in front.

Are there any suggestions to fix this? My coach says that I still round the bar out in front of me instead of keeping it close to my body. How high is it suggested to pull the bar up for the clean?

Thanks for your time and any input you're able to provide. :)

Greg Says: Very common problem and a big limiter for the clean. Basically, if the bar is crashing down onto your shoulders, you’re losing your connection to it somehow at some point. Figuring out when and why will allow you to correct the problem.

If your coach is correct in saying that the bar swings forward during the turnover, there are a couple possible causes, and most likely, it’s a combination of more than one. First, the movement of your arms and the body during the pull under itself are incorrect. Most likely, this means allowing your elbows to move backward and to stay in toward your sides. Instead, you need to turn the elbows out as far as you can right from the start of the lift and keep them oriented that way until you’re done pulling yourself down toward the bar and it’s time to bring the elbows around the bar and up into the rack position. I will emphasize this point because so often people dismiss its importance. Rotate the elbows to the sides. All the way. Not a little bit. Until they don’t rotate any more. This doesn’t mean round your shoulders forward, by the way. Internally rotate the arm with neutral (protraction/retraction) and somewhat depressed shoulder blades.

The second most likely cause is that you’re not staying over the bar long enough and as a consequence, it’s hitting low on your thighs and getting pushed forward as you finish your extension, which you likely can’t finish well because of this. Aim to keep the shoulders slightly in front of the bar until it’s at the upper thigh and only then initiate the final explosion of the knees and hips. This will allow the knees to shift forward as they should naturally and the bar to move back into you rather than hanging up on the legs as they’re moving forward. If you do this well, the mechanics of the pull under actually matter less (but don’t neglect them).

You can practice muscle cleans with very light weights to get the feel for this. When I say light, I mean light enough that the turnover can be done quickly and with little resistance. Focus on making the bar move straight up your torso and smoothly onto your shoulders—you’ll quickly find that the only way this is possible is by pulling the elbows high and to the sides.

I wrote an article of somewhat ridiculous length about this very topic that you can read on the website here. That should help you further diagnose the cause and determine the best way to resolve the problem.