WOD 081230

Make up for Crossfit WOD 081229.

• Shoulder press 1-1-1-1-1 reps
• Push press 3-3-3-3-3 reps
• Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5 reps

My results:

• Shoulder press (x1) 135 / 155 / 165 / 175 / 185 (pr)
  
• Push press (x3) 135 / 145 / 155 / 165 /175
  
• Push Jerk (x5) 135 / 155 / 175 / 155 / 155
• Bench press 135 x 12 / 185 x 8 / 185 x 7 / 185 x 7 / 185 x 5
• Dead hang pull up (chest to bar) 5 / 5 / 3 / 5 / 3

I supplemented the CF WOD with additional movements. I'd like to get a little more strength work when I'm not totally shattered by the WOD.

WOD 081228

Ran 1 mile, 50 back extensions, 50 sit ups.

Then 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1:

• 220 lbs tire flips
• 2x 20" box jumps (20/18/16/14/12/10/8/6/4/2)
  

CF WOD 081227

Complete as many rounds as possible 20 minutes of:

• 95 pound Thruster, 5 reps
• 95 pound Hang Powercleans, 7 reps
• 95 pound Sumo Deadlift High-pull, 10 reps

My results: 6.5 rounds

I finished off the last set of SDLHP to make it an even 7 rounds.

WOD 081226

Make up for 081224. We christened the new weight set at Terry N's office.

• Back Squat 5-5-5-5-5 reps

My results:

• 185/205/225/255/275(3)/205

We also threw in 5x5 standing shoulder press with 135 lbs.

WOD 081225

The holidays make me feel nostalgic so I did an old school weight workout.

• Bench press (185)
  
• Close grip bench press (135)
  
• reverse curls / triceps extensions (45)

I didn't keep track of reps or sets. I think I did 5-7 sets of each exercise to failure. fun was had by all while doing yard work on Xmas day. 70 degrees in Austin.

WOD 081223

Worked out with Terry N. at Murchison Middle School.

• 50/40/30/20/10 35 lbs kettle bell swing
• 5/4/3/2/1 hill runs
• 10/8/6/4/2 medicine ball throws

Pretty brutal in the cold but the hill sprints warmed me up nicely. I'm ready for a day off!

WOD 081222

"Cindy"
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:

• 5 Pull-ups
• 10 Push-ups
• 15 Squats

Terry N. and I did Cindy at the DPS fitness ground in 30 degree weather. 14 rounds.

CF WOD 081219

For time:

• 50 Box jump, 24 inch box
• 50 Jumping pull-ups
• 50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
• Walking Lunge, 50 steps
• 50 Knees to elbows
• 50 Push press, 45 pounds
• 50 Back extensions
• 50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
• 50 Burpees
• 50 Double unders

500 reps, brutal work out. Informally known as "filthy fifty" in crossfit circles. I didn't keep time but I finished.

CF WOD 081218

Make up workout for 081209.

"Annie"

50-40-30-20 and10 rep rounds of:

• Double-unders
• Sit-ups

I didn't keep time. It took me about ~15.

CF WOD 081217

I did the WOD from 081215.

Five rounds for time of:

• 275 pound Deadlift, 5 reps
• 10 Burpees

This took me 14 minutes. I rested 2-3 minutes between rounds. I really enjoyed this workout. For warmup, I ran 1 mile and rowed 1 mile on a Concept II rower.

WOD 081215

"Lynne"

5 rounds for max reps of:

• body weight bench press
• pull ups

My results: (124)

• (185 lbs) 12, 7, 6, 6, 6 (37)
• PU 24, 19, 15, 15, 14 (87)

Previous: (106) 081125

• BW BP (185 lbs) 12, 7, 5, 5, 7 (36)
  
• PU 21, 14, 10, 12, 13 (70)

15% improvement in 3 weeks. Not too shabby. Biggest gain came in pull ups.

My bench isn't moving and my chest feels disproportionately weak. Of course I only bench when I Lynne or Linda. Dips and push ups aren't doing the trick apparently.

WOD 081214

Ran 5k at Town Lake. Man it was nice... 75 degrees at 5PM, sunny, and a tad humid. Today its 40 degrees and windy.

CF WOD 1081212

Three rounds for time of:

• 24" Box jump, 50 reps
• 185 pound Deadlift, 21 reps
• 30 Pull-ups

Scaled to 3 rounds of:

• 24" box jump, 50 reps
• 185 lbs dead lift, 21 reps
• 10 chin ups, no kipping

I did not keep time. This workout was brutal on my legs, lungs, and grip. The dead lifts felt light. I couldn't do more than 14 without stopping because my overhand grip would weaken.

CF WOD 081211

"Nasty Girls"

3 rounds for time of:

• 50 Squats
• 7 Muscle-ups
• 135 pound Hang power cleans, 10 reps

This is one of the iconic Crossfit workouts. Watch the video and you'll understand. I subbed 21 pull ups and 21 dips for muscle ups.

3 rounds for time of:

• 50 Squats
• 21 pull ups
• 21 dips
  
• 135 pound Hang power cleans, 10 reps

My time: 28 minutes. Not great, but I don't care. I finished and it was fun. I completed the first round in about 7 minutes.

WOD 081208

4 sets of:

• 15 pull ups
• 15 dips
• 15 sit ups
• 15 back extensions

1 mile warm up

Make up WOD for 081203

Been busy at work but didn't want to miss this one. It sure felt horrible.

"Fran"

Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 reps, for time of:

• 95 pound Thruster
• Pull-ups

My time: 7:20

On 080915 I did 10:12. 28% improvement. (440 vs 612 secs)

CF WOD 081201

• Shoulder Press 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps
• Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3 reps (makeup for 081129)

Results:

• SP 135, 145, 155, 165, 135 x 4, 135 x 4, 155 x 2 (missed 2x on 175)
• DL 275 x 3, 285 x 3, 295 x 3, 315 x 3, 335 x 3

Not bad but not great. Missed on shoulder press personal record but hit DL personal record 3 times.

WOD 081130

"Angie"

For time:

• 100 pull ups
• 100 push ups
• 100 sit ups
• 100 squats

My time: 27:15

I subbed this workout for "Tabata something else" because I don't have a stop watch. No improvement over 080925. The pull ups still soak up about 15 minutes.

WOD 081126

4 rounds of:

• 2 100m sprints
• 30 sit ups
• 10 210 lbs dead lifts
• 1 40m hill sprint

once again i lugged my weights out to murchison middle school for the hill.

CF WOD 081125

"Lynne"

Five rounds for max reps of:

• Body weight bench press
• Pull-ups

My results: (106)

• BW BP (185 lbs) 12, 7, 5, 5, 7 (36)
  
• PU 21, 14, 10, 12, 13 (70)

Previous: 60 & 79

Another ~25% improvement. This workout rocked. I did not feel up to it after hurting my shoulder on Sunday. But the pull ups felt great and I finally knocked out 21 in a set. I can't wait for my next Fran.

Ouch! WOD 081123

3 rounds of:

• 21 20" box jumps
• 21 push ups
• 3 15' rope climbs
• 14 10 lbs medicine ball throws
• 21 hanging knees to elbows

I hurt my right shoulder on the first rope climb, so I only finished one complete set. On the second round I dropped rope climbs after the first climb. Hopefully this will recover quickly. I could have warmed up better.

CF WODS 081121 & 081122

I did both WODs today:

• Clean and Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps
• Run 5 K

I ran town lake in about 25 minutes.

C&J: 135/135/145/145/155/155/155

I also did a few Turkish getups with 75 lbs on a full length Olympic bar. old fashioned strong man style.

CF WOD 081511

Push jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

My results:

• 135 x 5
• 145 x 3
• 155 x 2
• 165 x 2
• 175 x 2
• 185 x 1
• 185 x 3

Throw in 3-5 pull ups between each set. 185 didn't feel heavy, so that's where I'll start next time.

CF WOD

Make up for 081117

"Helen"

Three rounds for time:

• Run 400 meters
• 1 1/2 pood Kettlebell X 21 swings (or 55 pound dumbbell swing)
• 12 Pull-ups

14:40

%21 improvement over 080820. (880/1110 secs)

This felt good. On my 3rd set I ran a 9 minute pace, did 14+7 swings, and 6+6 pull ups. Helen is a nice endurance workout.

CF WOD 081115

This was the CF WOD from Friday 081114.

Five rounds for time of:

• 95 pound Hang Power Snatch, 15 reps
• Run 400 meters

My VERY scaled version.

3 rounds of:

• 95 pound hang power snatch, 10 reps
• 2 x 120m sprints
• 2 x 40m hill sprints (30-35 degree incline I'd guess)

I'm subbing sprints for 400m/800m whenever possible. Sprints are more sport specific and have a greater physiological impact.

WOD: Total Prep

One of my own invention. The CF total is combined weight of max single reps on back squat, standing shoulder press, and dead lift in that order. I haven't totaled in a while and I didn't feel up for a big cardio day, so I decided to have a regular lift with the total movements.

• Back squat: 10 x 135/185/185/185/185
• Shoulder Press: 5 x 135/135/135/135/135
• Dead lift: 10 x 135/185/185/185/185

Felt good. Nice, light weights, plenty of reps, focused on technique. Some of the later SP sets I added some push presses to finish out the sets.

CF WOD 081110

Five rounds for time of:

• 25 Inverted Burpees
• 25 Pull-ups
• 25 Burpees

My workout:

• 25/15/10 burpees
• 25/15/10 inverted burpees
• 25/15/10 pull ups

I barely finished my scaled workout. This was a gut busting gut check that left me shaking after the first round. The pull ups felt good, though.

For those who don't know, an inverted burpee begins lying on your back, then you rip or roll to your feet, then go into a handstand.

CF WOD

Power clean 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Results: 135/145/155/165/175/175/175

ouch

CF WOD 081107

Four rounds for time of:

• Run 400 meters
• 50 Squats

15 minutes

Progress?

Well, it turns out I have made progress. Lynne was my first girl on 080629.

080629 Lynne: (60)

• bodyweight bench press (185) 6/5/4/4/3
  
• dead-hang pull ups (no kipping) 11/8/6/7/6

081106 Lynne: (79)

• bodyweight bench press (185) 10/6/4/5/4
• kipping pull ups 15/10/7/8/10

Delta: ~25%

Here's the kicker -- both PUs and BP improved by ~25%. That shows good balance. I have also lost 5 pounds (I now weight 182 vs 187 when I started) and my blood pressure is way down.

The comparison is not totally fair since I am now kipping, but I find kipping to be nearly as difficult as dead hang because my grip is my weak point and kipping puts much more pressure on your hands then dead hang.

Interesting note: I do pull ups all the time and I never bench. Odd that they showed the same improvement.

CF WOD 081106

It's all well and good to say there's room for improvement, but, at some point, you need to see improvement. Another disappointment today.

"Lynne"

Five rounds for max reps of:

• Body weight bench press
• Pull-ups

My results: 79 total

• BP 185 x 10-6-4-5-4
• PU 15-10-7-8-10

I probably could have knocked out 1 more rep per set on bench with a spotter and maybe cranked out a few more PUs per set if I took a break between exercises. But oh well. PUs 3 times in the past 4 days prolly didn't help either. My ripped up hands sure feel it.

Wicked judo throws

Heres a video of Aaron Cohen, an Olympic-caliber judoka, and an assistant wrestling coach at Deerfield High, my alma mater. respect the altitude!

Observation

Well, it has finally happened. An inspirational moment that reaffirms the American dream that I will surely remember for the rest of my life. Yesterday on November 4th 2008, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States of America, giving hope to big eared children across the free world.

In all seriousness, though, its about time we had a Bears fan in the White House!

CF WOD 081105

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

• 10 Pull-ups
• 65 pound Thruster, 10 reps

8 rounds.

Not a great showing. These 20 minute sprints are brutal. After the first 3 rounds I'm totally gassed. The same thing happened on the pull up/push up/squat workout. At least I have room to improve.

Don't call it a come back

Nice total body workout today. Got some good stares in the gym.

• 10-9-8-7-6 reps of:
• Turkish get ups (45 lbs)
• pull ups
• dips

Of course this followed my usual strenuous warm up that now includes over head squats, pistols (one leg swats), kettle bell swings, jump rope, and push ups.

WOD 081102

Terry Nixon and I ran the 3 mile loop at Town Lake. A good time was had by all. We walked the last quarter mile or so. This is my first workout back after being sick.

hand-foot-mouth disease!

I am officially out of commission for a few days as I recuperate from the dreaded "hand-foot-mouth" disease, which apparently impairs not only my ability to exercise but also to type. Hand, foot, mouth disease is also known by the slightly more humorous moniker "Coxsakie virus."

Coxsakie is rare among adults. Josh and Eli both had it, and I took on the brunt of their childcare hoping to keep Tracy healthy, and ended up catching it. I'm sure my immune system was run down at the time. Its transmitted via direct contact with saliva, mucous, or feces. Not only have I had direct contact with all three of those things from each of my children, but I probably touched all three simultaneously!

Anyway, my throat started feeling scratchy on Saturday night. By Sunday evening I had full blown shivering chills and a 104 degree temperature. The fever subsided by Monday morning but now I have an incredibly painful sore throat. It feels like someone took a cheese grater to it. There are also small painful blisters forming on both of my hands. Very gross.

Do not confuse hand-foot-mouth disease with "hoof and mouth" disease. When my father in law -- who grew up on a farm -- heard that I had hand-foot-mouth, he recommended putting me down before I infect the rest of the herd.

The only silver lining is that I visited the doctor yesterday and my weight looked good (187 fully dressed, pants, shoes, wallet, keys, phone, etc.) and my blood pressure was 110/60.

Make up CF WOD 081016

Make up for CF WOD last week 081016.

Snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

For many Olympic lifting neophytes, snatch is the final frontier. I am still not confident performing the snatch with heavy weight. I decided to go light and add overhead squat and straight leg dead lift for a snatch progression.

Results:

• 7 rounds of:
• snatch 1 x 95
• overhead squat 3 x 95
• straight leg dead lift 3 x 95

Not to be out done...

My older son Eli obviously inherited my genetic gift for strength building and my penchant for shameless exhibitionism.

Results?

Here's a pic from Seaworld taken ~6 weeks ago. Since I started Crossfitting, my arms and shoulders added thickness and definition without any direct arm or shoulder isolation. No curls, no military press, no delt raises, no shrugs. Just total body functional movements: pull ups, push presses, dead lifts, and cleans.


The handsome devil in the cowboy hat is my youngest son Josh.

Make up WOD

We had guests for the past two weeks so I missed a few workouts. I also had a small situation with my workout shoes. Hopefully I am back.

"Cindy"
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:

• 5 Pull-ups
• 10 Push-ups
• 15 Squats

I completed 12 rounds. The first 6 took 5 minutes and then I gassed. A backwards step? Maybe. I have never tried Cindy before, so I have no comparative data. My goal going in was 20.

I shouldn't feel too bad. Combining these results with my warm up nets:

• 240 body weight squats
• 150 push ups
• 60 pull ups
  

WOD

This is one of my own invention. Linda preparation. For those who don't know, Linda is a brutal workout:

• For time 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of:
• 185 lbs bench press
• 135 lbs clean
• 275 lbs dead lift

My workout:

• 185 lbs bench press (55 reps)
• 135 lbs clean (55 reps)
• 275 lbs dead lift (30 reps)

Hopefully this will help me reach the full Linda workout. I would have done Linda except I only have 1 bar and not enough weight.

CF WOD 081006

CF WOD:

• Five rounds for time of:
• 135 pound Deadlift, 15 reps
• 135 pound Hang power clean, 12 reps
• 135 pound Front Squat, 9 reps
• 135 pound Push Jerk, 6 reps

I did 3 sets with 135lbs. The hang power cleans were very difficult. The other movements were pretty easy.

CF WOD 081004

"Barbara"

Five rounds, each for time of:

• 20 Pull-ups
• 30 Push-ups
• 40 Sit-ups
• 50 Squats

I did not finish Barbara and I did not keep time.

My results:

• 4 x 20 pull ups (most in any 1 set was 12. i just wasn't feeling it today)
• 4 x 30 push ups
• 3 x 40 sit ups
• 3 x 50 squats

This workout is totally different than Angie even though its the same movements. I wasn't prepared. At least I got some good work in today.

CF WOD 081001

Hero workout: "Nate"

Complete as many rounds in twenty minutes as you can of:

• 2 Muscle-ups
• 4 Handstand Push-ups
• 8 2-Pood Kettlebell swings

My scaled version:

Complete as many rounds in twenty minutes as you can of:

• 12 pull ups
• 12 dips
  
• 6 handstand push ups
• 8 55 lb Kettlebell swings

I completed 4 rounds. The hand stand push ups turned out to be a big time sink. This is 4 days in a row. I'm looking fwd to my next rest day.

WOD 080930

Happy New Year! L'Shana Tovah!

My inaugural workout for the Jewish new year:

• 4 rounds for time of:
• 25 dead lift 135 lbs
• 25 push ups
• 25 box jumps (24")

My time: 26 min. I did a lot of resting between rounds.

WOD 080929

The CF 080928 WOD:

• Push jerk 5-5-5-5-5 reps

My results:

• Push jerk 135 x 5 /135 x 5 / 145 x 5 / 145 x 5 / 155 x 5

Easier than I expected. Might be time to go up in weight. I'm jumping better but I still have a tendency to lock out the bar with a press rather than pulling under it. Looking back on my previous workouts, this is the first time I've gone heavier than 115 on the push jerks.

I warmed up a little more than usual today.

• 3 rounds of:
• jump rope 1 min.
• half squat rotations 10
• arm circles 10
• push ups 10
• inch worm
• squats 12
• Samson stretch
• kettle bell swings 35 x 10
• pull ups 10
• dips 10

The warm up felt good. I must have been inspired by the Bears victory over the Eagles.

WOD 080928

Sunday's workout was a make up for Saturday.

CF WOD 080927:

• Four rounds for time of:
• Run 400 meter
• 50 Squats

I did not keep time but I didn't stop and rest either. I'd say my 400 times were in the 2 minute range. This one was a nice quad burner.

WOD 080925

This is a rest day on CF.com so I decided to do Angie.

For time:

• 100 pull ups
• 100 push ups
• 100 sit ups
• 100 bodyweight squats

My time: 27:35

The pull ups are killing me. It took me 15 minutes to get through 100 and I knocked out 20 in my first set. I tweaked my chest a bit on the first pull up rep.

Even so, this is a pretty good improvement. On July 7th I finished in about32 minutes with jump pull ups. On August 19th I finished the full workout in 35 minutes. So my time went down by about %25.

Touch rugby finals

I play 6-a-side touch rugby over the summer with the Austin rugby club. My team -- the Exiles -- is made up of players from the Austin rugby club, the Austin Huns, and a few expatriate kiwis. We finished each of the last 2 seasons in second place, losing to the Blues in the finals. Last season we lost in overtime. Tonight we played the semi-final and final matches to determine the 2008 champions.

In our first game we played the Golds. This team is comprised of mainly ARFC players. We beat the Gold pretty handily even with an 11 year old player, Patrick Medina, the son of our scrum half Rick Medina. An interesting side note -- Patrick almost scored a try but was touched in goal by ARFC lock Matt Fry. I hope Matt is proud of himself. He probably went home and kicked his dog.

The other semi-final match pitted the Blues against the Hawaiians. The Hawaiians were the odss on favorite, led by USA Eagle 7s fly-half Dallen Stanford. However, in a back and forth match that saw the lead change several times, the Blues came out on top. Mickey (?) paced the Blues with 3 long tries. Mikey is a former UT and Beavers 7s player. Mikey has tons of talent bt he gave up rugby due to recurring shoulder injuries. The Blues prevailed in overtime, setting the stage for a rematch of the 2006 and 2007 finals.

In the final match we took a 2-0 lead before giving up 2 tries. The Blues systematically worked the ball down field into our territory and then capitalized on our defensive mistakes. They actually went up 3-2 but we countered off a long risky football pass to the sidelines by yours truly. Just as it happened in 2007, we went into overtime under the lights at Burr field.

In touch rugby overtime is unlimited time sudden victory. The first team to score wins. Overtime begins with 6 players per side and then 1 player retires at each minute mark until each team only has three players. As you can imagine, playing 3 vs 3 rugby on a full sized rugby pitch is quite demanding. We felt that if we could make it through their initial onslaught we had a good chance since our team had a speed advantage. We played overtime mostly in our end. We made several mistakes and they kept us pinned. We stopped them right on the goal line on 8-9 occasions. I was the 3rd player to exit. About 2 minutes into the 3 vs 3 stage, Terrel Modkins took the outside corner and made a long break down the right sideline. Mikey took a good angle and nearly had him at the goal line, but when the dust settled Terrel had scored a 50m try and the Exiles had won their first touch championship 4-3 in overtime against the hated Blues.

WOD 080922

This was my own invention.

20 reps of:

• Left hand DB snatch (40 lbs)
• Right hand DB snatch (40 lbs)
• Ranger push up
• pushup on DBs
• right hand DB row from pushup position
• left hand DB row from pushup position
• pushup on DBs
• DB deadlift (jump to standing with 2 40lb DBs)

This was a pretty good workout. I didn't push it very hard. Isabel was today's CF WOD -- 30 135lbs snatch for time.

WOD 080921

For Crossfit today was a rest day. I decided to workout again just to keep things going. I feel like I have a lot of momentum right now.

• Run 5K

I ran the 3 mile loop at Town Lake with Matt Haga, a former rugby team mate. We stuck to an easy 10 minute pace and enjoyed the scenery. Running Town Lake with a friend is much more enjoyable than pounding out a 5K on the treadmill with no headphones.

WOD 080920

Another benchmark workout I've been looking forward to: Grace.

CF WOD 090918:

• "Grace" For time -- 135 pound Clean and Jerk, 30 reps

My time: 9:15

CF WOD 080919 and 080915

I took about a week off because my shoulder was bothering me, but today I came back with a vengeance. 2 WODs in one day!

090819:

• Run 5k
  

090815:

• Fran: Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 reps, for time of:
  
  • 95 pound Thruster
  • Pull-ups

Both times were slower than I wanted but I busted my ass in both workouts and I was very sore from touch.

My results:

• 5K -- 27:42
  
• Fran -- 10:12

Fran kicks my ass! Moving from thrusters to pull ups feels like the wind is getting knocked out of you.

Touch rugby 080918

Thursday night I went out to the Austin Rugby club and played touch rugby. We played 2 20 minutes matches with 7 a side. We tied the first match 6-6 and the won the second 7-4. In the second match we played 2 men down (5 versus 7) in the first half and 4 on 7 in the second. We were actually up 6-0 at half time and narrowly held on for the win. Of course it helped that we had Dallen Stanford, the USA Eagle 7s fly half on our team.

It was a great workout. Even though I feel very fit from Crossfitting, I am not in rugby shape. The sharp accelerations, quick stopping, change of direction, and repeated sprinting was hard on the lungs and the joints. But I felt very explosive and quick. I scored a bunch of tries on long runs and on defense I ran down a bunch of long breaks to prevent scores.

Workout 080913

I did the CF 080912 WOD a day late.

• Clean and Jerk 3-3-3-3-3 reps

My results:

• Clean and jerk 3 x 135/3 x 145/3 x 145/3 x 155/ 3 x 155

I enjoyed lifting weights in my backyard. Throwing my barbell after each set made me feel very manly.

CF WOD 080910

Today I narrowly avoided the becoming the first person to throw up while lifting weights at my workplace gym!

5 rounds for max reps of:

• Body weight bench press
• Pull-ups
• Body weight back squat

My results :

• bench press 185 lbs 10/6/5/5/6
• back squat 185 lbs 12/10/8/7/7
• pull ups 15/10/8/10/10

With no spotter I didn't go to failure on any exercise except pull ups. I rested about 2 minutes between each circuit and I was GASSED. This workout was brutal.

CF really stole my thunder on strength focused periodization within the crossfit cycle. I'd say 75% of the past 2 weeks WODs have been strength focused. Look slike I underestimated the Coach!

Another thing I learned is that it is damn hard to string together 3 days of strength workouts where you go all out on functional exercises like squatting and dead lift. But I do feel like I'm getting stronger.

Another interesting side node, in the past 4 months this is the 4th time I have benched and I've benched 2x in the last week.

CF WOD 080906

Linda: For time, 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of

• bench press (body weight)
• dead lift (1.5 body weight)
• clean (.75 body weight)

No rest between sets, move immediately from station to station.

My results: 10-9-8-7-6 reps of

• bench press (185 lbs)
• dead lift (275 lbs)
• clean (135 lbs)

I only had one bar so I wasted a lot of time switching weights between exercises. Eventually I got smart and did 7 bench, 7 DL, 7 cl, 6 cl, 6 DL, 6 bench. I stopped at 1 hour with 40 of 55 reps complete.

This workout entailed lifting more weight than I ever have in my life. (11000 lbs dead lift, 7400 bench, 5400 clean = 23800 lbs) I think I ruptured my spleen, btw.

I also ran 1.5 miles at Lady Bird Lake today.

CF WOD 080903

Another strength workout. I think Glassman is reading my blog.

As posted:

• Back Squat 3-3-3-3-3 reps

My results:

• 10 x 135 / 3 x 205 / 3 x 215 / 3 x 225 / 3 x 235 / 3 x 245 / 3 x 255

I didn't go heavy because I was lifting in my garage with a shaky rack and no spotter. Even so, I think it qualifies as a strength workout.

CF WOD 080902

As posted:

• Push jerk 3-3-3-3-3 reps

Push jerk is a movement I am not entirely comfortable with yet so I went light.

My results:

• Push jerk: 3 x 135/ 3 x 155 / 3 x 155 / 3 x 155 / 3 x 155

Even with the light weight I could tell that the trainers at my office gym were uncomfortable watching someone perform an explosive overhead lift. To their credit, they left me alone.

I also did my typical warmup (no running) and I did about 5 pull ups between each set just to stay loose.

WOD 080831

Today I did yesterday's CF WOD. Yesterday I ended up doing about six hours of yard work so I didn't have time to fit it in. Today's WOD involved weighted pull ups, which I did twice last week, so yesterday's WOD seemed like a better fit.

CF WOD 080830:

Four rounds for time:

• Run 400 meters
• Rest 2 minutes

I didn't have a stop watch so I subbed walk 200m for rest 2 minutes. I think the whole workout took me about 25 minutes including my warm up. I did the linear speed progression warm up from Functional Training for Sports by Mike Boyle.

On that note, the Human Kinetics series is without a doubt the best line of fitness books I have come across. Every one of them is written by experts and has very high production quality. The wrestling and rugby series are excellent and the strength training series includes authors by luminaries such as Tudor Bompa. But I have to say Mike Boyle's book is my favorite. "Functional Training For Sports" is as ground breaking as Crossfit. Boyle's system emphasizes body weight exercises and isolation movements intended to enhance sports performance and prevent injury. Whereas Crossfit generalizes to all physical activities, FTFS is very specifically geared toward enhancing sports performance through exercises that emulate sports specific movement.

WOD 080829

I'm getting a little tired with the high rep, high intensity, metabolic conditioning workouts. As a little experiment, I decided to spend a few weeks going with heavier weights at lower intensities. I think mixing some periodization into the system could pay big dividends by retaining the exercise variation and emphasis on functional movements.

Todays work out -- "heavy-ish fran.

• 21-15-9 reps of:
• barbell thrusters (135 lbs)
• weighted kipping pull ups (15 lbs)

I did not keep time. Instead I went to failure on each "set." This workout followed my typical warmup of jumping rope, arm circles, push ups, squats, Sampson stretch, quarter squat rotations, inch worm, 35 lbs kettle bell swings, and running 400m.

Over the last few months i've noticed crossfit WODs follow a fairly predictable sequence. Throw in the 3 on 1 off schedule and you've established a fairly adaptable schedule. It would be interesting to chart the CF.com WOD variation over some time sample to see what kind of sequences emerge. So another approach I'm mulling over (beyond semi-periodization phases) is totally random crossfit. You put all workouts in a hopper and it spits out a daily workout with a 25% chance of a rest day.

The talkers

During my workout some guy came over and asked if he could work in with me on the pull up bar. I was doing weighted chin ups with a 25 lbs plate suspended from a chain and caribeener. [?] He took the chain and attached it to a weightlifting belt and did a few pull ups. When he gave it back to me he said I should use a belt because "it works better" than putting the chain around my waist.

I did a quick superset of weighter chins and dips then gave him back the chain. he attached it to his belt then wandered off into the gym to talk to someone. 3-4 minutes later he came back and said "Sorry about that. I needed to catch her before she left for the day." I said no worries. he followed up with "Besides you don't wait long enough between your sets anyway."

After his next set of pull ups he handed me back the chain and said "You should do pull ups instead of chin ups. Chin ups are too easy."

What compels people to give advice to complete strangers in the gym? And how come these guys always wear tank tops tucked into bike shorts? Maybe the same guy has been following me around from gym to gym over the past 20 years I've been lifting weights.

Primal Fitness WOD 080827

Crossfit.com featured an affiliate in Washington, D.C. called "Primal Fitness." PF offers Parkhour, Crossfit, yoga, and judo. The run their affiliate out what looks like an old firehouse. Pretty neat if you ask me!

I browsed around PF for awhile and found their WOD:

• Weighted ring/bar Dips-5-5-5-5-5
• Weighted Pull-Ups-5-5-5-5-5

This is supposed to be a muscle up progression. I was also inspired by my friend Adrian's back injury from too much squatting.

Anyway, my workout:

• Typical warm up (jump rope, push ups, squats, stretching, etc.)
  
• Weighted chin ups -- 5 x 10 lbs/5 x 25 lbs /5 x 25 lbs / 5 x 25 lbs / 5 x 25 lbs
• Weighted bar dips -- 5 x 10 lbs/5 x 25 lbs /5 x 25 lbs / 5 x 25 lbs / 8 x 25 lbs
• Pull ups -- 5 / 5
• Dips -- 12 / 10
• 1 mile run (9:24)
  

This was a nice strength focused workout. I'd like to do more of these and a little less volume, especially on pull ups, because I think there will be greater benefit in terms of strength and less wear and tear.

CF WOD 080826

As posted:

• Front Squat 10-10-10-10-10 reps

My results:

• Front squat 10 x 135/135/155/155/135

I went light and really concentrated on form. Last time I went heavy on front squats I may have ruptured a disk.

Just an FYI, here's my typical warm up. It takes me about 10-15 minutes.

• 3 sets of:
• 10 forward arm circles
• 10 backward arm circles
• 10 forward shoulder circles
• 10 backward shoulder circles
• 10 quarter squat rotations
• 1 minute jump rope (on running days)
• 10 push ups
• down dog stretch / inch worm
• 30 second Sampson stretch each side
• 10 35 lbs kettle bell swings
• 10 body weight squats
• 5-10 pull ups
• Run 400/800/1 mile (on non running days)
  

CF WOD 080825

CF WOD 080825

This workout is brutal. Physically and mentally demanding with massive volume. This is one of those smash-you-in-the-face workouts that gets lots of stares in big box gyms. This workout is named after a US patriot killed in Afghanistan. Read the comments in the link below before you do Murph. If that doesn't get you fired up nothing will.

"Murph"

For time:

• 1 mile Run
• 100 Pull-ups
• 200 Push-ups
• 300 Squats
• 1 mile Run

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you've got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.

My time: 71 minutes. I did not wear body armor, I did not record a fast time, but I did complete Murph.

CF WOD 080820

"Helen"
Three rounds for time:

• Run 400 meters
• 1 1/2 pood Kettlebell X 21 swings (or 55 pound dumbbell swing)
• 12 Pull-ups

18:30 as posted.

CF WOD 080819

CF WOD as posted:

• Dead lift 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

My results:

• Dead lift:
• 10 x 135
• 5 x 225
  
• 1 x 275
• 1x 285
• 1 x 295
• 1 x 295
• 1 x 305
• 1 x 305
• 1 x 305

Some nice heavy lifting. I also mixed in about 30 pull ups, push ups, and squats during the workout to keep me loose.

CF WOD 080818

"Tabata Something Else"

Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest where the first 8 intervals are pull-ups, the second 8 are push-ups, the third 8 intervals are sit-ups, and finally, the last 8 intervals are squats. There is no rest between exercises.

My results:

• Pull ups -- 54 (10/9/7/7/5/5/6/5)
  
• Push ups -- 73 (20/14/9/7/6/5/6/6)
  
• Sit ups -- 47 (7/7/6/6/5/4/5/5)
  
• Squats -- 137 (30/16/18/15/14/15/15/14)

Total: 311 reps in 16 minutes

CF WOD 080817

Three rounds for time:

• 135 pound Thruster (21/15/9)
  
• Muscle-ups (21/15/9)

43 minutes (scaled):

• 135 pound Thruster (21/15/9)
  
• Inverted row (21/15/9)

The Crossfit sub for 1 muscle up is 3 dips and 3 pull ups. I'm still VERY sore from Friday, so I scaled back to inverted row. I also took long breaks between thruster sets, going 7/7/7, 5/5/5, 3/3/3. I hadn't done 135 before. This workout felt great.

CF WOD 080815

Posted CF WOD:

For time:

• 50 Pull-ups
• 50 Ring Dips
• 40 Pull-ups
• 40 Ring Dips
• 30 Pull-ups
• 30 Ring Dips
• 20 Pull-ups
• 20 Ring Dips
• 10 Pull-ups
• 10 Ring Dips

My scaled workout:

• 25 pull ups
• 25 dips
• 20 pull ups
• 20 dips
• 15 pull ups
• 15 dips
• 10 pull ups
• 10 dips
• 5 pull ups
• 5 dips

27 minutes. My kipping pull ups are improving, more efficient, and bar dips are MUCH easier than ring dips.

CF WOD 080814

Todays CF WOD is a perfect follow up to yesterday's total.

3 rounds for time of:

• 50 double unders
• 50 back extensions
• 50 sit ups

My time as prescribed: 33 minutes

Man I'm sore from yesterday's total, but it will hurt even more tomorrow!

CF WOD 080813

Crossfit Total:

• Back squat (1)
• Shoulder press (1)
• Dead lift (1)

My Total: 315 + 175 + 335 = 825 -- Personal Record!

• Bs (135 x 10, 185 x 10, 225 x 5, 275, 315, missed on 335)
  
• Sp (135 x 5, 155, 165, 175, missed on 185) -- PR
  
• Dl (225 x 5, 245, 275, 295, 315, 335) -- PR
  

My last total (June 24 2008) was 745:

• Bs 325
• Sp 145
• Dl 275

11% improvement in 7 weeks. Not too shabby!

My DL improved by 60 lbs and my SP improved by 40. We hammered those lifts in CC class. Back squat suffered a10 lbs set back but this time I used a med ball to mark all the way down.

The 335 Dl felt easy. I think I'll continue to improve there!

CF 080810

Oops! I forgot to post yesterdays workout.

CF WOD: Run 5k for time.

My time: 28 minutes.

This is the first time I've completed a 5K outdoors. I ran at 2:30PM and it was brutally hot. The temperature was 102 degrees, but on the track with no shade it must have been higher.

CF 080811

Todays CF WOD:

For time:

• 10 GHD Sit-ups
• 10 Hip & Back Extensions
• 95 pound Thrusters, 30 reps
• 50 Pull-ups
• 30 GHD Sit-ups
• 30 Hip & Back Extensions
• 95 pound Thrusters, 20 reps
• 35 Pull-ups
• 50 GHD Sit-ups
• 50 Hip & Back Extensions
• 95 pound Thrusters, 10 reps
• 20 Pull-ups

My workout:

• Back extensions (9)
  
• Sit ups (9)
  
• 95 lbs thrusters (21)
• pull ups (21)
• Back extensions (15)
  
• Sit ups (15)
  
• 95 lbs thrusters (15)
• pull ups (15)
• Back extensions (21)
  
• Sit ups (21)
  
• 95 lbs thrusters (9)
• pull ups (9)

23 minutes.

CF WOD 080809

Todays CF WOD:

Five rounds for time of:

• 155 pound Hang squat clean, 9 reps
• 15 ft Rope climb, legless, 3 ascents

My workout:

• 95 lbs hang squat clean (9/9/7/5/5)
• 15 ft rope climb (3/3/2/1/1)

I didn't keep time. My back has been bothering me so I didn't push the weight or reps. This was a great workout. My forearms and hands really feel it. Next I rope climb I have to remember to wear longer socks.

GBJJ 080807

Jiu jitsu fitness is totally different than Crossfit fitness. Good thing I don't have either or I might feel bad about lacking the other!

Today I trained for about 1.45 hours. After a nice warm up we covered back mount submissions. Fretson choke, rear collar choke (I forgot the japanese name), and rear choke with knee in back. My face and neck are pretty ripped up from this one. Gi chokes are painful! I have to remember to forget my jacket next time.

We finished with about an hour of rolling. I sparred two white belts that I handled pretty easily (thank goodness) and then rolled with a brown and a blue. I thought I did well against the brown, but then I hit the wall and basically acted like a rag doll for the last 10 minutes.

No CF for me today. I am feeling the pain.

CF WOD 080806

I debated for long time whether to do todays WOD or yesterdays. I decided to go with today's so I would be on schedule. If I don't like tomorrow's workout, especially after jiu jitsu, I'll do yesterday's tomorrow. (5 x 5 back squats.)

As prescribed:

• 21 DB snatch right arm (45 lbs)
• 21 DB snatch left arm (45 lbs)
• 42 pull ups
• 15 DB snatch right arm (45 lbs)
• 15 DB snatch left arm (45 lbs)
• 30 pull ups
• 9 DB snatch right arm (45 lbs)
• 9 DB snatch left arm (45 lbs)
• 18 pull ups

My scaled version:

• 21 DB snatch right arm (25 lbs)
• 21 DB snatch left arm (25 lbs)
• 21 pull ups
• 15 DB snatch right arm (30 lbs)
• 15 DB snatch left arm (30 lbs)
• 15 pull ups
• 9 DB snatch right arm (35 lbs)
• 9 DB snatch left arm (35 lbs)
• 9 pull ups

For the first time kipping pull ups felt easier than regular pull ups or chin ups.

back in the saddle

Today I returned to Relson Gracie Jiu Jitsu, Austin. I trained under Phil Cardella at this school for about 2.5 years and earned a blue belt before stopping when we had our first child. Now, 4 fours and 2 children later, I'm ready to make a comeback.

This morning I attended the AM class. Some observations:

• The attendees seem more experienced and athletic than they did 5-6 years ago. Jiu jitsu is more mainstream and the bar has definitely been raised.
• Everyone was very humble, outgoing, and respectful.
  
• The school is no frills, with mismatched mats, weights, etc. I like it a lot.

One of the reasons I enjoyed high school athletics was that each sport had its season. I think I'm going to take the same approach. 3 months of jiu jitsu, 3 months of boxing, 3 months of rugby 7s, maybe 3 months of crossfit classes or a new sport. And I intend to supplement all of this with crossfitting on my off days.

CC WOD 080801

Last workout at Crossfit Central for the forseeable future. It was a good one.

• For time:
• run 400 m
• 1-2-3-4-5-6 reps of:
• ring dips
• overhead squat (95 lbs)
• kettle bell clean and press (35 lbs)
• run 400m
• 6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of:
• ring dips
• overhead squat (95 lbs)
• kettle bell clean and press (35 lbs)
• run 400m

I finished in 24:13, second to last in the class. My buddy terry was ahead of me on the last 400m run but he stopped to throw up.

I'll write a summary of my experience at CC and my plans going forward in a few days. All and all I really enjoyed my time at CC and learned a lot.

CC WOD 080730

Fran is an iconic crossfit benchmark workout, and one that I've never attempted before today. Its different than some of the other benchmark workouts in that its basically equivalent to a weightlifting sprint. Elite crossfitters regular post times in the 3 minute range.

Fran:

• For time 21/15/9 reps of:
• barbell thrusters (95 lbs)
• pull ups

To do well at Fran your thruster technique needs to be very efficient, the stations need to be close together, and you really have to bang out the pull ups without stopping. I still haven't mastered kipping, so, not surprisingly, I had trouble with Fran.

I finished in 8:26, second in the class. Experienced crossfitters typically post sub 6 minute times. I had no problems with the thrusters, but the pull ups killed me. I finished 7 of the last 9 with jumping pull ups.

Anyway, it was a nice measure and fun to see where I stand.

CC WOD 080728

Todays workout:

• 7 rounds for time of:
• 7 medicine ball cleans (20 lbs)
• 7 knee ups
• 7 burpees
• 7 DB push press (35 lbs)
• 7 kettlebell sumo deadlift highpull (55 lbs)

I finished in 21:52, about 1 minute behind the leader. It was a strange workout. The knee ups, burpees, and KBSDLHP felt easy, while the push press and cleans felt difficult. I may have lost count somewhere during the workout but I'm pretty sure I finished the whole thing.

I'm a little bummed that this is my last week. I have definitely noticed some changes in my body. My abs are more defined and my shoulders and arms are bigger. I feel a little more dense, too.

WOD 080726

Today I did a scaled version of Linda per my buddy Twine's recommendation. FYI, I weigh 183 lbs. I want to make sure I keep getting in some heavy lifting in addition to all the metabolic conditioning at CFC.

Unscaled Linda:

• For time:
• 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of
• bodyweight bench press
• 1.5 bodyweight dead lift
• .75 bodyweight hang clean

Scaled version:

• Ran 1 mile (8 min)
• 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
• bench press (135/135/135/155/155/185/185/185/185/185)
• dead lift (135/135/135/185/185/225/225/225/225/225)
• hang clean (95/95/95/115/115/115/115/115/115/115)

Linda took me about 45 minutes including weight changes and resting between supersets. Anyone who can do an unscaled Linda in under 30 mins gets my respect. My weights would have been 185 bench, 275 dead lift, 135 clean.

CC WOD 080725

Todays workout involved some high intensity metabolic conditioning.

• For time:
• 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of:
• pull ups
• kettle bell swing (55 lbs)
• hanging knees to elbows
• medicine ball slams (20 lbs)
  

I finished last in the class at 19 minutes and some change.

We finished by running 5 sets of ladders with back pedals. (10 yds, 20 yds, 30 ys)

I'm pretty disappointed that I'm %75 through the program and I still can;t do more kipping pull ups than hanging pull ups. On the bright side, the number of regular pull ups I can do has surely decreased, so maybe by the end of the month I'll reach the tipping point.

CC WOD 080723

Today was a good one. Partner workout, so we alternated, and each of us did half the reps.

• For time:
• Weighted burpees (35 lbs DBs) 50/40/30/20/10
• Push press (75 lbs) 50/40/30/20/10

We finished in 21.06, second in the class. I went with 35 lb DBs instead of the prescribed 30 lbs because there were not enough for everyone.

A weighted burpee starts standing with the DBs at your sides. You go down into a plank position, do a pushup, and then come up to your feet with a deadlift, leading with your chest. We didn't jump at the end.

I really enjoyed the last two workouts. I have a makeup from last Friday, so I might do another workout tomorrow. 1-2-3 go!

CC WOD 080721

Lo and behold a strength day.

5-5-5-5-5 front squat

• My results:
• 5 x 135 (warm up)
• 5 X 165
• 5 x 185
• 5 x 205
• 5 x 225
• 2 x 225 / 5 x 205

I felt pretty good going into my 5th set but didn't want to push it too hard. Front squat is technically much more challenging than back squat. My back is actually feeling it right now while I type this.

Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.

WOD 080719

I skipped Friday's CC workout after tweaking my hammy at rugby on Thursday, so I decided to get in another workout today -- "Angie."

• For time:
• 100 pull ups
• 100 push ups
• 100 sit ups
• 100 squats
  

My time: 35:45. MUCH slower than my previous Angie. Not to mention, I used anchored my feet on the sit ups. At the same time, I did many more kipping pull ups than the first time. Either way, I felt discouraged. Maybe the competitive classroom environment makes me push harder, or maybe I'm just getting weaker.

I actually enjoy crossfitting on my own more than attending the class. I like the 3/1 splits and I like the variation. We haven't seen too much variation in the classes. Theres been no distance running and no heavy lifting or olympic lifts thus far.

Practitioners call Crossfit the sport of fitness. If thats the case, then the classes are the wrong way to prepare for competition. From what I can tell the classes are primarily gained toward losing weight through aerobic training with weights. If I were training for a crossfit competition, I would start with a strength building phase where I really concentrated on the power lifts and olympic lifts. Metabolic conditioning can ramp up pretty quickly but building strength takes time and focus. I would then move into some weak point training to address the areas holding back my progress. For example, I feel that the kipping pull ups and ring exercises would be much easier for me if I had stronger abs. However, its against the crossfit ethos to focus ob ab work and core strength building through isolation.

Anyway, I do enjoy the classes, and I intend to finish out the term, but I think I enjoy crossfitting on my own more even if I lose a bit of intensity.

No workie

I tweaked my hammy yesterday at rugby practice so I skipped the CC class this morning. Heres the WOD posted on their site.

• Todays CC WOD:
  
• 1 Minute 115Lb DL (Max Reps)
• Rest 30 seconds
• 1 Minute Renegade Row (Max Reps)
• Rest 30 Seconds

Not to be too critical, but this will be the 3rd time we've done DL in the past week. We havent done any other lifting movements except the sumo deadlift highpull and the kettlebell swing. Where are the presses, snatches, cleans, jerks, push presses, and all of the other movements I learned in the elements class?

Anyway, I am going to branch out and do a weight oriented workout today.

CC WOD 080716

Today we took a break from the weights.

• As many rounds in 20 minutes of:
• 400m run
• 7 box jumps
• 12 pull ups

I completed 5 rounds + 1 400m. The best in class did 6 and a few did 4. We finished with 3 x 30sec L sits on the parallettes. (sic?)


Today I wore my team justin T-shirt to honor the memory of justin whitehead. Justin was born July 19th, 1974, and passed away in January of 2007. Justin was an excellent athlete, an even better person, and i'm proud to have played rugby next to him.

CC WOD 080714

Crossfit will either give me a strong back or a bad back.

Today's CC WOD:

• For time:
• 10 deadlift (185) / 50 kettle bell swings (50 lbs)
  
• 8 deadlift (185) / 25 kettle bell swings (50 lbs)
• 6 deadlift (185) / 15 kettle bell swings (50 lbs)
• 4 deadlift (185) / 10 kettle bell swings (50 lbs)
• 2 deadlift (185) / 5 kettle bell swings (50 lbs)

I finished in 9:46 which put me 3rd or 4th in the class (of 12.)

We finished with 15 minutes of partner medicine balls drills.

All in all, not too bad. The prescribed DL weight for today's workout was 225, but I decided not to push it too much. It's only Monday and I'm still sore from last Wednesday.

Twine WOD 080712

I've been trying to drum up some interest among my friends for the past few weeks in working out together. By together I mean either:

• Using each other for motivation, ideas, and accountability
  
• Sharing our workouts and posting our results
  
• Working out on the same days and posting our results
  
• Doing the same workouts on the same days and posting our results
• Challenges where we alternate suggesting workouts that everyone else has to do

Last week my buddy Eric took me up on my offer. His workout:

• For time:
• 100 pull ups
• 100 burpess

Today I did the workout with a slight modification:

• In 30 minutes max rounds of:
• 10 burpees
• 10 pull ups

And per the instruction of my crossfit coach, I did jump pull ups as a bridge to kipping instead of regular pull ups.

In 30 minutes I finished 9 rounds. As a side note, I did the workout outside in 95 degree weather at the DPS obstacle course.

Another note -- I finished the first 3 rounds in 6 minutes. The last 6 rounds to 4x longer.

Thanks Twine for the brutal follow on to Fridays workout! I'm still sore from Monday.

CC WOD 080711

Another rough one for plieb.

5 rounds for time of:

• 12 x deadlift (185)
• 12 x 24" box jump
• 12 X 10' medicine ball wall throw (20)
• 400m run

I finished last in the class but I finished. My time was 28.24. The fastest time was 19 minutes and the next closest time to me was 27 minutes.

I started with 185 on deadlift then moved to 135, 95, 135 for the last 3 sets. Only one other person went with 185 for deadlift and only 2 other people used 20 lbs med balls.

I'm too worn out to dissect my performance any further. Tomorrow CC is hosting a free workout at Town Lake at 8:30AM.

Another interesting note -- my back is very sore right down my spinal column from my neck to my lower back. When i would lock out my arms on the ring dips my entire body would start vibrating. I must have been activating my spinal erectors or whatever they're called.

US wrestling team workout

http://wrestling.flocasts.org/videos/coverage/view_video/234041/69433-time-to-get-jacked

Some things you'll see in this video:

• 36" weighted box jumps
• quick feet ladder
• tire flipping
• intensity
  

Iowa Wrestling weight workout

Heres a video I stumbled across of the Iowa wrestling team preparing for the NCAA championships. This is a weight lifting day.

http://wrestling.flocasts.org/videos/speaker/154/9592

Some people may criticize their form but you can't criticize the intensity... or the results. Iowa won nationals. For those who do not know, Iowa is a perennial wrestling powerhouse that consistently produces world and olympic wrestling champions.

Wrestling builds tremendous strength, quickness, flexibility, and kinesthetic awareness. Most of these guys probably need very little training beyond their daily mat work, not to mention the farmer strength most of them probably acquired working on the farm. It's pretty impressive to see 145 lbs guys throwing around 1.5-2x their bodyweight no matter what the form looks like.

CC WOD 080709

CC does not follow the WOD's posted at crossfit.com. Instead, they plan out all WODs on a monthly basis so that you are unlikely to hammer the same metabolic pathway several times in a row and wear yourself out. I think its a good idea in the sense that the primary goal of training should be to be able to keep training. However, I'm not sure if this approach jives with the crossfit philosophy of constant variation (randomness?) that mimics/prepares what you might encounter in the real world.

"Excuse me Mr. Mugger but I can't run from you today because I squatted yesterday and I'm still recovering."

Todays workout:

• 7 rounds of:
• 10 sumo deadlift high pull (75 lbs)
• 10 ring dips

• 3 rounds of:
• 20 medicine ball crunches to alternating knees (6 lbs)
• 20 medicine ball russian twist
• 20 medicine ball situps with ball on legs (hard to describe)
• hold plank 30 seconds

I finished the first workout in 11:33 which was second in the class. I finished the second workout first but no time was kept. All in all, I felt much better today than I did on Monday.

Todays crossfit.com workout is CFT. I did my last total only 3 weeks ago, so I will probably pass on it. I thought about doing it tomorrow (my rest day) but I should really give myself at least a month.

Other notes: CC is hosting a free workout on town lake this saturday and free body composition testing on sunday. i'll probably forward the info to the huns and blacks rugby club.

CC WOD

Today I attended my first crossfit class and crossfit central. The class started at 6:45. I rolled out of bed at 6:35, ate a banana, drank a cup of water, and walked down the street to the gym.

The active warm up was nice and brisk... some push ups, squats, trunk rotations, jumping jacks, and a 400m jog. After the warm up I felt ready to go.

The workout:

• 100 pullups
• 100 pushups
• 100 situps
• 100 squats

I knocked out about 60 pushups to start and then I hit a wall. My stomach felt queasy and I could only do 3-5 reps for the remainder of the drill.

next it was on to situps. Feet unsupported, and down until your back is flat. the coach didnt really care how we got up as long as we got up. i watched my classmates pump out situps while i struggled. it was very discouraging.

the squats were not difficult and i moved through them quickly. I think I only stopped twice.

the pullups were a challenge. Working out for time is totally different than your typical sets/reps. I did about 20 dead hang pullups / chin ups over three sets before moving to the jumping negatives. This also took me a very long time.

When I finished I didnt know I was supposed to yell time so the coach recorded my finished total as 32 minutes. It was probably more like 28, which still puts me in dead last place in the class. very discouraging. However, I did all of the reps and I tried my best to work out with good form. Some of my classmates did not even attempt real pullups -- kipping or otherwise -- before moving to the jumping negatives. Others went with modified pushups.

Anyway, I definitely have some room to improve. The intensity was a huge shock to my system, particularly since I'm not accustomed to waking up -- much less working out -- that early. Next Wednesday I'm really going to try and focus on being prepared before class. No more eating. Hopefully I will acclimate quickly.

WOD 080703

Instead of following todays WOD, I opted for the Tuesday WOD that I missed.

As posted:

• Shoulder press 1-1-1-1-1 reps
• Push press 3-3-3-3-3 reps
• Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5 reps

This is one of those limit strength workouts with no time limits.

My results:

• Shoulder press (115, 135, 145, 155, 165)
  
• Push press (5 x 135)
• Push jerk (5 x 115)

I didn't really stick with the spirit of the workout -- increasing weight as the exercises involve more of the body -- but I hit a new personal best fr shoulder press. If I can avoid injury, I think I will be able to shoulder press my bodyweight (185) pretty soon.

I also did a little warmup.

3 rounds of:

• 3 minutes jump rope
• 12 x 25lbs kettlebell swing
• 10 dips
• 15 second samson stretch
  

Crossfit Games Standards and Movements

Next week hundreds of crossfitters will compete in the second annual crossfit games in Armoas, California. The athletes will compete in a series of four events.

The events and standards are described here:

http://games.crossfit.com/documents/GamesFormat_Final.pdf

The first three events have already been named:

• 3 rounds for time (21/15/9 95# thrusters/ pullups)
• 5 rounds for time (5 275# deadlift, 10 burpees)
• 750m off-trail steep hill run for time

The 4th event will be randomly selected from a hopper deck that includes 54 crossfit WODs.

What is really striking about the games format is that the rules for each movement are very strict. For example, pull ups only count if some portion of the chset under the sternum touches the bar. This standard may present a significant challenge to competitors accustomed to chin-over-the-bar pull ups.

I for one think that the crossfit games are pretty interesting in that they introduce competition into exercise. Plus, I love hill running. I have a feeling that if Walter Payton were still alive, he might crossfit.

WOD 080702

As posted:

• Five rounds for time of:
• 135 pound Deadlift, 15 reps
• 135 pound Hang power clean, 12 reps
• 135 pound Front Squat, 9 reps
• 135 pound Push Jerk, 6 reps

I tried to really hammer on the form that I was taught on Monday and Tuesday. Consequently, I went with lighter weight.

• Ran 2 miles (15:20)
• Five rounds of:
• deadlift (115 x 10, 95 x 10/10/10/10)
• hang power clean (115 x 6, 95 x 8/6/6/6)
• front squat (115 x 10, 95 x 10/10/10/12)
• push jerk (115 x 4, 95 x 6/6/6/6/6)

The workout was NOT fun. I understand the intent was to progress to lower reps with more difficult exercises at a constant weight, but I was unable to follow due to my comfort level with certain lifts. I also didnt want to change weight between exercises so I went with the lower weight.

The deadlift and front squat were easy while the hang power clean was difficult at 115. The push jerk was do-able at 115, but I wasn't confident doing this unfamiliar exercise at my work gym. Instead I chose to really concentrate on my form. Hopefully that will pay dividends in the long run.

Crossfit Elements

Today I completed my second Crossfit Elements session at crossfit central. Crossfit elements is a prerequisite for the crossfit program where are coach teaches you the fundamental moves you will be using.

The elements program is supposed to cover:

• Squat
• Shoulder Press
• Deadlift
• Front Squat
• Push Press
• Sumo Deadlift High Pull
• Overhead Squat
• Push Jerk
• Med Ball Clean
• Rowing
• Muscle Up
• Ring Dip
• Ring Row
• Single Arm Snatch
• GHD Situp
• GHD Hip/Back/Both extension
• Barbell Clean
• Barbell Snatch w/ focus on the “scoop”
• kipping pull up (pull up)

In two sessions we covered most of these lifts. We did not cover GHD Situp/Back extension, single arm snatch, or the muscle up. I was supposed to have three sessions but they said they would cover everything in two. maybe they will comp me a drop in.

The instructor was friendly, knowledgeable, and intense. He did a good job of coaching me through the movements and demonstrating the movements. He was totally focused on my form and consistently called me on any cheating or slips. I would definitely benefit from additional individual coaching sessions with this instructor.

More than anything, I learned that I have been performing many exercises incorrectly. The kipping pullup was very difficult and I have a lot of bad habits to unlearn. Specifically, I lower myself after a completed rep, and the breaking action spoils my momentum.

In terms of the deadlift and clean, he gave me valuable pointers for the starting position such as keeping the bar in contact with my body and raising/lowering the bar in a straight line.

The snatch, SDLHP, front squat, overhead squat, and kipping pull up all required a considerable amount of shoulder flexibility that I did not have. That is definitely an area where I need to improve that should pay big dividends in terms of the amount of weight I can lift and safety. I was also surpised byt he amount of head motion and shoulder shrugging required to move the barbell efficiently.

The lifts feel different (much easier) when you perform them correctly, transferring the momentum up the kinetic chain from your hips to your shoulders instead of trying to muscle everything.

WOD 080629

Crossfit includes benchmark workouts -- affectionately known as the "girls" -- that are intended to measure your progress. The idea is that you periodically perform the girls and compare your results with the last time you performed the same workout. Today was my first girl... Lynne.

Lynne:

• 5 rounds for max reps of
• body weight bench press
• pull ups

This workout surprised me because up until this point we haven't done any bench pressing. In fact, I've picked up on a decidedly anti-benchpress vibe. The benchpress if often disparaged as non-functional and requiring special equipment.

Anyway, I was actually a little nervious to bench because the last time I benched I strained my left pec. Back in the good old days I was a big bencher and I would regularly perform sets on incline bench with 225-275. Those days are long gone.

Anyway, my workout:

• 5 rounds max reps:
• 1 mile run (8 mins)
  
• bodyweight bench press (185) 6/5/4/4/3
  
• dead-hang pull ups (no kipping) 11/8/6/7/6

I was disappointed by my rep count of bench and pullups but I'll take it. Without rest between sets and with no spotter I didn't really push things. My bench sets probably could have been 1-2 reps higher each but this will give me a nice starting point for the next time I meet Lynne in a dark alley. Even the fact that I'm critical of my bench performance after a multi-year layoff indicates how deep the benchpress mentality runs.

WOD 080628

Todays WOD For time:

• 45 Double-unders
• 135 pound Squat clean, 45 reps
• 45 Ring Dips
• 45 Double-unders

A double under is a jump rope technique where you pass the rope under your feet twice on a single bounce. It takes some coordination. You have to explode upward and hang in the air while simultaneously swinging the rope twice as fast.

The squat clean involves performing a standard clean into a front squat position and then performing a front squat with the weight.

Ring dips are just like regular dips on parallel bars except that the surface instability dramatically increases the difficulty. Crossfit says a single ring dip is equivalent to 3 parallel bar dips.

My scaled workout (did not keep time):

• ran 1 mile (7:30)
  
• 45 double unders
• 45 squat cleans 115 lbs
• 45 parallel bar dips
• 45 double unders
  

WOD 080627

When I saw todays WOD I worried about my right shoulder. Its been bothering me lately probably because I've been lifting heavier weights than I'm accustomed to and not warming up very well.

Today I jogged 1 mile and did some stretching and joint mobility (arm circles, bridges) for a warmup. My goal: to make it through the WOD without hurting my shoulder.

From www.crossfit.com:

3 rounds for time of:

• Run 800 meters
• 1.5 pood Kettlebell swing, 21 reps
• 95 pound Thruster, 21 reps
• 21 Pull-ups

I scaled this back and didnt keep time. My workout:

• Run 800 meters (4:30,3:14,4:16)
• 25 lbs plate swing (21/21/21)
• 95 lbs thruster (11/8/8)
• Chin ups (11/11/11)

My shoulder feels fine but I definitely tweaked my left biceps doing chinups instead of pullups. This concerns me because I tore my left bicep 2 years ago tackling in rugby. Oh well. Hopefully I wont have to tackle anyone this weekend.

In just two short workouts I will have completed 1 month of crossfit on my own!

Brian Urlachers Offseason Training Program

Stack magazine has a nice article about Brian Urlacher's offseason conditioning program. Its worth a read just for Urlachers stats.

http://magazine.stack.com/TheIssue/Article/1343/Brian_Urlachers_OffSeason_Training_Plan.aspx

WOD 080625

Todays WOD is called "Fight Gone Bad." Its supposed to emulate the cardivascular demands of an MMA fight. The workout is divided into 3 5 minutes rounds, and you can rest one minute between each round. Each round is subdivided into 5 one minute exercises as follows:

1) 20 lbs medicine ball wall throw (for height -- 10')
2) 75 lbs sumo deadlift high pull
3) 20" box jumps
4) 75 lbs push press
5) row machine for calories

source : http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/faq.html#WOD1

I didnt have a row machine or 20 lbs medicine ball, so I scaled:

1) 10 lbs medicine ball wall throw (for height -- 10')
2) 75 lbs sumo deadlift high pull
3) 24" box jumps
4) 75 lbs push press
5) burpees

The workout was short but intense. I got plenty of stares in the gym at work from the curlys. (Those who curl between bouts of strutting around bragging about their boats.) Per crossfit, you should record total reps and calories for each round to benchmark improvement, but I just wanted to make it through the workout.

I'm not sure how well FGB mimics the demands of an MMA fight. I have many years of wrestling and judo experience, and some boxing and brazilian jiu jitsu, but the demands of those sports are much more anaroebic than FGB. Fighting movements are much more explosive, shorter than one minute, and generally involve bodyweight resistance at strange angles. Plus, FGB fails t introduce the physical and psychological effects of getting punched in the face. Next time I FGB I'll ask someone at the gym to punch me in the face during my exercises.

WOD 080624

Todays posted workout was 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 snatch. I'm not comfortable doing the snatch yet, so I decided to do the crossfit total that i skipped last week. The crossfit total is the sum of your heaviest lifts on the back squat, standing shoulder press, and deadlift, performed in that order. I hoped to hit 700, a realistic starting point for my program. Considering I haven't squatted with heavy weight since highschool and I've never performed heavy deadlift or standing shoulder press, 700 felt like an ambitious goal. My eventual goal is 1000.

I started with back squat. 135 x 5, 185 x 5, 225 x 3, 245, 275, 295, 315, and 325. I probably could have gone a little heavier, but I was satisfied.

Standing shoulder press is tough, particularly with no leg movement or bounce. My progression ... 95, 115, 135, 145. I stopped at 145 because I had some trouble locking it out and didnt want to go higher without a spotter.

The workout ended with the deadlift. Most lifters deadlift more than they squat, but I wasnt comfortable going over 325. My progression... 135, 185, 225, 245, and i ended with 275.

summary:

backsquat 325
standing shoulder press 145
deadlift 275
total 745

So now my goal is to pack on another 255 lbs between these three exercises.

I also went to rugby practice and played some touch rugby with the Huns.

Fitness Goals

In my days as a competitive athlete I never set goals for working out. My goals were athletic performance and injury prevention. I no longer compete but I still exercise for fun and general fitness. However, without competition I have no measuring stick for my progress. So, inspired by the Crossfit games, here are my general fitness goals:

> Run 5K in < 20 mins
> 25 pull-ups in a single set
> 10 freestanding handstand pushups
> Crossfit total > 1000 (combined back squat, standing shoulder press, and deadlift)

I think these goals are attainable but challenging enough to motivate me to new fitness levels.

WOD 080623

My wife went to San Antonio this past weekend and left me in charge of the kids. Since I would be watching a 3 yr and 16 mo old I decided to forgo working out and dieting. It was good timing because I haven't been getting adequate recovery. The workouts are so intense that I'm still sore from exercises I did 10 days ago. Hopefully I'll adapt to the intensity -- if not the specific motions -- although the constant variation makes adaption unlikely.

Anyway, the Crossfit WOD for today was run 5K and post time. I completed 3 miles in 25:04, which is 8:22 per mile. Not great, but I interspersed long stretches of 6 min pace with > 9 min pace. Also, I spent the first 5 minutes running at a 10 min pace to warm up.

WOD 080620

The Crossfit WOD: In 20 minutes, do as many rounds as possible of 10 thrusters with 65Lbs and 10 pullups.

Due to equipment availability I scaled this workout to DB thrusters with 30lbs.

I completed 5 rounds in 20 minutes. The thrusters were no problem but I had a lot of trouble with the pullups and chinups. I'm amazed that so many crossfitters can knock out 10+ pullups set after set. The kipping must help, which I am not yet able to do.

Crossfit WOD 080617

Today I misread the workout and strayed pretty far. It called for 21 x 75 lbs but I did 95 to failure.

Ran 2.25 miles

7 sets standing shoulder press (95 lbs) -- 10/8/6/5/5/5/4
7x12 back extensions

2x12 DB shrugs (70 lbs)

Tommorow is a rest day thank goodness.

jacob