SFG 100630 -- could not go

I warmed up today with the foam roller, PVC, and a trigger point ball, but could not go. My rib is still tweaked. I watched Aaron and Mark on hang and squat cleans which was really beneficial.

SFG 100701 -- lots of stuff

i tweaked my back during warm up. i felt a sharp pain in my back during a KB carry and it knocked the wind out of me. it affected the rest of my workout.

after warm up, we did 3 rounds of:

• 10 ring dips
• 10 pull ups
• 10 overhead squats (45 lbs)
• 10 hand stand push ups
• 10 burpees

This little strength rotation blasted me. I could barely breathe to begin with.

The we did a metcon, 3 rounds of:

• 10 DB squat cleans (35 lbs)
• 12 ranger rows
• 2 50' sled drags, 250 lbs

I had nothing in the tank today. Maybe I'm overdoing it.

SFG WOD 100628 -- jerk, KB row

warm up

• 2x15 squats
• 2x20 trunk rotations
• 2x21 push ups
• 200m run
• 12x20m KB carry (2 x RH/LH suitcase, chest, shoulder 53 lbs)
• hand walks 2x20 m
• dynamic warm up

7 rounds of:

• 3 x jerk
• 1 min rest
• 8 LH KB row (fast up, 2 sec down)
  
• 8 RH KB row (fast up, 2 sec down)
• 1 min rest

My results:

• 135, 135, 155, 155, 165, 165, 185
• 70 lbs

5 x 5 GH sit ups

rugby qualifier

i am surprised (and saddened) to report that we went 0-3 on the day.

our first match against san anotonio was very winnable. we lost 22-12. we gave up 3 quick tries in first half and left many opportunities on the table.

our second match against the kansas city blues was also disappointing. we played aggressive ball and got within 1 score in the 2nd half but ended up losing by 2 tries.

in the final match we played some guys who hadn't had many minutes and we lost. we didnt have much ball and we had a few bad lapses down the blind side. on one i was wheeled away from the blind side move. on the other i slid down the ball carriers leg and came away with his shoe AND sock but he kicked free and ran the last 50 meters for a score with one bare foot.

anyway, the day was disappointing but we showed flashes. we need to do a better job of taking care of the ball and being aggressive when we have 1-1 opportunities.

rugby 100624

we prepped for the dallas qualifier. numbers were decent and we've added new athletes. we should have a solid team for saturday.

on a personal note, i skipped crossfit on wed and fri to rest up for this weekend. i expected to feel quicker last night after a rest day but did not. i didnt warm up well and my eating and sleeping are all screwy.

im not going to back off the crossfit anymore but i need to dial in on my meeting, sleeping, and recovery.

heres to a good weekend.

rugby 100623

i ran hard at rugby and felt pretty quick. i was moving well with the ball and my passes were spot on. im looking forward to this weekend.

SFG WOD 100622 -- squat medley, sled pull, wall walking, metcon

Man this was a great workout today and just what I needed. It was just the right mix of technical, gymnastic, strength building, and endurance.

4 rounds of:

• 3 overhead squats
• 5 front squats
• 10 back squats
• 2 minute rest

My results:

• 95/105/115/125

I don't know if I could have gone heavier. Transitioning the weight from over head to front to back between movements was difficult at 125 lbs. I could probably go up to 135-145.

3 rounds of:

• 50' sled drag
• hand walking along wall, 20'
• 1 minute rest

With the sled, we went 205 lbs, 205 lbs, 250 lbs. Then Mark sat on the sled while I dragged it which added another 200 lbs or so for a 450 lbs sled drag.

We finished with a partner metcon:

• In 3 minutes, max sets of:
• 5 thruster 95 lbs
• 5 barbell push ups

My partner and I did 4-5 rounds.

SFG 100621 - shoulders triplet, rings, DB snatch metcon

I am pretty beat up from the rugby 7s tournament this past weekend. My left arm is very weak, my feet are still cramping, and my legs feel like lead. I took it easy in today's workout to recover.

4 rounds of:

• 1 shoulder press
• 2 push press
• 3 push jerks

I stayed with 135 lbs the whole way.

3 rounds of:

• 8 dead hang chins on chain
• 1 minute rest
  
• 10 ring dips
• 1 minute rest

Finished these but I needed 2-3 breaks on the last round.

3 rounds of:

• 20 dumb bell snatch (50 lbs)
• 20 box squat box jumps (squat on box, jump to top of another box on touch), 20" box
• 400 m run

15:53

The DB snatches felt light, the box jumps were brutal, and my 400s were a slow crawl. We had a 15 minute cutoff but JT let me run through.

All things considered, this was a great workout. I need to dial in my diet and rest this week to recover before the qualifier at Dallas.

bloodfest 100619

as a team we played 9 matches and went 6-3. azul went 4-1 and blanco went 2-2.

i coached all second side matches and played in 4 of 5 first side matches.

in terms of exercise, i had a great day. 7s matches are intense. i probably got in 40-50 minutes of hard running and tackling.

SFG 100618 -- rings, OHS

warm up.

I took it easy on the legs today to prep for Bloodfest.

3 rounds of:

• 40' sled drag, 175 lbs
• 10 OHS, 45 lbs

3 rounds of:

• 10 KB clean and press, 2 x 44 lbs
• 10 ring dips
• 10 40i sled drag, 175 lbs
  

Rugby 100617

another tough rugby practice with some contact. I rolled my left ankle a bit.

SF WOD 100616 -- snatch

We worked snatch progressions. Lots of Oly lifting at the SFG!

3 rounds of:

• 5 standing snatch pulls
• 5 hang snatch pulls
• 5 hang power snatch

This was a technical day.

The snatch is difficult. The motion should be a whip-like snap, and fluid.

Its hardto snap like a whip when you're thinking about foot placement, grip placement, head position, knee position, shin position, arm position, keeping chest over bar, sitting back in heels, widening knees, etc.

Rugby 100615

we ran our lines 7 v 4. the guys just aren't getting it. a common problem was that they would rush the defense and put themselves under tremendous pressure before passing. they only beat the defense 30% of the time.

I need them to understand that there's no shot clock in rugby and that a heavyweight prize fighter doesn't knock out the opposition with his first punch.

I'd like to see them work the ball around with patience, speed, and accuracy. get the defense hustling laterally and then make them pay if they fly up. if the defense tries to ice the attack on the sideline, use the inside runner to relieve pressure in the passing lanes.

robbie fisher came out and looked great with the ball but not very fit. i'd like to get ross and haga out as well.

we played situational touch and finished with fitness.

SF WOD 100615 -- push jerk

Typical warm up

3 rounds of:

• 20' hand stand walking
  
• 10 chest to bar unstable pull ups
• 40' wheel barrow

5 rounds of:

• 10 push jerks, 115 lbs

metcon: 3 rounds of:

• 10 DB push jerks, 35 lbs
• 4 20' sprints
  

1:57

JT also talked to us from the heart about his performance at the CF regionals and his personal growth.

SF WOD 100614 -- legs

basic leg strength training workout.

after the warm up,

• 5 sets of 10 narrow stance back squats (feet together, break parallel)
  
• 5 sets of 10 straight leg dead lift
• 3 sets of 12 barbell lunges

My results:

• 135, 155, 165, 165, 165
• 135, 135, 135, 135, 135
• 45, 45, 45

I didn't go heavy because I have knee and ankle pain. JT thinks my Vibrams caused the pain. I think its from over training. Rugby 2-3/wk + crossfit 4/wk == brutal.

SFG WOD 100611 -- clean

Hang clean pulls from the platform
4 rounds of 6 reps
135 / 155 / 175 / 185

Squat cleans
4 rounds of 4 reps
135 / 135 / 155 / 155

We spent the majority of class time discussing technique.

I needed light, technique based workout. I am shattered from rugby on Thursday.

rugby 100611

good energy at rugby tonight when a few Blacks showed up. Billy also came out.

I played a ton of touch and ran sprints. My legs are just smashed from all the work this week.

sicfit 100608 -- dead lift, met con

Same warm up with strict pull ups, push ups, but no running.

We worked dead lift technique. Pointers from Jeremy -- lead with my eyes, draw my lats back to keep the bar close to my body.

7 rounds of 2 dead lifts:

• 275, 275, 275, 285, 295, 305, 315

Metcon:

• 3 rounds of 10 dead lift 195 lbs, 10 burpees

I finished in 2.11. The rest of the class used 185 but JT challenged me a bit. I didn't break during the workout but i slowed down on the last 3 dead lifts.

rugby 100608

We covered taking the ball into tackle, base ball bat, presenting to support, stripping, forming a ruck, and sealing. Then we worked 2v1 and 2v2 (over/under).

I labbed a little with some of my guys:

• non-verbal passing queues for scissor, loop, and skip
• passing fundamentals
• stripping the ball in a tackle

Brad is really responding to the individual attention. His work rate is through the roof right now, passing and following. I hope people start getting it back to him and reward his work.

I want to work with Alex on sneaky wing play... taking the outside, working the inside pass, controlling his man with his speed and eyes, feathering defensively, draw and swerve.

100608 sicfit -- box squat and sled

I attended the afternoon class at sicfit. The afternoon class programming is 1 day behind the morning class, so I revisited box squats.

Warm up:

• 2 rounds of: 21 push ups, 10 strict pull ups, 15 squats, 20 rotations
• .8 mile run

3 rounds of 10 strict pull ups on the unstable bar, a chain threaded through a PVC pipe.

Box squats: 5 rounds of 3 reps.

• 225, 235, 245, 255, 265

Metcon: 7 rounds of:

• push sled 50m, 185 lbs
• 10 plyometric push ups

This was a beat of a workout, squatting 2 days in a row. But the box squats felt light.

CC 100607 rings, box squat

Every time I visit the garage gym JT introduces new skills.

After warm up, we did muscle up progressions. I could not hit a muscle up to save my life. But this is a movement I really want to get.

3 rounds of:

• 10 ring pull ups
• 10 ring dips

Next we walked on our hands 2 rounds, 40 ft. I did pretty well unassisted. My hand walking is definitely improving.

For strength we did box squats. JT says that by engaging the glutes and hams our max squat could jump up to 200 lbs. I definitely believe it. My squats are very quad dominant.

We ended with 5 rounds of 5 squats @ 185.

The workout was not difficult but there was a lot of strength and skill work. Its really a better compliment to 7s. He'll probably hit us tomorrow with a brutal metcon.

Rugby 100606

we played in the lonestar 7s. we finished 2-2. one decent team beat us close and then we played all inexperienced guys in the final game and lost. the arrow is pointing up and i got a lot of PT.

CC WOD 100604 -- snatch work, pull ups

Snatch work.

We ran through Buergener progession with PVC and the bar.

Triple extension, xfer upward force from knees to hips to shoulder.

Slight opening of the pelvis before a high hip and shoulder drive.

Bar travels upward along the body.

Drop straight down to catch.

We finished with 4 rounds of 10 pull ups on rings, 5 snatch balance 45 lbs.

This was very technical and not very taxing. I like to mix it up like this.

rugby 100603

good running tonight. humid but cool. numbers are down but everyone there really wanted to be there.

CC WOD 100603 -- DL, mobility, sandbag metcon

Another garage gym underground strength workout.

5 rounds of 3 dead lifts:

• 215, 235, 255, 275, 295

I didn't really challenge myself on this one.

Jermey pointed out:

• bring my feet closer together
  
• keep my knees out
• Straighten leg and torso at same time to transfer force efficiently
• Keep gaze straight ahead
• Use shoes with a firmer sole than vibrams or my trainers

Mobility:

• 3 15' hand walks along wall to plank
• 2 20 ft wheel barrows

Most of the class struggled with these but they were easy for me. We do plenty of this stuff in BJJ.

Partner Metcon: (8 minutes)

1. 100 box jumps
2. 3 rounds of 10 sand bag front squats (100 lbs) / 100m sand bag carry
3. 100 box jumps

We did not finish. We had 1 carry and 100 box jumps remaining. I wanted to finish it out.

Lifting the sand bag is totally different than lifting a barbell. It is awkward and brutal.

rugby 100602

I coached some handling and drawing fundamentals. It was nice to get these to work when they might have been standing around.

We did passing lines and walking pace, emphasizing technique. Many of these guys don't make targets or communicate. The also deliver the ball high, make high targets, and they are very active with the ball during a pass.

We worked set pieces and I felt that I really contributed during the scrums. We need to find a few hookers. A 7s hooker needs to be one of the fastest, best tackling, and best ball handling players on the pitch. I answered some questions about binding in the scrum.

On Thursday I'd like to reiterate passing and catching fundamentals. I also want to cover:

• base ball bat
  
• hand off
  
• falling on loose balls
• rhythm and pop passing
• non-verbal passing queues
• stripping the ball

I also want to warm up and get more of a run in myself. I need a little exercise on the pitch.

SFA WOD 100602 -- SP,

This morning was my first class at sicfit austin, a garage gym opened by the folks at crossfit central. Differences between this gym and CC include:

• 4 days/wk programming (vs 3)
• smaller class sizes
• longer classes
• more strength focus than cardio

These are all positive qualities in my book. Jeremy Thiel is teaching class for the 1st month, which I'm pretty psyched about. I haven't worked with JT yet but he seems to be the most knowledgeable and passionate person in the gym.

Today's workout:

• 5x3 shoulder press (135,135,155,155,165x2)
  
• 3 rounds of ring dips/ring push ups to failure (12/11,6/10,6/11)
  
• 3 rounds of 15 KB squeams (?), 5 burpees, and 100m KB walk (37 lbs)

The workout wasn't particularly brutal for a first day. we also have class Thr and Fri, which will make 4x this week.

100601 CC WOD -- SDLHP, KtE, squats

We worked on sumo high pulls during the strength section.

• 5 x 3 sumo high pulls at 135 lbs.

Then in 12 minutes, As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) of:

• 6 SHP, 135 lbs
• 9 knees to elbows
• 15 squats

I did 7 rounds + 15 squats, 9 knees to elbows, and 5 SHPs.

If they had counted down instead of calling time I might have gotten that eighth round.

All in all, it was an easy day for a Tuesday and I'm looking forward to rugby tonight.