Well, I kept my vow to rest yesterday, for the most part. My good friend, and fellow trainer at CFWC, Haas, came in late to meet with Brian, an MMA guy from the old space, to wrestle and throw some hands. Turns out that back in the day Brian was a powerlifter. A good one. In fact, a holder of one Natural (meaning no steroids, essentially) powerlifting title or another, or several, I'm foggy on that part. Suffice to say, he's stronger than all hell. Like 700# deadlift strong. So, what was supposed to be a boxing/jiu-jitsu session turned into a clinic on the finer points of the sumo deadlift. I was shocked at the flexibility and core strength required. After only a few pulls at anything over 300#, I'm sore in places I've never been sore before. Also of note was a technique he showed us on how to generate maximum tension in the bottom position, before ever even trying to break the bar free of the ground. Enlightening stuff that I can't wait to show our clients
More later
J
Friday, September 17, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
High Rep Gymnastics/Heavy Deads
AM
For time:
HSPU 15-13-11-9-7-5-3-1
L-pullup 1-3-5-7-9-11-13-15
After seeing the kids off to school, I mosied on in to the ClubHouse to hit a longish gymnastics heavy metcon. This was my 3rd date with this WOD and I was bound and determined to PR. The 1st time I managed 19:00 and change, the 2nd 15:09. I wrote a bit yesterday about how HSPUs seem to come and go with me, and I'm never sure if they're going to be a strength or not. Well, today they showed up. I guess I should bitch about my goats more often. The rounds of 15, 7, 5, 3, and, ummm, 1 were unbroken and fast. L-pullups were a bit of a different story though. Rounds of 13 and 15 were done in 3s, 2s, and singles. Ughhhh...I could feel that PR slipping away. When it all shook out, I had indeed PR'd with a time of 14:59. Would've preferred something 13:30ish, but happiness comes in small doses.
PM
Deadlift 5-5-5 (60-70-80% of 1RM)
Did a little grocery shopping post-WOD, then ate an entire rotisserie chicken for lunch. The whole flippin' thing. Stopped for nary a breath or a sip of water while I ate it. Energy has been down lately because my 4-year old has been up with growing pains, bad dreams, etc, 3 out of the last 4 nights. Which means I've been up in the middle of the night 3 out of the last 4 nights. So I've been trying to eat my way to functional energy levels. Twisted logic? Probably, but I've never been accused of sanity. Anyway, laid low in the afternoon, hit the ClubHouse to coach the 5:15, then banged out some quick DLs. Weights were 240, 280, 320#. Light and smooth, no big whoop, form felt solid. The 1st week of 5-3-1 always feels like a warmup.
Rest tomorrow. Probably work some gymnastics progressions with coach Jill and hit the mobility WOD with KStar. Ice bath if I find the time. Cuz that's always fun.
J
For time:
HSPU 15-13-11-9-7-5-3-1
L-pullup 1-3-5-7-9-11-13-15
After seeing the kids off to school, I mosied on in to the ClubHouse to hit a longish gymnastics heavy metcon. This was my 3rd date with this WOD and I was bound and determined to PR. The 1st time I managed 19:00 and change, the 2nd 15:09. I wrote a bit yesterday about how HSPUs seem to come and go with me, and I'm never sure if they're going to be a strength or not. Well, today they showed up. I guess I should bitch about my goats more often. The rounds of 15, 7, 5, 3, and, ummm, 1 were unbroken and fast. L-pullups were a bit of a different story though. Rounds of 13 and 15 were done in 3s, 2s, and singles. Ughhhh...I could feel that PR slipping away. When it all shook out, I had indeed PR'd with a time of 14:59. Would've preferred something 13:30ish, but happiness comes in small doses.
PM
Deadlift 5-5-5 (60-70-80% of 1RM)
Did a little grocery shopping post-WOD, then ate an entire rotisserie chicken for lunch. The whole flippin' thing. Stopped for nary a breath or a sip of water while I ate it. Energy has been down lately because my 4-year old has been up with growing pains, bad dreams, etc, 3 out of the last 4 nights. Which means I've been up in the middle of the night 3 out of the last 4 nights. So I've been trying to eat my way to functional energy levels. Twisted logic? Probably, but I've never been accused of sanity. Anyway, laid low in the afternoon, hit the ClubHouse to coach the 5:15, then banged out some quick DLs. Weights were 240, 280, 320#. Light and smooth, no big whoop, form felt solid. The 1st week of 5-3-1 always feels like a warmup.
Rest tomorrow. Probably work some gymnastics progressions with coach Jill and hit the mobility WOD with KStar. Ice bath if I find the time. Cuz that's always fun.
J
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
C&J/Double Tabatas
Clean & Jerk (65%x2, 70%x2, 75%x1, 80%x1)x2
-2 Hours later
Double Alternating Tabata: (8 rounds)
Wallball 20#
Rope climb 15'
For a number of reasons I've decided to back off from the OPT programming a bit until after FGB5. The constant oly lifting in the current phase has taken a toll on my left wrist, and if I'm honest, I've grown a little bored with the metcon. Man cannot survive on rowing, running and burpees alone. On top of that, I'm starting to really miss working out with the classes at our box, and I've always felt strongest and most confident when I'm squatting, DLing, etc heavy every week. I'll absolutely come back to it, because I can feel and see the obvious progress I've made on it. But for now, I need a little break.
Let's get to the gettin'. C&J felt light and fluid. Weights were 165, 180, 190, 205#. I only rested long enough to change plates and by the end I was drippin' a good sweat. After coaching two classes and swallowing a handful of almonds I laced up and hit a WOD I'd been looking forward to for some time. I managed 10 wallballs and 2 rope climbs each round. The wallballs weren't too bad, but 2 rope climbs in 20 seconds is no joke, and by the end I was flying down that rope to get the rep in before the time was up. Cool, fun WOD. Looking forward to unleashing this one on some of our advanced clients.
Last night:
Bench press 5-5-5 (60-70-80% of 1RM)
Back squat (low bar) 5-5-5 (60-70-80% of 1RM)
50 GHD situps
Max reps HSPUs, 1 set
After not benching or squatting heavy for about 6 weeks, I was pleasantly surprised with this one. BP weights were 155, 175, 205#. 5th rep of last set was a struggle, but I got it up without having to dump plates off the end of the bar, which is a plus. Squats were 200, 230, 260#. After 200 and 230 felt heavy as all hell, I didn't hold out a lot of hope that 260 would go up 5 times. But I'll be gosh darned if it didn't. I flippin' hate squatting.
HSPUs are just an enigma to me. It doesn't seem to matter what I do, the numbers just don't ever seem to improve much. I've tried GTG, ladders, EDT, extended ROM, Tabatas, max effort sets, HS holds, you name it. Managed 19 reps, which ties my PR. I'm dying to take another swing at "Diane" and finally go sub-4:00, but I'm never sure when I'll have solid HSPUs. Perplexing. And frustrating.
Looking forward to hitting the WOD at the ClubHouse in the am.
J
-2 Hours later
Double Alternating Tabata: (8 rounds)
Wallball 20#
Rope climb 15'
For a number of reasons I've decided to back off from the OPT programming a bit until after FGB5. The constant oly lifting in the current phase has taken a toll on my left wrist, and if I'm honest, I've grown a little bored with the metcon. Man cannot survive on rowing, running and burpees alone. On top of that, I'm starting to really miss working out with the classes at our box, and I've always felt strongest and most confident when I'm squatting, DLing, etc heavy every week. I'll absolutely come back to it, because I can feel and see the obvious progress I've made on it. But for now, I need a little break.
Let's get to the gettin'. C&J felt light and fluid. Weights were 165, 180, 190, 205#. I only rested long enough to change plates and by the end I was drippin' a good sweat. After coaching two classes and swallowing a handful of almonds I laced up and hit a WOD I'd been looking forward to for some time. I managed 10 wallballs and 2 rope climbs each round. The wallballs weren't too bad, but 2 rope climbs in 20 seconds is no joke, and by the end I was flying down that rope to get the rep in before the time was up. Cool, fun WOD. Looking forward to unleashing this one on some of our advanced clients.
Last night:
Bench press 5-5-5 (60-70-80% of 1RM)
Back squat (low bar) 5-5-5 (60-70-80% of 1RM)
50 GHD situps
Max reps HSPUs, 1 set
After not benching or squatting heavy for about 6 weeks, I was pleasantly surprised with this one. BP weights were 155, 175, 205#. 5th rep of last set was a struggle, but I got it up without having to dump plates off the end of the bar, which is a plus. Squats were 200, 230, 260#. After 200 and 230 felt heavy as all hell, I didn't hold out a lot of hope that 260 would go up 5 times. But I'll be gosh darned if it didn't. I flippin' hate squatting.
HSPUs are just an enigma to me. It doesn't seem to matter what I do, the numbers just don't ever seem to improve much. I've tried GTG, ladders, EDT, extended ROM, Tabatas, max effort sets, HS holds, you name it. Managed 19 reps, which ties my PR. I'm dying to take another swing at "Diane" and finally go sub-4:00, but I'm never sure when I'll have solid HSPUs. Perplexing. And frustrating.
Looking forward to hitting the WOD at the ClubHouse in the am.
J
Here Goes
So I decided to start a blog. Quite an adventure for a techno idiot like myself, but a number of people in my life thought it might be a good idea. A bit about me and why I'm sharing my training exploits with the unsuspecting world: I'm the co-owner and Director of Training at CrossFit Will County in Oswego, Illinois. I've been CrossFitting seriously for close to four years, but training for one athletic pursuit or another, largely swimming and lacrosse, my whole life. Like many, I've often wondered how I'd measure up to the sport's top competitors. Earlier this year, at the urging of our optimistic members, I and a few others from our box, entered a downstate competition. Out of over a hundred entrants, we placed four in the top six. I won two of the three events as well as the overall, by a signifigant margin. So what the hell? Maybe it's time to see how I stack up. And so begins the road to the sectional qualifier, held early next year in the St. Louis area. Time to shore up some weaknesses, not the least of which would be, well, weakness. I'm pretty fast, but shall we say, a bit understrong. After a number of conversations with James (OPT) Fitzgerald, owner of Optimum Performance Training and winner of the 2007 CrossFit Games, I've decided to follow his training prescription, which can be found at optimumperformancetraining.blogspot.com. The training is very demanding, usually including a number of doubles and sometimes triples in a typical week, and recovery has already become a slight issue. But I'll keep working on it and slugging away everyday, warts and all. Here are a few vitals if anyone cares, some I'm happy with, others I wish would just improve already:
Fran 2:38
Diane 4:10
Grace 2:53
Helen 7:26
Deadlift 385#
Clean & Jerk 245#
Back squat 315#
500m row 1:29
Consecutive pullups 57
Fight Gone Bad 358
Thanks for reading. More later.
J
Fran 2:38
Diane 4:10
Grace 2:53
Helen 7:26
Deadlift 385#
Clean & Jerk 245#
Back squat 315#
500m row 1:29
Consecutive pullups 57
Fight Gone Bad 358
Thanks for reading. More later.
J
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