Cleans & Squats

27 Aug 12 (Mon)

Strength

    5 Rounds

    3 Muscle Cleans  (95lb, 115, 125, 135, 140)

    4 Rounds

    5 Box Squats      (115lb, 135, 145, 155)

Endurance

    500m Row         (2min0sec)

  Knees pretty sore / painful during & after this one. Possibly because of time since last, or technique flaws.

  Picture is from the day one triathlon at the 2012 Crossfit Games, I believe. Lot of famous girls in there. Very nice.

Presses WOD

13 Aug 12 (Mon)

Strength

    3 Rounds

    5 Box Squats       (135lb, 145, 155)

    3 Rounds

    5 Muscle Cleans  (95lb, 115, 135)

WOD

    3 Rounds

    10 Presses           (75lb)

    250m Row

  Good batch of stuff today. Used push press to get the last five or so up. 

  Going to have to get back to some swimming soon. Rowing's getting a bit old. Swimming is such a production, though...with the extra showering, clothes-changes, wet suits & towels, etc. It also can't really be done within a WOD; not at Gold's, anyway. Wish there were more endurance activities that I could do.   :(

  Picture is Stacie Tovar, who is pretty awesome; and awesomely pretty.   =D

Stacie Tovar's Games

Bench WOD

11 Aug 12 (Sat)

WOD

     4 Rounds

     10 Bench Press  (90lb, 90, 90, 70)

     250m Row

  Computer hard drive crashed yesterday. If I can't enter blog for a while, I'll put in workouts after the fact. Having to do this in Explorer.    >:|





Squat Triples

9 Aug 12 (Thu)

Strength

    To Max

    3 Box Squats  (95lb, 115, 135, 155, 165, 185)

    ***  PR

Endurance

    1000m Row

  Good to see a PR. Was going to do 5 rounds, but kept going. Should've done another max before now, I suppose; last PR triple (175lb) was in mid-June. As always, probably could've gotten some more, but Gold's frowns on dropping bars... even for safety. The staff is certainly polite enough, but man, you can hardly call it a gym.

  I realise that I can barely call this crossfit at this point, but I'll get back to the normal, WOD-type workouts soon enough. Truth be told, though, any workout can be considered crossfit. It's more of the overall variety and intensity that creates a crossfit program over time. To put it another way, any workout could be done as a part of a crossfit program, but there are many, many crossfit workouts that would be done by no other discipline.

  Picture above is a Special Forces soldier in Afghanistan being a bad-ass. Also a Crossfitter. Elite units were some of the first adopters of Crossfit back in the day. Why? Because it god-damn works.   =D   Even as physical therapy.

Cleans Quintuples

6 Aug 12 (Mon)

Strength

    5 Rounds

    5 Muscle Cleans  (95lb, 105, 115, 125, 135)

Endurance

    3 Rounds

    500m Row

    2min  Rest

  Good cleans. Fair rowing: was going to be 5-6 rounds, but pussed out. Knees better than they have been recently.

Deadlift Triples

5 Aug 12 (Sun)

Strength

    To Max

    3 Deadlifts  (up to 265lb)

Endurance

    500m Row

  Knees have been so painful after work recently, that I haven't been able to get to the gym, let alone work out. Like, it's too-hard-to-walk-out-to-the-truck painful.Somewhat better now. I will lower the intensity of workouts, so that I can focus on getting to the gym and picking movements that don't exacerbate the knee-swelling too much.

  Having said that, deadlifts today.   :P   Went okay...stopped short of max, but still up to a decent weight.

Squat & Press

23 Jul 12 (Mon)

Strength

    5 Rounds

    5 Box Squat     (135lb, 135, 145, 145, 155)

    Find 1 Rep Max

    Shoulder Press  (To 110lb)

    ***  Got 115lb with push press

Cooldown

    500m Row

  Had to skip most of last week. Having to stand and walk a bit at work lately, so my knees are pretty swollen and in pain at the end of the day. Working on it.

Elizabeth Light

16 Jul 12 (Mon)

Strength

    5 Rounds

    3 Muscle Snatch      (65lb, 85, 95, 105, 115)

    ***  PR

WOD

    21-15-9  (Elizabeth scaled)

    Hang Muscle Clean  (65lb)

    Dips                       (assisted 150lb)

    Cooldown

    500m Row

  PR in snatch today. Technique felt good. The WOD was Elizabeth, but scaled down in weight and assisted (machine) dips.

  Congratulations to Rich Froning and Annie Thorisdottir, the 2012 Crossfit Games champions and thus the fittest man & woman in the world for 2012. They were the champs for 2011 as well and they both defended their title. No-one had won the Games twice before, and they both did it consecutively this year. Nice job.

Longish Rows

13 Jul 12 (Fri)

Strength

    5 Rounds

    3 Muscle Cleans  (115lb, 125, 135, 145, 150)

Endurance

    Row

    5min

    * Rest 2min 30sec

    6min

    * Rest 3min

    7min

    ***  2min 20-30sec/500m pace throughout, damper at 6/5/4

    ***  Distances around 1200m/1300m/1400m = ~3900m total

  Getting better at endurance workouts, I think. Even though no-one ever wants to start a seven minute row, I'm confident enough to do so and know that I'll be able to finish it without giving up and with a decent distance rowed.

  Picture is Spencer Hendel from yesterday, but doing the Game's day-one WOD of the Marines obstacle course at Camp Pendleton. The two pictures show a bit of the variety in Crossfit.

  Here's the update and a couple of cool, short Crossfit videos.

CF Games Thursday Recap      Crossfit: Confidence      What is Crossfit?      Crossfit: Belief

Cleans Per Minute

12 Jul 12 (Thu)

Strength

    3 Rounds

    5 Box Squat     (155lb, 165, 170)

    3 Rounds

    5 Bench Press  (100lb, 110, 120)  ** Smith rack

WOD

    1, 2, 3,... Per Minute Each Minute

    Hang Muscle Cleans  (95lb)

    **  9 rounds + 8 reps = 53 total

  That WOD is a lot harder than it looks.   :P   Did quite well on the squats. Current 1rep PR is 175lb, so that's probably due for an update.

  Slight adjustment to theoretical schedule. Combining both WOD-types into one session, and starting with strength each day. If I have morning sessions, I know damn well that I won't go to them.   :/   I also noticed that CF Football has their strength-WOD days on M-T-Th-F with all the others as rest, which is perfect. Adjusted schedule as follows:

      Mon       Tue       Wed       Thu       Fri       Sat       Sun

       Str        Str          x           Str       Str        x          x

       CF        End         x           CF        End       x          x

     Str  (Strength)    = CF Football or Outlaw Way

     End (Endurance) = CF Endurance

      CF   (Crossfit)     = CF Mom or Crossfit

      ***  Active rest days... some sort of outdoor activity

  Picture above is Spencer Hendel. He's one of the ones that I watch (well, I follow all the competitors  :P ) because he's 6'2", which is the same as me. It's interesting to get a feel for what size you'd be walking around where he is. He's also a good guy.

Spencer Hendel's 2012 Games

  I think I've mentioned it before, but the people in the Crossfit community are one of its very best features. There are almost no obnoxious jerks or bragging posers because every person who does Crossfit is wiped out by the end of the workout and laying on the floor sweating and breathing hard. Everyone from the grandma to the games-competitor, because the WOD is scaled for each person. Not only does this build camaraderie through shared laughter and agony, but it enforces being humbled: also, there's no time or energy for strutting, posing, and bragging when you're trying your very hardest to kick ass in a workout with everyone else. Preening braggarts do not thrive in those conditions.   :)

  The Games started yesterday. Here's the Wednesday recap, and the triathlon highlights:

CF Games 2012 Wednesday Update     CF Games Wed Triathlon

Endurance Short Rows

10 Jul 12 (Tue)

Endurance

    12 Rounds

    100m Row

    15sec Rest

    -- 2min Rest

    8 Rounds

    100m Row

    15sec Rest

    -- 2min Rest

    4 Rounds

    100m Row

    15sec Rest

    ***  All 100m's 20-25sec each

    ***  Total distance = 2400m

  Interesting WOD, using short intervals. This is from Crossfit Endurance; as prescribed,  give or take.

  Crossfit Games had a surprise announcement that the first WOD for competition would be a triathlon at Camp Pendleton on Wednesday, not Friday. Wow, that's tomorrow... the Games start tomorrow!   =D   Good stuff.

Squats & Press

9 Jul 12 (Mon)

Strength

    3 Rounds

    5 Box Squats          (135lb, 160, 165)

    3 Rounds

    5 Shoulder Press     (65lb, 95, 95)

    ***  PR

WOD

    15-12-9

    Deadlift                 (165lb)

    Hang Muscle Clean  (65lb)

  WOD was deceptively hard. Much sweat & breath. I should've stuck to the KB deadlift as prescribed. Felt strong in the squat, and got a new PR for shoulder press. Good workout, all-in-all.

  Crossfit Games start this Friday... very excited. This is my favorite sporting competition in the world; followed by the Olympics and UW Husky football.

CF Games Schedule      CF Games Workouts      CF Games Fan Zone

Strength & Endurance

6 Jul 12(Fri)

Strength  (morn)

    Warmup

    25 KB Swings      (40lb)

    5 Rounds

    3 Muscle Cleans  (115lb, 135, 135, 135, 135)

Endurance  (eve)

    5 Rounds

    500m   Row        (2min 5-10sec each)

    1-2min Rest

  Got both WODs in, which is good.  =D  Had to do them backwards from schedule because there was a couple of chatty housewives sitting on the rowers in the morning. Never did see them row.   >:/

  Had good form on cleans today. Used hook-grip for all. Coach Burgener would be proud.  XD

  I have essentially completely given up on eating Paleo. I've been doing it off-and-on for 2-3 years, but it's never agreed with me. There's something to be said for it, but if nothing else I get turned against anything that is used in a fanatic, unthinking, unevidentiary  manner, and I'm afraid that that's what Paleo is kind of becoming with all the new folks entering Crossfit. The fundamental core principle of Crossfit is evidence-based results... if it works, use it. For me, the evidence appears to be for a variety of normal, good quality foods. It'll be a relief to not have to think about it any more, frankly, and I'm sure that that alone will be a nice difference.  :)

Squats & Bench

5 Jul 12 (Thu)

Strength

    3 Rounds

    5 Box Squats  (140lb, 160, 160)

    3 Rounds

    5 Bench Press  (90lb, 110, 115; Smith Machine)

    Cooldown

    500m Row

  It turns out that the Smith machine for bench presses adds essentially zero weight, so the previous bench weights using it should come down a bit.   :/   Oh, well. I should really have taken more notice when I said that it seemed easier than using a bar.   :P

  I'm really liking the CF Football strength WODs. They cover the essential lifts in a decent variety of combinations, and are short enough to knock out in limited time.

  Picture is of Camille Leblanc-Bazinet again... because geez, look at her. Here's a few videos of her being awesome and adorable.

All Over the Map: Camille     Reebok Commercial: Camille   Olympic Weightlifting: Camille

  She's engaged to Dave Lipson now (who's a nice guy, so I'll forgive him  :P ), and I just realized that her name'll be Camille Leblanc-Bazinet-Lipson. Nice.   XD

1000m Rows & Schedule

3 Jul 12 (Tue)

Endurance

    3 Rounds

    1000m Row

    2min Rest

    ***  4min 30sec +/-3sec each round, on 6 damper

  Went much smoother than I thought it would. I do one distance of 500m so often that I was nervous about going higher. Stupid. Doing one thing over and over is against the principle of variety in Crossfit. The new schedule should take care of that a bit, I hope.

  Here 'tis:

               Mon        Tue        Wed        Thu        Fri        Sat        Sun

  (Morn)    Str          End         x           Str         End        x           x

  (Eve)      CF          Str           x           CF         Str         x           x

  Str  (Strength)     =  CF Football  or The Outlaw Way

  End (Endurance)  = CF Endurance

  CF   (Crossfit)      = CF Mom or CrossFit.com

  I might not be able to do this because of allotted time in the morning, but I think that it's a good schedule that gives a pleasant variety and amount of workouts that would give good, well-rounded results. There are enough rest-days for good recuperation and rejuvenation, as well.

  They're all technically Crossfit workouts, but I wanted to make the differentiation clear for the simple, focussed ones. I know the Crossfit Mom sounds silly, but the advanced WOD for them is very well scaled from the main site for someone getting back in shape, assuming that I raise the prescribed weights for being a man....and not pregnant.   :P

  Picture is a Special Forces soldier (Andrew) doing Crossfit in Afghanistan. Thanks, buddy. I remember that you're there.

Squat & Press

2 Jul 12 (Mon)

Strength

    Warmup

    500m Row

    3 Rounds

    5 Box Squat        (135lb, 155, 155)

    3 Rounds

    5 Shoulder Press  (65lb, 75, 85)

    Cooldown

    500m Row

    ***  1min 48sec at 6 damper

  I'm enjoying the simple strength days; probably because they're so easy, but there you go.

  I've come up with a new weekly schedule. I'll post it when I start it. I may not be able to work it time-wise but we shall see.

Squats

25 Jun 12 (Mon)

    Warmup

    25 KB Swings   (40lb)

    3 Rounds

    5 Box Squats   (115lb, 135, 155)

  Simple, short weights. Good stuff.

9-7-5

15 Jun 12 (Fri)

    Warmup

    20 Bench Press          (105lb)

    20 Stiff-Leg Deadlift  (65lb)

    9-7-5

    Pullups                     (assisted 120lb)

    Dips                         (assisted 120lb)

    Muscle Snatch           (65lb)

    Cooldown

    500m Row

  Snatches went much smoother knowing the movement-variation beforehand (muscle versus power). Not perfectly, but smoother. Forgot to use a hook-grip now that I think about it, but still... not having to figure out and analyze the technique while performing it is good.

  Used the stiff-legged deadlifts as a variant for back extensions. Worked fairly well, I think. I'll try good mornings for comparison next time.   :/

Cane Walk

14 Jun 12 (Thu)

    3 Rounds

    10min Walk  (with cane)

    2min   Rest

    ***  Total ~2miles

  Light WOD. Knees a little sore, but overall fine.

  Really want a garage gym like the above.   :/

Squats & Couplet

13 Jun 12 (Wed)

    Strength

    3 Box Squats   (to max)
    ***  65lb to 175lb by ~10s  [PR  =D ]

    3 Rounds

    250m Row

    15     Pullups   (assisted 140lb)

    Cooldown

    15 KB Swings   (35lb)

  Squats went quite well. I was very careful on technique... wide stance, vertical shins throughout, good valsalva, straight back.

  Above picture is an example of a box squat. They give the same strength gains as a back squat, but they enable you to keep your knees from travelling forward and accentuate technique. Very helpful, and the only kind that I can do with bad knees.

Muscle Cleans

11 Jun 12 (Mon)

    Warmup

    500m Row

    To Max

    Muscle Clean  (from 65lb to 155lb)

    ***  PR

    Cooldown

    500m Row

  Got to a 155lb muscle clean which I believe is a PR for me. Did a nice, comfortable WOD today so as to not burn out. Pussy, I know, but we'll see.

  The rows were both around the 2min mark +/- 5sec.

Bench & Pullups

1 Jun 12 (Fri)

    Warmup

    25 KB Swings  (40lb)

    15-12-9

    Bench Press   (115lb, Smith rack)

    Pullups          (assisted 120lb)

    ***  ~8min

    Cooldown

    1000m Row

  Short one. Sometimes you just don't want to burn yourself out. The 40lb kettlebell seemed like significant weight for the warmup-swings, though; guess it was time to go up a weight.   :P

  I notice that I've skipped the last couple of swimming WODs that I've had scheduled. Mostly because it's such a production to get suited up for & unsuited and dried off afterwards. That and the annoying nose-clip. Oh, well.   :/

Squats & Farmer's

30 May 12 (Wed)

    Warmup

    500m Row

    4 Rounds

    10     Box Squats       (105lb)

    100m Farmer's Walk  (2 x 45lb)

    Cooldown

    500m Row

  Need to mix it up a little; doing 3-5 rounds of some kind of couplet every workout is getting kind of routine and predictable. Still have swimming on occasion, which is something, but I need to program more variety. I don't have enough crazy, physically demanding crap that adds fun & interest, and is the soul of Crossfit.

I'll look for a WOD-site that has some outdoor / off-the-wall workouts. If I find a good one, then I shall share it.    :)