Monday 31 May 2010

Cycle 2, Week 1 - Back Squat

Back squats
5x67lb
5x133lb
5x177lb
5x243lb

Push Press
5x89lb
5x133lb
5x155lb
3x177lb
3x3x199lb

Run 800m
7 rounds
5 power clean, 155lb
15 push ups
Run 800m

13:59

Starting a second cycle now after a week’s layoff. Planning to start at my finishing loads for last cycle and roll forward. Have a Crossfit friendly on the Games weekend so have a little more focus for my training. Going to try actually programming my own training instead of winging it - apparently I’m okay at it so maybe it will work for me too?!

Saturday 29 May 2010

Cycle 1, Deload Week

Had my first BJJ session - lots of fun but I am sore in places and ways I’ve not experienced before. Linda doesn’t treat me that rough ...

Thursday 27 May 2010

Cycle 1, Deload Week

324 “Beta”

1 2 x bodyweight deadlift on the minute for 5 minutes

Used 420lb which is 10 - 12lb over RX

15-10-5
deadlift 315lb
ring dips

2:21 - deads slowed down a bit but unbroken as were ring dips but kip rhythm was all over the place. 2:10 is doable i think if I sharpen the kip up but sub 2 will need a little more capacity with the deads. Fun stuff.

Wednesday 26 May 2010

Cycle 1 - Deload Week


First WOD back after a gluttonous break

7 thrusters, 155lb
14 burpees (2 hand touch to 8’ target)
21 pull ups
14 burpees
7 thrusters, 155lb

3:33 as Rxed - unbroken apart from one pause in last round of burpees but certainly not snappy movement

Cash out - 3x10GHD sit ups/ 10 hip extensions

Saturday 22 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 7 - Press (not quite)

F”$k me what a difference a week makes. Last week I was thinking that I could roll this cycle for a month. Now the rest week can’t come soon enough. Chalk it up as a lesson learned.

Pressing didn’t happen - ramped up to 177lb for a single before class and couldn’t get the target 185 off my chest. tried again after class and tapped that once i got to 155. Decided instead to do Thursday’s mainpage WOD. Took some time before I felt I could control the load and jump it properly but got there in the end

20 overhead, 188lb
40 burpees (one handed touch to 8’ target and CTD at bottom)

all overhead then burpees to finish

5/4/2/2/2/1/1/1/2 - all 20 done in 5:06

burpees done in 1:37

6:43

Friday 21 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 7 - Front Squats

Front Squat
5x45lb
5x89lb
5x133lb
5x177lb
5x221lb
5x232lb

Back Squat
12x232lb - these just felt funky - no groove and awkward.

Hang power cleans
5x133lb
5x155lb
5x177lb
5x199lb

Fast and snappy consecutive reps until last set - def happy with the 5 at 177lb

After class had a play with some squat cleans

133lb
155lb
177lb
199lb
210lb
Fx221lb
221lb
232lb (Pretty sure that this is a PB - the best documented clean I could find was a clean and jerk at 100kg or 220lb)
FFFx243lb

Pressing tomorrow and today’s mainpage WOD then a de-load week before starting another cycle.

Wednesday 19 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 7 - Back Squats

Got my back squats in and then some fun

5x45lb
5x89lb
5x133lb
5x177lb
5x221lb
5x243lb

Thrusters

3x133lb
3x155lb
3x177lb
3x199lb

then after class

12-9-6
Thrusters, 155lb
CTB pull ups

4:30 (5 sec PB)

Thrusters all unbroken bar last rep of the last round where I failed lockout and dumped it. Pull ups 6/6, 5/3/1, 3/2/1

Short and sharp - just what the doctor ordered

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 7 - Metcon

Don’t think I’m gonna manage a two-fer but got one good shot in today

15-12-9
hang power clean, 155lb
ring dip

2:47 (all with 20lb vest)

a couple of stutters on HPC and needed to regrip for last rep of 9 but pretty smooth. Rhythm on ring dips was a bit lacking but mostly unbroken. Foam rolling and tennis ball therapy afterwards involved far more pain and also far more procrastination ...

Monday 17 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 7 - Deadlifts

Deads a day early. Taking a night off from the Faktory tomorrow so decided to skip tonights squats and get my deads in instead.

3x133lb
3x221lb
3x309lb
1x397lb
5x425lb (3 and 5 rep PB)

9x397lb (PB)

Had some playtime on the GHD and finally figured out the setup for GH raises. Did a set of 5 and then 10 - be good for buy ins and cash outs for sure.

No metcon today but tomorrow may be a short sharp two-fer ...

This is week 6 of my current cycle and I’m feeling good.

EDIT - just realised this is actually week 7 of this cycle - EDIT

I started with 5x386 and 18x331 so have come a long way. With my decision to keep squats light and dial in my form I am recovering really well and my deads and presses are feeling great and really feel like they could progress for another 4 weeks easily. I’m sorely tempted to ride the crest of the wave - anyone have thoughts on this?

Saturday 15 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 6 - Press

5x45lb
3x89lb
3x133lb
3x155lb
1x166lb

Then got interrupted so started again after class. TBH though this was feeling heavy and I doubted my ability to hit my target load for the week.

5x45lb
3x89lb
3x111lb
3x133lb
3x155lb
1x166lb
3x183lb

9x155lb

Stomped like a buffalo and 183 went up easy, I contemplated pushing for 5. All about the right attitude and soundtrack. check out Spiderbait’s cover of “Black Betty” - banging track for getting amped up!!

Then a couple of hours later

324 benchmark “Beta”
AMRAP 12
3 muscle ups
6 press ups
9 jumping squats

8 rounds + 2 muscle ups

Happy with that but look forward to 10 rounds + next time I try it.

Friday 14 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 6 - Front Squats

All loads deadlifted then hang power cleaned except for top set which was just power cleaned

5x133lb
5x177lb
5x199lb
5x226lb

That’s it for the day - had to get away to pick up my old man from the airport

Wednesday 12 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 6 - Rest Day

Bit of fun

Overhead Squats

3x89lb
3x133lb
155lb
176lb
199lb
210lb (PB)
221lb (PB)
232lb (PB)

Couldn’t remember what my top end was - thought it was either bodyweight-ish or 100kg. Was in fact 205lb so a pretty nice little PB for a well neglected lift

Something breathy and light was provided by Leon’s programming at CFNEE tonight

10 - 1 GTOH, 89lb
1 - 10 pull up

7:29 - formwise was a bit lacklustre. 40kg is pretty damn light and found it hard not tro overpull it so was getting messy and inconsistent set up for the overhead. In the end just pressed a lot of em. Towards the end as it tipped towards more pul ups this got pretty grippy. I guess they can’t all be winners ...

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 6 - Deadlifts



2x3x225lb
3x309lb
1x397lb
5x420lb (PB)

14x375lb (PB)

Overhead Squats
3x45lb
3x89lb
3x133lb

Then had to call it quits as my masseuse arrived. High rep deads don’t even rate on the pain scale compared to that. Hurt so good!!

As the vid above shows I've been practicing a quick drop to the bar rather than getting set with hands on bar. By taking advantage of the stretch reflex I'm definitely increasing the load that i can pull from the floor easily. The set at 309lb nearly flew off the deck!! I've been using this for a while but I've been nowehere near correctly set up. It's not perfect right now but definitely improving. The enhanced hip mobility I'm working for will only improve this further. Worth noting that 420lb is 95% of my 1RM (200kg or 440lb)

Going to get into the overheads properly tomorrow and get a sprint metcon in as well.

Monday 10 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 6 - Back Squats

5x45lb
5x133lb
5x177lb
5x232lb

After my reset last week I’ve decided that I’m going to increase my back squat by 5kg per week, front squat by 2.5kg per week and perform my HR back squat at my front squat load. Sub maximal work will give me a chance to nail down what is bothering my knees and remedy it.

No time for anything else - this week is going to be a bit spotty i think.

Saturday 8 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 5 - Press

5x45lb
5x89lb
3x111lb
3x133lb
3x155lb
1x175lb
3x180lb

Skipped high rep set due to impending metcon. All loads taken from deck. By juggling lbs and kgs I can get 182 or so so will have a pop at that next week.

Wod was meant to be

10 rft
Row 250m
5 clusters, 132lb

I did 5 in 10:00 and called it there. Feel like a pussy but just didn’t have the drive to complete it. Have another pop in my off week in a fortnight.

Friday 7 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 5 - Front Squats

Front Squat
5x45lb
5x89lb
5x133lb
5x177lb
5x221lb

Back Squat
10x221lb

An alternate workout for Karl's girl Ellie Grace

21-15-9
Power clean, 139
Ring Dip

3:55

PC 21, 10/5, 9
RD 16/5, 10/5, 9

followed by

30 GTOH, 139lb

5:50

So all done in 9:45

Lizzie was consciously smooth and unhurried. Was surprised as heck by the time. Did make it tough getting into the mix for Grace - did that in three rep bursts all the way through but obviously walked too far from the bar in between efforts. Enjoyed this WOD immensely!!

Thursday 6 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 5 - Metcon

Buy in - double under practice until I felt comfortable that the WOD to follow wouldn’t be a total waste of time

“Ellie” in honour of Karl’s little girl Ellie Grace

21-15-9
OHS, 110lb
21-15-9
Pull ups
42-30-18
Double unders

Modified to 21-15-9 after the first 15 or so took me 3 minutes.

10:02 as modded - will revisit in a month.

Also, for the last week or so I’ve been including some flexibility/ mobility work into my mix but it has been unstructured to say the least. Leon put me on to the following combination that looks pretty handy. As an experiment of 1 I’m going to do it daily for a month and see how things improve

http://www.defrancostraining.com/ask_joe/archives/ask_joe_08-10-03.html

Wednesday 5 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 5 - Rest Day

Just a buy in seeing as today is a rest day

Row 1000m for time then 2 rounds of 10 hip extension, 10 GHD sit ups

3:18.7

Planning on a 100% effort sometime next week. Looking for 3:05 - 3:08

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 5 - Deadlift

Buy in Row 1000m for time then 15 hip extensions and 15 GHD sit ups

Row 3:16.6

Deadlifts

5x140lb
3x225lb
3x313lb
3x357lb
5x416 (PB)

10x375lb (PB)

After class metcon

10 - 1
Push press, 88lb
Pull ups

4:47 - grip started fading towards the end but all unbroken

Monday 3 May 2010

Cycle 1, Week 5 - Back Squat

Buy In (aka warm up)

Row 1000m for time then 15 GHD sit ups and 15 Hip extensions

Row 3:27.1

Back Squat
10x45lb
5x89lb
5x133lb
5x177lb
2x5x221lb

Got vid - have some thoughts and will throw it out to y’all once I have a chance to cook up the vid and make sense of my musings

Hang Power Clean

5x133lb
3x177lb
199lb
221lb (PB)
FFx243lb
Fx232lb

“Nasty Girls”
14:11 w/ 139lb

almost like intervals of squats and HPC with rests during the muscle ups. Not all bad as for the first time I’m actually conscious of what I’m doing and have made some tweaks that seem to be working. Normally muscle ups are a rare and mystical beast at anything over 200lb. I’m 205 or so at the moment so that’s a pleasant surprise. This WOD will be a great benchmark for some changes I am making at the moment.

Base Line


Here's what I have to work with. Realistically anywhere between 85 and 88kg will be a pretty happy place for strength as well as capacity in bodyweight and mono-structural WODs. Will try and get a body comp based on caliper measurements this week.

Teaching an old dog new tricks?!

Pain is a pretty good motivator for changing behaviour. If you don't do X, Y or Z then stuff hurts - if you do them then stuff doesn't hurt or at least nowhere near as bad.

I've managed pretty well over the years with zero warm up, zero stretching and sporadic attempts at taking fish oil, glucosamine and hydrating. Generally pretty mobile, good results and decent recovery - only really hurting when I do something silly. Recently however my mobility and recovery are suffering and day to day stuff hurts. Also, my dietary discipline has been pretty weak so weight, body comp and energy aren't what they should be.

So I figured now is a pretty good time to see how much better things can get by practicing what I preach.

For the last 4 days I have got my water intake up to nearly 2 litres a day (up from coffee) whilst getting between 9 - 12 fish oil caps and 4 glucosamine tablets a day. For the last week I have been getting about 15 mins a day of joint mobility and or flexibility training. Pretty modest beginnings but already I am feeling better for it.

I'm not going to weigh and measure my food - instead I will be following my own Zone made easy plan that worked very well a few years ago ( clicky ). I started too relax the already relaxed parameters of this plan after a few months and never really reigned them back in. I'm genuinely interested to see how this works in combination with the CFSB training protocol I am following at the moment.

My training regimen over the next month or two will continue with the CFSB template with a few changes to help achieve my goals. The main change will be that the loads for ME squats will be hauled back and I will look over some vid of my form to correct a few flaws that I think have crept in recently. TBH I am not too concerned about this. For me even though I am one of the least prolific squatters about, leg strength has rarely held me back in Crossfit. Instead it is my capacity for moderate to high reps of moderate weight squats/ cleans/ thrusters. So the high rep stuff is more useful to me personally. I'll be dialing this back too but more as a reset and will increment it up as long as it does not contribute to continued knee pain.

Worth saying that I don't think it was squatting per se that hurt my knees. Rather, sloppy squat technique in the midst of an over agressive return to an intense strength program. This in turn was aggravated by my woefully inadequate recovery regime.

So less and lighter squats but I will continue to push the deadlift and press as hard as I am able. I have no doubt that strength developed with these two drills will help my capacity. from a metcon perspective I will program 2 short heavy metcons a week (one probably including squatting of some kind) and the remainder will be lighter, breathier affairs. Expect to see more rowing, more standard CF benchmarks and more bodyweight work.

Personally the CF warm up is just not for me. That said, I will probably row a couple of mid paced intervals before kicking anything off and spend 5 - 10 minutes drilling main features of the impending WOD. We've just bought a new GHD so I can realistically see a few rounds of sit ups and back extensions each night and will try to sneak in some other gymnastic drills in between.

Apart from performance and freer movement body comp improvements are a goal so I will be posting pix every couple of weeks to track my progress. First couple will go up tonight - you've been warned ...

Saturday 1 May 2010

Cycle 4 - Rest Week

A weeks holiday with the family coincided with me feeling absolutely ruined and in need of some R and R. Not so much muscle soreness as joint issues (particularly knees and ankles) that started a couple of weeks back and have not eased at all.

This in mind the aim of the week was light and breathy - convenient as the sole highlight of the health centre at our resort was a Concept 2 Rower.

Tuesday

1000m in 3:25

3 x 500m with 1:30 rest between efforts

1:44.6
1:38.0
1:35.6

30 double unders not for time (hour glass wouldn’t have been big enough)

Also got some stretching in (more on this in another post)

Wednesday

AMRAP rounds of
1 min row 300m
1 min Rest

Previously done as a 10 round WOD with motivational consequences for any round where I missed the target distance. I’m on holiday so took the soft option - sue me!!

Made 7 rounds and then just blew up on the 8th.

In case that hadn’t made me feel bad enough I spent 20 minutes alternaing between writhing on the floor and stretching. Not sure the two activities would have been distinguishable to any onlookers ...


Thursday

Tabata Rowing

112, 112, 110, 109, 106, 105, 106, 106 - 866 total

stretching and writhing afterwards

Friday

Had Blair Morrison and a friend of his come vist CFNEE along with Ash and Stu from soon to be affiliate Crossfit Carlisle. W6 e all jumped in on CFNEE’s programmed metcon before regular classes started

AMRAP 12
2 power snatch, 60kg
4 CTB pull ups
6 GTOH, 60kg
8 press ups

6 + 2 GTOH

Pretty unimpressed with this effort - no push and no pop. Top scores were 8 rounds even. Think this would be really fun at 115lb

Back into CFSB on Monday but I’ll get my presses done tomorrow anyway. From here on in I’m going to deloading the squats and check my mechanics. Suffering from knee pain that won’t quit at the minute. Get it sorted ASAP and in the meantime get strong with deads and presses.

Saturday

CFSB Presses as normal to try and keep the momentum I have at the moment

5x45lb
5x89lb
3x111lb
3x133lb
... an hour later
3x133lb
3x155lb
3x177lb

7x150lb

All after 89lb taken from floor. Think target for next week is 3x180lb then run 5’s for a while