July 23, 2011

I've learned the hard way that persistence can be both a virtue and a vice.  It seems like a generally "good" trait, but in some cases, it really can be a bad one when you throw "good money after bad" or "reinforce failure."  We learned about this when I was a young Lieutenant at Basic School and we discussed whether or not to commit a squad to rescuing another squad - which was pinned down and likely to get killed.  Do you risk the success of the mission in order to save some of your brothers-in-arms?  (Hence the term "reinforcing failure."  And, by the way, this is a very simple illustration of the brutality of war and why it does cruel things to a man's soul).
That depressing thought aside, today it was a good thing.  I was snatching - and my max is 215lb - but it's been a while since I oly-lifted for a max and my technique has suffered, so I knew this could be a humbling session.
Here are the first four attempts at 195 (I had made 185 just before this).

I was so frustrated I wanted to just quit and call it a day, but every time I watched the video, I could see that the attempts were close - I was under the weight in time, but just kept being "squishy" at the bottom and wasn't finishing by pulling the weight back aggressively enough in the "turnover."
Anyway, I decided to go again for a fifth try...

There is something so satisfying about succeeding in the face of repeated failure.  Fuck that feels good.  The bad news is that I'm still 20lb below my best and have a goal of 100 kilograms (220lb) - so I need to get my ass in gear.

July 22, 2011

On July 20 (Wednesday), I was teaching at the Naval Justice School, so didn't manage a workout, but instead drove to Connecticut and grappled (No-Gi).  It was a very good workout; hot as a bastard inside the dojo and I can't imagine how much water weight I lost.
July 21st, I had to go to Boston to help my oldest daughter with some college stuff and that killed any chance to workout, when it was followed up by a trip to the Westerly beaches for dinner with some old friends.
Today, I got out in the heat and changed up my planned workout to accommodate my schedule.  Did this:
AMRAP in 5 mins of:
275 lb DL x 3
115 lb push-press x 7
A quick little beastie.  I finished with 6 rounds and the 3 DLs before time ended.  Here's a trimmed down version.

July 18-19, 2011: CF Total

Well, life occasionally interferes, but in this case, it wasn't traumatic.  I started out with the intent of doing the CrossFit Total: a rather lengthy workout consisting of a 1 RM of BS, followed by 1RM shoulder press, and then finally the deadlift.  It's time-consuming, mostly because if the rest necessary between successive max weight attempts.  So, I wound up having to take two days to do it.  I was running out of time and thus on July 18th managed only to finish the back squat.  A not unsatisfying 405lb, maybe I had 5-10lb in me, but that might be wishful thinking.  So, let me be more optimistic - I was very happy with that lift.  Given that I had done two workouts the day before, consisting of doubles of push-jerk and then 800m repeats, I couldn't be much happier.  This is in no small part due to that "magic juice" I started taking again - Progenex.  I don't pimp products and I've never been a "supplement guy" but whatever is in that shit is absolutely the cure for DOMS.  I don't know what they've come up with, but I have yet to be sore the next day if I drink the muscle recovery right after I workout.
July 19th was another semi-hectic day, but I managed (late) to get in the deadlift and press portions of the CFT.  These - there's no denying it - very happy.  A 455lb deadlift - only 10lb shy of my best ever - and a miss at 180lb press, but no big deal.

Here's a make at 175lb.  My elbow's still a little sore from a mild case of tendonitis and I was doing the DL and Press at the same time (sort of half-resting between each attempt), so this is just fine.
And here is the DL.

This isn't anything to make the big boys get nervous, but I'll take it.  I still seem to have this almost Romanian deadlift form, but I really believe that's because of my short legs and relatively long arms, making my hips high before I really feel the slack coming out.  I tried keeping my butt lower on an earlier attempts at 425 or so and it just felt awkward.  For now, I'll stick with this until I reach a point where I'm not going up any more. 500, here we come...

July 17, 2011

Two-a-days.  Yech.  My own programming (and obsessive need to get back on schedule) led me to think that this was a good day to try a two-fer.  Maybe...
First WoD was a kind of Louie Simmons dynamic effort (DE) day.  So, 10 sets of 2 reps with exactly one minute rest between each, trying to concentrate on keeping the speed of the movement up throughout.  In this case, I used the push jerk - a speed movement itself - and something that needs work for me.

This was my second set of warmup - at 155 lb.  I decided to start at 185 and see if I could move up a little each set and then hold at a higher weight.  I made it to 205 on my 4th double.  On my fifth, I got the bar out of the rack and just morally crumbled.  I racked it, dropped it to 185 and stayed there until the last set.  Here are the last three attempts at 185-185 and then 205.

It's a bit tedious to watch the minute of rest, but illustrates how frigging hard this workout can be.  That minute goes by entirely too quickly and after 7 previous doubles, I was pretty smoked.
Anyway, I went back, changed shoes, and had a Progenex recovery shake.  Then drove to the local high school track for 800m repeats.  So, run 800, rest three minutes and do that for four 800's.
Here are the runs, with each of the 400m splits.  I wanted to run each 800 with negative 400 splits and stay under 3:30 for every one.  Ambitious.
1 - 1:39/1:32 = 3:11
2 - 1:40/1:42 = 3:22
3 - 1:46/1:47 = 3:33
4 - 1:57/1:51 = 3:48
At the 200m mark of the first lap on the last 800, I pretty much broke.  I loped the remaining 400 and then tried to hang on for the last.  I had enough left for a dying sprint the last 50m to get me a barely respectable 1:50 for the last 400.
Looking at the numbers, I actually have a very steady decay rate of 11 seconds for each 800.  That's nothing to be proud of, but after doing 10 doubles of push-jerk (largely a leg movement) with bodyweight or over - 30 minutes before - I'm not all that unhappy.  We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

WTF Happened?

Take a day off and suddenly, everything goes to shit.  Okay, maybe not quite that bad.  I got tied up and on the 13th unexpectedly (mostly) and so missed that day.  I was adamant I was going to work out on the 14th.  Even got dressed in my PT gear and could not get out the door before I ran out of daylight and had to go take my daughters to dinner and then to the Harry Potter premier at midnight.  I got in some good grappling (No-Gi) on Friday the 15th.

Saturday the 16th I did the mainpage WoD from 5/11/11 - with a partner.  I'm usually alone in my garage, so it was good to see how the ol' garage gym would handle two, as well as give me someone else to help push me.  I've found that it doesn't matter what the other person is doing: scaling, falling behind, whatever - having someone else always helps add some element of compulsion that wouldn't be present if you were alone.

Workout: 5 rounds for time of-
5 x 135lb OHS
10 x Toes to Bar
15 x Hang Sqt Clean (with 40lb dumbbells)
20 Double-Unders
2:18, 3:32, 4:42, 4:33, 3:28 = 18:36 total
The key number in that whole workout is the time for the last round.  I kept thinking it must be a problem with my watch - but it wasn't.  That's simply the difference between having another person there and not having another person there.  I never would have finished that last round in under 4 mins.  If only there were an affiliate closer...

July 12, 2011

"Jackie"
For time: 1000m row, 50 thrusters with 45 lb bar, 30 pullups

My f&^%ing rower is still on the fritz after getting a new PM3 monitor from Concept2.  I love the thing (and C2's support has been awesome) but I'm frustrated trying to trouble shoot why the stroke rate/meter countdown function is telling me that I rowed 500m in less than a minute (not humanly possible).  So, I had to substitute sumo deadlift high pulls with a bar for the row.  1 rep for every 10 m.  (It's one of the more accurate subs I think that the CF FAQ has, but it does have its different "prices" to be paid).

Warmed up with one weighted round of the CF WarmUp (10 pullups, 10 ring dips, 10 Overhead Squats with a piece of PVC pipe, 10 Back Extensions, and 10 GHD situps) - all done wearing a 20lb vest.  Getting better with my double-unders and also did some handstand work.

Total Time: 8:54
Row in 4:02, Thrusters in 3:08, pullups in 1:44.  Goal was sub 8 minutes, but that's going to take some doing.  I'm happy sub-9.

Lifting Heavy Shit

Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3 (4 mins rest between sets)
365-385-395-405-415

Some folks believe that the deadlift is the King Daddy of exercises.  I've seen the debate narrowed to essentially the Squat and the Dead.  What you're not going to hear is some guy arguing about how the tricep kickback is "King" - not for very long anyway, before he is laughed at and mocked by the men who actually lift and squat heavy shit.

It's not just a powerlifting argument, either.  The arguments for functionality are pretty compelling on both sides: you need to squat whether you're a granny or Arnold.  Whether it's 1000 lb back squat for a world record, or putting your ass on the toilet or in the barcalounger, if you can't squat, you're on your way into the assisted living facility in short order.  The laws of gravity and entropy put heavy shit on the ground.  Period.  From groceries to furniture, you have to be able to effectively and efficiently pick up stuff off of the ground if you want to possess it or put it to use.

Regardless of how the debate turns out, I spent today doing triples of lifting heavy stuff. i.e. Deadlifting.  I tried to incorporate some of the techniques I read from an article in the CF Journal by Mark Bell - who has squatted over 1000 lb, deadlifted over 700, and benched over 800.  He's held multiple national records at various weight classes, so I figured he might know something about lifting heavy.

The results?  Pretty good, in my mind.  If Prilepin's charts are correct, my 1RM right now is about 450, which is "merely" 50lb shy of where I want to be - and only 15 lb south of my PR (465).  The videos above are at 365 and 395.  395 is where it started to feel "heavy" - that's the point at which I notice the bar bends before it comes up off the ground (at least my bar does), and that is always a bit of a surprise because you have to pull harder and longer in order to "break" the ground and get the bar moving.  Mark Bell also advocated two important mental aspects of lifting - you really do have to get angry at that bar and lift with bad intentions.  Or it just ain't gonna move.  Video below was a bit of a surprise make for me - three weeks ago I failed at 425 for a single rep - today I tripled 415.

No doubt this was due to Bell's other advice about leaning back when you pull.  It's not as noticeable on my other lifts, but here at 415, you can clearly see the bar move back into me (and my toes actually come up during one of the reps) as I get back on my heels and really lean back as I pull.  A very good feeling.

Weekend Off... mostly

I spent the weekend doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, so I'm not sure I really took the weekend off, but I didn't get in any specific workouts.  I did get in some good work at a 3 hour seminar on Saturday with Pedro Sauer black belt Keith Owen.  Helped mi amigo teach on Sunday and got in some striking, throwing, and half-guard work.  Enough that my right forearm continues to sting when punching the mitts from a mild case of "golfer's elbow" - which I have come to think of as "pullup elbow" because I don't golf - and that's how I get it - from the occasional excessive pullup workout.

July 8, 2011 - Pressing

A pressing workout, in both senses of the word.  My original plan had been to do one of the old school CF workouts, Shoulder press five singles, then Push Press five triples, then Push Jerk five sets of five, but I was up against the clock, so I just did seven singles of straight shoulder pressing (aka, the "military press").  I was reasonably happy to work up to a high of 180 lb and a fail at 185 lb.  It's a step in the right direction toward two-bills before the next 9 months is out.

Shoulder Press
160-165-170-175-180-180-185f

Pretty boring, but not every workout on the road to fitness gets to be cake and ice cream.

July 7, 2011

Had to get in an early morning WoD before driving up to Boston to see my daughters for the day.  Nutrition went to shit, but workout in the morning was solid.

For time, 21-15-9 of:
24" Box jumps
75lb power snatches
chest-to-bar pullups
21 = 4:44; 15 = 3:56; 9 = 2:15
Total = 10:55

A warmup of double-unders, 1 round of the CF WarmUp (CFWU) with a 20lb weight vest on, and then some great handstand work.  Finally held a handstand for about 10 seconds, twice... before unceremoniously crashing into a bush while some old lady walked by.

Me snatching some weight, somewhere...

Out of the archives...

Just for shits and giggles, I dug up all of my old CrossFit logbooks.  Wow.  What an eye-opener.  I've come a long way since 7 Nov 2005.  My first workout was something I didn't suck at, so I had forgotten that it was 7 singles of back squat.  The second one was the crusher.
8 Nov 2005 - Workout of the Day
As Many Rounds as Possible (AMRAP) in 20 mins of:
95 lb push-jerk x 15
24" Box jump x 15
Back extensions x 15

I managed one full round, as prescribed (as rx'd).  Then had to drop the weight to 65 lb (the women's weight).  I managed another round.  I couldn't put the bar over my head any more, so I just did the other two exercises for two more rounds, then quit at 10:04.  Quit.  Half way in.  The next day I was crippled with lower back pain.

A few days later, 10 Nov 05, the WoD was 50-35-20 of handstand pushups and pullups.  Ha!  I cut the workout in half.  And I couldn't do HSPUs, so I had to do a kind of inclined pushup.  I managed to finish the half workout (so 52 HSPU and pullups) in 10:30.

Finally, as an indicator of how far I've come (and what CF has done for me), on 12 Nov 05, the WoD was "Linda," also known affectionately as the "Three Bars of Death."  The workout calls for reps of 10-9-8-7...(down to 1) of three exercises: 1.5 x bodyweight Deadlift, 1.0 bodyweight bench press, and 3/4 bodyweight cleans.  For me, this was 277.5 lb deads, 185 lb bench, and 135 lb cleans: 10 of each, then 9 of each, then 8 of each, etc., for a grand total of 55 of each exercise.

I had to scale the DLs to 155 lb.  I did the bench at 185. And the cleans (a combo of power and full-squat cleans) at 95 lb.  It took me 35:08.  Yes, thirty-five minutes.  Scaled.  A lot.
By comparison, I did Linda almost 2 years to the day from when I first did it (Nov. 12, 2007) when I was at the Naval Justice School (It's here on youtube).  I did it with all the weights as prescribed.  I did every clean as a full-squat clean.  And I did it in 26:58.  And I'm pretty confident that my time would be under that today.

July 6, 2011

Because I swapped my rest day (didn't work out on Monday while en route to Maine), I did "Griff" today.  Griff is a "Hero" workout from CF.com, named after SSgt Travis Griffin, USAF, killed in Iraq on April 3, 2008.  (Here's a link to the archived workout with some details).  The workout consists of running 800m forward, then 400m backwards, and then doing it again, for time.

800m forward - 3:07
400m backward - 3:17
800m forward - 4:00
400m backward - 3:21
Total = 13:47

"Griff"

July 5, 2011 - Tabata Something Else

Well, when you're on the road, sometimes you gotta make do.  I headed up to rural Maine for the 4th and a family visit and that was going to make getting in a workout a little challenging.  Fortunately, I had planned ahead, brought a set of rings, and slung them over a tree in order to knock out one of my less favorite workouts - "Tabata Something Else."  Tabata intervals - 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 repeats (total of four minutes) - for each of four separate exercises back-to-back.  So, Tabata pullups, followed by pushups, then situps, then air squats, for a total of 16 minutes of lactate-threshold misery.

The seemingly bucolic field of battle

My numbers were not great, but sometimes, just getting in the work is enough.  Mosquitoes were in full-force, as well, like a swarm of locusts around my head.  Fortunately (I guess), I was never still for more than 10 seconds.  My 6 year-old second cousin kept score for me from a distance - which produced two results: her screaming and running away from the mosquitoes while I yelled my scores, and some cute doodles in my workout logbook, along with backward 3's, 7's, and 4's, making my "13" appear (to my eye, anyway) like a much more robust "31" for some reason.

Pullups (rings)- 12/8/5/5/6/6/5/6 = 53
Pushups- 16/13/10/10/8/7/8/8 = 80
Situps (feet anchored on the base of the stairs)-  16/14/14/14/13/13/13/13 = 110
Squats- 16/15/14/14/14/13/15/14 = 115
Total Score = 358

July 3, 2011 - Front Squats

Getting started on goals.  Did a front squat workout, 5 sets of 5 reps.  Warmed up, then did one set at 225, 245, 265, 275.  It was really humid, and I was in my garage, so I took my shirt off and started on a fifth set, and immediately regretted it as the bar started sliding forward on my shoulders on the first rep.  had to call it off at 275 after just one rep on the 5th set.  Lesson learned.

Overall, pretty happy.  I previously tripled 295 in January, and according to the Prilepin charts, a 5RM of 275 should yield a 315 lb 1RM.  A 3RM of 295 would yield a 320 single.  So, I guess that's a long way of saying, I'm tracking.

Here's the 245, which felt comfortable.

The jump from 265 to 275 felt like 50lb. instead of 10.  Eek.