July 29, 2009

AHH MY BACK HURTS! DOCTOR SAYS I NEED A BACKEOTOMY.


Back tighted up bad during DL's today. We took the WOD from a great source but maybe this particular one was a little much to say the least. 40 reps in the warm up include 10 at 70% w/ snatch grip. While building up to my recent PR, I completely programmed my deadlifting, and in that time I'm not sure if I even went over 40 reps total on a strength day. Once I got to 80%, my back locked up, I had a coach watching, my form was on, I think I was over worked in the warmup is all.

Tomorrow is an off day, we'll see how my back feels Friday.

July 28, 2009

"A friend passed through town and described how difficult it was to find training partners, much less individuals who shared his dedication and were willing to do the work. He lamented that no one ever lasted more than two weeks. Not because he hazed them but because they were lazy and wanted the result without the work. None wanted to hear that there are no shortcuts, or they might have to give something up, or make a difficult change to their routine, and existence. I was appalled though not surprised.

Time hardens habits and patterns. Choices lead to paths, and paths to destinations. One cannot know with certainty where the first steps on any path will lead but the truth is that each of us is a product of our decisions. Laziness and entitlement produce a particular outcome. Hard work and dedication produce a particular outcome. Which have you chosen?

I know the answer. And it makes me sick."- Mark Twight

5x3 Front Squat

WOD from John Welbourn

AMRAP in 15 min of:

3x power snatch 135#
6x box jump 24"
50m shuttle run

NOTES:
This was a weird workout. The load is light, the reps are low, the running is short. Hmmm power endurance anyone? You think in the back of your head that its not going to be that bad, then you get passed the first round and its all uphill. I took off sprinting on the first run, big mistake, it absolutely gassed me, I blew my load on the first round and I'm sick, body feels good, but its all in my lungs, I'm coughing like a smoker. Long story short, I needed to pace myself better, I wanted at least 10 rounds, I finished 9 with 5 seconds to spare. Oh well.

how not to front squat

July 27, 2009

6x3 weighted pullups

then

5 rounds of:

10x power clean 135#
6x push press/jerk 135#
150m shuttle run

NOTES: i got 17 and change

July 24, 2009

AMRAP in 20 min of:

15x wallball
10x pull up
5x burpee
400m run

NOTES:

I completed 5 rounds with 1 second to spare.

July 23,2009

It's Monday and I can't remember what I did but I know it sucked.

July 22, 2009

I don't know if you can tell but I've been really concentrating on the Olympic lifts lately. I think it's very very very important to master the lifts. At my USAW cert, Mike Conroy told us that it takes about 5 years to truly learn the lifts and 10 to master them on a Olympic level, and that's with very consistent practice. Josh Everett Everett also says 10 and compares it to golf, "sometimes you just have really bad days, but you always hit that one lift that makes you keep coming back for more. With consitent practice, it eventually becomes natural, but you still have your bad days." I've been watching a ton of Coach Bergerner's video's on the journal and trying to apply them on my technique every day. I feel like I'm getting better but something's missing, I want to go to his cert or schedule a private at Mike's Gym, maybe I will.

Warmup: Row 500m+stretch
3x10 OHS PVC pipe

Workout: Drilled snatch for about 35min. Started warming up with snatch grip behind the neck presses, OHS, snatch balance, drop snatch. Started with light weight high hang snatch, then high hang squat snatch, working on a fast jump, shrug and pull under the bar. Then put on a litte more weight and went mid thigh squat snatch, trying to be fast as fuck and held in the bottom so muscle memory can feel that possision. Then pulled from the ground and everything went to shit. Had about 5 solid reps and about 15 shitty ones. back was tight from yesterday and felt like shit. Missed 135# which is warm up weight for me and called it on snatch. I thought to myself, fuck you do heavy OHS and get a new PR.

OHS:
1x1 @135#
1x1 @155#
1x1 @185#
1x1 @205# (old PR)
1x1 @225# PR
1x1 @235# missed rep twice

NOTES:
I still felt like shit until it was over, then I actually felt like working out. I think I can hit the 255# area if im 100%, my workouts lately have been blasting my shoulders and back and I was super tight today. I will re-test this as soon as next week, I dunno. I need to do a hard met-con tomorrow even though the main sight WOD looks fucking bad ass, if my back is good tomorrow I might have to try it, I've been thinking about going main sight for a while now with CF Endurance.

this is the coolest shit, this is the only time I would want to be a hick, the only time

July 21, 2009

Today, I drilled the olympic clean for an hour with Josh at UCR. I also worked out with the 5:30 class at CFB.

Warmup: Jump rope+stretch
3x10 burpees
3x10 ring push ups

Workout:
6 rounds for time:
10xPC@115#
10xwall ball 20#
200m run w/20# ball

NOTES: did the burpees straight through. Time on the WOD was 14:58. My back is tight as fuck after this. I think I could have gone harder on the wall balls but the run was pretty tough carrying a weird 20lbs round ball.

July 20, 2009

Warm up: jump rope+stretching
3x1o OHS w/PVC
3x10 KB swing 53#
HAM hip mobility drill x3

workout:
Split Jerk
3x3 @225
2x1@245
1x1@265PR
1x1@285PR
1x1@305(failed rep)

3x15 OHS 95# (fast/working speed and comfort throughout the movement)

3 rounds
10x Ring pull up+tuck+inverted hang+reverse movement back to start
25x Box jump 24"

July 18, 2009

Feeling better, about 80%, pretty sore from squating yesterday.

warmup: Airdyne bike+stretching

3x10 depth jumps (8@20", 1@24", 1@30")


workout:

hang power snatch
1x8@95#
2x3@135#
3x2@155#

NOTES:
still not 100%, not trying to push anything respiratory yet, I'll wait till monday. Pretty sore from the heavy DL and squats the passed few days so wanted a short power day to get in some work and still not push too hard.

July 17, 2009

Today I infiltrated the local globo-gym. I have some close friends who haven't for whatever reasons joined a local CrossFit, so I like to go in and work out at the old stomping grounds with them from time to time. It's great to see the same people looking exactly the same doing exactly the same old shit, then I walk in brandishing a bright red 24" plyo-box with my CrossFit Brea shirt on ready to crush this workout. Thats the funny thing about going back every month or so, you see the same crowd in there working out and their bodies haven't changed, I wonder when they will realize it. Me and Kris had a heavy back squat day planned. I have had the flu since tues night so this is my first day back after taking a few off. My body feels fine, I feel slightly weak with a head cold. Here's what we did:

warmup: 500m row+stretching

3x10 split jumps
1x10 BB OHS
1x10 pullup
1x10 burpee
1x5 box jump 24"

workout:

Back Squat
1x10 BB
1x10 @ 95#
1x10 @ 135#

1x8 @ 60% + 3 box jumps 24"
2x5@ 70% + 3 box jumps 24"
3x2@ 85% + 3 box jumps 24"

Press (strict)
1x5 @ 135#
1x5 @ 145#
1x5 @ 155#
1x5 @ 165#
1x5@ 175#

cooldown:
3 rounds
5 weighted pull ups (strict) + 10 GHD sit ups

NOTES:
wanted a tough workout but something that wouldn't push my respiratory system since I'm not quite 100%, this was perfect. I was rocking the do-win weightlifting shoes, people were looking at me like crazy. Had a couple people comment that we were going too low on our squats, I just handed them a business cards and said "if you want some REAL coaching on how to lift weights, give me a call.

Here's coach Glassman talking about the GHD Situp:

July 14, 2009

Thruster challenge day 1: 9x thruster @ 65#

then

work to 1RM DL

NOTES:

I am pretty sore from yesterdays WOD. Last week I decided to re-test some of my max lifts starting this week. Since I was so sore from yesterday I decided to test my dead lift. I PR'D today pulling 480#. My max in April was 405# and it was very hard to pull. Today I felt like I could have done 500#. I had hit 420# and 460# which were both new pr's and added 20# and pulled it. I decided to call it there since I had jumped 75# from last time. Even though I think I could have gone higher it will just make my next 1RM attempt that much higher. I will re-test sometime towards the end of August. I feel like I'm getting sick so we'll see how I feel tomorrow for a workout.

July 13, 2009

We are back from the CrossFit Games. Holly shit it was a crazy weekend and im sunburned as fuck. We officially kicked off our training for the 2010 CF Games. We figured what better way to start then getting a base time of the Final Workout from this years CrossFit Games. Here's what it was...

15x Squat Clean 155#
30x Toe's to bar
30x Box Jump 24"
15x Muscle up
30x Dumbbell press 44#
30x Double Unders
15x Thruster 135#
30x Pull Up
30x Burpee
300' OH Walking lunge holding 45# bumper

NOTES:

FUCK! This is a chipper for sure. Squat Cleans had me gassed from the start and effected my grip for the toes to bar. Box Jumps were box jumps, I just had to push through for 30 straight, theres no point in resting on bj's. The muscle up's weren't too bad, neither was the press or double unders. The thrusters were absolute hell, a bunch of 1's and 2's and one 3 I think. I did a set of 10 burpee's and the rest in sets of 5. The lunge was absolute hell thats the only way I can describe it, I was happy just to finish. I set out hoping to get under an hour, I got 54:30, the top time at the games was 18 and change and that was after 7 workouts in 48 hours. Bottom line, I have some training to do in the next 9 months before qualifiers, a lot can hapen in that time, I'm excited to see how I progress.

July 10, 2009

We are in Marina, Ca at our hotel for the 2009 CrossFit Games. Our hotel is located on the beach at the dunes. For our WOD we used a lifeguard stand and sprinted up a dune. The target on the tower is about 8-9 ft which is a little lower than standard, oh well we have to make due. The workout consisted of 3 rounds and it was myself, Matt, and Ibby. The WOD went something like this...

3 rounds of:

Partner 1: sprints aprox. 100m up the sand dune carrying a 75lbs sandbag (how litteral)
Partner 2: max ball slams w/25# d-ball until P1 comes back from sprint
Partner 3: max wall balls w/20# dynamax ball until P1 comes back from sprint

Once P1 returns, we rotate, then rotate again until everyone has moved through all 3 stations.

NOTES:

Ibby started on the run, I started at ball slams, Matt started on wallball. That meant I had to end on the run. The run is brutal, you are trying to take big strides but you sink into the sand and almost go nowhere. By the time you get to the top, your legs are burning like hell. To make it worse, there are Crossfitter's from all over the world and they are everywhere. We had the 3rd place overall finisher staying in the room next to us at the hotel. So when I got close to the top of the dune, there was an affiliate team hanging out drinking beers at a table. They see us doing our WOD and come over and start yelling and chearing us on. The last person I wanted to see at the top was a hot girl wearing a Crossfit shirt screaming at me to hurry the fuck up. The WOD took about 10 min but it was a brutal 10 min.

July 9, 2009

5 rounds for time of:
15x Deadlift
12x Hang Power Clean
9x Front Squat
6x Push Jerk
135# BB

NOTES:

Time:21:05...fuck this sucked

Tuesday July 7, 2009

Warm Up: Double under practice+dynamic stretching routine

Workout: From www.crossfitfootball.com

Bench Press 5x2 working up to heavy (1 min rest)
Front Squat 5x2 working up to heavy (1 min rest)
Weighted Pull up 5x3

15-10-5 of:

155# power clean + Ring dip

Notes:
Bench Press:
1st set @225#
2nd set @245#
3rd set @265#
4th set @285#
5th set @315#

Front Squat:
1st set @200#
2nd set @220#
3rd set @240#
4th set @260#
5th set @240#

Weighted Pull up:
1x3 16k kb
4x3 20k kb

Metcon time: 4:35

Monday July 6, 2009

Power Endurance

Warm Up: Double Under practice + Dynamic stretching

Workout: from www.crossfitfootball.com...thanks John!

3x12 BB box step ups (heavy) 20" box
6,5,3,2,1 Weighted ring push ups

then

6x100m sprint on rower (30 sec rest)

then

18-12-6 of:

DL @ 225# + ball slams 30#

then

6x100m sprint on rower (3o sec rest)

NOTES:

The step ups were challenging because I've never done them with a barbell, I usually use kettlebells. 1x12 @ 115#, 1x12 @ 185#. For the push ups I stacked bumper plates on my back. The weights used were 6@ 2x45#, 5@ 2x45#+25#,3@3x45#,2@3x45#+25#, 1@4x45#

The first 2 intervals on the rower are cake, the last 4 are a different story entirely. By the end my ass and legs were on fire and I had said to Matt, "hey are you down to go 15-10-5 on the wod"..haha I turn into a giant pussy when I'm tired. Matt almost gave in but we did the workout as Rx'd.

The DL wod was pretty brutal. I went 15 reps without dropping the bar on the first round then went singles and re-gripped after that. I didn't rest at all, just re-gripped. The ball slams make you remember that you just did a rowing interval because your ass starts to burn like a mother fucker. I finished in 3:45 which I am very happy with.

The second interval wasn't as bad just because I knew the workout was about to be over. I just did it and got it over with.

CrossFit games this weekend...I'm pretty stoked.

Check out this beautiful snatch..



and now for the clean and jerk...

Sunday July 5, 2009

Warm up: Jump Rope + Dynamic stretching routine (I hate that word)

10x Kb swing 53#, OHS w/ PVC, push up

Workout: Going off a 1RM of 310#

Back Squat

1x5 @ 50%
1x5 @ 65%
2x3 @ 75%
3x1 @ 85%

WOD: 5 Rounds of:

6x Power Snatch @ 135# +
6x burpee/box jumps

NOTES:

Squat felt great today, not too hard at 85%. I'm going to re-test my 1RM Back Squat, OHS, and DL when I get back from the CrossFit games.

The WOD was fucking hard. 135lbs never felt so heavy and your legs are burning so bad when you jump up from the burpee. I was so gassed on starting the last round, I stopped for like 20 seconds before I started my Snatch, I just couldn't breathe.

Here's a slide show of my heavy squat and a bad ass video Matt has been working on for CF Brea. We will be starting trainer bio video's this week and on Tuesday we will be filming a commercial with a zillion camera's, lighting, and a professional crew filming us...pretty sweet.

CrossFit Brea from Matt Banwart on Vimeo.

Friday July 3, 2009

POWER ENDURANCE

Warm up: Run 800m + Dynamic stretching + burgener clean and snatch progression.

Workout: Today I worked on my snatch (haha).

3x Snatch grip press + 3 drop snatch @ 65#

3x Snatch grip press + 3 drop snatch @ 95#

3x Snatch grip press + 3 drop snatch @ 115#

3x5 pulls from the floor to jumping pos. @ 95#

Squat snatch

1x3 @ 95#

1x3 @ 105#

1x1 @ 115#

1x1 @ 125#

1x1 @ 135#

1x1 @ 155#

WOD: Partner workout, one partner is doing certain number of reps while the other partner is doing their exercise waiting for them to finish, then we switch.

3 rounds

p1 rows 250m

p2 holds slosh pipe overhead/zercher

+

2 rounds

p1 15x pull up

p2 cauldron 45#

+

2 rounds

p1 20x kb swing 53#

p2 double unders

+

2 rounds

p1 25x ball slam 20#

p2 sit ups

NOTES:

1 step forward, 10 steps back. Any time I start feeling like I'm making big gains and feeling good, I go and do something stupid and hurt myself. Today I made a big breakthrough on a problem I've been having with my olympic snatch. I started going singles and increasing weight to see how high I could get. I had missed 165# twice, on the second attempt, I bailed and threw the barbell forward while jumping backward. My left foot was in the path of the barbell and it slammed across the top of my foot right before it hit the ground. It had to have been a force greater than 165# because I literally threw the weight away from my body. My foot isn't that swollen but it's super stiff and hard to walk on. I'm hoping it's not broken but my insurance doesn't start for 2 more weeks so I guess pain will be my guide.

I was able to make it through the partner wod with no pain except for the double unders, those fucking hurt so fucking bad.

Can't wait to see how it looks and feels in the morning

Thursday July 2, 2009

STRENGTH/MET CON

Warm up: Row 500m + dynamic stretching routine

Workout: Going off of a 1RM of 220lbs

OHS
1x8@ 50% 105#
1x5@ 65% 140#
2x3@ 75% 165#
5x1@ 85% 185#

As Many Rounds As Possible in 20 min of:

400m run
5x chest-to-bar pullups
15x wall ball 20#


NOTES:
My back felt suprisingly good today after yesterdays workout. It was my butt that was sore.

OHS felt good. I did the workout at UCR and all the walls in the weight room are mirrored so it's distracting to see yourself in the mirror while you're attempting the hardest lift in the book. I missed a couple reps at 85%, I got all 5 but I think I missed 2, just lost my balance looking in the mirror. (pic is from a few weeks ago)

The Metcon was good. I got to work out with Josh Everett today. He did 5x muscle ups instead of pull ups. The games are in 9 days and today was his last hard WOD. The toughest part about this wod was the fact that it was 1:00pm on a hot summer day in Riverside, about 1oo degrees. I wouldn't recommend this to a CrossFit newbie, the weather conditions plus the metcon style workout is a recipe for heat exaustion, we stopped at 20 min and didn't finish the round we were on, I finished 4 full rounds and finished the run and pull ups on the 5th.

Wednesday July 1, 2009

STRENGTH

Warm up: Row 500m + Dynamic Stretching routine (its kind of superstitious, I have to do the same stretching every time I exercise, takes about 15 minutes.

3 rounds: 10x kb swing 53# + Air Squats

then

Workout: Going off of a 1RM of 450lbs(1 rep max/all out effort 1 rep)

Deadlift:

1x8 @ 50% 215#
1x5 @ 60% 270# + 3 box jumps 24" box
2x3@ 70% 315# + 3 box jumps each set 30" box
6x2@ 80% 360# + 3 box jumps each set 30" box

Cooldown:

50x PVC OH (over-head) walking lunge (lung out at an angle in split jerk pos.)
+
50x weighted situps (holding 25lbs bumper plate arms extended starting at 30 degree angle while laying on the ground then going overhead as I sat up.)

Notes: DL felt really good today, felt pretty strong. I went off a 450lbs max, the last time I maxed out about 7 months agoish I pulled 405, I wanted to test myself today and I passed, lets see how I feel tomorrow. First time I've really jumped in weightlifting shoes, felt fine, no different just stepped off the box.

The cool down was supposed to be done in about 5-10 min, slow easy pace. The lunges actually ended up burning pretty bad after 50 straight. Situps helped to keep my back nice and loose after the DL's(my back usually tightens up pretty quick making it pretty uncomfortable to instruct the 2 classes immediately following my workout.)

speaking of jumping,check this out...