What I've Been Up To + Workout Log

Sorry about the late posting. Life has caught up to me, and it took me a while to get in under control. While that was going on, I had the amazing experience of going out to California and going to the Crossfit Games. Doing that has lit a renewed fire "under my ass" so-to-speak. What I'm going to be doing now is posting all my workouts on this blog (starting from July 24th, my 25th birthday), as well as making posts about my thoughts on whatever I feel like writing about. Hopefully a lot of this can carry over to my Dane's blog posts as well.

Without further adieu, my workout log so far:

Wednesday 07/24 – Core

Warm-up – 6--12--20

- star jump

- plank toe touch (total)

- Superman

+ 50m run each round

#1 – CGains 10min AMRAP, alternating each exercise with partner

 4 reps of each exercise:

 - barbell roll-out - high-pull - rack lunge (total)

 (Goal: 13 rounds/156 reps per pair)

*** A does 4 roll-outs, B does 4 roll-outs; A does 4 high pulls, B does 4 high

pulls; A does 4 rack lunges, B does 4 rack lunges; this is ONE ROUND ***

#2 – 3 rounds Hub-&-spoke

- 400m / 200m / 100m before each round

- Hub: SUT x 4

- Spokes x 4 each: V-up to throw; squat chest pass; triple Russian

Fusion – 2 rounds

4+4 TGU

-         8+8 side plank knee tuck

Thursday 7/25 – Beach Bod Pump

6RNDS – 15 On / 30 Off

Double Unders

SealFIT Man-Makers

Pistols

Inverted Rows

5RNDS

21’s Barbell Curls

20x Dips

10x Hip Band Rotations (rot)

Friday 7/26/13 – Back Squats and Low Rows

Saturday 7/27/13 – Rest

Sunday 7/28/13 – Crossfit Games 2 min WOD of

2min AMRAP

5x 95# Front Squats

10x Sandbag Slams

-       4RNDS + 5reps

Monday 7/29/13

10RNDS

15x Push Ups

Hill Sprint

Tuesday 7/30/13

Fusion N Go

Wednesday 7/31/13 – Core Fusion

WU - 3rds

10x Under chin pressup PVC Front Squats

8x Hang Hold to Jump Pull

6x Leg Shaves to Pockets

4x Cleans with PVC

2x Slow Dislocates

50m Jog

S) Cleans

10min Warm up reps

10x @ Bar only

8x @ Very Light - 60%

5x @ Moderate - 75%

3x @ Heavy - 85%

- Foam roll BTW Rds -

7-8min 1RM Attempts

1 / 1 / 1 Attempts at one rep max.

Rest fully BTW Rds

1) 2rds

40x Med Ball Russian Twist

10m HEAVY! Farmer Carry

30x Supermans

10m HEAVY! Farmer Carry

20x WTD Alt Toe Touch

10m HEAVY! Farmer Carry

10x Burpees

10m HEAVY! Farmer Carry

F) 2rds

10x PVC Goodmornings

3x Vinyasa

Chest opener R/L

Childs Pose 30sec

Thursday 8/31/13 – Two-a-day

#1

WU Run with Dug

5RND Intervals of:

Even Minute – Singles

Odd Minute – 20x Double Unders w/ Orange OFW Rope

COMPLETED – Next Time: 20x Double Unders w/ Black Beast Rope

#2

Klokov Press

10x Bar

10x Bar

5x 45#

5x 55#

3x 60#

3x 70#

1x 85#

1x 95#

1x 105#

1x 115#

Reps @ 125# = 4 reps

Wtd Pull Ups

5/3/Reps @ 50#/60#/70# = 6 reps

5RNDS

5x Klokov Press @ 95#

10x Lunges

20x Calf Raises (First 2 RNDS Wtd)

4x5 – 5sec Hold – Banded Bat Wings

The Best of Both Worlds...Just for Today

Today was a pretty awesome day in that I hit a new PR on my favorite lift, the deadlift.

Previous PR used to be 460 lbs for the Tactical Strength Challenge, so I slapped on 465 lbs and ripped it off the floor pretty solidly. I MAYBE could have hit 475 lbs, but we'll leave that to another day. A good quote I heard from Jim Wendler was after he hit one of his PRs, someone asked him how he was going to make it to that next level (for example-sake, let's see someone asked him how he was going to deadlift 700 lbs after he had just PRed on 600 lbs). His response was to stop looking at that PR number that's looming just ahead. Before I lift 500, I have to lift 470, 475, 480, etc. Strength takes a lifetime to acquire.

That being said, I recently came across a video that I've seen in the past. It had been a while though, and that's why I love coming across these old videos. It always helps put things in perspective.

If you don't get a chance to watch the video, Chris Spealler talks about targeting his weaknesses. Right when I saw this, I immediately thought that my future programming going from 5/3/1 to JTS's Max Strength for Crossfit was going down the wrong path. How can I be worried about something that I haven't even done yet though, and I haven't even scratch the surface of my potential programming.

Seeing this video might have just saved me. Instead of focusing on everything towards strength and losing my engine, my focus needs to be built on two things:

1. Getting Strong
2. Building up my weaknesses (mainly, my engine)

Time to get to work.

The Plan and Why It Is What It Is

My oh my, what a hectic past couple of days.

I guess I didn't preface this before, but the main purpose of the blog posts that I'm writing is to just simply get my thoughts down on paper. There's a lot being juggled around in my head right now, and I figured why the heck not. Let's put it down just to get it out there, regardless of if anyone reads this or not.

Onwards to the plan.

Here's what I currently schedule for myself, which goes against the 3 Days On / 1 Day Off template recommended so highly by Crossfitters around the country:


Monday - 5/3/1 Lower Body

Tuesday - Aerobic Capacity Development aka Running through the hills

Wednesday - Hybrid Core Fusion (Simulates competition situations)

Thursday - Aerobic Capacity Training + Conditioning (Typically hill sprints at lunch, followed by a longer METCON later in the day)

Friday - 5/3/1 Upper Body

Saturday - Total Body Fusion / AFM Training (Workout with the community)

Sunday - Rest (COMPLETE REST)


Why program like this?

This template is built around JTS's Maximal Strength Programming for Crossfit. Yes, this does work on more of my strengths as opposed to my weaknesses, but if I look at the Crossfitters who are being competitive at Regionals and the Games, my strength is still lacking by quite a bit. My best Fran time is 3:32 last year. Shaving off :33 seconds to get that sub-3 minute time is no easy task, but in my eyes, I'll achieve that before I get to a 400 lbs back squat.

At this point, I believe that my programming is a little biased towards strength, but I'm ok with that. I'll get in the longer METCONs/AMRAPs regularly (8-15 minute range) to help build up my engine.

I can't look for the easy way out. This programming is going to be tough, and it's going to be a grind. It is what it is though.

Article: http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/stop-looking-for-the-easy-way-out/

Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail - A Start

Starting a Plan

This past weekend my wife and I went to the Crossfit Regionals down in San Antonio. I was looking forward to this because as controversial as Crossfit is, it's damn entertaining to watch. For me, it's much more related because I've done similar workouts. I've never played football competitively, I'm WAY too short for basketball, and roller hockey was the closest I ever really got to the ice.

It's much easier for me to compare myself to these athletes as opposed to any other athlete in the world. I could create my own events if I wanted to, and mirror everything to see how I match up. Which is exactly what was running through my head when we went to see the Regional competition.

Watching those athletes made the call for me to try to make the Regionals next year. Whether I make it or not doesn't really matter to me. For so long, I've been timid on setting this goal for myself in fear of failure. Fear of Failure.

Why do I feel like this? Why am I afraid to declare what I want? Is it because I don't want people to see me fail. Maybe I'm so used to maintaining a certain level that I don't want to push myself in case I fall. I've told this to so many people, yet I'm can't seem to take my own advice.

Not anymore. By this time next year, I will be perfectly content with how I've done and competed. I'm going for it all. Training starts now...

Next Time: A Detailed Look at "The Plan" and Why It Is What It Is

Article: http://breakingmuscle.com/olympic-weightlifting/little-fish-in-a-big-pond-a-lesson-in-competition-and-humility