Formerly Crossfitting at Dartmouth

7/28/11

2011-07-28T13:23:00.002-04:00

Weekly Update

Monday:
Snatch work

Front Squat
225x6

Tuesday:
Clean work
Diane

Thursday:
Don't remember

Friday:
230x1x8

followed by 20 rep high bar back squat at 155

Saturday:
Prowler push with about 225

Tire flip of about 50 yards

Overhead barbell carry
one set at snatch grip, one set at clean grip

3 sets of sled drag using large rope

Weekend Update

2011-07-18T12:37:00.002-04:00

Saturday:

1 hour of bouldering at Earth Treks. Did pretty well as I sent two project V4s and a couple of harder V3s.

Sunday:

Split Jerk

40x5
50x3
60x2
80x1
90x1
95x1
100x1
105x1
110xF
110x1

Dead lift:
10 sets of 2 at 335#. Each set started at top of the minute. Averaged 53 seconds rest for all the sets.

5 sets of
10 Strict pull ups
10 Hollowed push ups

7/15/11

2011-07-15T22:00:00.003-04:00

Off a rest day and feeling much better... though I'm still getting killed at work.

Front Squat

45x2
85x2
115x2
135x2
155x2
185x2
205x2
225x2x8 with 60 seconds between sets

rest 5 minutes

High Bar Back Squat

145x20

rest 5 minutes

25 HSPU unbroken

7/13/11 Power Cleans and a Good Morning to you

2011-07-13T21:09:00.002-04:00

Power cleans:

Hit a number of reps on my way up but failed twice at 242... just didn't have the brain for it today after another 11 hour day at the lab.

Good Mornings:

135x3
225x3
245x3
265x3
285x3 (felt easy compared to last time... but certainly not easy overall).

HSPU:

1 set of AMRAP

23... shoulder feels unstable as the reps progress. Also, I don't like slamming my head into the wood. Done on a mat I would be close to my PR of 30 I think.

7/12/11 Snatch and Jerk work

2011-07-13T06:46:00.001-04:00

Snatch

40x2
50x2
60x2
65x2
70x1x7

Jerk

70x1
80x1
90x1
90x1
100x1
105x1

7/11/11

2011-07-11T22:21:00.002-04:00

Front Squat work

8 sets of 1 at 235. Rest ~ 60 seconds between sets.

Single set of 20 back squats at 135.... this actually wasn't all that bad.

Weekly Update

2011-07-11T14:09:00.002-04:00

Had a good week of training followed by a physical disaster in the form of a wedding beat down of my body up in VT.

Good snatch progressions early in the week
Good work with some clean and jerks as well though I missed 110 because of the jerk which should never happen.
Did some speed work for high bar back squat.
Really fun climbing session on top rope with Ilda.
Runs through the VT mountains
10 Minute AMRAP of pistols and HSPU at 90% effort.
30 minute kayak session.
Way too much booze for 2 days in a row.

Saturday 7/2/11

2011-07-02T10:19:00.002-04:00

Already into July... craziness.

Friday was a rest day

Saturday:
Front squats

Solid warm up as I could not get my knees to feel right this morning. Then

8 sets of 2 at 225 with 60 seconds rest. Failed on the last rep surprisingly... I do not lift well in the mornings for whatever reason.

Friday Update

2011-07-01T12:25:00.001-04:00

Tuesday:

Power Cleans:
Worked slowly up to 247... pretty ugly at that point though.

Conditioning:
Row 500 meters
44 double unders
2:17 (PR)

5 Rounds of 10 GHD Raises
UB

Wednesday:

About an hour of rock climbing at Earth Treks. Worked two problems and sent both by the end of the day!

Thursday:
Snatch work... wasn't feeling great today. Hit 155 though for a couple singles...

Metcon:
60 seconds work
60 seconds rest of the following

sledge hammer strikes
box jumps
deadlifts (135)
tire flips

3 rounds... didn't record reps

Monday 6/27/11

2011-06-28T12:31:00.001-04:00

Still a little fried mentally from the comp on Saturday even though it was a bunch of relatively short workouts...

Snatch:
40x2
50x2
60x2
65x1
65x1
65F
65F
65x1
65x1 + 65 OHSx5

Front Squat:
155x3
175x2
205x2
220x5 (fail on 6)

Split Squat:
45x5x5/leg

Alley walks:

135lbs on a barbell on the back. 3 walks up and back the alley way at balance gym. Equal work/rest period.

6/25/11 Competition

2011-06-25T16:17:00.002-04:00

So I was convinced to do a crossfit-esque competition today and it ended up being a really good time.... well, mostly.

First workout:

AMRAP of Clean and Jerk at 85% of bodyweight in 1 minute... touch and go only.

17 reps (first place)

Second workout:

3 minutes of max tire flips after having to do a short sprint, two wall climbs and moving a 50 and 80 lb sandbag around.
19 flips (second place)

Third workout:

burpee broad jump about 100 feet
pick up 20# med ball and carry about 100 yards (guesstimate)
walking lunge with med ball overhead about 100 feet
25 push ups
bear crawl
run about 100 yards
bear crawl
25 push ups
walking lunge with ball
run ball 100 yards
burpee broad jumps
sprint 100 feet

6/24/11 Thursday work

2011-06-24T17:10:00.002-04:00

Power Clean and Jerk Triples:

135
165
205
225x1
235x3 (PR)

Jerks:
AMRAP at 155
19 in 45 seconds... Didn't have another rep in me.

Weekly Update

2011-06-23T14:44:00.002-04:00

Monday:

Snatch work... up to 75kg
Front Squat- 225x5

Tuesday:
Power Clean 247.5
30-20-10
GHD Situps
Double Unders

Wednesday:
Snatch work... felt terrible.
Front squatted up to 242... failed at 252 due to a busted core...

Weekend Update

2011-06-20T09:14:00.003-04:00

Thursday:

Rock climbing

Friday:

Snatch:
40-50-60x2 70-75-80-80-80

Press:
135lbsx2x5

Unbroken Power Cleans at 135lbs:
21, 15, 9
with rest in between each set

Saturday:

Clean and Jerk:
60-80-90-100-105-110

Front Squat:
100x5

Sunday:

Power Snatch
40-50-60-70-75-80-90(FAIL)... I have no idea why I jumped so much in weight... stupid.

Good mornings:

135x3
205x3
225x3
245x3
265x3
285x3x3 (form kept improving from set to set).

6/14/11

2011-06-15T16:32:00.001-04:00

Snatch Grip Deadlifts:
60kgx3
80kgx3
90kgx3
95kgx3
100kgx3
100kgx3
100kgx3

3 rounds
20 second max row
2 minute rest

3 rounds
15 Glute ham raises
30 Double unders
rest 90 seconds

Anterior chain work

2011-06-14T07:52:00.001-04:00

Front Squat

Pause at the bottom of the squat
135x5
165x2
185x2
205x2
225x2

225x1x5

Romanian Split squat with dumb bells
sets of 5/leg

BW, 25, 35, 45

Lots and lots of snatch work

2011-05-11T21:24:00.000-04:00

I've spent a bunch of time lately trying to get the groove back on the form with snatches. I can't quite catch 80 kg in the whole. The ridiculous part is that I can actually power snatch the weight pretty easily... I mean, its no cake walk but I caught it HIGH the last time I snatched it...

Things to work on:

Weak turnover
More comfortable in the whole
Overhead squat strength
Staying tight in the bottom with knees out and pressing out on the bar

I've done some high bar back squat work lately as well.

Week 1: 205x12
Week 2: 220x8
Week 3: 235x8

Funny thing with those sets was the first two felt so freaking hard... the last one was hard but at 15 more lbs... The difference was the time of day I did them. First two sets workouts were in the morning, the last one in the evening... Funny how that works...

4/26/11 And He's BACK

2011-04-26T21:23:00.002-04:00

Finally got some internet in this place! I moved down to D.C. a few weeks back and its taking me a little while to get adjusted. I did some crossfit at crossfit balance, some olympic lifting and some bouldering as well. I also got a nasty stomach bug and lost a bunch of pounds but feel healthy now.

The biggest challenge is that I'm going to be putting in ass loads of time at work and training is going to have to be put a little bit on the back burner. Really the 3rd most important thing right now in life... at best. I enjoy the training but its not going to run my life or compromise my career.

Snatch:

35kgx2
45kgx2
55kgx2
60kgx2
65x2 (F2)
65x2

High Bar Back Squat:

155x5
175x5
197x12 (Had more squats in me but the form was starting to fail).

Update

2011-04-10T09:09:00.004-04:00

I've done a number of workouts lately... not all of them for time. Most were just brief maintenance phase things while I get my butt down to D.C. which happens very soon.

Dynamic effort squat day:

2 High bar back squats at the top of every minute.
Used orange power bands for tension.

Sets 1-6: 135x2+bands
Sets 7-9: 155x2+bands
Sets 10-12: 175x2+bands

Next Day:

Workout
1 minute row for calories
rest 1 minute
1 minute burpee box jump (24'')
rest 1 minute
25 dead lifts at 275#

Row: 24 (about 90% effort)
Burpee box jump: 18 (95%)
Dead lifts: 1:26

Fish Oil... too much of a "good" thing?

2011-04-05T21:01:00.009-04:00

by Mike Molloy

For a long time, many bright minds in the fitness/nutrition community have advocated taking fish oil at what seemed like fairly high doses. I myself was taking 2-3 grams/day for about a year and saw small but positive changes in my blood lipid profiles as well as in my performance in the gym. However, recently a number of well respected sources have called into question the practice of taking high dose fish oil for long periods of time.

Omega-6 PUFAs in the diet mainly consist of arachidonic acid, which is derived via enzymatic elongation of linoleic acid. Generally arachidonic acid is considered to be pro-inflammatory.

Omega-3 PUFAs in the diet consist of EPA and DHA. Interestingly, EPA can and is converted to DHA in the body. Both of these molecules are considered to have anti-inflammatory properties.

The modern U.S. diet leads to people having a very high ratio of Omega-6:Omega-3 and this is thought to cause inflammation which contributes to a number of diseases. Interestingly, a number of studies have shown that high levels of linoleic acid correlate with decreased levels of DHA, especially in nervous tissue. This is believed to be because the conversion of LA to arachidonic acid requires the same enzymes as does the conversion of ALA to DHA.

Using this data, there are really two ways to deal with this.

1) Reduce your intake of Linoleic acid allowing for better availability of the enzymes to make DHA.
2) Supplement heavily with DHA.

The second approach is what has attracted the attention of a number of bright minds of late, namely Chris Kresser and Chris Masterjohn.

Here are the articles that they have written. I'd recommend taking the time to read Kresser's if you want the short story and Masterjohn's if you really want to dig into the details... its a great great summary of about 80 years of work.

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/when-it-comes-to-fish-oil-more-is-not-better
http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/2021-precious-yet-perilous.html

A key point to both articles is that you really want to minimize the amount of unsaturated fats that you are taking into your body. It is true that PUFAs ARE essential, however the levels needed to live appear to be relatively low.

Why? I'm going to explain the basics of the biochemistry but it really comes down to why its OK to store your coconut oil (saturated fat) on the counter top but you should store your fish oil (unsaturated fat) in the refrigerator.

The carbon bonds of an unsaturated fat have the ability to become oxidized which leads to the production of dangerous compounds. One of the more dangerous ones is called MDA which can modify DNA and proteins in harmful ways and has been shown to cause birth defects.

OK, so all of this is great theory but where's the proof that long term use of fish oil can cause problems?

3g/day of fish oil increasing insulin resistance:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20694407

4 year study of fish oil showing increased heart disease risk:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12571649

So where does this leave us?

There does appear to be benefits to taking fish oil in the short term. As such, people new to a paleolithic or anti-inflammatory diet that are sick (autoimmune disease, metabolic syndrome, etc) would be the most likely to benefit from fish oil supplementation. I would also recommend consumption of the fish oil with a high fat meal as this appears to improve absorption into the body.

MORE IMPORTANTLY, you need to get your new clients to reduce their omega-6 intake. This means cutting out ALL vegetable oils, moving from grain fed meat to grass fed, and making sure they aren't eating too many nuts. Once this has happened, you should definitely begin to ween them off the fish oil to limit the total PUFA intake.

In summary here would be my recommendations:

Sick, overweight and eating a poor diet: Short term, high dose fish oil supplementation for one month. Then dramatically reduce the intake.

"Healthy" but still consuming food with high levels of omega-6: Low dose daily fish oil intake (<1g/day) OR consume several meals of wild-caught fish per week.

Eating a "Paleo" diet or other diet low in omega-6 intake: NO fish oil supplementation

This resource from the Whole9 will be of great assistance:

http://whole9life.com/fish-oil/

4/5/11

2011-04-05T20:57:00.002-04:00

AMRAP in 15 minutes:

5 KB snatch right hand (1.5)
5 KB snatch left hand (1.5)
10 Pull Ups
10 KTEs

7 Rounds + 7 snatches. Did this on my climbing hang board and grip became a deciding factor although I was certainly winded by the end as well... ok, I was winded in the beginning as well, haha.

4/4/11

2011-04-05T08:39:00.002-04:00

High Bar Back Squat

135x2
185x2
225x1
245x1
260x1
270x1
280x1
285F (let myself get a little too deep/loose)

Jumping Squats

135x10x3
rest 60 seconds between sets

Double Under test
As fast as possible for as many reps as possible
65 and a headache

Then did 60 at a comfortable pace... Maybe 5 seconds difference between the times. Going faster with my rope is not worth the effort. Would need a speed rope to make this happen.

4/3/11 Squat Cleans

2011-04-04T10:07:00.003-04:00

Did some squat cleans down at The Fort yesterday during my nutritional seminar.

135
135
185
185
220
245F
245F
245 (PB)

Today was a good lesson in needing to keep the knees out HARD and to stay tight. The first one I caught super deep in the whole and couldn't get out. The second one, my elbows dropped and I was off the side to one leg. The 3rd one I stayed real tight, caught it a little higher and rode the bounce out pretty easily.

4/2/11

2011-04-02T15:33:00.002-04:00

Thursday was spent moving most of my shit into a minivan.

Friday I drove through the night to D.C., dropped everything off, then flew home... Utterly exhausted.

Saturday:

Box Squat

2 reps
rest 60 seconds

sets 1-8
205#
sets 9-12
225#

Felt explosive.

Sumo Dead lift

135x2
225x2
275x1
Not a huge fan of the way these feel

Metcon:
3 Rounds
10 Snatch Grip Push Press at 135#
10 Strict Pull Ups

Untimed

Presses were unbroken
Pull ups went (10, 7-3, 5-2-3)

3/28/11-3/29/11

2011-03-30T11:05:00.003-04:00

3/28/11

Bouldering: Hit a problem I've been working on for quite a while now. Also worked a few other ones and ended up fairly sore from the whole process.

3/29/11

Low Bar Back Squat Day

5-5-5+

195x5
227x5
240x9 (messed up a plate loading and was 5lbs short of where I was supposed to be).

5 Rounds:
10 HSPU
10 GHD situps
time- 4:11

3/24/11

2011-03-24T21:05:00.002-04:00

Bouldering today

Warmed up, took one run at a nemesis problem of mine and ALMOST hit it. Practiced a few moves then nailed it on the second attempt. Find STOKED about it.

Also ran a new problem set by J on the second attempt. Nice problem with a heel hook and a big overhang move. Really good stuff today. Happy with the performance.

Also, I defend my thesis TOMORROW. Going to probably take a few days off to relax and celebrate.

3/23/11 Metcon

2011-03-24T09:32:00.002-04:00

Did a workout similar to "The Chief."

5 Rounds

3 Power Cleans @185
6 HSPU
9 Pistols

1-3 Rounds
2-2 Rounds +4 Pistols
3-2 Rounds + 6 HSPU
4-2 Rounds + 3 Power Cleans
5-2 Rounds + 3 Power Cleans

Vitamin D

2011-03-22T21:34:00.001-04:00

The cheapest supplement of all time
A question I’m asked frequently is, “what supplements do you take?” This is a tricky question because supplementation should really be conducted on an individual level, meaning that just because I take Supplement X does not mean that you should as well.

However, there is one “supplement” that I feel fairly safe in telling people about: Sunlight. Why? Because sunlight induces the production of Vitamin D by your skin.

Vitamin D deficiency

I think its safe to say that we evolved outdoors with significant sun exposure. Today, many of us work jobs that force us to spend most of our time indoors and out of the sun. Additionally, many of us live in climates that are not conducive to getting large amounts of daily sun.
All of this can lead to a Vitamin D deficiency. Using a conservative analysis, it appears that about 40% of Americans are deficient:

http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/158/6/531

Deficiency has a correlation with a number of diseases. There are literally too many studies to list here but you can click this link to see some primary literature on the subject:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=vitamin%20d%20deficiency

There are several words that jump out at me on the pages in the link above:

Arthritis
Heart failure
Cirrhosis
Osteoperosis
Hypertension
Cancer
Metabolic syndrome
Asthma.
Seasonal depression
Psoriasis
Schizophrenia
Rheumatoid arthritis
Multiple sclerosis.

How does this make us sick?

A number of these diseases are really just inflammation of a specific tissue or are autoimmune diseases. Vitamin D can be converted into a molecule called f 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) which has a tremendous influence on the immune system in a number of different ways.
T cells are altered in the absence of vitamin D to promote inflammation associated with autoimmunity and immune pathology:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=vitamin%20d%20casey%20weaver

Additionally, a number of innate cells appear to produce increased amounts of immunosuppressive cytokines and decreased levels of inflammatory cytokines upon interaction with the Vitamin-D derivative.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=vitamin%20D%20IL-10%20mast%20cell

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21415051

Several studies examined the effects of Vitamin D supplementation on diseases. The dosages given vary from 500 IU to greater than 50,000 IU per week. I think it’s important to keep in mind that your body can produce upwards of 20,000 IU within 30 minutes… which is upwards of 50 times more than the government recommends you obtain. Regardless, the results of supplementation are rather astounding with improvements seen from conditions ranging from asthma, to autoimmune disease and infection.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=vitamin%20d%20supplementation%20autoimmune%20disease

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=vitamin%20d%20supplementation%20HIV

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=vitamin%20d%20supplementation%20influenza

“I live in Alaska, how should I get my Vitamin D”

In an ideal world, people would get their Vitamin D from the sun as the body naturally turns off production once its made “enough.” However, this obviously isn’t always possible. In this scenario, you could consider supplementing with pills. I’ve used a number of brands and seen benefits from all of them.

How much?

I weigh 175 lbs and take 5,000 IU/day in the winter, much less in the summer. When I first started supplementing, I took 10,000 IU/day for the first month.

Toxicity concerns?

Can you take too much vitamin D? Sure but it isn’t terribly easy to do so. Also, don’t be out in the sun until you burn, as this is obviously counterproductive.

Check this link out for a little story about toxicity concerns:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/vitaminDToxicity.shtml

I’d recommend taking a smaller dose first and slowly ramping up the dosage if you’re worried at all.

IMPORTANT: If you have any sort of parathyroid disease, you should consult your doctor before taking vitamin D. Also, if low doses of supplementary vitamin D give you head aches, this apparently can be a sign of parathyroid disease and you should consult your doctor.

3/20/11 and 3/21/11

2011-03-22T08:56:00.002-04:00

3/20/11

10 down to 1 of Front Squats at 135.
Sets 10-6 were followed by 7 Push Ups (chest rehab) and 7 GHD situps (double hand touch).
Sets 5-1 were followed by 7 KB swings (53lb) and 7 Pull ups.

untimed

3/21/11

About 90 minutes of bouldering. Sent one problem that was technical but actually fairly easy. One problem that was basically a single monster move to a huge pocket. Made some progress with one other problem that I've been working on pretty hard of late. I think it'll go in the next week or so.

3/19/10

2011-03-19T17:53:00.002-04:00

5 Rounds of the CrossFit Open first WoD

8 minutes on the dot. No dropping weights as I did it in the ol' bedroom. I think if I did it at a CF gym I could have got about 6.5 rounds in the 10 minute range at this point. Not bad considering how little metcon I do these days.

3/18/11

2011-03-18T16:27:00.003-04:00

D.C. hotel WoDs while finding an apartment.

dumb bell bench press w/ 50#/hand
10-9-8-7-6-5

10 Pistols after the first 3 sets
10 Supine non-kipping chin ups after the last 3 sets.

Single leg dumb bell squats

50#/hand

Set 1- 8/leg
Set 2- 10/leg
Set 3- 12/leg

Finisher

30 Dumb bell clean and jerks for time. Didn't time it... not fast though.

3/15/11

2011-03-16T11:09:00.002-04:00

Back Squat:

5-3-1+

205x5
235x3
265x5

Calculated one rep max:
310

Followed with some explosive jumps with knees to bottom of squat. Ended with 3 sets of 2 at 95#

4 Rounds of 30 seconds double unders/30 seconds rest.

The Three H's

2011-03-15T20:57:00.000-04:00

The Three H's:

On a day to day basis how happy, hungry and horny are you? If you answered "not really" to any of them then you potentially have some cortisol issues, specifically chronically elevated cortisol.

So what can cause elevated cortisol? Stress is a major factor and can come in a number of different forms:

1) Work (pay the bills, feed the kids, don't get fired, make more money, get an A in class, etc).
2) Nutrition (gut damage from grains can induce low-level systemic inflammation which overtime can elevate cortisol).
3) Lack of sleep (shift-work was recently identified as having a correlation with increased risk of cancer).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17481949

Many crossfit athletes do a pretty decent job of managing these stresses fairly well. Where I see many people start to fail is in the volume/intensity of their exercise program.

4) Over-training.

The first phase of overtraining generally consists of abnormal muscle soreness due to inadequate recovery time between workouts. Most commonly, it happens after several days of hard training in a row. If you are conscious of it, it is fairly easy to reverse with an extra rest day and has minimal lasting side-effects.

The next phase of overtraining is also known as "staleness." It generally occurs when you ignore those first signs mentioned above and continue to train through them. Generally the mentality in crossfit goes something like this:

"Shit, I missed a PR on the workout by 7 seconds today... I must not be working out enough. I'm going to take less rest days and start to do extra work on the side. Maybe two workouts a day is a good idea" Unfortunately, this behavior only breaks down our bodies more.

Take a look through this list of symptoms associated with staleness/overtraining. How many of them sound familiar?

Taken from (http://physiotherapy.curtin.edu.au/resources/educational-resources/exphys/00/overtraining.cfm)

Fitness
Unusual muscle soreness after a workout, which persists throughout following sessions.
Inability to train or compete at a previously manageable levels.
"Heavy” leg muscles, even at light exercise intensities (walking upstairs, light jogging).
Delay in recovery from training.
Performance plateaus or even declines.

Personal:
Prolonged general fatigue.
Increase in tension, depression, anger, or confusion.
Insomnia, inability to relax, or poor quality of sleep.
No energy, decreased motivation, moodiness.
A compulsive need to exercise.
Decreased sex drive.

Health:
Increased incidence of injuries
Increased occurrence of sickness.
Increased blood pressure and resting heart rate
Irregular menstrual cycle or loss of menstrual periods.
Constipation or diarrhea.
Lack of hunger

It is extremely difficult to recover from overtraining. In fact, it can actually require weeks or even months of time off in extreme cases. I know it sounds nuts but taking a break is really important from a long-term health point of view.

As I said before, the initial over-training phase generally results in elevated cortisol levels. However, If you continue to ignore signs of over-training for long enough, your cortisol levels will then plummet to consistently very low levels. This is where things start to get really serious as we do require intermediate levels of cortisol in certain situations, specifically when waking.

So if these symptoms remind you of your personal experience, you seriously need to think about ZERO workouts for at least 30 days. A oral-swab test which can detail out your cortisol production can diagnos this condition. If you have this done, make sure they do a swab at four different time points throughout the day to get a complete profile.

Alright, so how do we prevent over training induced cortisol production? In reality it depends on who you are.

1) If you want to be a games athlete then you better be sleeping and eating as well as you possibly can be and minimizing ALL the other stresses in your life. Incorporate de-load weeks when necessary and utilize coaching and programming that incorporates cycles of endurance, strength, etc. Even then, you'll need to be on top of your game and be on the look-out for the symptoms described above.

2) If your goal is health and longevity then you need to approach this a little differently. In my opinion, you should be working out 4 days a week maximum. Two of those workouts should be strength oriented. This could be sprinting, gymnastics, olympic lifting, power lifting, or even more body-building movements if that's what you're into. The other days could be a mixture of crossfit style workouts and long slow distance efforts such as a hike with a backpack, leisurely bike ride, stroll on the beach, etc.

Importantly, if you get to the gym and are just totally exhausted before you even begin then you need to alter your training. Instead of going for the heaviest squat or dead lift you can, work with intermediate weights and focus on having perfect form. If the gym instead programs something like a maximum effort 2000 meter row, alter the workout to row at 80% perceived effort instead. In general, the idea is to get some work in while not be completely knackered at the end of the workout.

In conclusion, make sure you are listening to your body. I understand that it can be hard to take that extra day of rest in CrossFit because there's always so much to be working on. However, if you serious about making long-term improvements to either your health and/or performance you need to actively prevent over-training induced cortisol production.

If you have questions, email Mike at mike.j.molloy@gmail.com

3/14/11

2011-03-15T10:38:00.002-04:00

Bouldering session:

Worked on a couple of different problems. One is a wave wall problem that I'm confident I can send, just need a little more core strength to lock down one move and I should be good to go I think. The other problem is like a bunch of tiny tiny jugs. Hard to explain in that they're not crimpers by any stretch. They all have something to pull on but one pad at most. Definitely a good problem for me to work on to develop some finger strength.

Also, feeling surprisingly fresh off of yesterday's double PRs.

3/13/11 PR Sunday

2011-03-14T13:24:00.002-04:00

Front Squat:
45x3
135x3
185x2
205x1
225x1
245x1
255x1
265x1 (PR)

Dead lift:
205x3
295x1
345x1
400x1
425x1
450x1 (PR)

Week update

2011-03-13T12:32:00.003-04:00

Almost no posting for the whole week! Plenty to catch up on to say the least.

Monday:
3-3-3+ Back Squat

195x3
225x3
255x7 (felt really good).

Tuesday:

Bouldering

Wednesday:

Front Squat
1 rep
60 seconds rest
225
225
225
225

235
235

245
245

Dead lift:
2 reps at the top of each minute

245
245
245
245
245
245

265
265

287
287

3 Rounds of 15 GHD Raises.
rest 2 minutes
arms behind head

Wanted to do split squats but it aggravated the broken tailbone

Thursday:
Bouldering

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
Top-Rope climbing at Metrorock
Some bouldering as well. LOADS of fun.

Front Squat PR, etc

2011-03-07T19:18:00.002-05:00

3/4/11

Front Squat. Ass to grass

135x3
185x2
205x1
225x1
240x3 (PR)

3/6/11

Bouldering in the afternoon

Later that night:

4 Rounds
185 Power Cleanx5
15 GHD situps
12 KB Swings (53)
10 HSPU

8:53

First real metabolic workout I've done in a long long time. It went well enough but I was crushed at the end. Also, did it in the apartment which means no dropping the weight and no shoes b/c of the feet on the wall deal.

3/1/11-3/2/11

2011-03-03T11:32:00.002-05:00

3/1/11
Shoulder Press
115x5
130x5
135x4

3/2/11

A.M.

Bench Press

9 sets of 2 reps at 135
Each set begins at the top of the minute

5 minute AMRAP
3 strict dips (rehab work)
20 double unders
7 rounds

P.M.

12 Rounds
2 Box squat at the top of the minute
Sets 1-6 at 155
Sets 7-10 at 166
Sets 11-12 at 181

2/28/11

2011-03-01T16:00:00.002-05:00

I've taken some time off lately to recharge my batteries. I have performed a few workouts here and there but they've been mostly light. Also done a fair bit of rock climbing of late. I have a fairly badly bruised tail bone so this workout was not a lot of fun to say the least.

Back Squat:
5-5-5+

185x5
210x5
240x10

Those felt pretty damn good!

Front Squat:
Heavy Single, not a 1RM

135
165
185
205
225
240

Pull Ups
As many sets of 3 UB pull ups in 5 minutes.
9 sets

2/23/11 Dead lift

2011-02-23T08:03:00.002-05:00

Box Jumps:

A bunch at 44-46 inches. Wasn't feeling terribly explosive.

Dead Lift:

225x5
375x3
315x1
365x1
405x1
425x3 (grip went just at lock out because of shitty bar)
405x1
315x5
225x10

2/21/11 FUN FUN day

2011-02-22T12:03:00.003-05:00

Played squash for about 90 minutes for the first time. Fun game... I suck at it, haha.

Followed immediately by Front Squat

135x3
185x3
205x3
225x3
245x3 (fail)

Power clean
Jerk
Back Squat
Jerk

135 and 165

rest 2 hours

Rock climbing for about 75-90 minutes. Hit a couple new problems and made progress on a bunch more. Best climb was hitting a problem that I'd set last week on the wave wall... Love the progress I'm making!

2/21/11 Update

2011-02-21T09:48:00.002-05:00

Friday: Set 4 bouldering problems. Worked rather hard, resulting in some seriously sore fore-arms and upper back. My form is finally returning on this front. V4's here I come.

Saturday: Nutritional Seminar at Vagabond Crossfit.
Heavy Back Squat

275x2

Metabolic training
Deadlift 315x5
Ladder agility sprint
rest 6 seconds

5 rounds

Sunday:
Rest Day

2/16/11

2011-02-17T11:46:00.000-05:00

30 Power Snatches for time. NO dropping the weight.

4:43

2/15/11

2011-02-17T11:40:00.002-05:00

Back Squats

5-3-1

205x5
230x3
255x5

Might have been able knock out a 6th but form slipped just a touch on 5. Back off week, here I come!

3 Rounds
10 good mornings at 165
rest 60 seconds
10 GHD Raises
rest 60 seconds

rest 5 minutes
50 GHD Situps for time
1:33 (PR)

2/14/11

2011-02-15T11:16:00.001-05:00

One hour of agility work followed by an hour of bouldering. Sent a new problem and felt strong on a couple of other ones I'd hit before. Making good progress on all fronts these days it would seem. Need better quality sleep.

Weekend Update

2011-02-14T10:50:00.002-05:00

Friday:

Back Squat

135x5
185x3
225x3
255x1
270x1
281x1 (felt bad)
270x1
285x1 (felt GREAT)

rest 8 hours

50 Double Unders
20 Pistols (alternating)
40 DU's
18 Pistols
30 DU's
16 Pistols
20 DU's
14 Pistols
10 DU
12 Pistols

untimed.

Saturday:
BIG skiing day at Sunday River

Sunday:
Heavy single deadlift. Not a PR attempt. Build quickly, little rest

155x5
265x5
355x1
355x1
405x1
405x1
425x1

2/8/11 Power Clean and a Metcon

2011-02-08T23:11:00.003-05:00

2/7/11

Bouldering gym action followed by 10 sets of 2 box squats at 227. Each set at the top of the minute for the 10 minutes. Some static ring work as well.

2/8/11

Power Clean:

135x5
185x3
196x1
206x1
217x1
227x1
232x1
238x1 (PB)
243F
243F
243F
243x1 (PB)

rest 10 minutes

5 Rounds:
10 Hang Power Cleans-135
10 GHD Situps

time- 5:03

2/6/11 Front Squat work

2011-02-06T10:31:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to start to get back into the flow a little bit here today. Going to postpone my 5-3-1 day by a week b/c of being sick. I'm starting to feel better but tire really easily still. Good news is no rugby practice this week, so I should be able to get some rest.

Front Squat, ass to grass as usual...

135x3
135x2
185x2
205x1
225x1
240x1
250x1
260x1 (PR)

well that was a surprise. Just wanted to get 3 heavy singles in but 250 felt "light" so I hit up 260. I think I could handle 265 pretty easily. Maybe sometime in March... Time to do some actual training instead of this one rep non-sense. Still, a good day considering how shitty I've felt lately.

Taking a few days off

2011-02-03T10:42:00.003-05:00

While the Paleo diet helps keep you healthy it does not make you immune to getting sick period. Which I now am... taking the next few days off to rest up.

2/1/11 Light workout

2011-02-01T19:48:00.003-05:00

I ended up SUPER sore from yesterday's squat/lower body work and the bouldering. The obliques are just busted...

I did some work on reinventing my hand stand push up form. Facing the wall now instead.

10 rest
7 rest
5 done.

First set felt pretty good and easy actually but the second and thirds sets were much harder.

5 Rounds
50 Double Unders
10 Push Press (70# sand bag)
rest 60 seconds

mixed success with the double unders using a shorter rope for the first time.

1/31/11 Bouldering

2011-02-01T14:06:00.003-05:00

Got some good work in at the bouldering gym. Finished one problem relatively easily and then worked on my nemesis... made some progress there but still haven't finished it. Soon hopefully!

1/31/11

2011-01-31T10:57:00.002-05:00

3- Rep Squat work day

Warm up
45x3
135x3
165x3

Work Sets
195x3
215x3
245x8

3 sets:
Low-Bar Good Morningx10x155
GHD Raisesx10

1/31/11

2011-01-31T10:56:00.001-05:00

Updates:

Power Clean
215x1x10 at the top of every minute.

Lots of rock climbing and skiing as well over the last few days.

1/25/11 Press, Power Snatch... Metcon

2011-01-26T22:13:00.002-05:00

Press

135x2
145x1
155x1
160x1 (easiest its ever felt)
165F (almost...)

Power Snatch

2 reps at 135# at the top of every minute for 10 minutes.

8+ hours later

3 Rounds

15 HSPU
30 24'' box jumps

did not time. HSPU went, UB, 10-5, 10-5. Box Jumps were all unbroken.

1/24/11 Back Squats, etc

2011-01-24T10:49:00.001-05:00

Back Squat Day:
5-5-5

175x5
205x5
230x12

1/23/11

2011-01-24T10:46:00.002-05:00

Spent much of the weekend down in D.C. doing apartment things... good times but tiring.

Snatch:

50kgx3
60x2
65x1
70x1
75x1
80F
80F
80F
80F (so fracking close). Gotta stay tighter and turn over harder.

Snatch Grip Push Press:

155x5
165x5
175x5
185x5
200x5

Skiing/Dead lifting

2011-01-21T15:49:00.001-05:00

Skied for a while...

Dead lifted up to 447 when the form started to fail. Called it there. Felt pretty F-ing heavy.

1/20/11

2011-01-20T21:15:00.001-05:00

Had a monster day in lab today and had training with the rugby team as well so just got 30 minutes of bouldering in. nailed a problem that I was failing on last week so it felt really good to make some progress.

Down To d.c. Tomorrow!!!

1/19/11 Active Rest

2011-01-19T20:27:00.002-05:00

Had my first binge food day in a long time and didn't feel too badly for it. Actually, the sugar rush was kinda freaky in that I felt REALLY jacked up for about a good 20-30 minutes. Crash wasn't too bad. Just goes to show you how much your system can take ONCE you get it back into a healthy homeostasis.

Light work out for sore muscles:

2 times through
15 air squats
10 push ups
15 situps

60 seconds of burpees (25 reps... eh, chest issues has knocked about 5 off my PR)

Press
140
145
150
155

1/18/11

2011-01-18T22:43:00.002-05:00

At the top of every minute for 6 minutes:
Squat Clean 91 kg
Power Clean 91 kg

5 Rounds:
High Hang Squat Clean @ 60kg
Knee Height Squat Clean @ 60kg
Jerk @ 60kg

High Bar Squat w/ pause at bottom:
135x3
185x2
205x2
225x1
240x1
255x1 (PR)

5 Rounds double unders:
30 seconds on
30 seconds off

1/18/11

2011-01-18T09:34:00.002-05:00

Went skiing on both saturday and sunday.

Monday:

Back squat back off week

115x5
135x5
165x5

3 rounds for time:

30 lunges
15 ghd sit ups
10 burpees
All with 20 lb vest.

7:10

1/14/11 Goooood Morning Vietnam and metcon

2011-01-14T19:54:00.003-05:00

Good mornings:

45x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
245x5
265x4 (form was getting sloppy)
135x10 (going for perfect form)

For time:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Unbroken 135# Power Clean
Unbroken HSPU

9:08

1/13/11 Front Squats and Bouldering

2011-01-13T23:29:00.000-05:00

10 Sets of 2 front squats at 225 with 60 seconds rest between sets

8 hours later

1 hour of indoor bouldering.

1/11/11

2011-01-12T09:00:00.002-05:00

Power Snatch:
135x3
145x3
155x3

Snatch Grip Push Press:
135x5
155x5
165x5
175x5
185x5

A couple of high box jumps to warm up.

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Strict Pull Ups
Box Jumps (~44'')

Did not time

1/10/11 Squat Work

2011-01-11T14:56:00.002-05:00

Today was my 5-3-1 day.

Warm up followed by

5 at 195
3 at 220
6 at 247

I was hoping for 7-8 to be honest. That said, there were a few less than ideal circumstances. I had to do this shortly after waking up and I had not had breakfast yet. I was dealing with the effects of last week's head cold still a little bit as well. So I guess I'll take the 6 reps and be happy with it.

Followed up with:

Dumb bell Split Squats @ 3011

5 Sets of 6/leg

40/hand
45
50
50
50

Left leg forward is definitely the stronger position for me.

then

Row 500 meters
44 double unders

2:24

The row could have gone a little faster but the damn thing was sliding all over the place and back towards the wall behind me. Eh, shit happens... I still knocked a good 30 seconds off from the only other time I've done this. This will be the last time I do this exact WoD but I do like the style of it. Tire yourself out and then perform a relatively simple skill based movement.

1/5/11-1/9/11 Update

2011-01-10T09:16:00.002-05:00

Dealt with a minor head cold over the last week or so which has kept the training to a bit of a minimum but I still got some work in.

1/7/10

Front Squat

45x5
135x3
165x2
185x2
205x2
225x2
235x1
245x1
255x1 (PR)

Had some forward inclination at 255 but drove the knees out and got it up. That'll be the last PR attempt for a while. Surprisingly left my legs pretty sore for the low volume of work I had done.

Went bouldering for 1 hour. Good session with some minor improvements over last time.

1/8/11

Power Clean

135x5
165x3
185x3
205x3
225x3

Didn't feel great with the cold but I still managed to stick 225x3. Caught the bar just a touch low on the 3rd rep.

2 Rounds:

20 Pull Ups (COVP)
15 Dead lifts @ 225
rest 2 minutes

50 HSPU for time

4:13... respectable. I stopped at 20 trying to game it a little bit. Bad idea, the muscles fatigued and I only got 5-7 in my next set which I would have easily gotten in that first burn.

1/9/11

45 minutes of bouldering. Even made some small gains from Friday's session. Back is pretty sore from the effort though so it's time for a day or two off from that gym.

1/4/11 Deadlifts

2011-01-04T21:18:00.002-05:00

So I have talked with Wes about how to appropriately incorporate dead lifts into my workout plan. I was probably at or just over the limit of doing too many of them above 90% of my 1 rep max. That said, I really enjoy the lift and a big goal in my training right now is to do things I enjoy while getting stronger. Is this optimal? Nope... but I'm having fun and still making great progress with my back squat.

135x5
225x5
275x3
315x1
325x1
345x1
375x1
400x1
400x1
400x1

The 400's were certainly heavy but the bar moved steadily and the back felt pretty straight. Rest day tomorrow to let my body and neuro system recover, then some more intense work coming for the end of the week if I'm feeling better. Lots of sleep tonight as well.

1/3/10 Back Squat Day

2011-01-03T20:00:00.003-05:00

Keep on going with the back squats!

Warm up:
2 Rounds:
10 GHD
10 Back Extension

mobility work on hips

Back Squat:
45x5
135x3
165x3

Work Sets:
185x3
207x3
235x11

rest 5 minutes

Split Squats at 3010

4 Right leg (weak)
rest 30 sec
4 Left leg (strong)
rest 60 sec

95-105-115-125-130

30 GHD situps unbroken

25 push ups unbroken

1/1/11 Oly Meet

2011-01-03T13:08:00.003-05:00

I did a simulated Oly meet with some people preparing for the Baltimore Open over the weekend. After warming up, I did:

Snatch:

75 kg
82.5 kg-X (I had the son of a bitch, was just a bit soft in the bottom...)
82.5 kg-X (Didn't turn it over quite aggressively enough)

Note: In competition, I probably would have just gone for 80 in my first one in an attempt to go 6/6.

Clean and Jerk:

97 kg
102.5 kg
105 kg

The jerks on the first two lifts were not my best but I got my shit together and really committed to 105 and nailed it. First time putting that kind of weight overhead since the dislocation and it felt totally fine. Also, while there is no such thing as a "squat" clean in olympic lifting, that was also a PR for that movement as I've power cleaned and jerk 107 before but never squat cleaned it.

12/30/10 Front Squat work

2010-12-30T21:35:00.002-05:00

Split squat:

85x6/leg
95x6/leg
105x6/1eg

rest 5 minutes

Front squat:

155x3
185x3
205x3
225x3
235x3 (PR)
240 1/3

rest 5 minutes

5 Rounds
10 HSPU
40 Double Unders

time 8:06

good workout. The double unders affected the HSPUs and slowed me down enough that I wasn't crushed at the end but still got good metabolic work in.

Holiday update

2010-12-28T19:36:00.002-05:00

I'm down at crossfit myrtle beach for the holidays. I have access to do some strength work, but have been doing their programming for metabolic conditioning

Back squat

175x5
195 x 5
220 x 13

Randy

4:32

Press

135x2
145x2
150x2
155x2

D.T.

8:48 (pr)

12/22/10-12/23/10

2010-12-24T18:26:00.002-05:00

Wednesday:

Snatch

I don't remember the exact numbers working up but I hit 80kg which is a PR... the funny thing is I actually caught it in a power position.

Dead lift:

8 Sets of 3 at 245 w/ 60 seconds between sets

Good Mornings... low bar position, wide stance:

135x3 205x3 255x3 275x3 295x3

Thursday:

Clean and Jerk:

50kg-60kg-65kg-70kg-75-80-85-90-95-80,80,80...

High Bar Back Squat:

60x5 (pause at bottom)
80x5 (pauses)
80x10 no pause at top or bottom, emphasis with keeping touch up.

25 Unbroken Pull ups.

12//21/10 Split Squats + 5-5-5 Back Squats

2010-12-21T10:48:00.002-05:00

Backsquat back off week:

125x5
150x5
175x5

Split Squats

65x8/leg
75x8/leg
87x8/leg

Obviously hitting the quads but I get a pretty good response out of the glutes as well. Not sure I'm doing these perfectly but I'll keep working on them. Adding 10# a week per set.

12/20/10 Dead lift + Metcon

2010-12-20T20:57:00.002-05:00

Went for a new 3 rep max on deadlift:

135x5
225x3
275x3
315x1
365x1
385x1
405x1

415x3 (PR) (little rounding of the back on the first rep)
415x2 (Still little rounding, maybe slightly better than first. I got 2 reps easy, the grip went on 3 with the really old bars at the school gym).

rest about 10 minutes

3 Rounds:
30 Walking lunges
25 burpees

time- 6:55. Went as hard as the shoulder and sore rib would allow... pretty much only affected the pace of the burpees in the first and maybe second round.

12/18/10 Front Squat

2010-12-19T17:57:00.002-05:00

Front Squat:

45x2
95x2
135x2
165x2
187x2
207x2
225x2
235x2
245x1
250x1 (PR)

Glute Ham Raise:

Full Range of motion, hands behind head x10x2
Stopping at parallel x10x2

12/17/10 Strength + Bouldering

2010-12-18T10:29:00.002-05:00

A.M.

Press

135x2
140x2
145x2
150x2
155x1
160x1

150x2 felt good and I was going to stop there but I've really wanted to get back to 160 before xmas. It was a hard lift but I wouldn't say max effort... plus the neurological demands aren't exactly the same as a deadlift for me. That said, I'll be working the lower weights pretty consistently for a while before going for 162.

3 P.M.

About an hours worth of bouldering. Really really want to do more of this... Went pretty well considering I'm a little banged up in the right ribs. Shoulder felt pretty good though I avoided one dyno that would have forced me to catch my bodyweight on just the left arm... baby steps.

12/15/10 Useless day

2010-12-16T09:25:00.002-05:00

I postponed putting this up until this morning to see if I actually am getting sick or whether last night's gym performance was more a lack of shitty sleep lately.

I woke up yesterday morning feeling a little crappy but not all that bad. Went to work and had a pretty busy stressful day. When I left I was a little tired but no more so than other recent days. I went to the gym and got my things ready for the workout. Here's where the shit hit the fan. Everything just felt super heavy for some reason...

I had set up to do 10 Rounds of:

2 Power Cleans
rest 75 seconds
3 Weighted Chins
rest 75 seconds

I made it through

135:40
145:45
155:50
165:50
175:50
185:50
195:50

When I got to 205 I basically dead lifted the thing and knew it wasn't going anywhere... It was the most helpless feeling I've had in weight lifting... so freaking strange. My CNS was just completely out of it.

Anyway, I called it there and tried to get a good nights sleep last night. Still had a little bit of trouble which indicates I may have a bit too much cortisol going on. Going to take it easy today and I'll get back on the horse tomorrow to see how I feel.

12/14/10 Double Strength Day

2010-12-14T11:20:00.003-05:00

A.M.

LB Back Squat

75x5 135x3 165x3 (warm up)
190x5
215x3
240x8

Barbell Split Squats (raised rear leg):
45x8/leg
65x8/leg
75x10/leg

Just wanted to get a feel for these. Wes suggested dumb bells but I don't have pairs of those at home so I went with the barbell. While not terribly difficult at the low weight, they were still miserable. After the big back squat set, my brain wasn't functioning all that well so stability was my biggest issue for the first set. Also, much more stable with my right leg back than my left...

P.M.

Wave load Presses

135x3
140x2
145x1

140x3
145x2
150x1

145x3 (HARD)
150x1 (fail on 2)

100 Double Unders for time:
57 seconds

Pretty aggressive on the waveloaded presses for me post shoulder injury. Hoping to get the 1 rep max back to 160 by xmas. 5# to go.

12/12/10

2010-12-12T17:31:00.002-05:00

Strength:

Deadlift
225x2x12
rest 60 seconds between sets

Conditioning (80% effort today):

4 Rounds:
5 HSPU w/ 2-3 inch added depth
10 Kettlebell swings
20 GHD Situps

I had thought about a 5th round but my core was a little busted.

For fun, worked on some turkish get ups with the barbell.

65-75-85... cool.

12/11/10

2010-12-11T14:07:00.002-05:00

WoD 1:

Press:
135x3
140x3
145x3x3

WoD 2:

10-8-6-4-2
Front Squat 155#

20-30-40-50-60
Double Unders

5:58. Not too shabby considering how little metcon I've done lately. Was thinking about 15-30 seconds faster would be my time from around when I was at regionals. Front squats were unbroken pretty easily, double unders had missed on 30 and 60. Transition time was slow between movements.

12/9/10 Dead lifts

2010-12-11T09:23:00.002-05:00

Had a very short amount of time to workout. Wanted to get some dead lift work in and I had the opportunity to be a little loud with plates at CFNH.

135x5
225x3
315x1
365x1
405x5 (work set)
445x1

12/8/10 Pull Ups/Press/Power Snatch/Fun Chipper

2010-12-08T19:07:00.003-05:00

I read a really great post on Andy Dead website www.chasingcapacity.com about understanding the difference between training and competing.

What am I training for? Well, right now I'm training to improve my back squat b/c it is disproportionally weaker than the rest of my lifts. The secondary goal is to improve the olympic lifts because I like the idea of being an explosive athlete. But to do this, I really need a stronger squat.

Secondary goals are to keep some semblance of body composition and work capacity, but I am willing to sacrifice there to make progress with the squat. With that in mind, I have a plan to continue my Wendler back squat program with some front squat/cleans in the middle of the week. On top of that I'm working explosive movements and running a few shorter metcon's (2-8 minutes with maxes at about 10 minutes once every 2 weeks at MOST).

Max Strict Pull Ups- 17

Press:
135x1
145x1
155x1 (maaaybe a slight push press)
155x1 (post injury PR)

Power Snatch:
95x3
117x3
135x3
145x3
155x3 (felt great, another post injury PR)

135x9 for purposes of maxing out unbroken reps

Metcon:
5 Presses at 135 (UB)
10 Clean and Jerk (75# sand bag-loose)
15 HSPU (UB)
20 Pistols (UB)
25 Back Extensions (UB)
30 KB Swings-1.5 pood (UB)
50 Double Unders (UB)

6:44

12/7/10 Press and Back Squats

2010-12-08T10:51:00.003-05:00

Been working on getting my pressing strength back with the shoulder/chest injury.

135x6 (nice)
145x3
150x1 (went pretty easy but didn't feel good enough to test 155).

Back Squat:

175x3
200x3
225x11

12/5/10

2010-12-05T16:31:00.002-05:00

A.M.

Squat Cleans:

Worked on really driving my knees out on the catch. I get in trouble when the weight gets heavy if I get soft in my catch. I'm plenty fast under the barbell but I catch so deep and soft that I can't stand it up. With that in mind, this morning was meant to drill that point home.

95,95
135, 135, 135
165, 165, 165
187, 187, 187, 187, 187

Feels a little slower coming out of the hole but steady all the way through.

P.M.

50-40-30

Double Unders
GHD Sit-ups (double hand touch)

The plan was to do as many GHDs as I felt my abs could handle but a little while later on I think I went a bit too fast on the situps.

Eventually I'll rock this Annie style and hopefully kill DC's 8:00 minute time.

12/4/10

2010-12-04T21:53:00.002-05:00

Mobility work on the hips and shoulders. Made good change!
Set up the rings and did some basic support, the shoulder felt a little balky but not too bad. Better than a month ago!
Then I did some dips using the orange jump band. T
wo sets of 10 w/ both legs in the band. One set with 10 w/ one knee in the band.

Did some flexibility work with band distractions for the hamstrings.

12/4/10

2010-12-04T08:45:00.002-05:00

5 Rounds:
Push Press x 5
rest 60 seconds
Box Jump x 5
rest 60 seconds

Round 1: 135, 34
Round 2: 145 44
Round 3: 155, 46
Round 4: 165, 48
Round 5: 165, 48

Shoulder felt pretty good but didn't want to push it too hard...

3 Rounds:

Row 30 secs-100%
Rest 2 minutes

171, 170, 171

12/2/10

2010-12-03T13:44:00.002-05:00

5 P.M.

Good mornings:

45x5
95x5
135x3
185x3
205x3
225x3
245x3
265x3

8:30 P.M.

Clean

20x3
60x2
70x1
80x1
85x1
90x1
100x1
104(F)
104(F)- couldn't stand either up. Tired legs from the pistols maybe???

Power Clean

100x1 (easy)
104x1

12/1/10 P.M. Workout

2010-12-02T08:03:00.003-05:00

AMRAP 10 Minutes:

10 HSPU
10 Pull Ups
10 Pistols

4 Rounds + 10 HSPU (It may actually be 5+10... doesn't really matter).

Worked out well. First 3 rounds were unbroken, then the HSPU became limiting for the last two rounds. Tired but not crushed at the end and it didn't turn into a typical long crossfit workout where you're basically just flopping around for the last few minutes.

12/1/10 A.M workout

2010-12-01T08:53:00.002-05:00

Snatch work from the high hang and then from the ground. Got up to about 45 kg. Still inconsistent in my 3rd pull.

Wendler Back Squats:

165x5
190x5
215x12

11/30/10 Active Rest Day

2010-11-30T20:03:00.002-05:00

Did a bunch of stretching with the band.

Also did some testing on my different presses to see where they are at.

135x5 Press (went pretty easily)
145x1 Press (also fairly easy)

20 wall balls no pain

20 push ups (mild discomfort)

11/29/10

2010-11-29T21:58:00.002-05:00

8 hours of driving left me a little frustrated so I decided to F@#! the training program for one day and just do some fun stuff to get some aggression out.

Dead lift:

135x3
185x3
225x3
275x2
315
345
365
385
405 (easy as its felt)
420 (didn't feel good so I let it go)
405 (easy again...)

Power clean

135x3
155x3
185
205
205

Jerk:
45x5
95x3
115x1
135x3 (felt good!)

11/28/10

2010-11-28T15:02:00.003-05:00

"Knee-jumps" (aka, start with knees on ground, "jump" to a squat and then stand)

20kg x3
30kg x3
40kg x3
45kg x3
50kg x2
55kg x2
60kg x1 (landed on my toes a bit)
60kg x1

WOD:

5 Rounds

5 Box Jumps @ 44''
20 KB swings at 2 pood
rest 90 seconds.

Played some basketball to finish up.

11/27/10 Snatch and Good mornings

2010-11-27T17:41:00.003-05:00

Snatch practice under the observant eye of Mike Choi.

KGs
20x3
30x3
42x3
50x2
55x2
60x1
60x1
65x1 (accidental power)

Felt good and fast on them but tired kind of quickly. Tough balance between keeping warm and doing too many lifts... Just need to do more practice I think.

Good mornings:

Lbs

45x5
135x5
185x5
205x3
225x3 (easy "PR")

Going to PR on these for a while since I have almost no experience with them. That said, I think my hamstring strength is pretty good compared to where I thought it was. I was thinking it was THE reason for my shitty squat numbers but I think I have to readdress... Wes was probably right when he thought it was a weak vastus medialus.

11/24/10

2010-11-24T21:25:00.002-05:00

Taking Thanksgiving and Friday off so I decided to hit it hard today.

21-18-15-12-9-6-3

Front Squat (A2G) @135
GHD Sit-ups

12:54

I think I hit a PR with 21 straight front squats at 135... never really tried to do that many in a row before... Things kinda went to shit at the round of 12. Really really hurt when I was done. Funny how you blank out the pain a couple hours later...

11/23/10 Back-Off week continued

2010-11-23T18:30:00.003-05:00

Not for time

7 Sets:
10 Push Ups
10 Strict Pull Ups

This was fantastic. I haven't done that many push ups in a LONG time. The shoulder felt a little poppy and made some weird noises on sets but overall pretty pain free!

11/21-28/10 Back-off week

2010-11-23T15:47:00.004-05:00

SUNDAY:
Sled drives x 6 with rest in between
3 Rope climbs, each progressively easier than the previous.

MONDAY:
Back squat:

115x5 135x5 155x5

Box Jump

Worked up to about 48''

11/19/10 Deadlifts and Double Unders

2010-11-21T09:55:00.002-05:00

Just wanted a quick burn on Friday:

3 Rounds:

10 Deadlifts
50 Double Unders

Time: 3:52

Unbroken on everything, pushed pretty damn hard. My fitness level just isn't quite where it used to be so the breaks in between exercises were a little longer than I would have liked. Still pretty happy with the performance for where I'm at and what my current goals are.

11/18/10 Front Squat + Hopper WoD

2010-11-18T19:53:00.002-05:00

Front Squat

45x5 135x3 155x3 175x2 185x1
205x1 215x1 225x1 235x1 245x1 (PR)

225x1x5 60 seconds rest

Row 500 meters
44 Double Unders

2:41... Row went pretty well and the DU's were flying then I got tangled in the rope... kinda panicked and messed up several times before getting my shit together. 2:20 next time...

11/16/10 A.M. Squats P.M. PC+WOD

2010-11-16T09:10:00.003-05:00

Woke up, did some mobility work on the hips and then hit up some low bar back squats.

Warm Up: 45x5 75x3 95x3 135x3 165x1
Work Sets: 180x5 205x3 230x9

Felt kinda heavy on the first few reps, consistent through 4-6, then gutted out 7-9. Started to get a little bit of collapsing on rep 8, so I went hard on 9 and then called it there.

P.M. Work:

Power Clean
135x3 155x3 165x3 185x3 195x1 205x1 215x1 225(F-very close) 205x1 225(F) 225(F) 205x3

Skill/Metcon:

30-20-10
Double Unders
GHD Situp-Double hand touch

3:26

11/15/10

2010-11-15T22:09:00.003-05:00

Had a big weekend with the rugby team and was exhausted today so I just got some work in.

100 dead hang pull ups. (10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-5-10-10-13-7).

Also did some push ups without much pain in the shoulder. Started to ache on the outside of shoulder with rep 10.