Fitquest

long time

2010-08-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. I know. I've been busy with work and trying to get some workouts in. I've been slacking a little on my workouts, but just because I've been so pooped from work.

This past weekend, I did make my first big CrossFit purchase. I found a Concept2 model C rower for $400 on Craigslist. Normally they go for $600- $750 but this business that repairs and reconditions used exercise equipment got it from a retirement community somehow, checked it out and sold it on Craigslist. I had to go down to Tucson to get it. It would have been gone in 20 minutes if it was in the Phoenix area, but nobody must have wanted it bad enough to make the drive. I cleaned it up a little, oiled the chain and it was good to go! It's awesome.

On the 21st I did a 5k row in 21:16.

On the 22nd I did AMRAP 12:00 of:
500m row
10 pushups
15 situps
20 squats
and did 3 rounds + 160m

Today I did 5 rounds of:
50 ceiling touch jumps
40 squats
30 situps
20 pushups
(did not have pullup bar for 10 pullups)
in 27:57

Those aren't all the workouts since last post, but it's enough.

This weekend is our CrossFit level on Trainer certification class! We are so pumped! I am going to give my resume to some CrossFit gyms that are close and try to be a parttime/ weekend trainer. I need some experience to be able to have my own gym. It would be pretty scary to start with no CF gym experience. I've heard of people doing it, but I'm not sure it makes good business sense. If anything I could join a gym for a month or two and learn their business that way.

Pullups, snatches and wall balls

2010-08-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

Monday was a busy day at work. I saw about 22 patients since I took over our old PT's case load. I was feeling pretty good, even for the larger amount of patients. My goal for the next 2 weeks is to eat as clean/ Zone as I can before CrossFit certification on the 28th and 29th.
My workout looked like this:
3 rounds for time:
30 squat snatches @ 45#
30 wall balls @ 16# (10.5 foot target)

Rx'd was 75# snatch and 20# medball. I finished in 16:15 and looking at other peoples' times (19 - 21 minutes) I could have increased my snatch weight a little to add a couple minutes to my time. Brand-X does a scaling system for CrossFit and I have traditionally been doing the "pack" scaling, but I think that I am ready to move up a level to "the porch". This scale is sometimes available and sometimes not there. If it's not there I'll just take some weight off the Rx'd weight and keep the Rx'd reps and sets.

Sunday I ran on the treadmill for 1 mile in 6:50, walked 1/4 mile, then got pumped up by some Rage Against the Machine and decided to run another 1/2 mile in around 3:20 or so.

I then did 7 sets of 1 rep, increasing to my 1 rep max on weight pullups. This is exactly what I looked like:

Well, I didn't look exactly like that, but the weights I did looked like this:
1. 5#
2. 10#
3. 15#
4. 20#
5. 25#
6. 30#
7. 37.5#

Annie

2010-08-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

Now that I've instantly made your day better after seeing that here's my workout from today:

"Annie"
35-25-20-15-10 reps for time of:
Double unders
Situps (unanchored)
Time: 6:40

Last time I did this on May 18th in 7:47 with anchored situps!

I then did a drop set of push press:
95# x 4
85# x 8
65# x 14

Couple of days behind

2010-08-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

I've had a couple of days of workouts that I haven't posted yet. Work is getting stressfully busy. We have one Physical Therapist that is leaving (his last day was today) and I am taking over his case load. We have another PT leaving next week. We also have 2 PT techs leaving and one coming off of shoulder surgery. Luckily we have a new PT starting Monday and another new one starting in a couple of weeks. We have a new part time PT tech starting next week. The problem is we don't have enough assistants to help keep everything moving smoothly. Having 3 PT's an ATC and 4-5 techs works really well with the volume of patients that we see. Now we have 3 PT's, an ATC and 1 full time tech, 2 part time techs and a tech that is doing Lymphedema treatments for 3-4 hours at a time. It's a big difference that I don't think my boss sees or really acknowledges that it will be a problem. Especially since I typically see 45 patients a week and assisting the other PTs as needed, and now will be seeing seeing 70 some patients a week for a while and not being able to lend a hand except for my patients. It is so busy that my boss is paying for me to fly back early after my Crossfit Certification and pay me a bonus to work on a Monday. Oh well, I'll get some good overtime and we'll make it work.

On Tuesday I did "Lynne"
5 rounds of max weight bench press and max rep pullups. You get as much rest between sets as you need. I used 115 pounds for my bench. I did the following compared to 7/24/09:
                            Bench                   Pullups
                 2010            2009      2010          2009
1               11                   6           9                9
2                9                    5           9                9
3                7                   4             6               8
4               6                    3             6               7
5                5                   1             6               6

I rested Wednesday.

Thursday I did Hero Workout "Coe" in pack scaling:
7 rounds of
10 x 65# thrusters
20 pushups

in 15:31
It was way harder than I thought it'd be. I also had Olive Garden lasagna and a breadstick for a lunch from work. It was crazy that it immediately made my stomach gurgle and yell at me. I just felt like I didn't have anything in the tank. I'd like to try that again after fueling myself properly. No wonder people that eat like that all the time feel like crap.

Squat, lunge, burpee, repeat!

2010-08-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was looking up a bunch of inspirational quotes. I love a good quote to get me through a workout. Sometimes you can find the perfect one that you can use as a mantra when you don't think you can go on. I even found one that I think is tattoo worthy. Get ready for it:

PAIN OF DISCIPLINE
OR
PAIN OF REGRET

How good is that?!

Today's workout was an AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 20 minutes of:
135# back squats x 7
35# dumbbell overhead lunges in right hand x 10 steps
7 burpees
35# dumbbell overhead lunges in left hand x 10 steps

I did 6 rounds and got all the way to 7 burpees in the 7th round!
The fittest woman in the world and woman champion of the 2010 Crossfit games, Kristin Clever did this exact workout and did 10 rounds + 7 squats!

Here is a video of some other crossfitters doing the workout.

I cashed out with some press work:
10 shoulder press @ 65#
8 push press @ 85#
6 push jerk @ 95#
6 push press @ 85#

Tabata Fundamentals part 1 and 2

2010-08-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

CrossFit has 9 fundamental movements: airsquats, front squats, overhead squats, shoulder press, push press, push jerk, deadlift, sumo deadlift high pull and medicine ball cleans. These are the basic movements that you should learn when starting Crossfit training. You also learn proper coaching and correction of these movements in a level 1 certification course.

The WOD from 2 days ago used a Rower, which I did not want to substitute sumo deadlift high pulls for since our gym doesn't have one. I decided to Tabata the 9 fundamentals in rounds of 6, meaning 20 seconds of exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest 6 times through for each exercise.

I started with backsquats with the 45# bar, rested for 3-4 minutes then did front squats with 45#, then shoulder press then medicine ball cleans. I honestly felt like my legs were jell-o more in the middle of a workout than they have in the recent past. This killed me. My total reps were 233.
I decided to only do these 4 exercises and come back the next day to finish.

I think the "Tabata Fundamentals" would be a great workout but maybe 4 rounds of each 9 exercises would be more manageable.

The next day, Friday, I completed the rest of the exercises Tabata'd at 6 rounds each. Overhead squat, push press, push jerk, deadlift and sumo deadlift high pull, all done with a 45# bar. My total reps were 342.

After completing these I noticed a couple of things:
1. My shoulders (and upper body in general) are still weak and have less endurance compared to my lower body. For example, on my first round of shoulder press I did 14 reps, then 8, 6, 5, 4, and 4. That's a big drop.
2. I need to keep working on my hip mobility. It's hard for me to go much deeper than parallel in a squat, my hips just don't move any more. It is also probably core stability, or lack there-of that is keeping me from getting low.
3. SumoDeadlift High pulls are a much bigger metabolic demand (they gas the hell out of you) than any of the other exercises. Then next hardest would be medicine ball cleans.

Goals for the next month or so:
1. Perform pressing exercises as a cash out to improve strength and endurance at least 2 times per week.
2. Do hip mobility exercises daily, especially in warm up
3. Work on core stability 2 times per week.

O-Lifts, pull-ups and double unders

2010-08-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

The workout for the 4th was two fold:
First, perform one rep max squat snatch

and a one rep max clean and jerk

Followed by As Many Rounds as Possible (AMRAP) in 10 minutes of:
Cleans @ 43kg x 6
Pullups x 12
Double unders x 24
I did: 4 rounds plus 1 clean

My maxes:
Snatch: 100
C & J: 120

To score you add the kilograms of the weight you maxed plus the reps of the WOD to get: 269

Double your pleasure

2010-08-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

This workout had nothing to do with gum, unfortunately.

Today's workout consisted of:
50 double unders
15 wall ball "two-fers" @ 16 lbs

A wall ball "two-fer" is when you throw the ball 10 feet up and do a real fast squat before you catch the ball again. Wow! they were tough and took a lot of rythm that was really different than a regular wall ball.

I did it in 11:44.
It was really tough and I haven't felt that drenched from a 12 minute workout in a long time.

Week's worth

2010-08-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'm back. It was a tough week. I've been sleepy, burntout and ready for a little rest all week.

Monday was a rest day, nice!
Tuesday I did "Roy"
5 rounds of:
155# deadlifts x 15
box jumps x 20
Pullups x 25
Time: 20:32

I loved doing this workout. I figured out after the fact that I probably wasn't doing my box jumps to full extension at the top. Meaning I didn't stand up straight. I'll keep working at that next box jumps.
Another thing I found out was that using chalk on your hands is AWESOME! It makes gripping the bar and pullups so much easier. After 150 pullups and 75 deadlifts, I had no blisters. Kelsa ended up going to REI and got some rock climbing chalk and a bag to hold it. It's amazing stuff.

Between then and today I didn't workout. I basically just took 3/4 of a cycle off. I was so tired and drained from work for some reason, I decided I needed a little recovery. Saturday started the new cycle and I still needed a day off, especially since we were celebrating Kelsa's birthday. (Cheesecake Factory!)

We decided to do a two a day. This morning we did 4 rounds (6 prescribed) of 400 meter run and 25 burpees. It was 89 degrees and 50% humidity and it sucked!!!! It was also on a high school track, so the track surface plus the grass were making it even worse. I wanted to do the 6 but the conditions were too gross. It was the closest I had been to puking in a long time!

Time: 23:54
I was at my 100% max heart rate for a bit, that sucked. I burned about 350 calories.

Workout two was 5 rounds of:
Cleans to thrusters @ 95# x 5
Chest to bar pullups x 10
Time: 9:39

This was a blast!! My biceps felt on fire from the extra range of motion on the pullups. I was also pumped about doing 95# clean thrusters.

I cashed out with max reps of 85# of:
Shoulder press x 3
Push press x 9
Push Jerk x 9

Shoulders = jell-o

CrossFit Total and Angie

2010-07-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

Day 3 and 4 of four days in a row!

Yesterday I did the CrossFit Total. It is a great test of overall strength. You perform a max weight backsquat, then a max weight overhead press, then a max weight deadlift. You add up all of your max weight and get a total score. There are standards of ranking based on your body weight.

I lifted:
Backsquat: 225
Press: 110
Deadlift: 285
Total: 620

This puts me in between novice and intermediate based on my weight. I think that is right. I've never been strong being that I haven't really trained strength except for the past 2 years or so. It was 10 pounds more than what I did last time in November of last year.

I cashed out with a bench press to fatigue pyramid:
75 lbs x 21
95lbs x 10
115lbs x 4
95 lbs x 10
75 lbs x 10

Today I did "Angie" which is:
100 pullups
100 pushups
100 situps
100 squats
Time: 23:51

I am going to start to do as many WOD's as prescribed as long as I can do the weight. The only thing I will scale is the weight, the reps and distance will stay the same.

I just nailed Fran and some Nasty Girls

2010-07-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

This week my energy was hit or miss after my second week of running my butt off at work. Monday another coworker was gone, so I covered for her and Wednesday and Thursday another coworker was sick so I had to cover for him. All this after last week covering for my boss and seeing 81 patients.

Anyways, I went to the gym on wednesday will all intentions of doing Fran but I got there and every piece of equipment I wanted to use was being taken. I did some warm up stuff and got out of there. I did try to do some strict handstand pushups for the first time, but I couldn't get up. My upper body is very weak compared to my lower body. I wish I would have been more athletic as a kid and actually exercised or strength trained, that would have given me a base to work up from.

Yesterday, Kelsa and I did go do Fran. It looked like this:
21-15-9
65 lb thrusters
pullups
Time: 5:45

Previously I did that workout in 6:04 on 11/27/09 and 6:24 on 10/19/09.
Going into the workout I thought my previous time was 5:05 or something like that. When I got home and checked my time, I was pretty pumped! In comparison, some of the best CrossFitters can do Fran wih 95 lb thrusters in just over 2 minutes!

Today, the Prescribed WOD was the final events in the Crossfit games, which included things like wall climbs and burpees over walls, which we don't have. So I decided to do "Nasty Girls".

It looked like this:
3 rounds for time:
50 squats
10 jumping muscleups
10 x 95lb hang power cleans
Time: 9:56

Last time I did this workout on 6/14/09 I did it in 12:29!! What??!! I just beat my old time from a year ago by 2 1/2 minutes! That's crazy. Maybe I have been doing something right the past month? I have started to notice changes in the muscularity of my upperbody and a slimmer waist!

I'm super pumped for our CrossFit level 1 Trainer Certification in late August! I would love to do some crossfit training on the weekends at one of the local CF gyms. Hopefully someone is looking to add some sessions on the weekend.

With a vengence

2010-07-20T20:25:00.000-07:00

I took the last two days off. Sunday was a planned rest day and yesterday was just a crappy day at work and I was beat. We have been very short staffed all summer and after last weeks record number of patients for me, I wanted to veg...

I actually did yesterdays workout today because today called for mulitiple exercises in a circuit that would not work at our gym. They have been posting workouts from the CrossFit games this weekend and they are killer!
Helen is a normal CF workout that looks like this:
3 rounds for time:
400 meter run
21 kettlebell swings
12 pullups

For the CrossFit games they upped the ante and made in "Helen in steroids", or "Hell-In":
1200 meter run
63 kettlebell swings (Rx'd = 55#, I did 35# dumbbell)
42 pullups
800 meter run
42 swings
36 pullups
400 meter run
21 swings
12 pullups
Time: 24:59

The male winner of that contest did it in 16:59!!

It was a great workout and it felt awesome! Totally kicked my buttocks.

Amanda

2010-07-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

We've been watching the CrossFit Games all day on the live feed. It's amazing! If you enjoy watching the olympics or sporting events you will love it. It will either make you want to start CrossFitting tonight or never want to go near it. I hope that it makes you want to at least look into it, because the results these athletes get physically and physiologically can't be denied!
I would really like to volunteer at the games next year. Either as an ATC or a rep counter or even at the t-shirt stand. It would be awesome!

------------------------------

Today's workout was the first competition for the CrossFit games last night. It is named after Amanda Miller who is a CrossFitter that died of cancer recently.

I performed the following:

18 jumping muscle ups
9 x 95 lb snatch
14 jumping muscle ups
7 x 95 lb snatch
10 x jumping muscle ups
5 x 95 lb snatch

Time: 12:35

The 95 lb snatches were harder than I thought they would be. I even had to bail on one that I lost over the back of my head. It would be nice to have some bumper plates at the gym. Bumper plates are all the same height as a standard 45 lb plate but are rubber coated and have a bunch of different weights. It makes it easier and safer to drop a weight and easier to start with good form from the ground.

Death by Deadlifts

2010-07-16T22:12:00.000-07:00

It's finally the end of the week! Having a half day on Fridays makes it all that much better. This week my boss was on vacation and I took over for his patients. Normally he would have gotten another physical therapist to cover some patients and allow us to have more PT techs for some extra help, but for some reason they didn't. Michael to the rescue! I saw 81 patients this week, which is almost twice as many as I see on average. The physical therapists get a productivity bonus when they see more that 79 patients, but my job is hourly and I get overtime instead of bonuses. I hoping for, but not expecting, a little bonus for working my gluteus maximus off and saving the clinic a bunch of money!

NEWS ALERT: How I met your mother is going into syndication this fall!!!

Back to your regularly scheduled Fitquest...

Todays workout was deadlifts of every color:
1 reps @ 275 lbs
10 reps @ 225 lbs
1 rep @ 275 lbs
20 reps @ 160 lbs
1 rep @ 275 lbs
30 reps @ 135

It really surprised me how different my muscles felt after each different set.

I was running...

2010-07-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a rest day, so I was ready to get back at it today. It has been a long week at work and I was dreading working out and excited about it at the same time. It always makes me feel better, but I hate struggling through a workout when I'm exhausted. My boss is out of town, so I am seeing a majority of his patients and all of mine as well. I will see about 90 patients this week, which doubles my average and is almost 50% more than my record for a week.

Today's workout was running 400 meter intervals at a 1:1 ratio for 20 minutes. This means I run 400 meters (1/4 mile) as fast as I can and rest for exactly that amount of time. I repeat this for 20 minutes. I was able to complete 1.75 miles.

I cashed out with a bench press drop set as follows:
125 x 4
105 x 9
85 x 12
65 x 12

Tomorrow is deadlifts. Plus we are going to a party. Saturday is a possible river tubing adventure with some of kelsa's coworkers, then the roller derby! We have 3 other couples going and we are going to get together before we leave to have a couple of drinks and play some rock band. It should be an awesome weekend!

Creatine Crazy

2010-07-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

I have never been big into supplements. I'll take a multi-vitamin every once and a while, some vitamin D for immunity, and have taken flax seed oil in the past. But I have never taken any sports nutrition supplements. I decided that I want to take my performance to the next level and take creatine. I have been keeping up to date with the research of Creatine since college and all the research seems to point to the fact that it does help increase strength and power as well as size and definition. The long term effects are still unknown.

I went to GNC and got some Pro Performance Amplified Creatine 189. Which is a little different than the traditional creatine monohydrate. You only have to take two pills once a day and do not have to take a large dose the first week as compared to the classic Creatine monohydrate. We'll see what the results are in a month.

Since Friday was pretty busy, we didn't work out at all, so we went 4 days in a row to make up for it.

On Monday I did "Joshie", a hero workout that consisted of (scaled):
3 rounds for time:
Right arm 30# dumbbell snatch
21 tuck pullups
Left arm 30# dumbbell snatch
21 tuck pullups
Time: 27:50

I tried to do as much of my pullups as tuck pullups (hips flexed to 90 degrees). The last set of the second round and first set of the third round were kipping, the rest were tuck or strict pullups.
I cashed in with: Bergener warmup, barbbell complex warmup, dynamic stretching and quad spinal rotations.

I cashed out with a dropset of bent over dumbbell rows:
1. 45# x 3
2. 40# x 7
3. 35# x 9
4. 30# x 10
5. 25# x 10
-------------------------------------

On Tuesday, "fight gone bad", which I love, was prescribed workout. You need a rowing machine to perform it, which my gym doesn't have. Here is a description:

"Fight Gone Bad!"

Three rounds of:

Wall-ball, 20 pound ball, 10 ft target (Reps)

Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75 pounds (Reps)

Box Jump, 20" box (Reps)

Push-press, 75 pounds (Reps)

Row (Calories)

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute.The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. On call of "rotate", the athletes must move to next station immediately for best score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

Instead, I looked back at some archives of workouts and decided to do "Jackie".

Jackie also requires a rowing machine, but you can substitute sumo deadlift high pulls (SDHP) for them in a 10:1 ratio. For example, row 1000 meters equals 100 SDHP.
I actually did this one as prescribed and felt very good about it.

For time:
100 SDHP 45# bar
50 45# thrusters
30 pullups
Time: 10:43

Cash out:
10 x tabata on bike

Max reps dips/ pullups
1. 8:3
2. 6:4
3. 6:4

I'm not sure if it is a placebo effect or if the creatine is actually helping increase my energy, but I felt really good after the workout. I felt like I could do more. That evening I was also a little restless. Not sure if it's the creatine or what, but I changed my dose to the morning rather than afternoon or evening, just to see what happens.

Day late

2010-07-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday went by pretty fast somehow. I had a personal training client come to our place to workout, in trade for some piano lessons for Kelsa, so I worked her out for an hour. She mainly likes to work on "core" stuff but also complained of back pain and illness the last week. I decided to tone down her workout to some corrective exercises to help regain some movement and stability in her spine.
I took a nice long nap and then headed for the gym before we went out for a friend's 30th birthday.

We did a 15 kilometer bike race. Inside, of course. I did it in 27:54.

I didn't eat very well at the birthday party, but not as bad as someother people.

In other news, we are getting more and more motivated to start planning for my own CrossFit gym/ rehab facility. Nothing major, but talking and planning more.

More to come in the next few months and years.

Lunges, pullups and situps, oh my

2010-07-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

Today's Wod was as follows:
100 feet of lunges
21 pullups
21 situps
100 feet of lunges
18 pullups
18 situps
100 feet of lunges
15pullups
15 situps
100 feet of lunges
12 pullups
12 situps
100 feet of lunges
9 pullups
9 situps
100 feet of lunges
6 pullups
6 situps

Time: 12:22

I did this one as prescribed. One of the best Crossfitters (Chris Spealler) did it in 6:42. That guy is an animal.

Cash in:
Bergener warmup
Barbbell complex warmup
Dynamic stretches
Quad spinal rotation

No cash out today, but I did stretch my hamstrings for like a minute

Rest cycle/ back at it

2010-07-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

Over the fourth of July weekend we went to Irvine to visit my sister Jill. We didn't workout at all. We were hoping to stop by a Crossfit gym and drop in for a workout, but it didn't happen. Some don't allow drop ins. Plus we were busy with going to the beach, whale watching minus the whales and relaxing.
The weather was great; low 70's and sunny skies in the afternoon. We both got a little sunburnt.

Crossfit workout of the days (WODs) are prescribed in cycles of 3 days on/ 1 day off for rest. What I plan to do is do 3 cycles then rest a cycle. It worked out perfectly over the holiday weekend. I will try to do more and more cycles on, moving from 3:1, then 4:1 as I get more fit. Now I think the rest cycle will keep me fresh.

Here was my workout today:

Cash In:
Bergener warmup
Barbbell Complex warmup
Dynamic warmup
Quad spine rotations

Workout:
Backsquat @ 155# x 20
Knees to elbows x 40
55# (1.5 pood) dumbbell swings x 60
Time: 10:07

Cash out:
Dumbbell Bench press dropset
Weight           Reps
45                   11
40                   10
35                    9
30                    9
25                    9

Days 11 and 12

2010-07-01T21:29:00.000-07:00

Day 11

Cash In:
Burgener warmup
Barbbell complex warmup
Dynamic stretching

Workout:
7 sets of 3 Cleans (max weight)
1. 85
2. 95
3. 105
4. 115
5. 125
6. 130
7. 135

After blowing up my hands a couple of days ago, my blisters were surprisingly healed. My grandma gave me some silver sulfadiazine she got for some burns she got from a heating pad over the winter in Michigan. It apparently works, because my blisters were healed in 2 days. By the 6th and 7th sets, my right hand was pretty sore and I had to drop down the barbbel onto my thigh. I have a HUGE bruise on my thigh. I was really proud of myself with the weight, it was a PR for me. My 1 rep max for a clean is 145.

Day 12

Cash in:
Barbbell complex warmup
dynamic stretching

Workout:
6 reps for time of:
10 pullups
10 dips (had to use a bench)
10 situps
10 squats
Time: 7:31

Cash out:
Drop set dumbbell shoulder press
Weight           Reps
35                    4
30                    5
25                    6
20                    8
15                    14

I was very unmotivated today, being my second 12 hour day in a row. After my warm up I was feeling much better and did much better on the workout than I thought I would considering my mental state at the beginning of the workout. I was also pretty happy with my shoulder press drop set. There has been this pair of dudes that I only see doing curls at the gym. Every kind of curl you can think of they do. Sometimes I wish they would ask to try my workout and then I kick their ass.

Day 9/10 - Rest/ I'm a Shut-In

2010-06-29T19:15:00.000-07:00

Day 9 was a rest day. I actually cheated today and had a milkshake from Sonic. It was good, but never worth it when it's all over.

Day 10
Kelsa is Nerding it up tonight at an early release of the new Twilight movie so I am stuck in the house. I'd rather not ride my bike to the gym in the 108 degree heat, so I need to do some workout at home.

I decided to do max reps of the following for 5 rounds:
                      Parallette pushups               Stability ball pushups
Round 1                       9                                        12
2                                  7                                         8
3                                  8                                         6
4                                  6                                         6
5                                  6                                         5

It was a lot harder than I thought. Those parallettes make you go super deep into your pushups, plus the ball pushups require a lot of core strength and use more triceps than a regular pushups.

Day 8 - Blisters in the Sun

2010-06-28T12:57:00.000-07:00

After doing death by pullups yesterday, my hands were already hurting with a couple small blisters. I was planning on wrapping my hands or at least putting on some bandaids, but by the time I got to the gym for todays workout I completely forgot. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal, but boy was I wrong.

Today's workout called for heavy deadlifts and hand stand pushups 5 rounds of 5 each. The first round of deadlifts (225#) weren't bad, but by the second I felt one of the blisters pop! Great!! As I kept going they started to get tugged on more and pull apart and.... crap... four open blisters! I just had to finish, so I did.

I was planning on cashing out with some bent over dumbbell rows but couldn't hold on to anything. Man it sucks. Instead I did some knees to elbows on the captain's chair.

Cash in:
Burgener warmup
Barbbell complexe warm up
dynamic stretching
Air squats and pushups

5 rounds for time
5 x 225# deadlift
5 handstand pushups (feet on bench)
Time: 10:27

Cash out:
21-15-9 knee raises on captain's chair

Day 7 Death by Pullups

2010-06-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

Today's workout is supposed to be 10 rounds of:
3 reps of 45# pullups
5 strict pullups
7 kipping pullups

Even scaled to a moderate level, it remains 10 rounds and only down to 35#. WOW!!

I know that I significantly lack in upper body strength, but that is a huge amount of weight to lift, even if it supposedly a medium level. So, being the weakling I am, I dropped the weighted pullups to 20#. I got through 4 rounds at that weight and then hit a wall. I dropped it down to 10# and continued on another round and a half. I was hoping to get 7 rounds in, but my hands were 5 more pullups away from breaking open blisters, so I decided to stop at 6 rounds.

I was pretty dissapointed.

In light of my lack of upper body strength, I have decided to start "cashing out" my workouts a couple of times a weak with some extra upper body strengthening. Depending on what body parts I cover in my CF workout, I'll hit another body part to help increase strength. Mainly: bench press, shoulder press and weighted pullups.

An effective way to increase strength and size is do perform drop sets or pyramids. Drop sets start heavy, you do reps to fatigue, then drop the weight and continue 5 or so sets.
A pyramid you start light, perform 10 reps, add weight, perform 8 reps, add weight perform 6 reps, then work your way back down. You can also do the reverse of heavy + less reps up to light and high reps and back down.

_________________________

Todays workout:

Cash In:
Dynamic warmup
Burgener warmup
Barbbell complex warmup
2x8 air squats and pushups

6 rounds for time:
20# weighted pullups x3 (last two rounds 10#)
Strict pullups x 5
Kipping pullups x 7
11:39. 23 sets (number of times I dropped to the floor)

Cash out
Bench press
65# x 10
85# x 8
105# x 6
85# x 8
65# x 10

Energy: 8

Stress: 1
Shoes: racing flats
Location: Fitness Factory 2:20pm
Bad Boy: Nothing yet
Good Boy: Zone meals and snacks

Day 6 - Metcon madness

2010-06-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

Today's workout was metabolic conditioning (metcon), pure and simple. It's fun to do these, and they are definately deceptively hard. On paper you think it's going to be easy and know it's going to be a fast workout, but it's going to S.U.C.K.

Today it looked like this:

Cash in:
Dynamic warmup

Burgener Warm-up
Burgener barbbell complex warm-up
Quad spinal rotations

3 rounds for time:
40 double unders (jump rope)
30 box jumps (bench)
20 dumbbell swings with 35# db (american style)
Time: 10:50

Cash Out:
Hamstring stretching on ball

Energy: 6
Stress: 2
Shoes: racing flats
Location: Fitness Factory 7pm
Bad Boy: 3-4 lifesavers/ 6laffy taffy @ work
Good Boy: Zone meals and snacks

Day 5 - Rest day

2010-06-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

Today was a rest day. We went to the library today and got some cds (The Shins and A Band of Horses) cd's that I reserved the other day. These were the cd's I was going to order on Itunes, but luckily they had them at the library...FREE!!! FTW

I am planning on attending a course in December and will have to use personal money to pay for it. It is pretty expensive but well worth the money for me as an athletic trainer and for future business. I took the level one course a couple of months ago and use the information regularly. My goal is to become SFMA certified and have two courses to go and possibly a couple day internship and/ or a test or two. The certification is an assessment tool to help identify mobility or stability issues in patients/ athletes/ active people, with pain or just wanting to improve their performance, and then give them exercises and instructions on how to correct these issues. It is very effective and I have already seen great effects from attending the first course and applying the information.

Today I deposited a hunk of that money into savings. I have a couple of personal training clients and am going to use the money I get from them to help pay for the course. I'm guessing another 5 weeks or so and I'll have enough saved to register. I'm hoping they will still have the course available when I have all the money.

Bad Boy: More laffy taffy 4-5 pieces and some lifesavers at work, 1 ginger cookie that are amazing a patient brought in for us
Good Boy: All meals zone, rode my bike to work and back in am, lunch and pm in 110 degree heat!

Day 4 - Thrusters and situps

2010-06-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

Nothing but a good hard workout today. After working out for 4 days straight, I was getting pretty sore. Especially my back from those tricep rope pullups and the pushups yesterday. A good warm up was all I needed to lube up my muscles and get them ready to go.

Warming up to some people is usually a 5 minute bike ride, walk or run, then a bunch of static stretching (bend over and touch your toes for 20 seconds). This is NOT a good warmup. Our bodies actually relax more and shut down the reaction time of our muscles when we hold stretches. The best warm up you can do would include dynamic movements as found in this or this video. This helps prepare your body (nerves and muscles) for movements you are going to do during your workout or sport.

Cash In:
Dynamic warmup
Burgener Warm-up
Burgener barbbell complex warm-up
10 pass throughs with dowel
10 overhead squat with dowel and 45cm ball

Today's workout:
3 rounds:
15 x 30# dumbbell thrusters
30 situps
7:27

Cash Out:
Single knee to chest bridges x 10
hamstring and hip stretching
Samson stretch

Energy: 7.5
Stress: 2
Shoes: VFFs
Location: Fitness Factory 7pm
Bad Boy: 3-4 lifesavers/ 3 laffy taffy @ work
Good Boy: All zone all day!

Day 3 - ITunes and RJ

2010-06-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

Sunday was my birthday and one of the awesome presents I received was an ITunes gift card. I was thinking about getting another cd by The Shins or Band of Horses but found I could borrow them from the library system for free!! So I decided to get some workout music. I tend to like fast rock/ metal (like Disturbed) or hip/hop (Ludacris) when I work out. I hopped on ITunes and got a Flo Rida cd, Kanye West and some random rock songs. Andrew WK really gets me going too. I really like both full cds and the other songs too. Man, I have good taste in music.

Today's workout was "RJ", here is his story:

Veteran LAPD officer and United States Marine Corps Reservist Sergeant Major Robert J Cottle, 45, was killed by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. RJ joined the Marines at age 18, and the LAPD in 1990. His various LAPD assignments included Hollywood Vice, Southeast Area, LAPD Dive Team and, most recently, SWAT. He is survived by his wife Emily and 9 month old daughter Kaila. The LAPD established a trust fund for them.

It was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be. And the worst part was that the run was the worst part! My pushups were also suffering from yesterdays burpees and over head lunges. I'm sure my shoulders and chest will start talking to me tomorrow.

Total Push-ups: 125

I also worked on some technique on my regular air squat and overhead squat, lowering down to a 45cm ball. The goal was just to get in some quality reps. I was surprised how easy it was to keep good form, especially after my ass kicking workout. Now, I didn't have a mirror or anything in front of me, nor was Kelsa there to help coach, but it felt good to me.

Cash In:

Dynamic warmup
Burgener Warm-up
Burgener barbbell complex warm-up
Quadriped spinal rotation
Single knee to chest bridges

Today's workout:

"RJ" pack scaling
5 rounds for tim:
600 meter run
30 jumping pullups with tricep rope
25 pushups

Cash Out:
10 air squats for form to 45 cm ball
10 overhead air squats for form to 45 cm ball

Energy: 9
Stress: 1
Shoes: Racing flats
Location: Fitness Factory 7pm
Bad Boy: 3-4 lifesavers/ 1 laffy taffy @ work
Good Boy: All zone all day!

Day 2 - OH lunges and burpees

2010-06-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

Cash In:
Dynamic warmup
Burgener Warm-up
Burgener barbbell complex warm-up

Today's workout:
30# Overhead lunges x 50 feet
21 burpees
For time 17:44

Energy: 7
Stress: 2
Shoes: VFFsprint
Location: Fitness Factory 7pm
Bad Boy: couple pieces of hard candy/ laffy taffy @ work, 1 baklava
Good Boy: B, L, snacks all zone, dinner @ subway with extra cheese for pro

__________________________
Day two of my Year of Crossfit challenge. My goal is to do 5-6 days of CF per week with eating in the zone as much as I can. I'm feeling motivated! The hardest part will be getting a workout in on Wed or Thur night because those are both 12 hour days when I get done at 6:30. Luckily this week's rest day is on Thursday which is the worst for exercise motivation.

The workout was great. It was more shoulders than I thought it would be. 105 pushups in 105 burpees and 250 feet of 30# overhead lunges in 17:44. My anterior delts were on fire for a good 20 minutes after stopping.

I wore my vibram five fingers (VFF) and it's funny to see peoples' looks and double takes. I wore them to Walmart after working out and I can totally tell when people are talking about them or checking them again for a better look. I just want to be like, "They're Vibram five fingers... no they don't have any support... what kind of shoes were you born in?... they're very comfortable." I'm still loving them.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Day 1 Crossfit Challenge

2010-06-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

I have stopped posting workouts based on my FITR Concept. I think it is a great system, but it didn't seem like any body else in the blogosphere was keeping up with it. I also missed doing Crossfit too much myself. Crossfit makes you competative with yourself as well as other people who post their times on the website. I only do CF in a regular Globogym setting and can't imagine how cool it is to do it in a real CF gym. I bet I would PR left and right with another set of eyes on my form and with a group setting! Some day....

So, I have decided to switch the purpose of this blog to following my Crossfit adventures. I was browsing through my new Crossfit Journal subsciption and read about a soldier that was doing Crossfit and journaling his journey for a year. I thought that it was a great idea and that since my birthday was yesterday, it would be a good starting point for a whole year of Crossfitting. My goal is to perform 5-6 CF workouts a week, eat as close to Zone as I can and log my workouts daily.

I also have a dream of opening my own Crossfit gym/ post-rehab fitness facility and think that blogging will help get ideas for forming my business. I have been Crossfitting for almost 2 years, have used it with Crossfit Endurance to train for full and half marathons and have found that nothing is superior in results than any other program.

Yesterday, I did 7 sets of 1 reps of overhead squats. An overhead squat is a great exercise and not only lower body. It is all core. If you don't have core strength, good squat technique, shoulder mobility or thoracic extension you will not be able to perform an OH squat well. I think my form was actually pretty good this time around. I did the following weight:

1. 65
2. 75
3. 85
4. 95
5. 105
6. 115
7. 120

The hardest part was actually getting the weight over my head. I had to unrack the weight in a back squat position (bar behind head on traps) and only did a push press to get it over my head. I now know to do a split jerk to get it over my head so I don't have to use so much arm strength to get it up.

I then ran on the treadmill 1 min sprint; 1 min rest x 9. I was wearing my Vibram five finger sprints for the first time on a treadmill. It took some getting used to but the form came to me and it felt good. I don't think I'll keep using them on the treadmill, I'm afraid they will get scuffed on the belt. I'll save them for CF and outdoor running. I have some racing flats I'll wear for running on the tmill.

Interval training vs. Long slow: part 1

2009-09-20T12:47:00.001-07:00

The traditional exercise theory for fatburning has been to get on a cardio machine and go for 30-60+ minutes at a slow pace. This is our "optimal" fat burning zone, so they say.

Also, for endurance training (marathon, 5k, etc) the theory has been to be able to run long distances you have to run long distances. (yes I said it)

There is new research proclaiming that interval training (shorter bouts of high intensity exercise with bouts of rest) burns more fat and produces the same cardiovascular/ endurance changes, if not slightly more than long slow training.

Here are some articles and a brief summary of what they found:

Wallman K, Plant LA, Rakimov B, Maiorana AJ. The effects of two modes of exercise on aerobic fitness and fat mass in an overweight population. Res Sports Med. 2009;17(3):156-70

Two groups were selected (either interval training and diet education (INT group), continuous aerobic exercise and diet education (CON group), or diet education only (DIET group)) and were found to have similar significant improvements in VO2 max and time to exhaustion on a graded exercise test. Only the INT group was found to have a large effect size for loss in android (belly) fat mass over time.

M J Gibala, J Little, M van Essen, GWilkin, K Burgomaster, A Safdar, S Raha and M Tarnopolsky Short-term sprint interval versus traditional endurance training: similar initial adaptations in human skeletal muscle and exercise performance September 15, 2006 The Journal of Physiology, 575, 901-911.

Brief, intense exercise training may induce metabolic and performance adaptations comparable to traditional endurance training. Training decreased the time required to complete a bicycling test equally between both groups. Biopsy samples obtained before and after training revealed similar increases in muscle oxidative capacity, as reflected by the maximal activity of cytochrome c oxidase (COX) and COX subunits II and IV protein content (main effects, P ≤ 0.05), but COX II and IV mRNAs were unchanged. Training-induced increases in muscle buffering capacity and glycogen content were also similar between groups (main effects, P ≤ 0.05). Given the large difference in training volume, these data demonstrate that SIT is a time-efficient strategy to induce rapid adaptations in skeletal muscle and exercise performance that are comparable to ET in young active men.

Tremblay, Angelo, et al. Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Metabolism. Vol 43. no 7 (July). Pp 814-818. 1994

Researchers at Laval University in Quebec divided participants into two groups: long duration
and repeated short-duration exercisers.1 They had the long-duration group cycle 45 minutes
without interruption. The short-term interval group cycled in numerous short bursts of 15-90
seconds, while resting in between.
The long duration group burned twice as many calories, so you would assume they would burn
more fat. However, when the researchers recorded their body composition measurements, the
interval group showed that they lost the most fat.
In fact, the interval group lost 9 times more fat than the endurance group for every calorie
burned.

D. C. Poole and G. A. Gaesser, Response of ventilatory and lactate thresholds to continuous and interval training, Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 58, Issue 4 1115-1121
We conclude that both continuous and interval training were equally effective in augmenting LT (lactate threshold), but interval training was more effective in elevating VT (Ventilatory threshold).

Talanian JL, Galloway SD, Heigenhauser GJ, Bonen A, Spriet LL. Two weeks of high-intensity aerobic interval training increases the capacity for fat oxidation during exercise in women. J Appl Physiol 102: 1439–1447, 2007.

In summary, seven sessions of HIIT over 2 wk induced marked increases in whole body and
skeletal muscle capacity for fatty acid oxidation during exercise in moderately active women. Exercise whole body fat oxidation increased by 36% (from 15.0 _ 2.4 to 20.4 _ 2.5 g) after HIIT. Resting muscle glycogen and triacylglycerol contents were unaffected by HIIT, but net glycogen use was reduced during the posttraining 60-min cycling trial. HIIT offers a mechanism to quickly increase muscle mitochondrial capacity, as well as whole body fat oxidation and V˙ O2 peak, in untrained individuals.

Tjønna, AE., Et al (2008). Aerobic interval training (AIT) versus continuous moderate exercise (CME). Circulation, 118, 346-354.

“Of all established risk factors, low aerobic exercise capacity appears to be the strongest predictor of mortality.5 We demonstrated here that high-intensity exercise (AIT) increased V˙O2max to a higher degree than moderate-intensity exercise (CME) in patients with the metabolic syndrome.“

“Physical activity and a healthy lifestyle promote insulin sensitivity, whereas a sedentary lifestyle and a Western diet are associated with insulin resistance. In our study, AIT promoted insulin sensitivity and cell function more than CME”

”The present study demonstrates that high-intensity exercise training is superior to moderate-intensity training in reversing risk factors of the metabolic syndrome.”

_______________________________________________

Pretty interesting huh? To think that interval training for fewer minutes per week (at higher intensities) would provide so many benefits compared to long slow training. Americans have a "more is better" mentality these days, so it's hard for some people to get out of that thinking.

For further (anecdotal) proof let's take a look at a sprinter and an endurance athlete, like a marathon runner. Which person has the more appealing physique (more muscle mass and less body fat)? The sprinter of course. Why don't we train like that then? High intensity training is hard and people don't want to work hard. It's easier to go slow for 60 minutes rather than hard for 20. That's 40 minutes of your life you just waisted.

Next time I will post some different exercise protocols for interval training.

New Recipe - Zoned Minestrone soup

2009-09-03T20:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a delicious recipe I came up with. I wanted to make some minestrone soup that would make 3-4 servings for Kelsa and I. I also wanted it to be in the correct Zone proportions (9 grams carbs, 7 grams protein, 1.5 g fat x 3-4 for women and 4-5 for men in each meal)

Here it is:

Ingredients:
4 c chicken broth
1 tube (16 oz) italian flavored ground turkey - browned (12 blocks protein)
1 c sliced carrots (1 block carbs)
2 c sliced celery (1 carb)
1 1/2 c diced onion (1 carb)
2 c diced zucchini(1 carb)
1/2 c chick peas (2 carb)
2/3 c tomato sauce (1 carb)
2 cans diced tomatoes (1 with jalapeno chilis and one regular) (3 carb)
1/2 c kidney beans (2 carb)
1 tsp minced garlic
Italian seasoning to taste
1 cup coarsely chopped spinach leaves
Parmesian cheese optional

Instructions:
Brown turkey. Saute onions, celery, carrots and garlic in a large pam coated sauce pan. When onion is translucent, add broth and remaining ingredients. Bring to boil and reduce heat to a simmer for 10-15 minutes. In the last 2 minutes add the spinach. Add parmesian cheese if desired.

Enjoy. This makes 12 blocks of zone meals, so 3 x 4 block meals.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

2009-08-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

Today I did 150 wallballs with a 20 pound medicine ball in 7:25. On 5/26 I did it in 9:38. Quite a bit faster! That means I did it faster, but what else?

Using this link I figured the difference in power outputs from 5/26 to 8/20. (I actually used the excel program on this link because the first link did not have a "wall ball" parameter. I originally used a thruster with 40# but then used the excel which had specific parameters for wall balls and most crossfit exercises)

On 5/26 my power output was: 108.16 watts (1.578 W/Kg)
On 8/20 my power output was: 140.48 watts (2.04 W/Kg)

(That is .0000001578 gigawatts compared to .00000014048 gigawatts if you are Doc Brown. His Delorean needed 1.21 gigawatts to get back to 1985!)

Because I performed the same workout with more speed, I have improved my power.

Here is a great article on power output and athletic performance. Basically, power is a measure of (force x distance)/time, or a measure of speed and strength.

Someone who is purely training for strength will not be as good an athlete (or as powerful) as someone who works on exercises that emphasize speed and strength like the clean and snatch. Therefore athletes should emphasize the cleans and snatches.

Get it up there

2009-08-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

Today I performed a 7 set, one rep maximum of Push presses. A push press is a shoulder (overhead) press that uses a small dip in your hips to get the weight you are pressing up into the air.

One of the benefits of a push press is that you are able to lift a little bit more weight than you would with a strict shoulder press. One more exercise that will allow lift you even more weight is a push jerk. Here is a video comparing the three:

You can see that the with the push jerk you actually push your body under weight as you perform a push press.

So why would you use these different exercises instead of sticking to a regular shoulder press? I'm glad you asked...

While the shoulder press uses solely the shoulder muscles for a concentric contraction (or the raising of the bar over your head) as well as the eccentric contraction (or the lowering of the bar), the push press and push jerk allow you to get more weight up by using other muscles (hips and core) therefore lowering more weight with the eccentric contraction of only your shoulders.

Here are a couple of benefits on eccentric contractions from LifeFitness:

1. Greater increases in Strength

When eccentric only training has been compared to concentric only training, several researchers have discovered that eccentric training yields greater increases in strength than concentric.

One study looked at 6 weeks of eccentric vs. concentric training in women. Hortobagyi et.al. (1996). After the training, the concentric group improved strength 36% while the eccentric group had a 42% increase. This difference was significant (P<.05). The authors concluded that training eccentrically yielded greater strength adaptations faster than concentric training in women.

The superiority of eccentric training versus concentric training for developing strength has also been reported by Farthing and Chilibeck (2003), LaStayo et.al. (2003), Seger, et.al. (1998), and Hortobagyi et.al. (1997).

Greater muscle hypertrophy (increase in muscle size)

It is well accepted that the stimulus for muscle growth is microtrauma to the muscle following exercise. The process of lengthening during a contraction increases the amount of microtrauma experienced by the muscle. In turn, this stimulates the muscle to rebuild and add and increase muscle fiber size in order to handle the load. While concentric training can induce some microtrauma, over the same period of time, eccentric training is more effective for promoting muscle growth.

Numerous studies have reported that eccentric training is superior to concentric training for inducing muscle hypertrophy. Farthing JP and Chilibeck PD (2003), Higbie (1996) and LaStayo et.al. (2003)

References

American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand on Progression Models in Resistance Training for Healthy Adults.(2002) Med Sci Sports Exer.34(2):364-380.

Bird, SP, Tarpenning, KM, & Marino FE. (2005) Designing resistance training programmes to enhance muscular fitness: a review of the acute programme variables. Sports Med , 35(10):841-51

Colliander EB and Tesch PA (1990) Effects of eccentric and concentric muscle actions in resistance training. Acta Physiol Scand, 140 (1):31-9.

Gur, H, Cakin, N, Akova, B, Okay, E, Kucukoglu,S. (2002) Concentric versus combined concentric-eccentric isokinetic training: effects on functional capacity and symptoms in patients with osteoarthrosis of the knee. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 83(3): 308-16.

Hilliard-Robertson PC, Schneider SM, Bishop SL, and Guilliams ME (2003) Strength gains following different combined concentric and eccentric exercise regiems. Avait Space Environ Med. 74(4):342-7.

Hortobagyi T, Barrier J, Beard D, Braspennincx J, Koens P, Devita P, Dempsey L, and Lambert J (1996) Greater initial adaptations to submaximal muscle lengthening than maximal shortening. J Appl Physiol. 81(4):1677-82.

Farthing JP and Chilibeck PD (2003) The effect of eccentric training at different velocities on muscle hypertrophy. Eur J Appl Physiol. 89(6):570-7.

4 Reasons to use gymnastic rings for upper body training

2009-08-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

If you've ever watched a men's gymnastic competition, you've probably been awed by the pure power and strength displayed with the rings.

They actually have been around since the mid-1800's in Germany and were exclusively used in school fitness programs until 1903, where they were used in an international competition in Belgium. They were then introduced in the 1924 Olympics and have been a major men's event ever since.

It's a shame that more gyms don't use them. They used to be a staple in gymnasiums in the olden days but have gone to the wayside because of the Nautilus machine phase in the past 50 years. They require a certain skill to perform as well as teach/ coach and today's globo-gyms don't want to have to deal with that, let alone the liability.

Here are reasons why you should add these to your repertoire.

1. They work every muscle in your upper body and core.
Working biceps, tricep, chest, back/ lats and core with every exercise, you can hit every muscle with only a few exercises.

2. They are adjustable for your fitness level.
They are easily set up on a pullup bar, squat rack or even a strong tree limb. You can then adjust the height. The lower the height of the rings, the harder the exercise (in most cases).

3. They require tons of core stabilization
All exercises require that you engage your core. If you have ever done a "plank" for your abdominals, you know what I mean. Now add the instability of holding yourself on two free moving rings while moving your body through a range of motion. Awesome!

4. You can make your own.
You can buy rings from Elite Rings here. Or you can make your own. Last year I made an instructable on how to make your own. They are quite easy to make and will cost under $20!! Compared to $90 from Elite Rings. Here is the instructable.

Once you make or puchase your own, you can then try these exercises!

Enjoy!

7 Benefits of the Front Squat

2009-08-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

7 Benefits of The Front Squat: from Stronglifts.com

1. Less Spinal Load. The Front Squat is a harder exercise than the Back Squat:

Less hip involvement because of the upright position
Less stable position: shoulders hold the bar using your back muscles
This will prevent you to lift as much weight as with the Back Squat. Less weight on the bar, equals less Spinal Compression.

2. Less Spinal Flexion.

The upright stance during the Front Squats, makes it impossible to lean forward. If you do, the weight drops. This decreases your chances of bending your back. Which is much safer.

3. Less Torque.

During a Front Squat, the torso stays nearly vertical during the whole lift. This puts less rotational force on your lower back. Another benefit of the Front Squat’s upright stance.

4. Less Chance of Bad Form.

Your torso is not erect during the Front Squat: the bar drops on the floor. You don’t place the bar correctly: the bar drops on the floor. You can get away with bad form on the Back Squat. Not on the Front Squat.

5. Abdominal Training.

Keeping your torso erect during heavy Front Squats requires a strong set of abs. The Front Squat is a great exercise to work your entire core. If you lean forward too much during Back Squats, start doing Front Squats. They will quickly solve this problem.

6. Quadriceps Development.

The Front Squat will develop your quadriceps like nothing else. The upright stance emphasizes the quadriceps more than a Back Squat does. Take a look at the quads of weightlifters. You’ll get what I mean.

7. Carry Over.

The Front Squat imitates the catch position of the Clean. If you intend to Power Clean one day, Front Squats are a good way to prepare yourself. Same for the Overhead Press. The starting position in the Overhead Press is identical to the Front Squat.

Front Squat

2009-08-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

7 x 1 front squat max out
I did
135
145
155
165
175
180
195! -- Got a little feisty there and it paid off!!

I love front squats, they engage your core so much more than a regular squat or any other lower body exercise for that matter.

Last time I did front squats for maximum weight I did 5 sets of 3 reps and maxed out at 170#. Using this link again, my predicted should have been 180#, but since that was June 23rd my max obviously increased!! I see Kelsa did really well too!!

Question of the Day:
Changing topics, onto nutrition. Are you following a certain program for your nutrition? If so, why did you choose it? If not, what are your nutrition goals (if any) for the day, week, etc?

Deadlift

2009-08-12T20:15:00.001-07:00

Today's Crossfit WOD (or Workout Of the Day) was 5x5 max weight of Deadlifts. Here is wikipedia's description of a deadlift:
"The deadlift is a compound movement that works grip strength, and the primary muscles used in the deadlift are the erector spinae, the gluteus maximus, adductor magnus, hamstrings, quadriceps, and the soleus. The remaining muscles are involved in stability control. It is, in a sense, the purest single event test of strength because it is one of the few lifts of dead weight (weight lying on the ground). In most other lifts the weight changes direction or starts in the air and several other athletic skills such as balance, coordination are emphasized. For example, both Olympic weightlifting events require a great deal of athletic skill in addition to strength. In addition, it is commonly believed to be the oldest test of strength, dating back to cultures who competed at lifting the heaviest stones"

I did:
5x 185
5x 205
5x 225
5x 245
5x 255

My one rep max for DL is 290. I used this link to find out that my predicted 5 rep max based on a 1 rep max of 290# is 258# . Not bad!

Question of the day:
Do you use one rep maximums for your strength training? How do you calculate the weight that you use for your strength training? Post your thoughts to the comments...