RX THE WOD

Refuge in a Globo Gym

RX — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 22:40:29 +0000

After a couple of days surviving on beach calisthenics it was time for a real WOD.
When I started CrossFit, London had maybe two boxes. Now they have a dozen. Despite that I had no issue dropping in 2 years ago, whereas today most CF gyms are sold out in the morning hours.
So I had to go back to my pre-CF favorite: Soho Gyms that allow 1-day memberships and have rowers, pullup bars, lots of stairs and plenty of iron.

As far as programming? When in doubt, I can always go to the toughest of them all, Mark Divine at SealFit. Today’s WOD sure made up for the calm days on the beach.

WOD SealFit 2013.06.17

Baseline:
3 rounds
– Barbell complex with burpee chaser [75, 95, 115]

Work Capacity:
For time:
- Run/row 1 mile
- 30x power clean – 135#
- Run/row 1 mile
[17:34]

Strength:
Push press
- 60% x 5 reps,
- 65% x 5 reps,
- 70% x 5+ reps.
[95,105,115]

Stamina:
Chipper, not timed:
- 25x push press – 135#
- 50x Renegade row – 35#
- 800m kettlebell carry in front rack

Durability:
- 8x 200m sprints (:60 interval)
Then
3 Rounds:
- 20x WTD sit ups – 45#
- 15x poor man’s reverse hypers

French health is a walk in the park?

RX — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:44:44 +0000

The Pyrenees mountains separate French Catalonia from Spain. Driving across them is like a short trip through history with many castles and fortresses perched on top of steep cliffs. The mountains also isolate the quieter French seaside villages from the all-day-all-night energy of Barcelona and Costa Brava.

I drove back from our long weekend in France to Barcelona to catch a flight to London.

My Jawbone Up! confirmed age-old health observations: the locals here walk a lot… While in Spain and France, I walked on average 15,000-20,000 steps a day vs my normal 3,000 in the US (not counting the WODs).

Suspension Bands on the Beach

RX — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:16:18 +0000

Today we gave TRX WODs another shot with a quick beach workout with a strong enough tree to hold the straps. Pullups got replaced with TRX rows which are surprisingly much harder than ring rows especially on sandy ground. Same with TRX pushups with the bands low to the ground. All in all these last two days convinced me to take these suspension bands more seriously.

MetCon
for time:
50 TRX rows
50 TRX pushups
50 TRX squats
50 situps
[9:22]

Partner TRX Gone Bad

RX — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 21:03:50 +0000

Being in French Catalonia, there is no CF gym in sight so we need to get creative with our WODs. The seashore has great tree-lined parks with robust trees and endless running paths as well. I often travel with my TRX bands which I haven’t used in quite a while so today’s conditions finally called for them.
My daughter and I created a WOD resembling a certain minute-by-minute workout.

MetCon “TRX Gone Bad”
24 minutes for total reps not counting the runs and planks:
3 rounds of
- 1 minute TRX pushups
- 1 minute run
- 1 minute TRX ring rows
- 1 minute run
- 1 minute TRX squats
- 1 minute run
- 1 minute TRX plank
- 1 minute rest
then as a cash-out:
1 minute TRX super globo gym biceps curls
[258 / 233 reps]

Crossing the Mountains to South France

RX — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 21:47:34 +0000

Today is Rest Day after a quite busy work week and we are heading to France to relax on the weekend before work resumes in London.

Traveling from Barcelona to the south of France is like entering a different continent. The bustling tourist trap and all-nighter lifestyle of BCN gave way to a quieter, calmer set of villages with endless sand beaches and very little noise.
Unfortunately that also meant leaving behind other trappings of an overactive lifestyle, like a CrossFit box. The closest one in France is hundreds of miles away.

This will give us the excuse to test how tough we can make bodyweight training with TRX bands and the endless running paths around. Starting tomorrow.

Another Spanish WOD

RX — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:17:39 +0000

Since we couldn’t get enough of the local flavor of CF, we went back for a second serving today. This one was even harder. Maybe because the warmup already had close to a hundred kettlebell swings. Still, I will remember Barcelona as a fun town with a cool box with some tough programming.
Warmup
- 800m row or 800m run or 120 DU or 360 singles
- 60+ kettlebell swing practice
- 6-6-6 kettlebell swings – russian
- 6-6-6 kettlebell swings – american
WOD
12 minute AMRAP
- 2 kettlebell presses
- 4 kettlebell swings
- 6 jump over box – 30in
increase reps by 2 in each round
[7 rounds + 14 presses]

The Runners of CrossFit BCN

RX — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:49:46 +0000

I would have never programmed 2 miles of runs, snatches and overhead squats in a WOD. That’s why we had to drop in at CF Barcelona to do it for us. Great crew and a fun location next to the bus station. In most other cities, dropping in is problematic because given the box location it is difficult to find a taxi or public transportation back to the hotel. CF BCN has a bus station and taxi stand in front of the box. Perfect.
As one of the Reebok branded gyms, there was plenty of space, changing rooms and a vibrant city around. For the paleo crowd, there is a large market next door also.

Warmup
800m run or 800m row or 120 double unders
then
3 rounds of
- 10 PVC overhead squats
- 10 medball planks
- 5 medball burpees

WOD
Run 400m
5 squat snatches 75lbs
Run 600m
4 squat snatches 75lbs
Run 800m
3 squat snatches 75lbs
Run 600m
2 squat snatches 75lbs
Run 400m
1 squat snatch 75lbs
[20:25]

The Hills of Barcelona

RX — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 20:56:15 +0000

What makes this town interesting is the combination of hills, ocean and vibrant city life.
Both the beach and the hills are very active with cyclists, runners and other athletes (like mountain climbers). There are a set of cool running paths from the harbor to the top of Parc de Montjuic, a respectable climb.
It was time for a WOD dedicated to hill sprints anyway. Especially after an all-day sightseeing tour in the old city.
MetCon Montjuic
5000 meters of hill sprints over 300m vertical climb

Mediterranean Breeze

RX — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:43:56 +0000

When flying, sometimes tailwind is not a good thing. Like today heading over to Barcelona our 8-hour flight time was cut by 90 minutes due to tailwind and with dinner and breakfast service we could barely squeeze in 3 hours of sleep.
That sealed today’s WOD: Rest.

We did have a nice stroll in the harbor trying to find a restaurant (any restaurant) that had some patrons before 9pm. No such luck. Even with jet lag, I will be turning in earlier than the locals. Hoping to check out CF BCN one of the mornings.

The 77×77 WOD

RX — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 19:27:32 +0000

It was 77F this morning and 77% humidity. Guess what that made me think of?
I got this quick, mean workout in before our flight to Spain.
Speaking of Spain, Barcelona guides recommended us getting bicycles for the whole family to explore the sights and get around. This will be a quite active vacation after all.

WOD 77 x 77
For time
77 hang cleans – 77lbs
77 push presses – 77lbs
77 front squats – 77lbs
77 bench presses – 77lbs
[17:45]