RX THE WOD

As I reconfigured my WOD routine to follow the SealFit mantra and changed my fueling strategy to intermittent fasting (IF), the last summer change is to finalize my race schedules.

The long 5-component WODs are definitely critical for the mental game of CrossFit, to keep pushing when there is no pushing left in the tank. It also helps managing the cycling between low, medium and high intensity periods to vary the load from endurance (low) through stamina (medium) to metcon (high) and strength (explosive).

Fasting is an acquired taste… I have the good fortune of not getting hungry early, which is probably true for most Paleo-wired athletes as there is little of the carb high-and-crash cycle in the metabolism. This is probably why my daily fast started at 16 hours as prescribed by LeanGains and now hovers around 18-20 hours. There is almost always a fasted training session in the morning and a second one in the evening in a fed state.
So far I have not noticed any difference in stamina or work capacity between fasted or fed states. I keep tweaking the IF periods but will probably stick to those hours as they seem to work best.

Now the races.. I have a trifecta of Spartan races ranging from Sprint through Super to Beast distances. I also plan to do two shorter, stadium races in the fall, one at the Phillies stadium! I cannot imagine a better race preparation regime than CF/SealFit.

Baseline: [SealFit]
3 rounds
– run 200m,
– 10x pull ups,
– 10x lunges,
– 10x KB clean + push press.
Strength: [SealFit]
Bench press – 80% x 3 reps, 85% x 3 reps, 90% x 3+ reps.
Stamina: [SealFit]
4 rounds, not timed:
– 20x bench press – 95#
– 75x supine ring pull ups,
– 25m WTD overhead lunge – 45#
Work Capacity: [SealFit]
– Run 1 mile
– 21-15-9
– burpee manmaker
– TTB
– double unders
– Run 1 mile
[26:38]
Durability: [SealFit]
6x 200m sprints (:60 interval)
100x 4-count flutter kicks
100x leg levers
2 mile run

All of us have done long WODs. Whether running Murph with a weight vest, doing the back to back WODs for our ‘heavy’ days or adding endurance to our normal workouts.
It wasn’t until I got to know the SealFit approach did I realize that the Long WODs are not a drawn-out-forever-Fran. Hint: that would be bad and counterproductive.
Well designed double WODs, 60-90-min WODs or structured workouts (SealFit) take us on a journey of low, medium and high intensity workouts across all metabolic pathways and muscle groups.
Before starting the Long WOD we have to ask the most important questions: how will I warm up and when will I recover. And schedule both.
In SealFit the warmup (Baseline) and Recovery (Durabilty) is partially integrated in the workouts but given the length additional time and mobility may be needed afterwards.

The typical SealFit Long WOD sequence is:
– Baseline (Warmup) about 10-15 minutes – low intensity
– Strength – 10-15 minutes – medium intensity
– Stamina – 10-20 minutes – volume centric – medium intensity
– Work Capacity (MetCon) – 10-20 minutes – high intensity
– Durability (Mobility)- 20-30 minutes – low intensity

Baseline [SFIT]
Run 800m, then
30-20-10 reps of
– wall ball
– KB swing.
Strength: [RXTW]
Snatch – Warm up then, 80% x 3 reps, 85% x 3 reps, 90% x 3+ reps.
Stamina: [RXTW]
Chipper, not timed:
– 50x  Snatches (75#-95#)
– 75x box jumps (24in/20in),
– 400m farmers carry (55#/35#).
Work Capacity: [SFIT]
Complete 5 rounds of the following:
* 10x 1 arm KB snatch – 5 each side (40#)
* 20 x wall ball sit-ups
* 30x air squats
[11:27]
Durability: [SFIT]
5k row
3 Rounds
– 10x 1-arm WTD sit ups (16kg/12kg KB)
– 10x Russian twist each side (25#)

I dropped in a ton to other gyms and I never thought much about the change drop-ins may cause in the box. Having worked out with drop-ins in our own gym I realized that visiting athletes can bring great new perspective on programming and most importantly provide a challenge and fresh competitive spirit to the classes.

Some recent drop-ins at our box were great competitors and it made me think that when I visit other boxes, I have some extra competitive edge to bring.

Baseline [SealFit]
3 rounds
– 50x double unders
– 10x push press (65#)
– 10x ring rows

Strength [SealFit]
Push press – 80% x 3 reps, 85% x 3 reps, 90% x 3 reps

Stamina [SealFit]
5 rounds, not timed:
20x push press (95#)
20x 1 arm DB push jerk (35#)
50m sled pull

Work Capacity [CFDV]
20 min time cap
– 1000m row buy-in then
AMRAP
– 5 pullups
– 10 pushups
– 15 squats
[12 rounds + 6]

Durability [SealFit]
2x800m sprint
100x good mornings
100x arm haulers
Yoga Stretch

Last month we had over 20 days of rain in a row. This can certainly disrupt life and WODs both. On the latter, the runs become rows more often and that seems to be true for lunchtime and night sessions.
I’m continuing with the stacking of the five workout modes following SealFit’s structure. There are days when the workload gets quite a lot and the night long. Like when the kids are asleep, the emails are answered, the reports are sent – and there is still 100 bulgarian split squats waiting in the dark.

Baseline [SFIT]
30x step ups
20x KB sumo deadlift high pull
30x step ups, 20x push press

Work Capacity: [CFDV]
12 min AMRAP
– row 300m
– 1min rest
[9 rounds and 228m]

Strength: [CFDV]
Back squat 5×5 @ 225
Press: 5×5 @ 105

Stamina: [SFIT]
Chipper, not timed:
40x Back squat
100x barbell Bulgarian split squat
800m weighted run

Durability: [SFIT]
4 mile run
3 rounds
– 10x good morning (95#)
– 15x toes to bar.