RX THE WOD

The firebreathers at the local box had two classes today: 5am and 6am. Those were less than optimal for our sleep schedule. So we opted for our own programming and we were lucky to find incredible facilities at the Westin Beaver Creek. The gym had barbells, plenty of kettlebells, both wall balls and slam balls, jump ropes and plenty of other things.
I’m convinced that Westin is the only hotel chain with consistent fitness focus and it clearly shows in their setup.  We put the daily WOD on a poster board and took advantage of most of the CrossFit friendly gear they had…
As a special after-WOD treat, the Westin Deli had so much paleo friendly food (raw fruits, veggies (!) and nuts) that it barely had room for processed sugar-food.
After this as a warmup, the day of skiing was just icing on the cake…
NEW YEAR’S EVE WOD
January – 31 Kettle Bell swings 53#
February – 28 Wall Balls 18#
March – 31 Jumping Pull Ups
April – 30 Weighted Situp 45#
May – 31 Front Squats @ 45 lbs
June – 30 GHD Back Extensions
July – 31 Hang Cleans @ 45 lbs
August – 31 Box Jumps @ 24 in
September – 30 Deadlifts (135 lbs)
October – 31 Slam Balls (20 lbs)
November – 30 Floor Wipers (135 lbs)
December – 31 Walking Lunges (45 lbs)

Skiing in Colorado is always an adjustment. The thin air bothers me here more than in Utah or California. Not sure why. It took me until today to get back to the regular WOD schedule prior to the day of skiing/riding. Feeling like fish out of water in the gym is not exactly the right image for a Crossfitter…. I’m glad it’s behind us… I can breathe now!
Warm-up
– 5 min surya namaskara
– hip extensions
– spiderman stretch
– tabata bike
MetCon
3 rounds for time:
– 10 pushups
– 20 shoulder presses (25lbs)
– 30 V-up situps
– 40 jumping jacks
[7:20]
Cash-out
5 rounds
– 5 burpees
– 10 situps
[4:02]
Endurance
– Ski Day [20,000 feet of double diamonds]

Going on a ski trip – more than any other vacation – brings out the question of fitness vs. recreation. Many people ski for fun and that’s perfectly fine. Some of us think this is also good fitness. For those of us, it is a good reminder to have CrossFit’s definition of fitness. Is your skiing or riding crossing many modalities, times and many physical skills?
If your CrossFit box programmed the same 10-mile run 7 days in a row, you’d probably quit. Yet, that is exactly what happens to those on the skis on the same type of runs every day.
One way to make mountain sports more fitness-like is taking full advantage of the great options already there. For fun here is a 7-day more CF-like programming:
Day 1 – Powder skiing – target 20,000 vertical feet per 4 hours
Day 2 – Snowboarding (rocker) – moguls and jumps – high intensity
Day 3 – Ski blades – forest runs including extensive climbing
Day 4 – Racing Board – speed intervals – high speed 3-5 min runs
Day 5 – Carver skiing – no pole carving on steep runs 10 rounds – max 30 sec variation
Day 6 – Snow shoe climb – 2000ft climb for time
Day 7 – Ski – mogul runs 8-10 rounds
MetCon
I may not follow the above plan, but so far turned out that way. So today the snowboard was swapped for short skis and a lot of technical and speedy ski runs in the forest.

Staying true to CrossFit principles requires variety on the mountains. Doing the same sports the same way for 10 days is not constantly varied.
To keep to that plan I switched to snowboard today and inserted intervals (climbing up), skills (going regular vs goofy) and endurance (plain speed).
Switching from snowboards to skis can be varied too and I’m doing powder skiing, carvers and ski blades as well. I never use poles, so going flat and uphill becomes skating and a climb. All this without having to resort to cross country skiing to keep high intensity and variety within acceptable limits…
Endurance
4 hours of snowboarding speed and intervals
MetCon
– 100 pushups
– 100 situps