RX THE WOD

Wodifying the Corporate Gym

Posted on October 22, 2012 by

Our corporate gym got some extra budget and they immediately went ahead and upgraded the TV sets on the treadmills and added 50-inch LCDs. How can this possibly make anyone fitter? I was hoping they would install a pull-up bar or replace the barbells as the collars slip off the plates, but how do you watch daytime shows on a Rogue Bar? You see, the are smart, after all…
SEALFIT DAILY
• Warrior Yoga, Hip flexibility, Mental Focus Drills
ENDURANCE
– 4x500m row
– 100 double unders
STRENGTH
• Catalyst warmup
• Power snatch + 2 snatch – 70% x 2 sets; 75% x 3 sets
• Jerk – 75% x 3 x 5
• Clean pull – 93% (of clean) x 5 x 5
• Back squat – 65% x 6; 70% x 6; 75% x 6; 80% x 5 x 2
METCON
• 35 dumbbell manmakers at 35 lbs

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Team Sports and Fitness

Posted on October 21, 2012 by

Now that one of my recovery days is on Sundays, it is typically spent by transporting the kids to various team sports. As we worry about childhood obesity or just making sure our children stay healthy, the question should arise whether team sports actually make them fitter.

I was speaking with a gymnastics coach over the weekend and he argued that gymnasts and weightlifting kids get really strong and fit not just for college, but develop lifelong fitness habits. On the other hand, he insisted that most team players really aren’t that fit and certainly do not maintain their sports after high school and college. A lot harder to organize a baseball game over the weekend than lifting weights or doing handstands.

Using CrossFit and Catalyst Work Output calculators, I estimated the total work performed by the average player in my daughter’s soccer match in 1 hour and it was equivalent to a 10-minute high intensity WOD or heavy weightlifting. Maybe, just maybe our school and varsity sports teams should add 5-10 minutes of heavy MetCons and weights to double the effectiveness of the sports for our kids… And give them a taste of what real fitness could be like.

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The Magic of Proper Instruction

Posted on October 20, 2012 by

Admit it. Most of us started out in CrossFit with what can generously be called less than perfect technique… We started posting great PR’s with form that Olympic weightlifters, gymnasts would snicker at. But as long as it was safe, we were getting a good workout and posting better scores, it was OK, right? Wrong.

I’m learning the hard way along with some of you that reversing bad technique can be more painful than learning it in the first place. And we all have to cross that point once we hit a plateau. Many of us went back to learning Oly lifts for real and today I was doing the same with gymnastics. You know the muscle ups, handstand push-ups that I thought I had conquered. I learned how much more there was to learn to make it effortless…

The challenge is obviously that we are not teens learning each sport 3-4 hours a day. How do you fit in skill training into a busy day next to the hour of WOD? Do you even care? Of course, you care, because you picked a sport where you compete against your last score (and your friends) every day. And you like to win. Or at least hate being last…

The best coaches and clinics accomplish two amazing things. One, they give you plenty of pointers on your specific challenges and the necessary drills to get better. Second, and most importantly, they give you the tools to assess your own technique without needing a coach. CF Endurance, the Burgener Oly Lifting Cert and now the Gymnastics Clinic at CFDV all accomplished this. You know exactly what perfect performance needs to look and feel like. Record yourself on video and keep repeating the movement until you have 10 perfect reps. Then tackle the next skill progression.

Constantly varied poor form is no longer acceptable standard even for the average CrossFitter. We should all challenge ourselves to practice higher standards. Even if we have to get up 30 minutes earlier or skip lunch… We should not settle.

SEALFIT
Warrior Yoga, Hip Mobility, Mental Focus Drills
METCON
4-hour Gymnastics Clinic of muscle ups, handstands, handstand walks and pull-ups
STRENGTH
Catalyst training W1D6
• Snatch – 70% x 3; 75% x 2; 80% x 1 x 2; 75% x 1; 80% x 1
• Clean & jerk – 70% x 3; 75% x 2; 80% x 1 x 2; 75% x 1; 80% x 1
• Snatch shrug – 105% (of snatch) x 8 x 5
• Back squat – 60% x 6; 65% x 6; 70% x 6; 75% x 4 x 2
• Ab wheel – 3 x 15
ENDURANCE
– Row sprints 4x200m under 40s

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Rain or Shine

Posted on October 19, 2012 by

Today it is pouring rain in the Philadelphia area. I remember in my running days this would have spoiled the weekend, when I was trying to clock 30 miles in 3 days. Now I can stay indoors and probably generate more results (as in more “ft*lb/s”) in a fraction of that time…
Whatever I said before about easier recovery may change as the workload increases thanks to Catalyst’s weightlifting regimen. But I am ready for it… (Or helplessly delusional).
Found a great article from Catalyst on the usual CrossFit strength vs. MetCon dilemma. For those of us who want it all (endurance, strength and conditioning) but get frustrated that we can never master any while trying to do all…
SEALFIT DAILY
Warrior Yoga, Hip Flexibility, Mental Focus Drills
STRENGTH (CATALYST)
– Catalyst Warmup
– Catalyst Strength WOD
• 3-position Snatch – 65% x 2 sets; 70% x 3 sets
• Snatch pull – 90% (of snatch) x 7 x 4
• Snatch push press – 70% x 5 x 3; 75% x 5 x 2
ENDURANCE
– 1000m row
– 100 double unders
– 10 box jumps @ 36 in
METCON
4 rounds
– 10 push presses 95#
– 10 box jumps 30″
– 10 cal row
[9:24]

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Putting More Weight Into It

Posted on October 18, 2012 by

It has been said that weighlifting as a sport had never seen so many newcomers until CrossFitters came around. Whether traditional lifters like our belated enthusiasm there is certainly a great subculture in CF of various lifting methods. Whether it is Burgener, Wendler, Westside, 5/5/5 or Everett, many of us realized that we need to get much stronger…
Adding to that the reality that my olympic lifts need a lot of work – I decided to do what I should have done in my teenage years: get with the program. In my case: Everett’s. At least for the months ahead.
The strength portion of the daily programming will now become the Catalyst Strength and Power Development program. The great thing is that it matches perfectly my overall 3/1 + 2/1 CrossFit schedule.