Building a Race Athlete in All of Us

Posted on September 12, 2012 by

Not everyone aspires for the CrossFit Open, Regional or the Games. Not even the local 5K. Then again, we are in a sport where all of your workouts are recorded, analyzed and compared. Every single day you can assess where you stand against your box or thousands of other athletes in the world. I do believe being on the clock every workout is a big part of the attractiveness of the sport. It does sometimes make us forget that we have to keep rebuilding the foundation, technique and strength in-between WODs to really improve the score.

Recently there is much more CF blog chatter about periodization in the classic “specialized” sports sense. Recover from the prior season, build foundation strength, improve your skills then increase your work capacity prior to the next competition. While some resist the formula, I believe seasonal training and periodization is here to stay, because as more athletes compete in the Open and local Throwdowns and more of us need to improve on our foundations.

My approach from last January still holds but the sequence will be even more important:

September-December:     Strength, Skills and Mobility 

  • identify the baseline strengths/weaknesses via benchmarks
  • increase raw strength through heavy weight training
  • work on and obliterate the technical faults / goats / weaknesses
  • improve mobility (hip, shoulder, yoga, MWOD)

January – February:   Olympic Lifting and Gymnastics

  • Improve the Oly techniques and increase volume and weight
  • Improve hard gymnastics movements (muscle up) and increase volume
March – May:   MetCon Beast Mode
  • Massively increase volume and reps in workouts
  • Train in metcons across all time / modal domains
  • Lighten up strength training
  • Increase endurance intervals
May – August:    Race, Maintenance, Recovery
 
  • During race season the focus is on race performance and recovery
  • Between competitions: full MetCons and light weight training

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Is CrossFit a Very Personal Journey?

Posted on September 11, 2012 by

Yesterday over 5,000 people visited my site and it made me think why anyone’s personal Crossfit journey would be interesting. We talk a lot about the community of CrossFit.
I can certainly attest to this as anywhere I go to visit a box, it feels like dropping in to my local gym. We feel at home. The routine is familiar, the language is strange, but we all understand it. We eat similar things and dress alike. Any runners or bikers you know wearing Inov-8s or 2-Pood shorts? Of course not.
Nonetheless the journey gets very personal after a while. The better you get the better you’d better get… The reasons you get better will be your own and not the community’s. Your weaknesses and PRs you overcome alone. Whether you follow the Main Site, your local box’s programming or SealFit, you have to make sure to work on your weaknesses and personal goals every day and every week.
On that note, I’m adding OHS to my daily goat training in addition to muscle ups. No matter what else is on the menu. Except on rest days. Those days I just run. Like mad.
SealFit Daily Routine
– Warrior Yoga, Meditation, Hip Mobility, Mental Focus
MetCon
3 rounds
– 10 bench presses 115lbs
– 20 double unders unbroken
– 30 situps
[5:45]
Goat Development
– Muscle ups 10 – [100 of 200]
– Overhead squats – 100 [100 of 1000]

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Benchmark Month

Posted on September 10, 2012 by

It sounded like a great idea 2 weeks ago when I dedicated September to benchmark girls and hero WODs… Remembering programming from the Level 1 and CFE certs probably saved me as the back to back days seem to punish different parts of my body. Except, of course today with endless push presses of Danny followed by Wendler’s snatches.
Nothing that Progenex or warrior yoga or sleep could not fix…
I managed to construct a wall timer from an old waterproof iPad cover and some velcro tape in my home box.
Cash In
SealFit Daily Routine (Warrior Yoga, Meditation, Hip Mobility, Focus)
Hero WOD “Danny”
AMRAP in 20 minutes:
– 30 box jumps
– 20 push presses 115 lbs
– 30 pullups
[3 rounds and 75 reps]
Strength
Wendler W2 Snatch 3-3-3 [115+]

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Back to School

Posted on September 9, 2012 by

School is really back when my girls return to their CrossFit routine. They are now spending more time in our basement gym, on the rings, pullup bars and finally doing the sunday CF Kids classes as well. I simply cannot think about a better gift for our kids than a lifetime foundation of elite fitness.
I am also getting used to the SealFit-enhanced CF programming with the daily meditation and warrior yoga. Well worth the extra 15 minutes a day…
CashIn
– Warrior Yoga
– 15 muscleups [90 of 200]
– 800m run
Strength
– Wendler W2 Deadlift 3-3-3 [335+]
Benchmark WOD “Grace”
30 clean & jerk for time
[3:55]

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SealFit Academy

Posted on September 8, 2012 by

I’m excited to participate in the SealFit UM Academy. Since a big part of sport (or business) performance is about mental toughness I will start incorporating the SF mental game into the daily workouts. The WODs will start having references to SealFit training terms and you can find the explanation on Mark Divine’s site.
Finished WOD Kelly from yesterday after a good night sleep and also finished two business plans that were due… All before noon. Great day already and I haven’t even taken the girls to the park for a run…
Recovery Day
– SealFit Morning Routine
– SealFit Hip Mobility
– Warrior Yoga
– CF Endurance Drills
– 1-mile Time Trial

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