RX THE WOD

Times Square and the Torsonator

Posted on July 9, 2012 by

When I first heard about the torsonator I thought it was a bad joke to keep us off balance. It turns out to be quite a big deal especially in Australia and it does knock you off balance for a while… On my way to New York I decided to stop by my box to try out the workout made up with this cool new gear… Good thing that double unders were also on the menu..

Strength & Assistance Work
Squat 3×5 [235]
Ring Dips
Metcon
Team Workout!
3 rounds of 1 minute at each station:
– Torsonator (25/15)
– Wallballs (20/14)
– Double Unders
Rest 1 minute between rounds.
[My Score: 180 reps]
Cashout
– 1-mile hill run (Broomile)
Double Under Challenge
– standing at 1,350 of 10,000

The always crazy busy Times Square as I got here

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Muscle Memory and Mass Confusion

Posted on July 8, 2012 by

I was at the movies for the last two days with the kids because the heat outside was simply unbearable. I have a sense that heatwaves produce blockbuster weekends… I also set out to find (in vain) a gram of protein at the movie snack counters. They seem to be on a sugar mission. I didn’t realize the sugar/grain industry needed more support…

Fun exercise in myth-busting: calculate the Body-Mass Index of popular athletes. BMI is our medical profession’s common determinant of obesity. According to the index each top CrossFit Games male athlete is overweight and some are obese. Those guys have less than 8% body fat by the way. So much for popular medical wisdom…

Great day overall as I added 400 double-unders towards my 10,000 goal. Interesting thing about muscle memory is that after a couple of hundred jumps your arms and legs take over and you no longer have to think about what you are doing…

Warmup
A game of squash with daughter
Skill
– stringing muscle ups
– overhead squats
Strength
Wendler Bench press 5-5-5 [185+]
MetCon
30-20-10
– wall balls 20lbs
– pushups
– situps
– back extensions
[7:02]
Double Under Challenge
progress: 1,200 of 10,000

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Against the Grain in the Heat

Posted on July 7, 2012 by

As temperatures today in Philly exceeded those on the equator and the power grid got stretched to its limits, I joined my fellow Americans in turning up the air-conditioning another notch. Judging from the arctic temperatures some shopping malls created today, my carbon impact was still modest…
Today I’ve also been grain free for a year now. It so happens that after a year without breads, grains, starches, sugar I did not keel over in sugar cravings and most days I go 16-18 hours every day without food just as other LeanGains athletes.
Hiding in the cool cave of my basement gym I knocked out a random workout from the fantastic WodShop site.
Skills
– stringing muscle ups
– max pullups: 41
Strength
Wendler Deadlift 5-5-5 [315+]
MetCon
2 rounds (1 to 12 then back to 1)
– 1 clean & jerk 145 lbs
– 2 kettlebell press each arm (1 pood)
– 3 handstand pushups
– 4 dumbbell thrusters (35lbs)
– 5 burpee box jumps
– 6 sit-ups with wall balls (20lbs)
– 7 split squats
– 8 pullups
– 9 sumo deadlift high pull (70lbs)
– 10 knees to elbows
– 11 kettlebell swings (1 pd)
– 12 squat jumps
[TIME: 8:51]
DU: 800 of 10000

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Magical Forests and Burpees

Posted on July 6, 2012 by

It is incredible how Longwood Gardens can fill up at 9pm on a Friday night in 90F heat. The arboretum alone wouldn’t attract the crowd so they created probably the largest floral-themed light installation in the world. Spending the night walking through the light forest was like landing on another planet. Well worth the trip to the outskirts of Philly…
The heat will reach 110F (43C) tomorrow and already getting close today – so I stayed within the confines of our air-conditioned corporate gym. I have to admit, these are the days the garage gyms are at a disadvantage. Or maybe I’m getting softer…
Skill
Lots of double unders (700 of the 10,000 done)
Strength
Wendler Clean 5-5-5 [145+]
MetCon
6 rounds
– 250m row
– 8 push presses 95lbs
– 8 ring dips
– 8 burpees
[TIME: 18:10]
Cashout
Carry my daughter [75lbs] 1 mile in the light forest…

Posted in Travel, WOD | 1 Comment

10000 Double Unders

Posted on July 5, 2012 by

I met many athletes who have been doing CrossFit for years and have an impressive arsenal of incredible skills. But some challenges still. Everything from double unders, muscle ups to handstands or the iron cross. If you believe Malcolm Gladwell’s research in Outliers, all skills can be mastered in 10,000 hours. Whether that means mastering a single movement or all CrossFit has to offer. If you practice ANYTHING for 10,000 hours or even 10,000 reps in a constantly varied environment like CF, you are bound to become a BEAST with beast skills (hat tip to Jim’s great blog).

At any rate, inspired by Malcolm and also out of guilt, I logged 500 double unders on this rest day on my way to 10,000 double unders for time (in as few days as possible)… (a belated response to a challenge my box had last year).