Dip, PU, FP, FS, Row 2-6-10

Dip 7, 7, 7 Deadhang Pullup - 5, 5, 6
Floor Press - 115/5, 135/5, 155/5
Front Squat - 185/3, 215/3, 235/5 (+ 50lb PR)

Row Intervals 4 rounds: 1 min work, 1 min rest
500m pace was 1:44, 1:45, 1:47, 1:46

First time doing Floor Press. I like it. Should address my weak triceps, helping my SP, bench and everything overhead.

I was planning on doing 235 for 3, which would have been a 2.5lb PR, but it wasn't bad so I kept going and knocked out 5. I've been doing all singles, doubles or triples with FS recently. Last time I did a set of 5 was 6 months ago when my 1 rep max was also 235. So if my progression on FS stays the same I'll have a 300lb FS in 6 months. My guess is it'll slow down a bit, but time will tell. Back felt tight on the last set, but no pain.

Squat and SP 2-4-10

Squat - 190 x 20

KB Shoulder Press - 44lb 4 x 10 (PR)

Tied the last time I did a 20 rep set of squats which was a year ago. Chose the high reps to keep the weight low and give my back a break.

Bench, Dip, Pullup 2-3-10

Bench - 135/3, 155/1, 175/1, 195/m, 190/1 (PR +5), 175/4 (PR)
Deadhang Chinup - 6, 5, 5
Dip - 7, 6, 6
Med Ball abmat frog Situp Throws 3 x 15

The good news about my sissy bench press is there is lots of room for linear progression there. The chinup and dip numbers are pathetic. Really need to work those back up.

SP, Single Leg Squat 2-1-10

Shoulder Press - 75lb/10, 80/10, 85/10
Single Leg Squat - 135/3, 150/3, 170/3 PR
Vups w/ 20lb Med ball 3 x 15

I skipped the workout on Saturday because my usual back issue was firing up on friday ... not sure what set it off exactly .. saw the back mechanic twice on friday which helped. FIgured I'd do single leg squats to keep the stress on my back lower because of the lighter weight ... and my back proceeded to tell me post workout that it was a dumb idea. Grrrr I really need to keep squatting. I'm hoping this will clear up soon.

PP and metcon 1-28-10

At work with Highbarger ...

WU:
5-4-3-2-1
C2B Pullups
Burpees Jump as high as possible
Run 400m
60' butt kicks
60' high knees
30' Spider Man Crawl
3/10 Shoulder dislocates PVC
3/10 Good Mornings PVC

Push Press

138/3, 158/3, 178lb/3 PR

5 Rounds:

5 Burpees - Jump as high as possible
10 KB Swings - 53lb
Run 200m
7 Pullups
14 Wall Ball - 20lb

Rest ~2 min between rounds

Averaged about 3:00-3:30 on each round. Runs were sloow. Nothing quite feels like trudging back into metcon shape after a hiatus. Oh except when you are in shape and you keep hitting metcons hard. Good clean fun. I liked this metcon better this week then last ... while the amount of work was the same, with the rests thrown in the intensity level was higher.

Deadlift/PU 1-27-10

15 - 12 - 9

Deadlift - 225lb
Pullups

6:39

First round of pullups were C2B ... after that I switched to standard PUs. Weak sauce. This gaining weight thing is like wearing a weight vest. Definitely not gaining mass in order to be a metcon killer.

SP, C&J, Squat 1-25-10

Shoulder Press - 95/5, 115/1, 125/1, 130/1, 135/1, 140/F, 137.5 (PR +10lb) 135 practically flew up, so I thought 140 might go. No luck. But a 10lb PR. First PR in SP in 7 months.
Clean and Jerk - 185/1, 205/1, 225/m the jerk, 235/m ... its been a while and it showed
Back Squat - 225/2, 245/1, 265/1, 285/1, 302.5/1 (PR + 2.5lb), 275/3 (PR)

I weighed 207lb (PR) when I got home from work this morning. Happy with all these PR's.

Box Squat and Situps 1-23-10

Box Squat

155/3, 175/3, 195/3, 205/3, 225/3

Medicine Ball Situp and Throw

3 x 15 - 20lb ball

Shoulder tweak, Clean Rack Support 1-20-10 FS, metcon 1-21-10

1-20-10

Tweaked my left anterior deltoid last night. Same injury that hit me at the beginning of last year. I don't think its too bad and hopefully it won't slow me down much. Unfortunately I think it may stop me from competing in my first ever OL meet which is coming up in 9 days. Doh! Some buddies from work came over to workout and so I dorked around with them and did Clean Rack Supports - 3 sets of 415lbs for 10 seconds.

1-21-10

Front Squat - 207/1, 227/1, 247/1, 267/1 (PR), 247/3 (PR)

Lifted at work with an odd sized bar that weighs 37lbs .. weird.

Got coached by Jason Highbarger a Coach at Crossfit North Santa Cruz. He was mentored by Coach Glassman himself and has been coaching for 10 years. Good stuff! I was happy that he didn't have any cues for my FS, must be doing something right. He cooked up this wod for me:

20 FS 115lb
40 Abmat situps
Run 200m
15 FS 115lb
30 Abmat situps
Run 200m
10 FS
20 situps
Run 200m
5 FS
10 situps
Run 200m

15:01

Wheels came off during the second run. I don't think you can call what happened after that running. Quads are trashed.

FS, SP, metcon 1-19-10

Front Squat - 200lb/3, 220/3, 232.5/3 PR
KB Shoulder Press - 44lb/8, 44/9, 44/10

4 Rounds for time:
7 Pullups
7 KB Swing 1.5 pood
7 Burpees

5:19

Jerk, Squat, Grace, OHS, Dip 1-17-09

1-16-09

Been a little busy but mostly a lazy sack of lard and missed a week of workouts ... err I mean boy was that a much needed rest week. Yeah thats it.

In the a.m. after work...
Jerk - 165/1, 185/1, 205/1, 225, failed 245/f x 4 (PR attempts) - came real close to locking it out on the 3rd attempt

Squat - 225/1, 245/1, 265/1, 285/1, 295/f. Felt heavy

Grace - 5:29 - First metcon in 4 months and it showed. Geez that was a suckfest. I chose my first metcon to be probably my best wod that is in my wheelhouse, but it sure felt like I was standing around a lot sucking wind. It was a minute slower then the last time I did Grace (6-12-09 = 4:28) and a minute thirty 36 seconds off my PR (5-8-09 = 3:54). Not too horrendous I suppose, and it'll be interesting to see how long it takes to get my metcon back and surpass my old PR.

Thinking through making some programming changes. Due to a financial setback, I'm going to have to stop going to California Strength Academy. That really takes the wind out of my sails to continue with the sport of Olympic Lifting. I've REALLY enjoyed my experience at CSA. Great group of guys and got excellent coaching. To go from that to Olifting in my garage by myself would bite. I'm bummed by the thought. I'm also fat and out of metcon shape which has been wearing on me. Not that I didn't know it was going to happen with this type of training and going up a weight class, but it kinda sucks. I was hoping to stick with the Olifts specialization for a bit longer before making the switch back to CF, but now it looks like thats not going to happen. I'm considering some type of Catalyst Athletics/CFSB hybrid type program. Gotta think it through.

In the p.m. after a 'nights' sleep ...

Snatch Balance - 115/3, 135/2, 155/1, 165/1, 175/1 (PR +10lb)
OHS - 190/m, 185/m - Failed to lock it out overhead on push jerk because I'm a retard.
Dips - 6, 6, 6 Definitely regressed on these

Technically I consider these workouts as two separate days. I'm not sure my body agrees.

1-5 and 1-8-09

A tough week where I didn't get much done ... pathetic

1-5-09:

Snatch 40/2 x 3, 50/1, 55/1 x 3, 60/1 x 3, 62.5/1 x 3, 65/1 x10
Clean and Jerk 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1

Ran out of time, stopped there

1-8-09

Snatch 65lb/2 x 2, 85/2, 115/1, 135/1, 145/1, 155/1, 167.5/m x 3

CSA 12-31-09

Happy New Year!!!

Donnie says New Year's Eve is a day for PR's. Last day of the year to make a PR. Another wonderful day at CSA, as Jake and Lisa came back. Jake squatted, Lisa learned the Jerk from Donnie and made a big PR, then tied her Snatch PR from Tuesday, and I hit 3 PR's. I really enjoyed lifting with Jake and Lisa.

Snatch - 50/1 x 5, 55/1 x 5, 50/2, Hang Snatch 50/2
Clean and Jerk - 75/1 x5, 80/1 x 2, 85/1 x 5
Front Squat - 90/1, 105/1, 115/1, 122.5/m, 115/2 (PR)
Muscle Snatch - 40/5, 45/5, 50/5, 60/5
Jerk - 90/3, 95/3 (PR), 97.5/2 (PR) missed the third rep 3 times

Might have been cheating on the muscle snatches a bit. No one was around to verify if I was doing them wrong. Never really done them before.

CSA 12-29-09

Snatch - 50/1 x 3, 55/1 x 3, 57.5/1 x 3, 60/1 x 3
Clean and Jerk - 60/1, 70/1, 80/1 x 3, 85/1 x 3, 90/1 x 3
Front Squat - 90/3, 100/3, 105/3 (PR)
Snatch Grip Push Press x 3 + OHS x 3 - 50, 55, 60 ran out of time so had to stop

Lisa and Jake came to CSA with me tonight. Jake observed, Lisa lifted. Dave Spitz walked her through the Snatch step by step and she did really well! Made a Snatch PR and a Clean PR. Nice work Lisa!

CSA 12-26-09

12-26-09

Snatch - 40/2 x 3, 50/2, 55/1, 60/1, 65/1, 67.5/1, 70/1, 72.5/m x 3
Clean and Jerk - 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 100/m x 3
Front Squat - 90/2, 100/1, 110/1, 122.5/m, 110/2 (PR)
Snatch Grip Push Press - 70/5, 75/5, 75/5
Back Extension - 3 x 10 w/ 20kg

Not much go in my lifts today. I did manage to lose the bar behind me, drop it, bouncing it off the base of my neck and down my back on the first 72.5kg Snatch attempt. Good fun.

12-27-09

Back Squat at work: 225/3, 245/1, 265/1, 285/1, 305/m, 280/1 and decided not to go for a double at 280 because there was no way that was going to happen. Should have gone with a higher volume rep scheme instead of the heavy single.

Squat and Jerk 12-24-09

Back Squat - 205/3, 235/1, 255/1, 275/1, 300lb/1 PR (+10lb), 275/2 PR
Jerk - 185/2, 205/1, 225/1, 240/m, 240lb/1 PR

Woohoo 3 0 0 !

CSA 12-19-09

Snatch - worked up to 70 (90%), missed 3 times at 72.5
Clean & Jerk - worked up to 100 (95%), missed the clean 3 times at 107 (2 kilo PR attempt)
Back Squat - 100, 110, 120, 130 (tied PR), 132.5 needed a good amount of help with a spot to make it

I tried for the first time to use a belt while Snatching today just for the heck of it on the final couple lifts. I was hoping it'd make an awe inspiring magical difference causing an anti gravity storm and a huge PR ... No dice.

12-21-09

Ran out of time on the 19th to do Jerks, so I did them today.

175lb/1, 205/1, 215/1, 225/1, 235/1 PR, 240/m x 2

CSA 12-17-09

Snatch - 30/2 x 3, 40/2 x 2, 50/1, 60/1, 65/1, 67.5/m
Clean & Jerk - 50/2, 60/2, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 95/1, 100/m
Front Squat - 100/1, 110/1, 120/1 PR
Block Jerks - 90/1, 100/1, 105/m, 107.5/m, 95/1

Happy with my FS PR of 264lbs (+ 11.5 lb). I weighed 200lbs for the first time ever (middle of the day after lunch yesterday).

So in the 2 months that I've now been at California Strength Academy, I've gained 13-15 lbs, my front Squat has gone up 30lbs, High Bar Back Squat + 55lbs, Snatch + 10lbs, and Clean and Jerk + 26lbs. My form has also improved a good deal. I'd call that some quality gains that I'm very pleased with. It'll be interesting to see how long I can continue making similar jumps.

CSA 12-15-09

Snatch - 40/2 x 3, 50/2, 55/1, 60/1, 65/1, 70/m, 60/1, 65/1, 70/m
Clean and Jerk - 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 95/1, 100/m
Back Squat - 105/3, 110/3, 115/3 (PR)
Snatch Grip Push Press - 70/5, 75/5, 77.5/4

Sn, C&J, FS 12-12-09

Snatch - worked up to 170lbs/1, Failed at 175lbs
Clean and Jerk - 135lbs/1, 155/1, 185/1, 205/1, 225/m
Front Squat - 205lbs/1, 225/1, 245/1, 260/m

CSA 12-10-09

Snatch + Snatch Balance - 40/2, 50/2, 55/1, 60/1, 65/1, 67.5/1, 60/2
Clean and Jerk - 50/2, 60/2, 70/1, 85/1, 95/1, 100/m, 90/2
Back Squat - 100/1, 110/1, 125/1, 135/1 *needed a small spot to push through the sticking point*, 120/1, 120/1

Squat and Press 12-6-09

Easy day today at home:

Front Squat - 200lbs/1, 200/1, 200/1
Shoulder Press - 95lbs/10, On 2nd set I stopped at 4 because of a twinge in my left anterior deltoid. Finished it off with kettlebells since that didn't aggravate it - 35lb/12, 35/12

After lifting yesterday my shoulder felt a little weird, but didn't think much of it because minor annoyances like that pop up regularly. I've felt that same shoulder twinge before and its never developed into a real problem, so I'm not worried about it. Hopefully by tuesday it'll be good to go.

CSA 12-5-09

Snatch - 30/2, 40/2, 50/2, 55/1, 60/1, 65/1, 70/got it on 2nd attempt, 75/1, 77.5/M x 3
Clean and Jerk - 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 100/got it on 3rd attempt, 105 PR
Snatch + Snatch Balance - 40/1, 50/1, 55/1, 60/2, 60/2
Front Squat - 90/1, 100/1, 110/1, 115/m, 105/1, 110/m

Had an issue diagnosed that I think will be key in fixing my snatch. The culprit is upper body weakness in the bottom of the overhead squat position. The good news is we figured it out and its quite fixable. Get stronger! My pulls at 77.5 were strong enough, I was finishing my pull, was quick enough under the bar (all issues I've been working through), just need to strengthen my receiving position. I did the Snatch Balances in order to strengthen that position. On a good note, I got lower then I think I ever have before when doing those snatch balances because he kept yelling at me to get lower. Just felt like I sunk an extra couple inches that I didn't know I could. Kinda weird to just 'find' that extra depth.

At 100 I made the cleans but missed the jerk twice, before coming back a third time and nailing it. The jerk definitely felt lighter that time because I squared away my form. Funny how that works. Hitting 105kg (231lbs) felt really good. It was just a lot of fun to lock it out and stand up with that puppy. It was some hard work with the 3 attempts at 100 immediately before, but I'm glad I pushed and went for 105. Donnie thinks I'll have 110 in 2 weeks. Snatching 75 (matches my PR), and C&J 105 also gives me a meet total PR of 180. =) Best day at CSA so far.

I was worn out for the front squats, so not surprising they were nothing special.

CSA 12-3-09

AM Session:
Snatch - 55/1 x 7, 60/1 x 3
Clean and Jerk - 50/1, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 85/1, 95/1
Back Squat - 100/5, 105/5, 105/5

Should have pushed the back squat a bit heavier. Thought I'd be more worn out from squatting 3 times already this weak. Glad to see I wasn't.

PM Session:
Front Squat - 40/3, 60/3, 80/2, 90/1, 100/1, 110/1, 120/m x 2

Grrrrr I was hoping to hit 120kilos (265lbs) so I'd be on track for a 105 kg Clean on Saturday. Just couldn't grind through it.

Talked with Donnie about some changes to the programming. Set up a schedule and it looks to be some tough work is coming down the pipe.

Mon: FS 5x5 *at home*

Tues: Sn, C&J, FS, and if time Block Jerks *at CSA*

Wed: PP: 5x5 - alternating weekly between Clean grip and Snatch Grip *at home*

Thur AM: Sn, C&J, FS, if time Block Jerks *at CSA*
PM: FS *at home*

Fri: Rest

Sat: Sn, C&J, BS heavy single, if time Block Jerks or other accessory strength work *at CSA*

Sun: FS (moderate) *at home*

The priority in this program is given to the three days at CSA. The other work done at home is as of secondary importance as my job/life will probably fairly regularly get in the way. He wants me doing Block Jerks 2 to 3 times a week if possible. Need to double check with him what he means by a moderate FS day on Sunday. This program also takes into account that I'm attempting to gain weight and move up to the top of the 94 kilo (207 lb) weight class. It also attempts to take into account my nutty work and sleep schedule by being a little flexible.

Squat and Push Press 12-2-09

Squat - 95lbs/3, 155/3, 185/2, 205/1, 225/1, 245/1, 270/1, 290lbs/1 (PR)
Snatch Grip Push Press - 120lbs/5, 130/5, 140/5, 155lbs/5 (PR)

Most I've ever back squatted including Low Bar Back Squat! Thanks Dan for coming over, that was fun like the good ol' times in the gym.

Squat 11-29-09 and 11-30-09

After a conversation with Jon North who is ranked #5 in the 94kg class in the USA, it became apparent that I need to be squatting more. The elite team at CSA lift 6 days a week. Squatting 1 or 2 times a day. He was fully confident that I'd be able to handle that kind of volume and more if I had the time/discipline to do it. Stepping up my squatting game to 5 days a week may now be necessary. My only concern is the tolls of shift work and lack of sleep and how that may play into it. We shall see. Today took all of 20 minutes including warmup. Nice to get back into my garage and lift there again.

Back Squat - 95lbs/5, 155/2, 185/1, 205/1, 225/1, 255/1, 265/1, 280lbs/1 PR

300lbs should be here soon. So a PR Front Squat yesterday and Back Squat today. Might be something to this squatting 5 days a week thing.

11-30-09

Back Squat - 95lbs/3, 155/3, 185/1, 205/1, 225/1, 255/1, 265/1, 285lbs/1 PR

That matches my best ever low bar back squat! 3 days and 3 squat PR's. Not bad. Been sleeping good, eating tons and lifting heavy. Loving it.

CSA 11-28-09

Snatch - 40/1, 50/1, 55/1, 60/1, 65/1, 70/m x 3
Clean and Jerk - 40/1, 50/1, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 92.5/1, 102.5/1 PR!
Front Squat - 90/1, 100/1, 107.5/1, 115/1 PR
Block Jerks - 90/1, 100/m x 2, 90/2, 70/3

Snatch - grrrr
Clean and Jerk - Failed the clean twice, then 225lb x 1 (102.5kg) which was my goal for this year! Nailed it! Game Over!!
Front Squat - heavy, but it went up
Block Jerks- Sometimes I put my head through, sometimes I dont. Really need to square that away.

CSA 11-25-09

Alex Honnold Half Dome Free Solo from Joshua Wagner on Vimeo.

Snatch High Pull + Snatch - 40/2, 40/2, 50/2 x 5, 55/1, 60/1, 65/1, 70/1, 75/m x 3
Clean + 2 Jerk - 40/1, 50/1, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 85/1, 90/1, 95/m the jerk
Back Squat - 100/5, 100/5, 100/5, 100/5, 100/5 (5x5 PR)

Snatch - First time I've snatched 70 in exactly a month. It went up quick, and like just about all successful snatches it felt easy and good. I think the keys to making that lift was being more aggressive at the end of my pull, being quicker under the bar, and snapping my hands up explosively. Glad I hit it, but tired of being stuck here. I've got some form issues that I need to iron out.
Back Squat - that was 80% of my max 5x5. Uoof. I don't know if I wasn't expecting to work when I came into the gym or what, but that was tough. Certainly doable, but the first set was harder then it should of been because mentally I wasn't ready. I also think a couple of my first set squats may have been shallow.

Now its time to load up on a lot of delicious calories today and tomorrow (2 thanksgivings, woot!) and go into my Saturday lifting session 2 kilos heavier. Yeehaww! Happy Gobbler day!

CSA 11-21-09

Snatch - 40/1, 50/1, 60/1, 65/1, 70/m x 3
Clean and Jerk - 60/1, 70/1, 85/1, 95/1, 102.5/ made the clean for a PR and missed the jerk
Front Squat - 90/1, 100/1, 107.5/1, 115/1 PR
Snatch Push Press - 52.5/5, 57.5/5, 62.5/5, 67.5/5 PR

Clean PR of 225lbs and a Front Squat PR of 253lbs. Both were absolute eye popping grind your teeth gut check maximums. Woot! The Snatch Push Press is a PR as well, haven't trained them much.

CSA 11-19-09

Snatch High Pull + Snatch - 40/2, 40/2, 50/2 x 6
Power Clean and Power Jerk - 60/3, 70/2, 75/2, 80/2, 85/1, 90/1 PR for Power Jerk
Back Squat - 70/3, 90/2, 110/1, 120/1, 125/1 PR, 115/1, 115/1
Jerk off Blocks - 85/3, 95/2, 95/2, 105/m, 100/1, 102.5/m, 102.5/1 PR

3 PRs. I'm a happy man. First time I've gone for a heavy single on a back squat while at CSA. Up to this point its been all front squats and when back squatting its been speed work on the tendo machine, or strength work for sets of 5. I was stoked with my 14 kg (31lbs) PR. That puts me at only 5 kg away from my previous best low bar back squat PR of 285lbs. It'll be fun to finally catch up with that and start squatting heavier then ever before. Now if I had continued doing low bar back squats I'm sure I'd be up around 300lbs right now. But I'll get there soon enough with the high bar back squat and its better for the olympic lifts (in my opinion).

Donnie was surprised with my 198lb Power Jerk. He figured I'd max out at 80. With a 90kg power jerk he said I should have a 110kg split jerk instead of 100kg. So something is off that is keeping me from the numbers I should be hitting in the split jerk. I've got some form issues to iron out or some weakness in that position to improve upon. Not sure what it is just yet. It could be based upon the large amounts of power jerks done in crossfit causing me to be stronger in that position then the average lifter who rarely works it.

Took a fight to make the jerk PR. I mean it was a grind. Rode that puppy super low, but managed to keep the arms locked out and got it done. 225lbs overhead is a good way to end a workout. Especially when clean and jerking 225 is my goal for the year. Should be happening in the next week or two.

CSA 11-14-09

Snatch - 40/2, 50/2, 50/2, 60/1, 60/1, 65/1, 67.5/m, 72/m x 3, 60/1, 67.5/m, 65/1, 55/2, 55/2
Clean and Jerk - 40/2, 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 97.5/1 (PR), 100/1 (PR)
Front Squat - 80/3, 90/2, 100/1, 110/1, 115/m, 100/2
Dumbell Shoulder Press - 40lbs/12, 40/10, 40/8, 40/6, 40/6, 40/6

Stoked about the Clean and Jerk PR. Triple Digits!! SAt 100kg I made the first clean, missed the jerk, missed the second clean, made the third clean, missed the jerk and on the fourth attempt it finally went up. So that was also 3 clean singles at PR weight. Nice to know it wasn't a fluke to clean 100. A lightbulb went on today that I've gotta explode out of the bottom of the clean. I had been collapsing before today at the bottom of a real heavy clean. But I figured out if I don't wait around at the bottom of the front squat (though I wasn't doing this consciously) and instead concentrate on firing the weight back up as soon as possible, I don't collapse under the weight like I did before. A subtle but important difference. I'm now 5lbs away from this year's C&J goal of 225lbs. A good day. Now all I have to do is get those darn snatches to start coming along.

CSA 11-10-09

Snatch - 50 - 1 x 8, 55/m, 50/1, 52/1, 55/1, 57.5/1, 60/m, 60/1, 65/1, 65.7/1, 70/m x 3
Clean and Jerk - 50/1, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 95/1, 97.5/m, 97.5/clean then missed the jerk - that makes a clean PR
Back Squat - 88.75/5, 92.5/5, 92.5/5

Got some good coaching from Max today. He suggested box squats (bodyweight only for now) as a part of my warmup to get my hips, groin and hamstrings more flexible. On the Snatch need to raise my back/head faster in order to keep up with my hips which were coming up off the ground ahead of my back/head. My back squat is about the same as my front squat. Which says that my back is the weak link in the chain. I was happy with my Clean PR of 97.5, and I think that Jerk will happen next time. 100 is getting within range.

CSA 11-7-09

Snatch - 40/2, 50/1, 60/1, 65/1, 70/Mx3, Snatch High Pull+Snatch - 50/2, 55/2
Clean & Jerk - 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 95/M on clean, 97.5/M on clean, 70/1, 80/1, 85/1, 85/1
Front Squat - 90/1, 100/1, 105/1, 90/2, 90/2
Snatch Grip Push Press - 50/5, 50/5, 55/5, 60/5
OHS - 60/3, 65/3, 70/3

Was hoping for a PR today. No dice. Probably should have gone a little heavier on the Snatch Grip Push Press.

CSA 11-5-09

Snatch - 30/3, 40/3, 50/3, 55/3, 60/3, 60/3
Power Clean, Clean & Jerk - 50/3, 60/3, 65/3, 70/3, 70/3, 70/3, 70/3
Back Squat (tendo) - 90/2, 90/2, 90/2, 90/2, 90/2, 90/2, 90/2, 90/2 - velocity varied between 0.67 - 0.83
Dumbell Shoulder Press - 40lb/8, 40/8, 45/6, 40/8
OHS - 60/3, 60/3, 65/3

CSA 11-4-09

2008 Bejing Gold medalist @ 105 kg - with an Olympic and World Record total of 436kg



Snatch High Pull, Snatch - 30/1, 40/1, 50/1, 55/1, 60/1, 60/1, 60/1, 60/1, 60/1
Clean and Jerk - 30/1, 40/1, 50/2, 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1
Front Squat - 80/3, 90/2, 100/1, 102.5/1, 112.5/1 (PR +2.5kg), 100/3 (PR)
Jerk from Blocks - 75/3, 75/3, 75/3, 75/3
Sled Drag 50kg x 2
Back Extensions - 2 x 10

On the snatches stayed at a lower weight and goal was to have zero misses. Missed twice with 60 on 2nd and 2nd to last attempts. Immediately redid them and made the lifts.

Donny just wanted me to C&J to 90. No misses. Which ended leaving my legs fresh for a Front Squat PR of 112.5 kg or 248lbs. And then a PR on the triple of 100 kg or 220lbs. My legs felt strong and I had a little more left in them but Donnie called it there. He said with a triple at 100 on the front squat I can be confident that I'll be able to clean 100 on Saturday no problem when I go for a PR C&J. Interesting because I was tired after a long night of work ridden with overtime. I almost didn't train today and didn't think I'd have much in me. I hadn't planned on going for a PR but Donnie told me to try. The outside voice of a coach is so important. Its not always best to listen to our bodies but rather the voice of an experienced guide.

Jerks went up pretty well with no misses. Need to have quicker feet.

CSA 10-31-09

Snatch - 30/3, 40/2, 50/1, 57.5/1, 62.5/1, 67.5/m x 3, 60/1, 65/1, 67.5/m, 60/1
Clean & Jerk - 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 100/mx3, 90/1
Front Squat - 90/3, 100/1, 105/1, 107.5/1, 100/2
Push Press - 40/5, 50/5, 60/5, 65/5 (PR)
Back Extension - 10 x 3 with 5kg bar

Just wasn't my day to snatch

C&J - Missed all three attempts at 100 on the clean. 2nd attempt was close but couldn't stand up with it, failed at the sticking point. Would have been a 4kg PR. All the pulls looked good, it was just too heavy to front squat it.

Push Press - I think I have more in me if I approached a 5 rep max fresh.

CSA 10-29-09

At CSA

Snatch - 20 in 20 minutes at 55kg
C&J - 50/1, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 85/1, 70/2, 70/2
Back Squat (on tendo machine) 70/2 -0.97 80/2 -0.87 90/2-0.73 90/2-0.72 90/2-0.73 90/2-0.69
Jerk from Jerk blocks - 70/3, 75/3, 80/2, 85/2, 90/1, 95/m, 95/1

Snatches completed with no misses.

First time using a tendo machine and it was pretty cool. They had it set to measure velocity. Worked on speed out of the hole. The faster you can explode out of the bottom using stretch reflex the better you'll be at pushing through the sticking point and the heavier weights you'll lift.

Never used Jerk blocks either. Good stuff.

CSA 10-27-09

At CSA

Snatch - 30/2, 40/2, 50/2, 60/1, 65/1, 70/1, 75/f, 76/f, 50/2, 50/2, 50/2, 50/2
Clean and Jerk - 50/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 96/1 (PR), 98/f, 90/1, 90/1
Front Squat - 90/3, 100/2(PR), 110/f, 105/1

Snatch - Working on staying on my heels the entire lift instead of drifting forward toward the ball of my feet as I get the bar past my knees. Also need to stay over the bar longer and explode my second pull off the hips instead of off the thighs. I was also brushing the bar up my quads/hips and never really contacting them solidly. I need to connect with the bar in an aggressive, solid explosion in order to really explode. More like bouncing the bar off my legs explosively. I'm not explaining this very well at all.

C&J - 1k PR. I'll take it. Couldn't clean it at 98kg. Coach Pendlay said I was pulling it real high...higher then I needed to, which caused the weight to crash down on me when I receive it and that makes it a lot heavier and harder to recover from the front squat.

I brain farted on the front squats and did a triple at 90 instead of 70 and a double at 100 instead of 80. Which in turn wore me out and caused the failure at 110. Oh well.

CSA 10-24-09

At California Strength Academy

Snatch - 30kilos/2, 40/2, 50/2, 60/1, 65/1, 70/Miss x 3, 55/2, 50/2, 50/2, 50/2

Clean and Jerk - 50kilos/2, 60/1, 70/1, 80/1, 90/1, 95/Miss x 3

Had to rush the workout so didn't get to work any doubles at a lower weight on C&J or get to squat

At home got in my Front Squats - 155lbs/3, 175/1, 200/1, 220/1, 230/1, 240/1, 250/Miss x 2

Snatch - Got a great cue from John North. I wasn't pulling from the hip, I was exploding when the bar got just above my knee. This caused me to muscle it up and not get my legs/hips into it as much. When he gave me that cue and I made the fix of pulling from the hip by staying over the bar longer, the bar flew up much faster. There was a very noticeable increase in bar speed. Felt much more explosive. I love it when a light bulb clicks on in the ol' brain. Now all I need to do is finish better and pull myself under the bar to drop it into the slot. And keep my upper back tight by pulling that bar apart thus giving me a stronger receiving position. And once I have that dialed there will be plenty more to work on. But every improvement in form leads to more weight on the bar, so I'm loving this.

C&J - Hit the clean on the first attempt at 95, then missed the Jerk and missed the following two cleans.

Front Squat - At 250lbs, I almooost had it on the first attempt. Couldn't quite grind past the sticking point on the way up but I was close. A little greedy to go for 250, which was a 8lb jump from two days ago when I got a 7lb PR. I'll get it soon enough though.

CSA 10-22-09

Session coached by Donnie at California Strength Academy

Snatch - 30 x 3, 40 x 2, 50 x 2, 60 x 1, 65 x 1
High Hang Snatch - 40 x 2, 50 f x 2, 50 x 2
Clean & Jerk - 50 x 2, 60 x 1, 70 x 1, 80 x 1, 90 x 1
High Hang Clean & Jerk - 70 x 2, 75 x 2
Front Squat - 70 x 3, 80 x 2, 90 x 1, 100 x 1, 110 x 1 (PR)
Rack Jerk - 60 x 3, 60 x 3, 60 x 3

On the Snatch I need to 'spread the bar' or 'pull it apart' when receiving it. My shoulders will tend to roll forward some and create weaker shoulders and upper back. I believe that may be an important key to fix a lot of my frustrating misses where I pull the bar high enough, get under it, the bar falls into the slot, but I kinda collapse under the weight starting with my upper back. Its nice to have that diagnosed!

On my cleans I'm hopping forward some and need to stop that.

Front Squats - PR! Thats a 7.5 lb PR. I need to be quicker out of the hole. Need to learn to work the bounce out of the bottom. Gotta keep my back tight. Used a belt on the last rep as Donnie thought I'd benefit from a belt on squats and when going overhead with Jerks. Looks like it'll become a regular part of my lifting. As Donnie said, any tool that will make us stronger, we'll use.

Kept the rack jerks light to work on the following:
On the Jerks I need to focus on 'putting my head through', and 'reaching for the shelf' - getting full extension of my arms and shoulders when receiving the bar. I also need to slow down my decent on the dip so I don't lose contact with the bar which causes it to crash down on me in the bottom of the dip, making it feel heavier then it is. And plant the front foot better.

There's no replacement for good coaching.

Bike 10-20 and Lift 10-20-09

10-19-09

1 hour mt bike ride with the Academy

10-20-09

Snatch
65lbs x 2, 85 x 2, 95 x 2, 115 x 2, 135 x 1, 145 f then x 1, 155 f then x 1, 160 f, 165 f x2, 137.5 f x 3 For some reason after hitting 155 which was my PR as of a week ago and 94% of my PR from Friday, I all of a sudden couldn't Snatch 137.5 for the life of me. Blahh.

Clean & Jerk

95lbs x 2, 115 x 2, 135 x 1, 155 x 1, 175 x 1, 185 x 1, 195 x 1, 205 x 1, 215 f on clean. Good pull and got under it but was in a bad position to receive it and bailed (would have been a 6lb PR) 175 Clean and 2 Jerks, 185 Clean and 2 Jerks

Front Squat

205lbs x 3, 215 x 1, 225 x 1, 235 x 1 (ties PR) - This was possibly the slowest front squat I've ever done, was barely able to push through the sticking point.

I fashioned my workout similar to what I did with Donny Shankle on Saturday and what he explained will probably be my programming. In general he said the programming for someone like me tends to be 3 days of: Snatch heavy single, Clean and Jerk heavy single, and front squats. Usually percentage wise it should be close to lifting with 95% on Mon, 90% on Wed, and 105% on Fri. Then if anything extra is added it is decided by Glenn Pendlay who will pick a little accessory work to address whatever specific weakness I need to work through. Seems pretty common to hit a heavy single for the day and then drop back down about 10% or so and hit a few doubles or triples.

I have a private session scheduled with Glenn on Saturday which I'm really looking forward to. I'm thinking I may schedule a few of them in the next few weeks. I hope to establish a baseline of my lifting mechanics with him so he gets an idea of what I need to work on. Also I'm hoping to get put on a specific program. I'm very interested to see what exactly it will be.

Snatch worked up to 70k
Clean and Jerk - worked up to 90 where I failed on the jerk three times. then did clean and 2 jerks at 70, 75, 80
Front Squat - 100 x 3, 105 x 2, 110 f x 2 (would have been a 3.5 kilo PR), 95 x 2

Got coached by Donny Shankle. How cool is that???

California Strength Academy

First up in this video is Donny Shankle



Snatch - 40 x 2, 50 x 2, 55 x 2, 60 x 2, 65 x 2, 70 x 1 f on 2nd, 75k (165lb) x 1 PR, 80f
Clean & Jerk - 60, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95 (209lb) PR, 100 f

I went for it. Jumped in with both feet and joined the California Strength Academy Weightlifting Club. Head coach? None other then Glenn Pendlay. The team is stacked with some powerhouse athletes. Everybody I met there were nice and encouraging. It was such a great environment to train in. And not just because of the quality Werksan training and economy bumpers with Werksan, Pendlay and Elieko bars. Though having quality equiment like that to lift with sure can't help but put a smile on my face. The atmosphere is awesome really because of the level of intensity in that place. Gets me fired up now just thinking about it. No wonder I had a 10lb PR in the Snatch and 4 lb PR in the Clean and Jerk. What a great day it was. I'm exited about the future strength and power gains to come. As David Spitz put it after watching me lift...he said there are a lot of kilos I will add to my lifts by cleaning up my technique and becoming more efficient and not becoming a kilo stronger. But not to worry, I'll be getting plenty stronger while I'm there too. If I can swing it and get the time off work the first meet is in November.

Wow. I'm stoked.

Run/OHS

Had to run with the academy today. 16 min run.

Felt scorched after the run so I 86'd the mass (a)gain programming.

Did some overhead squats with another trainer - 95 x 5, 115 x 3, 135 x 3, 155, 165, 175, 185 (PR) 190 f

That makes for a bodyweight OHS. Woohoo!

Previously I've failed when going for a one rep max during the jerk portion. I was push jerking it. Today I tried split jerking the weight from behind my back in a snatch grip and it worked much better. The failure at 190 was losing it at the bottom.

This was the final day of my second week on the mass gain program. Pretty much a wasted week primarily because of redman extra academy PT and business. I'll get back on track and redo week 2, starting on Wednesday.

Mass Gain/Redman

10-7-09

Back Squat 77% 3 x 10 - 180lbs
Ring Dips - 10, 7, 6

10-8-09

8 hours in Redman suit

Mass Gain Day 4

The warmup



And the Snatch in competition after the warmup



Clean and Jerk



10-5-09

Front Squat – 75% x 3 x 5 - 175lbs
Snatch – heavy single - 95, 115, 135, 145, 150, 155 f, 160 f
Press – 75% x 3 x 5 - 90lbs

Mass Gain Day 2 & 3

Mass Gain Week 1, Day 2 & 3

10-1-09

Power Snatch – 60% (of snatch) x 2 x 3 - 95lbs
Power Clean & Jerk – 60% (of CJ) x 2 x 3 - 125lbs
Max Pull-ups – 30, 19, 12

10-2-09

Deadlift – 80% x 3 x 3 - 275lbs
Weighted Ring Dips – 5 x 5 - 5lbs
Max Weighted Pull-ups – 10lbs - 11, 11, 6

Deadlifts were heavy. I've regressed on them some. That sucks. Weighted dips were harder then I thought. 1st set of pullups I came off the rings before I hit a true max. d-u-m-b.

Mass Gain Day 1

I'm on to a new program. Greg Everett's Mass Gain program from the Mass (a)gain article found in Performance Menu.

CA WOD # 25 & #26 9-26-09

On 9-24-09 a buddy Matt came over and I worked up to 150lb snatch.  Worked on his deadlift form and tried hammering silly bodybuilding thoughts out of his head.  Thats all I got in.

9-26-09

Snatch heavy single -  65 x 3, 85 x 2, 95 x 1, 115 x 1, 125 x 1, 135 x 1, 145 x 1, 150 x 1, 155 x 1, 155 f x 3, 160 f x 3

Clean and Jerk heavy single - 135, 155, 175, 185, 195, 205 f on jerk

Front Squat heavy clean single weight 2 x 2 - 205

Toes to Bar 3 x 10

I really wanted a Snatch PR today.  I failed to get 155 3 times.  But I stepped up to 160 anyways.  Couldn't feel really much difference between the two.  Failed 3 more times at 160.  No bueno.  

OL WOD # 25 9-23-09

I'll stop calling what I'm doing Catalyst Athletics because I've been off of it for so many weeks now.  I've basically been stringing together Catalyst Athletics type workouts together on my own.

Snatch heavy single - worked up to 150, 155 f

OHS - 135 x 9 PR, worked up to 175, 185 f on push press portion

A couple buddies from work came over.  Worked on snatch and ohs form with them and talked shop which slowed us way down.  No time for more.  

CA WOD # 24 9-21-09

Snatch 80% 1 x 5 - 125lbs

Clean and Jerk 80% 1 x 5 - 170lbs

Snatch Balance Heavy Single - 95, 115, 135, 145, 155, 165 f x 2

Felt good to get in some lighter weight, skill work.  Better day today.  Concentrated on keeping the weight on my heels which I think helped me not lose the weight in front of me in the receiving position.

CA WOD # 24 9-20-09

I need a kick in the rear.  Some motivation.  Gotta get out of this slump.  Maybe this video will help a little.  Iron Mike had a heck of a work ethic.

Snatch Heavy Single then 90% of that 1 x 3 - worked up to 145 then 130 3 x 1

Clean and Jerk Heavy Single then 90% of that 1 x 3 - failed my clean at 175.  Pathetic.  Quit cleaning and just jerked on up to 195 where I failed.  Threw in the towel.  So Front Squats and ab work didn't happen.

Crappy day in the gym.  Well rested so I thought it'd be a good day.  Boy was I wrong.  These are the dividends of being an inconsistent lazy nogooder.  Don't be that guy!

CA WOD # 23 9-17-09

9-15-09  No time so ...  Weighted Bar Dips 10lbs - 10, 10, 9

9-17-09  Week 9

Snatch Balance - 95, 115, 135, 145, 155 f x 3

Jerk - 155, 175, 185, 195, 205, 215 f x 2

back squat with today's max jerk weight 2 x 3 - 205

Windshield Wipers 10 x 3 - 135lb

Checked the workout box today despite my lazy intent not to.

Mt Shasta

Mt Shasta - view from ~7000 ft.  Our base camp was at the treeline at the center of the photo.

Heading up the trailhead on the first day.

Base Camp

View of the summit from 13,800 ft

Summit Proof

Summit Success!

Clear Creek Route:  Trailhead 6,400 ft.  1st day hiked to base camp at 8,700 ft.  2nd day hiked to the summit at 14,126 ft and back down to base camp.  3rd day hiked out and drove home.  Crazy steep slopes covered in loose scree and talus.  One step forward, half a step back.  Winds constant 20-50 mph with gusts up to 70 mph!  On the 2nd day started at 4:15 am, summitted 10 hours later and made it back to base camp 5 hours after that.  Intense and epic adventure!  

CA WOD # 22 9-9-09

I'd be very remiss if I didn't finally make a point about some of the new folks following my blog.  ekh2004, buff, and golift.  I don't know you guys, so feel free to leave a comment whenever the thought strikes you.  Are any of you on Brand X's forum?  Is that how you bumped into this blog?  Feel free to let me know what you do and don't like about the blog and if you have any thoughts for improvements.  Golift I like your site.  I need to start checking it out regularly.  

On to today's episode ...

Catalyst Athletics Week 8, Day 2

Snatch Balance heavy single - 95, 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, 160 f x 2, 160, 165 f

Jerk heavy single - 155, 175, 185, 195, 205, 215 f x 2

3 Rounds for time

15 KB Swings - 2 pood

15 Burpees

5:36

That was a good one.  I shouldn't call what I've done in the last number of weeks Catalyst Athletics programming.  Its so far from what is prescribed its sad.  But I'm getting some work in at least.  

Snatch 9-8-09

9-7-09

3 sets of weighed bar dips with 10lbs

10,9,7

9-8-09

Snatch heavy single - worked up to 150lbs

Ran out of time so did

4 Rounds Run 400m

3 min rest in between

1:12, 1:16, 1:24, 1:22

Interesting.  I did 10 rounds of 10-12 second sprints w/ 3:00 min rest on the beach a week ago.  I may have been more out of breath at the end of the 3:00 min rest doing those sprints then I was doing these 400's.  

My workouts have been a very sad state of affairs since I went on vacation.  After I get back from climbing Mt Shasta this weekend I'll have to yank up on the ol bootstraps and get back into it.  Hard routine style.  

CA WOD # 21 9-4-09

Catalyst Athletics Week 7, Day 3

Snatch heavy Single - 150

Clean and Jerk heavy Single - 190, 200 - failed jerk

Front Squat 85% of max, 2 x 3 - 200lb

CA WOD # 20 9-2-09

Catalyst Athletics Week 7, Day 2

• Power Snatch - 75% x 1 x 5 - 117.5 lbs
• Power Clean & Jerk - 75% x 1 x 5 - 157.5 lbs
• Back Squat Heavy Single - 135 x 3, 155 x 2, 175, 190, 205, 225, 235 (PR) with belt, 245 (PR +15lb) with belt

3 Rounds 

600m Row  

1 Min Rest

1:48 pace for first round unknown time, 2:18, and 2:17

CA WOD # 19 9-1-09

Catalyst Athletics Week 7, Day 1

Snatch Heavy Single ...  Worked up to 155

Clean and Jerk Heavy Single ...  Worked up to 190 and called it.  

Its been 8 days since I last lifted and it shows.  Lots of misses today.  Though I ended up doing respectable on the Snatch, my cleans were straight ugly.  My pulls were weak and had no pop.  

Spent some time gathering gear for my climb in two weeks.  I'll be climbing Mt Shasta (14,162 ft) with zero training for mountaineering specific fitness.  It'll be interesting to see how Catalyst Athletics prepares me for it.

Ocean Kayaking 8-31-09

Took an Intro to Sea Kayaking class with Half Moon Bay Kayak Co.  Learned a ton of great info.  Paddled for ~5 hours and worked on rescue techniques. Good fun.

Academy Run 8-28-09

I'll make up for my lack of good workouts with an awesome K9 video.  Not many German Shepherds, but man are those Malinois fast and athletic.  My favorite part is at 4:19 .. Land shark action at its finest!

  

Run with the Academy ~2.7 miles  in ~20 min

It was 103 degrees and for this pantywaist that is hot!  The run sucked.  More then usual.  A slight tweak in my hamstring from those beach sprints and my wrist from who knows what and thats all it took for me to not lift. 

Luckily this week was a rest week for this Catalyst Athletics program.  However it was just lower intensity weightlifting, and NOT no weightlifting.  Oh well, it'll be good to lift again this week.  And despite my newfound sea kayaking endeavors, and contrary to popular belief, I'm not giving up crossfit or lifting.  I am however going kayaking again tomorrow.  Woot!

**Update**  As of today (8-30-09) the wrist and hamstring are feeling better.

Ocean Kayak 8-26-09

4 Hours AMRAP of paddling:

9+ miles of epic water

It was my first time ever in a Kayak.  What a complete blast.  We paddled out of Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay.   Setting out for open ocean and Sail Rock the most notable ocean feature in the area.  Within 20 minutes of getting in the kayak we surfed our first wave off of Sail Rock, a 6 footer!  What a rush.  I'll admit I was in a little over my head but my top notch guide was absolute money.  With massive experience that comes with thousands of miles paddled including expeditions such as a 3 months straight into the heart of Honduras, and expert knowledge of the local waters, he was the ideal teacher and guide for our adventure.  And I was game to be pushed and have a steep learning curve shoved in front of me.  Sink or swim time and it worked out great.  

We headed on to the world famous Mavericks where some of the largest waves on the globe are found during the winter.  We paddled through the exact spot where those crazy surfers drop in on 30-60ft foot waves.  Luckily for me the waves were nothing remotely like that at this time.  Next we cruised over to the James V. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and shot through a trough made of two lines of sizable swells breaking over a line of parallel reefs.  The risk was getting capsized and pushed by the big swells pounding you into the reef.  It got a little sketchy but we pulled hard and made it through unscathed.  Circling around we headed back for Sail Rock and surfed a few more 6-8 ft waves.  We got dumped twice in the process and went for a swim in the drink.  One of them hammered us pretty good and even blew off the rear ballast neoprene as well as the plastic cover causing the kayak to start to sink.  Quick work was in order to pump out the water to rescue our boat.  All in all it was a great time and I couldn't be more pleased with it.  

Who knew some of the most dynamic ocean water in North America is only 45 minutes from my house??  Combine that with the beautifully rugged Northern California coastline and we've got a winner.  I've always been partial to the mountains and have never gotten into a hobby involving the ocean . . . until now.

I think I may have the kayak bug.

Post Script:  If you ever find yourself in the area of Half Moon bay, make it a priority to treat yourself to a few hours on the water with Half Moon Bay Kayak Co.  

Beach Sprint 8-25-09

Who says working out on vacation isn't fun?

10 Rounds 

10 -14 Second Sprint on beach

Rest 2:30

CA WOD # 18 8-23-09

Catalyst Athletics Week 6, Day 1

Snatch - heavy single 65, 85, 95, 115, 135, 145 f, 145, 150, 155, 160 f x 3

Front squat - heavy single 135, 155, 175, 195, 205, 220, 235 PR, 240 f

It calls for an easier week this week as a recovery week.  Thats fortunate because the wifey and I are going on vacation for a few days in a land with no Olympic Lifting access.  Sounds like some cruel form of torture, not a lovely vacation..I know.  But I'm sure I'll survive and be ready to hit it hard when I get back.

Had my first class which combines Danzan Ryu Jujitsu and Krav Maga on Saturday.  Two hours of knife defense.  Fun stuff.  I'm going to try it out for one day a week for a month and see how I like it.  There is a Krav Maga school that I'm very interested in attending that has Law Enforcement specific training, but I think its a bit too costly for me to jump into right now.  Hopefully this training hits the spot.

CA WOD # 17 8-21-09

Catalyst Athletics Week 5, Day 4

Snatch - heavy single 75, 95, 115, 135, 140, 145 f  blahhh

Clean & jerk - heavy single 145, 155, 175, 195, 205, 210 f on jerk

That makes a clean PR of 210lbs   Cool.  Was a bit light headed as I stood up out of the bottom of the squat.  Felt like a real load.  Good times.

Was at the Academy running PT so no time for anything else.  I'm looking into starting up some Danzen Ryu Jujitsu & Krav Maga classes again.  I took them for a while before I got hired with the PD.  Finally getting around to training again.  As long as all goes well at work, I'll check out a class on Saturday morning.  Should be fun.  

CA WOD # 16 8-19-09

Catalyst Athletics Week 5, Day 3

 

• Snatch 70% 1 x 3 - 110lbs
• Snatch balance - heavy single - 115, 125, 135, 145, 155f, 160 (PR), 165 f x 3, 165lb (PR +10lb), 170 f x 2
• Jumping squat from rack pins - 90% (of back squat) - 210lbs x 3; 95% 220lbs x 3; 100% x 3 230lbs
  
• Jerk Rack Support 100% 230lb, 125% 275lbs, 150% 330lbs

3 rounds for time of:
300 m row
10 Turkish get-ups (5/side) - 30% BW - 1.5 pood

12:29

First time ever doing TGU's in a metcon.  Interesting.  I think I liked it.  You aren't moving the load quickly, but there is a heck of a long ways that you move the load so that may make up for it slightly as a functional movement.  Its certainly a total body movement.

CA WOD #15 8-18-09

Catalyst Athletics Week 5, Day 2

Jerk - heavy single 155, 175, 195, 205, 215, 225 f x 2 Real close on the second failure, locked out arms but bar was leaning towards the right and I lost it

Push press - 84% x 3 x 3 - 155lbs

Clean deadlift - 109% (of clean) x 3 x 3  245lbs

Back squat - 81% x 3 x 4 - 195lbs

3 rounds for time:
"Max" pull-ups 
10 box jumps - 38"

5:52  Pullups - 30, 12 (complete mental failure after slipping before final pullup), 16 = 58

CA WOD #14 8-16-09

Olympic Lifts make you EXPLOSIVE!

Catalyst Athletics Week 5, Day 1

Snatch - 80% x 1 x 3 - 125lbs

Clean & jerk - 70% x 1 x 3 - 145lbs

Snatch pull - 100% (of snatch) x 2 x 3 - 155lbs

Front squat - 84% x 2 x 4 - 195lbs

Weighted GHD sit-ups - 1 x 10 - 45lbs - broke my GHD!!!!  Then did 2 x 15 Toes 2 Bar

The GHD broke on the square tubing at the bottom of the leg support piece.  The metal simply split, not even at a weld.  Shoddy piece of equipment.  I've used it all of 4 times and it already broke.  What a joke.  There is definitely a reason its the cheapest GHD on the market.  Not very adjustable.  The foam pad sucks bad.  And the metal can't even handle normal use.  Blah!!

I recommend AGAINST buying a Yukon GHD.  

CA WOD #13 8-14-09

Old school Wanderlei is the man. Watching a highlight reel of his is what first turned me into a MMA fan.

Academy PT - 1.8 mile run ~ 13:00 min

Snatch heavy single -  65, 75, 95, 115, 135, 145 f a bunch of times grrr

Clean and Jerk heavy single - 145, 155, 175, 185, 195, 200, 205 PR +7lb

I think I had 210 in me but I decided to stop there and hit it next time.  Happy with my PR.

CA WOD #12 8-12-09

• Snatch - 75% x 1 x 3 - 115lb
• Clean & jerk - 70% x 1 x 3 - 155lb
• OHS heavy double 135, 145, 155, 160 failed on 2nd rep
• Front squat - 81% x 3 x 4 - 190lbs

No time for a metcon or more lifts because of drama at work.  

CA WOD #11 8-11-09

Snatch heavy single:  115, 125, 135, 145, 150, 155 f

Snatch Balance heavy single:  115, 125, 135, 145, 150 PR, 155 PR +10lb, 160 f, f

Jerk: 135, 155, 175, 185, 195, 200 PR, 205, 210, 215, 220 PR +22lb!!!!

PR DAY!  Woohoo!

Guess a couple days off did this body good.  Pretty pumped with this PR.

Changed the programming up because of the missed days.  If I keep on missing so many days, I won't be following the CA program, but a hybrid of it and my own tinkering.  Gotta fix that.

Backpacking 8/09/09 & 8/10/09

Went backpacking for the past 2 days. Hiked about 13 

miles. Not much of a workout but had a good time. I'll 

be climbing Mt. Shasta next month. I don't plan on doing 

any specific training for it other then the CA wod, so it 

should be interesting.

Academy PreTest 8-7-09

Train weapon retention!

No O-Lifts today as we had the first day of PT for this Academy.  

1.5 mile run - 11:22

7 Rounds

7 Thrusters - 75lbs

7 box jumps - 24"

7 clapping pushups

8:11

CA WOD #10 8-5-09

Casey Burngner llifting some man weight!

Catalyst Athletics Week 3, Day 3

• Jerk - 80% x 2 x 2 - 160lbs; 85% x 2 x 2 - 170lbs
• Jerk dip squat - 90% (of jerk) x 3 - 177.5lbs; 95% x 3 - 187.5lbs; 100% x 3 - 197.5lbs
• Snatch push press - 70% (of snatch) x 5 - 107.5lbs; 75% x 5 - 115lbs; 80% x 5 x 2 - 125lbs

7 rounds for time:
5 kipping pull-ups
5 box jumps - 20" feet were 100% on box, no heels etc hanging over the edge

2:01

Very very quick little burner.  I almost rested for 3 minutes, and then did it again.  But I decided to trust the programming and follow it verbatim.  All unbroken, no rests in between, quick transitions as the box was underneath the pullup bar.  It'd be tough to take much time off this for me.  The biggest time saver would be a faster cycle rate, especially if I were able to do this with butterfly kips.  

Relatively happy with my form on the Jerks today because I'm noticing some slight improvement in the consistency department.  The Jerk Dip Squats were ridiculously easy, the percentages used did not make them very tough.  Oh well.  Could definitely feel the difference when I didn't get a good explosive drive at 125lbs on the Snatch grip Push Press.  The weight just floats up when I'm more aggressive with it.  

CA WOD #9 8-4-09

Some snarky Judo Gymnastics done with a partner:

Catalyst Athletics Week 3, Day 2

• Power snatch + snatch - 50% x 2 80lbs; 55% x 2 85lbs; 60% x 3 95lbs
• OHS heavy triple 95 x 3, 115 x 3, 135 x 3, 155 x 2(brain fart on 3rd rep, rocked forward at bottom); 160 x 3 (PR)
• Stiff-legged DL - 3 x 5 - 135 x 3, 185 x 3, 205 x 3, 245 x 3, 255 x 3
  
• Weighted GHD sit-ups - 3 x 10 - 45lbs

I'm new to stiff legged deadlifts, so stopped there.  Had a bit more left in the tank, me thinks.  Though it was sufficient  enough to get some good work in it at 245 and 255.

CA WOD #8 8-3-09

Catalyst Athletics Week 3, Day 1

• Clean & Jerk - 75% 1 x 3 - 150lbs
• Muscle snatch - heavy single - 145lbs
• Snatch balance - heavy single - 145lbs
• Front Squat 78% 3 x 5 - 180lbs

3 rounds for time of:
8 DB push press - 30% BW each - 50lbs each
12 kipping pull-ups
16 KB swings - 40% BW - 70lbs

7:01

My buddy Dave came over to workout tonight.  First time he ever tried snatching and he Muscle Snatched 195lbs.  Yikes.  His time on the metcon was 9:46

I hit a lazy spell and missed two workouts.  I don't remember doing that but maybe once in the past year and half.  Not good!  Gotta keep the axe to the grindstone and stay consistent.

CA WOD #7 7-29-09

I'm going to start try to start including a video per post.  Should be fun.  Here's one on Iron Mike Tyson.  Such incredible speed, power, and explosiveness!

CA WOD Week  2, Day 3

Clean & jerk - 75% x 1 x 4 - 150lb

Clean pull - 95% (of clean) x 3 x 3 - 190lb

Clean deadlift - 103% (of clean) x 3 x 3 - 210lb

Back squat - 78% x 3 x 5 - 180lbs

Toes to Bar - 3 x 15

21 - 15 - 9

Wall Ball 20lb 10'

Burpee

Box Jump 24"

9:57

Slow grind.

Max Ring Pushups - 23 PR

CA WOD #6 7-28-09

Week 2, Day 2

Overhead squat - heavy single

65 x 3, 85 x 3, 105 x 3, 125 x 3, 135, 155, 175 f on jerk, 165 f

Muscle snatch - heavy single

65 x 3, 85 x 2, 105, 115, 125, 135 f, 135, 140 f

Power snatch - 80% x 1 x 4 125lb

1000m Row - 3:41

Felt a bit out of it today.  Certainly didn't feel like last week when I put up 180lbs on the OHS.  Oh well.  On the bright side my neck is feeling much improved.  Should be 100% by tomorrow.  Checked the workout box for today.

CA WOD #5 7-27-09

Week 2, Day 1

Somehow I woke up with a pinched nerve in my neck (C2 to be exact) on Sunday morning.  So I rested it yesterday and laid around with a stiff neck.  Today it was feeling a bit better, but definitely not 100%.  I couldn't not workout any longer so I tried a few things to see what didn't aggravate it.  Definitely not an as prescribed Catalyst Athletics wod, but got in my back squats for this week.  I don't really know why back squats didn't hurt, but I'll take what I can get.

Back Squat - 78% 3 x 5 - 180lbs

Weighted Ring Dips

7 - 6 - 6 with 10lbs

Was hoping for 3 sets of 8 but that wasn't happening.  

That was it for today.  Snatches, OHS, front squats, deadlifts, pullups ...  all a no go.  I was happy to get something in, but I'm really hoping its feeling better tomorrow because I'm definitely liking this program.  I wanna keep hitting it hard and its tough to be sidelined.

CA WOD #4 7-24-09

Week 1, Day 4

• Snatch - heavy single

115, 125, 135, 145, 155 (PR +10), 160 f x 3

• Clean & jerk - heavy single

135, 155, 175, 185, 195 (f)

• Front squat - heavy single

135 x 3, 170, 190, 205, 220, 230 (f)

HERE is the video

I'll do the following metcon after work...

25-20-15-10 reps for time:
Kipping pull-ups
Knees to elbows

CA WOD #3 7-22-09

Week 1, Day 3

• Jerk - heavy single - 65 x 3, 85 x 3, 105 x 3, 115 x 3, 135 x 2, 155, 175, 190, 202.5(F) 80% of that 1 x 3 - 155lbs
• 2-position snatch (floor, mid-thigh) - 60% x 3 sets - 90lbs
• 2-position clean (floor, mid-thigh) - 60% x 3 sets - 120lbs

Was supposed to do the following metcon, but ran out of time.  If by some stroke of luck I have enough mojo to do it after work tomorrow morning, I will.

4 rounds for time of:
300 m row
5 push press - 75% - 135lbs

7:17

Mustered up the discipline to do the metcon after work.  I'm glad I did.

CA WOD #2 7-21-09

Week 1, Day 2

Snatch - 70% x 2 x 3 - 105lbs

Clean & jerk - 70% x 2 x 3 - 140lbs

Clean pull - 90% (of clean) x 3 x 3 - 180lbs

Clean deadlift - 100% (of clean) x 3 x 3 - 198.5lbs

Back squat - 75% x 3 x 5 - 175lbs

Weighted GHD Situps - 3 x 8 - 45lbs

Still combining a couple days into one because I missed the first day.  Added in Snatching and changed the ab work to use my GHD. Nothing terribly difficult today.  Did the first set of Clean pulls with 100% of clean by mistake.  Felt good.  

Got my GHD today!  Its a Yukon GHD and the best deal on the market.  IE: CHEAPEST!  After using it the very first set, I can tell you I do not like the seat pad.  It is very soft and gets pushed out of shape under my weight, getting disformed.  It slowly moves back into shape after I get off.  Weak sauce.  The other reason that it is plainly cheaper then it's competitors is the lack of adjustability and not quite as beef cakes as others that I've used.  But at $250 (and free shipping) compared to about $500 at the next cheapest (not including shipping), its hard to complain too loudly.  I may have to get a different material for the seat pad and put it in there.  Then I'll have my very own custom upholstered GHD.  We'll see.

I'm excited to hear that Joel (see my blog list on the right) will be joining my cousin and me in this Catalyst Athletics cycle.  

CA WOD # 1 7-20-09

Catalyst Athletics Wod

Week 1, Day 1

Muscle Snatch + 2 Snatch Balances - Take to heaviest MS possible 

95, 105, 115, 125, 135 (failed on 2nd Snatch Balance)

Power Clean and Jerk - 80% of PC 1 x 4 - 180lbs (failed on 4th Jerk)

Front Squat - 75% 3 x 5 - 175lbs

3 Rnds

10 Burpees

10 Pullups

2:44

This is Day 1 of a 10 week Strength Cycle from Catalyst Athletics (wfs).  It starts on April 13th if you want to go back and take a look.  I missed yesterday, so I combined yesterday and today's wod to come up with this.

Hopefully I can fight my severe case of 'icantstickwithaprogramitis' and follow this for the full 10 weeks.  Only time will tell.  I need to write up some goals for OL.  This year's Olympic Lifting goals are to Clean and Jerk 225 and to Snatch my bodyweight.  That might be a wee bit aggressive for 10 weeks.

Looking forward to this period of Olympic Weight Lifting specialization.  I believe it's probably a must for everyone to take some time at one point in their crossfit 'career' and focus on OL.  It doesn't have to be this much of a specialized focus, but it needs to happen at some point.  They are simply that important.  At least thats my story and I'm sticking to it.  Go get your O-Lift on!

Snatch Balance and Double Unders 7-17-09

HSPU

5, 5, 8  Head to 25lb bumper and abmat.  Slow and steady improvement.

Snatch Balance

64 x 3

95 x 3

115 x 3

125 x 3

135 x 3

First time doing these with any load.  Failed on a few at 125 and 135.  Great accessory lift for the Snatch.

10 Rounds For Reps

1:00 Min Max Double Unders

1:00 Min Rest

67 (PR), 50, 50, 44, 43, 47, 41, 43, 49, 51

Fran 7-16-09

Fran

21 - 15 - 9

Thrusters 95lb

Pullups

7:07

Pathetic.  1:23 slower then my PR.  

Cash Out:  10:00 min pity party.  

2009 Games Photos

Coach Glassman opens the Games!

Pat Barber feeling beat on the Snatch/Wall Ball Wod.

Miko Salo just fails on 505lbs!  It was at this point after he had taken a close 2nd on the run and nearly finished the deadlifts that I knew he was truly a force to be reckoned with.

Chris Spealer leading the pack on the 7k run.

Jason Khalipa seconds before he collapses in agony.

Jolie Gentry tearing it up.

Spealer passes Miko Salo in the final stretch to take 1st!

Wish I had taken more photos and not forgotten my camera all 3 days.  What a dolt.  Luckily my brother had his camera the second day.  Thanks for letting me steal it and snap these!  What a weekend!

OHS and Annie 7-14-09

Overhead Squat

95 x 3

115 x 3

135 x 3

155 x 1

175 x 1 (bodyweight) PR + 10lb

180 x 1 (PR + 15lb)

190 f , f - both failures were because I couldn't jerk the weight overhead.  doh!

Notice on the first lift I almost lost the weight behind me before I even started to squat and then the knees shooting out too far forward on the way down.  Ugly cause it was heavy.  But the second lift not only looked better, but felt easier.  Funny how that works.  Felt so good I got too greedy and went for 190.  Maybe next time.

Annie

50 - 40 - 30 - 20 - 10

Double Under

Situp - unanchored abmat frog style

7:19 (PR)

Cash Out:  Muscleups 3 unbroken, 4 unbroken with arms locked and wrists turned out (PR)

Wall Ball and HPC 7-13-09

Cash in:  HSPU

2 x 10  head to 45lb bumper and abmat.  

From Crossfit Calgary

In 12 min complete:

75 Wallball 20lb - 10' 

AMRAP Hang Power Clean 115lbs

Post number of cleans completed:

58 Cleans

I liked it.  I think I'll be using some more Calgary wods in the future.    

Day 2 and 3 Crossfit Games 2009

My apologies for this tardy post.  A warning that this is looong, but I wanted it to be thorough, and I feel as though it could be 5 times as long.  It was such an amazing experience, I could talk nearly endlessly about it.  

Went with my twin Josh and brother Jake.  Got to hang lots with the Martin clans, which is always good times and had the pleasure of meeting Bingo!

Day 1 of the individual Competition

What a day!  5 Wods that are enough to humble any man or woman in and of themselves.  Put them altogether in one day and you have a monster of a competition.  Add the 3 wod's on day 2 and you have enough when programmed as brilliantly as they were to crown the fittest man and woman alive.  I absolutely loved 7 of the 8 workouts.  Here are the descriptions of every wod, because I haven't yet seem them laid out anywhere else, including some of my thoughts about them.

The 7k hill run.  Does it get any more brutal?  I heard Michael Fitzgerald telling his friends that everyone fell.  He said he fell multiple times, once at least he slid a good 20 feet down the hill before he could regain his feet.  We are talking crazy steep which caused most competitors to scramble up with hands and feet.  Class 4 scrambling.  So with that we had our long monostructural metcon testing the outer limits of endurance.  Outer limits?  Yes.  You don't need to go longer to accurately test the merits or folly's ones endurance.   The finish was awesome with Spealer making a final kick to take first over Miko Salo.  What a couple of studs those two are.  This also brought out some of the highest drama of the weekend.  I'm not sure the name of the woman who collapsed 3 - 4 times in the final 50 yards.  By collapsed, I mean full body exhaustion, legs of jello, falling to the ground and attempting a forward roll with each fall.  Each time she hit her head as she did so as she was too spent to fully protect herself.  What an amazing show of will power and fortitude as you could plainly see she had zero quit in her.  She just picked wobbly spent self off the ground to continue on, only to fall again within a step or three.  How about Jason Khalipa collapsing as he came to the final flat portion of the run just past the stadium.  I mean we are talking total heat exhaustion, can't go any further collapse.  Not a mere mental break, character flaw quitting on the run, but the body shutting down and saying to the mind for you and me and our best intrest I've gotta stop these shenanigans NOW or there will be permanent damage.  And that is an iron will the body was shutting down.  Puts things in perspective when you realize he ended up finishing the wod.  Not only that but coming back to put on the rest of the performances he did.  A true comeback story to finish 5th overall.  Wow.  Just wow.  If there were ever any doubts of him being a one hit flash in the pan wonder because of 08's quick wod strength based performances, those were killed with finality this weekend.  He was truly a joy to watch competing.  His intensity and sportsmanship were spot on.  Speaking of such the intensity of the weekend was definitely one of the best parts for me.  It was a weekend filled with outstanding performances of forcing the body past limits and through searing pain.  What a stark motivation and encouragement it was for my own crossfit endeavors!  

Next we had the deadlift ladder.  What a wicked 1 - 2 punch that was.  A gnarly hill run immediately followed by a brute strength deadlift wod starting at 315 and adding 10lbs to each of the 20 bars all the way up to 505lbs.  They had 30 seconds to make one attempt at each bar.  My only wish is that they shouldn't have put an endcap on it, and/or should have progressed by 15lbs instead of 10lbs (which would have ended at 600lbs) so we could have seen how high the  athletes who finished would have gone.  This would have also avoided the 16 man pileup at 505lbs for first place finish in that wod.  No matter... it was intense.  Really made me want to go pick up something heavy.  Some PR's were made by some of the atheletes which is remarkable considering they had just run a 7k hill run ~1 hour before and had done so many reps over 300lbs to get to the new PR.  

3rd wod was the hill sand bag sprint/dash/hike/gruelling grind.  Thats a steep hill at the end which caused for some awesome finishes.  Talk about a crowd pleaser.  I really liked this wod.  Intensity was through the roof.  A bit of strategy involved with how to carry the sandbags and attempting to pace or risk hard charging and dyeing at the steep finish.   I was super bummed to see Josh Everett on this wod.  I was pulling for him as many were to take #1 for the entire Games.  It was ugly from the word 'go' as he first ran to pick up another athlete's sand bags.  That started things off wrong, he quickly adjusted to grab his own, but struggled to pick them up and situate them cleanly and efficiently.  Smooth is fast as they say and it just wasn't his day.  He ended up paying for it dearly as he lost is grip about 5-7 stepsand dropped a sandbag.  By the time he realized it, went back, picked it up and regained his forward pace he was out of contention and mentally it showed.  It was a slow pace for such a beast of a man up that hill and my unofficial time for him was around 1:43.  That had to have been the slowest men's time of the day.  It hit me hard as I realized that would likely kill any prayer of a top finish.  Much respect for you Josh.  You are a complete inspiration to me and one drop of a sandbag certainly doesn't change that for an instant.  I know he would have been in the top running had it not been for that.  

And that brings us to wod #4.  I hate to do this, but I've gotta be true to my thoughts.  I don't like to speak down about anything crossfit because of how amazing I believe it is and how much it has helped me.  Coach for one is a genius and the HQ staff running the games are a number of magnitudes ahead of me when it comes to this stuff.  Maybe the light bulb will turn on in my head eventually, and I'll get it, but it just doesn't sit well with me at this point.  So allow me to elaborate waay too much with some of my garbled thoughts.... 

 The stake wod.  Row 500m pound a 4 foot stake into the ground with a sledgehammer then row 500m.  Sounds simple enough right?  I bounce back and forth between thinking this is THE best test of accuracy (one of the 10 foundational elements of fitness) that has ever found itself into a crossfit wod OR thinking this was just plain dumb.  I can't decide.  It was agonizing to watch amazing athletes that we all KNOW are incredibly fit completely flounder during this wod.  Watching Gillian Mounsey struggle through it stuck out to me as a perfect example of this.  So does that mean this was a harsh, unbiased test of fitness that truly exposed the weakness of accuracy in some of these fine athletes?  I don't know its that simple.  I mean the winner swung a hammer daily for the last few years as a construction worker.  Seems like it fell too far onto the side of a sport specific skill.  Yes no one has ever competed in this before and that in and of itself is cool.  Yes its a very functional test of what one might need to do in the real world.  But thats not the point.  The point is that I believe accuracy (as its defined in 'What is Fitness?' - "The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity") is about the control of one's own  movement or a load's movement and how that relates towards a strength and conditioning program.  Not the ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity as its exemplafied in all of the many sports this world has to offer.  If that were the case then the Games next year could have a round of Golf, or a hitting session against a major league pitcher, a 3 point hoops contest, or a darts contest.  The only seeming difference between those things and the stake wod (also a high skill, non strength and conditioning specific application of movement) is that many people have competed at them before.   

If the spike wod is a great example of a fitness test, what type of training should be done to maximize success on such a wod?  It seems that the only real success one would have in training for this wod would be to actually practice hitting a target with a sledge, specifically a spike.  Simple right?  I mean thats the advice given when one wants to get better at the Olympic lifts.  You need to do them more then once every 3 weeks in order to accelerate your acquisition of skill on them.  But would practicing and improving upon hitting a spike with a sledge then transfer your newfound advance in 'accuracy' towards other accuracy dependent endeavors?  Seems to me it would be confined very narrowly to your success in hitting a spike and that is it.  If hitting a spike was a superior form of transferring success towards other aspects of accuracy then why isn't it a part of regular crossfit programing?  This question has been asked before by Tony Budding in his journal article 'The Quest to Measure Fitness' regarding the Games competition, "Can success in any specific event predict success in any other specific event"?  Tony answered with a "Yes".  I agree with him.  But I just don't know that this wod accomplished that.  I'm certainly not saying that I have all the answers and I know exactly what a better example of a test of accuracy would be.  Maybe the Olympic Lifts.  Maybe an obstacle course of some kind.  This wod just didn't sit well with me.  Maybe this will start a discussion that will lead towards me understanding it better.  Any and all thoughts are welcomed.  Enough of that tangent.  Please understand that my thoughts about the stake wod does not detract in any way my belief that the Games this year were an outstanding test of elite fitness and I also believe that the title of fittest man and woman is completely valid.  I think its one hiccup in a stellar group of wods.

Wod 5

3 Rounds of 30 Wall ball (12'-14' target) 20lbs, 30 Snatch 75lb men/ 45lb women  20 min cutoff

Brutal leg killer.  Great wod.  I'd have liked to have seen the standards be stricter and made the wall ball reps only count if the ball was caught each rep, but I'm being picky here.

And down to the final 16. 

Day 2, Wod 1:  Max Single Rep Snatch.  10 minutes to complete your best snatch.  Only rules being that you cannot touch your body anywhere with the bar from the chest up (this stops an athlete from using the rack position and jerking the weight), and the weight must be locked out overhead with completely vertical knees, hips, arms and feet brought together and in the same plane under the hips (this is a loose regurgitation of the rules from memory).  Awesome performances and a great addition to the Games programming.  Now we've got the two ends of the time domain spectrum, the long and 'slow' 7k and the short and powerful Snatch.  Excellent.  A fully thorough testing of elite fitness needs to include both long and short and I was very pleased to see them nail this.  Lots of PR's were made here too.  Impressive since the day before had to have completely wrecked the athletes.

Wod 2:  AMRAP 8 minutes: 4 HSPU, 8 KB Swings 70lbs men/53lbs women, 12 GHD situps.  The HSPU were done on paralletes with a fixed distance (thats good, no gaming the ROM), and I believe kipping was not allowed in the men's heats.  Legs had to be kept straight.  Or so I thought.  That was not the case.  Maybe I misheard the rules.  I hope so, otherwise the standards weren't kept by all the judges.  Too bad.  Great wod.  Classic triplet that could easily be a named wod.  

Wod 3:  A chipper of ...  

15 barbells cleans (155 lb.)

30 toes to bar
30 box jumps (24 inches)
15 muscle-ups
30 push presses (40)
30 double-unders
15 thrusters (135)
30 pull-ups
30 burpees
Overhead walking lunges (45lbs)

This is the only wod I wasn't able to watch.  Had to get back to reality and go to a buddy's wedding.  

 My only problem with the first day's wods were the lack of any gymnastic movements.  I think either of the last two wods would have been perfect had one been moved to the first day so that HSPU's or muscleups real field levelers could have been brought into play and been part of what either eliminated him/her from or propelled an athlete into day 2.

All told it was an incredible experience to be a part of.  I was in awe of the athletes and superbly pleased with the events themselves (despite my long rambling about the stake wod).  Huge thanks to every single competitor for putting out 100% and being such an inspiration,  thanks to the Crossfit HQ staff who conceived, designed, and ran the games, and thanks to all the many judges one who were the nuts and bolts of the weekend and made it all possible.  I'm not normally one who enjoys being much of a spectator, but this was altogether a different story.  A new annual priority in my calendar!  The Games certainly did not disappoint.  Entertaining as all get out and as valid as a test that has ever been created for the fittest on the planet to battle it out.  Congrats to all the athletes who qualified to make it to the Games and especially those final 32.  Big congrats to the champions.  Enjoy your reign as the fittest alive and who knows, one could have a repeat performance next year.  Miko and Tanya you are both incredible.

Day 1 - 2009 Crossfit Games 7-10-09

Not too terribly much to report.  Unfortunately I was only able to stay for 3 hours in the morning because of work last night and tonight.  But what I did see, I liked.  Who wouldn’t enjoy such a gathering of so many fit people descending on one location.  This has got to be one of the most impressive gathering of athletes ever assembled. 

Job very well done with all the changes at the Ranch.  The arena has a very cool feel to it.  Bleachers, check.  Jumbo tron, check.  Large paved area for all kinds of insidious crossfit fun, big check.

Spent most of the time watching my favorite wod, of the day: OHS/Pullup.  Have to give a thumbs up to the quality of the judging.  From what I saw, the bad reps were getting called.  Nice work judges! 

Strolled through the sponsor booths and drooled over equipment that I’d like to have. 

Really, REALLY looking forward to tomorrow!  I’m expecting there to be considerably more more spectators and a truck load of the stellar performances.

Clean and Jerk and 1/2 Nate 7-9-09

Clean and Jerk

95 x 2

115 x 2

135 x 2

155 x 2

175 x 1

185 x 1

195 x f 1

200 f - wussed out and didn't get under the weight, f - dropped it at the bottom of the squat, then got the clean (PR) but f the jerk

That makes for a PR with 200lbs in a full clean.  I'm happy with that.  I didn't have time to try again to see if I could squeeze out the jerk.  When I fail on heavy jerks, its almost always be because the weight gets out in front of me when I try and lock it out.  I need to roll some video and figure it out.  

1/2 Nate

10min AMAP:

2 Muscleup

4 HSPU - head to stacked 45 and 10lb bumpers and abmat

8 KB Swing 2 Pood

6 Rounds + 1 Muscleup

I may have a new favorite hero wod.  Once I get HSPU's down that is.  Good stuff.

Squat and KB Clean/Thruster,C2B PU 7-7-09

HSPU - Head to stacked 45lb, 25lb bumpers and abmat

3 x 11

Squat

195 x 5

210 x 5

230 x 5

For Time:

15 - 12 - 9

Dual KB Clean & Thruster 35lbs (each...Gunslinger style)

Pullup - Chest to Bar 

7:50

Nasty little wod.

Thruster/Pullup/KB Swing 7-5-09

Day One of a 3 day Crossfit Challenge

The competitors are:  My twin Josh, older brother Jake, Jake's wife Lisa and my cousin Jerrod

3 Rounds

5 Thruster - 115lbs  (90% of 1 Rep Max Shoulder Press)

10 Pullups

15 Kettlebell Swings 53lbs

4:45

Here is the VIDEO of Josh and I doing the workout.

1st round unbroken.  2nd round unbroken except pullups 6/4   3rd round broken thrusters 2/3 pullups     swings unbroken

Not super pleased with my performance.  Shouldn't have rested so much in between sets, but at the time it sure felt like the right thing to do.  We did a live webcast from California of the competition on Skype with Jerrod, Jake and Lisa who are in Virginia.  After video review we realized Josh only did 14 KB swings in the first round.  That is technically a DNQ, but oh well its just for fun.  In choosing the wods for the competition I we each submitted 3 wods and sent them to Metric and TexasPatrick (from Brand X's forum) who were kind enough to provide excellent guidance.  

The weight on the thrusters were:  Josh 102.5lbs   Jake 102.5lbs  Lisa 75lbs   Jerrod  155lbs

Rankings after Day 1

1 - Lisa  3:53

2 - Josh  4:04

3 - Jerrod  4:14

4 - Joe  4:45

5 - Jake  8:46

Stay tuned for WOD # 2 next week.

Box Jump/Sprawl/Heavy Bag 7-3-09

3 Rounds

15 Box Jump 33"

15 Sprawl

100 Punches on Heavy Bag

9:31

A little different workout today.  I should probably work in more wod's like this.  The only part I don't like is the punches are a bit subjective.  Awful easy to not give it 100% effort for every single punch.  I did a combo of:  1-2-3 straight, hook, 1-2 straight, hook  I also found it is hard to count 100 punches when you are gassed.  Forgot to mention that on Tuesday my left elbow flared up with what I believe to be tendonitis aka tennis elbow.  I believe its from doing pullups.  It hurt to pick up my glass of water on tuesday and take a drink after the workout.  So I've laid off pullups for a couple days.  It is feeling better.  Hopefully its not a reoccurring thing.  

Had a monumentous day today in the gym.  It was my wife's first ever crossfit workout.  Taught her how to squat.  Then she did:

3 Rounds

7 Squat

400m Walk Blitz the German Shepherd 

Not for time.  I sneakily timed it anyways and didn't tell her.  19:26 

Afterwards I asked her what she thought.  Her feedback was that it was better then her workouts at 'Ladies of America' a few years back.  She enjoyed the one on one personal training.  She thought the squats were similar to learning a new dance step progression or doing gymnastics as a kid due to the body control and awareness it took.  She liked that we didn't use any machines like they do at 'Ladies of America' and liked getting outside.  I think we'll stick with mostly gymnastics for a while and hold off on weight lifting other then drills with PVC.  Success!  Very cool. 

Front Squat and Deadlift/KB Swing/Ring Pushup 7-2-09

Ring Dip

10, 10, 8

Front Squat

115 x 3

135 x 3 

155 x 3

175 x 3

195 x 3

A very small reset based on Jeff's comments this weekend.  Focused on sitting my hips in over my feet, getting as deep as possible, pushing my knees past my toes and pushing with my quads out of the hole instead of using so much hip drive out of the bottom.  Made it a bit harder, but its satisfying to work on my quad weakness.  My front squats were looking a bit too much like a low bar back squat.  As Jeff put it; it wasn't wrong, but it wasn't optimal either.

3 Rounds

10 Deadlift 185lbs

10 KB Swing 70lbs

10 Ring Pushup

4:50

Deadlift were unbroken.  KB swing 10, 10, 7/3 Ring Pushup: 10, 5/5, 5/3/2  Each time I rested I took 5 breaths and then back at it.

Bench and Row/Push Press 7-1-09

Bench Press

135 x 5

145 x 5

160 x 5 (PR)

5 Rounds 

250m Row

5 Push Jerk 150lbs

11:12

Rows were at 1:42 - 1:45 500m pace

Jerks were split 5, 3/2, 3/2, 3f2, 3/2

Got this wod from Joel who spanked me with a 9:35.  I was happy with my effort today.  

2009 BRAND X Pilgrimage !!!!!

Total miles driven visiting Brand X over the last 5 days:  1779.3   ...  but who's counting?  and Who cares?  It was worth every mile of the way.  

Without a doubt the highlight of the weekend were the people.  The outstanding community.  What an awesome group of people!  Had the pleasure of meeting for the first time:  Unforgibbon, Gonzo, Nichole811, SuperSwede, Essie, Lucky Dawg, Nichole's Mom, Gimpy, Aileen and a host of others!  Had the pleasure of seeing the following again:  the entire Martin family, Sifu Dan, Debbie, Cindi and Laura R.  I'm sure I'm forgetting more then one person.  The point being that these people are what make Brand X such an incredible place.  The generosity and hospitality shown by the Martins and the entire Brand X crew was so cool.  Coach Jeff especially.  I mean he has probably never been before been tag teamed by a pair of info starving twins who just constantly pepper him with questions.  

Before we left I told my brother that this trip would be the highlight of his crossfit year.  It certainly did not disappoint.  As Josh put it, it was like a huge hit of pure crossfit directly injected into the bloodstream.  Very potent stuff!  Consider yourself forewarned if you haven't been fortunate enough to make it yet to Brand X.

6-25-09

Got off work in the early morning, took a quick nap and started the drive.  Made it down there in about 8 hours, drove directly to Brand X and made it to the 6pm class 20 min late.  

Angie 33

3 Rounds

33 Pullups

33 Pushups

33 Situps

33 Squats

1 Min Rest in between Rounds

24:55

Was coached directly by Jeff and Nichole.  Cool!  Need to stay tight at the bottom of the squat and not collapse.  Breathing during the squat in a metcon has got to influence this negatively.  Need to finish the ROM each and every rep and open the hips ALL the way.  That last 2 inches or whatever just doesn't seem to want to happen when you are trying a silly fast cycle rate.  Showed Jeff my amazing kipping pushup.  Jealous aren't ya?  Keep the core tight and the plank rigid ... even during the last few reps of Angie!

6-26-09

1400 hours Skunkworks with GD, Big D, SS, Gonzo, Nichole, and Unforgibbon

Front Squat

165 x 5

185 x 5

195 x 5

LOW Bar Back Squat

190 x 8 then 12 more 

On rep 8, I leaned back too far and like a schmuck lost the weight in the bottom of the squat.  I dropped it behind me and sat there in the squat feeling like a tard.  Nichole encouraged me to do 4 more.  I was determined to do all 20.  So I got back under the bar and finished off the set of 20.  That was some very, very hard work.  It also got real ugly on the last rep.  My low back was screaming at me afterwards for doing that to it.

Then the stoopidity began.  Thanks Sven and Jeff.  You are a programming inspiration!

3 Rnds

500m Row

Hypoxic Ladder 1 => 7 KB Swings 1.5 pood

10 Burpees

13:55

My first encounter with anything hypoxic.  It certainly won't be my last.  The suck factor was through the roof!  Its an interesting experience when the panic starts to set in as you wonder if you'll be able to finish the set without the world turning black and going night-night.  

Cash Out

Partner Handstand/wheelbarrow Walks

Ice Cream Makers

Incline Dip Walks

Hamstring Death

Skin the Cat/Pullup

Now that is a proper cash out.  I need to work on improving my cashout programming.  Today also marks the completion of a goal that I set last July on my previous Brand X visit.  I vowed last year to complete a wod as Rx'd with Jeff.  It was fun to fulfill that goal today.  Hurah for progress!

6-27-09

Buy In -

400 m run
10 squats
10 pullups

WOD
20-minute AMRAP (start circuit wherever you want)
10 x 25# one-arm db thruster (also went with vaginal scaling because thats what Unforgibbon did)
10 x 25# one-arm db snatch
5 jumping muscle ups
1 rope climb
1 monkey bar pass
1 traverse back along pullup bar
3 forward rolls
1 balance beam pass
1 pullover
1 dip walk

3 rds + thrusters + snatches + jumping mu, + rope climb + 3/4 monkey bar pass

So basically I chased Unforgibbon around the gym until it came to the rope climb where he really smoked me.  I have zero rope climbing skills.  My 'foot clamp' ability is in the approximate range of a 3rd grade girl whose training program is Wii fit.

Cash Out - 
partner handstand walks
ice cream makers

Then Jeff worked for an hour with Josh and I on Snatching.  Key points for me is to push my shins into the bar (you'll see this again as a cue for my deadlift form.... coincidence?  Nope!) and get full hip extension.  Working muscle snatches as part of my cash out would help this.

2-28-09

Rest Day.  A bit of active recovery on the beach throwing a 'disc' around.  Thats a frisbee for you non Ultimate Frisbee players like me.  Got my first sunburn of the summer for this pasty white graveyarder.  Fun.

6-29-09

Connor's 9:00am Weightlifting Class:

Deadlift

135 x 1

185 x 1

225 x 1

265 x 1

290 x 3

Getting coached by Connor.  How cool is that!  In the starting position I need to put my shins closer to the bar and get my shoulders in front of the bar more which also raises my butt up a bit and gives me a more parallel back.  I then need to concentrate on keeping my upper back uber tight.  Great cues and progress made.

10:15 class

Buy in
3 rds
alligator crawl
bear crawl
sprint
3 cartwheels

WOD
3 rds
12 right-armed barbell push press x 45#
12 left-armed barbell deadlift x 45#
400 m run
12 left-armed barbell pp 
12 right-armed barbell dl
400 m run

23:55

More chasing of Unforgibbon and Josh around a wod.  To my confusion I came in after the 400 at the halfway mark and Dan and Josh were sitting against the wall as if they were done.  I couldn't understand why they would be doing that.  Turns out they both misunderstood the wod and 'finished' at the 1 and a half round point.  As I continued with the rest of round 2 and 3 I spent the rest of my time on the 400m runs using that as an excuse as to why their 400m pace was faster then mine and explaining to myself that my turtle paced runs were perfectly acceptable because I was running more then they did.  Unfortunately my lazy self didn't quite convince my logical self that it was correct, but it did convince it to continue to run slowly.  It almost always wins that argument.

If I were to do this wod again...I'd take a cue from GD, Big D etc and cut the run down to 200m (cheaters!) and up the weight on the bar.  Especially on the deadlift.  Deadlifting 45# is kind of just going through the motions.  I'm not sure why I didn't put some weight on the bar except I guess I was in sheeple mode.  Just followed the others around (no one put weight on their bars in that class) with not much thought going through my skull.  But with this version I suppose it was a good wod because I don't normally go over 20 minutes and include a 1.5 mile run...blah!  I mean, ummm good times.  I did like the one armed work.  

Up to this point Josh has only beat me in Helen and one or two other wods.  This weekend at Brand X Josh beat me on the hypoxic wod (by 4 seconds, but I'll point out that he didn't front squat and high rep back squat immediately before hand) and the obstacle course wod (by half a round) and probably would have beat me on the run heavy/one armed barbell wod if he had listened to Cindy's instructions or read the wod on the board.  I suppose I'll have to start to get accustomed to Josh beating me on some metcons from here on out.  I'll do the best from letting that happen on a regular basis, but .... Good work brother!

Spent a good deal of time discussing with Jeff the idea of me opening an affiliate.  What are the steps to take do so?  What makes for a good trainer?  What makes for a good affiliate?  When should I take on this venture?  How much to charge?  And a whole bunch more.  Thanks so much to Jeff for his sage advice.  It was thoroughly helpful.  At this point I'm leaning towards doing this as a side job to my career as a cop.  I've got a million more questions swimming through my head in regards to this.  If anyone has any advice, direction, guidance, forewarnings, experiential knowledge, encouragement, criticism or whatever ....  please feel free to fire it my way!

A big thanks is in order to Coach Jeff.  I want to thank you for your generosity in allowing my brother and I to come down and spend the long weekend getting world class coaching and workouts all for free!  Your character, commitment, knowledge and passion for fitness and life are an inspiration!  This is proven through and through by those that surround you.  From Mikki to the kids, the trainers and the faithful clients.  All are absolutely top notch.  Thanks everyone for this year's pilgrimage!

Said farewell to the wonderful Brand X crew.  See some of you in two weeks at the games!

Olympic Squat 6-22-09

95 x 5

115 x 3

135 x 3

155 x 1

175 x 1

195 x 1

215 x 1

235 x 1 (PR)

I'll be doing Olympic Squats or high bar back squats for the next 10 weeks.  I know this is against the grain of what crossfit teaches.  Hopefully Jeff Martin won't rip my arms off and beat me down with them for doing so.  Afterall he first taught me how to sqaut and I owe a lot to him.  But I believe I'm making an informed decision here.  Am I doing the right thing?  I honestly don't know.  Let me break it down a bit....

In the world of crossfit, the low bar back squat is king.  You can lift heavier weight with a LB squat.  You incorporate the posterior chain by using the low back, glutes, hamstrings, and adductors with a powerful hip drive out of the bottom.  I've read as much as I can of what Rippetoe has to say on the topic including Starting Strength, his article on low bar vs high bar squats, on his forum at strengthmill and many videos.  I've learned from Jeff Martin, the fine folks on the Brand X forum, and from the crossfit journal.  

But in the world of Olympic Lifting, the high bar back squat is king.  I've talked to Greg Everett and Aimee Anaya about the subject and read Greg's article regarding the two squatting styles found on the performance menu Journal.  I've read what Glenn Pendlay has to say about the topic.  Without basically recreating or retyping Rippetoe and Everett's entire articles and going through them point by point, I guess a full and complete discussion can't really be had.  I don't quite have the inclination to do that at this point.

But what it boils down to is that in the sport of Olympic Lifting, high bar back squats are the only kind of back squats that are done.  There is a reason for this.  The strength they develop is more transferable for Olympic lifting then low bar back squats.  Rippetoe's claim that Olympic Lifters would benefit by gaining greater overall strength by low bar back squatting has yet to be proven, and the authorities within the sport disagree.  I don't pretend to be anywhere near as smart as Coach Rippetoe and I have immense respect for him.  But its hard to argue with an entire sport spread across the globe.  It could be possible that Rippetoe is right and greater lifts would be achieved if the elite lifters were low bar squatting and getting their quad strength from front squatting, but for now I'll go where the proof now seems to be.  At the Olympic Lifting seminar that I attended I found out that I am posterior chain dominant, or hamstring dominant and have fairly weak hamstrings comparably.  This is shown in that I can pull much more weight and plenty high enough then what I can handle squatting out of the bottom of a clean (Power Clean PR of 225lbs compared to Clean PR of 198lbs).  So in order to bring my Olympic Lifts up to their potential by specifically gaining stronger quads from front squatting and high bar back sqatting, I plan to fix that deficit.  

I'm not giving up low bar back squats all together.  But I'm adding in high bar squats into my repertoire as I think they are a valuable form of squatting that will address a specific weakness in my fitness armor.  The question for me really is what form of squatting will develop the best all around athlete?  Having good Olympic Lifting numbers is an important part of the equation in my opinion.  But having quality numbers with the low bar back squat is important as well.   Maybe the answer is to include each.  So I plan to wield them both to the best of my programming abilities.  

I feel as though I've only brushed the tip of the iceberg on this topic.  If anyone has any thoughts whether of dissent or approval, or questions, or whatever, please don't be shy!

Snatch and Run/OHS 6-19-09

Snatch

65 x 3

95 x 2

115 x 1

135 x 1

155 f f f

3Rounds:

400m Run

As many Overhead Squat until failure - 95lbs

OHS:  1st Rnd: 21 (PR)  2nd Rnd: 15    3rd Rnd: 16

~ 11:00 

That was a different kind of wod.  Didn't push too hard on the runs, but went until failure on the OHS to see how many I could do in a single set.  Interesting and I enjoyed it.  

The Snatches felt real good up to 135, but probably shouldn't have made the 20lb jump to 155.  It would have been a 10lb PR and should have done 145 first and then tried for 150.

Christine 6-18-09

Christine

3 Rounds

500m Row

12 BW Deadlift - 175lbs

21 Box Jump 20"

10:08 (PR)

I'm very pleased with my time.  Brought some angst into this workout which seemed to help.  Row:  1:54, 1:55, 1:57     Deadlifts unbroken     Box jumps 10-5-6 for first 2 rounds and unbroken on the last.