Squat and Double Unders/Power Cleans 11-30-08

Squat 

185 1 x 5

200 1 x 5

215 1 x 5

235 1 x5 (PR)

Then with no rest moved right into:

5 Rounds for time:

10 Double Unders

5 Power Cleans 135lbs

10:22

Very slow time because I suck at Double Unders.  I think I'm ready to do Grace as Rx'd.  The hardest part will be jerking the weight, not cleaning it.  I'm guessing I'd end up with a time just under 10 minutes.  I'll have to try it and see.  Was thinking of doing 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 Double Unders with 5 Power Cleans done after each set of DU's, but that would have taken waaay too long.  I didn't have much time to workout today at all.  Caught some late paper at work.  So I basically rolled out of bed into my lifting shoes and started squatting.  Almost didn't workout because of the time crunch, but I'm glad I forced it in there.  Another PR in my steady march upwards with squats.  Did I mention I suck at DU's?  Note to self:  Don't suck at DU's.  Practice them and get good.

Front Squats and Nate 11-28-08

Front Squat

3 x 5 - 155lbs (PR - also a 1 x 5 PR)

I really haven't worked on Front Squats ever.  The only time I've done them is as a part of a squat clean.  I'm happy to finally be addressing this issue and expect to make some good gains in this lift.  

Nate - Packish scaling

As many rounds possible in 10 min of:

2 Jumping Muscleups
4 Handstand Pushups Bridged on shins
8 Kettlebell Swings 1.5 Pood (54lbs)

1 KB Swing short of 10 Rounds. Would have been 10 rounds, but was slowed down when my brother called my last HSPU. Didn't quite lock out my elbows. Doh!

All HSPU's were unbroken except the last round character flaw. All KB Swings were unbroken. Muscleups were done with a quick one or two breath pause.

That was a fun one. Pack scaling is usually seated muscleups, bridged on feet, and its usually a 15 min scaling, not 10. Supposed to keep the metcon under 10 today so I cut it shorter and kept the intensity high. Did the first round of HSPU's bridged on feet then switched to bridged on shins. A baby step up from bridged on knees. Can't wait till I can do this one as Rx'd.

Cash out:  Spend 2:30 in a handstand feet held by spotter.  Did it in 30 second chuncks.  My shoulders were fried from the HSPU's.

Turkey Bowl 11-27-08

10th annual Turkey Bowl Football game.  

Had a great time on the gridiron today.  I subbed 3 hours of flag football for my metcon day.

We stopped playing tackle a few years ago after someone dislocated a clavicle on a kickoff return.  So what happens this year?  My buddy Dan of thirtyninefiftyone.blogpot.com jacked his clavicle!  Nuts!  Now he can't work until sometime in January.  Sorry Dan.  I feel bad for ya man. On the bright side it will be fun coming up with some one armed and no armed WODs in the meantime.  Get better soon!    

Shoulder Press and Jackie 11-26-08

Shoulder Press

3 x 5 - 105

Jackie
- 

1000 meter Row, 


45 pound Thruster 50 reps

30 Pull-ups

9:22

A pitbull of a workout.  Its rare that I beat Dan, he's a stud.  Probably only beat him because he squatted 3 x 5 225, 10 min before he did Jackie in 10:39.  Tomorrow is the Turkey bowl!  Should be nice and muddy since its raining today.  Can't wait for the 10th annual Turkey day football game!

Deadlift and KB Clean/Tuck Jumps 11-25-08

Was supposed to Deadlift 3 x 3 as well as deadlift a high rep set today.  Started to work into heavier weights, but just wasn't feeling it.  So I cut it down to just the high rep set.

Deadlift

205 x 20 - Unbroken

AMRAP:

10 Tuck Jumps

10 Kettlebell Clean and Press - 1 pood (5 with each arm)

10 Rounds and 10 Tuck Jumps, 3 KB clean and Press.

All unbroken except round 9 of Tuck Jumps was two sets of 5.

Back Squat and Thrusters/Burpees 11-23-08

Back Squat

3 x 5 - 230 (PR.  PR for 1 x 5  also)

Definitely felt heavy but bar speed was slightly faster then two weeks ago when I did 225 3 x 5 (my final SS workout).  Bar looked good with the colored bumpers on it.  I need to get some photos of those puppies on here.  Then did:

5 rounds for time of:

7 Thrusters 115 lbs

7 Burpees

11:22

Those Thrusters sure felt heavy compared to the usual 95 lbers.  Figure this will help my Fran time and any time you do thrusters is a good thing.  I'm going to mix Thrusters in at least once a week in my WODs.  Plan on doing more workouts similar to Fran to keep working on it.  I WILL have a sub 5:00 Fran eventually!  My goal is to hit sub 5 by my one year CrossFit anniversary at the end of Jan.  Gotta shave off 2:34. Doable.  Very doable.

I just realized that I had planned to do ascending sets of 3 x 5 on the squat instead of the same weight straight across for all 3 sets.  I will use ascending sets from now on.  It is much easier on recoverability.   

Elizabeth 11-21-08

Elizabeth (Pack Scaling)

21-15-9

Power Clean 115lb

Bar Dips

8:34

Couldn't hack the Rx'd version of 135lbs and ring dips.   Could barely hack the bar dips.  Ended up putting my foot down on most of the reps to help me out of the bottom a little.  Its pathetic really, how weak on dips I am.  Oh well, onward and upward.  Just need to work on them. Hopefully I'll one day be able to call them a strength and not a weakness.

Karen 11-19-08

Karen - A pack/puppy scaling

150 Wall ball - 10 foot target, 10lb medicine ball

5:57

Should have used a heavier ball, but this was the heaviest I have.  I was able to hold a pretty fast pace and keep the intensity high.

Had three friends over tonight for the workout.  After Karen, for our cashout, we played a game of horse on the rings.  Some of the things we did were:  L pullups, 3 skin the cats/15 second one legged planche/15 second one legged lever/3 skin the cats, 20 ring pushups with good depth, 20 seated muscleups, and all kinds of other very basic gymnast progressions.  Had to cut the game short because it was taking too long for anyone to loose.  Just a little too evenly matched.  I was maybe the worst one there.  Not fun.  Need to work on my ring skills.  

Helen 11-17-08

Helen as Rx'd

3 Rounds for time:

400M Run

21 Kettlebell Swings - 1.5 Pood (53 lbs)

12 Pullups

1st Rd:  2:49

2nd Rd: 6:51

Total:   10:59

I actually meant to do this with my 44lb Kettlebell, so I could get another metcon comparison to the last time I did Helen (also with 44lb KB) in 10:00 minutes.  However I think when I wasn't looking my brother switched it to the 53 lb KB.  I did the first round unbroken.  During the second round, it just felt heavier then it should have.  Did 15 then 6 swings.  When I set down the weight I looked at it and realized it was the 53lber.  No wonder it felt hard, because it was!  This was the first time I've done Helen as Rx'd and I was pretty happy with my time.  All I have to do is take off 59 seconds off my time and I'll qualify for Brand X's underdawg club, and get a T-shirt 

 http://www.crossfitbrandx.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/1100/

Josh had a great day today.  He did Helen with the 35lb KB in 9:40.  That is a 4:28 PR!  Monstrous improvement!

OHS 11-16-08

Used my brand new Pendlay Bar and Wright colored bumpers for the first time!  Very snarky stuff!  The Pendlay economy bar and black Wright bumpers will now take a backseat.

Overhead Squat

95 x 5

115 x 3

125 x 3 (PR)

130 x 3 (PR)

135 x 3 (PR)

140 x 3 (PR)

Was thinking I was going to start a new strength biased Crossfit program today, but decided that taking it easy for a few days might be a good idea.  I kinda fried myself by doing Fran, Grace and Angie right after SS.

Angie 11-14-08

Angie

100 Pullups

100 Pushups

100 Situps (abmat)

100 Air Squats

26:55

I felt super sluggish on everything but the squats.  I was expecting my metcon to be negatively effected by SS, and I think this a good example.

Power Clean & Grace 11-13-08

Power Clean:

95 x 5

115 x 5

135 x 3

145 x 3

155 x 3 (PR)

175 x 1

185 x 1 (PR)

190 x 1 Failed

Grace with 115lbs (Old School style with power cleans and push jerks)

4:18 (PR),  16 seconds improvement compared to 8-24-08

Had a great day of PR's today.  My plan was to do Grace today so I could compare my time today to my pre Starting Strength time like I did with Fran yesterday.  The idea is to compare my metcon status to see how much if any that I've lost.  So far I've PR'd in Grace and Fran.  I need to do a little longer metcon WOD like fight gone bad and see how I score on that.  

I decided to go with my cousin Jerrod's advice tonight and work into some heavier weight with low reps right before the WOD so it would feel super light when I did Grace.  The 3 rep PR is not too impressive because strangely enough, I really haven't worked with 3 reps much at all with power cleans. Definitely shows that I'm no Olympic lifter, just a guy using O-lifts within the confines of CrossFit, much of which has been self programmed.  I could have hit a higher weight with the triple, but then I got it in my head to try for a single rep max.  I might have pushed that strategy a little too far by attempting a single rep max and sapped some strength that would have come in handy during Grace.  I think I could have shaved a few seconds off my time if I hadn't done the single rep max, but not much.  I kept repeating to myself during the workout that I didn't have to stop and rest just because I was out of breathe.  It seemed to work as I felt like I pushed the pace pretty hard and didn't really take any type of real rest.  I did drop the bar from overhead every single rep which caused me to reset on the bar 29 times, so I guess you could say I took 29 mini rests throughout the workout.  Overall  I'm very happy with my performance and the three PR's I put up today.  

Fran 11-12-08

Fran as Rx'd:

7:34 (PR)

25 second PR!!!  I simply cannot believe it.  It doesn't make any sense.  After 6 weeks off of CrossFit, my Fran time improved!?  I'm flabbergasted.  I've got to give props to my buddy Dan who pushed me by insulting my manhood and saying I was doing Fran as Rx'd even though I wanted to do it with 75lbs in order to get a respectable time.  I was just hoping for sub 10 minutes.  I don't know how to explain a PR.

The only thing I can think of is that the difference was in the thrusters.  The bottom of the thruster felt notably stronger then it did before, I'm guessing because of all the back squat workouts (18 to be exact!) I've done in the last month and a half.  

I had 4 guys yelling at me throughout the workout and all were watching my form.  I got called on one bad thruster in the first set at #12 when I didn't lock my elbows out.  This workout absolutely wrecked me.  I worked just as hard on it as any workout I can remember.  I was on the ground floundering like a pathetic little girl afterwards.  It hurt just to breathe.  I'm loving it!  

The End of Starting Strength Cycle 11-12-08

It's time I end this Starting Strength cycle.  I have been following the program religiously in regards to programming (other then the two overly ambitious 10lb deadlift jumps, which resulted in not handling the last deadlift workout with good form...watch the video if you need to), getting every single workout in, drinking a gallon of milk a day, and getting 8 hours of sleep, but I just haven’t been able to put down 7,000 calories a day.  Its been more like 4,000 a day sometimes 5,000.  Rippetoe the creator of the program has said that this is just not enough to bulk up and continue the linear progression as needed. 

The primary reason I went on SS was my goal of bulking up to jump up into a bigger fighter’s weight class or two so to speak and at the same time getting useable strength (a secondary goal).  In the world of fighting whether its the UFC, wrestling, boxing, or a cop fighting somebody jacked up on PCP, the bigger man has an advantage.  Not to mention the possibility of avoiding a fight in the first place with the more intimidating command presence that a bigger cop gives off.  Obviously there are bodybuilding programs out there that I could bulk up on, but thats a bunch of crap as there is little function fitness involved there.  So my primary goal of getting bigger has been compromised (and the strength gains will be diminished as well) because I haven’t been able to eat enough.  Working graveyards as a cop is not conducive to eating truckloads.  There are nights when I go call to call and hardly have time to pop in a cliff bar, forget about putting down the kind of regular, disciplined, large meals that are necessary.  It’s made it not worth it for me to continue.  Let alone the fact of everything I’ve given up with not doing CrossFit.  I’ve argued with myself the entire time I’ve been on this program about why I’m not doing CrossFit.  But I guess I had to run my little experiment, and so here I am.

I’ve been on SS now for 6 weeks.  I gained 15 pounds in the first two weeks, and for the last month haven’t gained anything!  I’m stuck at 183/4 lbs depending on the day.  I haven’t stalled out yet, and thats the only reason I've kept going… because I’m curious to see how much farther I will go until I stall out.  I would have started to PR on Shoulder Press a week from today, PR on Cleans on Friday, and I’m already PR’ing on Squats and Bench.  I’ve put a lot into this and did not want to quit without giving it my entire effort.  Thats not who I am.  But lets face it, to try and gain 30 pounds in 3 months and not as a 16-20 year old kid is a tough goal.  Doable?  Probably.  But very tough, and you HAVE to follow the program verbatim.  Which I haven't been.  7,000 calories is just not happening.  I've tried and tried to keep pounding the food hard and to be aggressive about it, but it just aint happening.  I hate to admit defeat in an area that seemingly just takes a little discipline, but here I am.  And so you know I found without a doubt the hardest part of this program was eating enough.  The only reason I can see to continue is to see how far I can make it before I stall out.  But to the detriment of the rest of my fitness.  So I’m not considering this a full on success, but a partial success.  I’m a bit conflicted about it, but I know that I'm no longer truly following the program as it was designed.  I also know that if I stop SS and get back on X-fit I will definitely still be able to continue to PR on these lifts (and a bunch more for that matter), while at the same time get my metcon back and improve on it.  So CrossFit here I come!

Starting Strength Day 18, 11-10-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 225 lbs (PR.  Also a 1 x 5 PR)

Shoulder Press 3 x 5 - 100 lbs

Power Clean 5 x 3 - 135 lbs

Wow.  Squats felt heavy today.  Some days you are the bug, some days you are the windshield.  Today I was the bug.  

Bar speed was real slow, but I ground them all out.  I'm hoping part of the reason for this was it was just an off day.  Looking forward to hitting it hard on Wed with 230 lbs.

Starting Strength Day 17, 11-7-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 220 (PR)

Bench Press 3 x 5 - 140 (PR)

Deadlift 1 x 5 - 300 

Squats felt heavy today.  Finished all of them, but my form wasn't as tight as it should have been.  I'm confident next week should be doable. It'll be the hardest lifting of my life, but I know the work will get done.  This time next week I'll hit 235 for 3 sets of 5 which will be only 5 lbs short of my 1 rep PR of 240 (as of 5 weeks ago).

My deadlifts aren't where I want them to be.  I've done 315 for 3 sets of 5 before with a slightly rounded back.  After doing SS this long, I really thought at this weight I'd still be pulling with good form.  

Your critique on my form is welcomed.  I'll start:  My back is flattening out waaay too much and dangerously close to rounding if its not already.  This isn't happening from a lack of attempting to keep my lumbar locked tight.  Seems to just be a lack of strength to hold it tight at this weight.  Also on my first rep, I need to start with my butt higher.  My butt rises a couple of inches before the bar is lifted off the ground. I've known that I do that for a month now, so its a little frustrating to still be doing it.  I realize now I should have been recording more often so I could be monitoring it.  Here is the video.  

Starting Strength Day 16, 11-5-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 215 lbs (PR)

Press 3 x 5 - 95 lbs

Power Clean 5 x 3 - 130 lbs

Squats felt pretty good.  Any critiques on my form are welcome.

Starting Strength Day 15, 11-3-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 210 lbs (PR)

Bench Press 3 x 5 - 135 lbs

Deadlift 1 x 5 - 295 lbs

I'm enjoying the fact now that every time I squat it will be a PR until I hit a plateau.  The Squats felt pretty good.  heavy, but good.  It definitely helps to whip myself into a mental frenzy right before each set.  I tried to focus on that and really get psyched up.  I'm now confident I'll get 215 on Wed and 220 on Fri.  Added 10lbs to the deadlift again today to make them tougher like the squats are.  I'm still using a palms toward me grip on both hands to try and build up my grip strength.  I'll continue doing so as long as possible until my grip fails and then I'll switch to an opposing grip so my grip won't keep me from working up into heavy weight.

Starting Strength Day 14, 10-31-08

This marks the end of my first month of Starting Strength.  

Squat 3 x 5 - 205lbs (PR)

Shoulder Press 3 x 5 - 90lbs

Power Clean 5 x 3 - 125lbs

Just for kicks I tried a one armed deadlift at 255lbs and was barely able to pull it to the top.  Using the hook grip was a must.  I wasn't able to budge the weight with a regular grip.  The whole way up my hold on the bar was slipping until it finally just slipped out of my hand. A little questionable whether I fully locked it out at the top before I dropped it because my grip failed, but I think I just got it.  

I weighed 183lbs today.  Thats a 14lb increase from my start of SS 30 days ago.  Not too shabby.  I highly doubt though that I'll be able to reproduce that and have another 14lb weight gain in the next month.  Seems like I've been stuck at the 180-183lb range fluctuating slightly up and down within that range over the last 2 weeks.  I think the key for me to keep gaining weight is the milk and the food.  I've just got to be more aggressive and disciplined about putting food away as though its going out of style.  

I'm happy with my progression with squats.  Thats good because its the foundation of this program.  I felt pretty good today with them.  They are hard now, but doable.  I haven't been worried yet about whether or not I'll be able to finish any of the reps.  I feel as though I'll be able to continue to about 220lbs before I need to reset, but thats just a guess.  My goal is to hit 240lbs 3 x 5 (after resetting) because that was my single rep max when I started.  I may well end up getting past 240.  I don't want to put limits on myself.  I've seen plenty of examples of other guys on SS who weren't brand new lifters when they started SS and have ended up doing their 3 sets of 5 at a higher weight then their previous one rep max.  Only time will tell.  All I can do now is keep marching forward... eating everything in sight, drinking Milk as if its my last day on earth, sleeping like a coma patient and lifting heavy like a Cave Troll on PCP.

Starting Strength Day 13, 10-29-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 200lbs

Bench Press 3 x 5 - 130lbs

Deadlift 1 x 5 - 285lbs

I did a little math and realized I was progressing too slow on the deadlift compared to my squat.  So I added 10lbs to the deadlift instead of the usual 5lbs.  

Then I couldn't resist, so I did:

Deadlift - 625lbs PR!!

Here is the video:

If you've never tried that before, you should.  Lots of fun!  I'll be doing more of the old lifts in the future, especially when I get off this Starting Strength cycle.  This is much more impressive though...for a 1210 lb deadlift, click HERE.

Starting Strength Day 12, 10-27-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 195lbs

Press 3 x 5 - 85lbs

Power Cleans 5 x 3 - 120lbs

Jim, a friend of mine came over and did his first ever CrossFit workout.  He hasn't worked out regularly in a long time, but he did great.  Taught him how to do air squats and then he did a buttercup version of mini Cindy.  Also worked with my brother on his clean technique.  All this I did while I was warming up.  So I started in on my workout and was really encouraged by how lightweight the squats were feeling.  I charged right through all 3 sets of 5 with no problems.  When I was stripping the weight of the bar I realized I had 35's instead of 45's on the bar.  What a brain fart!  So I had just done 3 sets of 5 at 175lbs instead of 195lbs, which is a decent amount of volume and more then a usual warmup.  But I didn't want to let it stop me from continuing to add weight every workout, so I put on the 195lbs and did the 3 sets of 5 like I was supposed to.  It wasn't easy, but I got through it.  At that point I had taken up so much time that I had to rush through the rest of the workout with only 30 seconds of rest in between sets.  Luckily the weight is still light enough that I was able to get away with it.

Lesson learned:  Instructing while attempting your own intense workout does not mix.

Starting Strength Day 11, 10-24-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 190lbs 

Bench Press 3 x 5 - 125lbs

Deadlift 1 x 5 - 275lbs

Starting Strength Day 10, 10-22-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 185lbs 

Press 3 x 5 - 80lbs

Power Cleans 5 x 3 - 115lbs

HERE is video of 2 out of the 3 sets of squats.

Felt good today.  I read a few articles of "Keys to Progress" by John McCallum throughout the day.  I love his writing style.  Such a hilarious guy and has some really classic lines in there about lifting.  If you haven't read it and are doing the Starting Strength thing, look into it.  Its definitely a book about getting big and strong with much more of an emphasis on bodybuilding then I prefer, but is great nonetheless. The book is worth it just for the way he describes big strong guys and the insulting descriptions of skinny little guys who don't train.  Classic stuff.

Starting Strength Day 9, 10-20-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 180lbs

Bench 3 x 5 - 120lbs

Deadlift 1 x 5 - 270lbs

Starting Strength Day 8, 10-17-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 175lbs

Press 3 x 5 - 75lbs

Power Clean 5 x 3 - 110lbs

I weighed 180 lbs this morning before breakfast.  Thats an 11 pound weight gain in 17 days and I haven't even gotten into the heavy weight yet. Still no crazy gut either.  I weighed the same weight about this time last year and the wifey says I have a noticeably smaller gut.

Starting Strength Day 7, 10-15-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 170lbs

Bench 3 x 5 - 115lbs

Deadlift 3 x 5 - 265lbs

Slowly ratcheting the weight up,  In a month and a half I'll be squatting my current one rep max of 240lbs 3 x 5 if I'm able to continue making linear progress, so the baby steps will start kicking in and making a difference before I know it.

Starting Strength Day 6, 10-13-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 165lbs

Press 2 x 5 - 70lbs

Power Cleans - 105lbs

Today marks the end of the second week of SS.  I have gained 6 pounds.  That is weighing myself when I'm at my lightest, after waking up.  So far, not too much of a gut, but I'm still thinking its mostly fat.  Its been tough to continue to eat 5-7,000 calories a day.  It definitely takes a bunch of discipline.  I've got to keep working hard at it.

As I was squatting today I had the thought that it felt like a warmup.  I charged right through them.  I'm thinking I should start getting more aggressive with squat therapy which I learned about at the Level 1 Cert.  It would be cool if I could get rid of my 'butt wink' and end up with a more upright, superior squat at the end of this SS cycle. 

Starting Strength Day 5, 10-10-08

Squat 3 x 5 160lbs

Bench Press 3 x 5  110lbs

Deadlift 1 x 5 260lbs

Easy day.  I'd like to be able to say the only easy day was yesterday.  But thats not the case yet.  Soon enough though.  Soon enough.

Starting Strength Day 4, 10-8-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 155lbs

Press 3 x 5 - 65lbs

Power Clean 5 x 3 - 100lbs

Another easy day.  

Its more then a little frusterating to not be lifting heavy yet. I want to hurry up and lift heavy, but I know thats being greedy, and it makes sense to do it slow. Its just hard to wait and not be pushing the weight yet. I know in another 2 months though I won't be saying the same thing, and in another month I'll be squatting 215lbs 3 x 5. Which will be pretty good considering my max is 240. A month after that of linear progression (if I'm able to keep it up) and I'll be squatting 275lbs 3 x 5. Now that does't really seem possible. I'm guessing I'll stall out before then...but you never know. Time will tell. Its just hard being patient right now. It'll be well worth it if the big gains in muscle mass and strength come. But its so early in the program, that hasn't happened yet. A little more fat has happened though.

Weighed 174lbs in the morning and 176lbs after a meal.

Starting Strength Day 3, 10-6-08

Squat 3 x 5 150lbs

Bench Press 3 x 5  105lbs

Deadlift 1 x 5 255lbs

10-4-08

6,453 Calories

362.6 Fat

476.5 Carbs

344.1 Protein

10-5-08

4,915 Calories

250.1 grams Fat

413.7 grams Carbs

277 grams Protein

I weighed myself with an empty stomach at 172lbs.  Then after I stuffed myself at dinner I weighed 174 lbs.  That is a 5lb increase in 5 days (and 3 workouts)! Must not be muscle and be pretty much all fat, food and water seeing how these workouts haven't been hard yet because its still the start of the program.  I weighed myself on the 6th with an empty stomach and I weighed 172lbs again.

GOMAD!!

If you don't know what GOMAD stands for...YOU SHOULD!

GOMAD = Gallon Of Milk A Day

Its one of the foundations of this program. Not that its for everyone who is doing SS. Not that its for everyone who are doing other programs. Not that its a healthy diet for the rest of your life type of thing. Its for a short season in time. To make you big.

Milk grows baby mammals and makes them big. Real simple. Bears, bulls, tigers....all go from cute and cuddley little guys to big bulky beasts on milk (and a bit of meat doesn't hurt them either). I don't know about you, but I pretty much fall into the baby mammal category. I'm still a novice lifter, maybe an advance novice, but a novice nonetheless. So I will benefit from a program like SS. SS was specifically designed for novices. Its not for the intermediate or advance lifter. They need more complex training programming.

This baby mammal does not. He needs to pick heavy things up, put it on his back and squat it. He needs to pick heavy things off the floor and lift them. He needs to add weight every single workout. And he needs to drink a truckload of milk while eating enough to feed a platoon of starving marines. Plain and simple, right?

It just depends on what your goals are. If you aren't trying to gain mass and get big, then GOMAD is not for you. But a word to the wise...if you are trying to get as stong as possible then you will need to get bigger too. Big muscles move big weight. Small muscles do not. Milk is a key component to growing those muscles. So go out and do your muscles a favor and drown yourself in some milk.

Starting Strength Day 2, 10-3-08

Squat 3 x 5 - 145lbs
Press 3 x 5 - 60lbs
Power Clean 5 x 3 - 95lbs

Its weird to be using so little weight right now. Definitely wanted to and could have used heavier weight. But thats the whole point of linear progression is to slowly, and very consistently build up and up and add more and more weight. Starting heavy and adding weight every single time you lifted simply would not work. But starting light and working your way up to your previous max as you gain weight, and get a foundational volume of work in, will allow you to get stronger and beat your old PR's. So while its a bit of an ego check, and almost feels unambitious to use such light weight in a workout, I'll continue to be ambitious about the big picture and adding 5lbs to every single exercise every blasted workout.

Definitely need to get better with my power clean form. I'm having trouble with closing my hips fully as I shrug and jump the weight up. May need to get some more private coaching and just focus on the clean.

My low back didn't get tired at all like it did on Wed. Maybe I did too much volume when warming up for the squat and the deadlift.

In short...an easy day today.

Today I ate:

6,303 Calories
309.6 grams of fat
604.2 grams of carbs
304.9 grams of protein

Yesterday I ate:

6,301 calories
308.9 grams of fat
523.3 grams of carbs
384.6 grams of protein

Starting Strength Day 1, 10-1-08

Today marks the beginning of a major change to my workout programming. As crazy as it may seem, I'm beginning a Starting Strength(SS) cycle today. I've been planning on this for some time now. The primary reason is I'd really like to put on some muscle mass. I'm 6'1, 169lbs and I'm hoping I can put on a good 20-30lbs in weight in the next handfull of months and then return to crossfit afterwards to trim down the fat and start in again on increasing my work capacity across broad time, and modal domains. My goal is to end up 15-20lbs heavier with the same (or less) bodyfat (I'm at ~13% now) and continue my crossfit career from there. Not because I think the strength gains I'll make will automatically transfer to killing all the WOD's as RX'd, though the increased strength will help especially in heavier WOD's like Linda, the Bear Complex, Lynne, and of course the CFT, but because I want to be bigger. Always have wanted to be bigger then I am. This kind of focus should also give me much stronger hips and midline stabilization, which are the engine and transmission that drives the body. We'll see if it works. I'll be honest that I'm a little concerned that I may be pissing away the next 4 or so months. This is certainly not what Jeff Martin head coach at Brand X would have me do. However other top notch coaches like Mark Rippetoe (obviously) and Greg Everett recommend doing SS and then returning to WOD's afterwards. Its a challenge that I'm stoked about and hopefully I'll come back to Crossfit and get back to a good state of metcon fitness pretty quickly. I already know I'll really miss doing some of the CrossFit WOD's, because I enjoy them so much, but lifting heavy is a ton of fun too!

I don't know how long I'll be doing SS. That depends on how long I can continue linear progression, ie: adding weight to the bar and making progress. It'll also depend on if I decide to reprogram when I do stall out and switch to an advance novice SS program, or intermediate level strength and mass gain program. I'll make those decisions when I encounter them.

I've started a food log on fitday.com in order to track how many calories I'm eating. The goal is to eat a truckload of calories every day during this cycle. The amount of food you eat is what determines if you gain weight and get bigger and your training is what determines if that weight gain is muscle or fat and to what ratio. Also obviously how 'clean' you eat plays a role. When trying for weight gains, SS calls for drinking a gallon of whole milk a day (GOMAD) and getting down somewhere in the range of 4,500-7,000 calories.

I'll be doing the original SS program which looks like this:

Workout A:

3x5 Squat

3x5 Bench Press

1x5 Deadlift

Workout B:

3x5 Squat

3x5 Shoulder Press

5 x 3 Power Cleans

As of today here is what my lifts look like:

Squat: 1 rep max 240lbs, 5 rep max 200lbs...I'll start at 140lbs...Single rep max goal of 300lbs

Deadlift: 1 rep max 355lbs, 5 rep max 315lbs...I'll start at 250lbs....Single rep max goal of 400lbs

Benchpress:  1 rep max 165lbs, 5 rep max 145lbs...I'll start at 100lbs...Single rep max goal of 200lbs

Press: 1 rep max 125lbs, 5 rep max 105lbs...I'll start at 60lbs...Single rep max goal of 140lbs

Power Clean: 1 rep max 180lbs, 5 rep max 150lbs...I'll start at 95lbs....Single rep max goal of 210lbs

I'll be adding 5lbs to each lift every single workout until I need to reset. I'll reset twice and then look at doing the advanced novice program from Rippetoe's book Practical Programming.

If you want to learn more about this program, you can read till your eyes bleed about it HERE.

So today I did:

Squat 5 x 3 - 140lbs

Bench Press 5 x 3 - 100lbs

Deadlift 5 x 1 - 250lbs

Ate 5,114 Calories....216grams of fat.....479grams of Carbs.....322grams of protein

% of Calories:

	Fat   ( 38 %)		Carbs   ( 37 %)
	Protein   ( 26 %)

9 Hours of sleep

The first day went well. I enjoyed going shopping today and buying 4 gallons of whole milk as well as a bunch of other food. The lifting wasn't too bad at all. Did feel my low back though...Just got a little tired by the time I did the work set of the deadlift.

Level 1 Cert Day 2 !!! & Hill Run, Med Ball Cleans, Pullups

Wearing a sand colored t-shirt in the top right corner just below the tallest guy in the photo who is wearing a black t-shirt....Yours truly.

2nd and final day of the Level 1 Cert.  I just wish there was a day 3, 4 and 5.  I could go all week!  

So today we had lectures on technique, nutrition, midline stabalization, and programming.  There were lectures, demonstrations and skill work for the following movements:  Glute Ham Developer hip extensions, GHD back extensions, GHD situps, kipping pullups, muscleups, rowing, snatching.

The workout today was:

~400M Hill Run

3 Rounds of:  15 Medicine Ball Clean 20lbs, 15 Pullups

~400M Hill Run

10:22

I was the 17th fastest out of the 50-60 Cert attendees.  Top 3rd, which isn't too bad, but plenty of room for improvement.  The fastest time in the class was 7:47.  The same athlete got 409 on FGB yesterday.  Sorry, but I can't help but be over-competitive and care too much about things like that.  It's just the way I operate.

I'll leave you with the highlights that I walked away from this weekend with.  These are words of wisdom.  Words to live by:

Your hips are the engine, and the spine/torso is the transmission for producing power with your body.  

The ability to stabilize the core is the secret to being a firebreather of an athlete.

Food is fuel that runs the machine (your body).

The food you put in your mouth will determine how you feel for the next 4-6 hours.

The 23 - 1   Rule:

Your workout takes about 1 hour of your day.  This puts in perspective how important the other 23 hours are.  What you do with the other 23 hours in your day provides a huge opportunity to do harm or good for your fitness level.  Therefore what fuel you spend your time consuming and how much sleep you get in that 23 hours is hugely important!

Badasses are on a zone paleo diet.

If it won't go bad, rot, or die, then don't eat it.

Never have a meal larger then 5 blocks and never go more then 5 hours without eating.

Fixing a glaring deficiency (weakness), is better for your fitness then just working on your strengths.

Work on your weaknesses!

Force x Distance % time = Power  ......   Power  =  Intensity

If you don't push to new levels of intensity you will NOT grow.

Intensity is where the good shit is!

Functional Movement is moving Large Loads Long Distances Quickly.

Increase work capacity across broad time and modal domains.

CrossFit is ultimately attempting to attain increased capacity/ability in life outside the gym.

Level 1 Cert !!! & Fight Gone Bad

My first Level 1 Certification.  Much needed since I'm a PT Instructor at the Police Academy now,  I probably ought to be legit about it. Heck I say its great as a garage gym CrossFit commoner to get to a Cert or 5 immediately if not sooner.  In that sense I should have gone to this Cert months ago!  

We had a ton of quality info shoveled at us today, all of which I soaked up as I scribbled notes furiously.  Much was review due to my reading of the CrossFit Journal (HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended if you don't subscribe yet!), but it was presented very well by some top notch Instructors highlighted by Adrian Bozman and Jon Gilson; two of my FAVORITE CrossFit blog/article authors.  We covered 9 of the foundational movements of CrossFit in lecture, demonstration, and practice:  the air squat, front squat, overhead squat, press, push press, push jerk, deadlift, sumo deadlift high pull, and clean.  It was outstanding to get such close coaching attention in so many lifts.  I was loving it.  Then it was time for some fun: 

Fight Gone Bad

3 Rounds of 1 min of each exercise and 1 min rest in between rounds

1. Wall-ball, 8 ft target (Reps) 24, 11, 10
2. Sumo Deadlift high-pull 75lbs (Reps) 18, 15, 13 
3. Box jump (Reps) 26, 14, 14
4. Push-press 75lbs (Reps) 27, 17, 11
5. Row (Calories) 14, 9, 13

Total:  236

What a doosey.  As if I needed to mention it to anyone who has done this WOD before, you know its a real beastie.  And today it was especially beastly.  That's what happens when you have 5 CrossFit Headquarters Level 1 Cert Trainers pouncing on any form of weakness, driving you onward through the misery that is intensity.  And I don't mean the stuffed animal kind of beast. This WOD was the teeth ground sharp, eyes glowing red, hiding under your bed, deep dark evilness that roams in the realm of your nightmares kind.  But I digress.  It was hard.  And that is good.  This was the first time I've done FGB as RX'd.  The medicine ball I have only weighs 10lbs, so that is the scaled down version I've been doing the last couple of times.  So me and the wall ball didn't get along so well, since this was twice as hard as I've ever done before.  But I sure did enjoy it because I was working out with ~60 other Cert attendees amidst a cacophony of screamed encouragement.  I'd love to workout in that environment daily.

Then to top off the day, after I got home, I had the opportunity to introduce CrossFit to my identical twin brother.  I taught him the air squat and shoulder press.  It was great to regurgitate a bunch of info I had just gotten on the movements at the cert which helped me remember it that much more. He did well for his first time and then rounded off the night with a max deadhang pullup effort of 9 pullups.  Not bad for someone who hasn't been working out at all, and has been known to define elite fitness as endurance runners (don't blame him, he was brainwashed as a HS and college track and cross country runner).  I was proud of how well he did picking up the movements.  We'll continue working on some more of the foundational movements and nailing down some benchmarks of his fitness so we can have something to work off and have a starting point for creating goals as we move forward.

Pretty snarky stuff!

So now its off to hold down my cot before the second day of the Cert!  

OHS,KB Swings, Dips/Single Leg Squats/Musclesups 9-21-08

15 - 12 - 9

Overhead Squats 75lbs

Kettlebell Swings 44lbs

Bar Dips

9:04

The dips were by far the hardest part. First set no problem. The second and third set were very broken and slow. The triceps were just shot. Gotta continue to work on this weakness. A friend Matt came over to workout. He's never done Crossfit before and after introducing him to OHS, I realized it was asking too much to have him do them as part of his workout. So he did the above workout with 95lb back squats instead in 4:52. He really smoked it and I was impressed with how good of shape he is in. Being a wrestler and swimmer and lifting on his own has certainly helped. Then we did:

Single Leg Squats

95 x 3

105 x 3

115 x 3

125 x 3

135 x 3

145 x 3

My back is still feeling a little suspect, so instead of doing low back squats, I did some single leg squats which stress the back a little less. It was good to do some form of the squat. Its been far too long.

30 Muscleups

18:35

Not really for time, just alternated single reps with Matt. But I did time it out of curiosity, so why not post the time, right? About 15-20 were full locked and turned out at the bottom, the rest were with bent elbows at the bottom.

Thrusters, Burpees, Rope Climbs 9-20-08

5 Rounds of 

7 Thrusters 95lbs

7 Burpees

3 Rope Climbs (8ft)

9:51

This was a good one.  I would have normally done this with 7 pullups instead of the rope climbs but subbed the robe climbs because of my torn blisters.  A buddy Andrew from Oakland PD came over and worked out with me at the garage gym.  He is new to Crossfit and has never done Thrusters before.  So he did them with 65lbs.  He finished the workout in 10:48.  Hopefully his schedule will line up with mine soon and we can start working out more regularly together.

Cash out of max Ring Pushups with feet up on jump box so we could get nice and deep.  I did 24 and Andrew did 20.

Row and Benchpress 9-19-08

4 rounds of 500M row, 4 min of rest between rounds:

1:38

1:48

1:52

1:54

I was hoping to PR on my first 500 and hit 1:32.  3 months ago I got 1:35.  That definitely wasn't happening tonight!  I guess that's what happens when you don't row much.  

10:00 min rest and did:

Benchpress

95 x 3

115 x 3

135 x 3

155 x 3 (PR)

165 x 1 (failed on 2nd rep)

Finally bought a flat bench so I can add benchpressing to my repitore.  Its a definite weakness as any other long armed bloke might tell ya. Yet another exercise to work on.

Sprints and Modified Lynne 9-17-08

Worked out with the Recruits today.  Did Sprint liners on a basketball quart...about 10 rounds of sprints of varying lengths including a sprint/air squat relay race.

Then did a modified Lynne.

4 Rounds of Max reps of:

Pullups                        30 - 17 - 16 - 15

105lb Shoulder Press       6 -  5  -  5   -  5

Rested 3 minutes in between rounds.  The 30 Pullups in the first round was a PR.  Pretty pleased with that.  10 away from my one year of doing CrossFit goal (in Feb) of 40 pullups.  We'll see, maybe I'll be able to hit 50 by then.  But I'll have to figure out the great blister battle I'm having.  I'm losing the battle.  Had two casualties today.  Ripped two big blisters, one on each ring finger.  That caused me to cut it short to 4 rounds instead of my planned 5.  The 30 pullups really took it out of me for the following rounds.  In rounds 2 and 3 I used a switched grip which I think really helped.

Nasty Girls 9-16-08

“Nasty Girls” Pack/Porch Scaling:

3 rounds for time of: 
50 Squats 
10 Seated Muscle-ups 
115 pound Hang power cleans, 10 reps

9:44

This was a tough one.  I loved it!

Dips 9-14-08

Still feeling my back and not much time, so I picked a weakness and did a super quick workout:

Dips 3 x 15

Rested 3 minutes between rounds.  (Actually did 17 in my first set).  14 unbroken in the first set makes for a pathetic PR.  At least all were strict full ROM.

Clean and Jerk & Pullups 9-13-08

Clean and Split Jerk

65 x 5

95 x 3

115 x 3

135 x 3

155 x 3

165 x 3 (PR)

Got a twinge in my low back coming out of the bottom of the squat on the very last rep.  I was hoping to move up to 170lbs so I'd have my bodyweight x 3, but the back twinge ended it for me.  I don't think its too serious at all.  We'll see how I feel tomorrow, might make it a rest day.

Max Dead Hang Pullup

17 (PR)

I had a tiny leg kick mid way up # 16.  Didn't quite get my chin over the bar on 18.  Haven't been doing too many pullups because of my constant issues with blisters.  Really need to get over the Blister blues so I can be improving on pullups like I need to be.

Deadlift 9-12-08

Deadlift

275 x 5

315 x 3

5 sets of 275 x 3

Last time I deadlifted I did 5 sets of 3 at 315. But my form suffered because it was too heavy. Decided to drop the weight back down and try and keep good form this time. Frusterating to go back down in weight but it was the right thing to do.

10 Muscleups full locked and turned out at the bottom. Not for time. Sets of 2 until 6 then did singles.

Fight Gone Bad Variant 9-10-08

Worked out at the Academy with the Recruits today.  

1.5 Mile run in 11:07  

Ran with some of the slower guys to try and push them, so this wasn't a PR attempt.  

Overhead Squats: 85lbs x 13, 95 x 3, 105 x 1, 115 x 1, 135 x 1, 150 (failed)  

I was shooting for a PR of 150lbs but out of the bottom my right arm drifted forward and I dropped it. Oh well.  

Muscleups not for time:  

4 unbroken (not locked and turned out) 

3 ‘real’ Muscleups unbroken ... First time I’ve ever done any with arms fully locked and hands turned out at the bottom. So this is a PR. From now on every Muscleup I do will be locked and turned out.  

2 

1 

3 bar Muscleups. Ripped my muscleup blister in the center of my right hand, so I stopped.  

Then did a Fight Gone Bad variation which was the Department's WOD:  

4 Rounds of  

12lb Slamball 

Pushups

Row 

Heavy Punching Bag 

Sumo Deadlift Highpull with 2 pood Kettelbell

Unfortunately I didn't keep track of my numbers but kept the intensity high.  

I'm having a ton of fun as an Academy PT instructor. I really enjoyed working with a couple of the recruits who stayed late to get more work in. Introduced them to L-Sits, L Pullups, Knees to Elbows, Toes to bar, front and side Planks, muscleups and Overhead Squats. How cool is that! A few got their first muscleups ever and all PR'ed in Overhead Squats since it was their first time ever doing them.

KB Swings, Burpees, Situps 9-9-08

5 Rounds for time of:  

10 53# Kettlebell Swings

9 Burpees 

8 Abmat Situps  

7:49  

Then did some more because it seemed like the stoopid thing to do.  

50 70lb Kettlebell Swings  

5:34  

1st time ever doing anything with a 70lb Kettlebell and only second time I've used a real Kettlebell. Fun stuff. The 70lber was a real evil...nogooder...I think I want one = )

100 Ring Pushups 9-7-08

100 Ring Pushups

11:57

I hung the rings down 2 feet off the floor and I did the first 41 with my feet on a 2 foot box so I was completely parallel.  After that I had to drop my feet to the ground to do slightly incline pushups.  This was quite a bit tougher then I thought.  Figured it'd take more like 5 minutes, not 12!

Snatch and Overhead Squat 9-5-08

Burgener warmup with PVC pipe and then with 45lb bar

Snatch

55 x 10

95 x 3

105 x 1

115 x 1

125 x 1

130 x 1 (failed)

Overhead Squat:

95 x 5

115 x 1

135 x 1

145 x 1 (PR + 10)

150 x 1 (Failed because I did not get full depth on squat)

compare to 5-14-08

Its been a long time since I've done OHS. Too long. Got to work them into my programming more like I used to.

1 Mile SandBag Carry 9-4-08

Carried a 100lb Sandbag for 1 Mile.

14:38

My goal was to do it under 15:00 min and I hit it.  The long term goal is to carry my bodyweight for 1 mile under 15:00 min.  That'll really take some work, because this was tough.  Surprisingly enough this really taxed my grip strength while holding onto the bag as it sat on my shoulders.  It was also very tiring on the traps, shoulder girdle and neck.  

Deadlift and Pushups 9-3-08

Deadlift

3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3  

315lbs

This was heavy for me.  Too heavy.  My form suffered because of the weight.  Especially in the 4th and 5th sets.  A rounded back.  Not a pretty thing.  Thats what I get for video taping my workout.  I should have used less weight.  I was upset with my breakdown in form.  So I punished myself with a cashout of black jack pushups.  Had one minute break in between each round.  Did the final 5 rounds all together with no breaks.

21-20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Pushups

Thats a total of 231 pushups.  I did them all unbroken.  Ouch.

Push Jerk 8-31-08

Push Jerk

95 x 3 

115 x 3

135 x 3

145 x 3

155, 155, 155 (failed), 155 (PR + 5)

160, 160 (failed), 160, 160 (failed), 160 (PR + 10) 

160 x 3 makes for a 10lb PR!!  I'm loving that I'm still making notable progress at 7 months of doing CrossFit!  My second rep of 160 went up super easy.  Considerably easier then any of the other 160lb attempts and easier then any of the 155lb attempts as well.  This leads me to believe my form still needs lots of work to get consistent.  On that 'easy' rep I just locked out my arms no problem at all.  I think this is because I got good hip explosion and probably more importantly I dropped under the bar super fast.  I also concentrated on setting my core and noticed a difference in feeling tighter and more solid throughout the ROM.  Need to fine tune my form so I can hit those lifts every time. The lifts that I failed were because I didn't quite lock out my arms and wasn't able to grind it up the rest of the way.

Compare to 7-25-08