Jan 08 2010 - Transition

Happy birthday to me! Well, it's not really my birthday, but a kind and caring couple has given me an early present - a gym membership! Not only is the gym warmer than my front porch, it's run by CrossFit trainers! So I'll be shifting my programming to take advantage of the warmth, both physical and emotional, that comes from working out with the group of crossfitters at Get Built Chattanooga. (Thanks Mom & Dad!)

GBC WOD:

Overhead Squats 95# x 21 reps
Bench 115# x 5, 135# x 5, 155# x 17

As Many Rounds As Possible in 12 minutes:
1 Round =
. 5 Hang Power Snatches (75#)
. 7 Overhead Squats (75#)
. 9 Hang Power Cleans (75#)

Those who despise or are confused by the metric system will be happy to know that I'll be back to expressing most of my lifting in pounds. The exception will be any supplemental lifting I do on my front porch.

Jan 02 2010 - Weenie

Returning from the last bit of holiday travel has left me without the inclination to spend any more time than necessary outside in the cold & dark. Call me a weenie, I skipped the conditioning.

Strength
Power Clean 5 sets of 3 reps (69kg)
Strict Chin-ups 3 sets for max reps (13,11,12)

DEC 24 2009 - New Shoes!

Thanks to a family member's travel plans we got to open Christmas presents early. (Thanks Courtney!) What was waiting in that shiny box for yours truly? A brand new pair of Rogue Do-Win size 10s! (Thanks Mom & Dad!)

I got to play with my new shoes at the local YMCA, since it is a facility enlightened enough to have bumper plates and rubber flooring. I put 40kg on the bar and pulled a trial squat clean and promptly pitched forward and dropped the weight. Grrr. Second try I overcompensated and almost fell on my butt. I pushed the weight out front and stepped back to save myself the indignity of winding up on my back under the bar. But really, 0 for 2? I tried a few more squat cleans before realizing that I wasn't going to be able to put up any serious weight today.

I played around with power cleans and worked up to a 70kg power clean & jerk. Next I tried power snatches and overhead squats. Again, my balance was off for the overhead squats. At least I was ready for it.

After 30 minutes of play, I'm really happy with the shoes. The power transfer through my shoes felt solid on all the pulls. I just have to work on the new landing platform and adjust my balance. I recommend that anyone lifting in new shoes take a couple sessions to work on balance at really light practice loads before trying to lift heavy in them. After a few more sessions in the new clogs I'll post a full review.

DEC 18 2009 - My First CF FootBall Total

CF FootBall Total:
The total is the combined weight from 1 rep max lifts in each of the following 4 lifts : power clean, back squat, bench press, and deadlift. The lifts are done in that order, with 3 attempts allowed in each lift. Only the best 1RM weight counts toward the total.

Lacking a bench, I substituted the press, which brought down my potential score. On the positive side, I can compare my strength gains to previous CF Totals (squat, press, deadlift) more easily, since that workout uses the press.

Power Clean - 75kg / 165#
Back Squat - 111kg / 245# PR!
Press - 55kg / 121#
Deadlift - 149kg / 328# PR!
Total - 390kg / 859#

I've cleaned 170# before, and pressed 130#. I think my press would have progressed more if I had been able to bench press when the CFFB program called for it. Nevertheless, I'm a lot stronger than I was at the beginning of November, when I started following the CFFB site. On November 1st I squatted a 1RM of 95kg (209#); I'm happy with a 16kg (36#) increase. It's a 15# increase over my previous PR back in April. The deadlift is a 13# increase over my previous PR, also from April.

I'm pleased with the effect that CrossFit Football has had on my body, and will stick with the programming once I return from Christmas travels. Blog posts may be sporadic until the first week of January. Thanks for following, and have a merry Christmas!

DEC 11 2009 - Power(less) Cleans

Strength

Power Cleans 5 sets of 3 (67kg)

Strict Chin-ups 3 sets for max reps (7chest+7chin, 4+5, 5+4)

Conditioning

10 x 150m Sprints (on 60sec rest)

My form was a bit squiffy on the power cleans. I've been working up to a 65kg clean & jerk as a regular part of my warmup, but after yesterday's painfest I lacked the snappiness usually present in my cleans. I should have taken video to see how bad it was. But I didn't feel like messing with the camera today.

The chin-ups went better than expected. The fact that I did more than last time means at least I wasn't pulling with my arms on the clean (which is a cardinal sin of weightlifting).

Spirints took between 21.5 and 28 seconds. I have a slight grade on the street, which widened the gap between my splits. Happy it's over. I'm ready for a Guinness float tonight!

DEC 01 2009 - Need Help Counting

A condition I refer to as the deadlift dumb-dumbs set in almost immediately. I have my deadlift 5 rep max very close to my past personal best. As soon as I set down the 5th rep I was overcome by a desire to go to bed. No shower, no stretching, certainly no conditioning workout. But I settled for 5 minutes of laying on the floor, then geared up for a big, heaping serving of power cleans & push-ups. The amount of reps decreased by one in each set. I used to know the mathematical formula for figuring the total number of reps, but it eluded me tonight. Thankfully, my lovely assistant handled the counting.

Deadlift 5 rep max
Rest
As Quickly As Possible: Alternate sets of Power Cleans and Push-ups
. PwrCLN - 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
. Push-ups - 20,19,18,17,16,15,14,13,12,11

I used 55kg for the power cleans, and finished in 14:22. Out of curiosity I used Catalyst Athletics' on line power calculator and found that I averaged 122 watts for the conditioning workout.

NOV 23 2009 - Security

The workouts after rest days are always special. Today's was no exception:

Squat 3 sets of 5 reps (79kg)
Rest
3 Rounds As Quickily As Possible:
. 4x 53m Sprints (out,back, out,back)
. 12 Power Cleans (55kg)
. 6 Push Jerks (55kg)
Rest
As Many Rounds As Possible in 3 minutes:
. Medicine Ball Throw (20#)
. Broad Jmps to Med Ball
. Return to start carrying Med Ball Overhead

I finished the conditioning workout in 10:55. Looking at the CF Football site, maybe I scaled it too light. I chose 55kg because 65 seemed too close to my 1 rep max (70kg). If I'd used 65kg it would have turned into a 20 minute strength workout. At 55kg it was good for power production. I only had to set the weight down during the last round of push-jerks. Overall, this was an excellent workout. Lots of power production, a pull, a push, and sprints. Hits everything an athlete needs.

Today I added my first "Finisher" workout. I made a deck of cards with very short workouts that address one of my limiters or add core work. Today's turned out to be a fun combination of medicine ball throws and broad jumps.

Midway through my first round of power cleans a couple of door-to-door salesmen started asking me questions. I had no inclination to slow down my workout in order to more politely shatter their dreams of making a big sale. One guy was shouting what I think was encouragement as he approached. Fortunately (for them), before they could get within throwing range of my barbell, my lovely fiancee explained what I was doing and fielded all their questions. After I was done with the workout, I asked her what they were selling. Security systems. "Does it look like we need a security system?" she asked. I agree, it's much more fun to chase down criminals and beat them with a kettlebell. I wonder if there's a "Beware of CrossFitter" sign I can put up in the yard?

NOV 19 2009 - "The Ensign"

Any time a named workout comes up on a CrossFit web page I worry. In the short time I've been following CrossFit Football, this is only the second named workout I've done. It's a modification of another workout I have done called "The Chief," which left me gasping on the deck. For me "The Ensign" was harder due to the substitution of ring dips every other cycle.

I feel that I got the scaling about right for the power cleans, but perhaps I should have done fewer ring dips, or dips with a band assist. After cranking out 6 fast pushups I was struggling to do more than 3 dips in a row. They really slowed me down.

Squat 3 sets of 5 reps (77kg)
Press 3 sets of 5 reps (47kg - 5 reps, 4 reps, 2 reps)
Rest
"The Ensign"
Six cycles of 4 minutes each:
. 3 min As Many Round As Possible where
. 1 Round = [3 Power Cleans (55kg), 6 Pushups, 9 Air Squats or Ring Dips*]
. 1 min Rest
*on cycles 1,3,&5 do 9 Air Squats per round;
on cycles 2,4,&6 do 9 Ring Dips

My results:
Cycle 1 - 4 rounds + 3 power cleans
Cycle 2 - 2 rounds +3 power cleans, 1 pushup
Cycle 3 - 3 rounds + 3 power cleans, 6 pushups, 1 squat
Cycle 4 - 2 rounds + 1 power clean
Cycle 5 - 3 rounds + 3 power cleans, 6 pushups, 5 squats
Cycle 6 - 2 rounds + 2 power cleans
16 total complete rounds.

NOV 13 2009 - Power Cleans & Sprints

I got to run in the street in these:

I've been using Vibram Five Fingers shoes for all my weightlifting and the workouts involving short runs (400m or less). They take a couple weeks to get used to. I had to start by walking in them for 30 minutes at a time until my arches were strong enough for running. I run using the Pose method, which emphasizes landing on the forefoot and avoids "heel striking." The Vibrams definitely let me know if I ever land heel-first. In fact, I've only done it twice. For weightlifting, the Vibrams are great, I feel like they give me a much better feel for how and when my balance shifts. And I get much better power transfer through the thin, solid rubber sole than in running shoes.

Power Clean 5 sets of 3 reps (65kg)

Rest 5 minutes

Sprint 110m every minute, on the minute, 10 times.

I was happy to get all 15 reps up on the Power Cleans. I lost count on the sprints and accidentally did eleven. My fastest was just under 17 seconds, the rest were right around 20.

NOV 10 2009 - Rain Sprints

I did this workout in the rain in the dark, running through puddles. At least I stayed warm from all the hard work.

Deadlift up to a 5 Rep Max (119kg)
Rest
10 rounds As Quick As Possible:
5 Power Cleans (55kg)
5 V-pushups
50m Sprint

The workout posted on CrossFit Football called for powercleans at 75% of bodyweight. I weigh 70kg, which means I should have been lifting 52kg, but I don't have the right plates for that. On the other hand, the prescribed workout called for handstand push-ups, which I can't do yet. I substituted V-pushups. I put my feeet on a 24" tall box, my hands on the ground about 3 feet in front of the box, and bent my body into a V so that my torso was almost vertical. (I'll add a pic tomorrow.)
I thought the workout might take a really long time, so I imposed a cut-off time of 16 minutes to keep from losing intensity. Well, I finished in 15:01.