Jan 01 2010 - New Year, New Order of Magnitude

OK, so I haven't made a huge jump since the last workout, just the usual 2kg increase. But I've passed the 100 kilogram mark. It's not magic. It's only a nice, round number because I've been using kilograms the past couple months. But I'm a lot stronger than I used to be, and I'm happy about it.

Looking back through my training logs, I see that two months ago 95kg was my 1 rep max, and now I'm doing 101kg for reps. A year ago I had no idea what my 1RM squat was - I'd just returned from a month in Australia and two weeks of franticly moving my belongings across the country and catching up with family. Training wasn't a priority.

It doesn't have to be around the new year, but it's a good idea to take some time to look at one's training in longer spans than the current week or cycle. A bit of review lends perspective, allows one to appreciate how long progress can take, and celebrate aspects of improvement.

When asked about the intensity of his training, Greg Lemond once said "It never gets any easier, you just go faster." It's the same with weight training. It doesn't magically become easy, but the way we keep progressing is by pushing beyond comfort. Because it's always difficult, we can get discouraged. Keeping track of workouts in a log or journal lets us see how far we've come.

So keep a training log. Record your workouts. Once in a while, look back and celebrate the progress you've made. Have a safe and happy new year!

Strength
Squat 3 sets of 5 reps (101kg)

Conditioning
5 rounds for time
1 Round =
. 4x20m shuttle run
. 8 Kettlebell Swings (24kg)
. 16 Pushups
. 60 sec Rest

Happy with the squats. Pressed only 4 reps at 49kg. Scrapped it and moved on to conditioning for time management & mental health purposes. Conditioning rounds took from 52 to 56 seconds. Fast, fun workout.

DEC 07 2009 - Press Trouble

Strength:
Squat 3 sets of 5 reps (89kg)
Press 3 sets of 5 reps (49kg)

Conditioning:
As Many Rounds As Possible in 15 minutes
1 Round = [10 Ring Rows, 10 Ring Push-ups]

I felt good on the squats. The press was hard, I got 4, 3 & 3 reps. Didn't complete any of the sets. If the pattern holds, I'll get all 15 reps next week. If not, I'll have to re-think what to do for the pressing exercises. CrossFit Football prescribes press on Mondays, bench press on Thursdays. Since I have no bench, I've been playing around with different substitutions. At first I also pressed Thursdays, but hit a wall trying to increase the load twice a week. Next I tried 5sets of 3 split jerks, on the theory that supporting a heavier load than I can press would drive improvement on my press much like the bench press would. It'll be interesting to see how that works out.

I finished the conditioning work with 11 full rounds and 2 more ring rows.

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 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 12 2009 - Slightly More Solid Squats

Strength work today went well. The depth is good and I feel like I was a little better at controlling my back angle in the bottom of the squats. But here's a vid so you can judge for yourself.



Well, maybe not. Reps #2 & 3 are good, but in #4 & 5 my hips come up first and I lean forward.

Presses were OK, though I felt some imbalance between my right and left arms. I wonder if I got one hand farther out when I shifted my grip after the clean.

The conditioning workout was a bear! I was breathing hard and shedding clothes in no time. The CrossFit Footbal folks have nailed the art of intensity. Doing two sets of the gymnastics movements instead of one big set of 6/12/18 kept me moving the whole time. Wicked.

Squat 3 sets of 5 reps (71kg)
Press 3 sets of 5 reps (41kg)
Rest 6 minutes
As Many Rounds As Possible in 15 minutes:
1 Round = 3 Power Snatches (45kg) + 2 sets: [3 Pullups, 6 Pushups, 9 Box Jumps]

I finished 6 rounds and missed the seventh by 5 box jumps.