Becoming an Athlete

Crushed yet again by CrossFit. I only have 2 more CF classes before I take a month off, due to surgery. From all the years of fighting, it seems I've broken my nose a few times and have blown out one of my sinus cavities. The surgeon will be repairing everything on Tuesday 5 OCT. My last Defiant WOD will be on 4 OCT. I'll take 1 week completely off of physical activity, then resume training at much lower intensity. This will be a good opportunity to get in 6 weeks of bodybuilder style training. I'm not a fan of low-intensity, long duration BB workouts, but I can push that at 100% and not be anywhere near the level of effort of my normal garage or a Defiant workout. Today's WOD: Skill work: Kettlebell figure-8 to KB uppercut: 3 x 12 KB swing: 3 x 12 MetCon: 100 thrusters @ 95lbs. Any time the bar touched the ground, we had to run a 400m. Time ran out and I had finished 61 reps with 5 400m runs. This totally destroyed my shoulder girdle. I'm taking tonight...

We had a much smaller turn-out this Saturday, but everybody still brought their A-game. 1. Warm-up: 5mins 2. Sprint build-ups: high-knee+sprint: 2 x 20yds+20yds Plyo skips+sprints: 3 x 20yds+20yds Accellerations+sprints: 2 x 20yds+20yds Full 40 yd sprint: 2 x 40yds 3. Primary workout: We setup a mini lap at the end of the track, because the flag football league had covered the field. The lap consisted of one turn, plus cutting across the field behind the goal post. In total it was rough 120 yards. Prior to each lap, we did a body-weight movement. here's the break-down. Pushups x 10 + 120yds Sprawls x 10 + 120yds Medicine ball diagonal slams x 10 + 120yds Squat jumps x 10 + 120yds Pushups x 10 + 120yds Sprawls x10 + 120yds Medicine ball diagonal slams x 10 + 120yds Squat jumps x 10 + 120yds We ended with two hill sprints. It was a solid workout

This workout was just a fun way to try something new, and still get in solid work. My back was exhausted from deadlifting and all prior work, so I gave legs a night off; had planned on front squats but opted out. Bench press: 185x5; 205x3; 225x1; 215x3; 245x1 The 245 felt really easy. No sticking points whatsoever. I'm guessing my 1RM on bench is about 265 or 275. Reverse grip EZ-bar curls: 75x5; 85 x 5, 5, 5, 5 Overhead press: 115x5; 135x3; 150x1; 140x3; 160xFAIL Incline dumbbell curls: 30s x 7, 7, 7, 5, 5

Another run at Lake Pflugerville. It felt good, and the pace was the fastest yet. Right as I got to the last half mile, I ran into an old friend and had to stop and catch up for a few minutes. It messed up what could have been a PR run, but it was great to see my old friend and chat for a few minutes.

My pullup strength has gone down since switching to kipping pullups. My guess is that since I did them at least 3 times a week before CrossFit, that the reduced frequency and emphasis on explosiveness and inertia (vs. strength when doing dead-hang pullups) is why I feel so much weaker at them than a month ago. So here is what I did today. Wide grip pullups: 5, 4, 4 Medium grip pullups: 5, 4, 5 Close grip chinups: 3, 3, 2 + 1 negative with35# dumbbell 1-arm t-bar row: 60 x 10, 10 each arm I was supposed to run 5K this evening but it has been raining for a bit. If the rain doesn't break, I'll do squats and plyos.

We are getting our maxes this week in a variety of areas. I did OK. Front squat 1RM: 275 Deadlift 1RM: 385 2min max pushups: 49 2min max situps: 87 2min max pullups: 25 400m run: 1:46 My run flat out sucked!!!!! I wasnt wearing running shoes, but that would have only made a 5-10 second difference. This is slow in my book till I get to 1:10 or faster

My run times are improving rapidly. I did the 5K loop in well under 28 minutes and with much less felt strain. This is awesome!!!!

I'm still just goofing around, not really following a plan. Dumbbell tricep lying French press: 25s x 12, 10, 10, 10, 10 Bench press: 155 x 10, 10; 165 x 6; 155 x 6; 145 x 10; 135 x 8 Nothing spectacular, but my triceps and chest are sore a day later

Wow! I actually did a back and bicep workout. Really. I missed Wednesday's CrossFit workout at Defiant, and it's been a busy week. Wednesday night I saw the UFC fights in Austin. Tonight was BMX practice for the kids, so I got a late start in the garage. wide grip pullups: 4, 4, 4 medium grip pullups: 4, 3, 3, 4 medium grip chinups: 3, 3, 3, 4 Close grip chinups: 2, 2, 3, 1, Barbell curls: 65x10; 70x9; 75x8; 80x7; 85x6; 90x5; 95x4; 100x3; 105x2; 110x1 + 2 negatives.

I didn't have much time so i just hammered two movements as heavy as I could. Overhead press: 115 x 5, 5; 135 x 5; 140 x 3, 3; 150 x 1, 1 Squat: 225 x 6, 8; 245 x 8; 255 x 8, 6 I feel like my upper body strength is going down as my fitness / anaerobic endurance goes up. Hmm. We'll see what happens.

Heather killed us this morning!!! Deadlift: 275 x 2; 325 x 2, 2, 2, 2 WOD: 20min time limit of 1.5 pood (54lb) KB swings x 75 reps Sprawls x 75 reps 1.5 pood Sumo Grip High Pull x 75 reps Hindu squats x 75 reps 25lb DB overhead press x 75 reps I completed 1, 2, 3, and got 30 reps of squats before time ran out. This workout killed me.

My wife and I got bored, so we went for a bike ride Saturday afternoon. We did about 8-10 miles. Nothing exceptional, but good work none the less.

Man, this one was a killer! Warm-up: ~5 minutes Sprint build-ups: (20yd drill + 20yard sprint) High knee + sprint x 2 Plyo skip + sprint x 2 Scissors + sprint x 2 Acceleration + sprint x 2 Full sprint x 2 1/2 mile timed run WOW! We have some fast people in our group. Unbelievable!!! Medicine Ball circuit This one is courtesy of my old MMA / Kajukenbo instructor. 5 minuts on, 1 minute off. We do 1 minute drills, and move through 5 movements, then get 1 minute rest. the goal was three rounds, just like a fight, but we could only muster 2 rounds of: 1. Medicine Ball situp 2. Medicine Ball swing 3. Standing Medicine Ball twist 4. Overhead squat 5. Cross-over pushup - 1 min rest - repeat twice (three times was the plan) Max rounds in 10 minutes of: 1. 50 yard shuttle run (down & back) 2. 10 Burpees WOW! Not a soul standing after this one.

We have a big Warrior Dash prep workout coming up on Saturday, so today's workout will be a much smaller, albeit high intensity session. The plan is: Pullup / chinup: 20 strict reps any combination, as few breaks as possible Snatch grip deadlift + high pull: 155 x max reps Front squat: 225 x max reps Overhead press: 115 x max reps EZ-bar reverse grip curl: 85 x max reps Leg raise off bench: max reps I'll post my results after the WOD. DAMN! I brought the weak sauce today. My results: Pullup/chinup: 13 reps total Snatch grip DL + High Pull: 115 x 13 Front squat: 185 x 9 Overhead press: 115 x 11 EZ-bar reverse curl: 75 x 12 Leg raise off bench: 20+ (lost count)

Bench press: 230 x 2, 2, 2, 2, 1 As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of: Squat clean: 110 x 6 Pullup: BW x 12 Double-unders x 24 My results: 3 rounds as prescribed

My wife and I practiced double-unders for about 30 minutes. The most I was able to do in a row was 18. After that, I just kept getting worse. So we wrapped up the double-under practice and started our jog. We jogged about 2 miles. It felt hard after all the rope jumping. My calves and shins are spent.

This Saturday morning was perfect for a run. The temperature is finally getting cool. I'd say it was 70-72 degrees at most. My 8yr old son came with me on his BMX bike. This was the fastest I ran around Lake Pflugerville in at least a year, maybe more. I did my best to keep up with Evil Knievel, but I couldn't. I started at a regular aerobic-pace job, but started striding it out after about the first 1/2 mile. I kept that race pace up through mile marke 2.00, then had to slow down till we hit 2.75. I ran the last 1/4+ as fast as I could. I was damn near a sprint, but couldn't sustain the pace the full 500-600 yards. I didn't time it, but I've done enough 5Ks to know what sub-28min feels like. Not too bad. I'll be shooting for 27 minutes next time.

Man, I can't explain enough how much I benefit from a well thought out and thorough warm-up. Since I usually lift in my garage, I just sort of get after it by starting with a light set and build up to as heavy as I can manage. I LOVE the Defiant CF warm-up !!!!! On to the workout. Front squat*: 185 x 3, 3; 205 x 3, 3, 3 Conditioning workout: 7 rounds for time of: Pullups x 10 Ring dips x 10 Situps x 10 Air squats x 10 Midway through my 3rd round, I had to use a band to assist me on the pullups . I used a band the whole time on ring dips. Those suckers are hard enough on their own, but coupled with the regular dips I did on Tuesday , I REALLY needed the band. My time: 21:10