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Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Spring Fling!
What a nice morning out at Artesani Park in Brighton--sunny skies and a great turnout for our first Woodshed Fitness Sunday Workout. Bunny, Laurisa, Meaghan, Mark, Lawrence, and Jon joined us for a good, solid neural and joint warmup, some basic work on the particulars of the squat, deadlift, and overhead press, and a ripping good little burner with some weightless Tabata shoulder work thrown in for good measure.
WoD: Spring Fling
21-15-9 reps
Squat Jumps
Dumbbell/Plate Swings
Pushups
(Run 100m at conclusion of each round)
Rest 2 min
Weightless Tabata Shoulder Press
Great work by all; remember, the magic is in the movements and keep those backs tight and drive off the heels! We'll do it again really soon!
For you: Concise, easy primers on the air squat and the deadlift.
WoD: Spring Fling
21-15-9 reps
Squat Jumps
Dumbbell/Plate Swings
Pushups
(Run 100m at conclusion of each round)
Rest 2 min
Weightless Tabata Shoulder Press
Great work by all; remember, the magic is in the movements and keep those backs tight and drive off the heels! We'll do it again really soon!
For you: Concise, easy primers on the air squat and the deadlift.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Playtime: Shed WoD #22
Important every now and again to have a WoD that's less of a sprint towards precision than it is an exploration of the studio space, as it were. Today's felt like that:
Shed WoD #22: Playtime
Warmup: 25 jumping jacks, 25 PVC clean pulls from Position 1
WoD: 7x2 power clean and jerk, 135 lbs
Rest 3 min
3 rounds for time
10 db cleans, 40 lb--5 each arm
10 pushups
10 tuck jumps
Results: cleans were rough, jerks a little rougher...need to drop down in weight to drill down form, particularly on the jerks...3:30 on the metcon--legs were burning.
Shed WoD #22: Playtime
Warmup: 25 jumping jacks, 25 PVC clean pulls from Position 1
WoD: 7x2 power clean and jerk, 135 lbs
Rest 3 min
3 rounds for time
10 db cleans, 40 lb--5 each arm
10 pushups
10 tuck jumps
Results: cleans were rough, jerks a little rougher...need to drop down in weight to drill down form, particularly on the jerks...3:30 on the metcon--legs were burning.
Shed WoD #21: Press
Hit yesterday's CFB strength workout in the shed, adding a little tabata squats for good measure.
Shed WoD #21: Press
Warmup: 20 air squats, 20 PVC dislocates, 20 PVC presses
WoD: 7x2 Shoulder Press, work up to 95% of max weight
Rest 4 min
Tabata squats
Results: pressed 105, 115, 125, 130, 135, failed 2nd rep 140, 140 (97% of current max)...14 on tabata squats.
For you: check out this link to eating Paleo and reducing the risk of osteoperosis: get off the damn grains!
Tomorrow: the first Woodshed Fitness Outdoor Workout and a new format for the blog!
Shed WoD #21: Press
Warmup: 20 air squats, 20 PVC dislocates, 20 PVC presses
WoD: 7x2 Shoulder Press, work up to 95% of max weight
Rest 4 min
Tabata squats
Results: pressed 105, 115, 125, 130, 135, failed 2nd rep 140, 140 (97% of current max)...14 on tabata squats.
For you: check out this link to eating Paleo and reducing the risk of osteoperosis: get off the damn grains!
Tomorrow: the first Woodshed Fitness Outdoor Workout and a new format for the blog!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Shed WoD #20: Ugly Isabel
Ugly, ugly shed workout today, and a good reminder that the more technical lifts and movements, among which today's Olympic Snatch surely numbers, demand the attention to detail and precision that's best gotten at via class at CFB. Hard to police yourself--went higher in weight than my last go-round at Isabel and it was u-g-l-y I ain't got no alibi.
Shed WoD #20: Ugly Isabel
Warmup: 30 air squats--15 slow, 15 fast, 20 PVC Shoulder Disclocates, 20 PVC Good Mornings
Skill work: 3x3 Snatch Grip Deadlifts, 135 lbs
WoD: Isabel, 30 snatches for time, 135 lbs.
Rest 5 min
30 burpees for time
Results: Did Isabel with 105 lbs, up from 95 lbs last time. Don't have 25 lb bumper plates or blocks, so bar was taken from shoetops rather than mid-shin, which definitely affected my starting position and attention to form. This was ugly: muscle snatched most of the reps w/pressout. Finished in 6:48; power output down 14 ft/lbs/second from last go-round at Isabel. Burpees at 2:18.
For you: We spent a good few hours at the Certification drilling down the deadlift and its outrigger foundational movements, the Sumo Deadlift High Pull and Medicine Ball Clean. What was the deadlift once known as? The healthlift. Why? Check out the linked video and find out.
Shed WoD #20: Ugly Isabel
Warmup: 30 air squats--15 slow, 15 fast, 20 PVC Shoulder Disclocates, 20 PVC Good Mornings
Skill work: 3x3 Snatch Grip Deadlifts, 135 lbs
WoD: Isabel, 30 snatches for time, 135 lbs.
Rest 5 min
30 burpees for time
Results: Did Isabel with 105 lbs, up from 95 lbs last time. Don't have 25 lb bumper plates or blocks, so bar was taken from shoetops rather than mid-shin, which definitely affected my starting position and attention to form. This was ugly: muscle snatched most of the reps w/pressout. Finished in 6:48; power output down 14 ft/lbs/second from last go-round at Isabel. Burpees at 2:18.
For you: We spent a good few hours at the Certification drilling down the deadlift and its outrigger foundational movements, the Sumo Deadlift High Pull and Medicine Ball Clean. What was the deadlift once known as? The healthlift. Why? Check out the linked video and find out.
Mr. Clean
I love the clean. It's my favorite aspect of the Oly lifting game by far--there's something so brutally simple and functional to the movement: hey, pull that object up off the ground and get it up to your chest so you can safely hand it to me or press it over your head or hell, throw it somewhere.
We hit the barbell cleans at Crossfit Boston yesterday; after Jon led us through a great series of movement warmups, it was off to the platforms. I kept it to mid-range level weights; I'm determined to master form at this movement before beginning the process of strength building via jumps in load.
WoD:
12 noon CFB class
Warmup: 400 m run, barbell clean movement series
WoD: 7X2 barbell cleans, work to 90-95% of max weight
Results: sets at 95, 115, 125, 135 (failed), 135, 140, 140. Missing element is the hip drive; Jon also noted a tendency to raise the shoulders ahead of the hips on the deadlift of the weight to mid-thigh.
For you: over and over and over again this past weekend at the Certification, we drilled down our focus to the production of power, defined in practical terms as the ability to move (large) loads (long) distances quickly. Training within the Crossfit methodology, at increasing levels of intensity as focus and form mitigate, is nothing short of a magic bullet for power production. And it's important--perhaps even necessary--to note that power is not solely the province of your average meathead down at the globo-gym; as Greg Glassman notes (somewhat astringently), your 75 year-old grandmother bending over to pick up her bag of groceries will rely primarily upon her power reserve to get the bag up (move the large load) off the ground (a long distance) quickly and safely.
To wit, check out this Crossfit Grandma: I love it!
We hit the barbell cleans at Crossfit Boston yesterday; after Jon led us through a great series of movement warmups, it was off to the platforms. I kept it to mid-range level weights; I'm determined to master form at this movement before beginning the process of strength building via jumps in load.
WoD:
12 noon CFB class
Warmup: 400 m run, barbell clean movement series
WoD: 7X2 barbell cleans, work to 90-95% of max weight
Results: sets at 95, 115, 125, 135 (failed), 135, 140, 140. Missing element is the hip drive; Jon also noted a tendency to raise the shoulders ahead of the hips on the deadlift of the weight to mid-thigh.
For you: over and over and over again this past weekend at the Certification, we drilled down our focus to the production of power, defined in practical terms as the ability to move (large) loads (long) distances quickly. Training within the Crossfit methodology, at increasing levels of intensity as focus and form mitigate, is nothing short of a magic bullet for power production. And it's important--perhaps even necessary--to note that power is not solely the province of your average meathead down at the globo-gym; as Greg Glassman notes (somewhat astringently), your 75 year-old grandmother bending over to pick up her bag of groceries will rely primarily upon her power reserve to get the bag up (move the large load) off the ground (a long distance) quickly and safely.
To wit, check out this Crossfit Grandma: I love it!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Joy
As I pulled into the parking lot of Guerilla Fitness in Montclair, New Jersey this past Saturday morning, I was tired, wired, and more than a little bit anxious. Seemed just about right--I was forty minutes away from diving into my Crossfit Level One Certification, and as badly as I'd been wanting my Cert for what seemed like forever, the prospect of getting my Crossfit on under the watchful eyes of trainers and strangers alike was fairly daunting. I'm a private person, you see...
Fast forward to Sunday evening and the drive back to Massachusetts: windows open, big smile, feeling like going to the Cert was the best decision I'd made since asking my wife to marry me. So what went down in between? Got a few days to listen?
Literally...got a few days? I'll be using the For You section over the next few entries to detail certain aspects of the Certification Weekend as we look forward to the first Woodshed Fitness Weekend Workout this Sunday at 9 AM. For now I'll leave you with my WoDs over the last three-day on cycle (today's a rest day), and with the thought that my greatest takeaway from this last weekend was the pure, unabridged joy available to the fitness enthusiast--and that kind of joy's all too rare of a commodity these days.
Saturday WoD: "Fran"
21-15-9 reps
95 lb thruster
pullups
results: 5:59, 29 seconds off PR but felt pretty good about the pace coming off some time away from brutally short power blasters like Fran, the magna mater of the genre
Sunday WoD: "7 and 7"
AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) 12 minutes:
7 medicine ball cleans, 20 lb ball
7 pushups
results: 14 rounds--wanted 15 and likely could have pushed the pushups a little harder to get there but whoo boy were my legs cooked by this point in time
Monday WoD: 1 Mile Run
results: 8:24 pace--a lot better than my last go at a mile but still a good minute slower than I'd like.
For You: right out of the gate, we dove into Crossfit's definition of fitness. From Greg Glassman's seminal piece What Is Fitness?, check out the 10 General Physical Skills on Page 4.
Fast forward to Sunday evening and the drive back to Massachusetts: windows open, big smile, feeling like going to the Cert was the best decision I'd made since asking my wife to marry me. So what went down in between? Got a few days to listen?
Literally...got a few days? I'll be using the For You section over the next few entries to detail certain aspects of the Certification Weekend as we look forward to the first Woodshed Fitness Weekend Workout this Sunday at 9 AM. For now I'll leave you with my WoDs over the last three-day on cycle (today's a rest day), and with the thought that my greatest takeaway from this last weekend was the pure, unabridged joy available to the fitness enthusiast--and that kind of joy's all too rare of a commodity these days.
Saturday WoD: "Fran"
21-15-9 reps
95 lb thruster
pullups
results: 5:59, 29 seconds off PR but felt pretty good about the pace coming off some time away from brutally short power blasters like Fran, the magna mater of the genre
Sunday WoD: "7 and 7"
AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) 12 minutes:
7 medicine ball cleans, 20 lb ball
7 pushups
results: 14 rounds--wanted 15 and likely could have pushed the pushups a little harder to get there but whoo boy were my legs cooked by this point in time
Monday WoD: 1 Mile Run
results: 8:24 pace--a lot better than my last go at a mile but still a good minute slower than I'd like.
For You: right out of the gate, we dove into Crossfit's definition of fitness. From Greg Glassman's seminal piece What Is Fitness?, check out the 10 General Physical Skills on Page 4.
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