ME Upper

Mobility work
SMR on Shoulder/pec
Thoracic SMR lying with BB in OH positions
Band with slight external rotation

Floor press
225,245,255,265f,245 (needed to get another >90% but it felt way too light),255 (still felt like I had another 2/3 reps in the tank)

Tricep rope pull downs
4x25 @30
Bent over DB rows
4x25 @35
Wide grip BB curls
3x12 @55

Really good energy in the gym today. Good to hear Kurt re-motivated to train.

Residual Training Effects (Issurin)

Overslept this morning and realized I wasn't feeling well spent the day at home Restwise put me at 60% so good to take a rest day.

Trying to get more to the learning aspect of the blog with my training as a side bit.

"The duration and physiological background of residual training effects for different motor abilities after cessation of training."
in plain english: How long you can go without training a quality before the qualitative properties start to diminish.

Aerobic Endurance 30+/-5 days
Maximum Strength 30+/-5 days
Anaerobic Glycolytic Endurance 18+/-4 days
Strength Endurance 15+/-5 days
Maximum Speed (Alactic) 5 +/-3 days

Here's a link to Issurin's study.
Here's a link from EliteFTS on Block Periodization for Powerlifters.
Here's link to a PP doc from Issurin from EliteFTS.

ME Lower

Weighed in 172.4
15 minutes of scapular mobility work. Kurt made me realize yesterday how much I suck so need to continually work on it.
Pretty sore coming in to today. Lower back and mid back most sore. Slight soreness in biceps, forearms, and lats. BUT legs felt pretty good.
In chucks, tight belted and knee wrapped today.

Front squat
135, 225, 275, 315, 335, 315
Alternated F squats with handstand walks
Roughly 4 minutes between squats
Loads felt heavy, not just a little. Big time. Had a hard time getting set once out of the rack. Definitely felt some rounding and weight in the hands on the 335. The last 315 felt pretty good.

BCAAs
Creatine
Primal Greens
during workout

2 hours later accessory work:
5x20 good mornings @95 (broken up every 5 to breathe)

3x50 seated back extensions @100 with the Freemotion Machine

"Bradshaw" and DE Upper

26Dec
"Bradshaw"
3 HSPU
6 DLs at 255
12 Pull ups
24 Dbl unders
24:14

27Dec
Bench press 8x3 @ 135 w/chains
Good rotation with Adam and Carlo. Good to have immediate eyes on as it's been a while and took about 6 sets to get back into the groove. Took about 2 sets to get set with a good liftoff. A little loose on elbow control and "getting fat". Need to work on bending and splitting bar.

Tried one strict muscle up and it felt horrible.

JM press
(WS style) 2x6 @ 35dbs
(EFTS style) 2x6 @ 35dbs

Lat Pull down
4x6 @ 160lbs
Bad angles on machine best to face out.

DE lower 24Dec

Yes, I came to workout on Christmas Eve.



DE 16" box squats/12x2 165#s with orange bands

GH Raises 3x7
190# Reverse-hyper 3x12
Tempo toe-to-bars 3132 3x3

Post workout shake:
Primal Greens
Creatine
BCAAs

Added in a high rep set of bicep curls as for some reason it helps with my elbow pain, go figure.
20# curls 3x20

WEAK!!!

It sucks to wake up one day and realize that you are a ton better at oly lifting HOWEVER you got weak as F#C& and haven't been under truly heavy load in a really, really long time.

Mon: ME lower
High bar back squat (testing)
275x3, 315x1, 345x1, 365xF

TRX leg curls x 75

Back extensions x 100

Ab wheel 3x20


Bench press 225x1, 235x1, 245x1, 255x1 (testing)

Ring dips 12x (too high intensity)

A1 Ring rows 12x5
A2 Bench dips 20x5

B1 Bicep curls 30 12x3

All in all... humbled this week. Weak and sorry. Time to get back at it!!!

"Every man needs (his own) tools!"

So, I just got a Rockwell SonicCrafter can't wait to use it!!! I probably should have got it before I had to score 25000 sqft of 3/8 rubber but whatever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMr1bpt-1pk

As CrossFit is becoming more and more mainstream more and more people are talking about how CrossFit sucks! Here goes analogy time again:

Say my goal is to hammer in a nail.

What happens if I use a screwdriver? Probably not a damn thing.

What happens is I use an adjustable wrench? Probably will eventually do the job but will be more work and as I get close to the end state I may ruin the foundation?

What happens when I use a hammer? It does the job the absolute best but is going to take me a bit to work on the skill of a single strike for numerous nails.

The point: USE THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE RIGHT JOB!

CrossFit is a GPP program.

If your goal is to get stronger, use a proven strength program like 5-3-1 or WS methods or Starting Strength.

The problem with CrossFitters is that we want everything now and we get caught with the misconception that more is better. Periodized strength programs work to get stronger and CrossFit works for cardio and general fitness so if I overlap those I'll be all good in both domains. I'm not going to lie, I misled myself into believing this was truth.

It's very difficult when you see gains with anything to believe anything other than it works. When we first started doing 5/3/1 with a short metcon we thought it was solid. It worked for about 6 months for all of our members but then the gains started to slow. The fatigue and injury (when I say injury I mean chronic aches and pains ie should pain, knee pain... not traumatic injury). I'm going to give away a couple of things that are going to make people rethink their programming.

Alwyn Cosgrove has one of these great sayings... If you are going to do any program, do that program to a "T". If you add ANYTHING or take away anything, it no longer is that program. It's your own sh*t.

Wendler's 5/3/1 is a solid program. It works if you are looking to become stronger. CrossFit works to build GPP. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but they don't work together. The initial gains we got I'm going to assume was from the stimulus of more frequent exposure. That's it. Sad but true, you do something a little more often and you are going to get slightly better at it even with no muscular adaptations you neurologically are going to get better. Also, there's the saying that any program (that you aren't doing) works for 6 months, yes, this includes super-slow, circuit training... It's just a new stimulus for your body to adapt to. The problem with overlapping 5/3/1 with CrossFit especially on 5-3-1+ days... CNS fatigue. Also, accessory work is super important and also person dependent but it's not like any of that was going down for anyone anyways.

Wendler/Louie/Rippetoe have created programs that maximize exposure, rest time, accessory work... Add more and it's your own sh*t and you have no clue what the outcome will be. So where does this leave you. Figure out why! Why 5/3/1 reps? Why does Westside only max effort 2x a week? Why do they use Prilepin's Chart for their three week wave? Why to they even use a pendulum wave? Why and when to use a linear periodized program?

"Uh... I don`t think I can do all those moves right away."

"There are no accidents."

Hilarious, but not. So fitting, let's move on.

"That way is North!"

All right, I have so much that I want to chat about but here is the analogy that I use most at CFC.

Without a clearly defined goal, you don't have sh*t!

So you have goals, "I want to get stronger, I want to lose weight, I want to win the CrossFit Games..." If you don't have a clearly defined SMARTE goal you pretty much have an idea with nothing to ride on.

Here goes the analogy.

You tell me "Hey Rudy" I'm looking to go north. What do I say? "Cool. It's that way. See you later."

You need to know specifically where you want to go are you looking to go to Lincoln Square? Evanston? Glenview? Schaumburg? Skokie? Fullerton Ave? They are all north. If you don't know exactly where you want to go, I can put you in the right direction but no where as efficiently as if I knew precisely where you want to go.

Once that is defined, Then you can reverse map it. How far are you from your specific point? Measurably how far are you to your goal from where you are at now. You need to have markers on the way to ensure you are closing distance with your goal.

Is your goal really attainable? Do you want to walk to Canada? I'm not saying your goal is impossible but is it possible for everything that you have going on in your current lifestyle? Work? Family? Age? Training? I'm not saying don't dream big, just be realistic. Look at people that have done what you want to do, how long have they trained, what does their regimen look like? What did it take for them to get there? Can I do more? Can I get there more efficiently...

Now, we have where we want to go to. It's S.M.A.R gotta add the T. This is where we first look at the total time available from start to end. If you have tried this before you have a better estimate. In CrossFit we say "we fail at the margins of our experiences", however we also measure and estimate our future from the margins of our previous experiences. Backwards mapping was something that was popularized while I was going to school as an elementary ed teacher. START with your goal and work it backwards this is the only way to have a successful plan. YOU NEED A WRITTEN PLAN. This is your road map. You can estimate your time schedule, your distance, see your goal destination... THIS IS IMPORTANT. Without this reference it's easy to get of course. You may one day refer to your map and realize that you want to go somewhere else, but at least you have a better idea how to get there and also know where you don't want to go.

Lastly, why the hell do you want to go there? Say I want to go North to Addison and Western. Emotionally why do I want to go there? am I going there to check out the big school on the corner Lane Tech? Or am I hungry and want to go to the Popeye's on the corner? Am I crap tired and craving coffee at Dunkin Donuts? Do I have to go to the bathroom and my home is right around the corner? Say my son is not feeling well and I need to get my ass home. Emotionally you need a reason to go where you are going. The more you are emotional and honest to yourself about it the higher the priority it will take in your life.

What does this have to do with anything? EVERYTHING! Goal setting is everything!!! You honestly can't ask me a question without knowing (or me asking) what your goal is.

Right now the most common question on the blog is "How long should I be doing "X" cycle?" What is your goal? There is not 1 answer that fits all. Your goal dictates your path. WHAT is your goal and WHY is that your goal?!?!?!?!?!?

"Small glass, little water"

It has been a while, had a bunch going on but things are going much more smooth now. I feel very compelled to write an article on this topic because I've had this conversation 2 days in a row.

This is my most current analogy for CrossFit/strength/technique.

Our goal is to carry as much water as possible from A to B.

CrossFit is the water in the glass. You can fill it as much as you want but you will be limited to the size of your glass and how well you carry it.

The size of your glass is determined by how strong you are. If you are obnoxiously strong ie have a big glass. You can fill it half way with water have crappy balance and let it slosh all over the place and most of it will remain in the glass and still be carried.

Your technique is what determines how well you carry the glass. It determines how steady you can be without spilling any water.

First, you must determine your goal. How fast do you want to move the water from one place to another. Then what is the best way for you to move the water? It's very person dependent:

Do you want to make your technique so good that you can fill your small glass to the rim and not spill a drop?

Quite often in CrossFit we see people that have a small glass and get so good (technique) at CrossFit they can fill the water up to the rim, but eventually they realize they need a way bigger glass to hang with the big boys. This is where a bunch have jumped on Westside for Skinny Bastards, Starting Strength, 5/3/1...

Do you want a big glass so you can recklessly run with a big glass and little water?

It's a good idea in theory but it is super hard to be that disciplined. It often requires working out alone on weakness and once you've done CrossFit you remain thirsty and need to fill some water in. Why? because it's fun. There's a sense of adrenaline. You first push how close you can fill it to the rim. Then you get another rush from seeing how fast you can or can't walk with it loaded up. You get none of that while you are working on getting a bigger glass. Quite often some of that water evaporates and you feel like you have less than what you started with. Also, with a bigger glass the water looks less.

It is in my opinion the best way, as well as for longevity sake, you increase the size of your glass slightly, You then fill it with water, not quite to the rim where you need to be perfectly balanced but enough that you have to learn how to walk with it. Once you are skilled enough to handle how full it is, you move on. You get a slightly bigger glass, you fill it slightly with more water, and you continue learn to not spill much.

Scientifically we can't increase the size of the glass and the water at the same time (mTOR pathway... inhibiting protein synthesis...). It is very easy to get sick of pumping water into a glass that won't hold more water. It takes much longer to increase the size of your glass than it is to pour more water.

Technique/skills is something that ALWAYS needs to be worked on.

Quest for knowledge

The beginnings...

This year has been a very interesting and difficult year+ for me. Training high-end/elite CrossFitters completely ruined the honeymoon phase of CrossFit for me. The cheerful bliss of simple enjoyment was over, now it was the quest for knowledge on truly maximizing performance.

This all was a good waking, as my overall training knowledge wasn't stagnate, but neither was I vividly questioning everything and being a true sponge to learn as much as possible as I am now.

If more CrossFit was the answer to winning the CrossFit Games, wouldn't we see the same people over and over? Wouldn't they just get better and better, as well as separate themselves further from newbies? Or is it just luck of the draw on the workouts chosen at the Games?

How is it that we see people brand new to CrossFit kicking ass in the "Olympics" of our sport? In what other sport can that truly happen? Is it just because the lack of exposure and we are just starting to draw from a bigger pool of people with genetic potential? Or is there a life span on your CrossFit-ability? Is it age?

This year they showed some examples of Graham Holmberg's and Rich Froning's training days and they did like 5-7 workouts. That's ridiculous!!! Who after 25-27 a could have the time and not just survive, but thrive on that?

Is there a system within CrossFit that has unequivocally been shown to be superior? OPT? Mainsite? CFFB? CFE? MEBB? Westside/Conjugate with a side of metcon?

Just a couple of things to think about for now... I actually would like to hear some thoughts from the ever so quiet lurking peanut gallery. Use an annonymous name if you would like. Just want to hear some of your thoughts.

T-0

So I didn't quite make it through T-0. I know sounds pretty lame but started the morning with a coffee and then received the rubber flooring for the new space and that took about 7 hours of straight work and I decided to take Kurt who finished the last pieces out to some burgers and beers.
No those mac-n-cheese fritters were not so paleo, neither was the 4 Half Acre beers I had.

Great paleo challenge got to see my before/after pics which were pretty cool to see. Tomorrow starts some solid content be ready!!!

T-1

Yes I have already completed my retest and my pics but still going to close out the 30 days. Missed breakfast as I was barely making the team meeting on time. So when I finally left the box at 130pm I was starving...considered "cheating" but hit Boston Market and ordered two meals. Ate the beef brisket (and the cornbread).
Had the second a couple of hours later before volleyball.
Really late dinner as I was getting a ton of work done. Also, had a glass of merlot.
Closed out with some macadamia nuts and a square of chocolate.

Mind is really wandering after voicing my programming opinions at the team meeting and listening to a couple of podcasts/audio recordings. I'll get back to significant posts after the challenge.

T-2

Breakfast ate Mandie's leftover steak and a piece of chicken.
Followed up with some leftover sweet potatoes. I didn't finish the plate last night.
Fish burrito bowl from Whole Foods.
Did 7 rounds of 3 135# snatch and 250m row. 11:30 Felt like I was moving really slow but still better than expected. Also, retested pull up and HSPUs, 4 better on both. Pretty happy with that consider I trained neither. That damn polio diet.

Dinner had pork with zucchini that Mandie made also had a glass of merlot.

T-3

Running late for work I figured I'd get some togo from Boston Market. They fucked it up and gave me a sandwich instead of a meal... not happy but whatever. Tossed the bun. Also got a coffee from DD.

Worked up to a 85kg power snatch. Things weren't feeling good so did a mini-metcon 3 Rounds 50 squats, 20 ring rows 8:38
Went to Mariano's on the way home to get dinner. Steak and zucchini. Never really made zucchini before but sliced it up added EVOO and cooked it. Not bad.

Still the same glass of wine, had about half the plate of sweet potato for dessert also fed some to Jackson. Mandie said he wasn't a fan of the rice pudding but he definitely didn't mind the sweet potatoes.

T-4

Mandie made me some breafast suggesting that I eat as much as possible because there would be no paleo options post-baptism.
I thought I would manage without paleo appetizers then I finally gave in and started to chow down. There was lots of chips and guac and salsa.
Also, 2 glasses of Madrano malbec. I didn't eat the beans or the rice but I did eat the corn tortillas. Also ate the meat Mandie leftover from her last taco.
Even though I had a piece of cake (minus the frosting), had another dessert at home.
Of course passed out as I'm not used to having all that crap. Got up and by the time Mandie and I were hungry, it was too late. Had leftover BBQ pork.
Late dessert, black berries.

T-5

Had Jackson today so decided to take most of the morning off and spend some quality time. I also didn't get a chance to eat. By the time I ordered, I was starving. Bad idea. Ordered chinese. Steak kow... which was all good (except I burned my tongue and roof of mouth as I was scarfing it down)...
Didn't eat most of the veggies but killed all the steak then I know there's only 2 pictured below, but I ate 6 of them... couldn't stop. ate less of the skin on the others but it was so good.
Long gap to dinner. Went on a meat fest. Mariano's pulled pork and some sausage.
Some sweet potato and a few ribs...
a little more sweet potato more sausage and chicken.
Dessert: 2 pieces of dark chocolate... Zack ruined this one for me and I guess even the 86% dark chocolate I have has SOY in it. Damn it! Side of macadamia nuts.
Late night dinner 1/2 the sweet potato was from earlier, more sausage and chicken.

T-6

Started off with breakfast at Uncle Mike's. After I successfully ordered no RICE and no toast. They drop off a bowl of lugaw. Ummm... I ate it.
Filipino Breakfast + an extra egg.
Long day of setting up cubicles and sorting some things out cause I guess I'm a hoarder. Late dinner at Whole Foods (again) steak salad with guac and a small side of fish.
The last glass of zin. Baked chicken with a side of brussel sprouts.
Dessert: a sweet potato.

T-7

Had a really late breakfast as I had to head out to Forest Park. By the time I got to eat, I was ready to do some damage so I hit up a local buffet. Hibachi and sushi... only took donw two plates and actually stayed clear of the sushi.

Big break before an early dinner. Whole Foods burrito bowl 1/2 steak and 1/2 fish.
Dinner. It wasn't much later. Had more sweet potatoes on the plate but had to take a pic of that and the glass of zin before they were gone as I was cooking the steak.
Definitely was correct, finished both before the steak was up.
Dessert.

T-8

Woke up early but being on Jackson's schedule, I had to get a quick breakfast in (still trying to get rid of the over-rippening bananas).
Took advantage of Jackson's nap time and had a quick bite at Mariano's before some quick shopping. Did the hot bar: some chicken legs and wings, some sausage, and mixed beans.
Got home needed to get some fats in... I guess and some chocolate too.
Had a quick snack of shrimp as I was preparing dinner.
Had some sweet potatoes to load up a little before V-ball.
Volleyball was fun but took a little run afterwards 2.15mi 18:53. I know the time is pathetic, it's the reason I ran and will start running to re-build my capacity. I cooked dinner! 1lb porter house steak, Brussels sprouts, and a glass of zin.
Dessert.
Dessert extended.

From a Mike Rousell article via an email from Alwyn Cosgrove:

Remove carbs from workout shake and switch to BCAAs

By the time you are making this change, your client will be on a relatively low carbohydrate diet and thus will have low glycogen stores. Research shows that taking BCAAs during intense exercise, when glycogen depleted, can accelerate fat loss. We’re going to take advantage of this biochemical body hack while also cutting calories some more.