Over Confidence

I was feeling really good today and wanted to bench a day early.

135x3
225x1
275x1
295xF

Competition pause
275xf
245x1 painfully executed
225x3 worked on bar position and spreading the bar.
I really need to get back in to the groove!

Still dealing with the issue of cramping in my back only on the right side? It always is when I'm straining in a bench press. Just a major weakness??? We'll see I will work on a stretch I learned at Westside arching over a foam roll on a bench.

To punish myself for such a poor performance, walked roughly 400m with Kurt with 235 on the sled. I think it may have been too heavy as my claves were cashed by the time we were done (and Kurt did quite a bit more work than I did).

Reverse-hypers about 1 hour later 3x12 25#s. Really worked on letting it pull me under a bit more. Felt good.

PR time!

ME Lower

Once again the only soreness from the DE upper day: back from SI to C-spine ouch. Hopefully this is just major weakness that I'm strengthening. Mid-workout I realized chest was slightly tender to touch.

Box squats
12" box with Airex pad
315x1
345x1
395xF
395x1

395 Box Squat from Rudy Tapalla on Vimeo.

Looking at my box squat the descent is way too slow but really having a hard time getting into the last 2" of depth in that wide stance. The worst part I need to fix is the long pause on the bottom. Well, not necessarily the pause but the release of breathe in the bottom. Instead of just releasing the hip flexors, I'm sure I lost all kinds of tension in the hamstrings.

Safety squat bar good mornings
170x1
180x1
190x1
200x1

Exhausted. Slacked on the supplemental work.

Woof

28Mar10

Doggin' it. Not feeling my legs from our DE lower day but sore from my tailbone to my neck up my back???

DE upper body
Bench press
reg grip, purple band, 135#s
9x3

Press
Wide grip (inside rings), chains, 95#s
9x3

JM press 65#s
3x10

Future method, blue bands
close grip to neck 1x8
Close grip bench 1x5
Couldn't find anything to target the triceps as much as the JM press.
Sled drag, low pull
140x4 (160ft)
185x1

Late one

DE lower

Got this one in late. Sorry if I got you in trouble tonight Kurt!!!

830pm starting time. Ouch!

Box squats
175# blue band/12" with airex
Took me about 5-6 sets to find the best foot position for me.
Wide but not the length of the rack, maybe 4" in with feet forward.
Need to push hips back with a big chest and really drive out knees to stop myself from falling onto the box.
12x2

Banded dls
205# double wrapped pink bands
12x2
Interesting set up. Used the rack and had Emmitt and Kurt stand on the front end to stop it from tipping.
Tried to use the AJ arm swing. It helped when I really thought about keeping my lats tight, but more beneficial? Not sure yet. I had a couple of bad grabs that made my pull slow.

Reverse-hyper
25# 3x10

CF Maintenance

WSB Day3
ME upper body
Close grip bench
135x2
185x1
225x1
275x1
285f

Wide grip press
95x1
115x1
135x1
Really uncomfortable, probably won't do these again.

Accessory work:
JM presses 3x10 65#s
Tri-ext to the neck 3x10 65#s

metcon:
30-20-10
95# HPCs
Wall ball
6:23

This ridiculously kicked my ass. From the first set I realized that I couldn't really fully bend my arms because my triceps were locked up. So no hook grip and had to release the bar on every rep. First 30 were manageable. 20 set was so ridiculously hard on my shoulders that I couldn't help but laugh.Really,  I was sitting there smiling laughing how 95#s was beating the shit out of me. I know I seriously sound like Scott Radis right now. Ha ha ha. Funny but not. Anyways, wasn't looking to kill it but was looking for an ass kicking either. Maintenance baby, just maintenance.

Pain in the...

Day 2 of WSB training

Not sure if I have ever clarified, but I originally gave up hopes of powerlifting because my body (particularly my right knee) couldn't handle the volume I thought I needed to do to be strong. The Westside Method gives me hope on trying this again but in a more pain free state. I woke up this morning and was a little discouraged with how my right knee felt. It was an all too familiar feeling of overuse. I'm not going to let it get into my head too much as I did max out in both the squat & deads yesterday. We'll see how it goes.

Today I hit the sled with Kurt inside the future dialysis place. 

3x160ft low pull sled with 190#. Hammies were getting smoked!

3x100ft sled drag with 190#

Metcon 100 air squats + 1 mile run: 9:27

Mile clocked in at 7:10 so I'm guessing the course was a little shy, but not much.

Finished off with 3x10 25# Reverse Hypers.

Starting Westside!

First of all, made it on the mainsite for the second time! Pretty excited about that.

Kurt and I started our Westside Training today. ME lower:
Safety squat bar box squats (+25 bumper and Airex pad)
150x3
200x2
240x1 (had to change position to toes slightly turned out)
270x1
290x1
320x1

Ultra-wide sumo stance DLs
225x1
315x1
335x1
355x1
375x1

Reverse Hyper 25# 3x10

Back ext 2x25
Glute-ham raise 2x5 (hand over head)

Bitten

This weekend Kurt and I attended the new CrossFit Powerlifting Cert at Westside Barbell. If you are not familiar with Westside Barbell and Louie Simmons, they produce the strongest powerlifters in the world.
We walked in to watch some really strong guys lift. This is Luke Edwards doing 780# with blue bands:


Pretty sick stuff. I'll write more tomorrow about all the things that we did but, I think I've been bitten by the powerlifting bug. I mean seriously. I had fun with this stuff. Much different then what I thought I was doing a couple years back. Then, it felt I was doing the same things over and over, the gains were slow, and the training left my joints unhappy. The guys at Westside have the longevity thing in mind. Louie's methodology comes from years of being broken and repairing himself. The man broke his back twice and I watched him pull 600+ when we were there. These guys have some fun breaking big numbers. I'm really considering doing a powerlifting meet.

This is me taking an attempt at 365 banded in sumo stance. I pulled 315 but couldn't pull 365, but it was still awesome. The said the band tension was about 100# in the bottom and 200# in the top.

If I decide to do this, This means I have to start benching again. I at my heaviest (180#) and best, benched 330# and 315# x3. Thing is I don't really think it will be hard to get back there. I'd have to up my squat from a 375 to roughly about 500, and my 465 dead to a 550. I would compete at 165#. The records for meets at Westside 755 squat, 551 bench, 640 dead, 1865 total. Now, I would be no where near those numbers but I'm curious to see how I would do as an amateur. Now, I don;t know if I could ever give up CrossFit but if I do decide to give this a whirl am I going to give it what I got... hell yeah!

Sh*t happens

13Mar10

This was the beginning of my Friday morning a week ago. Nothing like a good accident at 5:50am to wake you up. I was so unbelievably pissed but the gal was so nice and apologetic it was hard to be mad. This would have been the first class that I have missed in two years of owning the box. Great thing is, Kerry was there to assistant coach and took control of the class. Awesome job on taking the initiative Kerry. So, I still have to get my car taken care of. It's a pain in the a$$ but sh*t happens. Good thing is no one was hurt.

I'm going to cram a bunch into this post. After cutting my finger and not being able to workout for a while sent me on a downward spiral of bad eating and not working out. It's funny how if I slip in one area, the wheels come off the bus. Finally, got back to training yesterday. I got my first 1000+ CrossFit Total. I wasn't really amped up, nor was I ready to go. It was more of guilt of watching the crew suffer that returned me under the bar...sad but true. I also wanted to see where my numbers were at before Kurt and I go to the CF Powerlifting Cert at Westside Barbell this coming weekend. So, didn't warm up anymore than a couple of reps under the bar. Turned up the anti-socials (iPod) and got to work. Squat (low bar,oly shoes) 135x3, 225, 275, 315, 345, 375PR, 385F I actually think I would have had a shot at the 385 if I knew I was going to be anywhere near that. Just tired myself out, Press 95x2, 135, 155, 175, 185PR, 190F Didn't expect that one either 190 actually got above eye level, but no dice. From there I mentally knew that 1000 was in reach and started to get a little nervous about the DLs. Last time I maxed I barely made 440, very far from my 455PR. 315, 365, 405, 445, 465PR I feel like I had a little left in me but decided to call it a day. 1025! 

Pretty proud of that one, but also really confused on how that happened with a crap diet and in the last 8-10 weeks I have not maxed out. I did max snatch at the Rogue Cert end of Jan, banded DLs at Brand X,  box squatted 3x times, and OHS heavy (225#) once earlier in the week. So is it the Westside style of assistance work? After the cert this weekend I'm going to be a guinea pig and see how it goes for about 4 months.

After the Total I weighed myself and I rang in at 168.2 A lot lighter than I thought I'd be so pretty happy with the Total numbers. This morning felt pretty damn stiff in the posterior chain. I'm really glad I stopped DLs where I did yesterday. To complete my benchmark I had to complete the 2k row. Took the "power 10" route and I think it worked really well for me. Not sure if it really helped my time but it at least gave me something else to think about. P10 (power 10) to start off, P10 at 1500m, P15 at 1000m (it was suppose to be a P20 but didn't have enough strength, actually I just wanted to stop there) P10 at 550m (was suppose to do it at 500m but I REALLY wanted to be done) sprinted out 250m. 7:29.6 PR!

As much as I would like to say my diet doesn't dictate my training, I know it does. My concern is I think while eating clean, I'm at a severe calorie deficit, so is it better to eat clean and not enough or to eat crap and get enough in. I know the answer and I know what I have to do but really don't want to admit it. All I can hear is: "You can't out train a bad diet."

The next level

To get to the next level, and/or operate at an elite level you must have mentors. A mentor is more than someone that you look up or want to be like. A mentor is defined as "a trusted counselor or guide". The difference between a role model and a mentor is a mentor must accept that position to help you grow and lead you. It's not a very easy thing to ask someone to be your mentor. I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I would like to have about 5 mentors aboard this year. I chose my first mentor to ask to be Chuck Carswell.

Chuck is a great guy and a phenomenal athlete but that's not why I chose him. I was recently at the CrossFit HQ Trainer's Summit and Chuck was selected as one of the HQ Head Trainers to take us through some of the foundational movements; the air squat. I've probably given/been through the air squat hundreds of time but this time was different. I didn't feel as though I was a trainer listening to a trainer. I was involved. The presentation of it was so great, he turned me into a participant. I was captivated by his presentation of the material. Wow! This sounds so weird, but I was actually jealous on how well he did that. I WANT THAT! Chuck went on to win the trainer's vote on best Carnegie-style presentation of a reading on nothing. He's that good!

Chuck is a very gracious guy and I gave him a call today. We laid out some ground work on where to start. I'm looking forward to working under Chuck's guidance.