I really just O-lift and powerlift but my o-lifting coach is a crossfit instructor as well so this thread has been really interesting for me. Thanks!
Sorry yall, been out of commission the past few days, started a new internship that has me working some long hours which cut into my regular training time.
Did the 3-3-3-3-3 Deadlifts today, and railed off 275 lbs. for the reps.
Thirteen, nice video, thanks for the upload, nice job on the lifts.
[quote]Thirteen wrote:
Today’s WOD:
5 rounds for time of:
500m row
15 hang power snatches 95lb
I subbed for a lighter weight in the snatches (should have done the heavier one though) and went with 78lb… all 5 sets of 15 were unbroken, so that says it wasn’t tooo hard…
time: 19:34.
My friend Jon did up a Youtube vid of our deadlifts - these were each of our last three lifts, mine are 297,319,341 and I’m the stiff - lookin dude in the shortsleeves with the sweet sideburns…
Feel free to critique our form![/quote]
Damn that gym looks sweet! I’m jealous!
I run a CF affiliate in Slidell Louisiana,
I program my own WOs daily. I tend to mix and match a lot. I draw a lot of inspiration from Gym Jones and Mountain Athlete as well. I usually have longer training sessions than a typical CF workout and will try to throw in more strength oriented WOs. My sessions might actually consist of 2 or 3 separate WOs. I also do not harp on the whole benchmark thing to much. I believe in not doing the same workout the same way EVER.
I may have similar workouts but they will have some variable changed, wether it’s the weight, rounds, reps, kettlebells -vs- barbells, kipping pull ups -vs- weighted strict pull ups, whatever; I just always try to change things up. Many other CFrs and affiliates disagree with me on that idea due to the trouble with measuring performance. If you always change things than how do you know if you improve? Right? Well, if you were using 135 on deads last time they were in a WO and today you smoked through them with 195, than you improved.
THe WO may be different but the deadlift isn’t. If last time we did pull ups and you could only get 5 on your first attempt and this time you got 10, than you improved. I have one guy that used a 12" box the first time he did box jumps , now a few weeks later he is using a 24" box, he improved. I think that the stopwatch definitely has it’s place , just not in every workout. It can’t always be 3-2-1 Go! if you want to address a full compliment of training. I still have people do things for time , but it’s more of a push for them because mentally they are working against the clock.
Plus I do not always think that a faster time means improvement, it may mean you improved at that WO, but thats all. For example when I started CF I wanted a fast Fran time. So I did Fran pretty often ( yeah, I totally missed the idea I know). I got my Fran time to under 4 minutes a few times and was happy so I moved on. I hadn’t done Fran in months and had to do it a few weeks ago at a CF seminar, it took me 5:58, does that mean that my conditioning has gone down? I don’t think so.
I can train longer and harder than I was able to when I did sub 4 minute Fran, I’m stronger now, I have more muscle mass (which may account for drops in time), I’m leaner, bottom line I am in better shape now, but with a slower Fran. I can live with that. I’m not saying don’t time yourself or do the benchmarks, I’m just saying I have gotten away from it. I may go back to those methods for a while also, who knows? The main thing about this style of training is to constantly vary the type of movements, the type of equipment the intensity ,the time of day you train, pretty much any variable you can think of should be toyed with at some point. I like this thread , it’s good to see people taking a training methodology and putting their own twists on it.
inkcreep,
Interesting stuff. From my perspective, I would have to agree with a lot of what you said. Too many people in crossfit are obsessed with sticking with the same light loads, and knocking another few seconds off what is already a fast time.
Case in point, the “cindy” WOD. This is:
pullups x5
pushups x10
air squats x15
(as many rounds as possible in 20 mins).
When you start getting beyond 15 rounds or so, whats the point? Here’s what I do instead.
“my cindy #1”
pullups x8
ring pushups x10
front squats x10
(as many rounds, in 20 mins)
“my cindy #2”
pullups x8
push press x10
deadlifts x10
(as many rounds, in 20 mins)
Record the number of rounds you do the first couple of times around, and that becomes the target number. Then try to keep matching that. Keep increasing the loading (on all exercises), and when you lose a round, you know you need to drop a couple of reps.
So, I started with 135 pounds on the front squat, and added 10 pounds each week. Started with 225 pounds on the deadlift, and added 20 pounds each week.
I’m now down to 175x8 on the front squat, and 335x8 on deadlifts now.
Nice and simple. Tradeoff between intensity and volume built in. And you’re still going flat out, balls to the wall for 20 minutes.
inkcreep- I too think you have got some fun and interesting twists to your wo. I have been doing cf almost 18 months and I still use the clock just now I don’t worry about those precious seconds, I know when I have intensity and sometimes the clock
the website for the jacksonville group of crossfitters, they add a bit more volume, and dont go directly off the main website.
and they have an amazing video of people doing squat cleans/muscle ups to a remix of
One/Transformers quotes from the late eighties.
all around amazing.
[quote]Backlash79 wrote:
Damn that gym looks sweet! I’m jealous![/quote]
Yeah, it’s a good one - the University of Victoria weight room… lots of squat racks, 2 Olympic platforms, DB’s up to 125 etc etc. Plus we’ve got a stash of tools to bring out to spice things up (jumpstretch bands, sleds, chains, heavy medballs)…
I’ll actually be moving to a brand new high performance facility come fall - and that’s going to open up a whole new world of possibilities with a arti turf field right outside and free use of even more gadgets!
If anyone’s coming up to Victoria, let me know, we’ll get in a good workout at the best gyms around!
Hey gang…
I’ve missed a few days because of a hectic travel schedule… “combined” two of the WOD’s yesterday and it kicked my ass:
10x thruster (65lb - changing grip really helps, thanks backlash!)
10x chinups
10x pushups
20x squats
10x inverted rows
As many times through in 20 minutes as possible.
I got through 5 full plus ten thrusters and it worked me over pretty well…
Missing today’s WOD but will make it up tomorrow with tomorrow’s WOD and get back on track. Only one more week until 8 week post tests are up!!
Regarding adjustments to Crossfit:
I think all of us would like to think “we could do it better”… I always find it tough to take a program from any source and do it to the letter because preferences and maybe ego get in the way.
With this Crossfit experiment, I wanted to keep it as close to the main site WODs as possible. I’ve been subbing and scaling, but with acceptable subs and scales as identified by the website. It has been a constant struggle for me not to adjust more but I’m sticking it out to test Crossfit under as much control as I can. I think there is a huge benefit in opening your mind fully to a different training philosophy and trusting its principles regardless of how contrary they might seem to your own.
8 weeks are up at the end of next week, and I’ll be doing some post-tests to compare with the ones in my first post. I may even run with the main site WOD for another 4 weeks to really give Crossfit a full shot.
I’ve learned a lot and will be giving a full run-down of my CF experience at the end. It’ll be a long post, but probably one worth reading… stay tuned
Thirteen,
Until you can do the WOD’s as rx’ed, without subbing, then sure.
Once you get to that stage, then you may want to up the ante a little. Everyone has their own opinion (and everyone’s an expert!!), but the main crossfit.com WOD programming does seem a bit hit and miss from my perspective (just my opinion).
But once you have gotten to the “rx’ing everything” stage, then there’s nothing to stop you from taking some of their ideas, mixing it with the stuff you already know, and taking it further.
PS: sorry if I appear to have hijacked your thread a little. Keep it up, and look forward to reading about your continued progress.
Hey group, sorry I’ve been out of commission the past few days, been mad busy with 2 jobs, school, finals, projects, etc. Will try to get back on track soon. My apologies.
[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
Hey group, sorry I’ve been out of commission the past few days, been mad busy with 2 jobs, school, finals, projects, etc. Will try to get back on track soon. My apologies.[/quote]
Come on Tmoney, get back on the program!!! haha just kidding (sort of!). I’ve found it hard to get the right workouts in over the last week or so due to some travel with work. I’m definitely going to have to squeeze the WODs in wherever possible.
And hey, those 50 burpees don’t take all that long 
Today’s WOD: 50 burpees for time (burpees include a full pushup and jump to touch a marker 1ft higher than your reach)
Time: 4:43
Short, but definitely a tough workout
[quote]isr wrote:
Thirteen,
Until you can do the WOD’s as rx’ed, without subbing, then sure.
Once you get to that stage, then you may want to up the ante a little. Everyone has their own opinion (and everyone’s an expert!!), but the main crossfit.com WOD programming does seem a bit hit and miss from my perspective (just my opinion).
But once you have gotten to the “rx’ing everything” stage, then there’s nothing to stop you from taking some of their ideas, mixing it with the stuff you already know, and taking it further.
PS: sorry if I appear to have hijacked your thread a little. Keep it up, and look forward to reading about your continued progress.[/quote]
Hey man, hijacking’s all good - it keeps the thread moving up the page and brings good discussions…
I agree with you - after a certain point, there really isn’t going to be substantial improvement in times/reps etc. and I could see it becoming boring/frustrating. I like your versions of the Cindy workout - that looks like a great way to bring progression into the workouts in terms of intensity (i.e. load) in combination with time…
The volume put out by “coach” on the main site messes with my head a little - I often look at the workout and think “is that it…?”, especially with the strength WODs. Should be interesting to see at the end of the 8 weeks what has really happened with my performance levels across the board.
Once this is all said and done, I think I’ll make my own modifications but maybe let the main site dictate the “theme” of the workout as I like the unpredictability of the website postings…
Got any more good variations? Maybe it’s time for TestFit haha…
Wednesday’s WOD: Run 800m, rest, repeat x4
I sub rowing for running, so 4x800m rows…
Didn’t go so well - I cycled to work and back 30ish minutes each way and that killed my legs… first 800 went well, but I only got halfway through the second before I shut down. Got a PB on the first one though:
2:40.1, previous best being 2:47.9… taking the good with the bad!
Perfect example of changing up the wods is the Bionic vs OPT battles on youtube. Now those two are monsters.
[quote]Thirteen wrote:
And hey, those 50 burpees don’t take all that long
Today’s WOD: 50 burpees for time (burpees include a full pushup and jump to touch a marker 1ft higher than your reach)
Time: 4:43
Short, but definitely a tough workout[/quote]
I decided to throw the 50 burpees in at the end of my workout on Tuesday. Yikes I got a paltry 5:40!!! My conditioning is waaay off. I’m going to start throwing in more short metcons at the end of my workouts and doing the longer ones on my days off.
[quote]Backlash79 wrote:
I decided to throw the 50 burpees in at the end of my workout on Tuesday. Yikes I got a paltry 5:40!!! My conditioning is waaay off. I’m going to start throwing in more short metcons at the end of my workouts and doing the longer ones on my days off.[/quote]
Haha NICE!! I knew it was a just a matter of time before you got the xfit fever again. It is amazing how the fitness drops when not doing things like metcons on a regular basis, although you did do it AFTER your workout
On another note, it looks like your 500m record is safe for the time being. I haven’t been doing any rowing except when running is part of the WOD, so my training has been fairly sparse. Did you train specifically to get the 1:31 or was that just a result of crossfit? I’ve realized there’s a big difference between 1:39 and 1:31!!
Thursday’s WOD:
21-15-9 of 225lb deadlifts and handstand pushups
Now you’d have to be pretty freaky to rep out those handstand pushups, so I changed to dumbbell push press with 50’s (combined = approx. 50% of my bodyweight).
Did all deadlift sets unbroken,
time: 6:02
The guy who was working in the gym came up and asked me “is that it? Why don’t you do another set?” haha. He should try it…
Hey, Fran tomorrow! Aiming high this time now that I’ve altered my thruster technique but gonna be tough to fit it in as I’m working most of the day and then going for a DH/FR mountain bike adventure with my bro…
BackLash, let’s see what you’ve got!!!
PS. If anyone wants a bit of fit eye-candy, check out the video posted on the crossfit main site…
“Glory Box” is the name…
As an aside, can you explain why cross-fitters seem to catch the clean and do their front squats with their elbows down and their wrists acting as the support for the bar instead of getting their elbows under and then upfront and catching on their shoulders with upper arms parallel to the floor (IE the “proper” Olympic way)?
Just seems so potentially hazardous to the joints (and possibly dropping it). Is it the light weight used, is it just fatigue from doing so many reps and for time? Again it seems potentially dangerous, but on the flip side I don’t see many injuries (I’ve only followed crossfit thru videos and threads, I don’t have any real world experience with it.)
Sorry for the hijack but I figured since you are going along with it you may know.