My Crossfit Experience

Training Bodybuilding
41

OK, its been 2 weeks of aerobic/anaerobic healing. What’s the status on conditioning and body composition?

42

[quote]tokon wrote:
are you working out every day? do you “schedule” recovery days or just take a day off when you feel you need it?

are you deliberately concentrating on strength/power endurance or will you be implementing some of the more cardio-based crossfit template stuff ie working in rower, running, etc.?

interesting thread, please keep posting.[/quote]

yes, i take some days off, but at 38, with 24 years of consistent training, i usually go by feel. if i feel beat up, i will do sets of five, if i feel ok, i will do 3’s, if i feel strong and healthy, i will do singles or doubles. some days i just do the crossfit workout, not any “real” lifting.

yes you are also right in saying that i am focusing more on strength and power endurance and less on cardio. i reevaluate my goals fairly frequently, so that might change.

thanks for the interest and input on my log.

Michael

43

[quote]!vic wrote:
OK, its been 2 weeks of aerobic/anaerobic healing. What’s the status on conditioning and body composition?[/quote]

its been more than two week, i just started posting two weeks ago, its really been two months.

initially, i actually gained weight, (245-247, up to 250-252) BUT i actually went down a waist size in my pants(40-38) !!! my GF and friends said i looked like i was leaning out, i noticed that i could see my top two sets of abd muscles, and noticed some vascularity in my arms and shoulders. i recently got back on the scale and i now have lost a little bit of weight, down to 240-242, and i think my body composition is continuing to improve.

thanks for asking.

44

today:

  1. dynamic stretching and mobility circuit

  2. power clean&jerk. 50kgx3, 70kgx3, 80kgx3, 90kgx3(one clean, followed by 3 jerks) 100x3(same as before), 110x2(as before, one clean followed by 2 jerks), 90kgx3, 120xmiss, 120xmiss, 120x2(one clean followed by 2 jerks).

all these felt pretty easy up to the 120. the jerks were ok, but i was having problems cleaning the weight. also, as a side not, i did my “jerks” sort of old school style. in that with the lighter weights i was doing strict presses, up to 90kg, than at 100kg i started using a little hip/leg drive(push press), and at 120kg i was doing real jerks.

  1. WOD: 3 station circuit, dumbbell swings 70lbs/land mines 135lbs/wobble board push ups with heels elevated, three rounds for time 21-15-9 reps.

BRUTAL. almost met pukie on this one.

45

heavythrower,

Again, seriously impressive.

What are land mines?

46

thanks Ross.

land mines work you core. take a barbell and stuff one end into a corner somewhere, load some weight on the other end and pick the loaded end up with both hands and hold it at arms length overhead at about a 45-60 degree angle. now swing the barbell form side to side, twisting your upper body and waist, trying to keep your arms as straight as possible. very good exercise. thanks to Erika form diablo barbell for showing me these!

47

Thanks. I know that exercise, but I had never heard it called by that name.

48

was doing the “ladder” today, 3 exercises in circuit fashion with descending reps, 10,9,8,7,…1, at number 7, injured my left pec doing dips. pretty bad.

will ice and reassess in the morning.

49

Heavy, This is a great thread and good luck with your goals. I am sort of in the same boat as you. This past year I have devoted a lot of time to training in “ultra cheater powerlifting gear”, and my body is all screwed up. I am currently trying to fix my muscle imbalances and improve my body comp.

I am currently doing OLAD with mobility work and some sort of sled, treadmill, or med ball work everyday. This tread has given me a lot of great ideas. I really want to up my front squat and push press. After a year of not doing these two exercises at all I am feeling real good about doing them. Keep posting.

50

i ve been following u since the beginning. I wanted to ask you something : I ve noticed that Crossfit uses singles.When they use singles ,how long are they waiting between sets?
wes-

51

[quote]Joebob wrote:
Heavy, This is a great thread and good luck with your goals. I am sort of in the same boat as you. This past year I have devoted a lot of time to training in “ultra cheater powerlifting gear”, and my body is all screwed up. I am currently trying to fix my muscle imbalances and improve my body comp.

I am currently doing OLAD with mobility work and some sort of sled, treadmill, or med ball work everyday. This tread has given me a lot of great ideas. I really want to up my front squat and push press. After a year of not doing these two exercises at all I am feeling real good about doing them. Keep posting. [/quote]

very good stuff… i would like to have my sled shipped out here, and also to purchase the “prowler” form EFS, as well as get some heavier med balls(40-60-80lb) and do most of my met-con with that, but for now i will do the gym stuff that i have been doing.

52

[quote]wesstangl wrote:
i ve been following u since the beginning. I wanted to ask you something : I ve noticed that Crossfit uses singles.When they use singles ,how long are they waiting between sets?
wes-[/quote]

a few minutes, pretty much like any weightlifter/powerlifter woould do on a “max” day.

53

heavythrower,

awesome thread. I just found it today when browsing. Without reading all of the other responses from everyone else- You felt what was lacking and applied knowledge into the CrossFit template. Awesome job. I’ve done the same as well regarding strength.

54

[quote]chubs108 wrote:
heavythrower,

awesome thread. I just found it today when browsing. Without reading all of the other responses from everyone else- You felt what was lacking and applied knowledge into the CrossFit template. Awesome job. I’ve done the same as well regarding strength. [/quote]

thanks! may i ask how you are “adapting” crossfit for your needs?

55

Monday(today)

  1. drom circuit

  2. power snatch 40kgx3, 50kgx3, 60kgx3, 70kgx3, 80kgx3, 90kgx2, 100kgxmiss, 100kgxmiss(REAL close on this one)

  3. snatch high pull (to upper chest/neck)110x3, 120x3

4.snatch pull (explosive snatch-grip deadlift with a power-shrug at top)130x3, 140x3 160kgx2

  1. snatch grip deadlifts(100% RAW) 170kgx3, 180kgx3, 190kgx3.

  2. heavy abds

thats it. nothing left for a crossfit WOD.
was real disappointed in the power snatch. 100kg is my all time best, so i would have been pretty impressed with myself if i hit it on only my second heavy snatch workout in over 2 years. i was pretty mad, hence all the snatch pulls afterword to punish myself, LOL.

56

  1. drom

  2. free back squat 100% RAW all sets with 100lbs of chain on bar. many warm up sets, then 150kgx5, 160kgx3, 180kgx2 easy and fast. next three weeks i will go to front squats.

  3. front squat with chain still on bar, 70kgx3, 90kgx3, 100kgx3

  4. military press 5x5x80kg

  5. chins 10, 5,5,5,4.thats all i had.

  6. roman chair sit-ups with 6 sec pause 5x3

57

  1. drom

  2. power clean, 4x2x90kg

  3. clean high pull 1x3x115kg, 1x3x120kg, 1x3x125kg all to upper chest

  4. behind neck push jerks, 1x3x80kg, 1x3x90kg, 1x3x100kg

  5. crossfit stuff, dumbbell swings supersetted with push-ups, 100lb dumbbell, three rounds 21-15-9

  6. abds 2 sets

58

chubs - would you care to share the details of adaptations you have made to the crossfit template please?

heavythrower - how is what you are presently doing “crossfit”? it seems that you are now almost exclusively strength-training with the occasional circuit thrown in as a finisher?

59

[quote]tokon wrote:
chubs - would you care to share the details of adaptations you have made to the crossfit template please?

heavythrower - how is what you are presently doing “crossfit”? it seems that you are now almost exclusively strength-training with the occasional circuit thrown in as a finisher?[/quote]

yeah, thats about right, i love to lift heavy weights. I’m sorry i like being a big guy. crossfit has a lot to offer athletes and lay people, and me, but i like to keep the weights and intensity pretty high, and all the best guys at crossfit are, in all do respect, little.

i have 60lbs on the biggest guy at crossfit norcal, which is one of there trainers and has some records in some of there diagnostic workouts, Greg Everett. i think he is very strong for his size, very athletic, and looks great, but i want to be bigger.

i went form exclusively crossfit stuff, to one lift a day (Dan john) with a cross fit wod afterwords, and now pretty much an Olympic lifting program with “a circuit as a finisher” at the end.

this is a work in progress and i am trying to figure out what works best for me. next week i am going back to a Dan john type program with one lift a day 4-5 days a week, with a crossfit WOD at the end, and also 1-2 “crossfit only days” and 1-2 rest/recovery days. every fourth week will be a crossfit only week.

but like i said, i am working on this as i go and learning stuff. if half way through this stuff looks like it is not working for me, i might change it again.

60

today:

  1. drom circuit

  2. front squat 1x5x70kg, 1x4x80kg, 3x3x90kg all sets with 100lbs of chain on bar.

  3. left chain on bar, back squat 1x3x110kg, 3x3x130kg.

  4. took chain off, snpp+overhead squat, 1+3 5 sets 50kg

  5. finisher circuit chins/roman chair abds/turkish get-ups with 40lb dumbell
    5 rounds 10 reps each as fast as possible. this kicked my ass!