Why don’t CrossFit dudes generally look jacked? I mean holy poop these are hard workouts
Yuck.
And more yuck.
I thought they did.
Oh, yeah. I came here to tell you that I skipped arms Tuesday.
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I guess I’m thinking of the regular folks that tell me they do CrossFit. But then, to be fair, the regular folks that tell me they train like bodybuilders or powerlifters also don’t look jacked.
You get out of this log right now. There’s simply no excuse for such an egregious sin.
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And I think of the dudes I watch compete in The Games.
I’ll do the three way curl thing tomorrow after legs.
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I’m here to help
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Well, depending on these hamstrings, I might be doing something like that.
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Yeah just had to search for the deck of cards thing wow… Can’t see how this wouldn’t make you drop weight quick. All of those challenges look nuts to me.
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That’s definitely going to be a benefit. Not only is it brutally hard, but I’m so wrecked afterward the last thing I feel like doing is eating.
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Today’s was hard. That is all
These are ass-kickers. I need to better manage my hydration, I think. I take it seriously with the Meadows workouts, and, for some reason, I’ve totally abandoned any care for it during these - it’s impacting me a little.
Walked 2 miles on a call, then warmed up with jumping jacks and perfect stretches.
-
Front Squat
45/8
95/6
95/6
135/3
135/3
205/3 EMOM x 10 minutes
Dead Bugs x 5 each side in between all rounds (including warm-ups) -
Floor Press
45/8
95/6
165/6 EMOM x 10 minutes
Bent Row same weights and reps in between all rounds -
Challenge:
20 squats
20 stepping lunges
20 jumping lunges
10 squats
I was supposed to do 10 rounds, but I did not make it. I think I got halfway… just wasn’t there today
I also did some curls standing and seated with an empty barbell (nowhere near 100 of either - maybe 20ish). @One_Two I definitely think seated is harder, because you have to stop yourself at the hardest part of the ROM - you can’t just blast through that on the way up or down.
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You pussy 
Seriously though Thanks for taking the time to help me out.
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Tough, but fair
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Another @Alpha butt-kicking today
Warmed up with jumping jacks and perfect stretches
-
2” Pause Deadlift
45/8
135/5 x 2
205/5 EMOM x 10 minutes
I didn’t do the optional abs in between, and I still had a tough time. I’m not handling the short breaks well on deadlift, even with light weights. I’m rushing into it and then my back gets pumped and then I break down further. I’ll try to be more deliberate in a couple days. I also think I have the step set up for too much of a deficit, so I’m reaching too far. -
Seated Press
45/8
135/3 EMOM x 10 minutes
3 Pull-ups in between each round -
10 - 8 - 6 - 4 - 2:
Thrusters: 35# plates (to fit my ceiling)
Burpee lateral jumps
Stair jumps
30 second planks (each side)
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Sounds like the perfect storm for a blown back. You’ve noticed the warnings - change something before a needless injury claims another victim!
CrossFit Fanboi (aka me) called. He said, “welcome! We’ve been expecting you.” Seriously, I love barbell movements followed by circuits like this one. Once I’ve limbered up, I plan to commence jumps and sprints and stuff too.
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I think you’re right on the injury train man. I need to figure something out. I get stubborn and just want to power through, but I’ve had a couple back surgeries and I need to be smarter here. I appreciate it.
I’m with you! I will say I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. I think my perfect day when the gyms open back up will be Meadows’ programs with one of these hard conditioning sessions. Probably superset in the small muscles (abs, calves, rear delts, etc.) during the main lifting session to save some time and reduce boredom too.
More importantly, how are you doing?
You’re most welcome, I’m happy to help. I’ll get stupidly stubborn about sticking with some type of training, ignore all warning signs about impending injury, then suffer from my own idiocy. In other words, I can empathize. “As iron sharpens iron.”
Calisthenics are much more enjoyable when chosen instead of forced!
That sounds nearly perfect; the only reason I can’t totally concur is never having done a Meadows program. Your enthusiasm is piquing my curiosity, though. What about his programs keep you coming back?
Fixed it. Thanks for asking! I’m doing better - it appears I have a job with the USPS, I’ve been landscaping regularly, the doggone spider bite hasn’t taken off my leg, and I’ve acquired a sense of direction for my love life/wondering whether to try yet again with my best friend/ex. (In case you’re curious, the plan is to take things super slowly, one day and date at a time, aka wing it and see how it goes.)
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Definitely. The short and brutal nature of it keeps it interesting too.
I’m going to link a way-too-long post I wrote about it in response to someone else’s question:
I’ll bullet point some thoughts off the top of my head, though. Before I do, though, let me say I don’t think there is anything crazy special about anyone’s program; it either clicks for you or it doesn’t (as you know).
- He pays a ton of attention to sequencing, and my joints really don’t take a beating at all - that’s a big deal for me
- There are typically 3 “big” days per week and then optional/ lighter days - it becomes easy to manage around your schedule, and is friendly to work travel and being in other gyms
- He pays a lot of attention to assistance work that I wouldn’t normally do, but actually makes me look better - like rear delts have made a ton of difference in my width. I’m not getting on a stage, but, obviously, it’s critical to me that the other 40-year-old parents at the pool find me attractive; why else be alive?
- He spaces out the heavy compound stuff in such a way that I can push hard on it, but I don’t get that “hangover” effect; this just makes life easier. Vice versa, I’m not so scared of a workout that I’m thinking about it when I should just be going on a bike ride with the kids. Don’t get me wrong, I can get incredibly sore, but it’s muscular instead of in my soul.
- Sequencing makes getting started easier too - the first lift is never the one you super care about (it’s leg curls or something), so it’s easier to talk myself into just walking in the gym and getting rolling at 5am.
- Again because of the sequencing and the rep ranges - I can push freaking hard on the major lifts without getting hurt. Sometimes I still have to be smart and squat to a box or set the rack higher for rack pulls or whatever, and it’s usually incline instead of flat bench, but I like just being able to push without too much thought when it comes up.
- He changes up the assistance with great frequency and makes it challenging. This is similar in concept but different in execution to the way Alsruhe does it. In both cases, it’s a little more mentally engaging than “3 sets of 10 on side raises.”
- There is always something challenging in there (I think all the good coaches do this, to be fair) where you get to dig deep without some kind of PR to compare it to. Like drop sets on leg presses starting with 50 reps or something ridiculous just to strain and have fun.
- For me, the workouts are just enjoyable - I think this is the single most important factor.
- I have consistently gotten stronger without having to figure out any percentage of anything ever, even after having lifted for a long time - big deal for me. I like randomly hitting gym PRs, because I don’t compete in anything and will never do a peak.
- I already am comfortable with his workouts, so on the fly adjustments and the “why” and all that are already there for me. I think @MarkKO said something about the successful athletes stick with a style for a long time, and I think there is a lot to that. You can get spun up and spend a lot of time always “learning how to learn,” so to speak. So for me, this is pretty solid already.
- His programs are really, really detailed. Like each exercise is going to have a video, an RPE chart, an explanation of what your goal is, and even how it should feel. I don’t necessarily need all that at this point (because of the bullet above), but I just straight-up appreciate the professionalism. I’ve seen some other well-known coaches put stuff out there where they’ve copied and pasted things so completely that you’ve got SLDL as your bench press assistance movement and they’ll say “my bad, typo” - that just bothers me as a business person.
Anyway, I’m not sure if this is helpful. It’s a lot of my ramblings. I guess the bottom line is I think they are well-written programs that allow me to get stronger in a joint-friendly way and I enjoy more days in the gym than not.
I am extremely glad to hear this. Sincerely.
Excellent! If this lock-down period has shown us nothing else, it’s that that’s all you can do with anything. Make the best decision you can with the information you have at the time!
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That’s a fantastic write-up, thank you very much! I plan to reply more thoroughly and thoughtfully this evening.
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Do you have somewhere to anchor your mini bands to add resistance for the defecit deadlifts?
You could take some weight off the bar, so you don’t jack your spine at the bottom and the bands would add it back above the knees and make you use mondo leg drive.
For me, the minis plus a defecit were like what’s on the barbell, +105 pounds.
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I can at least stand on them - I was doing that before and it felt much better. I think this is super smart and I’ll do it next round, thank you!
Definitely sounds on point. It’s crazy how much a couple inches difference in that bottom range makes.
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