I must’ve missed this last week. Froning was asked by Castro to compete last week. Castro offered a couple “wildcard” entries to people who didn’t qualify. Ben Smith got the other one and he accepted and had a respectable showing (he was the Champ before Fraser started his run).
Froning turned Castro down with a resounding no. He competes in the team events now. They won their third or fourth title this weekend. He’s still a beast.
I’m guessing he finds the team comps to be more fun and/or less stressful. The cream of the crop is going for Fittest on Earth in the individual comp, so the competition is probably a bit weaker. It also allows a guy/girl to struggle a bit but not completely fail. The rest of team can pick you up and save the event.
I enjoyed watching both competitions this year. I was happy for the livestream CrossFit offered.
I’ve always had the feeling that Froning was just done with the individual event, simply because he’s won it so many times, and frankly pretty easily. I know he made a bit of a meal of his last win, but considering what else was going on in his life, dude still won. I mean, he adopted a new born baby in the month before the games and still beat everyone else, that’s a special kind of dominance.
I figured he’d be drawn back out with little one a bit more grown up and his 4 wins title under threat. Maybe next year.
Either way, I don’t honestly see there being a competitor who can get people excited about crossfit the way Froning did in his prime.
I was pretty excited watching it this weekend. The events and the athletes made it fun, especially the max clean event on Saturday night. The women freaking brought it. Toomey and Barnhart both maxed out the event. They thought 260 would be the top weight. They both successfully clean that, and the initial rules said the tie breaker would be 5 reps for time at 195 lbs. Luckily, CrossFit changed the rules on the fly and added weight to the bar. Toomey won with a 265 clean after Barnhart missed. It was electric!
The men’s event played out much the same with only two competitors remaining when 380 was loaded up. The top weight was scheduled to be 385, but they didn’t need it. Scott Panchik missed and that left Fraser with a chance to take the event. There’s something exciting about watching someone win an event on one rep. Both competitors strained mightily to stand up. They both even took a second bounce in the hole to reset and really use the stretch reflex.
This is the first year I’ve watched live. My CrossFit crush is Katrin Davidsdottir and I follow her on Instagram. I saw some of her posts leading up to the comp and that tipped me off.
In the past, I just hoped they’d do the documentary so I could get all of the excitement in 90 minutes.
I’ve tried to sneak a bit of crossfit-lite stuff into my #committed program. We’ll see how it pans out as I trial run it. Fingers crossed it will stick.
last nights session looked easy on paper and even doing the session felt pretty easy, all RPE’s were pretty low. But the DOMS in my glutes and lower back today is REAL !!!
Body still a little sore today, especially the glutes.
With this block style training I am finally starting understand the relationship volume (sets and reps) and load (weight) has on my training. I’ve been training on and off and Interested in strength and bodybuilding for nearly 30 years and tried many different types of training in that time (had way too many breaks from training too). But I never really stopped to think about how the relationship of these two elements effected me.
Looking at my session from Monday last week compared to this week, the load (weight moved ) for squats was less but when you factor in the additional volume, the total work this week is more. This will accumulate more throughout the block and finish with similar load to the last block but for more volume. For each block we reset and build again It is so simple but something I never considered or thought about when I was younger. The other thing I have noticed is that when I reset and start a new block and the load goes down, my form for the reps is much better. This improved form then continues throughout the block (I hope it will) and I finish with better reps and more reps and same or higher load. Win, win win.
No idea where I am going with this post, just thinking out loud really.
“Bigger picture” stuff like this is invaluable for me. I love to see the thoughts and insights of people who’ve proven they can succeed at this stuff. Helps to solidify my own thoughts.
Bench
Bar x 10
65 x 5
85 x 4
92.5 x 4 x 4 sets (204 lbs)
RPE 7, 7, 7, 7
Tightness was good, speed was good, even got some leg drive.
Squat
Bar x 10
65 x 5
85 x 5
95 x 8 x 3 sets (210 lbs) RPE- 6, 6, 6 (2 sec pause on last rep of set 3)
Legs and glutes still really tight and a little sore. Moved really well but was a bit dizzy from hard bracing.
Row
80 x 6 x 4 sets
Pull up
6 x 3 sets
Knee raises
15 x 3 sets
Felt really good tonight. Bench moved quick, squats were smooth despite the soreness and everything else gave me a great little pump. Happy boy.
Deadlift
Bar x 10
65 x 5
105 x 5
125 x 3
140 x 6 x 4 sets (308 lbs)
RPE 6, 6, 6, 6
Focused on locking the lats and pulling fast. These were pretty good tonight. Little lower back pump but otherwise real solid.
Hurt my right thumb, either squeezing too hard or bar was sitting in the thumb. Feels bruised and slightly swollen!!
Squat
Bar x 10
65 x
85 x 5
102.5 x 6 x 3 sets RPE- 6, 6, 7 (226 lbs)
Fast and smooth
Bench
Bar x 10
65 x 5
75 x 8 x 3 sets RPE 6, 6, 6 (165 lbs)
Fast up and down just making a pump.
Pull ups
Max x 3 - 10, 5, 5
SS machine row
3 sets
Felt good tonight, everything moved just as it should. Quality
Washed cars for 2 hours and then Went for a 1hr walk with the wife and kids today. Nice to get some fresh air and loosen the back up a little with a good walk. Had to run to the car when it started raining, I’m classing that as conditioning !! Lol
Haha, I rarely wash mine anymore, usually after a trip to get some of the mud, sand, dust off, or before I have to work on it so I don’t cop facefulls of mud and sand
Left glute really angry tonight, either from lots of squatting down washing the car, my walk or my short run to the car! Hopefully it will feel ok tomorrow and won’t impact on my squats.
