Last night, M and I started watching the video of Mat Lalonde's Nutrition Seminar (which he delivered back in June at CrossFit Academy of Lions in Toronto). (I'll post a review soon, but suffice it to say that I'm learning a TON. You can check out a 10-minute preview of the video here.) At one point (close to the 6-hour mark), Lalonde discusses the benefits of fasted training and his conclusion that post-workout carbs aren't necessary -- provided you're not doing a super-long session of metabolic conditioning work.
So what did we do this morning at our CrossFit box? A super-long metcon.
This is atypical for our gym. Ninety-nine percent of the time, we stick with a strict Max Effort Black Box program, with our time split between warm-up, strength work, and a short (sub-15 minute) metcon. But once in a while -- usually near holidays -- our coach decides to "work a different metabolic pathway." In other words, he beats the shit out of us with a meat grinder of a workout.
Metcon:
"Whitten" - 5 rounds for time:
- 22 overhead kettlebell swings (I used a 53 lb. kettlebell, but RX'ed is 70)
- 22 plyo box jumps (24" box)
- 400 meter run
- 22 burpees
- 22 wallball shots (20 lb. ball, 10' target)
Seven other masochists showed up for the morning class today, so we had a full house. A few folks scaled the workout down, using lighter weights, fewer reps and/or shorter distances. For example, one person used a 16-inch plyo box, and another ran 200 meters each round instead of the full 400. Half of the class used wallballs of less than 20 pounds, and aimed for an 8-foot target.
The Terminator and I, however, tried to do the WOD as close to RX'ed as possible -- though after trying out the 70 pound kettlebells, we ultimately decided to go with 53 pounds instead. I matched his pace for the first couple of rounds, but he pulled ahead during our third set of wallball shots, and I never quite caught up. I'm getting better at wallballs, but due to my short stature and light bodyweight, I end up having to jump off the floor with every rep in order to heave the 20-pound ball ten feet up the wall. With my shitty hand-eye coordination, this is no easy task.
Result: 42:51. The Terminator beat me by a minute and a half. Everyone was hustling; with proper scaling, even the slowest among us were done by the 52-minute mark.
As soon as I was finished, recovery was on my mind. I did this metcon in a fasted state, and by the time I wrapped up my last set of wallballs, I'm sure my muscle glycogen stores were at zero. So after a quick pitstop at a nearby supermarket, I drove home to gobble up a bag of carby, starchy chestnuts. And for good measure, I chased 'em down with a plate of M's breakfast frittata and some broccoli.
Santa better bring me some extra fish oil, yo.
