Monday's Workout

The boys were up all night crapping their pants. M knew I was still recovering from a cold, so she looked after our sick kids, generously allowing me to sleep through the worst of the ass-explosions so I'd be (relatively) well-rested for the 5 a.m. class at CrossFit Palo Alto. I know I don't say it often enough, but my wife is all kinds of awesome.

Strength Skill:

• Single-Leg Deadlifts (5-3-3-1-1)

I'm tightening my gut and keeping my hips down low. I'm pushing off my heel, and I'm keeping my head in line with my body. But I still suck at one-legged deadlifts -- especially when I do 'em while balancing on my left leg. I'd make a horrible evil one-legged space pirate.

Metcon:

2 rounds for time:

• Run 400 meters
• 20 ground-to-overheads (75# / 55#)
• 15 box jumps
• 10 toes-to-bar

This was reminiscent of this year's Open WOD 12.3 -- you know, the one that murdered me. Thankfully, today's version was a lot more sane, but it was still a kick in the pants.

I'd like to say I held back because I'm not feeling 100 percent, but the truth of the matter is that I simply got my butt handed to me. The ground-to-overheads weren't a problem (I did a mix of snatches and clean & jerks), but the box jumps knocked the wind out of me today.

Result: 10:12 as RXed.

Catalyst Athletics Weightlifting Seminar: Day 2

The boys spent the night at their grandparents' last night, so we weren't awakened at 7 a.m. this morning by shouting and running down the hall. Instead, we had the rare luxury of sleeping in...until 7:15. Yes, sleep is paramount, but there was no way we were going to be late to Day 2 of the lifting seminar at Catalyst Athletics. After M whipped up a quick breakfast, we packed our lunches and hitched a ride with Kristen to the gym.

As the rest of the CrossFit Palo Alto gang trickled in, we got loose and stretchy. 

And then it was time to get started. We did a quick review of the snatch progressions we learned yesterday, and then dove right into jerks. I was eager to learn how to split jerk today; the only time I'd ever attempted it before was about a year-and-a-half ago, and I had no idea what I was doing. If I remember correctly, I promptly fell over and was told to stick with power jerks.

Before getting to split jerks today, however, we went through a number of progressions -- push presses from behind the neck, push presses from the rack position, tall power jerks, jerk balances -- all of which we got to practice until we found our groove. 

And before lunch, I found myself split jerking. Yes, it was with an empty bar, but simply sticking the technique made me feel accomplished. I did my best to get the bar overhead with aggression and confidence, and with a few pointers from Greg, Aimee, and Steve, I successfully performed my first split jerks.

After lunch, Greg covered various clean progressions until we were cleaning from off the floor. And by mid-afternoon, we were cleaning and jerking with weight. 

Graeme and I paired up all weekend, which was awesome; he has exacting form, and I picked up a lot just by watching him lift. The trainers frequently stopped by to scrutinize our technique and to offer encouragement and guidance. I was amazed by their ability to instantly diagnose and adjust my sloppy form with just a few words and cues. 

Despite using light weights, we probably ended up doing hundreds of reps over the course of the weekend. With fifteen minutes left before the end of the day, I was spent. But what the hell -- I decided to do one more.

It was ugly as sin. But hey: I didn't fall over. Progress!

Functional Fitness

A skill every parent should have: The ability to clean-and-jerk small children.

Monday's Workout

I hate it when my body quits on me.

It's the final week in our strength cycle, and I wanted to join the rest of the 5 a.m. class as they practiced overhead squats today. But thanks to my pulled groin, I still can't properly squat without pain.

Grudgingly, I sat this one out. I certainly don't want to tear up my adductors even more, but being sidelined annoys me to no end. I tried to stay productive by working on my handstand holds this morning, but it wasn't the same.

Thankfully, our metcon today didn't require any squatting:

• "Grace" - 30 clean-and-jerks (135lbs / 95lbs) for time.

After my last encounter with Grace (when I used a too-light 95-pound barbell), I'd promised myself I'd go up to 115 pounds the next time we faced this workout. But I already got a good taste of my stupidity on Friday, so to be safe, I went up only to 105 -- in other words, just a few pounds more than 17-year-old Kallista Pappas clean-and-jerked during the "Heavy Grace" event at the 2008 CrossFit Games.

During the WOD, I felt slightly more tentative and restrained than usual, and babied my right leg more than probably necessary. Still, the power cleans felt good, and my lockouts overhead were strong. I finished in 4:41 -- a half-minute slower than the last time around -- but frankly, I was just happy I got to play.

Friday's Workout: Full of Grace

If nothing else, today's workout offered proof that endorphin-generated exercise-induced euphoria is very, very real.

Strength Skill:

• Weighted Ring Dips (2 sets of 3, 3 sets of 1)

 PR! On my final rep, I stuffed all 50 pounds into the weight vest, jammed a 30-pound dumbbell into my crotch, held my breath, and cranked out a fairly decent ring dip. It felt mighty fine, and for a second, I was tempted to go heavier...but it was time for the metcon.

And it was a doozy.

More after the jump...

Friday's Workout

Ten people in class this morning -- a 1000% increase in just eight months!

All of us took turns messing around with skin-the-cats on the Olympic rings and L-sits and pass-throughs on the parallettes, and then it was time to say Grace. Literally.



Metcon:

• "Grace" - 30 clean & jerks for time.

The RX'ed weight for men is 135 pounds, but the last time I did this, I opted for the ladies' RX'ed weight of 95. Today, after some goading and peer pressure, I decided to go heavier -- by a whopping 10 pounds.

Yep, I'm a wimp. I finished Grace in 4:06 today -- more than a half-minute faster than the last go-round -- so in hindsight, I could (and should) have gone with at least 115 pounds.

Nonetheless, even with just 105 pounds on the bar, Grace is no walk in the park. After the first half-dozen cleans and jerks, I was no longer able to string 'em together, and resorted to dumping the weight from overhead rather than controlling the bar all the way down. (I'm sure the good folks at Planet Fitness would not be happy with me.) Grace may look simple on paper, but it's brutal.

On the plus side: Grace is also really, really fun. There's something incredibly primal and satisfying about picking something heavy off the ground, thrusting it over your head, and sending it crashing back down -- over and over again. (HULK SMASH!!!)

Besides, unlike a lot of other CrossFit WODs, it's over so quickly that you don't even have time to break a sweat.

Friday's Workout

It's muggy here on Maui today. Perfect for a sweat-tastic workout.

Warm Up:
2 rounds:3 minutes jump rope

• 10 push-ups
• 10 air squats
• 10 pull-ups
• 30 lunges

Strength Skill:

• Overhead Squats (5 sets of 5)

Holy hell -- I'm weak. Granted, this is the first time I've practiced this move outside of a metcon, but even overhead squatting 65 pounds on the barbell was super-challenging. I felt like toppling over every time I descended into the squat, and had to force myself to focus on not turning my knees inward on each ascent. More practice is definitely needed.

Metcon:

For time:

• 15 Clean & Jerks
• 15 Plyo Box Jumps
• 12 Clean & Jerks
• 12 Plyo Box Jumps
• 9 Clean & Jerks
• 9 Plyo Box Jumps

This was a dead sprint. Result: 2:34.

Cash Out:

We flung some ropes around.

And I'm done!

"You're Cleaning? You're Dating a Jerk?"

The Washington Post just posted a write-up about CrossFit's role in the resurgence of Olympic weightlifting -- a "total-body technique that's pretty much guaranteed to make you run faster, jump higher and get stronger."

Sadly, over the past few decades, "America's fitness industry has virtually abandoned [O-lifting] in favor of new equipment, fads and methods. 'It is almost a forgotten way to train. People just want to bounce around,' says Greg Haff, vice president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and an assistant professor at West Virginia University School of Medicine." (Zumba, anyone?)

Why has chronic cardio and high-rep, low-resistance "weight training" eclipsed O-lifting as the exercise approach of choice? There are plenty of reasons to choose from:

• If you view exercise as a necessary evil, it's a hell of a lot easier to just hop on an elliptical trainer, crank up your iPod and start flipping through the latest issue of US Weekly on the machine's conveniently-mounted magazine tray. As Haff points out in the Post article, Olympic lifting is "a lot of work." And ironically, most gym-goers would prefer to stick with what's familiar and easy. (Like machines.)

• Some guys might gravitate towards it, but women tend to run for ze hills due to myths about how O-lifting'll break their backs, bulk them up and turn them into she-hulks like Nicole Bass.

• And it's not easy getting started; proper technique is critical and difficult to learn without coaching or instruction (or at least a good book or two).

• Last but not least, barbells and bumper plates aren't available at most gyms. (This, though, is kind of a chicken-and-egg problem: People don't ask for barbells and plates, so gyms don't stock 'em, which means people aren't exposed to O-lifting, and so they don't ask for barbells and plates. Thankfully, you can just buy your own.) 

 As a result, O-lifting's been dying a slow death in the U.S. Thankfully, CrossFit's come to the rescue:

To stage a comeback, weightlifting needed an army of advocates who not only didn't mind the challenge, but relished it. And it seems to have found that through CrossFit, a 15-year-old methodology for producing well-rounded athletes that's found huge success among law enforcement, the military and, these days, the general population... 

Every single one of [CrossFit's devotees] sweats the two "O lifts": the snatch (a single, continuous motion that requires lifting the barbell from the ground and forcing yourself under it so that you're standing with your arms locked in extension above you) and the clean and jerk (start by pulling the weight from the ground to your shoulders, then dip and drive the bar overhead, splitting your legs into a half lunge to get the power to extend your arms upward).

If you've never heard of the moves, you're like most of Allison Jetton's friends. The 28-year-old Arlington resident has had trouble explaining exactly what she has been doing during CrossFit classes and personal training sessions the past few months at Balance Gym in Thomas Circle: "People are like, 'You're cleaning? You're dating a jerk?' " But she has fallen for the feeling of raising a hefty barbell over her head -- and how it has made her clothes fit.

"Women are usually lined up on treadmills with a magazine aerobicizing themselves to oblivion," she says. "I tried that. I didn't find it effective."

 Sounds like the understatement of the year.

(Source: Washington Post)

Wednesday's Workout

Strength Skill:

• Front Squats

Some experts -- like renowned strength coach Mike Boyle -- aren't fans of front squats, but I like 'em. Maybe it's because I'm still relatively new to O-lifting, but I've seen steady improvement over the past few months, and I'm gradually inching towards a 1.5X bodyweight front squat. (I do, however, need to be more mindful of my form; I've noticed that I tend to favor my right leg, especially when going heavy on squats.)

Metcon:

• "Grace" -- for time: 30 ground-to-overheads

Basically, you throw a bunch of weights onto a barbell -- then, by hook or by crook, you hoist it from the floor to an overhead position, with your arms locked out at the top. Most people accomplish this using a clean-and-jerk technique. Others clean the barbell up to their shoulders, and then push-press the bar up.

This guy finished in less than 90 seconds (which, by the way, is pretty darn good -- he's right there with top CrossFit Games competitors):



Me? I used just 95 pounds (instead of the men's RX'ed weight of 135) and it took me 4:40 to finish. Clearly, I have quite a bit of room for improvement.

Ouch.

(Source: Joel Havenridge / Telegraph)