Check-in: Week 2

Two weeks into vacation.  So good to hear about everyone's continued training!

Skye:  We see you're learning some new tricks at Crossfit Minneapolis, and it's fun to read your comments.  That wallball/rowing WOD looks killer!  R & I have had some real "hit-or-miss" Crossfit experiences so far this summer.  Some classes are too big, coaches are too hands-off to do any real teaching, we don't agree with the programming, etc.  I guess we just prefer to program for ourselves, and we definitely prefer our small-class coaching model where everybody gets the attention they deserve! 

Robyn:  Congratulations on making some *incredible* strength gains!  At a Crossfit Austin class yesterday, I met a couple women who'd been training for several months and had not yet reached your level of strength.  I attribute your success to your consistent hard-core work ethic and athletic genes!

Phil:  Those deadlift + bench numbers are amazing, and topping your strength training off with mini-leg blasters is NO JOKE!  Those things annihilate your thighs.  I hope you're feeling recovered enough to keep pushing on your next training day.  We can't wait to hear how your training with Skye goes next week.

Ahmed:  Glad to hear from you, though it's so sad to hear that your training feels lonely.  Think of it as working on your mental toughness by getting in there and doing the needful on your own.  Meanwhile, we'd love to know more about what you're learning, how your weight training teacher is "traditional" (R&I are pretty old-school ourselves), and why in the world people are freaked out by you doing burpees + db swings, for crying out loud!

Us:  We've signed up at Crossfit Austin for the next 4 weeks, though we're not sure yet how much we'll do with the class and how much we'll just do our own programming.  The most amazing thing is that, every Tuesday, we get to take an Olympic lifting class with a 2-time Olympian!  We also really miss our friends at Atomic Athlete, where we trained last summer, so we might try to save ourselves some days to work with them.  Like I said, Austin's pretty much heaven for gym rats!

You'll notice on the right a new thing called "Links" -- This is where I've linked up a cool article I read on nutrition from a Crossfit coach somewhere in California.  It's long but easy to understand, and I think the guy does a nice job pulling together a lot of information pretty concisely.   We'll link up more fun summer reading here as we run across it. 

Meanwhile, keep up the good work everybody!  Hit us up with questions/comments ANY TIME; we're happy to help in any way we can.

Check-in: Week 1

Hey, Faculty Athletes!  We're all a week into our summer vacations, and we've loved hearing from some of you about how your summer training plan is shaping up.  Looks like Robyn, Ahmed, Phil, and Skye all have some kind of gym access, so they're all probably going to be able to keep up a lifting routine.  We're real proud to know that we've turned you guys into little gym rats!  Send pictures!

But we know Kathy won't have barbells up in the mountains, and we're not sure about Debbie, so we wrote up an 8-week program for strength and conditioning work for those without gym access.  (You can click the link to get the Excel spreadsheet; I've also shared this as a Google spreadsheet with all of you through your AES Google account.)

Those of you WITH a gym and/or coach won't need this -- though feel free to try anything you see that you like!  You should just continue with your regular lifts, striving for additional reps or adding weight to the bar each trip to the gym as usual.  For conditioning, either do what a coach tells you to do, repeat some of the earlier things we've done together, or go to The WOD Shop where you can click on the "Bodyweight" button to generate random WODs (Workout-of-the-Day) for yourself. 

Meanwhile, email us if you have any questions or comments.  And I'll post a "Check-in" post like this every week (on Fridays) where you can comment to let us all know how it's going -- news about a new PR, learning a new movement (or mastering your technique on an old one), discovering a great WOD that others might like, setting and/or accomplishing some cool goal, cooking up a great new Paleo recipe, or just reflecting on your training in general. 

R & I have been relaxing this week down in South Georgia, but we've been able to train daily ourselves and found an awesome Crossfit gym about an hour away.  We head off to Minneapolis tomorrow where we'll be visiting our nephew for the weekend, and after that we'll be settling down for 5 weeks in Austin, which is training heaven for us.  We look forward to hearing from y'all!

Summer Program for Faculty Athletes with No Gym Access

Summer Programming for Faculty Athletes With No Gym Access

Remote Training for Faculty Athletes #2

PART 1. 3 rounds of (5 pullups, 10 pushups, 10 sit-ups)

PART 2. 3 rounds of (1:30 run + 1:30 stepups)

Coaching comments: 

• In PART 1, sub for pullups as needed.  Find some straps and simulate ring rows, or try jumping pullups (Note:  We don't recommend the "negatives" he shows here at 1:20, since the slow lowering is an eccentric contraction that can make you super sore; instead, just drop back down.)
• The PART 2 run should be as fast as possible. Could be on a treadmill, or an out-and-back if running outside.
• Try to minimize the transition time between running and step-ups.
• The step-ups should be STEADY. This is where you will recover from the run (while still doing work).  Be sure to switch lead legs so that you're not stepping up with the same leg on every rep.
• We will try to PROGRESS from here weekly by adding weight on the step-ups. You could hold weights in hands at your sides or wear a backpack loaded with water bottles or kitty litter.

Remote training for Faculty Athletes

Today's proxy for strength training is this:

PART 1.  6 rounds of . . .

• 1 Mini Leg Blaster (MLB)
• 5 situps 

PART 2.  2 attempts x Handstand holds:  Do a handstand against the wall.  Have someone time how long you can hold it.  Record your time.  Rest as needed between attempts.

Tips:  Keep your shoulders active and your elbows locked out.  Keep a tight core/midline, and it helps to squeeze your butt together for tension.

PART 3.  6 rounds of 8 pushups:   Use perfect form.

For conditioning, go outside and do 20-30 minutes of your choice:

• jogging
• walking
• biking
• swimming
• yard work

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Crossfit Total (non-barbell version)

Today, after traveling 30+ hours yesterday, R & I woke up and went over to Crossfit Valdosta where the WOD was "The Crossfit Total" which is the classic Crossfit strength test.  Basically, you work up to your single-rep max in three barbell lifts -- backsquat, overhead press, and deadlift.  It's a great benchmarking measure.  Working out with a group is definitely motivating, and we both PR'd in at least one of those lifts.  (My total score = 518# and R = 795#)

Here's our non-barbell version of the Crossfit Total for y'all:

• max air squats in 3 minutes
• rest as needed
• max pushups in 3 minutes
• rest as needed
• max situps in 3 minutes

Give it a try and post results to comments!

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