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!
Hey Everyone,
ReplyDeleteToday I completed the following workout (all weights in pounds)...
Back Squat: 3x5x95
Seated DB Press: 3x10x10
Lat Pull-Downs: 3x5x72
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 and reverse of squats and push-ups and a 20 minute walk.
Happy Friday!!
WOW -- Congratulations on that squat! Also impressive that you did 55 extra squats afterwards in that reverse ladder. Yeah!
DeleteMinneapolis??? What?
ReplyDeleteYeah, we just arrived late last night and slept on the couch in our nephew's apartment. Good luck today on your visit to the Crossfit gym! Can't wait to hear how it goes....
DeleteJune 11th...
ReplyDeleteHang Power Clean - 65 pounds, no change from last time. I tried 70 but is was too heavy.
Deadlift - 95 pounds, up 20 pounds from last time!! Felt great! Don't worry, Russell, I'm being very careful about my back. Perfect form!!
Bench press - 65 pounds, same as last time.
DB Rows - 35 pounds
Met Con
Rowing machine: 2 rounds of 250m-rest-500m-rest-700m-rest
I got this off the WOD generator and the rest was supposed to be as long as the work. It was also originally three rounds, but I only had time for 2. My average speed was 2:46.1.
Happy Monday!
Robyn
The crossfit gym was really fun! We only did a back squat and were supposed to go for the max weight for one rep. I wasn't quite in the flow of it, but did ok. Having done 88 pounds for 3 rounds of 5 reps, I wasn't sure what to do. I ended up working up to 100 pounds for one rep. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteThe met con was 5 rounds of the following:
12 ring dips
9 power cleans
6 burpee pull-ups
We were instructed about what modifications to make, so I certainly made those adjustments. So much of the metcon was challenging that the burpees didn't seem so bad (especially since I was concentrating on jumping up to the pull up after the burpee). Everyone was nice, which I appreciate in coming into a new situation. So, I will be going back. ;)
Yesterday I did deadlifts at 197 up from 175 the last time. Felt great and my form seemed spot on. Benched 145 and will definitely bump that up next time. I ended the work out with shuttle runs of 40 sec. with 1 min. rest. 8 rounds of 6 lengths of the basketball court. I actually added about 3 meters and kept the same pace as last Monday.
ReplyDeleteToday I am going to do the Mini leg blaster and see if it feels any different than last week. Hoping to do it in much less time than last time.
Sky, I'll join you at your cross-fit gym when we move up to the Cities next week.
Wow, way to go.
DeletePhil, that would be sweet!!!
ReplyDeletePhil and Skye, Ahmed and I wish we could also join you at the Crossfit gym! That would be so much fun. Ahmed is taking a weightlifting class for his degree this summer and the teacher is way old school. He does his other stuff as best he can though.
ReplyDeleteI'm experiencing working out by myself since only students are allowed to work in the campus fitness center. The center I go to is terrific and I am finding I do have the mental strength to go and do this myself if and when I have to...not my preference, but I can do it successfully. It is a big hurdle for me to get over so I am happy to have finally gotten over it!
For today's workout:
Squats 3x5x...wait for it...100!! Yay!!
Seated DB Press 3x8x12.5
Lat Pull Down's 3x5x84
Turkish Get ups 2 each arm with a 20# kettle bell
Met Con was 20 minutes on the elliptical
It all felt good!
Happy Wednesday!
Robyn
Hello everyone,
ReplyDeleteI am back. Egypt trip was success socially and nutritionally, but did not do much workouts for 2 weeks. Now I am back to workouts since last week. Everything feels different and heavier in lbs.
My workout for today:
3 min warm ups on the rowing machine
Squats: 3 x 10 x 135 lbs
OHP: 3 x 10 x 90 lbs
Pull down 3 x 12 x 100 Ibs
For conditioning: Reverse ladder 10 to 1 burpees and 10 Ibs kettlebell swings.
Ok: 2 problems, first the guys in the FHSU gym look at me funny and keep saying oh @#$% can not do that; second my weight training teacher is very triditional and still want me to do 25-30 minutes conditioning within my heart rate target.
I hope everyone is having great summer so far.
Missing you all
Hey Guys,
ReplyDeleteI love to know what other folks are doing! This is so cool! Here was today's workout:
800 m warm up run
then we did no lifts today because the met con was hard enough:
500 m row
50 wall balls ( I used a 10 pound ball)
400 m row
40 wall balls
300 m row
30 wall balls
200 m row
20 wall balls
100 m row
10 wall balls
It was killer! I completed it in 17:13... bleh!
I am feeling pretty soar, but happy to be getting my a** kicked!
That sounds crazy. I should try that one day.
DeleteRobyn,
ReplyDeleteI love that you're doing power cleans and am very happy to hear that you're progressing on the squat and deadlift with no back pain. Also proud of you for going to the gym by yourself. I've always found lifting alone to be easy and enjoyable, but pushing hard on a solo metcon requires discipline and mental toughness. Do the best you can, and also give yourself permission to do easy 20 or 30 min traditional cardio sessions. Working out needs to stay fun, and not become a chore!
R
Skye,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're working hard at the CrossFit gym! That last workout (rowing and wall-balls) was no joke!
In my experience, CrossFit coaches are very receptive to athletes who ask questions, and -- depending on class size -- may not be able to give adequate attention to everyone in the group. My point is that if you want coaching, you may have to ask for it explicitly. There's nothing wrong with walking up to a coach and saying, "I've never done a single rep max, can you watch me on this attempt and let me know how I can improve or whether to add more weight?" Or, "Can you quickly show me proper rowing technique?" Don't feel like you're being a pest. You're paying more than a Globo gym *because* of the coaching. Take advantage of it, if you're not already!
For well trained MALE strength athletes, a single 5-rep max set can usually be done with about 85% of a single rep max. Well trained FEMALE strength athletes don't usually have as big a gap. Their 5-rep max might be about 90% of their 1-rep max. These percentages are rough estimates and vary quite a bit for different people and different lifts, but as a general rule, you should expect to be able to perform a single rep max at about 110% of your 5-rep max. And that's pretty much what you did on your squat.
R
Ahmed,
ReplyDeleteFirst, let me say and M and I are so bummed that you won't be back next year. We didn't realize until after you left that you're staying in the states to study. That said, I'm jealous that you're pursuing PE as a career. I might follow your lead!
There's nothing wrong with taking two weeks off of training, and you'll be surprised at how quickly your strength returns. After a couple of sessions with 10-rep sets, I'd drop back down to 5's. You'll be able to use more weight and will get stronger, faster.
As for your current training environment, there are worse things that doing 20 to 30 minutes of cardio for conditioning. Just try to keep the work uptempo. :-)
R
I miss the group workouts a lot. It's lonely in here and it's not challenging in the same way with you guys. I don't feel like I am pushing myself hard enough. The 10 rep's was the teacher suggestion although I am going to change every idea he gave me. He leaves me alone anyway to do whatever only own time, I just have to report my journal back to him with questions if I have any, also he make me set and watch all these old VHS documentary films about fitness, neutrints and weight training. It's torturing sometime, but I keep saying it's for the credit.
DeleteSo, I am going to stay with our original workout plans.
For the tempo, I modified things a little. Like I did prolonged shuttle runs 80 sec on 1 min rest for 10 rounds maintaing 8 rep in the basketball court arena today. By taking my pulses, that kept me almost above my THR for the whole 20 minutes.
Dang, Phil, you're getting strong! Won't be long before you're at bodyweight bench and 1.5 bodyweight deadlift.
ReplyDeleteSounds like your conditioning is going well too.
Keep up the good work!
R
Hey Guys,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you taught us the Turkish Get-Ups. I used them today as an adjustment for muscle ups (WTF??? That stuff is crazy!). The instructor showed how to do them, but (as Russell suggested) the class was too big to personally coach everybody. A lot of the girls near me didn't know what to do.
http://www.crossfitminneapolis.com/
WOD:
50 DB snatches (I did 15 lbs., which might have been a bit light)
800 m run
10 muscle ups ( I did Turkish Get-ups with 15 lbs., which probably was a little light. There were either 15, 25, or 30 + dumb bells, but no more 20#)
So after class, I ran around Lake of the Isles. I have also been looking at their website before class to see the WOD. That way I can look at some youtube videos before class. Needless to say, I am super sore, still, from Wednesday's workout. Damn! I am missing the lifting, however. My calluses are going away.
As I workout, I hear Russell's and Michelle's encouragement and reminders about form. I did ask after class about how to start doing muscle ups. But I hear you on asking for help. So far, people have been helpful and kind.
Thanks,
S
Oh Scheisse! Muscle-ups are *hard*, and very few women I've seen can do them outside of serious Crossfit competitors. I've only done one in my life, and it really hurt my shoulder. Be careful with that stuff; there's a LOT of shoulder work that needs to be done before attempting muscle-ups, in my opinion, and the first step is just mastering -- and I mean really getting good at -- a dip (on bars and then on rings). If I were you, I'd stick with the TGU's.
DeleteTo be honest, R and I have been to a half-dozen Crossfit classes in the past couple weeks, and we're feeling like our little group at AES is *much* better in a lot of ways. Yesterday, I was in a class with some women who'd been "Crossfitting" for several months, and they were not as strong as you! I feel like they're not getting good, individualized coaching, and as a result, they're not progressing as smoothly as y'all are. It's making us think that the micro-groups (no more than 3-5 athletes per coach) is really the way to go.
This is all to say that we're a little "meh" about the coaching we've received, too, so you're not alone. Trust your instincts, though, because everything you've said so far about modifications seems totally smart to me. If you know the WODs ahead of time and want to shoot questions at us, feel free. I'll check out the website myself, too.
.m
Hi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteWow, Skye! I am so impressed with the work you are doing. I'm not really doing any cross fit type workouts. I have just decided for the summer to stick with lifting and straight steady cardio until I have others to work out with again. I would enjoy having the cross fit gym experience though. It will be great fun when Phil joins you!
Todays workout:
Hang Power Cleans: 3x5x65
Deadlift: 3x5x115
Bench Press: 3x5x65
DB Rows: 3x8x35
Cardio: 30 minutes on the bike
Happy Friday!
Robyn
Good work, Robyn! There's no real clear definition of a "crossfit" workout -- unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it. Yesterday on the Crossfit.com main page, a sprint triathlon was programmed as the daily workout! Other days, it might be a 5-minute couplet comprised of something heavy + something bodyweight. So, what you're doing -- heavy strength training followed by some type of cardio -- definitely falls within the spectrum of Crossfit.
Delete