10-minute AMRAP: manmaker + boxjumps

Strength Training:  3x5's

MetCon:  As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of . . .
   - 5 manmakers (pushup, pull right, pull left)
   - 15 boxjumps

KZ ~ 6 rounds + 5 mm + 3 bj (10# dbs, 17" box)
DH ~ 7 rounds + 1 mm (12# dbs, 19" box)
BB ~ 5 rounds + 5 mm + 12 bj (10# dbs, 16" box)
KE ~ 5 rounds + 5 mm + 7 bj (12# dbs, 19" box)
CL ~ 5 rounds + 3 mm (15# dbs, 12" box)
BU ~ 6 rounds (4# dbs, 12" box)

Curtis P's

Strength Training
3 x 5's

MetCon
50 Curtis P's for time.

1 Curtis P =
1 Hang Clean (Hang Squat Clean Rx) +
1 Left lunge +
1 Right lunge +
1 Push-press

KZ: 11:04 (15kg bar)
DH: 9:50 (15kg bar)
CL: 13:54 (20kg bar for 30 reps; unweighted lunges for 20 reps)
KE:  11:09 (15kg bar)
BU:  11:38 (15# bar, lunges for first 30, then squats)
KD:  11:31 (15kg bar)
DF:  11:49  (20kg bar, lunges for first 30, then squats)
BB:  10:32  (20 kg bar)

Cone Drills

Strength Training

3 x 5's

MetCon

Today's "metcon" wasn't traditional cardio, yet it was definitely metabolic conditioning.  Like with stair sprints, we were working on your ability to go hard and fast for a short duration.  The total work time was so short and the rest periods sufficiently long that cardio wasn't the limiting factor.  We were training your muscles to contract quickly.  And we were simultaneously training your footwork and agility (defined as ability to change direction quickly).  AND we were having fun!

Warm-up: 0:40 shuttle sprints

Cone drills:

3x sprint forward, shuffle R, sprint backwards, shuffle L

3x sprint forward, shuffle L, sprint backwards, shuffle R

2x NFL 3-cone drill, starting left side

2x NFL 3-cone drill, starting right side

NFL 3-cone drill:

Lucky 7's

Strength Training
3 x 5's

MetCon
Lucky 7's
(Repeating a triplet from back on Oct. 5th and Oct. 27th)

7 rounds for time . . .
7x thrusters (barbell or dumbbells)
7x ring rows
7 jingle-jangles in P7 (5m shuttle-sprints, 7 lengths)

DH: 9:50 (20kg dumbbells, step-ups -- 14 each round -- subbed for runs)
KZ: 9:56 (15kg/33# bar)
CL: 15:05 (15kg/33# bar)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Remember to be thankful for . . .

• deadlifts, because nothing's better for training the posterior chain
• frontsquats, for building athleticism and core strength
• powercleans, because they're not just for professional athletes
• standing overhead presses, for maximum muscle activity
• squats, for everything
• coffee -- not just for staying awake 
• chocolate, it's medicine!
• hugs, because they're healthy and fun

"The Chief"

Strength Training:  3x5's

MetCon:  "The Chief" ~ Max rounds in 3 minutes of . . .
    - 3x powercleans
    - 6x pushups
    - 9x squats

Rest 1 minute.  Repeat for a total of 3 cycles.

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

What We're Doing and Why

True fitness, in our view, requires a very wide range of abilities.  Marathoners who cannot do 100 push-ups are not fit.  Weightlifters who cannot run three miles are not fit.  We seek the broad inclusive fitness of a Navy SEAL: we want to be able to climb mountains with heavy packs, to sprint up stairs or dash a half mile for help, to pick up heavy things, carry them, or put them overhead, to pull ourselves up and over objects.  That level of fitness is a lofty goal to strive for, let alone achieve, particularly as we age.  But that’s what we want for ourselves, and that’s the way we train.  It may or may not be what you want for yourself.

To work towards this vision of broad inclusive fitness, we train broadly and inclusively.  We lift weights to get stronger, faster, and more powerful.  We do high-intensity conditioning to improve our anaerobic and short-term work capacity.  And we do longer, slower conditioning to improve our aerobic capacity and stamina.

And we train each of those areas – strength, work capacity, and stamina – using a broad, inclusive set of movements.  We do pull-ups, push-ups, and burpees.  We run, row, and jump rope.  We move barbells, dumbbells, and medicine balls.

It’s not that the running is for stamina and the barbells are for strength.  It’s more sophisticated than that.  Sprinting stairs develops strength and power.  Doing shuttle-sprint intervals improves short-duration work capacity.  Going for a long run improves our endurance.  One movement, running, is implemented in different ways to improve different aspects of fitness.  Heavy deadlifts in sets of three build strength.  Moderately heavy deadlifts (coupled with overhead press) in sets of 21, 15, and 9 – and performed as fast as possible! – build work capacity.  Doing lighter deadlifts in sets of 15, 14, 13, down to 1 as part of a 45-minute workout with lots of other movements builds stamina.  One movement implemented in different ways to improve different aspects of fitness.

So how have we structured our classes and why?

First, we assume that you can do monostructural stamina training on your own.  You can ride a bike, or go for a walk, run, or row at a steady pace for 20 minutes to an hour without us being there to watch or encourage you.  That’s why our classes focus on strength training and high-intensity conditioning.

You’re doing strength work and high-intensity conditioning with us three days per week, but we assume that you’re doing two or three days of something else.  Maybe you’re running, maybe you’re playing Ultimate, or maybe you’re just walking your dog for 45 minutes every day.  If you’re doing nothing, just realize that we, in our classes, are NOT doing much stamina work.  Michelle and I do a lot of running in our own training, and I would encourage everyone to at least walk three times per week.

We alternate the lifts (squat, overhead press, and pulling on one day; power cleans, deadlifts, and bench press on the other day) so that all of the important movements get trained, and so that you have adequate time to recover between efforts.  Our high-intensity conditioning sessions (“metcons”, short for metabolic conditioning) are thoughtfully programmed to provide you a wide-range of stimuli to force a wide-range of adaptations.  We mix gymnastic, body-weight movements with weightlifting and monostructural movements.  Sometimes they’re couplets (burpees and deadlifts), sometimes they’re triplets (rowing, swings, squats), sometimes they’re single movements (150 wall-balls, anyone?).  Sometimes they are task-limited: do this amount of work, then you’re done.  Sometimes they are time-limited: work as hard as you can for this amount of time, then stop.  Sometimes they are really heavy or really fast and hence very short.  Sometimes they’re lighter and longer.  Sometimes we give you rest during the training so that you can go harder during the work intervals (shuttle sprints, Tabatas).

There’s both a science and an art to programming the metcons, but we try to expose you to constantly varied stimuli to keep things fresh psychologically and to force broad physical adaptations.

Throw in the warm-ups, some agility work, lots of skill and technique coaching, occasionally chats about nutrition (which we should do more of!), *tons* of encouragement and well-earned praise, and that’s what we offer.

Now that you’re clear on our goals and what we’re offering and why, we want you to think about how our classes fit in with your particular fitness goals.  Some of you have recently completed half-marathon runs, some of you are thinking of competing in triathlons.  If you want to focus on running or biking or even training for a long trek, you might want to bias your training towards that goal.  For instance, it might be better for you to dedicate yourself to serious running three or four days per week, and do our class just twice per week.  (We already have two athletes who are doing this.)  If you need help planning your training beyond our class, just let us know.  We’re happy to offer advice.

Reading: Sunday Seven

Seven great articles for your rest-day reading pleasure:

• 7 reasons why you should deadlift!
• How women can train to do pullups.
• Which burns more calories: short/intense, or long/steady workouts?
• Put down the ibuprofen.
• 20 innovative plank variations
• The truth about healthy carbs.
• Sometimes it pays to be boring.

SS applies her weight training at the Wangala 100 Drum Festival's indigenous games!

Manmakers + Swings

Strength Training:  3 x 5's

MetCon:  8 rounds for time of . . .
      - 5 manmakers (pushup, pull R, pull L)
      - 15 swings, db or kettlebell

Sat. 11/17:
BB:  3:57 for 4 rounds, 8# mm's + 15kg swings
BU:  4:38 for 4 rounds, 0# mm's + 10# swings
KE:  9:12 for 8 rounds, 12# mm's + 30# swings

Mon. 11/19:
KZ: 9:38 for 8 rounds, 8# mm's + 12kg swings
PR, first WOD post-dengue: 5 rounds, untimed (Welcome back, Phil!)
DH: 8:10 for 8 rounds, 12# mm's + 30# swings
SS:  9:37 for 8 rounds, 10# mm's + 12kg swings
CL:  10:35 for 5 rounds, 12# mm's + 18k (at first) -10k swings
BHeg: 8:47 for 8 rounds, 8# mm's + 15# swings

The Mechanics of Hang Power Cleans

This morning I worked on my hang power cleans and I discussed with Michelle my concern about  proper mechanics. The clean is a complex movement that requires (like everything else we do here) proper set up and efficient execution. The clean goes so quickly that I am not sure if I am truly getting the hip extension before getting under the weight.  It's one thing to practice without weight and to break up to movements, such as starting in the dead lift position (weight in the heels, feet shoulder-width apart, bent knees, butt out, shoulders forward and in front of the bar, arms straight, head neutral and looking forward), getting a full hip extension, getting under the bar and keeping it close (zip it up), jumping feet out a little wider, and catching.  I find that when I add the weight, all of those elements go so fast.  So, I found three pictures from Minneapolis Crossfit, the place where I worked out last summer.  I thought I'd share the pictures.

Set up:

Hip extension:


Getting under the bar and catching:


Of course, this would have been better if the three pictures came from the same person.  Michelle posted a picture of an Olympic lifter in the three key positions of a hang in August.  You can refer back to that post, if interested.

http://facultyathlete.blogspot.in/2012/08/how-to-hang-clean-only-3-things-you.html

Thoughts?
--Skye

3 mins of work, 3 mins of rest. 3 rounds.

Strength Training
3 x 5's

(KZ's 104.4# backsquats!)

Metcon
3 rounds...
In 3 minutes, row 500m (or run 1/4 mile) AND complete as many
reps as possible of wallballs (or thrusters).

Rest 3 minutes between each round.

DF: 500m row + 14lb wall balls (20, 18, 20 reps)
BB: 500m row + 10lb wall balls (22, 20, 16 reps)
KE: 1/4 mile run + 33lb bb thrusters (9, 15, 18 reps)
BHeg: 500m row + 10lb wall balls (3, 6, 7 reps)
SS:  500m row + 12lb wall balls (23, 21, 22 reps)
KZ:  500m row + 11lb wall balls (15, 15, 15 reps)

Beth

Strength Training
3 x 5's

Metcon

Diwali-break Reading

Happy Diwali!  Enjoy your time to de-stress and catch up on your sleep.

Here's some fun reading for your downtime enjoyment:

• The best exercise is the kind you love.
• Deciphering the Paleo Diet.
• Wanna be faster?  Get strong first.
• Everything you need to know about milk.
• Even endurance athletes need to lift heavy.
• Don't bother with sit-ups; just lift heavy weights.
• How boozing affects your training.

"Inverted" Jackie

Strength Training
3 x 5's (though KZ did 5 x 3 on power cleans)

Metcon
"Inverted" Jackie
1000 meter row
50 hang power cleans
30 push-ups

KZ: 15kg bar, 8:27
BHeg: 25# bar, 11:09
BB:  20kg bar, 9:52
DF:  55# bar, 9:56
BHam: 65# bar, 9:23

10x 1-minute thrusters + burpees

Strength Training:  3x5's

MetCon:  Every minute, on the minute, for 10 minutes perform...
    - 7 thrusters
    - 3 burpees

Use a load such that you can maintain all 10 rounds and finish each work set with at least 15-20 seconds of recovery time.

Wednesday:
DH:  10kg dbs > 6kg dbs
KZ:  44# > 30#
BH:  33# > 12# dbs

Thursday:  Most athletes cut the thrusters down to 5's in order to get adequate rest each round.
BU: bwt
BHam: 44#
KE: 33#
KD: 30#
DF: 44#
BB:  did her own thing on the treadmill

Lift Heavy To Get Faster: Tips for Endurance Athletes to Increase Speed

"A major error that many athletes make is to do the wrong mode of training for their sport—or in the case of endurance athletes who don’t lift, to simply do no training. In fact, research shows that weight training with fairly heavy loads is an excellent method of improving performance for all types of athletes.... Endurance athletes should take away a commitment to strength training to improve their speed and work rate, while shedding body fat."

Full article here.

High-Intensity Intervals

Strength Training
3x5's

Skills practice
Kipping pullups

MetCon MWF
Because the air was too gross to run shuttle sprints on the rooftop, we did intervals inside on the equipment, work/rest ratio = 60/60 . . .

KZ and BHeg:  5 rounds on the rowers
SS, DH, and CL:  6-8 rounds on the treadmills (incline 1.0)

Metcon T/Th/Sat
Stair Sprints
From Auxy Gym Landing to Roof Landing
Full Sprint - Max Effort
6 rounds, on the 1:30

The Dirty Thirty

Strength Training

3 x 5's

Skill Work

Jump stance to squat stance for cleans

Metcon

"The Dirty Thirty"

For time...

30 step-ups (L + R = 1 rep)

30 Russian twists (L + R = 1 rep)

30 Barbell Thrusters (20/15 kg)

30 Ring rows

30 Man-makers (1 push-ups + L pull + R pull = 1 rep)

30 Swings (heavy)

MWF

KZ: 12:20 (MM on knees, 15kg swings)

SS: 13:30 (MM push on knees, pulls in full plank, 30# swings)

T/TH/Sat
DF: 18:41 (35# swings)
BB: 12:33 (subbed pushups for MMs, 30# swings)