CrossFit Games 16, Adaptation, Weddings, Beyond The Whiteboard

Surround yourself with those who

Challenge You,

Push You,

Motivate You.

In my last post, I was arriving in the USA. Despite it being extremely brief, the trip was thoroughly worthwhile workwise and also saw me heading back over to CrossFit Adaptation in the DC area; I visited there during the same week last year and was looking forward to a return trip. Albeit slightly hungover from a few whiskies with one of my very best friends the night before, I turned up at 0630 ready to throw down. Having forgotten my training shoes, I borrowed some Merrel Barefoot shoes and just prayed there would be no running or double unders.

4 Rounds for Time:

• 800m Run
• 20 Push Ups
• 30m Walking Lunge
• 75 Double Unders

Time: 26:26 Rx

So. Calf DOMS for the rest of the week and weekend then! It was the fastest time of the morning, at least. That was Thursday morning. Thanks to CF Adaptation for allowing me to join in the fun.

On Friday, after 2 hours sleep on the plane the night before and an hour during the afternoon, I trudged over to CF Watford for:

Strength

5 x 5 Hip Thrusts, As Heavy As Possible

70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 120kg

This is an accessory exercise to increase strength and power from the hips, the driving force behind the olympic lifts. Sit on floor with shoulders up on weight bench behind you and barbell on you lap in front of you. Push up on to your shoulders in to a ‘bridge’ position, hips as high as possible and barbell supported across it. A bit weird, never tried this before. To be fair, I could have gone heavier than this perhaps by another 20kg.

Link: Barbell Hip Thrusts @ Bodybuilding.com

MetCon

15 min AMRAP

• 5 x Power Clean @ 60kg
• 20 x Sit Ups
• 200m Run

Total: 8 Rounds + 25 Reps (+150 Run).

I actually thought I’d scored only 7 rounds + but when others were putting their scores up, I figured I must have been wrong. I flew through this completely unbroken throughout.

Wedding

A GREAT wedding in Christchurch, this weekend. My cousin married a really great bloke, most of the family were there, our daughters were bridesmaids / flower girls and the sun stayed out for the whole day. Alcohol flowed, food seemingly never ended and the time disappeared in an explosion of laughter, dancing and pick-n-mix sweets. A wonderful day, it has to be said.

CrossFit Games 2016

Sneaking (not very subtle) views of CrossFit Games 2016 throughout the whole week, I have been as inspired by it this year as I was last year, despite the bullshit Glock-prize controversy. Watching the individuals and teams battle it out over a genuine test of overall fitness (capacity to do as many different things as possible and do them well) was brilliant. Congratulations to Katrin Davidsdottir and to Mat Fraser for genuinely outstanding performances. As a father to girls, I was more interested in the women’s competition, taking away a lot of tips for general ‘girl coaching’.

Monday Morning Rowing

Trying to beat my poor Rowing Sprint time, I got back in the gym this morning focused and ready to win. However, I left seeing my Beyond The Whiteboard score still languishing in a very poor state. Entirely as a result of the ‘sprint’ category, I am unable to breach the 70th percentile and so it really is extremely relevant if I am to get above the 75th line.

100m Sprint: 16.9 secs

250m Sprint: 44.2 secs

My technique was significantly improved over 2 weeks ago and I have to assume that my inability to get below 16.9 really is down to my fitness. Getting below 44.2 for the 250m will be easier, especially if I repeat this later in the day with more glycogen in the system vice before breakfast. I hit a wall at 200m on 2 attempts and really slowed down.

Evening Session @ CF Watford

Strength

3 x 5 Push Press (increasing to 90% of 1RM)

60 / 70 / 80kg

My 1RM was around about 85kg before, I think it’s a little more now seeing as I punched out 80kg with relatively little difficulty. That said, I could feel my left arm wasn’t quite stretched off properly and so didn’t push it. Still, happy to my pushing bodyweight multiple times overhead.

MetCon – Gymnastics / Anaerobic / Lightweight

21-15-9 For Time:

• Wall Balls @ 9kg to 10′
• Burpee Over Box Jumps @24″
• 400m Run

Time: 11:54 Rx

Coming in second this evening, Shane pulled an absolute blinder to maintain a blistering pace! Nicely done, buddy! I set a target of 12 mins and to maintain everything completely unbroken. I achieved both although my calves are still sore from last week and slowed me down only a little on the running. All Burpee Box Jump Overs were Rx, leaping from the floor direct to the box. They were a bit slow though and I really could have scraped a few extra seconds on those. Like the quote says at the beginning, I love surrounding myself with people who challenge, push and motivate me. CF Watford delivers with bells on.

Op SUNSHINE

A wonderful weekend watching our Action Princesses conduct their duties at the wedding left me in and Mrs Nomad in a great mindset this weekend. If ever you want your kids to behave and be at their best, it’s a wedding (or a funeral) and they pulled it out of the bag to a new high. Thanks girls!!

Nothing is perfect though and I’ll admit to being a little annoyed with myself over body composition at the moment. With summer holidays coming up, I had wanted to look better than ever – yes, it’s vain but I’m just being honest. However, I seem to have returned to my ‘bloated action man’ look – you know there’s definition there somewhere, you just have to squint 😀 😀 It’s my own fault though and this week will see a return to the Warrior Monk lifestyle here in Watford. Annoyingly, I eat well, I know I do. I’m not getting something right though at the minute. (Don’t take my comments about the wedding alcohol / food as typical. It really is rare!)

Also, Beyond The Whiteboard suddenly dropped me down to 63! From a high of 73 last year, I am falling down the charts. Sure, people are getting fitter but so am I (I’m also getting older!). It’s the SPEED category that is dragging me down, specifically 100m / 250m and 500m Rowing; therefore, I’ve put out a message for a coach to assist with my technique. I dragged it back to 66 this morning with the rowing work but if I’m to get over the 70th line then it’s the speed work that needs significant improvement right now. If you know of anyone, please let me know and I’ll gladly repay through only reviews of you and your recommended coach. Cheers!

 

5km Row to Start…..Fatigue to Finish

Up. Awake!

 

Raining….pouring…….

Gym floor being relaid…..no barbells 😦

Concept 2 in the corner, all alone. 5km for Time? Sure, let’s do this.

19:42.

From a cold start, first 1km was a bitch to try and get mobile at 0630hrs but once in to it I brought the average back down to 1:59  / 500m. With a half decent warm up, this would have been at least 10s faster overall. Technique very good throughout, nice ‘relatively smooth’ power curve from start to finish – I love that tool, you can’t hide poor technique with that firing back at you. It might not have been a record (19:27) but still, happy to have just jumped on and smashed that out!

After getting the WOD from CF W’s head coach, Charlie, I was actually looking forward to it. It wasn’t long after I got started warming up that I realised how beat up I am this week; Not Every Day Is A PR Day!

“Write that down.”

Strength

It was supposed to be Overhead Squats but we don’t have any bars in our military gym at the moment while the floor is being refurbished…so……

Deficit Handstand Pushups (Strict)

5 x 2″ / 5 x 3″ / 5 x 4″ / 4 x 5″ / 4 x 6″ / 3 x 7″ / 3 x 8″ / 2 x 9″ / 1 x 10″

A 10″ Strict Deficit Handstand Pushup. See, I was quite pleased with this until I checked Beyond The Whiteboard. That’s a 36th percentile score!!! Balls! I told you though, I am fatiguuuuuuuued. Shoulders are shot after yesterday’s Max Effort Push Ups and Bar Over Burpees.

Skill

Tabata Double Unders (20 secs on, 10 sec rest, 8 times = 4 mins)

Total 160. This is some 65 off my previous best. Shoulders and core are pretty damned tired today.

 

Conditioning – Gymnastics, plain and simple

7 min AMRAP

• 7 x Pull Ups
• 7 x Push Ups
• 7 x Toes To Bar

Total: 6 rounds plus 7.

Everything fell apart here. After the 5km this morning and a big effort this week, I’m feeling just a little tired now.

3 min REST and then…….

7 min AMRAP

• 7 x Burpees
• 7 x Box Jumps @ 25″
• 7 x Air Squats

Total: 6 rounds.

Today is just not the day. There’s a weekend coming up and I am looking forward to it! However, after Monday, I am away for the better part of two weeks, staying in hotels and jetting overseas (inc. lots of jetlag). Perhaps a rest is what I need?

 

Blog

For those of you who have made it this far, can I ask a favour? Could you share my website on social media just once? On the face of it, I have over 80 followers on WordPress but the stats show only about a maximum of 15 people read it a day (except when I posted about my dad dying and then it was over 500+ in one day!!). I regularly ask for guidance on what you might like to read in these blogs, so please comment and add that too.

 

All the best and thank you for a good week, to those who have contributed thus far!

What Animal Would I Be? Mantras – 22 Jun 16

I write today’s post entirely inspired by another that I read this morning about Mantras: https://thecrossfitmermaid.com/2016/06/22/my-mantra-and-why-it-should-be-yours-too/

Mantras are fascinating from a coaching point of view. A short, powerful sentence that you use as an anchor around which you find strength. It can be anything from a line in a song, something positive about yourself, a characteristic from an animal you particularly relate to….the list could go on. The one in the URL above (and I really do recommend that you read it) is, “I am a f’ing Unicorn!“. On the face of it, to your or I, perhaps not that powerful. But that’s not the point. To the CrossFit Mermaid, it is EXTREMELY powerful. She has identified characteristics about Unicorns that she relates to and that motivate her.  Said over and over again; thought about, enhanced and reinforced, repeatedly harnessed.

It’s an inspirational read, as I say, check it out.

So my question to you and me today is, “What is your mantra?”. More specifically, to me, “What animal are you?”

I’ve focused on animals because I’ve been down this line before. I’ve tried to hook in to my military background. I’ve attempted using something intrinsic, such as the pride of my family, to motivate me and while they work in isolation, they are not as all encompassing as I would like. There has to be a ‘Totem’, an ‘Avatar’, something that speaks about who and what I am in the world. We anthropomorphise animals all the time, giving them human characteristics; this is the reverse. I am channelling animal characteristics in to me.

So what animal am I? What motivates me? Well, I know I’m motivated by Affiliation (McLelland’s Motivational Needs Theory) and foolishly loyal sometimes but that I do need to work alone sometimes and escape it all. I’m fit, love the outdoors. I am lean and not heavy but not without some muscle……who knows…..I’ll sleep on it tonight and see what my tiny brain dreams up for me. Whatever it is will be kept close, built upon and used sparingly.

I might mention this again tomorrow night when I write about Tools for Goal Achievement.

On to today!

Strength – Overhead Accessory Work

5 x 3 Strict Behind the Neck Press

40 (x 5) / 50 / 55 / 60 / 62.5kg

Very pleased with this. Last week I achieved 52.5 for a Strict Behind The Neck SNATCH Grip Press. With a closer grip and more lat / trap engagement, this was always going to be higher and more controlled.

Skill (supposedly)

• Max Effort Push Ups
• 2 min Rest
• Max Effort Push Ups

76 / 33. I got to 50 and slowed…..right…..down…..However, without breaking form I proceeded to trot out 1 at a time until I could do no more. The 2 mins rest felt like 30 secs and then it was back to it. Obviously, this WOD is about active recovery and it highlighted a weakness there for me that I will take and build on.I am exceptionally pleased with the form throughout; arms in nice and tight, forearms remain perpendicular, elbows in.

Conditioning – Anaerobic / Muscular Endurance / Plymometric Gymnastics

5 Rounds for Time:

• 10 x Back Squat @ 60kg (First lift from the floor)
• 10 x Bar Facing Burpees
• 200m Run

Time: 14:44 Rx

Gassy bitch! This sucked ass but I set a pace and kept to it, speeding up on the final run. The Bar Facing Burpees were the real challenge after all the push ups; all back squats unbroken and the run was not exactly a sprint but I maintained the pressure.

Nutrition

• Breakfast: 3 x Beef Slices stuffed with spinach. 1 x Banana. 200ml Whole Milk. 1 x Egg. 25g Whey Protein
• Lunch: Noodles and 185g Tuna. 150ml Whole Milk
• Dinner: Homemade Chicken Curry and Sweet Potato Mash
• Snacks: 1 x mini Flapjack pre-WOD. 2 x Small Handful Mixed Nuts.

Well-Being

What a great night’s sleep last night!! I’ll definitely be following the pattern tonight.

Recommendation: Goodnight Tea from Tiger. Find a TIGER store near you and get some!

 

 

 

Tyres in the Rain. Rowing in Mordor – Mon 20 Jun 16

• 0600. Alarm.
• 0601. Eyelids slowly prised apart.
• 0602. Warm. Cosy. In Bed. Rain on Window.
• 0603. Remember I put a notice on the CF NWD page to let them know we’d have Tyres to move at 0615. Arse.
• 0604. Roll out of bed. Load Tassimo machine with Costa Americano. Press Button.
• 0605. Open curtains. Stare at bleak, tear-stained windows. Take coffee from machine. Stare at small puddle of water appearing under the window that doesn’t shut properly.

But, have no fear, dear fitness readers, I downed the coffee, felt like Superman and headed out in to the morning mire. Yeah, I got dressed first, pulling on my freebie Malwarebytes t-shirt (yep, I’m a geek) as I walked out the door.

I hadn’t expected anyone to be around at this time of the morning but sure enough, stood looking like a wet cat, was an athlete stood by the Tyres outside CrossFit NWD on the astroturf.

Ensuring a safe and thorough warm up, we forged ahead with:

50 x Tyre Flip Burpee Box Jumps

Time: 11:52

A tasty little opener for the day. CrossFit NWD is being refurbished and so there will be a lot more outdoor work for the next month. I may even actually go for a run!

A strong start to the day but there was more to come!

 

Strength

3 x 3 Weighted Pull Ups (Strict)

3 x 5 / 3 x 10 / 3 x 15 / 3 x 20 / 3 x 25kg

Not something I’ve done much of before but I was pretty pleased with this one. Something I think I might do more of.

MetCon

5 min AMRepAP

• Run 800m
• Max Effort Burpees
• 1 min Rest

5 min AMRepAP

• Row 1000m
• Max Effort Pushups
• 1 min Rest

5 min AMRepAP

• 100 x Wall Balls
• Max Effort Box Jumps

Burpees = 28. Pushups = 27. Box Jumps = 0

Smashing the 800m Run in 2 min 18 secs, I pushed hard to keep going with the Burpees. Happy. The 100m Row took 3 min 38 secs, keeping to a steady 1:49 average. Alas, I couldn’t get through all Wall Balls in the 5 mins after the recent Karen Personal Record (6:50) and after the remainder of this WOD. Still, it was a strong score among the legends of CF Watford.

Nutrition

• Breakfast: Egg, Whole Milk, Mashed Banana, Whey Protein.
• Lunch: BBQ Chicken pieces, Whole Milk, Cherry Tomatoes, Spinach
• Dinner: Avocado & Egg Salad, Lamb Tagine, Cheese
• Snack: Nuts, v.small Flapjack.

Well-Being

Another poor night’s sleep where I was still awake past midnight. I need to get this sorted. I have Valerian sleep tea and hypnosis on my iPod but I’ve not used either regularly; I really should get back in to it.

Links

Tyre Flips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEL9f81F8Do

 

Stronger than Yesterday – 14 Jun 16

Just a quick update this evening as I’m headed for my bed after 4 sessions in 2 days.

Strength AM – Snatch Accessory Work

Hang Power Snatch 5 x 5

5 x 50 / 5 x 55 / 5 x 55 / 5 x 57.5 / 5 x 57.5kg

Stronger than I’ve ever achieved before. Good form, very pleased. Skin sore on hands (if not missing) but perseverance paid off this morning.

Strength PM

@CrossFit Watford. Dreaded what I saw of the MetCon as I walked in but I’ll get to that.

Snatch Grip Deadlift

5 x 60 / 5 x 60 / 5 x 70 / 3 x 90 / 100 / 110 / 120

Pain in the palms was a bit of a limiting factor, no hook grip possible. However, I’m quite pleased with this. It’s not a big lift compared to my regular deadlift but it’s accessory work for the Snatch, not the deadlift.

MetCon – Aerobic, Gymnastic, Muscular Endurance

For Time (20 min Time Cap):

30-25-20-15-10-5

• Burpees
• Box Jumps
• Toes To Bar

Total: 15s complete, plus 5 Burpees.

I’d love to have completed it but my pacing was slow. Toes to Bar were in 10s and 5s, no less except in the last round. This was TOUGH. Aerobic, Gymnastic and all about the ability to keep going. No breaks to speak of, just a stead plod through it. Spent.

Nutrition

Not watching it too much at the moment. Certainly not recording it. Still clean though. Eggs/Beef/Milk for Breakfast, couple of bananas during the day, plus some nuts. Meat and eggs for lunch, plus 1-min Microwave Protein Cake. Dinner was homemade chicken curry and sweet potato, washed down with whole milk.

Well-Being

As pointed out by Mrs Nomad, I am looking very tired in my #22kill #22pushupchallenge videos (see link below). Sleep was good last night and I’m anticipating a good night of sleep tonight too.

Links

My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS9nRq9E0iv8nVG5CrsfVAg

Work to do. Happy to do it. Tues 07 Jun 16

I let myself rest this morning after last night in CF Watford. Rest where rest is due. Also, I failed to sort out a WOD for myself this morning, having forgotten to decide what it is I seek to achieve first thing in the mornings! Well, for the next 4 weeks or so, it will be lifting technique, hanging around the 85%+ of 1RM mark but not seeking to push myself beyond that. It being early in the morning, it’s not the best time to seek 1RMs and I have no intention of demoralising myself when factors are outside of my control. 85% is the optimum area to train in order to develop strength while not sacrificing form.

But I headed to CF Watford this evening, accompanied by  hoofing friend of mine, Roly. He was the one who got me in to CrossFit back in early 2011 before I headed out to Afghanistan and CrossFit Leatherneck.When I consider my development in purely strength terms, I could be forgiven for a bit of a sob and a moan; there hasn’t been much. However, when I take in to account form, conditioning and gymnastic ability, the transformation has been incredible! I am extremely pleased with this journey in real terms and have Roly to thank for starting me on this path.

With that, we were faced with:

Strength

15mins to a Heavy Snatch Balance

5 x 40 / 5 x 50 / 3 x 55 / 1 x 60 / 3 x 632.5 (Heaving) / 2 x 65 (Heaving)

The first 4 sets were strict, no movement in the knees or hips. Thereafter, I added in a little drop and found them SO MUCH EASIER! If the time hadn’t run out, I would have been beyond 70kg, of that I have no doubt. Work to do in this regard but it’s work I am happy to get one with.

MetCon

12min AMRAP

• 6 x Ground to Overhead (60kg)
• 12 x Burpees
• 24 x Double Unders

Total: 4 rounds + 7 reps.

This was a bit of a disappointment, truth be told. While I kept going throughout and am pleased with some aspects, the lack of heavy (for me) muscular endurance needs addressing. Luckily, I am equipped to deal with it and will start to do so in the morning sessiosns. First round, unbroken. Second round, 3+2+1 on GtOH. Third round, 3+1+1+1. All burpees and double unders were unbroken although burpees were far too slow for a 12 min AMRAP.

That’s Charlie, the box owner, in the middle. Roly on the far right sporting a fetching CF Deterrent T-shirt. My CF Watford one is in the wash!

Nutrition

Not enough – I think this contributed to my downfall in the MetCon.

• Breakfast: 1min Peanut Butter & Banana Cake (egg, 20g whey protein, 10g peanut butter, mashed banana). Spinach. 3 slices Roast Beef, cherry tomatoes.
• Lunch: 2 thick slices of deli Roast Ham, spinach, Houmous.
• Dinner: Lovely bowl of homemade (Mrs Nomad) Chilli, rice and mashed carrot/parsnip.
• Snacks: Nuts (10g), almonds (about 10g), 20g whey protein

This is simply nowhere near enough and is my own fault. Before bed I shall be having a cupasoup, 200ml Whole Milk, 1 x Egg and some Chocolate powder. Tomorrow, I’ll be eating a bit more as I’ll be out at an Expo anyway so won’t get to pick healthy foods.

Well-Being

In a good place. Need to phone mum a bit more. It was great to catch up with Roly and throwdown in CF Watford with him. That’s the kind of motivation I need at the moment.

Development & Programming

As of tomorrow morning, I will be focussing on a strength development programme. Working at around the 85% mark, I will be facing EMOMs, Death Bys, accessory work (Cleans from Boxes, High Hangs, etc) and focusing on getting the form absolutely nailed. Movements to be covered will be Squats (front and back), Deadlifts, Cleans and Snatches.

Links

Snatch Balance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-PkTCZv3no

Thursday 26 May 16 – Tyre Flips and Burpees. Doing well.

7 days since my father passed away and today is the first day I’ve had control of my mind and my system. I feel guilty that I’ve not been more mournful but how are we supposed to feel? The mind, and its emotions, is a complicated beast.

Keeping the workout simple today.

MetCon

100 x Tyre Flip, Burpee Jump Through

Time: 18:36

I think it weighs 85kg but I’m checking.

Video of me flailing around Link

Setting the almost same pace throughout, I paused only at 50 and 70 for 5 seconds.
The purpose of the WOD was Muscular and Mental Endurance. An aerobic engine development workout, considerable coordination was also required as I jumped through and over the tyre. Highly mental, I knew it would take close to 20 mins, requiring discipline to maintain pace and control.

Nutrition

Breakfast: Eggs, beef slices, spinach, whole milk.

Lunch: as per breakfast.

Dinner: Ploughman’s Scotch Egg, Pork & Turkey Pie, homemade Sausage Roll. Pulled Pork Cupasoup.

Well-being

Sleeping……ok, a bit light.
Concentration. Held for most of the day.

Treat: Chocolate Frijj Milkshake.

Mon 09 May 16 – Strength and the Engine

I arrived back in to the Watford area at 0210, after a fantastic night out with Mrs Nomad. It’s not often we get to go out together but we made the most of it. Unfortunately, the concert we were at finished at 2230 and I still had the 3.5 hour journey ahead of me. However, with just a lone stop for supplies and many check-up phone calls from Mrs Nomad (thank you!!), I made it back safely in one piece and crashed on to my bed for 4 hours of sleep.

Groggily, I woke and downed a coffee before really opening my eyes. Feeding the chilli plant on the window-sill (7 chillis on there already with plenty more coming!) and grabbing my normal breakfast of sliced meats, eggs, leaves and nuts, I waddled over to the office and contemplated 45 mins of sleep over lunch. That was not to be as we have a newcomer that required hosting over lunch L Looking ahead, I decided to book in to CFW for the 1830 session before taking up an invite out to dinner with my Goddaughter’s father. It wasn’t until midnight again when I finally shut my eyes!

However, the work done today:

Strength

5-3-1 Strict Press

5 x 65 / 3 x 67.5 / 1 x 70 / 1 x 75 / 1 x 77.5kg

Testing out 1 Rep Maxes this week. This was an increase in last week’s Strict Press work, despite the lack of sleep. Although not equalling my 80kg 1 RM (which I could have achieved, if I’d planned ahead and read BTWB.com), I was very pleased with the overall result. An 80kg lift would have been 1kg short of lifting my entire bodyweight in a strict press. Always a good achievement!

MetCon

5 min AMRAP

· 1000m Row

· Max Effort Double Unders in remaining time

5 min Rest

5 min AMRAP

· 800m Run

· Max Effort Double Unders in remaining time

Engine time! This WOD targets the very highest edge of the aerobic pathway, coupled with central nervous system control (coordination / agility / balance) and the ability to recover before retesting.

Achieving a 3:37 for the first Row, I know I could have gone a little harder. However, I stumbled in the double unders and achieved a lowly 55 in the remaining 1:23.

5 mins Rest was welcome.

The 800m Run was done in 3:30, leaving me another 1:30 to get the double unders done. This time, I composed myself well and achieved 81 in 3 parts.

All in all, this was a well-focused WOD. The strength testing is something I need for Beyond The Whiteboard.com anyway while the MetCon was perfectly suited to my current objectives. The rowing aspect perhaps pleased me more than anything else here; I maintained a strong 1:49 pace throughout with even and consistent pulling. The technique is getting much more natural now.

Nutrition

· Breakfast: 1 slice lean Beef, 2 x eggs, 20g protein shake, 200ml full fat milk, 20g mixed nuts.

· Lunch: 1.5 chicken breasts, massive amount of lettuce, 1 whole medium Tomato.

· Dinner: Two MASSIVE plates of homemade fish curry with rice. It was lovely!

· Snacks: Nuts

· Drinks: A lot of coffee!

Health & Well-being

Despite of the lack of sleep, I’m feeling in a good place. The WOD/life balance is working well with 3 days off at the end. I want to get back in to multiple sessions and aim to achieve 3 morning sessions and 4 evening sessions this week priod to getting home. Sleep is pretty good; Mrs Nomad has her FitBit to track sleep and I’ll see how my phone fares with one of the various apps available out there. I could do with getting in to bed slightly earlier and will try to work that in.

Links

· Double Unders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sraZfiXxtBI

· Rowing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ82RYIFLN8

Wed 04 May – May The Forth Be With You.

In true spirit of the day, “Jedi Master” was what greeted us in the box this evening. Oh yes, strong with the force is this one.

Preceding the quite mental WOD that hasn’t been recorded on Beyond The Whiteboard for years, we had:

Strength

3 x 3 Bench Press @ 70% / 80% / 90% 1RM

10 x 60 / 5 x 70 / 4 x 85 / 3  x 90 / 2 x 95

Ok, Ok!! Yes, I KNOW it’s not a 3 x 3. However, as I’ve identified before, I’m not getting enough time with the barbell to really get stuck in to these lifting sessions. I need more time to warm up properly and ramp up to top numbers. Therefore, I’m hitting more in the earlier stages instead. As it happens, my 1RM is 102.5 (I think) so I’ve hit the numbers I was meant to. In fact, 95kg appears to be a new 2RM!

 

MetCon

“Jedi Master”

• 50 x Box Jumps @ 24″
• 45 x Pull Ups
• 40 x KB Snatch @ 16kg
• 35 x KB Swing @ 24kg
• 30 x Hand Release Push Up
• 25 x Double Under
• 20 x Goblet Squat @ 24kg
• 15 x Burpee
• 10 x Turkish Get Up @ 16kg
• 5 x Bar Muscle Up

With a 20min Time Cap, I came cruising in at 18:27 Rx and was over the moon! Pacing everything exactly right, I pushed through the box jumps in 2.5 mins. The Pull Ups were in 5s, never lower. The KB Snatches were as unbroken 10s. The KB Swing was 20/15. Hand Release Push Ups slowed me a little, especially after Murph on Monday; they were 10/5/5/5/3/2. Double Unders…unbroken. Goblet Squat 10/10. Burpees were slow, paced and unbroken. The Turkish Get Ups were awkward but unbroken. I’d aimed to give myself 2 mins for the Bar Muscle Ups, anticipating quick extreme fatigue. However, at 18:15 mins I jumped on the bar and smashed out a 3 and then a 2! Boom!

This chipper is awkward, confusing and requires a lot of self-control. Another one aimed at the aerobic system, it is very tempting to push too hard on some elements and come crashing down. It requires consistent coordination, agility and muscular endurance. Toward the end of each movement, you have to begin to get your mind in shape for the next one, and get at least a rep or two of the new movement out before pausing. Pause and you find 10s have gone by and it’s over.

As I noted above, this was last recorded on Beyond The Whiteboard a VERY long time ago and with a very slight variation. It wasn’t carried over in to the BTWB.com redesign and noone has done it since. Well we have now, May The Force Be With You!

Nutrition

I’m trying to get a link on here to my MyFitnessPal profile. Until then:

• Eggs, Beef, Ham, Leaves, a cupasoup, apple, nuts, tomatoes
• Protein Shakes
• Pulled Pork Burger (with bacon) and fries for lunch. Yes, yes, yes :p
• Starbucks Bold-Brew Coffee – nice!!!
• Costa Americano
• 400ml Whole Milk

(and a little nugget of the last Easter Egg……sssshhhhhhh)

Well-Being

Despite humping it back and forth on the tube to London over these past 2 days, I feel in great shape. Eating seems to be about right, I’m feeling light and mobile. Sleep is pretty solid too. I’m happy to keep going like this, keeping Friday night and Saturday for ‘cheat’ food & drink.

Link

Today’s Beyond The Whiteboard result: http://beyondthewhiteboard.com/workout_sessions/2140689

 

 

 

Tues 03 May – Partner Up!

I wasn’t expecting to get to the Box this evening and was happy fatiguing my way around London for a conference. I wrote the blog for yesterday while sat on the tube and was planning on some way of getting to the box tomorrow night instead. However, with the conference coming to a halt on time, I was able to nip out, fight among the townies, and get on a train back. Literally everything ran on time and I was back on “home turf” with another time for a quick change, a jump in the car and a swift ride in to CF Watford. BOOM!

Strength

3 x 3 Strict Press

60 / 65 / 67.5

Again, not enough time to really get in to the strength stuff; in June I need to start perhaps refocusing on Strength instead. I think there’s an opportunity for a Friday lunchtime session but it depends on what I’m going to do about getting home (the traffic is utterly mental and delaying by an hour or so might actually mean I avoid the worst of it and get home in a better condition). Regardless, I need to start lifting heavier. 67.5kg is below my 3RM of 72.5. I managed 2 x 70kg but couldn’t shift the final one. Coach Charlie reckons I bottled it but there just wasn’t the strength there. I subsequently dropped it on the floor (forbidden!) and had to run 200m around the box.

MetCon

Partner WOD

30-20-10

• Thrusters (42.5kg)
• Burpee over Rower

• Cash Out: 1000m Row

Time: 11:16 Rx

This is an anaerobic pathway WOD, repeated, with decreasing rest periods. It must be performed at 100% throughout in order to achieve the aim. The rest period must be ‘just’ enough, if not enough. Working in sets of 5, we rattled through this, maintaining good pace. I was partnered with a relative newbie, who scaled the weight to 30kg. He has some confidence issues that inhibit 2-footed jumps over the rower but still kept going at a superb pace. I sped through all elements completely unbroken and smashed out the first 500m of the Row in under 1:45. As always, working with a partner seriously motivates me and spurs me on to push far harder; if I can get a Primal Games Masters competition again this year then I know I’ll do very well indeed.

 

Nutrition

Back on the wagon today.

• Breakfast: 3 x Eggs, 200ml Fat Milk, 20g Whey Protein, handful of nuts, a slice of beef and loads of leaves. And a mug of lovely Carte Noire coffee.
• Lunch: A crap small watery chicken curry during the conference. A chicken wrap (while heading back to the tube) and half a flapjack.
• Dinner: 2 x Eggs, 2 x Roast Beef slices, Sweet Chilli Noodles, more leaves and some tomatoes.
• Snacks: Whey Protein post-WOD. 200ml Milk.
• Misc: And…some…..yummy…chocolate egg! (ChokaBlok)

 

• Protein: 175g! A little too much but well ahead of target today.
• Carbs: 152. This is about right, I’m happy with this (and it doesn’t take in to account the nibble of chocolate!)

 

Links

1. Thruster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aea5BGj9a8Y 
2. Nutrition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcL86Lv_jsQ