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!

 

The Fight Gone Bad and some Pet Peeves Post.

Fight Gone Bad, Rudeness, lazy doorway smokers and drugs in sport.

Before I get to those, here’s today’s #flashwod.

Flash WOD

Looks simple enough? The aim is time under tension. Move in to the bottom position quickly but with good form; 2 secs should be enough. Pause a moment and then push out, maintaining excellent form of course,  as slowly as you possibly can. 5 secs is the minimum you should take to reach full extension. Repeat. Time Under Tension is an excellent way to build muscle, even with only your bodyweight. Do this right and you’ll hear your heart rate raise too! I did this on the plane back from the middle east.

Thursday WOD

Returning to Heathrow by 1630, I was back in camp by 1730 and then in CF Watford by 1810, ready to make up for a few days off.

Strength – Squat Programme

3 x 3 Back Squat

5 x 80 / 5 x 90 / 3 x 100 / 3 x 110 / 3 x 125

This equals my Personal Record (PR). I’ve not paid any attention to squatting for a while so am pleased to see no loss overall.

MetCon – lightweight barbells, anaerobic capacity.

21-15-9 For Time:

• Deadlift (50kg)
• Power Clean (50kg)
• Weighted Lunge (50kg)

Time: 8:31 Rx

Quite happy with this. Annoyed that I still appear unable to put myself in to the ‘dark place’ but take pauses instead of pushing myself through. It’s a good time though.

Friday Morning WOD

0630. End the week on a high. Time to push myself in to the dark place!

Fight Gone Bad – Anaerobic capacity & recovery training

3 Rounds of 1 min of each movement, Max Effort:

• Wall Balls – 9kg to 10′
• Sumo Deadlift High Pull (35kg)
• Box Jumps (20″)
• Push Press (35kg)
• Row (Cals)

Total: 316. A new PR by 13 reps. First round, 119. Second round 107. Third round 90. Sure, the rounds came down each time but I pushed myself right in to the dark, pain cave and kept going. To get such a massive PR is extremely pleasing to me. It also nudges my Beyond The Whiteboard score to 68. Over the next few weeks I will attack some of the deficit scores on the BTWB to bring me back over 70 once more. Ended the week well!

Pet Peeves

Warning: Profanity

I’ve been travelling a lot recently and a few things have sprung up repeatedly in conversations and observations that I feel the urge to write out.

Device-induced Rudeness.

Before I start, this is something I am also a little guilty of, though definitely  not to this extent. You’ve all seen it. Walking around towns, shops, hospitals and airports, people looking down at their phones as they move about. I witnessed a woman push her buggy in to oncoming traffic in London recently, her eyes down at her phone as she wheeled the child one-handed! This is not exactly news, we see this a lot. However, moving around the London Underground and Heathrow Airport recently, I’ve observed a relatively new phenomenon,  I believe.

Where previously a person might be so engrossed in their device and bump in to you they would apologise, I am witnessing some downright rudeness from the offending persons now. Walking through Boots with my luggage on my back, I carefully navigated the throngs of individuals. However,  three times I had to request people move out of the way to let me pass, unnoticed as they tapped away on their phone. Instead of a,”yeah, sure, sorry mate”, I recevied an insulting sneer, a look of utter incredulity accompanied by a snort and a silent shrug of ignorance.

Seriously? I’m the one intruding in your space because you’re too self-absorbed to lift your eyes and look around?
Doorway Smokers

Having to visit hospitals a lot quite recently, I became extremely agitated at the number of ignorant arseholes standing just outside the doorways, under the MASSIVE “No Smoking” signs, congregating in groups to smoke. Shelters are provided but the sheer arrogant laziness of these people exudes a “Me First” attitude and ” F’k everyone else”.

The same is true at airports. Arriving at Heathrow Term 2 and 3 Departures to catch a flight, you first have to push yourself through a haze to get to the door. Arseholes too lazy to walk 35 paces to the shelter hang around the door and make us join in. F’k off!

I get that smoking is addictive / hard to quit / personal choice, rah, rah. However,  I choose not to. I choose for my children to not have to suck in that shit too. When I have no choice but to walk through it, I’m going to get upset.

Drugs in Sport.

I’m a CrossFitter. Perhaps not a good one but it’s the sport / hobby I choose to partake on.  Like all sports, it has it “World championships”, The CrossFit Games. And, like all high level competitions, it’s going to have a degree of doping and cheating. This is a fact of life on sport and I’m certainly not naive to think otherwise after 30 years in athletics, cross – country, rugby and now CrossFit.

Disturbingly, recently I seem to have been trapped in to conversations (that I’ve not started, by the way – because we know what CrossFitter are like 😉 ) where the topic has turned to doping. The feeling appears to be that everyone at a good level is a cheat and their achievements are only so because of doping. It is usually followed by a comment such as, “yeah, like I’d be that good if I was juiced up”.

This attitude is really starting to piss me off. I am a firm believer in that if you work hard, and smart, you see results. It’s as true for academia as for throwing barbells. To attribute great success to cheating is to belittle the hard work and smarter application that an individual or team have put in. Training methodology, learning tools, nutritional guidance have all advanced in recent years, somewhat well beyond the standards of even 5 years ago. Humans have discovered better ways to achieve amazing things and continue to do so. To attribute the size/strength/speed of someone to doping just because you think it’s not otherwise possible tells me a few things.

1.  You don’t keep up with modern practices, are basing your evidence/opinion on outdated practices that you probably don’t even half understand anyway.

2.  You are jealous of another person and would rather believe that they are cheating than that you simply don’t have what it takes to achieve the same levels.

3.  Your  self – esteem is so low that you just want to bring others down to your cynical way of thinking.

As I say, I’m well aware of the poor levels of cheating in elite and high level sports. However, I also have to believe that fantastic things can be achieved by the human body and that we’re only now beginning to see what we are capable of. If I don’t believe that, and choose to attempt to undermine feats of human achievement, then what kind of image would that be for my children? To believe that top level performance is only achievable through cheating. They have to believe, and know, that they can be all they wish and that there are no limits.

Anything else is just sad.
Rant over. I apologise for swearing.

Please comment below.

Start the Week with a Personal Record – 06 Jun 16

First up, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mrs Nomad! She has been a saint over the last few months and getting through my father’s death would have been infinitely more difficult without her support and ability to keep the family on the tracks.

Right, back to CrossFit. I’ve been hammering long, aerobic engine WODs for this past 6 weeks or so. I started with a 2km Row and had a pretty average time of 7:30 secs. My PR was 7:23 but I’d not hit that for over a year so could perhaps be discounted. Using an aerobic engine development programme from Brickhouseathlete.com, I continued the rowing. However, after listening to a recent Barbell Shrugged podcast on aerobic capacity, I began to understand the limitations of purely ‘monostructural aerobic capacity’ vs ‘functional aerobic capacity’. Essentially, a rowing-only programming certainly would have improved my ability to row but wouldn’t necessarily have improved my ability to Clean a light weight at high volume. The ability to stay within an aerobic zone while undertaking complex movements can only be improved by carrying out complex movements, or variations thereof, along that metabolic pathway. So this is what I have done.

Getting up at 0600, I gulped down a handful of mixed nuts, grabbed some water and ran over to the box (CrossFit NWD – a newly affiliated military box) for:

Morning MetCon

Row 2km Time Trial

Time: 7:15.4 secs

Yes, a whole 15 second improvement on my time 6 weeks ago and a 7 second improvement on my best ever! Now THAT is improvement. Keeping to under 1:50 per 500m throughout, I sped the first 500m, slowed slightly for the second, held the third at 1:50 exactly and then sped up for the final 500m. Actually, could I have gone faster? We always say that and I’m not having any of it!! I SMASHED my PR here!

Next up on the path to fitness, spending time in the ‘Power’ / Phospho-Creatine & Anaerobic zones. This could be a painful period! 😉

Evening Session

I’ve been looking forward to getting back to CF Watford and tonight brought that, and the Power work I need, with:

Strengthh

1RM Clean

5 x 80 / 3 x 90 / 1 x 100

Not touch’n’goes for the 5 or 3 but certainly maintaining a high tempo. Getting through the 90kg, I knew I had 100kg in me. The shame is that we then ran out of time as I didn’t have enough time to rest before attempting a 105kg…..which I failed 😉 Still, I am very happy with the 100kg, having not got that close to my 1RM in a very long time. It’s time to beat that too though and I want a 105kg by the end of July.

MetCon

This Guy! I won’t give out his name but this guy never gives up. I love working out alongside him. He comes in, smile on his face and pushes himself to the absolute limit. If only everyone put in the effort that this guy does.  #determination @crossfitwatford #crossfitwatford

3 RFT:

• 400m
• 21 x Kettlebell Swing @24kg
• 25 x Goblet Squats @ 24kg

Time: 11:56 Rx

On a normal day, I might be a little disappointed by this time but not today. I set a new record on the rower, almost hit my long-lost 1RM in the Clean and yesterday completed 300 Air Squats! The first round was completely unbroken, as were all KB Swings throughout. The Goblet Squats took it out of me and I broke them in to 10s and 5s for the 2nd / 3rd round.

Nutrition

• Breakfast: 200ml Whole Milk, 1 x Egg, 1 x Scoop Whey Protein, Leaves, 2 x Roast Beef Slices.
• Lunch: 200ml Whole Milk, 120g Chicken Breast, Cupasoup, handful mixed nuts, 7 x cherry tomatoes.
• Half a roast chicken (about 400g), some Roasted Pepper Houmous. 1 x Minute Protein Cake (1 egg, 1 scoop chocolate whey protein, 0.5 table spoon peanut butter, half mashed banana).
• WOD Snacks: 2 x eggs, 1 pint whole milk.

 

Well-Being

It is tempting to simply wallow in my room in the evenings, put the TV on and mooch about. Instead, I spent half hour today going through my plans and goals for the next few months; one of which is to make more of this blog for you all out in reader-land. As promised, more to come on that front. My head is in a good place. It is hitting me that my Dad is gone; I can’t phone him. I can’t email him. I can hear him though and it’s important that I keep talking to him in order to clean every ounce of wisdom that I can from our chats, heart-to-hearts, car journeys and laughs.

Links

• Aerobic Engine Training – http://www.brickhouseathlete.com/2013/09/15/aerobic-engine-building/
• Barbell Shrugged. Aerobic Training for CrossFit – http://daily.barbellshrugged.com/episode-204/

CrossFit en vacances. CrossFit on holidays (in France)

I really wish I had posted at the end of Sunday 02 Aug. It was the Primal Games competition at CF Plymouth and I formed the third part of a Masters team. Yes, at 35 I am considered in the Masters category for CrossFit. Accompanying Fe and Ian, we took our place among 11 teams and really had no aspiration of achieving anything other than having a lot of fun. Surrounded by hundreds of spectators and competitors (there was a ‘beginner’ comp going on too), we fought our way in to 8th in the first WOD. A strength workout, we had 12 mins to achieve an aggregate maximum for a best-effort of 3 x Deadlift, 1 x Hang Power Clean and 3 x Thruster. I set myself a new Hang Power Clean and Thruster record of 90kg although only recorded an 85kg as ran out of time for the final Thruster; I know I would have made it though. Going in to the second WOD, a 15min AMRepAP of rowing, Pull ups, weighted lunges and hang power snatches, Mrs Nomad and my supporting team of awesomeness arrived to cheer me on. What a huge boost that gave me. So much so, in fact, that we somehow came in 3rd! This put us 4th overall in to the 3rd WOD. The 3rd workout began and ended with 15 x synchro burpees but the middle was populated by hundreds of KB Swings, deadlifts, box jumps and toes to bar (I can’t remember exactly how many without going back to look it up). We dominated our heat quite comprehensively, coming 3rd once more in the WOD overall. This cemented our 4th position and meant a place in the final!!

The final was not really in our game plan and we just laughed. Looking at the other Masters teams in the final, we knew we were just making up the numbers this time. However, this didn’t stop us giving our all through 250m Sprints, KB Thrusters, 250m Rowing, Plate Ground to Overhead, Farmer’s Walks and Overhead Plate Lunge Walking. When we crossed the line last we received the biggest cheers in true CrossFit fashion. We really had given our all. It was my first competition in a very long time and I felt all the old feelings from my days of competing in athletics some 17 or so years ago. Amazing.

To have had Mrs Nomad and the mini-cheerleaders there too was something special and they deserve a big shout out for spending the whole day in the company of CrossFitters!

Since then, you’d be forgiven for thinking that I’d done nothing else considering how I’ve not blogged it. It’s not so, however, as you well know. I’ve had an exceptionally busy end of term at work and have just run out of time. I have coached every Mon/Wed/Thurs mornining, as well as Friday evenings too. I’ve taken part in all of those sessions and recorded them all on Beyond The Whiteboard where I currently have a score of 71 out of 100 (steadily up from 66/67 this time last year).

We are now in France for a bit. For those who remember from last year (anyone actually read this?), there is a rock here, called “Rock”. Apparently, it is granite. With it’s quite regular dimensions, it would have a mass of around 70kg but I am not convinced. I think it is closer to 60kg and therefore perhaps granite. Regardless, it is fucking heavy and unwieldy. It is perfect for ‘off season’ training while out here. There are also piles of bricks, logs and the ever-present bodyweight routines to keep me occupied.

Wed 12 Aug

Settled in France, I reacquainted myself with ‘Rock’.

5 RFT

7 x Handstand Push Up (Strict)
10 x Sumo Deadlift with Rock (+60kg)
20 x Sit Up
400m Run

Time: 17:56

Next time, I should work 10 x strict HSPU as they were a bit too easy. The sumo deadlifts were tough more because of the unwieldy burden of the object than the weight but that was certainly taxing. The sit ups were unbroken and the run was exactly 400m.

Thurs 13 Aug

For Time:

100 x Push Up
100 x Sit Up
100 x Squat (Air)
100 x Lunge

Time: 17:08

I really should have warmed up for this. The push ups were far more trouble than they should have been and slowed me right down. Everything else was pretty routine.

Fri 14 Aug

See the picture at the top. The barbell was made of a scaffolding pole with some red-brick structures on the end. It totalled no more than 30kg tops. The wooden pile is about 10-15kg and Rock is….well, Rock. The paddock it all sits in is 20m long.

3 RFT:

20 x Strict Barbell Press
40m Boulder Carry with Rock
40m Walking Lunges with Wooden Pile

Time: 11:40

A tough little WOD, the rough nature of the paddock really presented an ‘unknown’ challenge for this one and meant I was slower but therefore had to carry the items for longer.

The only other aspect that I’ve not covered is nutrition. I’ll just say this: I’m on holiday, it’s the off season and I’m recovering.

So, this is me catching up and not leaving it so long next time!!

10 Jun 15 – Creeping up the charts

I really didn’t sleep well last night and the sun beaming through the curtains at 0500 didn’t help. Hell, whatever, I got up anyway, had lazy time on the toilet with the morning news and then grabbed my protein, coffee and kit and then left (obviously, I washed my hands in there too!)

The headcoach at CFP denoted today as “Vest Wednesday” so out of the drawer came a quite honking red wife-beater that I purchased some time ago in the USA. I don’t have anything else but it suited the mood perfectly; I strolled in to find others in Rab C Nesbitt style vests so I didn’t feel too out of place. We warmed up with 3mins of 4 Pistol Squats & 8 Plate Ground-To-Overhead (20kg)s.

Strength

a)  10 min to a 2RM Back Squat.

100 / 110 / 120 / 130 / 132.5kg

No increase to my personal record and this was an epic attempt just to get the 132.5 up correctly. Still, at that time of the morning I’ll take anything like that.

b) 3 x 10 @ 60% of a)

80 / 90 / 90kg.

Anyone with even basic mental arithmetic skills could work out that 90kg isn’t 60% of 132.5kg. I completed the first round of 80 no problem and the next guy got on. He changed it up to his weight but I didn’t notice and cracked on. I was gutted. I was gutted not because it was too heavy but because I should have done all three rounds at 90kg. I was exceptionally pleased with the outcome of this one.

 

MetCon

EMOM 12

• 4 x Power Snatch @ 50kg
• 4 x Toes To Bar

Complete, unbroken. I MUST get better at the heavy MetCons and this would have been a perfect opportunity to work 55 or 60kg. However, I stuck with 50kg and went unbroken throughout. I used the underarm technique for the Toes To Bar and this dramatically saved my shoulders for the snatch. Top Tip there people!

 

Getting back in to the office, I was expecting a full day ahead in preparation to an imminent trip to Australia (leaving this Sat for 3 weeks, including a few visits to CrossFit Roar, the home of Kara Webb!) However, there was less to do that we had anticipated and so I decided to attack Beyond The Whiteboard and see if I could get my ranking up a little. Knowing that I have actual work to do in the Heavy MetCons, there wasn’t a lot I could action this afternoon there. However, my Speed work has been neglected of late and so I picked Rowing (Concept II) Time Trials of 100m, 250m and 500m.

• 100m: 17secs (PR by 0.7 sec)
• 250m: 44secs (PR by 0.4 sec)
• 500m: 1min 25secs (Equal PR)

I chose a Damper Factor setting of 137; knowing your DF is critical when moving between different ergo machines as they are all affected by variations such as age, grit and general wear. Knowing this setting allows you to set the flywheel accordingly and train at the same pace on different machines. Sure, these improvements don’t seem like much but for sprint TTs they really are and sure enough, my BTWB.com score has jumped up to 70 once more. Now I just need to stay there!!

13 May 15 – Active Recovery (very)

I remember after my first and only marathon, in Afghanistan (6 laps of Camp Leatherneck in 3:59:28), I was told to take a minimum of 2 weeks off to recover. After 2 days, I went back to CrossFit Leatherneck, thrashed myself and put myself in to the hurt locker for a further week.

After last weekend’s epic cross-country event, plus a few more years on my legs overall, a week should have been the minimum that I rested my knees and hips. But no. I want to look good for summer (just being honest) and hate taking time out. Plus, as an aside, I’m getting wound up with some of the crap I’m stuffing in my face of late.

So, getting up early today, I headed over to a pretty good military gym (am away on a project management, APMP course) to do a mainsite WOD – I’m starting to get back in to mainsite as I really do believe in ‘traditional’ CrossFit principals and not so much “strength & conditioning for CF competitions” which  is fundamentally different.

MetCon

4 rounds of 4 mins:

Row 500m
ME Burpees for remainder

Total Burpees: 95

Sure enough, there was little in the tank but I kept at 1:50 / 500m, giving me 2 mins for Burpees each time (inc. transition on/off the rower). I achieved 22-25 Burpees each time, keeping good pace throughout.

Not feeling tired enough (*coff*), and wanting to continue on my Nomadic journey, I decided to drop in on CrossFit Southern Legion in the evening. Based in the North End part of Portsmouth this little box packs a considerable punch. Run by ex-Paras and Bootnecks, it is a really welcoming place but run to high standards. I met the owners on my CF Olympic Lifting course a few years ago but never before got down to their place. Despite being knackered, I’m pleased I did.

Strength

5 x 5 Back Squat

90 / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100kg

Not my best score but hardly surprising. It’s very close though.

MetCon

6 Rounds for Time:

5 x Clean & Jerk @ 60kg
10 x Bar Facing Burpees
200m Run

There. Was. Nothing in the legs. Utterly fatigued. Crawling around in 16:54, I was well beaten by guys I should have comfortably destroyed on any other day. The C&Js were harder than they should have been but it was the Burpees and Run that almost stopped me dead. After 95 Burpees this morning, I just laughed when I saw them again. Still, I ploughed on through and came out unscathed.

I know I should take a break after such a long run but it’s hard. I’m not in the shape I was while on ship last year and I truly hate it. I am not able to get fixed, regular, guaranteed training in these days and have to make the most of opportunities that I do have.

And I have to stop eating crap.

08 May 15 – Slow & gluey but high output. Not every day is a PR day.

So on Monday I managed a new 1RM Clean & Jerk with 100kg. This was followed on Tuesday by the Basic Fitness Test. Prior to these, 500 Double Unders had seriously damaged my Achilles again and so the last 2 days sitting in a car for over 4 hrs each time should probably have been a welcome rest. However, it was unwelcome. Hot on the heels of breaking my record on the Clean & Jerk, I really wanted to follow it up with something more. But it wasn’t to be. Wed and Thurs were spent driving 4 hours+, eating ‘unclean’ and getting poor sleep.

By the time I got back home on Thursday evening, the thought of getting up at 0545 really wasn’t all that attractive but I actually awoke refreshed this morning with a smile on my face, raring to go. Coffee in hand, protein and beta alanine downed, I was back in the car for the short burst to Faraday Mill. On seeing the WOD though, I wish I hadn’t…….

Strength

10 mins to a Max for a complex of:

• 1 x Power Snatch
• 2 x Hang Snatch
• 1 x Snatch

Bar must not be released throughout this.

40 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 Fail / 55 Fail

Despite a good warm up, I felt all sluggish, gluey and slow. I couldn’t get in to a decent Snatch position and failed twice at 55kg. I shall repeat this portion of the WOD tonight as I know I can do much better than that.

MetCon

CrossFit Games Regionals are upon us! Today’s MetCon is Regionals WOD 3 although I had to substitute various aspects of it, as you will see:

For Time (26min Time Cap):

• Run 1 Mile (I rowed 1 Mile instead)
• 50 x Overhead Squats (60kg RX, I used 45kg)
• 100 x Sit Ups
• 150 x Double Unders (I did 50 x Handstand Shoulder Touches)
• 50 x Sumo Deadlift High Pull (same as Overhead Squats)
• 100 x Box Jump Overs (24”)

By the 26min point, I had achieved 30 of the Sumo Deadlift High Pulls and was f@@ked. In that time, my first 1000m Row took 3:45, the 1500m was 5:40 and the 1609m was 6:09. These are not exactly swift but I was keeping the pace at ~1:50 per 500m. The Overhead Squats really sucked after the rowing, legs were toast. The Sit Ups gave my legs and shoulders a little breather before then crushing my shoulders with the Handstand Shoulder Touches. To follow that with Sumo Deadlift High Pull was just soul-destroying. My shoulders were fatigued, legs were on empty and core crushed. The substitution of the Rowing radically changed the workout and the effect on the other movements.

But, I worked really goddamn hard this morning. I just had a little voice in my head pushing me harder and harder throughout and not allowing too many breaks.

Tomorrow and Sunday, there is a team of us conducting a 24h relay race in Plymouth. Between 8, we will relay around a 5 mile cross-country course and should all expect to do between 3 and 4 laps over the 24 hr period. My Achilles haven’t recovered but I still think I’ll keep to an 8 min per mile output throughout and am aiming for a 2hr target for 15 miles.

Mon 30 Mar 15 – End of CrossFit Games Open 2015

So there we have it, the CrossFit Open 2015 is over. Before I get to “what’s next”, what happened?

CF Open WOD 15.5

For Time:

• 27 x Calorie Row
• 27 x Thruster @ 43kg
• 21 x Row
• 21 x Thruster
• 15 x Row
• 15 x Thruster
• 9 x Row
• 9 x Thruster

As soon as it was posted, the fear started in most. I wasn’t that fussed actually. I knew I would be able to control the rowing at about 1 cal per stroke and after a decent reshow of 14.5 recently, I knew that the Thrusters were manageable. While the elite folk were coming in sub-8mins, I was aiming for 11:30 after seeing where the 60th percentile was on Beyond The Whiteboard. As it happened, I put together a really decent pacing and ended up at 10:52 RX. This immediately put me on about the 72nd percentile and I was really pleased to end on what I consider to be a high.

After 5 rounds, (and with a few hours left to play) I am sat at just over 57th percentile on the CrossFit Open and this is pretty much where I expect to end up. All in all, I’m ok with this. It’s a measurement of where I sit amongst all those who completed all 5 rounds, both RX and scaled. What it does highlight is how skewed the placings have become due to bringing the scaled WODs. I totally agree with having the scaled options though as it has enabled a greater degree of inclusivity. However, so many people who would have attempted RX have moved in to the scaled bracket which just means that I can’t compare this performance to last year. Further, my idea of measuring against Beyond The Whiteboard was also flawed from the outset as I’m now ranking only amongst those who took part in the RX versions anyway. That being the case though, my mean average placing among 6 WODs (including 15.1a as a separate WOD) actually left me on 60th percentile.

Anyway! Placings, percentiles, positions…..did I or didn’t I do better than last year? Have I or have I not progressed?

Well, my best WOD (almost top 1/4) was 15.5 and this was very much an ‘engine’ WOD; pace and hold that pace. After last year, this was the one area that I really wanted to improve and so it would seem that I have.  15.2 was my next best, a repeat of 14.2. I scored the same as last year, achieving a top third score (almost). The Overhead Squats were pretty solid but they were relatively light. It was the pull ups that pulled me down and this was almost entirely down to the grip going far too early.  15.4 came out third in my list with a top 40% finish…just. While the handstand pushups were unbroken throughout, it was the cleans that cleaned me out. 80kg is only 12.5 kg off my 1 Rep Max (92.5kg) and trying to get repetitions in really did stop me progressing in this WOD. Below that, 15.1, 15.1a and 15.3 were all lost due to grip (Toes To Bar) and Max Strength (Cleans in 15.1a).

So what next? Well, I know what has been wrong and I think I know how to progress.

For the next 3 months or so, I really have to focus on raw strength. Clean, Jerk and Snatch numbers all have to go up. Over this last year, the only number to go up progressively for me has been the Front Squat (now at 120kg). I can continue with the MetCons on a Mon, Wed and Fri as well as the strength elements that CF Plymouth put in. I’ll speak to the head coach but I now want to augment with 2 further days of Strength-only work on Tues and Thurs that I can do either at work or at home.

I expect that grip strength will improve naturally with increased barbell work but it’s something I’ll pay attention to increasingly, forcing extra time on the bars as much as possible.

Developmental pathways will be created soon enough and I’ll upload them once done they’re ready but knowing key areas of weakness is at least the start. I’m not saying that next year I’ll be top of the leaderboard or anything but I really do think that having identified specifics, I will now progress.

A Week in the USA

With 3 days in the US on business, I headed over to North Carolina expecting the opportunity to eat cleanly and train hard. After 9 hours on the the first flight and 90 mins on the second, there wasn’t a lot I could do on Monday but having eaten pretty well on the flight (‘spanish’ chicken), we went out for Thai where I had a really great red chicken curry with a touch of brown rice. On Tuesday, we were up early and that’s kind of when it all went wrong. It would appear that my US amigos don’t eat breakfast really. Further, they don’t break for lunch routinely and when they do, the US military see fit to serve them Subway, KFC, Wendy’s Taco Bell and other such shit. There is a central dining facility but the base is so far away that it becomes impractical to go there unless you just happen to be passing. It truly shocks and amazes me that there are so many of these franchises on a military base and that they are full to bursting at all times of the day. So, with that in mind, Monday breakfast was nothing more than a coffee and a ‘Clif’ Bar; ok, I do like the peanut butter crunch ones but even so….breakfast!!?? Lunch was a flat bread spicy chicken mess from Subway, not much better.

Feeling like crap, tired and somewhat gooey, I headed over to their High Intensity Tactical Training facility. It’s essentially a CrossFit gym but the US Military are not permitted to have ‘franchised’ fitness on their bases (it’s fine to have utter crap franchise ‘food’ though??). It is a top facility though with everything you could wish for. Two of us went over there to work specifically on Snatch work as well as get a small MetCon in. Videoing the Snatches (and sending to my own coach in New Jersey for his comments), we finished on a WOD of:

5 x Every Other Minute @ 60% of 1RM:

• 1 x Power Snatch
• 1 x Hang Snatch
• 1 x Snatch
• 1 x Overhead Squat

60% of my 1RM is approx 40kg / 90lbs but this was far too easy. I really should have used a minimum of 45kg, perhaps even 47.5kg. Leaving the facility, I felt that an opportunity had been wasted although I was pleased to see that my Snatch technique is infinitely better than it has been of late. Indeed, remember a few weeks ago and my poor 1RM 60kg Snatches? I threw 60kg up in to a great full depth Snatch without a care and was content.

On Tues night, I was on my own and had the leftovers of the previous night’s Thai. This was a delicious rack of BBQ ribs and a big plate of salad in front of Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows.

On Wed, the same happened for breakfast; a goddamn Powerbar! How the hell is the US military even functioning? Still, I knew I would be getting a good workout in that night as I was staying with a  fellow CF Level 1 who runs his own little outfit called CapeFit. In honour of my attendance, he created a lovely little ‘birthday’ WOD based on the signing of the declaration of independence, 3rd Sept 1783 in Paris. Before we got to that, the strength portion was a pretty neat set of:

5 Rounds of:

• 1 x Press (Strict) @ 70kg
• 1 x Push Press @ 70kg
• 1 x Push Jerk @ 70kg
• Max Effort Toes to Bar

I was pleased with this. 70kg is a nice weight to be doing this with actually and made me work. The Toes 2 Bar recorded at 15 / 10 / 8 / 8 / 6 although the final round could probably have been 7 or 8 if I had pushed myself. It was more about the weight on the bar though.

The WOD itself was a partner workout; Matt H joined me which worked out pretty well as the 2 associated commanders.

5 Rounds (Each) For Time:

• 3 x Deadlift (260lbs)
• 9 x Box Jumps (20″)
• 17 x Kettlebell Swings (20kg)

Then

• 83 x Burpees between partners to finish

I thoroughly enjoyed this one in a top little facility in North Carolina. This was swiftly followed by fantastic deliciousness in a plate of pulled pork, broccoli and sweet potato fries. oh, and a bottle or two of Sam Adams. Outstanding.

On Thursday (after coffee, a protein shake and an apple for breakfast) it was all about packing up and heading back to Blighty but there was time for a stop off in the HITT centre again. This time I wanted to redo some benchmark speed work on the rower. I’ve been meaning to do it for some time and I was glad I did.

5 x Row 100m (1min Rest between Rounds)

17.8 / 17.5 / 17.7 / 17.5 / 17.7

Previous best was 18 secs and although this isn’t exactly setting major records, it still gets me back on the board.

1 x Row 250m

Previous best was 47 secs. New PR of 44.7! Very pleased with this; I reckon I could have shaved more off that and will redo it son enough.

Death By Thrusters @ 135lb (60kg)

Total: 31 Reps

I have not done this one before and I wanted to do a benchmark Thruster / Double Under WOD. However, the speed ropes in there have seen better days and were also far too short for a regular male adult. For those not familiar with the “Death By”, this is where you conduct 1 x rep on the first min, 2 on the second, 3 on the third and so on. Using 60kg made this a strength endurance workout and I made it in to the 8th minute. For the remainder of my time in there, I worked quite a few muscle ups and 30′ rope climbs too.

As I say, from then it was off to the airport (via Toys R Us) for wait for the flight back to the UK. Once again, it was dog-shit dinner time with a quite terrible ‘brisket’ and fries. The meal at the second airport wasn’t much better although I chose a chinese meal and avoided the rice. Understand here that I tried to make the best choices I could with the food but for this whole week it has been nigh-on impossible. The amount of junk that is not just available but is ‘enforced’ as the only option is astounding.

Still, I managed to get some PT in throughout the week and have set some new records in the process; we shall see if I am dragged off of the 65th percentile on Monday morning.

08 Dec 14 – Rise Like a Phoenix from the Ashes. Front Squats, Overhead Complex and Jackie

More than anything else, I have been upset with my attitude towards exercise and CrossFit recently. Sure, I’ve not progressed as much as I would like but it’s not all about that. I pay for the privilege of attending CrossFit sessions to do spend time doing something that I want to do and want to enjoy. I can workout in the gym here and be miserable but I have a responsibility to be happy and constructive when around other people. Further, I am a CrossFit Level 1 Coach and should set a better example.

With that in mind, I launched myself out of bed this morning, downed some protein and a handful of nuts and headed to CF Plymouth full of zest and zeal. Much of this was entirely forced given that it was bloody freezing cold but sometimes you just have to “fake it til you make it!”. I had hoped for some coffee too but forgot to take a £1 coin. Nevermind.

After a little mobility and a lot of warm up, it was in to:

6 Rounds:

1 x Push Press

1 x Push Jerk

1 x Split Jerk.

65 / 65 / 70 / 70 / 80 / 82.5kg

I perhaps started a little too light but I know for next time. I am happy with the final weight there though. All form and control were good. Sure, I might have eeked out 85kg but I was Power Cleaning the bar in to position each time to start.

Next up:

4 x 4 Front Squat

75 / 80 / 90 / 95

This is exactly where I should be for a 4RM. The charts tell me that for a 4-5RM of 95kg, I should be aiming at a 115kg 1RM which is exactly what my 1RM is. While nothing else seemed to progress this year, the Front Squat is the one thing that actually has.

To finish:

Jackie

For Time:

Row 1000m

50 x Thrusters (20kg Barbell)

30 x Pull Ups

Time: 8:15 RX

This was a 5-second reduction on my best but I want to caveat a few things here regarding my scores. Firstly, I am doing these at 0615 with very little food inside me, having woken up at 0545. Secondly, it’s BLOODY COLD! Thirdly, the MetCons are being conducted after heavy weight sessions where I am always pushing for a high score. In the specific case of Jackie (or anything with Pull Ups in), I have to jump 6 inches each time to the bar and believe me, that doesn’t help things and definitely slows me down. The Row was pretty solid, equalling my previous 1000m best of 3:28. This is good to see as I was messing about with the settings during the row itself and wasted a good few seconds there. The thrusters were broken in to 20s and 15s. I really should have pushed myself harder through this portion but the Row does funny things to the legs. As for the Pull Ups, these were not great and for some reason I went back in to regular kipping mode instead of butterflies. I could have saved a lot of time with the latter. Still, 5 secs slower than my best is not too bad.

Since uploading my scores, beating Beyondthewhiteboard.com to the punch with its weekly updates, I have moved back up from 66th Percentile to 68. I suspect that by entering some new scores for Sprint work such as 250m and 500m Row I will climb another place or two as well. BTWB.com does break down the requirements very well, even telling you what your next benchmarks should be in each movement and gives tips on how to get there. I should use that more but Defence IT machines are not capable of rendering even the most basic webpages.

A good start to the week. Depending on travel, I may make it to CFP once more this week but if not then I’ll be on the road and looking for random boxes to stop in.