Olympian Throwdown: Zeus

First workout of the competition, Zeus is complete! The workout was fun and I only felt like dying a little afterwards…unlike after most workouts where I usually think I’m already dead. WOD is as follows:

Part 1 (for all divisions): 

• Establish a 1 rep max Deadlift in six min
• *** Rest 4 min (Take the time to video your weights If submitting for a prize or official placement – not necessary if doing for fun)

Part 2 – 10 Min AMRAP (As many Reps As Possible):

Immortal (ELITE):

• 2 Deadlift @ 365/245
• 4 Strict HSPU (2014 Regionals Standards)
• 6 Burpee OTB
• 8 T2B

DEMIGOD (RX):

• 2 Deadlift @ 315/205
• 4 Kipping HSPU
• 6 Burpee OTB
• 8 T2B

Mortal (Scaled):

• 2 Deadlift @ 225/155
• 4 HR Push Ups
• 6 Burpee OTB
• 8 Ab Mat Sit Ups

Results

Mortal(Scaled) Division

Deadlift PR @335# (20# increase)

AMRAP: 126 reps (6 rds + 6 reps)

Until next time…

Iron built. Iron born. 

The Heat of Competiton: The Challenge

Well we made it! The first month of the New Year is officially behind us. Many of us have already achieved a short term goal or two and are continuing to work toward our larger goals..I’ll assume! And for those of you who aren’t quite there, don’t worry! Your time will come and your goals too will be behind you, a stepping stone to the next! 

Back in August when I joined the CrossFit community I knew I wanted to do some friendly competition. Being the patient(usually) and methodical thinker that I am I told myself I would wait a year for competition…well not quite! In January 2016 I decided to sign up for not 1…not 2…but 3 different competitions, each unique in their own way. Check these out:

1. 2016 Reebok CrossFit: The Open (2/25-3/28)
2. 2016 Festivus Games (4/16)
3. WodLab Olympian Throwdown (1 WOD per month)

I’ve never been a great athlete but I’ve always been open to new challenges because I love competing. I love to grunt, yell, sweat–and have fun doing it. So why not make it a part of my training? I consider that a large part of “My Why”; healthy, friendly competiton. Speaking of which, I’ll give a breif description of the 3 events above for those who aren’t aware. 

2016 Reebok CrossFit Games: The Open

The Open, as it’s known, for the last few years is the ultimate proving ground in the CrossFit realm. A world wide competiton over 5 weeks where a new WOD is announced each week. Crush the WOD, post your time/video to the online leaderboard and see where you stand among the world, your age group, box, region or just your friends! Last but not least, for many elite athletes this starts the road to the Games, the World Cup of fitness! Athletes qualify through The Open for Regionals and then from Regionals to the CrossFit Games!

2016 Festivus Games

This one is a cool idea. Participating boxes from all over that decide to host the event do so on the same day at the same time. Athletes travel to their closest, or desired host and compete in person, mano a mano! There are 3 main WODs and then a “Floater” WOD. Your floater can be done between any of the main WODs or before a certain time in the day. There are judges, score cards, the works. I believe the hosts post the athletes times online to compare. The WODs for this event are posted ahead of time, giving some the opportunity to prepare how they see fit and strategize. 

WodLab Olympian Throwdown

Another cool idea! This a year long challenge with a new WOD each month. Once released participating athletes have 1 week to complete the WOD. Cash is up for grabs for the top 3 in Immortal(Elite) and Demigod(Rx) divisions with valid video submissions, and bragging rights and gear for Mortal (scaled). So why “Olympian”? Well each WOD is named after a Greek God of Olympus. AND each month participants earn a limited-edition, custom WOD themed t-shirt! You can’t get them any other way and their pretty cool too. 1 month down for this one! 

–

I don’t feel like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew at all but I have definitely set my obstacles before me. Things are well spaced out, have scaling options and best of all these events include fellow CrossFit Nitrous athletes! Our tribe knows how to motivate the hell out of each other. This also a great opportunity for us to come closer and strengthen our bonds and community as well as learn more about ourselves as athletes and competitors. 

If you find yourself still reading to this point, first of all, thank you! What are your thoughts and/or aspirations surrounding competition? 

Until next time…

Iron built. Iron born.  

Failure Matters

Well I’ve neglected writing here for some time now but tonight something hit me. While hitting the WOD I got the chance to watch my coach train through his own programming. Even though I’m still less than 6 months into CrossFit I’m already finding it hard to keep my competitiveness in check. But what can you do when your coach who’s been doing this for years is killing it next to you…you can’t keep up, you can’t lift as much, you can’t move as well..you can’t you can’t you can’t…. Well guess what…NO SHIT SHERLOCK. That’s exactly why we have the opportunity in CrossFit to scale any and every movement to make it appropriate for our level of ability. But you can’t accurately gauge your limit without one critical event along the way….FAILURE. Many of us are scared to fail and are ashamed when we do fail….I think of this as “understandable nonsense”. It’s understandable because no one wants to be the one who failed but at the same time it is nonsense because you should see it as an opportunity to learn as you have just uncovered an opportunity that will lead you on a journey of improvement and eventual success. This DOES NOT only apply to the gym. You could extrapolate this to most any scenario.

But back to tonight.

Tonight it took some time to get the movements down in sequence and find a good weight. Once we started coach started cruising through it even as his weights increased. Eventually he was egged on by another athlete to go heavier and tonight was a night he was feeling it. He started the next round of the complex at 215…and it happened…half way through he cleaned the bar and got under it and had to bail from squatting a little out of position.

He gave it five minutes then went back at it. Almost done with the complex, coach misses the very last movement of the complex, a split jerk, where he couldn’t recover after getting the weight up. Success is great company, but failure is better teacher; and seeing your own teacher learn is a cool experience. It helped remind me that he’s human too…just stronger and faster with more experience. It helped remind me that I’ll get there too and that I have to give myself time.

Anyways, just a short post in an effort to remind you that failure is okay, in fact it is paramount in the learning process. Embrace failure and do not be afraid. We all start somewhere and failed somewhere else along the way. Make that new point of failure a new beginning to launch from. Always strive for improvement and expect there will be some failures aka “learning opportunities” along the way.

Until next time…

Iron built. Iron born.

 

 

Rack Position and Scaling

…did that make your wrist twinge a bit? Thinking about the pain the rack position brings in front squats, cleans and the like? I’m of the same response but I enjoy the challenge. I’ve found, like I assume many have, that I will now happily scale movements for a WOD so as to focus on completion and effort rather than whatever was Rx. To me, the WOD is not a great time for skill or form work and if you think it is…enjoy that inevitable injury or tweak and the nagging sense of incompletion of the workout. Not great at push-ups? Work on them outside of class and scale them in the workout so you can get ish done. Same for pull-ups, dips, double unders and pretty much every movement you are not efficient at with strict or consistent form. This isn’t weakness if anything it’s a sign of wisdom and mental fortitude pointed toward improvement. Injuries don’t make for great workouts and a lack thereof will not make you a great athlete or garner even meager progress. I like to think about finishing well as opposed to faultering or failing…focus on the finish…”Flag nor Fail“, if you will.

ANYWAY, back to mobility in the front rack. Sometimes outside of the gym but typically before and after class I like work on little things to improve my wrist and shoulder mobility. I decided to start this immediately after my Foundations experience, upon completing my miserable version of Fran. Improving my rack position has been slow, a little painful but rather successful. However for days that focus on something like front squats ( 9/29 WOD 15 min EMOM every 3 min of 250m row, 8 front squat, 12t2b)  I’ve employed work arounds that still let me work hard, such as using lifting straps as handles to hold the bar from above. Beyond the WOD I can continue to improve form and position by stretching my wrists and shoulders with a PVC pipe, bands, a barbell, the floor, hell even a friend who’s evil enough to help you torture yourself.

You can see examples in this article available on Tabata Times. The article also explores some great info from MobilityWod and some other sources with even more info!  I encourage you to get lost in these articles and videos and analyze your rack position and investigate wether it’s your wrists, shoulders or even your lats holding you back from optimal ROM. Get after it!

Until next time…

Iron built. Iron born. 

WOD for a Cause!

Really excited to share this out! Crossfit Nitrous will be holding a fundraiser and awareness event for a couple at our box who’s son, Grady, has been diagnosed with Jacobsen Sydrome aka 11q Terminal Deletion Disorder which is, in short, a genetic mutation that slows physical and mental development. 

“Bryan, why are you excited about this?” I will tell you! And it is for a few reasons.

 First, selfishly, it is the first event I’ll be attending at my box and I love my fellow Nitrous athletes whom I’ve met so far but I want to meet them all!

It is open to the public and we could potentially inspire some individuals to introduce training into their life and make positive changes. I personally would love to see the community I live in become a more physically active and capable one. 

Also, my girlfriend will be doing this with me which will be fun! We refrain from training together (I’ll spare you the stories) and we also don’t have the opportunity to do so given our schedules. 

Lastly who doesn’t want to help little bebes!? The proceeds of the event will go toward little Grady’s medical expenses. 

At any rate, take a look at the event info and if you’re in the area check it out and come see us! If you’re not local, share it if you can! Donations can also be made on the event page if you feel so inclined. We are aiming for the 4pm time slot! 💪🏽😁👍🏽

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/grady-hero-wod-tickets-18691376410

Until next time…

Iron built. Iron born. 

Crossfit Total

Well I’ve been slacking on the posting here, my bad. Nonetheless, I’ve been making it to the box for the WOD on Tuesday and Thursday evenings as planned and other nights I’m not scheduled at my second job during the week. Everything has been going wonderfully and I’ve found a great family of warriors to enjoy our collective misery with. 

This Tuesday was a programming I’ve been waiting for: max lifts. Specifically the programming was Crossfit Total aka the sum of your 1 rep max of back squat, shoulder press, and dead lift. I haven’t had much of an opportunity to max out since high school as I typically train solo and I have a hard time finding someone I could trust to spot me proper. I don’t want them to let me get trapped under a bench press and you will get crucified if you dump a failed squat in a globogym. No longer is that the case for me though! 

I went into the workout knowing I could squat 225# for 2-3 reps, deadlift 315# for 2 and shoulder press at least 120# for a few reps. I ended up putting up a 285# squat, 135# press and was stuck at 315# for deads. My lifts add up to a Crossfit Total of 735#. One coach who was doing it with me pushed me well. I bested him by 10# on squat and press but he got me on deadlifts with 365# to my 315# giving him a total of 765#. But damn did it all feel good!  

For me, yesterday’s numbers were huge. My back only bothered me a little bit after my deadlift attempts but cleared up after rolling on a lacrosse ball for a few minutes (tweaked it something harsh 3 years ago and messed up lower back on the right). Being mindful of good form for all lifts is crucial and becoming easier. Confidence under load is increasing each day. The first boost came from a few 1 rep sets of 135# clean and jerk I initially said and believed I couldn’t get. Genry told me I could…so I did…5 times. Taking 135# over head with no pain was nothing short of enthralling to me. 
Until next time…

Iron built. Iron born. 

 

Back2Back

Holy heart rate Batman! Today was gross. 2nd WOD in two days and today’s Metcon was gnarly for me. My partner and I completed it in 28:35 with scaled pull-ups and I scaled my first round of push ups to conserve a bit of energy for the reverse Baseline which worked out as I did them strict that time. Burned nearly 700 calories in there tonight so I would aayvinhaf a successful training session. 

I am definitely enjoying this adventure. Everyone is cool so far and I can expect to see a lot of more of them on a regular basis. The biggest part for me is checking my ego at the door. That was a lot easier for me when I trained solo because I didn’t feel like dying under a barbell. It’s important to me that everyone knows I’m there to work my ass off (and have fun) and enjoy healthy competition. But man…. The bug of competition is just as bad as ego competition. Luckily there are some strong guys and gals who have depth, strength and technique I’m way behind on…but not for long. Now I have targets and to me those are more motivating than goals. Targets can be hit, people can be beaten and you can both help each other and grow from it in a unique way. A lot like the Jay Cutler-Phil Heath scenario. 

Forced into a rest day tomorrow due to work but will be back at it Thursday!

Until next time…

Iron Built. Iron Born. 

Humble Pie a la WOD

Here we are. My first full-fledged WOD completed this evening. And maaaaaan did learn a few things. First…burpees aren’t THAT bad. But they do still suck something major. And double-unders….yeah I’ll be scaling those for a while while I work on that skill. My results for today were:

Clean Pull (6×1+1): 3×95#, 3×105#

Bent Over Rows (5×5): 2×95#, 3×135#

12min AMRAP (10 burpees x 25 DU’s scaled to 50 singles): 5R+10

Quite honestly, I recovered quickly afterward which was nice. So far so good and looking forward toward Tuesday and Thursday. Sorry for the short update but off to sleep to recover for more!

Until next time…

Iron Built. Iron Born.

Graduation

Well last Thursday I completed my Crossfit Foundations (intro classes) and even had the pleasure of laying down my very own first “Sweat Angel” complete with chalk hands! My capstone class WOD was the infamous Fran. Needless to say, it was a scaled attempt and now I now have a starting point of 9:35 to improve on and I can’t wait. Tomorrow (Monday) will be my first opportunity to attend a full, regularly scheduled WOD. This fills me with excitement and anxiety. The athlete in me says “Finally putting this fatass to work!” while the egocentric lifter in me is worried about how I’ll measure up as the newbie in the class. That experience I will certainly share with you tomorrow evening.

Beyond my first class, I’m excited to start getting back into the big lifts and Olympic lifts (Olys). Setting PR’s has never been a goal of mine. Of course pushing more weight is always great but, as someone who trained bodybuilding style for years, annihilating the target muscle was the goal, not setting PR’s. Being undisciplined, it is easy to slack off and get distracted training by yourself. The same applies in the opposite direction like not knowing when you stop your set or back off the weight leading to injuries, aches and pains. That’s me, just out of control with nothing to show for it.

Enter: Crossfit. Maybe you’re asking yourself, as many of us do early on, “What is Crossfit?” You might be asking, “Why?” You might think Crossfit is stupid or juvenile, lacking goals or structure and I would have to disagree. I used to knock CF but it was based on the goofy Crossfit Fail videos you can find on YouTube with participants flailing about, dropping weights off bars because they forgot their collars, and trying to clean and press with an over-under deadlift grip. I thought it was ridiculous, thinking “Where the hell are the coaches? Did anyone even try to teach them anything?” all the while still respecting that their concept of General Physical Preparedness was at the heart of actual training and the benefits of that philosophy. Even once I realized some great benefits, I still wasn’t convinced I wanted in, I wasn’t convinced it was for me and my goals when in real life, what I was doing was only taking me further from what I wanted. Well, clearly to obtain something you never had (or had long ago) you need to do things you’ve never done. For me that is Crossfit….with a great coach, in a great box that can help me scale WODs around my existing injuries and weakness while working to function like an athlete again putting up solid CFT and PR’s and I. CAN’T. WAIT!

If you aren’t familiar with the terms, several things I just said in the above paragraph you may not understand. If you curious about what the lingo and jargon for Crossfit is, you can brush up things here and here.

Until next time…

Iron Built. Iron Born.