wheels within wheels...

OK, Sorry for the lack of workouts posts the last couple of days. Plans are afoot and will be revealed on Wednesday.........

Back Overhead (Saturday 27 June 2009)

We haven't looked at Overhead squats in a while so let's hit them for a quick Saturday workout.

Buy In: Pistol Progressions

Strength: OHS 5x2, 1x1

Front Squat 10-15 reps

Conditioning

21-15-9 for time:

Burpee to box jump

Tyre sledge hammer slams

(Compare to 043009)

Cash Out: 100 jump rope - 50 double unders - 100 Jump Rope

Have fun. Big developments next week with the workouts so keep an eye on the site.

Posts your weights and times to comments or your FK.UK log.

Vires et Honestas

Dead Reckoning (Wednesday 24 June 2009)

In the near future I am going to be having you all work towards calculating your 1 rep max efforts for a variety of lifts. For some of you, that means workouts with a couple of single effort lifts and for others it means sets of 3-5 heavies. Why the difference? Comes down to your experience level with training. Novice lifters (those lifting for a year or less) shouldn't be lifting their 1 rep weight because the form is often not quite dialled in right so it can be dangerous. For these lifters an adequate 1 rep lift value can be calculated from the 3 or 5 rep max numbers. For the intermediate lifter a true 1 rep effort can be used every so often without cause for worry.

Whatever your experience level, expect to see some heavy lifting coming your way.

In the spirit of that we will be doing some heavy deadlifts today to get a general idea of where we are.

Buy In

Pistol Progression

Strength

Deadlift 5 x 3

Conditioning (Muscular Endurance)

For Time
30 Pull-up/60 Squats
25 Pull-up/50 Squats
20 Pull-up/40 Squats
15 Pull-up/30 Squats
10 Pull-up/20 Squats
5 Pull-up/10 Squats

Cash Out

PNF stretching with a partner

As always, post times/weights/thoughts to comments or your FK.UK log.

Vires et Honestas

We're Baaaack! (Tuesday 23 June 2009)

So we're back from the week off in Turkey. The weather was great, but too hot for anything more than swimming in the pool/sea and drinking ice cold beer. Most days it was at 33-34 Celsius (91-93F) by 08:30 and hit 38-42 in the early afternoon (100-104F). Two days it hit 44 which is a melting 111 degrees Fahrenheit!

So, to work off the beer and pastry, and to get you all back into the swing of it we will start as we mean to go on, i.e. quick and nasty!

Buy in

Run (not jog) twice round the block

15 Kipping Pull-ups

Conditioning

20-15-10 for time of

Power Cleans @ 60% max clean)

Hand Stand Push-Ups (or progression level)

Cash Out

Flexibility work and joint movement exercises

You will notice we are no longer specifying defininte alternatives for Optio/Legionary's. This is because we are going to use a scaled workout system whereby any weights are given as a percentage of your max in order to ensure that we are all working at roughly the same intensity and should, in theory, finish the workouts in a similar time frame. We will also be looking at alternate rep schemes to accomplish the same effect, so instead of a 20-15-10 in the above, we may have you use a 15-12-9 scheme with slightly more weight depending on where your weakness lies.

Weirdly enough, I was speaking to Chet over at FK.UK about this very scaling scheme before the vacation and lo and behold, I return to find none other than Dutch Lowy has written a startlingly similar solution on his excellent blog (read it here). Great minds think alike (OK, his great mind and my not-so-great one).

Have fun with the workout. Posts your weights and times to comments or your FK.UK log.

Vires et Honestas

Friday Fun Run (Friday 12 June 2009)

Short sharp run today using the interval method again to get more bang for our buck.

For the Olympic work, perform a short warm-up of each lift type then perform just 3 sets of 2, working up to a max effort on the last set.

Buy In
Negative Muscle-Up x 15
Burg/BWLA warm-ups

Skill
Snatch 3x2
Clean and Jerk 3x2

Conditioning
3K track workout
Sprint 400m
Jog 200m
Sprint 400m
Jog 200m
Sprint 400m
Jog 200m
Sprint 400m
Jog 200m
Sprint 400m
Jog 200m

Followed by
3 rounds for time of
Sit-ups x 20
SuperMan x 20

Cash Out
hand stand practise

Post times and weights to Comments or your log.

Another reminder that we are closed next week for vacations.

Vires et Honestas

Thursday Thrusterthon (Thursday June 11 2009)

Sorry for the late posting folks, ISP problems kept me offline for the evening. All sorted now though.

Thought I would give you the choice today. I have listed two conditioning workouts and you get to decide which one you do. There is no strength work today because both conditioning routines have some strength/skill components mixed in.

Buy In

Negative Muscle Ups x 14

Burg/BWLA progressions

Conditioning Choice A

(Taken from the CrossFit Main site on Sunday June 6th)

Five rounds for time of;

21 x 35Kg Thruster

21 x Double Unders

Scale weight to ability and if you can't do double unders do 35 tuck jumps

Conditioning Choice B

"Grace with a twist" - Normally 30 Clean and Jerks for time, we are altering the movement to a Clean and Thruster. Cleans are full squat cleans NOT power clean followed by a squat and thruster.

For time

30 x 62.5Kg Clean and Thruster

Scale weight to ability, even if that means using a PVC pipe. We want more of a metabolic effect rather than this being a purely strength based exercise.

Cash Out (Co-ordination)

Seated wall toss test

Just like Steve McQueen in The Great Escape, sit with your back to a wall. Throw the ball with the right hand so it bounces on the floor then up on the opposite wall before catching in the left hand. Repeat for 30 seconds and count the successful repetitions. Rest 30 seconds then repeat, throwing with the left hand, catching with the right.

Post choice of routine and times to comments or your FK.UK log.

Sprint training will be held this evening at the Varisty Centre in Guildford as usual.

Quick Note: Just to remind you that we will be closed (and there will be no blog postings) for a week from this coming Saturday due to vacations.

Vires et Honestas

Tuesday tech (Tuesday 09 June 2009)

Back to the squat snatch today after our brief flirtation with the split snatch. From a sport's perspective, the split versions of the clean and the snatch are actually more beneficial to most athletes, especially those in track and/or field sports, but it is important we master the squat versions.

Today's assistance exercises are the fundamentals of the clean and the jerk. As always, we must resist the temptation to increase the weights too substantially. If the bar is too heavy then the motion will change into something different, thus losing the point of the whole thing.

Buy In

Negative Muscle-Ups x 12

Burgener/BWLA Warm-up

Strength/Skill

Snatch: 5 x 2

Clean DeadLift 3x3 @ 110% Clean

Clean Pull 3x3 @ 95% Clean

Jerk Starts 3x3 @ 125% Jerk

Conditioning

For time

15 Pull-Up/1 Burpee

14 Pull-Up/2 Burpees

to

2 Pull-Up/14 Burpees

1 Pull-Up/15 Burpee

Cash Out

Double Unders x 40

(As few sets as possible)

As usual, post times/weights/reps to comments or start a log over at FK.UK.

Vires et Honestas

My Position...... (Monday 08 June 2009)

We are looking at the Clean and Jerk today again. Remember, we want a nice first pull then an explosive hip action to bring the bar up and allow us to drop under it into the receive position. Aim for your max effort on the last set, even if you can only get one repetition out.

The Cash out is working some agility drills to help loosen up the legs after the heavy lifting and leg centred conditioning routine. Try to keep your feet quick and your body in the correct position (back straight and uprights, big chest, legs prepared with a slightly greater than 90 degree bend at the knee with your weight on the balls of your feet); my American Football players know this as the "football position" but it's amazing just how many other sports have a similar body position requirement but coaches fail to realise it and don't drill it in to their players (in fact, if you think about it, it's not that far away from the get-set position for the olympic lifts so the skills will transfer over).

Still working towards a muscle up for the Buy In; negatives are a great method in that they build up the strength required to master the movement and at the same time help cement the muscle memory of the technique.

Buy In

Negative Muscle-Ups x 10

Burgener/BWLA Warm-up

Strength/Skill

Clean and Jerk: 5 x 2

Snatch Deadlift @ 105% snatch

Snatch Pull @ 95% snatch

Conditioning

Four Rounds for time of:

400m Run

20 Swings @ 25 Kg

20 Box Jump (24 inch)

Optio: 15Kg Swing/20Inch Jump

Legionary: as Optio but 15 reps per set.

Cash Out

Agility Ladder work

Ickey Shuffle x 2

two foot shuffle x 2

CrossOver Shuffle x 2

Post Weights/Reps and times to comments or your FK.UK log.

Vires et Honestas

Painstorm (4 June 2009)

We are taking a break from our look at the Olympic lifts and assistance exercises to do a Painstorm. These are tough workouts not for the faint of heart that are issued monthly by a cadre of CrossFit trainers across the globe (a list of past Painstorms can be found here). They are always nasty and are a challenge to even the most hardened of athletes.

June's Painstorm comes courtesy of Davie from CrossFit Central Scotland and is a mash up of the three benchmark CrossFit workouts Fran, Elizabeth and Diane.

Painstorm

One Bar, Three Girls

21-15-9 rep rounds of
Thrusters
Pull-ups
Squat Cleans
Ring Dips
Deadlifts
HSPU's

Use the same load for all weighted movements. 

Folks who are only a little nuts should use Fran weight (95lb/ 65lb), those bordering on lunacy could try Elizabeth weight (135lb/ 85lb) and if anyone is insane enough to try Diane weight (225lb, 185lb) I want to see a video of that!

For those not yet up to speed with even the Fran weight, scale as much as required so that form is not sacrificed for speed.

Post time and weight used to Comments or your FK.UK log.

If that doesn't interest you, sprint training is on as usual from 7pm on the Astro Turf at the Varsity Centre in Guildford.

Vires et Honestas

No ordinary snatch.... (Tuesday 2 June 2009)

We continue our look at the Olympic lifts; today a variation on the snatch. Instead of the now standard squat snatch we will be looking at the split snatch which used to be the norm in olympic competition. Some people find this easier to master; probably because it's less intimidating to get under the bar than a full squat snatch.

The Cash out today focuses on an often neglected part of fitness - flexibility. Just because it's not sexy doesn't mean we should forget it entirely!

Buy In

10 Negative Muscle-Ups

1 min total handstand (wall assisted if required)

Strength/Skill

Split Snatch 5x1

Deadlift 5, 3, 1, 1, 1

Conditioning

Death By Dead Hang Pull-Ups

followed by

30xGHD Sit-ups

30xBack Extension

Use Jumping Pull-ups as required

Scale reps to ability.

Cash Out

PNF Hamsting Stretches

Spine rollers

Post results to comments or your FK.UK log.

Vires et Honestas