Gearing Up

The school year is fast approaching, and things will be getting started soon. Things will be a bit different this year: Jon's gotten a level one certification, and we may have some new things going on in terms of the facilities and equipment available to us. Hopefully we'll be able to make good use of it all and everyone will be able to get some benefits and make some advancements. I thought I'd start things off with a thoughtful piece on training written by Rob Shaul, owner/trainer of Mountain Athlete, in Jackson Wyoming:

"When the roads are dry enough, I favor a running-based, power endurance effort over a rower, or gym based effort. One of the many conflicting things I find in the literature from the "experts" is the transferability of cardio-modes to one another.

By "cardio-mode" I mean running, rowing, swimming, biking - or non-gym based ways to make athletes breath.

Part of the goal is to train energy systems. Expert Endurance coaches describe training our aerobic energy system buy doing long, slow, distance training. We burn fat for energy on these efforts, and the more we do, the more efficient we become. This is bad for losing weight, but great for performance on endurance efforts.

Heart rate training experts like Joe Friel, however, note that the aerobic "zone" and other heart rate zones differ between modes. In other words, working hard while running occurs at a lower heart rate than at biking and swimming.

Glassman says aerobic conditioning is definitely "mode specific" - which is why great endurance athletes will "blow up" aerobically when subjected to their first intense CrossFit-inspired circuit which includes a barbell or dumbbell exercise.

So, we need to train mode specifically - according to our sport - in addition to general conditioning.

I've had big guys who could crush the rower, but get crushed by a run. Thing is, rarely do you row anywhere in the mountains. So the rower is a great general conditioning tool, but its transferability to running and hiking uphill is not perfect. And I've had guides who can run and hike uphill fast and forever, likewise "flail" when subjected at first to the rower.

One of the dangers of our programing is we can lose site of the goal. We train in the gym to complement and improve our training and performance in the field, or for our sport. The gym training can become its own "sport" - which can lead to neglect of our sport specific training and practice.

The CrossFit advocates argue that their approach is the best preparation for many sports and they point to how well CrossFitters do in competitions as proof.

They could be right, but this has not been my experience. Hybrid training may take you far down the competition road, but to truly be elite, I believe most athletes need to more and more sport specific in their training the closer they get to the competing season."

He runs a great, thoughtful site, and the url for this quote is here: http://www.mtnathlete.com/id198.html.

Anyways, once we get an idea for when everyone gets back, we can start things up again.

Headquarters

As some of you may or may not know, Jonathan recently got a level 1 certification at Crossfit Camp Pendleton. The following is his first write up of the experience:

I recently attended the Level 1 Cert at Camp Pendleton. Here’s a brief review of the cert for those of you who have been toying with the notion of dropping $1,000 on two days of training. I will follow this short post up with a longer meditation on CF programming theory as it compares with the approach that Mark Twight is using at GymJones. Stay tuned.

Was it worth a thousand bucks? Yes – and here’s why:

Prior to the cert, CrossFit sends you a ton of pdf. files to read; they literally send you a link to every CF journal issue ever published online. If you do all of the assigned readings (if you’re like me, you’ll do far more reading than is assigned), you go into the cert with a fantastic background in CF theory, movement-mechanics, and philosophy.

The classroom sessions during the cert thoroughly reinforce, and expand upon, the online study materials. A two hour long Q&A with Coach Glassman gives you plenty of time to ask skeptical questions (e.g. “What about cardio?”; “Why don’t workouts incorporate the Turkish getup?”) and to probe the boundaries of CrossFit’s empirical fitness paradigm.

Coach Glassman is the egghead’s meathead. He speaks authoritatively, with the diction of one who is versed, not only in sports-medicine and kinesiology, but also in basic philosophy of science. He defends only those parts of his program that have been empirically verified as successful (you may or may not have realized that the CF message boards are part of an open-source, exercise-data bonanza that Coach has been using to test theories about the relationship between training stimulus and adaptive response). When presented with new ideas about programming, his reaction was almost always: “Try it, and let me know how it goes.” If it increases performance without negative externalities – do it. That is precisely how the current CF program has evolved – scientific, verificationist trial and error.

The physical training sessions provide an opportunity to practice every fundamental WOD movement under the expert supervision of some of the best CF athletes/trainers (for me, this included Adrian Bozman and Jenevive Jolie). These sessions allow you to perfect your own movement, and to try your hand at spotting and correcting errors in other people’s movements. You may think (as I once did) that your deadlift technique leaves nothing to be desired, but the experienced trainers can spot subtle mechanical errors that your gym-buddies simply don’t notice. You will receive valuable corrections and you will improve.

Finally, performing the daily workout with 50+ people grunting and cheering you on (and Rage Against the Machine playing in the background) is a memorable adrenaline rush.

With maximum respect,
-Forney

P.S. I tried this very simple, deadly workout the other day: 120 Burpee-Pull-Ups, for time. (The jump from the burpee should carry you into a kipping pull-up in one continuous motion). At 16:22, this was a grinding workout that I would highly recommend.

Stay tuned for more...

"Jonesworthy" and the end of the year

First, congrats to Armando for joining me in doing the "Jonesworthy" workout. As follows:

Squats: 80 - 64 - 48 - 32 - 24 - 16
KB Swings (53lb): 40 - 32 - 24 - 16 - 12 - 8
Pull-ups: 20 - 16 - 12 - 8 - 6 - 3

Round 1 is 80 squats, 40 swings, 20 pull-ups...

Armando: 29:52
Bin: 26:17

It's the end of the year, so of course everyone's going their separate ways and things are going to be slowing down here. I'll still be in Charlottesville, in case anyone is around. And of course, if anyone does any interesting workouts over the summer, let us know here...

Do we belong?

"Skirmish"

Team Fight Gone Bad (3 rounds)-

Stair stepper (calories)
Goblet Squat (24 kilo)
KB Swing (24 Kilo)
Rope Climb
1 minute rest

1 minute at each station then rotate; reps for each team totaled to decide winners, then:

"Loser's revenge"

2 for 1 Wallball shots - 50 reps
Barbell complex (DL, PC, HC, FS, PJ) - 95lb with Bear rules, 20 reps

Teams were reshuffled and chose each exercise at random. Reps listed was the total for the team, and the individual from the losing team of the first exercise decided when turns could be taken.

Start

Stop

Drop

Drive

Finals Time

Gentlemen, start your engines. This is the time of year when the workouts go from “normal” to “compared to finals this ain’t that bad” or alternatively “I’d honestly rather get punched in the neck than go through that again.”

I don’t know about undergrads but finals on North Grounds start tomorrow, which means it’s time to buckle down and go tough, go big, go fast, and go heavy . . . and keep on going until there is no more left.

It’s time to take it to the next level and finish the semester out right. That means that the workouts coming up should be harder than usual, both mentally and physically. That means finish everything you start. Encourage one another. Hoot and holler. Get into it. And if anyone looks at you funny, make them do burpees.
- Chadron

For those of you who weren't at the workout today, because of exam schedules in the following week, we're encouraging everyone to try and devise pickup group workouts. Simply post in the comments section when and where you'd like it to happen, and whoever can make it will go. These aren't meant to be terribly organized or large in number, but just as a way for people to get creative and workout together. Even if you haven't made up a workout before, give it a shot; we can always figure out the kinks at the workout itself.

Some finals reading:

http://www.gymjones.com/schedule.php?date=20080423
http://www.slipstreamsports.com/2008/04/24/to-suffer-is-the-currency-of-racing/
http://www.performancemenu.com/shorties/index.php?show=shorty&shortyID=36
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/business/worldbusiness/26food.html?ex=1366948800&en=41338890f8a23d58&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4362041487661765149

Who's pushing who?

Bin's Choice

I won't be able to do the group workout this coming Sunday either, so I just thought I'd post something different so that I can still do stuff with everyone. Below are three separate workouts that I'm going to do and report on at some point in the week. Nothing too crazy, so I'd encourage anyone interested to try them out as well.

"2nd effort"

Max pull-ups
Tabata Rows
Max pull-ups

- For the pull-ups, bring the bar to your adam's apple (no chicken-necking), and you can hang and rest if you like and keep counting pull-ups, so long as nothing touches the ground.
- Rows are done for a full eight rounds (20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest, total of 4 minutes) at level 4 on the wheel. The computers stop counting if the wheel isn't moving, so you'll have to track time yourself. This is scored for total calories at the end.
- My previous: 25 PU, 73 Calories, 13 PU

"Thighmaster"

3 rounds for time:

Stair jumps
400m run
1.5 Bodyweight Deadlift x 3

- This assumes you're in Mem Gym. Going from the weight room to the track, jump the stairs in sets of three, both feet jumping and landing at the same time. Feel free to descend the stairs however you want.
- Dead stop on the Deadlifts; no bouncing weights

"Half-Dagwood" (taken from Mountain Athlete)

3 rounds for time

10 x Sandbag Clean & Squat
10 x HSPU
10 x Ab-chair sit-ups
10 x Pull-ups
10 x Jingle Jangle
1 min rest

- Requires Mem Gym again. The smallest punching bag in Mem Gym is fairly easy to take down. Bring it from the ground to your shoulder, stand up, then do a full squat.
- Hand Stand Push Ups are done from full extension until your head touches the ground, hands at shoulder width. Anything else is considered scaling
- Ab-chair refers to the contraption in the bag room for doing sit-ups. Tilt it all the way back and touch your feet for a full rep.
- Pull-ups are strict. No kipping. Adam's apple to the bar.
- Jingle Jangle is a shuttle run between two cones set 5 yards apart. Both feet must pass the cone, and once across is a rep.
- Take the full minute to rest. This work will add up quickly.

Lone effort