A deck of cards goes a long way

I hope every one had a wonderful Christmas. So much food and candy was consumed at my family's home. During Christmas I just ate and ate and ate. My family and I played card games most of the day while drinking coffee to stay awake. After awhile I felt uncomfortable and needed to burn some energy. I used the Deck of cards that we were playing with and put together a little workout.

Spades were weighted squats, Clubs were air squats, Hearts were sit ups and Diamonds were push ups. Face cards are worth ten. I just grabbed random family members for the weighted squats. I picked them up Fireman style. In Front of the fireplace I just flipped a card over and did what ever the required exercise and rep was. Keep going until the deck is finished. The heaviest I squatted was my brother the lightest my sister. A total of 95 reps per exercise. Sometimes you get a couple of spades back to back. Fun and easy to do in my living room with my family chipping in on the. A deck of cards can go a long ways.

1 minute on 1 minute off + playing in a tree wod

1 minute on 1 minute off for ten minutes. For 1 minute 30 kettlebell swings , then rest one minute. If you do not get 30 swings in 1 minute add 100 double unders at the end.

This is a wod I got off of the crossfitfootball website. Except that they are using so much more weight than I can handle. I just used this cinder block near my house. I actually found a stone that I could stuff into the bottom hole to make it heavier. I think the weight was about right. I finished the first and second rounds with just 2 seconds left. The third and fourth with one second left. The fifth actually got me. I was about to swing my last rep when my timer went off.

I rested for about five minutes before I had a go at my 100 double unders. I managed all 100 double unders unbroken. I was happy with that. My max before was 109 unbroken. I actually felt like I could have beat that today.

When I finished with the double unders I was doing some light stretching by a tree. This tree has a large branch about a full reach off the ground. I pulled my feet and legs up around it and locked them so I could hang upside down and do sit ups. Touch the ground then touch my toes. This felt pretty good so I made up a little workout to add to the day.

As many rounds in 10 minutes of

5 hanging upside down sit ups ( touch your toes)

1 muscle up to the top of the branch

5 dips on the branch

I did manage 9. Towards the end the sit ups were getting really hard. The muscle up was the hardest. I could just barely get my chest up on the branch. Then I would have to fight to get the rest of the way up. Once on top of the branch I would do 5 dips. These are harder than they seem. A fun workout in a tree that got me several stares from people walking by.

Max effort hill sprints

A couple of weeks ago I went on a beautiful hike. My friend and I hiked to the top of Bear peak. Along the way I noticed this large hill with a steep trail going towards the summit. My friend and I talked about coming back and running up that steep trail for a workout. Today I set out to do just that. This steep hill is about a half mile from the trail head. So I spent that half mile getting warmed up with shorter sprints and drills. I had on plenty of clothes so my core temperature was up and I was ready to go when I got to the start of the steep trail.

3 x max effort sprints up a steep hill. When I say steep I mean really steep. Like you sometimes have to use your hands to help you along. After a warm up lap I knew I was not going to be able to run to the top of this thing. So I figured I would just go full tilt boogie until I had to stop. That is what I did. 3 full effort sprints until I hit failure. My efforts got me close to the summit but not quite. I would end up in just about the same spot each time. between 1 min 10 secs sprinting and 1 min 14 secs. I wanted to throw up every time. Even though I couldn't run to the top I would still walk or crawl my way to the top. My legs were like Jello after this.

I cooled down for a bit on the walk back to the trail head with some light stretching. As I returned to the trail head I was starting to feel better.

I added a little progression ladder at the trail head. 10 air squats + 1 to 10 of handstand push ups. So 10 squats 1 hspu, 10 squats 2 hspu, 10 squats 3 hspu's and so on until I got to ten. I found a couple of stones to use to help make the handstand push ups elevated. I used a tree for balance. This lasted about 12 minutes. I was totally wrecked after this workout. Ready for food and football.

The snow has arrived

I had plans to run the flat irons trail again this morning. However, a winter storm has showed up. The streets are covered in snow and there are no signs of it stopping soon. I am pretty much a wuss when it comes to being outside in the cold and snow. So, I scrapped my plans to run the flat irons trail today. Instead I improvised a little and ran the stairs in my apt building. I live in a four story apt building that has 52 stairs from bottom to top.

For 20 minutes I would run to the top hitting every step on the way. When I am back at the bottom I would then sprint to the top skipping a step. I found out during my warm up that I could just barely get two trips to the top in under a minute. So that is what I set out to do. 40 trips to the top in 20 minutes. I didn't make it. I finished with 37 in 20 minutes.

Even though the weather got in the way of my plans. I still managed to get something done today and I feel a whole lot better for it. Christmas is a week away and I am excited. Happy Holidays everyone.

Spartan "300" home workout challenge

Spartan 300 challenge

25 pull ups

50 pistol squats (25 each leg)

50 push ups

50 split jumps (L/R=1 )

50 toes to bar

50 reverse burpees

25 chin ups

I came across this link today for a race called the Spartan death race. A crazy 3 mile or 8 mile gauntlet type of race. Looked really interesting. I found some interesting videos on youtube about the race as well. After checking out those videos I came across some old videos of the "300" workout. A workout put together by Mark Twight at Gym Jones in Salt Lake City. Gym Jones is the place where the cast of the movie "300" trained to get ripped for the movie. The "300" workout is no joke. I have done it once or twice before a long time ago and I remembered how brutal it was. Well I decided to put together a little home workout version of this workout as described above.

I finished this version in 30 min and 44 secs. The first set of pull ups I managed unbroken. The pistol squats or single leg squats were brutal. I decided to do a full set of 25 on each leg before moving on to the next instead of alternating each leg. The left leg was a real struggle for me. Hard to do them and keep my heel on the ground. I kept loosing my balance on the way up as well. Not sure what the issue was there. I need more practice with these. The right side was much better. Faster and better technique. Push ups were unbroken. Then came the split jumps. Basically in a lunge position jump and switch your legs and land back in the lunge position. Left side then right side equaled 1 rep. The lactic acid built up really fast in my quads on these. I managed 17 then 15,10 and 8 before finishing. The toes to bar were not bad. I finished them in three sets. I think it was 25, 15, 10. The reverse burpees were awesome. I have never attempted a reverse burpee before. I loved them. Fun and challenging. This slowed me down more than I had expected. From lying on your back position you rock a hard sit up so you can come up to your feet. Stand up then do a hand stand. When you come back down just go to your feet and then back down tell you are lying on your back again. I really enjoyed them. I finished the chin ups in two sets.

A great home workout. I would really like to see someone finish this faster. 20 mins maybe. Try this "300" workout if you think you are spartan tough.

Here is a video explaining the actual 300 workout. Which you should also try if you are familiar with these lifts.

Here is a video of a couple of guys doing the reverse burpees. Fun exercise. Give them a try.

Here is a cool video of Mark Twight training the crew for the movie

Nothing tastes as good as being lean feels

I came across this article on marksdailyapple.com about the psychology of giving up your favorite foods to look and feel better in life. I thought the article was really interesting and I wanted to share it. You can read the article here.

Maximum rounds in 12 mins

Maximum rounds in 12 min of:

50 meter sprints

10 squat jumps

10 hand stand push ups

I finished with 7 rounds + 4 squat jumps. I got this workout from Marksdailyapple.com's workout of the week. I just tweaked it a bit with the Handstand push ups instead of regular push ups. This afternoon after climbing I jogged up to the park in my neighborhood to get some sprinting going on. Going into this wod I thought 10 rounds was possible. I think it certainly is for most. However I got slowed down on the hand stand push ups. The first 2 rounds were unbroken at 10 a piece. Then I could only manage 5 on the first go and a few more after that. I did feel pretty strong through out the 12 minutes. The sprints and the squat jumps were a great combination.

Core work

50 full sit ups ( touch top of feet)

20 of the following lower complex ( 1 leg lever, then raise your feet back up and do 2 hip raises=1 rep)

50 full sit ups ( touch the top of feet)

My abs will be sore tomorrow for sure.

I had a great day today. Got up kind of early and went climbing in the Flat Irons. Had a great hike to the base of the climb and a great climb. The temperature was amazing today. For climbing and working out in the park. Great day indeed!

Renegade Man Makers

5 rounds of:

10 renegade man makers

45 walking lunges with 10 push ups ever 15th, 30th and 45th lunge

1 sit start rope climb 15'

Another beautiful sunny day here in Boulder. When I got off from work I asked a co worker if they were interested in training at a park nearby. He mentioned that he had a couple of 30lb dumbbells lying around. I suggested he bring them to the park and I would bring my rope and we came up with this wod.

I have never attempted a man maker before and I like them. I Love them! The lunges kicked my ass as well as the push ups. Doing the push ups made the rope climb so much harder. I messed up my timer on my wrist watch some time around the 15 minute mark so I don't really know how fast we finished this workout. I really enjoyed this workout. Being outside at the park in the sun. Getting a new friend involved was also a plus. Great day ! Great workout!

Gassers

A gasser is a sprint from one sideline of a football field to the other and back and again to the other side and back. From sideline to sideline on a football field is 53 meters. So a full gasser is a 212 meters sprint.

Today after work I jogged up to a park by my apt with my rings, my jump rope and heart full of ambition.

After a good warm up I started off with 5 rounds of full gassers. The first three were pretty good. The last two my legs were not responding as I wanted them to. My times for each were 40 secs, 42 secs, 43 secs, 43 secs and 43 secs. I was pretty happy to keep each one below 45 secs. The rest ratio was 1:3 on these.

After a couple of minutes to catch my breath I got started on the second part of this workout. During my warm up I set my rings up in a tree in the park. The second half went like this

50 double unders

25 ring dips

40 double unders

20 rings dips

30 double unders

15 ring dips

20 double unders

10 ring dips

10 double unders

5 ring dips

I finished in 7 mins 40 secs. The double unders were pretty easy. Each set unbroken. The ring dips got me on round two. The first set was unbroken and felt good. The second set I made it to 17. I thought I would be able to get them all unbroken. But on 18 I just failed. It was pretty close through every set after that. I hit failure with just a couple of reps left.

For core work I did 5 rounds of 10 V sit ups coupled with 30 secs supermans. All of this work felt pretty good.

Tabata this

Tabata- 20 secs work with 10 secs rest X 8

Pull ups 44

Toes to bar 40

Push ups 94

Air squats 130

Studies have shown that when athletes perform tabata intervals, they increase both aerobic (endurance) and anaerobic (short bursts of energy) capacities more than any other type of cardio. Tabata intervals can be used as a fat burning method and can also improve performance in most aerobic and anaerobic sports.

One tabata interval is only going to last four minutes. Trust me, it is going to be the longest four minutes of your life. When you try this, pick a couple of exercises and use lighter weight or body weight only.

Remember, in order to get the best results you have to push yourself. Go for the highest reps possible in 20 secs and then rest for ten. When the 10 sec rest is up get right back to work and have fun. Helps to have some sort of timer handy.

Stairs + Sandbag = Pukie

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

Sprint stadium stairs with 40 lb sandbag (60 stairs)

5 thrusters at the top of stairs with sandbag

5 turkish get ups at the bottom of stairs with sandbag

I finished with 6 rounds + 5 thrusters

I grabbed my sandbag and walked down to the high school for some work on the football stadiums stairs. It was pretty exhausting just to carry that thing to the stadium. I did some squats and lunges and presses with the thing on the way. Just to start my warm up.

There were 60 stairs from bottom to top of the stadium. Sprinting to the top with the sandbag had my lungs and quads burning. The thrusters were not easy. The TGU's were a total bitch.

The sandbag was awkward. Difficult to get set and I dropped it on my nose once. I did manage to get every set unbroken however. My goal was 8 rounds, but I underestimated the difficulty of this wod. The most challenging part was walking back home with my bag. My core was totally fried by this point and I had to keep changing shoulders every minute so I could make it back.

Bear Peak

Today the weather was sunny, warm and zero wind. I called a friend to see if he wanted to hike a local mountain with me. About 3 miles puts you on the top with amazing views of Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park in the North. Greys and Torreys Peaks dominating the western landscape and Pikes to the south. On the summit we had zero wind, clear skies and breathtaking views.

After the first mile I was feeling pretty loose and I had tons of energy. I felt like doing more than just hiking so I started to do push ups when we stopped for water or to check out the boulders on the way. I rattled off as many pull ups as I could when ever I found a tree branch low enough to grab on to. Towards the summit I would pick out markers in the distance and try sprinting to them. On the summit I was doing handstand push ups on a boulder and L sits between smaller boulders. I tried to get in some TGU's but the ground was not giving me the opportunity. Great day and a great hike. The world is my playground.

"Pleasure spiked with pain" chipper

WOD

For a time:

30 burpees

5 muscle ups

30 push presses

5 muscle ups

30 sand bag wrap around w/ 40 lb sandbag

5 muscle ups

30 Kettle bell swings

5 muscles ups

30 meters over head walking lunges w/ 40 lb sandbag

30 meters sprint with sand bag

5 muscle ups

30 retaining wall box jumps ( about 6 inches above the knees)

5 muscle ups

I finished in 26 min 20 secs.

This was probably the most fun I have had working out in a long time. I got the idea for this wod from a couple of places. The first was watching this video at the bottom of this post. Basically the guy in the video is doing muscle up s between every lift. My second source of inspiration for this wod is from Blair Morrison of Anywherefit. Blair's creativity is off the charts and his vision has helped change the way I train. Blair wrote this great article for Sicfit awhile back titled " Free of the Gym" and I have read it over and over. I love it!

This paragraph from the article resonates inside me now more than ever.

"Don’t be a barbell brat, lift whatever you can get your hands on. Weakness doesn’t respect proper equipment or hours of operation, so don’t stand on ceremony while you get choked out.

There’s nothing that burns me more than when I ask someone about a trip they took and they tell me, “It was great, but I couldn’t get to the gym.” Wrong. Nut up, go outside, and make your own gym. The biggest obstacle is not a lack of resources, it’s a lack of drive and a crippling self-consciousness. Get over it and your world becomes a playground. Trust me, it’s fun and you’ll be better for it the next time you “get to the gym.”

”

You can read the entire article here.

Some of the equipment I used for this wod was just the same ol crap I have been using from the demolition site. I used a cinder block for the KB swings. I have the sand bag. I used a 20 ft long beam that is lying outside my apt for the push presses. This sucker is heavy as hell. I just get under one end of it. I hang my rings in a tree in front of my apt for the muscle ups. I used the neighbors retaining wall for the box jumps and I just did the lunges down the side walk and sprint back up it. So basically I lift what ever I can get my hands on.

I started off with the burpees because I figured that would be the most difficult part of this wod. I was way wrong. The sand bag wrap around was by far the most difficult part. I have this 40 lb. sand bag and trying to pass it around my body was so difficult. My biceps were completely wasted after just five. Arms already fatigued from the previous exercises and they only got worse during the wrap around. I must have dropped the damn thing 10 times. I had to pick it back up and start again. Exhausting work but somewhat pleasurable. The rest of the wod went by a little quicker. The first round of muscle ups were unbroken, however after the push presses I could only manage 2 at a time until the end. Overall this is the most fun I have had training in months. "Pleasure spiked with pain. That mother fucker is always spiked with pain"

Diane with a Stone

Run 800 meters

21-15-9 of

Heavy ass stone dead lifts

Elevated hand stand push ups

Run 800 meters

"Diane" is a crossfit wod that a few people can finish in under 3 minutes. I do not have access to that kind of weight right now. So , I went back to the demolition site today. Picked out the same stone as last when I did the demolition wod. I think it is heavy enough and awkward enough for this modified version of "Diane".

I finished the first 800 meter run in 3 min 44 sec. Then the heavy ass stone lifts. The stone sits low and is very awkward to get off the ground. I have to get really low and stay focused in the core to get it off the ground. 21 seemed to take forever. For the hspu's I grabbed a couple of cinder blocks from a pile to make them elevated. This raised the bar about 7 inches making the hspu's really difficult. I had to break the first set into 11,7,3. The next 15 lifts were not as bad. However the hspu's got worse. I broke this set as well but more like 7,3,3,2. The last round was not bad either way. I finished the second run in 3 min 50 sec. For a total time of 26 min 48 sec. I got some interesting looks from the people walking by watching me pick up this big piece of rock. One guy actually asked if I needed help. He just laughed when I told him I was doing it for a workout. I had a really good time with this workout. I enjoyed lifting the stone. Hopefully I won't be too sore tomorrow because I have a really fun workout planned.

Here is a quick video of a guy doing "Diane" in about 3 min.

Progression Ladder and "Annie"

Every minute on the minute perform 1 pull up.

In the first minute do 1 pull up, in the second minute do 2 pull ups, the third minute 3 pull ups and so on until you are unable to perform the required reps in the one minute.

I finished with 12 rounds + 7.

I woke up this morning not feeling so great. I feel a cold coming on. So I just wanted to take it easy a bit today. I like these sort of progression ladders. You get a nice warm up in the early sets and get blasted in the end. Not my strongest effort in this sort of workout. I was doing the pull ups on a bar that was about 6 inches away from a wall. So this made my pull ups very strict. I could not get any kip out of them.

After the progression ladder I wanted to have a go at "Annie" a crossfit wod that is short fast and effective. 50-40-30-20-10 reps for a time of Double Unders and Sit ups. I have only done this one time before and I think I did it in a 7 min and some change. This time I finished in 6 min and 47 secs. A bit faster. I did not even think to anchor my feet for the sit ups. This would have made it way faster. The double unders were pretty easy. I did every set unbroken. No problem there. I think the best way to improve on this is to have my feet anchored for the sit ups.

I am just going to rest up the next couple of days and hopefully I will feel better by turkey day. I hope to get a good Thanksgiving day workout in. Then I wont feel as bad about all the food and beer I am going to consume.

Demolition Wod

Demolition Wod

As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of

5 heavy ass stone lifts

10 sand bag thrusters

20 lateral jumps over junk pile

A building had been demolished on my street earlier this week. I noticed a few heavy items lying around the demolition site while coming home. A few heavy ass concrete blocks. I really wanted to lift something heavy so I played around with the different size concrete blocks to see which one I could lift safely. I found the right one. I couldn't really say how much it weighed but it was a gigantic effort to get it off the ground. I found a few sand bags that weighed about 30 lbs. The sand bags were perfect for thrusters and I just piled up some other crap to give me something to jump over laterally. The lateral jumps were a good twist to doing box jumps. I finished with 6 rounds with just a few seconds left. Everything in this wod felt good. The best part was lifting the heavy concrete blocks. I left a nice hole in the ground were I kept dropping the stone.

30 Burpee-Pull up-Toes to bar

30 Burpee-Pull up-Toes to bar for a time:

I came across this quick wod sometime ago on Ricky Frausto's Strength Development Inc. website. Ricky is the owner of Crossfit Omaha and has several sites that I visit regularly for information on nutrition @ Nutrisimple or strength training advice and or inspiration and competition on the Crossfit Omaha main site. I thought this one looked really fun and simple and I figured I could bust this out just about anywhere.

I had plans to go climbing in Eldorado State Park so I figured I would get a nice fast work out in this morning. I just jogged a few blocks up the road to a park that has a few swing sets. I figured I would use the top of the swing set for my pull ups. I could just barely jump and hold on to the top of the set. The ground was also wet so when I did the burpee and then jumped up grabbed the bar It felt really insecure and I couldn't really get any momentum. This one factor made this wod just that much harder. Which was for the better. Everything else was pretty easy. I finished in just under 8 mins. I think 30 reps might have been too little however since I was planning on getting worked over climbing in Eldorado SP this was just what I wanted this morning. In the future I might try to do 100 of these for a time. Overall this was my first time performing a burpee pull up combo and I liked throwing in the toes to bar. Fun, Fast and Effective.

Here is a quick video of a bad ass doing 100 burpee pull ups. Imagine throwing in the toes to bar. Sick, Bluh!

The Flat Irons

The Flat Irons are these monolithic rock formations that tower over the city of Boulder Colorado in Chautauqau State Park. They are the back drop of the city and loom over your head no matter where you are at. The park has so many trails that you can hike or jog on skirting the base of these enormous pinnacles.

Today I decided to run the Flatirons trail. From my apt it is about 3/4 mile up hill to the park. Then easily another 3/4 mile up a steep hill to a sub vista over looking the park and the front range. I made it to the top of this vista in 16 minutes and 34 sec. This was a very steep and continuous run. Legs, calf's and lungs were burning after five minutes. After reaching this vista the trail can go up higher to the base of the flatirons and on to another vista where one can see Denver 37 miles away or meander on down through the park back to the start. I was really tired at this point so I decided to take the trail down and through the park and back to my apt. Finishing in 30 min 57 secs. The trails had snow on them in some places and were not to bad to run on so I am optimistic that I should be able to run this trail a few more times this winter. Hopefully getting my time down and improving my over all work capacity. Such a beautiful park to run in.

Boulder Colorado

After spending 9 weeks on the road visiting friends and climbing in 5 different states I have finally landed in Boulder Colorado. I had an amazing fall traveling and climbing. Now I feel it is time to get back to a routine and I am psyched.

Yesterday the sun was out and we had nice temperatures in the low 40's. Though it felt like the 50's. When I went outside I had an idea of what I wanted to do for a workout so I just had a look around the neighborhood for some useful objects. I found a pillar of some sorts that weighed about 65 lbs. I also found a cinder block that I wanted to use for KB swings. I busted out my rings and put this together.

5 rounds of

5 over head squats

10 ring dips

sprint 150 meters

rest 1 min

Tabata KB swings with cinder block

rest 1 min

5 rounds of

5 over head squats

10 ring dips

sprint 150 meters

I finished in 27 min 35 sec. A great workout and a great day to be outside. I was really tired after this one. The Over head squats were kind of a challenge because of the odd shape of this pillar. The pillar was round about 15 inches in diameter on one side and 10 on the other. This made it a little off balance and difficult to hold in your hands above your head. I had to really concentrate as to not drop it on my head.

The ring dips were just ok. I seemed to be tired the whole way through but still managed them unbroken. The sprints were pretty good. About 75 meters from my rings was the end of the street. So I sprinted to the end and back. The best part was it was down hill to the end and up hill coming back up. So I had 75 meter hill sprint that left me gasping for air before starting the over head squats again.

The tabata cinder block swings were fun and a little challenging. Hardest part was holding on to the block. I had gloves on which helped but my forearms were getting a serious workout from me trying to hold on to this block. I managed 9 every round except the last. I only managed 8 in the last round.

I finished the last five rounds in 10 min 37 secs. Tried to push my self hard. Just wanted to get it over with. This was a good one . Should be plenty sore tomorrow.

21-15-9

21-15-9 for a time of:

Box jumps

knees to elbows

double unders

sit ups

I finished in 7 mins and 1 sec. The major issue here were the knees to elbows. My friend and I were doing this workout in my front yard. We were using a little kids swing set to do the knees to elbows. The bar was a fatty making it that much harder to hold on to. As well the bar was only a few feet off the ground so you had to keep your legs bent behind you the whole time making it impossible to get any momentum. So i suppose you could say that these were strict knees to elbows.

For the box jumps we used a retaining wall that was about 3o inches high. The box jumps were never an issue. The double unders and sit ups all went smooth and unbroken as well. The first set of 21 on the knees to elbow I completed unbroken. The second set for 15 I broke at nine. The grip was going and my abs were tired as hell. The set of 9 all went unbroken.

By doing this outside in my yard using a few things like the swing set, instead of a pull up bar in the gym made this that much harder. Same thing with the box jumps. Could have gone to the gym and set up a bench or a box to 20 inches , instead all we had was the retaining wall and it was just high to be really hard and slow you down. Plus exercising outside is the best way to start the day.

Cindy round 2

"Cindy"

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of

5 pull ups

10 push ups

15 squats

A crossfit benchmark workout. The first time I did this wod was about one year ago and I finished with 24 rounds. A very challenging workout mentally and physically.

This time around I was shooting for 28 rounds. I finished with 26 and 2 push ups. An enormous effort. Not a huge jump up but I will take it. I know for sure I was very sore going into this workout from the two previous workouts. I tried to spend about 20 minutes going through a thorough warm up. This didn't really help much. Starting out I was moving really slow in the squats. I think allot has to do with my diet and my sleeping habits. I need to make a few adjustments for sure. From the 10 to the 15 th round I was moving pretty slow and taking time between each round. After 15 I started moving pretty fast. The last couple rounds were an enormous mental challenge. Overall I am happy with the slightest improvement.

I am looking forward to the next couple days. Going climbing.

Turkish Get Ups

Today I wanted to stay with the heavy lifting. I wanted to do some heavy Turkish Get Ups. I have not done these for awhile. Turkish get ups are a phenomenal full body exercise for developing strength, power, flexibility and coordination through the whole body. I set the clock at 15 minutes to work up to a heavy set of 1 on my weakest side. I decided to use the barbell for this exercise. I finished with 105 lbs. I maybe could have done 115 but I wasn't really going for a full max effort, just a heavy set.

I was a little sore from the weighted pull ups yesterday but that was about it. My legs handled the rest OK. After a pretty good warm up. The TGU's felt fine.

After:

2 rounds for a time

run 400 meters

12 kettle bell swings 70 lbs.

I finished in 5 min 21 secs. Using a dumbbell for the Kettle bell swings. I don't have access to that heavy of a kettle bell. I wasn't sure where I would finish with this wod. I just wanted to finish under 7 minutes. The swings were not really an issue but the running was. Expect to see loads more running in the future.

Short, Fast, and Heavy

3 rounds for a time of:

3 squat clean thrusters 185 pounds

4 weighted pull-ups 55 pounds b/w the legs

100 meters buddy carry ( Fireman style)

I finished in 6 min 51 secs. I really wanted to do something that was short, fast , intense and Heavy. All of this was pretty heavy for me. The squat cleans being the heaviest. Thinking about this workout now I think I have exposed a weakness in my training. That would have to be core strength. During the squat clean thrusters I would pull forward in the squat clean making it that much harder to come out of the squat and get the weight over head. With a stronger core I would be able to keep good allowing me to be able to do these no problem.

During the Fireman carry I recruited a kid from the gym who weighed about as much as I do about 190 pounds. With in the first 25 meters I would slump forward in the core making it harder to breath and carry this kid the full 100 meters. I will definitely make this a focus of mine to improve my core strength so that I can go again stronger and faster. On the positive side I did finish every round unbroken. That has sort of become a new theme of mine UNBROKEN! That is the chant I have in my head when faced with these difficult tasks. Keep going! Keep Pushing! UNBROKEN!

A sneaky one, climb a rope wod #4

20 ft rope climb, 5 ascents

Push a Ford Focus 150 meters

20 ft rope climb, 4 ascents

Push a Ford Focus 125 meters

20 ft rope climb, 3 ascents

Push a Ford Focus 100 meters

20 ft rope climb, 2 ascents

Push a Ford Focus 75 meters

20 ft rope climb, 1 ascent

Push a Ford Focus 50 meters

This was one of those really sneaky workouts. The kind that sounded fun and easy in the beginning. At the end left you wasted and tired thinking what the hell happened. Two things, I really love to train outside and I really enjoy climbing the rope. Especially now that someone has taught me how to get it down easier.

My friend Mike and I cruised around looking for a place to hang the rope and push my car. I have pushed my car several times in the past as sort of a prowler simulator. I am somewhat used to this. My friend Mike however has never experienced this kind of effort before. At the same time I have never pushed my car this distance before either. As well as the most I have ever climbed my rope in a single work out session before was 7 times during the climb a rope wod #3. Now we were looking to up the stakes a little or a whole bunch actually doubling the most we have ever done before to 15 rope climbs.

I finished in 16 minutes and 51 seconds. Mike finished in 27 minutes and 39 seconds. Climbing 300 ft of rope and pushing a car 500 meters. A great effort by the both of us. For me the first five rope climbs went really fast. Pushing the car went by way too fast as well. I remember feeling pretty leveled after that first round. I moved through the next four rope climbs trying to stay consistent. The third round of rope climbs is where I bonked. That little bit of doubt creep ed into my head. I remember thinking "will I be able to do this ", " This is way harder than I expected, what was I thinking". I just wanted it to be over with and fast. I kind of went out of my head a little and just kept going trying to not focus on the pain.

In the end I felt very satisfied that I kept with it and finished the workout. That is a difficult thing to do when you have this doubt in your head telling you it is to hard. So I am satisfied there. My friend Mike was up second and let me tell you this was inspiring to watch this man struggle as I did and keep on pushing. A couple of times mike would fail on the rope climb nearly making it to the top but reaching failure so close. This is extremely difficult because you loose a ton of mental energy. He stayed focused through the pain and disappointment and finished with style. Very inspiring indeed. A great workout and a very sneaky one. I actually thought this was going to be easy. Funny!

" Weakness doesn’t respect proper equipment or hours of operation"

I recently came across this article, Free of the gym, by Blair Morrison of Anywherefit. Check it out man.

Grace

So today I felt really good in the lower back area. I figured I would have a go at a Crossfit wod titled Grace. I have never actually done this before and I was really curious where I would finish. Especially since I have not performed any power cleans since November of last year.
Grace is 30 repetitions of ground to over head with 135 lbs. I have only done a wod similar to this on November 1st of Last year during the Scandinavian crossfit challenge I participated in in Halmstad Sweeden. During this competition each competitor had to perform 50 double unders and then 30 ground to over head with same weight ( 135 lbs) and then 50 more double unders. I finished this wod during the games in 4 min 45 seconds. At the time I thought my time was not very good. As it turned out it was good enough to give me second place in this event. The winner beat me by a full minute. Stud!
Anyway I warmed up on the rowing machine doing 2000 meters in about 9 mins. Went through the Burgener warm up. Added some weight for a few quick sets of five then I got after it.
My time was 2 min and 23 secs.
I am really pleased with this time and a little more motivated. I am confident I can get this in under two minutes. The first ten felt great. I probably should have kept going. However I decided to put the weight down and rest for ten seconds. Should have made it five. Then the second set of ten were OK . One rep was a little sloppy at the top that made me step forward and back and then reset in the bottom that I felt lost momentum. This second set of ten gassed me. I paused for another 15 or 20 seconds before going again. I did a quick set of 6 and then 2 and 2 to finish.
Power cleans are my favorite Olympic lifts to perform. I love the feeling of cleaning heavier weight off the ground. I really enjoyed doing this wod Grace. This is my first time and I am confident that the next time I do this wod I will get it under 2 mins.
Shortly after I did a two minutes of as many toes to bar as possible. I finished with 36. Grip strength was the limiting factor here which was surprising to me considering how strong I have felt climbing lately.
I have had some other really cool workouts with some friends lately photos coming soon. For now I am off to Yosemite for four days of bad ass climbing.

The most challenging workout this year

Run 150 trail stairs
21 KB thrusters using two 45# Kettle bells
Run 150 trail stairs
21 KB swings 45#
Run 150 trail stairs
15 KB thruster using two 45# Kettle bells
Run 150 trail stairs
15 KB swings 45#
Run 150 trail stairs
9 KB thrusters using two 45# Kettle bells
Run 150 trail stairs
9 KB swings 45#

By far the most challenging workout I have attempted this year. I finished this in 29 min and 4 secs. I actually thought that I would be able to do this in under 12 minutes. Ya, ummm way off. The stairs going up the trail to a vista over looking Emerald bay were random heights and distances apart. This made the stairs so challenging. Some steps had to be very powerful and others had to be quick. The trail was very steep as well. In the beginning my times for the stairs were around 40 secs, towards the end they were more like 1 min 15 secs. I thought that the first set of thrusters were really difficult. Just to finish them unbroken was a challenge. My friend Dan was working out with me today and he was the extra inspiration to keep me going. The swings were never an issue. Running the stairs were the most challenging part of this exercise, coupled with the swings and the thrusters made this one of the hardest wod's I have done this year.

19:36

Row 5K for a time
I tried something I have never done before. Row 5,000 meters for a time. The longest distance I have ever tried before this was only 2,000 meters. I finished with a time of 19 min 36 secs. I really have nothing to compare this time too. I know that going into it I expected this to be a huge mental challenge. Huge is an understatement. My strategy was to keep track of my progress 500 meters at a time. I wanted to keep each segment of 500 meters under the 2 min mark.
I managed this only barely. I think a couple of them were just slightly over by a few seconds. This work out required a ton of concentration. I needed to focus on technique to maximize each pull. As well as to keep my ass on the little seat. I needed to focus to make sure I did not slow down my pace. My grip started to bother me only after 2000 meters so the rest of the way my hands were completely pumped. I just figured this would be great accessory work for rock climbing. The last 500 meters were an all out sprint. At least that is what it felt like. It may not have looked that way. My goal was to finish under 20 mins. So the last 500 meters I was pulling hard to make sure I reached my goal.
I think overall I will chock this one up to a huge mental success. From this point forward on the rowing machine no other distance will compare.
Tomorrow I am meeting up with a friend to go out to Emerald bey to get in a great workout outside. I am really excited!

Rock climbing at Lover's Leap and a great met-con

Today was an amazing day. I met a couple of friends to do some multi pitch climbing at Lover's Leap. We were up and ready to go early , unfortunately many other people were as well. We got crowded off the first climb but that did not stop us. We headed straight for another classic. This worked in our favor and we enjoyed several hours of great free climbing amazing weather and stunning views in every direction.
After the climb my friends headed back to San Francisco and I headed over to the Sierra Athletic club to get some more training in. After yesterday working with the gymnastic rings I wanted to do something that I could incorporate the muscle ups with. This is what I came up with.
3 rounds for a time of
10 muscle ups
10 front squats w/155#'s
10 burpees
I finished in 15:01
This was a great wod. I finally got more than 5 muscle ups in a row. In the first round I did 6 consecutively. Not a huge improvement but I am happy with it. Then four more again. I finished the first ten pretty fast. I was really happy with that. The front squats were not bad. I did every one unbroken in each round. The burpees were not a problem either. The major factor in this wod were the muscle ups. The second and third rounds smoked me. I could not manage more than three and then I would just chip away one or two at a time. The last ten seemed to take forever. I really thought I would do this in less than twelve minutes. Not even close. :-) I probably should have done more weight with the front squats. I feel really good about this workout today. This is probably one of the most fun workouts that I have had in awhile and I love it when the sessions are fun. Tomorrow I am going climbing again and a BBQ and slack lining in my front yard after. Tomorrow will be a great day.

Angora lakes

After watching the world cup soccer game today I was extremely motivated. We are having such amazing weather here in Tahoe. I felt really guilty for spending the first part of the day inside watching the world cup finals. However after watching the celebrations it was worth the time spent.
My friend and I were eager to get outside and enjoy the day after the match. We came up with the plan to run Tabata sprints to Angora Lakes. 20 secs sprinting and 10 secs walking until we reached the Lake. The distance from the parking lot to the lake is not really that far however there is plenty of steep incline and elevation to make this a challenge. The best part of this workout session was that no matter where you were on the trail at the end of the 10 secs rest you still had to pick up and move your ass.
To me it was really amazing how fast the 10 secs rest went by compared to the 20 secs of sprints.
The total rounds to get to the lakes was 13. That is a little over four minutes of sprinting. Just before we left for Angora the original plan was to do tabata sprints to the lakes then go cliff jumping off of the many high cliffs surrounding the lakes. In the parking lot I noticed I had my gymnastic rings in the back seat. We decided to take them with us and work on doing muscle ups.
My friend Mike has never performed a muscle up before let alone see one done. So we worked on them for about thirty minutes. I just decided to do as many sets of 5 unbroken muscle ups as I could during this time. Not a very stressful workout. I finished with 7 sets of 5 unbroken muscle ups. After this I put what I believed to be a 15 lb. stone in my back pack and did a quick amrap of ring dips. I finished with 24. I really thought I was going to hit 30 but that was not the case.
We spent a few more minutes contemplating whether or not we should jump in the lake or not. Decided against it and trekked back to the car and headed home. The tabata sprints were amazing and when I reached the lake I felt like I was going to throw up my lunch for at least five minutes. The muscle ups are so much fun for me. I really love to do them. I just don't feel I do them enough. I will work on that. My goal for the rest of the summer is to be able to do 10 unbroken muscle ups. Tomorrow I am going climbing. So excited!

Summer time and the livin's easy

I have been out climbing with friends four days this week. Some fun easy climbing and some hard powerful climbing. I am pretty wrecked physically. My body is sore in the strangest places. I definitely need a rest day from climbing. I still felt like going to the gym and training today. I called up a friend that I new would be interested in doing some strength training.
We did strict press x1 push press x3 push jerk x5 and we repeated this five times with 3 min rest between sets.
I went with 155 lbs for this session. This weight was about right for the strict press. I was shooting for %85 of my 1 RM in the strict press for this session. I would have like to use 165, but I did not have the strength today.
We would perform one strict press then immediately do three push presses and then five push jerks with out putting the weight down. 155 lbs felt great for all five rounds. I would have liked to use more but I suppose I am just really tired from all the climbing lately.
After the presses we moved along to the row machine for a quick met-con. We decided to go with Tabata Rows. Which is 20 secs work and 10 secs rest x 8. So basically on the row machine we would sprint for 20 secs and rest for 10 secs repeating 8 times. Amazing effort if anyone has access to a rowing machine should try. We were going to set the computer to total meters but we couldn't figure how to stop the fly wheel from registering meters during the rest. We decided to go with calories instead. I think I did 64 total calories in the 8 rounds.
After the tabata rows we did an alternating tabata abs workout that I loved. We alternated toes to bar with butterfly sit ups. Exactly the same intervals as before on the rowing machine. 20 secs work and 10 secs rest x 8. We would do 20 secs of toes to bar and rest for 10 secs then 20 secs of sit ups then rest and back and forth doing four rounds for each exercise and a total of 8 rounds. On the toes to bar I did 8, 5, 7, and 8. on the sit ups I did 10 for each round.
Overall I had a great day today. I felt ok with the presses and I felt great on the rowing machine and I really loved the alternating tabata abs session.

The East face and a few missed wod's

The past couple of weekend for me have been packed with activity. I spent a weekend in Yosemite National Park climbing with friends virtually all hours of the day. This past weekend I went down to Lone Pine California to climb the East face of Mt. Whitney the highest point in contiguous states. An amazing trip. A journey that would challenge me to my physical limits as well as my mental limits and I love it. The Natural High.
Speaking of Natural High. My last few workouts have come from Natural High Crossfit of Alberta Canada, programming by OPT.
The workouts have gone like this.
2 rounds:
Run 1 min
Box Jumps (20"/14") 1 min
Double Unders 1 min
Rest 3 min

+ (10 min rest)

2 rounds:
Row 1 min
Run 1 min
Double Unders 1 min

+ (10 min rest)

2 rounds:
Box Jumps (20"/14") 1 min
DB Swing (30#/25#) 1 min
Double Unders 1 min

3 sets – rest 10 min between sets

As many rounds as possible in 5 minutes:
10 Push-ups
10 DB Thruster – 40/25
10 Double Unders

I scored four rounds in the first and second. In the third I hit the mental wall and could only do three rounds. Not very physically challenging because the times are so short but mentally challenging for sure.

Climbing a rope wod #3
10 min amrap of
15ft rope climb 1 ascent
10 burpees.
I scored 7 rounds, very challenging but I loved it.

3 rounds for a time of:
10 Chest to bar pull ups
20 double unders
30 box jumps
my time was 6:51

Joining a gym

Yesterday I finally signed up for a summer gym membership. I am joining Sierra Athletic Club for the summer. A great gym with great management and staff as well as members. This will allow me to lift heavier weights and work on other lifts such as the power clean and snatch.
I have not had access to a rowing machine all winter. I really missed training on this machine. Rowing is a great cardio-vascular and strength building exercise. Rowing works all the major muscle groups of the core, arms and legs and believe me will challenge any fitness level.
In the Scandinavian crossfit challenge I competed in last November we did Tabata intervals on the Concept2 rower. 20 sec of max out put followed by 10 secs of rest X 8. A total of four minutes worth of work left me, and I am sure I can speak for every other competitor, totally wasted.
Missing this impact in my training I was eager to get back on this machine and see what I could do. I set the clock at 12 minutes and decided I will row 2,000 meters as fast as possible and with the remaining time do as many double unders as possible until time runs out.
I finished the 2,000 meter row in 8 min 6 secs and performed a total of 157 double unders with the remaining time. I think the best thing I could say about this work out was that I was able to keep a consistent pace through the whole distance. I have never actually rowed a longer distance like this before. So mentally I figured i would just focus on 500 meters at a time. I think this approach helped out because my pace times were consistently at 2 mins. I am happy with this
The double unders were another story. I forgot my jump rope at the house prior to leaving for the gym. The club did have a couple of other ropes laying around and they were the old school kind with the little plastic pieces of different color on the rope. I thought this would be great because I am so used to my rope that maybe this would add a little extra challenge and it did. This rope was slow and awkward. Honestly speaking I don't think I would have managed very many more with my jump rope vs the gyms rope. I was just that tired in the arms and the legs. Overall a great work out that left me lying on my back for a few minutes after.
Below is a video of the tabata row in the Scandinavian Crossfit challenge November 1st 2009.

Primal on the Beach

Today the weather was fantastic. I would normally be out climbing however circumstances would not allow it today. I called up my friend Mike to see if he was interested in another training session at the beach. We both really enjoy training outside. Especially if you can go to the beach. You have the mountains , the lake and the beach to look at. The energy levels are usually so much higher when training outside under these circumstances.
At Kiva Beach there is a very large and heavy tree that has been laying around since I moved back into town. The last time we trained together at the beach we used this tree for 50 push presses in a chipper. Today we decided to use the tree for push presses again just a little different format. The wod went like this.
For a warm up we ran to the end of the beach and back ( about 1200 meters) stopping every minute to do 10 push ups, 10 air squats,10 sit ups, 3 burpees. Running in the sand with these dynamic movements really got the two of us warmed up. Next was the business.
15,12,9,6,3 for a time of Push presses and burpees. Moving back and forth between the two movements.
My time was 4min 57 secs, Mike's time was 7min 25secs.
I managed to do all of the sets unbroken. The most difficult part coming between the 15 burpees and the 12 push presses. I am getting more acclimatized to the altitude which is making things easier for sure. The first set of burpees still gassed me and I was sucking air the rest of the wod.
Mike chose to go first, which was both inspirational and motivating. After watching him push himself as hard as he did I was really psyched up and ready to grok it out.
Another great training session at the beach and with a good friend. Cant get much better than that.

Summer Sports

The weather has drastically improved this last week here in Tahoe. Temperatures in the high 60's , with blue skies and the warmth of the sun. Perfect climbing weather. I have taken full advantage of this amazing weather.
This last week I have been packing as much climbing and hiking in as humanly possible. At least for me.
The sport of climbing requires an extraordinary amount of physical skill. Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Coordination, Accuracy, Agility, Balance are all required of you when you go out climbing. As well as the mental fortitude and confidence that comes from your success on the rock. As a result of all the climbing that I have been doing lately I am crazy sore. My whole body feels like I have been hit by a car. Everything is sore from my fingers to my toes. A rest day is definitely in order. Which I hate because I really want to go climbing. In the interest in productivity I should definitely rest for a day or two.
I have got a couple of workouts in in the last week. I finally had a go at a crossfit w.o.d. named "Annie" .
50-40-30-20-10 of double unders and sit ups for a time. My time was 6 min and 1 sec. I did not really push my self very hard in the beginning of this wod so I feel like I could definitely take a half minute off from this time. I managed every set of the double unders unbroken until the last set my shoes were untied and I broke set with just three to go. After this wod I did a quick set of Tabata push ups. 20 secs work with 10 secs rest X 8. My score on the push ups was 86.
I also had a really great work out at the middle school track here in South Lake Tahoe. I did four rounds of run 400 meters and 50 air squats for a time. My time was 15 mins 16 secs to run a mile and do 200 air squats. I am getting more and more acclimatized to the altitude. Feels pretty good. My times for the 400 meter runs were 1:20 , 1:29, 1:49, 1:49.
I am planning on spending a good amount of time the next day or two just laying around resting. That is the Idea anyway. I say it here now but it probably wont happen.

Kiva Beach Chipper

Today in Lake Tahoe the weather is really bizarre. It is the very end of May and it has been snowing for most of the day. This did not stop my friend and I from going back to the beach for a good ol fashion primal workout. The last time I was at the beach doing stone dead lifts I noticed several natural elements laying around on the beach. More than a few stones large and small, a fallen tree, a very very large fallen Sequoia tree, and several handy pieces of drift wood and logs. Plenty of sand to make movement more challenging as well.
In my last visit to the beach my brain started cataloging all of Kiva beach's available resources. The ideas started to pile up. The w.o.d. went like this.
For a time:
200 meters run in the sand carrying a 10 kg stone
100 mountain climbers ( Left/Right=1)
50 Push presses with a fallen tree
25 meter log flip
10 Burpee double box jumps ( Burpee, get a running start jump on a tree stump then jump higher to a fallen Sequoia tree)
25 meter log flip
50 Push presses with a fallen tree
100 mountain climbers ( Left/Right=1)
200 meter run in the sand carrying a 10 kg stone

I was really unsure of myself going into this workout. However I was really excited to do something like this on the beach.
I finished in 20 minutes and 16 seconds. The Burpee double jumps being the most exhausting part of this workout. The altitude is such an issue for me. However I did break sets on the push presses a couple of times as well as with the mountain climbers. The first 200 meters run was difficult but I did not push myself that hard because I didn't want to "Blow my W.O.D." in the first minute. Which is exactly what it took me to run 200 meters carrying the stone. 1 min 7 sec. The second time running 200 meters was pretty hilarious. I started out good because I just wanted to finish under 20 mins. After the 100 meter mark I think I could have walked faster. I was just wasted.
My friend Mike finished in 27 minutes 01 second. Mike was really impressive the whole way through running fast and killing the mountain climbers. He got really hung up with the Push Presses. Chipping away 5 at a time until he finished. With a little more strength training he will be able to cut some serious time off of this work out. Mike had a very impressive showing and I enjoyed being there to help push him the way he pushed me.
Training at the beach in low 40 degree temperatures and snowing like crazy on and off was really inspiring. We even saw a bald eagle today. I will take that over sports center at the gym any day.

Atlas stones

Taking advantage of the what Lake Tahoe has to offer. And that is beaches, steep trails, big cliffs, large rocks, trees to climb or lift and stunning views in every direction. I could be paying $50 a month to go to a gym and lift weights. Honestly I will most likely be a member of said gym in a few weeks. However, right now I am really enjoying getting a workout in the outdoors in one of the most beautiful environments on the planet.
The last time I was training at the beach I noticed a very large stone sitting in the sand. I remember watching a video of Blair Morrison of http://crossfitmobile.blogspot.com/2009/09/morning-and-afternoon-in-sicily.html getting a workout in while he was on vacation in Sicily. Blair found a very large stone and did 30 dead lifts with the stone for a time.
I always thought that looked like so much fun and I have always wanted to try the atlas stones from the Worlds Strongest Man competitions. I am also reading the book Primal Blueprint. So, in a way I was pretty motivated to go Primal.
So I went back to this great beach to lift this rock. I did a pretty solid warm up doing thrusters with smaller stones and push presses with downed trees giving me some pretty good ideas for another workout at the beach.
The first time I lifted the stone I did not think that it was heavy enough. I can only guess that the stone weighed 120 lbs. I am probably way off. My legs and back felt strong when lifting the stone from the sand. However my arms were fatigued really fast. This stone was really awkward and very smooth making it really difficult to get a good purchase with my arms. The more I lifted the stone and dropped it the more of a hole it made in the sand thus forcing me to get farther and farther down in my stance.
So I performed 30 stone dead lifts for a time. I finished in 5 min and 39 secs. This was so much fun. To work out on the beach with stunning mountain views in every direction is very inspiring. In a way I felt like Mariusz Pudzianowski the worlds strongest man. I am really looking forward to the next session on the beach.