Workout of the Day

Workout of the Day

5 min of ground to shoulder w/ heavy stone

rest 5 min

3 min max double unders

rest 3 min

1 min wall climbs

go back to work

Today was a sunny and beautiful day . I cant really say that it was warm. A good day to be outside getting some fresh air and exercise though. I had to work a lunch shift and a dinner shift today. This workout took place on my break between my shifts. This turned out to be a really fun workout.

For the ground to shoulder work I went back to the stone that I have used in the past. I have never attempted to lift it past my chest before. I thought this would be challenging and it was. I chose to lift the stone to my thighs squat and reset then lift hard and fast to my shoulders. I alternated shoulders for each lift. I ended with 15 lifts in five minutes. The thing that slowed me down the most was the dead weight. I would have to pick it up out of the snow and maneuver the stone back into a lifting position. Still allot of fun. I can see how this type of work can build tremendous strength and power for athletes competing in MMA or grappling.

For the double unders I finished with 227 in 3 mins. I have never done a three minute amrap with double unders before so this is a new record for me I suppose. I did manage 136 with out stopping and that is a new personal best. My previous pr was 109 unbroken. I love doing double unders and I think I will try to get 200 unbroken soon.

The wall climbs are a new exercise I learned from the crossfit main site. Such a fun and effective exercise. I finished with 10 in one minute. Shoulders were blasted at 8, 9 and 10. Below is a video of some tough kids up in Canada doing the wall climbs. This was so much fun it almost did not feel like I was exercising. Needless to say I had tons of energy for work after.

Workout of the Day

Workout of the Day

5 rounds of

1 min hold plank

20 hand release push ups

20 squats

Rest 5 mins

5 rounds of

25 double unders

10 burpees

Real quick workout before the Superbowl Sunday madness. I didn't time any of these exercises. Honestly I think I will hold of trying to time my workouts for a little while. I just want to focus on great technique through out as opposed to trying to finish as fast as I can. I like these hand release push ups. A little more challenging.

The burpees and double unders definitely got my heart rate up. After this I was ready to cheer on the Packers. I think Clay Matthews is my new favorite NFL player.

Can you carry it home?

I have been reading this terrific book called The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. This book is opening my mind up to a world that is purposeful hidden from the everyday consumer. So many issues that we are blinded from. Issues everyone should be conscious of. Mono cultures of food crops. What does organic really mean? Why is there so much corn in all the items we eat? How much fossil fuel energy does it cost us to grow crops and have crops shipped all around the world? So that we can eat asparagus and blueberries all year around. What is the difference between Industrial agriculture and local agriculture economies. How do you justify the steak house? Should we as humans be eating meat and so much of it? Would you eat that steak tonight if you knew where is was slaughtered and how it was raised? So many issues concerning the omnivore's dilemma.

In the latest chapter that I have read, the author talks about the omnivore's dilemma concerning hunter gatherer. Can you kill your own food and eat it. There is a larger debate in this chapter. The one thought that got me motivated for today's workout was about moments after the kill. Once you kill your prey you still need to get meat to your home so that you can dress the kill and get the meat ready for cooking and storing. I thought this point is perfect for the primal way of exercising. In this chapter the author has just killed a 190 lbs wild pig. He and his hunting companion have to drag and carry the thing all the way back to their starting spot. Plus hoist the thing from a sturdy oak tree branch to dress it.

I wanted to put together a fun workout that simulates this situation.

2 rounds

Push my car 100 meters

50 double under

Pull my car 100 meters

25 burpees

I attached some straps to the rear bumper of the car so I could pull it. After pushing the car 100 meters my quads were blown. this made the double unders so difficult. The pulling was not as hard as I expected it to be. I was able to get a pretty good rhythm and focus on the breathing and go. The burpees just keep getting easier and easier for me. Not sure why. I think it has to do with fear. I was so afraid of them in the beginning. Now that I have a few thousand under my belt they are not that big of a deal any longer. I did both sets unbroken. A fun workout that has some of the primal blueprint. Pushing a car for exercise is really interesting. Mostly because so many people will stop and try to help you thinking that you are having car trouble or something. I always enjoy the look on their faces when I tell them I am just training. Check the ego and go get primal.

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.

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.

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

No membership required

We were blessed with a beautiful, sunny day here in Tahoe. My friend Mike was anxious to try out my rope for a workout. So we walked across the street into a beautiful alpine meadow. We quickly found a place to hang the rope from and got to work. The w.o.d. was two parts and went like this The first part I borrowed from an amazing athlete Blair Morrison of http://crossfitmobile.blogspot.com/

Rope progression ladder, Climb 17 ft of rope: Every minute on the minute perform one rope climb. In the first minute climb the rope one time. In the second minute climb the rope two times. The third minute climb the rope three times , the remainder of the minute is your rest. Continue until you are unable to perform the required reps.

I finished with three full rounds plus one full rope climb in the fourth minute. This was so much harder than I had expected. For some reason I thought that I would be able to cruise through five minutes. Ummm No! In the fourth minute I knew I would not be able to finish , so I just tried to steal one more rep before my time ran out.

The second part of this w.o.d. was a great one as well. Three rounds for a time of 50 double unders and 25 overhead lunges with a 15kg log. I finished in 6 min 9 secs. The double unders were kind of an issue. I am still dealing with the altitude. So I got tired really fast. I did the first round unbroken, and the last two rounds only broke set once at the same mark of 28. The lunges were great. My legs are pretty sore from the sprints and bear crawls in the sand. But 25 was just about right. The over head portion of the lunges was a great addition. My shoulders were really getting blasted from the double unders and holding this log over my head.
Over all I had a great time training outside with my friend in this beautiful alpine meadow. The w.o.d. was a good one as well and I expect to be plenty sore in the morning.