Archive for February 2009
I’ll do the pressing work tomorrow.
Food
Lots and lots of stuff I haven’t even thought about eating in a long time.
Claire is truly awesome. Having kids is the best thing ever, and it’s been an insane year. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved and been through as a little family.
New little person. Special care. Enormous project with huge challenges. New job / promotion. Bike vs Car crash. Sold house. Moved home and commuted from Ballarat for six months. Found and bought new house. And back to Melbourne again.
If we sat down and planned this 12 months ago I would have said it would be too much to get through / survive without going nuts in a single year. And here we are.
CFSB: Week 1 / Day 5
Posted on: Friday February 27, 2009
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Front Squats: 3×5
5 @ 60kg
5 @ 65kg
5 @ 70kg
Back Squats: 1×15-20
16 @ 60kg
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The Magic 50
5 Swings (each arm)
5 Snatches (each arm)
10 burpees
60 seconds rest
5 rounds
Snatches and swings @ 20kg DB
Time:
0:13:14 (previously 11:58 w/17.5kg)
So…
Front squats are hard! I used to take pride in these (vertical spine!) but I’ve fallen waaay out of practice. Good to try them on again. 5 at 70kg was tough. The 16 back squats at 60kg was also tough, but a different kind of tough. I like these and think there might be some real carry-over to steel climbing on the bike. It’s a very similar feeling to grinding up a long climb.
20kg for the Magic 50 was pretty damn good actually. I’m not sure whether I included the rest in the total time the first time I did – it doesn’t seem like I should be faster with 20kg than 17.5, but I didn’t pause throughout the whole workout this time, and my notes for last time talk about slowing down at the end, which usually means breaking things up. I’m either 1:16 slower or 2:44 faster. I think it’s the latter. I hope it is, anyway. I’m certainly in better shape now.
As a side note, I’ve signed up to race with Baum at the Mont 24 Hour race as part of their 4 or 6 man team. The race is the week after the end of CFSB. I’m sticking with the strength focus and will suck up the suffering on the bike. Here’s to finishing what you start.
Food [P/C/F]
- Steel cut oats w/WPI, peach, macadamias [5/7/8] (peach was a bit big)
- Nectarine (PWO) [0/1/0]
- Coffee
- Kanga meat loaf, apple, macadamias [4.5/2/5]
- Steak sandwich, chips [uh oh]
- Two beers
- Fruit binge! [0/lots/0]
- Lamb chops, veggies, macadamias [4/2/4]
- Cottage cheese, nectarine, macadamias [2/2/2]
CFSB: Week 1 / Day 4
Posted on: Thursday February 26, 2009
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Row and Push Press
Row 500m
21 x Push press @ 42kg
Row 500m
18 x Push press @ 42kg
Row 500m
15 x Push press @ 42kg
Row 500m
12 x Push press @ 42kg
Time:
16:35.5
Then:
2x 2:30 run on treadmill
So…
Metcon day!
I poached the row/push-press WOD from the mainsite a few days ago and scaled the weight down from 52.5kg (which isn’t far off my 3 rep max) to 42kg, which was about right and still required some breaking up. I probably paced the rowing too much but my times were about as consistent as I could get them and I was pretty smoked afterwards.
Pretty disappointed at not being able to do the run as a solid 5 min but I wanted the pace to be high and it started getting dangerous.
Food [P/C/F]
- Steel cut oats w/cinnamon, macadamias, tahini, WPI shake [5/5/8]
- Coffee
- Kanga meatloaf w cauliflower [4.5/2/0]
- Sweet potato, carrot [0/3/0]
- Tuna, macadamias, carrot [2/1/4]
- Peach [0/2/0]
- Stir fry chicken and veggies on rice, tahini [4/5/4]
- Cottage cheese, cinnamon, tahini, peach [2/2/2]
Last night: Man, it sucks that tomorrow is rest day. I feel great!
This morning: Man, I’m so glad it’s rest day. I’m le tired (and a little sore)!
40 people lost their jobs at work today (not me if you’re wondering). Not really a great day for training anyway.
Food [P/C/F]
- Oats (rolled) w/WPI, macadamias, fig [5/5/5]
- Coffee
- Kangaroo meatloaf, cauliflower and warm, mashed avocado [4.5/4/4]
- One beer (with colleagues)
- Sardines, two figs, macadamias [2/2/4]
- Kangaroo meatloaf, two carrots, tahini [4.5/4/4] (too lazy to cook)
- Cottage cheese, grapes, cinnamon, macadamias [2/2/4]
CFSB: Week 1 / Day 2
Posted on: Tuesday February 24, 2009
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Deadlift 3×3
1×3 @ 85kg
1×3 @ 95kg
1×3 @ 105kg
Deadlift 1×20
1×20 @ 70kg
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Five rounds of:
1 min Double-unders
1 min Renegade Man-makers @ 20 kg DBs
Push-up, row left, row right, squat clean to thruster. Repeat.
Like dumb-bell burpees really.
Round 1:
74 DU / 3.5 RMM
Round 2:
46 / 3
Round 3:
59 / 3
Round 4:
28 / 2.5
Round 5:
42 / 3
Skill / Gymnasics
Max pushups: 20
Snatch complex:
1 Power snatch
2 OHS
2 Snatch balance
1 Hang snatch
5×1 @ 20 kg
5 Forward rolls
Handstand practice (against wall): 3 x 10 sec
So…
3×3 deadlifts felt very solid, even with the awfully slippery skinny bars at work. 70kg was too easy for the long set (Pete talked me into scaling back from 80kg). I’ll go heavier next time, which is the point I suppose.
The DU/RMM couplet was a really good one. I was planning on doing it as 20DU/5RMM for 10 min. Pete suggested doing it as five sets of a minute of each movement, which was an excellent idea. There’s a natural inclination to ‘pause’ between rep-based rounds, when it’s ‘only a minute’ for each round and each moment is time out of your opportunity to score in that movement it really keeps the intensity up.
Forward rolls were better. :)
Really enjoying the protocol so far!
Food [P/C/F]
- Steel cut oats w/WPI and macadamias [5/5/5]
- Coffee
- Mega tuna, avocado and veggie salad [4/4/4]
- Two eggs, macadamias, two carrots [2/2/4]
- ? Chicken stir-fry
- ? Cottage cheese, grapes, cinnamon, macadamias [2/2/4]
CFSB: Week 1 / Day 1
Posted on: Monday February 23, 2009
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3×5 Back squat
5 @ 65kg
5 @ 75kg
5 @ 80kg
Metcon
5 KB Snatch e.s. @ 24kg
10 KB Swing @ 24kg
20 Burpees
Round 1:
0:02:29.5
Round 2:
0:02:48.1
Round 3:
0:02:38.5
So…
Feeling a bit ‘off-colour’ today so I didn’t (couldn’t) push as hard as I would have liked to. Better just to get some good work in and hit the hay early. The limiting factor on the squats looks like it’s going to be my ability to re-rack the weight on my ghetto ‘sticks in buckets of concrete’ set-up. I might have to do a few sessions at Pete’s until I can get a more solid pull-up bar / squat rack arrangement built in the back yard.
These short, heavy metcons could be a bunch of fun. Not feeling too snappy tonight though. The snatches took commitment, the burpees were just discipline. Inner monologue was seriously wondering about cutting it to 15 ‘for your own good’ there on round two.
Finished with some tumbling and cat skinning. Both good, fun ways to finish. Forward rolls really need work – I can’t seem to work out how to do them with the tucked chine without banging the top of my T-spine. Parkour rolls are much easier to be smooth with – at least they are across the right shoulder. The left is pretty clunky.
Food [P/C/F]
- Steel cut oats w/WPI, cinnamon, sultanas and macadamias [5/5/5]
- Coffee
- Left over nasi goreng (brown rice), sardines, macadamias [4/4/8]
- Tuna, macadamias, figs [2/4/2]
- Vietnamese: pork rice paper roll, 2 prawn spring rolls, rice vermicelli w brased beef and lemon grass [no idea]
- PWO: Sweet potato w tumeric & ginger, tuna [2/2/0]
Pre CFSB Fran
Posted on: Sunday February 22, 2009
- In: Uncategorized
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Fran
21-15-9:
42.5kg Thrusters, Pull-ups
Time:
0:10:24 (PR by 7 sec)
So…
That sucked. The thrusters got crushingly heavy after the first round (which was broken at 12).
Pull-ups were a disaster after almost six months away from them. No rhythm, poor technique, rubbery arms and a really, really inefficient technique. I was pulling up while I was still coming back under the bar, wild leg swinging too. At least three didn’t count and had to be done again.
Everything felt difficult and slow, so it’s a strange kind of PR. There is tons of room for improvement here. Whole minutes.
Food [P/C/F]
- Steel cut oats w/cinnamon, WPI, fig, macadamia nuts [5,5,5]
- Sweet potato (PWO) [0/1.5/0]
- Coffee
- Chicken souvalaki w yoghurt + macadamias [~3/3/6]
- Birthday party: Tiny piece chocolate cake, 1 tsp pavlova, lots of fruit, some cheese [1/4/0] :\
- Fig, peach, WPI, macadamia [4/2/2]
- Nasi goreng on brown rice + two eggs, tahini [4/4/2] (forgot fat!)
- Cottage cheese, fig, macadamia
Rest
Posted on: Saturday February 21, 2009
Late to bed (after 12), up at 5:00 for Claire and again (for good) at 7:00. Put up some shelves and pictures around the house and went food shopping. We were in desperate need of good fat sources.
Will get a pre-CFSB benchmark for Fran at Pete’s tomorrow morning.
Food [P/C/F] (eyeballed)
- Oats w/WPI, nectarine, olive oil [5/5/6]
- Tea
- Coffee
- Lemon chicken, cauliflower mash, raw veggie salad, one fig, olive oil [4/4/4]
- 2 figs [0/2/0]
- Pizza [?]
- Tea
- Cottage cheese, grapes, macadamia nuts w/cinnamon [2/2/2]
Rest – Pre CFSB
Posted on: Friday February 20, 2009
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Monday I’ll be starting a six week Strength Bias phase that I hope will shoot me towards some goals before I look at getting back into riding and racing. The aim of course is to make the weights and FGB score go up, and to drive the times down.
Here’s where I’m at right now:
Body weight: 71 kg
Press: 50 kg (PR 52.5)
Back squat: 102.5 kg
Deadlift: 130 kg (PR 140)
Fran: 10min 31s
Grace: [ will benchmark tomorrow ]
Fight Gone Bad: 283 (three rounds, 20″ box)
Row 500m: 1:27.1
Row 2k: 7:27.9
Big goals:
Sub 7:30 Fran
300+ FGB
3RM at current 1RM weights for the slow lifts
Nice to haves:
140+kg 1RM Deadlift
120+kg 1RM Back squat
60+kg 1RM Press
Resources:
The CrossFit Strength Bias
CFSB Q&A thread
CFSB Short Heavy Metcon thread
CFSB Short Heavy Metcons collected (PDF)
Finishers
Food [P/C/F]
- Oats w/WPI, peach, olive oil [5/5/4]
- Coffee
- Big tuna and veggie salad [4/4/5]
- Coffee
- Two eggs (boiled), olive oil, grapes [2/2/2]
- Sticky lemon chicken on cauliflower mash w veggies [4/4/4]
- Baked figs with honey butter and cream [Ummm… ~0/4/1] Delicious though :)
W – CrossFit Total
Posted on: Thursday February 19, 2009
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| Back Squat (low bar) | Press | Deadlift |
|
85 90 (old PB) 92.5 95 97.5 (super deep) 100 102.5 kg (PB by 12.5kg!) |
50 52.5 (fail) 50 kg (PB is 52.5) 52.5 (fail) |
70 90 125 130 kg (PB is 140) |
CFT score:
623 (PB!)
So…
A new CFT PB (by just three points), despite sub PBs on both the press and deadlift – particularly the deadlift. That last 1RM squat was huge, a true 1RM. Slow, but fairly smooth, all things considered. When I finally stood up Pete looked at me and said ‘That was awesome!’ I was stoked.
Interestingly, at 71 kg I’m 1-2 kilos lighter compared to previous CFTs.
I did this with Pete’s coaching in his new power cage. That thing is awesome. It’s a big mental factor to be able to go as heavy as you can without having to worry about what might happen if you fail or having to finesse the racking. Always felt very safe. Stoked about my “eyeball-popping, spit-spouting” back squat PB. :)
The reason for doing this now is to set a benchmark before I go onto the CrossFit Strenght Bias protocol so that I can have a reference point for any improvement. I’ll try to do another benchmark that’s not pure strength tomorrow – ideally Fran, but Grace, Fight Gone Bad, or in a pinch Cindy might do. Fran would be great but I’d have to do it at Pete’s. Grace (maybe at 50 kg) seems next most appropriate. We’ll see.
Food [P/C/F]
A little bit of juggling to try to make up for a big lump of pasta-carbs at lunch. A bit too light on the fat across the day. Not as accurate as normal due to some new foods (sweet potato sooo gooooood).
- Oats w/WPI, fig, tahini [5/4/4]
- Coffee
- Spaghetti bolognaise (heavy on the sauce), one egg [4/5/0]
- Sardines, olive oil [2/0/6]
- PWO: Two figs, three chicken drumsticks (baked), beans, carrots, sweet potato [~4/5/0]
- WPI shake, three figs, tahini [3/3/3]
OK GO! 