Tag Archives: CrossFit beginner

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2017 Goals

goal-setting

First week of 2017 is done. Ate well with the exception of Friday night. No cocktailing either. Don’t worry, nobody kidnapped Rob, everything is fine.

Goals for 2017:

I set goals each year for personal, professional, physical, and financial. Below are the physical goals for 2017. I hit most of them in 2016 and plan on the same for 2017.

Lift/Movement Current Goal
Back Squat 455 500
Dead Lift 465 500
Strict Press 205 225
Push Press 235 265
Clean 210 235
Front Squat 325 350
Thruster 235 255
500 Meter Row 1:42 1:30
Pull Ups 0 10
Double Unders 0 10

So, how am I going to hit these goals? Darn good question. I’ll have to figure that one out

12-labours

  1. Following the 12 Labours Nutrition Plan courtesy of Emily and Erin. Great time logging everything in MyFitnessPal. Emily and Erin provide everything you need in terms of setting yourself up for success. It is worth the investment, so please take advantage of the service if you have not done so already.
  2. Keeping cocktailing to a minimum. Sadly and frustratingly i have tried for the past so many years to do both and I have come to the realization it just does not work. Either you want to cocktail and not do well in the gym, or you want to do well in the gym. So we will give it an honest shot.
  3. Focus on recovery. We spend a lot of time beating the hell out of ourselves and more than likely not enough time putting ourselves back together. Water, Sleep, good nutrition, supplements, deep tissues massage and yoga. I have been getting a deep tissues once a month for the past few months and the difference has been remarkable.

crossfit-moreland_3

  1. Stretching. By hitting the six am class most folks have to roll out quickly to get ready for work, kids to school, etc. I am focusing on taking five or ten minutes afterwards and rolling out and stretching to reduce soreness/stiffness etc.
  2. Rest. Getting up early means early to bed. I tend to do a lot better if I get 7 or 8 hours of sleep. Go a few days with six or few hours and see how you feel. Probably like junk. I know i do.
  3. Strength program. I finished the 12 Labours Barbell Strength Program last year and definitely noticed a difference. I added weight to squat and deadlift and wound up PR’ng CrossFit Total by about 100 pounds.

 

change

  1. Make opportunities for PR’s. Some boxes do the same WOD’s over and over again which enables members to set PR’s. Ours is a bit different where the WOD’s vary considerably. Two days a week I give myself opportunities to set PR’s. Whether it be a lift, like deadlift or squat, or a 500 meter row. Give yourself the opportunity to put a PR on the board and in Wodify!
  2. Fully warm up. I am sure if any of the coaches are reading this, the thought “he never does the warm up, like never.” is going through their mind. Sadly that is true. I do not do the warm up. In my mind, the first round is the warmup and that is not right and dangerous.
  3. More than just scheduled classes. This goes with number 7. Sticking around after class, taking advantage of open gym, and running/swimming etc. go a long way in helping accomplish your goals.
  4. Yoga. Once a week, every Sunday. Looking to get back into that cycle. Definitely noticed a difference when I was regularly attending.

Those should get me where I want to be.

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Week Ending 11.19.16—-First Good Clean Week in a Looooong Time

 

It has been quite a while since I posted an entry, a little over a year actually. It was a good week. Ate clean, no cocktails. Set a PR. Good times all around.

Monday:

Part 1 ———— 8 Sets Every 2 Minutes – 3 Reps Back Squat

***add weight every set***

My best lift for 3 was 365. I felt pretty good this morning, due to a lazy Sunday and nine hours of solid sleep. Truthfully, i could have continued sleeping without much trouble. I think I will be in bed early tonight as well. Things lined up pretty well and the warm-up sets went smoothly, so 375 became the target number.

185, 225, 275, 295, 315, 335,3 55, 375

I could have gone heavier. 395 or 405 will be the goal if this one comes around again.

Part 2 ————— “Baseline x 2”

2 Rounds for time:

Row 500m

40 Air Squats

30 Abmat Situps

20 Pushups

10 Pullups—-Ring Rows

I did 13:10, first round was 6:10, which was 15 seconds or so longer than my best score. I was pretty smoked after the first round. Rowing was lengthy on the second round. All in all a good day.

Tuesday:

“The Roaring Twenties”

20 Minute AMRAP

20/15 Cals AB

20 Shoulder to OH s(115/75) f(75/55)

20 Toes to Bar f(abmat situp)

I opted for “SPITNESS”, a combination of Sport and Fitness. I chose the 115lb weight and ab mat situps. I am built to be on the ground. I don’t do T2B, pull ups, etc.,…yet.

Score was four rounds and 8 calories. I was smoked afterwards.

Wednesday:

Every 2 Minutes for 20 Minutes:

Double Unders s(30) f(15)

3 Squat Cleans s(155/105) f(115/75)

***add weight each set***

****score is highest weight of completed triple for squat clean***

I did 30 singles at the beginning of each set and decided to add weight every other set. My goal was to focus on the actual form of the lift. Catching the bar low, hitting full depth, knees out, and elbows up. My PR for clean is either 205 or 210…not sure.

I did 95, 115, 135, 155, and 185. The 185 was challenging. They were not touch and go. All in all the form felt good and the coach watched several times and said it was good, nothing more to really offer. I’ll take that as a major win as I am the king of reverse curling and calling it a clean.

Three days in with clean eating and no cocktailing.

Thursday:

Rest Day. ROMWOD and lots of water. Also slept for 9.5 hours. That felt damn good. I didn’t stick with the 12 Labours eating plan today. Thanksgiving dinner at work, so stuffing and sweet potatoes with brown sugar. Also, wifey wanted Italian for dinner so it was penne pasta with in house made crumbled sausage and roasted tomatoes. Needless to say, I was slightly over on carbs. 🙂 No cocktails.

Friday:

Friday’s WOD was “Kelly”, which for those of you who do not know the hell that Kelly is….5 rounds, 400 meter run, 30 box jumps, 30 walls balls. Hell to the No,…squared. It would take me 45 minutes to finish that thing and I would feel like absolute crap for at least two days. Instead I went with one of my own:

WOD 1 Movement Weight (Pounds) Distance Reps Rounds Total Reps
Row 250 Meters 1 6 6
Shrug Bar Deadlift 225 5 6 30
Wall balls 30 7 6 42
Ab Mat Sit Ups 10 6 60
Strict Push Ups 5 6 30
Total 168

I like AMRAP’S with shorter “series” of reps. I think these enable the athlete to focus on the form of each movement and rep and not instead focus on how many reps are left and just getting through it. This may not look like much, however it was harder than I anticipated and I was washed out afterwards. Took about a minute afterwards to get right.

This is very scalable, either be increasing distance, weight, or reps. My plan is to increase the reps of the movements and then compare the total number of reps over time, while keeping weights the same.

I have an appointment in the pain cave today. Definitely need one as things are not feeling as good as they should. That means therapeutic/deep tissue massage. I usually come close to throwing up and or crying. I go with an empty stomach…

Saturday:

Had a late night call last night so sleep was interrupted, however no big deal. Susan broke me yesterday. Have not looked yet, however there should be lots of bruising.

“Pinky and The Brain”

20 Minute Partner AMRAP
10 Deadlifts s(275/185) f(185/125)
20 C2B Pullups s(10 Muscle Ups)
30/20 Cal AB
***split it up however you want***

Saturday has become the day of partner WOD’s. This one does not look at that bad. Basically split everything in half. 5 reps on deadlifts, 5 ring rows, and then 15 calories…and repeat. Right? Can’t be that bad. We shall see. I am usually wrong with these things.

As it turns out, I was not that wrong. It was challenging, however quite doable. I ran an 800 as my own warm up and that helped workout the kinks.