Phosphate Sprints return and the WOD

Hey Everyone

So yesterday was intended to be a WOD day, but I woke up and every part of my body was in some kind of pain, not injury wise, just very fatigued and tired, from what was basically 3 tough workouts in 2 days.
Considering I did  Farmers walks, squats and Olympic lifts, its no surprise my nervous system wasn't up for going again.
These full body movements, really hammer your nervous system as well as your muscular system.
I already knew what was planned for that day's WOD, sprints, double unders (skipping, where the rope passes under your feet twice before you land, a mix of different exercises, including wall balls, kettlebell swings, box jump burpees.

I knew I wouldn't be able to gain anything from attempting this, so I made it a rest day.

If you aren't going to gain anything from a workout, you shouldn't even consider doing it, even if it is in your 'plan' listen to your body, rest when you need to and you'll work harder and gain better results, quicker, than constantly hammering your body.


I was expecting to wake up today, still in pain, maybe even more pain, but luckily enough I was relatively pain free, so down to the box I went.

I really enjoy (well maybe not at the time) adding sprint work into my training, so decided to add some into my pre WOD warm up.
This consisted of Phosphate sprints, one of the best (quickest and brutal) ways I know to get your sprinting back up to speed.

This is made up using an 80 metre distance, with the cones/markers at 0, 20,60 and 80metres, starting on the 20 metre line you sprint, full pace, for 40 metres, (to 60 metre line) making sure you sprint through the line, then jog to end and back to 60 metre line, then every 30 seconds on the 30 second mark, you do the same, 40 metre sprint, for 10 sets (5 minutes) 
Done at 100% effort this will wipe anybody, but also improve your speed and acceleration very quickly (Thanks to Phil Richards for this training protocol)

Then back into the box for the WOD, which today looked like this

10 minutes EMOM (every minute on the minute)

2 hang cleans, building up to max effort weight

Hang Cleans

THEN

10 minutes AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible)

3 Deadlifts, using weight you finished hang cleans with
6 Bar jump Burpees (do a burpee, then lateral jump over bar)
9 Pull ups

My results looked like this Hang clean - 75kg, I was expecting a little more, but I could feel I was still slightly fatigued from Tuesday, but even really fresh, I don't think I would've got much heavier.

In the second part, which was brutally and surprisingly draining, I managed 6 rounds plus 3 deadlifts (although I did need some band assistance with pull ups)

And that was that, simple, in all I worked for 25 minutes today, but feel like I have put max effort in, so will of definitely gained from, both todays workout and yesterdays rest day

I will be back in tomorrow for Fridays WOD, then see how I feel on Saturday, I was hoping to do 3 days on, 1 day off, but if it needs to 2 on, 1 off for now, I am happy with that also.


Craig

My first WOD and some Olympic Lifting

Hey Everyone

So after Mon day's 'ease' myself back into it, I was a little stiff on Tuesday morning, but not enough to put me off my first WOD 

But first I had volunteered to help Iain and Gavin make some plyometric boxes down at the Reebok Crossfit Glasgow .
During the last few months the Glasgow box has underwent a major upheaval, moving offices and changing rooms, from one end to the other, a lot of this work was carried out by Iain and Gavin but also a lot of the Crossfit Glasgow community, joined in to get 'their' place in the best shape possible, helping out with anything from demolishing the old offices and filling skips, to painting the new areas.
Part of this upheaval was designing and making new plyometric boxes, so I volunteered my services.

This 'community' spirit is something I have noticed is a massive part of being involved in Crossfit, it definitely creates a sense of being a part of something, your not just a member, who pays their monthly fees and then basically left to your own devices, its more than that here.

Anyway, back to the WOD (Workout of the Day) 
These WOD's are run throughout the day, the same WOD, but changed everyday and they are all programmed in such a way, that all aspects of your strength and conditioning are covered, without any body part or exercise getting overused.
These WOD's can all be scaled to suit each persons level of skill, fitness, flexibility and movement patterns.
So it is, done properly, suitable for anyone.

In Crossfit Glasgow, as in most Crossfit boxes, everyone has to go through a fundamentals session or two, so the coaches can make sure everyone has a basic level of skills in all the main exercises, before they are allowed to go through a WOD. 
These are a huge step up from the usual Induction you go through at other gyms, where they show you the treadmill, cross-trainer, machines, weights area and then basically leave you to it.

I have done my fundamental sessions, for those of you wondering.

So the WOD, I was about to attempt, consisted of 2 exercises, yes that's right just 2 exercises.

HOW HARD CAN THAT BE ?????

Each day the WOD is posted on the white boards in the box, then everyone puts their results up next to it, which is really good as you can see, as you can assess how well you are doing, on average with everyone else, or it can show up weaknesses, you may need to work on.

So, again, back to the WOD

After a warm up and mobilty section, which (although a full body warm up) focuses on  the exercises and body parts that will be used in the WOD.

These are always a lot tougher than you expect, not just a half hearted grab your ankles, stretch your hamstrings, swing your arms a bit, type of warm up a lot of people do. This gets you warm, out of breath, but most importantly, ready.

First exercise was Farmers Walk (pictured below) building up the weight, to find your maximum weight you can walk 20 metres with, without putting it down, once you found this weight, you had to do at least 3 sets of 20 metres.
We were put into teams for this, not to compete against each other, but just to ceate more space and give you adequate rest time.

This also helps, with motivation and inspiration, everyone encouraging and coaching each other and when you see someone, about the same size and weight as you carrying a certain weight, it makes you determined to push yourself.

Farmers walks are definitely a very underrated exercise, as it works every part of your body and nervous system, especially when you get heavy.
After about 20 minutes building up, my finishing weight for 3 sets was 210kg (over 2 1/2 times my body weight) which I was very pleased with.

Next up was Tabata style(but only for 3 minutes) Front Squats.
Tabata is a system, created by a Japanese Professor (Tabata) which has you working for 20seond periods, with 10 seconds rest, usually for 4 minutes, completing as many reps as possible in the 20 seconds.

For the front squats we used, if you could, bodyweight on the bar, or it was scaled to suit each persons abailities, I used 75kg, just under my body weight and managed 32 reps in the 6, 20 second work periods, I think my first set was 8 and by my last it had dropped down to 4 !!

3 minutes in total, but I felt like I had been doing 30 minutes cardio, the biggest thing with these kind of workouts (tabata) is you need to push yourself to your limit, in each of the 20 second blocks, even if its only 1 rep, which I've seen, it has to be your best, or your results will never go as high as they should.

This session, was around lunchtime, as I knew I was attending the weightlifting class, in the evening, which I hope to go to every week to improve my Olympic lifting technique, which will then carry over to any WOD's with these lifts included in it.
These sessions are run by British Weightlifting coach Raymond Cavanagh and his team.

Although I have done a bit of Olympic lifting I put myself in the beginners section, so I could go back to the very basics and start from scratch.

We were takien through, some snatches, cleans, clean and jerks by Colette, who despite her tiny frame is way stronger than me in all of these exercises, she actually set my first challenge, to complete these exercises at the same weight as her - Challenge on 

Although, I was hoping to not push myself to much, during this session, it is actually harder (well I find this) to keep good technique, if the weight is too light.
So the weights steadily crept up, with more than one 'suggestion, about adding weight, if I wanted' from Colette.
I was reasonably pleased with how it went and came away with some great points to focus on, to get improvements quickly.

By the end of this session, my central nervous system was shot, and I left (after helping with more plyo boxes and getting a shot of the nail gun) one extremely tired boy.

Wednesday has another WOD in prospect for me, then its rest day.

Craig

I'm BACK and this time Tigger is getting serious

Hey Everyone

After my 'near fatal' Man-flu and then a few days in London, I was bursting to get back down to the box, see the guys at Reebok Crossfit Glasgow and get training.
Although to be fair after a week driving, first to London, then around London for a few days, then the drive back, I was just wanting to get moving.

Today's, workout was all about getting some movement and some weights lifted, without maxing out, but enough to feel it and get myself back into it.

So, I stuck at about 80% of my max efforts last week and did 5 sets of 5 reps on Back Squat, Strict Shoulder Press and Deadlifts.


My plan this week is to do the Daily WOD's, plus attend the Weightlifting class they run in the box, so I really didn't want to fatique myself too much today, as I know I will be seriously pushing myself (or being pushed, more like) this week.



Its all about to get serious, no more softly, softly approach from tigger to TIGGER

I am also, getting back on the clean eating, as last week especially, but since the start of the year, I have been very lazy with my food, eating, whatever, whenever, but as I am on  SUPER TIGGER mode now, my food needs to spot on too.

Todays food included

4 egg omelette cooked in coconut oil
Plus making enough Cashew nut Paella to last the next few meals (see below) this is vegetarian, but I will be adding chicken and/or prawns to vary it as the week goes on

The Crossfit games start next week and I have signed up for that too, more info on this as the week goes on.

I have also passed the Crossfit Judges exam, so will be able to look at Crossfit from that perspective as well.

So, I guess, this is the 'real' start of my journey into Crossfit.

I will (if I can type) be posting everyday this week

Nothing to it, but to do it !!


Craig

+

'Man Flu' puts project on hold

Hey 

The best laid plans eh !!

Typical, just as I start this project I got hit with, 'man flu' the cold, a bug, whatever it is, but its definitely stopped me from not only training, but doing most things, except sweating, then shivering, then sweating, then.... I'm sure you get the idea.


So no training for the last two days, plus the next few I'd imagine, I definitely don't want to be doing this project half heartedly, or not at my best.

So, just in case you were wondering if I'd given up already, the answer is most definitely NO.

I'll be back soon and ready to crack on with Project RX.


Did I hear someone mention the Crossfit Games ??

http://games.crossfit.com/


See you on the other side of this 'man flu'

Craig

'Before' Photos and another test DONE !

Hey 

Have a bit of 'man flu' this week, maybe that's the first bad sign from doing Crossfit ?? :-)

Anyway, being the true professional I am, I got myself down to Crossfit Glasgow today, as I knew I didn't have a lot to do today, so after a warm up and some mobility work, there is definitely a lot more of this going on here, than you see in 'normal gyms' 
A lot of the Glasgow crossfitters (I don't even know if that's the right term) come in 15 - 30 minutes before the WoD to do some mobility work, even though they are taken through a suitable warm up, before each WoD.

Glasgow Crossfit also has an in house Physio (Jonny Kilpatrick), who also takes a weekly mobility class, which I will be trying soon too. There is also an Olympic Lifting class, for assisting you in that department. This is all based on trying to improve the performance of every member.

Anyway, back to my test today - a 2000 metre row, now before I go on any further, the rower and me have always had a very distant friendship, I'm not really sure why (probably because it's hard) but I have never got into rowing or been really good at it.

The result for the  2000 metres was  8minutes 09seconds, which is OK (ish)

The one thing I do have to say about the previous results and the ones to come, is this, it doesn't really matter what I  (or anyone else) think of these results, whether I'm better or worse than average, or you :-) Its where my fitness/strength levels are right now, its the base I'm starting from.

Things like this always remind me of potential clients and the old story of " I'm going to get a bit fitter, then book in for some sessions with you" Eh ?? 

When in fact it would make more sense to start with a trainer/coach, who will get you better results, quicker, then you can do less sessions, as they should have educated you well enough to get on with it yourself.

Sorry that was a tangent ha ha

Now for the part, Iwas not looking forward too, the measurements and 'before' photos.

On starting this, I wanted to try and see how much difference Crossfit would make to, not only my strength and fitness, but my body shape, so we get the best overall picture of where I go, from the base start, I'm at now.

First up my measurements 

CALF  Right 35cm or 13 3/4 '  Left 34cm  13 1/2'

THIGH Right and Left 52cm  or 20 1/2 '

HIPS (widest point) 95 1/2 cm   37 1/2'

NAVEL (Belly button)  94cm  37'

CHEST (Nipple level)  101 1/2cm 40'

SHOULDERS (Widest) 117cm  46'

BICEPS Right and Left 30cm 12'

FOREARMS Right and Left  25CM  10'

WEIGHT 82.9 Kg        **THIS IS THE HEAVIEST I HAVE EVER BEEN !!!!!!**

Apologises in advance, if you're eating at this point

Next up, if my cold clears up a bit, I will be attempting my first WoD tomorrow, I have no idea what it will involve, either.

That's one of the 'joys' of Crossfit, the WoDs are written on a whiteboard and you don't know what it'll be till you get there.

The real challenges will begin very soon

Craig

First two days and some Crossfit lingo

Hey Everyone

So, if you read yesterday's post, you'll know I've decided to venture into the world of Crossfit.
The place that creates a huge amount of emotions and opinions, both good and bad.

So, yesterday, was day one, and as I said previously, this week, would be mostly a testing week, setting the bar from which I will base future results.

First challenge then was Crossfit total, which basically entails finding the maximum weight you can lift once (1 rep max or 1RPM) in the following 3 exercises Back Squat, Strict Shoulder Press and Deadlift.

Having built up the weight over several sets I completed the Crossfit total with the following weights

BACK SQUAT - 130Kg

STRICT SHOULDER PRESS - 65Kg

DEADLIFT - 155Kg

Which was about where I expected it to be, although I feel, with a bit more confidence, especially in Squat and deadlift, I can lift heavier, but I didn't, so not any point, saying I could/will do more, until I do !

DAY TWO

As I was feeling slightly fatigued and a little sore from yesterdays efforts, I decided to brush up on my olympic lifting technique, although I only did cleans and snatches.

I used a weight heavy enough to keep good form, but light enough not to over fatigue me, ready for tomorrow and another test.

Anyone familiar with Crossfit and some other training methods will know, they have a lot of acronyms used to describe, what exercises or how a WoD is to be attempted, I will probably be using a few of these in my blog, so thought a list maybe useful for you (and me)

CrossFit Acronyms and Abbreviations 

AMRAP: As Many Reps (sometimes Rounds)as Possible

ATG: Ass to Grass

BP: Bench press

BS: Back squat

BW (or BWT): Body weight

CFT:CrossFit Total - consisting of max squat, press, and deadlift.

CFSB: CrossFit Strength Bias. A program developed by Jeff Martin and Darrell White

CFWU:CrossFit Warm-up

CLN: Clean

C&J: Clean and jerk

C2: Concept II rowing machine

DL: Deadlift

FS: Front squat

GHR(D): Glute ham raise (developer). Posterior chain exercise, like a back extension. Also, the device that allows for the proper performance of a GHR.

GHR(D) Situp: Situp done on the GHR(D) bench.

GPP: General physical preparedness, aka "fitness."

GTG: Grease the Groove, a protocol of doing many sub-maximal sets of an exercise throughtout the day

H2H: Hand to hand; refers to Jeff Martone's kettlebell "juggling" techniques (or to combat).

HSPU: Hand stand push up. Kick up into a handstand (use wall for balance, if needed) bend arms until nose touches floor and push back up.

HSQ: Hang squat (clean or snatch). Start with bar "at the hang," about knee height. Initiate pull. As the bar rises drop into a full squat and catch the bar in the racked position. From there, rise to a standing position

IF: Intermittent Fasting

KB: Kettlebell

MEBBMaximum Effort Black box, term coined by Mike Rutherford. Search the forum for it. Originally laid out in one of the early Performance Menu issues.

KTE: Knees to elbows. Similar to TTBs described below.

MetCon: Metabolic Conditioning workout

MP: Military press

MU: Muscle ups. Hanging from rings you do a combination pull-up and dip so you end in an upright support.

OHS: Overhead squat. Full-depth squat performed while arms are locked out in a wide grip press position above (and usually behind) the head.

PC: Power clean

Pd: Pood, weight measure for kettlebells

PR: Personal record

PP: Push press

PSN: Power snatch

PU: Pull-ups, possibly push ups depending on the context

Rep: Repetition. One performance of an exercise.

Rx'd; as Rx'd: As prescribed; as written. WOD done without any adjustments.

RM: Repetition maximum. Your 1RM is your max lift for one rep. Your 10 RM is the most you can lift 10 times.

SDHP: Sumo deadlift high pull 

Set: A number of repetitions. e.g., 3 sets of 10 reps, often seen as 3x10, means do 10 reps, rest, repeat, rest, repeat.

SPP: Specific physical preparednesss, aka skill training.

SN: Snatch

SQ: Squat

SS: Starting Strength; Mark Rippetoe's great book on strength training basics.

Subbed: Substituted. The CORRECT use of "subbed," as in "substituted," is, "I subbed an exercise I can do for one I can't," For example,if you can't do HSPU, you subbed regular pushups. 

Sadly, many illiterate posters get this bass-ackward, and claim that since they can't do HSPU, they subbed HSPU for pushups. D'oh!

TGU: Turkish get-up (See exercise section)

TTB: Toes to bar. Hang from bar. Bending only at waist raise your toes to touch the bar, slowly lower them and repeat.

WO, sometimes W/O: Workout

WOD: Workout of the day

YBF: You'll Be Fine (liberally applied in spray form)

Taken from www.crossfitdavis.com

So far so good 

Craig

Crossfit - What's that all about ??

Hello and Welcome

Crossfit, a word that will send many a fitpro and a lot of normally sane people into many a heated 'discussion' over its merits and downfalls.

There are plenty who love it, as many hate it, some have no idea what the hell it is.

I like many others have never got involved in any crossfit WoD's (Workout of the Day). Although like a lot of people I have watched many a youtube video of them.

This is where a lot of the opinions are generated, as with anything, in this day and age, good or bad, if people are doing something, someone will be video it.

I have watched a lot of really bad 'crossfit' tagged videos, bad technique, crazy exercises, injuries, people attempting weights, that their definitely not ready for.

On the same note, I have also watched a lot of very very fit, athletic 'crossfitters, training and competing at an extremely high level, with brilliant technique and tremendous, conditioning and endurance.

This is probably why, you get a lot of debate over the advantages or disadvantages of doing Crossfit.

So, where do I sit on this debate ?

Well, I've always been of the belief, if you don't know much about something, you can't really have that good an opinion on it.

I would say however, I do admire the strength and conditioning of the top athletes and I have seen enough bad exercise videos, of most exercises to realise everything you see on youtube, may not be all it appears, 

like any product, it will become bastardised and copied, by those not willing to pay, to learn how to do it properly.

For instance, if I watched a bad deadlift or squat, it would not stop me deadlifting or squatting, it's not the exercise that causes the injuries etc, its the bad execution of them. Normally through lack of education.

I have, for maybe the last 4-5 years wanted to try Crossfit, but as there were no Crossfit gyms (or boxes, as they're known in the crossfit world) near me it wasn't possible.

Since the start of this year, I have been living in Glasgow, which allowed me to train in Crossfit Glasgow 'box' although I was doing my own training and not taking part in any WoD's.

I have watched and spoken to the two main coaches in Crossfit Glasgow, Iain Barbour and Gavin Heselton, who both have a great deal of coaching skills and knowledge, with each weeks WoD's being carefully programmed, to generate the maximum results, without over using any one bodypart or training pattern.

With a mix, of strength, endurance, power and Met Con sessions, which can be scaled to suit any participant.

Anyone who joins Crossfit Glasgow, must also go through a fundamentals course, where they will be coached proper technique for the most commonly used exercises- Squat, Deadlift, Pull ups, Strict shoulder press, wall balls, to name a few.

Its not until members have shown the coaches, a good standard of technique, that they are allowed to join in with the general WoD's.

Having witnessed all these positive elements and spoken to both Iain and Gavin, we decided it would be a great 'introduction' not only for me, but for those with a mixed view on Crossfit.

If I undertook, a crossfit journey, although not new to exercise, I am new to Crossfit, so we set out a bit of a plan.

Starting this week, we (well me) will be doing a serious of strength, conditioning, endurance tests.

Then over the next 8-12 weeks, I will follow a Crossfit style training plan.

As with most things, it takes a bit of time, to start seeing true results, doing it for two weeks, isn't going to prove anything, 8-12 weeks will (should) show some changes, for better or for worse is yet to be decided.

I will post my  results as I go through this week, along with my weight, body measurements etc, just to try and cover as many changes as possible.

Nothing to it, but to do it !!

Craig