Workout of the Day
12 Consecutive Climbing Sets (Take Two)
Last week we saw this same format with shoulder-to-overhead movements, and this time around we'll focus on the three main barbell squat variations. After a big dose of aerobic conditioning work on Monday this will be a nice compliment to help start our week of training.
Happy squatting!
WOD FOR 08-21-18:
Overhead Squat:
4-3-2-1
Front Squat:
4-3-2-1
Back Squat:
4-3-2-1
If performing this workout as Rx (Black Level) the goal is to increase the weight every set, for a total of twelve consecutive climbing work sets (i.e. the bar only goes up in weight). If that is unreasonable (be honest with yourself!) decrease the weight when starting the next movement, then climb back up again to a heavy single in four sets.
An example of performing this workout as Rx is as follows:
Overhead Squat 4x95, 3x115, 2x135, 1x155 directly into...
Front Squat 4x165, 3x185, 2x205, 1x225 directly into...
Back Squat 4x235, 3x255, 2x275, 1x295
(Compare to 02-23-16 and 04-21-15)
No Cardio Zone
On Sunday a nice woman with a little dog from my neighborhood saw me walking Bozie with Avery in tow and struck up a conversation with me. Inevitably we arrived on the topic of CrossFit (I was wearing my AR Coach Hoodie) and then she hit me with it -- the infamous question I haven't actually heard firsthand in at least 3 years (even though I joke about it nearly every week).
"What do you do for cardio?"
No lie, I looked her right in the eyes and said "Nothing. We have a strict No Flex Zone at the gym which is itself The No Cardio Zone as well. Haha, I'm kidding... well about the No Flex Zone at least."
While I was walking away from her I thought to myself oh crap this lady has no idea I'm basically joking every time I open my mouth.
Oh well, there you have it. Arena Ready, The No Cardio Zone.
PS you're going to hate me for the movement order of this workout.
Cheers!
WOD For 08-20-18:
"The No Cardio Zone"
AMRAP 21 Minutes:
21/17 Calorie Row, Ski, or Assault Bike (mixing each round is OK)
21 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups
21 Overhead Walking Lunges w/Plate @ 45/35 lbs
21 KB Swings @ 70/53 lbs
21 AbMat Sit-ups
The Junk Drawer
Inspired by Coach Hillary's QoD this week, here's a workout that has a little bit of everything (barbell-wise) thrown into it. But at least it's slightly more organized than some other junk drawers though -- think of it as a junk drawer after you went to the Container Store. Which, by the way, reminds me....
Happy Weekend!
WOD For 08-18-18:
"The Junk Drawer"
With a Partner, 2 Rounds For Time:
60 Box Jumps @ 24/20 in
50 Deadlifts @ 155/110 lbs
40 Hang Power Cleans
30 Front Squats
20 Push Jerks
Only one athlete working at a time and reps do not have to be split evenly.
Friday Forties
No, not that kind of forty, homie.
After we went heavier with the cleans on Tuesday, and hit a longer, aerobic, skill-flavored piece on Thursday -- with some Back Squat triples sandwiched in-between -- we'll go light and fast(ish) on Friday with overhead elements back in play.
Can our advanced athletes hold on to big sets in this one to try and take large chunks out of the forties? Beginner and intermediate athletes should scale accordingly to keep the sets consistent and the rest periods short in an effort to maintain our intended stimulus -- let's call said stimulus "burn-y"... that seems accurate for today.
Happy Friday, friends!
WOD For 08-17-18:
2 Power Snatches + 2 Overhead Squats:
10 Minutes to Build to a Top Set (not a max)
-then-
For Time:
20 Lateral Bar Burpees
40 Toes-to-Bar
40 Power Snatches @ 75/55 lbs
40 Overhead Squats
20 Lateral Bar Burpees
Unbroken Double Unders
Remember that one time when a woman named Molly Metz did 10 straight minutes of unbroken double unders? That's 1,434 reps UNBROKEN.
It sorta makes 26 unbroken reps ten times look like child's play, no?
WOD For 08-16-18:
With a Partner For Time:
5000m Row
***At 0m (to start the workout) and every 500m thereafter BOTH partners must complete:
26 Unbroken Double Unders
6 Pistols (alternating legs)
*Only one athlete rowing at a time - share the same rower and switch whenever you like.
*The row cannot start each time until both partners have completed the DU and pistol reps.
The Back Squat Strength Sandwich (Again)
You saw it two weeks ago in a similar format but with slightly different time constraints, and very different movement demands on the legs in general. This week's version uses what feels to most of you as the "lighter" kettlebell in a triplet AMRAP to kick things off -- can you start unbroken in the AMRAP movements and hold on all the way through?
WOD FOR 08-15-18:
On a Running Clock...
A) 0:00 - 10:00
AMRAP 10 Minutes:
21 KB Swings @ 53/35 lbs
15 Wall Balls @ 20/24 lbs to 10/9 ft
9 Hand-Release Push-ups
B) 12:00 - 24:00
Back Squat:
12 Minutes to Build to a Heavy Triple (Not a 3RM)
*If possible, add to your top set from 08-01-18
C) 26:00 - 30:00
Tabata:
Dead Bugs
3-2-1 Contact
If you're around my age, were at least moderately (and perhaps proudly) nerdy as a child, and were allowed to watch educational public television, then you likely know this opening theme fairly well:
When I named Tuesday's WOD I looked up the old "3-2-1 Contact" opening theme and was surprisingly reminded of how many times that opening sequence actually includes sports movements and activities. It literally shows athletes doing gymnastics, throwing (which is closely related to weightlifting), and jumping in various forms.
How serendipitous indeed.
WOD For 08-14-18:
"3-2-1 Contact"
15 Rounds For Time:
3 Box Jumps @ 30/24 in
2 Ring Muscle-ups
1 Clean @ 225/155 lbs
12 Consecutive Climbing Sets
If your legs are feeling like wet logs from last week's sequence of workouts then have no fear... we're not squatting, lunging, or pulling on Monday. In fact, we're not even met-conning (is that even a word?).
But just as we talked about last week with "Simple vs Easy" don't mistake Monday's WOD for less than what it is. To give this your max effort and truly complete it as prescribed (12 consecutive climbing sets with bar only going up in weight once you start) is one heck of a session. If, however, your technique is not yet there on the push presses and/or jerks then scale appropriately (i.e. drop the loading when needed to safely complete challenging sets) to get the most out of the training day.
Hope you all had a great weekend!
WOD For 08-13-18:
Strict Press:
4-3-2-1
Push Press:
4-3-2-1
Push Jerk:
4-3-2-1
If performing this workout as Rx (Black Level) the goal is to increase the weight every set, for a total of twelve consecutive climbing work sets (i.e. the bar only goes up in weight). If that is unreasonable (be honest with yourself!) decrease the weight when starting the next movement, then climb back up again to a heavy single in four sets.
An example of performing this workout as Rx is as follows:
Strict Press 4x135, 3x145, 2x155, 1x165 directly into...
Push Press 4x175, 3x195, 2x210, 1x220 directly into...
Push Jerk 4x225, 3x235, 2x245, 1x255
(Compare to 07-03-17, 07-27-16, 08-19-15)
A Wise Man Once Said
"Every day is leg day... when you're running from your problems."
Happy weekend, friends!
WOD For 08-11-18:
WITH A PARTNER, ON A RUNNING CLOCK...
A) 0:00 - 10:00
Power Snatch:
10 minutes for both partners to establish a triple (NOT a 3RM) using the same barbell
*Touch-and-go is not required but is encouraged for as long as safely possible in order to prep for the lighter reps in Part B
B) 13:00 - 32:00
FIVE Cycles of 3:00 Work / 1 Minute Rest:
3 Power Snatches @ 115/80 lbs
6 Lateral Bar Burpees
9 Air Squats
*Partners complete ONE FULL ROUND themselves then switch
*Re-start each cycle exactly where you left off (i.e. score this continuously with one grand total of rounds + reps for all 5 cycles)
How To Eat Better: A Simple Guide
1. Eat minimally processed foods. Omit processed grains and seed oils, added sugars, artificial sweeteners, and chemical additives. In other words, eat foods that don’t need their ingredients to be listed on the label.
2. Eat enough protein. Eat at least the RDA which is .8 grams per kilogram of body weight, and for athletes, up to .9 grams per pound of body weight, as recommended by the ISSN. This can and should come from a variety of plant and animal sources.
3. Eat lots of plants. Eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and tubers. Eat organic if you can afford it, particularly for the dirty dozen. If uncooked plants give you a stomachache, try cooking them thoroughly.
4. Eat when you’re hungry. Listen to your body’s hunger cues, and eat accordingly. If you first follow steps 1-3, you’re unlikely to overeat.
5. Drink mostly water. Avoiding sugar and sweeteners takes care of most of the empty calories associated with beverages, but coffee, tea and alcohol shouldn’t substitute for water, or be a substantial part of your daily routine either.
WOD For 08-10-18:
Every 2 Minutes For 5 Rounds (10 Minutes):
1 Power Clean + 1 Squat Clean + 2 Front Squats
Climbing
-then-
For Time:
200 Double Unders
100 Wall Balls @ 20/14 lbs t 10/9 ft
50 AbMat Sit-ups
25 Front Squats @ 185/135 lbs (no rack)
Simple vs. Easy & Cooking vs. Baking
Sometimes in CrossFit people tend to confuse "simple" with being "easy." In the context of Thursday's AMRAP I would ask some of those people to show us 8+ rounds as prescribed to see if they truly felt the workout was "easy."
In a somewhat related line of thinking -- when we write programming we generally start with ideas organized by movement pattern, loading, time domain, and intended stimulus. As you can imagine this can sometimes get a bit messy and over-complicated (if we don't constantly edit along the way) as we attempt to keep constant variance, intentional practice, and opportunities for intensity front of mind. In many ways writing a periodized program for Olympic weightlifting or a sport-specific strength athlete can be much easier than doing so for CrossFit as the frequency, volume, repetition, and percentages are much more exact and logical. For building General Physical Preparedness (GPP) and enabling stronger, faster, better humans to improve at nearly everything (i.e. a "broad" fitness) without specializing in any one thing, programming can be much more of an art than a science.
Sometimes I liken the art versus science in programming to cooking versus baking. When programming an athlete's training leading up to Nationals in weightlifting we "bake" much more than we "cook" (via exact measurements, exact volume requirements, exact percentages, exact timing of it all) -- but when training athletes not to suck at life we often "cook" much more than we "bake." Yes, there's obviously some very intentional guiding principles, a focus on a set of priorities at any given time, and a close & methodical regulation of the stimulus for each day's/week's/month's workouts -- thus the astute programming geeks among you have picked-up on the patterns over the years at Arena Ready -- but the "art" and fun of "cooking" CrossFit will always remain. And I would argue that the cooking has been quite successful based on the performance of any regularly-training athlete at AR (from multiple-time Regional competitors to those who simply want to be fit and healthy).
On Thursday we present to you a 10-minute AMRAP that is very simple, but certainly not easy. It's some of the best ingredients in "cooking" distilled down to an elegant (if I must say so myself) set menu -- no over-seasoning needed... no desire to put 17 movements in there to make it seem fancy... no aspirations to make it 30 minutes long to try and kill everyone. Just simple, quality, demanding fitness in three little movements. This workout started as something completely different (but closely related in terms of movement patterns and systemic demand), and was edited down and revised 3-4 times before it made its way onto Thursday's plate. We "tasted" and "re-tasted" -- we've tested and re-tested the ingredients in other contexts over and over again.
Constant variance, but not random. Simple but not easy. Cooking and not so much baking.
Bon Appetit!
WOD For 08-09-18:
3 Rounds For Quality (NOT For Time):
12/9 Calorie Assault Bike, Ski, or Row (easy, medium, fast)
12 KB Goblet Cossack Squats @ pick load (6 R / 6 L)
6 Inchworms to Plank
6 KB Turkish Get-ups @ pick load (3 R / 3 L)
-then-
AMRAP 10 Minutes:
30 ft Handstand Walk (15 ft down & back)
10 Burpees
World Record Deadlift + lululemon
Here's Brian Shaw deadlifting 1,128 pounds:
Here's Brian Shaw trying on lululemon at the mall (enjoy):
WOD For 08-08-18:
2 Rounds For Time:
500m Row or Ski
40 Walking Lunges
30 Box Jump Overs @ 24/20 in
20 Deadlifts @ 275/195 lbs