Indy CrossFit

Monday 1/28

AM Crew did 100 m row, 10 Hang Snatch, 200 m row, 20 hang snatch, 300 m row, 30 hang snatch, 400 m row, 40 hang snatch, 500 m row 50 hang snatch for time.  I did this in 21:20.

PM Crew did 10 snatch (1 arm 5 on each arm), 10 jumping Pullups, 10 box Jumps, then 20, 20, 20, 30,30,30, 40,40,40, 50,50,50 for time.  We had a good crew for this workout.  Great job to everyone.

Tuesday was a heavy lift day for us.  We did some heavy Push Jerk’s. 7×3.  I finished at 245 for 3.  We then decided to go outside and pick our massive telephone poles and a large tire.  Good times.

Wednesday

AM Crew did 10 ring pushups, 10 Squats, 10 double unders as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes.  I finished 18 rounds.

PM Crew did 15 pushups, 10 squats, 10 double unders as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes.

February 10, at 1:00 pm we will have a Fundamentals of CrossFit class.  It will be free to all current members and $10 for any guest wanting to participate.  We will cover basic CrossFit exercises and methodology.  Vince and I will teach the class, and it should be a great time.  Plan on attending if you can.

We’ve had some great turnouts and some great individual efforts at the forge recently. I’d like to encourage everyone to keep up the great work and the persistent mind set that is so critical when attempting to achieve your best.

I’ve been harping a lot lately about technique and the need to develop virtuosity with the mechanics of our movements. Its is human nature to seek shortcuts – especially when we suffer. Yes, as we tire, our technique will inevitably degrade. But this is not really what I’m talking about. I encourage everyone to seek technical mastery of the movements so that the onset of this degradation gets farther and farther into the workout. (as opposed to there not being ANY mastery to begin with….)

For those interested in some extra coaching on this point, we’ll be starting a mechanics lesson on a monthly basis- the first one will be Feb 10th. Your workouts will be improved once you learn the subtle nuances of each movement. Trust me.

Yesterday, we did the following:

400m run, 25 pullups – 600m run, 50 pushups – 800m run, 75 situps – 1200m run, 100 squats – for time.

A pretty good squat actually!

Wednesday

We did a 400 m row and then two minutes of active recovery. This was a great workout to find out how our recovery ability was. We ended up doing 5 rounds of this. I did my first round in 1:19 and every round after in 1:20.

Thursday we did some speed deadlifts with a snatch grip, then we went overhead as fast as we could. We did not go super heavy, however, we did 8 reps at max speed to work on our explosiveness.

Friday

21 15 9

Thrusters

Pullups

Power Cleans

Looks a lot like “Fran” except for the added Power Cleans. Nasty stuff. Did this fully Rx’d in 10:19.

Saturday

7 Rounds For time

700 m row

27 Burpees

27 Wallballs

27 Double Unders

27 Push Jerk

27 Situps

27 Box Jumps

Awesome turn out for this suffering. A lot of first timers experienced a LOOOONG workout.  I did this in 77 minutes and change.  Yep, 77 minutes.

Vince getting some Jump Squats onto the box done.

Suffer on Saturday…yes, it was a sufferfest.

The Aconcagua workout crew!

Yesterday, the forge paid another visit to “Jackie”. This WOD is a crossfit benchmark which includes a 1000m row, 50 thrusters (45) and 30 pullups. For some, it was their first experience meeting Jackie. For others, it was a chance to measure some progress. Everyone made gains, either by reducing their time or increasing weight and range of motion. I suspect that we’ll be seeing more of these benchmark workouts in the future, especially after we dig out from the winter freeze.

And another reminder to all: this Saturday (the 26th) at 8:30am, we’ll be having a bon voyage workout with Joe Lawson as he prepares to conquer the highest peak in the western hemisphere. If you can, come by and get a workout in, or just wish Joe good luck…you may learn something and be inspired at the same time. For those who missed the news coverage we had a few days ago, check it out: wxin_01-20-2008_230106.wmv

local fighters John, Jake and James puttin’ the hurt on jackie…

Monday

Pretty straight forward 7 pullups, 7 burpees, 12 double unders, rounds in 20 minutes.  Was pretty tough one…also, had a good turnout and some good totals on this one.  I did 12 rounds as RX’d

Tuesday

Did a little jump squatting with weight.  Worked our explosive phase.  Also, did some plate stacking and single arm snatching.  If you are completely confused by what I just wrote you need to be in here to lift heavy with us.

Lastly, thanks to Joe L for the hook up.  Hopefully we should have some video shortly up.

Hopefully, a few of you were able to see the Fox59 story covering one of our sponsored athletes, Joe Lawson. It aired last night and early this morning. Reporter Gene Cox and his cameraman did an outstanding job covering Joe’s project, Expedition Hope, and Joe’s training sponsor (us). For those of you who missed it, we’ll try to get the video or a link posted soon.

For those who are unfamiliar with Joe’s upcoming mission, he’ll be leaving Feb.1st for Argentina to climb the highest peak in the western hemisphere. With an altitude of over 20,000 feet, this will be the toughest climb yet for Joe, who has already reached the summit of 3 out of the 7 tallest mountains in the world. If you’d like to know more about his mission, go here: www.expeditionhope.org

Joe is a brave guy and we’re gonna send him out in style with a killer WOD on Saturday, January 26th at 8:30am. Clear your schedule that morning.

And thanks Joe for your constant support of the Indy Crossfit Revolution!

Today’s forge workout was a 500m row, followed by as many rounds possible of 7 push jerk (115) and 8 burpees in 15 minutes.

Thursday night we had the good fortune of having professional Highland Games Athlete, former world champion powerlifter and good friend Lannie Pullon come and lift with us.  Lannie decided to put our little crew through one of his workouts…brutal.  I think my upper lats are still sore from the heavy high pulls.  Needless to say, Lannie is STRONG, which was witnessed by everyone who came.  I want to personally thank him for his generosity and good tips to everyone who was there.  We will have Lannie come back, because he still owes me dinner!

Lannie big lifting

Sullivan pondering when he is going to get strong.

Joe L, Simon and Kim thinking about the end.

Friday we did 18 cleans, 18 Wallballs, 18 box jumps and 36 double unders, 5 rounds for time. 

Saturday was 1000 m row, 30 pullups, 20 burpees, 50 push press, 50 wallballs for time.  I did this in 11:29. 

PS to The Joe, yes there were witnesses and yes I will get the next one on video.

On Tuesday we did a CrossFit Total…you can find more info about CFT at www.crossfit.com  We had some big numbers thrown up by a lot of people.  We also had some newbies who had a chance to do their first CFT.  The only thing I have to say about our T and Th lifting class is that if you want to build some more dynamic strength, these are the classes to attend.  However, if you want to wonder why people are improving and you are not…it very well could be due to the fact that they are getting stronger and you are not.  So strap it on and get your ass to our T and Th class at 5:30. 

 This is for The Joe…1075 total.  355 squat (I know I missed at 385…), 205 overhead (felt like I had a little more…maybe a 210 or 215 in me) and a monster 515 deadlift. 

Yesterday in the am and pm we did 8 push press, 12 squats, 15 situps for rounds in 20 minutes.  I was feeling a little ill so laid off of this one.  However, we had a couple of very impressive performances…Sarah S went 16 1/3 on this one.  I can personally say that she might be the Queen of the Situp. 

Post em if you got em.

The thrill of victory…the agony of deadlift.

Yesterday was CFT day and a good number of folks showed up to find out how much strength they’ve gained since starting crossfit. Congrats to everyone who improved, especially my wife, Gina, whose score went from 160 to 285. Unbelievable! That’s about a 75% increase in strength in 12 weeks. Great work!

For me, the CFT started with promise, as I pr’d the backsquat with a 365. My static press was a little too static (no improvement), and my deadlift was, well…dead. Tried for a pr at 365, and then twice at 355 with no luck. For the first time, I scratched a lift. As embarrassing as it is for me to divulge this information, I willingly offer it up as a lesson moment: One must focus throughout the entirety of the WOD. Failure to do so will cause….failure.

This may seem too obvious to bother with, however, it speaks directly to the value of maintaining intensity during the WOD. Watch any crossfit.com video and you’ll find that the star athletes maintain consistent focus from start to finish. Yes, they take breaks and slow down a little towards the end, but they minimize waste – they practice economy of time and motion (haven’t seen one take a drink of water yet…)

Furthermore, to the degree that one covets intensity, one must shun complacency. You may start a WOD with great success, only to blow it near the end due to lack of focus. The barbell is an impartial adversary. It cares not whether you break a record or break your back. WODs can be cruel that way..and who better to conclude this lesson than the cruelest of philosophers, Nietzsche, as he stated:

“Masters of the first rank are recognized by the fact that in matters great and small they know how to find an end perfectly, be it at the end of a melody or a thought; of a tragedy’s fifth act or an act of state. The best of the second rank always get restless toward the end, and do not fall into the sea with such proud and calm balance as do, for example, the mountains of Portofino – where the bay of Genoa finishes its melody.”

Today’s Forge workout was 5 rds of 200m run, 12 overhead squat (95) and 12 pullups. Got it done in 14:53.

….stoking the flames at the forge..

Did anyone catch the USA Weekend supplement in the newspaper yesterday? It contained an article entitled “Fighting Back – a small woman’s guide to self defense.” Apparently, according to this article, January is National Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month”. And the key to self-defense, they claim, is awareness.

The article then goes on to illustrate just how seemingly easy it would be for a 5’2” 110 pound female to fight off a 6’2” 210 pound male who has ambushed her. After seeing the photos of the female reporter fighting back in 5 simple movements, I experienced an “awareness” of my own: I was viewing tabloid journalism – a “six pack in 6 days” kind of article.

You see it all the time whenever you wander down the magazine aisle at the supermarket – cover after cover advertising false promises of impossible improvement.

The muscle mags are notorious for this. The covers and articles are dominated by professional posers who are paid by advertisers and supplement makers to do nothing all day except workout. The reality is that, unless you are one of those models who professionally bodybuild, you won’t look like that – ever. And, unless you train to fight, you won’t successfully out-last someone who towers over you and has committed himself to your destruction.

So, in honor of National Personal Self Defense Awareness Month, I recommend a subscription to a publication that is BS free – the Crossfit Journal. It’s $25 a year and is delivered to your email every month. There are no advertisements and no false promises. There are, however, plenty of useful training tips, including a few from small women who ARE capable of out-lasting someone towering over them who might decide to take them on.

Today, we did 21-15-9 of sumo high pull, box jumps and ring dips. Took me 6:27. Friday, we did squats and handstand push-ups, 5X5. I did 310X5.

Brian going deeeeep