12/30 CrossFit WOD

Warmup:
Dymanic stretching, foam roller, lacrosse ball

Skill:
Back squat
5-3-1 reps
Result: 225, 275, 305

WOD:
AMRAP 13 minutes
5 hang clean (135lb)
10 mountain climbers (10 each side)
15 pushups (Crossfit Games hand-release at bottom)
Result: 10 rounds + 10 mountain climbers.

12/29: ME C&J, Snatch

Warmup:
Dynamic stretching, 100 du's

WOD1:
50 toes-to-bar for time
Result: 2:29

WOD2:
Find 1RM on snatch, power clean & jerk.
Result: 160 lb snatch, 230 lb C&J.

12/28: Run a mile

Warmup: dynamic stretching

WOD:
Run 1 mile (in 16 degree weather with dog)
Result: 5:44
Jog .5 mile cooldown.

12/27: Dirty sevens

Warmup:
Burgener (35 lb bar), dynamic stretching, pull/pushups

Skill:
Dynamic effort (DE) shoulder press (80 lbs)
6x3 reps

WOD:
7 rounds for time of:
7 snatch, 95/65
7 snatch balance, 95/65
7 OH squats, 95/65
Result: 17:52

12/24: "DT"

Warmup:
10 kb swings
15 wallballs
20 situps
x 3 rounds

WOD:
"DT"
5 rounds of
12 deadlifts (155 lb)
9 hang cleans (155 lb)
6 push jerk (155 lb)
Result: 8:57

Crossfit: 12/22 "Angie"

Third go around with "Angie"

Warmup:
Burgener, dymamic stretch

Skill:
300ft walking handstands

WOD:
"Angie"
100 pullups
100 pushups
100 situps
100 squats
fort time!
Result: 12:24

Crossfit WOD: 12/21

Warmup:
Burgener warmup with C&J
Jump ropes, dynamic stretching

Skill:
ME front squats on box
Result: 255lbs

WOD:
4 rounds for time of
5 cleans (135lb)
15 jack knives
15 KB swings (1.5 pood)
5 Turkish get-ups (1.5 pood)
Result: 12:09

Crossfit WOD: 12/20

Today I was sick with a cold but did the following:

Wod:
5 rounds of
5 deadlifts (275)
10 burpees

Lift like a Girl - Reasons Women Need Crossfit

This article was written by my wife back in June. It's a great article and I wanted to share.

CrossFit: 12/17

Warmup:
Burgener

Skill:
DE back squats with blue bands (145lb)
8x3

WOD:
"Isabel"
30 snatches for time.
Result: 4:52

Crossfit: "Annie" part two

Warmup: 

Burgener warmup with jump ropes

Skill:

Push press (snatch grip)

Result: 195 lbs

WOD:

"Annie"

50-40-30-20-10 reps of double-unders, situps.

Result: 5:17 -- PR!

CrossFit WOD: 12/14

Warmup:
Burgener warmup, with dynamic stretches

Skill:
Jefferson lift
Result: 335lbs

WOD:
3 rounds for time of:
50 box jumps (24")
21 Deadlifts (185lb)
30 pullups

Result: 15:23

In a few words, BRUTALLY AWESOME WOD!

Crossfit WOD: 12/7

Warmup:

Burgener warmup. Row 500m.

Skill:

Front squat with chanins. Max Effort

Result:

255 lbs (PR)

WOD:

4 rounds for time of...

15 strict pullups

21 ring dips

50 squats

Result: 17:23

Crossfit WOD: Snatch death.

After a nice 4 days off from working out due to a mini-vacation, I was ready to get back at it and work hard. For skill, we worked on dynamic effort presses. 50% of 1RM at 8x3 reps. 80lbs for me. 

The WOD:

AMRAP 5 min. 3 rounds. 3 min rest between rounds.

10 hang snatch (110lb)

10 Toes to bar

5 overhead lunge right arm (1.5 pood)

5 overhead lunge left arm (1.5 pood)

My results were:

2+5 kb/2+7 snatch/2+5 snatch. 

CrossFit WOD: Barbell destruction

Todays WOD focused on several technical lifts that really just burned me up. It was a great combination of work and I hope to see more of this.

Before the WOD, we focused on dynamic effort seated presses with chains. 50-60% of 1RM.

In weights of 95/65 for time:
5 Snatch
10 OH Squat
15 SDHP

x5 rounds for time!

My time was 9:11. I was spent. Maybe from the Filthy "50" the day before?

CrossFit Green Bay: Thanksgiving WOD

So the day after Thanksgiving is usually the worst time of the year for me to workout. It's full of goodness from the day before and my body is probably trying to still process all the crap -- making for an awful experience the next day.

Since I was home for Thanksgiving (home meaning hometown) I headed over to the ever-welcoming GB Crossfit where Grant had the following WOD on tap for us. A great burner mind you.


30 Hand stand pushups
40 Pull ups
50 KB swings (1.5 pood)
60 Sit ups
70 Burpees

For time.

Brutal! My time was 16 minutes and some change. Good stuff, but I felt like crap after! Thank you cold season.

Filthy "50" Round 3?

Like I mentioned in the past, the day after Thanksgiving is just a terrible time for me workout-wise. I'm usually in cahoots with my body because of all the wonderful food I am thankful for having. But I pushed on, making myself and my wife (actually, she wanted to ;) ) do the WOD from our gym last Wednesday before Thanksgiving - the infamous "Filthy 50."


Filthy "50"


50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders


For time!


I set a new PR at got 19:24 and my wife got 28:38, which is a VERY respectable time. Plus, she did it RX!!! So proud.

Active rest day!

No lifting for me today. Just some recovery. Oh but that didn't stop me from enjoying the cooler weather and sprinting a mile. I had to drop off my car last night to get repaired and it's exactly one mile from my house. Why not make this annoyance an opportunity to work on my met-con!?!?

Well I did just that. I set off and sprinting a mile, timing myself.

One mile sprint for time: 5:41

CrossFit WOD: "Diane"

On Tuesday, I finally got the chance to do "Diane." Prior to her, I couldn't connect 5 handstand pushups. I've been working pretty hard at them as it's a challenging bodyweight movement that gets me every time. People such as myself who have long arms really love HSPUs. :)

Diane is as follows:
21-15-9 reps of
Deadlifts (225lb)
Handstand pushups (HSPUs)
For time!

I got a time of 10:55. That is all HSPU time. I went unbroken on all the deads. No problem there.

CrossFit WOD: "DT" round 3

I set a new PR today on the hero wod "DT" The last time I did it at Rx was 12:51. This time, 8:55. And I'm confident I can do better next time!

CrossFit WOD: DL and Turkish Getups

I started things off with heavy deadlifting. Last time I did max effort deadlifts, I set a PR. It's been about 4-5 months since I did this so I had to ease into going all the way up. I'm disappointed in myself that I wait this long between setting new PRs, but I'll be correcting that.

I worked all the way up til I was at my PR weight of 405lbs. I'm happy I know I still have my strength, even after not working at it. I'm going to continue to work on heavy lifts.

After, I hit up a nice little WOD that wore me out physically. Not fire-breathing type, but tiring nonetheless.

5 Rounds for time:
10 strict chinup-toes-to-bar (Do a chinup then toes to bar after each)
5 inverted burpees
5 turkish getups (1.5 pood)

My time was 20:08.

CrossFit WOD: November 8th

Yesterday's workout reminded me of a smaller version of "Fight Gone Bad." It was as follows:

3 rounds for reps of:
1 minute squat snatch (95lb)
1 minute row (for calories)
1 minute GHD situps
1 minute ring dips

Total reps is your score. My score was 215. Amy got 163. A nice little WOD!

CrossFit WOD: "The Seven" - 3rd time with the hardest WOD ever.

As I have previously stated, this is the hardest WOD I've ever done.  Here's the bad news...

The last two times I did the WOD, I DID NOT do 135lb thrusters. I did 95lb thrusters, which is a MAJOR difference. Thrusters are the single most difficult exercise I do and adding 40lb more pounds to this lift ending up humbling me with a worse time.

The second time I did it, I got 25 minutes! I thought I was elite. This time around, I was gassed at 38 minutes! Doh! Need to work on things...

A great workout that hit every nook and cranny of muscle!

Double-under frenzy...

Today, we worked on muscle-up skill work and worked to find our ME box squat. I ended up getting 285 lbs and could have continued but time was short and my son was acting up in the gym.

The WOD was as follows:

2 minutes DUs
2 minutes singles
1.5 minutes DUs
1.5 min singles
1 min DUs
1 min singles
.5 min DUs
.5 min singles

For reps!

My son distracted me but I believe I got in the 900's. Maybe more, maybe less. In addition, today my shoulders are SORE! Good wod, and I plan to use it, but vary it up a bit differently with different exercises in the future.

"Elizabeth" round 3.

Today marked the 4th time I've done "Elizabeth."

1st time: 11:15
2nd time: 8:15
3rd time: 10:14

This time: 7:12.

PR baby!

"Elizabeth" is 21-15-9 reps of


Cleans (135lb)
Ring dips


For time! 

I'm happy with the result.

Rest week!

Well, it's been a while since I've posted because I've been on vacation for the last week. The week was a good one to relax, think about nothing, and let my mind and body rest. But it's good to be back as well.

On Saturday, Oct. 23rd, I tackled the following WOD at Green Bay CrossFit:

1 rope climb ascent (15ft)

Run 800m

2 rope ascents

Run 400m

3 rope ascents

Run 200m

For time!

This was the FIRST time I did rope climbs in a WOD. Talk about HARD. I need to work on these for sure. My time was 10 minutes. 

Thanks again Grant for the beating! I'm ready to take on this week!

Double WOD day...

Usually, I sleep in the mornings as I don't do well in workouts. But I missed yesterday because I had to get ready for my trip to North Dakota this next week. This morning I tackled "The Chief." It's as follows:

Max rounds in 3 minutes of:
3 power cleans (135lb)
6 pushups
9 air squats


Rest 1 minute, repeat 5 times.

My rounds were 6, 5, 5, 5, 5

A deceptive workout. Looks easy, but it's not. Try it!

I then went up to CrossFit Green Bay to hit up a WOD at Grant's place. The WOD followed the mainsite and was as follows:

15 hang cleans (135lbs)
15 burpees


x 3 rounds for time!

My time was 4:15. I was gassed!

CrossFit WOD: "Jack"

Today, we honored Staff Sgt Jack Martin III by performing the following:

"Jack"

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

10 push presses (115 lbs)

10 kb swings (1.5 pood)

10 box jumps (24")

I completed 11 rounds +1 kb swing. It was a tough WOD that challenged all parts. But thanks to Jack, we have the freedom to be able to exercise with freedom. God bless Jack!

Before the WOD, we worked on ME back squats. Unfortunately, I did not hit my PR. I need to continue my squatting like I used to. This performance made me realize it even more!

4x800m runs (add in some OH squats)

Today was a day that needed no instruction. Running. The WOD was simple:

4 rounds of 800m runs/sprints
3 min rest inbetween.

I went above the Rx and added 15 OH squats at 95lbs to the mix after my runs. Unfortunately, I don't have the times for each round, but my overall accumulated time was 11:48 (I think). To me, this is good as it's less than a 6 minute mile for two miles. My legs were jello after the OH squats but it made for a fun WOD that felt good. My dog also ran with me, and ended up taking a dump in the middle of my first 400m. Oh well, fun nonetheless.

Double "Helen" - aka "Hell-In"

The CrossFit Games 2010 introduced the CF world to double "Helen." Helen on it's own is 3 rounds of 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings, 12 pullups for time.

Double Helen is as follows:

1200 m Run

63 Kb Swings

36 Pull Ups

800 m Run

42 Kb Swings

24 Pull Ups

400 m Run

21 Kb Swings

12 Pull Ups

For time!

In looking at the Game's scores from this year here, I did pretty well! My time was 20:34. If you look at some of the big names from the Games, I'm a contender. Granted, they were doing other workouts prior, but still, it shows that if I didn't have a "job" job, worked out 3-5 times a day, etc, that I would be in contention! Maybe.

Prior to Double Helen, I did a 2-2-2-2-2-1-1 on the bench press. Weights were 155-175-195-205-225-235-235. 

My wife was spotting so I didn't want to go above 235. I could have done 255 one time I think. Good to know I still have some strength there, even though I don't bench like I used to. Even at that, I'm benching more now than I was when I was doing a regular routine at a globo.

To health,

Tyler

New Oly routine...

In addition to my met-con WODs, I'm going to be concentrating on my Oly lifting. The schedule is as follows:

Monday:
Snatch Balance
Full Snatch
Back Squat

Tuesday:
Bench
High-pull snatch
Front Squat

Wednesday:
Off

Thursday:
Full Snatch
Clean & Jerk
Front Squat

Friday:
Power Clean
Deadlift
Weighted pullups

Saturday:
Rotate:
Max Snatch
Max Clean & Jerk
Max Deadlift
Max Squat
Max Bench

To clarify, my routine throughout the week is not going to be ME (max effort). Only on Saturday do I concentrate on maxing out.

To health,
Tyler

Deads 'n pushups and new PRs.

Yesterday, my wife had to go to a dentist appointment so I was unable to go to the gym. Instead, I did a modified version of one of the mainsite's WODs.

10 deadlifts (275lb)
15 pushups (hand-release standard at 2010 Games)
30yd sprint
10 box-jumps (20")
30yd sprint

x 5 rounds for time!

I did not time myself, but this was a tough WOD! Glad I did it!

Afterwards, Amy tried to max out on DLs, which I was wary of because she already had done DLs in the WOD. She lifted 135lb with no problem! This was her first time over 100lbs ever and she pulled it easily! So proud of her!

Back at it

Today was my first workout since last Thursday. We have been busy with life and it felt great to get at it again. We worked on dynamic effort lifts of seated shoulder presses for our skill work - 6 rounds of 3. The wod was a follows:

30 ft walking handstands
10 hang cleans (135)
200 yd sprint


x 5 rounds.

My time was 6:44 but I think I missed a round so I told him to add 1:45 as a penalty. Amy's time was 15:11 at 55lbs.

After this WOD, I told the class that a 500m row 'finisher' was due. Everyone took a stab at rowing 500m as fast as possible. Amy got 2:33. I set a new PR at 1:27. I can do better though. ;-)

Sick, but not shaken...

I've been under the weather since Sunday and I've been taking it easy these last few days. But on Monday, I felt comfortable enough to get in a nice little WOD - afterwards, I didn't feel well :-/

Monday WOD:

Run 400m
21 thrusters (95lb)
21 pushups


x3 rounds, but the reps changed to 15, then 9 on the pushups and thrusters.

On Tuesday: 

Skill work: ME OH Squat
I ended up getting 185lbs, tieing my PR. I really need to work on OHS.

WOD:
20 walking lunges.
21 HSPU
30 Double-unders


x 3 rounds but the HSPU go from 15, then 9 reps.

My time was 12:08. Let's just say I need to work on HSPU. I'm so bad at them, but I tried my best and that is good.

Hang clean!

I saw a neat little WOD on CF Football's main site and had to do it as I was wanting to work on my hang cleans! I modified it a bit though. The WOD was tough, but definitely fun! Harder than I thought!

9 hang cleans (185lb)
10 ring dips
10 wall balls
6 hang cleans (185lb)
15 ring dips
15 wall balls
3 hang cleans (185lb)
20 ring dips
20 wall balls


...then 50 burpees to finish it off.  For time, of course!

I didn't time myself unfortunately. Good stuff though.

Walls, rings, running and new PRs on Oly lifts!

Sorry for the lack up of updating, I've been busy with life! Here are the workouts I've done, with little descriptive writing ;-) 

On Wednesday, Howy hit us up with the following WOD:

15 wall balls (20lb)

400m run

15 ring pushups

x5 rounds. 

A good little met-con that I got 15:16 on. 

On Thursday, I had friends come over so I did heavy work before they came over. I worked on my OH squats and the jerk. 

For my OH squat, I finally hit the 200's. 200lb to be exact! I'm happy with this. On the jerk, I got 255. I tell you what, long arms SUCK for the jerk, but I'm still happy with my performance. Improved quite a bit! After these two lifts, I decided to work on my squat. I did a 5x3 routine and squatted 275 no problem. I actually need to get more weights because I ran out of bumpers! haha! Might hit up Craigslist soon. 

"It's such pain in the...PRESS"

To those who know me, you know how long my arms are. For those that don't? They are long. For those that care to know, I'm 6'2" or so, sometimes taller. But I have a 6'8" wingspan, tip to tip. It's a blessing and a curse when it comes to certain things in life. Once of the things it's a blessing for is basketball. For the curse, yep, it's overhead work like presses. Strict presses to be exact, no momentum etc.

Today's WOD:

30 Double-unders
20 Mountain climbers (2 count)
10 strict Presses (95lb Men/65lb Women)


x 10 rounds for time!

GREAT workout for the shoulders and stabilizing core muscles. A lot harder than I thought. Of course, 95lb STRICT presses are not easy. But then again, that is why I do this!

My time, 22:46. Amy's time was 14:20 something.

After the WOD, I had to do 89 burpees because I missed a day in my burpee challenge. I did 50 burpees for time and got 2:45. I then did the remaining 39 for time and got 2 minutes. I'm hoping I can get under 5 minutes at the end of my challenge.

To health,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Front squats and DUs

Now that I have a squat rack, I can finally start doing squatting. It's great to be able to do these again as I noticed I was losing power and size in my legs. But that is going to change ;-)

Amy and I worked on the back squat and front squats in 3 sets of 5 each. The first set was form and correction, the 2nd, heavier with great form, and the 3rd, heavy and intense with form.

After, we did the following WOD:

10-8-6-4-2
Front Squats (155/95)
50-40-30-20-10
Double unders


Do 10 FS, then 50 DUs, then 8 FS 40 DUs, etc....

Tough little WOD!

My time was 5 minutes. Amy's was 8:07. The legs were shot after!

Saturday morning WOD with "Grace"

I forgot to post the workout we completed on Saturday at Cream City CrossFit. It was a max lifting day of the Snatch and Clean & Jerks. It was a good day to find out my maxes on these two great lifts. Amy did really well as well.

After the maxing out, I decided to take on "Grace", which is 30 C&Js for time. Obviously I was already tired from the maxing out, but I did well. 2:58 was my time. I could've went faster but I wanted to concentrate a bit more on form, but still trying form with intensity.

In the middle of "Grace"

To health,

Tyler

God Bless America

September 11th is a day that changed America and our outlook on life. Yes, we hear that all the time, but it really did. The despicable acts of terrorism on our country 9 years ago today put the country on edge with fear, anger, resentment, hatred and pain. But I think it changed the perspectives and the hearts of Americans and helped us focus on what is really important and worthy of attention - family and friends.

Our lives are short here on Earth. It's what we do with our time here that determines what we value in life. Exercise is an activity that paves the way to a healthier existence while you are here and gives you the ability to interact with those values for a longer time. Nothing is so important that it can replace friends and family -- CrossFit is just a exercise/workout program, no more no less. But CrossFit provides a way (a superior way IMO) to live healthier and longer and a more enjoyable life.

I want to be able to play a game of basketball at age 60 with my kids, to be able to pull them up and down on a snow sled in the middle of winter without getting too winded, to be able to do the active things in life and not be limited by mobility, age, or lack of fitness. This is what CrossFit does and it's a means to an end in order to be with my family and friends.  Let us remember today as a day of focus on the best things in our lives.

God Bless America!

Tabata Sprints with Plyo Pushups

Back before I began CrossFit, I used to sprint - a lot. 2 or 3 times a week, I would take a break from my 5x5 routine with weights and do some sort of HIIT exercise and that usually involved sprinting or running hills. I really was in great sprinting shape, but CrossFit humbled me.

In any event, I do think sprinting helped me in certain aspects and I notice myself not being in that 'zone' anymore. I thought about the past a bit and realized that I haven't sprinted like I used to in about 9-10 months! Shame on me!

Today's WOD:

Tabata Sprints with max plyo pushups.

Explanation- Sprint 20 seconds on an all out sprint and immediately goto plyo pushups for max reps. Rest 10 seconds, repeat 8 times!

To health,

Tyler

I'm a CrossFit trainer at CreamCity CrossFit

I am a CrossFit trainer at CreamCity CrossFit!

Ok, so I haven't formally said that on this blog yet but I had to get some things settled behind the scenes before I thought I should mention it. Starting next week, I'll be on their staff to help train new and existing members, build the box up, recruit new members, etc. and hone my skills as an excellent coach/trainer. This is great news because I really want to help people attain real overall fitness.

"But wait," you ask, "I thought you wanted to open up your own gym? Or at least it seemed like you did?" Yes, this is a goal of mine and it will happen. But right now, I am more interested in becoming an excellent trainer and coach, help this gym grow so I can learn from the mistakes and the challenges, and to spread the good news of CrossFit! In order for any gym to be successful, the coaching must be top-notch and that is what I need to attain. Once I feel confident in my skills as a trainer and coach, I will open up my own gym.

It's no secret I want to have a gym, it's just a matter of when will it happen. Stay tuned in...

What is more important? Training or diet?

I've been reading StrongLifts.com for years now and Mehdi has changed my outlook on things quite a bit. He's not a CrossFitter but he's very into natural strength, nutrition, etc. His 5x5 program is what I used to do before CF and it helped me in MANY aspects. The squatting especially.

He posted a few articles over the past couple days that really made me think about nutrition and strength.

Read this first.

Read this second.

Read this third.

You can be sure that these guys are not eating well but they are getting results. Goes to show that what you put into your training is VERY important.

Again Faster's Competition Team WOD #1 Challenge

Again Faster seems like a great company that really supports the CrossFit community. It's owned and ran by Jon Gilson, who was my Level 1 trainer. Great guy and very knowledgeable.

In any event, they had a challenge on their website that I wanted to try for fun. All the elite athletes in the CrossFit community get their video posted on the website and the times it takes for them to complete it. I wanted to try to see where I stand. Let's just say that I have a lot of work to do to even consider a stab at the Sectionals and Regionals.

The top time, as it looks right now, is by a guy named Dan Bailey. Dan and I were fellow athletes who got our level 1 certifications together in Pittsburgh this past July. He's a humble and great guy and an amazing athlete! He won the Sectionals and placed 4th in Regionals. His time was 7:55 and has beat all the elite athletes times in WOD #1. Way to go Dan!

New squat rack!

Anyone who CrossFits knows how important a good quality squat rack is. So, while perusing the Interwebs I came across this Powerline squat rack selling for CHEAP! By cheap, we're talking 75% off the MSRP! Steal! The unit is in amazing shape with no issues.

For the weight's I'll be lifting and the portability my workouts require, I could not have come across a better deal for the kind of equipment I got. It's a solid unit and not wobbly at all and I'm looking forward to squatting again!

Visit to another local CrossFit Affiliate

On Wednesday, I visited yet another local affiliate, CrossFit Milwaukee.  It's in an ideal spot, near the UW Milwaukee campus and it seems to be a well-oiled machine run by Ryan Atkins. I contacted Ryan last week to introduce myself -- he was more than welcoming and a genuine guy with a great operation. I hope to be able to talk more with him and the other members there as well. We're all CrossFitters, regardless of what gym we work out at. 

Unfortunately for me, I had to hop in with the 6:30 group, who all just graduated the OnRamp program this week. So they didn't do any skill work, which was fine because I actually did a bit of SDHP before this crazy and well-known WOD:

"Fight Gone Bad" (video explanation):

Three rounds of:

Wall-ball, 20 pound ball, 10 ft target (Reps)

Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75 pounds (Reps)

Box Jump, 20" box (Reps)

Push-press, 75 pounds (Reps)

Row (Calories)

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute.The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. On call of "rotate", the athletes must move to next station immediately for best score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

Add your points and that is the total.

I got 380 points, a new PR by 7 reps! I'm determined to get 400 + next time I do this. A great, classic workout that I really enjoyed. 

Thanks to CF Milwaukee for being hospitable. 

Best,

Tyler

Visit to a local CrossFit affiliate

Yesterday, I made a trip to one of the two local affiliates in the Milwaukee area -- Cream City CrossFit. It's run by Howy Hensen, a fireman and skydiver and much more and it's in a unique little location tucked away behind a building. It has that old school feeling when you enter it, like 'you're here to do work' type feeling. I liked it.

Howy had us do max weight box squats for skill work. I've not done box squats ever and I now know that I really need to work on flexibility. It's a good thing I started following the Mobility WOD and a DVD I got called "Magnificent Mobility."  Here was the workout (on his website too):

Skill:
1RM box squats

WOD:
5 rounds burpee dot drills (5x each)
10 Pikers
5 rounds groiners (3x each)

x4 rounds for time.

One heck of an ab workout! My time was 8:02 I believe.  Thanks Howy for the opportunity and welcoming!

CrossFit WOD: 10 ladder with some fun!

The best thing about CrossFit, aside from the results, is the constantly varied workouts one can do. If you really wanted, you could never do the same workout twice. That is what I love about this. I'm not bored, I'm enjoying putting myself (and others) through this kind of variation. Keep the body guessing - that is what gets results.

After our son, who is in quite the pain due to his 6-month shots, went to bed, my wife and I headed out to the very active and public street in front of our house. The best thing about it being busy is that a LOT of people look at us and even stop to ask what it is we are doing. Anyway, we headed out to to take on this fun WOD (idea was from Rogue Fitness's WOD today):

10-9-800M run-7-6-5-400M run-3-200M run-1 ladder of:

Sumo-deadlift high pulls (95lb/45lb women)
Squat jumps
Burpees.

So in other words, on any of the numbers above besides the running part, you do the exercises above. It makes for a great way to get the running in and it keeps thing varied and fun.

I didn't time myself today, neither did Amy. I was going to have the 200M run with 95lb overhead but there were too many people walking outside and the darkness made it a bit unsafe.

On a side note, I love working out with my wife. She's such a trooper.

Until next time,

Tyler

CrossFit: Birthday workout

Ok, while perusing the Interwebs, I came across a site that seemed to have a good list of WODs. I noticed one that could utilize the new wall ball/slam ball I got, called "Colleen's Birthday Workout."

It's 4 rounds of:

16 Wall ball shots (20lb)
16 Double-unders (DUs)
16 Power-snatches (I used 95 lbs)
16 DUs

My time was 9:02 with 95lbs. I'm happy with the time. I don't have 2.5 or 1.5 lb plates so I had to scale up. Otherwise my time would have been better I believe.

Great workout! Thanks Front Range CrossFit for the WOD!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit Football: 8.24

CrossFit Football's main site had this killer WOD on Tuesday:

In reps of 21-15-9:

Push Press - 135 lbs
Ring Dips
Burpees
Calorie Row

I did not row but did everything else to scale. Wish I had a rower!  It's been 1.5 months since I've done ring dips so I suffered on these -- bad. It's a good thing I have my own equipment now as I'm super excited to work on my weaknesses. I had a great time IMO.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Mainsite: TUESDAY 100824

Well, I'm back at this blog and will be posting my updates daily on my WOD results, articles regarding nutrition, exercises, rest, etc. I hope you stay tuned for them!

Yesterday's WOD (Tuesday) I followed the mainsite. It's as follows:

Tie a five-pound plate to hang an honest 18" above your tiptoe reach and complete 5 rounds for time of:

50 Jump and touch
40 Squats
30 Sit-ups
20-Push-ups
10 Pull-ups

For time!

My time was 25:23! I know I did very well in comparison to the elite member's time. I have great jumping skills (thank you 15+ years of basketball) and I know this helped me a lot. I scaled because I don't yet have a pullup bar, so I did ring pullups instead. Great WOD all in all! Amy got 26:27 scaled to a 7 inch jump. She did very well! Watch out!

To health,

Tyler

Stay tuned...

Sorry for the hiatus but we're in limbo with moving to a new state, etc. Priorities! ;-) I'll be coming at ya soon with daily updates so stay tuned.

Best,

Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Muscle-ups and box jumps

To workout today was crazy as my body is still recouping from the torture I put myself through yesterday. But those soldiers get no breaks, why should I?

The skill was box jumps in a set of 5x3. Go as high as you can for 3 reps. I got up to 54 inches and stopped as I didn't want to hurt myself. My record is 58".



The WOD was as follows:

5 muscle-ups
10 power cleans (135lbs)
Hill run (200M hill)

x 5 rounds for time!

My time was 20 minutes but I wasn't going for time. I took my time on the muscle ups since I need work on them. It was a fun WOD and I look forward to more muscle ups! Train your weakness!!!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Happy 4th of July! Celebrate with "Murph"

Today we celebrated our great country's birthday with the hero workout "Murph." Now I've done Murph before, but this time was special for the following reasons:

• My wife got to experience it.


• It was a holiday


• Kate Rawlings (from CrossFit Cleveland - going to the 2010 CrossFit Games!) showed up and worked out with us!

Murph is the following:

1 mile run
100 pullups
200 pushups
300 squats
1 mile run

For time! (20lb weight vest optional)

My first mile, I trotted a sub-6 minute mile! Too fast I think for this WOD. But I ended up finishing at 35:33. Pretty close to my last time, but I shared a pullup bar with 3 guys so I had to do a bit of waiting. I think I could've done it faster though.

I'm super proud of my wife for doing it to scale! She got 54 minutes and some change, but did everything. So awesome!

Here is the crew, as well as Kate Rawlings and myself:



Me and Kate, a 2010 CrossFit Games competitor!

CrossFit WOD: GHDs and DB Thrusters

I was a little sore coming into today. I may have tweaked my hamstring running or something but once I got warmed up, I felt a lot better.

Today we hit up one of the main site's WODs. But before that, we dove into hang cleans (or hang power cleans). My weight was as follows:

135-155-185-195-205

Here's a video of me doing 185 I believe:



After the skill work, the WOD was as follows:

15 DB thrusters (50 lb db's)
30 GHD situps

x3 rounds for time!

What a brutal little WOD. This was my second time doing GHD situps in a WOD and I need to work on them... I will be super sore again but it's all worth it. I also need to do DB work - cleans, presses, thrusters, etc. I think I'm getting too comfortable with the bar and I can't let that happen. I need to vary it up. The sad thing is that I'm moving in one week and I won't have a gym to go to! So while I slowly build up my own equipment (I'm buying bumpers and bar in a couple weeks), I will have to make due with what I have laying around or at the parks... ugh.

Oh well, on to the next step in our lives. Watch out Milwaukee, I have something planned for you....

Best,

Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "Nancy"

This was the first time I've attempted the benchmark "Nancy." She was not fun, but what a great combo of exercises! I'm quite exhausted and I'm glad today I get to rest.

For the skills, we worked on overhead squats (OHS) in the following:

12-10-8-6-4 reps

"Nancy" is the following:

Run 400M
15 OHS (95 lbs)

x 5 rounds for time!

My time was 13:07. I couldn't believe how tired I got (well, I can). The combo of legs and then having to run after just made me feel silly and like a newborn baby who didn't know how to use his legs. It was fun though!

Here's a video of me I think on my fourth round, completely exhausted:

CrossFit WOD: Met-con BURNER!

Today's skill work involved the shoulders.

3-3-3 Press
3-3-3 Push Press
3-3-3 Split jerk

We did them consecutively, from the press to the jerk for a total of 9 reps for three sets.

Afterwards, we did an amazing met-con that taxed me abundantly.

40 Double-unders
30 Box Jumps (24")
20 KB swings (1.5 pood)

x 5 rounds for time!

My time was 12:00 even! Very challenging and I really focused on pushing through when the workout was getting unbearable. I need to get comfortable with the uncomfortable!

Best,
Tyler

The Amazing Race: CrossFit Style!

This weekend was amazing and I'm so glad I got to compete. I'll link to the post, which says it better than I can!

The Amazing Race: CrossFit Style

The flyer

Traveling WODs and my own made up chum...

I've been traveling so I haven't had time to hit up the gym. But, that is no excuse to stop my workouts.

Tuesday was as follows:

Sprint 200M
10 Thrusters (95 lbs)

x 4 rounds.

I felt good, but didn't time myself. Purely for preparing for this weekend's CrossFit event!

Wednesday was as follows:

Run 800M
Max Pushups

x 3 rounds + 25 burpees at end.

Again, no timing today but I was WIPED! I need to get back into perfecting my bodyweight exercises.

Thursday was a follows:

Sprint 200M on a VERY STEEP hill (up and down)
50 pushups
Sprint hill
50 squats
Sprint hill
50 burpees

This one drained me. The hill is amazing and reminded me of basketball days where we'd run 16's on them.

All in all, these were good met-con WODs that involved NO equipment (except the first day). I'm happy with my determination this week to continue my quest of mastering my weaknesses.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "Fight Gone Bad" for my Fathers Day?

We all know what FGB is about and it's history. A crazy hard WOD that challenges even the best of the best. Today brought pain and suffering, but what a great way to celebrate Fathers Day -- kind of.

Skill Lift: Press 3, Push Press 3 for 3 sets

WOD: Fight Gone Bad
Wall Balls
SDHP summo deadlift high pull
Box Jumps
Push Presses
Row

Count reps at each station for one min, except for the row- count calories expended.  One minute rest between each round, perform 3 rounds.  Your score is total reps and calories in all 3 rounds.

This was Amy's first time going at it and she got 279! Very proud of her! For me, I got 23 reps lower than last time with 349 and I know why -- the transitions to my stations were longer and I wasn't counting myself. The next time I do this WOD, I'm stopping at 15 seconds on all the lifts except the last one (row) so I can push harder right away on the next one. Great day otherwise! Loved it!

Best,
Tyler

Here's a pic of the FGB crew:

CrossFit WOD: Saturday morning 'chipper'

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="493" caption="Me running (on right) - our 400m includes a steep hill!"][/caption]

I love chipper WODs. It's almost like I'm crossing off a to-do list and with each successful task completed comes great satisfaction. Today was as follows:

Skill Progressions: double-unders, hand walking, pistols

WOD:
- 30 pull-ups, run 400m
- 30 push-ups, run 400m
- 30 air squats, run 400m
- 30 KB swings (2 pood), run 400m
- 30 double-unders, run 400m

*For Time*

I worked on the hand-walking as I'm good at the other skills. My time on the WOD was 13:15. My pullups got me as my hands were rolling the calluses. Great burner though!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Deadlifts and abs

Nothing like deadlifts to make you sore the next day. Yesterday's WOD was a fun one, although not too challenging. My only hangup was my grip on the knees to elbows. It was as follows:

7 deadlifts (250lbs)
14 knees-to-elbows

x 5 rounds for time!

My time was 4:25 and did all the deadlifts unbroken. I had to break up my knees-to-elbows due to my grip failing me. But all in all, I'm happy with the time. My wife got 6:55 scaled down obviously. She's doing very well and keeps getting better.

Best,
Tyler

PR on power clean! 225 lbs.

I'm still working on my cleans, but this was improvement. Actually, this was the first time I've tried to do heavy cleans. I think I'll be able to do more next time. But here's the video:

CrossFit WOD: Crazy eights...

Wednesday's WOD involved something a lot of people don't do too often: dumbell snatches.  But before we started this, we worked on front squats with reps of 5-5-5-5.  My weights were 135-185-205-225.  Need to work on my leg strength some more and this helped.

The WOD was as follows:

8 dumbell snatches (55lbs - left arm)
8 burpees
8 dumbell snatches (55lbs - right arm)
8 burpees

AMRAP in 12 minutes!

I got 6 rounds. It starts off easy but then brutality sets in. Burpees kick my butt so that was my main challenge.  Amy got 4 rounds. I'm so proud!

Here's some video:

Run for fun? I did...

I'm not a runner. But on Tuesday, I found out that I came in 2nd place for my age group (25-30) in the 5K event a week or so ago. It made me realize that my long stride may be of some use! ;-) To parlay on this success, I went for a long 25 minute, fast-paced jog with my dog. I had to stop a few times because my dog was getting tired! Unreal. The dog is a German Shorthaired-Pointer and hunts birds all the time with no trouble. But he overheats VERY easily due to his all liver color coat. Either that or he is just out of long distance shape! He's amazing at sprinting though. Ok enough of that.

It was a splendid run and just what I needed as a "rest" day. Tonight should be heavy and I can't wait!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "Elizabeth" kicks my butt.

I've done the benchmark "Elizabeth" before, but it was different this time around. My previous gym did not have the real rings hanging from the ceiling, but rather, had them hanging on a bar where I could, if I wanted to, touch my feet to the ground with ease. This time around, not a chance. The rings are about 8 feet in the air and I have to use a box to get to them. That is good and bad. "Elizabeth" is the following:

In reps of 21-15-9

Squat cleans (135lbs)
Ring dips

For time!

My time was 10:14. Last time I got 8:15. It just goes to show that I was not doing the full extent of this workout. The ring dips really screwed me, but it showed that I'm needing work on them. A very tough benchmark and I look forward to improving. My wife got 9:20 scaled at 35lbs - she's doing well, working on form first and foremost.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Brother's first WOD!

My brother was in town on business and after work, I decided to bring him up to Utility and let him have at his first CrossFIt workout. He's in good shape already and most of the stuff CF entails is what he did during his college basketball days so it's nothing too extreme for him.

We worked on clean & jerks for our skill. The WOD involved C&Js and was:

10 C&Js (135lb)
400m run

x 3 rounds for time.

My time was 7:30. My brother was 9 minutes and Amy was 12 minutes. A decent first WOD and a good introduction to what CF is about. We had fun! Until next time!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "The Seven" - BRUTAL!!!! Hardest so far.

Tuesday's WOD was just brutal. There are no other words. Here are the details of this WOD:

7 Handstand push-ups
7 Thrusters (135lb)
7 Knees to elbows
7 Deadlifts (245lb)
7 Burpees
7 Kettlebell swings (2 pood)
7 Pull-ups

x 7 ROUNDS!!! For time.

My time was 28:12. I was seriously gassed. I did this to Rx up until the 5th round when I started doing inclined pushups. I couldn't do anymore, my body started to fail me. I consider this the hardest WOD I've participated in to date. But, I have nothing to complain about. Here's the story behind this "Hero WOD".

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: OHS and PUs + 500m row finisher!

Today involved the skill work of sumo deadlifts. We did a 12-10-8-6-4 rep scheme to get things going and with the goal of doing heavy weight at the end - to work on form, I only ended with 315 lbs.  Great leg and butt work for sure!

After the skills, we did the following WOD:

21-15-9 reps of

Over-head squats (115 lbs Rx) - I did 95 to work on my technique
Pullups (chest to bar for me)

My time was 5:35 - not bad considering I failed 3 times on the OH squat portion. It's definitely a weak point of mine and it came through today. I will be working to correct that. I know that my 6'8" wingspan does not help things either ;-) But this WOD was very tough - I believe Doug indicated that it was a WOD at the Northeast Regionals (Rx was 135lbs though).

After the WOD, they had us do a finisher that is brutal. Anyone that has done a 5oom row as fast as possible knows this. But even after the torturous WOD, I set a new PR on the row with a 1:33 row! Super happy I got it done!

Until next time,
Tyler

Akron Children's Kids are Number One Run & Family Fun Day!

What a lovely day for the local Children's Hospital's 5K run - one of the best hospitals in the country for children. In fact, this is where our son was transferred after he was born 1 month premature. He spent 5 days in the NICU and TLC centers and I could not have asked more a more loving, compassionate and caring group of women/men at a hospital. Everything was top notch.

To support this fantastic place, we decided to participate in the 5K run and the Paws for a Cause walk, which is a one mile walk with our dog called the Miracle Mile. It was great to see so many people!

Lots of guys from our gym showed up today and we all made this our WOD. I finished the 5K in 21:45 - the official number is TBD but you can see in the video below:

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/12347437]

A perfect day for a perfect cause! We had a great time with the whole family!

CrossFit WOD: Wife's 1st official WOD!

Yesterday was the first day that my wife did a WOD at a CF gym (non-team WOD) and I'm so proud! She really likes the atmosphere, the music, the sweat, the no-nonsense of it!  She did really well too!!!

Yesterday we did the following WOD:

Sprint 100m
6 shoulder to overhead (any way - push press, press, push jerk) - Rx was 135lb
6 burpees
6 box jumps (24in Rx)

x 6 rounds for time!

A good WOD! I did well, but I was so tired that I only counted 5 rounds (I think), so I gave myself a 2 minute penalty and did another round for good measure. Oh well! Amy did great as well with the scaled version. She's tough!

Here she is doing work:



Here are the times:

CrossFit WOD: The Bear Complex! Rd. 2

My first "official" WOD at CF Utility was on Friday. I am now a full member there instead of at Catamount. It was also a great way to get back into the swing of things. I did this WOD before, but today was a bit different in that we only rested 2 minutes between each set.  Also, the first 4 complexes were done as a group, meaning we had to pause at each movement. This was much tougher as the momentum was not there.

I ended with 135 lbs and was wiped after! My neck and back have the marks to prove it! ;-)

[caption id="attachment_485" align="alignleft" width="448" caption="In the middle of the complex!"][/caption]

CrossFit WOD: Burpee mile!

Ok, so I took a week off of CrossFit because I went up to Wisconsin to visit family and celebrate Memorial Day. The time off helped repair my shoulder, as I'm now back to normal. But, given that I was off and on "vacay," my diet was terrible. To celebrate coming back to reality, my wife and I did the following WOD in the street:

Sprint/run 400m
25 burpees

x4 rounds!

So 100 burpees and a mile. I was exhausted! So was she. But a great way to get back into the swing of things!

Best,
Tyler

Last workout!

May 27, 2010, originally uploaded by CrossfitCatamount.

Today was my last workout at CrossFit Catamount. The WOD was as follows:

20 hang power cleans (135lbs)
100 situps
20 hang power cleans. (135lbs)

For time!

As you can see, my time was 3:27. I did it a second time right after and got 3:50.

I enjoyed my time thoroughly at Catamount as it was my first introduction to CrossFit. Not only did CrossFit change the way I view working out, it's changed the way I live my life. Thank you Catamount for the memories!

On to the next one....

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Dumbell "Fran" and new gym!

Before yesterday's lunging WOD, I went up to CrossFit Utility to complete "Fran" with dumbells. I used 30lbs instead of 35lbs due to my shoulder tweaking. I completed the dumbell "Fran" in 3:08. I know I can get sub 3 minute!

In other news, today will be my last day at CrossFit Catamount. I'm switching over to Utility full time as it jives with my fitness goals much more. Doug Price is the owner and is more into strength and power and is a serious competitor that I strive to be in next year's Games. He took 14th overall in the Sectionals and was supposed to be in the Regionals but couldn't due to injury.

On to new pastures!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Half mile of lunges

[flickr video=4643251684 show_info=true w=375 h=500]

All The Way In, originally uploaded by CrossfitCatamount.

In this video, you’ll see the final push of lunges by me. It was a partner WOD and I did it with Moody, another great CFer. The WOD was as follows:

50 Squat thrusts
50 Box Jumps
800m lunges (45lb plate)

For time!

The key here was that the weight plate could NOT be dropped. If you let it touch the ground, it was a 20 squat thrust penalty. Our time was 28 minutes. We didn’t do as well as the others and it’s probably because we had no one else pushing us. But it was a fun workout and my legs are very sore!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Squat cleans and burpees

Since my shoulder is still acting up a bit, I decided to some leg exercising - this killer WOD helped. It called for kettlebell swings instead of squat cleans, but I can't go overhead just yet w/o some pain. Waiting for the inflammation to go down. It's as follows:

In reps of:
21-18-15-12-9-6-3

Squat cleans
Burpees

I used 115lbs for the squat cleans. This workout killed me! I got 17 minutes flat.  I rested WAY too much but I had to. Squats destroy me, esp squat clean! Enjoy!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "Angie" round 2

The last time I did "Angie" my time was 17:55. Angie is one of these WODs where the muscles just don't seem to function as they wear out mid-work. Anyway, it's as follows:

100 Pullups
100 Pushups
100 Situps
100 Squats

For time!

Now, I've seen Chris Spealler do this in 10:11. It's crazy as he can do a 100 straight pullups. My time this round was 17:38. I improved slightly but I know I can do better. We'll see next time! ;-)

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "Griff"

Today I decided to do a simple workout that involved no equipment -- my wife also did the workout as well as she is getting back into shape post-baby... Anyway, "Griff" is a hero workout and is as follows:

Run 800m
Run 400m backwards
Run 800m
Run 400m backwards

For time!

My time was 10:58. My wife got 17:59. A fun one for sure - took a toll on the legs the last 200m or so. Our road in front of our house is about 600m from the foot of the driveway to the end of the street and back so we actually ran more than needed, but any extra is not going to hurt us, only help.

I need to work on my long distance times so this was perfect.

See this page for a list of benchmarks and hero WODs.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "Fran" round 3

[flickr video=4618429261 show_info=true w=375 h=500]

Good old "Fran." Today was the 3rd time I did her and I keep on improving. I'm quite pleased with my efforts and I hope I can keep getting better. I think I can get the sub-3 minute next time ;-) "Fran" is as follows:

In reps of 21-15-9

Thrusters
Pullups

My time was 3:34. The first time was 12:34 and the second was 4:27. 1 minute improvement at lower times like that is huge to me.

Best,
Tyler

Resuming blog posts

I've been on a blogging hiatus for a week or so to let things calm down a bit. As you know, I changed the address of my blog and blocked search engines from finding it to make it more private - so if you're viewing this, yay for you as you are one of the few that know the new address. I'll post tweets about new posts as well so if you're here from Twitter, that is fine too. This is for the best as I want to keep it a 'private' journal of sorts for my times and weights, as well as some nutritional information.

Today starts the regularly schedule WOD postings! Hope you like.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Thruster skills

Today we worked on thrusters, one of my toughest exercises. It was a good practice for when I do "Fran" again. :)

Skill:

Thrusters in reps of 10-1-20-1-10
145-185-115-205-145 lbs

WOD:

3 dead-hang pullups
6 pushups
9 kb swings (2 pood)

AMRAP in 8  minutes.

I did 9 rounds with the 2 pood kb. Good met-con for sure.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Dumbells instead of barbells

On Saturday morning, I headed up to CrossFit Utility once again to work out with Doug and crew. We performed the following:

Skill:

Front Squat 5x3 reps:
135-155-185-205-225

WOD:

6 dumbell squat clean & press (60 lb dbs)
16 box jumps (24")

x 6 rounds!

My time was 10:14. This one was brutal as db squat cleans are MUCH tougher than barbell in my opinion. Great to vary it up.

Best,
Tyler

I didn't know until today!

Check out this link. I promise it's nothing dangerous or scary. I think you'll really enjoy it though.Crazy! I may have to move now!

Getting CrossFit certified...

I've been given the opportunity to get my CrossFit Level 1 Certification in July and I'm going to take advantage of it! So in July, I'm heading to Pittsburgh to get my level 1 cert. I've wanted to do this for a while, but with the pending baby in the early part of the year and some uncertainty of some other things going on in my schedule, I couldn't take advantage of it.

Why am I getting certified? To improve myself and maybe help others along the way. I'm always wanting to be better than I was yesterday in some form and this provides me with the skill and knowledge to push myself further in my fitness journey. I'm also willing to help others out if called upon. A level one is just the beginning and I'm not going back to regular lifting ever again. The foundation this cert will provide will help me in all aspects of fitness, even if I did choose to go back to regular lifting. It's a win-win and I'm lucky to have a supportive wife. Thanks baby!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "RJ"

The owner of local affiliate (Cuyahoga Falls) had a brother who passed away and asked Becky and Jess to do a WOD in his honor today. It was a challenge again, like usual. But I'm still not right in the abs and could not do some of the exercises the way I normally do. "RJ" was as follows:

400m run
25 pullups
400m run
25 clean & jerks (155 lbs)
400m run
25 box jumps (24")
400m run
25 wallballs (20 lb)
400m run
25 burpees

For time!

My time was 19:47 I think. Again I'm happy I did overscale, but not happy with my performance on some of the exercises. You don't realize the impact your abs have in everything you do until they are not well. So until my abs get better, I'm not concerned with my times.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Pyramid it up...

[caption id="attachment_419" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Harder with the 1.5 pood. "][/caption]

Today was a sort of pyramid of exercises that involved the following:

25 KB Swings (2 pood)
50 Pushups
75 Squats (1.5 pood)
100 DUs
75 Squats (1.5 pood)
50 Pushups
25 KB Swings (2 pood)

My time was 15:44.  My abs are still not right and I didn't feel well doing this WOD. But I completed it above scale and will continue to push my body above and beyond the prescribed... Until then, time to heal up.

Best,
Tyler

Sore...

I'm still sore (abs and legs) and a little banged up (shoulder) from Sunday's workout with Doug at Utility. So instead of today's WOD, I rowed 2,000m and did heavy hang cleans of 3x7.  Another buddy also rigged up a spare tire and rope to his backpack and we took turns sprinting. A good conditioning workout to help rid of the lactic acid buildup. Didn't want to push my body too much today and I'm glad I didn't.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Drop-in on a nearby CrossFit gym

A little bit of history - while doing my first CrossFit workout ever, I met a guy named Doug Price. He was a super guy and we got to talking about CrossFit and other stuff after the workout was finished. He said he competed in the Sectionals in years past and I asked him a ton of questions about it. Came to find out later on that he was blowing the water out of workouts, like the coveted Fran. He did Fran in 2:19 I believe. This made me look up to the guy. He knew what he was doing and was doing it right.

After our initial workout, I didn't see him much due to him having a baby. In the meantime, he was preparing himself to start up his own box called CrossFit Utility, which started up on February 1st of 2010.

We kept in contact and talked a bit at the Arnold Classic CrossFit Sectional back in early March. I heard about his gym and told him we have to workout sometime. So I contacted him on Friday of this week because I knew I wasn't going to be able to make our Saturday workout at my home gym. He was open Sunday and I told him I'd stop by.

The workout was amazing. We warmed up with 1 minute of double-unders and completed a 5x3 of snatch balances and OH squats. The WOD was as follows:

100 ft lunges (45 lb dumbbells in each hand)
25 GHD sit-ups
25 GHD back extensions

x 4 rounds for time.

My time was 14:04. I was surprised with that time. This workout DESTROYED my legs. It was way harder than I thought - the lunges destroyed my legs so bad, I could barely do GHD situps. Doing the GHD sit-ups was also super challenging. I've never done as many or as fast before, nor in a WOD. Loved it.

After this, I completed my 200 pushups while he coached another person on the CrossFit Total WOD, which we just did as well at my box.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, I did following Sunday workout from the mainsite with Doug:

In reps of 21-15-9
Squat snatch (95 lbs)
Chest-to-bar pullups

for time!

My time was 8:30. I am so exhausted, but I thank Doug for pushing me and helping me. A great guy with a great gym. I hope he does well!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit Total

Here is what popular CrossFit regimen is all about:

The CrossFit Total is the sum of the best of three attempts at the squat, the press, and the deadlift. All three lifts are done while standing on the floor. They require minimal and inexpensive equipment. They are not technique- dependent to the extent of the Olympic lifts, yet they require technical proficiency beyond mere passing familiarity. They are safe when performed correctly, since they can all be performed without spotters—alone in a garage if necessary.

There is no time limit for each lift or for the length of the session in which they are all performed, but they must all be performed during one session—i.e., you cannot leave the area to rest or perform other activities between the three lifts.

This was the first time I actually attempted this coveted workout so I was looking forward to benchmarking myself. My total was 865. I am proud of the effort and look forward to improving my results. 295 squat, 405 deadlift, and 165 press.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Paratroopers and abs

[caption id="attachment_405" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="4-28-2010 Class Results"][/caption]

Today's WOD was a met-con burner. Before the WOD, I did 5x3 of deadlifts and 1x5 of max power cleans. And I still did well on the met-con.

20 Toes-to-bar
40 Paratroopers
60 Double-unders

x 3 rounds for time.

My time was 7:13. For whatever reason, the 'troopers burned more than usual. I'm feeling good considering my terrible sleep schedule. After I worked on handstand pushups and did my regular pushups for the challenge.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Wall balls and muscle-ups

I decided to do the workout on CrossFit.com from last week. The owner of Gahanna CrossFit was on the main site with his time of 10:27 - the kid is unreal. I worked out with him in December and I strive to get as good as him. Lots of work needs to be done - conditioning especially. I'm tightening up my diet hardcore now.

For time:
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
10 Muscle-ups
40 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
8 Muscle-ups
30 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
6 Muscle-ups
20 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
4 Muscle-ups
10 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
2 Muscle-ups

My time was 13:20. I need to work on my muscle-ups. I hurt my tricep doing them at the 6 muscle-up rep and on the remaining #, I did double the pullups and dips to compensate. Nice burn!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Squat clean and jerks! Gross.

When I looked at the website this morning, it said clean and jerks. But when I entered the gym, they changed it to squat cleans and jerks. So nice of them to do this! I love to be in agony anyway so whatever. :-) hehe! It's the good kind though.

Squat Clean and Jerk (95/135)

Kettlebell Swings

Box Jumps (24”)

To be performed in reps of: 21-15-9 for time!

I used 135 lbs for the squat clean and jerks. Pure torture after that many reps. I also stacked two 45 lb plates to make it 26" for the box jumps. I did the standard 1.5 pood KB swing. My time was 12:31. Anything that involves squatting and pressing weight above the head (think thrusters) wears me out like no other. Great and challenging workout! My friend Steph was the one who pushed me - I would've been much slower if it weren't for her because she was one step ahead of me. She beat me by 25 seconds. Good job Steph!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: I HATE SQUAT THRUSTS!

I hate them. They are worse than burpees in my opinion. And today gave us plenty of them, which is OK since I need work.

Double Unders

Squat Thrust

To be performed in reps of: 50-40-30-20-10

For Time!

My time was 12:16. I'm thinking I need to get a weighted vest so I can get good. DUs are not  the issue for me. I still can't beat Steph in burpees and thrusts - she's a machine at them! Good job Steph.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Met-con Saturday

I had minimal time on Saturday to workout and this WOD was perfect to send off the weekend right.

10 deadlifts (225 lbs)
20 GHD extensions

x 4 rounds

My time was 4:08.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Typical CF-style workout

The great thing about this WOD is that it can be performed anywhere... It was as follows:

Pull Ups

Push Ups

Sit Ups

Squats

To be performed in the following reps: 21-18-15-12-9-6-3

For Time!

I got 15:08. Instead of air squats, I squatted the bar with 115 lbs to make it more challenging. Great burner.

CrossFit WOD: Shoulder destruction

I'm just going to copy/paste what was on our gym's website to explain this WOD:

400 Meter Run

Push Press (45/75)

3 Rounds!

At the start of the clock you will run a 400 Meter run.  You will then perform as many push presses as you can for the remainder of the 6 minutes.  The second round will begin immediately at the 6 minute mark, there is no rest.  You will continue this for 3 rounds total, which will take every one of you 18 minutes to complete.  Your score will consist of all reps (Push Presses) added together from the 3 rounds.

Note: Unless you feel you are in imminent danger, you will be penalized 10 burpees per bar drop. The burpees are to be performed at the end of the WOD.

Instead of 75 lbs, I used 115 lbs and got the following push press totals for each round:

60-45-43 reps.

Never did that many presses in one sitting and it was great. On to da next one....

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Dips, cleans, squat thrusts.

Today was one of those days where it seems easy when you look at the board. But when you perform, you wonder why you think it was going to be easy. Today we did the following:

10 Dips

15 Power Cleans

20 Squat Thrusts

x 4 Rounds for Time!

I did this WOD twice today; one right after the other. The first one I used 135 lbs for the cleans. My time was 12:34. The second time around, I used the prescribed weight of 95 lbs for cleans and did ring dips as opposed to the dip station. My time was 10:22. Squat thrusts kill me for whatever reason. Hate them.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: 300 squats

Since starting my stay-at-home-dad role this week, the lack of sleep is affecting my performance. It's starting to catch up with me, but I'm hoping my body adjusts to this new-found routine. It's only for 6 more weeks ;-) Today we did the following:

50 Sit Ups

100 Squats

400 Meter Run

x 3 Rounds for Time!

My time was a disappointing 17 minutes and some change. I am disappointed because I know that I didn't do what I was capable. Exhaustion played a role sure, but so did my execution on squatting. I rested too much.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Overheat squats and benchmark "Nate"

Today was a heavy day of overheard squats in a rep set of 3-3-3-3-3. My weight was as follows:

125-145-165-175-180 lbs.

After this lifting set, I skipped the met-con they had on the board and completed the benchmark WOD called "Nate." It involves a grueling set of exercises that challenge any serious athlete. "Nate" is:

2 muscle-ups
4 handstand pushups
8 kettlebell swings

AMRAP in 20 minutes.

I completed 9 rounds with 3 handstand pushups. My shoulders were tired from the overhead squats so that really hurt me on the handstands. Plus, I'm not that good at them yet. A fun and challenging workout indeed and I look forward to more advanced exercises in the future.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Outside pouring rain brutality...

[caption id="attachment_363" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Trying to recover after a brutal WOD"][/caption]

Today's workout was unreal. It really showed a weakness of mine -- squat thrusts and burpees, a very similar workout. A squat thrust is a burpee without the pushup in the middle of it.

The WOD involved the following exercises:

400M sprint
25 double-unders
25 burpees

x 4 rounds

After the four rounds, complete 100 squat thrusts. For time!

When I started, it was raining a little -- after round 2, it was down pouring rain. My shoes ended up being filled with water, but it was fun regardless. This workout was brutal in the conditioning sense and I'm looking forward to improving this over the summer. With the better weather, it will help. My time with the four rounds and 100 squat thrusts at the end was 23:11.

Try this and let me know!

Best,
Tyler

Video of me jumping 50 inches!

[flickr video=4521458137 show_info=true w=500 h=409]

50 inches!!, originally uploaded by CrossfitCatamount.

After Wednesday's workout (partner WOD), I wanted to test my ups with some high jumps. We did many box jumps back in the day for basketball and this was my test to see if I still have ups. I stacked up 4 or 5 plates and did 10 reps, and then just to see if I could, took on the whole 45 plate stack. We measured it out just to see how high it was and it came to around 49.5 inches or so. It was a fun end to a hard WOD. Thanks for the video Becky. I actually didn't know it was being filmed...

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "Fran's" ugly cousin...

When I looked at the website today to see what the WOD was, my first reaction was to not go -- I'm tired with baby waking up, stressed with stuff at work, and sore from this week's CrossFit programming (thanks CFCM!)  But no excuses right? Get over it Tyler - this is when people need to dig deep. It is what separates the good and bad eggs.

Anyway, this WOD turned me off because it reminds me a lot like "Fran". The first workout I ever did in CrossFit was "Fran" and I hate "Fran" because I hate thrusters. I'm good at them, but they wear me out like no other. Well, everything wears me out at CrossFit so whatever... Anyway, the WOD today was:

10-20-30 reps for time of

Pullups
Thrusters

My time was 6:58. I can do better and will do better next time. I've been doing 135 lb thrusters for a while and did them slower in the WODs to develop some strength, but today decided on 95 lbs to get the feel of the Rx weight. Good news is that it's light to me now -- bad news is that I can do them faster, thus wearing me out faster. Looking forward to resting, that is all I can say.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Outside partner workout

Today's WOD was a partner workout. It consisted of the following:

800 Meter Run

50 Wall Balls (10lb, 14lb)

800 Meter Run

50 Box Jumps (tall box only, no plates!)

3 Rounds for Time!

Basically, cut those numbers in half and that is what you do, then your partner does the other half, and then you move on to the next exercise. My partner was Dan and we did the workout in 23 minutes and some change. We both were taxed after so I know we did our best. And Dan is relatively new so it was good to be able to help push him and get him used to the continuing of CrossFit workouts.

The 1.5 miles of sprints really wore me out. Sprints are things I need to work on endurance wise. My speed is good this spring, but last year, I could do more sprints. I will continue to work on it.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "The Bear Complex"

The workout today involved a complex movement that puts many exercises into one. It's a great move and challenging nonetheless. "The Bear Complex" is as follows:

“The Bear Complex”

7 Sets of the following sequence:
Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Push Press
5 Rounds – Rest between Rounds as needed!

Rules: These moves are to be performed as one rep: Power Clean, Front Squat, Push Press, Back Squat, and Push Press.  We will do this seven times for one round for a total of 5 rounds.

You can rest as long as you want in between rounds, with a 20 minute time limit. Bar must touch the ground each sequence but cannot rest on the ground or it terminates the set.

Goal is to increase loads each round to complete “The Bear” with max load. Your weights used will be your score!

My weight totals were 95-105-115-125-135 for a total of 575lbs. I'm content with my results as I continued to move up in weight progressively without faltering.

Here's a video showing how to do it: