Fitness - Back Squat & Oly Bar Progression WOD - 12/31

Focus: Back squats, 5x5
1x5 - 125 Kg (275#)
1x5 - 150 Kg (330.7#)
2x5 - 160 Kg (352.7#)
1x5 - 164 Kg (361.5#)

Felt pretty good here. On the last set at 164 it felt like it was going to fold me in half. Lots of fatigue in the legs today but it felt good to power through. Just focused on getting full range of motion and keeping the core pressurized.

WOD: Olympic bar progression, bar only (20 Kg - 45#)
50 hang power snatches
50 overhead squats
50 push presses
50 front squats
50 back squats
50 hang power cleans
50 thrusters

Score/Time: 10:50
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 707

This was tough. Holy cow, it's crazy how pushing just the bar around can feel so heavy. The catch behind this WOD was that you had to move down the list in order and had to finish all 50 reps of one movement before starting on the next. And, you weren't allowed to put the bar down, which was the true test.

If the bar hit the ground it was 10 burpees. The only way to rest was to squat down and rest the bar across your lap and shake out your grip. But if you lost your balance and the end of the bar hit the ground, 10 burpees were waiting for you. This actually happened to a few people, bummer.

Have an incredible and incredibly safe New Years!

Nutrition - 12/31

8:30 am
3 oz. chicken breast
3 oz. baked salmon
2 medium carrots
1/4 cup walnuts

1:00 pm (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water
5.8 oz. chicken breast
salad - 2 cups kale, 1 cup spinach, 1 roma tomato, 1/3 cup cucumber, 4 sliced mushrooms.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

4:15 pm
3.5 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
4 large celery stalks

8:00 pm
5.5 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with evoo, red pepper flakes, yellow onion, yellow bell pepper, black pepper, sea salt
Salad - 3 cups chopped red cabbage, 1/2 avocado, 3 Tbsp salsa, a lot of cilantro, juice from 1/4 of a lemon.
1 Tbsp mixed pumpkin, flax and sesame seeds

98 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Kettle Bell Snatch/Candle Stick WOD #2 - 12/31

I was already feeling the morning's dead lift/burpee couplet by the afternoon. Not really in soreness, but in tiredness. I don't really get that sore anymore after workouts like that, I just feel super tired and fatigued in the afternoon. I can almost set my watch by it.

Today's second WOD was pretty sweet. As soon as Dave and I figured it out, I was amped.

WOD: AMRAP in 30 minutes of
10 Kettle bell snatches (5 each arm) - 24 Kg bell (53#)
5 Hanging Candlesticks

Score/Time: 24 full rounds + 2 snatches right
Calories burned (WOD only): 806

First I'll explain the hanging candle stick. It starts with you hanging from a pull up bar, you then raise your ankles to the bar. From here, you're in a straight leg dead lift position, but upside down, and you pull with your lats to open your hips and you should be straight up and down at the top of this movement, full inversion. It's hard to explain and I tried to look for a video but could not find one.

With a regular dead lift, you pull with your lower back and open your hips at the top. But hanging from the pull up bar, which is in a fixed position, you have to pull with your lats and upper back, thus moving your body, not the bar. I'll keep looking for a vid or at least photos. If all I've done is confuse you more, my bad.

This was one where I just had to keep plugging away. I thought for sure I'd have to scale the candlesticks down to ankles to bar, or knees to elbows. But the 35-50 seconds it took to do the snatches seemed to be just enough rest to where I could get 5 candlesticks.

My grip went about halfway into it and it became hard to hold on. I applied chalk in hopes of lowering some strain on my forearms. Then, because of the chalk, it ripped my hands apart. Tore calluses off both my palms, now it hurts to wash my hands :(

Fitness - Two-A-Day - Strict press & Dead/Burpee WOD #1 - 12/30

Focus: Strict press, 5x5, cross sets
3x5 - 76 Kg (167#)
1x4 - 76 Kg (167#)
1x3 - 76 Kg (167#)

Felt strong today. Had a long warm shoulder warm up session and then got after it. Sets 4 and 5, where I couldn't finish the set with strict press, I did the remaining reps with push press.

WOD: 10 rounds for time of
5 Dead lifts - 125 Kg (275#)
10 Burpees

Score/Time: 11:14
Calories Burned (focus & WOD):

Holy hell! This one was a barn burner for sure. My lungs were on fire, my legs, shoulders and chest was burning. This WOD is like the WOD from the CrossFit Games, only the WOD from the games was only 5 rounds. And I've actually done that WOD (book ended with a 1000m row) and my time was 3:37. I was hoping for a sub 10 minute time but that was not going to happen today.

I was the only one who Rx'd it, and that felt good. If you didn't use 275 lbs, you were supposed to use 75% of your max. With my max 1RM being 197-200 kilo's, 75% of my dead lift max would be about 325 - 330 lbs. So I was happy to use 125 Kg's.

I'm going to feel this tomorrow for sure. After this morning's workout, I don't know how I'll get through WOD #2 this evening.

Nutrition - 12/30

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk.

9:00 am
5.5 oz grilled chicken breast
3 cups broccoli
1/4 cup almonds

1:05 pm
6 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with red onion, yellow bell peppers, red pepper flakes, sea salt, black pepper, a dash of hot sauce (on top of salad).
Salad - 3.5 cups chopped red cabbage, 1/2 cup cherry toms, 1/2 avocado, 3 Tbsp salsa
1/4 cup walnuts

4:20 pm
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
1 hard boiled egg
3 medium carrots

7:50 pm
5.5 oz. wild Coho salmon
Salad - 1 cup purple kale, 1 cup green chard, 1/2 avocado
3 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

116 oz. water on the day

Fitness - L-sit & Hamstring/Glute work - 3x500m Row - 12/29

We started out the morning with some glute and hamstring work. Mixing in a little l-sit action as well.

Se started with hip bridges with our feet on the ground then moved to one legged, elevated hip bridges with one heel on a box, and the other leg pointed straight out, following the body line. Raise your hips off the ground, as high as they can go, lower back down, switch legs and repeat

This got the glutes and hammy's pretty fired up. For the first couple reps on each leg it felt like I was going to cramp up hard. But after I got warm and eased into it, it felt a lot better.

We then mixed in some l-sit reps. Just swinging the legs up into as tight a pike as possible, holing it for just a second then releasing. We did sets of ten just to try to fatigue the hamstrings a little more.

WOD: 3 rounds of
500m row
full recovery (4-5 minutes)

Score/Time(s): row #1 - 1:28.2, row #2 - 1:30.5, row #3 - 1:37.2
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 486

Felt good about my rowing for the first time in a long time. Both row #1 and row #2 are PR's for me, which was weird. I was stoked when I finished at 1:28 and thought I had given it my all and that my next row would be way slower, but it too broke my previous PR. Still got work to do but I'm finally moving in the right direction on the C2.

I think a lot of it was mental, I went in with a different mindset and look what happened, a PR. Huge mental gain in being able to push through the pain on the second row, but I hit a frickin' wall on the third row with about 150m to go. It felt like I was cranking it twice as hard, but my pace was half as fast.

I'm actually excited to get back on the row machine and keep getting better. I'll look for another PR next time we do a 500m row, I'd like to get this down to 1:24 at least. I've got the strength, I just need to get my form dialed in, and get my threshold up a bit.

Tomorrow's another two-a-day, sick.

Nutrition - 12/29

8:10 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened coca powder, 20 oz. water.

9:00 am
5 oz. grilled chicken breast
4 large celery stalks
1/4 cup walnuts

12:45 pm
6 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
Salad - 2 cups red kale, 1 cup spinach, 1 hot house tomato, 1/2 cup cucumber, 3 radishes, 4 sliced mushrooms.
2 Tbsp evoo (as dressing)

4:15 pm
3.5 oz. baked salmon
2 cups broccoli

7:30 pm
5.5 oz. grilled chicken breast
Cole Slaw-ish type salad - 2 cups red cabbage, 1 cup green cabbage, 2 large carrots (cut into match sticks), 1 Tbsp evoo, 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup almonds

112 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Two-A-Day - WOD #2, More Sprints - 12/28

This workout was a lot like the Christmas day workout I programmed for myself at the high school. Except this time, Dave was watching me and I had to make it back to the gym within time. So there was no sand bagging it. Also, all 10 of the sprints were max effort, not build ups like when it was just me at the high school.

WOD: Every 2 minutes on the minute, for 20 minutes (10 rounds)
10 box jumps - 34"
100m sprint
jog back to gym.

Score/Time: N/A
Calories burned (WOD only): 488

The 34 inch box jumps were a little crazy. It required a lot of explosiveness and it was impossible to get a rhythm and link them together (not to mention a little dangerous, I'm not trying to sprain my ankle or anything). Basically each box jump had to be taken one at a time, I'd have to hop off the box and re-set for each rep. Which took a lot of time and didn't leave much left for the sprint, jog back, and attempt to catch a few seconds rest before starting again.

I'm glad this morning's workout was on the lighter side, this one for sure hurt towards the end. The 2 minute time limit was gnarly and and put a whole different dynamic on the WOD. I don't know how Dave comes up with it, but the stuff he's been programming for me has been challenging on every level.

Fitness - Two-a-Day - Dips/Pull Ups & Kettle Bell Complex WOD #1 - 12/28

My body felt great this morning having rested Saturday and Sunday. I didn't sleep much last night but still woke up with good energy. Could have something to do with my birthday being tomorrow, but who knows.

We started off rotating between heavy/weighted sets of dead hang pull ups and dips. However many sets at 3 reps, working up to 2 or 3 really heavy sets.

Focus: Weighted dip/weighted dead hang pull up work
heaviest set of dips, 1x3 - 58 Kg (127.8#) added
heaviest set of pull ups, 1x3 - 32 Kg (70.5#) added

Not much to say about it, I felt really strong on both movements this morning. Look forward to work like this in the near future.

After we got the dip racks and everything put away, it was time to move on the to WOD, which was done with 2 partners today (3 people total in a group). It was a kettle bell complex for which 2 heavy bells were meant to be used, one in each hand.

It was done in an I go, you go, you go format where I would go through the complex, then rest while my other two partners went through it, one by one. Basically there was twice as much rest as work.

WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes of
3 kettle bell dead lifts - 32 Kg bells (70#)
3 kettle bell cleans - 32 Kg bells (70#)
3 kettle bell front squats - 32 Kg bells (70#)
3 kettle bell push presses - 32 Kg bells (70#)

This was pretty good, I only really started feeling it at toward the very end, maybe the last 2 or 3 minutes. It would have been much more work, and I think a more intense work out had it just been teams of two, so the work to rest ratio was 1:1.

Oh well, it was a nice WOD back to ease everybody back into the swing of things. I've got a two a day today, hooray!

Nutrition - 12/28

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 20 oz. water
7 oz. steamed sweet potatoes and yams, sprinkled with cinnamon

7:30 pm (fasted until this meal)
Being treated to dinner out for my birthday (which is tomorrow) tonight by my girlfriend. I believe she's planning on taking me to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in the International District. Can't wait. I'm going to try to stick to a dish that has protein and veggies, no noodles and stuff like that. I'll post what I enjoyed later.

Fitness - Christmas Day/ Local WOD - 12/25

Wow, what a beautiful day this was. Sunny but still on the cold side, super crisp and clear. As a Jewish man my family doesn't really do anything for Christmas except have an intimate dinner. This gave me a lot of time to kill during the day so I decided to go the the Local High School (which is also my alma mater), Juanita High, and get some work in. It was awesome, had the whole track and football field to myself.

I started with a lot of stretching and an easy 1 mile run around the track. Nothing big, I didn't want to push it here, I just tried to break a small sweat.

WOD: 10 rounds, un-timed
100m sprint, building up to max effort on last 4 rounds.
10 tuck jumps
3 muscle ups
20 walking lunges (10 each leg)

Score/Time: N/A
Calories burned: N/A

I forgot my heart rate monitor all together so not only could I time myself, I have no idea what the calorie burn on this workout was.

It was pretty sick being able to bring my rings with me and include them in my workout. It took about 1 minute to hook them up around the field goal crossbar and I was ready to rock with some muscle ups.

I was really loose after the mile run but still thought it best to build up to speed in the sprints. I started out at about 35% for the first two, then moved up to about 60-70%. And the last 4 were all out, 100% effort sprints.

This one took me a while, I was out on the field and track for a good chunk of time. It was kind of nice to roll through it at my own pace. At one point I could feel I was getting a little lax so I had to govern myself and get motivated reduce rest, step up the intensity, and finish that damn thing.

My legs felt pretty blasted and were a bit wobbly walking back to my car. Had fun out there though. I'm Loving my rings, I'm taking them with me wherever I go.

Fitness - Squat Cleans & WOD - 12/24

Level 4 was closed so I had to bang this one out at a regular gym. Luckily I've got a buddy that works the counter at one a few blocks from the office in Downtown Seattle. Score! Although is was weird working out mid-day.

Focus: Squat cleans, 5x5
1x5 - 185#
2x5 - 205#
2x5 - 225#

Did some front squat work to warm up the legs and wrists then got into it. I felt really strong and 225 was going up pretty easy. One thing I do miss is working out in front of a mirror. I could watch my form and tweak things as I needed to. Core strength continues to improve.

WOD: 5 rounds for time of
10 push press - 135#
20 box jumps - 20"
10 pull ups - chest to bar, butterfly

Finisher: 800m run

Score/Time: N/A
Calories burned (focus, WOD & finisher): 711

Unfortunately I had no way of timing this, there was no clock down in the free weight section and I was wearing my heart rate monitor that has a watch on it but I totally spaced and forgot to use it. I wear it so much now I don't even realize that it's there.

Anyway, although I went through it pretty quick I'm not going to venture a guess, I really have no idea. It was all unbroken until my last round. I had to break the push presses and pull ups into two smaller sets. I flew through the box jumps though, 20" is nothing anymore. It felt like a jumping up a curb or something.

My Very Own Set of. . . RINGS!

For Channukah this year I got my own set of gymnastics rings! I'm so stoked. I already set them up in my room and have been dipping, l-sitting, push-upping and experimenting with them every night. It's insane the amount of skills and strength that can be built with this tool.

You can get a set of rings for yourself here. It's a Seattle based company so it's supporting local business and shipping is super fast if you're in the Pacific Northwest. Not to mention they are super affordable and extremely good quality.

I can't wait to start ring training on my own outside of the CrossFit Seattle. Thanks Mom!

Fitness - Press Work & "Helen" PR - 12/23

Man, my quads are so sore today. Those dumbbell thrusters did a real number on my shoulders and legs. I went into the gym today just looking to go light and get some active rest. But "Helen" was on the board and I can never pass up the opportunity to get after a benchmark WOD.

Focus: Strict press, cross sets, 5x5
5x5 - 61 Kg (135#)

I stayed low here and went after the presses with a sub-maximal effort. As I said my shoulders are sore and I wanted to leave some in the tank for "Helen". This did a great deal for me in terms of loosening up though.

WOD: "Helen" is 3 rounds for time of
400m run
21 kettle bell swings - 24 Kg bell
12 pull ups

Score/Time: 7:36
Calories burned (focus & WOD: 436

"Helen" was exactly how I remembered her, a short blast of hard work and sucking wind. Last time we ran through "Helen" was July 22, of this year. My time then was 7:49. Today was a PR by 13 seconds.

I'm stoked about the new PR but I feel like I can still get this lower. As I said my legs were destroyed from yesterday and they did not hold up well on the running. I tried to push through it though.

When I first did "Helen" back in July I could hardly do kipping pull ups. Now I'm flying through butterfly kipping pull ups. I'm sure that's what made the time difference and allowed me to PR. Butterfly kips are just so fast. My 400m runs were almost certainly slower compared to when I did it in July.

I want to attack this one when I'm fresh, I know I can get it under 7:30 at least. My ultimate goal with "Helen" is a sub 7:20 time.

Nutrition - 12/23

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water.

7:00 pm (fasted food until this meal)
6 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
salad - 2 cups spinach, 1 cup purple kale, 1 cup cherry toms, 1/2 cup cucumber, 4 sliced mushrooms, 2 radishes, 1/2 avocado.
2 Tbsp evoo (as dressing)

10:00 pm
4 oz. chicken breast
2 cups broccoli
1/4 cup walnuts

Fitness - Skinning the Cat/Front Lever Work & WOD - 12/22

My chest was rocking this morning from the ring push ups yesterday. It had been a while since we had done any push up work in our WOD's and the ring dips blasted my pecks. I was not expecting soreness of this magnitude.

Focus: Skin the cat and front lever work
Man, I'm so close to pulling off a front lever I can nail the position for a second then it fails. My lats, core, back and shoulders have gotten so strong in such a different way, it's pretty incredible. A few more months of work and the Level 2 skills class and I expect to stick and hold a legit front lever.

Skinning the cat felt great on my shoulders and really helped stretch and loosen them up. It's also a great movement for firing up the core and your lats.

WOD: 20 minutes, EMOTM build up of:
Dumbbell thrusters - 40# dumbbells
V-ups

Score/Time: N/A
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 578

first minute - 1 thruster, 1 v-up. Second minute - 2 thrusters, 2 v-ups. Third minute - 3 thrusters, 3 v-ups. And so on up to 20 minutes. So the last round would be 20 thrusters and 20 v-ups.

I got all the way through minute 16 before I was running out of time (and strength) and had to scale it back to 10 and start building up again. So my last 4 rounds/minutes instead of 17, 18, 19 and 20 reps of thrusters and v-ups, were back to 10, 11, 12 and 13.

My quads and hip flexers, along with my shoulders were burning during today's WOD. This started to get pretty brutal at around minute/round 10. Dumbbell thrusters take so much more from the shoulders. You have to stabilize and hold the dumbbells in the rack position where as if you're using a barbell for thrusters, you rest the bar on your shoulders (like a front squat) and it takes very little energy from the shoulders to keep it there.

My v-ups help up until almost the very end though. I had to scale them down to knees to chest only at the very end.

Nutrition - 12/22

8:00 am (Post WOD)
Protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened cocoa powder.

8:50 am
5 oz. grilled chicken breast
2 large carrots
1/8 cup almonds

12:50 pm
6 oz. saute'ed organic grass fed ground beef - suate'ed with hot sauce, onion, red bell pepper, red pepper flakes, black pepper, evoo, sea salt.
Salad - 4 cups chopped red cabbage, 1 roma tomato, 3 Tbsp salsa, 1/2 avocado, juice of 1/2 a lime.
1/8 cup almonds

4:00 pm
2 hard boiled eggs
2 cups broccoli

7:30 pm
6 oz. baked salmon - with rosemary, thyme, lemon juice, black pepper, sea salt
4 large celery stalks
1/4 cup brazil nuts

88 oz. water on the day

Fitness - 12/21

Didn't get enough sleep last night but I woke up and my muscles (legs in particular) felt great. A day of rest and relaxation on Sunday treated me well. Came in ready to get after it today.

Focus: Front squats, 5x5, building up to heavy set
1x5 - 100 Kg (220.5#)
1x5 - 110 Kg (242.5#)
1x5 - 120 Kg (264.6#)
1x5 - 127 Kg (280#)
1x5 - 130 KG (286.6#)

130 went up pretty easy this morning. I wanted to hit one more heavier set but didn't have the time. My core strength and just my strength in general at the bottom of front or back squats has gotten so much better. I'm excited to try for a new clean max soon.

WOD: running clock, 3 rounds of
1 min. of ring push ups
1 min. of hanging ankles to bar
1 min. of kettle bell swings - 24 Kg, full extension over head
1 min. of weighted split squats (20# dumbbell in each hand)

Score/Time: N/A
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 549

This was a good 12 minutes of work but nothing crazy. I just kind of flowed through it and kept plugging away. It was a great workout and I was certainly feeling it towards the end but I won't be sore tomorrow. Which I guess is a good thing.

I guess I'm comparing the regular classes to the Level 2 class on to much. For a level 2 WOD I expect to get beat down and have to crawl to my car (they haven't disappointed so far). and compared to workouts like today, It's just two totally different things. I found it hard to get motivated for this, that's why I scaled it up a bit.

I.e., ring push ups instead of regular push ups, weighted split squats, ankles to bar instead of hanging leg raises or v-ups, and the kettle bell swings to full extension.

But watch, now that I've posted this, tomorrow's WOD is going to be totally harsh and I will have wished I never said anything.

Nutrition - 12/21

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 24 oz. water.

9:00 am
3 hard boiled eggs (2 yokes)
2 cups broccoli
1/3 cup walnuts

1:00 pm
6 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
Salad - 2 cups spinach, 2 cups purple kale, 1 hot house tomato, 1/2 cup cucumber
2 Tbsp evoo (as dressing

4:15 pm
1.5 oz grilled chicken breast
1.5 oz baked salmon
1 sliced yellow bell pepper, raw

7:40 pm
3 all beef (no fillers, beef casing, organic, grass fed) summer sausages*
4 large celery stalks
2 cups roasted brussel sprouts

*Ok, I have to digress about these sausages. I picked them up at the Ballard Farmers Market and they are incredible. Made by Olsen Farms out of Colville Washington, they are super flavorful yet mild, and I'll be going back every Sunday to pick up a package. If you're in Seattle I seriously recommend stopping by the Ballard Farmers Market and picking up a pack of your own. . . if there's any left.

Fitness - Level 2, Two-A Days, Skills/WOD #1, WOD #2 - 12/19

Got to the gym this morning and didn't feel that sore. It was more of a feeling of fatigue. I knew it was going to be a long two-a-day with the level 2 skills class then, an hour later the level 2 met-con class.

Level 2 skills class WOD #1: Press/Jer technique/work
Today in the skills class we did more work on planges, focusing on drills/exercises that are designed to engage the lats and the anterior part of the shoulders. Then we got into some heavy strength work. Working up to a max rep of:
Strict press - 91 Kg (200.6#)
Push press - 106 Kg (233.7#)
Split jerk - 130 Kg (286.6#)

Each of these was a new PR for me. I felt really good with this bit of shoulder work today. I was excited to get some heavy weight over my head. My footwork on the split jerk needs some work. Dave and Scott had a lot of great pointers to help me get dialed in, but it still needs work.

60 minutes of rest then on to the Level 2 met-con class and my second WOD of the day.

Level 2 met-con class WOD #2:
Today's L2 met-con was brutal. Part of it was a WOD from the CrossFit games. Of course Scott had to amp it up just to inflict some real pain. The dead lift/burpee WOD book ended with a 1000m row on each end of it, ouch.

WOD:
1000m row
Full recovery (4-5 minutes) then,
5 rounds for time of:
5 dead lifts - 125 Kg (275#)
10 burpees
Full recovery (4-5 minutes) then,
1000m row

Score/Time(s)
1st 1000m row: 3:22
Dead lift/burpee: 3:37
2nd 1000m row: 3:39
Calories burned (including skills class & WOD #2 (work, rest & finisher): 1,213

Finisher: Muscle ups
Our finisher was the difference in time between your first and second 1000m row, divided by three, and that's how many muscle ups you had to do. For example, if your time on the first row was 3:30, and the second 1000m row was 4:00, you had 10 muscle ups waiting for you.

Difference between row #1 and row #2 for me was 17 seconds = 6 muscle ups (rounded up from 5.6)

This one was fun, I really liked it. It hurt like hell, but it was pretty cool. I would have hated it if we had to roll straight through it. It was easier to think of it as 3 separate WOD's instead of 1 WOD. Having that recovery in between really let us hit each thing hard. I'm looking forward to an awesome day of rest tomorrow.

Fitness - The "12 Days Of CrossFit" WOD - 12/18

Came into the gym not knowing what to expect. When I got there a lot of people from the 6 am class were still finishing up the WOD. And they looked like they were hurting. My hamstrings and glutes are really tight from the good mornings yesterday.

No focus today due to time constraints. Just the WOD because it takes some people upwards of 40-50 minutes to finish this long met-con.

It works just like the song, "12 days of Christmas". You start out at 1, then do go 2-1, then 3-2-1, then 4-3-2-1. Building all the way up to 12-11-10. . .3-2-1. The 100m sprint always ends the current round. So by the end of it you'll have done 12x100m sprints, 11x2 bear crawls, 10x3 second handstand holds etc. If I'm making this more confusing just let me know and I'll try to explain it a different way.

WOD: The "12 Days of CrossFit"
1 100 yd sprint
2 bear crawls - 10 meters = 1
3 second handstand hold
4 clean and jerks - 45# dumbbells
5 dive bomber push-ups
6 hanging knees-to-elbows
7 KB swings - 32 Kg bell
8 hanging leg raises
9 ring dips
10 squat thrusts (like a burpee, but no push up)
11 pull-ups (butterfly, chest to bar)
12 pistols (6/leg)

Score/Time: 25:58
Calories burned (warm up & WOD): 712

Wow this was tough. My goal was sub 25 and I missed it by a minute. Still got the fastest time of the gym by 1:04 though, pretty stoked on that. I moved through it as fast as I could.

The bear crawl to sprint at the end of each round was brutal. The ring dips got to me on the last round and I couldn't get more than 3 in a row.

Other than that it was just about keeping moving and plugging away at it. Taking it exercise by exercise, round by round. And before you know it, you're starting round 12 and you can see the finish line.

I look forward to this next year for sure. It was brutally fun.

Nutrition - 12/18

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water.
8 oz. (1 cup) steamed sweet potatoes and yams

9:15 am
5.5 oz. grilled chicken breast
2 cup broccoli
1/3 cup walnuts

12:45 pm
6 oz. baked salmon
Salad - 2 cups purple kale, 2 cups spinach, 1 hot house tomato, 4 sliced mushrooms, 1/2 cup cucumber, 3 radishes.
3 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing
1/4 cup almonds

4:10 pm
5 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
5 large celery stalks

7:15 pm
Holiday potluck at Level 4 - CrossFit Seattle tonight. Not sure what's on the menu but it will be a paleo feast for sure. I'm bringing roasted brussel sprouts. I'll fill this part in later with what I consumed at the potluck.

2 oz. chicken breast, red onion, avocado dish
3 oz. braised brisket (incredible)
2 oz. chicken curry (in yellow curry sauce, no rice)
about 3 cups of a spinach, walnut, raspberry vineagrette salad
cauliflower
2 paleo almond/carrot cinnamon paleo cookies

10:30 pm Out with some work buddies
4 oz. rib eye steak
3 oysters
2 cups roasted brussel sprouts
2 shots of patrone

Fitness - Good Mornings & Kettle Bell Freestyle - 12/17

Not a very good night's sleep last night. No reason in particular, just restless. I hate that. Anyway, my hip flexers and calfs were pretty sore this morning from running last night. I knew today would be light though in preparation for tomorrow's 6th annual "12 days of CrossFit" WOD. I hear it's pretty brutal, a long met-con. I guess even the fastest people finish at or around the 30 minute mark. I expect to crush that though.

Focus: Good mornings, cross sets, 4x8
2x8 - 40 Kg (88.2#)
2x8 - 60 Kg (132.3#)

These felt great. An awesome way to get after the glutes and hammies without throwing a ton of weight on the bar and dead lifting. The perfect warm up for me today.

WOD: 15 minute kettle bell freestyle, multiple reps of the following (in no particular order) with a 24 Kg bell:

Kettle bell swings (full ext. over head)
One arm kettle bell swings
Kettle bell snatch
Kettle bell clean
Kettle bell clean and jerk
Kettle bell presses
Figure 8's
Windmills
Turkish get ups
Kettle bell front squats
Kettle bell goblet squats
One arm kettle bell over head squats
Kettle bell sit ups
Kettle bell overhead sit ups
Waiter's walk
Shoulder circles
Halo stretch
Around the world
Kettle bell straight leg dead lift
Kettle bell suitcase dead lift

Score/Time: N/A
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 454

It broke down as follows: grab a kettle bell and for 15 minutes perform whatever movements you like, for as many reps as you wanted. The key was to keep the bell moving at all times. If it hit the floor or was stationary for 10 seconds, the punishment was 20 burpees per infraction.

One guy, Chris, just did single arm kettle bell snatches for the entire time. Switching sides often, he just kept pluggin away. It was pretty sick/impressive. I took the opportunity to use the bell in as many different ways as I could think of. The list above is everything that I came up with.

Afterward, I felt totally loose. Every part of my body had been lightly worked, I felt completely relaxed and in alignment. It was awesome! And even though it was low impact and not that hard, fast or heavy, It was an awesome workout as well. I was dripping sweat by the end of it.

Super stoked for "12 days of CrossFit" tomorrow. It's all anybody in the gym is talking about. I'm ready to slay the white board. BOOYA!

Nutrition - 12/17

7:50 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk.

9:05 am
3 hard boiled eggs (2 yokes)
2 large carrots
1/4 cup almonds

12:45 pm
6 oz. grilled chicken breast
salad - 2 cups purple kale, 1 cup green chard, 1 hot house tomato, 1/3 cup cucumber, 3 sliced mushrooms, 3 chopped radishes.
2 Tbsp home made paleo dressing
1/3 cup walnuts

4:10 pm
3 oz. organic grass fed ground beef
4 large celery stalks

7:45 pm
5.5 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with evoo, red pepper flakes, yellow onion, yellow bell pepper, black pepper, sea salt
Salad - 3 cups chopped red cabbage, 1/2 avocado, 3 Tbsp salsa, a lot of cilantro, juice from 1/4 of a lemon.
1 Tbsp mixed pumpkin, flax and sesame seeds

Fitness - Two-A-Day - WOD #2 - 12/16

Let's jump right in!

WOD: 6 rounds for time of
400m run
12 weighted pull ups (chest to bar) - 16 Kg kettle bell

Score/Time: 18:01
Calories burned (warm up and WOD): 644

I had a lot of fun with this one, when I didn't feel like I was going to throw up. Dave threw the weighted pull ups in to give me some rest between running. The main focus of this WOD was the 400m runs. So I pretty much tried to sprint them, one after another. At about midway through round 4, I got that pit in my stomach.

He wanted to me to run, and run hard. Then take my time time on the pull ups to recover a little bit. So that's what I did. The pull ups weren't meant to be plowed through. Instead, they were supposed to be explosive and taken one by one from a dead hang position. I did 3 or 4 at a time before getting off the bar and resting a few breaths. And he made sure the bar hit my chest every time. A couple times I had to re-do a rep or two because he caught me coming up short.

As I've been training for the games I've also been training to the standards of the games. I.e. chest to bar on pull ups, making sure I get a full lock out on movements that require one, full extension on kettle bell swings (stopping the bell not at eye level, but when it's overhead), and catching the wall ball shot squatting and coming up before dropping it on the last rep. Instead of throwing it up and letting it just hit the ground.

Going to get a big, balanced meal in me, drink a lot of water and hit the hay. some good work put in tonight.

Fitness - Two-A-Day - Handstand work & WOD #1 - 12/16

Woke up feeling good, my legs were pretty sore from yesterday but I expected that. Today's work was pretty light in preparation for the "12 Days of CrossFit" WOD on Friday. I'm pretty sure tomorrow will be light as well. Even though today's WOD was relatively easy, my second WOD of the day this afternoon with Dave is going to be brutal.

Today's WOD also allowed me to work on a weakness of mine, double unders.

Focus: Handstand Work

I worked on various handstand exercises. First against the wall warming up the shoulders with some holds and handstand push ups. Then with some parallettes against the wall and finally handstands in free space with a spotter. Good stuff.

After that it was on to the WOD. The score was the total amount of renegade man makers performed.

WOD: 5 rounds of
60 seconds of double unders
60 seconds of renegade man makers - 35# dumbbells
30 seconds rest

Score/Time: 36
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 431

It was nice to get some double under practice in. In the beginning rounds I was only able to string 3 or four together. But in the last round I was getting about 20-23 in a row. I'm still using too much of my shoulders instead of my wrist. And I waste too much energy by jumping higher than I need to. But right now, that's the only way I can get them done. I was really happy at the improvement in such a short time. I'm going to Big 5 this weekend and buy a jump rope so I can start practicing on my own.

I'm to get worked by WOD #2 on the day later this afternoon. I'll be posting it in a separate entry.

Nutrition - 12/16

8:00 am (post WOD #1)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water.

9:05 am
5 oz. grilled chicken breast
2 cups broccoli
1/4 cup brazil nuts

1:10 pm
6 oz. grilled top sirloin
Salad - 2 cups purple kale, 1 cup green chard, 1 hot house tom, 1/2 cup cucumber, 3 sliced mushrooms, 3 radishes.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing
1/3 cup walnuts

4:15 pm
3 hard boiled eggs (only 3 yokes)
2 medium carrots

7:50 pm (post WOD)
6 oz. baked salmon
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1 chopped up raw orange bell pepper, 1/2 avocado.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

110 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Dead Lifts & Anaerobic WOD - 12/15

I slept like a baby bear cup last night. I starting feeling really tired around 7 and hit the sack at 9:30 pm sharp. It felt so good to get that much sleep, I woke up and felt great this morning.

Focus: Dead lift, work up to heavy set of 5
1x5 - 130 Kg (286.6#)
1x5 - 150 Kg (330.7#)
1x5 - 160 Kg (352.7#)
1x5 - 170 Kg (374.8#)
1x5 - 160 Kg (352.7#)

I felt alright about my deads this morning. It definitely felt heavy but I did feel like I had more in the tank.

After the focus we got after some anaerobic training. Anaerobic training focuses on really short, but really intense loads of work. Anywhere from 30 seconds to no more than 2 minutes. It's designed to be short intervals and is extremely helpful in building an increased work capacity, increased lactate threshold, speed, power and fast twitch skeletal muscle.

Today's WOD was fun.

WOD: 3 rounds of
21 front squats - 61 Kg (135#)
7 kettle bell over head sit ups - 16 Kg bell
3 minutes rest

Score/Time(s): r1 - 45 seconds, r2 - 42 seconds, r3 - 41 seconds
Calories burned (focus through end of WOD): 603

I killed today's workout. The Rx was 43 Kg (95#) and the top time at that weight was 45 seconds. I was all set to crush this WOD when Dave said he wanted me to go heavier and still beat that time. He said 60 Kg but I put it 61 because I wanted to use 135 pounds. And when Dave tells you to do something, you do it.

I had gotten to the gym a little early and saw how the guys were struggling with 40 kilos so I wasn't sure how fast I'd be able to go with 61 kilos. I surprised myself with my times. I was super stoked. I didn't expect my time to decrease each round and I certainly didn't think I'd get them done as fast as I did.

The kettle bell sit ups were done by holing a kettle bell overhead with one arm while performing the sit up. To count the rep the bell had to be fully locked out with your chest upright and forward. It didn't matter what arm you used or if you switched arms halfway through, it just had to be 7 reps total.

Another rest day tomorrow and I'll likely go really easy on Thursday. I see another night of great sleep in my future for tonight.

Nutrition - 12/15

8:10 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water.
8 oz. steamed sweet potatoes, dash of cinnamon

9:20 am
4.5 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
5 celery stalks
1/3 cup walnuts

12:45 pm
6 oz. grilled chicken
Salad - 2 cups purple kale, 2 cups green chard, 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, 3/4 cup cucumber, 2 sliced radishes, 3 sliced mushrooms
3 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing
1/4 cup Brazil nuts

4:15 pm
2 oz wild Coho salmon
1.5 oz. smoked salmon
1 sliced yellow bell pepper, raw

7:45 pm
5.5 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with yellow onion, red bell pepper, red pepper flakes, black pepper, sea salt, evoo. (scooped into red cabbage leaves)
4 large red cabbage leaves
2 Tbsp salsa
1/2 avocado
juice of 1/2 a lemon over wraps

108 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Two-A-Day - WOD #2 - 12/12

I was really tired early in the afternoon. That's how I know I gave it all I had this morning. I don't really get sore anymore, I just get really tired sometimes.

I was pretty stoked for Today's second WOD. Except for the rowing of course.

WOD:
3000m row
Then 21-15-9 of
over head squats - 52 Kg (115#)
push ups
v-ups

Score/Time: 15:58
Calories burned (WOD only, my HR was racing the entire time): 671

I forgot to check the clock when I finished the row so I'm not exactly sure how long it took me. I know that I was working at about a 1:50-2:00/500m pace the whole time. My shoulders were worked from this morning's work so the OHS's proved to be pretty tough. And my legs were shot from the rowing so the squats sucked as well.

I got through the first set (21 reps) of everything unbroken, then my work capacity shut down and I hit a wall, I did recover though. The set of 15 was awful. I broke each exercise down to a few sets. Way too much rest here. But I fought through the set of 9, only because I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I really didn't want to have to snatch the bar back up if I set it down on a set of 9. I was happy to get everything done unbroken on the set of nine. That was a good mental victory after the brutal set of 15 just before.

I'm pretty spent which means I'm going to bed early and I'm going to sleep like a little infant child.

Fitness - Two-A-Day - Strict Press & Right In My Bread Basket WOD #1 - 12/14

Feeling good this morning and recovered from Saturday. Didn't get that much sleep last night but I woke up easily, ready for action. And that's exactly what I got. I was chomping at the bit to get into today's WOD. What can you say, some WOD's are just made for you. And today's was right in my wheel house. I was looking to destroy the white board.

Focus: 5x3 strict press, cross sets
1x3 - 70 Kg (154.3#)
1x3 - 80 Kg (176.4#)
1x3 - 81 Kg (178.6#)
1x3 - 82 Kg (180.8#)
1x3 - 83 Kg (182#)

Feeling good about my presses this morning as 83 kilo's is yet another PR for me. My numbers keep rising which keeps a smile on my face. In all honesty I didn't have to fight that hard for it. I feel like 85 or even 86 kilo's would have gone up today. Oh well, something to try for next time.

On to the WOD:

WOD: AMRAP in 12 minutes of
5 clean & jerks - 71 kg (156.5#)
5 pull ups

Score/Time: 15 full rounds + 5 c&j and 3 pull ups
Calories burned (including focus and WOD): 598

I feel like I killed this WOD. 2 pull ups short of 16 full rounds. I tried not to go all out at the beginning because I knew it would slow me down a lot towards the end. I went out fast but it was a manageable pace throughout the whole WOD. I pretty much didn't stop or rest during the c&j's or pull ups. When I got tired I rested a few breaths only between exercises.

A large part of how I was able to get so many rounds was that I was doing butterfly kipping pull ups, where it's more of a circular motion. As opposed to regular kips where it's more of a pendulum motion. I've gotten pretty good at the butterfly variety and am able to find and hold a rhythm well. I would say that it literally takes 1/3 the amount of time to perform them butterfly style.

Afterward I had about 3 or 4 people come up to me asking them If I could teach them the technique, which was pretty cool. I was happy to show them.

I've got another two-a-day today so stay tuned for WOD #2. Not sure what to expect.

Nutrition - 12/14

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk.

9:20 am
5.5 oz grilled chicken breast
3 cups broccoli
1/4 cup almonds

1:10 pm
6 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with red onion, yellow bell peppers, red pepper flakes, sea salt, black pepper, a dash of hot sauce (on top of salad).
Salad - 3.5 cups chopped red cabbage, 1/2 cup cherry toms, 1/2 avocado, 3 Tbsp salsa
1/4 cup walnuts

4:20 pm
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
1 hard boiled egg
3 medium carrots

7:30 pm
5.5 oz. wild Coho salmon
Salad - 1 cup purple kale, 1 cup green chard, 1/2 avocado
3 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

116 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Level 2 Two-a-day - 12/12

This morning's two-a-day started off with the Level 2 skills class. There was only 3 of us today which allowed a lot of one-on-one time with Dave.

Level 2 Skills Class
We jumped right in to some kettle bell work to warm up and stretch out. After that we did various wrist flexibility/strength work.

Then we moved onto some glute and hamstring destroying exercise. I can best describe these as weighted hip raises. We had our shoulders lying about 2 feet off the ground on some stacked gym mats. Loaded the bar with 50 kilos and positioned it on our pelvic bone or low stomach. Then with a little bit of explosion and digging our heels into the ground, raised our hips to the air. 10 sets of 6-8 reps.

We rotated between those and some l-sit/tall dip work on the dip rack. 1 rep equalled a 5 second l-sit, really deep dip, then really pushing through at the top and hinging your hips back into a flat back, almost tuck plange position. That was one rep, an extremely taxing rotation. Ten sets of 3 reps. One set of hip raises, then one set of the dip routine.

To finish off the skills class we did some snatch work. A "ring of fire" of sorts. The three of us got in a little circle and one at a time would perform a snatch. Watching the others and giving pointers when needed. But it was pretty much rapid fire around the circle for 10 minutes doing full squat snatches. I tried to keep count but lost track somewhere around 35. 60 Kilo's on the bar.

One hour of rest then the Level 2 met-con class.

Level 2 Met-Con Class
We had some visitors at our gym today for the "11 o'clock throw down" as it's been dubbed. Jordan and Irvine from CrossFit Xplore joined in the fun. I talked a lot with Jordan about the games (he competed last year) which was beneficial. It was fun to pick his brain.

I asked Jordan how he heard of our little class and I guess he and Scott (one of our trainers) go back a while. He said he came to see if I was as big a beast as Scott says. That was a pretty major ego boost. I wanted to beat Jordan, I was determined.

WOD: 5 rounds for time of
10 snatches (ground to over head, full squat not required) - 60 Kg (132.3#)
15 hanging knees to elbows
20 wall balls - 20#/13' mark

Score/Time: 16:16
Calories burned (WOD only): 471

Well, I didn't beat him. He got me by only a few seconds, I was drained, hurting all over, and kind of pissed that somebody came into my house and beat me. I really, really wanted to beat him. He's a great coach though, and I know I can beat him, it just didn't happen today. To know that I can fully hang with a CrossFit Games competitor put a huge smile on my face as I drove home.

I left it all on the mat today. Hot damn! Next two-a-day will be this Monday (two days from now). I'm planning a lot of rest and relaxation the rest of the day and tomorrow.

Fitness - L-Sits & Heavy Grinder WOD - 12/11

I feel amazing having taken yesterday off. I woke up with a spring in my step ready to give it my all.

Focus: L-sits, 5 rounds of max L-sit hold, about 2-3 minutes between rounds
1x49 seconds
1x36 seconds
1x30 seconds
1x28 seconds
1x19 seconds

Uh, wow. After my first set, these went down hill fast. I really need to start working on my core strength like this a couple times a week. Just come in early or stay late a few days a week and bang out some max l-sits holds for a few minutes.

I was surprised at how long I held the first one but these killed me. My quads even starting cramping up on my last 2 sets. The Level 2 skills/gymnastics class has helped a great deal in this type of exercise though. Being able to press through the shoulders and engage the middle back is key in supporting l-sits.

WOD: AMRAP in 12 minutes of:
5 dead lifts at 1.5xbody weight - 130Kg (286.6#)
3 Kettle bell jerks - 32Kg bells (70#)

Score/Time: 10 full rounds + 5 dead lifts

This wasn't that long (although it seemed like it) but it was a super heavy grinder of a workout. The dead lifts got heavy fast, I was only able to get all five in a row for 4 rounds. After that they were broken up into whatever.

I got all three jerks in a row every round but the hardest part was cleaning the damn things up to the rack position. Some people chose to alternate and do 3 on one arm, then three on the other. I decided to do both at once to get more rounds in. Cleaning two 70# kettle bells at once was taxing for sure. My main reasoning for getting all three jerks in a row was so that I didn't have to clean the bells back up to my shoulders and waste all that energy.

Today was heavy but it felt good. Another two-a-day tomorrow, both level 2 classes, both in the morning. Looking forward to much needed rest on Sunday.

Nutrition - 12/11

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder.
7 oz. steamed sweet potatoes with a dash of cinnamon

9:10 am
3 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 hard boiled eggs
3 medium carrots
1/4 cup almonds

1:00 pm
6 oz. grilled chicken breast
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1 cup sun gold toms, 1 cup sliced mushrooms, 5 olives, 2 radishes.
3 Tbsp home made paleo dressing
1/3 cup walnuts

4:10 pm
4 oz. baked halibut
1 yellow bell pepper, raw

7:30 pm
6 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
4 cups roasted brussel sprouts - tossed in evoo, sea salt, cracked black pepper
1/2 avocado

110 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Rest Day - 12/10

Man, I'm very sore this morning. The handstand push ups in WOD #2 and all the other shoulder work yesterday has set in, and set in deep. My upper back, lats and shoulders are worked. My legs are not really sore, but pretty fatigued. That's nothing new though.

I had to take the day off and rest today. It felt good to get the extra sleep and I look forward to feeling refreshed and recovered for tomorrow.

I'm glad I missed today. The focus was front squats (which were in WOD #2 yesterday), then a long met-con:

50 x DB deadlifts (50#/30#)
50 x bent over rows (40#/20#)
50 x body weight squats
50 x pull-ups
50 x thrusters (45#/25#)
50 x v-ups

This would not have done me any good. I could have taken it slow and not used any weight, just to get some active rest. But I need a day of real rest, rest.

Another two-a-day on Saturday with the Level 2 skills/gymnastics class, then the Level 2 met-con class later in the morning.

Nutrition - 12/10

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water.

9:00 am
5 oz. grilled chicken breast
2 cups broccoli
1/3 cup walnuts

1:00 pm
6.0 oz. baked salmon
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1 roma tomato, 2 radishes, 5 olives, 1/2 cup cucumber, 4 sliced mushrooms
3 Tbsp paleo dressing
1/4 cup brazil nuts

4:00 pm
3 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
5 celery stalks

7:30 pm
5.5 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with yellow onion, orange and yellow bell pepper, red pepper flakes, sea salt, black pepper (scooped into cabbage leaves)
4 large red cabbage leaves (taco wraps)
1/2 avocado
4 Tbsp salsa
juice of 1/2 a lemon

110 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Two-a-days - WOD #2 - 12/09

WOD: 8 rounds AFAP for time of
8 Front squats - 75 Kg (165.4#)
8 Handstand push ups

Score/Time: 18:28
Calories burned (warm up & WOD): 618

More to come on this entry.

Fitness - Two-a-days - Split Jerks & WOD #1 - 12/09

My glutes and hamstrings are pretty tight from yesterday's dead lifting. Also a little muscle soreness in my lower back which is not really a good thing. It means my form was a little off and when it got heavy I was using too much of my back.

today's focus was 5x5 cross sets of strict/military press but I intended to get under some heavy weight today (following a strength nesting). So I decided to go with split jerks.

Focus: 5x3, split jerks, working up to 2 heavy sets of 3
1x5 - 70 Kg (154.3#)
1x5 - 90 Kg (198.4#)
1x3 - 105 Kg (224.8#)
1x3 - 120 Kg (264.5#)
1x2 (failed 3rd rep) - 120 Kg (264.5#)

Damn, 120 kilo's was heavy. It's the most I've ever tried jerking and I felt like my form held up really well. I got some pointers afterward on ways to improve but overall I'm really happy with it.

WOD: AMRAP in 12 minutes of
5 hang power cleans (no squat) - 61.5 Kg's (135.5#)
5 burpees

Score/Time: 14 full rounds + 1 hang clean
calories burned (including focus & WOD): 645

I felt like a kept really good intensity throughout this workout. I tried not to go all out right out of the gate, but I'm not sure how well I managed that. I had 8 rounds at the halfway point, which I felt good about. Considering the only other guy to go Rx (135#) had gotten 8 rounds total. I tried to keep up that pace but obviously couldn't. With 6 minutes left I was getting one round per minute, which still isn't bad. I was sucking wind pretty hard at the end of it.

Since these were from the hang position I tried to focus on (especially when I got tired) keeping a neutral spine, getting a big hip explosion and jump to have my shoulders do as little work as possible. A big shrug right before dropping under it helped me as well.

It's always important to keep form in mind when you're attempting to crank out several reps as fast as possible with olympic style lifts. Not only does it help you maximize your out put. It's incredibly important for staving off injury and It trains your nerves to help your muscle memory. If you practice it wrong, you'll perform it wrong. But if you practice it correctly, you'll perform it correctly.

I'm a little worried for my second WOD this evening. Feeling a little warn down but I know Dave will have no mercy.

Nutrition - 12/09

8:00 am (post WOD #1)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water.

9:25 am
3 hard boiled eggs (only 2 yokes)
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
4 large celery stalks
1/4 cup Brazil nuts

1:00 pm
5.5 oz. grilled chicken breast
Salad - 3 cups organic mixed greens, 1 cup sun gold toms, 1/2 cup cucumber, 4 sliced mushrooms, 1/4 cup chopped parsley.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing
1/3 cup walnuts

4:00 pm
3 oz. baked halibut
3 medium carrots

7:45 pm (post WOD #2)
5.5 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with yellow onion, orange and yellow bell pepper, red pepper flakes, sea salt, black pepper (scooped into cabbage leaves)
4 large red cabbage leaves (taco wraps)
1/2 avocado
juice of 1/2 a lime

98 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Dead Lifts & Tabata Tuesday - 12/08

I got a lot of sleep last night and woke up feeling fully recovered. The light work yesterday certainly helped keep my muscles loose and warm, and played a huge part in how they feel today. I walked into the gym ready to destroy.

Focus: Dead lifts, work up to a max set of 3. AKA as heavy as possible.
1x5 - 150 Kg (330.7#)
1x3 - 170 Kg (374.8#)
1x3 - 180 Kg (396.8#)
1x3 - 186 Kg (410#)
1x2 (failed on 3rd rep) - 191 Kg (421.1#)
1x5 (cool down set) - 150 Kg (330.7#)

I feel fantastic about my out put today. Dead lifting 186 Kg for a set of three is a new PR for me. I almost had 191 but I couldn't get the last rep. At first I was a little upset but quickly got over it. Seems I'm still getting strong on all major lifts which is a great feeling.

Today we did some Tabata work. 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest. Repeat for 8 rounds totalling 4 minutes of total work per exercise. The score is the lowest amount reps in any given round per exercise.

WOD: Tabata
Air squats - 18
Sit ups - 14
Push ups - 12
Kettle bell swings (32Kg - 70#) - 13

Score/Time: Tabata total = 57
Calories burned (focus & Tabata work): 590

Pretty self explanatory with Tabata stuff. On a positive note, I've noticed my anaerobic/lactate threshold has improved a ton. Being able to hold endurance longer during these short bursts of high intensity output still needs some work, but I've gotten so much stronger in this area. It used to be a real weak point in my fitness and I've noticed a huge shift in that type of training.

A lot of weight moved and a lot of work in the gym today. I'm going to sleep like a little lamb tonight. On another positive note, another two-a-day tomorrow. . . SICK!

Nutrition - 12/08

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk.
8 oz. steamed sweet potatoes with a dash of cinnamon.

9:15 am
5.5 oz grilled chicken breast
2 cups broccoli
1/3 cup walnuts

1:00 pm
6 oz. wild caught Alaskan salmon
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup cucumbers, 3/4 cup sliced mushrooms, 3 large radishes.
3 Tbsp paleo dressing

4:10 pm
1 oz. ahi tuna steak
1 oz. grilled chicken breast
1 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
5 large celery stalks

7:30 pm
5.5 grilled top sirloin steak
4 cups roasted brussel sprouts - evoo, sea salt, black pepper. Topped with 1 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
1/2 avocado

100 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Team Met-Con, Easy-ish WOD - 12/07

Wowie, my quads are still wrecked from my two-a-day session on Saturday. The second WOD killed me. I got to the gym expecting the worst in what was going to be on the white board. But It wasn't that bad at all. It actually really helped me loosen up. No focus, today. We had a long, light met-con in teams of 5.

WOD: Team met-con, number of reps below are for the team of 5 so split it up accordingly per person.
5000m row
400 box jumps - 24"
300 wall balls - 20#/10'
200 hanging knees to elbows
100 dumbbell full squat clean & jerks - 50# dumbbells

Score/Time: 22:14
Calories burned (warm up and WOD): 488

This work felt really good. It was pretty cake, just kept moving and cruised through it as a team. It really helped loosen me up and warm up for the week.

Not much to say about this WOD. I'm stoked for Wednesday, it's another two-a-day and my third so far.

Nutrition - 12/07

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water.

9:15 am
3 hard boiled eggs (only 1 yoke)
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
5 celery stalks
1/4 cup almonds

1:10 pm
5.5 oz. grilled chicken breast
Salad - 3 cups organic mixed greens (kale, chard, spinach, beet greens), 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup cucumbers, 1 cup sliced mushrooms.
1/3 cup walnuts

4:15 pm
3 oz. top sirloin steak
2 large carrots

7:40 pm
6 oz. organic grass fed ground beef
1 red bell pepper
1/2 avocado
2 cups broccoli

Fitness - Two-a-day's - Level 2 WOD's #1 & #2 - 12/05

Today's Level 2 skills/gymnastics class was different, which I was pleased to see. All we did was technique and strength work for overhead squats and snatches. It felt really good to get under some heavy weight with these movements and get some one-on-one instruction from Dave, Scott and Andy.

WOD #1: Strength/technique work
Overhead squat, working up to heavy set of 6
1x10 - 50 Kg
2x6 - 60 Kg
1x6 - 70 Kg
1x6 - 80 Kg

Snatches, 5x3
1x3 - 60 Kg
1x3 - 70 Kg
1x3 - 75 Kg
1x3 - 75 Kg
1x3 - 85 Kg

I was extremely stoked on both my OHS and snatch effort. With just a few tweaks in my form and technique I was able to put up more weight than I was expecting. I had a lot of good coaching from Dave, Scott (our olympic lift expert), and Andy. Today's strength work felt really good. And not to mention, OHS's and snatches are just plain old, down and dirty bad ass lifts. It was fun.


WOD #2: 3 rounds AFAP of:
300m row
7 push press - 43 Kg (95#)
7 front squats - 43 Kg (95#)
7 thrusters - 43 Kg (95#)

Time/Score: 7:04

Finisher:
Max reps of strict floor press in 60 seconds - 20Kg (mens bar), 42 reps
25 ball slams - 20# med ball

Calories burned (over both WOD's and finisher): 1110

The past two WOD's we've done have been long, hard and heavy grinders. Today's Level 2 met-con class was completely different.

I don't know where to begin with my second WOD of the day. This was, without a doubt, the hardest short blast of work I've done to date. Anybody that says, "you can't get a good workout in 10 minutes (or less)," should be subjected to this beast.

I was pushing hard on the rowing in all out sprint mode, Your legs feel it right when you pick up the bar to start the push presses. My quads were screaming for mercy after just the first round. Having to do push presses, then front squats, then thrusters (front squat - push press, a combo of both) was ridiculous.

When I finished I hit the deck and it felt like I had lactic acid coursing through my veins instead of blood.

The part I'm most proud of in doing this WOD is that I beat Matt. One of our trainers who is the CrossFit Seattle equivalent of Jer over at Kirkland CrossFit. Matt is about 155-160 pounds of lean muscle. He's absolutely ripped and one of the most fit people I've ever met. I beat him by 4 seconds (2 thrusters).

It was great to have him there to push me. It was between him and I, a race to post the fasted time amongst the Level 2er's. Had he not been there next to me I doubt I would have posted as fast of a time. But afterward, he said the same thing to me and thanked me for the push.

I could not have gone harder, I know I left it all on the mat today. And that's an awesome feeling.

Nutrition - 12/05

7:30 am
3 eggs (only 2 yokes) - over easy
2 carrots
1/4 cup brazil nuts

12:15 pm (post WOD's)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water
7 oz. steamed sweet potatoes

1:30 pm
5.5 oz. top sirloin steak
5 large celery stalks
2 Tbsp almond butter
2 cups broccoli

4:30 pm
4 oz. seared ahi tuna steak sprinkled with sesame seeds
1 yellow bell pepper, raw

8:00 pm
6 oz. chicken breast
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1 large tomato, 1 cup sliced mushrooms, 4 large radishes, 1/3 cup cucumber
1/3 cup walnuts

6:00pm - 12:00am
Whiskey neat, lots' of them.

Fitness - Muscle Ups & WOD - 12/04

I woke up this morning even more sore than yesterday. My hamstrings felt incredible tight from the good mornings, and my shoulders are still wrecked from the dips in my two-a-day WOD. Regardless, I got a lot of sleep last night and was ready to get after it when I saw the white board.

Focus: 2xMax rep muscle ups
1x7
1x5
1x5

The real focus was one set of max rep pull ups but I wanted to change it up a little bit. It had been a couple weeks since I did some muscle ups so I opted for them instead. My first set felt amazing, 7 is the most I've been able to get in one shot, I was stuck at 5 in a row for a long time. Also, I did the first 3 or 4 with very little kip action. I was stoked when I got off the rings. I'm not sure what has changed in my ability and strength to not use a kip, and get more reps, but I'm pleased.

The second set I lost my false grip and had to give it up after 5. I might have gotten 6 though (with a rather large kip). There was still about 5 minutes of time left so I decided to do some extra work and get one more set in. On my third set reps 3, 4 and 5 had a pretty big kip but whatev, I was getting full extension at the bottom (in the hanging position, with false grip) and a solid lockout at the top of the movement.

WOD:
800m run
then 3 rounds of:
15 2 arm kettle bell swings - 32 Kg (70#)
15 hanging knees to elbows
then:
800m run

Score/Time: 8:51
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 446

Damn, it was cold this morning. The running outside was a quick wake up call to anybody that was still a little sleepy. I happen to like it, it's quiet, cool crisp air, nobody is really up, hardly any cars on the road, it's barely dawn and all you hear is the heavy breathing of other CrossFiters. It's pretty inspiring/motivating. Then you get back in the gym and Public Enemy is blasting, there's just something about Public Enemy at 7 am that gets me moving.

Anyway, this morning's WOD was a nice little blast of hard work. Pushing the 70# bell around is getting easier but it still is taking a lot out of me. I'm happy to train with it though because I've noticed that when I do go down to the 24 Kg (53#) bell, It feels so light. The big problem is that the it takes so much more energy in my arms (especially my forearms) just to hang on to it. My grip starts to get a little suspect sometimes. Like today for instance, it was pretty hard on my grip to go straight from the swings at 32 Kg's and then hang on the bar for knees to elbows.

But I shouldn't be complaining, my grip is one thing that needs improvement and better endurance. So I know that while it hurts, it's only helping me and building my grip up.

Super stoked for tomorrow's two-a-day schedule. First up is the Level 2 skills/gymnastics class and later in the morning it'll be the Level 2 met-con class.

Nutrition - 12/04

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder.

12:00 pm (fasted food until this meal)
6 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with red onion, yellow bell pepper, red pepper flakes, paprika, black pepper, sea salt, garlic. (scooped into red cabbage leaves to make wraps)
2 large carrots
4 red cabbage leaves
1/4 cup Brazil nuts

3:30 pm
3 oz. grilled chicken breast
2 cups broccoli
1/4 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup walnuts

7:00 pm
6 oz. Alaskan salmon - broiled with lemon juice, thyme, rosemary, black pepper
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1/2 cup cherry toms, 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms, 2 radishes, 1/2 avocado, 1 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 Tbsp home made paleo dressing

9:40 pm
2 hard boiled eggs
2 celery stalks
2 Tbsp almond butter

Fitness - Good Mornings & light WOD - 12/03

Holy hell I'm sore. My shoulders especially. My legs are always feeling something so I don't really count that anymore. But my shoulder and triceps are hating life. I warmed up for a long time today and did a lot of stretching with a purple band trying to loosen up.

I knew that whatever was in store for today, I was going to take it nice and slow and light.

Focus: Good mornings, 5x8
1x8 (still warming up) - 20 Kg
4x8 - 40 Kg

Good mornings feel great. Really helped to mellow out my hamstrings and hips. i kept it light as to not over exert myself.

WOD: 8 rounds for time of:
8 Wall Balls - 6# med ball/10'
8 Dumbbell push presses - 25# db's
8 Push ups

Score/Time: 10:06
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 425

As promised, I took my time and went super light for this WOD. I transitioned smoothly and never had to break (because I was taking it so easy) during the WOD. At first my shoulders were hurting because they were so tight. But after 2 or 3 rounds they started to feel great. The light work really did help me today and I'm feeling the benefits.

My goal was to use it as some active rest and loosen up my body so it would be easier to stretch afterward. Which is exactly what I did. I had another great post workout stretch session. My only worry is that the good mornings are really going to make my hamstrings tight, and I'm pretty sure we'll be doing some running tomorrow. I plan on being back to my usual self and hitting it hard tomorrow.

For now, I'm stoked on how this week is progressing and I can't keep my mind off the games.

Nutrition - 12/03

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk.

9:00 am
3 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 hard boiled eggs
2 cups broccoli
1/3 cup walnuts

1:00 pm
5.5 oz. grilled top sirloin - marinated in tamari, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, black pepper, ginger, pinch of sea salt
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1/2 cup cherry toms, 1/2 cup cucumber, 3 large radishes, 1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 Tbsp home made paleo dressing
1/4 cup almonds

4:30 pm
4 large celery stalks
4 oz. left over Thanksgiving turkey breast

7:45 pm
5 oz. chicken breast
4 medium red cabbage leaves
1 orange bell pepper
1/4 cup cilantro
1/2 avocado
juice of 1/2 lime

Fitness - WOD (#2) - 12/02

I walked in ready for my second workout of the day but not knowing what to expect. My legs felt a little fatigued but that's nothing new. I took a lot of time to warm up by myself and stretched out a lot. Then Dave came over and let me know what I was in for.

WOD: 3 rounds for time of:
1000m row
50 dips

Score/Time: 24:42
Calories burned (warm up & WOD): 816

I really had no idea what my time would be. I've never done dips like this before and we all know hoe much i love rowing. Dave said that if I could keep a 1:45/500m pace on the rower, that would be a good pace throughout the WOD. I kept that no problem the first round and the dips didn't slow me down much either. I finished the first round right at the 6 minute mark.

The second round I took a lot of effort to stay around the 1:45/500m pace. I started out strong at about 700m started to slow a bit. the second round of dips was terrible. As soon as I got on the dip rack I felt like I was going to vom. I got that pit in my stomach and was sucking wind pretty hard. Still I managed to push through and was getting 6-7 dips at a time before having to rest and shake it out.

The third row my legs hit the wall at 300m and it felt like I was trying to drag a boat through sand. I finished that round of rowing with my pace at 2:06/500m. I staggered off the rower to my dip rack and saw the end in sight. I got through 15 or 20 dips and then my shoulders, triceps and upper back hit the wall. I could only get 2 or 3 dips before having to rest and shake it out.

A lot of work done today and I'm super excited to keep up this pace in my training. My next two-a-day will be Saturday. It will include both the Level 2 skills class and the Level 2 Met-Con class. I feel pretty beat up already and plan to go in tomorrow but just do everything really slow and light to get some active rest.

Fitness - Front Squats & "Narf" WOD (#1) - 12/02

I was pretty excited for today in general. The first day of my training and it's starting off with a two-a-day. I attend the 7 am class in the morning and I'll be hitting up the 6pm class in the evening when I do two-a-days.

Today's focus was intense and I went pretty heavy. Today's WOD was also a fun one.

Focus: 5x3 front squats, cross sets
1x3 - 120 Kg (264.5#)
1x3 - 130 Kg (286.6#)
1x3 - 130 Kg (286.6#)
1x3 - 130 Kg (286.6#)
1x3 - 135 Kg (297.6#)

I felt really good with this output. Again, it's the heaviest I've ever been able to do with fronts and sets of 3. I can tell my strength coming up from the bottom of the lift has improved a ton. It feels like my core is much more solid.

On the last 2 sets, reps 2 and 3 were a battle. I tried to focus on driving my elbows up, staying pressurized and keeping a flat back.

After we finished up it was time to take on "Narf".

WOD: "Narf" (Fran backwards), 9-15-21 of:
Thrusters - 43 Kg (95#)
Pull ups - chest to bar

Score/Time: 3:54
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 529

This was a fun take on the popular benchmark WOD, Fran. which is 21-15-9 of thrusters and pull ups. This was just working it with the same movements, but from the opposite direction.

I'm not sure what to think about my time. Fran is nice because as you get more tired, the reps decrease. So it kind of helps you out. But with Narf, as you get more fatigued, the reps increase which sounds like it would be harder. But I've never posted a time close to this on Fran. Which makes me wonder where the hell this came from today. It really makes me want to try regular Fran again some time soon.

Stay tuned for the second WOD of the day which I'll post in its own entry.

Nutrition - 12/02

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk.
7 oz. steamed sweet potatoes

9:15 am
5 oz. grilled chicken breast - marinated in lemon zest, lemon juice, evoo, red pepper flakes, black pepper, sea salt, ginger, garlic.
4 large celery sticks
1/3 cup walnuts

12:45 pm
6 oz. turkey breast (Thanksgiving left-overs, yum!)
salad - 3 cups spinach, 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms, 2 radishes, 1 tomato, 1/2 cup cucumber.
2 Tbsp home made paleo dressing
1/2 cup almonds

4:00 pm
3 oz. organic grass fed ground beef
2 cups purple cauliflower

7:40 pm
7 oz. Ahi tuna steak fillet - seared with tamari, lemon juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper, coconut oil.
1 Tbsp sesame seeds (topping on fish)
1 red bell pepper, raw
2 carrots
1/2 avocado

Fitness - Let The Training Begin!

Tomorrow marks the first day of my training for the 2010 CrossFit Games. And I'm starting off with a sick two-a-day.

To make it to this year's games you have to get through sectionals and the regional qualifier. Unlike previous years where it was just the regional qualifier. Also new this year is the introduction of two or three WOD's per day (during the sectionals and regionals) to mimic the structure of the actual CrossFit Games.

Me and Dave and a couple other coaches have put together an awesome plan to get me into the best possible shape come competition time. Including nestings of strength work, cardio and a gnarly schedule of two-a-days. As well as a nutrition plan to support the extra volume over the upcoming months. Which will help boost my strength and output, as well as lean me out to get the best possible strength to mass ratio.

Only good fuel in, I've got my mind right and I'm incredibly excited for this next phase of training in the months to come.

From here on out I've only got one thing on my mind. Everything I do now is leading up to one thing, the 2010 CrossFit Games.

Fitness - 21-15-9 Strict Press & WOD - 12/01

Not a very good night of sleep last night. I went to bed way too late and woke up several times because my room was a fricken' walk in fridge, very cold for some reason. I could tell that my body was not ready for today's workout.

Focus: 21-15-9 strict press
1x19 - 60 Kg (132.3#)
1x14 - 60 Kg (132.3#)
1x8 - 60 Kg (132.3#)

I felt good about this effort. It's the most I've ever tried with a 21-15-9 of military press. Last time we did this I used 55 Kg's for all three sets and I got all the reps but it was a battle. So, I decided to up it this go-around and I almost got them all. I fell 2 reps short on my first set and failed on the last reps of the final two sets.

WOD: 3 rounds, un-timed, 3 minutes rest between rounds
500m row (r1-1:30, r2-1:32, r3-1:33)
30 air squats
15 v-ups

Score/Time: N/A
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 546

Damn, this was killer. I stumbled out of the gym to my car after this WOD. My legs felt like jello. I left it all on the row machine, and going straight from rowing to air squats was a little weird. The first few squats went all the way to the ground because it was hard to gain control with super fatigued legs.

On a good note, I finally feel like my rowing is coming around. Two months ago I would have never been able to post times as low as these, and they would not have been anywhere near this consistent. There's still room for improvement though.

Nutrition - 12/01

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk.

9:00 am
3 hard boiled eggs
2 large carrots
1/4 cup almonds

1:10 pm
5.5 oz. chicken breast - saute'ed with yellow onion, green bell peppers, red pepper flakes, black pepper, evoo.
3 cups chanterelle mushroom & fennel/red wine reduction ragu (so bomb!) - fennel, chanterelle mushrooms, garlic, diced onion, 1 cup red wine, 1 can TJ's marinara sauce (no sugar, no salt added), black pepper, evoo.
10 asparagus spears
1/3 cup walnuts

4:30 PM
3 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with red bell peppers, yellow onion, black pepper, red pepper flakes, hot sauce.
2 cups purple cauliflower

7:30 pm
6 oz. wild caught Alaskan salmon
Salad - 2 cups spinach, 2 cups shredded red cabbage, 1 roma tom, 1 avocado, 3 radishes
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

102 oz. water on the day