9/13/11 - BS + Mainsite

5/3/1:

240 x 5

270 x 3

300 x 7

WOD:

4 rounds for time of:

Run ~400m

15 95# Thrusters

15 Pullups

Time: 14:36

Comments: Can't wait to get back in a real gym this weekend - this thin PU bar is KILLING ME.

9/11/11 - 5/3/1 SP

5/3/1:
Shoulder Press:
95 x 3
110 x 3
125 x 5

Comments: Starting to feel a little stronger - we'll see how the 3rd mesocycle goes this week and how we increase in the weeks to come.

9/10/11 - Tabata B2B Squat + 1 mile

WOD:
Tabata "Bottom to Bottom" Squat
Run 1 mile
Clock starts for run on rising from last squat.
The Tabata Bottom to Bottom Squat is a Tabata Squat but each rep begins at the bottom and ends at the bottom. The turn around at the top is immediate - no pause. The ten-second rest for each interval is also held at the bottom of the squat as opposed to the top. Interestingly, this squat, in contrast to the "normal" Tabata squat, motivates full hip extension. Also, the ten second rests don't seem as short with this protocol!

Score: 132 squats, 6:05 mile

 Comments: That hurt! legs are jello.

9/9/11 - BP + FS

5/3/1 - Bench Press
145 x 3
165x3
185 x 7

WOD 
Every minute on the minute for 11 minutes perform 2 Front Squats @ 185#

Comments: Felt nice to get 185# up so easily when earlier in the summer i could barely do it five times

9/8/11 - DL + Mainsite

Did 5/3/1 Deadlift and Mainsite today. I had to sub because of the gym I was in, so I'll put what I subbed in parenthesis.


5/3/1
Deadlift:
3x 260
3x 295
9x 330

WOD:
For time:
25 Walking lunge steps
20 Pull-ups
50 Box jumps, 20 inch box (24" box)
20 Double-unders
25 Ring dips
20 Knees to elbows
30 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood (70# dumbbell swing)
30 Sit-ups
20 Hang squat cleans, 35 pound dumbbells
25 Back extensions
30 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball (20# DB Thrusters)
3 Rope climb ascents (21 Strict pullups)

Time: 17:44

Comments: 5/3/11 - Felt pretty good about that. Was able to get a thin bar this time -- definitely noticed a different. Last time I could barely hold on to the ERC's shitty thick bars for 5 reps at 315#, this time I got 9 @ 330#. Grip was definitely the issue, not back strength. I think I might have had another rep or two in me - realized it afterwards and was super pissed I dropped the bar. Oh well, always next week.

WOD - Ouch. I don't know why, maybe it was Squats from 2 days ago and thrusters from yesterday and deadlifts from directly earlier (I did both workouts in a row) but I felt totally shitty. Also, SPH's thin bars are fucking brutal on grip - can barely get a hold of it. I know, I'm bitching - bars are too thick for lifts and too thin for pullup bars. Whatever. Looking forward to tomorrow. 

9/7/11 - Mainsite Thruster

Little adaptation to yesterday's mainsite

WOD
Thruster
3-3-3-3-3-3-1

Load: 95-135-145-155-165-175(2)-195(1)


Comments: Felt strong - wish the ERC's bars were normal diameter. Feels so weird to grip. Gonna hit it hard tomorrow.

9/6/11 - 5/3/1 Day

Did today's 5/3/1 and made up for the missed shoulder presses. Since I'm both squatting and overhead pressing, and today's mainsite WOD was thursters, I'm going to skip it.

5/3/1
Shoulder Press:
95 x 5
105 x 5
115 x 7

Back Squat:
225 x 3
255 x 3
285 x 11

Comments: Clearly my back squat PR should be better than 315#. Therefore I'm looking forward to seeing how that will be improved in the future. Rest day tomorrow - Hitting hard on Thursday.

9/2/11 - 5/3/1 Deadlift & Mainsite

5/3/1 Deads and Mainsite WOD today

5/3/1
Deadlift
240 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 6

WOD
15-12-9-6-3 for time of:
135# Clean and jerk
Bar facing Burpees

My watch didn't start.... awesome. I think ~8 mins

Comments: Going to take the next cycle off for a little extra rest. The ERC has shitty fatter bars and I could barely hold on for those 6 reps. Going to go to SPH for the better bars from now on.  

9/1/11 - BP & Weighted Pullups

Did Wendler's Bench press and mainsite WOD today.

Wendler's BP:
 140x5
165x5
185x6

WOD:
Weighted pullups 3-3-3-3-3

Load: 20-25-30-35-40(2)

Comments: Clearly BP is one of my weakest lifts. I think I'm going to drop down and calculate off of 205# for next week. Nothing wrong with taking 2 steps back right now to take 10 steps forward later.

Happy with the weighted pullups. 40# was my PR for 1 an I just did it for 2. Felt pretty good about that.

8/31/11 - Mainsite

A quick mainsite tabata wod today

WOD:


8 rounds for time of:
20 second 75# push press
10 second rest
20 second jumping alternating lunges
10 second rest

Score - 103 push press 137 lunges


Comments: Legs were SUPER sore from yesterday's squats - excited for day 2 of wendler's tomorrow

8/30/11 - Back Squats

Today Started Wendler's 5/3/1. Started off with Back Squats - 65% x5, 75%x5, 85%x5+.

 With a 1RM of 315# - it came out to:

205x5
240x5
270x14

Comments: Felt really good. That last set was really intense - didn't even realize I was yelling in the middle of the ERC. Oh well. Get it tomorrow. 

8/25/11- AMRAP20 and AMRAP Deads

Took an extra day off to heal after a big week. I did 2 WOD's today... checked out Monmouth Crossfit in LB for the first one (Thanks!) and got my last one in at Crossfit Shrewsbury before leaving tomorrow morning. So sad :(. Anyway... here we go:

WOD 1:
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes (AMRAP 20) of:
5 fat bar pullups (mostly kipping, but did a lot strict)
10 24" box jumps
15 pushups

Rounds: 17. 

Note the fat bar - nice little change

WOD 2:
With a continuously running clock for 15 minutes:
One minute on, 30 seconds off (10 rounds):
3 pullups
6 pushups
9 squats
Max reps 275# Deadlift for remainder of minute

Score = 275# DL x 52 = 14,300 lbs


then:
Tabata sit ups (8 rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, [total 4 minutes])

Score = 101 situps


Comments: I'm going to miss having a box 5 minutes away and the awesome trainers and partners there! But... on to the next adventure. I'm looking to do some WOD's at Crossfit Bethesda coming up. Was a good day... performed pretty well. Rest day tomorrow then back to the grind on Saturday.

8/23/11 - Mainsite WOD

1 WOD today - I was awake all night and therefore tired... and went to NYC w/ ma'lady

5 rounds for time: 

40 Double Unders

30 Box Jumps 24"

20 53# Kettlebell swings

[All movements were Games standards]

Time - 15:11

Comments: Yeah, that sucked. I was tired. My double unders weren't strung. My box jumps were weak. My KB's looked like a peon. Sorry, next time, tiger. I promise I'll do better tomorrow.

Anthony

Wendler's 5/3/1 Strength Programming

Tuesday I am beginning to incorporate Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 Strength Program into my normal Crossfit regimen. Probably the #1 factor limiting my performance right now is my strength, and I'm looking forward to see how the added strength will affect my WOD performance.

Here's the low down:

5/3/1 is based around 4 core lifts, the back squat, bench press, deadlift, and strict press. I like this, as it does a pretty good job hitting all of the primary movers we use on a daily basis. Also, the Crossfit total is a squat, deadlift, and strict press. It's almost like sticking to Crossfit programming but with the extra benefit of a bench press, which I feel mainsite programming doesn't hit well enough. To strictly follow 5/3/1, you are supposed to do supplementary exercises as well (dips, pushups, air squats, pullups, etc.) but I'll let the Crossfit metcon's handle that.

Now that we have covered our 4 core lifts, the next step is the 4 mesocycles. At 4 days a week, the mesocycle will last a week, and each step is therefore a month. (Easiest to explain). For me, Back Squat = Tuesday, Bench Press = Thursday, Deadlift = Friday, Strict press = Sunday. If you only want to do 3 days a week, just keep carrying it on, treating each four lifts as a mesocycle. So your start dates would be different each week. Follow? great.

Here's how the mesocycles work:

	Mesocycle 1	2	3	4
Set 1	65% x 5	70% x 3	75% x 5	40% x 5
Set 2	75% x 5	80% x 3	85% x 3	50% x 5
Set 3	85% x 5+	90% x 3+	95% x 1+	60% x 5

The %'s are based off of your 1RM. So, for example, my first week for deadlift (1RM = 375#), my 3 sets would be 245x5, 285x5, 320x5+. For the set with the + sign, perform as many reps as possible. It's the last set, make it count (this is what makes us stronger). In week 2, we do sets of 3. In week 3, it's 5/3/1 (there's the name!). Week 4 is a deloading/recovery week.

Here comes the fun part -- after each month, we increase our 1RM for the calculations! Add 10 pounds to the 1RM for deadlift and squat and 5 pounds for bench press and strict press. While that might not seem like that much -- theoretically after 1 year you'll be adding 60 pounds to the 2 presses and 120 pounds to the squat and deadlift!

Another important point as to how this will make us stronger, and what I feel is the MOST important, is how our THRESHOLD will change. What I mean by this is that we will be able to perform more reps at a higher percentage of our 1RM. Even if, for example, my deadlift doesn't increase past 375# max at first, but I can perform more reps at 315, I AM STRONGER THAN I WAS. That is an EXTREMELY important point I am trying to make here, and what drew me to Wendler's in the first palce. Especially in Crossfit, we need to be able to efficiently move a bar that might be close to our max. If you can do a 400+ squat but can't blow through Fran's thrusters quickly, you're missing a huge part of being fit.

I think I've answered almost any questions regarding the program right now. Feel free to post any questions/comments/concerns/what you think I should address more. But I think I'm the only person that reads this anyway (I mean, it IS my logbook), so, feel free to not post either!

After thoughts:

You don't have to do ALL 4 exercises, although to increase total strength I'd recommend it. It seems like the transfer between these lifts and other areas of strength and power will be considerable. Anyway, Chris Spealler did 5/3/1 specifically for the squat, once a week, and felt it helped him considerably. And Chris Spealler is fucking awesome, and crazy strong for his bodyweight, and fucking awesome, so I respect that.

Also, you can change it up. If you are sick of backsquatting for some reason, do a front squat or an overhead squat. Do a military press (i just threw up a little bit) instead of a strict press. Whatever you want, OK?!

Love,

Anthony

8/21/11 - 5x5 Shoulder Press

1 Strength WOD today - getting ready for rest day tomorrow

WOD:
Shoulder Press
5-5-5-5-5

Loads: 95-105-115-120(4)-115(6)


Comments: Really had to fight to get up that 4th rep at 120... so dropped it back down to 115 and went for a max rep set. Felt really good to fight through the pain and force the rep out. Definitely getting stronger, just need to keep working.

Going to rant about something for rest day tomorrow, not sure what yet though.

Anthony

8/20/11 - "Cindy" + Mainsite

2 WODs today, 1 morning and 1 evening. Both use the same primary movers pretty hard in slightly different ways.

WOD 1 - "Cindy"
Perform as many rounds as possible in twenty minutes of:
5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Squats

Score - 28 rounds + 5 pullups  5 pushups

Post "Cindy" Saturday

WOD 2 - Mainsite (Modified)
3 rounds for time of:
12 muscle ups
75 squats
[Unfortunately, I wasn't able to complete all the muscle ups, possibly because of "Cindy" in the morning- but who knows. So instead I completed 24 dips and 3 muscle ups per round]

Time - 28:40


Comments: I'll go one at a time here.

Cindy - Wanted to hit 30 rounds, but got 28 + almost half. Was a little upset about that, but then it was pointed out to me that I've gone really hard the last 2 weeks and am running pretty low on recovery time. After I get back to school and start backing off the training a little (a natural form of recovery, necessary every month or so) my load weights and WOD times should both increase. I really hope that's the case, and if so I'm REALLY looking forward to it. "Cindy" floored me, as you can see by the picture above.

Mainsite - Ouch. Could not do muscle ups. So beat from earlier. Super frustrating, but oh well. Doing both these workouts on the same day was not the smartest bit of programming on my part, but I thought I could handle it. Oh well, I know better for next time.

Luckily, only one WOD tomorrow, Mainsite, which is just a strength day. Not very metabolically challenging, almost totally focusing on the ATP-CP system. That I can handle. Looking forward to hitting this hard and maybe setting a PR.

Anthony

8/19/11 - "Isabel"

Only 1 WOD today - recovering from Atlantic City

"Isabel"
Perform 30 reps for time of:
Snatch 135#

Time - 8:40


Comments: Mehh... should have been faster, but I was totally beat. I REALLY need to work on my landing, my feet were wider than a girls on prom night. The weight wasn't the problem, O lifts are something I need to focus on in the future. Once I get my form down my times should be cut down a lot. And I can go  heavier, something very important if I'm going to compete.

Eating paleo as hellll today, need to counteract the metric ton of beer that I consumed last night.

Some chicken and salad

Going to hit a nice double tomorrow - box in the morning then mainsite in the afternoon.

Anthony

8/18/11 - WOD-DL+"Annie"

Only one WOD today - It's a main site rest day so I did the WOD at my box.

2 parts:

1 - Reach 1RM Max Deadlift

Weight - 375#

2 - "Annie"

50-40-30-20-10 reps of:

Double Unders

Sit-Ups (unanchored, butterfly on abmat)

Time - 6:24

Comments - 375# = NEW PR!!! Super happy about that. Failed at 385, but I honestly think I just pussed out. Next time

Never done Annie before, my rope was a little short - but I think in the future, with some extra sit up speed and better double unders I definitely have the capacity to go sub 6. 

Now... on to Atlantic City.

Anthony

8/17/11 - WOD 2

WOD 2 of the day.

Firstly, worked up to a 1RM for the Snatch - 145#, which was a PR! Failed at 155.

Then, the WOD:

With a continuously running clock, perform:
1 Snatch (135#)
per minute for 15 minutes.
After this I wasn't taxed enough so I continued at 145# for another 10 minutes. Then failed at 155# again.

Comments: As the WOD went on, it got easier. Next time I need to warm up a lot more - I felt my form improving as it went on. I was real pissed about the second failure at 155#, I was a little afraid to get under the bar. Also, my hands were ROCKED from WOD 1 (run/burpee/run/pullups)

Going to hit a heavy leg workout (hopefully) with Stef tomorrow morning before going to Atlantic City to make up for missing 5K yesterday (still trying to avoid longer running, need to add more strength. I'll get it next time.)

8/17/11 - WOD 1

First WOD of the day. Mainsite with a little change to make it flow better at the box. Performed at Crossfit Shrewsbury.

10 rounds for time of:
Sprint ~75m
10 burpees
Sprint ~75 m
10 pullups

Time: 17:30.

Comments: Ripped up my hands! Rx'd involves switching the pullups and running 100m. Would be curious to see the time difference.