Our Level 1

My wife and I went to Crossfit Roots this past weekend to get our Level 1 CrossFit Certs. It was quite the experience. Aside from the fried quads, the sore hands, the "I almost puked conversations, the no-reps, and my small bout with dehydration, I'd say it was an AWESOME weekend.

The night before:

We live three hours away from Boulder and I had to work on Friday. So after work, we loaded up the kiddos, and headed down to Colorado. The boys were crabby (they refused to eat what Ali and I wanted, so we had to stop once for gas, and twice for food), and my youngest one was getting over being sick, but we were still making decent time...

That is - until we heard an awful grinding noise as we were pulling into Boulder...

Yup - our brakes completely fried... like to a point where we couldn't brake without thinking whole the tire was going to fall off. We eventually got to the hotel to meet some family. It was good to see them, and they were a life saver over the weekend.

Day 1:

Despite the toasted brakes, we hobbled the car to CrossFit Roots for day 1. The boys went with my family, and as Ali and I began class, my family scurried to find a place to get our brakes fixed (by what turned out to be a place that completely ripped me off).

Class started with intros, what was to be expected from us in class, a lecture on some of the philosophies of CrossFit. We then went into breakout sessions. (AKA we went to learn exactly HOW wrong all of us were doing squats, and presses.) In these sessions, we went over fundamental movements, and got cues as to how to improve... and they worked! I've never been so sore doing air squats in my life!

After lunch, and near the end of the day, we had one last break-out session where we were taught the "Thruster" and the pull-up... Which means one thing - the dreaded "Fran".

One thing about Fran: she's a harlot in and of herself - but to add altitude, a day of getting worn down in the name of "proper form", and (to only be found out later) dehydration, Fran just becomes nasty.

However, at first, I was feeling great! I was the first one done with the Thrusters, and on the pullup bar. I was flying along (with my first 11 reps done) when I hear our instructor Kurtis say, "None of those reps count, Jeremy. Start over!" Yup! no-rep x11. Defiantly, I did my second "first" 21 pullups unbroken... Then the dehydration kicked in.

I stumbled through the rest of the WOD, feeling like I was going to puke, with a headache, and dizzy. As I'm lying on the floor in agony, Ali says, "they're doing the picture now..." I managed to stagger over, and faked a smile thrice. After they finished, I stumbled out and commenced dry heaving.. in front of everybody.

Moral of the story? Hydrate or Die!

I eventually recovered later that night, had a chance to hang out with the boys, drive our car (with pristine brakes), and got some sleep.

Day 2:

Because we have two young boys, we are hardly ever on time to anything. Ali and I left the hotel a tad late, forgetting breakfast. We swung into Whole Foods, and got a bite, and scurried into class about 10 minutes late... to the relief of the instructors... They started to think that I died the night before.

Day 2 was a lot like day 1. We learned about diet and programming, as well as the deadlifts, cleans, snatches, and muscle-ups. Because our muscles were tight from the day before, they were screaming on day 2 - so we welcomed a WOD... until we had to sit and let the muscles slowly tighten up more.and.more...

After lunch and the lectures, we had a test.

The test was not bad. The wording was a little janky at placed, but there was plenty of time to sift through everything. I was told by the instructors to yell "TIME" when I finished.. I decided against it. I finished, somewhere in the middle... and didn't want to look like Delta Bravo.


The Weekend:

All in all, this was a great weekend!

Despite all the missteps, the weekend was awesome! I highly recommend both new CrossFitters and Vetrens alike to take some time to learn exactly "what is CrossFit" and how to improve. I feel like I'm much more knowledgeable of what I'm doing, and why I'm doing it. And I know this will transcend - not only in CrossFit, but in many other aspects of life as well.

Death by Deadlift

Death by Deadlift

EMOM perform 1 deadlift at 225#. Add 1 rep every minute. the WOD ends when you aren't able to perform the required reps in the required time*

*No-reps will be called on 1)Weight dropped from the standing position, 2) hips not fully extended, 3) back rounding in any way.

This was ROUGH!

...and here's my sweat angel.

Atlas Stone / Hammer Swing

This was the second of two WODs back-to-back.

For time:

5 Stone over shoulder
30 Low hammer swings
5 Stone over shoulder
30 Under hammer swings
5 Stone over shoulder
30 High hammer swings
5 Stone over shoulder
30 Over hammer swings


This one caused CrossFit Problems. I broke my hammer - then pulled my magical Eagle Scout powers, and fixed it. It's now a short-handled sledge hammer.

Mainsite Full of Squats

It was a Mainsite kind of day today

Overhead squat 1-1-1-1-1

Front Squat 1-1-1-1-1
Back Squat 1-1-1-1-1*

*Try to increase load EVERY lift

 This thrashed my legs and hip flexors... but I PR'd on all three!

Power Snatch / Box Jumps

After establishing a power snatch 1rm and box jump height max:
3 rd AMRAP (2 minutes work, 1 minute rest) of:

Power snatch 70% 1rm
Box jump 70% height max

This was a good one! I was toast after - the good thing is that I didn't smash my shin this time!

Lest you forget - this is what my shin looked like last time I did this.

Skill Work - Bar Muscle-Ups

Tonight was a Skill day

Bar Muscle-ups

I was able to get 8 in a row, and about 21 in one sitting, but then I blew a hole in my hand. Just my luck.

Hope

Today was the day that Crossfitters all over the world did "Crossfit for Hope", a fundraiser WOD - where all the money goes to St. Judes

Three rounds, 1 min each of:
Burpees
75 pound Power snatch
Box jump, 24"
75 pound Thruster
Chest to bar Pull-ups
Rest

I had a goal, but missed it by 9 measly reps! I wonder if I did the math in my head better whilst goint through the WOD, if I would've pushed a bit harder... hmmmmm...

Fun with a Big 'ole Tire

I got a big ole' tire (500ish lbs, 24" width) today, and decided to break it in.

12 minute ladder:
1,2,3... Of

Tire flips*
Tire jumps
Double unders x10

*no walking around the tire - must do jump-throughs to get to the other side.

Tough WOD, but I'm lovin' the tire!

Death by Pullup

I didn't have a good pullup bar for a two or three months, so I lost some of my pullup abilities. I was feeling pretty good, and saw this WOD on Mainsite again, so I figured I'd give it another try.

Death by Pullup

Every minute on the minute, perform one pullup. Add a pullup every round until you can't complete the round. 

I didn't do as well as I normally do, and ripped pretty bad, but all things considered, I'm fairly happy with my results!

Deadlifts and a Triplet

I wanted to go heavy tonight. I ripped for the first time in a while, so it sucked, but was worth it.

Deadlifts
3-3-3-3-3

Then

3 rds of:

*3 Muscle-ups
10 Deadlifts (60% of 3rm)
15 Double Unders

* I was planning on 5 muscle-ups, but I ripped my hand, took a chunk of skin off my wrist, and my grip was TOAST. I'm not counting it as a DNF, I'm calling it "scaled"... But it's okay because I PR'd on my Deadlift :)

DIY pullup Rig / Squat Stand

I recently moved from a house that had a big enough basement to hang a pull-up bar. Our "new" house doesn't have any room for any sort of pullup rig. I wanted to order one from Rogue, but they haven't weather tested the rack I wanted, so I got creative. I took the parts from my now defunct pullup bar and decided to make something that'd do the trick. I then took it a step further, and decided to add a squat rack (because I can).

I already had everything I needed except the lumber and carriage bolts. They cost me a total of about $45. If I remember correctly, the original parts cost about $40. All in all, you should be able to do the whole project for $100-ish.

Materials needed:

Supplies

• (8) 10" Carriage Bolts 3/8" diameter with washers and nuts
• (8) 3" Galvanized screws 3/8" diameter
• (1) 60" Galvanized pipe 1 1/4" diameter (threaded on the ends)
• (2) 24" Galvanized pipes 1 1/4" diameter* (threaded on the ends)
• (4) End Caps 1 1/4" diameter
• (2) 1 ½” Floor Flange
• (4)  pipe clamps
• (4) 6' Untreated 4x4 boards
• (2) 5' Untreated 4x4 boards
• (2) 10' Untreated 4x4 boards
• (2) 60lb bags of Quikrete (optional)

  Tools

• Level
• Tape Measure
• Saw (Circular saw, or miter saw preferred)
• Power Drill
• 3/8" Auger drill bit
• 1 1/2" Auger drill bit
• Shovel
• Hammer / Rubber mallet

Miscellaneous

• Bucket and water for Quikrete (optional)
• For the bigger holes, make sure you drill exactly perpendicular. I suggest using a drill press if you have access.
• Duct tape (optional)

 
Instructions

       Pullup Portion

• First, take the 10' boards. Measure 4" from the top of each, find the center, and drill a 1 1/2" hole through each (this is where the pullup bar will go).
• Thread the 60" pipe through each hole. Screw the floor flanges on the end of the pipe.
• At this point, you should have a bar that is loose on the top of your 10' boards. Call this the "main section", and set it to the side.
• Next, measure from the ground to your preferred bar "resting position". (This is normally the position where you prefer to pick a bar off a stand. I recommend roughly 3" lower than the rack position - for me, this was 50"). Add 18" to that number (for me, it was 68").
• Take the four 6' boards, measure from the bottom of each your resting position plus 18" (again, for me it's 68"). Find the center and drill a 1 1/2" hole through all four.
• Set two of the 6' boards to the side.  
• On the main section, move the 10' boards apart - so that they are each against the floor flanges.
• Lay the main section flat on the ground. Take one of the 6' boards, align it's bottom with one of the bottoms the 10' boards. Make sure that the hole on the 6' board is facing up.
• With the bottoms aligned, and the boards flush, temporary tape the boards together - to prevent them from shifting while drilling.
• Drill a 3/8" hole through both boards at 6" below the hole on the 6' board. Drill another 3/8" hole through both boards 30" below the hole on the 6' board.
• Insert carriage bolts in the holes, add washers, and tighten the nuts. Call this the "arm".
• Repeat the last four steps (Steps in Blue) for the other side of the main section.
• Tighten the Floor flanges, and attach one arm to the bar by bolting the floor flange to the arm using galvanized screws leave the other side unbolted at this time.

       Placement in the ground

• Find where you want the rig to stand. Remember, you will need an area of roughly 10' x 10'. Section A will be centered in this area.
• Dig two holes 18" deep. Space them the distance of the arms of the main section. (Make sure you measure, but they should be approximately 50" - 60" apart.)
• Put both arms in the holes. Use the level to assure the main section is exactly perpendicular at all angles. (Be OCD about this - as it's vital!)
• **If you are using Quikrete, add it at this time in each hole
• Fill in and pack the holes - continually checking that the bar, and the arms are all level.
• After everything is in place, then bolt the other Arm to the other floor flange.

       Squat Rack

• Insert the 24" galvanized pipe into the open holes on the main section. Place one end cap on each pipe (the side opposite where you would like the squat stand.
• Push the cap against the arm. Measure the distance from the near side of the Arm to the end of the 24" pipe" (this should be approximately 18")
• dig an 18" deep hole directly under the end of the 24" pipe(again, approx 18")
• Take the remaining 6' boards. Measure 2" above the hole. Square the distance, and cut with the saw. (This shouldn't be much - this is so you can get the bar over the board, and put it in the rack.)
• Put the bottom of the board in one of the hole in the ground, insert the pipe in the hole in the board, and place a cap at the end of the pipe.
• Make sure the board is level on all levels, add Quickrete (optional), and fill and pack hole.
• Repeat the last three steps (Steps in Green) for the other side of the main section.
• Add the pipe clamps on the inside of the insides of the exposed 24" pipes, and tighten them down. 

       Support Arms

• Right now, the rig should look pretty sweet, and if you used Quickrete, you've pretty much done all you need to. If you're like me, and can't pour concrete, you'll need to take this last step.
• Take the 5' boards and cut a 30 degree angle on one end each. (This end will be the brace against the rig.)
• Dig two holes - one behind each Arm approximately 3 1/2' from the back of each arm (again, measure to make sure). Each hole should be the same depth, and should be at least 12" deep.
• Set the braces against the arms. With the auger bit, drill through the Arm and the brace 1" and 3" from the top of the brace. Make the holes parallel to the ground.
• Add carriage bolts, washers, and nuts to the holes. tighten everything down, and repeat on the other side.
• Fill and pack the holes.
• Do lots of squats and pullups 

NOTES
* I used 18" galvanized pipes, and it worked - barely. The bar fits, but it's a very snug fit. 24" pipes will work perfectly.
** I didn't use Quikrete, and the rig holds weight just fine, and can withstand me doing kipping pullups.
*** I chose 1 1/4" pipes because I like a thicker pullup bar. Standard is generally 1 1/8"-ish. If you choose to go with a thinner pipe, remember that your auger bit will need to be slightly (not much) bigger than the pipe.

That’s about it! It took me about 6 hours to do everything, but I had two crazy boys running around everywhere. Like I said, it worked great for me. I'm notorious for being rough on pullup equipment, and it holds just fine.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask, or to hit me up on Twitter @gobosoxx.

The Crossfit Open: Our Litmus Test

Now the the journey to the Games is over for the vast majority of Crossfitters (including yours truly), I took some time to look back and reflect on the lessons learned from the Open and the changes needed become a better all-around athlete.

Before I continue, I really don't like to post my WOD results on this blog. I feel that by doing so, people may feel excluded - either because my programming is "too advanced" for a beginner to keep up, or (and more realistically) that I'm not advanced enough, and my programming shouldn't be taken seriously. That being said, I reluctantly give you my Open results, and what I've learned each step of the way:

Week 1: 12.1 (Burpees)
Score - 98 (top 42% worldwide)

I did this WOD twice. Once at an affiliate, and once at home. My score wasn't great, and even though I improved by 9 on the second attempt, I know I could have scored better if I planned better. The 6" target was exactly over my head during myfirst attempt, which caused me to miss 12+ reps. I re-did the WOD less than 24 hours after the first attempt- which means I was still toast from the first try.


Week 2: 12.2 (Snatch Ladder)
Score - 60 (top 24% worldwide)

I did this WOD at an Crossfit Lincoln. My score was exactly where I thought it would be. In order to make it to the third round of the ladder, I would have had to snatch 165#, which (at the time) was my 1 rep max. I worked on technique, planned out a strategy, and stuck to it. However, when I made it to the third round of the ladder, I didn't have enough left in the tank, and couldn't simply get that elusive 61st rep.

Week 3: 12.3 (Box Jump, Press, Toes to Bar)
Score - 267 (top 29% worldwide)

I did this WOD twice as well. One at an Crossfit North Ft. Collins, and one at home. However, this time, I wasn't able to get a better score the second time around. I had 20+ missed reps my first try, and was far too burnt out the second time around to do any better. I blame myself. I didn't talk with my judge about the movements, or how I wanted a "no rep" to be called.

Week 4: 12.4 (Wall Ball, Double Under, Muscle-Up)
Score - 245 (top 16% worldwide)

Finally, A WOD I liked! I did this WOD once at home. I had a plan, I knew where I would struggle, and I knew my attack plan. I did surprisingly well, but feel that I ran low on steam at the end. With a little work, I felt I could get a bit further on a WOD like this.


Week 5: 12.5 (Fran Ladder)
Score - 98 (top 17% worldwide)

Again, a WOD I liked and was comfortable doing. I did this WOD at Crossfit Frontier I did well, planned ahead, and was fairly happy with my results. At the end, I ran out of strength (not stamina). I simply couldn't pull my chest to the bar like at the beginning of the WOD.

Summary

I learned that there are several weaknesses that I must address if I want to make big strides in time for the 2013 Crossfit Open:

1) Overhead Work: My biggest weakness is, and has been overhead work. This was made known loud and clear throughout the Open this this year. Every single WOD had some type of overhead work. These movements slowed me, impaired me, or simply stopped me dead in my tracks.

2) Strength: In the past, my training largely focused on the METCON. I shied away from "going heavy" often. While I can't neglect any aspect of my training, I simply won't be able to make large gains until my capacity to move more weight increases. I feel that if I adjust as to slightly bias my routines with a weight component, the gains I achieve in strength far exceed any meanial losses I may see in my endurance training.

3) Technique: I struggled with "No-Reps" in two of my first three WODs. I shot myself in the foot, because I had to do much more work, and received lower scores than necessary.  Without  the "no-reps", I know I could've scored much higher. Full range of motion and flexibility are vital in avoiding no-reps. It's easy to gloss over these skills in the daily routine - but can prove fatal.

Conclusion: The Open was a great litmus test.I was happy to showcase the gains I made within the last year. But I'm more happy to expose weaknesses. I knew my strengths, but now have a much clearer picture of my weaknesses. More importantly, I now know how to fix them.

Heber J. Grant was often quoted saying, "That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do—not that the nature of the thing is changed, but that our power to do is increased.” I dare say, we must first need to know what we must persist in doing before we are able to persist in the act itself.

See you in 2013!

WOD 12.3 (Two Attempts)

I did the same WOD on both Saturday and Sunday. It sucked both times.

Crossfit Open 12.3
18:00 AMRAP of:

15 Box jumps
24"
12 Push Press 115#
9 Toes to Bar

Again, both tries SUCKED!

 

WOD 12.2 Snatch Ladder

We went on a road trip this weekend to Lincoln, and I did the Open WOD at Crossfit Lincoln.

Snatch Ladder 

Complete as many reps as possible in 10 Minutes of:

30 Snatches 75#
30 Snatches 135#
30 Snatches 165#
AMRAP Snatches 210#

Because of the traveling, I also had two rest days in three days. I don't like when that happens, but it was probably good for me.

Sandbag Bear Complex / Jerry Cans / Situps / Stone

Now that "Benchmark" week is over, I decided to break out my "Strongman" gear again. I wanted a WOD that took familiar movements, but used unfamiliar equipment, and vice versa.

Buy in:

Two attempts on max rep double unders.

3 rounds of:

5 sandbag bear complexes (100#)
10 Overhead jerry can lunges
15 jerry can swings
20 Situps
2 Atlas Stone to Shoulder

**The bear complexes are the same movement as with a barbell, however after every rep, the bag must be dropped to the ground, and the hands must come completely off the bag. The jerry can is only 7/8 full of water (Makes the water slosh around). The situps are elbows to touch the ground above the ear, and then palms of the hands in front of the feet. The atlas stone is one lift to the cradle position, then to each shoulder.


About 2 minutes into this video, you can see a girl doing a sandbag bear complex.




About 30 seconds in, you can see a jerry can swing (full ROM would have it overhead, not eye level)

All you need..

Crossfit Total

My next WOD for benchmark week was Crossfit Total.

Warm-Up

Mobility WOD flexibility in shoulders(See below)

3 attempts on max rep unbroken double-unders.

This Mobility WOD about killed me! I knew I had shoulder issues, but I really had no idea they needed this much work!

Crossfit Total

After you are warmed up, you have three attempts to get your 1 rep max in:

Dead Lift
Strict Press
Back Squat

* You only have three attempts, and you must do it all in one session.
 

I did CFT back in June, and wasn't exactly thrilled with my score. I had a goal to at least improve by 20#. I actually improved by 35# and PR'd in Back Squat and Deadlift!

It was a great lift day!

Box Jump, Skill Work / Triplet

Two WODs today

Skill work

I started by working on shouldering atlas stones. I find that I have a natural tenancy to place the stone on my right shoulder, so I alternated shoulders, and attempted to decrease time between reps.

I also worked on tying multiple muscle-ups together - specifically maintaining the false grip when beginning multiple reps. To avoid muscle fatigue, I worked off of the floor, into a muscle-up, then back down.

Lastly, I worked on proper form on box jumps - specifically tying multiple jumps together quickly (while maintaining proper form). After I finished, I searched for my max height on the box jump - and received a nasty blow to my shin. (I left pics at the bottom)


This shows alternating, but a proper atlas stone "shouldered" is placed on the shoulder - under control and with a lack of momentum.



The proper box jump is one where you can stop at the top of the box, and stand straight up at the top (no pushing off when your feet touch the top).

Evening WOD

I wanted a basic WOD, and wanted to stay away from anything that would smash my shin.

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

Squats
Pullups
Knees to Elbows

for time.

I wanted to do L-pullups through the entire WOD, but started feeling tears, so I switched to any type of pullup after about the third round. This wasn't bad, It was more muscle fatigue, than getting totally gassed.

Bear Complex AMRAP

I brought my bumper plates to the Globo Gym tonight. I got funny looks, but the "meat-heads" were silenced after I started my WOD.


12 Minute AMRAP of:

3 Bear Complexes 135#
6 Box Jump 24"
9 Crossfit Pushups
* for every break in an exercise, there is a 3 burpee penalty - to be done immediately after the AMRAP ends.

This was especially tough because normally when doing a WOD, a person can get a sense of when failure will occur. The athlete can quickly regroup before they hit that point. With the penalty, it was especially difficult to gauge the point of failure. I made it to the third round, and broke up the box jumps (of all exercises). I had 5 penalties total.



Then:
Skill Work

Power Snatch and the Lock Out

Here, I wanted to focus on the power snatch, but especially the lock-out at the end. I would snatch a moderate load, lock out on the top - then hold the load as long as possible. I held the weight for a total of approximately 2 minutes over several snatches.

First WOD of 2012

It's time to start ramping up my training if I have any hopes of getting past the Open in 5 weeks. I'm going to do two WODs a day - when the opportunity affords itself. Today was the first day

Morning WOD

Push Jerk

3-3-3-3-3

then

as many reps as possible at 50% of your 3rm.

I'm planning on focusing on my weaknesses in the form of strength, skill, and mobility in the mornings. I am now able to get over my body weight when going overhead, but I'm struggling to break through my plateaus.

Afternoon WOD

10 --> 1 of:
Front Squat 135#
Burpees
Pullups

I had a friend come over and do this one with me. I felt really good going into this one - until right before the end of the first round. It was a great balance of weight and body weight... just enough to get the heart rate through the roof, and a tad of muscle fatigue to set in as well.

I really enjoyed it - Sarah's hand's didn't fare as well. (Good luck in training - thx for the awesome WODs!)

Lastly, Burpee Challenge - day 2 in the books.

An Awesome Link, and Three Gross Pictures

Okay, before you scroll down, there are some GROSS pics below. I'm warning you now - because they really are gross... Really really.

Before we get to that, I wanted to post a LINK to a random WOD generator. This is from a gym down in Australia. I've used their videos several times for demos. I don't know how many fans they have up here in the States, but if I ever go down to Australia, I'm absolutely going to hit up this gym!




Okay, for the grossness.


Several days ago, I received a razor knife for Christmas from my boss. Whilst sitting and pondering many things in life (on the toilet) I rediscovered a cyst on my leg (subsequently, I found that it is called a "Trichilemmal cyst"

So, I(being me)decided to poke it with my brand new knife. It didn't hurt at all... SO I poked it again, and again, and again. None of them hurt. Finally, I pushed hard. I felt a little pinch, and lo and behold, I could see it! It looked like an alien in my leg! I opened the little wound a tad more, and the bloody thing started to fall out!!

At this point, I realized that there was no turning back. I opened it up a bit more, and pulled the entire thing out - which left a "cavern" in my leg..  A bit of anti-infection cream, and butterfly bandages, and I'm as good as new.

I'm telling you - before you go any further - these are really gross. You've been warned.