AM...PM

Workout of the Day:

In the morning…

4 rounds: 10 clapping pushups/sprint 400 meters

Rest 1 minute between sets

In the evening…

15 minutes of EDDs

5 x max reps of close grip handstand pushups (on 25 kg bumper plate), rest as needed

3 x 4 DB push press (30 kg) w/ 6 second eccentric, done from the knees

5 rounds for time:

20 bar dips

10 glute ham pushups

Back in the drivers seat and feeling good! After 8 solid days of rest my body is feeling recovered and ready to build towards May’s European Qualifier. Also, I now have access to heavy weights again. First time since arriving in Paris on January 4^th. I get to lift with the big boys on Tuesdays and Fridays, with supposedly no limitations. How much of this is true still remains to be seen.

One thing that is without doubt, though, is my return to a cornerstone training program. Now that I know exactly what I have at my disposal and on which days I will be able to dispose of it, I am forced to organize my programming around those days. So, from now until I leave Paris in 6 weeks, Tuesday is for Olympic lifting and squatting, and Friday is for deadlifting and heavy pressing. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays will be AM/PM days, pairing outdoor challenges with gymnastic & lighter weight metcons. It's going to be a heavy workload. Love it.

This morning went pretty well, although the sprints felt like death, if I’m being honest. I went over to the track around 10:30 this morning, so it wasn’t too busy. But it was chilly outside. I’m not sure if it was because of the cold weather, the lingering effects of a chest cold I had last week, or just 8 days away from any heavy cardio, but my lungs were collapsing during the sprints. Going from a plyometric upper body movement directly to an explosive lower body movement probably didn't help matters either. The initial 100 meters after doing the clapping pushups made me want to puke on every round. My times got consistently slower, as should be expected, starting just under 1:30 and dropping back close to 1:45 by the last (this is pushups and run combined).

Important point to be made here. If somebody did this workout and their times didn’t get worse, they weren't sprinting. We say “sprint” a lot when we write workouts on white boards, but people do not sprint. Easy answer for this one: sprinting sucks! I was at 90% of capacity or higher on every round, and that’s an honest assessment. I should have been going harder rounds 3 and 4, but I softened and got scared I was going to lose my breakfast. If you really sprint 400 meters, you’re a puddle of worthlessness for at least a minute. No way you can recover to 100% of your resting potential in that time, but that’s the point. Going to 100% of whatever your current potential is, that’s the goal of a sprint. No saving up. The only way to get better at maximal efforts is to do them over and over and over again (See John Broz). This counts for sprinting as well.

This evening I was back at the Cite gym, battling for space and sanity in a room filled with neither. Despite these impediments, the workout was awesome. Starting with the EDDs, I was ecstatic to discover that pistol squats are improving dramatically. I’m still not all the way there, but much, much closer. They say practice makes perfect. Maybe they were right.

The close grip handstand pushups felt great as well. It’s still a little awkward trying to generate force from such a narrow base position, but the muscles adapted well by the latter sets. My repetitions per set were: 4, 3, 4, 4, 5. I’m confident that the next time I do this I can get 5 every set. The DB push presses from the knees with a 6 second eccentric were an exercise designed to do 2 things. First: hip drive on the push press, and second: stability/strength through the range of motion on the descent. GREAT exercise. Going to try this with a barbell as well because it will be a very effective way to improve OH press and push jerks.

I finished with the 5 rounds for time of 20 dips and 10 glute ham pushups. Didzis was good enough to hold my ankles for me during this sequence. I finished in 8:34. Because both of these movements are pretty isolated, this was predominantly a muscle failure routine. I was out of breath, but not so terribly that it was in any way limiting. Triceps strength was a factor, especially after all the pressing done early in the workout, and my hamstrings were screaming during the glute hams. I can feel them now, in fact. It’s a great bodyweight test that few people include. My friend Robert from Copenhagen (pictured above) reminded me of them while we were chatting between events last weekend. He's convinced that they are going to really help build strength in the deadlift. I'm inclined to agree.

That's all for now. Getting Olympic tomorrow morning for the first time in well over a month. Could be ugly.

Danish CrossFit Open 2010 - WOD 5

Coming into the final event, the standings were tight. I had a 2-point cushion over Rasmus, last year’s champion, and a 6-point edge over Frederik, the WOD 4 winner. We were set to do 3 rounds of 500 meter row, 21 kettlebell swings w/2 pood, and 15 burpees. It’s a classic CrossFit style routine that would prove crippling after all the lower body taxation that had occurred earlier in the day.

The organizers at CrossFit Copenhagen decided the 5^th WOD would be worth double points, making it more dramatic and more impactful than any of the previous 4. This meant that first place would receive 1 point, 2^nd would receive 4 points, 3^rd would receive 6 points, etc.

A great deal was made about this before the event, since 1^st and 2^nd were separated by just 2 points. Too great a deal, in fact. Entering the WOD, I was far too focused on beating Rasmus and not focused enough on the workout itself. Perhaps this was a result of misguided strategy, getting caught up in the moment, or my recent lack of exposure to group training dynamics, but it’s a fundamental rule that you can never break without consequences in a competitive environment. This lesson I narrowly escaped learning the hard way.

My plan was to keep my first 500 meters around 1:40, maybe giving a little time to Rasmus, and try to take advantage of my shorter height to make it up on the kettlebell swings and burpees. This worked from the start. Everyone was about even off the rowers, but when we returned for the 2^nd round, Martin Moller and I had sidled into the lead. My second 500 meters was around 1:45 and when I hit the kettlebell for the second time I had the lead to myself. Rasmus was still only about 50 meters behind me from what I could tell on the rower, so I was pushing hard on the swings and burpees. Fatigue was setting in, but with the whole day on the line, it was easily an afterthought. I broke the kettlebells in half and the burpees were consistent but not as fast as the first.

I was alone heading back to the rower for the last time and I had already hit 250 meters before Rasmus made his way over. And here is where things went wrong. I was tired. VERY tired. But to this point the competition between he and I was still mentally in doubt. After this point, I knew that my lead was substantial enough to hold him off even if I slowed down considerably. As soon as this mental crack appeared, it widened into physical exhaustion. Suddenly, all the fatigue and pain that was necessary to the cause was no longer essential, and I started to break down. I got off the rower first, but spent a good 10 seconds with my hands on my knees before picking up the kettlebell. I then stopped after 7, 13, and 18 repetitions, respectively. With each of these breaks I could see Martin, Frederik, and Anders catching me at the other end, but their efforts made no difference to my psyche. I was only concerned with what Rasmus was doing and he was still on the rower. I went to the burpees with zero sense of urgency, a fact easily perceptible on film. On the contrary, the 3 guys at the other end were giving it their absolute all, sprinting to the finish. Watching clips of them (from other video sources) is inspiring. With incredible energy, Martin finished first and roared into the crowd. Frederik followed him just a handful of seconds later, and Anders 10 or so after that. I limped in with the same pathetic pace I had set for myself from the moment I knew Rasmus would not overtake me.

Now, one might wonder what is wrong with my approach. Why not focus on the individual upon whose defeat the ultimate victory rests? Fair enough, but what I failed to consider going into the event was that if Frederik finished 1^st and I finished 4^th or worse, he would overtake me and win the overall. I, in fact, finished 4^th. Frederik finished 2^nd, and not by much. He was first to the burpees, actually, and it took a mammoth effort by Martin to overtake him down the stretch. All of this was occurring in front of my face, but outside of my consciousness. I didn’t even know that Frederik had come so close to winning it all until that night at the after party when he told me. I was floored. Thankfully it didn’t happen that way, but, in a certain sense, this feels like a victory undeserved. I can look at this as an error in math before the event, that I didn't fully inform myself of all possible scenarios. Or, I can accept that my mental approach was wrong, and it manifested its flaws in physical form during that final round.

The lesson is this: in circumstances that are taxing and uncomfortable (CrossFit WODs, for example) your body will seize every opportunity to avoid pain. The only way to ensure this doesn’t happen is to remove every excuse to do so. Essentially, every excuse is equally detrimental and, thus, equally shitty. I shouldn’t have been competing against Rasmus. I shouldn’t have been competing for the podium. I should have been competing with the rower, the kettlebell, and the burpees. I should have been competing with anyone in the gym that was threatening to finish before I did. Doing anything else, for any other reason is just the same shitty excuse in new shoes.

Finishing this workout was a real chore, and reflecting on its last 3 minutes or so has taught me a lot. Like has been said before, failure is the best teacher. Pay attention.

Danish CrossFit Open 2010 - WOD 4

Today marks a break in the storm. My legs are finally starting to recover, and with a few more days rest and relaxation I think I should be good to resume training again. On to the 4th event.

WOD 4 of the Danish CrossFit Open was a barbell complex. With 50 kg, we were required to perform 15 rounds of 1 power snatch, 1 OH squat, 1 back thruster, 1 squat jump, and another back thruster (I forgot to note the OH squat in the video). The standings going into this event were tied at the top, with Rasmus and I both totaling 8 points, so placement here was really important before the final. My strategy was to drop the bar between rounds to try and save my grip and lower back. Having already done virtual shoveling, bodyweight squats, and max effort deadlifts, the lower half was starting to feel pretty fatigued and hanging onto the bar from overhead to the ground just felt like too much effort.

My pace at the beginning was quick and strong, and I could feel myself in the lead for the heat. At around 10, I started to slow a bit, breaking for a count between the thrusters and the jump. This proved to be a mistake. Frederik from Butchers Lab was only a round behind me at that point and he quickly made it up. He picked up his pace at the end while I started to slow and ended up beating me by around 10 seconds. I finished second in the heat and still managed to put some space between myself and Rasmus heading into the final, but I came away disappointed in the event. I think I could have performed better and pushed harder for the last few rounds and maybe have been able to hold Frederik off. As it turned out, he was the better man and kept himself within striking distance, a point that proved very important in the finals.

The standings after the 4^th event were Blair: 10 pts, Rasmus: 12 pts, Frederik: 16 pts.

Danish CrossFit Open 2010 - WOD 3

The third workout of the day was a 1RM deadlift, to be completed in an 8 minute window. Of all the strength events that could have been drawn, this is definitely my worst in relation to my peers. It seems to always come up, though, so it’s a weakness I’m learning to overcome.

Coming into the event, my personal record for deadlift was a 200 kg lift I did in the Netherlands with the help of a back belt. Without the belt, the most I had done was 190 kg. Getting stronger in this lift has been a priority since moving to Europe last September, but in the last month I have had no access to heavy weights. My expectations were minimal, but I was hoping to match my 200 kg PR and not fall too far behind the field.

My first lift was at 176 kg. Felt fine. My second was intended to be at 191 kg, but actually was at 181 kg. This was a whoops moment and an extra lift I didn’t need to do. For the third attempt, I loaded 196 kg and had to fight a little to get it up. But, considering it was 6 kg above my highest non-belt lift, I still felt pretty good. I then went for 201 kg. This weight felt about the same as the 196, to be honest. It was heavy around the shins, but once I got it past my knees I knew it was coming up. With less than a minute left I decided to go for 206 kg, but it didn’t budge. I think that if I hadn’t taken the unnecessary lift early on, I may have had enough time and juice left to put a better move on that weight. Either way, I PR’d and was happy with the lifts.

More than anything, I was surprised at how little stiffness I felt in my back after these attempts. My form wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t too bad, and usually after a max effort series I can really feel it in my lower back. I see this as a positive sign for the strength gains I have made, even if I still have a ways to go to keep up with the rest of the field. Two guys pulled over 230 kg, one pulled 221 kg, and two others were between 202 and 220 kg. People were PRing all over the gym. It really was an incredible scene that you couldn’t help getting caught up in. The women’s competition was particularly exciting with three of the girls dueling back and forth during the last few minutes trying to one-up each other. Sarah, Ditte, and Liz were all adding 1 or 2 kilograms at a time to out lift the others. Pretty cool.

After the event, I was in a tie for first with Rasmus, who took 3^rd in the event, compared to my 6^th. Things were shaping up for an exciting finish, and they wouldn’t disappoint.

Danish CrossFit Open 2010 - WOD 2

Back in Paris now, and things have not improved on the soreness front. I went with Sarah and my buddies Jess and Lars over to CrossFit Copenhagen to try and stretch out/loosen up a bit, but nothing really seemed to help. Getting off the plane at Charles de Gaulle was a series of stiff and short steps that I was embarrassed to put forth.

I felt a little sad to leave Denmark today. Between this past weekend and my time there last November, I’ve really grown to love the place and the people. In particular, Sarah and her husband Frederick have become people I greatly admire and respect, and whose friendship I can’t value enough. Attachment is funny that way, I guess. It’s hard for me to be satisfied with knowing people like them and others with whom I’ve grown close without resenting the limited contact our geographical differences allow us. I think it says a lot about the city of Copenhagen, the CrossFit community there, and about people like Sarah and Frederick that I can feel an emotive connection after such limited experiences. I can honestly say that I miss it, and them, when I'm gone.

Anyways, enough emotional indulgence. Here is the recap of the second WOD...

The second event of the Danish CrossFit Open began about an hour after the first ended. It featured a 2:30 running clock, in which time the athletes had to row 500 meters then do as many repetitions of back squat with their bodyweight on the bar. For me, that total was 83 kg, as determined by our early morning weigh in at the gym.

Going in, this was the event I felt most confident in. 83 kg is less than 45% of my 1RM, so I figured that coming off the rower I should be able to do a sizeable number of these without much trouble. I rowed the 500 meters in around 1:35, not trying to push things too hard and zap my legs as a few others in the early heats had done. The first 3-4 reps did not feel so hot, if I’m honest. The best total to that point had been 20, by my friend Anders from Butchers Lab (pictured above). This is another guy I've grown to really appreciate. He's a great guy, super strong, a serious olympic lifter, and tough like a coffin nail. He finished 20 repetitions by doing all of them unbroken and just barely finished under the time limit. So when I felt I needed to lock out for a count after my 6^th rep, I thought I was screwed. However, my legs felt progressively better as my rep count increased, so that by the time I hit 15 things were cruising along. I wound up completing 21 total repetitions and taking first in the event (thought from the video it looks like I get 22 before they call time. Maybe one didn't count). I think I rowed the 500 around 10 seconds faster than he did, accounting for my having more time to complete the squats.

Anders took second and Rasmus third, leaving the gap between my position and second place at just 3 points. This event suited my strengths more than any other in the competition, so I was happy to have won it. The rest of the day would not be so comfortable.

Danish CrossFit Open 2010 - WOD 1

The 2010 Danish CrossFit Open is now in the books and I wound up finishing first. My current state of being is happy but broken. I’m sitting on the couch next to the female champion (Sarah-picture right) watching the super bowl on Danish television, unable to move my legs without pain. Every time I have to stand up to get a glass of water or go to the bathroom it’s a struggle getting down the hall. The workouts, programming, and organization were top notch and the crowd was insane! “Atmosphere” doesn’t do it justice. Needless to say, I’m exhausted and a week of rest is needed.

In recounting the happenings of this past weekend, I’ve decided to break the event up and write about one workout per day over the course of the next 5, and do a general wrap up on the sixth. There’s so much to tell, so I’ll start with the day’s first WOD.

WOD 1: 10 minute AMRAP of 20 virtual shovels (40 kg), 10 box jumps (24”), 6 meter rope climb

The standards for the shoveling movement were to raise a bar with a 20 kg bumper over a 24 inch box and touch it down on either side without bringing it around the box in the process. The box jumps required vertical extension above the box, and there were no rules for the climbs. 10 minutes wasn’t a long time, but the shoveling movement was awkward and the ropes were thick and slick nylon so it felt like much longer. Watching the early heats, it became obvious that the competition was strong and skilled. Some of these guys climb ropes like I walk through a supermarket: with no wasted effort or time whatsoever. They have inspired me to change my technique entirely. Last years champion, Rasmus Andresen, was especially impressive. He completed 8 rounds plus 16 shovels before running out of time in the first heat. He’s in the Danish special forces, is extremely mentally tough, and I think he could have gone on indefinitely. This was not the case for me. I was able to edge him at the end with 20 shovels on my 9^th round, but I don’t think I could have continued much longer. My arms were pretty tired from my inferior climbing technique and I was losing steam.

My number ended up being the highest, so I walked away from the first event in first place. I was really surprised by this and felt fortunate it wasn’t an 11 minute AMRAP instead. Heading back to Paris tomorrow and I’m expecting a continuation of the delayed onset muscle soreness that I’m feeling now.

Below is a compilation video from the weekend.

To Copenhagen

I'm leaving early in the morning for Copenhagen to compete in their 2010 Danish CrossFit Open. It consists of 5 events Saturday, with cuts after the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th events. None of the workouts will be posted until an hour before things start Saturday, so we have no real idea of what we're in for. I probably will not get the chance to recap or post until Sunday, but if anyone wants to follow CrossFit Copenhagen will be broadcasting live stream on their site: http://www.crossfitcopenhagen.dk/

That's all for now. See you on the other side, Ray.

Rest Day

Eh...

Workout of the Day:

15 minutes of EDD’s, with pistol squat focus

5 x 3 manual resistance bench press

4 x max reps muscle ups (rest as needed)

This workout was not my highest point. The place was crazy packed with people just milling around and I was constantly feeling in the way. I found myself very frustrated with the situation to the point where I was ready to call it a night at several different points before I actually did. Originally I had planned to pair the muscle ups with weighted box jumps, a sequence I was excited about, but there was no way that was happening with all the traffic. Perhaps it’s for the better. A few low workload sessions before this weekend may not be the worst thing in the world, but I just hate the fact that I only get to use this facility 2 times per week and having one of those hours feel like a waste. Oh well. I’m really excited for Copenhagen, and looking forward to a week off to recharge immediately following.

For the workout, I got my friend Didzis to provide pressure to a 60 kg bar while I tried to press upward. Each repetition was probably an 8-10 second fight, so these actually felt pretty effective. The muscle ups were tough due to height and space restrictions. Getting a full kip wasn’t really possible, so the numbers wound up a little lower than I think they should have been. I got 10, 7, 6, and 5 for each of the four respective sets.

Every day can't be a winner, I guess. On the up side, I’ve been eating like a horse. A paleo horse. Here’s hoping good nutrition carries me through the weekend.

Go Running

Workout of the Day:

30 minutes low intensity running

After watching Federer dominate and win yet another major tennis title this morning, I headed to the track behind my house to run out some of the soreness still lingering in my calves from the Eiffle Tower episode. The weather was beautiful in Paris today and it felt great to just run. I’m planning on training hard tomorrow and Tuesday, then resting until the competition in Copenhagen on Saturday. Can’t believe it’s already here. Really looking forward to seeing everyone there again, but unsettled by the news that there will be 5 events on that one day. As I'm sure each will be very challenging, Superbowl Sunday could see me spending a lot of time in an ice bath.

AM...PM

Workout of the Day:

In the morning… 3 rounds for time: 20 foot rope climb 5 x 60 kg stone thruster 200 meter thick grip farmers walk (25 kg)

Rest 10 minutes

KB swing progression ladder: Climb 2 swings per minute until you cannot finish the prescribed number of swings in the minute

In the afternoon… 5 rounds for time: 50 meter swim 20 pushups 20 air squats Big day today. For the morning session I headed down to the West end of the Seine River that winds its way through Paris. The area is used for docking ships from the looks of things. It’s industrial, empty, and spacious. It also is littered with potential tools for lifting, climbing, etc. I hauled my rope down there this morning and tied it to the top of a staircase leading up to an office building. Along the way I found a pile of old cement parking medians of different sizes. After trying to lift a few of the bigger ones, I settled on one that I’m guessing weighed about 60 kg. Doing thrusters with this thing was VERY difficult. Balance, core strength in the descent; all the things you’d expect to be taxed were taxed. I also found a few stray fence post anchors with handles and “25 kg” printed on the side. Then I knew this really was my lucky day. I paced off 100 meters down the alley and used the pair of anchors for farmers walks. The grips were very thick so this was a challenge. My arms were spent after the first round. The 3 rounds took me 12:51 to finish, with most of the time a result of battling with that damn cement stone. I was only getting 1 at a time during the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

For the KB swings, I used one of the anchors and just rotated it so that it would fit between my legs at the bottom of the swing. I almost made it to 10 full minutes on these, falling just 4 repetitions short. The grip was limiting, as well as my shoulders, ass, and breath. The combination of these two WODs was fantastic.

This afternoon I headed back to the water re-dedicated and determined to master the pool. The swimming actually felt great, and I was happy with how hard I pushed myself. Was certainly the only one in there getting in and out of the water to do extra stuff on the pool deck. It was the pushups that proved the weakest link. (Obviously the sprints in the pool had a lot to do with this). I finished 5 rounds in 11:40 and don’t think I could’ve gone much faster. I’m sure I was saving some gas in the early rounds on the swim, but by the end my chest was heaving. Really liked this sequence and recommend it for a change up from just swimming laps.

Heading to an Australian pub at 9am tomorrow to watch the finals in Melbourne and sample the Parisian bloody mary. Go Federer!

Rest Day

Run the Mountain

Workout of the Day:

Run the Mountain

Today’s mountain was the Eiffel Tower (at least the portion they allow you to climb on foot). Niels joined me at the colossal monument at 9am as we prepared to do battle with two things undeniably French: the Tower, and bureaucracy. Only 2 of the pillars were open, and only one for the stairs. Yet the dude working the gate didn’t seem to know this fact, because he kept sending us to other windows to try and acquire tickets. Idiot. Finally a woman who had her shit together came around and we were able to get started.

I was carrying my backpack because my Thursday class was set to start at 11:00 and I wouldn’t have time to go home in between. This probably only added 5 kg, so not a huge deal. What was a huge deal, was the number of steps, and their vertical clearance. Compared to the 281 steps we climbed in Montematre a few weeks ago, the Eiffel Tower was sporting giant strider stairs. 600 of them. Every step was uniform and every step was around 15 inches of clearance. The net effect of this was that my legs wore out almost immediately skipping steps. Going in, I had aspirations of being able to run all the way to the top without having to walk. HA. Hilarious in retrospect. I didn’t even make it to the first deck without breaking stride (approximately half way between the ground and second deck).

The other issue is that these are tight stairwells with little to no break between flights. This means the lactic acid continues to build with no time for your muscles to relax. If someone can make it to the second viewing deck without having to walk, their work capacity would have to be INSANE. Naturally, this is what I will try to accomplish before leaving Paris. It costs 4.50 to get through the gate, so I won’t be doing this every weekend, but it’s a fun challenge every now and again.

Rather than walking all the way to the bottom immediately after getting to the top, Niels and I hung around, enjoyed the view, and eventually ran the top half of the climb again. This ostensibly brought our total stairs climbed to around 900. I included a short video of the mornings activities below.

5 x 500's

Workout of the Day:

5 x 5 Back Squat

5 x 6 Unilateral elevated DB row (5 second eccentric)

5 x 3 Close grip handstand pushup

5 x 500 meter row w/ 1 minute rest

Tonight’s workout started out shaky, just because back squatting in my current gym isn’t really possible with any remotely heavy weight. However, we do have a calf raise machine that could conceivably double as a hack squat. In the absence of any better option, this is the route I took.

Not surprisingly, the arc of motion dictated by the machine wasn’t optimal and the resistance did not feel consistent throughout the range of motion. However, if I’m looking for a silver lining, the portion of the range that was most difficult (heaviest) was the precise range where I would normally fail during squatting movements. So, at least I was getting work where I am weakest. (The weights here mean nothing to me since I have nothing to compare them with. I just kept adding til I failed to get 5)

The unilateral DB rows were fun. I stood on the edge of neighboring benches so that the dumbbell could pass between them and allow me to reach further down. The weight was not heavy enough at 32.5 kg, however, so I again employed a 5 count eccentric to add a stability component. By the last set, I couldn’t complete the 6^th repetition without skipping the eccentric.

What began as a standard elevated set of handstand pushups on bumper plates morphed into a close grip version using just one bumper for the hands. This locked in the distance and made things VERY difficult. If you’re looking for a way to strengthen your pressing, this may be the answer. A lot more emphasis on the triceps muscles and anterior parts of the shoulder, exactly the regions that are most responsible for the initial to middle portion of the overhead press. Kind of stumbled into this variation trying to find a comfortable hand position for Niels, and it was fortuitous to say the least.

Finally, the 5 x 500 m row, as promised. This was rough. Especially after the heavy workload that preceded it, getting through this was a chore. However, I gotta say that I met my expectations and then some. My stated goal for this WOD was to average under 1:40.0 per 500 meters for 5 sets, but I didn’t expect to accomplish that on the first go. My times were as follows:

1:39.3, 1:38.9, 1:39.5, 1:41.7, 1:40.4, averaging out to 1:39.8. Very excited by this, and hoping to improve further. Maybe the next mark will be every effort under 1:39.0.

Running a new mountain tomorrow bright and early. Should be a great view from the top.

Fitness is...

A Global Positioning System.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

This weekend I was visited by Jason Mulligan, an individual I had not previously met or had any real correspondence with. He was in Berlin 2 weeks ago visiting with Florian, Alex, and the rest of the gang I met in October and he mentioned he was heading to Paris. Naturally, they told him to look me up; and the rest, as they say... well, you know the rest.

Jay is a U.S. Army captain who has been stationed in Germany for 4 years after graduating West Point and serving in Iraq as a tank commander. In addition to this impressive resume, Jay played college baseball, boasts a mean Long Island accent when appropriate, and LOVES CrossFit. Think we hit things off immediately?

While he was in Paris, we talked nutrition, training, and college sports; we trained under the Arc de Triomphe and the Rue D’Arcole Bridge; and we shared the growing impact CrossFit has had on our respective families. It was fun to see how quickly we gelled around fitness, but equally cool to notice how many common interests we shared that were not fitness specific. I told stories from high school, college, and since. He talked about his time in Iraq and the relationships he cultivated behind enemy lines. We sampled Parisian nightlife, rummaged through second hand stores in the Jewish Quarter, and semi-crashed a French dinner party. It’s not hard to imagine the damage we could do if we ever found ourselves living in the same city.

The point is, here’s a guy whose interests, personality, and general outlook mesh very strongly with my own, but we could very easily gone our whole lives without meeting. There are quite a few birds of a feather not flocking together in the world, plenty of lives running parallel yet never intersecting. I’ve heard it said that in an age of unparalleled communicative technology and interconnective capacity, humans are still, today, lonelier than ever before. This is obviously not due to limited resources… Email, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogspot, Skype: these tools constitute a superhighway of interactive potential. The issue is orientation. Without a compass, a system of roads this complex could literally lead anywhere. More often, they lead nowhere.

In this case, as in many, fitness was a homing beacon. Blink.

The emotions, insecurities, successes, failures, and truths that drive one of us to train, usually drive all of us to train. There’s an irresistible magnetism in it that may be my favorite aspect of training, and of CrossFit specifically. The qualities of group cohesion that develop between friends, family, strangers, even amongst people who have never met, or will never meet, are truly astonishing. In their individual pursuits of personal goals, people develop the strength and confidence to share their experiences with the broader group, to encourage those fighting the same battles and overcoming the same obstacles that they have fought and overcome. I’ve written more extensively about the reasons for this cohesion before, so I won’t re-argue why this type of exercise builds bonds as strongly as it does. But I will re-iterate that these bonds are REAL and that the people building them are looking for more.

And why not? With the highway already laid and our collective consciousness continuing to converge, I fully expect to meet more people like Jason going forward. I relish the opportunity. CrossFit has grown into a global community, literally unbounded, and if my experiences thus far in Europe are any indication, there are plenty of blinking lights left to be discovered.

I will admit that, chances are, I won’t gel with everyone as easily as I did with Jay this past weekend. And sharing a single passion is certainly no guarantee of an instant and lasting friendship. But it’s a place to start. And if my alternative is to navigate the road using only the stars on a cloudy night, I’ll take that compass every time.

Strict Strength

Workout of the Day:

15 minutes of EDD's

5 x 6 Incline DB bench press (5 second eccentric)

5 x 5 Strict C2B pullup with strict toe to bar

3 x 500 meter row with 1 minute rest

I was feeling a little fatigued today from the cumulative effect of the weekend. Am still a little sore in my hamstrings from last week, and my upper back and rib cage is tight from the fireman squats. That turned out to be a really great exercise for different reasons than I expected. Ordinarily, feeling like I do I would take a day off. But since my gym is only open Mondays and Wednesdays, this didn’t seem prudent. Turned out not to be so bad.

I felt strong on the inclines, pressing the 32.5 kg DBs for 5 sets of 6 slow eccentrics without much trouble. The chest to bar pullups with toe to bar leg raises in between were a good challenge. The first set was no problem, the second a little tougher, and the last three were fights to get 5. This requires a lot of grip stability and coordination not to let your body swing during the toe to bar. Once you start swinging it’s hard to stop.

The row sprints were going well, but I started to feel my right hamstring twinge a bit on the second one so I left the last one on the shelf. My goal was to keep all 3 under 1:40, hopefully building to the point where I can do 5 under that time. After resting tomorrow I think I will give this another go Wednesday night.

Under the Bridge

Workout of the Day:

15 minute AMRAP

3 muscle ups

6 fireman squats

9 handstand pushups

200 meter stair loop

Jason and I woke up pretty groggy this morning. We sampled the Paris night life until 6 am this morning at this incredible bohemian bar/dance club near the Republique metro stop (see picture). It was a blast, but we were feeling it this morning.

For the workout, we headed back toward Notre Dame Cathedral and set up shop under the pedestrian bridge connecting central Paris to the old city island. Being a Sunday afternoon, we had plenty of observers, inquirers, photographers, and participants. We even got a driveby from the Paris river police. Apparently we were making too much of a scene (Or they didn’t like some American monkeys hanging rings from the support structures of their historic bridge).

The workout itself was tough. There was a lot of upper body fatigue after the first 5 minutes, with the handstand pushups taking the most out of us. The fireman squats were really cool. A lot more core and upper back than I expected. Going from those straight to handstands, I could really feel the impact on my diaphragm and internal support muscles. I finished 6 full rounds plus 1 muscle up. Jason got 5 plus 3 muscle ups, 6 squats, and 7 handstand pushups. This was a great routine in an unreal location. Probably the most fun so far.

Arc de Triomphe

Workout of the Day:

In the Morning…

1 hour low intensity jog

In the Afternoon…

5 Rounds of:

20 Split burpees

50 Double Unders

I met with Jason Mulligan from the U.S military out at the Arc de Triomphe today for the second half of todays workout, and we had a blast. Between the random passers by and the Range Rover that stopped for a solid 10 minutes, we had quite the fan base. The workout was harder than expected. The split burpees caught up to both of us rather quickly in the cold weather, and the double unders were a matter of just plugging away. I finished in 9:04, Jason in 16:09. It was a great routine in a great setting, followed by a great night out on the town. The video is below.

Out of my Element

Workout of the Day:

500 meter swim for time

I decided that I needed a middle distance swimming standard by which to measure my progress in the pool, something akin to a 2 km row or a 5 km run. If I'm honest, 1000 meters would probably be more accurate if I were a good swimmer, but 500 meters (20 lengths of the pool) felt appropriate, so I settled on that distance and gave it a go this morning. Pathetic is the best word to describe how I felt about my effort. Even though I kept a slow pace from the start, I was sucking gas and losing form by the 100 meter mark. The reality that we are not a naturally amphibious species was hammered home very quickly. It took me 9:41 to finish this “test.” I had to stop for breathers plenty of times. The good news is that 5 minutes later, I didn’t feel overly exhausted. Hopefully this is just one of those things that my lungs will adapt to through repetition.

In other news, I got a new set of gymnastic rings! My new friend Bjorn was down from Sweden visiting his girlfriend in Paris, and he agreed to bring a set for me. Awesome! I’m really excited to have these because they are portable, versatile, and a lot of fun to incorporate. Looking forward to some muscle-ups tomorrow.

Rest Day

I read a lot; and because my area of study is history, much of this reading focuses on authors and issues long since past their time. However, I often come across literature that appears timeless in its style, relevance, and multi-dimensional applicability to the present. Even when the subject of their texts has a focus far from physical conditioning, many of these authors strike personal chords and raise interesting questions that I inevitably relate to training.

So, since rest days are for recovery and regeneration, I've decided to begin using them as a forum to raise such issues and cite the outwardly "unrelated" historical passage that brought them to my attention. Hopefully people will contribute their insights on the topic, if they have them, and how it relates to their training.

Issue: Setting goals vs Achieving them

Historical Quote to Ponder:

“What is the price-current of an honest man and a patriot to-day? They hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait, well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret. At most, they give only a cheap vote, and a feeble countenance and God-speed, to the right, as it goes by them. There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man. But it is easier to deal with the real possessor of a thing than with the temporary guardian of it.”

—Henry David Thoreau, 1849

Tabata This

Workout of the Day:

15 minutes of EDD’s

6 x 4 box jump for height

Tabata this:

Back Extensions

DB Push Press (22 kg/48 lb ea)

Side to side leg lifts with pressed barbell (40 kg)

Chest to bar pullups

The soreness that had begun to creep into my legs yesterday worsened considerably today. My hamstrings, glutes, and quads were all tender to the touch. Getting up after my 2 hour lecture this morning was like unfolding myself from within a suitcase. There is now little doubt left: single leg DB deadlifts are a must-have addition to your lifting regimen. I’d love to hear some feedback on this if anybody tries them out.

The EDD’s are going great, not much to update there. The back bends using the wall are getting stronger and my balance with the handstands gets better every day.

For the box jumps, Niels and I wound up stacking every bumper plate we could find in the Cite gym. In addition to being a little tipsy, this drew some priceless stares from the other patrons. The height is hard to estimate, but it reached about to my bellybutton. I don’t think this was a maximum height, probably could have gone about 4 inches higher. I’m going to have to find a different method of creating ledges without boxes.

And the tabata… Well, this sequence proved more of a muscle endurance test than a cardio vascular one. With the exception of the leg lifts (the weak programming link in this chain), I felt acute muscle failure in every exercise. The back extensions especially hit the spot. By the half way point I was starting to really feel fatigue all the way along my erector spinae. By the 7^th and 8^th sets I had to split the 20 seconds into 3 parts. The push press’s started strong and finished pretty soft. The weight began to overwhelm me by the 4^th set, but I never strategized around it, so that was good. I repeatedly went to failure, took a few breaths and did a couple more before time expired. The chest to bar pullups were definitely my weakest point, as could be expected. I still have a hard time finding a rhythm with this exercise when tired, and wound up doing them one at a time. This actually worked pretty well. I didn’t get too tired in my grip or lungs and was able to do about 6 per set every time. My totals for all exercises are below.

Back Extensions: 79

Push Press: 75

Side to side leg lifts: 70

C2B pullups: 50

Total: 274

Less than three weeks until the Copenhagen Challenge, and I'm feeling pretty good about things. Looking forward to seeing those friends again and testing myself against whatever they come up with.

Tomorrow is for resting and exploring some more of this city. Paris, light the way.

Notre Dame

Workout of the Day:

Cascading AMRAP @ Notre Dame

5 minutes downstairs bear crawl

4 minutes walking lunges

3 minutes air squats

2 minutes Rocky situps

1 minute pushups

I was hoping for a nice sunrise this morning at Notre Dame, but Mother Nature wasn’t having any of it. The day dawned to gray skies and a chilly wind. Didzis, my friend and classmate who has been starting to train with me as well, agreed to get up early and come film the workout. Really appreciated this.

The routine was hardest at the front. 5 minutes of crawling downstairs and running back up isn’t a ridiculous task, but it’s on the edge. I used a staircase adjacent to Notre Dame, consisting of 25 steps leading down to the Seine River, and was able to get up and down 8 times in the allotted time-- 200 stairs of crawling. Immediately I transitioned to the walking lunges and felt right away that my hamstrings were fatigued from last night’s single leg deadlifts (I’ve gotten more sore as the day has worn on… entire posterior chain is feeling it). I walked for 4 minutes straight, my legs getting heavier by the step, and finished with 135 total. The air squats started fine, but by the end of the first minute it felt like all the blood in my body was in my legs. I had to split a few times and wound up totaling 119 at the end of 3 minutes. Didzis then set the camera on the ledge of the stairs and held my legs as I bent back over the river for the situps (reminded me of Rocky IV in the barn). These felt similar to GHD’s, just without the ground below. I kept my eyes closed and tried not to think about the icy water below, finishing 47 in 2 minutes. The last minute was pushups, which have started to get better lately. I was pretty tired by this point and my chest was sore from the weighted dips last night, but I still managed to get 45 before time expired.

In all, I totaled 546 repetitions in the 15-minute span and felt pretty good afterwards. This WOD wasn't too taxing on the lungs beyond the first element, and most of the challenge was in muscular endurance. Overall I'm satisfied.

As I said, my legs have gotten increasingly tight as the day has worn on, so I’m glad we did this workout in the morning before the soreness had time to set in. Been resting all day, hoping that will be enough to be ready for tomorrow.

Go swimming

Workout of the Day:

In the morning…

250 m constant motion/anystroke

Rest as needed

4 x 50 m sprints w/:45 seconds rest

Rest as needed

250 m constant motion/anystroke

In the evening…

EDD’s

5 x 5 weighted dips (4,0,1 tempo), rest as needed

5 x 3-5 single leg DB deadlift, rest as needed

On the minute elevated HSPU progression ladder

4 x max time extended arm planks, 30 seconds rest

0800 and the first time back in the pool since last summer. As is inevitable, the body rejects that which it does not know. The warmup 250 was a struggle, both trying to maintain a smooth, clean stroke, and trying to avoid pre-mature muscular/cardio-vascular fatigue. It never fails to amaze me how different the fitness requirements are between disciplines.

Once I finished the 250 meters, I took about 3 minutes to relax and prepare for the sprints. Ideally, I’d like to get to the point where I can do 10 of these at :45 second rest intervals before hitting the wall. Today, 4 was enough. My times for each sprint were not exact, and I chose not to flip turn, but they looked something like this. :35, :37, :37, :40. Not bad with a push start, I thought. I could feel my stroke crumbling the last 15 meters or so on the last one especially. Also, I was HEAVING for air. My heart rate must’ve been around 200 BPM. If you haven’t done it, know that sprinting in the pool is much more taxing than sprinting on the track.

The last 250 meters were considerably slower than the first, as was expected, but they felt nice. Walking home felt amazing as well. I felt warm and light all over, and couldn’t wait to eat. It took less than 30 minutes door to door, but this morning’s routine had me as motivated for the next few months as has anything I’ve done so far in Paris.

This evening I did some WORK. Starting with the dips, I used the heaviest dumbbell at my disposal (33 kg) to do 5 sets of weighted dips. The tempo sequence I mentioned above means that 4 seconds were spent on the down portion, 0 at the bottom, and 1 second on the way back up. The weight turned out to be about right, because by the 4^th and 5^th sets I was really fighting to finish.

For the single leg deadlifts, I retrieved my dumbell’s partner and proceeded to an area in the middle of the floor where I had some space. T-O-U-G-H. First of all, just getting to the bottom is a bitch. Then digging your way back up without using the other leg takes some serious strength. Finally, balancing during the course of the movement is hugely challenging, especially at the bottom. All in all this was surprisingly hard and shockingly effective. I only got through 4 sets because my hamstrings were so toasted. My repetitions for those sets (each leg) were: 4, 3, 3, 3. I suspect doing a few weeks of these will have a big impact on my deadlift strength when I return to a barbell.

The HSPU ladder was a welcome reprieve for my quivering lower body, but short lived. I used 4” bumper plates to elevate my hands, then started with 1 repetition in the first minute and added a repetition per minute until I couldn’t finish the prescribed number in the prescribed minute. I made it through 5 full rounds, plus 3. This was not what I was hoping for. I had some issues with the wall (kept having to avoid a raised molding running horizontal across the wall), and my recovery just wasn’t good enough. I'm hoping the effects of the morning swim and the heavy dips had something to do with this.

The extended planks were a great finisher. Using a yoga mat for my hands, I started in a pushup position and slowly allowed my hands and feet to slide apart, trying to control the motion as slowly as possible. The first set I was able to touch down softly. The second I dropped from a few inches up. The third and fourth were worse, and I collapsed from probably six inches or so. Still, I felt the effect.

I feel like I really got it done today, nothing left on the board. Tomorrow morning I’m heading to Notre Dame to see some history and sample some of old Paris. Sans baggette of course.

ERG it

Workout of the Day:

Row 5k for time

3 x 5 unilateral DB thrusters

3 x 10 strict toes to bar

I’m still very sore today, but this workout went surprisingly well. This is only the 2^nd time I’ve attempted a 5k row, the first being back on September 19^th at L.K.V. Back then I notched a 19:17, and remember feeling pretty miserable in my back and hamstrings. Today I rowed an 18:48 and had gas in the tank. Out of the gates I pulled smooth at around 1:50, letting my pace drop to around 1:55 by the 1000 m mark. Holding it here was no problem. Actually, I felt really in tune with the ERG today, feeling when my stroke got crooked and being able to correct it. With 1000 m to go I took it back to around 1:50 and for the last 500 m I was pulling at around a 1:45. My core and legs felt much better than the last time I did this, and mentally it was far less grueling. Shit, a 30 second improvement? I’ll take it any day.

The heaviest dumbbells available at the Cite gym measure 32.5 kg, which, it turns out, is about my 5-rep limit for thrusters. Actually, that weight is my limit on the left side, but probably not the right. It was interesting to feel the difference in stability from my left arm to my right during the down portion of the squat. I’m definitely more comfortable with the weight in my right hand. The toes to bar were hard again, just like before. Doing them strict really lights up my stomach, hips, and quads. The third set I had to split after 6 reps because I just couldn’t finish the crunch to the top. If you haven’t tried these, find a bar that’s almost flush to the wall, or have someone stand between your back and the wall to make up the difference. Whole new ballgame.

Resting tomorrow, then hitting the pool Sunday. Interesting rules here in France… Speedos and caps required. Eeker.

Fitness is...

Building and Testing.

If you only do one, you will negate the impact of the other.

Typically people find they prefer one type of training to the other. Someone will either love testing themselves and continuously be inventing new types of tests to know their ceiling in strength, endurance, or speed; or they will love the process of building their capabilities in one, or all, realms and constantly be reinforcing the ground floor.

I tend to fall into the first category. I chronically create programs that test my body’s top end performance (i.e. 1RMs, max work capacity/time [chippers, AMRAPs]). While these types of programs do invariably build on each other and have the capacity to increase maximum strength and efficient muscle recovery, they are not the most effective way to do so and will eventually hit a plateau. Predominantly, max effort testing is most beneficial in training your central nervous system to accept heavy stress and to efficiently respond by maximal activation of its moto-neurons. In my experience, it does not “build” muscle strength; it will not “build” muscle recovery, at least not in the body’s most efficient possible manner. “Building” in these areas is more effectively managed through 3-5 repetition strength work and high intensity interval routines (Tabatas, time progression ladders). People who constantly test themselves at maximum levels are essentially like architects adding floors to a skyscraper without reinforcing the foundation. The physical dimensions of their base will always limit the height to which they can rise.

Without pursuing the engineering metaphor too far, the second group is like the architect who constructs an indestructible base but gets squeamish and leaves the upper floors on the drawing board. If one always trains in the 5-rep range, his nervous system will not know how to cope with the type of stress that accompanies a very heavy weight. If a person only does Tabata intervals, his body won’t know how to cope with a situation where the intervals come irregularly or, worse, where there is no interval.

In addition, this type of training can limit an individual psychologically. How many times have you seen someone on the bench press rip out 3 repetitions at a certain weight, then fail to get 1 at plus 10 lbs? All the mathematical tables in the world can calculate that, based on your 3-rep attempt, you should be able to make the lift with ease. But, in reality, you still have to press the weight, and it's crushing you mentally.

This issue crystallized for me recently, as I continued to reflect on the back squat PR I notched a few weeks ago. My squat had been about the same every time I tested it for the past couple of years, but that’s all I had been doing: testing it. If I squatted during a workout, it would either be air squats, a light load incorporated into metabolic conditioning, or max effort testing. That's it. Upon reflection of why a 420 lb lift was suddenly easily within my grasp at the same bodyweight, I first thought that maybe some mystical combination of improved core stability and my new diet had produced a radical realignment of my molecules (These factors surely had some impact, but I hesitate to offer an exaggerated estimate). Then it dawned on me that during my Olympic lifting sessions with Hank at L.K.V. we had been consistently supplementing our Clean and Jerk/Snatch work with 3-5 repetition front and back squats. I had completely forgotten about this 800 lb gorilla in my programming room, mentally lumping it in with “Olympic work.” In about 3 months, I had increased my 1RM back squat by 20 lbs, conservatively, and the biggest reason for it was my unconscious re-dedication to a “building” paradigm.

In further proof of the reciprocal effects of combining these training styles, Hank saw similar results from the opposite side. Until he and I started training together, he shied away from testing his max lifts, instead preferring to stay in the more technical 3-rep range on snatch and C&J. As a result of the more frequent “testing” we did at my urging, he had lifted his heaviest weights in 10 years by the time I left Leiden.

What does this mean, and what do I expect going forward? Broadly, it means I intend to more diligently incorporate "building" into my training sessions starting immediately. Specifically, it means I am going to adjust rep ranges and add supplemental strength exercises to the end of sessions (like the good mornings earlier this week), and to replace a few of my test-heavy metcons with more structured high intensity intervals. This is not something that I’ve completely neglected to this point, so I’m not expecting ridiculous PR’s across the board like the squat. I've done interval training, and I do lift in near maximal rep ranges; just not often enough to make much of a dent. What I do expect is more weakness-targeted training sessions and, as a result, significant increases in strength and recovery in those areas.

I’m still going to test myself a lot. That, with my natural proclivities, is inevitable. But by fusing supplemental exercises and building programs within, and in addition to the testing style workouts, I fully expect my ceiling to rise beyond what it has ever been. I'd encourage anyone else to evaluate their testing/building ratio and try to bring it into better balance as well. You might get surprised.

Run the mountain

Workout of the Day:

Sacre Coeur stair sprints x 4… rest as needed.

I was feeling pretty sore this morning in my chest and biceps, confirming the effectiveness of yesterday’s dual session. It was a perfect time to run some vertical grade.

Today’s mountain was the stairs at Montmatre leading up to the Sacre Coeur Basilica in Paris’s 9^th district. 281 of them to be exact. Niels has been talking this spot up from our first conversations about the master program moving to Paris, and for good reason. It’s very beautiful, very accessible, and a long way up. My first sprint took me exactly 1:00 to reach the top. My second set took a few seconds longer (minus a clog up behind some tourists). The third trip really taxed me, and by the final few steps I was barely getting my knees high enough to skip steps. The fourth set was my slowest at 1:12. At this point I was practically cramping in my ass and hamstrings, so I knew the job was done. I didn’t ease up at all on any of these sets, though my legs were getting heavier quicker and quicker as the rounds progressed. Niels finished his rounds in good form as well, and is looking stronger by the day. Afterwards, we walked through the church, took a few pictures out front and headed back across town for breakfast. I’m looking forward to spending a lot of mornings here in the future.