Blair vs Sven 5

I did this Saturday morning when I should've been doing fight gone bad with the rest of the CrossFit world. I underperformed a bit, missing 3 reps during the 4th round. My final time was 13:00 but I think it can be done closer to 8 or 9. The video link is below.

Anywherefit Iceland

Workout of the Day

Hand balancing practice

Today’s workout was strictly a skill session. I did handstands with and without the wall, alternating shoulder touches, headstands with hand support, and many other drills. In all I spent about 45 minutes at the gym doing this in an effort to offer my body a low impact day of fun and technique. It worked, I had a lot of fun and walked out feeling fresh. Tomorrow I’m going to tackle the 5^th faceoff workout with Sven and I know it will sap my strength. Can’t wait.

Now, on to bigger and better things… like the trip to Iceland next August. We have finalized dates—the trip will run from Friday August 12^th until Sunday August 21^st. Details about what those 10 days will include are coming soon, so stay tuned. I will say right now that it looks UNREAL. Start getting your sick days lined up now, it will be worth it.

Short and Sharp

Workout of the Day

WOD 1 – AM:

Deadlift and Strict Press 3, 3, 3+

Good Morning 10, 10, 10

Chin ups 10, 10, 10

Abmat situps (10 kg) 10, 10, 10, 10

Ring dips 10, 10, 10, 10

WOD 2 – PM:

3 rounds for time

5 muscle ups

10 kb swings (32 kg)

20 rope slams

Big day that started early. 6am start to get the heavy lifting in before things got rolling and then a late afternoon link up with John and Jake in the park to cap it off. Hell of a training day.

The deadlifts and presses went well, nothing spectacular. I got a tough 5 reps at 405 lbs and then did a single press at 185 lb before getting pinned. A little ambitious on that set. The afternoon WOD was great though. Minus the fact that we got kicked out of the first park we were at, things went off without a hitch. It was a sprint of a workout that really tested our ability to stay coordinated at maximal heartrate. The rope slams are no joke. By the last set I felt like I needed to jump to lift my arms. I finished in 4:12, John at 5:00, and Jake at 5:30. The video link is below.

For those of you out there still holding onto Public Transportation videos, get them to me (Morrison.blair@gmail.com) so I can get them up on the site for others to see.

Fitness Is...

Potential.

Everybody has it. Few reach it.

It’s easy to assume that people despise mediocrity because the world is littered with evidence of humanity’s desire to excel—our obsession with talent, our reverence for heroes, even our love of money. It’s easy to assume that everyone wants to be his or her physical best because everywhere there are those wishing for a better body type or a better lifestyle. They fill our virgin ears with a symphony of sincerity and aspiration, but listen closer. They clamor with empty voices.

The truth is that 90% of people just want to get by. We pretend our ultimate goal is to be the best version of ourselves, reading the right literature, quoting the right sources, joining the right gyms; but the reality is far less compelling. If we are truly honest we will admit that the level to which we might possibly rise is rarely our chief concern. More important is reaching the level where we can merely survive or, at the very least, mock survival. Getting there is much easier. Getting there requires less time, less pain, and less effort. Getting there is too often there enough.

I was speaking with my father the other day about a friend of ours whose son wanted to be a college football player. He had good size and natural talent, but he was a little slow and lacked the explosive quality most big programs look for in an athlete. One evening while having dinner with this family my dad suggested that the kid hang a bell at the top of the hill abutting their property and ring it every morning before going to school. Not only would sprinting up the hill begin to build the explosive power needed for speed and acceleration but the sound of the bell would become a symbol of his dedication to the goal. I wish I could say the kid went out and rang that bell every day, or committed himself to some other program in its place, but this isn’t that kind of story. He, like many others like him, chose instead to remain a card-carrying member of that mediocre 90%.

Why? Because greatness is HARD. Our bodies don’t care about potential. They were built to survive, not to excel, and survival has gotten pretty easy as of late. Our bodies don’t know that by being stronger and faster and leaner the likelihood of illness, disease, and injury drop dramatically. Our bodies only know that it hurts like hell getting there. It takes supreme physical and mental fortitude and an unflinching, genuine ambition to overcome these hurdles. Most of us lack this and it shows.

Now, maybe this kid would never have been great like Peyton Manning or Jerry Rice or Ray Lewis, just like some of us will always be at a higher risk for diabetes or arthritis than others, but that really isn’t the point. In this story his ability wasn’t being measured against theirs or any others, only against his own potential as an individual. He claimed that he wanted to be the best that he could be, to give himself the best chance to be a college football player. But when faced with the reality of what it would take to reach that goal he balked, exposing his ambitions as half-hearted and insincere, and his athletic future to be one ridden along the tired road to the middle. This is an all too common tragedy.

After hearing this story, I sat for a minute and observed my father. He was visibly disappointed by the kid’s inability to commit himself to his goal. Yet I knew for a fact that my dad had wanted to lose weight for years and failed to commit himself to doing so in much the same way. This struck me as a prevailing irony, not just in this conversation but in our culture in general, so I decided to ask him when was the last time he “rang the bell.” He was lost for a second, then smiled wryly as he got my meaning. “Too long,” he replied.

Sadly, it seems that our praise of greatness and our distaste for mediocrity is an appreciation and expectation reserved for others. We expect Jordan or Tiger or Ronaldo to reach their potential every time they compete and we shake our heads when they fall short. But we shrug off our love handles and that occasional chocolate cake as acceptable losses. We cry for the children growing up without physical opportunities, yet lie on the couch and amicably waste ours away. We claim we’re too old, too fat, too injured, or too tired. The truth is we’re too obsessed with getting by.

The good news is that physical potential does not expire. It has no shelf life. Whatever state you’re in at whatever moment, you can always be better. SO BE BETTER. Too often people try to do this by setting a number to hit, a person to beat, or a mirror to impress, implicitly attaching a finite quality to the process. This focus is flawed. As you change and improve, so too should your potential grow and your ambition swell. Remember that fitness is a goal inadvertently attained through the systematic overestimation of yourself in all fields. It’s a byproduct of setting the bar too high, of striving for perfection and falling just short. It’s knowing that you’ll never get there but trying your damndest nonetheless. It’s constantly pushing your limits in every direction regardless of your skill. It’s finding a way to keep ringing the bell.

Do this and we inevitably yield the best version of ourselves.

New Company

Workout of the Day

5 rounds of:

3 minutes work/1 minute rest

4 toes to bar

8 hands up pushups

12 box jumps

70 meter run

My friend Bodie came over early this morning to train, first time we’ve worked out together since high school I think. It was a fun bit of nostalgia and the workout turned out to be great. Not nearly as intense as the faceoff WOD from last night, but still challenging. I completed 14 rounds + 4 toes to bar. Bodie did 9 rounds plus 4 toes to bar and 4 pushups. I had planned to try and deadlift tonight, but I think a battlefield adjustment is in order to cope with the growing fatigue I’m feeling. Wednesday is a rest day, so I’ll pick up the 5/3/1 deadlift and pressing Thursday morning.

On another note, some videos have started trickling in and I’m happy to share them with everyone. First is one from Brandon, a compilation of his family vacation around Europe and the workouts he and his brother did. Some great ideas and fun times on there.

Also, Marco submitted a video for the Public Transportation WOD from a subway underpass in Munich. See both under the Reader Videos page here

Blair vs Sven 4

Workout of the Day

Blair vs Sven Faceoff #4:

10 deadlifts (140 kg)

20 burpees w/10 kg vest

30 pullups w/vest

40 wallballs w/vest

Remove vest

50 double unders

40 wallballs

30 pullups

20 burpees

10 deadlifts (140 kg)

I’m waaay overdue on this workout, so my apologies to Sven in advance. But I finally got this done and it was pretty rough. No problems with the deadlifts off the bat, but the burpees with the vest on were hard. I actually found it hard to balance with the extra weight swinging around and was way out of breath by the end. The pullups were easier than I thought—did them in sets of 10, 10, 6, and 4—but my heartrate was pounding away through the wallballs. Couldn’t wait to get the vest off. Double unders were quick but then going right back into wallballs wasn’t fun. At this point I entered the hazy zone where everything hurts but you’re only halfway conscious of what is happening. Before I knew it I was finished with the wallballs and pullups and struggling through the burpees. I broke the finishing set of deadlifts into 6 and 4 and stopped the clock at 11:31. Faster than I expected, but I was knocked out for 40 minutes or so afterwards. Light headed, a little dizzy, and seriously uncoordinated. That is until I heard Jukebox Hero coming through the stereo on my way to Monday Night Football and got a rush of fresh energy. Which was then flattened when the 49ers gave the ball away 4 times on their way to a 25-22 defeat. Brutal game.

The link to the video is below. Do this WOD if you’re looking for a challenge and let us know how it goes. Good luck.

BlairvsSven

Run the Mountain

Workout of the Day

In the morning:

10 x 200 meter hill run for time

In the evening:

10 x 1 hang power snatch

Anticipating a long day of NFL football, I decided to take myself down the block to the steepest hill in my neighborhood. 200 meters of 15% grade up and down ten times makes 4000 meters in all. A fair bit of running for a fella on a Sunday morning. Took me 26:01 in total to finish all 10 rounds. My pace was pretty steady until the last round, when of course I sprinted with all I had left to the finish. The downhill intervals were short, but just long enough to recover between climbs. Hoping to work in more and more hill running going forward.

This evening I hit some hang power snatches to work on timing and explosion during the second pull. I started at 135 lbs, worked out a few kinks, then upped it to 155 lbs. After 3 reps there I went to 185 lbs for the remainder. Looking at the video footage, my biggest problems were early arm pull and a little forward lean. I think I did more than 10 reps and definitely improved by the end. There’s a clip below.

Also, less than a week until the Fit As F*ck Challenge. Bummed I won’t be there to see it in person, but I wanted to wish everyone training and planning to compete the best of luck. I know it will be a hell of a show.

Rest Day

Deadline for video submissions is September 30th, still plenty of time!

Kayaking

Workout of the Day

In the morning:

5, 5, 5+ Back Squat & Bench Press

5 x 10 ring pushup & 20 abmat situp (superset)

In the afternoon:

Kayaking on Lake Natoma

I got up today feeling pretty alright, surprising to be honest. But as soon as I did a set of squats I started to feel the soreness creeping back in. I was on the foam roll between sets loosening things up, but after each set the tightness resumed. I decided to keep things relatively light and left my top set at 130 kg. For the pressing I did floor presses and topped out at 115 kg, a fun variation that I haven’t done in a long time.

The main feature today was getting out on the water though. John and I spent almost 3 hours on the Lake paddling around, jumping off cliffs, and swinging on ropes. SO MUCH FUN. It’s been too long since I’d done this and I forgot how plain and simply enjoyable it could be. It was definitely more of a leisure pace--no real sprint paddling, but the sum total of work was there. We covered 5 miles or so in total and emerged good and tired. Took some great pictures and found some amazing spots for future workouts.

Going to soak up a day of rest tomorrow and watch my high school alma mater play football under the lights. Can’t wait.

Walk the Tracks

Workout of the Day

In the AM:

4 mile sandbag carry (100 lb)

In the PM:

5 x max pullups - strict, kip, and butterfly

There’s a stretch of abandoned track that runs from Sutter street in historic Folsom out past highway 50 and off into the unknown expanse of the California foothills. It weaves its way through the suburb that has grown up around it and cuts a path that few ever follow anymore. For a while now I’ve been wanting to explore this bit of crystallized history. Today was that day.

John and I filled up sandbags to about 100 lbs and parked cars at either end of a 4 mile stretch earlier this morning. We began under the highway 50 overpass, in the shadow of an enormous CostCo, and worked our way west back towards Old Town. Never once dropping the bags we ran, jogged, and walked the entire length in just over an hour. It was brutal at times—our shoulders and upper backs were cramping under the weight. But it was enjoyable at others—the scenery did not disappoint. Most surprising was the difficulty we had with the footing. Some sections of the track were deep, some were shallow, some ran through mud, others through fallen leaves. Most areas were overgrown with weeds and looked every bit their age. It was like being transported back in time.

The first leg of the journey paralleled bustling East Bidwell Street, a thoroughfare lavishly adorned with Quizno’s, Ross Dress for Less, and The Home Depot. Choosing to walk on such a defunct and neglected strip of track beside freshly laid asphalt felt almost like willful disobedience—strangely satisfying. The looks we got every time we crossed between traffic, the distinct pause of the Prius in the left hand turn lane… these are memories worth their weight.

Then, about halfway through the trip, the railroad veered left into a sort of nature preserve where there was almost no sign of civilization. Just like that, there was no strip malls, no pedestrians, and no apartment complexes. But the rail stretched on. I thought to myself that this was how the entire line looked when it was laid all those years ago. It’s hard to imagine that this kind of nature still exists under the concrete of the “real world.”

When we finally stumbled up to our car we were pretty ravaged. 1 hour and 13 minutes of total time had elapsed and we hadn’t rested at all. My shoulders were scorched, my legs were wobbly, and I was completely parched. I literally could not wait to get home, jump in the pool, and hit the pillow. I was so exhausted that I found it hard to keep my eyes open on the drive home. This is a great example of your body failing at the margins of its experience. Today’s WOD had time and modal domains that are rarely combined and my body felt the impact. Hallelujah for new experiences.

Digressing a bit, it’s now half way through the month and I have received exactly ZERO videos from you guys doing workouts involving public transportation. Weak Sauce. These don’t have to be professionally done. The more people get out and start training without a gym the better—this is merely an opportunity to do so. I promise the fun you’ll have is worth the effort.

The video link from earlier today is below. Big ups to Jacob for suggesting the song. Enjoy.

Nutrition Redux

It’s been quite a while since I last went into nutrition on this blog and there have been more than a few questions on the subject lately. As always, my initial disclaimer: I merely intend to relate my own experience and what I’ve learned from it. Any conflicting ideas, methods, or arguments are welcomed warmly.

First off, we must acknowledge that different aims require different approaches. If one person wants to lose 30 pounds and the other wants to gain 30 pounds, their methods will be necessarily distinct. What most can agree on, however, is that this distinction typically hinges on quantity not quality. Regardless of your goals, whether you’re an athlete or a housewife, high quality fuel is what you’re after. Food that your body can easily digest, absorb, and turn into energy.

Determining what exactly this fuel should be is a process of experimentation and elimination. For me personally, this has distilled itself into a predominantly Paleo menu with a few exceptions. I pound eggs, chicken, and turkey like it’s my job. All day long I’m shoving deli meat in my face. Equally impressive is the amount of nuts I consume. Trail mixes from Costco are the obvious favorite here simply because they come in impressively large quantities. Cashew Clusters? Game over. Kirkland cranberry medley? Own it.

I eat a lot of fruit (mostly apples, berries, and bananas) and go through at least a head of broccoli and a bag of spinach per week. Other vegetables commonly consumed include onions, mushrooms, and olives. I think it is important to mention here that the predominant benefit one gets from fruits and vegetables go unnoticed. Micronutrients are all the rave these days in anti-cancer circles and I am on the bandwagon. Give me all the green I can get.

To this point this has been a pretty model CrossFit diet, and if you think that’s where it’s going to stay I have you fooled. For one, I eat a ton of potatoes. Mostly sweet potatoes and yams because they have a milder effect on blood sugar, but plenty of the regular brand as well. I do this for 2 reasons. First, I can’t get over the inherent Paleo hypocracy regarding this food. It is a root. It was gathered by prehistoric peoples for millennia. Our bodies do not reject it. It’s like all these purists decided to abandon their "evolution of digestion" paradigm because this particular food is high on the glycemic index. An index that, incidentally, I’m pretty sure Joe Caveman didn’t give a shit about. As far as I’m concerned, potatoes are still high quality food.

The second reason I eat them is because if I don’t have some starch I won’t get full. 30 minutes after a 2 chicken breast, broccoli, and squash stir fry I am starving. Add a small spud potato and I’m stuffed. This is something that has grown into a staple of my diet in large part out of personal necessity. They don’t make me tired, they don’t make me fat. They make me full.

Another example of my personal divergence is dairy. I feel no adverse effects from it. I eat cheese and drink whole milk regularly and find that I don’t feel any less energetic or strong than when I went 2 months without any of it. If anything, I feel more energized. And, before you say it, I’m not one of those cases where anything will work. Flour knocks me out cold. If I eat pizza, pasta, or garlic bread I’ll be horizontal on the couch before my grandparents finish their desert wine. Dairy just happens to work. For me it’s a great way to get decent calories and extra macronutrients to counter the amount I use up in training.

When it comes to quantity, I’ll admit that I ain’t so scientific. My friend Jim Bathurst once wrote that every time he walks past the refrigerator he ingests 2 eggs accidentally. That’s about where I’m at right now. Most of my time spent thinking about food is not about whether I will eat too much, it’s about how much good food can I put down in a given day. That may be a benefit of my genetic disposition, my high caloric output, or a combination of the two, but it doesn’t mean that such a laissez-faire attitude is the right approach for all. I know plenty of people who thrive on the Zone because it gives them the structure they need to manage their meals. I had more than a few clients who did Weight Watchers and saw incredible results for the same reason. At this point in the experiment for me, though, the only issue with quantity is whether I will eat enough.

Last thing I want to touch on is supplementation. This is another one of those tense moments for the nutrition nerd. “How can I reconcile my logical desire to eat like a caveman with the scientific discoveries of today?” Easy pal, don't strain something. Do your research, get out of your own way, and take advantage of the discoveries worth taking advantage of. I guarantee you that if I went back 5000 years and offered Neolithic Blair a gun to hunt with he’d take it in a heart beat. More than that, he’d snatch up my matches, hoard the toilet paper, and guzzle protein shakes to his heart’s content. Point is, some developments are positive and not using them is plain stupid; those include post workout supplements like protein and creatine. I know this because of how I feel after a workout when I take them compared to when I don’t. (Not to mention the overwhelming majority of scientific research). It’s night and day. The only other supplement I take is fish oil, simply because I don’t eat enough fish and the human diet is wildly out of its Omega 3/Omega 6 balance. For more information check out PurePharma. Otherwise I do my best to stick to real food.

To wrap up, I try to keep things as simple as possible. I’m no creative genius in the kitchen (if you want to know people that are, go to Health-Bent), but I get by. The good news is that as taste buds become less and less accustomed to artificial sugars and corn syrup, regular food begins to taste pretty good all by itself. Funny how that works.

I included a video of me making my 6 am smoothie. This is something I make everyday with more or less the same ingredients. It’s like a pre-breakfast that I ingest to get my day going while reading the paper, internet, etc. It’s great because it’s chalk full of good things and it goes down fast/doesn’t make me so full I can’t train for 3 hours. Plus it still leaves room for real breakfast a little later in the morning. Nom Nom Nom.

I shot 100 with 4 pars

Workout of the Day

In the AM:

18 holes of golf—booyah

In the PM:

5, 5, 5+ Deadlift & Strict Press

10, 10, 10, 10 hanging hip raises

Today got off to a roaring start as I hit the links with my grandfather for a round out at Cherry Island. Excellent improvement from my last foray a few weeks ago but still leaving much to be desired. Coordination and timing weren’t bad, but mentally I still felt like there was too much distraction inside my head, and it brought me to an interesting realization around hole 8. I was spending too much time over the ball before initiating the stroke. The reason I mention this is because it happens the same in Olympic lifting and powerlifting. I am easily at my strongest when my body is primed, loose, and not stuck in a stagnant position for too long. 3-4 seconds max, I’d say. All the mental stuff, the visualization, the checklist of technical things I want to remember; all that has to be done before I approach the bar. Or the shot, in this case. As soon as I stopped hovering over the ball I suddenly became more fluid, more coordinated—in short, more of an athlete. Sometimes we get in our own way by over-complicating the obvious. If you know what you’re supposed to do and how to do it, if you’ve done it a hundred times correctly before, then your absolute best bet on getting it right again is to stop thinking about it and just do it. Be an athlete.

This evening strength session was special. I was joined by both of my parents and we followed the same program. We took our time, watched every one of each other’s repetitions, and pushed ourselves together. It was really, really fun. I got 6 reps at 180 kg (396 lb) and 4 reps at 70 kg (155 lb) for each of the major movements. I was happy with the deads, but disappointed in the presses. Looking forward to a fair bit of soreness tomorrow.

Last thing, a couple shout-outs. Congratulations to Frank Passanante of Steelfit Strength for undertaking and completing his 2^nd triathalon in our nation’s capitol. His efforts the last few years have extended beyond himself as he’s coached and motivated underprivileged kids to participate in the event to great success. His picture is below.

Also, my good friend and training partner Jason Mulligan has put his cognitive capacity and humor to good use (finally) and started a blog. It is a blast to read and I encourage everyone to check it out at Consciousfit

Rest Day

Old Friend in Town

Workout of the Day

5 sets max muscle ups

5 rounds for time:

20 pushups (hands up at bottom)

50 double unders

Josh Courage came through town this evening on his way to the east bay and it was great to see him again. Although we’ve been in contact from time to time doing workouts, etc. over the past year or so, I haven’t actually seen him since last August. Reconnecting is always fun and it was cool to hear the plans he and Lindsay have for their new life in California.

For our workout I took them over to the Folsom walking bridge and hung up the rings to do some muscle up practice. Being that it was around 6 pm things couldn’t have been any more beautiful. I could honestly go down there and swing around on the rings every night if the weather were like it was today. We did 5 sets resting as needed between and I got 8, 8, 7, 7, and 7. I definitely feel like the rhythm is getting more comfortable not using a false grip but I think I need a cleaner, more efficient motion if I ever want to get up in the high teens for consecutive MU’s.

Afterwards we headed back to the house and tackled a short couplet to jack up the heart rate. Josh and I both struggled on the pushups—picking your hands up every time makes things so much more difficult it’s incredible. But neither of us took much rest at all and kept pounding away through the double unders. My time was 6:57 and his was 7:01. Lindsay did the same WOD but with 10 pushups instead of 20 and smoked us both…Next time she’ll have to bump it up.

Now that Josh is in the neighborhood I’m looking forward to getting together more and more to train.

Total Failure

If yesterday’s workout was fun and low key, today’s was grueling and demoralizing. It’s coming up on the mainsite in a few days so I won’t go into too many details, but suffice it to say that I was mentally defeated by the third round and it took me 30 minutes to complete. I’d seen this WOD come up before and really expected that I could perform well, but almost immediately I knew this wasn’t going to happen. There hasn’t been a session in recent memory that I felt so shitty about and it’s given me extra motivation to push the envelope more. If I can’t handle a routine like this that combines a lot of skills at high intensity, then that’s what I need to work on. More moving parts, less simplistic couplets and triplets. Should be a feast for some creative programming over the next few months. I'll give a more thorough evaluation of the workout after it's posted on the main site Saturday.

On another note, there are only a few dozen shirts left in the box so if you want them snatch em up quick.

Public Transportation WOD

Workout of the Day

6 rounds on a moving train:

7 OH squats right arm (24 kg)

7 OH squats left arm (24 kg)

7 Russian swings right arm (24 kg)

7 Russian swings left arm (24 kg)

50 meter bear crawl

Today I did my version of September’s Public Transportation theme, using the Sacramento Light Rail System as my canvas. I lugged my 24 kg kettlebell to the Folsom station at around 3:30 to try and avoid any major rush hour passenger traffic and set myself up on a relatively empty train. My dad agreed to come and be the film guru, so big thanks for that.

This workout wound up being even more fun than I expected. First, I definitely underestimated how hard it would be to keep my balance as the train moved side to side. I had to use my off hand to stabilize myself on the OH squats and the Russian swings otherwise I would’ve fallen. I also felt my legs working harder to fight against the swaying of the car, making the fatigue set in faster. At each stop a few more people loaded into the car so the bearcrawls got a little funny towards sets 5 and 6. Overall though, I kept my pace high and finished in13 minutes flat.

Deciding to go and do a workout like this was exciting because the elements were so unpredictable. I didn’t know what type of people would be on the train, whether I’d get booted by transit authority, or if I’d even be able to keep my balance. I’m really looking forward to seeing what other people come up with during the rest of this month. I’ve heard some good ideas, but have yet to see any of them done yet. Remember, just upload the video footage to vimeo or youtube and send me the link. Videos should be 5 minutes or less.

The link to mine from today is below.

Labor Day Weekend

It's been a great holiday. I was up in Tahoe playing in the annual SUDS softball tournament with a bunch of friends and had an incredible time. We went 2-2, finishing somewhere in the middle of the pack but had so much fun. Also, I'm pretty beat up from it. There was a lot more sprinting than I remember in slow pitch softball and my legs are feeling the effects. I think I'll take the first half of this week to rest and recover after about 6 weeks of steady training then re-start fresh towards the weekend.

For those of you in Europe who have been waiting for t-shirts to become available, wait no more. Follow the link to the right of page to the Steelfit Store and purchase there.

Swim

Workout of the Day

100 m pool sprint

30 pullups

Rest 2 minutes between rounds

My back was tight today but not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. Still, figured a swimming WOD might be the best thing for it so I headed over to Lembi Park to test it out. Really I had no problems with it structurally. The swimming was tough as hell though. And trying to do pushups after 100 meters of all out effort had me looking pretty ridiculous. We’re talking 2 and 3 repetitions at a time. It felt like I had already done 50 before even getting out of the water.

I did 3 rounds of the circuit then finished up with 200 meters of cool down. The plan is to get up to Tahoe for Labor Day weekend and a little softball, hopefully get some WODs in at high altitude in the meantime so long as my back feels okay.

T shirts will be available to Europe in the next few days so stay tuned for that, and if you haven’t already done so, take a crack at the CrossGym online challenge. Some great prizes to be won.

September Reader Video Challenge

Today marks the first of many new efforts this site will make to give readers the chance to get recognized for training creatively. Each month will be marked by a different theme that will serve as the template with which everyone can come up with their most creative fitness routine. The theme for September is Public Transit. The idea here is to use planes, airports, trains, buses, subway stops, or whatever to create a cool, fun, and challenging WOD. No rules beyond your imagination. Videos should be uploaded to youtube or vimeo, then sent to me at morrison.blair@gmail.com. I will post every video under the reader's video link on the blog and select the top 3-4 videos for a vote at the end of the month. Winners will receive Anywherefit t-shirts and get to suggest a future theme. If there are any questions, post them here to comments. I will post a sample video over the next couple days to get things started, but am really looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with. Good luck!!

Faceoff Episode 3

Workout of the Day

Faceoff Challenge #3

1 minute pistols

1 minute handstand pushups

1 minute power cleans (80 kg)

1 minute rest

Complete 5 rounds

Episode 3 of my ongoing challenge with Sveinbjorn marked my first session training in my garage. Great routine that mixed a major weakness with a couple strengths. Pistols are definitely not my favorite movement so doing them today was a great bit of practice. I actually wasn’t faring too poorly. I scored 29 the first minute, 20 the second, and 21 the third. Similarly the HSPUs were also going well: 21, 13, and 11 respectively. The cleans felt pretty light as well but I tweaked my back during the third set, forcing me to stop. I had pulled 11 the first round and 9 the second. Based on my total of 135 through 2 2/3 rounds, I figure I probably would have scored somewhere in the 250-260 range.

Really bummed about my back. I don’t think it’s serious but it certainly is annoying. I know the injury and it will only take a few days to shape up as the muscles relax themselves. Still, I was feeling really great about training after the trip to Copenhagen and now having the garage all set up.

The video of what I completed can be seen here.

Blair vs Sven

Obstacle Course Video

Finished helping with the Level I Cert today and I'm heading back to the state first thing tomorrow. Been a hell of a few weeks back in Europe, hoping to be back soon. Check the video below of me and my boy Kasper going through the Navy O Lane last Friday. He's a world class Pentathlete and is competing next weekend in the European Championships. Best of luck man!

Fit as F*ck and the O Lane

Workout of the Day

WOD 1 – In the afternoon

Fit as F*ck Challenge WODs @ Paideia Gym

WOD 2 – In the evening

Navy Obstacle Course

Slept like a baby last night after one of the longest days I can remember. The workload today would prove to be much different than yesterday, but no less taxing. Sarah, Ditte, Anders, and I went to Paideia to test out 2 of the 5 WODs set for the Fit as F*ck Challenge coming up in less than a month here in Copenhagen. I’ve been sworn to secrecy as to their details, so I can’t give a full account of how things went, what was most difficult, or how I performed. However, I will say that both of the events are built for excitement. While I did each I could easily imagine a crowd being very involved and very intense. Also, strategy and technique will be huge. I don’t think brute strength will be enough win either of these events. I managed a PR in one of the lifts and performed reasonably well in everything else we did, so I came out of the session feeling pretty positive. That’s all I’m permitted to say so good luck to those of you set to go September 25^th!

This evening I joined my friend Kasper, member of the Danish National Pentathalon team, for a trip through the Navy obstacle course. Never having done this before, I didn’t really know what to expect. Maybe some hurdles, some wall climbs, crawling under nets… Certainly not the high wire sliding and aerial balancing acts I was asked to perform. This shit was no joke! Definitely low fear factor and high level skill required to complete this thing. Kasper took me through each of the obstacles and coached me up on how to tackle them. After a couple times through each individual we decided it was time for me to try and string them together. So I did, and really didn’t do too badly. I missed my first attempt at scaling the ledge but recovered nicely. Also missed the first grenade toss through the submarine door. No biggie. I was doing alright until the very last obstacle owned me. A horizontal rope climb 5 meters to a tiny platform where you must then pirouette and leap down before running across the finish line. By this point I was so exhausted and intent on being finished that my technique was awful. I couldn’t get my feet do what I wanted them to do and it wound up taking me a good 20 seconds to finish the climb. My total time was 3:19. Kasper informed me that this wasn’t bad for my first run…then we proceeded to do it in 2:05. HA. What a baller. This was a ton of fun and a great example of fitness in action. Big respect to the men and women who use these skills to survive in combat from day to day. I’ll try to attach clips tomorrow.

The 70's Big Face

One of my favorite sites that I haven't checked in a while gave me a big laugh this morning. If you're not familiar with the site, enjoy the following. 70's Big Face

Challenge Day

Workout of the Day

WOD 1 – in the afternoon

CrossGym Challenge:

30 thrusters (50 kg)

30 pullups

WOD 2 – in the evening

Faceoff Challenge:

2 x 50 m run

50 squat thruster with pushup

4 x 50 m run

50 OH step up w/ 20 kg (40 cm step)

6 x 50 m run

50 leg raise to 20 kg target

4 x 50 m run

50 box jump (40 cm)

2 x 50 m run

50 thruster (20 kg)

2 x 50 m bear crawl

I arrived in Copenhagen this morning just after 5am on the bus from Amsterdam. Between the German border patrol, the vehicle switch in Hamburg, and the ferry ride across the channel, there wasn’t much sleep to be had during those 15 hours. But I managed a nap here at Sarah’s when I arrived and, overall, wasn’t feeling too bad. Tomorrow may be another story.

For the CrossGym challenge, I headed over to CrossFit Denmark to meet up with Oliver, Mathias, and a couple of the guys I had met and trained with back in November. Really great seeing them again. We warmed up with some power cleans and chatted a bit about what everyone had been up to, then we dove in. I had no real idea how the thrusters were going to feel so I figured I would go for broke and try my best to get them unbroken. Turned out not to be too much of a problem. I think I paused after the 27^th repetition for a second, but that was it. I dropped the bar and Sarah yelled 1:06.

At this point I knew I could finish under 2 minutes if I didn’t die on the pullup bar. Wasting little time I grabbed it and started butterflying. My only thought here was to be REALLY aggressive on my pulls and to finish every rotation. I was feeling good until 19 or 20, then things started to get a little heavy. I threw in a few standard kips and had to drop after 24. Short break and I got back up for the final 6, finishing in 1:49. Happy with this time and looking forward to seeing what everyone else can do.

The evening WOD had been posted by Sven earlier in the week but I hadn’t been able to do it until today. I grabbed another nap just before and did my best to get my energy up. Thankfully with this type of WOD, high energy is not always your friend so I wasn’t missing too much advantage. My goal was to run fast. I figured the high repetition stuff would slow me down quite a bit in comparison with Sven since he is more used to it than I, so I knew my best chance was to make up time in the running. This proved to work well. The hardest portions were the overhead step ups and the thrusters by far. The squat thruster pushups were tough but not bad, the leg raises no problem, and the box jumps manageable. The other two really destroyed me and left me thinking that I might not finish this thing fast enough. By the time I reached the bear crawls I was pretty devastated but my time was still good. I pushed until failure on the crawls about 6 times before I got to the finish line and heard my time was 15:10, beating Sven’s 15:37 by just under :30. This felt GREAT.

I’m ready for sleep now, and it will be well deserved. I’ve attached links to both challenge WODs below. Have at them and submit them to both sites.

Cross Gym

Blair vs Sven

Last Workout in Leiden

I did this workout yesterday before getting on the bus for Copenhagen. Was fun to just find an odd urban feature and make it useful.

CrossFit Amsterdam

Workout of the Day

WOD 1 – in the morning

Low impact run 40 minutes

WOD 2 – in the evening

1RM snatch effort

CrossFit Amsterdam Chipper

10 handstand pushups

20 knees to elbows

30 burpees

40 box jumps (60 cm)

50 dips (parralettes)

60 pullups

70 pushups

80 situps

90 squats

100 double unders

Got up today feeling pretty fresh and excited for the evening with the guys at CrossFit Amsterdam. I wanted to get out and loosen up so a light run fit the bill well. I find that from time to time its good to put in the time without worrying much about the intensity of the effort. When I trained for the Marine Corps Marathon back in 2008, this was a big part of the training—teaching your body to work for the amount of time it would take to run the marathon without running it as hard as you would in the race. This type of exercise is also great for exploring your local environment. I came across a few places today in Leiden that I absolutely would use for WODs in the future if I were staying longer.

This evening was much more intense. The facility was located in a classic industrial complex outside the city with 9 meter ceilings and huge amounts of floor space. Kevin Naarden met Niels, Okke, and I there early for a little Olympic work. This was great because I didn’t have lifting shoes, tape, or any of the other bullshit amenities you get used to. Just had to go in and lift the weight. And I did. 100 kg in running shoes. This is the 6^th or 7^th time I’ve lifted that weight now and I feel so confident with it. I am going to snatch 110 kg by October, guaranteed.

We hit the chipper right away and the group we had was pretty good size. Kevin competed in the European Regionals this year and is a really fit guy so having him there was great motivation for me. We pushed each other through most of the WOD, I had a slight lead that increased gradually until the end. He got stuck with a bad rope on the double unders and it cost him a little time. The hardest part for me was definitely the pushups. Coming off of dips and pullups I literally couldn’t do more than 5 pushpus in a row. It was brutal. But the situps I did without breaking and the squats were fine as well. I finished the workout in 18:23, not a bad time I think. Kevin came in around 22 minutes and I’m not sure where everyone else was. I really enjoyed this and look forward to coming back to train with the people at CrossFit Amsterdam. Best of luck to everyone!

Saw this on MBS CrossFit and had to pass along.

Play a Sport

Today Niels and I went out rowing on the Dutch coast with Willemijn's brother and his rowing club. SOOOO much fun. It was a great example of the difference between strength and usable strength. In order to transfer any amount of power from my body to the oar I had to be accurate, coordinated, and have the right timing. I still have a lot to learn, but it was so much fun I don't doubt I'll be doing it again soon.

Threshold

Workout of the Day

Max rounds with :90 rest of:

20 unbroken pushups

20 unbroken situps

(complete all pushup sets before moving to situps)

I was pretty tired all day today, most likely the result of yesterday’s heavy workload. For today I wanted to work on unbroken sets. I think I break things up too much and therefore never train my threshold in muscular endurance. So I decided to take 50% of what I estimated would be my unbroken maximum of these two exercises and try to repeat it as many times as possible with a reasonable rest period between. Much of this was experimental since it was my first go around and I think the next time I do this it will be slightly different.

I was able to move through 10 sets of the pushups without failing. This isn’t to say the end sets weren’t tough, but I think this should be the point when you know that the number is too low. If you can make it through 10 sets with :90 seconds rest without missing, you need to do more reps. Next time I will try 25. Another option would be to go with less rest…maybe a minute between sets. Either way, the key is to keep ramping up the difficulty until you hit the threshold.

For the situps I was through 6 rounds when I ran out of time. Niels and I had commitments for dinner and were running a little late. I suspect I may have been able to get to 8 rounds but probably not much further. Because each repetition takes longer I find that the situps were more challenging—more total time under tension.

Tomorrow we are going to the North Sea for some active rest. Willemijn’s brother is an accomplished rower and has offered to take me out. Can’t wait.

An Honest Nutrition Evaluation

A few weeks ago a training partner and good friend of mine, Josh Courage, posted the following about his experience with the Paleo diet and nutrition in general. I found it to be very thoughtful, honest, and, in an industry obsessed with those who claim knowledge without actual experience, I think very valuable for people to read. Enjoy.

Josh Courage Blog

3 in 1

Workout of the Day

WOD 1 – In the morning

7k trail run

WOD 2 – In the afternoon

Done in immediate succession:

a) 250 meter car push (1400 kg)

b) 21/15/9 pullup w/ 42/30/18 double under

c) 5 x 75 meter L shuttle to object (1 shuttle = 2 x 75 m)

I got a great night of rest last night, including a dream about running. I can’t remember who I was racing/chasing/escaping but I know for certain that I woke up wanting to stride my legs out. So I headed back to the park just before 8:00 and did 2 loops of the 3.5 km trail that runs around it. Almost immediately my lower back tightened up, making the duration of the run pretty damn difficult—I think the long plane flight may have conspired against my lower spine. I had to stop a few times to try and get the thing loose and I wasn’t able to maintain the pace I started with (maybe a bit ambitious anyways), but I still managed to complete the track in 26 minutes. Felt great afterwards.

This afternoon we were at Niels’s grandmothers place to celebrate her birthday. What a place! I spent Christmas there in December but the snow covered much of what is a seriously beautiful property. The gardens were in bloom, the weather was gorgeous, and the place was full of cool toys to play with, not the least fun of which was Niels’s ’68 Land Cruiser. 1400 kg of iron, rubber, and pure badass, this thing had a chopped top and a bed perfect for a modified prowler push. We had to change out the front right tire to get her rolling again, but after that it was ready to go.

With Marika steering and the two dogs navigating I got the thing rolling fast out the gate. I was literally running the first 75 meters or so. Unfortunately the grade tilted up a bit after that and my legs suddenly felt the real weight of that tank. I managed to push it the entire winding driveway without stopping, but my legs were jello afterwards.

I pretty much stumbled the 100 meters or so to the cross beam where I had the jump rope and pullup station set up. Using a 2 x 6 for a bar, the pullups were tough. Took me 4 sets to get 21, 4 to get 15, and 4 to get 9. The grip was just brutal towards the end. The double unders, though, posed no problem. In my head I expected to be crushing the shuttle runs at the end, but my dead legs and heavy arms dictated otherwise. I pushed as hard as I could have, but there just wasn’t much left in the tank. Not to mention, 5 x 150 meters is kind of a lot anyways.

Finishing strong was a battle, but I didn’t quit and stopped the clock at 12:30. If someone had asked me how much time I thought had elapsed, I would’ve guessed close to 20 minutes. This felt like soooo much longer than it actually was and I felt equal parts out of breath and muscle fatigue. Turned out to be one of the more balanced, effective, and diverse WODs I’ve ever done. The secret here was combining multiple simple ideas that target different things: Strength/endurance in the car push, stamina/skill in the couplet, and speed/agility in the shuttle. Done deal.

Back in the Netherlands

Workout of the Day

Freestyle on the rings

After 15+ hours in transit without much sleep today was more of an exercise in just doing something rather than anything organized. Niels, Willemijn, and I went to the park in Leiden where I used to run and hung up the rings on one of the many trees. With no real rhyme or reason I practiced handstand pushups, handstand holds, ring dips, ring rows, skin the cats, L sits, and levers. It was a lot of fun going through the movements and trying to teach them as much as I could, but boy am I looking forward to some rest. Hopefully tomorrow will be a brighter and lighter day.

Sounds like we are heading to Niels's grandmother's house for dinner and I know her property has a lot to offer. Definitely will be rested for that.

Fitness is…

Impartial.

It doesn’t care about circumstances, timing, or convenience. You’re either up to the challenge or you aren’t.

During three years of personal training in Washington D.C., I had the privilege to meet and engage with people seeking fitness from all walks of life. I listened to their goals, taught them the skills they would need to achieve them, and did my best to help meet and overcome each inevitable hurdle. During the course of these interactions and experiences I heard a million reasons why goals weren’t reached or why hurdles were too high. But no justification, no matter how convincing or true, ever transformed failure into success. No task, whatever it may be, will ever make itself easier to overcome because you are tired, sick, or haven’t had your coffee. This is fitness’s beautiful simplicity. You either lift the weight or you don’t. You get yourself to shore or you drown. Almost doesn’t count.

In many cases this kind of impartiality can be ruthless, but it is always fair. Growing up playing football and baseball I was exposed to kids from good families, bad families, rich families, poor families, families with dogs or cats or birds or whatever. The best part of any sport I ever played was that I wasn’t any of those things when I was on the field and neither were they. In that moment we were nothing but our ability or inability to perform.

Unfortunately, this brand of abject fairness doesn’t sit well with those that don’t get it done. Rather than acknowledging failure, finding their flaw, and working towards improving it, the vast majority of kids looked outwards and instead found an external excuse for their incompetence. Call it immature, irresponsible, or whatever, but it is the same in society at large. People blame violence on the influence of video games and popular music. Someone’s kid hurts himself jumping out of a tree and the city is up in arms to chop that tree down. Gone are the days where individuals are held responsible for the risks they take and the decisions they make and it’s creating the biggest and most dangerous epidemic facing the world: that of non-accountability.

Take obesity. There are plenty of medical explanations for why someone is obese and can’t lose weight: over-active thyroid, low bone density, slow metabolism, poor nutrition, previous injury, diabetes, psychological distress…the list goes on. One or all of these could be absolutely true in any given situation and I sympathize with the person fighting to overcome them. But the harsh, impartial truth is that finding a reason for your obesity doesn’t make you any less fat. I promise you, gravity isn’t going to feel sorry for your plight and decide to stop pulling. Yet so often this seems to be what people expect. They resign themselves to the status quo and deem it acceptable because some white coat wrote them a prescription. Their explanation becomes a psychological crutch that cannot be scrapped.

Even more blind are those who blame society for their shortcomings. How many times have you heard or read criticisms of the fast food industry’s corporate greed and deceptive advertising campaigns? As if the individual played no part in shoving that Big Mac and supersize order of fries in his face. The reason McDonald’s is a multi-billion dollar a year business is because people choose to eat there. It’s convenient, it’s cheap, and it tastes good. It also offers very limited nutritional benefit beyond hypertension, obesity, and heart disease. The choice is straightforward and stark, but people get it wrong everyday because they think a good justification is the same thing as a good decision.

I used to wonder how many people could use busyness as an excuse for not exercising. No joke, I heard it at least 6 times a week during personal training sessions and every time it was the sincerest plea. “I’ve been swamped at work,” or “Things have just been crazy lately.” You mean people have to work for a living and sometimes that makes them tired and tight on time? Never heard of such a thing. Things are always about to “calm down” or “lighten up.” Such excuses are the purest form of psychological masterbation. They do absolutely nothing to break the barriers between you and your goals, but, rather, serve only to make you feel better about not reaching them.

I love fitness because it’s a results based pursuit, the purest form of meritocracy. You set goals and you reach them. Or you don’t. No list of excuses will ever change the fact that you didn’t make the time, lose the weight, or prevent the heart attack. SO STOP MAKING THEM. Some people have it harder than others, I grant you. Tough shit. The mirror doesn’t care and neither do I. If the individual reaps the benefit, then so too must he shoulder the burden. Whatever the challenge, just get it done.