Murph

Due to CHOGM here in Perth, Friday was a public holiday and the box had just one workout planned... Murph.

For those unfamiliar with Murph, It is a HERO Wod (so you know it's badass). Consisting of:
-1 mile run (1.6km)
-100 pull ups
-200 push ups
-300 air squats
-1 mile run
*Rx is with a 20lb (9kg) weight vest!

What was cool about this workout was that i was able to see how far i had progressed in the past 10 or so months, able to see the hard yards that have been put in, start to pay off. The first time i did Murph was when i had just started crossfit at the beginning of the year. I was 3 kg lighter, did it without a weight vest, used an orange band for pull ups and got a time around 54 minutes. 10 months later I am doing it prescribed and in a time of 48:25.

My strategy for Murph:
Everyone has their own strategy for murph- mine was to go steady on the first run, break up the middle into rounds of cindy (but for the first 10 rounds do 10 pull, 10 push, 15 squat... then for the last 10 rounds just alternating between pushups and squats), then all out on the last 600m of the run.
Seemed to work well as it got the pull ups out of the way earlyish to reduce time mucking around between sets.

Was an awesome morning and congrats to all who competed in the wod- bring it on next time!

Long Day

WOD 930am:
1)5-5-5-5-5
-strict 'chest to bar' pull ups

2) 3 rounds for time:
-10 pull ups
-15 box jumps    (24")
-10 burpees
-10 KB SDHP   (32kg)
My time= 4:30

3) AMRAP 2 mins:
-KB swings (reps x weight used= score)
My score= 39 x 24kg = 936

I was pretty happy with the first two parts of this mornings session. I did miss the last C2B pull up of the last 3 sets though... just can't seem to have the strength for that fifth rep. The workout was a solid sprint without must rest, one where you try to inhale air but it doesn't seem to help. The 2 minutes of max KB reps were tough! mentally i just went so hard on the 2nd workout it was hard to keep that same focus. Saying that, i did not give it my all in this, which is a shame cause you always feel shit afterwards.

Wod 3pm:
15-12-9
-shoulder to overhead   (60kg)
-front squat                   (60kg)
-competition push-up   (hand release at bottom)
My time= 14:07

This workout was sent to me by my friend Hunter, from Colorado. Hunter is the same age as me but has been crossfitting for about 3-4 years, that's 3 more than me... and he is a crossfit beast! Don't be surprised if you see this kid at the games one year down the track. He did this in 8 minutes flat, and warned me not to attempt this unbroken. I couldn't even if i wanted to... this workout was hard!

Strength Wod 4pm:
5-5-5
-Shoulder Press   (45kg- fail)
-Back Squat        (95kg)
-Deadlift              (105kg)

The weight in brackets was the weight used this session, I made all sets on both the back squat & deadlift, meaning I can increase the weight next session. I did however fail the shoulder press, looks like that weight's staying on.

Could have done without (Nutrition):
- 3 pieces of bread used in toasted sandwich
- heaps of pasta for dinner

I coached the 5:15 & 6pm class tonight, all went smoothly and the guys did a great job. I also helped with the fundamentals tonight as they did their 6th and final session before becoming Cooee graduates! See you around the box Brenda, Sonja, Jennifer, Michael and Hun! +(Molly- not pictured)

Quiet Day

I had this whole intense day planned out training wise but had a late night last night and got up even earlier so that all went to shit when i crashed on my parents couch in the middle of the day. I am however moving house at the moment so i guess you can kinda call that a workout...

WOD 6am:
1)3-3-3-3-3
-Deadlift (adding weight)
My last set= 110kg

2) 3 rounds for time:
-20 KB circles                          (32kg)
-20 overhead bumper sit-ups    (10kg)
-200m overhead bumper carry  (10kg)
(evertime you drop the bumper on the carry, penalty of 5 air squats)
My time= 9:49

I liked the fact this wod was a bit different, but that's were the fun ends. I had a game plan to drop it at the 100m mark and cop the penalty, but by the 2nd round I found myself having to drop it every 50m haha, this  sucked!

100's wod 630pm:
100 burpee's for time:
My time= 6:35

Did this down at the park.. damn those mossies can bite.

Could have done without (nutrition):
-1 beer
-bit of greek vanilla yogurt with nuts/seeds/sultanas

Premium fuel

Morning Wod:
1) 3-3-3-3-3
-shoulder press
My weight of last set= 47.5kg

2) 3 rounds for time:
- 10 push press  (45kg)
- 20 double unders
- 200m run
My time= 4:36

3) 100 sit ups for time:
My time= 3:38 (Previous best= 3:53)

Strength & Power:
-work up to one rep max 'Bench Press'
My weight= 75kg

5-5-5:
-back squat                              (90kg)
-weighted chest to bar pull up   (body-fail)
-deadlift                                   (100kg)

Still following the 3x5 rep scheme for these movements for the S&P sessions. Today we substituted the shoulder press for a bench press because there was shoulder presses in the morning wod + we have a strongman competition coming up on the weekend and one of the events is a max bench press. Hadn't really done a proper 'bench' before, but the other guys had. I tried to keep up with the big boys- but failed miserably haha. Still good fun though. Managed to make all the other lifts but not the C2B pull ups, looks like i'm stuck on them next session, but happy i'm increasing the weight for the others (finally).

100's Wod:
100 double unders for time:
My time= 1:12
I am adding a regular post to my blog from now on, to help deter me from binging on carbohydrate laden foods. I, like many others in this gluttonous modern world struggle controlling my sweet tooth, and so by posting whatever goes in my mouth that basically isn't paleo/primal approved (a caveman's diet - no grains, dairy, processed foods etc) it will hopefully deter myself from fueling my "life vehicle" with crappy fuel. -use the good stuff, and the car will run better and last longer right?

Nutrition-less:
-3 Oreo cookies
-1 tea with milk/honey

If you want more info on eating more Primal/Paleo/Zone/Organic, then here are some options:
-Watch 'Big Fat Lies' (Documentary)
-Visit http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
-Read 'The Primal Blueprint' by Mark Sisson
-Read 'The Zone Diet' by Dr Barry Sears
-Watch 'Food.Inc' (Documentary)
-Google 'Paleolithic diet'.

Sweaty Sunday

skill wod:
1st minute
-1 butterfly pull up
-1 push jerk           (50kg)
2nd minute
-2 butterfly pull ups
-2 push jerks
....and so on until unable to complete the required reps for that minute.
My score= 7 rounds/ 4 pull ups

Basically i sucked balls, as you can see on the eighth minute i gave up... something no one wants to admit, but i am. I could very well have left it off this post and pretend it never happened, but whats the point? If you're going to share your training with others, you should include everything. WIN or FAIL. Butterfly pull ups are something i need to work on if i am to be any good in this sport, today i was flailing around and couldn't link any together. The push jerk is a move i have rarely done, today i went light just to work on technique. Similarly to pull ups, i was stuck between something of a push press and an overhead squat, they did not look pretty, rarely linked and my arms blew out early. The idea of a push jerk is to push the weight up off the rack, move under and catch it with locked out arms, finally using your legs to stand tall and finish out the rep. A move normally reserved for that heavier weight, one that you can't simply press overhead.

100's wod:
100 walking lunges with bar racked  (40kg)
My time= 6:10

This was good, was able to get to thirty pretty quick but from then on it seemed that 7 was the number. By 7 more reps you were getting close to the other side of the room, would drop it, turn your body around and keep going. This wod killed your legs and also your upper back from keeping the bar racked with high elbows. Try this if you are one who struggles with keeping your elbows high while the bar i racked on your shoulders. As soon as those elbows come down, the bar wants to pull your entire body forward and seriously messes with your rhythm.

Wod:
Amrap 7 minutes:
-1 hang clean   (28kg)
-1 squat clean  (28kg)
(1 round)
-2 hang cleans
-2 squat cleans etc...
(every minute on the minute- 3 burpees)
My score=8 rounds/14

This workout was the box's Friday WOD. I was pretty dead but thought i would give it a go since it was only 7 minutes and a light weight. Got up to 8 rounds/14 reps (that's completing 9 hang cleans and getting to 5 squat cleans). Not a great score but it certainly did the trick of sweating out all that crap i consumed on the weekend. Looking forward to a healthy/hard week of training ahead.

3 a day Thursday

Wod:
5 rounds for time:
-5 squat cleans  (45kg)
-10 pull ups
-200m run
My time= 8:30

Another fast and light workout in the morning as we are still working on our squat clean technique. We spent the first 15 minutes working on this, with everyones form looking better at the end. A goal of mine for quite some time now has been to do a wod without stopping, from GO to the very last rep without a 'breather'. 3 rounds in i was thinking this could be it, i was feeling good. For some reason on my fourth set of pull ups i dropped off the bar after 5..?!? i had more in me yet for some unknown reason i dropped off. was not impressed with myself.

Strength & Power:
5-5-5
-shoulder press                          (40kg)
-back squat                               (85kg)
-weighted chest to bar pull up    (bodyweight- fail)
-deadlift                                     (90kg)

We have this new strength & power programme; every Monday and Thursday we do 3x5 reps of the above movements with the same weight the entire session. If you were able to complete the entire 3 sets of 5, then next session you would bump up the weight. If then you weren't able to complete all 3 sets, you would keep that same weight on until completion. This was my first session so i went light to get a feel of where i was at and to set a base. All movements felt fine, except the shoulder press was actually pretty close to my max (weak area of mine) and the c2b pull ups i failed on the last rep of set 2 with my bodyweight. can't wait to see some improvements!

100's wod:
100 wall balls for time:
My time: 5:38   (9kg/9')

Did this late at night in my folk's garage with some heavy music in my ears. It felt great, but the hardest part was trying not to wake the neighbours, everytime i wanted to drop the ball i had to catch it and gently place it down... hard to do by the 70th rep!

Long Session

Today was a long session!

Skills wod:
-practice skin the cats
-practice iron cross
-practice muscle ups

This skills session was good, did it with Pete, Match and Jac. A gymnastics focus today as i found a new weakness, my skin the cat is terrible! I am going to have to really hammer these if i want to compete with the other boys. The iron cross was good, we simply tied a couple of orange bands together and hung them on the rings. Then all you have to do is place your feet in the middle and this was enough to support you as you worked deeper and deeper into an iron cross.

Wod:
3 rounds for time:
-5 squat cleans (45kg)
-10 d/u
-5 squat cleans
-25 d/u
My time= 4:15

100's wod:
For time:
-100 kipping dips
My time= 19:56

This one was brutal. I chose something that I'm not very strong with and it showed! Did this one with Jac, but she did the 100 dips on the edge of a box- still a good workout! She was finished by the time i was on 36 reps haha. It was good because she was able to encourage me the entire way through to the end.. all 20 minutes of it! That definitely helped. The plan was to do 10 a minute, so aiming for a time of 10 minutes. It felt good up until 30 reps in, then it started to get hard, fast. By then I was already doing 2 at a time, and by 60 it was mainly singles all the way in. Definitely made me better though... next time strict??

Cleaning it up

Today was a skill day with everyone at the box working on their 'power clean'. We spent about 15-20 minutes on this as the coach (including myself in the afternoon classes) stressed 3 main points:

1) Addressing the bar so the bar is almost touching your shins and that the shins are vertical (knees aren't sticking out over the bar). This may mean your shoulders have to be in front of the bar and your legs/glutes are really activated to get to this position  This will help the bar travel in a vertical direction up your legs until just past the knees where the 2nd main point comes in.

2) There will be a distance between your pelvis and the bar, as well as an clear angle formed by this position. The point to stress is that to generate the power needed to let the bar travel from this position up to the rack is created by 'opening this angle up' or 'exploding your hips'. So the faster you increase this angle created by your legs and torso (the pelvic region) the more power will be generated to give the bar momentum to travel upwards. Match described this as a 'second jump' and will more often than not have the bar grazing your upper thighs; This is GOOD as it means your hips are opening up as you thrust the bar vertically.

3) on the way down from the rack position, it is practically the same in reverse. The elbows remain high & outside as you lower the bar down as close to the body as possible. The arms lock out as you 'catch' it with your upper thighs. From here you can guide it down to that proper address position by sending your bum backwards and guiding the bar down along your shins. From here you should be in a good position to start your next rep!

Wod:
5 round for time:
-8 power cleans (45 kg)
-9 burpee bar hops
-10 box jumps   (24")
My time= 7:29

Fairly light weights today, but this just meant you can go faster through the reps and does not make in any easier. Overall a good time, but felt this workout suited me... stick in HSPU's and it would have been a whole different story;)

Fast Food & Drugs

After a weekend fueled by booze and greasy food I never felt worse waking up on a Sunday at 2pm.. "What am I doing" is the usual response i find myself saying. Talking with Coach Murphy, he says he has put fast food in the same classification as drugs, so basically -don't touch the shit. Match had a good way of putting it- "It's like taking drugs or smoking, other people might do it.. and all the best for them, but it is something that i just don't do" - why can't the same be said for a Big Mac and a large shake? A good concept i think i will take on board as i try to focus on my nutrition. Food for thought...

Wod:

4 rounds for time:
-350m run
-5 burpees
-10 push ups
-15 air squats
My time= 8:45
Jess's time= 12:00

A quick wod this arvo with my friend Jess at a park down her street.