Blog

052512: Dead Can Dance

2012-05-24T22:39:52Z

Conditioning #1: 10 minutes, Rounds of...
10 Humane Burpees (No Jump--Plank Hold For 1 second)
10 Water Buckets
10 DB Hang Power Clean & Press
10 Belly Breaths

Strength: Deadlift
10 minutes skill work with light doubles (135/95/65)--every rep: chest out, butt back, knees out
15 minutes work to 1-2 sets of 5#50-60%

Conditioning #2: "Hey I Heard You Liked The Wild Ones"
Conga line sprint rounds of...
7 Wallballs
10 Barbell Rows (135/95/65) on platform
15 Situps on mat

052412: All Over The Place

2012-05-23T23:25:50Z

Open gym tomorrow. Come on in and we'll get something supercalifragilisticexpialidocious for you to hit. (It may actually be something quite atrocious.)

Working through a couple of ideas here. As always, read at your own peril...

I think it was Josh Hillis' page the other day where I caught a glimpse of this gem: we've all got one cup of willpower--spend it on food or spend it on training? His contention is that our cup is almost always better poured out in service of diet. I would agree, except, well...I'm about two "look at how dumb this person is for eating a sandwich made out of bread" paleo psycho pictures past my breaking point here, so this is what I'm willing to stipulate to:

052312: George C. Scott vs. Tod and Ratan

2012-05-22T22:54:10Z

Warmup: (10 min) DeFranco's Shoulder Shocker
1) Cuban Press
2) Lat Raises
3) Plate Raises

Skill/Strength: (25 min) Close Grip Bench Press
Tuck lats, bring bar down to chest not shoulders.
Work to heavy set of 5

Work Capacity (20 min): 5 min at each station
1) Alternate between jumprope/jumping jacks and One-Arm DB Presses (20 or 25/10 or 15)
2) Alternate btw Empty Prowler push (walk/lunge) and farmer's carries
3) Alternate btw KB Swings and Hang Power Cleans (Empty Bar)
4) Alternate btw stepups (box or bench) and ring rows

052212: The Hangover

2012-05-21T18:11:56Z

Warmup (15 min): Burgener Warmup x 3

Power/Skill (30 min): Snatch or Clean & Jerk/Clean&Press 10x2 @ speed...
20 tire strikes between rounds

Conditioning (15 min): 3-4 rounds of...
10 DB swings/arm
10 DB presses/arm
10 DB jerks/arm

The Hangover: We pride ourselves, among other things, on talking some real talk here. CrossFit isn't all sunshine and roses, nor is this gym. Sometimes shit happens...

Something I've noticed recently is that, for most of the longer-tenured folks here, there's an awkward middle period. Awkward is probably not the right word, actually, so let's use uncertain.

We kick things off with a wonderful honeymoon. The movements are new, the stimulus is new, the environment is new, and everything is candy-coated with endorphins. Of course CrossFit Woodshed is the greatest place on earth!

And then, on the other side of the bridge: the movements are basic because basic works, the classes are structured because routine catalyses habit, I keep training here because my friends are awesome and keep me accountable.

In the middle...well, there's got to be a morning after. Your initial gains have petered out. You've seen a few too many of the same folks a few too many times. The guy with the beard who keeps yelling "all the way down" is starting to piss you off...what should you do to get over the hump? You talk to folks who've been here for years and they tell you to stick with it...what should you do?

1. Try a different class. Every class has its own vibe. Oddly--given its start time--the 6 AM has always been the most plainly industrious class. 7 AM has a more laid-back vibe...Noon is Noon, and so on. Feel like you've hit a plateau? Switch up your classtime and drink from a different fountain if possible. You'd be surprised at how deeply a time change once a week will color your routine.

2. Get to class on time. Of course I am going to find a way to shoehorn this in! Show up on time! 7 AM and 12 PM--your 5 minute flex time is meant solely for mediation of parking issues. Get here on the hour every hour (or on the forty-five, MWA!!!) and talk to your classmates. I've seen so much good information exchanged in the warmup period...give yourself the benefit of the full 55/60 minutes by getting here when the clock strikes.

3. Get Right With Your Goals. Like Sensei John Kreese said to Mr. Miyagi: what are you here for? What are you looking to do? Deep down in your gut, what do you want to get out of your time here? Handstand pushups? Alright, figure out how every single thing we do is going to contribute to your core engagement and overhead stability...when you squat, stabilize your midline and imagine that the tension you're producing is the selfsame tension you're going to use on your hspu. Whatever your goal is, there's precious little we do in here that won't hit it.

4. Challenge Yourself. If you're reading this, chances are I've gotten to you. You know that I don't think every athlete under the sun needs to train as though competition is nigh. Sometimes it actually is enough to get in here and check the box. All the same, what if that actually isn't enough? What if you hit our training and feel like you haven't challenged yourself? This one is the simplest:

Challenge Yourself.

Expect more of yourself. Hold yourself accountable for movement specifications--you know if you're squatting high or dipping your knees on a strict press. Make everything you do legit, and once you do, make it faster and crisper.

Expect more of yourself. You know if you're using a weight that is too heavy; you know if you have to muscle something up instead of letting form and the simple movement win the day. Expect more of your ego...drop down where you need to and kill the fuck out of every movement. Please believe me when I tell you that precision is its own reward. There is NOTHING like a perfectly executed clean. NOTHING.

Expect more of yourself. Then we can figure out if the hangover is going to hang around...

052112: Deeload is Deegroovy

2012-05-20T21:58:30Z

Warmup/Mobility (20 min): 4 rounds of...
10 box squats
Farmer's Carry (parking lot)
7 KB Swings
then
Roll out quads, IT bands, and hamstrings (10x/each part)

Strength (20 min): Squat
Deload via 3-4 sets of 5 reps @ 50%
Note: First month folks, set a max by working up to a relatively heavy set for max reps
Use formula of (Weight * Reps * .033)+Weight to determine your max

Between Sets:
Skill work w/Hang Power Clean (95/65/35)

Conditioning (15 min): 3 rounds of...
20 burpees (timed)
10 pullups/ring/rope rows
Rest 3 minutes

When 3rd round complete, subtract first round burpee time (in seconds) from third round burpee time.
Complete that many burpees as your fourth round (if applicable).

Reminder: No classes next Monday, Memorial Day--we will be hitting Memorial Day "Murph" from 8 AM-9:30 AM. Gym will close promptly at 9:30...there's your incentive to complete this Rx'd or scaled in less than 90 minutes!

051812: Fifty Shades of Woodshed

2012-05-17T22:28:55Z

Got your attention, didn't it?

"...smashed liquor bottles on the sidewalks and no one said a word. For me, it was a place where I didn't have to make comparisons..."
-James Lee Burke, Pegasus Descending

The internet, of course, is a funny place. You can pretty much say what you want without consequence--any wonder that brings out the worst and the best in folks?

In our little corner of a corner, here's what makes me chuckle: guys on strength forums who bend over backwards to assure their neighbors and their master (the website owner) that they do not consider themselves strong. I had to show three dudes at Gold's how to bench today, one might say, so I benched more than the three of them combined...and I'm not even strong!!

Now, it'd be tidy to wave a hand dismissively and sigh a nice, gusty sigh: "Ah, the interwebz." Except here's the thing--that sort of abasement for abasement's sake is well worth noting so that we can develop a good, healthy antipathy towards it. Settling your own sense of accomplishment under the klieg lights of an abstracted ideal isn't all that useful at the end of the day; more often than not, it's a pageant for the cheap seats and a stake right through the heart of progress.

If 'strong' to you means 'lifts as much as Ed Coan circa When Wide World of Sports Televised Powerlifting,' well, newsflash: you're probably fucked. You'll be weak sauce for the rest of your life, and you'll walk around apologizing for not hitting someone else's mark. If, however, you've defined what 'strong' means to you based on a reasonable assessment of where you are, how often and well you train, and where you'd like to hang out for a while, you can then set about the life's work of getting to where you want to go. As a strength athlete, I have a pretty decent idea of a baseline I'd like to establish: it's not audacious, but it'll take me a bit of time to get there, and while I'm looking forward to the ride, I'm not going to put on sackcloth and tear at my hair if someone decides to call me strong at some point along the way.

So too with being 'lean,' 'fit,' 'thin,' 'fast,' 'in good shape,' and so on. Define what these things mean to you, in usable, concrete terms. Understand where you are, and figure out where you want to go. Can you get there? You ought to be able to, if you've set the bar at a reasonable slot.

Now sure, it's useful to think about where we stand in the grand scheme of things. But only occasionally. Because really, we don't stand in the grand scheme of things all that often. We stand in the middle of our own lives. Make them better, one step at a time. Or like my man Pete said the other day, one set at a time.

Warmup: Deadlift Drillz
Singles @135/95/65

Work Capacity: 10 minute cap
Jumprope/Jumping Jacks
Pushups
Band Pullaparts
Situps
Lunges
Spiderman stretch
Bootstrapper squats

Strength: Deadlift
135/95/65@5 reps
Add 45s/25s/10s each set of 5
When set of 5 feels difficult (7-8 effort on scale of 10), finish with set of 2 upon next weight jump.

Ab Work:
Side Bends, 1-2x10/side
Hanging Leg Raises/Knee Raises (not Toes To Bar), 1-3x5-7

051712: Pullups, Ring Rows, Etc.

2012-05-16T21:19:43Z

Open Gym Thursday--all classes. We'll post a saucy bench press/row combination with a nice conditioning dessert for you all tomorrow.
***
Give us your pullups, your ring rows...check out Julie Barnes Maurer talking some lats and gats in this free download from the CrossFit Journal.

051612: She Bop

2012-05-15T23:19:06Z

Warmup: 5 min of...
5 hindu pushups
10 glute bridges
15 water-over-the-back

Skill Work: (20 min)
Kip Swings
Kip/Hips
or
Row 200m repeats (3-5: heels/pull, return/bend)

Conditioning: (10 min--Low Intensity)
10 reps of each...
Goat Bag Swings
Bat Wing Rows (Hold for 1 sec)
Jumping Jacks
Pushups
Goblet Squats

Strength: (15 min)
Press, work to heavy double

051512: Snatch

2012-05-14T22:32:48Z

Warmup: (15 min) Bow and Arrow PVC Work, Snatch

Skill Work: (25 min) PVC Snatch (Pull Down into Full Squat/Split)
or...
Snatch, 75% for 7-8 sets of 2

Conditioning: (10 min--8 min cap) "Eight Is Enough"
5 rounds of...
8 DB Split Jerk
10 Pullups (Ring Rows/DB Rows)
18 Situps

Cooldown: 5 min stretch

CrossFit For Hope: Please join us at 12 PM on Saturday, June 9. We'll be working out to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. If you are interested (and please note that this workout can be scaled with substitutions for ANYONE, so its perceived difficulty should not prevent ANYONE from signing up), please head over here, create a page (choosing CrossFit Woodshed as your affiliate), and start the fundraising.

We'll be putting up a signup sheet for heats: I really want to get a ton of you in here to work hard and raise money for a cause I think we can all agree is incredibly, incredibly worthy.

So please, head over to the CrossFit For Hope page, sign up, and let's help support St. Jude's.

051412: Arsenio Hall

2012-05-13T15:00:24Z

Warmup: (10 min)
1a. (5 min) Goblet/Box Jump/Spiderman
1b. (5 min) Stretching/Rolling

Strength: (25 min)
Squat, Work to 75%x2, 85%x2, 90%x2
Backoff set at 50%x12

Conditioning: "Arsenio Hall" (15 min)
Sprint 3 rounds of...
10 KB Swings
5 lateral burpees (hop over KB)
One-Arm Farmer's Carry to Curb
KB Sprint Length of Lot
10 Tuck Jumps
One-Arm Farmer's Carry Back to Gym
Rest as needed between rounds

Mobility: (5 min)
Cooldown Stretch