I call this 'criminal exercise' the Alcatraz Bodybuilder. It's a cornerstone movement in my BOOT CAMP FITNESS PROGRAM. You can use a high tech overload while wearing THE JUPITER VEST http://www.bootcampfitnesskc.com/jupitervest.htm

Thanks for the link Lauren & Greg.

I'm 90% sure that was Pelican Bay, which is in the Upper Bay somewhere, on the Sausalito side I believe. It was in Men's Health or one of those magazines.

(1) Pelican Bay is WAY up north . . . more like Crescent City than Sausalito (San Quentin is near Sausalito (physically . . . their about a billion miles apart psychologically)).

(2) This is a pretty cool workout. I've used it lots of times on the road in my hotel room . . . quite a challenge in the middle range (around the 18 - 16 sets) when you're tired, but the sets aren't short yet. Takes me about 25 minutes to get through it. You can also do it if you're stuck in a hotel "exercise facility" with no real weights . . . just do a few of whatever you like (chinups?) between rounds to add some more variety.

(3) Actually, if you've ever had the opportunity to watch truly high-level executive-types in action in their native habitat (a board room), you will see one sense in which the first paragraph is accurate. (In a coincidence, this is what I'm usually doing when I'm on the road, doing this workout . . . )

The dominant feature there is an utter and complete ruthlessness, and a complete lack of concern for the human qualities of the "other side" (other companies, other VPs who might someday be competitive colleagues, current employees during a cost-cutting spree, whatever). I suspect that this is at least one aspect which (some) people on the "outside" share with those "inside".

Dave

My bad on Pelican Bay's location. I haven't lived in the Bay Area in a long time. As far as the ethics issue, I recommend "What would Machiavelli do?" (It's a book) to anyone who wants to know how the world really works. Based on my experience (I'm in sales dealing with everyone from CEO's to admin's), he's dead on, even when he's supposedly kidding.

That's my bit for the month. I'll be posting my results in about two weeks when I get to this workout.

Sorry, Barry . . . I didn't mean to make anything of the geography thing. I apologize if I gave offense.

I agree completely about "WWMD" (What Would Machiavelli Do) . . . the author, Stanley Bing, does a great job of bringing "The Prince" up to date in a modern context. The only about that book I found troubling is that he's so flippant in his tone, you believe that "He's got to be kidding! They can't REALLY be like that!" . . . when, as you say, he's dead on.

He has another book "How to throw the elephant" ("throw" in the Judo sense) which treats the whole problem of care and feeding of the elephant (your boss) as a problem in Zen Buddhism. Equally funny, and equally accurate.

Best Regards,
David

I opted for the "criminal workout" today in place of WOD. My forearms are desperate for a break - getting older is no fun, I don't recover so fast anymore. I haven't done squat-thrusts since grade school. They weren't fun then either. Adding the jump at the end made for some amusing moments. I was half tripping over myself near the end. I forgot to do the pushups until set 12. Probably a good thing since I was staggering through those too at the end. Time 20:19. The cat on my lap looks like he is sitting on top of a washing machine my calves are shaking so hard!

I'm a bit new to the site so I'll have to ask: What is the deal with the V, W, X, Y, and Z? Doeseach letter represent a specific number or the number of reps you can complete just short of failure?

I'm a day behind on workouts. After the last 3 days of training, I need to give it a rest. I'll post my results for today's WOD tomorrow. I'm going for the T-shirt! Do I still qualify if I do it tomorrow though?

Ross

V-Z sets are entirely up to you and your ability. See how many reps of each weight you can perform without stopping. Then add up the rep totals.

Hope this helps.

Cas,
We will give you a week to turn the numbers in.
Good Luck!

v+w+x+y+z=40
BW=205lbs just before begining the workout.

This was my first time doing hang cleans. I weigh 170. 60%= 20 reps. 70%= 9 reps. 80%= 7 reps. 90%=3 reps. I tried for a 4th and almost hurt myself, so I didn't attempt 100%. Instead, I went back down to a low weight and worked on form. It was fun though.

Total = 39 reps.

Final score, at a bodyweight of 84kg (185lbs) was 40.

60% = 23 reps
70% = 11 reps
80% = 5 reps
90% = 1 rep
100% = 0 reps

Used 5 min rest between sets.

Went for it on the first and second sets, reasoning that a rep at 60% was equal to a rep at 100% for the purposes of scoring. A reasonable strategy, but I paid for it on the later sets. Ordinarily a hang clean at 85kg wouldn't have been a problem.

BW of 158

60% = 95 lbs: 25 reps
70% = 110 lbs: 17 reps
80% = 125 lbs: 9 reps
90% = 145 lbs: 4 reps
100% = 160 lbs: 0 reps
Total 55 Reps

4-5 minutes rest between sets. I made 3 separate attempts to get even one rep at 100%, with an additional minute of rest between each try; no good.

Like Don, I went for everything I could on the first two sets. It was a little tricky to decide when to call it quits in the early sets (the last 3 sets were no problem; that decision was made for me by the weight).

If we're allowed to just hold onto the bar and gasp for as long as we want between reps, the first set might go on for quite a while. I decided to call it over and done with when I couldn't keep up a pace of "one rep for every two breaths" (about one repetition every two seconds).

If a faster pace is required, then set 1 was probably about 20 reps (that's where I began to need 2 breaths per rep), and set 2 about 14 reps.

I think the forearms are clobbered by this more than anything.

Like the guys that went earlier in the process, set number one might have been in the thirties but I know that the last two workouts my endurance in the heat has been miserable so I dumped. If you master the hook grip then the early sets are really the key to a higher score.

120 x 25

140 x 21

160 x 20

180 x 13 (lost the all important hook grip)

200 x 10 (lost the all important hook grip)

89 factor

5:00 RI Between Sets

120 = 25
140 = 12
160 = 7
180 = 2
200 = 0

Total V-Z = 46

The guys are right about going strong in the first couple of sets. It's hard to judge where you should stop. I sucked in the last 2 sets. I couldn't budge my BW of 200#s. Getting stronger everyday. But still have a long way to go!

Whoa Michael! You're an animal! Where can I learn that hook grip? Not that I could pump out as many as you anyway. But, I could use all the help I can get!

Coach Greg has a link and some commentary on the hook grip with the June 19th WOD. Once you get it locked it's a world of difference.

Michael:

10 reps on the last set! Outstanding! (I have a feeling that there's more to this performance than *just* the hook grip (like, maybe, all those "load and go" snatches?).

Congratulations on the impending T-shirt acquisition!

I think it would be real interesting to do this workout in reverse order (start with 100%). You'd need a thorough warm-up before starting at that load, but I wonder if we'd get more, or fewer, total reps?

Also, if we did this workout as power cleans (from the floor, rather than the hang), would you get more reps? Or fewer reps?

I usually find power cleans easier (I think), because I can put more leg and hip muscle into them (even though the weight has to move farther). But I've never tried to max out with power cleans under these conditions, so I'm not sure what I'd get . . .

Michael, Dave,
Rut, the “criminal exercise” seems like pure Boot Camp Fitness. I should have guessed. I’m glad you use the vest instead of leg irons and chains. Jason, one of our trainers includes a 12-15” vertical leap to a pull-up bar and pull-up in the standup portion of the burpie and calls the move a “pukie.”

Dave, Barry
The point about the boardroom exec’s being like criminals reminds me of an ironic observation attributed to, I believe, Thomas Jefferson that the differences between men were very small but that those differences were profound.

I’ve not read, “What would Machiavelli do? But I’ve read (and reread) The Prince. I’ll look for “How to Throw the Elephant”. Have you guys read Greene’s “48 Laws of Power”? I think it’s important to know how assholes operate. The reviews on Amazon – pro and con – sold me.

Dave, Cas, Michael, Barry, Don,
This workout originally posted as 100%-90%-80%-70%-60% (low to high) but we took it down quickly when we realized that it could be “cheated” by taking zeros at 100,90,80, and 70 and only really “going for it” at 60%. The original direction would have been my first choice for impact. Dave, I’d bet that the totals wouldn’t be as good going from big to little, no? Had I the skills I’d make a calculation figuring a factor for fatigue and generate a model that would shed light on the advantages of working from either way. (I think about these kinds of things too much.) What are your guys guesses on which direction would on average generate larger sums?

If you gent’s (and ma’am) find a way to cheat a workout let me know. It’s a valuable learning experience for us. In the case of this configuration I don’t think there was a cheat available. I think we’d all agree that cutting short the 60% set wouldn’t add equal reps on the 100% side.

Finally, as posted I wouldn’t expect a max score to have allowed for reps at 100% whereas from larger to smaller (the way we first posted and removed) more of you would have been able to clean bodyweight. (Rut’s not human.)

What a crew!!

Coach

I think I might get fewer with the 100%-90% etc. sequencing, but I'm not certain.

(In theory, if you really took all the rest you needed between sets, then it wouldn't matter what order you did them in . . . you'd approach each one completely fresh and get a true maximum effort. In practice, we're usually so impatient, and/or we're so habituated to working for speed, that I think we all took less time to recover between sets than we could have.)

I'm thinking it might be fairly close . . . we'd obviously get more on the 100% set . . . I think I could do 4 or 5 (at least 3 or 4) if I was "fresh". Since most of the reps are in the 70% and 60% set, however, the question is, how many would you lose off those sets if you came to them after true max efforts at 100, 90, and 80?

Here's a complicated way to equalize the scoring . . . multiply the reps on each set by the percentage of bodyweight used. With that, my 25 reps on the first set (60% bw) only scores as 15, my 17 reps at 70% only scores as 12, etc.

It's complicated, but it gives the exerciser the challenge of trying to decide whether to go all out on the light sets, or "save something" for the heavier sets that count for more.

(Warning: this is what happens when you ask a mathetical consultant these kinds of questions: you get gibberish.)

I think with this weighted scoring technique, I would get a better overall total going 100-90-80 rather than 60-70-80.

Regarding the "48 Laws of Power", yes, that's another great book. I'm not sure it's quite as "practical" as The Prince . . . it's more like a commentary on all the different paths and ways there are to accumulate power, with lots of examples of historical characters who used those paths (the 48 laws), or failed to observe the "laws", and thus fell from power. But since several of the laws seem to fairly well contradict each other, the reader still has to figure out on their own which one to apply in his/her particular situation.

The same author (Greene) has another book "The Art of Seduction" written along the same lines ("laws" to follow, historical examples of how it works (or doesn't work), and a few counterexamples of people who ignored the law and still succeeded).

I'd love to order the book from Amazon, but I think my wife would laugh herself silly when she saw me reading it . . .

Looks like Rutherford has this one.
Micheal, the Pukie shirt is yours!
(I know you already have one, do you want a different shirt?)

15(140)-12(165)-9(190)-2(215)-0(235)=38. I should have read the posts before I did this, since I had already done the first set when I realized that the early sets count the same as the later sets, so why not go all out on the first two-three, and not worry too much about the heavier ones. I would have had at least 5-10 more reps, since I had plenty of gas left when I stopped on set one. I like heavy weights, so that probably clouded my judgement a little. Saving energy in this case is not such a hot idea. The heavy sets didn't like me today.

I finished off with 2x15x135 Zuercher deadlifts, and 2 sets of five Russian Hanging Leg Raises. Overall, I feel good compared to how I felt after yesterday's workout.