Thursday 030731

Rest Day

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Mike Weaver finishes Tuesday's Wallball exercise with 150 shots in 4:52. Greg Amundson and Dave Leys tied with 150 shots in 5:30.

Wednesday 030730

Complete three rounds for time:
Run 800 meters
20 “Toes-to-bars”
Deadlift BW, 21 reps

Post time to comments.

Loyd performs the “Toes to Bar” by hanging from the pull-up bar and bringing his toes to the bar without bending his legs or arms.

Use USA Gymnastics to find a gymnastics meet near you. If you are working with your parallettes and rings you’ll find that every gymnastics meet you attend teaches you something valuable about human movement.

Tuesday 030729

Complete 5 rounds of:
Start the Wall-Ball exercise and see how long you can stay ahead of these milestones and at failure, rest two minutes and perform max set of pull-ups:
1/2 minute – 12 shots
1 minute – 25 shots
1 1/2 minutes – 37 shots
2 minutes – 50 shots
2 1/2 - 62 shots
3 minutes – 75 shots
3 1/2 minutes – 87 shots
4 minutes – 100 shots
4 1/2 minutes – 112 shots
5 minutes – 125 shots
5 1/2 minutes – 137 shots
6 minutes – 150 shots

Use 20-pound ball and ten-foot target.
Rest three minutes between rounds.
Post Wall-Ball time and pull-up total for each round. E.G., 4/28,3/20,2:30/15,2:30/11,2/9.

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Ryan Atkins has taken the CrossFit concept to heart and home. Left, his daughter Julia age 4 on the rope. Right, the Atkins’ gym. Julia will never forget these workouts with Dad.

From Tulsa World of Gymnastics Stay Tight!, Stay Tight! (Part II), and Stay Tight! (Part III).

Monday 030728

Warm-up and find max clean
Test max push-ups
Rest
Complete five rounds for time of:
50% max clean 12 reps
50% max push-ups

Add max clean (pounds) to max push-ups (reps) and divide by time (seconds) to completion for circuit. Post score to comments.

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Kelly Moore’s basement gym. Beautiful! Send pictures of your gym or workout to greg@crossfit.com.

From USA Gymnastics Understanding Body Tension. The elements of a very productive workout are here!

Sunday 030727

Rest Day

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The six a.m. team heads out.

Saturday 030726

Complete for time:
30 Kettlebell (or Dumbbell swings)
30 Sit-ups
25 Kettlebell or Dumbbell swings
25 Sit-ups
20 Kettlebell Swings
20 Sit-ups
15 Kettlebell Swings
15 Sit-ups
10 Kettlebell Swings
10 Sit-ups
5 Kettlebell Swings
5 Sit-ups

Be brave; grab that bigger Kettlebell or Dumbbell! Post load and time to completion to comments.

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IronMInd’s Kettlebell takes standard plates that attach with super secure Bulldog II collars. We prefer the cast iron Kettlebell but this is a more flexible and cheaper alternative - two handles and collars for $100.

Friday 030725

Complete 4 rounds for time:
Row 500 meters (or run 400-meters)
15 Handstand Push-ups
Rope Climb “double up”

Do handstand push-ups on parallettes. “Double up” is two roundtrips from seated with only “touch and go” between ascents. Post time to comments.

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Kelly Moore joins Eva Twardokens and Erin Pierce in becoming the third female to perform the muscle-up. She is also the female record holder with three consecutive muscle-ups. Congratulations!

Don’t be left behind on parallette training. Gymnastics champions Jay Thornton and Steve McCain of American Gymnast have put together the definitive guide to parallette training, "Success Begins at Home - A Parallette Training Guide."

Thursday 030724

10 “Windshield Wipers”
With a 10RM load perform a very slow deadlift with a thirty-second travel to lockout and a thirty second travel to ground. Rest. Repeat for total of 10 reps.
10 “Windshield Wipers”

Tuesday, July 22 shows Loyd doing a “Windshield Wiper”. Both left and right positions constitute a single rep. If you can’t do the Wipers, struggle with them anyways for ten minutes before and after the deadlifts.

For deadlift use alternate grip, hook grip, parallel grips, whatever, don’t let go. Don’t speed up.

Relentlessly, Patrick Johnston works for the muscle-up. Here he’s practicing the transition in the harness. His hands are too far away from his body to enjoy success.

Treat yourself to a new abdominal exercise from Tulsa World of Gymnastics. Warm-ups should consist in fair part of meaningful trunk work.

Wednesday 030723

Rest Day

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Greg Amundson and Loyd Lewis, two CrossFit superstars, suffering through Sunday’s (030720) 400-meter lunge and press.

Here from USA Gymnastics is a piece entitled “Why Gymnastics?” on the benefits of gymnastics by Bill Sand, PhD. of the University of Utah.

Congratulations to Michael Rutherford for winning our Hang Clean competition (Monday, 030714) and Brad Harakawa and Kelly Moore for winning our muscle-up competition (Thursday, 030717). The Clydesdale division of the muscle-up competition is still open for claim. Michael, Kelly, Brad let us know (Lauren@crossfit.com) what size and where to send your CrossFit T-shirts!

Tuesday 030722

Run 5 K

Post time to comments.

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Loyd Lewis does "Windshield Wipers".

Monday 030721

For time:
15 pull-ups
15 sit-ups
13 pull-ups
13 sit-ups
11 pull-ups
11 sit-ups
9 pull-ups
9 sit-ups
7 pull-ups
7 sit-ups
5 pull-ups
5 sit-ups
3 pull-ups
3 sit-ups
1 pull-up
1 sit-up

Post time to comments.

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Practice handstand push-ups, and learn to press to a handstand on your rings. Here Loyd Lewis does a bent arm, bent leg press to a handstand leaning on the straps.

Sunday 030720

Weighted walking lunge/push-press for 400 meters.

Four lunge steps, alternating legs, followed by 5 reps of push-press repeated through 400 meters. Rack and press from back, front, or alternate at will. Rest when and where needed but clock keeps running.

Divide load carried (pounds) by time to completion (seconds) and post to comments.

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The one armed push-jerk is a potent athletic exercise that quickly reveals left or right-sided dominance and demands midline stabilization and control

Saturday 030719

Rest Day

Athena eats raw chicken legs, desiccated beef liver, grass, and fish oil. She’s preparing for Mike Rutherford’s Boot Camp.

Steve Maxwell trains smart.

Friday 030718

Row 1K
Tabata Snatch
Row 1K

Max effort on rows. Rest as needed before and after Snatch efforts. Tabata protocol is 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for eight intervals. Post row times and Tabata Snatch score (load and fewest reps of 8 intervals) to comments. E.G. 3:10, 155 lbs. 6 reps, 3:21.

Firefighter Luisa Schuster joins the ranks of Eva Twardokens, Erin Pearce, and Kelly Moore on becoming our fourth female to join the Muscle-up Club.

Thursday 030717

How many muscle-ups can you do in thirty minutes?

Take dip to lockout! Post reps to comments.

A CrossFit "Forging Elite Fitness" t-shirt will be awarded for the most consecutive muscle-ups in each of three divisions: open class, women, and Clydesdales (200 + lbs.).

This breaks the three-way tie (Brad H, Robb. W, and Loyd L.) from the CrossFit Journal muscle-up contest! If you still don’t have rings check this out and do as many pull-ups and dips as you can in as few sets as possible in thirty minutes. Don’t let a lack of rings limit your fitness.

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The one arm barbell deadlift gives great opportunity to train midline stabilization and control. Work slowly and diligently to keep the load from distorting your posture – do not tilt towards the load.

Great grip practice! Keep the bar level. Both ends of the bar should leave and find the ground simultaneously. (Practice your hook grip.)

Wednesday 030716

Two rounds of:
Right arm barbell push-press 12 reps
Left arm deadlift 12 reps
Run 800 meters
Left arm barbell push-press 12 reps
Right arm deadlift 12 reps
Run 800 meter

Go heavy, run fast. Post time to completion and loads to comments.

Another sit-up - this one from the USAWA. Ancor the feet, and sit-up keeping the arms locked well behind the ears.

"If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I wouldn't pass it
around. Wouldn't be doing anybody a favor. Trouble creates a capacity to handle it. I don't say embrace trouble. That's as bad as treating it as an enemy. But I do say, meet it as a friend, for you'll see a lot of it and had better be on speaking terms with it."

- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
(1841-1935, American Judge)

Tuesday 030715

Rest Day

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Dave Leys is performing a “crucifix”. Starting with two dumbbells locked out overhead, lower them until the arms are locked and horizontal. Though non-functional, this is a fun exercise. Mixed with handstand practice the crucifix is great training for an inverted cross on the rings. When you are able to lower dumbbells totaling your bodyweight to horizontal, hold for five seconds, and return to overhead you’ll be strong enough to hold, and pull-out of, the inverted cross.

Check out Joe Eigo of Multilevel Moves!

Monday 030714

Hang Clean

60% BW x V reps
70% BW x W reps
80% BW x X reps
90% BW x Y reps
100% BW x Z reps

Maximize V, W, X, Y, and Z. Rest as needed between sets. Post V, W, X, Y, and Z. Biggest V+W+X+Y+Z = total wins Pukie T-shirt.

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Dave Leys’ performs Wrestler’s Bridge, Pullover, and Press.

LEO’s take heed: “A Completely Criminal Exercise Program” by Ken Andes of Rutgers Eskrima Club. (Don't let the first paragraph summons Pukie - read on.)

Sunday 030713

Five rounds, each for time of:

20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats

Rest precisely five minutes between each round. Post time for each of five rounds to comments. E.G., 3:30, 4:10, 5:05, 6:18, 7:51

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A sit-up on the glute-ham developer becomes easier as the hip angle decreases. A length of rubber tubing can be used to reverse this.

Saturday 030712

Inman Mile

From the U.S. All-Round Weightlifting Association, USAWA: “The lifter will have loaded onto his/her shoulders a weight equal to 150% of bodyweight. The lifter will then carry the weight a distance of one mile. Gait is optional. Resting is allowed, but neither the lifter nor the weight may be supported. Records will be kept in both pounds and time. Should the weight be touched by any aide once the lift has begun, the event is terminated. The lifter may be handed refreshments during the lift.”

This is hard, and for many impossible. Start with 150% of bodyweight and see how far you can take it. Then, if not able to make the mile, rest and start again with largest load you estimate can be carried for a mile regardless of time. Post load, bodyweight, and time to comments.

Friday 030711

Rest Day

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CrossFit’s Deputy Greg Amundson 2003 California Police and Fire Games winner:

Gold Medal, TCA (Toughest Cop/Competitor Alive)
Silver Medal, Distance Swim
Silver Medal, Bench & Deadlift
4th Overall Open-Class, Triathlon

You’re looking at a triathlete, CrossFit style. Greg had never done or practiced for a triathlon before this summer’s Police and Fire Games. We don’t do “aerobics” or distance training at CrossFit, but that doesn’t stop our athletes from turning in winning performances in triathlons, adventure races, or anything else they enter.

Anaerobic training (in both PC and Glycolytic pathways) across multiple and widely mixed functional movements confers an athletic capacity that readies an athlete for strong performance at any task. Athletes so trained are no less developed aerobically than any marathoner, cyclist, swimmer, or triathlete. Period.

Congratulations, Greg!

Thursday 030710

For thirty minutes:
Five pull-ups
Five ring dips
15 Sit-ups

Post rounds completed in thirty minutes to comments. E.G. 21 2/3 rounds. If you (still) don’t have rings perform 10 dips per round. Where needed, break each set of five into manageable chunks.

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This is a tough sit-up, really tough. We found some gravity boots at a garage sale for $4. Jimmy Baker, looking great and pushing 60, is reaching for the bar with the boots attached to the bar. On the right, "Young Zack" demonstrates the same “hanging sit-up” in our ankle harness and ring-spotting rig.

“When the arms bend, the power ends.”

- Lincoln Brigham on the Clean

Wednesday 030709

Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5-5-5 reps

Post all seven sets and total to comments.

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There are movements that will never make it to your local gym and they include some of the best exercises ever known. There is a collection of them known as “the odd lifts”. It would be foolish to ignore these lifts. It would be even more foolish to approach them with other than extreme caution.

Some of these lifts place enormous demands on stabilizing muscle; others are very functional. Some are as demanding of cardiorespiratory function as running, while others train for teamwork or coordination.

From USAWA United States All-Round Weightlifting Association, check out these lifts:

Tuesday 030708

For time:
Back Squat 20 reps
Run 800 meters
Back Squat 15 reps
Run 800 meters
Back Squat 10 reps
Run 800 meters

Use same load for all three squat sets. Scored by dividing squat load (pounds) by time to completion (seconds). E.G., 315 lbs./720 seconds = .438

The two-man clean and jerk is a staple of the All-Round Weightlifting Association. Here, Tom and Kevin work out some of the kinks in their cleans learning to synchronize movements. Interestingly, their final compromised effort was a big improvement on both lifters’ technique.

Monday 030707

Rest Day

Stairmaster has discontinued the Gravitron and used ones are becoming tough to find. Everyone needs more pull-ups and dips and the Gravitron has been a flexible tool for both developing a pull-up and dip in untrained people and for increasing pull-up and dip volume post exhaustion in more advanced athletes.

Sunday 030706

Complete 10 rounds of:
5 Handstand Push-ups
5 “L” Pull-ups

Handstand push-ups begin at shoulder stand, not headstand – use parallettes. On “L” pull-ups heels don’t fall below butt and legs remain straight. Chop up sets only where forced to. Post time to comments.

The impact of “the board” is tremendous. The board makes private performances public, reveals rankings, inspires competition, and begs acknowledgement. Finish your gym in marker board.

Saturday 030705

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of the triplet:

Deadlift: 1.5 x bodyweight
Bench press: bodyweight
Clean: .75 x bodyweight

Set up three bars and storm through for time. Post time to comments.

"All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move."

Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790, American Scientist, Publisher, Diplomat)

Our favorite plate loaded dumbbell is IronMind’s “Olympic Husky Handle” dumbbells with Bulldog clamps, which take Olympic plates. These are loaded with two tens each and total 32.5 pounds apiece.

Friday 030704

Complete 30 rounds:
Left leg squat
Right leg squat
Muscle-up

Complete workout whether or not you can perform the one-legged squat or muscle-up. Find a method of assistance if needed for either exercise. One legged squats are performed with the non load bearing leg held out straight in front.

Post time to completion in comments.

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From the July ’03 CrossFit Journal, “The Clean”, this picture shows the foot placement for the clean. The inside and forward foot position is the foot placement for the pull and the wider and rearward posture is where the bar is caught on diving under. The general direction of the clean is up and slightly backward.

Thursday 030703

Rest Day

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A great shoulder stretch. Healthy shoulders will allow the hands to meet regardless of which hand comes from top or bottom. It looks in this picture as though James' left shoulder has a problem.

Wednesday 030702

75 Sit-ups
65-Pound Tabata Front Squat
75 Sit-ups

Rest as needed between squats and sit-ups. Try to complete sit-ups in as few sets as possible. Tabata squat score is least number of squats in any of the eight intervals.

Post time as set count for first sit-ups, Tabata squat score, and set count for second set of sit-ups. E.G., “1,13,2”

Coach Derek Ray of the Florida Police Corps has made effective use of swimming drills in his CrossFit programming. (Florida’s cops swim.) There aren’t many programs combining the clean and jerk with swim sprints! Here, Derek's cadets do poolside sit-ups.

Tuesday 030701

For time:

5 X Rope Climb (5 distinct ascents)
10 Handstand push-ups
4 X Rope climb
8 Handstand push-ups
3 X Rope climb
6 Handstand push-ups
2 X Rope climb
4 Handstand push-ups
1 X Rope climb
2 Handstand push-ups

Post time to comments.

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Greg Amunsdon taking his 200 lb sandbag for a walk.