Justin's Blog

Monday, 11 October 2010

2010-10-10T22:32:00.000-07:00

Deadlifts 5 x 10 @ 50.5kgs

For Time:
30 - 20 - 10
Dumbbell Swings
Toes to Bar

Time: 7:04

Saturday, 9 October 2010

2010-10-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Workout at a mates house.

Death by strict pull ups. On the first minute perform one strict pull up, on the second minute 2, the third 3 etc. they must be unbroken

Then 2k Hill run

Then 5 x 5 strict pull ups

Monday, 4 October 2010

2010-10-03T23:12:00.000-07:00

10 Rounds:
One round consists of the following:

One Arm DB Power Clean Right
One Arm DB Front Squat Right
One Arm DB Push Press Right
One Arm DB Front Squat Right
One Arm DB Push Press Right

then switch hands....

One Arm DB Power Clean Left
One Arm DB Front Squat Left
One Arm DB Push Press Left
One Arm DB Front Squat Left
One Arm DB Push Press Left

*Do Not Drop The Weight. Do Not Set It Down.

*If weight is dropped, count number of drops and perform an equal amount of burpees as a penalty.

Then

10 Rounds:
10 meter Hill Sprint
5 - Broad Jump 4 stairs (about 1.5 meters long 0.75m High)

I didn't time either but the hill sprints and broad jumps was around 10-11 minutes

Friday, 1 October 2010

2010-10-01T01:28:00.000-07:00

For Time:
15 - 10 - 5
Rock Squat Cleans
Muscle Ups

Time: 12:38
Squat Cleans really tested my balance at the bottom of my squat :s landed on my ass a few times.

This is what I do when I get bored at 10PM on a Wednesday night, and my arms look super tiny.

Thursday, 30 September 2010

2010-09-30T00:49:00.000-07:00

For Time:
5 Power Cleans @ 50.5kg
5 Double Unders
5 power Cleans
10 Double Unders
5 Power Cleans
15 Double Unders
5 Power Cleans
20 Double Unders
5 Power Cleans
25 Double Unders
5 Power Cleans
Run 1k

Time: 9:41
Happy that I got sub ten :)

Wednesday, 29 September 2010

2010-09-29T01:00:00.000-07:00

Bodyweight Lynne:
5 Rounds For Max Reps:
Strict Ring Dips
Pull Ups
Rest as required
Score: 136 reps with ring pull ups
That score is almost the same as my Lynne (Bench/Pull ups)score.

Tuesday, 28 September 2010

2010-09-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

10 Rounds For Time:
5 - 50kg Front Squat
10 - Push Ups

Time: 9:20

This workout made me feel like shit, I felt like puking 3 seperate times! Last two days I had rest days, origionally was jsut going to be the Sunday of, but yesterday I was just so tired, damn.

I've forgotten the feeling that comes with working out outside in the hottest part of the day, its not the same nostalgic feel I had about it a few months ago.

And just want to say Thanks to everyone for your support!!

Saturday, 25 September 2010

2010-09-25T00:24:00.000-07:00

5 Rounds:
Where 1 Round is:
Pick up and move heavy rock 15 Meters
Sprint that 15 meters touch the floor and sprint back to the rock.

Then

Run 2Km (1.25 miles)

This workout killed my legs, my 2k time was 50 seconds slower than my previous time...

Today I wasn't in the mood at all to workout, I was in the mood to think about working out and to make workouts, but not to do them, but I feel a lot better now that I have finished my workout. Just goes to show that exersise really does have an effect on your mental and emotional health :)

Knee Problems When Running?
This is very common and can be caused by the running technique reffered to as "Heel Strike." Pose Running or Forefoot Running takes pressure of the knee joints and creates a more efficient way of running. Take a look.

An easy way of eliminating the heel strike is to run bare foot, the human body naturally runs on the forefoot, if you look at running shoes they are crafted so the heel deliberatley strikes the floor first, which is stupid. Shoes that allow forefoot running easily are any flat soled or Vibram Five Fingers.

This video shows the difference and how to change your running style.

Friday, 24 September 2010

2010-09-24T04:09:00.000-07:00

3 Rounds For Time:
10 Muscle Ups
10 Rock Deadlifts
10 Box Jumps Approx 36-40 inch

Time: 10:02

Kind of annoyed I didn't finish sub ten but oh well I was happy with my muscle ups first ten unbroken, then two sets of 5, and last round was kind of atrocious and I had to redo the last one :(
Deadlifts were using a rock because of two reasons:
1. I do not have sufficient weights at home to do deadlifts.
2. Oddly shaped objects are harder to lift than uniform ones. This is important because when doign manual labor there are a lot of objects with uneven weight distribution and the point of CrossFit is to do "Functional Movements."

Muscle Ups.

These are great points on muscle up technique although for proper range of motion at the bottom your arms must be straight and you must turn the rings away from yourself, also reffered to as "Turn out lock out"

Thursday, 23 September 2010

2010-09-23T01:52:00.000-07:00

Bench Press 7-5-3-2-1-1
55(wtf Have done 55 for 11 reps before), 60, 62.5, 65, 67.5, 70(fail) kgs

Front Squat 5-5-5-3-2-1-1
50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 72.5, 75 kgs

Bench Form:

Back should be flat on the bench, no curves. The bar should be over between your nipples to bottom of ribcage and the bar should move straight up and down and contact the chest on the way down.

Front Squats:
How are they different to Back squats?
The back squat is more hip orientated and works the posterior chain more than the front squat due to the load being straight above the hips and pushing the torso to bend forwards, when the back should be upright the whole way through, the load pushign the torso forwards forces the back to tighten and this is why your lower back will hurt (Good Pain) after back squats.

Front squats are more just quadracept dominated, more raw strength I guess you could call it, as the bar is rested on your shoulders it is over your hips but not pushing you forward because your elbows are super high and holding the bar in place :)

This pic isn't of me. As the load become greater he will need to raise his elbows or it will become increasingly hard to hold the bar up.

Wednesday, 22 September 2010

2010-09-22T01:48:00.000-07:00

Holding the barbell was a challenge with the state my hands were in.

5 Rounds For Time:
10 - Overhead Squat (OHS) @ 40kgs
20 - Sit Ups

Time: 9:56

Today I found the OHS particularly difficult today for some reason.

Why hold things overhead?
The overhead squat requires a combination of integrated functional strength, flexibility and neuromuscular efficiency. So it is just super functional. But the overhead position, expecially with weight uses your whole core to stabilize the load above the head, your abs and lower back are tight holding the weight there, as soon as they relax the weight will drop either forwards or backwards. I found the first time that I performed OHS in a workout, the next day, my abs were stuffed. So this comes back to the saying I was once told "If you want abs, squat" The squat uses the core to keep the body upright and when a load is added this is harder, and when a load is added overhead again even harder, this is really emphasizing load on the core muscles.

Tuesday, 21 September 2010

2010-09-21T02:54:00.000-07:00

Today’s Workout was in pairs

As one person rows 500m the other completes as many reps as possible (AMRAP) of pull ups. When the first person finishes their row they swap places, each person must complete three rows.Your score is your total reps for pull ups.
My Score:116 (40+43+33)
Rows were approximately: 1:50, 2:05, 2:00

Proper grip for Pull Ups.
Which I today, did not use. Usually my hands will split and start bleeding, but something different happened today
This:

And This:

Usually my hands are placed on the bar just along the line where my fingers start, this causes common calluses and some tears which are to be expected and sometimes some more "severe" I guess tears where a few layers come off and I will start to bleed. Really, this doesn't bother me because compared to the pains I like to call "Good pain" which is the pain you will usually get from working out, tired and sore muscles, even DOMS, the pain in my hands is nothing :) But anyway, how this happened? I placed the bar in the center of my palms, causing the skin to be pushed together at the base of my fingers, which temporarily was a bit of relief on my hands, but having all my weight on this grouped skin caused bursting of blood cells etc. etc. and hey presto Blood Blisters yay...

Note to self: Do not do that again!

Monday, 20 September 2010

2010-09-20T03:35:00.000-07:00

Todays workout was

3 Rounds For Time:

10 - Clean and Jerk 40kgs

30 - Air squats

Time: 6.27

Want to take your skipping to the next level?

Why "Functional Movements"?

2010-09-19T01:50:00.000-07:00

Functional Movements are movements that are based on real worlds situations that recruit multiple muscle groups, use multiple joints and force them to work together to pull/push the load, they almost always require work from the bodies core muscles. So all of you looking for Abs, do functional movements and you will get them faster.

Curls, lateral raises, leg extensions, leg curls, flyes and other body building movements
have no place in a serious strength and conditioning program primarily because they have
a blunted neuroendocrine response. A distinctive feature of these relatively worthless
movements is that they have no functional analog in everyday life and they work only
one joint at a time. Compare this to the deadlift, clean, squat, and jerk which are functional
and multi-joint movements. - Greg Glassman

There is speculation on what the 9 fundemental movements of CrossFit are but as far as I am concerned, and if you asked me I would say that they are: Squat (Back), Front Squat, Overhead Squat, Deadlift, Clean, Jerk, Press, Snatch, Sumo Deadlift High Pull.
The Clean, Snatch, Press, Jerk include all variations i.e. Push, Split, Squat.

"Broad time and modal domains"...

There are Ten main domains:

1. Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance
- The ability of body systems to
gather, process, and deliver oxygen.

2. Stamina - The ability of body systems
to process, deliver, store, and
utilize energy.

3. Strength - The ability of a muscular
unit, or combination of muscular units,
to apply force.

4. Flexibility - the ability to maximize
the range of motion at a given joint.

5. Power - The ability of a muscular
unit, or combination of muscular units,
to apply maximum force in minimum
time.

6. Speed - The ability to minimize the
time cycle of a repeated movement.

7. Coordination - The ability to combine
several distinct movement patterns
into a singular distinct movement.

8. Agility - The ability to minimize
transition time from one movement
pattern to another.

9. Balance - The ability to control the
placement of the bodies center of
gravity in relation to its support base.

10. Accuracy - The ability to control
movement in a given direction or at a
given intensity.
- Greg Glassman

These all take time to develop but the time frame in which they are performed are different. Take strength and CV Endurance, these two are obviously trained differently, strength by sets of lifts, and CV endurance by doing long distance Metcon (Metabolic Conditioning)

Greg Glassman's Article Defining Fitness: What Is Fitness

CrossFit

2010-09-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

What is CrossFit?

Performing a variety of high intensity functional movements to increase work capacities over broad time and modal domains. Pretty much a hole bunch of functional movements or movements that you will are replicated in everyday life performed and a high intensity, and they are constantly varied. These include weightlifting, powerlifting, gymnastics/bodyweight training, cardio respitory endurance, etc.

Thoughts?