Write it down!

Monday, June 4, 2012

Check out our first Endurance Training post today!

Mobility:
Wrist mobility, 60 seconds
Rack mobility of choice, 60 seconds each
Keg Drill, 2 minutes

Warmup:
Take 12 minutes to find a heavy, but technically sound Power Snatch

Strength/Skill:
Perform 2 Power Snatches at approximately 80-85% of the above weight EMOTM for 7 minutes

Workout of the Day:

21-15-9 reps for time of:
95 pound Front squat
Burpee
Pull-up

*12 min cutoff – Remember, the goal is not to work and get cutoff at the time limit, but to scale the weight or reps so that you finish!  A classic scaling is to perform 15-12-9 reps, which is only 9 reps less of each movement!  If you think thats too easy, I better not see you take any breaks!!

Cool Down:
Row 500 meters
Foam Roll legs, at least 2 minutes each
German Hang, accumulate 30 seconds

We made a big deal out of the Mile Time Trial for a few reasons.  First, its so much more fun to participate in an energized environment, competing against your fellow members, than it is to run alone.  Second, its important to have a baseline to be able to test your improvements!  As we move into our programming changes, it will become increasingly important that you know these baseline numbers, not just so you can test your improvements, but so that you can properly scale loading and work progressions over time.  Test and Retest.  That is how we measure fitness in CrossFit!

When you start getting into it, there are a lot of numbers to keep track of:

Running:  100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1k, Mile, 5k, 10k, Half Marathon, Marathon
All Squats, Presses, Deadlift and the Olympic Lifts:  1 rep max, 3 rep max, 5 rep max, 20 rep max
Gymnastics: Strict pullups, kipping pullups, pushups, Handstand pushups, Handstand hold, handstand walking distance, L-sit hold, strict Muscleups, kipping muscleups, etc.  Some of these can be for max reps or 1rep max with weight.

Then, of course, we have the named CrossFit Benchmark workouts like Fran, Helen, Cindy, Elizabeth, etc.

We highly recommend writing down and keeping track of all these numbers in some way!  Fortunately, due to the popularity of CrossFit, there are now multiple easy options available to you for tracking this information.  Creating some of these new habits can be hard, so we will do our best to remind you to write this stuff down.  To solidify this concept, we will be performing more tests coming up so you can set baselines and we can retest them later in the year!  Here are a few of the most popular ways to keep track:

–Online tracking:  There are multiple options in this category, but the most popular is something called Beyond the Whiteboard.  Many of our current members use this service, request to sign up for Paradiso CrossFit and we’ll add you.  Its easy to use and filled with a lot of fun tools, like worldwide ranking!

–Phone apps:  No matter what phone you use, there are a few apps you can use for tracking your results.  They range from free to a couple bucks.  I personally have an iPhone and use the WOD app by Casey Marshall.  Some people just like to take photos of the whiteboard and upload it to a file.

–Paper Journal:  The classic way of keeping track.  There are journals made specifically for CrossFit, like these, or buy a cheap composition journal from the store.  Either way, feel free to keep your journal at the gym or in your bag, this one never fails!

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Check out the first video link from this blog post by Kelly Starrett.  He is talking about this same test/retest and data gathering concept when it comes to our lifestyle.  I especially LOVE the explanation of the “Rectangularization of Aging” graph!

Badger, Jan Bu and Jenn D have a new baseline for their Half Marathon!