People Want to Move

Friday, February 22, 2013

Mobility:

Internal Rotation Stretch on Bar
T-Spine Smash
Tricep Mash
Over and Under Fence

Group Warmup:

1:00 Single hops
1:00 Jump Rope Jog
3:00 Double Under Practice

Classic Programming:

Strength:

7X3 Deadlifts, rest 60 seconds

Notes:  These reps should be ‘touch and go’, so keep that midline tight and use those hammys!  If you know your 1RM, use 85% for all rounds.  For all others, try to increase the load each round while maintaining perfect form!

Conditioning:

7 Rounds for total reps of:

2 minute AMRAP of-
30 Double Unders or Jump Overs (over and back equals 1 rep)
ME Pull ups or up to 15 reps
ME Burpees
*rest 1 minute

Notes:  Each 2 minute round begins with the 30 reps.  With the remaining time, perform as many Pullups as you can, but no more than 15.  With the remaining time, perform as many burpees as possible!  Your score will be total pullups and total Burpees.

Advanced Programming:

Strength:

7X3 Clean at 75%, rest 60 seconds

Notes:  These reps DO NOT need to be ‘touch and go’ but should be a full squt.  If you do not know your 1RM, try to increase the load each round.  Missing a rep is normal and expected!

Conditioning:

7 Rounds for total reps of:

2 minute AMRAP of-
30 Double Unders
ME Muscle-ups (7 rep cap)
ME Burpees
*rest 1 minute

Notes:  If you cannot perform a Muscle-up on Rings yet, perform 7 Jumping Bar Muscleups.  Your score will be total Muscleups and total Burpees.

Cool Down:

German Stretch
Couch Stretch
Straddle

Muscle up time!

This past Wednesday, in the gym and at the track, I watched a ton of you guys and gals do something that most people hate doing, that most people actively avoid doing, and that most people haven’t done since middle or high school…run 1 Mile for time!  I get really stoked watching people complete this baseline, and my favorite part is talking to them about the run right after they finish.  Most of the time, people are horrified about how hard it was, and surprised about how fast (or how slow) they went.  I’m happy to say that from what I saw, most of you were surprised at how FAST you went, and left optimistic about the improvement you should be able to make over the next 6 weeks for the Everything is Everything Challenge.  

I always ask one question post run, “That was a good workout, huh?”  The answer is always a resounding, “YES!”.  I do this to drive a simple point home: that running/sprinting is really, really good for you.  Whether you like to admit or not, everyone who ran this week knows deep down just how simple and effective running is for developing fitness.  I’ll add to that and affirm that I believe that humans were literally born to run, that we are the single best endurance athlete of any species on the planet, and that running is a skill that everyone should posses, develop, and more importantly, enjoy.  Diso posted a video earlier this week featuring Ido Portal and a quote of his really struck a cord with me, “People want to move.  They want to flow on the ground, they want to do handstands, and they want to be mobile, they want to be flexible…”  He references gymnasts who possess total control over their bodies and are “super human”.  I believe that running is the most basic form of this self-dominance and body control.  People want to move.  They want to run fast.  They want to feel light on their feet.  They want to defy physics and have freedom over gravity.  It’s like when people ask you if you could only have one super power, which would it be.  Taking out all the comic book powers, what is left?  Even though I love Olympic Weightlifting and get a huge high when I max effort Clean & Jerk, my answer is to be able to RUN, to MOVE my body, with absolute freedom.

The tests for the Challenge reflect the importance and foundation of sound movement.  The pushup, pullup, and 1 Mile time trial are all tests of body control and body weight.  The Olympic lifts themselves are movement based and demand great control over your body and an exterior object at the same time.  This aspect of movement is one of the reasons that make the Olympic lifts so much more dynamic and complex when compared to traditional strength lifts like the Squat, Deadlift, and Strict Press.

If you are doing the Challenge and want to work on movement and improve your running economy, then come to Track Night and/or follow the Endurance Training blog.  During the course of the challenge I will be posting a 6 week homework for people who want to learn Pose Running.  It is the same 6 week homework I used to master the technique after the Crossfit Endurance certification.  As always if you have any questions about running or how to train to improve your time in the mile, please email me at frank@paradisocrossfit.com.  Every single person who has come to track night consistently has seen vast improvements in the gym.  The reason is simple: if you train movement and midline stability, everything should transfer over to everything else!