More Weekend Fun!

With less than 3 weeks left before Regionals,  everything is starting to come together.  I feel the most prepared I have ever felt entering a Crossfit competition.  Workouts are starting to be more fun as I refine skills and everything is feeling good.  Here is a video from the weekend.  I will post some more of the fun ones that I'm doing early this week.

Weekend part 2

I will post the video of the Sectional Wod #2 early this week, so you can see how slow my box jumps really are.  In the meantime here is the 2nd workout I did over the weekend.  Its good to get some more power involved after these lighter based wods.

Just took an ice bath, and now I'm heading over to the beach to enjoy this beautiful weather and get some Vitamin D.  This is will be a good recovery day.

Weekend

I did the Sectionals WOD #2 during the middle of the week, and learned a lot.  Not as good as I would have liked but I'm starting to feel better during these brutal metcons.  First my conditioning is still not where it should be.  Second pushups were the easiest part of it. The hardest was the leg burn from the deadlift box jump combo.  Lastly I am slow right now, I have no pop or quickness on the box jumps.  I will be working on all these.

I will have a lot of good workouts coming up so I will try to keep this blog updated with the wods and my thoughts.  They will be more Crossfit style metcon burners.  It is going to get fun the next couple months!

Here is a wod I did today:

4 rope climbs
15 squat cleans 155lb
4 rope climbs
12 squat cleans
4 rope climbs
9 squat cleans
time=6:03


OPT WOD 4/2 from joeywarren on Vimeo.

Burn shoulders

I did a wod that was posted on the Crossfit main site back in early January.  The lighter guys and girls killed this one as I was nowhere near them.  My shoulders were burned and it gassed me.  Trying to work on stamina right now which seems to be relevant.  The 2nd week Sectional Wod was posted and I think there will be some more serious shoulder burn with the pushups.  The wod is a 15 min amrap with very extremely light weight again (just like the first week) which will definitely be another burner.

Re-do!

I redid the Sectional wod #1, and tried to hold on to a faster pace, but fell off harder than before.  I got a lower score than my first time.  This shows me a couple things.  I need to improve my conditioning if I want to get better.  This kind of scares me because it shows me how much work I have ahead of me.  It also shows that the first time I did it, I gave it 100%.  By giving 100%,  I mean that I gamed it well, pushed with everything I have, and remained consistent on my set of skills of double unders and snatch under fatigue.  This is good because it shows that when I have one shot at a wod, I can do pretty well to achieve my best score.  This is bad because it shows if I want to keep up with some of the top performers, I need to improve my conditioning.  Here we go!

Today I did the workout below, which was kind of fun, and felt a lot better than that Sectional wod.

Later, I rowed a 5k time trial.  My time was 18:10, 2 seconds off my previous PR from over a year ago.  Time to really start improving the conditioning!

…And more sprints

More Sprints

It's fun to try to move as fast as possible, don't get to do that often.

Deadlift airdyne from joeywarren on Vimeo.

Quick Sprints

I have been doing a lot of quick sprints lately, building on that anaerobic glycolytic system.

Here were my workouts over the weekend:

#1) build to a heavy squat clean in 10 min - I hit 245lb and still a lot left in tank

#2) amrap CTB pullups - I did 50 which felt great

#3) amrap cals on rower in 7 min - 156 cals - this burned like crazy

#4) WOD # 2 (see vid below)

#5) 5k run at 90-95% - by this time I was pretty tired and didn't feel like running in the storm, but I pushed through and had an OK run. I did it off road at the local trail which was very muddy and had 3 turnarounds. My time was 21:38.

Crossfit Cadence prepares for the 2011 Sectionals

Skill practice: Rope climbs

The rope climbs still haunt me from the 2010 Crossfit Games. I was so smoked and had no clue how to get up a rope that tired. I'm getting better at rope climbs. I did a workout where it turned out to be 30 climbs in 14 min. Here are a couple ones where I slipped up, and couple good ones.


rope climb from joeywarren on Vimeo.

Gearing up!

I had a very busy week last week, and my body felt it as I was feeling aches and pains everywhere. My only thought was I need to stay healthy right now. I got some great rest toward the end of the week and felt more recovered as the weekend went on. The beginning of the week I did some heavy squats that got me pretty sore, then I did this wod that I struggled to recover from all week:

Run 400 m @ 90%
walk rest 6 min x 5
+
3 tough hang power snatch
10 CTB chin ups
10 burpees
rest walk 6 min x 5
+
Row 45 sec @ 1:30/500 m pace
walk rest 5 min x 5

I ran out of gas in the middle. I have been experimenting with some carbs in the middle of a workout since.

There was not much rest over the weekend as I had some more tough wods. Here is the video of one I did Sunday:

Tester # 3

Amrap 15 min:
10 X Squat Thrusters 65lb
10 X Pullups

PR's

I had some tester wods the last couple of days to see where I'm at with my training.

The first one was:

1 RM Back Squats

1 RM Hang Power Clean

1 RM Close Grip Bench Press

(video below)

then the next day I did:

2km row for time

My time was 6:40.2. My previous best was a 6:50 so I'm very happy with this and I felt great throughout.

Tomorrow I have one more tester, it's a 15 min amrap.

Max Day from joeywarren on Vimeo.

100 Turkish Get-ups

We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

-Aristotle

100 TGU from joeywarren on Vimeo.

2010 Me vs 2011 Me

Here is another comparison of a workout I did a year ago.

"unbroken" from Joseph Warren on Vimeo.

It didn't break me the second time around!  

Unbroken 1.0 from Joseph Warren on Vimeo.

The first time I did this workout it took me close to 15 minutes, this time it took me 5:25.  I crushed my previous time.  It is a workout from the 2010 Orange Coast Throwdown, the top time was 5:29.  

Now this is a little bit of a different improvement than the physical strength I demonstrated from the previous post.  This is a strategy improvement.  This workout requires that the pullups be unbroken so if you drop from the bar during your set, you must repeat that set unbroken, which happened to me a year ago, it was not fun.  A year ago when I "broke," I went all out with no strategy and failed on the last rep.  Coincidentally, if I achieved that last rep it would have been exactly 5:25, the same time I did today.  It took me almost 10 minutes to be able to redo the last rep unbroken.  

The second time around I didn't break and got 5:25.  Does this make me stronger?  Not necessarily.  I knew how to pace myself better so I slowed the row a bit and took 3 extra breaths before attempting the last set of pullups to ensure unbroken.  I achieved it.  This doesn't prove that I'm stronger but simply I knew how to pace myself better.  It shows the importance of knowing your limits and the ability to pace. 

 The sport of Crossfit is very difficult to determine how to pace, you have to go by feeling.  You never know how to pace during a workout or where to push.  It's not like running a mile where you have done it hundreds of times and know exactly your split time.  You wouldn't sprint the first lap of a mile to achieve the best time would you?  Not a knock on Khalipa (winner of 2008 Games) at all, but it is something he doesn't do well.  He is a tough guy and goes all out which sometimes proves to be detrimental.  Could I have gone faster?  Sure, but I was gaming it rather than going all in, and it was the best time from the Orange Coast competition so I will take it!  The post previous to this showed that I am stronger than last year, this one showed that I am smarter.  The 2011 Joey would really kick Joey's ass from 1 year ago!

2009 Me vs 2011 Me

Here is a video back before the 2009 Crossfit Games.

Here is a video of me doing the same workout 18 months later (and 30lbs more on bar).

Untitled from Joseph Warren on Vimeo.

Which one looks better?

There is 30lb more on the bar for more reps and much better back stability in the second video. 

I would kick my ass if I met myself 18 months earlier.  

Sometimes I get frustrated with the workouts but seeing the difference here in that short amount of time is amazing.  There has been so much improvement over the last couple years.  I think it's amazing how every Crossfit athlete has seen a ton of improvement.  The caliber of athletes in the Crossfit competitions are so much higher.  Where is the ceiling for human potential in the sport of fitness?

Here are my workouts from the past couple of days.

19th:
AM
A. Full Depth 1 1/4 Back Squat @ 3011; 6,6,4,4,2; rest 4 min
185/185/205/215/235
B. DB Step Ups - 12/leg @ 3121; rest 1 min b/t legs x 3
C. 20 CTB chin ups; walk rest 2 min x 4
D. Lying Hip Extensions  5/leg/set; hold 5 sec each leg - rest 90 sec x 3

PM
Swim 30 min @ z1

20th:
Dead Lift - 6 heavy touch and go - 325lb
rest 0 sec
Run 200 m @ 95%
walk rest 5 min x 3
+
Hang power clean - 3 x 195
rest 0 sec
15 burpees AFAP
rest walk 5 min x 3
+
GH Raises - 15 x 5; rest 90 sec - 

Happy New Years with Kettlebells + Situps

Last night my New Year's was pretty relaxed.  I had a beer and not too bad of food.  I celebrated the New Year on East Coast time, 9PM here.  It was perfect, I have celebrated this holiday plenty of times before and I hadn't seen the clock strike midnight all year, so I wasn't going to start the last day of the year.  I fell asleep on my couch 10 min before midnight, then my girlfriend woke me up with a kiss and I went straight to bed waking up refreshed and ready to start a great year of training.  I have a lot planned for 2011,  I think big things will happen.  I will go over some of my goals in a later post. 

Today I started with some clean and jerks at 80% effort with 195lb for sets of 3, plus deadlifts at 80% effort with 325lb for sets of 3.

then...

5 Rounds for time of:

10 KB snatch R arm 53lb

10 KB snatch L arm 53lb

20 GHD situps

t= 8:17

Yesterday I did  20 min row @ 1:57 pace which felt great.  Then I practiced skills with the KB such as running and overhead work + muscle up practice + ring HSPU practice

A couple days ago I did squat cleans and front squats with a ton of pullups, total of 125 chin over vertical plane pullups.  This got me a little sore but not too bad.  Still working on squat strength and speed.

Tomorrow is a day off and I plan on sitting in my ice bath again.  I really think the 10 min I'm spending in ice has been absolutely crucial with my recovery right now!

Keep Working

Here is my workout from last night.  Everything felt fine but wanted to do the ring dips unbroken but I knew that would be a struggle trying to keep up a good pace.  The last round they really broke down.  Need to keep working hard to get stronger!

Untitled from Joseph Warren on Vimeo.

A Big Storm

I did hill sprints 45 sec up/ 2:15 down x 12.  It was a glute/hammie burner, but felt good and consistent especially considering the awful conditions.  It is storming pretty good today.  After the first couple sprints my legs started feeling heavy and I got drenched making my shoes and shorts weighing about 3lb each.  

This 3 day cycle has been a lot of power endurance and shoulders/scapular strength.  A couple days ago I did a 30 min jog and then max strict pullups mixed with back squat for 6 sets.  Highest rep strict pullups was 27 and lowest was 16.  Squats felt a lot better than last week.

Yesterday I did airdyne sprints 1 min 90%/1 min 50% for 20 sets.   4 hours later I did 60 muscle ups in 16min plus some ring stability work of L-sits and front leaning rest or plank on rings.  My core is pretty sore.  

Hill sprints this morning was a production in the rain and later Im going back to the gym to do another burner.  I will film it and post later...

  

Getting stronger... and sore

A couple days ago I felt really good after a day off from FGB. I did 3 sets of 3 reps front squats @ 225/235/235. I mixed in 3 sets of 25 unbroken chest to bar pullups with the last set going to 28. This all felt fine but I was sore from it.

Yesterday morning I jogged for 25 min, longest I've gone in a while. The only thing that got hard was my calves tightened up, just think its been a while. In the PM I did:

10x:

5 x DL 315lb

10 ring dips

15 DUs

rest 2:30

This felt very easy but again I was sore, especially my back, hmmm, weird easy but sore.

Today I did:

5x3 bench press

3x3 split jerk 80%

3x3 push press

Last 3 sets of bench were at 275lb but needed a spot. Split jerk I worked up to 205lb and push press worked up to 210lb which was just about my max. Good last few days. Everything felt easy but Im really sore! Day off tomorrow, Ill get fully recovered and get back on it through the weekend.