Deadlift 3×5
5×45
5×45
5×135
5×185
5×245
5×285
5×325

Squat Deload (ATG)
5×45
5×45
5×135
5×175
5×205

5×12 Good Mornings (45lbs)

Erg: 4000m Time: 16:42.5/2:05.

Wow… Hat tip: Duck of Minerva

This morning I woke up to see the headline “Eight Kuwaitis killed, 14 injured in ‘illegal’ car race” on Dawn.  There might be something to this.

“Take wrong turns. Talk to strangers. Open unmarked doors. And if you see a group of people in a field, go find out what they’re doing. Do things without always knowing how they’ll turn out.” – XKCD 267

Jump rope 5 minutes
Crossfit Warm-Up x2

Deadlift Deload 5-5-5
5×45
5×45
5×135
5×185
5×225

The 5/3/1 program’s fourth week is a light deload week.  Next week I will add ten pounds to my training maxes and resume heavier work.

5×12 45lbs Good Mornings
5×10 Situps

Double Tabata – Box Jumps & Dumbbell Swings (40lbs)

For twenty seconds do as many reps of the assigned exercise as you can – then rest 10 seconds.
Repeat this seven more times for a total of 8 intervals, 4 minutes total exercise. Since this was a double tabata, it was a total of 16 intervals, for 8 minutes of exercise, alternating between the movements. Wikipedia provides a simple and quick explanation of the benefits of tabata work.

Your score comes from the round with the least reps achieved. In my case, 6 on the Box Jump and 12 on the Kettlebell Swings.

Jump rope 5 minutes
Crossfit Warm-Up x2

For time:
10xRow 100m.
Deadlift bodyweight (165lbs) for 10, 9, 8…2, 1 reps.

Time: 14:50.00. Average split on the erg was between 1:33 and 1:36. This workout gets harder as the deadlifts decrease because you have less time to recover between sets on the erg. I suspect for these pieces I could generate faster erg scores, but the erg is so dirty that I have to set the fan to 10 to get the amount of drag I’d get out of an erg at 2 or 3 on a normal machine.

19 Jan 2010
Jump rope 5 minutes
Crossfit Warm-Up x2: 15 squats, 15 sit-ups, 15 good mornings, 15 kipping pull-ups, 15 push-ups

Deadlift 5/3/1
5×45 lbs
5×45 lbs
5×135 lbs
5×185 lbs
3×225 lbs
5×275 lbs
3×315 lbs
1×350 lbs

“Power Elizabeth”
For time
21-15-9 Reps
135 lbs
dips

Time: 14:29

20 January 2010
Jump rope 5 minutes
Crossfit Warm-Up x2

Overhead Press 5/3/1
5×45 lbs
5×45 lbs
5×65 lbs
5×75 lbs
3×85 lbs
1×95 lbs

5×12 65lbs Good Mornings
4×200m Sprints – Walk 100m

22 January 2010
Jump rope 5 minutes
Crossfit Warm-Up x2

Squat 5/3/1
5×45 lbs
5×45 lbs
5×135 lbs
5×185 lbs
3×225 lbs
5×260 lbs
3×295 lbs
1×330 lbs

30 deadhang pull-ups
30 dips
3×500m erg pieces. Rest as needed between sets.
1:34
1:37
1:45

I didn’t have time for a long workout, so for conditioning I just did Tabata Front Squats at 95lbs. Tabata work is generally difficult, but I think doing it with weighted front squats might be the hardest workout I’ve ever tried. Reps were 11, 8, 6, 5, 3, 4, 6, 5.

15 January 2010
Squat 3-3-3+
3×225
3×275
3×315

I followed up the main workout with some auxiliary work: dead hang pull-ups and dips, and a jog on the treadmill.

18 January 2010
5k Run
28:46

I think it’s safe to say my conditioning is terrible.

Today was different.  I backed the weight off a bit, and payed close attention to my form, and my lifts definitely benefitted. The workout was Deadlift 3-3-3+ and the rep scheme looked like this (work sets are in bold):

5×45 Romanian Deadlift
5×45 RDL
5×135
5×185
3×225
3×260
3×295
5×335

I’m definitely happier with today’s results. I followed this up with 5×12 Good Mornings (45 lbs bar) and 4×1000m rows. A note for future programing: don’t plan erg pieces on deadlift day. They did not go all that well.

At the same time, I’d spent the last four months focusing on lifting, and ignoring crossfit in general, and in the process, while I’d gotten stronger, I’d also gotten fatter.  While I want to rebuild my strength, I’d like to do it without the fat.  As much as I liked being able to pull 465lbs, I didn’t like having a gut.  I used to be able to run a 5k or row a 2k in a respectable amount of time.  I want that back.  To that end, this is a new beginning.

I’m setting a number of moderate goals for myself, with the goal of completing them by the end of April.

Deadlift: 500 lbs.
Squat: 405 lbs.
Press: 165 lbs.
5k: 21:00m
2k: 7:20m

For lifting, I am using Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 approach. It’s a four-week training cycle where you do 3×5 for the first week, 3×3 reps for the second week, and 5/3/1 for the third week. The fourth week is a deload week. You then add weight to your maxes, and repeat this until you stall, and calculate a new training max.

Above is the spreadsheet for my first four-week cycle, with my best guess for my current maxes (based on the fact that I’m definitely not where I used to be.)  Training maxes are .85 of my max, with the exception of squats, which are .9.  These are the numbers that my reps are based off of.  Based on this approach, it will take some time before I can lift even what I was able to before, but checking my ego at the door is the only way to get back to that point.

My conditioning is aimed at competing in C.R.A.S.H.-B.s, the indoor rowing world championships, next month.  I don’t expect a month to be enough time to make a showing near my goal, or comparable to what I pulled in college, but the competition is something to set my sites on.  I’m deviating from the rowing orthodox (at least as it I learned it in college) and developing metabolic conditioning based around crossfit and the erg, that emphasizes the movements and explosiveness needed to row a 2k.  For example, today’s workout:

Five rounds for time.
5 Power Cleans @ 135lbs
10 Push-ups
250m erg piece

Most of my workouts will fall along these lines.  That workout took me 18:56.6. I don’t know if that means I’m slow, or that workout is brutal.  I’d like to think the later, but it is most likely the former.

This approach, along with a semi-paleo diet (more in another post about that) will get me to where I want to be.  I’ll log my progress here.

This is a percentage based MEBB approach, based on a recent Performance Menu article by Mike Rutherford.