Congratulations!

To Dwight Lowery going to the New York Jets. Dwight came to my attention via the CrossFit Santa Cruz blog. He has been working with trainer Jason Highbarger for several years, and was pictured on the blog making a huge box jump. Reading his story online, he sounds like a great kid and will make a great role model for his young NFL fans. HARD WORK BEATS TALENT, WHEN TALENT REFUSES TO WORK HARD!

Shane Hammon

This is a great shot of Shane Hammon. This guy was and is a monster. When I completed my USAW Club Coach Coursework at the OTC in Colorado Springs the first thing I saw as I parked my car near the dorms was Shane's truck. A big black 4x4 with "1000lb squat" stenciled in the rear window. It did not take a genius to figure out who the owner of that truck was. For the next few days I was able to go down to the training hall and watch lifters preparing for the trials, which were to be held in the spring of 2000 but more importantly, get ready for the 2000 games. I have many pictures that I will have to scan and upload- most are of Shane doing some massive behind the neck jerks off of jerk blocks. The final morning before testing, I went down to breakfast and got to break bread with Shane. Great kid- very humble and focused, could not have been more down to earth- in the end, a a great meal and the opportunity to spend some time with one of America's greatest olympic lifting talents.

Nancy!

Some good news today- It looks like I have gotten the go ahead to become a CrossFit affiliate here in Lincoln. Have got a lot of work to do before that, but getting the thumbs up is a great start! Will blog my progress through the process as time goes on. Not sure on the name yet, wanted CrossFit Lincoln (very original) yet that name may be taken- by either someone here in town with the same idea as myself, or one in Michigan. Again, very excited that this is a go.

CrossFit WOD from 4/16/08 "Nancy"

5 rounds on the clock-
400M run
95/15 OHS

Old Time- 18:33
New PR- 17:48

Disappointed, thought I would shave at least 2 minutes off of this- tried to break up the OHS, not a smart idea, wasted too much time. Know better next time.

www.mapmyrun.com

This is a cool website that literally maps out your run distances in your own neighborhood. This was fantastic, because for the first time this year I could go outside and do Saturday's WOD of a 10K run. Saturday here in Nebraska was horrible. High winds, temps around 35 degrees and on and off snow flurries...welcome to Spring! I headed out and got it done - running up hill and down, into the North wind and through the mud, it was not a good time but felt a real sense of accomplishment when I was done. That is always the best part about running...the stopping. Anyway, check out www.mapmyrun.com if you are a runner or casual walker, it is nice to get a general idea about the distance that you are traveling. Rest of the workouts looked like this-

4/12/08

Powersnatch 115/1 125/1 135/1 145/1 155/1 165/1
MB slams 40lb MB x 5
* Did one PS and followed with 5 slams, rest 1 minute and repeat

WOD- 10k run

Time- 63:31
Old time on Treadmill is 58 and change- with the outdoor trail and elements, I think I definitely would have beat the indoor time, but it is nice to get an outdoor benchmark.


4/13/08

"Quarter Gone Bad"
5 rounds for total reps
135 thrusters (15sec)
rest 45 sec
50lb weighted pullups (15sec)
rest 45 sec
Burpees (15 sec)
rest 45 sec

Thrusters-5,6,7,7,6
Pullups- 5,5,5,5,5
Burpees- 7,7,7,7,7

Total reps- 91

4/14/08

PC from the Hang
185/1x2 205/1x2 225/1x3

Hang shrug pulls
250 x 5 x 3

CrossFit in the Mainstream

Two CrossFit articles appear in the latest issues of Muscle and Fitness and in Men's Journal. The Muscle and Fitness piece spotlights Petranek's Fitness and it's CrossFit program (with the history of CrossFit mixed in) and Men's Journal highlights CrossFit San Fransisco. Both are good articles told from the authors POV upon attending some CrossFit classes. Check them out at a newsstand near you.

4/7/08
A- Weighted Chins 25/5 30/5 35/5 40/5x3
B- Alt. Inc. DB press 40's/5 50's/5 60's/5 75's/5x3

4/8
Airdyne 6 min/2.37miles/146 calories

OHP- 160/1 170/1 180/1 190/1 195/x

PP- 160/3 170/3 180/3 190/3 200/3

BNJ- 185/5 195/5 205/5

4/9/08
A- Tornado Chops 8.8/50+50
B- GHR situps 10/10
3 rounds

Hang Squat Cleans
195/1x5 (80% of max hang squat clean)

A- Clean grip shrug pulls 225/5
B- Scarecrows 80/5
3 rounds

"Kelly"
400M run
30 box jumps 24"
30 wall balls 20lb
on the clock

did 3 rounds (rx'd as 5)
Time- 18:36

4/10/08
TRX rotational pulls bodyweight x 10 x 3

Tabata pushups and TRX rows with 20lb vest
PU- 14,12,20,15
Row- 10,10,10,9

20minute run 2:25 miles

Busy Weekend

As usual, and all of you are probably feeling the same. On Saturday the CrossFit mainsite WOD was looking for a Total (Squat, OHP, Deadlift) but I was looking at doing a few more reps and building back some strength that I felt I have lost over the past few months of doing only the WOD. I squeezed in some Trap bar deadlifts and OHPresses. This was between training a group in the morning, daughter's tennis match the rest of the morning, other daughter's soccer game early afternoon, training window!- then across town for an anniversary dinner (Congrats again, Willie and Susie!) to end the day.

Specific Warm-up

Went from one exercise to the next (A-B) rested 4 minutes between each couplet.

A. Trap bar deadlift 245/5 295/5 345/5 365/5 385/5
B. OHP 115/5 135/5 150/5 155/5 160/5

Still sore today (monday) from DL's. Had been a long time since doing any heavy dl movement....I could tell when pulling also.

Sunday's WOD was the pull-up ladder (1 pull up on the minute, 2 pull-ups on the next...etc... until you fail) Was going to do weighted pullups instead, this is a weakness, and I need more strength work versus high reps or ladders- did neither! another busy Sunday with tournaments and my son's confirmation!!!! Congratulations Connor! My daughter's team won another VB tourney also- Congratulations Alex! My kids are awesome and make me proud everyday!

Gwen

CrossFit.com WOD today was an oldschool mama named Gwen. Gwen consist of Clean and Jerks, done for 15-12-9 reps respectively. You pick your load/wt....but here's the rub- you CANNOT put the bar down, rest it on the floor in your hands, etc....all reps are touch and go. You can rest it in the rack position or at arm's length, or in the crease of your hip and thigh. Good Luck. I did it with 135lbs and for a first time, that was plenty. I was gassed when I was done. Surprised that it took so much out of me. Maybe it was the snatches yesterday, or maybe just a long day.

Airdyne 6mins/ 2.40 miles/ did not record calories

"Gwen" C&J 15-12-9 reps

135lbs

Past few workouts

Starting to stray somewhat from the Crossfit.com mainsite WOD. Need/want to keep pushing up my strength levels, and lately there has been too many metcons for my needs.

4/1

Abmat situps with 20lb vest- 50 40 30 20 10
45 degree hyper ext " - 50 40 30 20 10

* had the timer on this, but my wife turned it off accidentally. I forgive her :)

Bench Press
95/10 115/9 135/8 155/7 175/6 195/5 215/4 235/3 255/2 275/1
Again, not a max effort, but just playing around with the bench- and found the final single fairly easy. Minimal rest between each set, about as long as it took to add weight.

Scarecrows (shoulder rehab) 40/15 50/15 60/15

4/3

Warm up on airdyne 6mins/1.84/78 calories....easy ride...getting warm!

10 Muscle Snatches with Overhead Squat (just 45lb bar)
10 Box Jumps (18")
5 rounds with 1 minute rest between rounds

* This could have been a killer....add rounds, put it on the clock or increase load or box height, this was a productive coupling!

Power Snatch from the Hang
95/3 115/3 131/3 141/3 151/3x3

How about this pic that I found on a judo website.....Yeah Buddy! How would you like to explain this to your insurance provider when this poor trainee bites the floor and the barbell follows after him! Adjuster to trainer...."Now you were having him do what???"

Club Volleyball season is coming to a close..

My daughter's team has had a great season with 2 more tourneys left and maybe a possible nationals bid. They have won some gold, some silver and placed high in each of their outings this year. It is hard to maintain training enthusiasm after the Colorado Crossroads tourney. Spring sports are now in full swing with many girls playing soccer, tennis, or track. With that in mind, I have been scaling back on what training sessions are left to finish the season. Last night the idea was to just get it done quickly and have some fun.

30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest for 4 rounds per couplet:

A-Box jumps (18")
B-Plank

A-Walking lunges
B-Bear Crawls

10 minutes-Play Hooverball with a 6lb Dynamax, with the rule that if the ball hits the floor- that team drops and gives me 5 strict push-ups.

Finished with static stretches with the jumpstretch bands (4 positions)

Prowler comes today

I cannot wait to get my prowler today. It is the eco-prowler from elite fitness systems. I got the eco-prowler because A- I am a cheap-ass, and B- I need this thing to be fairly portable. This will be great to use as a finisher, or add it to a Crossfit couplet. Will give a review of the product when I get it and have a chance to break it in. I have 2 sleds from elite (one for indoor pulling, one for outdoor pulling) and are solid products that get a lot of use when the weather allows

Catching up- again.....

Had to skip a day doing the Crossfit mainsite WOD, so on 3/29 had to do a two-a-day.

Airdyne: 6mins/2.25 miles/127 calories

Split Jerks from the frontal rack position (It seems many athletes mistake doing behind the neck jerks as the same as split jerk. You can do a behind the neck jerk with a split, but for most this is much easier because one does not have to circumnavigate the head.

Warmed up with many singles.... topped out at 235, and failed 5 times with 240, kept pressing these out front. Disappointed, yet I know what I need to do to correct this.

Fight Gone Bad

Old total- 307
New total- 363


3/31 Crossfit WOD called for Fran- I say NO! I need to squat! Too many metcons make me a week mofo, when it comes to pushing heavy iron. I really wanted to hit Fran (I must sub 5 mins or else!) but, I have got to mix in some max effort/low rep strength work. Last time I squatted significant weight was at the beginning of Feb (405x3) so I took it easy, and legs feel fine today- a day after.

Airdyne: 6mins/2.32miles/136 calories

Back Squats
135/5 185/5 225/5 275/5 325/5