strong Saturday

After assisting at the community indoor workout, I got in some strength work.

STRENGTH
back squat
5-5-3-3-1-1

175-175-185-185-195-205PR TIE

The 5's and 3's were tough, but I felt strong on the first single, so I went up and tied my current 1RM! Felt solid on that one too. May still be weak numbers comparatively, but I know I'm getting stronger. Good stuff!

I've been liking the "low bar" back squat since I first used it a few months ago. Maybe it's because I'm a lanky guy, but it feels more stable than the "high bar."


Have a great Saturday y'all! Hook'em Horns!

fun Friday

What's news? Today in the 5:30 AM indoor class Erin got her first kipping pull-up! After high-fives from all nearby, she then promptly strung 2-3 together! Way to go Erin!

This afternoon at SICFIT Austin we got in some interval training. Team style.

WOD
3 rounds, 4 team members, one at each station, time at stations set by each member's turn on sled drags:
2 laps inside gym of backwards sled drag @ 270lbs
max reps tire jumps
max reps bench press @ 155lbs
rest station (spot bench press)

I didn't even try to keep track of my reps today. Just worked as hard as I could and had some fun. My slow sled dragging allowed Chris H., Rich, and Chad get some extra reps in! You're welcome fellas. No need to thank me. We finished up with medicine ball sit-ups and Russian twists, followed by plank holds. Good stuff!

No word yet on a Wolfpack workout. With CrossFit Central's free community workouts mañana and Fight Gone Bad 5 next weekend, my guess is the pack with be otherwise occupied for a short while. Stay tuned folks, this crew doesn't just fade away, we'll be back.

Happy Friday y'all. Have fun this weekend, be safe and watch out for each other. Peace.

TODAY'S MUST READ:
Fight Gone Blog

testing, testing, smoking

The humidity is down! It was a pleasant 93 at 13:15 when class started today. Can fall weather be far off??

BASELINE
max reps dual 24kg kettlebell clean/press in 90 seconds:

17 clean/push-press
Got the nod that clean/push-press was acceptable so that's what I went with.

max reps pistol (one leg) squats in 90 seconds:

22 pistols
Not great numbers, but I'm happy with it. My legs strength is still improving...

We got out of tackling the SICFIT 300 because Big Mike already had other fiendish plans devised...

WOD
5 rounds for time:
3 muscle-ups
6 tire flips (the big one, 300+lbs)
9 dual KB front squat @ 24kg KBs

Doesn't look that bad on the screen right? Well it felt bad by round 3, though I'm sure I looked worse! My time was 21:08 rx'd. Muscle ups were cake, the tire flips were OK, but it was KB front squats smoked me. Tough one!

Look out kids! KStar has a skeleton and a lacrosse ball... and he's not afraid to use 'em! Good stuff in today's Mobility WOD.


See ya Friday! Peace.

live it, love it

"If you love life, life will love you back."
~ Norman Vincent Peale


Do you have the heel cords of a cheetah?

REST DAY! Resting doesn't mean being lazy - it's a getting $h!t done hump day!

Life is great. Peace.

humidity and an attitude lesson

Holy humidity Batman! Warming up when it's crazy humid and 93 degrees Fahrenheit outside didn't leave me with that warm-fuzzy feeling, it was more of a hot-sticky and blah kinda thing. I actually felt good once we started the workout though...

WOD
4 rounds for time:
one lap inside gym, overhead walking lunge steps @ 20kg KB
5 man-makers (1 rep = holding DBs: pushup, row R-L, clean to thruster) @ 40lbs DBs
5 strict pullups

16:14 rx'd

Man-makers took up most of my time, and kept my heart-rate jacked. Tough one! After a short break we finished up by running some sprint drills.

I also got an impromptu attitude lesson today. Right before heading out I was talking with Chris Hartwell when JDP asked us if we already had or could clean the 175lbs sandbag. I said that I didn't think I could do it, my max front squat being 165, but that I'd give it a try. I didn't make it. JDP then pointed out that my attitude was negative before I'd even attempted the lift. By deciding it was "too heavy" beforehand, I was setting myself up to fail. So being called out - I readjusted my grip, and cleaned and shouldered the bag! Do or do not. There is no try. Lesson learned. Thanks John!

Peace.

new day, new gig, new challenge, new PRs

Today was day one of my new gig as an assistant coach at CrossFit Central. I'm the first (a.k.a. guinea pig) person enrolled in their mentorship program. I'm assisting Big Mike with the Mon-Wed-Fri 5:30, 6:15, and 7:00AM indoor classes. I'm already loving it! I can tell that it's going to be great fun to learn by working with Mike and all the different athletes we coach. I get to help these athletes achieve the kind of successes that my coaches have -and continue to- guide me towards! How cool is that??

--

Since I'm on the job now when I was previously training, I've shifted my training schedule to the 1:15PM Mon-Tue-Thur-Fri class with Big Mike at SICFIT Austin. Today we did more testing that was preceded by a warm-up that was... tough. The heat and humidity feel a bit different at 1:15 in the afternoon than at 6:30AM...

WARMUP
3 rounds:
7 deadlift @225#
7 chest-to-bar pullups
7 backsquat @155#
7 decline pushups
7 sandbag slams @30#

BASELINE
front squat one-rep-max(1RM)
155-165PR-175F-175F

bench press 1RM
155(x5)-175-185-205F-195PR

Never having done a 1RM front squat, it was another "go by feel" training day. Once again it's glaringly obvious where my weaknesses lie: leg strength. When my bench press 1RM is 30# heavier than my front squat, and my front squat is 40# weaker than my back squat, there is no doubt what I need to focus on. I actually can't wait for the heavy squat/deadlifting days in my near future! Bring it.

Not that I'm complaining, because

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."
~ Epictetus

I'm alive! I live in the greatest city in the greatest state in the greatest country in the world! I now get to help people achieve their fitness goals! I have a wonderful family and outstanding friends! I also spent time this weekend with an amazing woman that made a crappy day... well, just wonderful.

Oh and I can bench press 40# over my bodyweight. Like Winchester posted today, we've got 99 problems but bench ain't one of 'em!

Life is good! Peace.

rest weekend!

"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it."
- Mother Teresa

REST DAY. Peace.

September 11th

God bless you Paddy. You made it home.



Is anybody out there searching
Has anybody lost their way
Am I the only one who’s hurting
Today

Must have got some bad directions
How’d we ever end up here
All this pain and desperation
And fear

If we ever make it home
There’ll be peace like we’ve never known
Nobody is gonna walk alone
We’ll be leaning on each other

Every wall that we’ve built up high
Is gonna fall right before our eyes
Love will surely conquer hate
If we ever make it home

There’s darkness in the daylight
As the devil works his trade
He’s the first one at your graveside
With a smile on his face

There’s a flicker in the distance
Where a single candle glows
And another walking with us who knows

That if we ever make it home
There’ll be peace like we’ve never known
Nobody is gonna walk alone
We’ll be leaning on each other

And every wall that we’ve built up high
Is gonna fall right before our eyes
Love will surely conquer hate
If we ever make it home

If we ever make it home
There’ll be peace like we’ve never known
Nobody is gonna walk alone
We’ll be leaning on each other
Loving one another

Every wall that we’ve built up high
Is gonna fall right before our eyes
Love will surely conquer hate
If we ever make it home

Oh if we ever make it home

- "If We Ever Make It Home" by Wade Bowen

REST DAY.

cha-cha-cha-changes

All kinds of awesomeness on the way! More details soon.

Today was Jeremy's last day coaching, and my last day working out with the early morning SICFIT Austin crew. It was a blast being coached by JT again - and the phenomenal athletes in both the 5:30AM (Ingrid, Chardonnay, & Jacob) and 6:30AM (Brian, Mark, and Firas) classes are the exactly the kind of people you want to train alongside! Fun, inspiring, motivating, driven, and committed. You getting the drift? They are baddasses. They're done training by daylight for Pete's sake! Thanks for the good times y'all. Keep at it!

WOD
3 rounds for time:
15 KB swings @ 1.5 pood
10 hang power cleans @ 115# barbell
250 yard run
6 KB Turkish get-ups (3R, 3L) @ 1.5 pood

16:30 rx'd

One from the nostalgia file - L2R myself, Jacob and Mark - before pullup bars and floor mats were installed!


Going back to my "day job" now. Peace.

PS- It's a Wolfpack rest day mañana. Also, check out Integrity is a Habit by the good folks at CrossFit Invictus.