Posts from — November 2009

As many of you know I’m not a huge fan of kettlebells. Regardless, Pavel Tsatsouline (guy who brought KBs to the US) knows his stuff:

The key to continued athletic improvement is doing things that are “the same, but different”.

Example: Want to work on your Press? Get really good at handstands. Want to work on your box jumps? Learn how to do double unders.

Westside Barbell. The best.

“Environment beats programming”

-Dave Tate

Great quote. Think about how hard it is to train hard at Gold’s Gym with spin class going on next to you. Now think about how easy it is to train hard when everyone around you is training hard.

Next time you think about “doing some strength work” in your garage on your own, recognize that you are going to be missing a lot.

Normal Monday 5pm WOD

For those that have asked, here is the latest on what I eat everyday:

Breakfast: 5PRO, 2CHO, 9FAT

Lunch: 4PRO, 2 CHO, 9FAT

Snack: 2 PRO, 2CHO, 4 FAT

Dinner: 5PRO, 2CHO, 9 FAT

Post WOD: 40grams of PRO, 25-50grams of CHO depending on WOD

Total: 16PRO, 8CHO, 31 FAT (I don’t count post WOD food into block count)

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I think some people might get the impression from reading this, that I enjoy eating this way. Not true at all.

Honestly, I absolutely hate it. If it was my choice, I’d eat waffles for breakfast, an italian sub for lunch, and a 16oz. steak for dinner. I would throw my food scale out the window, light it on fire, and watch it burn while eating a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

Here’s the truth though. As much as I would love to eat whatever I wanted, I love winning more. I don’t like half assing things. I’ve committed myself to getting as fit as possible and doing well in competition. It is impossible to reach my potential without a high degree of nutritional rigor.

Now you have to decide which do you love more, eating whatever you want or fulfilling your potential?

“If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” – Michelangelo Buonarroti

Crossfit’s founding statement is “Constantly varied, functional movement, performed at high intensity”. All three parts are important, but I’m just going to address the first part here, “constantly varied”.  How can you make your training more constantly varied?

- Use dumbbells

-Use kettlebells

-WOD at different times of the day

-WOD more than once in a day

-Use sandbags

- WOD with an empty stomach

-WOD with a full stomach

-Pair of shoes (Olympic, Chucks, sneakers)

- Pull up bar thickness

-Barbell thickness

- Jump rope type

- Running route

-Workout with different people

- Get to your pullup bar from a box instead of jumping

-Don’t use chalk

-Tape your hands and wrists

-etc.

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Why does this matter? For most run of the mill CFers it doesn’t make too much of a difference. However, for those of you with an eye on competition, this is terribly important. I’ve seen lots and lots of people who didn’t do well because “This isn’t my jumprope” or “I didn’t have any chalk”. You aren’t always going to workout in the afternoon, on an empty stomach, with your bar, with your friends, and your rope.

Find the variables. Mix them up.