J.T. Kalnay's Blog, page 6

Dear CrossFit, How Bad Do You Want It

True story I heard today.  An athlete was “stuck in traffic” because someone had flipped their car and caused the Interstate to be closed.  Now remember, the city streets are already a mess due to several different construction projects and the Shoreway is closed while their filming Captain America (thanks for the automatic gunfire outside my window all day…).  Anyway, the athlete bails from the Interestate, parks her car about two miles from the box, RUNS to the box, WODs, then runs back to her car.  I’d say that this athlete wants it bad!  #totalbad*ss!!!

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

A Nice Long Walk, With Burpees

It was so beautiful outside today here on the north coast that a walk was essential (and lovely).  After a brisk 3 mile walk, it was time for some high intensity intervals. 

3 minutes AMRAP, 3 minutes rest:

TGUS, 3 each side

burpees, 29

presses 45#, 56

kbs 20#, 60

bench presses 45#, 110

If it is this nice tomorrow, there will be another walk scheduled, and that walk will have burpees every mile on the mile.  Its CrossFit, you can be creative.  When biking, you can stop every 15 minutes and press your bike overhead 15 times.  When you’re walking you can do burpees every mile on the mile, you can do step ups on park benches.  When you’re at the park with the kids, you can play tag for 5 minutes then do pullups on the monkey bars.  Constantly varied can be fun!

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

WARNING

Bracketing, Going Heavy, Going Fast, and Exercising Are Inherently Dangerous Activities Where You May Be Seriously Injured Or Die.  You should not depend on any information in this post for your personal safety.  Your personal safety depends solely on your own good judgment, your own good choices, the quality and care of your equipment, and your abilities.  There are no warranties, express or implied, that this approach is beneficial, or safe, or that the information in it is reliable.  Your use of this post indicates your assumption of the risks inherent in exercising hard and is an acknowledgement of your sole responsibility for your own safety.  The user of this approach assumes all risks and responsibilities associated with the practice described herein and absolves the publisher and author of blame for any accident, injury, or harm that may occur through use of this information.  Those unfamiliar with the techniques and equipment required to perform any of the exercises described herein are advised to not perform these activities or to seek professional instruction.  If you do these workouts in this way you are likely to throw up, may be injured, and may die.  You expressly assume all the risks associated with using this information.

Bracketing Grace

Well, yesterday’s post about bracketing to improve your Fran time elicited some interesting feedback.  I appreciated the well thought out feedback, and ignored the rants.  Perhaps what was missed in some of the vitriol was that the post was about bracketing, and that Fran was the tool by which you could discover whether bracketing works for you.  Oh well….

Another training technique that may work for you is “going heavy.”  (Yes, “going heavy” is half of bracketing).  Are you interested in knowing why Rich Froning can do Grace really really fast?  Other than the fact that he is a superior athlete who works harder and smarter than anyone else, it’s because sometimes he does Grace with more than the Rx 135#, and sometimes he does more than 30 reps.  Here’s an example where RF has “gone heavy.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euv5Vvz_5dc

If you can, consider “going heavy” as part of your Open prep.  And, also consider “going light.”  For example, if you are in a four week Grace cycle, where you are doing Grace twice a week, one of the two can be Rx+ (e.g., 145, 155, more) and one of the two can be Rx- (e.g., 55, 95).  The heavy will be heavy and will make the Rx easier because you will be stronger from doing Rx+.  The light will be light and will make the Rx easier because you will be faster from doing.  To improve your Grace time, you may need to practice going heavier than Rx and going faster than you can with the Rx weight.

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

WARNING

Bracketing, Going Heavy, Going Fast, and Exercising Are Inherently Dangerous Activities Where You May Be Seriously Injured Or Die.  You should not depend on any information in this post for your personal safety.  Your personal safety depends solely on your own good judgment, your own good choices, the quality and care of your equipment, and your abilities.  There are no warranties, express or implied, that this approach is beneficial, or safe, or that the information in it is reliable.  Your use of this post indicates your assumption of the risks inherent in exercising hard and is an acknowledgement of your sole responsibility for your own safety.  The user of this approach assumes all risks and responsibilities associated with the practice described herein and absolves the publisher and author of blame for any accident, injury, or harm that may occur through use of this information.  Those unfamiliar with the techniques and equipment required to perform any of the exercises described herein are advised to not perform these activities or to seek professional instruction.  If you do these workouts in this way you are likely to throw up, may be injured, and may die.  You expressly assume all the risks associated with using this information.

CrossFit Open 2014, Bracketing

Bracketing is a training technique that will help you improve your time on WODs done “for time.”  Consider Fran: there are 21 thrusters Rx done as fast as possible, then 21 pullups done as fast as possible, then 15-15-9-9.  One traditional way to train for Fran is to do Fran a lot.  Bracketing takes a different approach.

There are two aspects to doing 21 thrusters Rx for time.  One is being able to do an Rx thruster, the second is being able to do it fast.  (If you are currently scaling Fran, this approach can be adapted to your scaled Fran weight) Bracketing addresses both sides of this equation.  Bracketing involves changing the number of reps (doing sets of 30 and sets of 10), changing the weight (doing heavier weights, doing lighter weights), and changing the speed at which they are performed.

To see whether bracketing works for you and Fran, consider the following 6 week plan.

Day One: do Fran your way, at your current Fran weight, record your time.

Week One: work these three WODs into your practice

#1, find 1RM thruster, find 1RM heaviest weighted pullup (start at 1/2 what you think your 1RM is, then you have ten attempts to find your 1RM in 15 minutes for thruster, then ten attempts to find your 1RM in 15 minutes for pullup)

#2, find max reps in a minute of 1/2 weight thruster, find max reps in a minute of jumping pullups (try each three times, with three minutes rest in between each test)

#3, find max reps thrusters at your Fran RX, find max reps pullups (kipping or butterfly)

(try each test twice, with three minutes rest between attempts)

 

Week 2

#1 heavy day, 10 sets of 3 thrusters at 80% of your 1RM, 10 sets of 3 pullups at 80% of your 1RM, rest 60-90 seconds between each set.  Yes these are heavy.  They are supposed to be heavy.  This is bracketing the weight on the upper side.

#2 speed day, repeat five times, AMRAP in 1 minute of 1/2 weight thrusters, AMRAP in 1 minute of jumping pullups, 1 minute rest.  Yes these are fast.  They are supposed to be fast.  This is bracketing the speed on the fast side.

#3 max rep day, repeat once, RX thrusters to failure, RX pullups to failure.  Yes this sucks.  It’s supposed to suck.  This is bracketing your max reps on the max side.

 

Week 3

#1 heavy day, 8 sets of 3 thrusters at 85% of your 1RM, 8 sets of 3 pullups at 85% of your 1RM.  Rest 90-120 seconds between each set.

#2 speed day, repeat five times, AMRAP in 1:15 of 1/2 weight thrusters, AMRAP in 1:15 of jumping pullups, 1 minute rest

#3 max rep day, repeat twice, RX thrusters to failure, rest 3 minutes, RX pullups to failure, rest 3 minutes

 

Week 4

#1 heavy day, 5 sets of 3 thrusters at 90% of your 1RM, rest 2:30, 5 sets of 3 pullups at 90% of your 1RM, rest 2:30

#2 speed day, repeat twice, AMRAP in 2:00 of 1/2 weight thrusters, 1 minute rest, AMRAP in 2:00 of jumping pullups, 1 minute rest

#3 max rep day, repeat three times, RX thrusters to failure, rest three minutes, RX pullups to failure, rest three minutes

 

Week 5

#1 heavy day, 5 sets of 1 thruster at 100% of your 1RM, rest 60 seconds between each set, 5 sets of 1 pullup at 100% of your 1RM, rest 60 seconds between each set

#2 speed day, AMRAP in 3:00 of 1/2 weight thrusters, 1 minute rest, AMRAP in 3:00 of jumping pullups

#3 max rep day, repeat three times, RX thrusters to failure, rest three minutes, RX pullups to failure, rest three times

 

Week 6

#1 experiment day, time yourself doing this experiment:

21 thrusters RX unbroken (if you cannot complete, go to failure before resting)

21 pullups RX unbroken (if you cannot complete, go to failure before resting)

 

#2 experiment day

21 thrusters RX done 11-10

21 pullups RX done 11-10

 

#3 experiment day

21 thrusters RX done 8-7-6

21 pullups RX done 8-7-6

 

Identify which of the three approaches was completed in the shortest amount of time for each of the exercises

 

Test Day

Do Fran using the approach for 21 that was fastest for you, break up the 15 using the same ratios

If your Fran time is better, then bracketing works for you and can be applied to other workouts.  If your Fran time is the same or worse, then bracketing works for you and ought not to be applied to other workouts.

 

WARNING

Bracketing and Exercising Are Inherently Dangerous Activities Where You May Be Seriously Injured Or Die.  You should not depend on any information in this post for your personal safety.  Your personal safety depends solely on your own good judgment, your own good choices, the quality and care of your equipment, and your abilities.  There are no warranties, express or implied, that this approach is beneficial, or safe, or that the information in it is reliable.  Your use of this post indicates your assumption of the risks inherent in exercising hard and is an acknowledgement of your sole responsibility for your own safety.  The user of this approach assumes all risks and responsibilities associated with the practice described herein and absolves the publisher and author of blame for any accident, injury, or harm that may occur through use of this information.  Those unfamiliar with the techniques and equipment required to perform any of the exercises described herein are advised to not perform these activities or to seek professional instruction.  If you do these workouts in this way you are likely to throw up, may be injured, and may die.  You expressly assume all the risks associated with using this information.

 

CrossFit Open 2014, 10-30-90+

10-30-90+

What is that?

It describes the three energy delivery systems you need to work to get ready for the 2014 Open.  It also describes the three energy delivery systems you need to work to get ready for a fit, useful, fun life where you can actually do stuff.  Training for the Open and having a fit, useful, fun life are not mutually exclusive things.  The Sport of Fitness can also be the Sport of Having A Jacked Up Happy Life!

10

This refers to the energy system associated with an explosive burst.  Train this using the Oly lifts, deadlifts, bench presses, and double unders.  For the Oly lifts, after a good warmup, work at 80% of your 1RM.  Do 20 lifts total then stop.  If you can do 2 in ten seconds, do 2 in ten seconds, then rest two whole minutes to let the system reload!  Then do another 2.

 

30

This refers to the energy delivery system you use for a longer sprint.  Train this doing two things: Tabata and hills.  For Tabata, consider using both 20 on 10 off and 30 on 15 off.  For the hills, find a hill and ride or run up it for 20-30 seconds, then coast/walk back down.  Tabata is also great in the pool!  Just be sure to keep a bucket near the pool.  Pool owners hate it when you puke in the pool.

 

90+

This refers to aerobic work that last longer than 90 seconds.  You cannot maintain your 10 effort or your 30 effort for this long.  Those energy systems drain and they don’t recharge during the 90+ interval.  Train 90+ by doing max effort single exercises for 3×3 minutes, 2×5 minutes, and 1×10 minutes.  This is Fran and the other short girls.  If Fran takes you longer than 10 minutes, you are going too heavy and need to back off to weights that you can complete in 3 minutes, in 5 minutes, and in 10 minutes.

I’ll be writing more on this soon.  But for now, think about finding ways to tax these three different systems.  When the Open rolls around, you’ll be glad you did!

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…

Why Is Ohio The Fracking Waste Water Dumping Ground?

Are you surprised to learn that some are reporting that Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) records show that Ohio’s 179 underground disposal wells absorbed more than 1 BILLION gallons of fracking wastewater since 2010?  Much of the waste (briny water) came from Pennsylvania and other states.  Why?  Perhaps money is involved? The same article reports that in the first quarter of 2012, the ODNR grossed $76,068 in fees on in-state waste disposal and $379,165 on waste from Pennsylvania and beyond.  Are we willing to have a BILLION gallons of waste water pumped under Ohio so that the ODNR can collect $379k a quarter?  Here’s a link to the full article quoted above:

http://truth-out.org/news/item/16547-resistance-in-ohio-frackings-dumping-ground

I’m interested in hearing from other sources whether these facts and numbers are true.

CrossFit Open, 2014

Assuming that there will be an Open in 2014, which isn’t guaranteed, and assuming that it starts around February 1, 2014, that means June 1, 2013 is just 9 months from the start of the Open.  If you want to be peaking on February 1, 2014, it’s time to start planning now.

In the next week I’ll be laying out a nine month plan designed to get you ready for the 2014 Open.  Lots of other people have lots of other (probably better) plans.  But this one will make sense for a lot of people.  Basically we are going to break the next nine months into June/July/August, event, Sept/Oct/Nov, event, Dec/Jan, Open.

June is going to start by gathering data so that we’ll know at the end of August whether this plan is working for you.  If it is, you’ll stick to it.  If it isn’t, I will encourage you to find a different plan.

Hang on, it’s going to be a fun ride!

 

5.Fun Guide To The New River Gorge, Volume One, Bridge Buttress

So I just got back from Rendezvous X at the NRG.  Had a good time touching base with old friends and meeting some new friends.  Had time to finish the next guide book in the 5.fun series.  Hope you enjoy it!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/318134

Look for Volume Two, Junkyard Wall, soon.

Writing On The Dark Side

Just wrote the 691 darkest words of my career.  This story has been inside for a long time.  I don’t know where this story is going, and if I’ll ever be able to share it.  It scares me.  Maybe a new pen name will be appropriate for this frightening tale…

Dear CrossFit, Going Outside To Play

Dear CrossFit,

I won’t be at the box for the next two weeks because I am going outside to play.  Play, in this instance, means going rock climbing and mountain climbing in New Mexico and West Virginia.  I’ll see you when I get back.  In the meantime, for those who are scratching their heads and wondering what a Crossfitter is doing “going outside to play,” may I please remind you of this nearly decade old quote from “Coach”:

“We train our athletes in gymnastics from rudimentary to advanced movements garnering great capacity at controlling the body both dynamically and statically while maximizing strength to weight ratio and flexibility. We also place a heavy emphasis on Olympic Weightlifting having seen this sport’s unique ability to develop an athletes’ explosive power, control of external objects, and mastery of critical motor recruitment patterns. And finally we encourage and assist our athletes to explore a variety of sports as a vehicle to express and apply their fitness.

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD (climb) will be…