Staying Connected

No I don't mean electronically.

In sports, staying connected means staying in control of your body. This is where the majority of Crossfit athletes fall apart. When you remain connected, your form remains solid, your reps are all good and your movements are efficient. Unfortunately, once you introduce the concept of the timed workout, many athletes let their form go to hell in the name of getting a better time. This might shave off a few precious seconds at first, but the consequences of reinforcing terrible form are far reaching and will eventually stall all of your progress.

If you watch the top athletes in any sport, they are able to maintain proper mechanics throughout their entire event. This very closely relates to a recent article I wrote on virtuosity. This ability to stay connected is a major part of what separates the fire breathers from the average Joes in any sport.

When I program a workout, make sure you have the mechanics first. Then develop the consistency to remain connected throughout the entire workout. After that you are ready to add the intensity. But if you are going so fast that you look like crap. then you aren't getting what I intended out of these workouts.

Stay Connected!

WOD Thursday 10 November 2011

Deadlift 3 rep max
and/or 
Power Snatch 3x3 @ 85%

3 Rounds for time
5 Front squat, at least 75% of you one rep max
10 L-Pull ups

If you do not have L-pull ups, do a jumping chin to get over the bar and hold an L while you descend under control

Rest day

Wednesday, 09 November 2011

Rest Day!

Tuesday 08 Nov 2011

Bench Press 3 rep max
and/or
Clean and jerk 3/3/3

21-15-9 rep rounds of
burpees
pull ups
ring dips

Beginners can substitute bar dips or bench dips as needed

Cool down
one minute aggregate L-hang or L-sit

How well do you sleep?

Are you aware of the importance of sleep when you are training on a daily basis?

and in the gym...

For many of us it's the glass ceiling. We know we need to sleep but life just gets in the way. The kids won't go to bed, your favorite show is on, still too much work to do. The thing is, your body heals itself when you sleep. That's when you recover. If you're sick, that's when you get better.

There is no set rule for how much sleep you need. I used to do great on five hours of sleep a night. When I increased my strength training, suddenly I find I need eight hours or more to feel rested. This is tough with a four month old, but I do my best.

Quantity may not be an issue for many of us, but how is your quality of sleep? If the quality of your sleep sucks, so will the quality of your recovery. There are a few things you can do to help greatly increase the quality of your sleep.

• Get off the computer at least two hours before bedtime. The blue light from your monitor impedes melatonin production, which is the hormone that signals it's time for bed
• Don't do anything in bed except sleep and make love. You want your brain to associate your bed with only those two things. Doing so will help you relax when you go to bed
• Exercise regularly, but not within three hours before bedtime (unless that exercise comes from the tip above)
• Keep a warm bed but a cool room
• Don't watch stimulating TV right before bed or you'll be all wound up
• Try using candles after sundown. Artificial light shuts down melatonin production but candles have no negative impact. This is one of my favorite's I find it creates a very relaxing atmosphere.
• Start preparing for bed a good hour before bedtime and keep the same nightly ritual, you will create a habit which will tell your body to relax and prepare for sleep.

Good luck now tell me which sleep rule I am breaking right now?

WOD Monday 07 November 2011

Squat 3 rep max
and/or...
Power Snatch 3 sets, 5 reps at 75%

5 rounds as quick as possible
15 box jumps M24/F16"
15 DB swings M55/F35lbs

Cool down
2x2 minute plank

Gymnastic skills

Take three attempts each for a max time of
Chin over bar hold
Handstand hold
Squat position hold
L hang hold

Each hold is done when your form breaks down and you can no longer hold it with perfect form

Hollow Rocks

Snatch
1 rep max

Hollow rock
3 x 20 seconds

5 rounds as quick as possible
sprint 100m
10 Wall ball
sprint 100m
10 burpees

Clean and Jerk This!

Aggression

Lately I have been a little bit torn between my love for the Olympic lifts and the power lifts. I did a piece on the squat a little while ago. Many accomplished power lifters call the squat "The king of all lifts". It is true that developing strength and proficiency in the squat translates to all other lifts, however, it is with good reason that the man with the strongest clean and jerk in the world is considered to be the worlds strongest man.

I believe that it can be argued that the clean and jerk is the one exercise that you can build an entire routine around that will effectively train your entire body. You can walk into a gym, do a max effort session of the clean and jerk and walk out knowing that you just did a very effective full body work out. If you feel you need to spend more time in the gym then you can break it down to it's fundamentals. I dare you to go into the gym and do 5x5 of power clean, front squat and press and try to tell my you haven't had enough for one day.

The clean and jerk is called the worlds most powerful lift for a reason. Anybody can take a small amount of weight and move it from the floor to overhead, but I challenge you to spend some real time learning the intricacies of this complicated lift and see how much stronger, more explosive and more athletic you become.

WOD Thursday 03 October 2011

Press
1/1/1/1/1

Pull up
3/3/3/3/3

Plank
3 x one minute