Dutch Lowy

I thought for a bit about posting these workouts. I wanted to make up my own “bad” workout so nobody got the blame but these were just too unforgiving. It is also nice because they include the warm up and cool down. Let it be understood that i am completely in line with what SEALS go through for their training so it seems like a good idea to train like this. In my opinion this should be a once a month, possibly once a week challenge to test mental fortitude.
I will discuss two workouts here as they illustrate different mistakes in my opinion. Oh yea and remember this is all my opinion so if you disagree lets have a constructive discussion.

Phase I: Warm-up / Mental Preparation
50 burpee pull-ups

Phase II: Metcon, Strength

“The Pirates”
3 rounds for time (one for each Pirate killed by the SEALs):
25 Curtis P’s 115lb
Row 1,500 meters

Phase III: Warm-down / Core
Stretch

Notes: Row fast so you get to shore before the sniper rounds hit! This will suck. Recall the Curtis P – Perform a Clean from the floor, then racked lunge each side, finish with push-press. That is 1 repetition. Post your time to the forum.

Phase 1:
Great workout! O wait its just the warm up. The notes for phase one say not to do it for time but accomplish the work at an uncomfortable pace. Ok, i’ll take it. Definitely a total body warm up.

Phase II:
First of all we have got to understand what strength means. Wikipedia states: Physical strength is the ability of a person or animal to exert force on physical objects using muscles. Increasing physical strength is the goal of strength training.
115 lbs is not enough to increase physical strength. I have heard countless people say that 135 is heavy… In case you were wondering this is heavy…
Ok i think we cleared that up.

I really like the idea of a simple workout. This is a couplet and has real potential to be a good high power output workout. We might have even been able to leave the 25 Curtis P’s in there although i think these alone will push us into the 15-20 minute time domain. Add in a 1500m row which i am guessing will take me probably over 6 minutes each (i rowed a 7:15 2000m once…). What has happened to our power and intensity? Another way to save this workout would be to do 1 round for time. That would actually be a pretty damn good workout now that i think about it. None the less what happens as we make it out of the first round and into the second? Are you going to hop off the rower and skip over the bar and knock out 10-15 Curtis P’s? I think not. I see this workout taking at least 25 minutes and probably closer to 35. By the end you are just trying to finish instead of really pushing yourself. We need an effort to get fit. If you ever feel like you are pacing yourself…You aren’t getting more fit. Remember that…unless you are doing Chest to bar pullups.

Workout Number 2:
Phase I: Warm-up / Preparation

3 rounds: 10 x Kettle Bell Swing, 10 x KB Thrusters 55lb, 10 x Air Squat

Phase II: Endurance

“Peak Experience”

For time: 5 x 100 yard sprint, then:
4 Rounds:
- 10 Burpees
- 20 Pull-ups
- 30 KB swings (55lb)
- 40 Wall Ball (20lb)
- 50 Sumo-Dead-Lift-High-Pull (70lb)
Run 2 miles

Phase III: Warm-down / Core
Stretch

Notes: This should be a blast – don’t blow off the warm-up. It is not long – and is necessary to get your major muscle groups warmed up, and to prevent any strain with the sprints. Set up your equipment stations, then start the workout clock and go strong on the sprints. Clock stops at end of 2 mile run. Post your times and comments to the forum.

Phase I:
Warm up is pretty cool, i just fucking hate kettle bells.

PhaseII:
Here we have a classic example of an Any Asshole workout. It is a list of a couple common CF movements compiled with a number in front of them. Not to mention the 5x100m sprint before and the 2 mile run afterward.
A note about sprints: If you want people to actually sprint you have to prescribe a rest otherwise the above turns into 1x500m run/jog. It doesn’t matter who you are without the rest interval you can’t recover enough to keep your output at a high level to consider it sprinting. Think about that.
Ok, i’ll move on the 4 rounds of nonsense. First of all this an equipment intensive workout. You will need 3 different objects not to mention a pullup bar. Think about most CF workouts, they are simple both in construction and set up. There are exceptions but this is not good enough to be an exception (FGB anyone??).

I am ok with an escalating rep scheme but with this it gets a little out of hand. I am little biased because i am terrible at SDHP but by the end of the workout you have done 200 reps so i imagine everyone will feel the same as me. I think that will be the limiting factor…oh yea and the fact that you have to run 2 miles to finish! That is an immediate Intensity and power output killer.
A 2 mile run is great, but following a 15-20 minute workout you are just missing the point and lose the benefits of high intensity anaerobic conditioning.

Phase III:
At least they want you to “stretch”…

I want to make clear that i understand what these guys are going for but i truly believe there is a much more efficient way to go about it. I feel that they are not maximizing results and miss the point of Crossfit as a program. I am not going to mention where i go these workouts from but i am sure some of you know already.

What do ya’ll think?

Where: Crossfit Tulsa When: May 23, 2009 (the day after my birthday!!)

Wes had a great idea. He asked me to take a couple workouts, one “good” one “bad” and analyze them.

I stole this one from Max at maxfitusa.com. I will point out some good and bad things about it but overall i think it is a quality workout.
CFG WOD

by Max on Apr.21, 2009, under Crossfit Games WODs

Back Squat 15/65% 2×10/70% 2×8/80%

Rest 5-15min

“Broken Helen”
6 rounds AQAP of:
200m Run
12 KB Swing (M=2pood/W=1.5pood)
6 Pull-up

I will start with the strength portion. Max likes to train people using the metabolic pathways. Olympic lifts for explosive power, slow lifts for sustained strength output and metcon for endurance and conditioning. In this workout he skips the explosive power and goes straight into the strength work. It looks like he was pretty heavy in the explosive power component for the couple weeks prior. There was limited sustained strength work so it looks like he is shifting his focus. I will be honest here and call Max out for being a little heavy on his programming. I tend to cut his workouts in half especially ones like this. I felt like cutting this in half was sufficient especially because i was planning on the metcon afterwards. I think it is a perfectly manageable workload if you aren’t trying to do a metcon afterward.

The metcon is comprised of a couple things i like and a couple things i don’t. I feel the workout overall is good and would make me more fit but i’m not saying i would like it. Personally i hate swings…especially heavy ones. The workload per round is pretty low so i think it was ok. I am not a fan of running but i like the shorter runs. I feel they allow you to keep your intensity higher instead of resting on the run. An interesting thing about running and rowing is that regardless how hard you work, provided you don’t stop, you are still making progress. I bet on a 400m run 90% of the time i come back with my heart rate lower then it was when i started. To me that means i could have run faster. Anyway, i like the 200m and think the swings are manageable at least for 3-4 rounds. Then they may need to be broken up which is just fine. The pullups should not be broken up at all and are just enough to provide a little stimulus for the arms on the run.

I don’t like the 6 rounds and let me tell you why. This is a personal preference simply because there is no middle round. It is a mental thing for me. I would rather do 7 rounds than 6. Other than that, because of the adjusted rep scheme and distance on the run i really like this workout for its ability to produce power.

Thoughts??
Next time we explore a “bad” workout…

I was talking to my mom the other day while she was in town. She was telling me about all the new stuff going on in health and Physical Education. She is a professor at ATM and has been a teacher educator for 30 plus years. She is also quite a crossfitter. She was in town for a planning meeting for TAAHPERD. She is on the board that decides on presenters for the annual conference.

There is an interesting topic coming up this year that has never been brought up in the past. Now that the ADA recognize morbid obesity as a handicap there must be accomodations made for children that are obese or morbidly obese. She did not elaborate on the details of the actual accomodations but that is not what i want to talk about. My issue is with the classification of obesity as a handicap.

Obesity is one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide! (sorry for not citing this, my first reaction was to cite it then i thought…Fuck it, its my blog…haha). Luckily the FDA has not approved any drug interventions for children but there is an increasing number of teenagers getting gastric bypass and other elective surgeries. Currently the only intervention approved is life style and behavioral techniques.

There was a case recently at Texas ATM where a student sued the school because she was bruised pretty badly from the desks. She did not fit properly because of her obesity. She won the law suit citing the ADA recognition of obesity as a handicap.

Another story my mom told me was about one of her students. His kid brought home a permission slip to go to Gatti Town for an educational field trip. Wait, it gets better. It was a nutritional outing. The kids were supposed to learn about portion size and nutrients. Really? At an all you can eat buffet?? That is lazy and irresponsible on the schools part.

Back to the point… Now that health and physical educators have to make allowances for obese children the children will be excused from activities that are unsafe for them. This probably means any calisthenics, running, or anything with their feet off the floor. I remember in my PE class we had a rope that had to be 25 ft and we weren’t allowed to climb it if the mat wasn’t down. The mat was about 2 inches thick and harder than the floor. My have times changed!!

I understand the safety issue but if we limit these obese kids to the activities left they will never have a chance. I would rather expose them to some more activity and run the risk of injury. Honestly kids are made of rubber so if anything did get seriously injured they would bounce back pretty quickly. How many of you had broken bones as a kid??

You might wonder why i am not yelling and cursing in this post like i should be. The reason is simple. It isn’t the teachers fault these things come about. It isn’t even the kids fault. I feel like kids are high jacked from an early age and sent down a path of obesity and unhealthiness. Kids follow their parents actions and we all know where this is going. It is a sad state and i don’t have an answer to it other than doing your part to pass your knowledge and passion for activity on to your kids. Feed them paleo food and kick them out of the house to play with their friends.

I commonly get the question about who my seminar is for. Let me expand on this for a bit as well as give some background on why i am doing what i’m doing.

The first thing i want everyone to know is that i will do whatever it takes to make the Crossfit community better. Ya’ll have always supported me so i wanted to give back to ya’ll.

About a year ago i graduated from college and hit the road for just under 4 months. On the road i visited many Crossfit gyms. Some good, some bad. I was always asked what do you think? How is our gym? I came from a garage gym with limited space and equipment so it seemed that every gym i saw was very well equipped. I honestly believe that so long as you have a pullup bar, bumpers and a decent olympic bar you are set. Anything beyond that is a luxury.

Anyway, if something was missing in the gym we would talk about it but i always held my tongue when i saw bad training or poor programming. I still don’t think it is my place to walk into a gym and judge clients or trainers. I have my opinions of effective programming and frankly at some gyms i just didn’t see it. Funny enough, this was reflected in the athletes. I took offense to this and really thought long and hard about how i could educate people on what the really successful (performance based) gyms were doing. There were some striking similarities in the “good” gyms. Their programming was spot on and it reflected in the results their clients got, the intensity shown during workouts and the community that had developed. The other gyms, most of which were severely deficient in any quality programming, had decent communities and marginal results but limited legit athletes and no developmental program. I’ll be honest here, Crossfit done poorly is better than anything else on the market. The results of a poor crossfit will be blunted and only serve to get people to a certain point before they become stagnant.

In my seminar i try to simplify everything. I have gotten great responses from both beginners and advanced crossfitters. I feel like it is a great introduction into the foundations of crossfit both for both coaches and athletes. It will take your training to a higher level whether you are coaching others, working out in a box, or training in your garage with your buddies. Having a better understanding of what good programming looks like will allow you to not only start to think on your own but also take responsibility for your own training.

In my opinion this seminar is a must for anyone interested in their own or others development as crossfitters.

I would love it if people that have attended would put their thoughts in the comments. I want to set up a testimonial page where people that are on the fence can go to hear from ya’ll. If you haven’t made it to a seminar yet, let me know why you would or wouldn’t attend. Lastly, post what you want to hear more about both on the blog and in the seminar.

Thanks for all your support!!

I stole this post from Sage Burgner (the more shorter beautiful version of coach B). She wrote it for CJ at Crossfit Invictus. Sage teaches an olympic weightlifting class on wednesday evenings that i hear is picking up some loyal followers.
I am totally in line with what Sage says in this article. She is young but wise beyond her years. Enjoy.

Why Olympic Lifting is Good for CrossFit
Written by Sage Burgener

I recently decided to take a little break from the competition aspect of Olympic weightlifting and focus more on becoming a better all-around athlete. In order to do so, I took on Crossfit. Olympic lifting definitely set me back in fitness when it came to doing anything more than one snatch or one clean and jerk. Doing anything as simple as walking to the refrigerator to eat a spoonful (or three) of delicious cashew butter had me in severe oxygen debt. So, I decided something needed to change. That’s when CrossFit really came into my life.

The point of this post is not to bash the fabulous sport of Olympic weightlifting, but rather to brag about it. Now that my focus has shifted more to becoming a better CrossFit athlete, I have started to realize the benefits of having experience with Olympic weightlifting. I have started to realize how much the movements of the snatch and clean and jerk transfer over to almost every other movement in my CrossFit workouts.

Because Olympic lifting is such a technical sport, I have been able to understand the concept of using my whole body as opposed to muscling my way through the CrossFit exercises. This enables me to save energy, and saving energy will, in the future, help me improve my times and scores. Olympic lifting has also helped me to gain a sense of body awareness. This comes in handy for movements that require rhythm and coordination such as kipping pull-ups and box jumps.

Most importantly, Olympic lifting has helped in my journey to becoming the best all-around athlete that I can be by instilling in me mental strength. I am not saying that I am mentally strong by any means, but I have been able to feel what it is like to completely fear something, and yet still complete the task. I have felt the rush of butterflies right before a hideous workout, and I have experienced the constant struggle of telling myself not to quit when I thought I could not go on any longer. These are all things that CrossFitters experience EVERY workout. The mental strength that is required for CrossFit workouts does not necessarily exceed that of Olympic lifting, but it is definitely on a different level. I look up to and admire each and every CrossFitter for pushing themselves everyday to their absolute limit and for putting their bodies through constant pain with the goal of becoming a better athlete. So, having those experiences of overcoming the barrier of mental toughness in Olympic lifting has helped immensely in my pursuit of becoming as mentally tough as my fellow CrossFit friends.

In conclusion, don’t shy away from the scary technical aspect of Olympic weightlifting – because you sure wouldn’t shy away from a scary CrossFit WOD. Learn to love the sport and learn how to master it, and watch it help you in your CrossFit endeavors.

I was lucky to get to see the world premiere of every second counts last night. Let me tell you it was an experience in muskogee ok.

I was truly blown away. Sevan and Carey did an amazing job. They told the story of 5 crossfitters and dig into what makes them tick. There was also some amazing coverage of the games workouts and really got me jacked about this years games and qualifier.

I highly recommend it and make sure you watch it with other crossfitters, that will only elevate the excitement!

The Crossfit Games are gonna be fun. I have gotten many, many questions about them and what i am doing to prepare. Here is the answer as i am less than 2 weeks out from our qualifier.

I have been doing a hybrid of o-lifting and Crossfit. Running as little as possible (although i ran a mile today) and focusing my metcon training under 15 minutes. I train when i feel like it and relax when i don’t. I am doing what i enjoy and enjoying what i do. I know this is not what Crossfit preaches but i am going to be honest with you…If i did shit i hated everyday just to get better at crossfit, i would never workout! It is worth it to me to do what i enjoy and keep training. This doesn’t mean i do easy stuff or things that are enjoyable. I love to be challenged and there is something about Crossfit workouts that suck you in. Its like being addicted to a drug.

In addition i feel that what i enjoy will allow me to achieve a high enough fitness level to not only compete in the games but do anything else i want. What do i do??
I lift heavy shit and do metcons usually shorter than 15 minutes. I usually lift everyday. followed by something i either saw on someones site or got from a buddy. I don’t have a set program. More than likely if i did, i wouldn’t follow it anyway. I don’t like being told what to do.

The last thing i want to add about my training is that i am committed to Crossfit style training and really want to win. I will not, however; jump off a cliff if i don’t win. I have been competing in something for just about 23 years and feel satisfied with what i have accomplished. I truly think the future of the Crossfit games is going to be driven by the coaches ability to develop an athlete.

My games predictions…
I think number one for the next 3 years possibly 5 will be a new comer. If the new comer doesn’t win… Speal will. He is legit. Strong and Fast.
I am not even going to guess about the events but the qualifiers are very interesting. We will see if they chose their tests appropriately by the athletes they send.

What do you think? Do you know the dark horse?? Who is he?
Ladies feel free to post your thoughts as well.