Yes… that means you will be hitting the squat position on every rep!
It’s Mobility Monday.
We’ll start this weekly feature with a good ol favourite of mine: Wall Extensions.
I’d recommend that you all start incorporating Wall Extensions into your daily regimen whether you’re at the gym or not. This practice of retracting the scapula is *critical* in overhead lifting. Unfortunately most of our daily habits (e.g. reading CrossFit Winnipeg blogs at a computer) tend to put us in a bad posture. Remember…. every movement begins and ends with posture… cheating on this movement will not get you the desired results.
7 rounds for time:
20 Shoulder Press (m:75;w:50)
20 Sit-ups
Finish with Max L-sit. Then do 3 more sets of L-sit at 50% of time of max set.
Training Consistency
Most people surveyed feel that training consistency is the hardest part about getting fit. Some of you are remarkably successful at getting your 3/4/5 or 6 workouts in every week. How do you do it?
“The Bear”
Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Push Press
7 sets without the bar resting on the ground
Start at a weight light enough that you can do all 7 sets at without resting. Then, rest 2-10 minutes, increase the weight, and try again. Keep doing this until you find a weight with which you cannot complete the routine.
3/week
- Push Press heavy single
- Squats. Tabata for total score unless your name is on the list on the corkboard. If on “the list” do Overhead Squat 3×2*.
- Max unanchored AbMat situps in 3 sets of 1 minute on, 1 minute off. Crook of elbow must pass knees. Shoulders must touch floor. Unlimited:
- All of the above *plus* another day of squatting. Either 100 @ 2020 or, if on “the list”, do Front Squat 3×3*.
* These are linear progression squats, so don’t max out on these yet. Aim for an RPE of about 85%. Add 5# to last time.
TODAY’S WORKOUT
15, 30, 45, 30, 15 reps for time of:
Push Ups
Row (cal)
Double Unders
Finish with Max L-sit. Then do 3 more sets of L-sit at 50% of time of max set.
Some Things I Learned from “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto”
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. - That is the book in a nutshell and a good manifesto to live by for 99% of us.
You are what what you eat eats – most of the meats you buy at the grocery store are fed grains which jacks up their Omega 6′s and thereby jacks up yours. This is why we highly recommend supplementing with Omega 3′s – to get the balance back. However, if you choose meats that *don’t* jack up your Omega 6′s (grass-fed/pasture-fed) and wild game, then the Omega 6′s don’t get jacked up so much. You’d probably still do well to supplement with fish oil, but you’ll get more mileage on a smaller dose.
Eat a wide variety of locally grown plants – Visit the Farmer’s markets to see what’s in season and local
Grow your own food - he’s got all sorts of romantic reasons why, but in the end it does you good to get out in the Sun for 20 minutes a week and do some gardening. In addition to that you get some almost free food of the high nutrient variety picked at the height of ripeness
Eat with other people – In the last 50 years meal-time as a social event has seriously deteriorated. Pollan argues that healthy eating habits include preserving the social aspect of meal-time.
Eat slowly – We’re not talking 100 chews per bite or anything like that…. just take smaller bites and enjoy the flavours. It leads to better digestion, you’ll probably eat less (if that’s a problem for you), and you’ll probably get more time to socialize if you’re applying the previous principle
PUT YOUR RESOURCES INTO FOOD. This is perhaps the biggest take-away for me. High quality food is worth the investment of money with long term benefits to your health, performance and short term benefits to your enjoyment of food. Cooking is well worth your time as a stress-reducing activity capable of bringing about some seriously great taste experiences. Couple that with making meal-times social and you’re working toward a very positive social life/home environment.
One Criticism
He doesn’t see any good reason to eat meat (and also says he doesn’t see any good reason to not eat meat – ethical/religious issues aside). The Zone and Paleo diets have lots of documentation with very good reasons to eat lean, grass-fed, meats…. the biggest being hormonal balance. Are we eating PILES of meat like bodybuilders? Nope… just moderate amounts. I like to see my athletes eating a serving of meat approximately the size and thickness of their hand 5 times per day.
I recommend this book as a light read touching on some of the most important aspects of changing to a whole foods diet. It lacks the sensationalism of most other recent nutrition books and sticks to the basic truths. If you apply Pollan’s principles, add in the Zone “hand principle” (which I will happily show you any day), and top off with a bit of fish oil, you’ve got a great diet (WAY OF LIFE) for optimal performance, fat reduction and long term health!
As is our custom, the gym will be closed on Monday except for a “team workout” at 9AM. We put together a workout, form teams and do it for fun. Most of the time they prove to be quite challenging for everyone involved. They’re always a lot of fun! Let us know if you’re planning to come.
Baseline. Followed by ~30 tire flips. Try to get in on flipping the big ones with a partner or two!
If your Baseline is already below 3:55 (men) or 4:40 (women)
Row 1000 m for time. Then do some tire flipping.
Finish with Max L-sit. Then do 3 more sets of L-sit at 50% of time of max set.
Do you consider yourself an endurance athlete (or an endurance athlete wannabe)? Email brendan@crossfitwinnipeg.com about your passion for endurance training, your goals and what you are doing to achieve your goals. I might be able to help you out now that I’m a CrossFit Endurance Certified coach.
