Sugar Attack

I'm sorry it's been too long since I last updated this blog. When things get busy and energy levels get low this tends to be the first thing to drop off the radar. We are still here and we are still training hard every week.

A lot happened last month, first off I attended the Basic Barbell Certification with Mark Rippetoe at the beginning of the month. That was a great experience and I feel like I came away from that class with a greater understanding about the magic behind some fundamental movements. When I originally thought about this certification I was unsure whether this would be an essential class to have being that it covered some pretty basic movements. After 2 days with Rippetoe I'm glad that I did. Ripp and his crew are extremely knowledgeable in the science of these lifts and have learned some very simple cues trainers can use to teach these basic but technical moves. I think that the Basic Barbell will make a good starting point for when I attend the Olympic Lifting Certification in October (can't wait!).

Other things that are happening around the gym are, Tin Man and I are trying out the CrossFit Football program. We are about a month and a half into it and the main thing I can say it that we are both feeling pretty beat-up. The weight is heavier in the metcons which at 155-160lbs bodyweight can be challenging to say the least. Some of my first observations I can say about it is that anyone wanting to follow the program needs to take the rest days as rx'd. We haven't been doing that mainly because we like to workout Monday to Friday. The downside to this is that I think we are often times on the verge of overtraining. So far we haven't had any injuries (knock on wood) except for the ripped callouses, mostly due to bad maintenance. Also because of this we finally had to break down and give ourselves a few days of rest to heal our hands and shake some of that rundown feeling from our bodies.

I like the incorporation of a Strength Bias into the program, I think as CrossFit matures this will start to be commonplace at Affiliates and maybe on the Mainsite as well. Like Ripp says, is there such a thing as being too strong? I also like what MaxFitUSA is doing. I have even tortured some of my guys with their WODs. One thing I can say is that I really like how they change up their warm-ups and use them to focus on skills and not just to get you ready for the WOD.

I would also like to thank Billy's Blades for making a donation to Havoc Fitness. He is the first to donate and wanted to thank him for his support. William Ellis makes some awesome hand made knives and razors so be sure to check it out.

This last thing I would like to mention is that Ryan will be leaving us at the beginning of July. Ryan is moving on to greener pastures and hopefully we will be hearing about him opening the first CrossFit affiliate in Vermont. Ryan was the first person to call up and train at our little facility so we wish him the best and hope to hear great things from him in the future.

As I always try to do I leave you with this final link. This was as passed to me from Tin Man. Check out Sugar Stacks you might not want that Ben & Jerry's anymore.

You learn more in defeat!

First and foremost I want to commend Jeff Tincher on putting together a great regional qualifier. The events ran seamlessly and the judging was very professional and accurate. While I might disagree with some of the events chosen, mainly because a large majority of the exercises did not cater to my strengths, you would have a hard time arguing that the Mid-Atlantic is not sending the most well rounded Crossfitters to the Games in July. Given the technicality of a lot of the lifts we performed it will be interesting to see how those individuals perform in an event billed by Coach Glassman as “None of the competitors will have done any of the workouts. And perhaps more significantly, none of the athletes will have ever competed in several of the movements.”

Since this was my first Crossfit competition to say I was disappointed in my final standings is an understatement, but I honestly believe that you learn more in defeat than in victory. This year Chris and I tried to practice what WE thought would be events in the games in an attempt to shore up some of my weaker lifts. This methodology was completely wrong, but given we really only had 6 months of dedicated Crossfit training we can’t blame ourselves for that approach. Jeff Tincher exposed me in several Crossfit disciplines that I am below average in and for that I thank him. I can assure you that we will not make the same mistakes next year. This entire year will be dedicated to being great at everything. I will no longer avoid the movements I dislike or disagree with; instead I will attack them like they are my favorite lifts. The beauty of Crossfit is it punishes specialization. It forces you to train in the things you hate and excel at them. I will be a completely different competitor at next year’s qualifier and unlike this year I will not be eagerly waiting for the event coordinator to post the WODs with my fingers crossed hoping the events favor me. Next year every event will favor me.

Mid-Atlantic Qualifiers Day 2

Well for starters we didn't make it in the top 6, or the top 10, or the top 50. At the end of day one the leaders were so far ahead I don't think there was any possible way for us to make up the time. However I wouldn't consider it a failure by any stretch. The competition was really tough and showed some amazing fitness throughout the weekend. I was fearful that Tin Man would have to scale one of the WODs or even run out of time but thankfully that never happened. Not one of the WODs played to his strengths and yet he persevered and managed to finish every WOD without ever having to resort to scaling. We came back that night a little disappointed but I think in the end we will have some good things to work on and hopefully by next year we will be the fire-breathers giving everyone else a run for their money.

Mid-Atlantic Qualifiers Day 1

Today marks the end of the first day of the Mid-Atlantic qualifiers. The competition was no doubt tough. The day one leader has over a 3 minute lead on the rest of the competitors. At the end of the day Craig finished 73rd overall. Although the WODs really didn't cater to his strengths he still finished strong and never came close to running out of time. Craig's first WOD was the 400m Run with Overhead Squats and Box Jumps. In his heat he finished 7th and his final time was 13:20. From there we moved onto the 2k Row, which as anyone who has tried rowing a 2k can attest to is a challenge in itself. At about the 1000m mark your entire body is screaming for you to stop. One thing that was obvious from the beginning was that brute strength and endurance does not make for a faster time. Powerful methodical pulls and having long legs is what wins at the end of the day.

Finally at 2:20 that afternoon Craig moved on to the Deadlift Double-unders WOD. The most impressive time for that WOD ended up being a sub 3 minutes. We had been working on double-unders for that last 2 months but it still wasn't enough to get through the WOD in a competitive time. He still had a respectable time but it wasn't enough to close the gap.

I know that Tin Man is disappointed with today's outcome but I think that it was a positive experience. We will be going back home with a list of skills to work on and add to our arsenal. Next year when we return we will be stronger are more efficient CrossFitters.

If there is one thing I regret is that I didn't sign up for the challenge myself. I know that I didn't have a change of placing, but to be part of an event this amazing would have made it all worth it. The trainers, coaches and competitors we supportive to every athlete regardless if they scaled the workout or couldn't finish within the prescribed time. No matter what my fitness level is next year I will definitely be entering this competition.

Sunday's WOD

21-15-9

Squat Snatch @ 95lbs

Pull-ups

Games

The time has finally come for Tin Man and I to travel down to Virginia Beach. After months of training there is nothing left for us to do but compete. I will be sending updates to my Facebook account throughout the day so if you are interested in seeing how Craig is doing then contact me for a friend request. This should be a challenging weekend and if things go our way we could be traveling to California in July. Here are the workouts Craig will be facing on Saturday.

Saturday's Workouts

Workout #1

Row 2k

Workout #2

3 Rounds for time:

10 Deadlift @ 275lbs

50 Double-unders

Workout #3

For time:

400m Run

21 Overhead Squats @ 95lbs

21 Box Jumps @ 24" box

400m Run

15 Overhead Squats

15 Box Jumps

400m Run

9 Overhead Squats

9 Box Jumps