"Jambalaya" - Challenge #5

It is always great to have a workout partner--especially when that partner is helping you stack weights on and off the bar. Kari, my wife, just happened to be that partner today; I would have been one frustrated dude if it wasn't for her.

The first task of this workout was a 200 meter farmer's carry with 20kg in each hand. Because my kettlebells have not arrived yet, I used two 45lb bumper plates. These were extremely unmanageable. The first 200 meters wasn't so bad; however, once the second 200 meters came up, the slick new bumpers proved to be very difficult to hold on to--more so because of my sweaty hands! So, for the second go-a-round, I chose to just carry one 45lb plate...I rested it behind my neck and on my back. Sorry Rob...I tried to keep the WOD as Rx'd as I could! As mentioned above, there was a lot of putting on and taking off of bumper plates. But again, I had the assistance of my lovely wife, so it wasn't that bad.

The weight on the barbell lifts was definitely challenging--I wanted to do unbroken sets but it just wasn't in the cards for today. Overall, I felt pretty good about my performance; however, I really would have liked to crack off the reps faster! On a separate note...I could not believe how hot and humid it was...and it is almost November here! I am dreading the summers...

My time: 11:44

Check out the short video below--unfortunately my video camera's battery died on me shortly into the workout.

Rob's Story.

I can only agree with Brian. There is nothing better then having a partner to help push you or assist you with your training.

I was fortunate to have Reid and Lisa train with me on this one!
Our weather over here in Ansbach is chilly. It was 2° Celcius in the Box. However, we didn't have to deal with humidity. (I still like warm weather though)

This Challenge was a good, short test of mental and physical capacity. Helping us prepare for the UNkown and UNknowable.

Love the name Brian!

200m farmer carry, 20kg each hand (we used a 20kg and a 24kg kb)
12 x bw back squats
20 sit-ups
7 x squat cleans at 155#
7 x sumo deadlift high pulls, 155#
20 sit-ups
7 x thrusters, 155#
200m farmer carry, 20kg each hand
12 bw back squats
20 sit-ups
7 x jerks, 155#

Our times were:
reid.14:43
lisa.17:06
bou. 12:48 - did it by himself later.
rob. 12:49
Thanks Brian for keeping this challenge alive!

"Empty Tank" - Challenge #4

It was my turn to put together a WOD for this week's challenge. I wanted to incorporate body weight movements with barbell movements, with a pull/push combination. Here is what I came up with:

Max reps deadlift in 90 secs, 90kg
Rest one minute
Max reps push-ups in 90 secs,
Rest one minute
Max reps pull-ups in 90 secs,
Rest one minute
Max reps push press in 90 secs, 45kg
Rest one minute
Max reps hang power snatch in 90 secs, 35kg
Rest one minute
Max reps burpees in 90 secs

Add total reps for score.

The reason this particular blog is titled "Empty Tank" is because that is exactly how I felt during this WOD--like I was running on an empty tank. I attribute this to poor nutrition and lack of rest. Now, when I say poor nutrition I do NOT mean that I have been jamming Big Macs and Whoppers down my gullet three meals a day! I simply mean that I have not been eating what I want, when I want. Bottom line: I am out of my normal routine right now; however, that is to be expected because Kari and I are in middle a PCS move! But, we finally moved into our house this past Tuesday and are starting to get settled in.

Here is how the WOD went down for me: deadlifts: 33, push-ups: 63; pull-ups: 32, push presses: 20, hang power snatches: 16, burpees: 21. Total score: 185

Hopefully, once I get back on track, my WOD performances will start to get better!
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Rob's experience:
Score 191pts
42 deadlifts, 60 push ups, 24 pull ups, 22 push presses, hp snatches 17, burpees 26.

This was a very fun WOD. I felt better and a little more rejuvenated compared to last time. It must be mentioned that when I have night shift, it takes a lot of effort to get my mind and body prepared. (night shifts S*CK !) I'll leave it at that... That said, having the last few days off and sleeping till whenever helped me out. When I only have to concentrate on a wod and eating properly life is easier. ;-D

What also helps is having a few motivated people around. It makes things go a little bit faster. Sometimes that can be positive, if you are not a clock whore.

A big thank's goes out to my wife for letting me screw off the past few days. It is at times really damned hard keeping up with a crazy always changing shift system.

Btw, if you have a weird shift system at work or work only nights, it is really important to eat right and train properly. I already made my point about sleep. If you screw off on all fronts you are f#*ked!

Today's Work:

Empty Tank from Rob Powell on Vimeo.

"The Screwdriver" - Challenge #3

Well it is that time of week again.

After much deliberating, I wanted to come up with something that would level me out. I have been way too relaxed about my eating and drinking habits lately. With drinking, I mean beer and cocktails. I don't drink everyday. But recently, There has been too many occasions on the weekends. Now after doing the wod, I have driven that point home. It is time to start eating clean and sticking with water.

Afterthoughts: My time 28:37. What a butt kicker! I felt a whole lot like crap today. My strength was shot. The burpee/hspu drained me out! Speed was gone and last night's screwdrivers just wanted to come up while doing the sit ups. However, as said the point was made. I also noticed during the video that some of the hspu, squats and push ups were a little below par. We will be working on that. It is to be said everyone gave what they could.

The funny side of it, everyone in the vid were out last night. So I wasn't alone suffering.

So without further ado:

Have fun Brian!
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Brian's experience:

It was Rob's turn to program this week's WOD. Because I have limited access to equipment right now, I kindly asked him to program something that did not require much: a body weight workout. That might have been a bad idea!

"The Screwdriver" proved to be a very difficult workout. The burpee and handstand push-up combination was just plain nasty. That part of the workout was a total shoulder smoker. My arms felt like rubber each time I finished a round of handstand push-ups--and, of course, the subsequent burpees felt 10 times as worse as they should have (like burpees are ever pleasant, right?).

I thought that I would be able to smoke through the squats and push-ups; however, because this part of the workout had to be performed immediately after the burpees and handstand push-ups, it went A LOT slower than I would have liked.

The double-unders went surprisingly well, but the sit-ups were slow-going. Needless to say, Rob put together a very challenging workout. Good thing Kari and I were able to do it in a tennis court--the gym was closed (booo), but that was okay because the Shaw gym is actually a quite depressing environment. We (Kari and I) cannot wait to get our garage gym up and running!

My time: 22:36; Kari's time: 25:47. Check out the video below of us tackling "The Screwdriver"...

Back in the States - Challenge #2

So, Rob and I have arrived at the first challenge from across the miles. The trip back went uncharacteristically smooth for me; even Riddic couldn't believe how seamless it went. That was, until, we got on the Capital Beltway For any of you that have been on the Beltway at rush hour, you will know what I mean. Long story short: it took us three hours to travel approximately 50 miles!

On Saturday morning, my Mom, Kari, and I headed over to CrossFit Blacksburg. It was awesome to see how Amy and Neil (the owners) have progressed over the last two years. I remember when I was at my parents' house last...it was around the same time that Amy was transitioning out of her garage and into a bigger box. She had four clients. Now, her and Neil are in their third location, and are knocking down more walls to expand even further. Oh, and did I mention that they now have upwards of 100 clients--and they accomplished all of this just shy of two years!

Now, onto the WOD (that Amy so graciously programmed):

With a partner*, complete as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
10 Hang snatches, 115lbs (50kg)**
30 Pull-ups
Run 400 meters***

*Partners must switch off and on for snatches and pull-ups
**Athlete may power snatch; however, must ride down to full squat
***Next round cannot start next until both athletes return from run

My partner, Jesse, happened to be one of the CrossFit Blacksburg trainers: he was Beast-status. We ended up completing four rounds + approximately 200 meters.

Rob's experience:

I believe in Keeping Promises.

I knew from the get-go that we would be challenged just because of the time differences. Yesterday's kettlebell seminar that was held here at CrossFit Ansbach showed me a few things. First of all, I am sore! Lower back, glutes and hams are fried. But as stated, I am obligated to keep this going. If you guys ever make it to Austria check these guys out:
Dominik Feischl and Oliver Klettner speak very good english and are very good and patient instructors.

So on with the story. I did this Challenge with a new training partner, David Koch. This kid is going to be a power house in a few months. He learns fast and is strong. However, as should always be when learning new movements, SAFETYcomes first. David used 40Kg for the Hang Snatch.

So after warming up forever and a day, we took off and finished with 3 rounds. We had 15sec to finish the 400m. So we just stopped the watch and ran the 400m as part of a cool down.
I might add that we had our CF Ansbach 1 year anniversary party last night and it showed in our score today! ;-P

Thanks for the Challenge Bro!

Going Back to Nature

In preparation for what's coming up next, I thought I would post this video from Henry Rollins. Hopefully NO ONE will be offended by the language used. The key here is to listen to the message.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j9DhBSn8tE&feature=related

The First Challenge

The Jameson & Rowing Warm-Up

Although I am still in Germany, Rob and I thought that we would kick off the challenge with a special WOD: "The B-Hole". This workout was in honor of our good friend, Jon Wong, who will be departing Germany the same day as me.

"The B-Hole" goes as follows:

Wearing a 20lb vest, complete the following as quickly as possible:

Five rounds of "Cindy"

One round of "Helen"

Last round of "Fran"

-All pull-ups, chest-to-bar

-All push-ups, "true push-ups"

-Thrusters @ 135lbs

I finished the workout as Rx'd in 10:00 flat! During the workout, Lauren was screaming at me to go faster...she wanted me to get sub-10 minutes. Here is the bottom line: I could have gone faster, but the "suck it up factor" wasn't quite all there for me today. My last set of pull-ups were broken up into three sets of three--boooo! I should have just hung on and went for it! It is funny, the mind. Pre-WOD you can always talk yourself up...tell yourself to just go, go go! However, mid-WOD is a completely different story!

Here is a short video of Jon and I gettin' it done:

Rob's experience:

After getting back from Ramstein Friday night, all I wanted to do was Jon's going away wod. Actually, I have been thinking about it since Copenhagen. It's amazing what people can put together while having a few beers.

Bou (Stefan Dallheimer) and I did this Saturday afternoon. So here is what I have to say:

It's a quick little a§§ kicker. I for some reason thought it would be easier. As usual things turned out differently then thought. Thank goodness Bou was there to push me. Pull ups went well considering we used a 10kg vest. Thrusters were completed as singles till the last two. I wasn't too much into the suck so I thought I could pace it.

Bou finished with a good 10:51min, then he yelled at me till I finished with 13:01min. So I for the most part, am happy that we finished under 15:00min. I believe we will be trying this again soon. 10:00min or better is the goal!

My thoughts: eating clean and little alcohol should improve my score. Burpees and pull ups immediatly let me know when I have been eating wrong!

The Idea

No better way to start a blog about training...

We had just finished an excellent meal at Big Emma's, and we were outside talking and bidding our farewells. I leave Germany in less than one week. My good buddy, Robert Powell, from CrossFit Ansbach, made the trip to say good-bye to one of our very own: Jon Wong. With CrossFitters, 98.56% of the conversations are about, well, CrossFit, or anything related to training, diet, etc. This conversation was no different--and the idea was born.

Robert and I will take turns programming a weekly workout. Both of us will complete the workout, post our results, progress, and whatever else we feel like contributing to cyberspace. We both felt that it would be an excellent way to stay in touch, provide motivation for each others' training, and stay proficient at programming WODs. Well, to be honest, I will be the one that needs to stay proficient at programming...Robert has a box to run, so he gets plenty of practice! So, if you feel like following our progress and offering any tips, comments, questions, or encouraging words, please feel free to do so!