Sunday, February 21, 2010

Part I... Part II

Workout of the Day:

Part I:

3 rounds for time:

250 meter sandbag run (30 kg)

9, 6, 3 wall climbs & burpee box jumps

Rest 1 hour

Part II:

20 minute progression ladder

Alternate between pullups and OH squat (40 kg)

Coach Didzis came with me today to help film and encourage. I’d been waiting for a sunny day to do Part I for a while now, and finally Paris obliged. The sandbag runs were terrible, just as I remembered them being. The stretch of road we used had a slight incline so that on the way out things felt okay. Coming back, however, was another story. Each of these sets got progressively slower, but I never had to stop or drop the bag. That’s a victory.

The wall climbs were great! This is a really exercise that is much harder than it looks and teaches you how to move your body around an object that isn’t moving. It was especially difficult today because the area just in front of the wall was wet, causing my feet to slip off the stone surface when I went to plant and spring upward. I probably would have been better off not even trying to use my feet for help given the conditions. Either way it was exhausting and fun at the same time.

The burpee box jumps were equally fun. I used the other side of the wall (just over waist high) and got a rolling start into every jump just to be sure I could get all the way up. The whole sequence took 13:26 to complete, but it felt like much longer. My forearms are a little nicked up from the stone but, all in all, no major damage done.

I rested exactly an hour then headed into the Cite gym to do the progression ladder. The heaviest weight available on Saturdays was a 40 kg relic of a barbell with welded weights on either end. This wound up being too light for the OH squats, but it had to do. I completed the first 8 sets of pullups unbroken, but had to split on the 17 and 19 repetition rounds. The squats I never broke. I contemplated continuing past the 20 minute mark, but decided against it. 60 kg is the weight that should be used for this sequence, then 20 rounds would be a serious challenge.

The video footage from both parts is below…

7 comments:

  1. HI Blair. Did Bob and Denise work out with you? You're looking big! love you. mom.

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  2. Talk about tactical pull up! The burpee+BJ looks scary, it would´ve sucked to loose balance ;) Why not try 1-arm OHS next time? Won´t give you more volume, but it´s a challenge.

    Fun as always to find out what new ways to work out you come up with!

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  3. AWESOME!
    Getting inspired! I am going on a shoot soon and I don't know if there will be a gym on our location but...seeing this - I don't need a gym!
    Great!

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  4. Hi Blair!

    Firstly, congrats on winning the Danish Crossfit Open 2010! I was there as a spectator. :)

    Great blog! Its a fantastic inspiration. I travel quite often to places where I dont have access to gyms, so I will definately use some of your exercises in the future!

    Keep up the good work.

    Greetings,

    Nicolas from Copenhagen.

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  5. Blair, I love reading your blog, but I now have a question.

    Missing on those box jumps could've seriously fucked up your training, why did you do them?

    Regardless, keep up the good work man! You inspired me with your performance in the CF Games! Actually, your entire blog and videos are inspiring to me!

    Cheers man,
    Spencer

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  6. Hey Spencer,
    Regarding the box jumps and the risk involved, I think you have a point. But the same can be said about near maximal lifting in snatch, deadlift, or any other major lift. Any time you climb a rope you take a risk of falling off. I think calculated risks are the key. It's a delicate balance between pushing limits and being stupid, and box jumps are an area that I feel very comfortable in. Creating workouts without the standard equipment invariably requires a little creative risk in order to design a workout that will test you in the right ways.

    Thanks for the question and the nice words.

    Blair

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