CCL round 2...

Workout of the Day:

5 x 5 sumo deadlift

5 x 6-10 good morning

3 rounds for time partner WOD:

40 OH squat (55 kg)

50 pullup

60 box jump

70 double under

400 meter run

(I wore 20 lb vest)

Made it back in to London today. I spent an hour or so in Hyde park with a friend of mine from the States, then headed over to London Bridge to meet up with Dellus from CrossFit Central London. He’s an Osteopath working in the city and after last nights work he offered to see me today for a once over. This was great. Not only did he work out some kinks, but we chatted at length about CrossFit, the role of his practice therein, and our experiences in general. Afterwards he walked me through a bit of old London, including Borough Market, the Clink, and some great neighborhoods between the bridge and CCL.

When we got to the gym it was seething again. Brian was teaching a foundations course with 3 new members and there were a handful of others doing the workout of the day (as described above). Dellus, Rob, and I started in on some strength work, doing 5 x 5’s of sumo deadlifts (dead stop in between repetitions) followed by 5 x 6-10’s of weighted good mornings. The deadlift sets were 120 kg, 140 kg, 150 kg, 160 kg, and 170 kg. I felt pretty strong with these, the biggest limitation being the grip. The last set at 170 was a struggle, but in a good way. Never was there a chance of it not getting up. Del looked strong the whole way and Rob made it look easy. Kid is built to deadlift.

We transitioned to weighted good mornings from there, an exercise neither of my workout partners had done much of. I’m interested to hear how they’re feeling tomorrow. We worked at 60 kg for the first few sets, then bumped it to 70 kg for the last 2. I got at least 7 every time, with a few 8’s mixed in. Loved this for strength building in the lower back and hamstrings. Hoping to do a lot more of it as we head towards Sweden in May.

The partner WOD was tough. Rob and I paired up, with me wearing the 20 lb vest for a little extra umph. As the workout progressed the weight vest felt heavier and heavier, my compressing more and more. We necessarily split the workload based upon our strengths, so I wound up doing 60 % of the OH squats, Rob doing closer to 70% of the pullups, splitting the box jumps, me doing 60 % of the double unders, and obviously both doing the run. In total the workout took us 26:07 to finish and it was a burner. The first round felt real easy, but the rest was not fun. The weight vest took its toll on me, especially on the pullups and the run. I was able to get through the OH squats without much trouble on any of the rounds and the double unders didn’t feel much different with the extra weight. Overall, though, I was pretty kicked afterwards.

After the guys locked up, a group of us headed around the corner for a few beers and chatted til 10:30 or so. It was a great finish to the night and I genuinely enjoyed the company. Brian got some great pictures and I’m hoping to get my hands on them as soon as he posts them on Flicker. Hopefully this is not the last time I train at CCL. Great spot.