Thursday 5/13

I have gotten lots of love from all the peeps at StoneWay for Scotts B-day WOD, aka "Dirty Rodriguez"... Im glad to hear everyone took on the challenge and lived to tell about it!

I can confidently say I will NOT be doing 30 rounds of 30 Thrusters on my next birthday, despite popular request!

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Today was a great WOD at CL and one at which I was severly deficient. StoneWay doesn't have a GHD/Back extension machine or any ab mats... at least not yet,  and today the WOD at CL had both of those.

Strength - Box squats with green bands - Green bands plus #45/65/85/105/125 - 6/6/5/5/5

This is what Scott and I learned with Jesse up at CrossFit Lynnwood, the bands force you to engage the core and drive with the shoulders. At the bottom of the squat they dont have as much tension, but as you stand up they really add a lot of weight to the bar.

According to Louie Simmons (one of the strongest men alive with a #840 squat) box squats will build strenght that is second to none and can not be matched by any other movement. Extreme core strength, good posture and lots of glutes and hamies.

WOD:

"Michael"

3 rounds

800m Run

50 back extensions

50 sit ups

Time - 16:10

My low back and hamstrings were screaming! I couldn't believe how bad even the very first round of 50 back ext. hurt.The Ab mat situps were great, the ab mats are awesome. I was glad to get some back extensions into a WOD now that Im at a box that has a GHD/Back ext machine. I think this will go a long way in strengthening my core and increasing my DL.

"Im gonna go eat a cheat meal now"

FOOD:

B - Pro shake

americano

L - lunch meat, apple, orange, cheese slices - gouda or something like that

D - cheat meal - enchiladas, chips, and carrot cake for dessert

Tuesday 3/23

Today I was served a nice big piece of humble pie....

Scott and I drove up to CrossFit Lynnwood to visit Jesse and workout w/ him, Todd Widman and some other mean CF'ers. We got the gym and went straight to the back room where to powerlifters workout.

Now, I’m a buck fifty soakin wet, so I know im not gonna lift the most weight in the room, but when you are in a room full of rock start guys, tipin the scales at 210 and up, being small is a tough pill to swallow.

Jesses had us warm up pulling sleds and doing some GHD’s. Then he put us on a beast of a squat rack with a bar only. He pulled a big 48’’ rubber band, that was fixed to the floor, around each side of the squat bar. At the bottom of the squat the band has very little tension on it, but as you stand up it gets exponentially harder the more it stretches.

(notice the green bands on the ground)

Its just a rubber band, right? Well, I failed out w/ a #25 plate on each side. Yes, at #95, plus 2 green bands, I had to be picked up by the spotter!

Now, this is a good place for you to know Todd and Jesse were up to over #250…. Instantaneous humility!

Scott was doing great, blowin through the #25’s, goin to 35’s then 45’s. Jesse and Justin worked w/ us a lot on form and why we were getting broken down at a relatively low weight. WEAK CORE! Its all about keeping that mid-line nice and tight. You gotta drive with those glutes and hams, not the hips!

 Each time I went back to the #25 plates on my bar I felt like a little kid workout out with NFL players. Anyway, I managed to work my way up to #35’s after some coaching.

Then it was on to low back, back squats. Jesse showed us what it means to keep your chest up. after about 10 mins of coaching he estimates I will be able to add 100 pounds to my back squat. Wow!

“ok, grab a sled, do 5 pulls down and back, #135 and then your done”, Jesse told us.

Well, just like the rest of the day, easier said then done! The sled pull was exhausting! Scott and I switched off, but it was a bear to pull that thing 200ft.

I left excited for all the new stuff I learned but feeling totally shocked at how much I didn’t even know that I didn’t even know! Humbled at how weak I was but eager to put to use my new strength training techniques.

Great day of lifting and learning.

Food:

B - Latte, cereal (cheat food, b/c i was out of pretty much everything else)
L - beef (all natural), cheese, salad, apple, almond butter
D - chicken chilli, apple, paleo magic cooke bar, milk