Travel and back at the Garage

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I am at the Brine National Lacrosse Championships to watch my son compete at a new level of competition.  Yesterday's practice was exciting and the facility here in Richmond, VA was amazing.  12 turf fields all lined beautifully hosted boys and girls from all over the country.

While traveling, I make it a point to wake up at the same time that I do back home (5:02 am) and workout.  This keeps me on a regular schedule and helps to deal with the travel.  Most times I am not able to get the same intensity of a workout as I would at the RRL but I can usually get in something pretty good.  Today, I simply hit a deck of cards

Hearts=situps

Diamonds=Squats

Clubs=Pushups

Spades=Burpees

Joker 1= 1/2 mile run

Joker 2=3 minute plank

Joker 3=1/2 mile run

 

Back at the Garage:

AMReps 2 mins: Double Unders

As many reps as possible in 2 mins of: Double Under

Log Result

Previous: 169 reps | Rx'd - 7 months ago

View Gym Results (0)

Every 1:30 for 12 mins: Chest-to-bar Pull-ups and Burpees

Every 1:30 for 12 mins do: 10 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups 10 Burpees

Log Result

View Gym Results (0)

AMRAP 12 mins: Curtis Ps and Farmers Walk (Kettlebell)s

Complete as many rounds as possible in 12 mins of: 10 Curtis Ps, 135 lbs Farmers Walk (Kettlebell), 145 lbs, 25 m

Carry (2) 2 pood kettlebells

Log Result

View Gym Results (1)

 

Good work Boys!!

Russell x 8 Again

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We revisited an old friend today.  Russell has been a part of the RRL since the beginning and stirs several emotions when you see it on the board. 

1. Cool!  Field Trip

2. Shit

Russell is a short, steep hill that we run 8 times for time.  The all time record was set by Will Kelley at 11:05.  Several of us have gone under the impressive benchmark of 12 minutes but the majority of the pack comes in between 12:30 and 13:30.  I came in at 12:37 today but missed the turnaround point on the first lap by about 20-30 feet.  We turn around at a patch of concrete that looks like a little cannon, or a gun...or you can imagine what others think it may look like.  Either way, some road work had been done on a similar patch of concrete which made me think that was our gun.  Nope...so maybe I was 12:50 today.

It was really hot today.  Even at 6 am it was over 73 degrees.

It is super simple as most really good workouts are.  Simply run up the hill 8 times.

Compare to the last time we did this here

 

Daniel

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Sweat index today...7.  One of the Kardashians stopped by for Still Water

Sweat index today...7.  One of the Kardashians stopped by for Still Water

Always good when you leave a puddle when doing Still Water

Always good when you leave a puddle when doing Still Water

Sweat Angels after Still Water

Sweat Angels after Still Water

RRL Warmup followed by:

Daniel

50 Pull-ups

Run, 400 m

21 Thrusters, 95 lbs

Run, 800 m

21 Thrusters, 95 lbs

Run, 400 m

50 Pull-ups

For Time

Then, Still Water Gratefulness exercise, 9 minutes.

I was slower today than previous efforts.  I had posted a 15:37 a few years ago, but today I did 17:27.

I was happy with my first set of 50 unbroken pullups (kipping) but the run was pretty slow after.  My thrusters were 11/5/5, then 11/5/3/2, and then last set of pullups were 20/10/5/5/5/3/2

There is definitely a love/hate relationship with this workout.  I love the pullups but have trouble with the thrusters.  The run is the run and certainly tough on our giant hill.

But lets not forget why this workout is named Daniel:

Dedicated to Army Sgt 1st Class Daniel Crabtree who was killed in Al Kut, Iraq on Thursday June 8th 2006.

Thank you for your service, Mr Crabtree.

Normal Park Stairs

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Run 1 mile

10 burpees at the top of stairs

10 clap pushups at the bottom of stairs

x 3 rounds

Run 1 mile

It was hot and our times were slow.  I chose to take both Gus and Bravo for this one.  Gus, of course, was perfect, but Bravo... well...

Let's just say that he thought he was a sled dog for a while.  Puppies, like all of us, have alot to learn.  He will get there.

 

Kokoro Prep

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AJ Hickey or 037 doing overhead work in Selection.  037 was one of the most badass people I have ever met in my life.  He was the strongest candidate but was medically dropped as one of only 2 remaining.  037 suffered serious kidney i…

AJ Hickey or 037 doing overhead work in Selection.  037 was one of the most badass people I have ever met in my life.  He was the strongest candidate but was medically dropped as one of only 2 remaining.  037 suffered serious kidney issues but has since recovered.

Matt Lawson is headed to Kokoro in Oct so I thought I would design a little prep workout for him today.  One of the worst things I encountered in both Selection and Kokoro were overhead ruck or sandbag holds. They are tough and can break you when simply standing with the bag overhead, but they are made far worse when asked to maintain an overhead hold in a deep squat.

Our workout was really very simple but looked more complicated on the board:

Run 400 round 1, 800 round 2, and 400 round 3

After running, Complete:

16 Burpees

8 kettlebell swings at 70 pounds

4 straight bar muscle ups

2 Turkish Getups at 70 pounds

1 double rope climb with no legs (this is a 15 foot climb with one rope in each hand)

x3 rounds

"Rest" exactly 2 minutes between rounds by maintaining a 45 pound sandbag in the overhead position on round 1, in full squat on round 2 and in overhead position on round 3.

Many, including myself, found it to be difficult to maintain the overhead position for the whole 2 minutes so we did an accumulated 2 minute hold, counting only the time the bag was held in an overhead position with arms locked out.

For Matt Lawson, he incurred an additional 10 burpee penalty for every time the bag touched his head.  Ouch.

At one time, I rated workouts in the summer with a sweat index.  I cant remember exactly what the standards were, but a 10 was completely soaking shoes and socks, like we had jumped in a pool and a 1 was a small ring around the collar.  I give this one about a 7.  Pretty good, completely covered, all clothes soaked but shoes and socks not completely drenched and I could not ring out my shirt.

Mr Joshua

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One of the hardest workouts that we do and, in my opinion, one of the hardest in the Hero lineup is one called Mr Joshua.  It is a Hero workout which means that it is in memorial to a fallen hero.  In this case:

SO1 Joshua Thomas Harris, 36, drowned during combat operations, August 30th 2008 in Afghanistan. He is survived by his parents Dr. Sam and Evelyn Harris, his brother Ranchor and twin sister Kiki.

Hero workouts create a mix of emotions.  I feel good honoring a fallen hero through my physical exertion, however, it makes it very clear to me that our freedom and the lifestyle we have here in the USA comes at a price.  Putting a name and a face on that stirs some emotions.  I am thankful for freedom and those who put themselves in harms way to preserve and protect all of us at home doing trivial stuff like working out in our garage.  Be thankful for what you have and those who have done their part to provide it for you. 

The workout looks like this:

"Mr. Joshua"

Five rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
30 Glute-ham sit-ups
250 pound Deadlift, 15 reps

Justin was the only one who did this at 250 lbs, AND he had a patient consultation DURING the workout...STUD!

I peeled it back to 215 and took it rather slowly this morning.  Yesterday, I aggravated my calf so I was taking precautions to keep from injuring it further.

There is nothing wrong with scaling back a workout, especially if it is obviously over your current fitness or strength level.  As we age, we have to train smarter rather than just training harder.  I know that is cliche, but it is a cliche that makes a ton of sense.  Everything we do in pursuit of fitness and health should not harm us.  If we hurt our back or something, our training will suffer.  If you are trying to get stronger or increase volume, do so slowly and be patient.  You will get there.

 

 

 

Fran

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After resting through the weekend while watching Hayden play Lacrosse I put Fran on the board for this morning.  Few workouts make my stomach turn like Fran.  It is a simple workout, but because the weight is light and the reps relatively short, it allows for max effort throughout the entire workout.

I looked through my results last night and saw that my first Fran was around 7 minutes.  I fairly quickly dropped that time with better kipping pullups and I got stronger in the squat.  Eventually I hit a 2:58 but have never been able to repeat that time.  I have finished in 3:12, 3:15, 3:17, 3:19 and today, 3:31.  In training for Kokoro and Selection, I would do a long ruck in pants and boots then hit Fran after a 12-15 miler to finish in about 8 minutes.  I have not had a rested attempt in quite sometime.

Some guys tried this workout for the first time today and others revisited it.  We had Chris Curtis return to us this morning and Jody brought his daughter, May, who is getting ready to take her test for Black Belt.  Good luck May!

My feeling on warmup is that the longer the workout is going to be, the shorter the warmup needs to be.  Workouts like Murph or even Triple Murph have sort of a warm up built in and you move slower for a much longer period of time.

A workout like Fran which will require maximum effort for a short period actually requires a much longer and more intense warm up.  So today we started like this

RRL Warm Up

10 pushup, 10 situp, 10 pullup, 10 burpees

30 OHS with PVC pipe

Jump Rope 3 minutes

20 GHD Situps

20 Back Extensions

20 Toes 2 Bar

20 Windshield Wipers

20 LHS

 

Wall Ball/ Strict Pullup

5/1, 6/2, 7/3, 8/4, 9/5, 10/6

 

Thruster

5-4-3-2-1

65, 95, 115, 135, 155

 

Fran

21-15-9

Thruster 95 lbs

Pullup

3:31

 

Yesterday PM and Today AM

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Will H, Mike D, Doug F, PSC, and me hit up a late afternoon workout yesterday that looked like this:

Metcon (AMRAP – Rounds and Reps)

7min Amrap

7 Clean and Jerks (155/105)

42 Double Unders

Metcon (Time)

 

Then

7 min Time Cap:

21-15-9

OHS (135/95)

Cal Row

 

This morning we did this one:

4 rounds for time of:

Sandbag Carry, 40/20 lbs, 100 m

10 Power Cleans, 135/95 lbs

25 Overhead Walking Lunges, 45/25 lbs

10 Power Cleans, 135/95 lbs

Sprint, 200 m

 

Good workouts!

Ropes Gone Wild

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We pulled out the Ropes today and did this:

Ropes
With Partner
20sec all out work/20 sec rest- Alternate with partner
5 small fast waves
5 giant waves
5 jumping jacks

Each partner completes 5 of each with 20 sec rest in between.  We took 1 min rest between stations and 2 min rest between groups.

Other group
5 ghd
5 vup
5 flutter


Then, an all time favorite (which we need to name...submit names)

15 hang cleans @ 135 lbs

15 burpees

x 3 rounds

for time

My record is 4:45 on this which I have tied, exactly 3 times.  Today, I came in at 4:53.  This workout is on par with a Fran or an Elizabeth.  All out work for short duration.  Excellent for wrestlers.

Great to have Matt Gardner join us today.  Byron, my friend, YOU KILLED IT THIS MORNING!  EXCELLENT WORK!

 

Rainy Day Deck Of Cards

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It doesn't often rain really hard in Chattanooga between 5:15-7:00 am for some reason.  We often get heavy rain before and after but, conveniently, we usually get a little break during our workout time.  This morning was an exception. 

It POURED this morning so I postponed my wall ball and battle rope workout that I had scheduled for this morning and replaced it with this one:

Front Squat

5-4-3-2-1

 

Then

Deck of Cards

Spades = Burpees

Clubs = Grasshoppers x 4

Hearts = Situps

Diamonds = V ups

Joker 1 = 50 pushups

Joker 2 = 3 minute plank

 

Lots of core work in this one.  Throw a deck of cards in your travel bag and try it in your next hotel or business trip.