STS July 29th- Fight Gone Bad & the C-Cup

"Vision without action is a daydream, Action without vision is a nightmare."- Japanese Proverb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMZcCeS0Ph8


It's been a couple weeks since I posted last as I've been busy stepping up my training another level in anticipation of the upcoming season. Last week I got three 2-a-days in and I'm looking forward to the results it brings. I've already noticed that my lactate threshold has increased substantially, and I'm getting stronger and faster than I've been before. Who woulda thought that I'd be getting faster at 26? all I can say is God Bless Athlete's Performance.


On Sunday I attended another Crossfit session at my new favorite hangout in the Valley. Each time I've taken a class there I've sworn that it was the hardest class, but Sunday's really takes the cake. We performed a routine called Fight Gone Bad, but upped the intervals to Tabata intervals, which is 8 rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest. I know what you're thinking, and you're right. 10 seconds is NOT a lot of recovery time at all. For this we did a normal Movement Prep warmup with some plyometric movements and then jumped right into Tabata FGB.

http://www.valleycrossfit.com/


Fight Gone Bad consists of a circuit of 5 exercises, each one done 8 times with a 20 second maximum intensity/10 second rest interval with a 1 minute break in between exercises. You perform each exercise 8 rounds, then move to the next.


The exercises:

1. WallBall- Using a 20lb medicine ball you do a front squat with the ball at your chest, explode up and throw the ball against a wall 10 feet high as your feet leave the ground. Catch the ball as you enter your next squat so that you accept the ball's kinetic energy and transfer it into your explosion out of the squat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lstv1mOqNaw

2. Dead-lift to High-Pull- With a dumbbell or kettleball perform a deadlift and then bring the weight to your chin with your elbows flared out. Can also use a barbell if necessary, just bring your hands to the middle of the bar, about 2 inches apart from one another. We used a 32lb kettleball. Here's an example, though you want to keep your feet facing forward, rather than flared out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qruUYEGNlUM

3. Box-Jumps on a 24" platform.

4. Push-press- With a 75lb bar start with the bar at chest level while standing. Explode up and press the bar overhead so that the lift is activated by your feet and legs. Remember that you generate power for this from your legs & core, not your upper-body.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOfaWlres4A

5. Rows- On a rowing machine with medium-level tension

So the whole workout took less than 20 minutes but it was the most exhausting 20 minutes. Each lift is a full-body multi-joint lift, and 4 of them involve a squat. As you can imagine, the 20 seconds go quick, but the 10 second rest goes even quicker. It seems daunting when you start and are only at set 3, but you quickly stop thinking (because you're too fatigued) and just focus on moving as hard as you can as fast as you can as correctly as you can. To give you an ultimate analogy it felt like a hell-point for the entire session, I was at absolute total maximum output for almost a solid 20 minutes. Crossfit doesn't just make your muscles hurt, it makes your muscular system hurt. Along with your neurological, motor skills, pride...etc, etc.

We paired up for FGB and had a partner count reps for us and push us. I was (un)lucky enough to be partnered with Miss Fitness (my exercise goddess from the previous post) who gave the class a lesson in athleticism as she was easily the most in-shape person there. She went first and set the bar REAL high for me. Crossfit does a fantastic job of making everything a competition so we tallied up all the reps for all 5 activities giving you a total score. For rowing we counted calories burned per round instead of reps.

WallBalls gave me a bitch of a time because we use a huge, cushy ball that has displaced weight as opposed to the basketball-sized rubber ball that I'm used to. I must have dropped that damn thing 4 or 5 times, losing valuable rep time. Or gaining valuable recovery time, depending on the way you look at it. :)

I felt pretty strong going into the Deadlift High-Pulls and posted solid reps on that. I was most proud of my box jumps though as I managed to get 9 jumps in for 5 of the 8 rounds, which is moving fast for only having 20 seconds. I was spent for the Push-press and rows but still finished mildly strong. I finished second overall in the class with a total rep count of 333. (Miss Fitness finished at 327) and 1st place went to a cop who posted a whopping 384. The dude managed to get reps of 20 on the push press for 4 of his 8 rounds. Yeah, that's 1 a second.

Afterwards I finished some boxing intervals. It consisted of 1 minute jump-rope, 1 minute on the heavy bag, 1 minutes on the speed bag, set of ring dips, set of kipling pullups (pullups on the rings) followed by 1 minute rest. I managed to get 6 rounds in and then headed for the pool where I spent the rest of the day lounging around in the glorious LA sun and wondering why my body ached anytime I moved. I hadn't felt that bad since the last time I went to that Evil Exercise Facility of Death. Love/hate that place.

In the Ultimate world we had an awesome practice weekend up in SB the weekend before last. The weekend itinerary went something like this: practice, burritos, beer,butterfly beach & the SB co-eds, beer, bbq at Whit n' Nick's pad, beer, foosball, beer, bar, bar, bar (& more co-eds), sleep, bagels, practice, burgers, couch. Things I love about SB: see all the above.

We've also got a big weekend coming up at the Colorado Cup. Saturday has us starting off with Johnny Bravo, followed by Sub-Zero, Boston, and finally JAM. Sunday brings us Revolver, Machine, and BAT. If we were looking for a test to find out what kind of team we are then I think we found it. I am absolutely stoked to play boston and sub as it'll be my first time playing these teams. Can't wait to go to battle with the boys and get into the thick of it.

Train hard, train smart.

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