Westside and Crossfit: do you really think you can pull that off?!?

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Cliffs:
Always been an athlete - baseball, basketball, T&F, football
Drinking got in the way of all things good = sobered up in 1990
Child, college, marriage (woops, wrong order!)
Despite all tools of college gym and wife being a scholarship Div I T&F / CC runner = still got fat each winter. lol
2nd child- wife back in shape, me not so much. Get on floor to play = winded = small town gym membership 1997
Never looked back. The stress relief is outstanding, and healthy! Plus, I sorta look good. Who does not want their spouse to say...Wow, you sorta look like a superhero! Haaaa! A chubby one!

5 years ago got more serious about PL = Westside for Skinny Bastards and other PL programing
2008 Deploy to Iraq & lifted with a Capt who squats and deads in the 7's and benched in the 4's = motivating
2009 prep for comp = torn groin
2010 prep = torn quad opposite leg
Chosen to be a 1st Sgt- Air Natl Guard is serious about running 1.5 miles under the std = more running (not fun, but wife was awesome training partner!)
Oct 2010 find out we have a crossfit garage in town = join
Dropped our regular gym memebership last winter = tough choice.
Not enough lifting at CF = did a dollar a day summer gym deal
Too much achilles pounding in CF & AF PT test = achilles rehab with electrostim and iontophoresis with topical cort
Family Wedding = Olympia in Vegas. Got to see the SM & PL events as well = Awesome
Trying to meld the good of both = Crossfit PL Cert from Mark Bell and Jesse Burdick- they get it
Started lifting at least 2 x's a week at the HS with the PL coach
Trying to get CF to do a Lift / SM day


That's a lot of cliffs!



So- this is not Westside and it is not Crossfit, but a mix as best as I can make it work in a real-world schedule. Most in 035 will understand - 21 YO daughter getting married next summer, a 15 YO two-season soccer stud, and a 10 YO adopted daughter who is working through some major struggles (reactive attachment disorder, anxiety = therapist each week, extra mtgs with school, etc...brilliant girl, but socially awkward). I try to make CF on Mon and Wed, and to the HS on Tues and Thurs.

Like i said- this is not pretty. It is life.

[mharrislove]

...this is not pretty. It is life.

^^^Understanding this quote should be a membership criteria of the O35 Forum.

[ArizonaEli]

I did Wendler's 5/3/1 lifting program + CrossFit for a year. It was fun. This year I refocussed on MMA + 5/3/1, and I've had to bastardize the program to make it work, but it's still fun (and physically much more demanding). Anyway, GL to you.

[Nikonguy]

This'll be interesting.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

To give you all something to chew on...the past couple weeks.

10/24 CFit

100's tonight with 20 DU's on every minute

100 pushups
100 squats
100 Russian KBell Swings (RX 53#, did 35 to conserve my low back)
100 Situps

I did singles on the jump rope for the first 5 sets and then swapped out to 10 step ups on the minute to conserve my achilles

Done in 25:35. Not a bad workout for not having done CF in 3+ weeks

10/26 HS Gym

Deads
315x3
365x3
385x3
405x3 max for the day

Box Squats
205x2x10 sets (felt speedier as I went)

Done in 45 minutes


10/28 HS Gym- only had 35 minutes

Bench- DE
205 x 2 x 10

Pullups
10, 8, 6, 6

Rope Push Downs
15, 12, 10, 8


11/1 CFit

Skill- Strict Press
65-95% of max- used 180 from 6 mo ago. I must be up near 200 as 175 was nothing

Workout- 8 round tabata, 20 on 10 off, 40 second break between each exercise (16 minutes of work/rest)

Jumping Pullups (I know it sounds gay...but by the time you get to the 6th round your calves are shot and you are pretty much doing a dead hang)
Bike (not a speed event...the tension was set so high that you had to nearly go backward a touch to then get going forward)
Double Unders (step ups for me)
Row for calories

Sweat through the back and front of my shirt.



11/3 Gym

Squats
315x3
345x3
365x3

Deads
225x2x10 sets


Nothing special...still working to get in the groove with the higher weights
Done in 45 min


11/7 CFit

Front Squat
Sets of 5 with 95, 115, 135, 155, 175

Workout
7 rounds
35 DU and 1 snatch (we could move weight up and down each round...shooting for the largest snatch)

I did 20 step ups to a 14" box in place of DU's and powersnatch with 95, 115, 135 through the end

Done in 7:17


11/8 CFit

Skill- 2 rounds, 1 minute each
Wall ball with double dip
Pushup then knees to chest (toes in rings)
KBell Row- keep one hand balanced on KBell while rowing the other
Pushup to bar dip on parallel bars

Hell of a tricept workout!

Workout-
5 suicides
50 lunges with weight overhead (Rx 45 and 25)
50 situps
4 suicides
40 lunges
40 situps

on down to 10 each

Substituted rowing 300, 240, 180 on down in place of suicides due to achilles. Did the first round with 45 overhead, then dropped to 25 for the rest as my R rear cuff is torn and was sore as hell from snatches yesterday.

Done in 25ish? 150 lunges is not my idea of a workout, but that is what CFit is about...challenging one self.


11/10 Gym

Bench
225x2x10 sets

OH Strict Press
95x10x5sets

Angels
15x15x3

Done in 45 min...R Shoulder is pissy bout the OHP. I'll live


11/11/11 HERO WOD

"DT"

5 Rounds of: (Rx 155, 100)
12 Deads
9 Power Cleans
6 Push Press

I did this with 135 as I did bench and presses last night

Got it done in 15 something (they wanted under 12 to ensure we were keeping the HR up). Struggled with grip strength in the cleans on the last 2 rounds, so I had to break up the movement into more than 1 set to get the 9 reps. This is the part of CFit that I do not like, I sacrificed form on many, many reps to "finish" a workout. I get it when form breaks down on the last 1-2 reps of a set in a typical gym environment, but I don't like it when form breaks down for multiple reps in a row because I need to compete against "something/someone". What needs to happen is the weight needs to be dropped to ensure we do not ingrain poor form. Another problem of CFit, we do not repeat workouts enough to know what weight we should use to prevent multiple reps of pathetic form. End Rant///

I am doing my part to check my Ego and do what I preach.

No matter which way you look at it, we did 60 deads, 45 cleans and 30 presses. Low back and shoulder pump was outrageous!

Driving the Camaro home was a chore as the back pump would not subside! Grabbed and shower and headed to the airport with the son, rented a droptop Mustang and headed for Goodyear! Watched the Nationwide race this afternoon and will see our first Nascar race tomorrow!

[generetired]

Enjoyed reading your journal and your straightforward writing style. I share your "rant" on CFIT. As an old guy, I wince at thought of forcing poor form (read injury risk) to meet an arbitrary goal. I did enough of that on my own in my younger days. My only suggestion, and it appears you already plan to do it, is to err on the side of lighter weights until you know what you can do.

Best of luck with the workouts and have fun with NASCAR.

[righter]

lolol'd at your cliffs! Wild ride. I can certainly relate!

Cfitt with a weight training program sounds awesome.

In!!

[Big_Sky_Guy]

mhl- I have had to "learn" to be more flexible in my approach to fitness. Have been days where I stayed at the soccer fields and took a jog, then hill sprints mixed with pushups and situps just so I could feel like I got something done to get the HR up!

We also do a ton of Mtn Biking, hiking, kayaks, x-cntry and downhill skii's, snowshoes...we are gear ho's and love it. Means we are not really good at any of it, but we love having all the options!

Eli- love the 5/3/1 with Cfit. Did 2 rounds of it last year to get me back up to 80-90% of my max numbers after all the leg rehabbing the past 2 years.

gene- glad you stopped in. I try to be fairly straight forward about what's going on.

Bendy- welcome. I wish I knew if this was going to work. That's 1/2 the fun of it! No risk, no reward.

More time with the HS kids and the PL coach and still keep some general purpose fitness. After a year of CFit, I know I don't have the motor to run with the big dogs, so I bring my "expertise" to the lifting side of the house.

Raining at the track right now....damn. Going to go meet Kyle Bush, Harvick, McDowell and Robby Gordon! Getting our redneck on! Woot...

[camau71]

Interesting log, I've been doing a similar program for sometime now. The nice thing about CF is that it's a fairly malleable concept and easy to modify to your individual needs and goals. While it does provide outstanding cardio respiratory conditioning, it does fall short on the strength end. I've been using the program since 2006 and trained with it exclusively for a year. I found that I lost strength in the big three lifts, so I've been making the necessary changes to meet my personal goals.

I'll be watching with interest. Subbed.

[ChocoChick]

Cliffs:
Always been an athlete - baseball, basketball, T&F, football
Drinking got in the way of all things good = sobered up in 1990
Child, college, marriage (woops, wrong order!)
Despite all tools of college gym and wife being a scholarship Div I T&F / CC runner = still got fat each winter. lol
2nd child- wife back in shape, me not so much. Get on floor to play = winded = small town gym membership 1997
Never looked back. The stress relief is outstanding, and healthy! Plus, I sorta look good. Who does not want their spouse to say...Wow, you sorta look like a superhero! Haaaa! A chubby one!

5 years ago got more serious about PL = Westside for Skinny Bastards and other PL programing
2008 Deploy to Iraq & lifted with a Capt who squats and deads in the 7's and benched in the 4's = motivating
2009 prep for comp = torn groin
2010 prep = torn quad opposite leg
Chosen to be a 1st Sgt- Air Natl Guard is serious about running 1.5 miles under the std = more running (not fun, but wife was awesome training partner!)
Oct 2010 find out we have a crossfit garage in town = join
Dropped our regular gym memebership last winter = tough choice.
Not enough lifting at CF = did a dollar a day summer gym deal
Too much achilles pounding in CF & AF PT test = achilles rehab with electrostim and iontophoresis with topical cort
Family Wedding = Olympia in Vegas. Got to see the SM & PL events as well = Awesome
Trying to meld the good of both = Crossfit PL Cert from Mark Bell and Jesse Burdick- they get it
Started lifting at least 2 x's a week at the HS with the PL coach
Trying to get CF to do a Lift / SM day


That's a lot of cliffs!



So- this is not Westside and it is not Crossfit, but a mix as best as I can make it work in a real-world schedule. Most in 035 will understand - 21 YO daughter getting married next summer, a 15 YO two-season soccer stud, and a 10 YO adopted daughter who is working through some major struggles (reactive attachment disorder, anxiety = therapist each week, extra mtgs with school, etc...brilliant girl, but socially awkward). I try to make CF on Mon and Wed, and to the HS on Tues and Thurs.

Like i said- this is not pretty. It is life.

Looks like fun to me. I was just about to tell you to check out camau71's journal, as he does something similar, but I see he is here already.

[mharrislove]

mhl- I have had to "learn" to be more flexible in my approach to fitness...

Judging from those workouts, I see your point about being flexible - looking strong.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

camau I will go check your journal for ideas. I do not have much say in the programming at our box, but they are committed to strength and oly lifting so that is a plus.

choco thanks

mlh we show up and do whatever is planned, even if I worked that bodypart the previous day.

I'll throw a bone as Mobilitywod dot com has helped me out a bunch this year. Lack of flexibility played a part in both my leg injuries. Mark Bell has been spending a lot of time with Kelly Starrett to work out issues the PL's tend to have.


Race was a blast! Mett Joe Gibbs and checked out the pit are before the race. Once the sun came out around 1 PM it got so hot everyone went from sweatshirts to T-shirts. Couple wrecks early and then some nice long runs. Wreck during green light pitting time really changed the end. Great experience!

[OTH51]

Interesting stuff in here. I getting way to old to run Westside anymore. I need more down time and I'm going to give 5-3-1 starting next week. I really like the deload every 4th week, I need recovery more than I used too.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Trust me OTH- Westside in principal only. I cannot make it to the gym enough days, or for enough time per workout, to do true WS.

11/15 CFit

Skill- Deads (they wanted 5 at 75%, 3 at 85% and 1 at 95%)
365x5
405x1
435x1 (post quad tear PR)

Workout- 3 rounds
30 box jumps
20 pullups
10 burpees

I subbed 20 reps of step-ups to a 14" box to conserve achilles. Done in 8:55. Helluva a grip workout with deads and 60 pullups.

Happy with the 435 as we sat in planes and airports most of yesterday.

[ChocoChick]

Congrats on the 435! I love box jumps. Gets lots of strange looks when I do them at the gym. I read that they are the #1 thing women can do to protect hips from fracture later in life. That's not why I do them (I was doing them long before I read that), but it's nice to know.

Have a great day!

[smharris1971]

Very interesting program! Great work and congrats on hitting 435! I'm looking forward to following along. Best of luck!!

[righter]

Skill- Deads[/b] (they wanted 5 at 75%, 3 at 85% and 1 at 95%)
365x5
405x1
435x1 (post quad tear PR)

Workout- 3 rounds
30 box jumps
20 pullups
10 burpees

Strong deads!!!

Guess that is to be expected from a PLer! Pretty awesome.

Like the looks of that workout. Lots of power movements. Bet it burns fat like crazy too.

Airports, eh? Traveling? We go a flyin next week. I'm not looking forward to it. I really don't enjoy flying. At all.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Bendy- we are just getting started with the heavy stuff.

11/16 CFit
Skill- Front Squats (75, 85, 95%) I assumed 250 as I rarely do Fronts
185x5
215x3
235x1

Workout- 6 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible)
10 Sumo High Pulls (to chin) (155 rx)
10 Push Press

2 min rest

6 min AMRAP
30 Air Squats
10 Good Mornings (155)

5 rounds +5 and 2 rounds +30

Started well, then back pump = outrageous



So- why the travel? Bucket List! Not huge Nascar Fans, but you don't say no to Free Tickets, Pit Passes and Hotel, etc. We were blessed. So, we will share.

Phoenix International Raceway




Kobalt 500- Gettin my bulk on!




Start / Finish Line- we signed our names!




Bringing in the Flag




Lets Go Racin!




Cactus anyone?




More local flavor

[BenJoven]

I did Wendler's 5/3/1 lifting program + CrossFit for a year. It was fun. This year I refocussed on MMA + 5/3/1, and I've had to bastardize the program to make it work, but it's still fun (and physically much more demanding). Anyway, GL to you.

Keep hearing ab out the Wendler's 5/3/1 I'm going to give it a shot now that I have my Olympic lift forms down for the most part.

[BenJoven]

Get a lot of sleep after those nasty WODs...CFing is easy to overtrain and will increase your cortisol levels if you don't watch your sleep.

Speaking of sleep I'm about to pass out! Great thread BTW! Peace!

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Agreed Ben. Cortisol from high volume, high V02 work, and the CNS stimulation from doing max work is a tough combination.

Lots of sleep and good food.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

11/18 HS Gym

Warmups- chest, back, shoulder pre-hab

ME Bench
Worked up to 315x1
225x4x4

Left shoulder felt hinky on the descent of the last 2 singles, so I shut it down there for today


Mini-circuit:
3 rounds of 20 rep cable low row, 15 tri press down, 10 wide pull downs

Needed to get blood into my lats and bicept tendons as they were still sore from the 60 pullups tues


DB OH Tri Press
85x10x3 sets

Out in 60 min- Happy Friday!

[Big_Sky_Guy]

11/21 HS Gym

ME Box Squat
Worked up to 365x3

Most i've ever done on box squats. More in the tank, just need more work at higher weights


DE Sumo Deads
275x2x10 sets

Suck at sumo! Rather do Std pulls. But, that is why we do this. Improve weaknesses


Cable Pull Throughs
3 sets of 10


Done in 45 min

[Big_Sky_Guy]

11/22/11 CFit

Tonight was the SUCK in trying to meld Westside with Crossfit!!!

Skill- Deads
Deload week so they did 40, 50, 60% while I messed around with deficit mini-bands (85, 105, 135) + 160 in bands

WOD
Buy in with 50 Russian KBell Swings (RKC) to the chin, not the top of the head...easier on the shoulders
100 Squats, 60 situps
80 squats, 50 situps
60 squats, 40 situps
40 squats, 30 situps
30 squats, 20 situps
20 squats, 10 situps
Buy out with 50 RKC swings

Got er done in 22:50. Wooooo, just a little back pump! Situps saved me.

To give you some perspective, fastest were ~13 min by the owner and Gen (my wife) and the slowest was 26, with the bulk of people getting done ~17.





Front squats at the garage the other night

[ChocoChick]

That was a killer WOD! Nice depth on those front squats.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

CC- eveyone that did that workout had tight quads today!


11/23/11 CFit nooner

WOD- 15 minute deck of cards (the suits are a lift and the value the number of reps)
Used 50% of our strict press, so I used 95#

10 Sumo High Pulls
2 Power Snatch
4 Good Mornings
10 Clean and Jerk
10 GM
4 SDHP
6 GM
7 PS
7 C&J
10 SDHP
8 C&J
3 SDHP (only got 2)
Etc
Etc

That was 90 reps. I was the least by 10 and most got around 120.

Heavy low back usage this week = back pump killed my work rate again. I had to sit for 10 seconds a couple times! I know the SDHP looked ugly at the end as I had no hip drive left.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

11/25/11 CFit

More trips to CF than usual this week as the HS weight room is shut down for the holiday

Warm- dynamic stretching and std warmups for the lifts / exercises we are doing, roller work, lacrosse ball worker

Fight Gone Bad- name is fitting for Black Friday shopping antics!
3 rounds of 1 min max reps of 5 exercises. 1 min rest between rounds

- Wall Ball (20# to 10 ft)- 25, 20, 17
- Sumo High Pull (Rx 75#)- 15, 7, 12
- Box Jump (subbed step ups to 14") 20, 20, 15
- Push Press (Rx 75#)- 25, 23, 17
- Row (for calories)- 10, 10, 10


~I was a Fight Gone Bad virgin until today~ Always tough to detemine the pace when I haven't done a workout. There's room for improvement

Total of 246. Respectable.

Cool- Lots of stretching, roller and band work as legs, low back, shoulders and lats were tight from the week.

[righter]

Workouts lookin good, BSG!

I like the idea of all that warming and cooling with stretches. That is something I'm gonna have to do.

Hope you're having a fun holiday weekend!

[ChocoChick]

Your journal is making me miss my Crossfit days! I was grabbing the WOD off the website and then doing it at the gym for a while, but it's next to impossible to hold on to the number of stations needed. And once you stop to wait for equipment, the whole idea behind the WOD is shot. Oh well. Maybe Santa will bring me a memebership. Is it crazy expensive where you are? It's about $200/month here.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

B- one of the better things about CFit is their insistence on getting properly warmed up for the intensity of the workout and stretching afterwards.

CC- even super-setting at a regular gym can be a challenge on a busy night! I cannot imagine trying to keep my hands on more than 1 piece of equipment for 25 min.

Cost is fairly reasonable here at $140/mo for unlimited sessions. We do not go enough to justify the full cost, so we each do a punch card which puts it at ~ $8 per session (80/mo for me in the winter and 40/mo in the spring, summer and fall as we are out hiking, biking more often) We have been lifting at the HS Gym which saves us ~90 in gym membership dues as well.

Thanks for stopping in.