Turner's birthday/CrossFit Games 11.5/Shoulder Press

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Happy Birthday Turner!

17 years ago today, Cynthia and I became parents.  Turner Rowland was brought into this world at a whopping 9 lbs 1 oz.  He has had a big smile that pretty much remained the same from the time he was a little kid to last year when he got his first car.  I am so proud of him and extremely proud and happy to be his Dad.  Since he is our first, we are learning every day on how to be a good parent.  It is a constant process of improvement.  I hope that Turner has patience with us as we do with him.  I love you Turner!  Happy Birthday!

Shoulder Press

Work to 1RM

175 for me today which is a new PR!

CrossFit Games 11.5

20:00 AMRAP:

5 Power Cleans, 145 lbs

10 Toes To Bars

15 Wall Balls,

20 lbs, 10 ft

I got  8 rounds + 5 Cleans + 10 Toes to Bar + 10 wall balls (with a bathroom stop in the middle).  Trevor cleared 10 rounds today which is exceptional!  Great job Trevor!

I did this workout back in 2011 in the CrossFit Games Open as a project for the CrossFit Journal.  I traveled with Jessica Pamanian and we went from Key West to New York competing in the Open workouts.  In 2011, I did 8+5+10+6.  Today was an improvement especially considering the bathroom stop in the middle. 

See the full Journal article here

Or watch the video below

As with parenting and virtually everything else, fitness is a constant process of improvement.  It is crucially important to document your journey of fitness so that you can clearly see what is working and what is not not working.  If you are seeing constant improvement and feeling stronger and better then you are doing it right.  If you are seeing a decline or not feeling good, then something needs to be adjusted. 

Despite what so many of the "fitness experts" tell you, there is not just one way that works for everyone.  In fact, it is my opinion that there is no one way and that each individual needs to find what works for them, fits into the structure of their life and truly makes them happy.  Finding enjoyment in fitness is one of the most important things that will fuel your success. 

For me, the camaraderie of the group is what fuels the success and consistency.  I like lifting weights and doing SealFit workouts, but honestly, we could be doing thousands of other things and achieving some pretty good results as long as we were doing it together. 

Today, we had a large group which consisted of a couple of old regulars who have not been back in a while.  It was so good to see them both back in the group this morning.  I hope that we will see them regularly again this winter.

I was happy to see that my score on this workout increased and that I felt good doing it.  Additionally, I set a PR at Shoulder Press today.  I feel great, and I am stronger than I have ever been at 46 years of age.

More CrossFit workouts:

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February 22, 2021
Cameron
Rankel


10k run

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RRL Warmup

30 Overhead Squats

10 Push-ups

10 Ring Dips

10 Pull-ups

5 Muscle Ups

Jump Rope (Singles), 3 mins

20 GHD Sit-ups

20 Hip Extensions

20 Toes To Bars

10K Run

For time

Stretch/Yoga

More Running Workouts

Featured
Wednesday Oct 7, 2015
5k + Sandbags
Thruster/Run



SealFit Kokoro Decision

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SealFit Kokoro Decision

 

Looking through the old blog, I came across this post.  Recently, I have received many emails regarding SealFit Kokoro from people who are either considering doing it or are already signed up.  For that reason, I am going to publish this post again on this newer blog.  There is nothing all that special about it except that it captures the excitement and nervousness that I had when I decided to sign up, alone, for SealFit Kokoro. This decision turned out to be an excellent choice for me.

Maybe this post will help others who are struggling with making a choice to challenge themselves. My advice: DO IT!

Originally published in July 2013

SealFit has had my interest for around 3 years. Over that time, I have considered going to the Kokoro camp and also tried to arrange a 20x challenge in Chattanooga for me and all my friends. For lots of reasons and conflicts, I have not been able to make this happen.

On Thursday, I was talking to my wife about our fall break plans. Our 3 children go to 2 different schools and their fall breaks overlap but are not the same. While discussing the plans I noticed that there was also a gap where nothing was scheduled on Oct 26-27. These were the camp dates.

I asked my wife if it would be ok if I went and she said yes, my kids thought it would be cool and all of the sudden I had the green light to go do something that had been a dream of mine.

Excitement, motivation and fear all were experienced at once as I completed the online application and hit the submit button. I was in now, no turning back.

The website has alot of good information. I reviewed the gear list and then the minimum physical standards which are listed here:

“We have published updated Kokoro Camp Standards to help you understand just what you are getting into when you start your training for Kokoro. We don’t want there to be any confusion as to what we are doing here. This is not a “SEAL experience” alone…it is an event unlike any other that will test you to your core. We want to prevent injuries as well as people holding their team back. The work-load at Kokoro camp was described by an Iron Man athlete as “3 back to back Iron Men races, without rest.” Prepare well.

Prerequisites for a graduate certificate will be tested within the first few hours of the camp. They include:

50 push ups (40 for women) in 2 minutes, 50 sit-ups in 2 minutes and 50 air squats in 2 minutes, with 2 minutes rest in between each.
10 dead hang pullups for men, 6 women
1 mile run in boots and utility pants on road in 9:30
Body Armor (aka Murph) with 20# pack (15# for women): 1 hour and 10 minutes minimum
Endurance standards to guide your preparation (not tested for performance, but completion):

10 mile run in less than 1:20
20 mile ruck hike with load in less than 6 hours


Two event failure (PFT/Murph) will result in drop from course and refusal to perform any event will be considered a non verbal drop. Note we highly recommend that you ramp up your endurance and stamina training. A standard CrossFit or SOF Prep training regimen will not suffice. You should run a marathon or half Iron Man and spend considerable time rucking with load. Please contact us if you are not clear about the physical demands of this program. Should you fail to meet the standards and are rolled you will receive a certification of attendance, not a Certificate of Graduation with accompanying SEALFIT Black Shirt. You will be invited to train with your new knowledge and come back to challenge Kokoro Camp again in the future.

Black Shirt graduates have the potential to pursue intern positions and the SEALFIT Mastery program, as outlined on our web site.

Good luck! – Coach Divine”

I am capable of all the physical standards at present, but I know I have ALOT of work to do before Oct 26, particularly in the rucking area. I felt as though I did not prepare enough for the Goruck and told myself that I would spend ALOT more time under load preparing for the next event. My running is not up to par either and I need to increase my mileage greatly and be confident running 12-15 miles without problem.

My plan is to continue my morning workouts with the guys 5 days a week, but also throw in additional work in the day of 10 mile rucks, 10 mile runs, lots of plank work, weighted dead hang pullups, sled pulls, hill sprints and lots of walking lunges. I plan to do all of this in boots and tactical pants to break in both and get used to moving in pants and boots.

I signed up through a link of Brad Mcleod’s www.sealgrinderpt.com site which included free coaching from Brad up to the event. I need all the help I can get, so I immediately sent Brad an email to which he responded right away. Brad suggested that I send him my benchmarks and also my time from a 1 mile sled pull.

I will track my training here and on the facebook page, but since I am just now catching up, here is what I have done since making this decision:
Wednesday
Determined that I could do this and got green light from my family

Thursday
Jerry workout in pants and boots
5×10 pullups deadhang
Reviewed and completed pushup, pullup, squat standards
Made the decision and signed up online

Friday morning
Hotshot 19 workout in pants and boots 39:24
9 mile ruck with 30 pound pack 3:00:00
10 set of 10 weighted pullups
50 pushups in 1 minute x 3

Saturday
Sled pull 1 mile afap with Rogue Dog Sled and 1 45 pound plate 16:02
3×10 weighted deadhang pullups 30 pounds
3×10 deadhang pullups unweighted
Swimming and breath holding practice with my kids in the pool

Featured
30 and 60 days out from SealFit Kokoro
10698637_10152856502435407_2745670946384291701_n.jpg
Goruck Selection and SealFit Kokoro Interview with Jonathan Hurtado
SealFit Kokoro Decision
Setting goals
Rest and recovery
Lessons Learned-Goruck Selection 015 AAR
Lessons Learned-Goruck Selection 015 AAR

Today is Saturday, Oct 11 and it is the morning after Goruck Selection 015.

Out of 278 people who signed up, 162 RSVP'd to show up...out of those, only 82 actually did show up.  There are various reasons for that, namely that the training for an event like this is really hard and injuries do happen.  (Out of our group of 5, only 2 of us showed up injury free to the start) ...

12 mile ruck
3x3 miles
Bench/Pullup/SBGU
Magic 20 miler


Thruster/Run

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Wet but warm this morning.  Matt Lawson hits the last few Thrusters.

Wet but warm this morning.  Matt Lawson hits the last few Thrusters.

RRL Warmup

30 Overhead Squats

10 Push-ups

10 Ring Dips

10 Pull-ups

5 Muscle Ups

Jump Rope (Singles), 3 mins

20 GHD Sit-ups

20 Hip Extensions

20 Toes To Bars

Warm Up #2

30 Air Squats

20 wall balls

10 Push Press 95-135 lbs

10 Thruster 65-135 lbs

15 Thrusters, 135 lbs

Run, 200 m

20 Thrusters, 95 lbs

Run, 400 m

30 Thrusters, 65 lbs

Run, 800 m

Stretch/Yoga

Related

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Thruster/Run
Thruster/Run
Run/Thruster
Team workout
Jackie x 3

Back at it

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Back at it

In my opinion, 100 burpees for time is one of the best workouts to gauge fitness and to quickly assess your own fitness level.  We do this workout, or variations,  3 different ways and each will have a different result.  First is simply to do 100 burpees, jump off the ground and clap, second is to have a uniform platform to jump onto for each rep.  We choose 2 45 lb plates.  The third way to keep the workouts uniform so you can compare results, is to have a uniform distance to jump up to like in the Crossfit games.  This distance is 6 inches above your standing reach.  It is less important which of these you choose as your workout as it is to make sure that you put in your notes which result goes with which standard.

Read More

Mobility

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During this time of year, I probably watch more TV than any other because of all the great college football rivalry games.  Yesterday was filled with some incredibly determined athletes making sensational plays. You don't have to be a couch potato, use that time to make some significant changes in your mobility and ultimately, your performance.

I watched several games and spent time on the floor with my foam roller, lacrosse ball and band.  A football game is an excellent time to get in some mobility work and clear up some troubled areas. 

Last week I tweaked my lower back or upper glute doing front squats.  This happened because I had neglected to do alot of the mobility work that I normally do.  Post Selection, I became really super tight in my hips, calves and with increased Olympic lifting, my IT band became tight like a steel cable.  Neglecting the maintenance on these areas resulted in injury.

During the football games, I spent alot of time on my quads and IT band and today, my knees feel as though they have been lubricated with oil.  It is truly amazing the difference that some maintenance time can have on your mobility, comfort and injury prevention.

If you don't know about Kelly Starrett, you need to know him.  He wrote this book:

Kelly tells it to you in an understandable and funny way and makes it so that anyone can perform basic maintenance on themselves.  If you don't have this book, get it!

Spend some time on mobility and you will see your performance skyrocket.

By the way, did you know that you can get this blog sent to your inbox and read it like an email?  If you would like to do that, click here

Make everyday Thanksgiving...except for the 10,000 calories

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It is true...Gratitude changes everything.  Be thankful for what you have and you will find that you have so much more to be thankful for.  Live with an attitude of gratitude and the rest will take care of itself.

If I could suggest one thing to anyone to incorporate into their daily routine every single day to improve their health, fitness, financial situation and overall happiness it would simply be to start each day by saying thank you for what you have.  There is always something to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it reminds so many of us that we should be thankful for what we have but for many, it is fleeting.   I challenge you to try to make everyday Thanksgiving, just dont eat 10,000 calories every day.  Give thanks continually.

Workout:

Many or us met at Rennasance Park to do this one that I came up with a long time ago:

For time:

24 Push-ups at first corner

Crossovers on pier

10 Burpees at end of pier

24 Push-ups in second corner

24 Box Jump

24 in.s on picnic tables

24 Push-ups in 3rd corner

100m Burpee Broad Jump across bridge

24 Push-ups on 4th corner

50 Body Rows on railing by stairs

Go down stairs and come up big steps anyway possible

100m Bear Crawl up hill X2

Second round- All reps by 1/2

12 Push-ups Crossovers

5 Burpees Crossovers

12 Push-ups

12 Box Jump 24 in.s on tables

12 Push-ups

100m Burpee Broad Jump across bridege. Take 2 steps after hop

12 Push-ups

25 Body Rows

Go down stairs and up big stairs

100m Bear Crawl up hill

Done!

I challenge anyone to get this under 20 minutes.  No one has done that yet at the RRL.

I stayed back this morning and nursed my injured back with this one:

Airdyne

:30 work at max effort

:30 rest

go for 20 minutes and dont let any round go under 70 RPM


Front Squat/C2B Pullups

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RRL Warmup

30 Overhead Squats

10 Push-ups

10 Ring Dips

10 Pull-ups

5 Muscle Ups

Jump Rope (Singles), 3 mins

20 GHD Sit-ups

20 Hip Extensions

20 Toes To Bars

7 Front Squats @ 165 pounds

7 Chest to Bar Pullups

x 7 Rounds for time

Yoga 15 minutes

This one didn't go so well for me today.  I felt a familiar twinge in my right lower back...really more like the upper glute.  I stopped during the 6th round.  Hopefully this will be resolved quickly with a little stretching and possibly acupuncture. 

This is an injury that I have had numerous times before.  Today, it probably stemmed from a light warm up as I did not complete the standard RRL warmup which is designed to loosen the lower back and prepare us old dudes for lifting.  I made a mistake today.  Hopefully it wont hold me back long.

Goruck Selection Gear

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I made alot of mistakes in preparing for Goruck Selection.  LOTS!  Hmmm...where to start?

I guess one of my biggest mistakes was not paying very close attention to Jason McCarthy's blog post about packs and packing.  It was late in the training and I had trained with a GR2 for 2 years.  I did not think it was wise to go to a GR0, but I was wrong.

Read More

Hold on 2

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This is a 2 person team workout.  Only one person works at a time.

While partner A holds a pullup (chin over the bar), partner B does as many ring dips as possible.  When Partner A drops from bar, Partner B stops and they switch.  Continue until 75 ring dips are complete.

Squat Cleans are tag team.  Do as many as you want and then switch until 20 are complete

Partner A rows as far as possible while Partner B lifts and holds 225 lbs in the air.  When the weight drops, rowing stops and partners switch.  Continue until 1500 m are complete.

Walking lunge is tag team.  Go as far as you want and then switch with your partner until 50 m are complete.

Read More