Trevor and Jody's Birthday workout

/

Trevor passed through town for 1 day before heading to Japan for 3 weeks.  Jody made his anticipated return today.

Both guys were greeted by 20 dudes ready to go this morning.  It was a little chilly, but the camaraderie made it tolerable.  I understand that we will see single digits this week.  I hope we continue to have 20 + every morning.

Trevor and Jody Birthday Workout

Run, 400 m

10 Overhead Squats, 115 lbs

Run, 800 m

20 Barbell Lunges, 115 lbs

Run, 800 m

10 Curtis Ps, 115 lbs

Run, 400 m

20 Ground To Overheads, 115 lbs

For time

When returning from a layoff or coming to the garage for the first time, I give this advice:  Go easy...do 1/2 of what everyone else is doing. 

To see any results and TO ENJOY THE PROCESS, it is crucial that you do something every day.  Coming to the gym and killing yourself only to be too sore to return the next day is not only painful, it is ineffective.  Go light, come often.

I think it can be summarized with the following:

1. Consistency- come every day

2. Accuracy- after you have achieved consistency and you are on a schedule to come every day or 3 days a week, focus on accuracy next.  This means doing all the movements with the full range of motion.  Go all the way down on the squats and pushups, get the chin all the way over the bar on the pullups...etc.  Don't worry so much about the weight or number of reps.  Range of motion is the most important at this stage.

3. Intensity- After you are consistently coming and have made a commitment to continue, you then focused on accuracy of movement.  Once these two are achieved, it is then time to focus on intensity.  Put more weight on the bar as long as your form is perfect. When it breaks down, peel the weight off the bar.  Poor reps with more weight is not good or impressive.  Focus on solid reps.  Increase weight when you are ready.  Focus on speed of quality movement and working to Rx.  Go at your own pace, but when intensity is increased and #1 and #2 are still being achieved, you will see big results.

Consistency, Accuracy, Intensity...The recipe for success.

OG

/

The RRL has been going strong for over 8 years now.  During that time, many have come and gone...and returned...and gone again.  We have developed a strong group, bound by camaraderie forged through sweat and humor.  

There is, however, a group of guys who have been here the whole time.  This is the OG. 

Today, the Old Guard was represented well with the most senior member of the RRL, Matt Greenwell followed closely by Kim Ray, Alan Lebovitz and Will Hunt.  Patrick St. Charles rounds out the OG.

My Beyond the Whiteboard account lists 1,650 workouts.  These guys have been with me for most of them...never complaining, always pushing hard.

Thank you to the OG for always showing up.  Thank you also to the NG who were apparently sleeping in today.

Here's to another 8 years!

RRL Warmup

2 Man Teams

Leapfrog

10 Calorie Row

15 KB Swings @ 53 pounds

15 Wall Balls

AMRAP 20 minutes

This is a great format.  Partner 1 starts on row while Partner 2 rests.  When 10 calories are completed, partner 2 starts on the KB swings.  Partner 1 moves to the wall balls.  Only one person works at a time and you leapfrog through 20 minutes like this.

This is a good one, but you could do this with any 3 exercises and 2 man teams.

If you find a magic recipe like this one, let me know




Frogman's Christmas/Frogman's New Year

/

We have done this workout as both Frogman's Christmas and Frogman's New Year.  I think you can probably find it titled both across the internet, however the workout stays the same.

Frogman's Christmas/Frogman's New Year

100 Dead Hang Pull ups

250 Pushups

500 Situps

Run 3 miles

For time

On Dec 26 2012, we did this same workout and my time was 66 minutes and change.  Today, I completed this in 57:10 which is a great improvement for me.  I credit it to all of the pushups and situps we did to get ready for Goruck Selection.  Despite doing much better, I was still smoked by Rusty Gray (on his anniversary) who ran about 400 m farther than he was supposed to and still beat me by about 45 seconds.

We had a great turnout today with Kim Ray, Matt Greenwell, Kyle Haren, Kevin Distasio, Rusty Gray and even Will Hunt dropped by to drink a beverage while cheering us on.  It is great to have such camaraderie at the garage. 

I am continually impressed that I can write something like this on the board and get zero complaints from any of the guys. They just step up and do it.  This, in turn, makes me step up and do it better than before.

Thank you to everyone who is a part of the RRL. 

Christmas Eve

/

Wet Fellowship and fitness were had this morning during a steady downpour.  We did the 12 days of Christmas again this year with some debate as to whether it goes from the bottom to the top or the reverse.  Keith came in at 5:30 and did it alone (beast).  We started from the top and went through but he did it the opposite way.  I think our way was easier.  Oh well...

 

12 days of Christmas

1 Push-up

2 V Situps

3 Box Jump - 20 in.s

4 Pull-ups

5 Air Squats

6 Kettlebell Swings @ 52 pounds

7 Mtn. Climbers

8 Dumbbell Snatches @ 50 pounds

9 Double Unders

10 Thrusters @ 95 pounds

11 Burpees

12 Power Cleans @ 155 pounds

Merry Christmas to everyone.  Day off tomorrow then a 4 pm workout on Friday.

Russell x 8

/
This is a house on Russell Street.  You get an idea of the steepness of the hill from this picture. 

This is a house on Russell Street.  You get an idea of the steepness of the hill from this picture. 

Russell x 8 is one of our favorites and one of the simplest workouts anyone could do.

Simply run to the top and back down 8 times for time. 

Will Kelley once set a gym record by doing this in 11:05.  No one has ever done it faster.  I invite anyone to give it a try.  Just start at the Stop sign on Barton, run to the top where the pavement was once cut and repaired.  It looks like a cannon to me, or a little gun.  Anyway, that is the turnaround point.

Today, Mike Drew finished in 11:22 which is blazing fast and Rusty Gray was 12:25.  I came in at 13:05.

Anything under 13 is outstanding, under 12 is beast status and if you can get it under 11, I will give you the World Championship Belt to wear around the office for a week.

Christmas workout tomorrow.  Looking forward to it!

Festivus-Feats of Strength and the airing of grievances

/

In the spirit of Seinfeld, we had out Festivus workout today.

Warm up

Roxanne

Burpee for every "Roxanne", squat for every "light"

Feats of Strength

Pick any 3 and try to pass the benchmark.  Do as many as you can this morning

Front Squat 1.5 x bodyweight (BW)

Clean and Jerk 1 x BW

30 Thrusters @ 95 lbs in 1 minute

20 pullups without dropping off bar

17 burpees in 1 minute

55 situps in 2 minutes

35 double unders in 2 minutes

Run Minnekahda Mile > 7:30

Row 500 m > 1:50

100 pushups in 2 minutes

Some of these came off the SealFit assessment.  Others were just thrown in today.

After the workout, we aired our grievances around the Festivus pole.

They mostly included alot of various grievances about farting.  For everyone's information, there is a suggestion box located at the top of the Oak tree above the driveway.  Feel free to put your suggestion in it.  While up there, check to see if there are any others in the box.

Cameron

/

U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Junior Grade Thomas Cameron, 24, of Portland, Oregon, in training at the Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama, died on February 28, 2012, when his unit's helicopter crashed into Mobile Bay in the Gulf of Mexico during a training mission. He is survived by his parents Bette and John, and brother Alex.

RRL Warm Up

Cameron

"Cameron"

For time:
50 Walking lunge steps
25 Chest to bar pull-ups
50 Box jumps, 24 inch box
25 Triple-unders
50 Back extensions
25 Ring dips
50 Knees to elbows
25 Wallball "2-fer-1s", 20 pound ball
50 Sit-ups
15 foot Rope climb, 5 ascents

Still Water

8 minutes



Normal Park Stairs

/

Check out Matt Beach doing the Normal Park Stairs workout.  Congratulations to MIKE DREW for being the first to ever finish this workout in under 25 minutes!  24:53 to be exact!

RRL Warmup

Normal Park Stairs

Run 1 mile to stairs

10 burpees at top

10 clap pushups at bottom

x 3 rounds

Run 1 mile back to RRL

This is a very simple workout.  Our gym record for this was shattered today as Mike Drew killed everyone and turned in a 24:53 being the first to ever break 25 minutes on this run.  There is really no strategy or technique to this one...just run a mile as fast as you can, run up the stairs and do the burpees, get back down as fast as possible and hit the clap pushups.  Do it again 2 more times then run home.

Workouts like these are my absolute favorite.  There is nothing better than using a natural feature or man made obstacle and turning it into a benchmark workout.  It is easy to do, you have one right next to your house or gym...guaranteed. 

We do an obstacle course at Renaissance Park, the stairs at Normal Park, Russel x 8 (which is a steep hill that we simply run up and down 8 times for time), Young x5 with 5 burpees on each end.  We may have others, but these are the simplest, require no equipment and are some of the most fun workouts that we do at the RRL.

If you do find something challenging, make sure to write down exactly how you do it and keep time.  It will become a benchmark that you can return to over and over.

On another note...my son got his braces off today!


Rankel

/

U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant John Rankel, 23, of Speedway, Indiana, assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1 Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Pendleton, California, was killed on June 7, 2010, while supporting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He is survived by mother and stepfather Don and Trisha Stockhoff; father and stepmother, Kevin and Kim Rankel; and brothers Nathan Stockhoff and Tyler Rankel.

 

RRL Warmup

"Rankel"

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
225 pound Deadlift, 6 reps
7 Burpee pull-ups
10 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood
Run 200 meters

Baseline, Bodyweight tests

/
IMG_5777.JPG

RRL Warm up

100 Double Unders for time

:50 for me today

Baseline

Row, 500 m

40 Air Squats

30 Sit-up (abmat)s

20 Push-ups

10 Pull-ups

For time

3:57 me, 3:53 Trevor

Death by Burpees

Complete:

1 burpee 1st minute

2 burpees 2nd minute

3 burpees 3rd minute...

Continue until you can not complete the required number by the end of the minute

19 rounds + 16 burpees

Turner's birthday/CrossFit Games 11.5/Shoulder Press

/

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:

Featured
February 22, 2021
Cameron
Rankel