INTENSITY

 

 Aimee Lyons of Crossfit King of Prussia pulls a PR deadlift: 280# (over 2x bodyweight)

I had the fortune of going to the CrossFit Central East Regional competition in Logan, Ohio just over a week ago. I was also able to judge, which put me right in the middle of all of the action. Going to competitions always wakes me up to the INTENSITY that come pouring out of competitors. They literally put their blood, sweat, and tears into competing, and it's just an incredible sight to see. I recently talked about Chasing the Rx'd, where I recommended scaling to keep the stimulus of a workout. Now, I'm here to tell you to CHALLENGE yourself to be even more intense than before.

A Double Down Dilemma

Let's take a poll. If you were hungry and someone offered you KFC's Double Down sandwich, you would say:

a.) "No thanks, I don't feel like having a heart attack right now."

b.) "Sure, but I need a bun too."

c.) "Chicken and bacon? Heck yes I'll take it!"

 

Training for a Race by NOT Running: A Case Study

EDIT: updated with link to a CNN article about the runners and heart conditions

With the weather getting nicer on the East coast, more people are out doing the most common form of exercise: running. Some of these folks will do races ranging from your local town 5k to ultramarathons out west. On August 26, 2009, I decided to turn myself into a guinea pig. I decided to run a half marathon that was scheduled less than a month away. Not only that, but I decided that I would not run, unless the run came up in a workout at CrossFit King of Prussia. The day before the half marathon I totaled up the previous 30 days' worth of running: less than 6 miles. The next day I was supposed to run 13.1 miles non-stop?? What was I thinking? Not only did I finish, but I set a PR and was back to working out the next day, setting two more PRs in the gym. Here is a breakdown of what I did to prepare, how the race went, and what the days were like after. 

Robb Wolf: Paleolithic Solution Seminar

from: RobbWolf.com

Any Paleo person worth their salt knows who Robb Wolf is. For those of you who don't, he's the owner of NorCal Strength and Conditioning and the average CrossFitter's authority on the Paleo Diet. He currently runs a blog and posts podcasts that offer great information. He also used to lead CrossFit's nutrition certifications, but has since taken to the road for his own seminars. I've been following Robb's work for about two years now, so when the opportunity came up to go to one of his seminars at CrossFit Hoboken, I jumped at the chance (along with four other members of CrossFit King of Prussia: Aimee, Evan, Laura, and Dave) Robb presented the 60 or so participants with a wealth of knowledge, both scientific and real case studies and we probably could have spent a week there just asking questions. While I'm not going to steal Robb's presentation, I do want to point out two major topics that are uber important, plus a peek at what future posts will be covering.

Chasing the Rx

CrossFit prides itself on universal scalability – the ability to adapt any exercise to any person regardless of age, weight, disability, etc.  As a general physical preparedness (GPP) program, this is beneficial because it can assist anyone from an elite athlete looking to tweak their performance to an 80 year old looking to just get out of bed in the morning. Usually though, the very nature of timing workouts and recording scores will draw competitive people to CrossFit.  While this can be beneficial for us to push each other in a positive way, I believe it's very easy to fall into the trap of focusing solely on doing a workout as prescribed (Rx'd). While it is a great accomplishment to get “Rx” next to your name, we need to look at how you got there and if it is appropriate. If you're wondering why you've hit a plateau, or why you aren't progressing as fast as you want, this post is for you.