Back from the track!

Before I go on and get into to detail about the horrible experience I had at the track today, I have to address the question of why I don't blog everyday!

To me a blog is like a tattoo   You get it because you want it, and because you want to express something.  It is yours and an expression of who you are!  It is not a place that you have to fill with content in order to make others happy - it is a place you fill with content because it makes you happy.  This leads us to an interesting place where you will find that I will blog on a fairly regular bass because Ill have something to share:-)  What a mind job huh!

Todays WoD was an interesting little piece of work.  It consisted of 5 rounds of:

400m sprint
15 KBS @ 24
15 goblet squats @ 24
15 burpees

- 3 min rest between rounds

I honestly thought I would be able to keep each round at approx 4 min - but I soon realized that there was no way to keep that kind of tempo today! The result is below:

1: 4:41
2: 4:06
3: 4:20
4: 5:21
5: 5:02

This was interesting because I actually felt really good on the first 3 rounds.  I was playing with different techniques on the run, and how it affected my ability to perform once I got back to the KB.  Obviously round 2 was the best, rounds 1 and 3 not so much!  But then something happened!  It

could be the fact that it was mid day and 22 degrees centigrade outside, and I had made my way to the track without any water!  Or it is just the fact that this is all I have got??  This remains to be seen.
The fact is that I died right there and then between round 3-4!  It felt like I was running through mud on the 4th round!  The rest was all good, but the run was an absolute killer!  The sensation was the same in the last round but I decided to try to power through it anyhow!

A really cool WoD, and I definitely need this kind of work:-)


Obama in town!

President Obama is in town and as a consequence more or less all of Stockholm is closed down. Virtually every social media platform is flooded by people who feel sorry for themselves because their commute to and from work takes longer than they are used to, or whatever inconvenience they happen to experience!
I am honestly baffled by the lack of perspective from all of us!  Sure it is inconvenient that we have to spend more time in traffic, or maybe even miss a workout!  But what really stands out to me is that we are spending somewhere in the neighborhood of 165 million SEK on this visit.  Money that I am sure could have been spent better on taking care of our elders, teachers, Schools, hospitals etc.  you see where I am going with this!  

Obama is more than welcome here, and there is always a cost associated with these visits - but this has lost all proportions!

I wish you a fantastic day in the sun, and hope that you take the opportunity to appreciate and tell someone that you care for, just how special they are!


Much love

Where did it all go?

A. Every  90 secs for 12 min, 1 Snatch, build towards 90%+
- I worked my way to 65kg?

B. Every  90 secs for 12 min 1 C&J, build towardst 90%+
- I got to 85kg

C. Back squat, 1 RM
- I skipped this:-)


D.
4 rounds for reps and time:
Amrap Front squat, 60kg, 20X0, When you can no longer keep the speed - drop the bar.
50 Double unders

Time: 8:00 min
Reps: 12 - 10 - 8 - 4



This was without without a doubt one of the funniest workouts I have done in a long time!  My motor skills and timing had obviously decided to stay at home and take a day of!  While I was sweating and wondering what was going on - they were hand in hand on a couch somewhere watching a Rocky movie!  That is the conclusion I arrived at when I had gotten through the OLY part of the workout, and not gotten close to 90%!
I could not get one single solitary lift that felt good? Honest to God!  No a single lift!

I dont know what this was all about, but it was one of the workouts where you sit down afterwards and wonder why?

Tomorrow will be a better day - no doubt about it!  I truly believe that these workouts help form character, just as much as the ones where everything goes according to plan:-)

God bless!

Just admit that you are scared!

Yesterdays heroic effort, and some thoughts!

5x3 Split jerk - approx 80-85%

- I worked my way up to 85kg.  I am finally beginning to get the landing, and a good turn-around, but I need to get more aggressive in the extension of my left arm! 


B..OTM i 15 min
Min.1 5 strict pull up
Min. 2 5 Chest to bar pull ups
Min. 3 10 kipping pull ups
Min. 4 5 strict
Min. 5 5 CTB Pull ups.
Min. 6 10 kipping etc..

- No problem here - I really liked how this worked out and had finished all my sets in somewhere arounf 10-15 sec.  Lots of rest, just the way I like it!


C. Amrap 5 min8 Push press, 50kg8 Toes to bar

- 4 rounds and 3 push press!  
- This was all about the grip!  It was torn up pretty fast and forced me to wait before i got back on the bar!  Focused on good mechanics on the push press and I think I got it!


D.4x30sek amrap strict dips i an rack30 sek rest

-15 reps / 12 reps / 9 reps / 8 reps
-  This was a joke, I seriously had nothing to give at all!  (however - the pumped upp feeling I had afterwards was awesone:-))



So much for my own efforts!  The caption is "Just admit that you are afraid!"  What does that mean?

I am seeing a lot of people who are getting back to training after the open series, regionals, Games etc.  and most of them are proudly presenting elaborate plans to get stronger, and adding weight to their Olympic lifts!
Now in some cases I do believe that they do need to get stronger, but in most cases I think what they really need to do is increase their general work capacity, and increase their work capacity at 80% of their max efforts!  So why dont they do that?
I think there are a bunch of reasons for this, but two reasons stand out!

1:
It is the general consensus that we all need to get stronger!  No-one wants to be the awkward kid in the corner with a plan of their own.  Because that means that you have to battle it out with all the know-betters who will hunt you down and question everything you do. Mainly because they are so unsure of themselves that they need reconfirmation form others, and have arrived at the strange decision that the way to do that is to question everyone else?

2:
It hurts!  Pushing yourself into the paincave hurts!  You need to take yourself to a very uncomfortable place in order to increase your work capacity!  I know this because I have had the pleasure of programming and coaching some very gifted athletes - and even they are reluctant to go to this place!
On a personal note this applies to myself as well!  I am an absolute magician when it comes to finding reasons not to go into the valley of suck!  I am simply comfortable with being comfortable!


Truth be told I could not care less if an athlete increases their snatch from 100-105kg if they can still not get through ie "jackie" without breaking up the thrusters and the ups!


But then again - thats just me!

Revival!

Wow!  

I honestly never thought I'd sit down and begin blogging again!  I thought I had written my last blogpost, and loved the thought of not having to do it again!  However I have come to realize that there are other ways to use this wonderful tool - so here I am again trying to blow some life back into a blog, that I thought was gone for good!

This is basically going to be about my WoD's and the work I am trying to do to get back in shape.  I will take it even further than I have before and include some film and some pictures of my workouts!  I have never done this before, but I know that I need to hold myself accountable for the work I do and the effort I put into it!

So here goes nothing!

My current goals are:

Backsquat:  3 x 150kg
Deadlift:    1 x 200kg
Shoulder press:  1 x 90kg

Snatch:   90kg
Clean and jerk: 120kg

These are by no means impressive goals, but they are mine - you set yours:-) I do have a bunch of injuries, but that is beside the point - the question is if I will reach these goals?

At the same time as I want to achieve these goals I am going to try to maintain and possibly improve my met-con capacity, so you are not going to be reading a blog about a 6 month strength bias, and then some pathetic attempt to get moving again!  Is this even possible?  I have no clue but I am going to give it a try!


The big question is if I can actually do this without also adding some of my very personal opinions about CrossFit and training into the blog as well, and the answer is NO!  I will most definitely be sharing my observations and thoughts on this blog!
Before I get started it is important to be perfectly clear about the fact that my opinions are mine, and mine alone, and do not in any way shape or form represent or reflect those of any person, company or organisation that I may, or may not be associated with!

Jeremiah 29:11

You need a coach!

I just got back from the Games and there are so many impressions and lessons learned from the time spent in Los Angeles with some of the best athletes in the world, I would like to share some.  I have decided to begin with the fact that you need a coach if you want to compete to win against the top crossfitters in the world.

It used to be possible for the gifted few who already posessed a fair share of athletic capacity to work out once a day following whatever WoD was on the board at their local box, and add a WoD or two a week targetting the obviously weaker side of their game. With this effort they would be able to compete and do fairly well at different competitions and throw downs - Sometimes (depending on the programming) they would even be able to win a challenge!
Those days are in the books and a new age has dawned on the athletes who have decided to compete in an international setting!  So if you have ambitions of making it on  the big stage- here is a piece of advice that will get you there faster than the ones who have decided that the inevidable nature of evolution does not apply to them! Get yourself a coach!

Big fish in a small pond!


I was there at the European regionals this year and I saw some super athletes battle it out for the very limited spots, reserved for Europe at the Games this year.  I was also at the North East regionals, and saw the same kind of heroic effort put forth that I saw in Europe.
But to be honest I dont think the raw material I saw at these two venues really did the athletes justice!  So what does that mean?
All I am saying is that with the right guidance more of the athletes at these events could have been in contention for the spots that would have propelled them to the Home Depot Center.  Now they had to wait for the WoD that would reflect their strongest sides and then fight it out in the rest.  The same thing happened at the Games where some amazing athletes were left fighting for scraps after the top dogs had cleaned house.  These athletes did not have to be in that position, and had they had some more guidance from a coach then they would have been in a completely different position. I am not saying that they have not had coaches, or that they have not had direction in their training, but was it the right direction and the right coach?

It is easy to be a big fish in a small pond, but when those fish make it into the sea, they are in for a rude surprise!  My advice is to admit that if you want to compete for more than the free t-shirt then you have to get a coach, and begin to treat the CrossFit Games like cut throat competition that it is!  I know you are all up in arms now- By cut throat I mean that the competition will not allow you a top position unless you bring your A-game!
So if you are aiming to go to the Gmes and actually compete next year, your preparations should have begun yesterday!

In other words- You need a coach who knows what he/she is doing!  You need the right mind set, and you need to be ready to fight it out with the best in the world, and not get the jitters just because Annie T or Rich Froning Jr is at your side!


What kind of coach?


There were a host of coaches at the Games this year, and I would like to raise a flag for two kinds of coaches who were represented at the Games, and whom I personally would like to hand an eviction notice from planet earth!

The first kind is the kind who does not have a clue, but has had the good fortune of having some great athlete walk through the doors of their box. These athletes are now piggy bagging of the athlete and like a drunken uncle you cant quite get rid of and since you are polite still listen to, they polute the athletes with bad advice.
They also share another quality with the second kind of no good coach I will adress in a second! They think it is all about them!  
A coach like that will never get you there! Using them is like going to the airport and being happy that you saw the plane that would take you to your destination, but that is a far as you got!

The second one is the one who seriously thinks that it is all about him.  He is the moron who for some odd reason got the ear of some God given talent, and managed to convince the poor sucker that without him there was no way that the God Given talent would ever make it.  Now he is marching about thinking he is all that boldly claiming that he made theis God given talent what they are today!
God given talent- listen to me when I say that you would have gotten there anyways, and you would have had fun in the process.  The real heart breaker though is that this moron will probably destroy the talent, and then move on wothout ever trying to pick up the pieces of the beauty he broke..  Shame on you!

The relationship between coach and athlete need to be build on mutual respect, and a common understanding of the goal and the premisses to get there.  The athlete needs to let the coach do the coaching, and the coach needs to be omnipotent and get out of the way of the athletes progress!  I would like to think that Juha Kangasvieri is just that kind of coach.  I also think that Samantha Briggs is blessed with just that kind of coach..

So get yourself a coach and fight it out wtht the big guns next year!

In health