Crossfit Norwest, Raw strength and conditioning and Barefoot Evolution Discussion Forum

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Tuesday 1st December 2009
AM Session
Warm Up
400m with the usuals
General ROM
squats, ring rows, thrusters, pullups

WOD
Fran
21-15-9
Pullups
Thrusters (40Kg)
Time: 4mins 16 sec
My first time at Fran since being at CFNW which I think is kind of cool because i have been coming since about May and it has only come up the once and i missed it. So naturally when i first stumbled into crossfit on the internet i wanted to see what my fran time was. I walked tentaively out to my garage at home and seeing as I couldn't kip and my max press was about 45kg i knew that it was going to be difficult. This was December 2007 and it took me 17mins 19secs. Did i mention this was strict pullups. Anyway over 2008 i did some strength work... kept on my refs training and hada crack again in May 2008. Time 10 mins 54 with a spasmodic kip but i remember the thrusters killing me. Fast fwd to September 2008 and i had let the strength work drop away and was back out to 12 mins 7 secs. So i had done 1 or 2 sessions at CFNW when i tried once again at home still with spasmodic kip and got 8mins 54sec. Now with all the solid training under my belt i am pretty damn happy do do fran in 4 mins 16 secs. Seeing as this was really the first time i have been strong enough to experience fran as a pure metcon i can say that it was a whole other level of terrible. I laid down on the floor afterwards and was just sore...grip was gone... best way i can describe it was akin to the feeling you get in your head when you drink a frozen coke too fast only it was in my forearms and hands and it didn't go away for like 5 mins. Also my lungs were stinging like a cold run in the morning. Fran messed me up but i know where i can go sub 4... My middle round was crap... i felt OK after th 21's and went for the whole 15 thrusters consectively... got to 9 and then hit problems. The middle pullups also sucked and i had never had the feeling of not being able to do pullups because i was out of breath like i did today. The last round was unbroken. If i can just tighten up the middle round.. get it in one set of pullups instead of 3 and one maybe two sets of thrusters i will get it... next time i guess.

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Due to having to submit weekly training info to Referees the format of me recording sessiosn may not be so reader friebdly but it's easier to do it this way rather than write it twice.
Tuesday 1st December PM Session
District Training. Down Week Session. Ball work drills with pushup penalties. Goal for session was to give legs a break after previous weeks. Penalties were frequent and team based. Easily accrued more than 250 pushups for the session.

Wednesday 2nd December 2009
Junior Reps Session. Warm Up: 30mins continuous running @ RPE 14. Work Sets: Set One 4x400m @1min32pace. 1:1 Recovery. Set Two 3 x 400m @ 1min 32 pace 1:1 recovery. Recovery was active 3 on 2 ball drills. Sprints: 1x 30m, 1x 40m Maximal efforts. Relay 1x 40m and 1x 50m max efforts. Goal for session was to stay on set pace and work on relaxing during sprint efforts. Also to build up distances ebing run in Vibram Five Fingers shoes which encourage barefoot running.

Thursday 3rd December 2009
Grade Session. Coogeee Beach. 3 stations (25min each)1. Grass- Star Run, Illinois and power(med balls) etc 2. Sand- 12x 25m shuttle and 60m acceleration sprints3. Sand- Speed work- shutes and harnesses. Goal of seession was to focus on agility work. I have worked really hard to develop energy systems in break and am focusing on movement patterns such as agility, turns in shuttles. Felt strong on harnesses although am disappointed with drop off in time with 12x25m shuttles. Legs were heavy with weeks training and were the limiting factor in final two efforts. Aim to make final efforts closer to initial efforts.

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Friday 4th December 2009
Total Rest. Focus on flexibility particualrly calves, hamstrings, hip flexors, lower back.

Saturday 5th December 2009
Subbed 40km Ride for Group Session with Penrith Development Squad @ Lapstone Stairs. 3 ascents up bush stair tracks plus trail runs and stair sprints. Ascent 1 Long side: 6mins 54sec. Ascent 2 Short Side: 2mins 10 sec. Ascent 3 Short Side: 2mins 14 sec. 6x Stair Sprints. 5-9 sec each variations between single double steps. Total Session 90mins. 6mins 54sec for long side ascent is first ever time under 7mins. Have been doing this session for years. Ran in vibrams (flat soled shoes) again. A few rocks and pebbles

Sunday 6th December 2009
AM Junior Reps Training. 60mins Continuous running. Ran in vibrams again. Goal for session was focus on increased stride cadence and technique.
PM Core/Gymnastics work. Handstand against wall: total 90sec in 3 attempts. 3x6 Pseudo planche pushups. Frogstand total 60secs in 2 attempts. Planche holds feet elevated 3x 10sec. 3 x 5 L sit compressions hands at knees. Lsit Holds feet on floor weight on fingertips. Focus for session was shoulder flexibilty and core stability with all holds and increase of 1 rep per set for pseduo planche pushups. Long term goal is to do 3 x 20 pseduo planche pushups.

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Monday 7th Decemeber 2009
Warm Up. Skipping: 100 Unders 75 Double Unders. General ROM. Air squats, 20kg, 60kg, 80kg. Main Sets: 3x5 Back Squat. 90kg-100kg-110kg. Failed last rep @ 110kg. Pullups: 1 rep on the first min, 2 reps on the 2nd min, 3 on 3rd etc. Made 15 rounds + 10 pullups in the 16th minute. Total of 130 pullups in 16mins. All pullups were kipping/gymnastic pullups. 3x6 Pseudo planche pushups.Goal of session was to complete all sets on squats with good form. Fail on the last rep an indication i probably need to back the weight off and concentrate for a week or two before moving up.

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Wednesday 9th December 2009
Junior Reps Training. Warm Up. Continuous running for 15 mins. 1200m Run on 400m track. 1st lap easy. RPE 12. 2nd Lap moderate RPE 14. Last lap hard RPE 16-17. Last lap done in under 1min 20sec. Main sets: 5x 400m run in < 1min 30sec with 2 min recoveries. 5min break. Then 6x 400m run < 1 min 30sec with 2 min recoveries. All efforts were well under time i think slowest was about 1 min 26 sec. Goal for session was to maintain times for entire sets which our group did. Again wore vibrams and this was probably longest interval session i had done in them. Feet and calves started to fatigue but aerobically felt very strong. Very comfortable with running technique too.

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Thursday 10th December 2009
Premier Squad Training. Wanda Sand Hills. Warmup: fast feet, high knees, side shuffle and General ROM. Main Sets: 7 Cones place at various postions on sand hill. Approx 10-15ms apart. 4 sprints to each cone with walk back recoveries. Total of 28 efforts. Distances got progressively longer but so did recoveries. This took almost an hour. Followed by 3 sprints up big hill walk back recoveries. Finish with one "mexican" (up hill, down other side, up bigger hill). Session was very tough. Bit of fatigue in legs from previous nights session. Goal for session was to lead group out as i know that sand hills are a relative strength for me.

I find that you always leave a bit of your soul on the sand hill. It is just one of those few sessions where you can work yourself to the point where your legs refuse to move...at this point you just move your arms and your legs seem to follow. after 400m intervals on Wednesday and Sand hills last night i am in need of a serious rest today. I will do some light static hold stuff by myself a bit later in the day but that is about it. I have fitness test again on Tuesday only this time with Premier League Squad...Recently just missed an opportunity to make it into this squad when they took a few guys in, which left me behind. On the upside there is still an opportunity for me to squeeze into that squad in the coming months and the fire is still burning hot. The next few months i will be pretty single minded about getting in and training hard as hell so that i control all of the controllables.

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Friday 11th Decemeber 2009
Rest. Stretch hamstings and hip flexors which were pretty sore after sand hills.

Saturday 12th Decemeber 2009
Speed Session. Completed at Manly Beach while training with Penrith Development Squad. Short sprints with alternating starts, all walk back recoveries: 15x5m, 10x10m, 5x15m. Hollow sprints: 2x 20m jog, 30m sprint, 20m jog, 30m sprint. Hill sprints: 2x 70m, 60m, 50m, 40m. Build ups 2x 10mbuild up 20m sprint, 2x 20m build up, 20m sprint, 2x 20m sprint, 30m sprint. Then timed efforts at 20m, 30m, 40m, 50m and 60m. 30sec recoveries only. Times were 3.8, 5.4, 7.0, 8.3 and 10.0 respectively. Very slow but were done on sand and at the end of session. Goal of session was to focus on rapid steps as this is more effective on sand.

Sunday 13th December 2009
Junior reps session. Glenbook National Park. Session involved searching for checkpoints to solve a puzzle. Teams were given a map and sent off in various directions. Activity lasted about 90mins and included bush running, swimming, and several sections that were quite steep with bush stairs.
Strength Set. 5x3 Press. 46kg-51kg-56kg-61kg-63.5kg (f). Couldn't squeeze out 3 reps at 63.5 only managed one. Not bad as max press previously tested is 65kg and that was fairly fresh. Goal is to do a lift a day to maintain strength work.

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Monday 14th December 2009
Rest. No session to freshen up for Fitness Testing on Tuesday.

Ring Dip Challenge: 1 Dip

Tuesday 15th Decemebr 2009
Premier Squad Fitness Testing. Yo-Yo Beep Test: 17.4 an improvement from July when i ran 16.6. Flying 30m Sprint:3.54 In the same ball park as usual considering accuracy issues. No loss of speed since last year. 12x25m shuttles: 1st Effort 1min 4 sec. 2nd Effort 1min 7sec. Felt fairly strong in 1st effort especially on turns but still had heavy legs left over from Yo-Yo beep. Second effort hurt a lot. Sprint fatigue index test: 10x40m sprints. 30 sec recvoery between each. Run times were fairly consistent all between about 6.00 and 6.3 except for the first one which was slower for some reason.

Ring Dip Challenge: 2 Dips

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Wednesday 16th December 2009
Rest Day. Pulled up very fatigued after fitness testing. Spent about 40-60mins stretching hamstrings, calves, lower back and hip flexors.

Ring Dip Challenge: 3 Dips

Thursday 17th December 2009
Premier Squad Session at Maroubra Beach. Boxing for about 45mins followed by beach sprints starting in the water. Went really hard on boxing and pulled up very sore afterwards but got a lot out of session. Very intense. Beach sprints were tough especially with core and upper body completly trashed from boxing. Goal for session was just to go as hard as possible on boxing as this is also an area of strength.

Ring Dip Challenge: 4 Dips

[Lawrence.McDonell]

Friday 18th December 2009
Strength Session. 3x3 Dealifts. 120-125-130kg. Goal was to maintain strict form and focus on one lift for the day. This time last year 130 was my max deadlift. 3reps felt relaticely easy today.

Ring Dip Challenge: 5 Dips

Saturday 19th December 2009
Penrith Development Squad Training. Bridge to Bridge River Run around Nepean River. I run this course every year and it serves as a solid benchmark to gauge fitness. I have times recorded over the past few years. The fastest times for this run over the past three years are as follows: 2007- 29:07, 2008- 28:32, 2009- 27:32. I was very happy to take a whole minute of last years time which itself was a personal best last year. Course is just under 7km and i ran the whole distance in vibram flat shoes. Pulled up a bit sore in calves and feet at the end but felt very strong throughout.Average heart rate was 172bpm which represents 89% of max heart rate. Max HR reached 189.

Ring Dip Challenge: 6 Dips

Sunday 20th December 2009
Warm up circuit including pullups, pushups, situps, and overhead squats. Strength Session. Back Squat 3x5. Decided to keep weight straight across rather than build to a maximum. Did all three sets at 90kg which is a drop back in weight but i am working on increasing Range of Motion so that squats are basically butt to ground. This will have positive effect on overall strength as well as carryover on Olympic Lifts and Front Squats later on. Flexibility and mobility is good for now but need to ensure that i keep working on increased ROM to maintain strength and flexibilty for this movement.

Ring Dip Challenge: 7 Dips