“Nicole“
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
Run 400 meters
Max rep Pull-ups
Post number of pull-ups completed for each round to comments.
Compare to 080924.
“The Evils of Undertraining”
Courtesy of Again Faster
If you’re not making progress at CrossFit, you’re not trying hard enough. More specifically, you’re not trying often enough.
Coaches and athletes are quick to blame nutrition, sleep, and overtraining for lack of progress. While these factors can certainly slow your journey to speed, strength, and power, I’d bet they aren’t the principal reason you’re still languishing in the CrossFit minor leagues. You just don’t workout enough.
Contrary to the popular ideal, working out three days a week is a shitty path to fitness. While a tri-weekly program will sustain weight loss, muscle size, and (perhaps) strength, it will not enhance recovery ability, metabolic capacity, and power output beyond set levels.
The name of the game, whether you’re a CrossFitter, a cyclist, or an Olympic weightlifter, is to train as hard as possible as often as possible. This places ever-increasing stressors on the body and mind, forcing adaptation. Training below this threshold—whether you’re sandbagging or just staying at home—causes stagnation or worse.
The rub in our formula—train as hard as possible as often as possible—is the word “possible”. Fear of injury, general fatigue, and conventional wisdom dictate a cautious approach to training, causing athletes to underestimate the limits of possibility. Forever training within the margins, they fail to make progress.
Keep in mind that “as hard as possible” may vary from day to day, based on accumulated training load, but your perceived intensity must always be at 100%. Simply, you need to give every ounce of your being every time you’re in the gym. It may not result in world-record times every day, but it will result in progress.
“As often as possible” is easier. Get out of bed and get to the gym. The effects of consistency are absolutely astounding. You’ll make progress, even if you neglect just about everything else. I’ve seen this first-hand. Those who climb the record boards at CrossFit Boston are those who show up. They may drink their weekends away, supplement a solid Zone lunch with Twinkies, and sleep six hours a night, but in the end, they’re in the gym. They have great gym days and bad gym days, but most importantly, they have gym days.
Next time you decide to skip your workout, don’t. Get up and get your WOD done. You’ll make progress—guaranteed.
Push Jerks aren’t so bad when they’re just singles. Old PR was 185 (Split Jerk). Today was pretty good.
154
176
186(f)
186
198
203(f)
203(18# PR)
Man, that was tough! I never realized how much harder this workout is when it’s so cold you can’t feel your hands! That’s a HUGE difference! I managed to tie my PR from September, but it felt horrible today.
7 rounds (dang! it’s ALWAYS 7 rounds)
18, 10, 9, 10, 8, 10, 12
TOTAL = 77 (tie PR from last time)
And here I have been under the misguided perception that I must stop drinking away my weekends to be successful. I shall fall prey to that myth no more!
If only I liked Twinkies, I would incorporate them, too!
Hugely comforting article: If there’s one thing I know how to do well, it’s show up! See you this evening!
since y’all are the only other people who care about me in the CF world, I did 54 pull ups on the first round of nicole today. ended up with a 146, could only get in 5 rounds. I have no idea how y’all can get in 6 or 7 rounds! I only had like 30 seconds to spare on my last round. anyway, had to tell someone other than my people!
Awww, that’s all sweet and stuff, Austin!
Nice work, man! And what do mean, “only got in five rounds”…it’s not about rounds, it’s about reps! More rounds does not equal better, and I can say that from first-hand experience!
Well, That Guy. I would care, but you missed my RX fame yesterday. I was crushed.
Congrats on your 146! Nicely done. Perhaps if you had gotten 56 on your first round you would have had a higher total. Oh well, there is always next time. That is the rub of CF. There is ALWAYS a next time!
5 rounds, score of 40. Only walked a few steps! Run run run.
I did 5 rounds with a total of 60 reps. I got a good rhythm goin and got 26 pull-ups (with a band) on the first round! Not so high on the subsequent rounds though.
Wanted to try “Frianebeth,” so, stubbornly went ahead and tried it 6 hours after finishing “Nicole.” Hmmm. Not the best idea…I was exhausted before I even started! Interesting workout though – very tough. I think I want to try it again when I’m not coming off a full 3-day cycle of WODs.
“Frianebeth”
65# thrusters/95# squat cleans/160# deadlifts
8:47
6 rounds, 79 pull ups. (red and tiny band or just red I think?) and my first real pullup a few days later!
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