The Road to 800: Week 2

Time for an update! Last week was a great week for deadlift (you may read that a lot...).

On Monday I did BAK (bar above knee) deadlifts for 10x2 at 725lbs. It was a great workout for my upper back and great for just getting me under load.
Tuesday was a fun day -it is a deadlift day. They are good. Anyways, I started the day off with Axle deadlift paired with reverse lunges. I went 1-4 at 355lbs on the Axle and 5x2 up to 235lbs on the lunges. I then moved on to banded deadlift and went 1-4 again at 485lbs with a 1/4" quadrupled up (band goes over it twice so that four points are sitting on the bar).
My hamstrings were sore after that lift, so why not hit them hard on Wednesday too? I did 6x2 on dynamic deadlift at 200kgs paired with 1-4, +7 on a 10" log stiff-leg (SL) deadlift at 425lbs (shown below)...my hamstrings were very pleased with me the next day.
On Friday tires and sandbags and rocks and such were my deadlifting, so that was good...
Saturday the deadlifts I did were an XL frame deadlift at 565lbs for 1-6 and Atlas stones for 290lbsx5 and 330lbsx5 both to a 51" box.

All in all, it was a great week. The Road to 800 will be a long one.

Let's Talk about Crossfit... This should be good.

Let’s talk about crossfit. No, this will not be a crossfit bashing session; quite the contrary –I will actually be pro-crossfit in this discussion which could take some of the people that know me by surprise.

Crossfit has a lot of criticism coming its way from people. These people are usually fitness purists who have closed their mind to anything except what their particular ‘book-of-choice’ has to say. Be it Olympic lifting (Weightlifting to true purists), strongman, powerlifting, endurance running, triathlons, bodybuilding, or just the average Joe that likes to do bicep curls in the squat rack, they all have something to say about how bad or dumb crossfit is.

This has nothing to do with this post really... He just has an epic beard and happens to do Crossfit.

Well, too bad. I look at Crossfit as I do the paleo diet issue that Andy and I discussed the other day –who cares? Who cares that there is no programming and no goal? Who cares that they do things for minutes at a time without rest? Who cares that they put things in pairs, triplets, or large groups and say “go until time runs out or you finish”? I for one do not care. Crossfit has done something that the fitness world has had yet to do in the last… I don’t know how many years! (perhaps since being overweight became an actual epidemic?)… Crossfit has gotten millions of people to exercise hard again; it has gotten millions of people to push themselves further and harder than they ever would have; it has gotten millions of people to become inspired to go to the gym again; it has gotten millions of people to lose tens of thousands of pounds; and we are silly enough to complain about the details? What?! Look at the bigger picture here people! We are all, supposedly, fitness enthusiasts/strength coaches/personal trainers who want nothing more than to help people better themselves, lose weight, and workout for life in order to stay healthy, right? Well then why are we so quick to judge and complain when something has finally done that? Is it because we didn’t think of it? What is it? I really would like to know.

Five months of Crossfit... interesting.

What I do know is that Crossfit still has issues that it could work out. Teaching people to snatch from the ground on day one is a no-no, obviously, but having someone workout hard and do a met-con –as long as it is scaled to their needs– is not. Crossfit does need to have a progression of learning for the technical movements, I agree; however, they are also working on that. They are doing this by partnering with the Burgener family (who is very well-known in the American Olympic lifting community) and going around and teaching courses on Olympic lifting…the right way. They are also hiring other very good Olympic lifters to do the same in order to help the crossfit community prevent injuries that would otherwise be nearly inevitable.

Another thing that has happened since Crossfit blew up is that what used to be dying sports, as far as lifting goes, are now seeing gains in popularity again. A prime example of this is Olympic lifting. Before I go any further, I must say that I got this example from a movie I saw on youtube which I will link here so you can watch it as well (just beware –the guy in the video uses cuss words to describe and make points and he uses them a lot. If you are sensitive to racy language, I wouldn’t watch it). Now, Olympic lifting has been a dying sport for a while, but once Crossfit started getting big, Olympic lifting started to become ‘cooler’ too. The example from the video is that a few years ago you could walk up to a random person and ask them what a clean or a snatch was and they would give you a “Why is this random person asking me questions?” kind of look. Nowadays we could do that same thing and have a pretty good shot at them knowing what the heck we are asking them. That’s a big deal! The same things are happening in strongman and powerlifting –Crossfit made them bigger by involving various types of their sports and they are now reaping the benefits of that.

Casey Burgener clean and jerking 220kgs/484lbs...he might know a thing or two about Olympic Lifting.

                                        

My final thoughts on this are that you can love Crossfit or you can hate it, but you can’t escape it. It is on ESPN now and has a $250k prize involved as well as supplement sponsorships and other huge benefits –Crossfit is here to stay. If you are against it wholly and completely still, then I feel somewhat sorry for you. You are being so stubborn, prideful, and arrogant (or ignorant) that you are missing out on a potentially great opportunity to learn. I’m not saying that you have to go all-in and love it, that you have to use it, or that you have to watch it; I’m saying that if you are not at least open to learn from it, then you are not as great of a coach, teacher, or fitness enthusiasts as you think.

Now, before I sign off, I must give my asterisk-ed beliefs. I don’t believe that Crossfit is the best way to develop strength or the best way to train athletes; however, I do believe that it is one of the best ways to come along to train the general public. I think it's great that they have created a way for people who aren't involved with sports in some way, who don't want to be huge for lifting or incredibly thin for endurance events, a way to compete and something to work for and towards. They have made it available to all -that was the key. I’ve always been a guy that seems to go against what the general fitness trend is as far as training rules go, so why should I bash on Crossfit for doing the same? After all, what’s wrong with breaking the rules (a.k.a. pushing the limits) that have been put on you and/or the fitness world?

As always, these are just my thoughts. I would love to hear what anyone else has to say on the matter!

-Chris


Update: Here is an article that I was reading that details more what I was discussing with my askterisk-ed thought. Crossfit is not the best way to train athletes or to train for strength -but it is a great way to exercise. Rippetoe doesn't dive into that aspect really, he seems to be more on the hating-Crossfit side, but you can still appreciate what he writes.

The Road to 800

         “800 what?” you may ask. I am talking about deadlifting 800lbs. This is a short intro to my road to completing an 800lb deadlift. This could be a long series, however, because I only recently broke the 700lb barrier. I know this won’t happen fast, but it will keep me more involved with the readers of our blog.

         Within this series of posts I will be detailing my deadlift workouts as well as any assistance work I may or may not have done that day. To bring you up to date, I like to deadlift (I will be writing a short post on it very soon); I deadlift every day that I train in some way and I don’t count RDL’s as a deadlift –they are one of the best assistance exercises for a deadlift and for Olympic lifts, but they are still assistance work.

          As far as last week goes, it was my first week back and I was very pleased with the numbers that I hit. On Monday, I did deficit deadlift for 8x2 up to 240kgs. On Tuesday I did straight-leg deadlifts with an 8” log up to 200kgs for 1-5 in the morning and then regular deadlifts at 260kgs for 1-5, +9 (if you don't know what that rep scheme is, read my post about it). On Wednesday I did dynamic snatch grip deadlift for 6x2 at 140kgs. On Friday my deadlifts consisted of heavy sandbags, rocks, tractor tires, and frames –so there were no sets, reps, or PR’s for that.

Anyways, you are caught up now. I will update you again at the end of this week!

Strength Challenge Finale!

After four weeks, the strength challenge has been completed. It has been a fun ride.

I initially wanted to take on this challenge to show people how easy it is to make gains in the weight room. Being on a structured program, following a specific plan, and by doing it the right way, I added significant strength to my body.

Again, here were the guidelines of the experiment:
No longer than 30 minutes total.
Lifted twice a week
Complete4-5 sets of 8 on each lift. There was some variation.
I continued my triathlon training with no reduction in volume
No signifigant weight gain.

I did a pre-test of my ten rep maxes. The overall goal was to gain 10-15% on these tests.

I kept a log, which you should know by now if you've frequented the blog.

Here are the final results:
Deadlift 305......an addition of 40lbs
Squat 245......addition of 20lbs
Overhead press 135.....addition of 15lbs
Pullups 23    increase of 3

Looking at the results it's quite astonishing, keep in mind that this is a 10 rep max. meaning that my 40lb increase for deadlift for 10 reps means my total work increase was 400lbs. Not bad for 60 minutes of lifting a week.

Overall, deadlift was the only exercise in which I met my goal. I had substantial increases in the other lifts. My ambition was a bit too high I believe.

Towards the end of this experiment I began to feel a bit run-down. This could be to a slight increase in endurance training but I don't know how much longer I could have maintained this program. The gains slowed towards the end, the joints were a little sore, and I was starting to loose the energy I had.

Overall, I think I accomplished my goal. I proved just how easy it is to gain strength in the weight room. I always see people who are lifting for an hour 4 times a week with little to show for gains. Hopefully, this proves that this can be accomplished in a time efficient minimal effort.

I will now take a week off of resistance training and begin another cycle. Now that triathlon, running, and cycling season is come into full swing I'll be looking to maintain my muscle mass and strength as the main goal.

More to come so stay posted! As always, if you would like to get stronger send me a message and I can help!

Andrew.

Crossing the great divide.... When enough is enough

As Americans, we live ingrained with the notion that if some is good, more must be BETTER! This lifestyle of excess and bigger is better mentality has lead this nation into one perdiciment after another.

Once two patties on a burger lost it's novelty we upped it to three, with bacon, and extra cheese. The standard SUV wasn't big enough so we rolled out bohemouths with three rows of seating to transform soccer mom into a light duty transit operator. It not ok to own anything less than a dozen pairs of shoes (by count I have 14) and our closets are full of stuff we haven't worn in years.

So where am I going with this and how does it relate to fitness?

Although, much of what I alluded to was anti-health and fitness there is a sneaking movement within our culture passing along the same notion within fitness. Once everyone and their uncle did marathons they weren't good enough, we added 50mi races, 100k's and 100mi marches through death valley. Soon Iron man was for middle aged, middle class, and average individuals and the real hardcore people are doing double iron man's, ultimate endurance triathlons and the like. Even weightlifting, strength training, and conditioning has fallen victim. Why stick to only a few reps on Olympic lifts when you can put 5 min on the clock and see who can do the most before they collapse?

I wanted to write a piece about taking things too far. Although it may seem counter intuitive that a maven of health and fitness is cautioning you to take it easy there is a line to be drawn with the silliness. Let's discuss.

It is ok to run marathons, do an iron man triathlon, or participate in these lunatic events, just make it one of your "do this before I die" events and not a lifestyle. Just like with everything, there is a point where our body stops gaining and starts losing. If you are running 12 miles a day, lifting weights upwards of 2 hours, or trying to become the first person to swim from South Africa to Antarctica, I can assure you that your body will not be getting a positive adaptation in the long run.

The way our system works is that when we exercise we are turning on the stress response in our body. Hormones surge, cortisol, epinephrine, and the like. These hormones tell our body that we are under distress. To adapt to the challenges our body changes to suit towards the stresses placed upon it.  Seems simple right? Just like with anything we can put too much of a tax on this system. Our glands produce so much of these hormones we are living in a state of flight or flight. Eventually, we develop fatigue, our body doesn't react to the hormones and we are left in a rut of obscurity. Our metabolism slows, we don't see the fitness results, and we push harder thinking we are just in a plateau.

Another issue here is the effect on our heart, our muscles, and our joints. In this state. Our body is extremely catabolic in this state. In other words, our muscles are in a state of wasting, our heart becomes scarred and enlarged, and joints loose their lubrication and begin to wear.

Don't let this deter you from taking on fitness as a lifestyle, there is plenty of leeway in reaping the fantastic rewards of exercise. You can certainly maintain an active lifestyle work out 7 days a week and prosper. It's the type and duration to be weary of.  My general suggestion is to keep it varied, keep the duration between 30-90 min and listen to your body. If you are sore, fatigued, or have trouble sleeping, back off. Vary between endurance activities, sprint type intervals, and resistance training through a variety of disciplines. Keep it fun and engaging. Sprint sessions are short, endurance can be long just keep in mind that you do not need to always be pushing it to the max. A run at a comforting pace or a nice hike is just as good as lacing up the shoes and heading out on a death march sometimes.

Ok so I have laid out my opinion on the matter. What do you think? I am out of the realm of reality here? Am I just ashamed to admit I am not hardcore enough and am trying to justify my short comings with fake science? Let me know in the comments!

Run for your life, but not too fast, or not too far.
Andrew

Strength Update no. 7 Friday fit tip!

FRIDAY FIT TIP! 
How easy is it exactly to reap the health benefits of exercise?

 ****SPOILER ALERT****
Much easier than we all think!

New research published by the American Heart Association journal surprised me with statistics of how easy it is to achieve the health benefits of exercise.

They studied the differences between running and walking in relation to the health benefits. They had over 45,000 participants. 33,000 registered in the national runners registry and 15,000 from the national walkers registry. The ages were between 18 all the way up to 80.

In a brief summary here is what they found:


Running significantly reduced the risk for being diagnosed with hypertension by 4.2% while walking reduced the risk by 7.2%
Running reduced the chances of having high cholesterol by 4.3% and walking by 7%
Running lowered risk of diabetes by 12.1% while walking dropped the risk by 12.3%
Running reduced coronary heart disease risk by 4.5% compared to 9.3% for walking.

The results are startling, it appears that walking can give you the same amount if not more of the benefits of exercise. Now let's discuss the results.

Some limitations I see, first I can see adherence to lifelong walking being much higher than the runners. Maybe the runners run for 2 or 3 months then "get too busy," the classic excuse, and take a hiatus. Also, I can see someone being much more likely to walk for 30-60 min a day whereas a runner may be content to 20-30.

No matter which way you slice it. There is always benefit from some exercise. Although if you are wanting to loose weight, running will trump walking on an calorie expenditure scale, walking has it's place in our day to day lives. If you are new to exercise or want a simple easy to follow way to be healthier I think that walking is a good place to start.

As always if you would like some help  getting started on a walking program. Feel free to email me questions.



Strength Challenge UPDATE #7

Being on the last leg of my strength challenge, I am starting to feel the effects of fatigue. This could be because I increased my endurance volume, it could be that I keep increasing weights and I am getting closer to the plateau threshold. None-the-less with my test day just 5 days away, I started to taper a little volume off my lifting.

Here is my training week as a whole:
Sunday: Rest
Monday: Lift+ Spin  :30 short sprint intervals (35min)
Tuesday: 28 mile road ride. 1:18 total time
Wednesday: Swim 5x200 yrds Spin: power climb + tempo sets (35min)
Thursday: Run 20 min @ 10k pace +lift
Friday: Swim 2x500yrd at pace Spin tempo+speed work (30min)
Saturday: Ride mountain bike 1:00

Total time working out: 6:20 min (estimate) with warming up and rest time.

Here is the latest weights workout. I moved down to four lifts still at five sets of 8.

Deadlift: 275, 285, 290, 295, 275 Last set I wanted to hit 300 but I knew it wouldn't happen dropped down instead.
Smith Bench press: (slow reps) 5x8 @155 dropped to 135 last set
Smith Bent row: (slow reps) 5x8 @155 dropped to 135 last set
Dumbbell pullover: 4x8 @60,60, 65,65

workout duration: 26:00

Be fit, happy, and well.

Andrew

Strength Challenge Update no. 6

A quick update from the strength challenge:

I rand a duathlon with Jeff this weekend. Despite the cycling and running I am still feeling strong. New highs on squat prove that progress is still happening.

As time is running out on this challenge I am excited to see where I am at. I will have to admit that I am starting to feel the results slow. I am no longer blasting through the previous workouts numbers, I am making steady gains. This is probably due to the amount of endurance training I am still doing. Now that the spring season is in full swing. It is time to add a little more volume in.

Anyway, here are the latest results

Squat: 205x8, 215x8, 225x8, 235x6
Seated DB press: (45x8)x4
Pull-up (slow reps): 10x4
Bench Step Up: 45x6 each leg
TRX feet elevated push up and pike: 12,10,10,8