Thurs Murph

1 Mile run
100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 squats
1 mile run

39:26

I came a bit late and did a very short warm up because everyone was already started..... I was having the toughest time catching my breath.. but I forced on.... I was able to push pretty hard because I knew that I had Friday off work.... so it could be one of my "recovery" days

my lungs are the most sore of anything from murph... I'm always surprised by whats sore from certain workouts... its almost never what I think it going to be.

Day before performance

Day before performance is a large part of on the day performance. Typical things such as carb loading and adequate rest are parts of even the easiest routines....
A proper day "in the Zone" (diet) and rest will pay itself back... adding some salt to your diet to help water retention, and as well drinking your fluids early and often will allow you to start the competition will a full gas tank rather than 3/4 full....
mental readiness with our basic goals will also play on performance
Good luck!

cashews are cheaper when you call them soy nuts

As the week runs down I occasionally have to go to the store to get a few fresh things that I go through faster than others. I go to the cash and the nice girl rings the cashews as Soy nuts I didn't notice while paying, but after because I'm tracking costs of my zoning. (6.99 cashews vs 2.99 soy nuts)
This happens to me every once in a while, girls will gift me things when they work at a cash. Sometimes in the form of discount with a wink, and sometimes in the miss charging of items... Now I could be skeptical and say it was just an error, but the way that we eye F****d and the way she molested my hand as she returned the cash says discount....

Comments? stories.... I would love to do some form of an experiment, but we could never get decisive information.. (it reminds me of the honking during long runs from when me and Chris were training for the death march...)

Preparing for Murph

Murph is coming up this week and all the usual personal maintenance item need to be taken care of for performance. When planning to compete in an event, I think the best approach is to look at each part of the event separately and think about what possible equipment failures are going to be, and then possible human failures. Since the equipment wont fail, we move to Human failure for Murph.....
The way I see it, Many people will have soft hands, it will be hot and hands will sweat..... Calluses need to be cleaned before Murph...
The major thing to remember is that the skin underneath the callus is just as hard as the skin on top... when you level them off you are just streamlining them and giving yourself less chance of pinching and ripping them.... the bigger they are the harder they rip.... Some of us have experienced a rip, and it sucks (I will bring my second skin, to remind people that preventative care its 100 times better!, because Second Skin burns like crazy)
re chalking and even some preventative taping will do wonders!.... But I swear to you get onto beastskills and see the callus removal thing he has listed... if you don't like the butter knife, I bought this mini cheese grater thing(pommel stones are great too) in shoppers and it's awesome (I highly recommend it... I usually give my hands a blast about once every week or 2 after a shower, and that seems to be fine) I've only had 2 rips since beginning crossfit, 1 during the cert fooling around on the pull up bar showing off with no chalk, and the second doing dynamic moves on the rings for the first time, the skin on my wrist was just too soft to take it... both sucked and both took a while to heal!

More prep talk as we approach Murph!
questions/comments more than welcome as usual!

Safety

"Safety also get dragged into discussions of movement velocity, under the assumption that fast is dangerous, as in driving a car. But just as in driving, it really depends on the ability of the operator. The more experienced an athlete becomes with barbell exercises, the more efficiently and safely he can perform them at higher speeds. Squats can be dangerous for novices at high speeds, but for advanced athletes high-speed squats are a very productive power exercise." Mark Rippetoe, Practical Programming

functional form

The whole body approach to working out, is a far greater tool, than training individual muscles. Training like a bodybuilder will produce bodybuilder results. The muscles will look good but be of next to no use to you, flexibility will be limited and you will be prone to injury because of uneven muscle development. Large muscle movements that are functional in life will be the answer to practical and usable strength. (squats, deadlifts, standing presses) amongst others replicate standing from the ground, picking and object from the ground, and lifting an object overhead. The ability to do these simple tasks efficiently will crossover to sports and life almost instantly. Muscles trained with these exercises in a strength program will become like rocks rather than gaining bulk (although some bulk will eventually occur)
"Women who claim to be afraid to train hard because they 'always bulk up too much' are often already pretty bulky, or thin but weak and conditioned, and have found another excuse to continue life sitting on their butts."
my personal results: from an endurance training program to switching to crossfit, is that my muscle when relaxed now are in a lot of cases more solid before when flexed. I've decreased in weight, and increased in strength, and even have set or been able to match endurance times without long tedious endurance training.

putting practice to use

Mike M lands his jump in near perfect squat form on the 24" box AWESOME and POWERFUL


When the workout is over form tends to shoot out the window. When picking up a weight anytime in the gym or outside of the gym strong form should be used. This will enable a reaction response (during sporting or work) , getting into a powerful position rather than a lazy position. The results of form will allow you to lift longer and more weight.... (the goal of working out) There is no point to being strict with form during a workout just do do body weight squats on toes later, or pick up a heavy object from the ground with a rolled back, and bent at the waist....
Homework :Implement the lifts and lift form into daily life