Back At It

... And we're back! Had a solid month of finishing up track and starting triathlon season... Now it's time  restart the crossfit engine/blog/schedule/lifestyle once more.

Fitting for tonight's post... Change.

Little philosophy to kick it all off again.

Considering that things have kind of changed since I last wrote regarding priorities athletically and generally, it is interesting to note how much can change in such a little time. And by extension, how much more things can change in a long time. 

For example, my outlook on crossfit has changed. (Not much, don't worry)

For me personally, it has changed from a main attraction to an implement in my toolbox to help me achieve a goal - good placing at triathlon nationals. That's a big change relative to how I viewed it before, but because it's realistic (I probably don't have a future in crossfit, but I probably have a future in triathlon) I am cool with it. Apparently it's still pretty darn important because I'm writing a blog post about it at 10:32 PM. 

Additionally, and probably more relevant to all of the people I interact with daily, is that I have cooled off a lot about asking people to come workout with me. True, I love it when I get a couple bros over and we have an awesome workout and feel great, but I've decided to stop really asking people. I've made my point: I'm down for a workout wherever, whenever, with whoever. If they want to come and indulge in the swole, they (you) are welcome to. I feel like this may fix people's whole over-zealous-crossfitter perception of me and possibly bring some more interest. Who knows?

Anyways,  I'll be upgrading the whole "Programming" section of the blog around triathlon training, and I will be listing some of the stuff I'm doing for my endurance work, along with the daily wods and strength.

For now, here's the plan tomorrow: (it's a recovery day)

20 mile bike ride in the morning

3x5 back squat @ 60-70%, focus on speed.

Intermission

Started triathlon training again today! Season starts in a week... I'm pumped.

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I feel bad about not being able to post much this past week. School has been hectic, track has been insane, and I have not done a single wod... What is happening?

Life, apparently. 

So for the month of May while I drag myself to the finish line of the mad dash which is Junior Year, I'll be putting the blog on hold. Come June 1st, I'll be devoting all my time to woding and triathloning... and I can't wait. Until then, those of you who still like to check up on this regularly can maybe take a look at Mainsite, NCLab, CompWod, Outlaw, or any other great site. 

I'll see you all on June first! 

Early Mornings V2

Praying to the Squat Gods today before one of my sets... I never knew squats could be so hard. Winded after each set. 

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Zamcave. Week 4. Tuesday.

Rest. And win the school dodgeball tournament. 

"Active recovery" ...

Speaking of V2, here's the Regionals update feat. Nasty Girls V2...

http://games.crossfit.com/video/crossfit-games-update-april-28-2014?autoplay=true

Brolov

Redid a lot of the gym today! Exciting stuff. So much more room for activities! *cue Step Brothers theme song*

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Zamcave. Week 4. Monday. 

Smolov Jr. Week 2. Day IV.

10 x 3 backsquat @ 265

Gonna be tough! High volume heavy squats... do the body good? Hitting that for a morning session.

Honestly some of the days that I've programmed, I haven't been able to fit in the metcon. I feel bad about it until I realize that I'm balancing a Smolov cycle and track practice... So I guess I'll deal with it. Strength is the real journey; stamina and endurance (wod-type stuff) are relatively easier to re-train.

Today after realizing that I have just about reached "logistical perfection" in the gym - that is, I can't improve any more without new equipment - I put together a sort of "gym wish list" if you will.

Here's what I've got:

1. J-cups ($65) expensive, but necessary to fit more guys lifting on the rig outside. 

2. Bench ($175) it's a bench... Need I say more?

3. Wallball targets ($69 ea.) wallballs are an excellent exercise, but there is really nowhere to do them as of now at the gym. The side of the house is a no-go.

4a. Axles ($40) cheap and easy to make, these can add a lot to group workouts if we get a lot of them. However...

4b. HG Collars ($39) HG collars are the only collars that work with axles. Expensive but very necessary.

ZamJam of the night: Down the Road by C2C. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tetra/id594533472

Enjoy!

  

Quad Squad

Had a couple of the guys over for a nice workout yesterday. Big shoutout to Berto for having some serious heart when the going got tough. We ended up doing a mile "walk" alternating between farmer walks with 2 53# kettlebells, overhead walk with a 45# plate, back rack walk with 135#, and a sled pull. Pretty tough all in all... Everyone got battle scars of some sort. Good times. 

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Zamcave. Week 4. Sunday. 

Smolov Week 2 Day III 

- 8x4 backsquat @ 80% + 10lbs

Then, from the minds of the guys at Outlaw Crossfit...

15-12-9

- Strict HSPU

- Power C&J @ 135

Tabata plank hold

Rest day today so I'm hitting it hard tomorrow.

Meanwhile, here's some Chad Vaughn for ya... Incredible Oly lifter. Check out some of his instructional videos, they're awesome. 

http://library.crossfit.com/free/video/CFJ_USAW_ChadVaughn.mov

Eternal Champ

Relaxing with the new KILLCLIFF today after a nasty wod at the new gym, which is amazing. I love everything about this picture.

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Zamcave. Week 3. Friday.

Work to a heavy complex:

- power clean

- push press

- split jerk

On a 10 min. clock:

- Run 400m

In remaining time, AMRAP:

- 5 pullups 

- 5 burpees

When the clock hits 5 mins, repeat. 

Here's a cool new song that a friend suggested to me, I think it would be a great one to lift to:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/where-will-i-go/id565645984?i=565645988

The song is "Where Will I Go", but the whole album is good. 

Might have to start making music suggestions a thing... "ZamJams" anyone?

Here's a nice mainsite video that shows how specialist athletes can use crossfit to up their game. I really like the perspective that it doesn't necessarily need to replace the athlete's training, but can definitely supplement it and improve performance.

http://library.crossfit.com/free/video/CFJ_BismackBiyombo_SD.mov

Back At It

Got a run in with my dad on the Staten Island boardwalk this morning. Crossfit gyms galore and great places to run... NYC might be the place for me.

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Zamcave. Week 3. Wednesday.

Attempt PR's in 400m & Javelin.

I apologize for not posting the past couple days - I was pretty busy with all the goings on in the city. The rest days (Sunday + Monday) were exactly what I needed.

Expansion Pack

Did a strength sesh + a little metcon with Joe, who exhibited some remarkable wardrobe choice today. Perfect weather for a WOD too. One on one work was pretty nice, but I can't wait for more people to start coming this summer!

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Zamcave. Week 3. Sunday.

Rest day. 

I know I've been programming a lot of "rest days", it seems like, but in reality I have not been able to take a day completely off because of track in about a week. So tomorrow I will do so and enjoy it thoroughly. Road trips are good excuses for taking rest days anyways. 

Speaking of track, these past couple weeks in track have been really eye opening as to what kind of mental toughness people around me possess. I always thought I was mentally tough... Until I started really running with the middle distance group. A couple workouts down and I feel like I've broken my perceived max pain threshold on every one. Makes me wonder how they did this all throughout indoor season. I truly respect every single one of them and I have learned a lot of lessons from running with them. It really does come down to how much pain you can put yourself through to improve - and they do it better than anyone else. I'm inspired. 

In other news... HUGE upgrade(s) to the gym today!!! New rack (below) and also a rope (above).

Helping build the new gym over in Acton has its perks. Got a great deal on both of these new things and helped the owner of the others gym get rid of older equipment to make space for (the ungodly amount of) new equipment he has. Exciting stuff. 

On the topic of mental toughness today... Here's a phenomenal article from 2006 on "mental fitness."

Check it out. 

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/51-06-ForgingMentalFitness.pdf

Vacation

BARBULL SHIRTS ARE IN!!! $20. Contact me if you want one.

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Zamcave. Week 3. Saturday.

- Work to a heavy 3 RM strict press.

21-15-9
- Pullups
- Burpees
200m run with 45# plate between rounds.

Don't know how this one will turn out. A couple guys said they were interested in joining me. Gonna be interesting.

Generalism

From the Jefferson summit the other day. The pic was too cool not to put up. 

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Zamcave. Week 2. Friday. 

Rest or make up.

I was unable to do the EMOM from yesterday, so I will be doing that today. Again, if I can walk. Smolov (all these back squat days) + track has really been killing my legs... Trying to join the tree trunk club here.

Some musings from Thursday...

Yesterday out on the trails at practice, myself and a couple buddies started talking about crossfit and specialism (most track guys) vs. generalism (cross fitters). We talked about some people's crossfit experiences, which got me to thinking. I realized that to be successful in crossfit you have to be willing to greatly broaden the scope of your efforts to encompass all facets of fitness and movement in general - that's what the "cross" if "crossfit" is for. More specifically (heh), you need to be able to acknowledge and work on your weaknesses while maintaining your strengths. It's a very difficult and relatively unpleasant thing to do, but it makes you a better athlete. 

This is all in contrast to specialism, which is DJ's side of the spectrum... opposite of crossfit. He specializes in the 400m and the triple jump - and he's very good at them. Most of his time is spent honing and refining his skills to maximize his performance on those two things. Although working on hidden weaknesses could give a small edge, most of his time and effort are focused on strengths. 

Basically what the discussion boils down to is the idea that a generalist has a wide range of moderately proficient skills, and a specialist has a very narrow range of highly proficient skills. It all depends on your goals.

Figured I'd share it and provide some food for thought (paleo, of course) since I haven't been delivering much crunchy subject matter lately.

In the meantime, here's a classic Danny Broflex video.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xhkQzdzDsEA

Happy Friday.

Aftermath

14.1 aftermath. #waybackwednesday? 

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Zamcave. Week 2. Thursday. 

- 8x4 backsquat ~80%

EMOM 20

- Even: 10 HSPU

- Odd: 7 L-pullup

Dead tired from today. Early morning, full day of school, track meet, poetry slam event... busy is better than bored, right?

The poetry slam was really inspiring in a lot of ways. It was the embodiment of the passion of a very passionate group of people. Truly amazing. I might have to break out the poetry pen and write up some original bars for next year... 

Here's a super helpful progression towards the back uprise from Mainsite. This is looking like it will be the next achievement to unlock...

http://media.crossfit.com/awset/CrossFit_DuranteSpeallerBackUpriseProgression_534ede7e86854_SD.mp4

Squats and Fish Oil

Hitting a Smolov 7x5 squat set in the garage today. I can't wait to start the full cycle this summer.

Today I did squats instead of the snatches and metcon from yesterday... Tough track workout. People were lying all over on the ground after - it looked like the aftermath of a crossfit workout!

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Zamcave. Week 2. Tuesday.

Light skill work / active recovery day.
- Butterfly pullups
- Handstand practice

Keeping it light because of a Wednesday meet.

Invictus

One of many quality selfies taken on the mountain. Props to whoever invented the fisheye lens for iPhones!

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Zamcave. Week 2. Monday.

Depending on leg functionality after track practice, here's what I have in mind:

- 3RM power snatch

5 RFT
- 75m farmer carry (1.5 pood KB)
- 21 burpees


One of my favorite poems of all time is "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley. I have it memorized and often say parts or all of it to myself or others. It's weird, I know. It's kind of a heavy poem, but I love it because it has helped me get through a bunch of tough times and I feel like it applies well to a lot of aspects of life in general (not more so than "If" by Rudyard Kipling... that's for a different day.) Lately, there have been some more frequent rough patches, both athletically and otherwise, and keeping this poem in mind has helped me tremendously. Here it is:


Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.


What a poem. Henley's story is really inspiring also if you care to look him up.

Anyways, I'll leave you all with a link to some good Mainsite material. Definitely a must-read/must-watch.

Article

Video

Peak

Repping our gym shirts at the summit today! About 7 hours round trip. Good times. 

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Posting from my phone again... Promise I'll get back to good posts tomorrow. 

Zamcave. Week 2. Sunday. 

- Power clean & jerk 3RM

Then...

30-20-10 

- Pistols (alternating)

- Ring dips

Mountain Men

Posting from my phone tonight! Hence the blurry picture. I'm up in the mountains for a few days for a school trip so of cours I had to get a good workout in with these guys. The guy next to me is also really into Crossfit! We had some fun programming the little AMRAP we all did today:

AMRAP 10

- ~150m run (down & back on a little field)

- 10 pushups

- 10 squats

- 10 situps

Spice. The altitude didn't help too much with the burn!

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Zamcave. Week 2. Saturday. 

4,000 foot mountain climb... For time.

Not really for time. But it'll still be a helluva workout. 

In the meantime, here's another mainsite goodie, as usual: 

http://library.crossfit.com/free/video/CFJ_DerekHutchison_Koz_SD.mov

Enjoy!

On Track

Thruster & Burpee AMRAP with my brother a while ago. This couplet rings a bell... 

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Zamcave. Week 1. Day 6.

Track meet:

Attempt PRs at 200m, 400m, and Javelin

Shirts are ordered! I have 15 (3S, 8M, 2L, 2XL) 

These are selling for $20. Contact me during the day if you want one!

As always, work on that mobility. Here's a good MWOD video on some t-spine tips: 

Clear the T-Spine

Database

Got some good snatch form analysis today with Coach's Eye. Awesome app. 

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Zamcave. Week 1. Day 5. 

Rest Day.

Track meet on Thursday, so I'm taking it easy tomorrow. This brings me smoothly into today's thoughts! Rest days/periods. Similar to yesterday's musings about motivation and dealing with burning out, rest days play a huge role for performance as well. Other than being the only time that your muscles have the chance to rebuild from the workouts you do, they help keep things balanced mentally and physically. If you do a rest day "right" — no working out at all... some people (me) cheat — coming back hard the next day will be easier, more enjoyable, and more worthwhile. 

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? 

Some other news...

Last day to place your order for the Barbull Shirts! Sign up here!

I will not be around this weekend, so there won't be a workout on Saturday unfortunately. I'll still post a workout somehow, in case some of you want to get one in, but I won't be able to host anything. 

Here are a couple hip extension drills from Jeff Martone... Important stuff for maximizing really any athletic performance.

Jeff Martone: Two Hip Extension Drills

West Coast

My good friend Whitley from California showing some love for the gym! Believe it or not, she's actually the one who got me into Crossfit in the first place. Maybe she'll be in attendance at some future workouts here... Keep an eye out!

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Zamcave. Week 1. Day 4. 

Work to a heavy complex:

- Power clean

- Low hang squat clean

Then...

AMRAP 10

- 6 pistols (3 each leg)

- 3 HSPU

When the clock hits 10 minutes,

AMRAP 10

- 5 burpees

- 5 strict pullups

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And now, for your weekly dose of philosophy direct from the mind of Ca Zam...

Motivation! The topic of the night. I have been having some trouble lately with motivation and accountability to my training and school and such. I have no idea why, but I'm in a slump. For that, I write about motivation and general sticktoitiveness. (That's a word, believe me.)

I believe that sometimes, despite our best efforts, it's possible to slack on something and mentally wear away. Multiple bad days in a row, a failed lift that was once easy, and even the weather can all take tolls. Those 3 were what really took it out of me this weekend. But, how to fix it? The million dollar question. Going off of past posts, it might be expected that as usual I will now go on a rant about teamwork and such. Although the team helps, I feel like the one true way to get out of this sort of situation really comes from inside... I wasn't lying when I said it was a dose of philosophy.

Self-motivation is critical in really every aspect of life. Usually something like a slump or an off week is caused by a lapse in motivation. I can't really say how to get yourself motivated (other than listening to Eminem... He says it himself in Rap God), but just know that the work you put in today, whether school or sport or whatever you do, is building to something greater. And when that day comes and you've reached that something greater, you won't even remember the rough times you had. I take that back- you will - and the memory of them will make the greatness of your accomplishment all the sweeter. Man, now even I'm pumped. 

Now with your newfound - or boosted - motivation (I hope), here's a video on Kevin Ogar and his road to recovery. 100% money back guarantee that this will inspire you. 

Kevin Ogar: Road to Recovery

Squattin' on the Job

Working with DJ on some construction today... Had to snap the classic OHS picture. Yes, that's real wood.

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Zamcave. Week 1. Day 3. 

5x3 backsquat @ 90%

EMOM 20

- 5 pullups

- 10 pushups

- 15 squats

I deeply apologize for missing a post yesterday. Between working on the gym(s), working out, and weekend festivities, I had little extra time. Getting back to the important stuff now...

Unfortunately a lot of the guys could not show up yesterday. The couple guys that were the just did some skill and strength stuff and chilled out in the sun. It ended up being a pretty good time... Perfect day for it, too. I wish more guys could have come. 

Hit a nice little double session this morning: 

21-15-9 

- burpees

- KBS (53)

- 6 front rack walking lunge steps (135) between movements.

Reps went 21-lunge-21-lunge-15-lunge-15- etc... 

Spicy.

Then...

EMOM 14

Odd: 15 GHD situp

Even: 15 hip extension

Holy abdominals. 

Here's another cool Dave Durante video. Watching what this guy can do makes me rethink what I've done with my life up to this point. Enjoy.

Dave Durante Back Uprise

Opening Day

Today's the day! First real workout of the new season. I'm pumped. Hope everyone is too!

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Zamcave. Week 1. Day 1.

3 rounds: 
- 1 min max wallballs (20/12)
- 1 min max ring row
- 1 min max S2OH (75#)
- 1 min max kettlebell swing (1.5/1)
- 1 min max box jumps
- 1 min rest. 

Accessory work. Play around with tire flips & drags, rope climbs, farmers walks, sandbags, etc. 

It's gonna be money. I hope everyone has a phenomenal time and gets a lot out of it!

Also, a quick update for the blog: I've added a FAQ page and a Programming page up on the bar next to Crossfit Lingo. I got the idea from Ben Bergeron's blog (competitorswod.blogspot.com). I thought it could be some more helpful info for you guys as well as a place to explain some of the reasoning behind what I do.

Grassroots

Throwback Thursday. Talk about humble beginnings. A barbell, a couple plates, some improvised equipment, and a little love for Crossfit. Brings a tear to my eye.

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Shirt sign-ups are up! The more people that sign up, the cheaper they get. Just throw your name up there, more people will follow!

Hit a mini skill/strength sesh with my buddy DJ after track today:

- OHS skill work, lightweight. Got in roughly 4 or 5 sets at about 6 reps each. Big focus on positioning and balance. 

- Front Squats (and jerks, for me)
He did 5x4 across at about 75%, I did 5 complexes of 2 front squats + 1 jerk, going up in weight.

Played around with rope climbs and some other gymnasty stuff afterwards.

Solid bro sesh.

This is the first Thursday evening in 5 weeks that I haven't had to watch Dave Castro dramatically announce the next Open workout! "The clock will save you not" *throws watch* ... Crossfit or WWE wrestling? Who knows. If you watched the 14.5 announcement, you understand.

Now that the Open is over, and hopefully track practice is past the daily vomit-inducing 400 repeats, my Crossfit training season can really start. I was looking at some of the good stuff Outlaw Crossfit has to offer over on their blog. They don't play around. I might have to start doing some of their stuff here... Anyone with me? Also, as you all know by now, workout 1 of the new season is this Saturday. I might have to take a page out of Miranda Olroyd's book for some new blog formatting... We'll see.

As always, work some mobility in there. Try loosening up your T-spine, it's a commonly tight area between the base of your neck and the bottom of your shoulder blades. Spend a good 10 minutes rolling that out, and you'll feel like a million and one bucks.

Momentum

Here's a pic from an epic hill run up a ski slope! Functional fitness fo sho. Momentum was definitely not on my side there.

Momentum is doing pretty well for the project though!
Finally broke 1K views, courtesy of Liam Doyle's reddit post. As more people clicked the link, I saw there were a lot of views from our  neighbor to the north. Shoutout to Canada, you guys keep doing you, eh!
Also, the shirt has been launched! Right now I'm calling it the Barbull shirt... Open to suggestions though...

You can find the sign-up sheet here

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Another brutal track workout today... I'm seeing that what I thought was a strength is really a weakness. I guess it's like that sometimes.

- 500m

- 400m

- 400m

- 400m

- 400m

- 400m

Total: 2500

I, along with everyone who witnessed the events, thought I was going to die. Luckily not. 

I honestly would not have been able to mentally or physically finish the workout without the 400 squad pulling me through. Like I said in a couple posts, sometimes you rely on the team. This is why I love Crossfit and track so much - even though they are individual sports when it comes down to it, the team aspect of everything makes everything more enjoyable. Or just suck less when it gets tough. 

After we all peeled ourselves off the ground post-workout, a couple of us stayed and talked about food, of all things. It was uncannily similar to Dinner of Champions... Performance is nutrition based.  Of the 3/4 of the 4x400 relay team that were in attendance at the pow-wow, all three of us agreed on that. Eat well. If it isn't going to help your performance, it's probably not the wisest thing to eat. (Unless it happens to be Nutella, which is its own food group and does in fact serve a key role in developing upper-level athletic performance.)

I don't know about you guys that are coming over on Saturday, but I'm stoked. Check out last night's post if you missed it, it has some good info on preparing for the squats. 

Here's a brilliant article from Mainsite today about the L1 course I mentioned a few posts ago. 6 pages seems like a lot, but if you read just the last two, they're awesome for understanding some of the stuff I have going on at the gym. Give it a browse!

Crunching Numbers

Tried to get an artsy pic of the new bar holder... Not so much. I tried. People ask where I get all the money to make the upgrades all the time. Smart spending, folks. A little thought goes a long way.

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Shoutout to Joe Neveux for the shoutout this morning! I feel honored to be recognized by such a fella. If Joe advocates it, it's legit. Anyhow, it brought a lot more requests for Z shirts! Unfortunately, I only have two left, and I won't be able to get them to all the people who want them. Fortunately, I made a concept for a new shirt today with the help of some clever guys. I hesitate to say that it will be better than the original... But I won't lie. It will be.

A couple new people asked what the blog is all about today. For the newcomers to the Zamcave experience, my "mission statement" for what this blog has to offer can be found in Just The Beginning. Quality literature. I feel like I've been slacking on the philosophical side of things though. Not to worry, it's coming soon. I think the weekends are more suited for that anyways because I have a lot more time to really sit and bond with the blog. If bonding with a blog is a thing.


Finally got to hit a nice little WOD in the cave today.

The minion made sure I got low on all the squats.

Wendler Backsquat 3x5+

5 reps @ 65% of my Wendler Max (90% of my true max)
5 reps @ 75%
5 reps @ 85%, plus as many reps as possible until failure. I got +7

Calculating the loads was a challenge in and of itself... Confusing stuff.

Then...

EMOM 10
6 strict pullups
4 DB snatch 75# (2 each arm)

Surprising! Not too winded afterwards, but I probably couldn't have continued for much longer... Haven't done DB snatches in a while.

Half of the workout was outside. Pretty nice night for it too. Pumped for the good weather coming!

For those of you coming Saturday, work squat mobility. There are wallballs involved, and if you have a shaky squat, they're gonna hurt. The easier your squat, the easier the wallball. As always, mobilityWOD is the way to go.

Just because I love you all, here's a really good video on loosening up the squat that might surprise you: http://www.mobilitywod.com/2012/02/case-study-tight-ankles-bad-squatting/

Part II

Another throwback to a solid workout a while ago... Good times.

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Tomorrow is gonna be good for some Zamcave publicity! Keep your eyes out for a couple Z tshirts in the halls...

So despite my best intentions to lift today, my track coach had other plans... In fact, he eliminated any possibility of me lifting (or walking, for that matter) with:

All done at 80% of full speed: 
- 200m 
- 600m
- 400m
- 400m
- 300m
- 300m
- 200m

80% doesn't sound like a lot... Until the end of the first 400. Brutality.

No walking for me! I think I should invest in a wheelchair for all these leg workouts I do. (You think I'm kidding...)

Hit a little bench sesh with the guys in the weight room after... Nothing too heavy. The sprinting was enough.

In other news, there are about 8 coming this Saturday! It should be mid 50's and sunny. Perfect day for a grisly workout (Just kidding! Not really!...)

More improvements on the Zamcave: Marine and Air Force flags going up this week, as well as a bar rack for the wall and some more painting. It's looking pro... All it needs is the people!

Also, new shirts are in the near future... I'm almost out of all of the current ones, and I'm putting together a new design... I'll run it by a couple folks first just to make sure it's top of the line. There will be some prototype designs on here in the next few days...

With that, Here are some Mainsite goodies:

Dave Durante Front Uprise (gymnasty)

The Open

Closing Out the Open

Repping the Z today at 14.5! I'm kind of sad to be done with the Open, but glad to get on to some more serious training finally. Closed it out on a good, but painful note.

I said on Thursday that I'd tell you all how the workout was, and it can be accurately summed up in one word: crappy. Prior to me doing it, people on Instagram and at the gym who had already done it used similar verbiage to describe this workout. (The exact wording was not necessarily blog-approptiate... I'll leave it to your imagination.) After doing it, I too agree that it's the only word that does it justice.

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Gonna hit some major strength work tomorrow.

- 5x5 back squat at 85% (255# more or less)

- EMOM 10: 
power clean + front squat + full clean + low hang squat clean

No joke just made that up now. That's how it goes sometimes: "What haven't I done in a while? Cleans? I'll do those then."

Alright, the first real workout of the spring is going down this Saturday at 11am. BE THERE!!
The Zamcave is primed and ready for some gnarly workouts!

Pretty smoked from a long day working on the new gym plus 14.5, so this is gonna be it for the blog tonight... Gotta finally get some shut eye.

Enjoy!

Best of the Best

Here's a picture from the triathlon expo I attended today. I think everything that could go wrong with a picture, went wrong in this one. Closed eyes, awkward smile... The list goes on. At least my double chin game is strong. But since this is the only clear picture I got with Siri (yes, that's her real name), I'm sticking with it. It's not every day I get to take a picture with a back to back triathlon world champion! 

Really cool lady, really cool experience. She gave a great presentation, and I thought some of the things she talked about would be interesting for the blog:

My first real takeaway was how far she has come in the sport of triathlon. I realized how it really is possible that, with a little passion, even the most seemingly hopeless athletes can become some of the best in the world. She told us a story about her first ever triathlon - she only knew how to doggy paddle for the swim, then hopped on a rental mountain bike before spending the 3 mile run alternating between sprinting and dry heaving. Despite coming in dead last, she loved the experience and wanted more. Eventually it grew into an obsession of hers, which carried her to the top of the ITU World Championship podium in 2001 and 2002. She went in to (a lot) of detail describing her training and journey to the championships, but her bottom line was that her passion for the sport was what made her great.

Be passionate about something. This blog is a product of my passion for Crossfit. My brother devotes his time to becoming a better leader because he has a passion for leadership. Some of my friends have passion for soccer or basketball. Find something awesome and be passionate about it. It makes life a lot more enjoyable.

The second thing I learned from her, and this is more oriented to Crossfit and training in general, is to not take yourself too seriously. I definitely needed to hear that, and I know a lot of people who could appreciate that information too. Sometimes I beat myself up about missing a workout. I know people who have come over and who have beaten themselves up over not being able to do a certain move or lift. Neither of these situations are reasons to get discouraged or give up. I'll come back and get a harder workout in the next day. He'll come back in a couple months and be able to do 25 pullups in a row.

Feed off the support and positivity of the group to make it more enjoyable if you're feeling rough during or after a workout. As I mentioned in The Crew, if you're not having fun, you're not crossfitting.

It's a journey, not a destination. If you don't enjoy the journey, what's the point of even going?

TGIF

Another great picture from an awful workout. This was Hotshots 19, a Hero workout in honor of the 19 firefighters killed in the Arizona fire last year. I barely slept the night before this because I knew it would be that hard... even today I have yet to do a harder workout. Shoutout to Tyler Charon for being brave enough to tackle it with me.

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It's Friday! Had to get a quick post in.

Some news... After this weekend, the Open will be over and the Zamcave will be ready for the season! The workouts will be on Saturdays. Just let me know ahead of time if you plan on coming out!

Anyways, no heavy lifting tomorrow... Trying to finally get some recovery time in before 14.5. Mobility all day.

Since I don't have much to write today, here's a cool video from Mainsite a couple days ago:

http://media.crossfit.com/awset/CrossFit_10_GeneralPhysical_skills6_53163396e5d5d_SD.mp4

Notice how flexibility is kind of put on the back burner for most of the people in the video. Flexibility and mobility are usually chinks in people's armor because it's ignored so often. Improve your mobility and you'll be one step ahead.

Enjoy!

Old School

Talk about Throwback Thursday..! One of my neighbors generously gave this bad boy to me for the gym. This is how it was done way back in the day... I'll have to find a special place to put it.

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If I had taken a selfie this morning, I would post it on Instagram tonight as a #throwbackthursday.
Today's been that long.

Here's what we did during the AM workout...

3 Rounds (not for time):
- 12 HSPU
- 30 DU

Then...

AMRAP 8
- 5 Power Snatch, 95#
- 10 Pushups

Then a nice little 5 minute plank for a cashout.

Lots of pushing, but it turned out to be a pretty decent workout. Tried to hold about a 4" deficit (hands on 45# bumpers, head to floor) for the HSPU sets, but after the 1st 12... Game over. Maybe some other time. Overhead is my biggest weakness so I'm not too bummed.

Speaking of overhead...

14.5 is out!!

21-18-15-12-9-6-3
- Thrusters
- Burpees

Not sure what I think of this one... I feel like the thrusters are going to just kill me. I'll let you guys know Sunday evening.
If you want to come out and support all the people at the gym in Acton, let me know! It's a pretty good time. Nice people and a hyped atmosphere, what else can you ask for?

Regardless of whether you show up and cheer in person, I want to thank all the people who read this blog for your support so far! Halfway to a thousand views in one week - never thought that would happen. This is gonna be big because of you guys! Thank you.

In other news, the shirts are going fast!  There are only 2 larges and 2 mediums left out of the original 13. Shoot me a text if you want me to save you one exceptionally sharp looking and insanely comfortable "think inside the box" t-shirt. (Crossfit gyms are called boxes, for those of you out of the know)

Here's an awesome article I found that really relates to my box and how it's growing and developing. It's definitely worth a read.

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/35_05_Garage_Gym_II-The_Revolution.pdf

Dinner of Champions

Working pause squats today... Gotta love the pain face.

Russians say, "If you can't fix it with squats and fish oil, you're probably going to die." Ain't that the truth.

Speaking of fish oil...
As you probably guessed from the title, I'm writing about food today. Specifically, organic food. Most people, once I tell them I eat organic, instantly write me off as one of those granola folk who drives a wood-paneled station wagon, wears peace sign necklaces, and says "dude" and "gnarly" way too much. Okay, I do say "dude" and "gnarly" too much. You get the point. People think that organic is synonymous with hippie... Not the case.

Food is as important to performance as training. In training you break down your body so that during recovery it builds back stronger. If you don't feed your muscles the best fuel in order to rebuild,  your final product will be suboptimal. It's basic logic.

For example, here's what was for dinner tonight:

100% organic, 100% towards improving my performance.

Admittedly, this was an especially good meal. For the most part though, it's a good example of what a performance based diet should look like: protein, veggies, some starches, no wheat. That's also almond milk in the corner, not cow milk. 

Although organic is your best option, conventionally grown "real food" (see above) is a close second. Both of these options are far better than, say, a Nutella & Fluff sandwich on white bread. Your performance is on the line. 

In four words: Eat clean, perform better. 

Tonight, instead of mobility (but bonus points if you throw mobility in there too), cook yourself a quality meal. Treat your engine to the 93 octane instead of the 85. 

Enjoy!

Happy Hour At My Favorite Bar

The shirts are in! These are the 1st edition, more to come! Packing up a couple to send to the West Coast and Puerto Rico...

Big thank you to everyone who's supporting the project by buying these.

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Today was unfortunately another day off from lifting. With track workouts thrown in there along with my Crossfit schedule, the daily soreness is something serious. But the best way to get rid of soreness is to work out more right...? Right.

Lawd.

Got some major bar work going on tomorrow morning:

EMOM 10
Hang Clean + Jerk @85%

AMRAP 5
- 5 DL 165/115
- 5 Hang Cleans

rest 2 min

AMRAP 5

- 5 Thrusters

- 5 Lateral Burpees

It's gonna be spicy. 

I was talking with a friend today about trying out Crossfit for the first time. As usual, the first response to the idea of Crossfit is "it's too hard for me." Not true. It's as hard as you make it. In your first workout, it will hurt some and you'll be a little winded afterwards. That's expected. In an hour or so, you'll feel awesome. It'll get more fun each time you do it, and you'll get better results. Don't get me wrong, if you want something easy, Crossfit is not for you. But if you want a challenge and if you want to surprise yourself with what you're truly capable of doing, it's worth a try.

Tonight I'm going to spend a ridiculous amount of time on the foam roller because I am currently walking around my house like a baby deer. I suggest you guys do some mobility too, try focusing on shoulders with the lacrosse ball. Again, check mobilityWOD. 

Notice the pattern in my last couple posts? Mobility is good. Go become a supple leopard. 

RnD

Here's the Zamcave so far! Huge improvements went down this weekend... New sound system, new box, fixed a bunch of little details that just make it a better place, etc. It's all about Research n Development. This is gonna be the place to be.

 Also, the shirts came in! I'll be posting a picture tomorrow... they're pretty slick.

I'm contemplating changing the name of the gym to Zambox. Any thoughts? I think it sounds cool. But then again so does Zamcave. We shall see.

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So unfortunately yesterday didn't happen. I'm actually kind of glad it didn't. Chilly weather, Sunday afternoon, and still recovering from 14.4 do not make a good combination. I guess it was all for the best. Rest days are important too!

Luckily, a couple of the guys that couldn't make it came up to me today and said they were excited to spend the summer in here, which is going to be unreal. I think the summer is when the Zamcave will go from being a pretty cool garage gym to being a legitimate pain cave with a ton of equipment and "members" ... It'll be good.

Speaking of legitimacy, this is the summer I'm going to get my Level 1 Certification (L1) for Crossfit! It's basically a coaching course, and once I "graduate" I will be able to legally coach Crossfit to anyone, start my own affiliate, etc. That'll be when I start charging people. Just a heads up. L1 is world-class training, and that doesn't come free (to me, that's why I have to charge.)

Since I've basically established the philosophical foundation for Crossfit, the posts from here on out will be mostly WODs, useful information, news, and other goodies for you guys. I'll try to never miss a post like I did yesterday, but it will inevitably happen sometimes. Like I said on Saturday, it's all about balance.

Super quick burner I did today:

15-12-9 backsquat 185#
21-15-9 ring dips

(The reps went 15-21-12-15-9-9)

"Ohh, it's the deep burn." Feeling like Ron Burgundy after that one. It was so quick and painful. I love it. Came in in around 6:05.

Here's an interesting article I found today... Worth the read.

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ_Losing_Striffler_FINAL.pdf

In The Zone

Here's the aftermath of 14.4 today... One of the greatest photos ever taken. Also one of the most painful workouts ever. It was a good day.

Also, a big thank you to Tess Gong for coming out and supporting!

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After the workout this morning, a bunch of us went over to the new gym in progress to work on it. While we were working, Jim (in the picture) and I had a pretty cool talk about a lot of the stuff that I've been putting in this blog. We talked a lot about balance and how important it really is to everything. I haven't given it much attention in my past posts, but it deserves a special mention.

If you do too much of any one thing, you'll eventually burn out and not be able/willing to do it anymore. Makes sense, right? It applies to Crossfit too. It might even apply to this blog. (Hopefully not!) If you let yourself become consumed by any one thing, it won't be good for you in the long run. "Constantly varied" is a big theme in Crossfit, and it really applies to more than your time in the gym. Been doing a ton of heavy squats lately? Try throwing in some muscle-ups or handstand pushups. Been spending too much time on work or studying for school? Take a break. Go on a run. Do something fun. The time you spend switching it up and refreshing yourself will be paid back to you.

Another interesting point we talked about is something that really has helped me in almost everything I do: you can't worry about what everyone else does, because you can only control what you do. In the Open, you could score a 72 or a 272 on a workout, and that's it. That's all you can do. True, sometimes redoing an open workout can get you a couple extra reps, but most of the time you won't make any momentous, make-or-break Regionals changes to your standing. If you get smoked by a particular workout and someone else crushes it, oh well. Accept it and move on. I'm not saying accept failure, don't get me wrong. Learn how you need to improve and do so, then come back and be a beast next time. This "only worry about what you can control" mindset has also helped me keep a cool head in a lot of situations, knowing I can't control how rude or wrong someone else seems. It's helped me relax during tests in school, Open workouts, job interviews, etc. I know I've prepared as well as I can - I can't ask for any more than that.

Philosophical heavy lifting aside, here's what's going on tomorrow:

15-20 mins on push press/push jerk with light-moderate weight

Partner WOD:
AMRAP 8
- Partner 1 runs 200m
- Partner 2 racks up max burpee box jumps
Partners switch back and forth until time is up. Score is total burpee box jumps.

Rest 4 min

AMRAP 8
- Partner 1 runs 200m 
- Partner 2 racks up as many rounds as possible of:
  - 10 air squats
  - 10 kettlebell SDHP 
Same format and scoring as the first AMRAP.

I really like this kind of workout because the running partner can't slack off or the other partner will rack up points and get a higher score, and that partner can't slack off on the reps because that's how he's getting his score up. It's mean.

Same drill tonight: Roll out your legs/lower back, and spend some quality time hanging out in the bottom of the squat. I'll see some of you tomorrow!

Calm Before The Storm

Throwback to right before the "Barbells for Boobs" breast cancer fundraiser at the gym last October! First Crossfit "competition" ever... Good times.

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Tomorrow is 14.4! After tomorrow, it's four Open workouts down, one to go. I'll miss Open season! For those of you wondering, the Open is an annual five week long worldwide Crossfit competition where everyone has a chance to compete and compare with everyone else in the world. It's a pretty cool event because you can track your improvements from year to year and push yourself and your friends in a competitive environment, not to mention stacking up against the rest of the world!

Here's the plan:

AMRAP 14
- 60 calorie row
- 50 toes-to-bar
- 40 wallballs
- 30 cleans, 135#
- 20 muscle-ups

It's gonna be a good one! I hope to get to the muscle ups...

Along with the competition naturally comes some stress. Right now, I'm trembling on my foam roller because this looks like something out of a Crossfit horror movie. (Million dollar idea?)

Mindset is gonna be the name of the game tomorrow. Just like it is in every workout, and really every other aspect of life in general. I've talked a lot in the past couple posts about the team helping you and  whatnot, but sometimes it's just you and the bar, or the rings, or the wallball (my personal nemesis). As one of my coaches says, "you've got to be willing to go in the [pain] cave over and over." He has a good point. It takes courage and a certain level of insanity to make yourself hurt so much all the time working in the gym. However, I think that by putting forth the best effort possible in a workout and getting surprising results, you - dare I say - bolster your self-confidence in other aspects of your life. I know I'm getting a little philosophical, I know. Deal with it.

Anyways, I'm trying to keep it short tonight any give you guys a break. I know I can be long-winded sometimes.

For those of you coming on Sunday, work on hip mobility. Sumo (wide stance) squats, lacrosse ball rolling, foam rolling, etc. Anything to loosen up your hips and legs for the workout. The mobilityWOD link is in the links tab at your disposal. Kelly has some awesome stuff to check out and try.

Enjoy!

The Crew

This photo is one of my all-time favorites. Just one of many different workouts with many different, great people. Working out with partners always gives you that extra push, but sometimes you can also rely on them to pull you through some of the tougher workouts. It's all about getting together, having a good time, and getting skrong while you're at it. If you're not having a good time, you're not crossfitting.

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I didn't end up going to the gym this morning, but I hit a gnarly skill sesh/EMOM this evening:

3 rounds (not for time)
- 50 double-unders
- 6 muscle ups

Then...

EMOM 12
Odd minutes:
- 7 kettlebell swings 70#
- 7 box jumps 30"
Even minutes: 
- 7 toes to bar
- 7 burpees 

BRUISER.

Good thing I had my KILLCLIFF! (Don't worry - it's a recovery drink, not a homicidal mantra against an unfortunate fellow named Cliff.) This brings me to Cam's topic of the day: supplements. Disclaimer! These are just my personal views, what works for me, etc. Not trying to impose anything on you guys.
Get it? Got it? Good.

First question I always get asked when I talk about lifting with my friends: "What kind of pre-workout do you use?" And when I say no to that, they ask me if I use creatine. Same answer.
The closest thing to a pre-workout you'll catch me having is some eggs and a ton of water. Maybe some bacon if it's a good day. I always perform better when I don't have to worry about whether or not I have enough calories to do the workout. And if you know me, I'm always excited about something (particularly working out), so I don't need the buzz that a pre-workout would give me. Basically I don't use pre-workout because I don't need it. Plain and simple.
Creatine is a similar story. All creatine does is it forces water into your muscles. That's great for body builders, but I train for performance, so I don't need it. Stay hydrated, folks. That's all there is to it.

A similar question is whether or not I drink a protein shake after working out. Yes! I do. I have a protein called Pure Power something by a guy named Mercola. Super granola. But it tastes good and it's pretty cheap and I can feel the difference when I use it, so I do. If you're thinking more mainstream, Progenex has some awesome stuff. They make some cool shirts too. KILLCLIFF tastes phenomenal and the company supports a good cause, but it's not protein. I like it as a sort of delicacy after particularly brutal workouts. I've got links for all of these in the links tab. (Surprise!) The bottom line is, do your on research and buy your own stuff. Whatever works for you, works for you.

Also, anyone who has had the great privilege of consuming a Nutty Buddy directly from God's personal garden stream (my kitchen) knows that it tastes like sunshine and the laughter of small children. It is also a killer post workout drink. (More killer than KILLCLIFF? Who knows! Haha...) I'll be posting a link to the recipe to share the goodness with all of you. You're welcome.

What pre- or post-workouts do you take? I'd love to hear suggestions for my next stuff!