Knightwatch

Welcome! Looking forward to hearing about your progress on the Challenge!

Welcome to the Rebellion! Hope we can be of assistance!

Yeah, I'm going to give it a try, but probably not this week. As Waterbury warns, it wouldn't be a week to break PRs, and that's exactly what my gym is going to do this week! On Friday we're all going to go for our powerlifting/crossfitting totals, finding 1 rep maxes on four different lifts in one day. Sooo, I'm thinking I'll try this after that workout.

Name: Knightwatch Brief overview of goals: * Stronger, in both absolute and reletive measures * Leaner, measured by bodyweight and appearence * Faster, in both (very) short and long(-ish) efforts. * Better, in a number of other ways If you follow a specific way of eating: I'm going to experiement with cutting grains, but will allow too many tweaks, like dairy and beer, to be considered at all paleo. Any other piece of information you think would be useful for squad creation: I do Crossfit, but try to make strength in basic movements my main concern. I'll also be reintroducing some weekly strongman training as my schedule allows, now that nicer weather is upon us. If you want to be part of a squad or if you want to work alone: DIE ZOMBIES DIE!

OK, this one is pretty much because I have a mild (read: severe) Crossfit-Celeb-crush on this girl. Great line: "I think I love pain, because its what makes people better."

Oh, this was awful. SQUAT 45 x 10 95 x 5 135 x 5 185 x 3 215 x 5 245 x 3 275 x max (got 2, had some more in the tank, but saved it for what was to come...) METCON 3 rounds for time, of: * 50 AIR SQUATS * 20 HACK SQUATS w/ 135lbs * 20 BURPEES time: 20:03 Holy crap. That was just awful. In a good sort of way. When it was over, it looked like a warzone, with people flopped on the floor all over the place. Hardest part was figuring out how do not mangle my legs on the hack squat. The poundage was fine, but I'd slam my thighs on the way up, and smash my calves on the way back down. It's just an awkward movement to do quickly for high reps. Man, that hurt. And it still hurts.

If you have access to any sort of suspension system, or rings, or even rope, suspended pushups a few inches off the ground will hit your chest in all new ways.

I read WWZ and can confirm that its made of awesome and win, with a dash or three of wicked mint. You know I'm in. Human ranger, focus on hand-to-hand and firearms. This is gonna be a ton of fun.

This is my old gym, before I started going to Crossfit. I'm gonna have to get back there once in a while. It's such an awesome facility with, as you can tell, a bunch of supportive characters that like lifting the right way. This was a couple years back. I wanted to be there for this, but had to work. My roommate is in it though; he misses on their weight he goes for here, but has since blown that number away. Note the coolest part of this: it isn't a competition. It's just a day set aside for people to set PRs on their deadlift, supported by folks that understand what an awesome lift it is. Best part? 70 year old Fred Peterson. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vm6GfV6oC4

You can try picking up a jump band and using it for assisted pullups. Ideal would be to buy a set, with varying degrees of tensions, so you can progress closer to doing them on your own. They feel a lot better than a machine.

07April2011 Couldn't make Crossfit tonight, so I went to my other commercial gym Warmed up with a few sets of 3 chinups and 3 plyo pushups. INCLINE DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS Worked up to my 5RM 50's x 5 55's x 5 60's x 5 70's x 5 75's x 5 80's x 5 85's x 5 90's x fail 85's were hard, but not earth-shattering. I feel like I should have got the 90's, but they just felt weird once I loaded them to my shoulders, so didn't even got for it. ONE ARM DUMBBELL ROW (THREE POINT POSITION) Planned to work to 5RM 60 x 5 65 x 5 70 x 5 75 x 5 80 x 5 85 x 5 90 x 5 95 x 5 Ran out of dumbbells. Hrmph. CLOSE GRIP PUSHUP, FEET ON PLYO BALL 10 reps 8 reps 8 reps Man. These are tough. HAMMER CURL 35's x 8 35's x 8 35's x 8 BURPEES 20 of 'em.

In the comments, Chad says that you won't have to worry about muscle loss (though, again, you're not likely to hit new PRs, either, as it's technically a real low-calorie week) due to the short duration, but it's just long enough that your body will actually begin processing the protein when you return to your normal diet more efficiently.

Chad Waterbury is no joke. I've mentioned before that one of his most popular training programs is what I credit, more than anything else, with changing how I think about fitness. So, I trust the man, and others on the boards have had excellent results from him as well. Even so, I have trouble believing that one week can make all that much difference in fatloss. But read some of the results/comments. Could they be false claims? Sure. But, again, I've followed CW's work for a pretty long time now, and he's never been one to use that kind of gimmick. And hey, even if this doesn't work wonders, what's one week? http://chadwaterbury.com/how-to-get-ripped-with-food-a-7-day-plan/ Basic idea is to mow down on a ton and a half of vegetables for a week, making it the cornerstone of your diet for a seven. Day one is NOTHING but veggies, and then you progressively add protein for the rest of the time. From the post: Vegetables to choose from: artichoke, asparagus, beets, bok choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, green beans, kale, mushrooms, okra, onions, peppers, spinach, squash, tomato. These can be eaten raw, steamed, or in a big salad drizzled with a little olive oil and/or balsamic vinegar. DAY 1: At 8am, noon, 4pm, and 8pm eat as much of any vegetable as you want, in any combination. You don’t have to eat at those exact times, but spread out the four meals as evenly as possible. Drink 100 ounces of water. DAYS 2-4: Eat vegetables at the same four times each day but add in 20 grams of protein from fish, chicken, lean beef, turkey, eggs or seafood at 8am and 4pm meals. This equates to 3-4 ounces of fish, chicken, lean beef, turkey, or seafood or 3-4 whole eggs at those two meals. Drink 100 ounces of water. DAYS 5-7: At 8am, noon, 4pm, and 8pm eat vegetables in any combination and quantity and have 20 grams of protein (3-4 ounces) from fish, chicken, lean beef, turkey, seafood or 3-4 eggs at each meal. Drink 100 ounces of water. What about supplements? For one week I recommend you avoid any of them, even after lifting weights. This should not be a week where you’re looking to achieve a new one-rep max in your lifts. Think of this as a detox program for your body and organs with the side-effect being rapid fat loss. On the morning of day 1 take your weight and waist measurement (around your navel) and repeat those measurements on the morning of Day 8 – the day you return to your normal schedule. Hmmm. I find this to be a tempting challenge, especially given how short term it is. Seems like it'd be a good jumpoff point to a fatloss phase...

V-Diet is legit. Wicked, wicked hard. But astonishingly good results. Many respected names in exercise science have given it huge thumbs up, and within my own circle of pretty fit dudes, I've seen excellent results in the few that were able to see it though. Are you going to be using the Biotest products? (edit: oops, just read more carefully, and see that you are) Also, the Waterbury program designed to go with it is excellent. I've used that lifting scheme even not on the diet, and saw pretty good results. Good luck! You'll need it! But seriously, hope it works for you!

Can't embed this, but here's a wicked cool video of Dave Tate and some other top powerlifters doing their thing. The first part in interesting, but be warned that, a) there's profanity, so might not be work-safe; and it might be boring. But, I suggest skipping forward to about five minutes in, and watch Tate battle his infamous Death Squat. Just awesome, and the voice over is dramatic but does in fact add something. http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/death_squat Damn. Dude's a machine.

5April2011 OK, first, lemme talk a lil' about our "warmup". 3 rounds of: * 400 meter runs * 10 burpee box jumps. Who felt like that they had just completed an entire workout after getting "warmed up"? This guy. Man. I was all happy, too, because I saw that today's Crossfit workout included all strength and no, um, Crossfit. My kinda WOD! Oh well, they just had to throw that warmup in there and make me want to die a little, didn't they? Anyway, then we proceeded to the cooldow- er, the workout. DEADLIFT 135 x 5 185 x 5 225 x 5 275 x 5 315 x 3 365 x max (got 6) Since my Deads took such a beatdown (actually, more like an unbeatdown, or atrophy) in 2011, I was pretty happy with this. Still a ways to go to get back to where I was, but it's a start. POWER CLEANS 155 x 3 165 x 3 175 x 3 185 x 3 205 x 3 (actually, it was more like a single, a fail, another single, another fail, and a third single) Was happy with this. Not that long ago, my 1RM was 185. Clearly far, far stronger at this lift now. I'll take it. STRAIGHT LEG DEADLIFT 135 x 10 145 x 10 155 x 10 165 x 10 175 x 10 Nothing too exciting here. Used it mostly as a cooldown / stretch after hammering myself pretty good on the deads and power cleans (and accursed "warmup") BACK EXTENSIONS 20 reps 20 reps Not a lot to report here. Um, some back extensions. 20 of 'em. Twice. Oh, and for the second straight day, I looked down to find that I was bleeding on the bar. I like how in most gyms, that would likely become some kind of "situation". Here, people (even the ladies) are like, "Oh, cool!", and the trainer points out that it's a sign of proper form. Oh, Crossfit, yousocrazy.

Oh, it's a sport. Very much so. There's actually a lot of technique that goes into the poses, and the routines will drain you more than any workout. It's pretty ridiculous, actually, what kind of laser-focus you need in the weeks leading up to the event and the night itself. I have no interest in it myself, and find the whole thing off-putting, but it is most definitely an intense athletic event, and I gotta respect their discipline and self-control, mentally and physically.

So, I'm rather interested. However, is it for those strictly following the strength guide, or does it just conveniently coincide with its release, as motivation for those starting it up? The guide is EXCELLENT (way to go, Steve and Vic!), and the strength aspects of my workouts will feature most of the concepts, but I plan to keep on keeping on with my Crossfir WOD's, too. Also, will the contest be tied in with the regular Challenges next month, or a whole 'nother ball of wax? Totally cool if you want the contest to be a testing ground for the specific programs detailed in the strength guide, but if any efforts are welcomed, I may plan on throwing my hat in the ring... ...and, thus, prepare myself for the egocrush that'll be progres pics.

OK, back to a between Challenge interim, so I'll update last night's workout here. 4April2011 PRESS 45 x 5 95 x 5 135 x 5 155 x 3 170 x 1 OK, funny thing here. My press max is about 180-ish. Yesterday's workout was supposed to be, as usual at this stage of the 5/3/1 cycle, 75%x5, 85%x3, and 95%xmax...of your TRAINING 1RM, which is itself 90% of your true 1RM. Somehow, this day, I forgot that point and was basing the load off my true max. No wonder it felt so much heavier than last session! Ah well, realized what I'd done, so I wasn't gonna push it past the 1 rep "minimum". METCON WORKOUT As Many Rounds as Possible in 15 minutes of: * 5 THRUSTERS * 7 HANG CLEANS * 9 SUMO DEADLIFT HIGHPULLS load: 95 pounds for all score: 6 rounds + 5 thrusters + 3 hang cleans Holy crap. This was one of the hardest WODs I've ever done. By the end, I noticed I was bleeding all over the bar due to so much shin-scraping. And the thing that really held me back in the last few minutes was my grip, which several of the people doing it Rx'd reported. Man. I considered doing some pullup practice afterwards, buy my forearms were so smoked I literally couldn't even tighten my grip on the bar. Lemme tell you, the drive home was an adventure.

Nah, unless you consider Crossfit competitions to be a fitness show. Gyms will regularly hold "throwdowns", where they invite/challenge other boxes to visit their facility and run though a couple workouts and see who boasts the best athletes, but they're really more about going and meeting folks and having fun. Those, I'll continue doing when I can.

Curses! That's no fun at all. My initial reaction is to say go for a regular Crossfit box, but I say that as someone that gets a discount via profession and is locked into a lower rate anyway from being an early signee. So, I can only imagine the sticker shock jumping right into a regular place. I assume you used some specialized gear during your classes? Would you be able to access it outside of class? If you have access to some of the more specialized gear, you could always pick a random crossfit gym, or the main site, and follow thier published WODs.

SQUAT 45 x 10 95 x 5 135 x 5 185 x 5 195 x 3 225 x 3 255 x max (got 6, might have had another in the tank) KIPPING PULLUP PRACTICE Banged out a few short sets, really focusing on the "pop". Then, by total accident, did a set of 6 or 7 Butterfly Kipping Pullups. Here's a video, first with regular kipping, and then the butterfly. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzHO9ab10p8 I dropped off the bar, kinda surprised, and a couple people looked over and were like, "Oh, wow, you got the butterfly kip!" I guess it's considered a more "advanced" movement, which is weird, as I'm just now figuring out the regular version. I then spent close to 20 minutes trying to replicate the effort, usually only getting a couple strung together, before thinking bout it too much and losing the rhythm. That's definitely key, not thinking about it. It's a totally natural motion, if you just let your body do it. So, improving on those will definitely be a goal for next challenge. RING DIP PRACTICE Still suck at these. BUT. But, I did manage to do three. So, GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!! PUSHUPS I totally slacked on this goal. Oh well. Went for a max set and got like 39. 11 short. Goal fail! http://instantrimshot.com/classic/?sound=priceiswrong Might have to redo this goal for next month, we'll see. Then I did some random kettlebell work, doing some KB snatches and "bottom up" presses, which I'm told is good for the development of ring dips. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=woHXrqVsheQ&feature=related So, some win, some fail, kinda like life. All in all, a decent workout.

All I know is, we need a whole thread dedicated to ascii and paint exercise depictions.

Well, not the best day today, but you can't win 'em all. I've just felt groggy and weird all day. Ate like crap, too, which would likely be both a symptom and exasperator of the groggy-weirdness. Can't amke it to Crossfit tonight, so I went to Ye Olde Corporate Gyme and cobbled something together. BENCH PRESS 45 x 5 95 x 5 135 x 5 185 x 3 205 x 3 225 x max (got 6 and stopped there. shoulder felt weird) POWER CLEAN 45 x 5 95 x 5 135 x 3 155 x 3 175 x max (got 5. could have done a few more, but again, just felt off, so I was happy to get my "minimum" plus a couple and call it a movement) OTHER STUFF I had a metcon planned. I was gonna do 15-12-9 of power snatches and thrusters, but ended up just doing...um, a bunch of random stuff. Did a few sets of ten on the snatch, and some sets of ten on the thrusters. 65 pounds. Light light. Just wanted to move some. Then I said the hell with the thrusters, and started doing sets of 5 snatches, working on the form. Then I did some overhead squats. Then I ended up doing this weird, short complex of, like, 3 snatches, 3 overhead squats, and 3...um, curls. I dunno. I was all over the place. Then I practiced some double unders. And then I decided that I was so out of it that I may as well call it a day before I injured myself. So that's that. Gonna go home and cook a nice, basic, heathy dinner for myself, prep some food for tomorrow, and do a few life-ordering tasks. Eh, off day, but I'm sure tomorrow will be smoother.

Oh, wow, this was a rough one... DEADLIFT 135 x 5 185 x 4 225 x 2 245 x 3 280 x 3 315 x max (got an easy 6, left a few in the tank) METCON 3 rounds for time, of: * 40 DOUBLE UNDERS (or 120 regular skips; I did a combination) * 30 POWER CLEANS w/ 95lbs * 20 PULLUPS * 10 KETTLEBELL SWINGS w/ 2 pood (I actually scaled up here, at the trainer's urging; Rx'd was 1.5 pood) time: 30:25 Oof. OOF. That was awful. Thought I might have to sign the puke bucket today, honestly. I was second to last to finish, and came in just a few seconds before the other guy. But, we were the only two doing the workout as Rx's, so I'll take it. Glad I went with the heavier KB on the swings, too. Granted, it was only 10 swings per round, but hey, gives me a tiny reason to excuse my poor time! On the double unders, I'd do a quick 60 regular skips, counting towards 20 DU's, and stumbled through the remaining 20 Rx'd. Finally starting to figure them out. Sometimes I'd only manage a couple in the row, but at one point I managed to string together 17. Personal best! I realized I was thinking about them too much, and they're starting to come naturally. OK, just finished my post-workout shake, so Im'ma gon' crawl over to the shower now and stand (lay?) under some very hot water with a very cold beer. Ow. I say again, Ow. Hope you've all rocked it this day! Oh, PS, this is my hat, post-workout Ewwwwwwww. And awesome.