DarK_RaideR's BattlE_LoG

[DarK_RaideR]

Behold, the Pyramid of Health and Fitness:

 

 

 

Simply put, everything builds up on the things below it. If one level sucks, so will those above it.

[DarK_RaideR]

Current Goals

 

Nutrition: Best described as "Paleo plus dairy", or "Zone Diet without blocks and quantity control". Allowing myself a maximum of 10 cheat meals and 10 servings of alcohol per month, to be used mainly on social occasions.

 

Workouts: Ideally 5 per week, but since right now is a tricky, transitional period, the bottom line is a minimum of 3 per week. Will be rating each with an (estimated) percentage of intensity.

 

Sport: Whatever comes along that helps me test performance, mainly in the form of OCRs and Crossfit competitions.

[deftona]

1 hour ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Behold, the Pyramid of Health and Fitness:

 

 

 

Simply put, everything builds up on the things below it. If one level sucks, so will those above it.

 

This is like Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs, but DarK_RaideR's Heirarchy of Gainz. 

[DarK_RaideR]

25 minutes ago, deftona said:

This is like Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs, but DarK_RaideR's Heirarchy of Gainz. 

It is Crossfit's pyramid of Health&Fitness. Reading through the material for a L1 CF exam, most of which is fundamental articles from the CF Journal, it's surprising how much science is behind it. Equally surprising is the lack of science and data behind "traditional" fitness, gyms and conventional knowledge (Broscience!). It's really sad that people get the whole "cult" stereotype and Dave Castro's ESPN-style presentation of the Games while coach Glassman's work remains relatively unknown to most but the most hardcore or nerdy fans

[Endor]

There's a good vid on that pyramid, I downloaded it and watch it quite often.....let's see if I can find it....here we are:

 

 

[Endor]

Also Battle Logs.....

 

 

 

[DarK_RaideR]

21 minutes ago, Endor said:

There's a good vid on that pyramid, I downloaded it and watch it quite often.....let's see if I can find it....here we are:

I've seen it too, back when I was looking up the Zone Diet. Mine is a case of what they say at the beginning: I've made progress but become complacent, dropped intensity and eased back on nutrition. This in turn held back my performance, which has been a further factor of demotivation and deregulation. No more.

 

20 minutes ago, Endor said:

Also Battle Logs.....

I knew you'd feel me. Counting heavily on you to kick my butt instead of offering praise no matter what

[AugustaAdaByron]

1 hour ago, DarK_RaideR said:

It is Crossfit's pyramid of Health&Fitness. Reading through the material for a L1 CF exam, most of which is fundamental articles from the CF Journal, it's surprising how much science is behind it. Equally surprising is the lack of science and data behind "traditional" fitness, gyms and conventional knowledge (Broscience!). It's really sad that people get the whole "cult" stereotype and Dave Castro's ESPN-style presentation of the Games while coach Glassman's work remains relatively unknown to most but the most hardcore or nerdy fans

 

Will you be sharing your acquired knowledge and shed light on (the unknown to me area of) Crossfit training in this battle log?

 

*hopes for a positive answer*

[DarK_RaideR]

Of course I will, AAB! Here's a link to the pdf with the collection of articles I mentioned, if you're in the mood for some reading. What is it exactly you hope to learn?

[AugustaAdaByron]

Thanks for the link! 

 

Just to understand the differences between lifting and crossfit. Although I do need to learn more stuff about lifting too. (Btw I think it's a great idea to learn more about something that you enjoy doing and get actively more involved!)

 

First thing, what is the percentage of intensity you mention on your goals? For example, an intensity workout for lifting would probably be one that you lift very close to your 1RM (say 85-90%). But in crossfit you have a lot more parameters and I have no clue how they come into play.

 

Or how is a WoD designed?

[Endor]

I knew you'd feel me. Counting heavily on you to kick my butt instead of offering praise no matter what [emoji6]

I'm pretty good at that so pull your socks up

We're so close in our progression and PR's.....I'm sure once i surpass you you'll start to notice, either that or I'll shamelessly remind you.....that I'm a masters division athlete! You've got a lot more in the tank bud but you can't rush it. Consistency is king, stay the course. There's some hard won words of wisdom!

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Endor]

Forgot to mention "fittest on earth" crossfit movie is now on Netflix

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Xena]

Hope the battlelog works better!

[skinNbones]

Hey DR , here to cheer on your success

We're thieves and we're bad guys. That's exactly what we are. We gotta find our own way.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following, this is one of the only battle logs I follow now.

[shaar]

/me hangs out

 

[Charlie_Quinn]

*Lurk.

Like your new avatar!

[DarK_RaideR]

7 hours ago, AugustaAdaByron said:

Thanks for the link! 

 

Just to understand the differences between lifting and crossfit. Although I do need to learn more stuff about lifting too. (Btw I think it's a great idea to learn more about something that you enjoy doing and get actively more involved!)

 

First thing, what is the percentage of intensity you mention on your goals? For example, an intensity workout for lifting would probably be one that you lift very close to your 1RM (say 85-90%). But in crossfit you have a lot more parameters and I have no clue how they come into play.

 

Or how is a WoD designed?

On lifting differences (pages 10-11 on the pdf): Crossfit mainly deals with Olympic lifting, meaning getting the weight from the floor all the way above your head (a.k.a. Ground-to-overhead). This mainly means either Snatch or Clean&Jerk. Why?

- Olympic lifts help develop the squat, deadlift and other classic lifts which actually comprise the full motion of an Olympic lift. Multiple birds with one stone

- They develop explosive strength as well as body control and coordination that's also useful for bodyweight/gymnastics

- They activate the entire body, starting from the core (abs/hips/torso) and expanding to the limbs. This is in line with crossfit's philosophy of natural movement and training all muscle groups in one move as opposed to isolating muscle groups like you would in a typical gym with machines

- They train you in safely applying force to control external objects, both by lifting/throwing/carrying them around and by properly receiving the impact of those objects' force

 

On intensity: It is indeed a complicated issue, stemming mainly from the complexity and variety of crossfit workouts. Doing sets of low rep lifts building up to your 1RM is totally different from combining the lifts with other exercises (i.e. burpees) and racing against the clock or to pump out as many reps as possible within a certain time limit. It also depends on the number of reps. The concept of crossfit is to train with intensity, walking the thin line between maximum speed and proper technique. I've realized I've become a bit lazy in my workouts and cut myself too much slack, whether it's using less weight than I should or taking too many breaks for a breath. It's rather intangible, more of holding myself accountable as to how much effort I put in. Nothing scientific about it, just my own estimate.

 

Designing a WOD (pages 56-60, makes more sense if you've read pages 15-26 too): I can't really provide a summary on this, you really need to read the article to understand it, but if you want a really quick idea, check out the tables provided.

 

 

6 hours ago, Endor said:

I'm pretty good at that so pull your socks up

We're so close in our progression and PR's.....I'm sure once i surpass you you'll start to notice, either that or I'll shamelessly remind you.....that I'm a masters division athlete! You've got a lot more in the tank bud but you can't rush it. Consistency is king, stay the course. There's some hard won words of wisdom!

Like I said, I've already noticed because @Rurik Harrgath started shortly after me and has already surpassed me by far. This and Compete Live Athens were a serious wakeup call. You know how crossfit is rutheless in exposing weakness. And we bloody love it for this.

 

5 hours ago, Endor said:

Forgot to mention "fittest on earth" crossfit movie is now on Netflix

Don't have a Netflix account. I think Netfilx only came round these parts like a month ago?

 

5 hours ago, Xena said:

Hope the battlelog works better!

So do I. Like I said, please do not pamper me

 

5 hours ago, skinNbones said:

Hey DR , here to cheer on your success

There must be success in order to be a cheer. Don't rush it

 

4 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following, this is one of the only battle logs I follow now.

Welcome aboard!

 

3 hours ago, shaarawy said:

/me hangs out

/wave

/bow

/dance

 

15 minutes ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

*Lurk.

Like your new avatar!

Thanks! Felt appropriate since I dropped all themes

[DarK_RaideR]

Monday, July 4th

 

Nutrition: Breakfast was melon, then a banana/egg/flax seed pancake topped with honey, seeds and almonds. Had bacon-wrapped chicken with lettuce and a bit of white cheese for lunch. A banana before the workout. SRLF made a hearty bunch of veggies and chicken in the pot, which will be our dinner. 0/10 cheat meals, 0/10 servings of alcohol.

 

Workouts: First workout of the week. Also, I will be visiting my hometown Tuesday night to Thursday night for business and already contacted my original CF box to arrange training dates for Wednesday and Thursday.

 

Warmup

300m run

30 burpees for coach TK's 30th birthday

5' EMOM of 10 Situps and 25 Double Unders

5' EMOM of 5 burpees and 10 BW Squats

 

WOD

15' to do 4 rounds of

4 Wall Walks

8 Toes to bar

12 Front Squats

Between rounds, run 400m

 

Goal: 15 divided by 4 means less than 4 minutes per round. I'd have to go all-out on everything and with the running between rounds, simply "completing the WOD within the time cap" didn't feel realistic, so I set a goal of completing 3 rounds and ideally making it into the 4th

Result: Ran out of time during my final run after having completed 3 rounds

Comments

- During warmup, only the first minute did I manage to do 25 DUs

+ We were given the option of doing 2 Wall Walks instead, even the option of switching mid-workout if we were having a hard time. Running made the Wall Walks even harder and even though I considered it during round 2, I stuck with 4 Wall Walks for all my sets

+ Hand blisters were mostly healed. First T2B set done unbroken, second done 4-4 and the last one was a 4-2-2. Not bad, plus I'm happy none of the blisters sustained any further damage

+ Used 40kg for the front squats. First set unbroken, second was a 6-6 and beasted out the final set unbroken

- I knew I had to do everything at full speed to make my goal, but the running wasn't as fast as I'd like, done mainly on survival mode

- Feels like I gave myself too many breaks, even if I tried to make them as short as possible. This has been a consistent problem of mine and it was the main reason of my downfall at Compete Live Athens. It's part mentality and part metabolic conditioning.

 

Intensity rating: 75-80% overall, I'd say

[AugustaAdaByron]

Thanks for the extensive answer!  

 

2 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

On lifting differences (pages 10-11 on the pdf): Crossfit mainly deals with Olympic lifting, meaning getting the weight from the floor all the way above your head (a.k.a. Ground-to-overhead). This mainly means either Snatch or Clean&Jerk. Why?

- Olympic lifts help develop the squat, deadlift and other classic lifts which actually comprise the full motion of an Olympic lift. Multiple birds with one stone

- They develop explosive strength as well as body control and coordination that's also useful for bodyweight/gymnastics

- They activate the entire body, starting from the core (abs/hips/torso) and expanding to the limbs. This is in line with crossfit's philosophy of natural movement and training all muscle groups in one move as opposed to isolating muscle groups like you would in a typical gym with machines

- They train you in safely applying force to control external objects, both by lifting/throwing/carrying them around and by properly receiving the impact of those objects' force

 

Olympic lifting FTW!

 

2 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

On intensity: It is indeed a complicated issue, stemming mainly from the complexity and variety of crossfit workouts. Doing sets of low rep lifts building up to your 1RM is totally different from combining the lifts with other exercises (i.e. burpees) and racing against the clock or to pump out as many reps as possible within a certain time limit. It also depends on the number of reps. The concept of crossfit is to train with intensity, walking the thin line between maximum speed and proper technique. I've realized I've become a bit lazy in my workouts and cut myself too much slack, whether it's using less weight than I should or taking too many breaks for a breath. It's rather intangible, more of holding myself accountable as to how much effort I put in. Nothing scientific about it, just my own estimate.

 

Yes, that's why I was curious! 

 

2 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Designing a WOD (pages 56-60, makes more sense if you've read pages 15-26 too): I can't really provide a summary on this, you really need to read the article to understand it, but if you want a really quick idea, check out the tables provided.

 

Will do!  

 

 

[Endor]

11 hours ago, AugustaAdaByron said:

what is the percentage of intensity you mention on your goals?

This is the hardest thing to gauge in a Crossfot WOD, you are responsible for the level of intensity you work at. This is often difficult to get right, sometimes you finish a WOD feeling you had quite a bit left in the tank and sometimes you don't finish because you went too hard too early. There's quite a skill to getting that right, repeats of workouts or similar workouts make it easier. You generally know if you are going easy on yourself though and you often can do more than you believe you can. Your body will easily go past the point where your mind will tell it to stop, we are creatures of comfort  

 

I'd describe intensity as perceived effort, I could do the same workout on 2 different days and get a significantly better result one day than the other because I slept well/ate well/am rested etc. But neither day should be perceived as easier or harder than the other, you adjust your output to meet your capability on the day. However if you deliberately half-ass then you know you half-assed. 

 

[Endor]

12 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Counting heavily on you to kick my butt

While we're on the subject, have you been smoking recently? I haven't seen any mention, is that a good sign?

[RES]

*whew...not too behind over here yet...following the progress as always

[DarK_RaideR]

8 hours ago, Endor said:

I'd describe intensity as perceived effort, I could do the same workout on 2 different days and get a significantly better result one day than the other because I slept well/ate well/am rested etc. But neither day should be perceived as easier or harder than the other, you adjust your output to meet your capability on the day. However if you deliberately half-ass then you know you half-assed. 

To take this further, I recently read a nice article on MetCon strategy, based on the 3 metabolic pathways of the human body (pg. 17-18 of the pdf). I'd link it, but it's in greek so here's a little summary:

- The phosphagen system is the first to kick in and it lasts for about 10 seconds, so the idea is going pedal to the medal for the first 8-10 seconds until it's time to pace yourself.

- For bodyweight, the strategy is to work at about 40-50% for every exercise or set. For example, an athlete who can do a maximum of 10 unbroken Handstand Pushups should take a break every 4-5 HSPUs. If a WOD calls for 20 of those, the ideal breakdown is 4 sets of 5 or 5 sets of 4 with roughly 15-30 (so about 20) seconds of rest between sets. However, if the workout is super heavy on reps (i.e. Murph) or involves a lot of weight on the barbell, the athlete might drop as low as 20%

- For MetCons with 3 or more rounds, the goal is to minimize breaks and their duration. You don't want to go too hard and burn out early, but numerous little breathers will add up to a costly amount of time in the end. Most of the times it's ok if your pace is a little slower, as long as you keep moving.

- Nearing the end, it's time to go beast mode and let it all out. It's hard to determine the exact point; it might be x minutes before time runs out, or the final round or exercise and mainly varies on the athlete's physical ability and mental game, but there's no point finishing with any gas left in the tank.

 

 

8 hours ago, Endor said:

While we're on the subject, have you been smoking recently? I haven't seen any mention, is that a good sign?

Of course it is. Haven't even craved one.

[DarK_RaideR]

Tuesday, July 5th

 

Nutrition: A hard boiled egg, then a frozen banana&milk smoothie. Another banana after the workout. Lunch was chicken and veggies from last night. Expecting the same for dinner before my flight, since there is a good amount of it on the side. 0/10 cheat meals, 0/10 servings of alcohol.

 

Workouts: Second workout of the week. Since I was early to work, I was able to take a break and attend the 11:00-12:00 class before returning to the office. This saves me time in the evening to pack my bag and get to the airport without stress.

 

Warmup

Teams of two, switching exercises after each round

250m row and 20 Situps

200m row and 12 Paralette Pushups

200m row and 15 KB Swings (20kg)

 

WOD

Teams of two, for time:

2km row

100 KB Swings

50 Power Cleans

 

Goal: On paper, it sounded achievable in about 15' if we both made a run for it. As a backup plan, I wanted to complete this in less than 17'

Result: 15:54

Comments

+ We broke down the rowing into sets of 500m. I wanted to be under the 2'/500m pace at all times, which I managed as I fluctuated between a 1:45-1:50/500m pace. I was focused enough to realise when fatigue set in and slowed me down, but determined enough to push through and pull stronger. As far as I'm concerned, my 500m rows were sprints, not steady pace endurance rounds

+ I was wise enough to take advantage of the breaks to breathe, drop my heart rate, stretch properly and hydrate if necessary

- My partner was roughly at my level, but even though I discussed strategy with him, he was very slow on transitions. Took his time getting off the rower both times and wasn't on standby to start the next set or exercise immediately

+ We picked a 16kg KB for the swings to be on the safe side and broke them into sets of 25. Partner did his set, I did mine, he gave up after 20 reps on his second set (70 total at that time). It made sense to split the remaining 30 in half, but I powered through and did 20 (90 total).

- More time was wasted in explaining how many swings I'd done and that he only needed to do 10 before we progressed into the Power Cleans

- Even more wasted time as he suggested to split the 10 remaining swings in half. Just f*&#ng do the 10 swings and get it over with!

+ We had agreed to split the Power Cleans (40kg) into sets of 10 each. I was first in and did all of my sets unbroken

- Just like with the swings, my partner wanted to split the last set in half (5 reps each). I preferred to power it out alone and not spend any more time on transitions for just 5 reps, but gave up because it felt like we'd waste even more time talking it out.

 

Intensity rating: 80% roughly. It's hard to gauge, since a partner workout automatically means it's interval training with built-in breaks. Went all-out on the rower and did all my sets unbroken, but didn't feel like I was taken to the limit. Some gas was left in the tank after the end and I felt like I could have done it with more weight on the KB and barbell.