warmup w/ whip smash rotation, 60 seconds on, 30 seconds off. 2 rounds

workout:

p1. 10x deck squats (or 20x weighted sit ups)
p2. pushups or FLR
p3. ball slam

3 rounds

cooldown:
15yd bearcrawl
15yd walking lunge
15yd backwards walking lunge
15yd backwards bear crawl

listen to advice given from experience. it cost a great deal, but you are not charged for it.

-Idries Shah

a good discussion at the gym today – informational transferability. porting the problem solving techniques; from cooking to design, from the gym to martial arts, from poetry to relationships. there are common threads, lessons about compromise, about complications, about expectations. we can learn these underlying lessons that allow us to understand the greater picture, that flex between our passions and bridge gaps in our skill sets. in training we assign ourselves a task to complete, we create the parameters and go for it. in the thick of it we cannot waste time complaining about what should be happening, but dealing with what is. we must adapt. we must grow. we must be flexible. we must be committed. there are problems to be solved, and not enough time to make every mistake ourselves. learn from others who have gone before. squeeze every lesson out of your failures, and be stronger for having fallen down.

warmup:

mini KB complex
3x TGU each side w/ KB
2x TGU each side w/ SB

deadlift form, relatively light and super slow

circuit:
45 seconds work, 15 rest – 4 rounds

2h KB swing
airdyne
deadlift
box jump (or step up)
slosh pipe overhead hold.

cooldown:
more TGU

typically i would not do deadlifts in a circuit, but the point of today was to get the athletes to keep their form despite fatigue, to challenge the tendency to slacken our standards as the task grinds on, challenge the idea of “good enough”. perfect lifts only. if the form started to fall apart, the athlete was put in “time out” step away from the bar for at least 5 seconds before they are allowed to try again. i want the people i train with to snap into perfect form as a gut level reaction to the challenge at hand, and to know themselves, to know in their bones how far they can push it – when to pull the trigger, and when to pull the chutes.

kevin had fun doing TGU’s with the medicine ball balanced in his palm, i think we will play with this more in the future…

also the pullup rig is up, bolts need tightening and mats need cutting, but it is standing. shelves to be built, library to be moved… there will be pictures soon. we should be fully online by august.

warmup: deadlift form

6 way BB complex:

6x each of the following – Deadlift + bent row + hi-pull + front squat + push press + back squat + pushup

30/30 KB swing (2 handed, heavy) / front plank

recoup and work OHS form (broomstick/empty bar)

30/30 squat/squat hold(thighs parallel) or wall sit

more OHS form

30/30 push press/Over head hold

cooldown w/ good mornings, windmills

bonus round: 30 seconds mountain climber, 30 seconds FLR, 30 seconds rest, 4 rounds.

the heaviest dumbbells we have at the moment are 20#, and i have been getting pretty steady numbers with them doing the 30/30 push presses so i tried with 2×36# KB’s… and i got what i asked for. it was like the first time. it was beautiful. also there should be 2 deliveries today, a big one from Rogue Fitness, including a 14′ pullup station with 2 racks for lifting, 360# of bumpers, another set of rings, a new bar and collars… as well as the rest of the floor. the library might get set today too, and the last few pieces from the garage move into the space. finishing touches (and pictures) later this week.

conditioning. flexibility. strength. endurance. power.

transferability.

the English language, from time to time, amazes me. i have been talking to many people lately about training, and it keeps coming back to allegory. if all you want is to work out, to “tone up” and maybe gain/loose some weight, than you can have it – you can take pills (that probably wont work) and “exercise” and be the exact same person you are today- except perhaps a few pounds lighter. or you can allow the lessons to move in you. make the choice. allow the work to slip past mechanical movement and into every corner of your being… just look at the language we use, conditioning. flexibility. strength. endurance. power. these are not simply physical traits. one can argue that the physical manifestation of these things is a reflection of our inner nature. a nature we cultivate every minute of every day.

a good coach must be a student of relationships. of the subtle interconnectedness of things. sleep, diet, strength, relaxation, determination, stress, risk, reward. as a student we must listen, examine and learn. we must be ruthless in our assessments. scientific in our approach. to deal with the situations as they are and not as we wish them to be. to find our signposts of collapse, and our driving force. to read them. to know them. to own them.

is it any surprise then, that the strongest coaches find themselves equally comfortable discussing philosophy as they do sport? that they, so often, see them as one in the same? that they find the edges, the spaces within us where we need growth the most. it is allegory. it is doing the physical work with the openness, the understanding of the mental and even spiritual implications. this is training at its deepest. this is taking a look at ourselves and asking “where am i, in relation to where i need to be”. this is looking at a problem and formulating a plan. this is the relentless pursuit of effectiveness, in any field.

there are many individuals out there who exemplify this trait, a few i have met, many i have read, i am hopeful that there are even more to be found.

for the students.

for the teachers.

-b

self discovery.

not for the faint of heart.

warmup w/ med ball

DL strength progression.

3×10 @ 50% 1RM
3×5 @ 60% 1RM
3×4 @ 70% 1rm
4×3 @ 80% 1rm
6×1 @ 90% 1rm

-b : 1rm = 385
pat: 1 rm = 300, bowed out after 80%
dylan: 1 rm = 285 (a while ago) bowed out after 70%

i had hoped to hit 10 @ 90%, but these six were dragging and my hands still feel like i have been falling on concrete for hours.

there were also a lot of OHS in the gym today, the DL’s broke some people down, and some light overhead work helped to re-align posture and “stretch”

Clean and prep the new space, bumpers are on the way, pullup rig should arrive next week. 25 rubber mats are stacked in the corner (with 18 still to come) and 3 sheets of dry erase board. add that to the 2 airdyne bikes, C2 rower, homemade GHD, 1000 lbs of iron weights, barbells, kettlebells, dumbells, medicine balls, fat rope, rings, jump boxes, tires, slosh pipe, sandbags (25-85#) heavy bags – plus the library and the sound system. friday is move in day, and can not get here soon enough.

before:

kb complex: 10x ea

RTW (each)
Fig 8 (each)
slasher to halo (each, thanks mtn athlete)
1 handed swing (each)
hi-pull (each)
goblet squat
push squat
1 sided rack squat (each)
clean + press + windmill (each)
overhead squat (each)
push press
1/2 deck squat (or deck squat if you got it)
1/2 TGU (each)
Turkish Get Up (each)

then

snatch practice
TGU with sandbags

foam roller tutorial.

possibly the last workout at my house. a good day all around, becoming familiar with the tools, understanding the aches, finding reason in the pain. these people impress me. they dig deep, push boundaries, and make me seek my own ragged edge. to all who have left a small piece of who you were on my garage floor, i thank you.

later:
clean up new space, unload 25 4’x6′ rubber mats… scheme…

past sessions:

20100703:0800

5 ball slam
10 pushup
15 KB swings

11 rounds

borrowed from GYMJONES, an eye opener to all, especially heather (its her second time training with us)

heather: 15:36 15# ball, alternated 18/25 # kb, modified pushups
emily: 14:24 20# ball, 20# kb, some modified pushups
kevin: 14:34 25# ball, 44# kb, honest pushups.

in the early stage of athletic development, competition in the gym can help, before a student is comfortable with their limits and potential, it helps to pair them (or scale) to provide that extra pressure, as the individual develops, however, competition is best left out of the equation (or at least within)

20100705:0800

warmup w/ 6 way bb complex

30 seconds work, 30 seconds recovery w/ set # of squats, 3 rounds

airdyne
front plank
push press
right plank
sit-up
left plank
Knees to elbows
v-sit

30/30 push press

kevin – 10 squats per “rest”, 240 total. 15# PP : 30, 15,15,15
emily – 7 squats per rest, 168 total 30/30’s for “fun”@ 10#
-b – 20# pushpress: 40, 35, 20, 20