NEW GADGET

Hey everyone, do you see the new gadget on the right above Operation Phoenix? It reads, "CrossFit- free issue." Click on that picture and read the document on that page. It's a great read and is what first introduced me to the idea of actual, measureable fitness. What is is, what it isn't, and one way to achieve it.

Lauren Erwin pictured above: http://games2009.crossfit.com/competitors/athlete-profile-lauren-erwin.html

1RM update- Squat

I failed this morning- pretty miserably too. Michael Jordan is quoted outside my bosses door saying, "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." Hopefully after this mornings failure I'll have some better news to report at the end of my next 7 week cycle on the squat.

I finished a set of one rep at 295 which is 10 pounds below my all time max... It went up pretty easy, so I got greedy and added 30 pounds. I was able to get out of the hole of the squat thanks to the natural bounce the muscles allow for, but the bar just wouldn't go up any further. So, with 325 on the bar I had to bail, and it HURT- I think it might have been semi dangerous as well. I've got a sore neck and a bruised forearm, but I guess that's to be expected when heavier weights are lifted. I did not have the technique down like this guy did when he had to bail: http://vimeo.com/4094433

But, I think I learned my lesson and thanks to a few other guys that have done the same thing in the past I don't foresee myself messing up this poorly again. I could have got 310 for sure if I would have went for that instead of 325. Tomorrow will be the press, and we'll see if I can break my old record of 140. We'll see how it goes.

1RM scheduled and next planned cycle

I will be testing 1RM's tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday. Tomorrow will be the squat. Thursday will be the press, and Friday will be the deadlift. That will conclude my first cycle of CrossFit Strength Bias (CFSB)... My plan is to do a second cycle of this program to continue on the road of my 2009 goals for each of the lifts. If I had to guess I would say my new maxes will be somwhere in the vicinity of a 315-320 lb squat, 385-405 lb deadlift, and 145-150 lb press.

Plans for my next 7 weeks will be something very much like this last cycle. I will continue to focus on the squat, deadlift, and press. I plan to ditch the front squat day and substitue an Oly (olympic) lifting day where I will focus on clean/jerks for the next 7 weeks. I also will begin to focus on hitting my '09 goal for Fran of 3:30 (demo of Fran: http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/Josh_Greg-Fran.wmv). I plan to focus on a lot of MetCons that should finish under 5 minutes with thrusters and pullups as the focus.

On the 4th week of this 7 week cycle I will be in Cleveland and Chicago for vacation. I would love to get some WOD's in, but I probably won't. No worries though. It will be a nice break, and I will just be sure to hit it HARD for the next 4 weeks.