Speeding up DT

The RX weight for Men is 155lbs, which is manageable during that first round, but somewhere in the second & beyond, time slows to a painful crawl and even seems to mock you (me) for the rest of the WOD.

There is a theory about people who habitually practice long, slow running … they get decent at running slow for long distances. This probably isn’t what motivates anyone to run, and the same theory applies to DT. Even if 155lbs doesn’t feel crazy heavy, you’ll never go fast unless you practice going fast.

For this type of training, I like to drop the weight a lot, and develop speed. Go at 65lbs, go at 75lbs, just go for speed in each round. If you can manage 27 reps at or near 30 seconds, it is time to move up in weight … but not before you hit your target time.

My target time is 30 seconds because the first time I tried this training modality, I hit sub-40 on all my attempts. But, I also videoed myself and noticed some inconsistencies in technique … which I’m betting will get me sub-30 per round with enough dedicated focus.

Sub-30 is just a guideline based on my experience of a round at lower than RX weight. Find your time and work with it.

We all want to be stronger, but the ability to move faster & with greater efficiency should totally align with our journey for Strength.

Semper Fortis,

~Lee

Welcome Back to the Adrenaline Complex!

On May 28th I did the Murph WOD for Memorial Day. It’s as brutal as it sounds, but it reminded me of how much I love CrossFit, and how much I’ve been missing.

In August 2016 I joined a non-affiliate, and loved most everything about learning CrossFit from someone else until February 2018. That’s when I pushed my life-situation into an odd turn, and I found myself in an even odder place, and without a gym to call my very own.

Kettlebells in my garage & in my yard kept my internal fire stoked, but not to the same degree, and as I found out on May 28th, not even to an adequate degree. So, I dropped it at a local affiliate, sucked wind for a little over an hour, and got myself rehooked.

Maybe I just needed a break, who knows. I took one, and now I’m over the break.

Today’s Mainsite WOD was 10 rounds of 200m rows. The gym I go to doesn’t have the fancy Concept 2 Rowers, but they do have rowers, and not many people eager to use them at 5am, so, I had free reign and finished the WOD in 20 minutes. Not quite Games material, but it left me feeling better than when I started.

Also, to add even more, better & sustainable fuel to the fire, I found a Podcast with Greg Amundson, The Original Firebreather. This guy has been a source of motivation & inspiration since I first learned of CrossFit, and even though I wasn’t part of that early scene, it’s those early days of CrossFit, the brutal days & ways, that get me fired up about wanting to do more, to do all I can, to do CrossFit.

Most anyone can pick up a weight & put it down, and even do it for a few reps or more . . . but the key is in intensity, and the best way to increase intensity is to practice it consistently. It doesn’t have to be every day, but if you’re selective & smart about the programming you follow and how you wave loads, there’s no reason you can’t do something every day.

Kettlebells still get me going, and I still think they are the best & most efficient tools on the market, but if I step into the heat and assess the sum total of everything I love about the practice of Fitness, Health & Strength, CrossFit is certainly at my core.

Semper Fortis,
~Lee