Garage Gym Warrior Fitness

09/29/09

WOD:

3 Rounds of:

- 400m Run

- 20 Box Jumps

- 20 SDHP

- 50 Jump Rope

 

Athletes:

Camilo...... 16:50 @ 35#

Jordan...... 22:57 @ 35#

Susan....... 18:35 @ 35#

Jack:........ 14:05 @ 53#

After the warmup and some light stretching (we were all pretty sore from the day before) the conversation went something like this:

Me: Alright guys, 3 exercises for 3 rounds, that looks pretty good.

Athletes: No way, we can do 4 rounds, no problem!

Me: I don't know team, we're kinda hurting from yesterday.

Athletes: That was nothing, come on. Make us work for it!

Me: Guys, seriously? What if we just add 50 jump ropes per round instead?

Athletes: 50 jump ropes AND 4 rounds?

Me: No, no, just 3 rounds and add the jump ropes?

Athletes: You call that a compromise?!?!

Me: Come on, trust me. It'll be enough. You'll see.

Athletes: Fiiiiiine.

It was late and we were all tired so I could be a little off, but I'm fairly certain that's how it went down.

Everybody hit the ground running, literally. Camilo did the business on the bench for jump box and wasn't slowing down. Susan maintained good intensity throughout and Jordan impressed me by doing full jumps for the entire WOD, no step-ups for her. Moving that 35# KB between runs really got the blood moving through those legs, then the jump rope got the heart pumping. By the time we were running it was almost a rest compared to the other movements.

I'm telling you, there guys are animals.

09/28/09

WOD:

4 Rounds of:

- 1 min max-rep Situps

- 20 Pushups

- 15 Pullups

-- 1 Minue Break --

Athletes: R1   R2    R3   R4

Camilo...... 36 - 32 - 35 - 34

Jordan...... 30 - 27 - 29 - 28

Susan....... 35 - 31 - /    - /

Steve:...... 34`- 30`- 30`- 25

Jack:....... 40`- 36`- 39`- 35`

Note: ` denotes sets done with a 20# weight vest

 

Welcome to another beautiful week. The sun is shinning, the birds are singing and we now have enough gear to really get down to business. So what did we do instead? That's right, we did a workout which required no gear. Go figure.

I will admit right now that this might not have been the most beautifully organized workout ever. That said, it was decent. The lack of space and pull-up bars tends to kill us a little bit but we make up for it with ingenuity and enthusiasm.

Jordan expressed a little frustration at her work capacity compared to the rest of the group. I'm not sure she sees how much progress she's made over the past 4 months because she has no reason for concern. I remember when she first started she could barely do 5 air squats in a row, now a max-rep one minute effort barely fazes her. I think she's just comparing herself to other, which is a good thing, it means that the competitive athlete within her is finally waking up.

Half way through Susan met queasy. Then, after swigging down a little sugar to stop from passing out, she met pukey. I know you can't see it but >snifle< I'm tearing up a little here. Getting a little vaklempt. I'm just so damned proud. Some people remember their kid's first steps or first words, not me. No sir, but remembering my athlete's first pukey experience, now that's something worth noting.

Jordan, Steve and Camilo punked through the entire workout. Good stuff from the both of them. Steve had to drop the vest to finish, but it was an impressive effort none the less. Camilo then sat down and tried to decide which of coach Martin's fighters he was going to beat up first. Eye of the tiger baby, eye of the tiger.

09/27/09

WOD:

- 300m Sprint

- 1.5 mile Run

 

Athletes:

Steve:...... Sprint: 61.6 / Run: 14.38

Jack:....... Sprint: 53.4 / Run: 12.38

It's a little difficult for me to think clearly at 5:30 in the morning. Fortunately, that early the weather is just about perfect for a nice run around the track. Steve was up and at it before I was even conscious, for an old guy he sure has a lot of get-up and go.

After a brief warmup we started with the sprint. One max effort, a four minute break and on to the run. Six laps around the track, no distractions. A beautiful way to start a Sunday morning I tell you.

09/25/09

WOD:

5 x 5: Deadlift

Athletes:

Jack:........185, 205, 225, 245, 250

When I came to the gym this evening, it was like Santa had delivered presents early this year. All the new gear was wrapped up nicely and ready for your humble narrator to open. Med balls and bumpers and bars, oh my!

So what does one do with all this new gear (it even still had the new gear smell!), I ask you? That's right, everyone knows what you do with new gear. You deadlift! Steve-o joined in the fun and together we decided to make some noise and drop some heavy shit onto the rubber flooring. It was beautiful I tell you.

09/24/09

WOD:

5 x 3 x 1 x 1 x 1: Push Press

 

Athletes:

Susan:......55, 95, 105, 110F, 110

Camilo:.....95, 105, 125, 135F, 135

Jordan:.....55, 65, 75, 85, 85F

Jack:........95, 115, 135, 145, 150

Well it turns out that your humble narrator wasn't the only one who's legs were a little "tender" after the WODs earlier this week. Glad to hear it because here I thought it was just old age catching up with me. Stretching, just what the doctor ordered. A little warmup and a few minutes of stretching is a great way to get the blood moving and help clear out that lactic acid, plus it gives you back some range of motion.

So what happens when you don't have bumper plates? You throw heavy metal shit on the ground, that's what. It was time for push-press. One rack, one bar, metal plates. It's really all you need to get moving and throw up some numbers and that's exactly what we did.

After a quick warmup we started slapping on the weight. Form was crucial because... uh... we don't have collars either. I know, I know... it's a minimalist type of gym. Fortunately everybody managed to throw the weight up instead of sideways. Susan did a good job until she ran into her 110# roadblock. She was pushing with her shoulders but wasn't getting enough of a thrust from her legs. After come creative visualization she found her timing and threw the weight up with no problem. Camilo has a similar issue. He's strong, but his dip is too slow. After finding his -boom- he put the weight up without a problem. Jordan moved up nicely and peaked on her 4th round. She seemed a little frustrated with her missed effort on round 5 but I can't tell you why, her form up to then was good and she keep increasing the weight. Really, you want to keep moving up until you hit the wall and that's precisely what she did.

Guys, if you don't miss a lift... you're not trying hard enough (the short bald guy might have left a little something on the mat, but he's not going to know until next time, now is he?).

Running...

Yeah, I hate running too. That said, there are some pretty compelling reasons to do it. After all, you never know when you might have to haul some ass.

09/22/09

WOD:

4 Rounds of:

- 21 - Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (Kettlebell)

- 15 - Knee Hugs

- 9 - Push Ups

 

Athletes:

Susan:  9:26* @ 35#

Camilo: 8:08 @ 35#

Jordan:  9:34* @ 35#

Jack:  5:05 @ 53#

Looks like we had a full crew tonight. Everybody showed up and was ready to go. After a brief warm-up we did some stretching. Amazingly, the old people (we know who we are, you don't have to point us out) had a much easier time. Camilo gave it an effort but I can only assume that Jordan's hamstrings must be made of wood. I see more stretching in our collective future. 

Next up, some Turkish Getups. Have I exalted the virtues of the Turkish Getups recently? Have I mentioned how awe inspiring this movement is? It's all true... as long as you don't smash your pumpkin (that tends to take a little of the fun out of it). Jordan did a good job putting up the 18# bell but it was obvious that if we had a 26# bell she could have thrown it up without too much drama. Camilo put the 35# bell up without much of a problem but the 53#er was still a bit too much... for now. Nice work, considering. Susan managed to put the 35#'er up as well, making me consider putting a 44# bell onto the list of "Shit That We Need" for the gym (I'm getting my list in to Santa early this Xmas). Yours truly tried his hand at the big 72# kettlebell and managed to put it up, getting it down though... not without a bang.

Next up was the WOD. My friends, it was a sprint of the finest fashion. Camilo and Jordan managed to come back from their break and put in some real work (the image of Jordan laying on the ground in exhaustion reaching desperately for her water bottle was priceless). Susan was so eager to pump through the workout that I was worried she's put the kettlebell through the ceiling. In fact, she only scaled the push-ups after the first few rounds. Nice job.

No class tomorrow, it's a rest day. Don't worry though, we'll make it up on Thursday.

-insert evil laugh here-

09/21/09

WOD:

4 Rounds of:

- 100 Jump Rope

- 40 air Squats

- 20 Box Jumps

Athletes:

Susan: 15:13

Jack:   12:35

First WOD with the new class layout and it was a killer. While the ninjas practiced their... uh... ninja-ing... stuff, we did a nice warmup and got down to business. I know what you're thinking, "Hm.. that doesn't look too bad." Well, you're wrong. Seriously, just wrong. I mean really wrong.

The first round isn't too bad, you start to slow down after the air squats and start to feel a little burn. It's when you move to the box jumps that the realization that this is no picnic sets in. Susan's first box jump was a little... uh... short of the mark. Only after the workout when she caught her breath did she look at me and say, "My legs just weren't working." That's the point. Each movement fatigues the muscles and causes every subsequent movement to become that much harder. There is no rest, no place to catch your breath. Every round just gets harder and harder. Man, I love this workout! Apparently so does Susan, she just wasn't going to let the short-bald-guy pull away from her (try as he might). Little encouragement was required, she just took a breath or two and kept going the entire time. I get the feeling we're going to see this WOD again in the future, it's just too good to pass up.

Nicely done.