CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit
Workout Definition
“I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” – Jacob Riis
We crave the confirmation of progress. Whether that be weekly increases in weights, continual raises at work, or anything between. It can be in our nature to seek out those signals. Yet we can learn something from the stonecutter.
When a stonecutter addresses his next task, splitting a giant stone in two, he starts hammering away. One blow at a time, he lines up each and every strike with meticulous precision. 10 strikes pass by, and there is no visible change to the stone. 50 strikes go by, and still no visible change. No cracks, dents, or any indication of… anything. 100 strikes pass, and, the same. On the 101st strike, it splits in two.
Through the 100 strikes, there wasn’t an external signal or sign that this was working. But beneath the surface, invisible to the eye, the stone was splitting with each passing blow. It wasn’t something different about the final strike… it was instead the culmination of all 101 blows. Impossible without a single one of them.
True change takes place from the inside out. And much like the stonecutter, we have two options: to spend emotional energy worrying if we’re making progress, or to have full faith in the process, spending every ounce of focus we have on that next strike.
Strength
Back Squat
5 Repetitions @ 70%
4 Repetitions @ 75%
3 Repetitions @ 80%
1 Repetition @ 84%
1 Repetition @ 87%
1 Repetition @ 90%
STIMULUS
Completing 6 working sets of Back Squats at increasing percentages of your 1RM
Starting with some more moderate percentages, followed by 3 heavier singles
Rest as needed between sets to preserve the quality of each
Metcon
Metcon (AMRAP – Reps)
20 Minute Calorie Row
On the 0:00, 4:00, 8:00, 12:00 and 16:00:
8 Chest to Bar Pull-ups
8 Burpees
50′ Double Dumbbell Front Rack Walking Lunge (50’s/35’s)
SUBSTITUTIONS
Chest to Bar Pull-ups:
-Reduce Reps
-Chin Over Bar Pull-ups
-Banded Chest to Bar
-Jumpig Chest to Bar
-Ring Rows
STIMULUS
-Your score today is total calories accumulated on the Rower in 20 minutes (keep the monitor running the whole workout)
-There are five instances where you’ll be off the rower, completing work that will take you away from the scored movement
-Every 4 minutes (starting on the 0:00) you’ll complete 8 chest to bar pull-ups, 8 burpees, and a 50 foot double dumbbell front rack walking lunge
-If those 3 movements take you 2 minutes, for example, you’ll have 2 minutes on the rower before moving back to the chest to bar pull-ups on the 4:00
-Choose a weight on the dumbbells that enables you to complete the 50 feet unbroken every round
-Choose a chest to bar number or variation that you can complete unbroken every time
Strategy
STRATEGY
-Rather than thinking of this like a 20 minute workout, we can think of it more as a 5 round workout
-Think of it like this:
5 Rounds on the 4 Minute:
8 Chest to Bar Pull-ups
8 Burpee Box Jump Overs (24/20)
50′ Double Dumbbell Front Rack Walking Lunge (50’s/35’s)
-Max Calorie Row in Time Remaining (Lowest Calorie Round is Your Score)
-When we think of it in this 5-round format with lowest calorie round being your score, it can help you better approach the work ahead
-The work off the rower will likely take somewhere around 1:30 – 2:00, giving you 2:00 – 2:30 on the rower each round
-Within that 2:00 – 2:30 time window on the rower, find a pace that you see yourself holding for the duration of that round and also within the other 4 rounds
-We’re still moving for 20 minutes straight, so take that into account with pacing
-It may be better to slow things down a hair on the work off the rower in order to allow yourself to hold a respectable pace on the rower