Monday
CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit
“Most of the time we feel tired not because we’ve done too much, but because we’ve done too little of what makes us come alive.” – Jim Kwik
We’re not going to pretend the hard times go away. And that we won’t need to do things that we’d rather not. We have commitments, obligations, and bills to pay. But when we find ourselves in a daily loop of non-stop “work”… we won’t feel like ourselves.
But it’s not the time we put in at work that causes this. It’s the time we don’t put in on the other things. Our passions. The reason why we get out of bed in the morning. Yet in the furious pace of our lives, we let it fall to the wayside because we need to get “back to work.”
The times where we are the most unhappy, are the times where we are the most untrue to ourselves. Redefine to ourselves what sets us on fire. What makes us come alive. And literally schedule it on your calendar as if it’s a life-saving doctors appointment. Because in truth… it is.
Strength
Back Squat
7 Sets:
1 Tempo Back Squat*
*7 seconds down, 3 second pause in bottom, stand.
Set #1 – 58%
Set #2 – 60%
Set #3 – 62%
Set #4 – 64%
Set #5 – 66%
Set #6 – 68%
Set #7 – 70%
Rest 60s between sets. All repetitions taken from the rack.
Metcon
Wall Street (Time)
3 Rounds:
800m Run
40 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)
40 Wallballs (20/14)
In “Wall Street”, we have a triplet a medium distance run and two light weightlifting movements. Stimulus wise, we are looking for a kettlebell light enough so that we could complete 30+ unbroken reps. This should be on the lighter side. Inside that set of 40, we are very confident we could do it in 2 or less sets. On the wallball, same stimulus… we are confident we could complete it in two or less sets if we had to.
We are always going to adjust inside the workout as needed, changing planned rep schemes and approaches. The only saying in the military goes, “no plan survives first contact with the enemy”. Sometimes this can be true inside of our workouts, where we ditch the plan we thought we refined to an explicit degree within seconds of starting the workout.
Today, let’s try to start somewhere. What makes “Wall Street” far more approachable is thinking through a breakup strategy on the swings and wallballs. Maybe its 20/20 for both, maybe it’s 25/15. Maybe it’s fast 10’s, with only a brief couple of seconds between reps.
But having a starting point, even if it becomes adjusted, is the aim here. That way, we can focus on a sustainable pace on the runs that allows us to continue the push inside the gym. Without those starting points, we don’t know how hard to push on the runs… which results in varying paces from the first to third round.
Overall aim in the workout is to push for larger sets inside the gym, as any time the kettlebell or wallball rest on the ground while the clock is running, we are losing seconds. We aren’t going to sandbag the run by any means, but we naturally don’t want to crush each run only to take 10 seconds before picking up the kettlebell.
Sat. 5/11 WOD
CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit
Beach Ready (AMRAP – Reps)
In teams of two, do four sets of each of the following three groups:
(1) 4 sets
– 10 db bench press —
– 10 db hex press ”
– 10 db flies
#2 max effort dips
(2) 4 sets
– 10 bench press (barbell)
– 10 close grip bench
– 10 reverse grip bench
#2 max effort V-ups
(3) 4 sets
– 10 db pullovers
– 10 db rows (each arm)
– 10 db kickbacks
#2 max effort battle ropes
– you determine weights
– superset all three movements
– each partner does four sets of movements
– score = total of all max effort reps
Friday
CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit
“The Marshmallow Experiment”
The experiment began by bringing in children into a room, one by one, and sitting them down in a chair with a single marshmallow in front of them.
Here, the researcher offered a deal. He said he was going to leave the room, and if the child didn’t eat the marshmallow while he was away, then he would be rewarded with a second marshmallow. However, if the child chose to eat the marshmallow while he was away, they wouldn’t get a second. What he didn’t say was how long he’d be gone.
The choice was simple – one treat now, or two treats later.
Some of the children ate it right away. Some of the children squirmed around for a bit looking at it, and gave in after a couple of minutes. And some of the children managed to wait until the researcher came back.
The research team followed the participants for 40 years afterwards. The children who ate the marshmallow immediately struggled. They didn’t have careers they were proud of, and they didn’t live lives they were happy with. The children who held out went on to live highly successful individuals.
What the experiment shows us, is that the ability to delay gratification is a critical component in life.
Whether we want to go to the CrossFit Games, be the best husband we can be, or propel our career forward, we must have the willpower to stay the course with the longer term in mind. Even when we’re tired, hungry, beat up, and starving for a bite of that marshmallow in front of us.
In our darkest hour, of our darkest day, if we can stare that single marshmallow down and stay the course… we’ll make it.
Strength
Deadlift
In 10:00 or less:
Build to a Heavy Set of 8 Deadlifts
Metcon
Napalm (Time)
2 Rounds:
10 Bar Muscle-Ups
20 Barbell-Facing Burpees
30 Deadlifts (225/155)
40 Wallballs (30/20)
In “Napalm”, we have a combination of two gymnastic movements with two weightlifting movements.
Pacing wise, our first area of focus will be on the deadlifts and wallballs of that first round. The opening bar muscle-ups and barbell-facing burpees are our “buy-in” to this portion of the workout, where the challenge will set in. Breaking up these deadlifts and wallballs appropriately will set us up for success in round 2, where we want to accelerate to the finish.
On the deadlifts, recognizing that a break can be very short if controlled, we are not looking to push too far in our opening set of the 30 repetitions. 12-10-8, or even fast 5×6 are talking points. A similar repetition scheme can be even be applied to the wallballs, knowing that a break here isn’t overly time consuming – if we control it that is, and are diligent with getting back on the movement. Knowing we have bar muscle-ups to follow on round 2, measured breaks on the wallballs to preserve the shoulders is a wise move.
On round 2, we still want to hold back on the burpees. Let’s start our final push on the barbell. Much of this workout comes down to these final 30 deadlifts and 40 wallballs, with most athletes slowing down significantly here. Here’s where we make our move in the workout… which means we need to be smart in the earlier repetitions in getting there.
Thursday
CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit
Strength
Turkish Get Up (Every 90 seconds × 6 (1 Per Arm))
Metcon
Metcon (Time)
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
Calorie Row
Sit-ups
Supermans w/ 2 second pause
50 DU after each round
Wednesday
CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit
“Trade your expectation for appreciation, and the world changes around you” – Tony Robbins
Routines and habits become part of the norm. Morning coffee, listening to the radio, the drive to the field taking the kids to practice. We appreciate healthy habits, and let’s continue to reinforce them.
However, there is much to be said about taking a pause to our day, to our routine. To appreciate the fortune in our lives. The absolute abundance we are so lucky to have.
In a world where comforts are the “norm”, we have to actively remind ourselves how good our lives are.
The thought of losing those precious parts of our day is a sobering one. Despite being a morbid thought, we will.
There will be a final cup of morning coffee for us.
There will be the last chance for us to listen to the radio.
And if we are lucky enough to have kids, there will be a last time we *get* to wait in traffic as we drive them to soccer practice.
As Tony Robbins quotes, if we can remove expectations from the norm, and replace them with a sense of gratitude, our entire world changes.
Metcon
Jack Squat (Time)
For Time:
21 Front Squats, 21 KB Swings, 400m Run
15 Front Squats, 15 KB Swings, 400m Run
9 Front Squats, 9 KB Swings, 400m Run
Rx Barbell – 135/95
Rx Kettlebell – 70/53
Stimulus wise, we are looking for a loading that we are very confident we can complete that first round unbroken on. If our personal strategy calls for a break in the 21’s, we can do so, but if we had to, we are confident we could complete it unbroken. We are looking for all athletes to complete all sets with at most, a single break. This will preserve the conditioning stimulus.
In “Jack Squat”, we are again looking to complete all sets with at the absolute most, a single break per set. Modifying the loading to ensure that stimulus is met will bring about a conditioning-based 21-15-9 that we are after today. Let’s make this about our lungs and stamina, versus our absolute strength.
From a macro-level, we recognize that “stopping” is the last place we want to be in this workout. Stoppages will take place as we break on the barbell, or if a transition stops. To mitigate those, our first controller would be the runs. With only three 400’s, we naturally want to push our pace here, but not at the expense of stoppages. In other words, if we push the runs to the point where we need to break the round of 15 front squats due to metabolic reasons, we will likely be mismanaging our effort. We are looking at the runs as the “pacer” to ensure we have large, if not unbroken sets on the squats and swings. Once we have those sets dialed (stoppages minimized, or even eliminated), then we look to push the runs.
For a rough starting point on where this running pace should be, let’s start by visualizing what our 2 mile time trial run would pace like. It’s an aggressive pace, but one that allows us to continue to move inside the gym on the squats and swings.
Strength
Metcon (No Measure)
3 Giant Sets:
Max Dumbbell Bench Press (70’s/50’s)
12 Chest Supported Rows Dumbbell Rows
12 Lateral Box Step-Ups (6/side)
Rest 2:00 between.
On the DB bench press, we are looking to use the above load only if we can find at least 8 repetitions per round. We want a challenging weight here, but not to the tune of 3-5 reps per set.
On the following chest supported rows, this implies that our chest is propped against an elevated bench. Stacking the legs of a bench on plates, we can get some weight off the ground so that at extension, the dumbbells aren’t touching the ground. For this movement, we are looking to be completely horizontal.
On the final movement, we have lateral box step-ups. Here, athlete’s choice on loading and height. We are looking for six straight repetitions, completed with sound technique, before transitioning sides. Only load if we are feeling very strong in the movement.
Tuesday
CrossFit Evergreen – CrossFit
“To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone.” – Reba McEntire
As we start our day, let’s think about these three.
Wishbone – Nothing is too great, or out of reach. Faith and doubt are both self-fulling prophecies.
Backbone – The unbreakable will to give our best, regardless of the circumstances. Through the lens of the growth-mindset, every outcome is an opportunity to become better.
Funnybone – We do life for one reason: to enjoy it. If we aren’t enjoying what we’re doing, we need to find something else. As Oscar Wilde writes, “Life is too short to take things seriously.” Let’s enjoy the ride.
Strength
50 Strict HSPU (Time)
For Time:
50 Strict Handstand Pushups
*10:00 Time Cap
Scale to DB Shoulder Press here. Record weight in the comments.
Metcon
Lead Foot (3 Rounds for reps)
“Lead Foot” Part 1
AMRAP 4:
27 Calorie Row
27 Burpees
27 CTB Pull-Ups
Rest 4:00
“Lead Foot” Part 2
AMRAP 4:
21 Calorie Row
21 Burpees
21 Toes to Bar
Rest 4:00
“Lead Foot” Part 3
AMRAP 4:
15 Calorie Row
15 Burpees
15 Pull-Ups
The row matters in this workout. We do not want to empty the tank by any means here, but we want to be out of our comfort zone here. In the short window (4:00), we want to maintain what we feel effort-wise to be our approximate 2K pace. We however are holding back enough so that we can fall right into our first burpee upon completing that row. Recall that when rowing for calories, they accumulate exponentially when we put additional power into it.
To feel this example as this is worth talking about, try this 3 minute practical application:
Row 5 calories slow. Then change the units to meters, and remember this number.
Reset and row 5 calories fast. Change the units to meters, and compare the two.
What you’ll find is that when we push on the calorie row, we actually have to do less work. We need to row less meters. Where 27 calories may take us ~300 meters to row slow, it may only take us ~200 if we did it fast. Now of course, this does not mean we should empty the tank on the row by any means, but it gives us an edge when we understand how calories accumulate differently than meters.
On the burpees, slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Practice the breathing burpee here. Take a breath after each rep, affording you a half-second to a full second of rest at the standing position, and then drop into your next rep. At rep ~22, slow your pace a touch. Use the last 5 burpees to recover with a slightly slower pace. The separator in this workout is the following station, the work on the PU bar.
Following the burpees, we are going to want to take a break. Take a chalk break, shake out the arms, maybe even a sip of water. Train with this thought today: “Just Start”.
The truth of the matter is that we do not need that rest. We don’t need the chalk. All we need to do is just start. Jump to the bar and get your first set in. It doesn’t have to be unbroken, nor does it have to be the majority of the set, it just has to be something.
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