CrossFit Workout for September 26th, 2010
With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... continuing as long as you are able.
Use as many sets each minute as needed.
Score is number of minutes completed.
The deadlift. Using every single muscle in your body. (crossfit.com)
Perfect push-up form. Again, full body control. (crossfit.com)
First things first: the deadlift is a terrifying lift. It seems so simple, and yet so easy to do wrong. Basically, done right, it makes you hold your lower back in a rigid arch, and the work you do is putting weight on that rigidly held structure. There is no curling, no ballistics. Just hanging a weight off the end of the spine held in rigid extension. Done correctly, its probably the safest, most basic movement the human frame is capable of: pick something up. Do it wrong, with a back NOT held in rigid extension, and you're hanging that weight off of the various soft tissues that your spinal erectors should have been holding, subjecting your spine to terrible shearing forces, and putting you in grave danger of a serious injury. (Well, theoretically. It's a testament to how awesome the human body really is that there are not more injuries from poor technique. Still, why take the risk, and why accidentally avoid the work the exercise is *supposed* to be creating for you?)
So, with that in mind, the Mark "Coach Rip" Rippetoe video series on proper deadlift form:
Push-ups and pull-ups oughtta be easy enough. We'll revisit pull-ups when we get there. So, while moderating the weight-room, I was happy to have a single position couplet to perform, since there is NO mobility to move from station to station in a small weight room jam packed with useless machines and 30 stinky high school boys. Took the barbell, weights, and mat out into the hallway and got myself set-up. I knew going in that trying to do all 10 rounds as Rxed would be insane, and opted on the full-weight, full-rep version of CrossFit BrandX's scaling. There was another variation of only doing 10 reps of each exercise each round for ten rounds, but doing it my way gave me five extra reps. I didn't want to scale the deadlift weight, even though 135# to Chris Spealler would have been more like 85# to me. Meh.
So, cranked through the first 3 rounds at about a minute a round...at that point, Speller was already annihilating me! After that, things started slowing down rapidly. I tried to keep sets unbroken, but by the 5th round, that was just beyond me. The weight never really got heavy...I just couldn't breath! At least I was out in the hallway. In the weight-room it was easily 15 degrees hotter, and 100% humid (and stinky). Its bad when the mirrors are all opaque with fog... Fought my way through the last few rounds. The last two were easily 2-3 minutes each.
At this point, I realized I still had another 45 minutes down there with the little beasties. The weight-room itself was starting to clear out, the mirrors were slowly starting to un-fug. Remembering that the previous day's workout was "just" a pull-up ladder, I decided to rest up for a few more minutes, probably 15 total, and do that workout, too! I've been experimenting with really full-extension pull-ups, really dropping all the way down to total rock-bottom, so I tried to do those for this workout. Being the second of the day, and with my forearms already shot from the first workout, I honestly wasn't too optimistic about going for more than 10 rounds, at best. And not being the best at pull-ups, it wasn't going to break my heart either way.
OK, this is a kipping pull-up. But its one of my favorite pull-up pictures of all time! (crossfit.com)
So, I started up the clock, and started banging out pull-ups. Man, the first 4 minutes are so easy. Even the 5th minute, not too bad. The 6th was a wake-up call, when I could only complete 4 reps at first. Switched grip to chin-ups (palms facing me) and did the last 2 reps, also full extension. Things went downhill very rapidly. 7th minute involved three sets, and the 8th involved 4, with the last one coming at about the :56 second mark for the minute. I could maybe have pulled out one or two more reps in the final minute, but decided that, for an impromptu second workout, I could be happy with 8 minutes!
Today's musical inspiration: 2 Many DJs - As Heard on Radio Soulwax, Part 1.
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