Wednesday, January 20, 2010

A new box and some OPT!

There has been a buzz about it for a while, and a few initiated individuals have been in the loop about it- still noone has been really sure, or known 100%.... So let me be the one to bust the bubble, or at least let a little air out of it!

We will be opening a box virtually on Odenplan in Stockholm!

Within a very near future the doors will open to Stockholms first pure bred CrossFit box. The final details are being put in place and I promise to return as soon as I know more- But for now let us just conclude that we will be able to work out at our box very soon! We are talking weeks!

The second part of todays entry does'nt really feel as important after the above, but it still needs to be reported! After getting back from the cert in Basel, it was time to get back to working out! Everyone else had had a monstreous weekend, with near death experiences perscribed by OPT! So I was happy to see that OPT had decided to take it resonably easy, for the workout that turned out the be my first post cert experience!


A. Back Squat @ 30X0; 1,1,1,1; rest 240 sec
B. Tabata Push Ups - low score - 4 sets only
C. AMRAP Double Unders in 2 min
D. GHD Sit Ups - 20 x 2

post loads and notes to comments
back squat is not for 1RM, just challenging but confident 1's
make push ups reps extra perfect

A- 140kg. performed in sneakers but still felt solid. Could I be getting stronger?
B- 13- I was aiming for 20, but had to fight to get 13 on the last set!
C- 20.. Ugly as hell! I will never be teh double under master, but this needs to get better:-)
D- check! Jocke from CrossFit Uppsala helped me MacGyver a great GHD contraption!

It was not the hardest WoD in the world but it felt good to get back in this fashion, and I know that is is only a matter of time before the MAN begins to bully my poor body again:-)

Until next time

Much love

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Level 1 in Basel and a workout!

It has been a jumbled weekend, and I am not sure where to begin?

The cert in basel was an asolute blast! Even though we had the bad fortune of loosing the miracle men from Denmark on the finish line. Klaus got injured and Oliver got ill just before the cert, and had to stay at home- I hope they both get well in a hurry, since the certs are always a lot more fun when these two gentlemen are there! They are fantastic trainers, and truly inspirational to be around. They really are some of the best CrossFit have to offer! Guys get well!

The crew consisted of Courtney, Karl, EC, Chuck, Sebastian, Big E and yours truly! It is always a pleassure to get to hang out with Karl and Courtney, and this cert was no exception to the rule! Chuck and EC came over the pond, to make sure it all went down right! Chuck is pretty much the mayor of CrossFit (according to EC) and working with him gives everyone a sense of calm that is hard to explain! Everything just comes together, at the same time as we have a lot of fun. I have not had the pleassure of working with EC before, but I hope we will see a lot more of her in Europe- She is an absolute blast to be around, and needless to say a fantastic trainer! Xena rules!
Sebastian and Big E, were interns for the first time, and I just hope they had a great time, and felt welcome- they truly are!

The crew at CrossFit Basel had really gone to great lengths to make sure that this cert would be the best it could be for the participants and trainers! They had gotten a great building that we used for the lectures! The place was very large and gave everyone the best possible chans to get the most out of the lectures!
For the practical part of the cert they had gotten a hold of a huge gymnasium/gym that looked like it could host a premier league soccer match, along with all the equipment you could ever ask for! As if this was not enough they had gotten a bunch of people to help out at the cert- and these people were magical- they made virtually anything happen!
Our hosts had also gotten a hold of Paleo kits, which coiuld be bought at very favorable prices! Heaven here we come! Could it get any better than that!
CrossFit Basel, my hat is of to you for making this cert very memorable! "Like clockwork.... swiss clockwork!" "These people dont mess around.. they get the job done:-)".. Just some of the quotes I heard this weekend!

Of course we also had to work out while we were there, and we always try to use the equipment that we do not have access to in our boxes at home! This time it was ropes! I dont have access to ropes at the box at home, and since they had some very long ropes, we just had to use them!
So someone came up with the following workout:

5 rounds of
10 40kg OHS
2 rope climbs


I have no clue what time I got, but it was a grueling WoD! My grip absolutely left me after the first couple of rounds! The rope was a lot longer than I am used to so I had to spend more time on the rope than I usually do.. Good times! At least I ended up without burns on hands and feet! I cant help wondering how Karl is doing today?

Now I am back in town, back to the OPT programming, and working on the thing that will rock Stockholm within a very near future......? What could it possibly be:-)

Much love

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

another two days!


I am sorry that I have been really bad at keeping everyone posted on my poor results, it is not because I have not been training, I have just been VERY busy with a bunch of other things that have taken virtually all my time.. I will be able to tell you more about it later!
So this will be another one of these short recaps;

Jan 10th 2010
Training:
A. Clean Grip Power Snatch @ 12X1; 2-3 x 5; rest 180 sec
B1. Snatch Grip Dead Lift @ 30X0; 4-6 x 3; rest 10 sec
B2. KBS @ 1010; 10-15 x 3; rest 10 sec
B3. GHD Back Extensions @ 2010; 12-20 x 3; rest 180 sec
C. Tabata Push Ups - low score


A- 40kg- 50kg- 50kg- 50g- 50kg
B1- used 80kg, a bit on the light side, but I had no time to change the weight in the 10 sec rest! poor exuse but true!
B2- KBS 32kg 12 straight through, broke the last set, since my grip was killing me:-)
B3- What do you say- these sucked:-)
C- 7...... I was aiming for 11, and just died on the last two sets!

I just love OPT, even if I am fully aware that this is just the strength part before he unleashes the metcon hounds of hell on us!

I just thought I'd share a picture I got from my friends at Cross Gym in Milan Italy! It is taken at the lunch time workout I did at the cert there! CrossGym Milan is a fantastic gym , and the guys who run it are the nicest people ever- so if you are ever in Milan make sure to drop by and get a workout out with them!
Just make sure to bring the big wallet! Once you see the gear they have you are going to go crazy on a shoping spree-)

Just to answer eventual questions right of the bat-- Th epicture is not taken in the bottom of the squat, I am on my way up:-)

Much love!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Torn up hands!! and some numbers!

Yesterday was a very special day, because it was the first time I'd ever get to do two OPT workouts in one day! I have heard horrible stories about how this man messes you up on these two workout days- so I was looking forward to seeing what the workouts would be, and how it would feel!
I was going into this little adventure with a small handicap though- a couple of days when we did the pull up ladder, I tore up my hands a bit. I have been nursing them in every way imaginable sine then, but they are not really ok yet.. hmmm!

The first workout of he dday was:

Training:
part 1:
A. as many 1-5 ladders in 10 min - 225#/155# back squat; rest 5 min
B. BB jump squats - 30% of 1RM back squat; 6 sets of 6 reps; rest 60 sec b/t sets
C. GHD Sit ups - 5 sets of 20 reps; rest 45 sec b/t sets
rest 8+ hours


Results:

A- 3 ladders + 1
B- 42,5 kg
C- first two set un broken, after that I broke the sets into 10+10!

I was actually pretty happy with this! I have not done back squats in a while, so I had no clue what to expect! But this is where the fun stopped for the day! I was supposed to rest 8+ hours, but there was no way I could get back to the gym later, or get that kind of intervall! So I rested 20 min and got back to work!
The second workout was a double under/ pull up combo! So during the rest I began warming up! The problem was that after a couple of pull ups my hands tore again, and I fould myself slipping in blood on the bar.. Hmm what do I do now! I then decided that I should row as far as I could in the 45 sec intervalls, and then do double unders! The same thing happened there though. My hands bled and I had a hard time getting a decent grip- now what do I do?
Since I am hopeless at double unders I decided that I should do 5 sets of 10 unbroken double unders for time. This is a horrible task for someone as inproficient at double unders as I am, here is how that went:

First 10 done at 2:45
second done at 3:48
third done at 5:49
fourth done at 11:52- imagine the frustration!
fifth done at 15:00

It was a workout of mixed emotions! I was a good workout altoghther, and the first part felt great, the second however was nothing like what I would have liked it to be, but I sure got to work on my weak sides!

Just really looking forward to getting back to the gym today!

Much love

Saturday, January 9, 2010

What the...! How on earth...! Don't they???


Let me just begin by admitting that this entry is not about training! I'll get back to you with today training tomorrow, just as I always do:-)
I just thought I'd share a picture from when Sweden was a bit warmer! I just had to remember what it felt like:-)

Last night I had the "pleassure" of working as a bouncer, smack in the middle of Stockholm, at a very nice restaurant/bar! I do this every once in a while, and more often than I would like to. But the collegues are fantastic, and we have an absolute blast! Besides this the place is not the kind of place that really needs us to be bouncers! We are more like a bunch of older farts standing around drinking coffee really- fantastic arrangement! I do the coffee part very well by now!

However last night the cold weather had Stockholm by the balls, and sometime during the night the temperature actually dropped to below -20!! Yepp you read that right! Some super cheerful chap came up with his Iphone and showed us on the screen that the temp was -20? "are'nt you guys cold??" NASA really have to stop letting their scientists into general population!

The thing that stunned me the most though was that even though it was -20 there were still bunches of girls/women walking around with what is essentially just high heeled sandels" a pair of heels and a couple of straps! No socks, no outer layer! No nothing, just straps!! How is it possible to walk around in something like that when it is this cold? It's not like it takes half an hour for the cold weather to embrace your feet, and let them know that it is cold as hell, and you discover that you are half a mile from your house, and it is too late to turn back to get some decent footwear! Trust me when I say that stepping outside in virtually bare feet in temperatures like that is painful immidiately! What kind of friends do you have that let you out in wheather like that without shoes? Let's all try to solve this! What? How? Please submit your thoughts!

Tonight is supposed to be even colder, and for reason I no longer remember I am actually working again tonight again- what will they wear as it gets colder? Bare feet??

Just a thought!

Much love

Friday, January 8, 2010

Two workouts..

I am sorry to have to rapport that I was so tied up with work yesterday that I did not hav etime to write on my blog, so threrefore it will contain two WoD's today! I did not however do them on the same day- these are consequetive days! Sorry about that!

Training jan 06 2010

7 sets;
1 strict chin up
2 L Pull ups
3 butterfly kip chin ups
4 chin break vertical chin ups
5 chest to bar chin ups
rest 2 minutes
+
For total time;
AMSAP L-Sit - 3 attempts; 60 sec b/t attempts
+
For total reps;
30 sec high speed double unders, 30 sec rest x 10

post notes for chin up work, total time for L sits and total reps for DU's to comments
skill and perfection of movement, not time is paramount on chin up work
L sit is knees COMPLETELY straight for entire movement, and ankles above hips


All I have to say about this workout, is that it went really well, until it was time to do the double unders! I absolutely suck at double unders, and the 30 sec of "fast double unders" was more like punishing myself with a steel core rope! While Jenny was setting some kind of world record next to me- which only added to the fury! Double unders are the bane of CrossFit!
With that said moving on:-)

Training: jan 07 2010
A1. HSPU @ 2010 - amrap (-1) x 3 sets; rest 60 sec
A2. Semi Stiff Legged DL @ 4011; 6-8 x 3; rest 60 sec
B1. Ring Push Ups @ 2010 - amrap (-1) x 3 sets; rest 45 sec
B2. KBS - 15 unbroken x 3; rest 45 sec
C1. Dips @ 2010 - amrap (-1) x 3 sets; rest 30 sec
C2. GHD Raises @ 2010; 15 x 3; rest 30 sec

post loads, notes and reps to comments
amrap (-1) means you attempt a max rep set but stop approximately 1 rep short of failure on speed
swings to just inches above forehead


This workout went really well- I actually felt really strong, and managed to get through it and feeling pretty good about myself, which is more than I could have hoped for before I began!
I did the GHD raises on some sort of contraption that I built in the gym! I bet real GHD raises hurt a lot mote than mine did, but I doubt that I could have done real GHD raises today??

This leads me to todays question: What is the strangest contraption you have ever used to substitute an exercise?

Looking forward to seeing what OPT has in store for us this weekend?

Much love

Mads

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

How about some HSC?

Once again it was time to go into the world of OPT, and obviously get my ass kicked! It is not intentionally, it is just a fact that I have had to get used to when it comes to the workouts this genius throws at us- so today it was all about Hang Squat Cleans:-) The workout was:

A. Hang Squat Clean - build to a tough but not 1RM; take no more than 7 minutes; rest 2 minutes
B. 10-1 135#/95# hang squat clean ladder; rest 5 minutes
C. 3 sets of 30 GHD sit ups; rest as needed b/t sets

post highest load for A, time for B and notes for C to comments
ladder is unbroken, if bar rests on floor in set, start again
no pause is needed at hang in A


The first part actually went pretty well, I worked up to a pretty heavy weight, and managed it without too much trouble, and decided to call that a day, and move on to part two!
I have been working a lot an getting better at using my hip to drive the weight up, and not pull too much with my arms, and I have gotten better, no doubt about that. But to be honest my technique still leaves a lot to be desired! I just have to stick to my guns and try to get better.

So the first part of the ladder went really well, and I felt like I could actually get a pretty decent result on this part of the days workout. That was until I was on the round of 5! Something began feeling strange in my right leg, and shortly after that I began to get the same sensation in my left leg?? Once I put down the bar and began getting ready for the set of 4 the cramp caught up with me! Both legs cramped up at the same time, and the pain was like nothing I have felt in a while! Needless to say the last sets were hell, and since OPT had dictated that I could not put the bar down between reps, and there was to be no rest in the bottom position of the HSC- this was hell! But I got the job done, and was over the moon about it, when I stumbled to the improvised GHD bench!

I was working out with Jenny who is an absolute monster, and the inspiration was desperately needed! I got through the first GHD set unbroken, after that I had to break the two remaining sets...

I have not felt like that for a while, and today my legs feel like I imagine they would feel if some bad ass Thai boxer had had his way with them through a sparring session!

I guess I just have to get comfortable with uncomfortable! The part about being uncomfortable is done, now I just have to get used to it, and get comfortable with it:-)

Until tomorrow, much love!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Still owned by OPT!

I just love the way this guy thinks! There is no doubt in your mind what it is he was gunning for after you have completed one of his workouts!
Yesterday he came after my posterior chain with a blast of a workout! Remember that I am still one day late in my blogging. This gives me the chance to fully evaluate the effects of the WoD, and how it felt. Yesterday there was no doubt how it would feel, and today I can only nod my head and admit that I was right. My posterior chain is smoked... I absolutely love it! The workout was:

Training:
A1. HSPU @ 2010 - amrap (-2) x 3 sets; rest 60 sec
A2. Semi Stiff Legged DL @ 4011; 8-10 x 3; rest 60 sec
B1. Ring Push Ups @ 2010 - amrap (-2) x 3 sets; rest 45 sec
B2. KBS - 25 unbroken x 3; rest 45 sec
C1. Dips @ 2010 - amrap (-2) x 3 sets; rest 30 sec
C2. GHD Raises @ 2010; 10-15 x 3; rest 30 sec

post loads, notes and reps to comments
amrap (-2) means you attempt a max rep set but stop approximately 2 reps short of failure on speed
swings to just inches above forehead


Mental notes to self:

I could have gone a bit heavier on the deads!
I am happy I took it easy on the push ups and dips, cause my bad shoulder feels ok today!
The swings were a lot harder than I thought they would be!
GHD raises must be the worst exercise ever. We had to modify the exercis since we dont have a GHD, and I bet they are a lot harder on the GHD than the exercise we did- but it still sucked the life out of me!

It has been a long time since I felt this excited about training, and just love that fact that we finally followed Martin Altemark into teh wilderness that is OPT's mind! It is a truly inspirational place to be, and it is packed with a bunch of very capable athletes, of which I hope to become one....... in a very distant future:-)

I cant wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Much love

Mads

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Going to school..

Do you remember the feeling of going to a new school, or to a new team or something like that, and you walk through the door and you see everybody talking to each other, joking, interacting, and having an all together god time- and there you are the new kid!
Fortunately, in these surroundings you often find your place pretty fast, ans some good spirited person takes it upon themselves to introduce you to the crowd!
I felt a bit like that yesterday when I did my first "OPT workout"! It took a masters degree in dechifering to understand what I was supposed to do, and at what speeds I was supposed to operate! After having looked at the site for a while, I decide to call the local witch doctor (Martin Altemark) and ask him how I was supposed to translate the whole thing:-) He, gracefully as always, helped me out and I was on my way!

So I got on my way to the gym to do the following workout:

Training:
A1. OHS @ 3010 - 10 x 10; 90 sec rest
A2. Supinated Strict Chin Ups @ 3010; 10 x 10; rest 90 sec
+
GHD Sit Ups - 3 sets of 25


That my dear friends is 100 OHS, and 100 supinated pull ups- in a preset tempo with a slower decent than acent, divided into sets of 10- with 90sec rest inbetween efforts..
Please keep in mind that I have not done any meaningful workouts since the beginning of december! So I had a pretty good idea that this was going to put me on my ass:-) and it did.
Jenny had gone to the gym earlier, and said that it was hard as hell- and if she felt like that I knew that I felt that I had my work cut out for me.

I am not going to bore you with the stats, since they are pretty pathetic, and I have decided to give myself a week of getting into the groove, before posting! I will however say taht I used 50 kg on the OHS- and it was a bit on the light side, I should have gone heavier!
The pull ups however were a fight for dear life! the first 4 sets went according to plan, and after that I had to use a rubber band, and I still have to break every set! I wish I was more like David "the BW monster", but I am not!

The conclusion however is that I a super stoked to follow OPT to the best of my abilities, and it will be a bunch of fun to see where this all takes us?

Much love