Schwartz’s @Melbourne
The coach seemed friendly enough from our phone conversation. But from the moment I met him face-to-face, I knew he is a no-nonsense kinda guy.
The gym was huge, complete with nine lifting platforms and all the equipment you absolutely need to cover every variety of Crossfit wods. Ropes, dynamax balls, GHD machines, Concept2s and not to mention the patented reverse hyper. And most of em were sourced from Rogue Fitness Australia. I wonder where he gets the moolah for all these equipment- it seems that they are doing pretty well.
After Coach Benji ran through a couple of preliminary questions to access my ability ie “How long have you been doing this… So you can muscle-up?” (That seems like a standard people should aspire to as far as getting free reign in another Crossfit gym), I had the freedom to do whatever I choose to. The beginner’s workout involved wall climbs, which I thought was an absolutely smasher for those new to the sport. It seemed harder than the intermediate one:
5 rounds for time:
10 power snatches @42.5 kg
10 Burpees
10 Box Jumps
Time – 17:27
I decided to warmup with the rower and take the bait on this one, before realizing there is another one that you’re supposed to do after that. I don’t want to get into that one, suffice to say that it involves climbing their rope to a uncomfortable height. Sure, there were landing mats under. But still, I don’t have the technical proficiency nor the balls to take it on.
I gotta know an Aussie dude who happened to finish that wod. Apparently he has only been crossfitting for 6 months and he did the same workout in 13 minutes. Asshole. I’ve concluded that we Asians are really way behind as far as our base conditioning and overall fitness prowess is concerned. Here is a colossal of a man who picks things up so easily because his culture dictates it to be FUN. I realized I need that. I gotta get back to enjoying this again. An attitude that embraces a cocktail approach of fun and tenacity seem to bring more success to this nation of just 20+ million people. This was further reinforced by my conversation with Crossfit Games competitor Chris Hogan, whom I met on the way to the bathroom. The dude just does it because he considers it play and an enjoyable experience.
The standard is high here, with the top five scores for each Girl wod kicking any of our asses at Pushmore. A good wake-up call indeed.
Unleash the dragon!
First day of the lunar new year.
Clean technique session with the Kirksman. I started with a couple of squat cleans as a warm-up before moving on to power triples. Focus was to move the bar as close to the hips as possible before getting under the bar by stomping the foot down.
Shen, Kirk and I proceeded to finish off with front squats. I worked my way to 3 reps of 130. Tried to hit my old PR of 140 but I was clearly burned out from all the technique sessions. Till next time.
Coconut shake. Best recovery drink. Ever!
Back to the Old Skool
Back Squats
3-3-3-3-3
130kg, 130, 130, 135, 140
Snatch technique session with the Kirksman. Working with a 45kg bar.
Celebrating new year eve’s is not an excuse for sitting on your bum and feasting on all the goodies. On this day, we train!
Quad Burner
Run 1.6km for time.
Rest*, then:-
Run 1.6km for time.
7:44 ; 8:33
5 rounds of:
50m sled pull @25kg
3 sets of L-sits holds on rings:
20 secs, 24 secs, 30 secs
I didn’t always think I need to work on my running. But lately my recent sprint sessions revealed a glaring weakness in my arsenal – I was heavy and slow. Every step seemed to take the wind out of my lungs and my cadence was limited by the heavy trotting on the tarmac.
Back to the drawing board. This means more work on running mechanics through drills and sprint repeats. This means embrace the suck.
First bite at the ropes
Partner Wod
For 10 minutes:
While a partner is completing 10 thrusters, the other performs as many rope climbs as possible.
55 thrusters @45kg and 10 rope climbs
Five rounds for time of:
10 Kettlebell Swings @ 40kg
20 Burpees
30 Double Unders
Time – 20:05
After sitting in traffic for 2 hours, I was immediately called upon to start the partner workout with Vinny the moment I stepped in. Thrusters felt good during the first round but I figured the ability to churn it out with constant efficiency will go down after that. I was right. The ropes completely taxed my arms, not to mention that I forgot to practice getting up at least once – I fell off on the first try because I forgot how to hook my foot.
The daily wod crushed me half an hour later. It was difficult enough to complete this after the first one – I had to bump up the kettlebell weight to 40kg. Felt really heavy on the last round. I had no engine left for the burpees. The DUs were pretty much the recovery.
It turns out that these partner wods will be a regular weekly fixture.
Ouch.
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