Sunday 7.13.14

San Francisco Fire won the first NPGL preseason tournament.  

This video is 2 hours long (an entire match), but if you have a moment, check out a few races.  

Pretty entertaining

For those who are new to the programming, or need a refresher, here are some common questions about programming you will see written on the strength portion of the WOD (Workout of the Day)

- What does "5x5" or "5x3" or "5x1" mean? 
This is "sets" followed by "reps." For instance, "5x5" means five sets of five reps. Rest no more than two- three minutes between sets.

- What is the difference between "5x5" and "5-5-5-5-5"?
"5x5" is five sets all done at the same weight. You are trying to go as heavy as possible for five sets, but it is important that you get all five reps of every set, so don't go so heavy that you miss reps. "5-5-5-5-5" means that you work up to as heavy as possible for that last set of 5 reps. If you miss a rep in the last set, it's okay as long as you are giving a max effort.

- What is a "5RM"?
A "5RM" is the absolute max weight you can lift for 5 reps.  4 reps at the weight would be a struggle, 6 reps would be impossible.  In the beginning of your CrossFit training, getting a "5RM" during a "5-5-5-5-5" workout is possible.  Later on, "5-5-5-5-5" should be too much weight at too high a training volume to get those "5RM"s.


For the nutrition challenge, we are going to keep the strength programs at "5-5-5-5-5" for the most part.  This is so you can focus on maintaining good strength through 5 rep sets, which is generally the hardest rep scheme because its small enough of reps to move some serious weight, but still enough reps to really tax your system.  It also allows you to keep track of your numbers easier throughout the challenge.

Keeping track of you lifting is extremely important, or you are constantly having to remind yourself where you were last time.

If week one I squat 100-110-120-130-140, if i wrote down how I felt and how difficult the reps were that day, its easy to know where to progress:

- If those weights were easy, I may go 110-120-130-140-150 the next time.
- if they were difficult, I'd go 105-115-125- 135-145
- if I only got 3 reps on the last set, I would redo the same weights (100-110-120-130-140), until I got all 5 reps at all sets.