Friday 9.23.11

My Power Breakfast:  4 scrambled eggs, bacon, and sweet potato hash browns!

Today was CrossFit Football Total day, where the last 3 months of training would culminate with a 1rm max effort in 4 lifts:  the power clean, back squat, bench press, and deadlift.  I had to switch up the schedule a little so Craig and I could train together, cause this is a day you definitely want a spotter!  I usually don't eat before I train, but I wasn't going to lift until noon, so at 8:30 I had the above meal.  I think this will be my standard pre-lifting meal every time I total!

The rules for the total are that you have to do the lifts in the prescribed order, and after your warm up sets you have only three attempts to hit a max lift.  So there is some gaming you have to do to pick the right weights at the right time.  Last time 3 months ago my total was 1600.  This time my goal was 1700.

Warm Up:

- Mobility and glute activation drills.

SWOD:

CrossFit Football Total

Power Clean:

- Warm Up Sets:  45x Burgener warm up, 95x3, 135x2, 185x1, 225x1, 275x1, 315x 3 clean pulls, 365x 2 clean pulls, and 405x1 clean pull

- Work Sets:  305x miss, 305x1 (PR!), 315x so close but still a miss.

Theory: 

Last total I hit 285 for this lift, but I had recently hit 300 in training.  I wanted to hit a PR for my first rep, which would leave me 2 reps to go even higher.  Since I failed the 1st rep, but pr'd the 2nd, I went for broke on the 3rd and came up just short.  

Back Squat:

- Warm Up Sets: 45x5, 135x4, 225x3, 315x2, 405x1

- Work Sets:  455x1 (PR!), 465x1 (PR again!), 475x1 (PR yet again!)

Theory: 

Last total I hit 440 on this lift, so my theory again was to establish a big PR then see how far I could push it.  I wanted 465 going in, but I ended up 10 lbs higher, which kept me on target to hit 1700.

Bench Press:

- Warm Up Sets:  45x5, 135x4, 225x3, 315x2, 405x 10 second hold

- Work Sets:  365x1, 375 x miss, 370x1 (PR!)

Theory: 

Last total I hit 365 on this lift, but I wasn't very confident I would PR because I hadn't pushed the weight very high in training.  My goal was to tie my last PR, which I did, then go for 10 more.  I failed at that though and had to settle for a 5lbs jump.  But a PR's a PR so I'll take it!

Deadlift:

- Warm Up Sets:  135x3, 225x2, 315x1, 405x1, 495x1, 585x 10 second hold, 635x 5 second hold

- Work Sets:  550x1 (PR!), done

Theory:  

I went into this last lift knowing I needed 550 to hit my goal of 1700.  I kept the reps very low in my warm up sets so I wouldn't tire out.  I hit two reps of holds over my target weight to trick my nervous system, then went straight to what I needed to get, 550.  It actually was fairly easy.  I should've tried more on the first lift, but afterward I felt like I didn't have enough in the tank to lift more with good form so I called it quits with a big PR.

Total:  1700 (100 lbs PR!)

During this last phase of of training I tested a few different training principles that seemed to pan out:

1. Box Squats.  They work.  Overload the posterior chain and watch your squat numbers shoot through the roof.  I PR's by 35 pounds, which was an all-time PR even from my power lifting days when I weighed 280.
2. Post Activation Potentiation is king.  This is the nervous system trick of holding or supporting a load that is much heavier than your training load right before attempting a max lift.
3. Sodium Loading actually works.  This is a strength athlete trick of eating high sodium the night before an event.  It manipulates your body's water content in the muscles and helps with strength.  If your diet is usually low or at normal levels of sodium, loading up for a specific event is not unhealthy.
4. Reverse Pyramid training is the holy grail of rep schemes (for me, any way).  What works for one may not work for another, but part of making yourself better is trial and error and finding what works for you.  Any lifter who's been training consistently for over 10 years like I have has a hard time adding appreciable numbers to his lifts, but through reverse pyramid training I was able to do just that.  Nothing works forever, and I may stall out at some point but for now I'm gonna ride this wagon til the wheels fall off.
5. Strongman training has huge carry over.  For the last month Saturday has been devoted to strongman training:  farmers walks, yoke carries, stone lifting, keg tossing, etc.  These lifts teach your body to work as a unit.  The core work is unbelievable.  When you've walked 50 feet with 715 pounds on your back, suddenly a 405 back squat doesn't seem so big anymore.  

This post is a novel today, but the whole reason for this blog is for others to see one way of doing things, and to know the reasons behind why I do them.   I'm hoping to see just as many PR's from The Compound next Monday when you guys total!