Grace is one of my all time favorite CrossFit workouts. Why? Because it is short and sweet, almost anyone can throw a 95lb bar around, so there is always some kind of competition, and I used to smoke everyone else in the gym. And who can resist a workout made up soley of a clean and jerk...one of my favorite lifts, even though I am really not that good at it. Although, I do have to admit the movement itself rarely resembles a clean and jerk. Its more along the lines of a ground to reverse curl to rack and any way overhead.
For all the non-crossfitters and newbs to CrossFit, Grace is a hurricane WOD. The original girl named WOD's were named after hurricanes, as in the ones that make landfall...duh. Others, such as "Annie" and "Eva", were named after some of the original badass CrossFit women. Annie, made up of double-unders and sit-ups, my least favorite WOD out of all of them, is named after Annie Sakamoto...one of my all-time favorite crossfitters (along with Jolie Gentry, the original Games Champion).
Grace is a 30 rep workout. I have probably done it around a dozen times...sometimes just for fun as a warm-up and other times while participating in a fundraiser. It is one that I can complete in just a little over two and a half minutes. Then there was "drunk Grace". Come on, I wrote a whole blog about working out and drinking...you can't be surprised. There is no telling how many beers I had already consumed, but I decided to do three rounds of ten clean and jerk @ 95lbs, each round was followed by slamming a 12oz cold Miller Lite. I completed the workout in five and a half minutes...and managed to avoid hitting myself in the head with the bar. So, what this all boils down to is that I decided to make a return to "drunk Grace". Wait for it.....
30 keg clean and press...somewhere around 100lbs. I don't know what you were thinking. I finished all 30 legit reps, including a slight pause at the top, in just around 8 minutes. Although I do know how long it took, give or take, there was no rush as I was working on my form through the movement. Whereas in the past, I would have just thrown the bar around as quick as possible to get the best time. But that is one difference between CrossFit and Strongwoman...quality of the reps are way more important due to the weight involved as well as the implement. You can always drop a bar with bumpers, but a heavy keg hitting the ground due to bad form can easily end up breaking something...including a body part.
Showing posts with label strongman training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strongman training. Show all posts
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Rebuilding: One Rep at a Time
Getting involved in strongman competition was one of the best things I ever did. I love every minute of it, from simply getting stronger, to learning techniques, and even starting from scratch with a simple movement. For me, it is the drive to overcome and the desire to be better at this sport.
I can't say that I haven't hit a level of frustration in having to re-learn the simple things. I mean who wouldn't at times. But I have hit a point where I know it is going to happen...having to retrain my body and mind to a more efficient and effective technique in order to keep moving up in weight.
When I competed in CrossFit, I taught myself a ton of bad habits. I was big for a CrossFit athlete and the weights back then were typically light, so I muscled through WODs with little to no technique at all. Gymnastics movements, such as handstand push-ups and muscle-ups, were just starting to become a part of competition and Olympic lifting was still a year or so away from making its grand entrance. If you don't believe me, check out the results from the 2009 Games, where female athletes failed on the handstand push-up WOD, future Games champ Iceland Annie had not yet learned how to do muscle-ups and in fact, hit her first one at that competition, and the average snatch was only 95lbs.
In comparison, I am fairly average in size for a strongwoman competitor and I am sure as hell not able to muscle through heavy events without technique. My coach and I have spent hours of gym time rebuilding my squat, which was without question my weakest movement, and yet so essential for strongman...and obviously powerlifting. So now with a stronger base, and one that still needs to get stronger, I begin to tackle the power jerk. It is something I am in desperate need of for my October competition, and overwhelmingly proved to be a weak spot for me out in California. I spent so many years doing a push press off my toes that now I am having to rebuild this movement from the ground up, literally.
And it is kind of funny, even when I workout alone in my garage, I can hear my coach, Jill, in my head saying "that one was better" and on the very next rep "not that one". One day down the road, I swear I will get her to say those were both good reps. It may only happen once, but it will happen.
I can't say that I haven't hit a level of frustration in having to re-learn the simple things. I mean who wouldn't at times. But I have hit a point where I know it is going to happen...having to retrain my body and mind to a more efficient and effective technique in order to keep moving up in weight.
When I competed in CrossFit, I taught myself a ton of bad habits. I was big for a CrossFit athlete and the weights back then were typically light, so I muscled through WODs with little to no technique at all. Gymnastics movements, such as handstand push-ups and muscle-ups, were just starting to become a part of competition and Olympic lifting was still a year or so away from making its grand entrance. If you don't believe me, check out the results from the 2009 Games, where female athletes failed on the handstand push-up WOD, future Games champ Iceland Annie had not yet learned how to do muscle-ups and in fact, hit her first one at that competition, and the average snatch was only 95lbs.
In comparison, I am fairly average in size for a strongwoman competitor and I am sure as hell not able to muscle through heavy events without technique. My coach and I have spent hours of gym time rebuilding my squat, which was without question my weakest movement, and yet so essential for strongman...and obviously powerlifting. So now with a stronger base, and one that still needs to get stronger, I begin to tackle the power jerk. It is something I am in desperate need of for my October competition, and overwhelmingly proved to be a weak spot for me out in California. I spent so many years doing a push press off my toes that now I am having to rebuild this movement from the ground up, literally.
And it is kind of funny, even when I workout alone in my garage, I can hear my coach, Jill, in my head saying "that one was better" and on the very next rep "not that one". One day down the road, I swear I will get her to say those were both good reps. It may only happen once, but it will happen.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Frustrations
Man, I hate frustrating days! And honestly the only thing you can do with them is learn. What's the phrase...I have learned from so many of my mistakes, that I am thinking about making a few more. Something like that...but either way, a true statement.
My strongman training at the barn did not go as well as I wanted it to last night, so I went to bed frustrated with that and woke up the same way. I have a mind that doesn't shut down until I find a solution. So when I woke up this morning at 5:30am, I already had a list of things I needed to work on, how to work on them and solve the problem(s). Then add a minor back strain that won't go away and a day of work in retail, in the middle of back to school season, and that frustration is not going to go away. But this afternoon I was able to chill out, with a bag of Hostess powdered donettes (yes, they are back!), and the day got better. Some times it is the little things.
I have two weeks, give or take, until my next competition...and there is a LOT to work on, especially mental breaks during events. I have a tendency to make to many last minute and unnecessary decisions during event training, which can cost me reps or time depending on the event. It is due to being new to the sport but also a lack of confidence. For example, in my last competition, I decided mid-way through the deadlift event that I should do more than I needed just to take first in the event. It was completely unnecessary because I was already in first place overall and only needed 15 reps to stay there. Instead, I end up with 20 reps, an irritated back, and exhausted legs...with one event left to go.
When I played ball in college, I had a ton of confidence in my game, especially shooting. Now, I have no idea where it went?! As I was discussing with my coach today, I think it left when the beer did. So, for todays workout, some light stone/sandbag work and a lot of rolling out and attention to my irritating injury. I will end this day frustration free and add to my confidence! Goals set...now time to do work!
My strongman training at the barn did not go as well as I wanted it to last night, so I went to bed frustrated with that and woke up the same way. I have a mind that doesn't shut down until I find a solution. So when I woke up this morning at 5:30am, I already had a list of things I needed to work on, how to work on them and solve the problem(s). Then add a minor back strain that won't go away and a day of work in retail, in the middle of back to school season, and that frustration is not going to go away. But this afternoon I was able to chill out, with a bag of Hostess powdered donettes (yes, they are back!), and the day got better. Some times it is the little things.
I have two weeks, give or take, until my next competition...and there is a LOT to work on, especially mental breaks during events. I have a tendency to make to many last minute and unnecessary decisions during event training, which can cost me reps or time depending on the event. It is due to being new to the sport but also a lack of confidence. For example, in my last competition, I decided mid-way through the deadlift event that I should do more than I needed just to take first in the event. It was completely unnecessary because I was already in first place overall and only needed 15 reps to stay there. Instead, I end up with 20 reps, an irritated back, and exhausted legs...with one event left to go.
When I played ball in college, I had a ton of confidence in my game, especially shooting. Now, I have no idea where it went?! As I was discussing with my coach today, I think it left when the beer did. So, for todays workout, some light stone/sandbag work and a lot of rolling out and attention to my irritating injury. I will end this day frustration free and add to my confidence! Goals set...now time to do work!
Friday, August 2, 2013
Nutrition My Way
Big Red Zero and Chunky Chips Ahoy. The End.
Since dropping 50+lbs, the first damn question I get is "did you change your diet?". First of all, I have never been on a diet for more than a few days. It just doesn't work for me. I love to eat crap and used to love beer before it tried to kill me. Actually, once I gave up drinking, I did have issues with consuming enough calories to sustain me for more than one hour at a time...but I will save that for another time.
So, no I do not nor did I diet to change the way I look. I will tell you what I do. I bust my ass every day in the gym and the garage...and Sundays at the barn. I squat, deadlift, bench, lift stones, axle bars, log bars, kegs, and move a conan's wheel, yoke, and tractor tires. I think that about covers it.
I am a happy, muscular, 160lber that enjoys life the way I want to live it. When someone gives me grief about the processed foods that I consume, my response is this...I could walk across the street and get hit by a car so why be miserable dieting. Which is usually followed by...but a diet is a way of life. Well, you live yours and I will enjoy mine.
I do understand the importance of eating healthy foods and am not saying eat the way I do. I do eat a lot of protein based foods but also enjoy my sandwiches for lunch, carbo loading with pasta before a competition and a stack of waffles and/or pancakes for breakfast. On the flip side, I rarely eat out...and almost never sit in line at a drive through.
That in a nutshell is nutrition my way. And please do not send me hate mail because I get to eat things that you love, but your diet says you can not have them.
Since dropping 50+lbs, the first damn question I get is "did you change your diet?". First of all, I have never been on a diet for more than a few days. It just doesn't work for me. I love to eat crap and used to love beer before it tried to kill me. Actually, once I gave up drinking, I did have issues with consuming enough calories to sustain me for more than one hour at a time...but I will save that for another time.
So, no I do not nor did I diet to change the way I look. I will tell you what I do. I bust my ass every day in the gym and the garage...and Sundays at the barn. I squat, deadlift, bench, lift stones, axle bars, log bars, kegs, and move a conan's wheel, yoke, and tractor tires. I think that about covers it.
I am a happy, muscular, 160lber that enjoys life the way I want to live it. When someone gives me grief about the processed foods that I consume, my response is this...I could walk across the street and get hit by a car so why be miserable dieting. Which is usually followed by...but a diet is a way of life. Well, you live yours and I will enjoy mine.
I do understand the importance of eating healthy foods and am not saying eat the way I do. I do eat a lot of protein based foods but also enjoy my sandwiches for lunch, carbo loading with pasta before a competition and a stack of waffles and/or pancakes for breakfast. On the flip side, I rarely eat out...and almost never sit in line at a drive through.
That in a nutshell is nutrition my way. And please do not send me hate mail because I get to eat things that you love, but your diet says you can not have them.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Why Strongman?
1. Because you get to lift heavy shit.
2. Because you get to lift heavy shit.
Ok...I will stop.
I was warned well ahead of time that people involved in other sports do not understand the concept of strongman. And for the most part it is true. Let me use one prime example: CrossFit. And I am not writing this to bash CrossFit gyms or their athletes. I was a crossfitter for years and still have a love for it and the people at my old gyms. CrossFit offers a strongman certification course, that I have heard is great, but yet most still fail to understand the benefits of strongman training. So, I am here to explain why I train this way.
When I was involved in CrossFit competitively, I actually preferred to follow the football site that offered quick, short, heavy ass WOD's in comparison to doing a daily WOD that was thirty to forty minutes long. I never lost a step by doing this and actually gained strength. The same can be said for strongman workouts...most events only last one minute each (although training for them is longer), they are extremely heavy, and gaining strength happens almost on a weekly basis. So why not train this way?
I know crossfitters may see this type of training as strictly strength based with no endurance or cardio. I dare you to go outside, pick up a heavy ass rock, wrap your arms around tight, and move as quick as you can for 100 feet. I guarantee you will be breathing heavy. Or in the next WOD that has a farmers carry/walk, load up 200lbs in each hand and see how far you make it. Try deadlifting a shit ton of weight or pressing a loaded axle bar for one minute non-stop. I could go on all day with examples.
The moral of the story is that strongman training does make you stronger, there is a lot of endurance involved, both cardio and muscular...and it is in fact...wait for it...easily accessible. The tools of the trade are mostly things you can find anywhere...from tractor tires, to logs, to stones, to kegs. You don't need anything fancy...just pick up something heavy or strap it around your waist and go! As simple as that.
I do, however, recommend that you find someone who is knowledgeable in the sport before taking on any of the movements. There are a lot of technical details in the movements themselves and no one wants to sustain an injury. Oh but wouldn't you know...a 2x World's Strongest Woman lives right here in town! Well shit, now what excuse do you have to give it a try? I promise everyone can and will see results with this type of training...even crossfitters. It does not have to be something you train daily. I actually only train events once a week...everything else is done at the gym or in my garage.
Give it a shot...get dirty...and lift heavy shit! There is nothing better!
2. Because you get to lift heavy shit.
Ok...I will stop.
I was warned well ahead of time that people involved in other sports do not understand the concept of strongman. And for the most part it is true. Let me use one prime example: CrossFit. And I am not writing this to bash CrossFit gyms or their athletes. I was a crossfitter for years and still have a love for it and the people at my old gyms. CrossFit offers a strongman certification course, that I have heard is great, but yet most still fail to understand the benefits of strongman training. So, I am here to explain why I train this way.
When I was involved in CrossFit competitively, I actually preferred to follow the football site that offered quick, short, heavy ass WOD's in comparison to doing a daily WOD that was thirty to forty minutes long. I never lost a step by doing this and actually gained strength. The same can be said for strongman workouts...most events only last one minute each (although training for them is longer), they are extremely heavy, and gaining strength happens almost on a weekly basis. So why not train this way?
I know crossfitters may see this type of training as strictly strength based with no endurance or cardio. I dare you to go outside, pick up a heavy ass rock, wrap your arms around tight, and move as quick as you can for 100 feet. I guarantee you will be breathing heavy. Or in the next WOD that has a farmers carry/walk, load up 200lbs in each hand and see how far you make it. Try deadlifting a shit ton of weight or pressing a loaded axle bar for one minute non-stop. I could go on all day with examples.
The moral of the story is that strongman training does make you stronger, there is a lot of endurance involved, both cardio and muscular...and it is in fact...wait for it...easily accessible. The tools of the trade are mostly things you can find anywhere...from tractor tires, to logs, to stones, to kegs. You don't need anything fancy...just pick up something heavy or strap it around your waist and go! As simple as that.
I do, however, recommend that you find someone who is knowledgeable in the sport before taking on any of the movements. There are a lot of technical details in the movements themselves and no one wants to sustain an injury. Oh but wouldn't you know...a 2x World's Strongest Woman lives right here in town! Well shit, now what excuse do you have to give it a try? I promise everyone can and will see results with this type of training...even crossfitters. It does not have to be something you train daily. I actually only train events once a week...everything else is done at the gym or in my garage.
Give it a shot...get dirty...and lift heavy shit! There is nothing better!
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