Fitness: 3×8 Sets Across
LP Add 2-5lbs to last week.
AMRAP 6 min
30 Double Unders
10 HR Push Ups
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Performance: Heavy 5
Work up to a top set of 5 reps. Try and go heavier than last weeks 5
AMRAP 6 min
30 Double Unders
10 Bench Press @ 70% of today’s work.
MUST USE SPOTTERS, NO EXCEPTIONS!
Post loads to comments.
BP e4/6 compare to 3.14.13
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Res takes a crack at 13.2
By Coach Christian Fox
There are a bunch of reasons to get better at doing pull ups. For one, we do a bunch of them in CrossFit. They’re also a great way to increase the strength of your upper back, arms, lats, grip, and help to have a balanced and healthy shoulder girdle. You should be able to do strict pull ups with a variety of grips, and once you can consistently do few pull ups at a time it may be time to start working on the kipping pull up. Here’s how you’re going to get better, no matter where in the scheme of it you are.
Beginner
(No pull ups, or “I did one, once…”)
“A” Day
3 sets of 12 reps of either: Ring Rows or Band Assisted Pull Ups. Use an angle or band that makes completing all the repetitions challenging. Rest as needed between sets.
Followed by, 3 Supersets of 12 reps of either: Dumbbell Curls (I know you’ve secretly wanted to do these anyway) or Dumbbell Rows with either: Dumbbell Bench Press or Dumbbell Floor Press. Choose a weight that feels like you could have done another rep or two at the end of the set. Take minimal rest between exercises in the superset.
———
“B” Day
10 ‘mini sets’ of 1 rep each of 5-10 second negatives using either a pull top or set a box up that allows you to start at the top (collar bone above the bar). Yes, that seems like a lot of rest in between reps, and no, it’s not a lot of total reps. That’s a good thing, trust me.
Alternate between the A day and the B day with a day of rest between workouts. An example would be:
Monday A – Wednesday B – Saturday A – Monday B – Wednesday A – Saturday B
———
Intermediate
(Can do 3-5 pull ups at a time)
Week 1) 6 sets of 2 reps. Rest 1 minute between sets. Perform twice a week.
Week 2) 5 sets of 3 reps. Rest 1 minute between sets. Perform twice a week.
Week 3) 4 sets of 4 reps. Rest 90-120 seconds between sets. Perform twice a week.
Week 4) 3 sets to failure. Rest 3 minutes between sets. Perform twice a week.
This program can be used until you have 3 sets of 10 reps in the 4th week. In other words, if you don’t get the 3×10 in week 4 restart at week 1 by adding a rep to the sets. Week one would be 6×3, week 2 would be 5×4, and week 3 would be 4×5, then retest in week 4.
End each session by practicing kipping pulls ups for a few small sets, no more than 5 sets and no more than 8 reps. Terminate the set if you fall out of rhythm. It’s all about developing a rhythm that you can control and maintain. Remember that a solid kip uses your whole body and don’t forget that your abs need to be engaged throughout. If you fly open in the front of the kip you are leaking tons of energy away from the bar.
Check out this video for a peek at what an efficient pull up should look like.
———
Advanced
(Can regularly do sets of 10 or more strict and/or kipping)
Congrats, you stud or stud-ette. You are now on your way to becoming elite! Don’t expect though that your pull ups will magically become better if you don’t practice them. You should still be working on both strict and kipping pull ups. Mix up the grip that you use when you practice. Try these.
1) Once a week do a set or two to near failure. Start with a pull up grip (hands outside shoulder width and palms away) and when you are 2 reps shy of failure switch to a chin up grip (hands inside shoulder width and palms toward you). When you are 2 reps shy of failure switch to a mixed grip (1 palm in, 1 palm out) and do the same before switching again.
2) You can practice similarly by doing a set or two of max strict pull ups, immediately switching to kipping and again going till failure (or a rep shy of it).
3) Start doing weighted pull ups/chin ups, 3 sets of 5 reps, and seeing if you can add weight each week.
4) 30 seconds on/30 seconds off for 5 minutes of max reps kipping pull ups. The set ends if you come off the bar. Remember to stay engaged in the trunk. Don’t leak energy out in front. Remember this video.
5) Each time you’re in the gym do a 3-5 sub-max sets of kipping pull ups, trying to add a rep each time you do the drill. You want to feel fresh and stay shy of failure here. Terminate the set if grip becomes the limiting factor. Again, remember to stay engaged and not leak energy out of the front of the kip. Once again…
6) If you have a solid kip that just seems to go away on you when you get gassed then try practicing your pull ups under duress. Do 50 double unders or sprint down the block and back followed immediately by a set of 10-15 pull ups.
——-
If one of the days that you’re in the gym involves a lot of pull ups then consider that a replacement day for one of the days on the above programs. Also consider this…it’s no mistake that smaller, lighter people have an easier time with pull ups. While the barbell exercises can be scaled easily to ability, calisthenics can not. If you have some weight to lose then a solid nutritional program can work in tandem with the above programs to help you achieve the pull up. Check out the folks over at Whole 9 or our buddy Robb Wolf for lots of info from simple tips to detailed programs to get you started. Three cheers getting yer pull ups up!!!
We’ve recently had a consistent group of 4-6 members staying after class to work on Fox’s program. What is your weakest movement and what are you doing to get better?
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Face Off: The Open Announcement Experience Crossfit Games
5:30 Tuesday class
3RNFT
20 BPA w/Red
15 Erg Pulls (tried to stay at/close to 1:40)
10 Walking Lunges
Bench Press
45×5, 95×5, 135×5, 185×5, 210×5
230×5 (which ties a 5RM)
WOD @160
3 +30/1
3rd round of bench was much harder than the 1st or 2nd. Really had to focus on setting up like it was heavy. Doubles were a shit show as I haven't done them much lately.
Anybody done the Chris Kresser cholesterol action plan thing? Worth the $150?
JB, KH, and SZ together again in 7 AM! I don't think that's happened since December.
Bench 112×5, and I rewarded Julie with one of my patented opera singer-style screams on rep 5.
WOD 20 DU attempts/round, 78# bench, 3 rounds + DUs + 3 bench. I was shocked by how this went — the bench felt SO heavy, and I thought I was going to have more rest in between sets because I usually screw up DUs more than I did this morning. I got 10 in a row at one point, and was mostly stringing together 6s and 7s.
Worked up to 225 at the bench – felt pretty good – could have gone a little heavier actually.
Bench press was *very* tough on the WOD – got 3 rounds + 5 BP. No breaks on the DU but the last two rounds of bench were mostly singles.
8:30 with MeLo and Jess.
Realized my legs were much more tired than I thought during the WU. Walking lunges after hard erg pulls are no fun.
Benched with Shawn.
[45×10, 95×5, 135×3] 160x8x3
Eighth reps of sets two and three were tough. Little things are clicking each time I practice this, and I've gotten a lot out of these four exposures already.
WOD with push-ups: 4+DU+6. Push-ups were totally shot by the end of this. I was down to singles by the end.
Monday squatted HB pause with Shimi. Got to 205. Then WOD with Pablo in 8:22 with T2B and 40 lb thrusters, last set at 50.
I've been doing Fox'a progression after class — it's really tough, but nice to be getting through several sets of 5 strict at a time now. Never thought that'd happen when I started.
A. 6:30pm class last night. 7am this morning. My dreamteam of KH and Stella in the house, seriously been months since we've been able to make the morning magic happen – thanks for the shriek Stella you know I love that. Booted for the first time ever at SBK and yes I put it on the accomplishments board. Tired and not hungry = barf
B. Does anyone have access to girl scout cookies? I would happily go to jail for a box or two of Samoas and Thin Mints, apparently I missed the pre-sell window and they are basically the only things that sound good to eat right now. I can't find them anywhere.
C. Big love to to everyone for the texts, calls, emails, kind words received, taco dates are a very popular item btw, and I apologize for not responding yet to those things electronically delivered. Posting what I did yesterday tapped me out so please know responses are coming – albeit slow. Was hit with a huge whammy on Monday, so I officially have put 2013 on notice. You all are making it better and yet again, from the bottom of my toes, thank you. No more of this nonsense from me after today. Seriously. xo
top of my "things to work on" list is pull-ups, so i'll be having some fun with fox's progression, hell let's say starting tonight after strength class! no day better than today to start.
other things on my list – not looking like a donkey when attempting handstands.
7AM w/ Josh + McD
150LBS 3×8
Out of all the strength we do, this is the area where I'm getting heavier quickest. Started out at 135 and have added 5LBS each week. Pretty stoked about it since my back won't let me squat heavy right now.
4 RNDS + 30DUs + 4 Pushups
I had a DU epiphany today: I just relaxed. Typically when I do DUs in practice I'm fine and can get up to 40/50 but the moment I get into a WOD I start only being able to do 8-10 and then mess up. I realized after my second round (when I started doing them 10 at a time) that my shoulders were tense, my wrists were tense and I was concentrating so hard on flicking my wrists and keeping my arms from moving away from my body that I was trying to make it so technical. The moment I let my shoulders relax and my wrists just move naturally I was able to do R3 – R6 completely unbroken. Don't know if that will help anyone, but it helped me.
okay, i'm in for the pull up progressions… although i'm wondering if that is stupid to try when i dont even have a push up yet??
glad to hear you are back, jb. 🙂
JB- I got you, one box of each will be at the gym tonight. Someone at work has been selling them, so this way I can live vicariously through your pleasure consuming them. I'll leave em behind the front desk for you.
As far as weaknesses and plans of attack-
Handstand pushups are still my bugaboo, despite having decent overhead strength on barbell movements.
For a few months I just did a lot of HSPU and I certainly felt better with them, but whenever I would attempt them under any duress the same thing would happen.
Last time I tried Diane I was able to narrow it down- my anterior core isn't strong enough (despite my confluence of situp-interfering abdominal muscles) and I get overextended too quickly and then am working twice as hard for half the reward.
So I've been trying to work on that, with some success. This whole long story is a means to say that sometimes what you think is the problem might not be the exact problem, and that a limiting factor in one area might have a ripple effect elsewhere. FWIW.
A good fin vid about exercise. http://mashable.com/2013/03/20/extreme-exercise-video/
@Noah you are amazing. Between you and 6am Rebecca I will now be happily curled up with boxes and crumbs. Dollars are in my wallet for next time we meet. MGMT tomorrow those cookies will be picked up.
Bleh, I totally missed the QOD about weaknesses.
My weakest movements are anything involving coordination — double unders, Oly lifts, kipping pullups (can I really say kipping pullups are my "weakest movement" when I don't even have them yet?).
I'm honestly not doing anything besides coming to class on Sundays (cleans!) to address these things now. Occasionally I will practice kip swings after class but usually I have to bolt out the door to get to work. Have been spending my outside-of-CF efforts mostly on chinups, which although not easy for me are not my weakest movement. I figure it can't hurt to build my upper body strength so I can finally get a kipping pullup. I also plan to do a few privates with DO after he gets back from vacation to see whether he can troubleshoot me.
This is weird, and at the same time I understand it: the days when I do the best at my worst movements are days when I am fatigued. Like, today I was chaining together DUs like I almost never do. And this past Sunday, I thought my shoulders were fried from 13.2 and bench pressing, but I ended up hitting a PR clean. I have a feeling this is because being tired meant that I was physically incapable of overthinking the movement. Even when I tell myself "don't think too hard about this," that IS, in effect, thinking about it. And when I'm too tired even to allow myself that, THEN my subconscious finally adds up all the instructions I've gotten from coaches over the last two years and the magic happens!
Incidentally, similar is true of my crosswording prowess — in the years after my first top-ten finish, I kept thinking, "OMG I COULD WIN THIS THING," and I made mistakes that threw me out of the top group several years in a row. Then in 2010 I got the flu and finished seventh, and thought, "HOW?!" The following year, mistakes and disaster — and that was when I finally realized, "I might not ever be able to win this thing, but if I stop worrying about my speed and just think about not making mistakes, I will do well." Which led me to 9th place in 2012 and my best-ever finish this year, because all I thought about was calmly solving and checking my paper instead of trying to barrel through the puzzles.
Sorry for the novel…I've been having this internal dialogue with myself for quite a while before today's QOD, clearly 😛
6am with Josh and McDowell. 93x3x8. Forgot to count my total reps in the WOD.
This is a good QOD — forcing me to come clean about the fact that I'm not doing much outside of class to work on my biggest weaknesses. I've managed to come up with some lame excuses not to work on pull-ups, but the lack-of-equipment-at-home excuse doesn't apply to double unders. So I'll start there!
Weaknesses and Plan:
My eternal weaknesses are my mobility – especially in my hips/psoas and the strength of my lower back/lower abdominals. These weaknesses hurt my performance everywhere, but most obviously in the pulling movements. I've known this for a long time, but after strength cycle, when my deadlift was the same as my squat, and after I had been so bad at the challenge, I've somewhat successfully dedicated myself to fixing those weaknesses over the past couple weeks.
This has included: mobility while watching TV (mostly during Jeopardy where I don't have to look at the screen), which is generally: T-Spine, lax ball psoas and glutes, couch stretch/samson stretch, paleo squat focusing on ankle mobility, and then flowing between downward dog with calf march and the cobra stretch (I think that's what it's called), lifting your chest off the floor with palms down. I've already found this to be helpful.
Then for low back/"CORE" strengthening, I have been doing banded good mornings when I can't make it to the gym, reverse hypers over my couch when I can't make it to the gym, and ab-wheeling from my knees, and also worked on kneeling jumps , to which I hope to add some weight at some point to work on hip explosiveness/coordination. At the gym, I've been doing banded reverse hypers at open gym. I'll probably add in rack pulls somewhere along the line.
Making my apartment a place where I can do this stuff has really helped, and I'm hoping that it just becomes an everyday/every other day part of my life.
i am here to talk about food again…
so, after the challenge, i stayed on point for a while. until about five or six days ago. and then i crashed hard on the wrong side of the paleo/health fence. it's bad, and i cant get it back together.
i dunno, anyone interested in doing another challenge, starting sometime in the next few days? i have no ideas as far as how long it should be for or any details… just that i obviously eat much better when i'm on a plan than when im free wheeling. and wondering if anyone else feels the same way.
Joining the chorus… Biggest weakness = core strength. I'm not doing as much as I should, but I plan to add a bunch of the things Joel mentioned, as well as planks and hollow holds/rocks. My weak core and tendency to hyperextend impacts just about everything we do.
Other areas of focus: double unders (finally have a few!) and kipping pull-ups (got two on Sunday!). Hitting my rhombiods and hamstrings in DIY A/R.
"Hi my name is Fox and I have 2 things I currently suck at"
1) Embarrassing as it is, one of them is mobility. I'm fancy myself the Brooklyn version of the Supple Leopard, I know, but a busy schedule makes for short training windows and like the rest of you I'd much rather throw a heavy barbell round than mash around on a roller or a lacrosse ball and stretch tight stuff. I'm finding that it's a problem in that regard now though, making the catch at the bottom of a heavy snatch tough. My current power snatch is almost 30 lbs more than my full snatch, and that ain't right. I took my plan directly from Rudy at the Outlaw camp a few weeks ago. Every time I'm in the gym I am performing a complex of snatch drills that include my most hated movements, the OH duck walk and the Sots press…
2) The other weakness is my ab strength. Like Noah, I tend to fall into over extension easily. I'm doing supplemental ab work after every workout. Either GHD based (sit ups and isometrics), ground based (hollow holds/rocks, planks), or overhead based (strict k2e and t2b).
Thanks for letting me share.
my weakness is double unders. i keep trying to throw money at the problem by buying new jump ropes but no luck. one of these days i might have to just start practicing
DL 1" deficit
365×3
405x3x3
Snatch Grip DL off 4" blocks
255x12x3
HiB Squat
225x6x3
Glute Ham Raise
Blue Bandx8x3
Hit 110 on then bench 3×8 shoulder is still weak strength wise but it's building back.
6 rounds with the last 4 sets being pushups from the knees.
The bench cooked my shoulders and the DU's tossed them in the friolator.
Weaknesses…
Getting my upperbody strength back is really paramount.
My pullups, toes to bar, ohs, etc.
How… I will be signing on starting next month for 5 times a week. (one will probably be active recovery)
Mean time I will continue to lax ball and foam roll every night. I can't stress enough how it has helped me to recover and get back on track to working out.
I also need to get my jerks stronger and get my snatch up. I would like to get to my body weight with the snatch. (152#)
Is anyone else doing (training for, even) the Brooklyn Half? I'm trying to see what two months of running while strength cycling will get me for the half. Probably not so good.
more importantly, it will wreck your ability to make strength gains.
My biggest weakness is by far my mobility. I was a recovering bad mobilizer (i was at AR and came 20minutes before class to work on it) recently I have had a relapse.
I will be coming back.
My 2nd biggest weakness is lower back strangth/core. I have been doing a lot of work her doing ghd rope pulls and back extensions post every workout.
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Sam – All of this comes with the disclaimer that I have run races more for fun and have always prioritized barbell training…I'm not running the BK Half but here's my 2 cents…I've run 13.1 before while preparing for a meet, and have also run 13.1 right on the heels of a meet. I prioritized the strength training and ran "a bit" so my legs weren't in shock on race day. The first time I actually ran 2x/week. One day of short sprints and one longish run and that was a much more enjoyable half. The other one my running was far less and although I completed the race it was not too much fun. Both times I prioritized my strength training over the running and I saw good gains. I think the keys to this were 2 fold.
1- Leave a rest day between your long run and a strength training day.
2- Recover well. I used the long run day as a cheat day and ate lots of protein and carbs in various forms.
In the end for someone who has run a bit and does Crossfit a 13.1 mile run shouldn't need all that much training up to. You, however, have been doing strength for a while now so you could probably use some conditioning in the form of running sprints and one long-ish run. Building up to 6-8 miles a week before the race should be plenty.
Fox (& Michele) – Yeah, it's an experiment, and I'm partitioning my week pretty carefully (rest or recovery run M/W/F, strength Tu/Th + jog t/f gym, tempo or intervals + bw work Sat., longer Sun.), to be adjusted if I don't recover. I used to be a good runner, and I like barbell training and track intervals (1.5–3 miles' worth) and tempo runs (20–30 minutes) more than WODs, and I have a pet theory that CF underrates pure aerobic base training. I guess the test will be Murph more than the 13.1 or the next total if I'm able to do that. If I start missing lifts, then I rethink asap.
BK Half!: I was just asking Fox how to juggle logging miles and CF. This will be my first half where I've done anything beyond simply running. I'm skeptical that I can replace miles with lifting, especially since 13.1 usually ends up being a mind endurance game for me. I'm happy to give it a shot though as I'm getting increasingly bored running circles around the park. Still, if anyone ever wants to run after work/hold me accountable for post-work runs/work on speed, I would really love to join! – talktowhit@gmail.com
Power Snatch-
195#x1
185#x2x2
Clean and Jerk:Worked up to a heavy single (wound up to be a PR)
295#
Bench:275×5
WOD: 8 Rounds (Did this with Push ups. I didn't feel like being sore for 4 days)
My biggest weakness is being stubborn and not resting enough. I am working on that however. I will come in and just row a little and stretch on days when I know I shouldnt lift…
And Fox, not what you asked about re Kresser, but here begins way more than you ever wanted to know about cholesterol, from Gary Taubes's partner in nutritional science studies: http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-part-i
Bench press: 260×4. Last week 255×5 felt great. Today felt heavy, even on the warm ups. WOD at 185: 2 rounds + 30 DUs + 2. Used a heavier rope than normal today. Arms are toasted.
Current weakness I'm working on is the olympic lifts. I'm doing nightly hip and shoulder mobility work to help with the catch position in the full snatch and clean. A single Sots press rep is one of my intermediate goals (is that Sots or Sott's?). On squat days, I'm focusing more on getting my ass to the floor than pushing heavy weight.
Answering my own question: the Sots press is named after Viktor Sots, some strong ass Russian dude.
Benching with Garrett:
165x3x8
Accessory WOD: 4 rounds even @95lbs
Not unhappy to be missing 13.3 which is basically a repeat of 12.4.
150 wallballs? No thanks.
13.3 is 12.4! Finkel is Einhorn!
@Luca FTW with the Ace Ventura quote.
Weaknesses are too numerous to catalogue. But wallballs are a big problem for me and I have been daydreaming about Karen or whatever it's called – so, "it's time to nut up or shut up."
Got to partner with the Incredible Mr. Katz, lover of the metric system, which does not happen often (actually this was the first time).
Bench – 45×10, 95×5, 135×5, 160×5, 165×3
WOD 4 rounds plus 31 reps at 95#
Is anyone else having trouble streaming 13.3? I'm trying on a variety of apple products. No dice 🙁
13.3 kill me.
Woof.
Worked out with some coworkers in the office after work and it was totally fun. Watched the announcement afterward and tried out some wall balls and DUs to remind myself of how much they both suck.
Weaknesses: Plenty, but right now I want to work on snatches and overhead squats. My 3 months of dedicated C&J work last year did wonders for my numbers there, so I'm hoping I can make some progress here as well. Have been working shoulder mobility, and added 3×5 Klokov presses to my overhead work once a week. I have been working light squat snatches and snatch balances once a week too, will probably throw some Sots presses into the mix eventually. Need to start going heavy once a week with the snatches once I feel good about coming out of the bottom with heavier weight, hence also working OHS on occasion.
DH3 and I were driving around last night talking about this workout and our experiences with it from last year. He hated it and wanted a shot at vengeance, I loved it and never wanted to do 150 wallballs ever again.
Guess we both win.