Thursday, January 28, 2010

Strength - Workout B

3 sets of 5 x 185lb back squats. Note to self: Pay more attention to the amount of weight on the bar. I did a set of 5 x 175lbs before I noticed it was too light. Also, I notice that once I hit rep 3 or 4, I forget what number I'm on. There was likely at least one set, and possibly more, in which I did six reps.

Hey... they don't call it "CountFit."

3 sets of 5 x 100lb bench press.

5 sets of 3 x 115 power cleans.

I know it's still early days, but I'm really happy that I decided to start doing this. I don't harbour any illusions of having a 1000-plus CrossFit Total like Harlan, but I always knew there was a lot of room for improvement when it came to my strength. The number of metcon workouts that I'm doing is way down, but I don't really miss them that much. In fact, with the low-intensity strength workouts I barely even break a sweat... at least, so far. I'm sure when the weights start to get close to the limits of my capability, I will start to sweat. But even with the light weights, I think I'm actually losing the last of the Christmas/Cancun surplus weight and inching back into the 173-175 range I was at before.

Aaron had told me to make sure I eat when doing this. He wasn't kidding. I have been eating CONSTANTLY, and I am always hungry. I've been trying eat mostly good stuff, and I guess when you're eating good food (meat, veggies, fruit) it takes a lot to fill up. My stomach is literally growling as I write this, and it was less than an hour ago that I was eating a good portion of turkey and chicken breasts and some raw veggies, followed by a slice of banana bread.

I e-mailed Aaron the other night about the strength programming: "I am really digging it so far. I wish I had done this a long time ago."

He responded: "Glad you are enjoying it...Right now everything is fairly easy, but it will get tougher, much tougher. :-)"

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I kid you not squatting with a HEAVY bar will feel like you just ran a long distance for your life, then do it twice more. :)

google "70's big", no its not porn but Ripp's daily rant that you are a skinny fuck and aren't eating enough.

HB

Robin said...

A good set of 5 back squats should feel like you just did a 400m sprint. My PR for 5s is 50 pounds over my bodyweight. Good times!

Tyler said...

I'm only in the second week of doing this. I figure by week 4, things will start to get a little more challenging.

Harlan, that 70sbig.com site is terrific. I want to get stronger, but I also want to be faster and leaner. I'll never be a bodybuilder, but I would rather have a body composition like, say, OPT's than Rip's.

Kurt said...

It's good to see you doing this and it's by far my favorite things to do. If I can get my shoulder shit sorted out we need to race to see who has the least shitty bench press. Heh.

aaroncfr said...

Tyler, for you to get stronger, you will need to get a bit bigger, maybe more than a bit. This will take calories and won't happen if you are concerned with getting really lean. Getting as strong as possible isn't ideally achieved while getting ripped. You have the goal to improve your strength base so pursue that goal completely and you will find in a few months you will be able to better apply strength in metcon WODs and get a better result from them. You will lean out again fairly quickly. The ravenous eating is not a long-term part of the program.
Don't worry, 70s Big is not a bodybuilding site.

Tyler said...

Okay. Pass the bacon.