ONDEG Fitness

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Ain't no shortage of information these days.  I guess there's never really been a shortage of information...just that we've become accustomed to the access to information.  And, yes, the Internet...it can be helpful and it can be a hindrance.  It's a hindrance to me 'cuz I tend to get caught up in all the information relating to strength and stamina.  And, occasionally sufferance.  When I say all the information, I mean ALL...I love reading about techniques in particular, but the opinions are fun too.

The one qualifier I have for putting any stock into a website is whether or not the site is focused on simply presenting information or attempting to sell me something.  The person or organization that is presenting you their products, books, or programs as something to spend money on cannot be faulted...that's just business.  But take a look at what the overall goal of the website is before you invest alot of time in the presentation of "information".

A case in point:  CrossFit.com.  It started as a simple "workout of the day" and has evolved beyond that to offer much, much more, but it's basically the same template.  Each day a different workout, complimented by instruction, education and community involvement.  Does CrossFit make money from it's site?  OH HELL YEAH.  Just check it out every Monday morning to see how many folks have paid a grand to attend their level one training seminar.  Not to mention all their specialty certs.  But what you see on the main page is all about training.  Nothing (or very little) says "buy me!" or "spend money on this".  You get your workout, and some supplemental info (and some occasional bullshit), and very little marketing.

Now look at Lou Schuler's website.  (www.louschuler.com)  I have no idea what Lou's claim to fame might be, but apparently he's figured out the "new rules of lifting".  And, according to him, there's new rules that apply to life in general, for women, for abs, etc., etc.  If you want to know these "new" rules, you'll have to buy the book(s).  My guess is that it's the same information you can find elsewhere for free, repackaged into Lou's "new" methods.

There's really no "new rules of lifting"...just the application of what we already know:  strength is paramount, stamina is preferred and willingness to suffer is the most reliable predictor of success.

So, do I have the corner on the market as it relates to "fitness".  Is the triad of "strength, stamina and sufferance" the be-all/end-all of human performance?  Well, yeah, I think it is.  It's the starting point at a very minimum.  And if you forget that, it's easy to get mired down in the BS presented by the "fitness" industry.  I don't need a to write a book to tell you that the Three S's will guide you on your fitness journey.  The books/articles/blogs have already been written, you just need to wade thru the bullshit to find the right ones.

Hopefully I've done that...guided you to find the basic info that can take you 95% of the way to your goals.  I owe my fitness "awakening" to CrossFit, and I'll continue to use "constantly-varied, functional movements executed at high intensity" as the guiding principle for our programming.  But I'm gonna search for that 5% that eludes me.  And I bet I won't have to pay a dime for it.

-----------------------------------
Prep:
  • Partner pistols (coordinate!)
  • Partner resistance band movements
  • Tabata:
    • Mountain hoppers
We did man-makers once already this week, but hell, this time it's different!

Strength and Stamina:
Begin with a 0.2 mile ride then alternate until all man-makers complete:
  • Thruster x3 (95/65)
  • Man-maker x3 (10-45#)

End with a 1000m row.

NOTE:  do not drop the weights!  They must be placed on the ground!

Oh the joy.

Tuesday, 21 February 2012

OK, so I'm slacking on posting the workouts...reason is my website provider's content management system is acting goofy.  I  know that means nothing to you but suffice it to say that it sucks and I need to make a change.  Until then, try to muddle through this:

Prep:

Burgener

Test:
Dead-hang p
ull-ups (max number or the minimum amount needed for assistance)

Strength:
OHS:  5x3
Then: 
Snatch grip push press/jerk:  7x1

Stamina:
HSPU work (use bands):  5 minutes

Complete each, rest as necessary between triplets:
Push-up x20 / row 500m / push-up x20
Squat x20 / bike 1 mile / squat x20
Suicide (ladder) / DU x100 / suicide (ladder)

Friday, 17 February 2012

Strength:
"Squat Cluster" from CrossFit Football

Modified slightly (timing)

Complete 25 reps:

  • Squat @ 85-90% 1RM

  • Perform as many reps as possible, usually done in 1-3 reps, rack the bar and rest 30-60 seconds between efforts.  Keep going until you complete 25 total reps.

  • If you rest longer than prescribed between efforts, assess a penalty.  Perform 5 burpees for every penalty.  Penalties are assessed at end of the workout.

    • Timer will ring every 30 seconds.  If you rest longer than two rings...assess a penalty.
  • Record times, penalties and loads.

Stamina:

Study as much as you sweat:

Mindset:
  • Do you know of anyone who thinks they can't?  Maybe the just don't want to.  Or maybe they just need an f'n wake up call.

Trainer Bio: Lisa Pieper

Lisa's athletic background started with different team sports during childhood which have become favorite pastimes today.  Top on the list include baseball, volleyball, and basketball (Go Hoosiers!).  Training with ONDEG has transformed a tired, overweight mother of two into one energetic Mama whose happiness centers on keeping her family happy and healthy as well.  Lisa's main focus is on implementing Crossfit methodology and Olympic Lifting.  She also credits Paleo nutrition for optimally fueling her training and accelerating the physical changes she has experienced.  Her favorite things at the gym are the people who fill it and lifting heavy things, of course.

Competitions:
  • Team Competition in Helena 2011
  • Bridger Showdown 2011:  1st Intermediates and "Spirit of the Games" Award
Trainers:
  • Phil Sanderson, US national champion and US record holder, member of 1980 Olympic team: Olympic weightlifting instruction:  July 2011
  • Sage Burgener, Junior National Champion and member of the widely-known Burgener Olympic weightlifting family:  October2011
  • Paul Dreyer, owner and head coach at ONDEG Fitness:  since October 2010
Training:
  • CrossFit level one (CF-L1):  May 2011
  • CPR/1st Aid:  May 2011
  • EMT:  January 2012

Wednesday, 15 February 2012

Well, I suppose nobunny ate more chocolate than I did yesterday...Valentine's day was good to me in the respect that I got lots of chocolates, but it was bad to me in the respect that I ate lots of chocolates.  At least one of the chocolates had a strawberry in it...the rest of them had a creamier version of chocolate in the middle, or had peanut butter in the middle.  All in the name of love.

Here's a few things to think about:

"Polyface Farms" is being shown at the library on Thursday night.  I encourage you to attend and learn about sustainable, small-scale agriculture.  It's message is a bit "pie-in-the-sky" but it shows that one family is productive and profitable.

"In nothing do men more nearly approach the gods than in giving health to men."  -Cicero
Now, I'm not arrogant enough (although somewhat arrogant) to consider myself among the gods, but I'd have to say that the promotion of strength, stamina and sufferance is one of the easiest ways to enhance health.  That, and a good, paleo-centric nutrition plan.  "Partially paleo" is my approach, even if there's the occasional chocolate-laden mid-winter holiday to screw things up.

I spend a fair amount of time researching all things strength.  Alot of  "CrossFit hate" bubbles to the surface when I'm motoring around the Internet.  There's plenty of CrossFit "Kool-Aid drinkers" to promote the brand and it's methodology, and there's a counter-community as well...critics and haters that either find fault with certain aspects of "Couch" Glassman's pride and joy or out-and-out hatred for anything CrossFit.  Seems like plenty of folks pile on the hate bandwagon with immaturity and bravado.  Some intelligent arguments as well.  I finally found someone who used to, but no longer hates CrossFit.

“A man can never to hope to be more than he is if he is not first honest about what he isn’t.”  -Don Williams, Jr.
I like this because it exemplifies what we see in the gym every day...our methods expose your limitations.  If you wanna get better, you need to find out where you need improvement.  Think about this long and hard:  what aren't you?

In the words of Brian Wilson of Potomac and Patriot CrossFit, “What’s the best workout program?  Whichever one you will do.”

Best comment ever:  "No chick has ever looked at dude killing the elliptical and thought, “I’d like to sit on that dude’s face.” THAT’S why the elliptical sucks."  Here's where it came from.

Here's a comment from a discussion on some "unsafe" movements found in CrossFit.  I agree and it reinforces my argument that you can't compare different movements...otherwise they wouldn't be different.  The old "apples and oranges" analogy.

I don't even know how to label this.

--------------------

Now, shall we get some work done?
  • Warm up with several exercises that come from the "five basic movements".  Ten minutes
  • Spend ten minutes doing the two-handed get-up with a barbell.  This is not a speed movement.  Continually increase the weight, go for maximum poundage that can be safely brought to a standing position and back down to the ground.
  • Once you've reached a significant degree of difficulty, see how many you can do without letting your arms bend or letting the bar hit the ground.
  • Partner bear complex, remaining time:
    • Load up a barbell with something you can both easily clean and press.
    • Perform three reps of the bear complex.  Your partner waits patiently until you complete all three.
    • Hand the bar to your partner when you're done.  Barbell can't touch the ground.  Ever.
    • While your partner completes three reps, grab some more weight.  Add the weight to the bar while your partner still has the bar off the ground (after the three reps).
    • Take the bar and do another three reps.  Switch.
    • Repeat until time to go home.
    • This should be done quickly, without getting sloppy.  If you are rushing through and not paying attention to your technique, you are an idiot.  You know better than that.

Tuesday, 14 February 2012

Making some changes to the website and blog, so please have some patience...

The training posts have been a little light lately...chalk it up to being tired of fighting with this damn blog system.  I'll hopefully migrate soon which will make the job easier for me and more consistent for you.

Remember, it's couples' week!  Bring a loved one and suffer together.  Help them understand just "what the hell goes on in that place".

----------------

So....Tracy's "arms day" turned out to be a full body day!  Based on the response your abs might have had or the way your legs were shaking by the end of the press series.  Damn that was fun!

Let's do it again today with squats.  What the hell, might as well.

Strength:
Back squat:
Use these percentages precisely, but use the rep scheme as a goal...if you can't safely complete the prescribed reps, bail and rack it.
  •   8 @ 80% (1RM)
  • 10 @ 70%
  • 12 @ 60%
  • 14 @ 50%
  • 16 @ 40%

Stamina I:
Ten minutes to accumulate max distance/reps on each, rotate at your pleasure:

  • Row
  • Ride
  • Run (laps)
  • Rope (singles - not backward)


Stamina II:
100 of each, partition anyway you'd like:

  • Burpee
  • DU
  • JPU
  • Slam ball

Friday, 10 February 2012

Oly Total:
  • Clean & Jerk, 3 attempts
  • Snatch, 3 attempts
Warm up is on your own.

Group-designed stamina training afterwards if there's time.

Wednesday, 08 February 2012

Prep:
Two minutes each station, two rounds, 16 minutes:
  • Row
  • Ride
  • Run
  • Rope - double-under
Test:
  • L-hang
  • L-sit
Strength:
  • Single arm snatch, 15 minutes
Test:
  • Max distance in 30 pulls on the rower...time limit two minutes.

Tuesday, 07 February 2012

Oh, what the hell, we might as well get FRAN out of the way.  But first, let's do a little bench pressing.

Easy day.


Monday, 07 February 2012

Heavy lifting starts again today.  We'll do a "CrossFit Total".  That's the squat, press and deadlift.

Warm up is on your own...