Monday 141013

Kay and Michelle competed at NLI on Saturday finishing 16th (Division III) and 7th (Division II)!

An athlete asked me during open gym about what kind of extra work he should do in order to get stronger. During this discussion he revealed that he doesn't know his back squat 5 rep max (or other lifts/rep ranges) and isn't tracking his workouts with StrengthDiary (or by any other method). This is a problem if you intend to improve!
If you don't know what you've lifted before, you have no idea what you should lift today. Going by feel is a trap, because the weight is always going to feel heavy! Knowing that you've accomplished a 5x3 Back Squat at 350 lbs will give you the confidence to keep pushing even though that last warm up set at 315 felt heavy. If you just stop when it gets hard, increased strength will be hard to come by.
I definitely notice a correlation between athletes who track their workouts and those who make progress. Also, knowing your maxes will give you a guidance when we ask you to lift a percentage of that max, or when you need to decide how much weight to use in a metcon.
Besides tracking his workouts, I also advised him to attack the strength portion of our daily WOD with the same intensity that he would attack any metcon. Don't "save yourself" for the burpees or thrusters or whatever else is coming. Go as hard/heavy as you can on the strength work, then do the same on the metcon.

For time:
50-40-30-20-10 reps:
Situps
KB Swings, 70#
(Competitors: GHD)

Extra Credit- 3 rounds, not for time:
10 Hip-Back Extensions
50' Handstand Walk