I’ve been involved with CrossFit for about 18 months. \u00a0It has been slow going. \u00a0Sometimes it seems like there\u00a0aren’t\u00a0any big improvements. \u00a0But a couple of weeks back I did 100 double-unders. \u00a0It took a while,\u00a0especially\u00a0since I alternate single and doubles (and I was doing sets of 10), but I did it. \u00a0That same week I practiced kettle-bell swings with a 70# kettlebell.\u00a0At the Newbie Throwdown I failed at a 115#\u00a0thruster, but I did manage to get the bar into a rack position — so\u00a0a 115# clean, which was way more then I could do last year.<\/p>\n
A few days back I read something about VO2<\/a>, which is a measure of how much\u00a0oxygen a person is using under physical stress. \u00a0As I understand it VO2 is the single most important measurement of fitness (sort of like my Felsted\u00a0measurement<\/a>, but scientific.) \u00a0There are several VO2 calculators<\/a> out there, and my scores were in the OK or average range (about 39.) \u00a0There are actually a few ways to test VO2 in a formal way<\/a>.<\/p>\n In any case\u00a0increasing VO2 is not exactly a mystery: work harder at running, rowing etc. \u00a0So\u00a0I\u00a0decided\u00a0I would to go into the gym earlier and do some extra rowing, running or whatever. \u00a0And perhaps most importantly,\u00a0I decided I would have to go all out on those extra rows and runs, forget about failure, give it everything and not worry about what comes next. \u00a0The trick is to get past the inertia.<\/p>\n The first day back I went to the gym a bit early, and rowed 500m in 2:05, which is substantially better then the 2:20 I’m used to seeing. \u00a0Today I ran 800 meters in 3:38. \u00a0I ran on a flat surface, and the first 400 was at 1:30, so my performance deteriorated, but still it’s a good time for me. \u00a0I think I could get to a real 8 minute run with a little more work. \u00a0I think a 7 minute mile is within reach as well.<\/p>\n Today’s workout was a tough one. \u00a0The 800m run left me tired. \u00a0The warmup was 3x of 10 air squats, 10 pullups, 10 bar dips, and 15 hollow rocks. \u00a0Then the workout: 2x 15 burpees, 20 pushups, 25 kettlebell swings, 30 situps, and 35 double unders. \u00a0I knew it was going to be a long haul. \u00a0It was: 22 minutes plus. I decided I would Rx it, so I used a 44# kb, did everything as\u00a0prescribed. \u00a0I also knew the 44# kb would slow me down, and it did, as I was only able to get a 10 rep set once, and all the rest were 5 rep sets, then a few seconds of rest. \u00a0But I’m sure I met the objectives of the workout; at the end I was exhausted. \u00a0My time was slow, but I got 100% of that workout.<\/p>\n So the plan is simple: increase VO2 by doing extras of rowing and running and keeping the times as fast as possible, and stepping up the pace in the WODs. Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Cheers.
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