A while back I did 5 rounds of 1 arm 3 KB snatches + 5 half-height kb swings, 10 24 inch box jumps (first the right arm, 10 box jumps, then left arm, then 10 box jumps) and a 200m run. \u00a0Total time was 17:30 (which I mistakenly wrote down as 16:30.) \u00a0Not a bad time, but I saw lots of 15 minute times. \u00a0It was a tough slog (in 100 d heat too.) \u00a0The 200m runs were the toughest. \u00a0I just could not get going. \u00a0I wasn’t running, I was shuffling at a brisk pace.<\/p>\n
A few days after that I decided I needed to approach stamina training with some planning. \u00a0I set a goal of being able to row 500m in 1:40 (which is 100 seconds.) \u00a0Not easy, but possible. \u00a0When I first stated tracking my row times, I was at 2:07 for 500m. \u00a0Then I got to 1:57. \u00a0The best time so far is 1:56. \u00a0I had been doing 250m rows with a goal of keeping the pace at sub 1:50, which I can do. \u00a0I even got down to sub 1:40 a couple of times. If I could keep that up for 500m I’d be at my goal. Anyway a one second improvement counts.<\/p>\n
Last week I wanted to try a variation of Cindy (which is 5 kipping pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 squats — max number of rounds for 20 minutes.) My previous best was 11 1\/2; competent\u00a0athletes\u00a0are doing 20 or more (which is 1 round per minute or better.) \u00a0I decided I would reduce the\u00a0intensity\u00a0by doing\u00a0push-ups\u00a0from the knees instead of the full body version. \u00a0And I would only do 5 rounds for time; I figured I would come in near 5 minutes. \u00a0No. \u00a0It was 6:39. \u00a0Which comes down to 2 \u00a01\/2 second per rep as opposed to 2 seconds.<\/p>\n
Next workout I did a WOD that had 30-20-10 of jumping lunges, 20#\u00a0dumbbell\u00a0push presses (Rx was 30) and abmat situps. \u00a0So a total of 180 reps. \u00a0I noticed several 5 minute times on the board, and 1 sub-five minute time. \u00a0My time was 7:40.<\/p>\n
My point about all this is that my stamina — which is to say my ability to bring a steady level of effort to bear on the work — is not where I would like it to be. \u00a0I can feel myself fading — a good\u00a0analogy\u00a0would be “the wind going out of my sails.” \u00a0I’m making some headway (no pun?) but I think I need more focus on endurance exercises. \u00a0By “endurance” I mean high intensity over shorter time spans, not “marathon” efforts.<\/p>\n
The other consideration here is injury. \u00a0I had actually stayed away from CF for about two weeks because my shoulder felt like someone had hit it with a mallet. \u00a0I went to the doctor, had some X-rays, but no apparent injury was detected (at least to the bone.) \u00a0But it hurt. \u00a0So I was careful to avoid anything that would\u00a0aggravate\u00a0the problem. \u00a0It seems to have worked, insofar as the recent dumb-bell presses didn’t cause any\u00a0noticeable\u00a0problems.<\/p>\n
So: stamina, injuries — what to do? My\u00a0solution\u00a0is to start focusing on rowing, along with basic high intensity\u00a0body-weight\u00a0exercises, and get way serious about flexibility.<\/p>\n
Regarding flexibility, as near as I can tell the squat is probably the most fundamental movement one can engage in. \u00a0The better the squat, the stronger the potential for strength. \u00a0When I say “squat” I mean getting all the way into it: full-depth\u00a0butt-to-calves<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0The other flexibility exercise I want to focus on is the bridge<\/a>.<\/p>\n In other words I need to\u00a0revisit\u00a0all the basic stuff that I started to ignore because it wasn’t glamorous enough to satisfy my ego.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A while back I did 5 rounds of 1 arm 3 KB snatches + 5 half-height kb swings, 10 24 inch box jumps (first the right arm, 10 box jumps, then left arm, then 10 box jumps) and a 200m … Continue reading