Fran

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After resting through the weekend while watching Hayden play Lacrosse I put Fran on the board for this morning.  Few workouts make my stomach turn like Fran.  It is a simple workout, but because the weight is light and the reps relatively short, it allows for max effort throughout the entire workout.

I looked through my results last night and saw that my first Fran was around 7 minutes.  I fairly quickly dropped that time with better kipping pullups and I got stronger in the squat.  Eventually I hit a 2:58 but have never been able to repeat that time.  I have finished in 3:12, 3:15, 3:17, 3:19 and today, 3:31.  In training for Kokoro and Selection, I would do a long ruck in pants and boots then hit Fran after a 12-15 miler to finish in about 8 minutes.  I have not had a rested attempt in quite sometime.

Some guys tried this workout for the first time today and others revisited it.  We had Chris Curtis return to us this morning and Jody brought his daughter, May, who is getting ready to take her test for Black Belt.  Good luck May!

My feeling on warmup is that the longer the workout is going to be, the shorter the warmup needs to be.  Workouts like Murph or even Triple Murph have sort of a warm up built in and you move slower for a much longer period of time.

A workout like Fran which will require maximum effort for a short period actually requires a much longer and more intense warm up.  So today we started like this

RRL Warm Up

10 pushup, 10 situp, 10 pullup, 10 burpees

30 OHS with PVC pipe

Jump Rope 3 minutes

20 GHD Situps

20 Back Extensions

20 Toes 2 Bar

20 Windshield Wipers

20 LHS

 

Wall Ball/ Strict Pullup

5/1, 6/2, 7/3, 8/4, 9/5, 10/6

 

Thruster

5-4-3-2-1

65, 95, 115, 135, 155

 

Fran

21-15-9

Thruster 95 lbs

Pullup

3:31

 

Yesterday PM and Today AM

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Will H, Mike D, Doug F, PSC, and me hit up a late afternoon workout yesterday that looked like this:

Metcon (AMRAP – Rounds and Reps)

7min Amrap

7 Clean and Jerks (155/105)

42 Double Unders

Metcon (Time)

 

Then

7 min Time Cap:

21-15-9

OHS (135/95)

Cal Row

 

This morning we did this one:

4 rounds for time of:

Sandbag Carry, 40/20 lbs, 100 m

10 Power Cleans, 135/95 lbs

25 Overhead Walking Lunges, 45/25 lbs

10 Power Cleans, 135/95 lbs

Sprint, 200 m

 

Good workouts!

Ropes Gone Wild

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We pulled out the Ropes today and did this:

Ropes
With Partner
20sec all out work/20 sec rest- Alternate with partner
5 small fast waves
5 giant waves
5 jumping jacks

Each partner completes 5 of each with 20 sec rest in between.  We took 1 min rest between stations and 2 min rest between groups.

Other group
5 ghd
5 vup
5 flutter


Then, an all time favorite (which we need to name...submit names)

15 hang cleans @ 135 lbs

15 burpees

x 3 rounds

for time

My record is 4:45 on this which I have tied, exactly 3 times.  Today, I came in at 4:53.  This workout is on par with a Fran or an Elizabeth.  All out work for short duration.  Excellent for wrestlers.

Great to have Matt Gardner join us today.  Byron, my friend, YOU KILLED IT THIS MORNING!  EXCELLENT WORK!

 

Rainy Day Deck Of Cards

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It doesn't often rain really hard in Chattanooga between 5:15-7:00 am for some reason.  We often get heavy rain before and after but, conveniently, we usually get a little break during our workout time.  This morning was an exception. 

It POURED this morning so I postponed my wall ball and battle rope workout that I had scheduled for this morning and replaced it with this one:

Front Squat

5-4-3-2-1

 

Then

Deck of Cards

Spades = Burpees

Clubs = Grasshoppers x 4

Hearts = Situps

Diamonds = V ups

Joker 1 = 50 pushups

Joker 2 = 3 minute plank

 

Lots of core work in this one.  Throw a deck of cards in your travel bag and try it in your next hotel or business trip.

 

Memorial Day Murph

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We have been doing a Memorial Day Murph workout to give thanks and honor to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.  We have also used this opportunity to raise some money for organizations who help surviving verterans.

Today we put our efforts toward Operation Freedom Dogs.  OFD trains dogs as companion and full service dogs and matches them with a veteran who is suffering from PTSD.

Recently, one of the veterans who has received a dog posted this on Facebook:

MY DOG SAVED MY LIFE!
by Matthew Weitz

In order to tell this story correctly I need to go back 5 years… Someone asked me to house sit for them while they went out of town and I saw my chance… I was going to take my life. I didn't want to have my mother find me so this was going to be the best chance I got. I drank a lot that night and by 4 in the morning I was in the corner of his living room crying my eyes out holding a loaded pistol… This was the end… God intervened that night and showed me how selfish suicide was so I started trying to end my life other ways… I begin mixing alcohol with prescription drugs… and in large doses… I could tell story after story about how I shouldn't be here and how lucky I am but all you need to know is I kept trying to overdose and God kept allowing me to live. I developed a addiction to my anxiety medication and eventually I allowed it to take total control of my life. If I didn’t have my medicine I didn't eat, sleep or leave my bedroom. I became a complete shut in that was being controlled by something so small. Here I was this combat veteran that served in one of the most prestigious units in the US Army… I had spent 2 ½ years in some of the most dangerous cities in the world and I was allowing a little pill to control my every move. I let this go on for years until one day I decided to take action.. I checked myself in Valley and started detoxing off of my medication. While there I decided I would go to rehab and take total control of my life again. After 30 days in treatment I returned home…. I was freaking out… I was so use to taking a pill and all my anxiety being gone. The world was so loud and chaotic and there was no escape from it all. The world was too much to deal with but no longer could I be weak.. I decided I was going to look into getting a dog because I had read about all the amazing things animals were doing for veterans. In my search for a dog I met one of the best friends I have ever had… Adam Keith. He gave me one of the greatest gifts a man could receive… Happiness… Minutes after meeting me he gave me one of his puppies… Freedom would become one of the best things that ever happened to me. It was hard at first because I didn’t have the patience to deal with a puppy. I had soldiers in the Army so I understood putting something before myself and at first this was the bond we shared. He was my new private and I took care of him like I would have any soldier. I enforced a strict code of discipline and controlled his every move.. This isn’t how you raise a dog and I would soon discover that Freedom wasn’t here to be controlled… he was here to show me how to let lose… how to smile and enjoy the silly side of life. He changed my world completely. The bond we now share is one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced. He doesn’t judge me when I don’t want to go into a crowded place or condemn me for allowing my anger to flare up. This dog loves me and I love him. He hasn’t fixed me or made everything perfect but what he has done is give me a reason to smile… a reason to get up in the morning and a best friend to enjoy life with. I am now 11 months sober and I haven’t thought about suicide in over 6 months and that’s huge for me. No matter what my mood is or how much I want to isolate myself I always have Freedom.. He has given me a gift I could never thank him for… A gift that I want to help as many soldiers as I can find…
Operation Freedom Dogs was formed to give this gift to as many soldiers as possible. Unfortunately this gift is far from free and while we may be able to donate our time we don’t have the financial means to support our organization. This is where we need your help… it doesn’t matter if it is one dollar or one thousand dollars.. every little bit helps. We are now accepting our first group of veterans and will soon start training our first team of soldiers. We need donations for things such as veterinary bills, adoption fees, dog food, cages, kennel fees, training equipment and to cover some of the overhead associated with an organization like this such as insurance. I know that not everyone can make large donations but anyone can give a dollar! 22 veterans a day are taking their own life… help us try to correct this! Thank you for your time and I hope you have a blessed day..
To donate visit our website www.operationfreedomdogs.org or simply click the link below
DONATE HERE

Our workout today was one called

Murph +

Run 5k

100 Pullups

200 Pushups

300 Squats

Run 5k

For time

This is just a Murph with a longer run on each end.  It was pretty tough.

Great turnout today and we raised over $1000 for OFD

5k Chipper

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After the core circle Jerk on Wednesday, we hit Fight Gone Bad on Thursday

For those who may not know this workout:

Fight Gone Bad

3 rounds,

1 min per station, of:

Wall Ball, 20/14 lbs, 10 ft

Sumo Deadlift High Pull, 75/55 lbs

Box Jump, 20 in

Push Press, 75/55 lbs

Row (calories)

Rest 1 min

Rotate immediately to the next station every 1 min, the clock does not stop or reset between stations.

My score has remained relatively the same over the last 3-4 years at around 383 reps total for this workout.  However, it is interesting to see how the numbers have changed.  For example, I used to be able to KILL the box jumps and probably still could but I became gunshy after tearing both my Gastroc and Soleus on 2 different occassions.  These injuries did not happen as a direct result of the box jumps or while I was doing them, but I moved away from them during recovery and have stayed off them since. 

In order to keep the same 383 score, my push press and wall balls have had to improve greatly and they have.  The row and SDHP have remained consistent. 

 

Friday we did this one that I made up:

Run 5k

30 pull ups

20 KB Swings at 70 lbs

10 GHD

5 Dips

1 Rope Climb

For time

That was awesome as we usually do not lift weights or really do anything after a longer run like that.  Different...

 

Core Circle Jerk

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Today we did a 40 minute Core Circle Jerk...

That sounds weird...let me explain.

We all gather in a circle in the driveway and each calls out an exercise 1 at a time for 40 minutes.  Today, we used the following criteria:

20 reps of any core exercise

after 3 exercises, choose an isometric exercise for 1 minute

example:

20 Situps

20 Vups

20 Toes To Bar

1 minute Plank

Continue like that for 40 minutes

This is a fun way to get in a good workout and it also doubles as a comedy hour for Will Hunt.

 

Good Times!

Run 7 miles

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Started the day with one of my favorite runs.  Across one bridge, back across a different one, back across even another and return across the first.

We are lucky to have suck great access to the TN River.

To make things even better, a bunch of my friends ran with me and I had BOTH dogs.  This was Bravo's longest run yet and he did great.  Gus, of course, had no problems whatsoever.

Good start to a great day

Music

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Today, we did a music themed workout which was actually tougher than I expected:

Warm Up

RRL Warm up then:

3x15 GHD Situps

3x15 3 second pause at top Back Extensions

Jump Rope 3 minutes

 

Roxanne

The Police- Burpee on every Roxanne and Squat on every "light"

 

So Lonely

The Police again - Pushup on every "Lonely"  Make it tougher and do a pushup on every "Low" as well.  Hold a plank through the entire song except for when you are doing pushups

 

Gina

Blues Traveler- Situps for every "Gina".  I missed the mark on this one.  Next time we will do leg lift holds for the entire song and hit v ups on every "Gina"

 

Bring Sally Up

Moby- Classic one.  Back Squat a comfortable weight because it will quickly become uncomfortable.  I saw Khalipa do this with 135 on the web so I chose 115 and still could not keep up with the song.  Go down on "Bring Sally Down" and hold it until "Bring Sally Up"

 

Annie-

Do Annie while Michael Jackson sings "Annie are you ok?"

50-40-30-20-10

Double Unders

Situps

Some guys chose GHD situps today...good work.

Beep Test/Hang Clean-Burpee

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We did the Beep test yesterday.  It was a great way to test fitness and to get a good workout.

There are several versions of the Beep Test out there and some with different names like the Yo Yo Test or some call it the Bleep test.

While there are some differences between the execution of these tests, the principle stays roughly the same.  Run between 2 lines set 20 m apart on an audible beep from a pre recorded audio.  As the level increases, the interval that you have to run between the cones gets shorter and shorter until you can not keep up with the beeps.  At that point, your test is done.  This is a good way to measure your Vo2 max as well as overall fitness and is used for grade school kids to professional athletes.

One test has you run down and back and then take a short break.  We did not do this test.  We did this one:

This one is constant running with no breaks. 

I made it to level 9-10 while Mike Drew made it to 10-10.  I believe that we can get into the 13 level with some practice and working specifically on this test and the skills required to do well like efficient turns and pacing.  However, the test remains a good indicator of fitness whether or not you practice.  I also want to try to do the one which you rest a few seconds before the next round.  

Today we did this:

Roxanne burpee/air squat warm up

Yes, The Police.  Do a burpee everytime you hear Roxanne and a squat every time you hear light.

Next time we will try something to So Lonely...much tougher I expect.

Then we did

Clean

5-4-3-2-1

Then finished the morning with

15 Hang Clean @135 pounds

15 Burpees

x 3 rounds

I tied my PR today on this one at 4:45.  Justin went well under that at 4:19.

The first time I saw this workout was when I visited Rich Froning to shoot a Fitness Truth show and he and Dan Bailey made it up on the spot.  They went ALOT faster than any of us and pushed themselves to the absolute limit.  It was impressive to watch and also impressive to see the effect this one had on both of them.  They were laid out on the floor, spitting, slobbering, breathing so heavy that it was incredible and drenched in sweat. 

I knew right then that they had created a classic and that we would repeat it often. 

I look at this workout as a Fran or Helen type workout.  A true classic from the first time you try it.  It doesnt look that hard, just 45 hang cleans and 45 burpees, but if you try to go out fast on this one, you quickly find yourself in a pain cave where you can see no light.  Once you have done it a few times and have a benchmark to work towards beating, it becomes really tough.

It is important that we take ourselves to this place regularly.  Taking the body to the limit often makes it easy to do it when it is really needed...hopefully not ever, but we are ready at any moment.

Have a good weekend everyone

Battle Ropes

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We got out our battle ropes today after a long layoff. They sat in the closet for the winter.  Glad to bring them out again today.

 

Warm up

50 battle ropes

25 burpees

50 battle ropes

not for time

 

Workout 1

 

Level

75

0 (week)

 

Tom Rowland

Tom's Garage/RRL 1,683 Sessions

Chipper: 1 mi, Rope Climb (Legless)s, Single Wave Battling Ropes, 5 and more

Site Leaderboard Gym Results (1) Edit Add Video Delete

Apr 23, 2015

Workout

Level

NA

Chipper: 1 mi, Rope Climb (Legless)s, Single Wave Battling Ropes, 5 and more : 18 mins 42 secs | Rx'd

Run, 1 mi

1 Rope Climb (Legless)

100 Single Wave Battling Ropes

50 Sandbag Get Ups, 60 lbs

25 GHD Sit-ups

12 Sandbag Push Press, 60 lbs

6 Sandbag Front Squats, 60 lbs

3 Sandbag To Shoulders, 60 lbs

For time