NEW ADDRESS!
Posted: Tuesday, November 16, 2010 by InvictusCoach in
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NEW BLOGSPOT ADDRESS!
INVICTUSCOACH.BLOGSPOT.COM
My opinion on the Wendler Strength Program
Posted: Tuesday, November 9, 2010 by InvictusCoach inHang squat clean 5-5-5-5-5
"DT"
5 rounds for time:
12- Deadlifts
9- Hang power cleans
6- Push jerks
RX'd @ 155... scale appropriately.
Sometime in April I started the well known Wendler Strength Program, or the 5-3-1 system. I found out about it from several friends who were doing it over at Albany CrossFit. They had been on their 2nd or 3rd wave and claimed that it worked and they liked it. Let me explain what this system basically is. It is a basic linear progression based around the squat, deadlift, benchpress, and strict press. The first week you start off at 5 sets of 5, second week 5 sets of 3, and so on and so forth. Without too much ranting, I'll go straight to my conclusion.
After testing this sucker out on myself and my athletes (who were beginners at that time), I believe there are far better ways of improving strength. On the conditioned and non-conditioned athlete, the results weren't as impressive as I had anticipated. Sure, there was an increase in all three movements measured, but not as big of a gain as I was hoping for. It is a very BASIC linear progression, nothing crazy, no new stimulus (for the conditioned athlete). My athletes and I completed two cycles of the program. As non-conditioned athletes, they gained a pretty fair amount of strength. Myself, already being a conditioned athlete, experienced very minimal gains in strength. The non-conditioned athletes experienced a greater gain simply because of exposure. Exposure to something new, such as heavy lifts, caused a neurological adaption to take place. In other words, they were getting stronger, not because of actual muscle gain, but because their bodies were just making an adaption to the new stimulus. Since I have been exposed to heavy lifting, I did not elicit any new responses. Rather, my gains were true strength and muscle gains, which were minimal.
Since stopping the Wendler program I have gained a considerable amount of strength and muscle. My athletes, following a very similar strength plan, have continued to make HUGE gains in size and strength. Using the CrossFit Football method has shown to be far more effective for size, strength, and overall power output. Because we keep lifts and workouts constantly varied, we get exposure to every major lift: Olympic, power, and basic barbell movements.
Overall, the Wendler program is too slow at giving significant results. In my opinion, stick to the CrossFit method. Hit all of your major lifts hard and heavy, vary your rep range (1-5) and throw some into a met-con.
Stay classy,
Coach A.
You like?
Posted: Friday, November 5, 2010 by InvictusCoach inWorkout of the Day
CrossFit Westchester WOD:
“3 Way”
A) Row 5 minutes for max calories
B) 21-15-9 (5 minute cap)
Thrusters (65/45)
Box Jumps (24/20)
C) Amrap 5 minutes
5 pullups
10 KB swings (53/35)
Rest 2 minutes between mini-workout
How do you wonderful readers like the new design? I have finally found a way to upload files, so the Paleo On-Ramp is up for download under the "Nutrition" page. I have got some neat things jogging in the the dome piece concerning future plans, workouts, expansion, etc. I do need everyone's help though. 1. Email me topics you'd like me to rant about. They could be questions or opinions, whatever floats your boat. 2. I would like to host this blog as a website, so I want a good name. I was thinking InvictusCoach.com would be perfect, but some duesch (douche) already has it. Some alternate names I was thinking of was TheInvictusCoach.com, InvictusPerformance.com. 3. Any ideas on how to make this look fresher? Any additional pages you would like to see? I was thinking of adding a " Scaling" page, no explanation needed. As for the website name, I don't want anything too long. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Stay classy,
Coach A.
Double and triple "WODing"
Posted: Thursday, November 4, 2010 by InvictusCoach inWorkout of the Day
Pre-game
Deadlift 5-3-1-1-1
Game time
For time:
100 burpees. At the start of every minute perform 5 deadlifts @ 50% of your 1RM.
After party
AMRAP 6 minutes:
1 Deadlift @ 70% of 1RM
3 HSPU
5 Pullups
The reason why us CrossFitters even call it "WODing" is beyond me. Constantly phrases like "WODing", WODs, etc are abused day in and day out by these elite breed of humans. If you are still confused as to why it makes no sense, let me jog your memory: WOD stands for Workout of the Day. Adding ing, s, and other literary... things makes the entire phrase improper english. Example: "I was WODing today and did Fran in under a minute". So what that sentence really is saying is: "I was workout of the daying today ..." See what I mean?
Just had to get that off my chest... on to more important things now. If you have been following, you can see the past few weeks have consisted of multiple workouts, double and triple. Some readers and fellow CrossFitters may automatically deem this method as a recipe for over-training. This statement may be true for the novice and even intermediate athlete. This is not the case for elite Crossfitters and well-conditioned athletes. At this point of periodizaton, the training program for my athletes is to prepare them for the grueling wrestling season. Multiple workouts are necessary to get them in shape for an intense 2 hour long practice. Sure, CrossFitting once a day will help your conditioning tremendously, but to prepare your body for the grind of the wrestling season and to achieve elite fitness may take several workouts per day. I'm not talking about doing several lung burning chippers per day, but pairing a "lung burner" or "chipper" with a strength, skill, or weakness workout seems to do the trick. When it all comes down to competition for the elite, it all comes down to who is having the better day, or peaking. Peaking at the right time takes carefully thought out periodization, which is a post in and of itself.
Stay classy,
Coach A.
I finally broke my previous PR! 480lbs. raw deadlift: no shoes, no straps, no belt, NO PROBLEM! Check it more videos on YouTube.
Psychology of athletes
Posted: Tuesday, November 2, 2010 by InvictusCoach inWorkout of the Day
For time:
25 burpee pullups
25 burpee box jumps
25 burpee long jumps
25 burpees
Rest 5 minutes:
Tabata: 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off
Row
Pushups
L-holds
Squats
I feel like it has been awhile since I have had a "rant" post. This was something that I thought about yesterday, after a brutal "chipper" style workout. My CrossFit family knows, I had long workouts. Anything past the duration is 15 minutes i generally dread doing, hence rarely ever do workouts around that range. While examining myself I started to ask myself why I hated them so much. To me, it is simply not logical to work in that domain because my sport, wrestling, does not require me to. Then I started thinking why I stray away from some workouts that are done under 5 minutes, which is closer in time length to a match. Looking at my record books, the majority of my workouts stay within a 10 minute, give or take time frame. So with this information, I began to classify CrossFitters. I compared myself to my fellow CF coaches, friends, and clients.
I will begin with my first group the "met-con junkies". Yes, I am aware that a metabolic conditioning workout can range from all sorts of time domains, but I think it is safe to say that a crossfit met-con junkie are the group of athletes that are obessesed with "chipper" style workouts or anything that is in a longer time domain. Looking at this from a psychological prospective, I believe these athletes love the feeling of a "good workout", hence the time domain factor, but fear intensity. Yes, I said it, FEAR INTENSITY. A common excuse that is tossed around by this group is "that was too short" or "that wasn't so bad". These statements are true if you are working out at your "chipper pace", that is the 60-70% intensity that is set to pace yourself for a good time on your chipper. Working out at 70% of your max effort will leave you with a good workout feeling after at least 15 minutes of workout, but will diminish as the time frame gets smaller.
My second group are the "power-junkies". This group loves power and olympic lifts, and short range met-cons. Unlike the first group, this group despises anything that will blunt their power output, like time. As time goes further down the spectrum, fatigue sets in and power output decreases. This is an "all or nothing" category of athletes.
My last group are the underachievers. This group is very capable in both domains, but choose to stay within a "comfort zone". This group is very difficult to spot because the classification is not as concrete as the previous two. This group has a fear of time. Anything real short in time requires greater intensity and anything too long is not motivating. AMRAP style workouts are rarely seen in this group. Some athletes in this group may actually fear getting out of breath.
Time for me to get my workout on... test running Thursday's WOD... It should be a goodie!
Stay classy,
Coach A.
Paleo On-Ramp- Part Iv: Putting it into Practice
Posted: Thursday, October 28, 2010 by InvictusCoach inWorkout of the Day
AMRAP 2 minutes:
Deadlift @ 60% 1RM
Rest 2 minutes
AMRAP 2 minutes:
Front Squat @ 60% 1RM
Rest 2 minutes
AMRAP 2 minutes:
Clean and Jerk @ 60% 1RM
* As many REPS as possible within 2 minutes. These are true lung burners so there is NO PACING. Add up total reps for score.
Nutrition Guide for Athletes: A Paleolithic Approach, Part IV
Putting it into practice
Lets not just ditch all the processed foods at once and go full Paleo right away. You’ll find yourself in a world of hurt. Rather, lets ease our way into this new lifestyle. For week 1, replace 1 meal per day with a Paleo style meal. Week 2, replace 2 meals with a Paleo friendly meal, and week 3 have all 3 main meals Paleo friendly.
What exactly is a Paleo meal?
As mentioned in the introduction, cut out processed foods completely. To simply define a paleo friendly meal: If you can’t hunt or gather your food, DON’T EAT IT! Focus on every meal containing meat/fish, veggies, and a source of good fat. If you stick to that golden rule, you are eating paleo! Not that hard right? Here is an example of how to begin paleo eating:
This is a typical American diet compared with Paleo diet:
| Week 0 | Typical meal | Paleo meal |
| Breakfast | Bagel w/cream cheese, orange juice | 3 eggs, apple w/ almond butter |
| Lunch | Ham and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread | Turkey salad w/ olive oil |
| Dinner | Chicken parm, pasta | Sirloin steak w/steamed veggies and avocado |
| Snack | Chips, cookies, garbage | Trail mix with: cashews, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries |
Notice week 1: you replace 1 typical meal with a Paleo meal.
| Week 1 | Your meal | Paleo meal |
| Breakfast | 3 eggs, apple w/ almond butter | 3 eggs, apple w/ almond butter |
| Lunch | Ham and cheese sandwich on whole what bread | Turkey salad w/ olive oil |
| Dinner | Chicken parm, pasta | Sirloin steak w/steamed veggies and avocado |
| Snack | Chips, cookies, garbage | Trail mix with: cashews, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries |
Notice week 2: you are replacing 2 meals + snack
| Week 2 | Typical meal | Paleo meal |
| Breakfast | 3 eggs, apple w/almond butter | 3 eggs, apple w/ almond butter |
| Lunch | Turkey and avocado salad w/ olive oil | Turkey salad w/ olive oil |
| Dinner | Chicken parm, pasta | Sirloin steak w/steamed veggies and avocado |
| Snack | Trail mix with: cashews, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries | Trail mix with: cashews, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries |
By week 3, all 3 meals should be paleo + snack
| Week 3 | Typical meal | Paleo meal |
| Breakfast | 3 eggs, apple w/almond butter | 3 eggs, apple w/ almond butter |
| Lunch | Turkey and avocado salad w/ olive oil | Turkey salad w/ olive oil |
| Dinner | Sirloin steak w/steamed veggies and avocado | Sirloin steak w/steamed veggies and avocado |
| Snack | Trail mix with: cashews, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries | Trail mix with: cashews, almonds, pecans, and dried blueberries |
Feel free to mix and match what you eat. This is just a rough example of a typical Paleo meal plan. Do yourself a favor, google “Paleo meals” and get creative! There are hundreds of recipes out there to get your taste buds going. Also note, if you eat a ton of fruit you are adding a ton of sugar to your diet. Though fructose (fruit sugar) generally does not cause significant spikes in blood/glucose levels, if you are trying to lose fat, I suggest limiting yourself to 1-2 pieces per day. You’ll get a sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals if you are eating veggies with every meal.
To athletes or people who train like athletes:
Your protein and caloric needs are higher than that of the average person. Lets try to keep our protein intake at about 1g/lbs. of bodyweight. Though not Paleo, I do recommend adding protein shakes as a post recovery meal. Concentrate on the majority of your protein coming from food, rather than supplement sources. Speaking of supplements, I personally recommend supplementing fish oil, protein powders, BCAAs, and a multivitamin. Thats all I got for ya! I encourage everyone to do their own research. There is a ton of information out there, some true and some well... not so true. If you have a question, try finding it out for yourself. I love helping people, but I am by no means an encyclopedia of information. Not sure if I heard this quote or made it up, but my philosophy on life is "it isn't about knowing all the answers, it is about knowing how to find the answers". It is pretty self explanatory. So take it and run with it...
Stay classy,
Coach A.
Paleo On-Ramp- Part III
Posted: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 by InvictusCoach inWorkout of the Day
"Cindy"
AMRAP 20 minutes:
5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Air Squats
After...
For time:
100 Pistols
How much Protein?
For the few people who have a little background in Paleolithic nutrition, we are encouraged to eat three larger meals a day. If you have read Robb Wolf’s “The Paleo Solution”, then you would have been on a three meals + 1 snack per day plan. This plan works great for many people, but probably is not the best for the athlete. An athlete requires more nutrients than your average person, especially protein. Consuming three meals per day makes it extremely difficult to get in a sufficient amount of protein. Athletes need about 1g of protein/lbs. of bodyweight. For example, if an athlete weighs 160lbs., he/she needs 160g of protein per day. This amount is necessary for muscle building and recovery. Now lets say our 160lbs. athlete was eating three meals per day. That means each meal has got to have about 53g of protein. So that’s equivalent to 9 eggs for breakfast, about 10oz of chicken for lunch, and an 8oz steak for dinner! That is not even including our fat requirements and veggie intake. Quick myth: eating smaller meals per day increase your metabolism, FALSE: Till this day there is no data showing this. Picture it this way, the smaller your meals are the less hard your body has to work to metabolize it. The larger your meals are the harder and longer your body must work to metabolize it. I ENCOURAGE ATHLETES TO SPACE OUT MEALS INTO MORE FREQUENT SESSIONS FOR A DIFFERENT REASON. The reason why I want athletes to space out their meals into 4-6 meals is to ensure sufficient protein intake. ANOTHER REASON FOR SMALLER FREQUENT MEALS IS THE AMOUNT OF PROTEIN THAT IS ACTUALLY UTILIZED BY THE BODY. YOUR body can only utilize a certain amount of protein at a given time, OR SO IT IS SAID. I have not found a definite number, but I have seen ranges from 30-40G OF PROTEIN at a given time, depending on YOUR Size.
Paleo shopping
THE golden rule when shopping for Paleo-friendly foods: Majority of shopping should be on the outside isles. try to get foods in this order: Fresh, frozen, canned. Obviously, getting your fruits and veggies fresh is the healthiest way to go, BUT it is far from the most convenient. Fresh food goes bad quicker and requires more work to prepare. Between school, sports, homework, and whatever your busy teenage lives consist of, it is very hard to make time to prepare your food. Also, this shopping list works great for those on a tighter budget. If time and money are of no issue, I am a big fan of Trader Joes and those types of market places. They tend to have fresher fruits, veggies, and you can find leaner and grass fed meats. But we all can’t be rich and have all the time in the world so here is a little list of stuff I get from Costco. It fits the budget, its quick and convenient, healthy and tastes good!
Easy breezy shopping list:
5lbs. Bag of veggies
5lbs. bag of chicken
3lbs. of Salmon patties
5 pack of avocado
2.5L extra virgin olive oil
1lbs. Spring mix salad
3lbs. of London broil steak
Ground beef
27oz jar of almond butter
Gala apples
3lbs. of Hillside farm turkey
7 ½ dozen eggs
3 gallons of whole milk w/omega 3
3lbs. of bacon
Feel free to manipulate the list to whatever fits you best. This is my personal shopping list and it works out well for me. There is enough variety to keep me from getting bored and it provides me with everything I need.