Workout of the Day
Testing Make-Up Day – If you missed Monday or Tuesday, you have some make-up testing to do!
If you tested your back squat and bench press already this week . . .
In teams of two, with only one partner working at one time, complete the following relay:
1000 Meter Row
800 Meter Run
750 Meter Row
600 Meter Run
500 Meter Row
400 Meter Run
250 Meter Row
200 Meter Run
Mike S. after the last Invictus Athlete Challenge. This could be you...official announcement coming this Friday!
Are You Keeping Track?
Written by Nichole DeHart
So, I would like to take a poll. How many of you know your numbers? You know, like how much is your one rep max back squat? What is your heaviest clean and jerk? I am sure some of you can tell me instantly your numbers or can head over to the red cabinet and look through your logbook to tell me your numbers. As for the rest of you, my question of knowing your numbers may be a foreign concept. Alas, we shall change this! Soon we will live in an ideal world where everyone knows what they are currently lifting. I guess I should state that this isn’t just about numbers. Keeping a record of your lifts is important, but keeping a record of your workouts is just as important, for many reasons.
1) Keeping a workout logbook can help measure your progress! If you don’t know how much you lifted or what your time on the workout was previously, then it is hard to measure any progress. Instead, write down exactly what weight you used and in what time you completed the workout. That way, next time the workout comes up you can see how much stronger and faster you are!
2) A workout logbook can help you set goals. Say a workout, like Fran, comes up on the board. If you have been keeping track of your workouts then you will know what your old Fran time is (if you have done it before). Say your old time was 5:45 with the prescribed amount of weight. That was 4 months ago. You can now set a new goal, say 5:15. By keeping track of your workouts, you can set realistic goals.
3) It will help you to continue to make progress. Often, a lift will come up that says something like ‘Deadlift x 3 @ 85% of your 3-RM.’ This is going to be an awful hard prescription to follow if you have no idea what your 3-Rep Max on the Deadlift is. You have no idea if you lifted 205 x 3 or 225 x 3, a big difference in numbers when trying to make progress in your deadlift. Keeping track of your workouts will also be handy as we continue with the testing days in the group sessions. We can only have re-testing days if we have something to re-test!
If you haven’t been consistent with recording your workouts in your performance log, try to make a habit of writing in it every time you are at the gym. If you don’t have a performance log yet, feel free to either purchase one of the Performance Logs from Invictus or bring in your own logbook. The logbooks are stored in the red cabinet. You will notice that the logbooks are now nicely organized in alphabetical order by your first name. This should make it way easier to find your performance log.
Enjoy recording your workouts, setting new goals and progressing by simply keeping track of your performance!
I have records of every wod I have done since I started CrossFit in June 2008. I write down everything I do and have a PR exel spreadsheet to track all the different movements and named wods. I use this to ensure I improve in either time or weight when a lift or wod repeats. It helps me to set goals for myself. My goal is to better better, stronger and faster than I was the previous day. I am looking for constant improvement. Great post Nicole.
Jim
My logbook is full of smiley faces these days!
I know you’re only partially joking Sin, and that brings up a really good point. Part of your log entry could/should be devoted to how you’re feeling that day. For example:
“4 Sets of:
DL x 3-5 @ 31X1
Rest 30s
Hand Stand Push-ups x Max Reps
Rest 3 mins
Tried new stretch X this morning and deadlifts felt better than ever. Shoulder was feeling a little hinky so eased of on HSPUs…”
Other things worth noting are: sleep, general health, stress levels, what time you’re working out, what your previous couple of meals were, any supplements you were taking (multis, fish oil, creatine, HGH), how recovered your body was feeling, etc..
Ever considered using beyond the whiteboard for logging your WODs?
I also record all of Jim’s scores (partially kidding). That gives me an idea of what I wish I could do, and then I set my bar accordingly. That is the other great part of Invictus. The caliber of athletes is unbelievable so it always pushes you to be better.
Is there any way to build in some testing into the fundamentals class? I know there’s already too much to cover in the fundamentals class, but having some testing will give people an idea of where they’re starting. I had no idea how much I could deadlift, squat, or even bench press for that matter when I started a few months ago. Knowing how do to everything correctly is more important so I understand why it’s set up the way it is. You can always figure it out on the fly when the lifts come up during the workouts…just something to consider.