As you’ve certainly noticed, temperatures are climbing and summer is upon us. With warm weather comes lots of opportunities for outdoor WODs and other fun kinds of physical pursuits. To put things simply, you don’t drink enough water. You may think you do, but your consumption is inadequate.
Keep in mind that losing simply 2% of your body weight in fluids can result in 25% drop in physical and mental performance. Here’s what you need to shoot for as a baseline – 1/2 your bodyweight in fluid ounces, daily. Don’t expect to come in and crush the WOD while dehydrated. Make water your primary, go-to liquid of choice; you will know if you are on the right track of your urine is a light shade of yellow or clear.
Keep in mind there are a lot of variables that play into your hydration requirements- duration and intensity of activity, temperature, perspiration rate, and more. When in doubt, drink more water. One strategy I’ve found to be really helpful on longer bouts of exercise (think long run, hike, cycle, etc.) is to wear a camelback containing coconut water diluted by a ton of water. Keep in mind we lose much more than water when we sweat (electrolytes, anyone?); coconut water is a great source of potassium, and a way to provide a source of energy that won’t cause headaches or cramps.
Drinking water throughout the day, much like sleeping 8hrs a night, is another one of our unglamorous, simple solutions to improve results in the gym and health in general. Stay hydrated, my friends!
New Elements grads Nikki, Liz, Jessica, Kate, Brendan, Tamara, Jeff, & Zain: official bell swinging, ball slamming beasts! Great job, guys!
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Water, Water Everywhere: Let’s Get ‘High(Hy)’-Drated…
Human Water Requirement Calculator
“This Is Annie Thorisdottir” (Video)
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WOD
Lift:
EZ Strength 2.0
L1:
4 Rounds:
250 Meter Row
12 Med Ball Slams
Rest 2 minutes b/t sets
Sweat:
4 Rounds:
6 Triple Extension Throws
10 Kettlebell Swings
1 Butcher Sled Sprint
Rest as needed between sets
By: Colin Cooley
“I know some people say “Keep your eyes on the prize,” but I disagree. When your eyes are stuck on the prize, you’re going to keep stumbling and crashing into things. If you really want to get ahead, you’ve got to keep your eyes focused on the path.” – Russell Simmons
For most people, the prize is the end result, the goal, the mythical place where all of our dreams become fulfilled and we are complete as a human being. Really? Then what? We win this prize, reach this “place” and then the work ends? It’s the path that precious, not the prize. The path goes on; teaches us about struggle and consistency and fortitude. Prizes symbolize an end game or completion. For me: I don’t want the work to end; I don’t want to be complete. I embrace the struggle and the path to greatness.
Russell Simmons also followed up his previous statement with, “Always focus on your effort, instead of the results of that effort.” If we always fixate on results, we miss the mark in terms of the real beauty and satisfaction that emanates from real effort. There is wisdom in this for sure. Place your emphasis on your effort and results happen without stress or goal fixation.
“The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free from anxiety about results.” Have Goals, but put in effort for results.
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Meg Jay: Why 30 is not the new 20
Banana Cream Pie
You Absolutely Should Not Get Backyard Chickens
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WOD
Lift:
EZ Strength 2.0
L1:
4 Rounds:
5 SA Dumbbell Push Press R/L
1 Lap Bear Crawl
15 Kettlebell Swings
Rest 1 Minute In between Rounds
Sweat:
4 Rounds:
7 Dumbbell Push Press
1 Lap Bear Crawl
12 Ball Slams
Jerry Rice and Joe Montana are two of the greatest players in the history of the NFL, winning multiple Super Championships as teammates on the way to eventually being enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
While their playing careers are often celebrated, you rarely hear anyone talk about their prodigious appetites for hard work. Both were insatiable in their drive to hone their craft and prepare as thoroughly as humanely possible to compete.
In his last off-season , Joe Montana would spend hours daily practicing basic footwork drills you wouldn’t catch a high school quarterback working on.
Jerry Rice famously reported to training camp before the rookies had to report to practice his routes. He could also be seen sitting in on special teams meetings, even though he wasn’t on the special teams unit, so he could set the example of how seriously his teammates should take their preparation.
Jerry is also known for “The Hill.” The Hill is a 2.5 mile uphill trail in the mountains around San Francisco that Jerry would run daily, for time. 2.5 miles on a rough dirty track, entirely uphill. This was in addition to lifting, football practice, and film study. He exemplified the phrase “hard training, easy combat.” When asked why he continued to run the hill everyday even after all of his Pro Bowl seasons, his response was essentially the following, ‘when the 4th quarter came and I was tired, I knew I could still beat my man and perform.’
Put another way in the words of Bob Knight, “Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win.”
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Jerry Rice Talks About the Hill
Banana Bread French Toast
Crawling, Balancing, Rolling: The Importance of Practicing Natural Movements
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WOD
Lift:
EZ Strength 2.0
L1:
Jog 100 meters
10 Air Squats
Jog 200 meters
15 Air Squats
Jog 400 meters
20 Air Squats
Sweat:
Partner WOD- In teams of two, complete the following tasks:
Run 100 meters
10 Air Squats
Run 200 meters
15 Air Squats
Run 400 meters
20 Air Squats
Run 800 meters
25 Air Squats
One person running at a time. While your partner is running, complete your air squats prior to beginning your next run.
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Savory Bacon and Maple Meatballs
A Walk Through the Five Ts: Tools
FDA Sued for Concealing Records on Arsenic in Poultry Feed
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WOD
Lift:
Sumo Deadlifts
6×3; increase weight each set
L1:
2 Rounds
Goblet Carry (Fence and Back)
Suitcase Carry (Fence and Back)
Farmers Carry (Fence and Back)
Sweat:
3 Rounds:
Row 500 meters (sprint)
Rest as needed. Score is slowest 500 m split.
1 year ago I arrived at the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certification), the leanest I had ever been at 158 lbs. I was slightly concerned as I looked like an emaciated waif model. Something had change. No more s-medium shirts and svelte-ness. It was time to get my weight up! How does one do this? Food, Rest and Basic Linear Training Program emphasizing compound movements and minimal to very short metabolic conditioning.
As for food I tackled this by increasing my starch intake. I know some paleo zealots will be aghast but yes I ate potatoes(white yikes!), sweet potatoes and other root veggies in large amount as well as plantains. I ate meat. A lot of meat. Generally I would consume an at least 2000 calories in a meal. I am talking a full package of ground beef, with veggies cooked in coconut oil. In addition, I would a a piece of fruit with this as well. The restaurants Parkway Deli and Chipotle got to know me as well I would order double meat omelettes and double meat burrito bowls on the reg. So yes I ate rice as well. I wasn’t eating for a figure competition I was intentionally trying to get my weight up, as to get stronger. You can’t flex bone. In order to reach certain strength levels(If that is your goal you probably will need to gain a few pounds of muscle.
Rest was tricky. When you work long hours, you have to be smart about rest. I would shoot for the elusive 8 hours but more often it became 7 hours with the occasional nap mid day , schedule providing. Rest really came in the form of recovery between exercise . I would strength train every other day, 3 sometimes 4 times a week. If I felt tired or wasn’t “feeling” it I would do some mobility work, light getups or hand to hand swings to get the blood going and “recover”.
In terms of training, my template was the height of boring. Strangely, boring works. My goals were simple though. I wanted to do a 48kg Kettlebell Weighted Pull up and Press a 40kg Bell by years end. Both Goals have been accomplished at this juncture. My long term goals include a 48kg Kettlebell Press. Give me a year and I’ll own it. For conditioning I did heavy swings, heavy carries goblet squats, the occasional sled push, some crawling. Thats it. I rarely touched a barbell, but when I did I still pulled double bodyweight in the deadlift. I rarely did bodyweight stuff and easily banged out over 50 consecutive push ups. Most of my pressing was done in a ladder fashion of 5/3/2 varying between 24 and 32kg. Same with weighted pull ups. I can easily do 5 weighted pull ups with 32 and 36kg now. A year ago 5 reps with 24kg was a challenge.
So there you have it. No insanity, or anything exotic or sexy. Tony Horton or any other celebrity trainer probably would not be impressed. Thats fine by me. I wasn’t training for entertainment or amusement, If I wanted that I would go see a movie. I was training for strength and weight gain. Goal Accomplished: And isn’t the goal to keep the goal the goal?
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How Coaches Are Failing Our Kids – And What You Can Do To Help
Delroy McQueen 300kg Deadlift x10 (Video)
How to Get Fitter, Faster and Stronger with Quality Sleep
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WOD
Lift:
Fat Gripz Barbell Press
5-5-5-5
L1:
On the minute for 8 minutes:
Even minutes: 10 KB Swings
Odd minutes: 10 Air Squats
Sweat:
On the minute for 10 minutes:
Even minutes: 15 KB Swings
Odd minutes: 10 Burpees
