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"CHUBTHUMPER"
Objective: Metabolic Conditioning
Warm up: 5 Rounds
Run 200m
Row 250m
Training:
(1) 30-20-10 for time
Deadlift @ bodyweight
Push Press at 1/2 bodyweight
(2) 5 Rounds
5x Kettlebell Clean & Press @ 2x 24kg KBs
10x Weighted situp @ 45#
(3) Every 30 seconds for 7:30
1x Suicide Sprint - 15x sprints total
Comments:
The high intensity, multi-modal, short duration workout has been championed and refined by CrossFit founder Greg Glassman.
Coach Glassman argues that the single characteristic he's trying to build into his athletes is work capacity. CrossFit uses
timed workouts and resulting competition to build intensity into the formula - as a result, athletes work extremely hard to
finish fast.
What are the results of this intensity? From CrossFit's perspective, you can get into great general physical condition
by working out very hard just 10-20 minutes each day, 5-6 days/week.
Certainly when I began doing CrossFit workouts, my effort went beyond what I had been doing before. And as I think now
about the CrossFit impact, I wonder if part of it isn't simply building the mental toughness to handle this extreme stress,
and keep on lifting.
Coach Glassman defines lactate threshold as the point at which lactic acid build up in the muscles outpaces the body's
ability to control it. Lactate threshold "marks the point at which the intensity of the work has largely become anerobic."
He goes on to describe this point as "the pussy rest stop" - you can see the mental toughness element here.
But something else is at work also. Though just mentioned and not fully described at the CrossFit website, the theory
revolves around the idea that this intense work kicks in our hormonal system in such a way that it kicks the physical potential
of the body to a new level - like it kicks in some built-in super charger we didn't know we had.
Writes CrossFit and Black Diamond athlete Rob Miller, "The reason we have such profound results is the systemic response
as a result of that intensity. There is a shift in the hormonal milieu within the bloodstream: we are getting stronger in
ways that we aren't even training for that day."
Whether it be mental toughness or super-charged hormones, the CrossFit prescription works. Does it really matter that
much? If in the end the athlete performs more work in less time, who cares if the cause is mental toughness or physical improvement.
I know part of the prescription has to be mental toughness. I'll get new athlete's in, give them some killer couplet or
triplet of timed exercises - they'll flail, then the next week, give them another, and they will have improved significantly.
Certainly, one week isn't enough time to develop signicant changes in physiology. Instead, the second time through, they knew
what to expect, and rose to the challenge - mentally.
One of the interesting things about the CrossFit formula I think about is the recovery - there's lots of it. Our workouts
are a solid 1-hour long or longer, 3 days a week. So for the average guy, that's 180 minutes of gym training a week.
CrossFit recommends 3 days on, 1 day off, and intense workouts of 10-20 minutes. So at an average of 15 minutes per workout,
CrossFitters are hitting it 90 minutes hard each week. Interesting, huh?
"Chubthumper" is a long day of high intensity. Even the warm up is fast and furious. The 30-20-10 Deadlift/Pushpress
event knocked me down hard. I used 185# for the DL's and 95# for the PPs. I was able to complete all the dead lift rounds
unbroken, but none of the push press rounds, and finished the whole shabang at 6:20.
Loading is tricky here. I've prescribed body weight for the DL's and 1/2 bodyweight for the PP's for men. I went heavier
(I weigh 157) - but this may be too much for some.
Women are even trickier to load. Aim for a finish time in the 6-10 minute range.
The final part of the workout - the suicide sprints - is classic interval training. These suck, but go by fast.
Enjoy!
- Rob Shaul
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| Push presses.....suck. |
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| Shawn. Strong. |
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| Tony at the kb clean & press. |
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| Go hard. You'll understand why they call them "suicide sprints." |
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