"CAN'T SLEEP."

Obj: Unload

Warm up: Row 500m

Workout:

(1) 21-15-9
Dead Lift @ 225 (dead stop, no bouncing)
Hand Stand Push Up

(2) Run 3 miles

(3) 4x Medicine Ball Complex @ 20#

********

"CAN'T SLEEP EITHER."

Objective: Unload

Warm up: Row 500m

Training:

(1) 21-15-9
Front Squat @ 135#
Bench Press @ 135#

(2) 3 Rounds
400m Run with hill
15-foot Rope Climb

(3) 4x Medicine Ball Complex @ 16#


Comments:

The dead lift/hand stand pushup complex is a benchmark CrossFit workout called "Dianne" I think. Some of Coach Glassman's top athletes can complete this workout in under 3 minutes - bouncing the deads - but still, pretty incredible.

I did it with dead stop dead lifts of the bottom, and was not in a hurry. Which was a good thing, because the hand-stand pushups totally worked me. I think the most I got in a row was like 6. What a sissy!

And the run, well, it sucked! Nothing like getting exposed on an unload day!

How we react to "getting exposed" in the gym is a good character test. Often, I'll put really good athletes through our initial, "indoc" workout and it will hammer them. I've messed around with this workout, and its current version is this:

Warm up: 4x Medicine Ball Complex

Training:

(1) 5-4-3-2-1 (as fast as possible)
Row x 100m
Sandbag getups each shoulder

(2) 5 Rounds (as fast as possible)
2x Rope Pull @ 60#
10x jumping lunges
10x Dips

I warn my new athletes before they start that this workout is designed to give me an idea of their fitness, for to them them a taste of how hard we work in the gym.

This little gem exposes just about all the newbies, and the mature ones are happy with the discovery. Sure, they feel humbled, but more importantly, they feel enlightened.

Interestingly, some of the most gifted athletes don't react this way. They just feel exposed, and don't like this feeling. I often see the discomfort, cut the workout short, and get them out of the gym, never to see them again.

Then sometimes they will talk as if they enjoyed the exposure, only to experience the inevitable soreness the next day, and begin to have doubts. They will sign up for a another session on the way out the door, or promise to schedule another one, but will never be seen again.

- Rob Shaul

Kris, Connie.

Rob

Hayden