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October 19, 2007
Deja Vu
For the second time this week, headquarters has posted a 10k run. That means that we'll be doing some fun indoor activities today at The Box. Here is what that will look like:
Friday 071019
For time:
50 Back Squats, 135#m/95#w
15 laps Waiter Walk, 2x24kgm/2x16kgw
Post time to comments.
THE IMPORTANCE OF JOURNALING
Everybody should invest in a notebook and write in it everyday. There are many, many reasons to keep a journal. It is a great tool in the organization of thoughts and ideas. It is an invaluable tool in charting your progress in life. For the athlete, a journal is a necessity and should be in your gym bag along with your shoes, towel and other workout gear. I have long neglected the religious journaling of my workouts and other important details of my life and have paid the price. I have forgotten so much of what I have learned over the years. Furthermore, I have many achievements and accomplishments that have gone unjournaled and have thus faded into distant memories. It is unfortunate, but it is not too late. Since opening The Box, I have kept much better records of my workouts and have, as a result, made much better progress in the last 9 months than I can ever remember.
We encourage you to post your scores on the board, but that simply isn't enough. You need to keep a copy with you. You should record what you did during your whole workout: warmup, workout, cool down, scores, times and weights. You should record your impressions of your workout. If you felt good or bad or injured or energized. You should record strategies that worked and did not work. Thoughts and ideas on how to improve your performance between workouts or to improve on your performance on a specific workout. If you learned some great detail that improved your form or time, you should write that down so you do not forget.
There is no limit to what you can write about in your journal. The important thing is that you write in it consistently and refer back to it to see your progress. If you are working on a goal (and you all should have a goal) like pullups for example, then you should state your goal in your journal. Outline your plan and then record the steps you are taking to fulfill your goal. Perhaps you read a good article on improving your pullups and are trying to follow the program. You can cut it out and tape it into your journal or write down the details in your journal and then see if day by day, week by week, you are following the program. Not all programs are one-size-fits-all and so if you are not finding success you can analyze where it might be going wrong and thus make some adjustments.
Remember it is your journal and you should feel free to write in it, personalize it, make it as interesting and enjoyable and user friendly as possible. Many people tape inspiring pictures in their journals of six-pack abs that they want to have or inspiring athletes that they idolize. Here is one tip that I find works really well. Use two pages that face each other and track your workouts in columns going across so that you can fit several weeks of workouts on those two pages. Having several weeks worth of work staring you in the face makes it easy to look at your recent progress. This is especially true if you are working a progressive goal like those pullups. You can see from left to right how many pullups and other assistance exercises you did for those weeks and quickly see if you are progressing. If you are doing a max reps test every saturday, then you might have 4 weeks of tests on those pages staring at you and thus you can see if the program was working that month.
I repeat there are no limits. I haven't even touched on food journaling. If you are zoning, it is a must that your write down everything you eat. Charting your fuel and performance will allow you to really see how everything works together. Getting really personal is also good because you can see how your emotions effect your diet and exercise. If you are a good journaler, you might notice patterns that help or hinder your performance. You might notice that every time your boss gives you a new assignment, you eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's and you don't workout for 3 or 4 days. You might notice that every time overhead squats are posted in the WOD, you come down with a cold. Hmmm...interesting.
Get writing, people!
Andrew
Chris from Sweden
Adam gives the workout two thumbs down!
Posted by Keith Wittenstein at October 19, 2007 6:57 AM
Comments
can anyone give a brief explanation of Waiter Walks? cant pull up video at work so if its on main site I cannot see. thanks guys.
Posted by: mc at October 19, 2007 8:59 AM
The Waiter Walk is like a Farmer's Walk. The difference is you hold the weight over your head, with the arms locked out and the shoulders actively pressed up toward the ears. The Waiter Walk can be done with one hand or two and done with any large heavy object(s). For todays workout I recommend men carry two 24kg Kettlebells overhead and walk two lengths of the room for 1 rep.
Posted by: Tyler Durden at October 19, 2007 9:15 AM
Last night reading crew - sorry to have bailed but couldn't find the girl and went to go look for her. Turns out she got hella lost (hasn't been up here that long) and by the time we got together, the event was likely over. I hope all performed well and resisted the cupcakes as best they could.
Posted by: Moon at October 19, 2007 9:25 AM
Regarding last night's reading, Dammit can really write!
Posted by: Hari at October 19, 2007 9:53 AM
50 Back Squats, 135#
15 laps Waiter Walk, 2x24kg
15:14
This is a fun workout. I highly recommend you all give it a try. Mwa ha ha ha (devious laugh)!
Posted by: Tyler Durden at October 19, 2007 11:24 AM
Thanks for the response Keith!
Posted by: mc at October 19, 2007 12:01 PM
About journals: Depending on your taste and skills (if you have crappy handwriting like me, for instance), you can also post your workouts to a blog or use a simple Word file or Excel spreadsheet (my current tool). Articles can then be inserted as links.
I definitely agree that tracking your performance is essential if you have set any sort of goal for yourself. At the very least, having some sort of journal will save you the trouble of going back through previous comment pages trying to find your entry.
Posted by: Ewen at October 19, 2007 1:06 PM
I, like Ewen, also use an excel spreadsheet as my workout journal. It's much easier than word and takes up less room than a bunch of notebooks
Posted by: Adam at October 19, 2007 1:16 PM
The problem I find with computer journals is that I have to have my computer with me to put my thoughts down. Although my handwriting is crap and I prefer the computer for many, many reasons. The convenience of having a book/hard copy is important for jotting down important info before you forget it.
Posted by: Tyler Durden at October 19, 2007 1:59 PM
I agree strongly with the above on logging workouts. I carry a post-it pad to the gym and record the usual stuff (weight, sets, reps) as well as general comments (e.g., anything new I learned, what went wrong, how tired I was feeling, etc.). I'll then transcribe my chickenscratch to an electronic log. I tried (for a little while) logging my workouts in my computer's calendar program, but that didn't really click with me for some reason...maybe because I could see how many damn months it took me to set new PRs, haha.
Posted by: Yoon at October 19, 2007 2:12 PM
20:14
95# back squats
12kg waiter walks
this sucked my balls
Posted by: marisela at October 19, 2007 2:14 PM
Marisela,
Don't I recall your being (understandably) put off by a similar type of anatomically incorrect comment?
Posted by: Hari at October 19, 2007 2:21 PM
Running is better in the rain.
Posted by: kouvenhowen at October 19, 2007 4:03 PM
Hari - I either forgot or missed that one. Not to cause trouble, but can I lob a few guesses:
"Slob on my ovipositor"?
"Eat my lateral line"?
"Motorboat my spiracles"?
Posted by: Moon at October 19, 2007 4:35 PM
In honor of this Monday's SuperFran taping...
I took a quiz and apparently I'm Wonder Woman:
http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/
Who are you?
Posted by: Allison at October 19, 2007 4:50 PM
Hari, you seem to be confusing general-purpose crude comments with crude comments that imply that a particular gender is weak or inferior. Not quite sure what you're getting at.
Posted by: Ewen at October 19, 2007 4:55 PM
I was Supergirl.
Allison, are you going to go as Wonder Woman on Monday?
Posted by: avery at October 19, 2007 5:04 PM
Avery, I don't quite have the look to pull off Wonder Woman, so I'm thinking of just being generically superheroish, maybe throw some cat ears in since they won't make me sweat too much...still working on my costume.
Posted by: Allison at October 19, 2007 5:13 PM
ok allison and avery i must have done something wrong-bc i took the test and it says i was the Flash! I need a makeup.
Posted by: michelle at October 19, 2007 5:31 PM
I was the Hulk... No surprise there.
I REALLY wish I could join in the SuperFran. I love dressing up...
Posted by: Brian D. at October 19, 2007 6:01 PM
I ran 10K again. 50:44, almost exactly one minute slower than the other day. Hmmm, I have many excuses for this, but am not willing to accept any of them.
Posted by: Dave L. at October 19, 2007 6:29 PM
55:55 (PR)
(Late for class. I'll respond to the points above a bit later.)
Posted by: Hari at October 19, 2007 6:55 PM
for time:
50 back squats, 135lbs
15 laps, waiter's walk, 24k
25:13
did the first 8 WW with 24k kettle bells
then did the rest with the 16k, (oddly enough, by then these did not feel lighter than the 24k)
pulled the last 2 laps consecutively with a bit of a pause on the last leg.
Posted by: juan g. at October 19, 2007 8:47 PM
Hey peeps-
I'm in Santa Cruz for the KB cert. Then heading up to Seattle for some visiting and then the Barbell cert.
I'm so excited. I'll be sporting my Crossfit NYC black box t-shirt---backwards
Posted by: Allison2 at October 19, 2007 10:02 PM
Marisela, Ewen,
On August 16, Tyler wrote:
“Michael, going to Physique 57 might irritate your vagina!”
Marisela responded:
“i am so sick of men refering to the word "vagina" as something that is so awful that you feel disgusted by it. remember when you had a piece of it and you were begging for more??? or was it so long ago that you can't remember why you liked it in the first place??? the next time i want to refer to a man doing bench press as the only part of his workout or preacher curls or correcting me when i am training one of my clients, though he has no idea what he is doing, i am going to call him a penis. not a dick or an ass hole, a penis. i think its time we emasulate your percious manly parts. the vagina is a beautiful thing!!! it give you pleasure, it gave you your life and it will give you your children, RESPECT IT!!”
Apparently, there is a distinction (but in my opinion, not much of a difference) between Tyler’s comment then and Marisela’s comment today:
"this sucked my balls"
I'm certainly willing to consider and even debate the nuances between these two comments, but here is what I think as of now:
When people speak this way among one another it becomes difficult to distinguish between what is insulting and what is simply vulgar.
Posted by: Hari at October 19, 2007 11:36 PM
According to the quiz I'm Superman. Have fun guys. I have to work that night. I do have a costume for Halloween but its no Superman thats for sure.
Posted by: Kevin at October 20, 2007 12:36 AM
Good to be back at the box today. Keith that workout was no joke. I did the squats in 5 minutes and spend the rest of the 19 on those damn Waiter Carries- 24:12.
See you guys next week
Posted by: Jack Bauer at October 20, 2007 12:38 AM
Going to be in Albany The early part of the week, so Im going to miss Superhero Fran as well, and I really wanted to paint my entire body green and come in with ripped jeans as the Hulk.
Posted by: Justin at October 20, 2007 1:34 AM
Hey Justin I am going as a black metal musician for Halloween. Corpse paint, bullet belt, long spikes and all. Should be fun.
Posted by: Kevin at October 20, 2007 1:45 AM
No, Hari, it really isn't that difficult.
Posted by: Ewen at October 20, 2007 9:07 AM