Russian Squat Program Completed

The 6 week program turned into about 8 due to illness, work and just life getting in the way of squatting. While i started w/ a 255 back squat in the calculator, I began moving the 1RM to 265 (my true all time one rep max) in week 3 or so. Some sets, I added weight. Others, I took it down a bit. It all depended on how I was feeling at the moment.

Some days A lot of days the weight just felt heavy, but during the 5th week's 3x3 at 95%, it was exciting to see that I was squatting (for reps!) a weight that I have previously only hit 2x..ever...months apart (250#). After that workout, I was looking forward to test day. There's probably only one greater feeling (in the exercise world) than PRing, and that's PRing by a lot.

Saturday, January 25, 2014 was test day. I followed a rep scheme brovided to me by Coach Wilmar at CF Fortius. Stepped into the garage and did this:



By 'did this' I mean barely squeak out a 280# squat. That 15# PR was heavy. With my face turning red and seeing stars after I reracked the bar and grabbed a seat, I knew that was my maximal effort.

Two days later, still a bit tender, I dropped into 858 to do this:



And by 'do this' I mean smash my previous front squat PR and making it look easy in the process. The 255 pictured was a 20# pr. I loaded 265# and dropped my elbows too much to be able to finish the lift. While that was a tad disappointing, being able to PR a lift without really front squatting heavy (the Russian Squat Routine is all back squats) was awesome.

This is the first time I've been able to complete a squat program. Mostly b/c of my ADD and partly b/c the time frame of the RSR is much more manageable than programs like Hatch and the weight/volume is much less daunting than Smolov. With that said, however, the smolov program has an explicit disclaimer that it shouldn't be performed unless you have a 300# back squat. I'm much closer now and I think I'm going to try that one (again) next.

I'm feeling healthy and excited about working out again.

Russian Squat Program

I'm starting this today. I found it on google. squatting 3x a week for six weeks sounds a lot more manageable than the other squat programs out there which can be as long as 13 weeks. Those are hard to keep up with. I'll start w/ 255 as my max and will update weekly as to how the program feels. Hopefully by the end of the 6th week (January 10th or so) I should have a much bigger squat!

77KG

1kg is equal to 2.2lbs. This means I'm just shy of 170lbs. In my 35 years, I've never been 170lbs. I feel fat. My suits don't fit and my 5 year old daughter beat me in a race from my car to her gymnastics class...and I was trying. This is actually something I've been trying to accomplish for a long time now, but a steady diet of crossfit and/or marathon training over the past 7 years kept me from breaching 160. Today I restart crossfit and start thinking more about what I'm eating with the goal to gain strength and cardio while maintaining weight.

squat. everyday.

I thought the idea of squatting everyday was rough. Then someone told me he had squatted 9x a week in his most recent cycle. Bottom line: stop being a puss. I'm not sure what the Oly workout is today, but I'm going to incorporate some heavy doubles and see how high I can get with my squat.

wrong wrong wrong

So I did a little lifting on Sunday. Then I went to Fortius on Tuesday and realized all of the above was wrong. Back to the drawing board, I guess.

National Unity Day

"The National Bullying Prevention Center has made tomorrow, October 9th, UNITY DAY...  a day we stand together and take a stand against bullying.  Our school is going to wear ORANGE tomorrow to support anyone who has been bullied, to show that you care, and take a stand against all acts of bullying."

 

The above is from my daughter's kindergarten teacher. Zoey and Lincoln are wearing orange today...

... and so am I. Well, I'm wearing an orangish/coralish polo. I am a cyber bully / bully that's trying to change. I often don't realize that the impact that my comments can make.  Zoey has been complaining about a boy that makes fun of her at school. Having to hear her tell me about someone who has hurt her feelings just breaks my heart. So I'm going to try.

In other news, new 20RM back squat yesterday: 180#. I haven't tried 20 reps in a while, but the last time i did it was about a year ago and I only got to 165#. Feeling stronger every day. 

"We Can Get You To 200"

coach noun, often attributive \ˈkōch\: a person who teaches and trains an athlete or performer
: a person who teaches and trains the members of a sports team and makes decisions about how the team plays during games
: a private teacher who gives someone lessons in a particular subject

The above definition is from www.merriam-webster.com. I define it a little bit differently. Having a Level-1 CrossFit Certificate doesn't make me a coach. At the same time, being hired to facilitate a CrossFit class doesn't make you a coach either; I don't care what title you're given or what the back of your shirt says. To me, a coach is someone who believes in their abilities and the abilities of their athletes.

Last week, I tried an Olympic Lifting specific gym and after giving him some base-line numbers, he told me 'We can get you to 200" in reference to my snatch. Sure, he might be trying to sell me, but I believe him.

Sign me up, Coach.