Whip It Good

I now have a beautiful collection of red lash marks on my body to compliment the varied palette of old and new bruises in shades of blue and yellow. Who needs tattoos when you've inadvertently created your own evolving art work? Though it would be cool and a bit provocative to say I've taken up some sort of whip training as a sidebar to strip aerobics, that's clearly not my style. Nobody will be stuffing dollar bills in the waistband of my old-school sweatpants to see me toss weight around - whip or not.

Just as old-school, the marks where put there by my own clumsy hand thanks to a beaded jumprope. CrossFit Eastside has been playing with double-unders lately and in the hands of the unskilled, the learning process can be punishing. It's one of those tools I know I should add to my tool box but I just don't get around to training. Maybe that's because of the angry welts across my butt.

The first battle is timing the rope rotations to the jump in order to complete two rope passes in one jump. That can be learned fairly quickly with limited abuse to the ankles. The more complex part is stringing them together. Frankly, learning this will cure what ails your jump in general. In my case, I've always been heavy on the toes. This won't work for double unders and the reeducation will change my technique across the board. For this reason, I invite you to play along:


Challenge
50 Double Unders for Time
String them together as best you can, note the longest unbroken set

Pick a Pistol Progression

If some coach in a back room sat up at night analyzing tape, he/she would soon find the holes in my game. It would be such a waste of time since I'll readily cough up the information - I hate to see someone miss out on shut-eye. For starters, I can't do a pistol. I'd say it's not for lack of trying but actually it is. I just don't remember to practice the Pistol aka one-legged squat and really that's just silly. It's a shame because it's such a handy little tool if you're putting together a list of exercises that are effective and equipment free.

I was sifting through the CrossFit forum when I came across a link that offers several different progressions to the perfect pistol. It's worth working on and, given the fact that I've already admitted that I haven't put a particular effort into this so far, it won't surprise you to know I haven't tried most of these.


The Challenge

Pick a Pistol Progression
Work 3-5 reps per leg a day

Pistols at Dawn - wouldn't it be funny if you beat me to it? I suppose I'll have to get on that.

Dumbbell DDR

There are dark places on the web where men go to chat in giddy tones and interrupt each other excitedly as they compare details about their favorite dumbbell complexes. Really, they start to sound like a bunch of school girls gossiping about, um, dumbbell complexes (what did you think I'd say?). Frankly, I go to these places so you don't have to.

Think about complexes like the Electric Slide with dumbbells - 80s hair and attitude optional (Seriously, I think I just heard a gasp from the P-Menu forum). Complexes are really just choreographed sequences of exercises with dumbbells. So, really, maybe more like the Macarena with dumbbells (as funny as that is, I think villagers are gathering at the town square with torches).
I came up with this particular complex this morning though I may have plucked it from CrossFit Eastside, chewed it up, and spit it out as my own. I've been around this stuff for a long, long time, so my apologies for the Milli Vanilli if I just inadvertently claimed somebody's stuff.


Challenge, Possibly Lip-Synched

3 Dumbbell Deadlifts
2 Squat Cleans
1 Push Press (extra credit for the jerk)

One full sequence equals one rep - interrupted reps don't count, so don't put down the dumbbells in the middle of the sequence. At the end you're welcome to set them down for a quick moment of silent contemplation.

How many reps can you finish in 20 minutes?

Pick a weight that is appropriate to your skill level. For those of you playing at home with lighter dumbbells, your number of reps will reflect the ease of execution (in other words, do more).

For more dumbbell complexes, Coach Mike Rutherford of CrossFit KC has a book called Dumbbell Moves. This is not an actual endorsement only because I haven't had a chance to read his stuff but he's well respected and his book has gotten good reviews from other CrossFitters. If you buy it, let me know what you think.

Superbowl Party

It's funny that the 30-90 second short intervals that Angelo Tremblay found produces greater fat loss fits within the framework of a Superbowl commercial. It's also funny how many fewer nachos you'd eat if you knew you'd be doing burpees during the next commercial break.


The Challenge

Given that a Superbowl commercial costs millions of dollars, most advertisers are going to settle for a 30 second spot. It was a considerate gesture on their part to create a perfect framework for GPP intervals. On Sunday, you will use the commercial breaks to run through the following list:

Jumping Jacks
Burpees
Side Lunges (unweighted)
Mountain Climbers
Step Lunges
Shuffle Splits

Rotate through the list and record your numbers. Try to maintain those numbers throughout the game. If you happen across a 60 minute spot, lucky you.

Halftime show: Tabata This!

It'll will be a big hit with your guests. As you know, it's 20 seconds of work and ten seconds of rest for eight sets. You're score is the lowest number of reps in the eight sets of work. Take one minute of rest before you go on to the next exercise. Enjoy!

Squats
Push-ups
Sit-ups

Breaking copyright laws . . .

This came from CrossFit's main page at a time when I was thinking about Overhead Squats. If I'm breaking laws by including this photo here, I'm darn sorry.

The Challenge
Overhead squatting is hard. Unilaterally it's even harder and it takes some practice. This is the perfect time to incorporate a little strength, some flexibility and a good dose of central nervous system stimulation. Oh, and did I mention patience? If it even crosses your mind that you might drop the weight, pick a dumbbell that won't break a toe.

Note the twist at the Shoulders, it's called a 'corkscrew' and it helps if you're not especially flexible. If you're having trouble with stability, look up at the dumbbell AT ALL TIMES. Also, make sure to glue your heels to the floor - this means pushing your knees out.

1 Each Side Unilateral (that's one-sided) OH Squats (UOHS) alternating
10 Hanging Knees to Elbows
2 Each Side UOHS
9 Knees to Elbows
3 Each Side UOHS
8 Knees to elbows
. . . . until 10 each side and 1 Knees to Elbows

Roped in

I went to see my friend Taha, an aerialist and an all-around entrepreneur of athleticism, perform in a Holiday show. You just never know what the man will do next. I was awed. I may wear the rope-burn scar on my left ankle as some sort of climbing merit badge but my skills are rudimentary. I have the raw run-for-you-life skill in rope climbing but there's nothing pretty about my effort. For those of you ready to develop outstanding climbing skills to escape the mundane and run off to join the circus, I offer the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts http://www.sancaseattle.org/. The rest of you can just do the following:


The Challenge

For my advanced clients:
30 Second L-holds on Paralellettes or Traveling Ls for 25 feet
See-saw pull-ups (PRO loves when I shred their towels) / Max Set
Handstand Push-ups / Max Set
(repeat See-Saws and HSPUs for three rounds)
30 Second L-holds

For my soon-to-be advanced clients:
25 Assisted Ls using paralellettes and rubber band - 2-Second Holds
Knees to Elbows - NO SWING / Max Set
Handstand Holds - Max Duration or 10 attempts to Kick-up
(repeat K to E and Handstand Holds for three rounds)
25 Assisted Ls as above

For those of you who just exclaimed "are you freakin' kidding!"
15 Jump to Support and Hold, bring your knees to your chest
Waiter's walk with whatever weight you can muster - 50 Feet or a gym length and back
http://www.crossfit.com/mt-archive2/waiter_walk.html
3 Rounds

Many of you are familiar with these exercises, but if you're not or you need a refresher, please call me and I'll talk you through it.

Get-up!

There are several reasons I was thinking about Turkish Get-Ups this morning. Maybe it was because I was concerned that my clients, under whatever duress this holiday season, should have the capacity to peel themselves off the floor (especially with impaired balance) or maybe it was that getting my own butt out from under the covers this morning at 4:30a felt a little more like a workout than a spry start to my day. Really, though, I was killing time during a cancellation reading Coach Dan John's 'Get Up!' newsletter which is devoted to throwing and lifting. It's that simple: It planted a seed. Regardless, it seemed fitting that my first post and my first challenge to you is an exercise that barks a command and inspires rapid compliance.


Your Challenge in the next three days

• 1 Rep Max Turkish Get-up (per side)
• or, for those of you working at home, grab a lighter dumbbell and do as many Turkish Get-ups as you can complete in 20 minutes (alternating sides)

For those of you who have forgotten the Turkish Get-Up, there's a video here http://www.fullkontact.com/p_dvdency.html

No Get-Up?

• 150 Burpees for time
• or, 150 burpees any way you can - say, 25 every hour for 6 hours (set your computer alarm at your desk), or make it a game, 5 Burpees everytime someone at Microsoft uses the word "bandwidth"

E-mail your results and/or your questions.

I feel slightly relieved knowing that as many of you push yourself to limits with dumbbells teetering close to our gym's mirrors, I will not be standing next to you wearing a nametag.