"Rowing Sets"(8.24.2011)
I. Skill Sets and Conditioning Workouts of the Day:
A. “Skill Gymnastics Workout”:
4 sets of the following movements:
20 Pike Sit-Ups(Feet Together and Hands Overhead- Tight Hollow Position)
*Rest 20 seconds*
Level 1: 10 Strict Body Rows
Level 2: 10 Banded Strict Pull-Ups
Level 3: 10 Deadhang Pull-Ups
*Rest 45 seconds*
B. “Rowing Sets”(4 Sets of the following):
Row 500 m As Fast As Possible
*Rest will be determind by how many athletes are in a group*
II. Vagabond CrossFit Transformation:
The above picture is of a current Vagabond CrossFit Member. This picture was taken over four years ago, and as we can tell he was a very jolly man. However, over the last two years he has put the dedication and effort into his training, and his physical results do all the talking. Now in August 2011, he is a slender 190 lbs, and hovers around the genre of an elite CrossFitter. This man made no excuses, and just worked his butt off over the last two years. He works a full time job, keeps up a brand new house, his wife and himself bought in the last two years, and has a child on the way in the next two months. Following a strict Paleo way of living, and SOMEHOW finding time to get into the gym 5 days a week, he has surpassed the expectation of myself as an coach, and I cannot be anymore excited and proud of his accomplishments!
III. Training Speed to Get Strong by T Nation Online Website(Very Interesting and Sounds Pretty Familiar withing Vagabond CrossFit):
Imagine two lifters standing near one another – each with a barbell loaded to 405 pounds on the floor in front of them.
Assume these two are identical in every way – except for one key fact. Lifter A was a high-jumper, but Lifter B got his physique from more traditional bodybuilding methods.
Neither of these guys has ever deadlifted 405 previously.
Which of the two do you put your money on to hit the PR if you don’t know anything else about them?
Ten times out of ten, I take the high jumper – and I’d guarantee you that most folks in the human performance industry would do the same. Why?
Based on his athletic background, you can assume that he’s learned to apply force quickly.
These two might have the exact same peak force capabilities, but the guy who can put force into the ground the quickest to break that bar from the floor stands a better chance of completing the lift.
The take-home message is very simple: learn to apply force quickly and it’ll make you stronger. The optimal approach, however, is not that simple; in fact, it’s different for everyone – and that’s what I’ll cover in this article.
Ten Ways to Train Speed in Your Strength Training Program
A lot of folks get stuck in a rut when it comes to training speed in the context of strength and conditioning. It seems like everyone’s all about just doing box squats and bench presses – but there really are a number of other options.
1. Sprinting: No equipment needed. It might not carry over perfectly from a specificity standpoint, but running fast will never make you less athletic. In terms of resisted sprinting, I’ve never been a fan of sprinting with parachutes, but we will use sprinting with sleds.
2. Box Jumps: You go up, but don’t come down – so the pounding on the body is minimized. I’ve read of quite a few high-level deadlifters who have utilized box jumps with outstanding success.
3. Countermovement (Vertical) and Broad Jumps: You can do these with body weight only, or against added resistance. Band-resisted broad jumps are arguably my favorite exercise for training posterior chain power.
4. Medicine Ball Drills: These might not carry over from a specificity standpoint, but frankly, people spend too much time in the sagittal plane – and power training is no different. Plus, it’s fun as hell to try to smash medicine balls. You can do overhead, rotational, and scoop variations. I’d also put sledgehammer swings against tires in this category.
5. Olympic lifts: As noted earlier, assuming you learn proper technique and you have the adequate mobility to perform them correctly, you can’t go wrong with Olympic lifts if you’re trying to improve universal bar speed. Cleans, snatches, high pulls, jerks, you name it; if you’re slow, they can help.
6. Squat Variations: Following the percentage variations I noted above, you have loads of options for variations: different bars (straight bar, giant cambered bar, safety squat bar), free squats, box squats, Anderson squats (from pins or chains), and different forms of accommodating resistances (chains and bands).
7. Deadlift Variations: I increased my deadlift from 510 to 628 in just under a year, and I’m convinced that it had to do with the fact that my programs included speed deadlift variations twice a week for that entire period. You can do conventional, sumo, trap bar, and snatch grip variations.
8. Bench Press Variations: As with the last two examples, variety is easy to include. You can vary grip width, change bars (straight bar, multipurpose bar, thick bar), perform the movement with or without a pause at the bottom, and implement different accommodating resistances.
9. Plyometric or Clap Push-ups: These can be a good change of pace for those who are bored with speed benching – and they can be great exercises to take on the road if you don’t have a lot of equipment at your fingertips.
10. Non-Sagittal Plane Plyos: Like medicine ball drills, they aren’t necessarily “specific” to lifting, but there will be carryover, and you’ll certainly move better on the whole. We utilize many different variations of heidens with our athletes.
Post Slowest and Fastest Times to Comments on Rowing Workout.
HAHAHAHAH i was a one man party machine, that body was built to party hard and keep going!!That picture was in my midst of college days and i sure do not miss those days at all, and i am very grateful for vagabond crossfit. Life is full of decisions and i am 100% positive that i am making the right ones these days hahahahahahah
you were a brave man wearing that bathing suit surprised it didnt burst haha. way to go Ross
hahaha ROSS! you are a beast now, do you still have that swimwear?
Jenna says this picture is photoshopped and this is no way ross the boss obrien. I just wanna show $y support in ur advances in athletic performance but there is at least one doubter from this household.
lol nice well that is ross the boss, and hopefully we will see apperances from jenna and big strong boy soon