Endurance

I got sick last week and didn't workout.  Saturday I had a laps and ate horrible for dinner...I feel like a hypocrite every time, but apparently it's not enough to stop the gluttony.

Lots of stress between family, gym ownership and my own expectations of myself and it's a delicate balance for me to stay in a proper state, psychologically, physically, and spiritually.  Nutrition plays a huge role in that and my recent sickness is evident of that delicate balance.

Today was my first day back in the gym after a full week of being out.

Warm Up:
ladder 1-6
Pull ups Strict
Push ups

WOD:
30/30 at 90-95% max effort 4x rowing
rest 2 min.
2x through

Cool Down:
Easy row at 3:00/500m

The month of december is going to be focused on Power-Endurance, and I will hit P/E 2x/week, Friday being an IWT.  IWT is a workout protocol I learned from Mark Twight at Gym Jones, CrossFit evolved it a little bit and perhaps made it better; originally from Pat O'Shea in the 60's.  Here is a little more about it:

Developed by Pat O'Shea in 1969 and refined during the two following decades. A complete paper on the subject was published in the NSCA journal in 1987. Typically an IWT session involves a set of 8-12 reps of an "athletic lift" immediately chased with two minutes of free aerobic exercise @ 90-95% of capacity, followed by two minutes of rest. This is repeated for a total of three sets after which the athlete is rewarded with a 5-minute break. The first phase is repeated though the lift and the free exercise are changed. Recovery periods are the same. Phase three involves a circuit of complementary movements, often using bodyweight, with 4-12 reps and 3-10 rounds. IWT workouts may be scaled toward a particular fitness characteristic. For an endurance emphasis we increase the duration of the free exercise period to three minutes and reduce the rest period, all lifts are done with lighter loads and higher reps. To focus on power development we increase loads for the athletic lifts and reduce the reps, scale back the chasing aerobic exercise period (sometimes) and increase the rest periods to ensure "full" recovery.

-From Gym Jones, http://www.gymjones.com/schedule.php?date=20090909   

CrossFit took the rest periods out and essentially made it more feasible for group classes, creating more competition and thereby increasing the intensity of the participants.  The results have been phenomenal to say the least.

I will continue to hit endurance work 1x/week this month and when I do they will be mVo2 sets on the erg.  These session have been shown to increase mVo2 by as much as 1/2 per workout if done properly. There is also a lot of science that shows mVo2 is largely genetic and pretty much set at birth...who knows, only in retrospect can anyone say what is and what is not maximized potential.

There will also be 1x/week strength sessions.  I took a little nugget out of Mt. Athlete's playbook and I'm not sure where he got it from, probably Dan John, but not sure.  I'll be doing really high percentage of 1RM on Snatch, OHS, Deadlift, and Bench one day, then Clean, Front Squat, Push Press and Pull-ups another day.

Saturday's will be power days.  Rotating between, Litvinov-sprints (maybe drags if I can get my sled finished), explosive (snatch and Clean), and cardio (short, less than 90sec sprinting on either the erg or running).

This month should be an interesting one in terms of my training.  I am expecting my body composition to change a little, but January I suspect will be the bigger impact on my body composition.  My plan is start doing 2x/day in Jan with an endurance focus in the AM, mixed mode type training in the PM using a conjugate programming with cyclical emphasis of Strength, Power, and Power-Endurance.  I thing that by doing it this way, I will see better overall results because I will be able to devote sufficient time to both.  And, it seems that my body composition is most impacted with steady state endurance efforts.