Friday at Simons Rock

Donna had clients at Simon's Rock College so I headed there to work out.



My new Oly Lifting shoes arrived last night and thankfully my WOD required their use. Hang Power Cleans 1 x 7. I love my new shoes, very shiny and very solid.
Anyway here are my numbers: 165-175-175-180-180-185-190#.



Donna hit the 3 x 5 Deadlift workout from yesterday. She did them as work sets at 165#. Then she hit 3 x 3 Rack Jerks 65-75-85#.


There was another arrival tonight. The MaD CrossFit T Shirts, a very limited 1st edition run. Get them while they are hot off the presses ;-)

Deadlifts and more..............

Tonight Donna taught a class at BizFit and I tagged along to take part. A few people there need to check out Doug Chapman's Clock Whores article. We also posted this on MaD CrossFit.

The workout was Deadlift 3 x 5. These should be heavy work sets so I went for 315# as my most recent PR is 340#. These were heavy and hard, just as prescribed.

Donna then took on the workout that will be on at BizFit on Saturday. 4 Rounds for time of:

400m Run (Subbed 2 minutes of Jump Rope)

15 Hand Stand Push Ups

2 Rope Climbs

Time 21:47

Snow Day

We had a quiet day at home as the snow and sleet came down. The roads are icy and wet so we stayed off them.

Check out the latest addition to our CrossFit T Shirt collection. Thanks to Vin from St John's Preparatory School CrossFit. We met Vin at our Running and Endurance Cert last May. He is a Triathlete who is using the CFE workouts as part of his training, reduced volume but increased intensity. Take a look at CrossFit Endurance.

Donna hit a Hang Power Clean 1 x 7 workout working up to 85# using our non Olympic "CAP" brand barbell. Then it was time for me to join her for some Kettlebell Turkish Get Ups, Arm Bar Stretches and Windmills.

"Murph"

Tonight Donna taught class at BizFit. The workout of the day was "Murph" one of the CrossFit Hero workouts. This is one of the workouts that while I don't enjoy, it means a lot to me as someone who has served in combat in Afghanistan.

It is named in memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005. This workout was one of Mike's favorites and he'd named it "Body Armor". It is now referred to as "Murph" in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve his country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.

The book "Lone Survivor" gives a detailed account of the events that led to Murphs death and the subsequent events. Follow this link to the Washington Post to read more and if you get the chance read the book!

"Murph"For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you've got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.

I wore the 20 pound vest, ran in the cold (21F/-6C) and got it done in 49:09. Not my best time but given the snow and ice outside I was happy with it.

A different sort of day in snow and ice, Ghazni, Afghanistan, Christmas Eve 2006.

Great efforts by everyone else there tonight, especially Jason and Trish who had beat themselves up all weekend at the Level 1 Cert in Toronto and then did it again tonight.

Level 1 Toronto, CA

I did a repeat of my CrossFit Level 1 Certification this weekend in Toronto, Canada. Jason and Trish joined me. We had a great time. Amazing coaches and the armory was a fantastic host. I am using it as a prep for my Level 2, Jason and Trish wanted to get a Level 1 under their belt. It was professional, slick and a blast. If you are in Toronto, eat at The KEG.

Quiet day at home

Due to the less than tropical temperatures outside (-5F = -20C at 7am in the morning to a high of 20F = -6C in the afternoon) the sun streaming through the living room windows was a welcome heat source.

With Donna away in Toronto and me having a rest day today there is little to report. A quiet day at home catching up on indoor chores, walking the dogs and modifying their snow maze in the dog yard.

The girls snow maze

Rowing, Lifting, Eating - updated

My day was pretty simple.

Taught a rowing skills session at BizFit this morning. Worked out with James from CF Boston after that. Came home and ate meat.

Then started a Pork Chilli (recipe from the latest Cooking Light) in the slow cooker - sorry to those on a paleo kick it has legumes, nightshades and beer in it. Guess I will have to eat it myself ;-) Image on left is from Cooking Light on the Right is what I made.


Sounds like the MaD CrossFit crew are busy in Toronto learning the basic elements of CrossFit. I look forward to an update.

WOD numbers:
Snatch - 85% x 1 x 4 135#
Clean & jerk - 85% x 1 x 4 170#
Front squat - 85% x 2 x 3 255#
Weighted GHD sit-ups - 3 x 10 30#
KB sidebends - 3 x 10 2 x 16kg KB

Row, row, row your boat........

or so the song goes. Too much snow and ice here for boat rowing so I made do with our Concept 2 rower.

Row 5k - Time 19:19
Avg watts: 225. Avg strokes per minute 27.

Breakdown per 1000m/time/watts/strokes per minute
1/3:49.6/231/28
2/3:54.5/217/27
3/3:54.7/217/26
4/3:50.9/227/27
5/3:49.5/232/27
Interesting to look at the breakdown; good start, weak in the middle, better at the end.

Donna and the crew are on their way to Toronto for the Level 1 certification over the weekend, looks like it will be a cold one so hopefully those Canadians have turned up the heat in the Moss Park Armoury.

On the home front, enough snow finally melted so that I could take down the Christmas lights, this included the penguin on top of the garage. Not sure how I will find the house in the dark now that the penguin is back in the attic :-)

MaD CrossFit T Shirts

Our first MaD CrossFit T Shirts and Hoodies are on their way.

This is a very limited edition 1st run. So get in early to secure one @ $15 a piece.

The regular shirts will not have TRAINER on them. Those are for MaD.

A mix and match

Both of us had busy days then it was home for a couple of different workouts.

I stuck with Kettlebells:

Double-KB clean and push press, 7 reps

Double-KB bent-over row, 8 reps

One-arm windmill, 5 reps (each side)

Double-KB front squat, 5 reps

Hand-to-hand KB swing, 12 reps (each side)

Rest 30 seconds between exercises and 90 seconds between rounds. Do a total of three rounds.
I used 2 x 1 pood (16kg)

Donna and Trish banged out a great CrossFit workout - Complete as many rounds as possible 20 minutes of:

55 pound Thruster, 5 reps

55 pound Hang Powercleans, 7 reps

55 pound Sumo Deadlift High-pull, 10 reps

Donna: 6 rounds

Trish: 6 rounds + Thrusters and Hang Powercleans.

Donna's Botev weightlifting shoes arrived today so both she and Trish tried them out. A must have if you are going to take this stuff seriously. So I guess I had better get my act together and order some.

I finally found a use for the SwissBall.

Kettlebells baby!

With both of us hurting and nursing injuries we decided to test run a Kettlebell workout that was posted as part of an article on Testosterone Nation. Thanks to Doug Chapman from HyperFit USA in Ann Arbour, MI for originally posting the link on Facebook.

Anyway the workout is:

Double-KB clean and military press, 6 reps

Alternating renegade row, 6 reps (each side)

Turkish get-up, 3 reps (each side)

One-arm front squat, 8 reps (each side)

One-arm KB swing, 15 reps (each side)

Rest 30 seconds between exercises and 90 seconds between rounds. Do a total of three rounds.

I used 2 x 1 pood (16kg) KBs and Donna used 2 x 12kg.

This workout is deceptive even with the warning from the article in mind I thought it was going to be easier than it was. This is an excellent workout, we both felt really worked. Neither of us experienced any aggravation of our injuries, in fact we felt better after than before the workout.

I think Kettlebells might be my new favourite training tool :-)

Sometimes we actually listen to our bodies....

.. and today they were telling us to take it easy. Saturday's workout drained us both more than we thought.

So we both just coached clients today, no workout - unless snow shovelling counts and it was only a couple of inches so it probably doesn't.

Elsie the cat, she only does rest days!

More snow.....

We woke this morning to a few more inches of snow. It made things look winter wonder landish for a few hours at least.

We are both on a rest day, so made the most of our time off. Donna still had a few new clients to introduce to CrossFit at Simons Rock College. That went well, then it was back into the warm while I raked the roof and shovelled out the dog yard. Our little pugs only have short legs so 4-6 inches of snow is a little inconvenient for them.

Kiwi resting on her rest day

O Lifting, Ice and Kinky Boots...............

This morning I taught a Basic Barbell Skills Session at BizFit, nice work by all the ladies there. Just bear in mind that when someone offers you a choice of lower weight dumbells when doing a dumbell press 30/30, choose the lower weight.

Later Donna and I headed in for our Performance Menu Olympic Weightlifting workout.

Snatch - 90% x 1 x 2

Matt 145# Donna 50#

Clean & jerk - 90% x 1 x 2
Matt 185# Donna 85#

I need to work on driving that front foot out!

Front squat - 90% x 2 x 2
Matt 270# Donna 115#

Ab work of choice - GHD Situps 3 x 15

Then it was home to get out of the cold and apply some ice to our aching shoulders - frozen peas work as well as ice packs. We sat down to watch the movie "Kinky Boots" and can highly recommend it. Provided you have a sense of humor and are secure in your masculinity. We both found it very funny. It features songs by Kirsty MacColl, thanks to my sister for introducing me to her music before I left NZ.

Power Snatches and Power Cleans

Today was a heavy day from Performance Menu. We both hit new Personal Records.

Power snatch - max attempt (only 1 attempt at record)
Matt 135# PR Donna 70# PR

Power clean - max attempt (only 1 attempt at record)

Matt 195# PR Donna: 100# PR

3 sets of:

A. Pull-ups - max reps

Matt: 7/8/7 Donna: 5/6/5

B. Knees to elbows - 15

Other than that we both tried to stay warm and inside. It is pretty outside but a little cool.

Just a reminder, if you know anyone who wants a nice 2 bedroom home in the Berkshires ours is for sale!

Filthy 50

Donna had a well deserved rest day but still managed to teach a Spin class at the Y.

I decided to give the Filthy 50 a crack at the class Donna taught at BizFit.

The 50 is a classic CrossFit WOD. 10 exercises, 50 reps of each, this is a long nasty grinder of a workout.

For time:

50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood (16kg)
Walking Lunge, 50 steps

50 Knees to elbows

50 Push press, 45 pounds - my final exercise, these were fast but not pretty.
50 Back extensions - I started the WOD here.
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball 10 foot line
50 Burpees

50 Double unders - I subbed 200 single unders so I can't claim this one as Rx (Prescribed)
If you notice how far out my hands are from my body you will see why I need to practice this skill.
Matt: 27:07

Great work by everyone there tonight, this workout tests your determination to finish and you guys gave it your all.

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and

you will help them become what they are capable of becoming.

- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

It's a bit brisk around here

Today was the 1st day of a 3 day below freezing blast of arctic weather. It looks pretty outside just don't try to do anything out there, brrrrrrrrrrr

PM WOD done at the Pittsfield YMCA - no bumpers or chalk :-( and NO room :-(

Snatch - 85% x 1 x 4

Matt: 135# Donna: Technique work

Clean & jerk - 85% x 1 x 4
Matt: 170# Donna: Technique work

Back squat - 85% x 2 x 3

Matt: 275# Donna: 135#

Tomorrow Donna gets a rest day, the first in almost a week, about time too.

Met Con, done at home. For time:
200 m row
20 sit-ups
300 m row
30 sit-ups
400 m row
5 burpees
Matt: 5:54

A mixed bag sort of day

Donna and I headed to BCC and got requalified to perform CPR by the American Heart Assosiation. Donna then taught a spin class at the YMCA while I had a very non paleo bagel for lunch.

Then it was home to the girls and sort out our new MaD CrossFit logo. A big thanks to Trish for the initial sketches and Melissa for the detail work, the new font and everything else.

Donna taught class at BizFit. tonight, 1 x 7 Split Jerks. Good work by everyone, most people hit new PRs with Heather and Mona getting to that magic triple figure for the first time.

Heather hangs with the girls

Then Donna hit her PM workout and I banged out the WOD that I taught last night:
5 Rounds for time

5 x 275# Deadlift

10 x Burpee

Time: 5:48

Donna's PM workout-

Power snatch - 80% x 2 x 3 60#


Power clean & jerk - 80% x 1 + 2 x 3 75#

Jason bought in Cole the new puppy at his place. He met the girls and then hung out for the 1st part of the WOD. Thanks again Jason for timing, encouraging and taking some pics.

Donna introduces Cole to the girls.

Monday, a day of rest?

Well it was for me. I lost a 165# Snatch attempt forward yesterday and ended up in a weird lunge position with my left arm way behind me. So my shoulder wanted a rest and my quads certainly appreciated the time off.

I think my quads were suffering as we also did front squats yesterday and I managed to work up to 295#.

Donna went on with the Performance Menu program. The 1st day of the 1st Bulgarian Cycle.

Snatch - 85% x 1 x 4 - 50#

Clean & jerk - 85% x 1 x 4 - 75#

Front squat - 85% x 2 x 3 - 115#

Heavy Single Sunday!

Donna, James, EC and I all headed to the gym to make up for the PM Heavy Single day we missed yesterday.

Some great coaching, a lot of heavy shit getting lifted and two PR's made for a good time in the gym.
New Personal Records:
Matt - Snatch 160# (only 15# to get body weight)
James - Snatch 205# (nothin but a peanut!)


Then we headed out for a paleo brunch and a visit to the candy store :-). Finally we finished the day with a protein packed meat dinner at the Route 7 Grill.

Good times, good company.

Workout @ Watertown

Donna headed south to CrossFit Watertown with Mona and Leslie from BizFit to a nutrition lecture by Eva Claire from CrossFit Boston. Heather and Erin from MaD CrossFit also made the trek south for the lecture.

I taught a Kettlebell skills session at BizFit then picked up the girls and joined the migration to CrossFit Watertown for an after lecture WOD.


The workout was a mix of "Grace" 30 Clean and Jerks for time and "Karen" 150 Wallball shots for time. The way it worked was 10 rounds of 3 Clean and Jerks and 15 Wallball shots with a cut off time of 15 minutes.



Donna cranked it out in 11:50 with a 58# barbell and an 8# Wallball



Matt (MaD CF), Lis (CF Watertown) and EC (CF Boston)

Matt took just over 14 minutes with a 115# barbell and 20# Wallball.


EC (CF Boston), Lis, (CF Watertown), Matt (MaD CF), James (CF Boston), Jen (Potomac CF)


This workout is breathy to say the least. We had a great time as usual when we get to Watertown. Also as usual it snowed while we were there. Not sure what the connection is, but it seems the weather gods frown on us every time we go there.

Check Mad Crossfit for some video.

Rest Day!

At least we got one. Donna was busy with clients all day so I did some chores and chipped ice from the driveway.


We also managed to squeeze in getting to a movie. Slumdog Millionaire. Great flick about a guy from the Mumbai slums who makes it on to the TV show "Who wants to be a millionaire". It shows his back story about why and how he gets there. Good production values and a nice closing number.




Donna sporting the latest addition to our CrossFit wardrobe from CrossFit East Sacramento. Thanks Paige.

We had a rest day planned....

..... but Greg Everett at Catalyst Athletics had different ideas. Rest day is now tomorrow so today's workout was:

Snatch balance + 2 overhead squats - 65% (of snatch balance) x 3 sets
Matt: 90# Donna: 45#

Tall snatch - 35% (of snatch) x 2 x 3
Matt: 50# Donna: 25#

Pull-ups - 3 x max

Matt: 10/10/11 Donna: 7/6/5

Hanging leg raises - 3 x 15 - these are truly horrible.

We also fitted in a spin class at the Y in Pittsfield, so a busier day than we first thought.