Crossfit Endurance vs Old School: Be prepared for anything. Or not.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Be prepared for anything. Or not.

I don't mean to attack right away but I can't help it. It's Mike's statement:

Thought it would be a waste to pick my way through ice and snow on slow-ass 400M runs, so goals were to keep rows under 2 mins, and go unbroken.

I want to be clear that I am not a CrossFit hater but I do find it a little preachy. As in the sermon that CrossFit makes you ready for any challenge. Rich Froning was asked if he would taper before the CrossFit Games and he responded "Tapering goes against what CrossFit preaches.(there's that word). I mean we are supposed to be ready for anything right" So Mike, if you were a true CFer, you would have picked your way through the ice and snow because that's what presented itself to you this morning. To substitute rowing for running is sacrareligious.

Now I don't have to be so strict because unlike Mike, I have one goal. I don't have to be ready for anything. I am training with specificity in mind. I specifically want to be ready to kick his ass in a half marathon. And to look pretty doing it.

Which brings us to today's weight workout which will pretty much never vary by even 1%. Unless I ramble, posts on these workouts will get pretty boring.

Bench 150-10 190-10 200-10 200-9 80 second break between sets
Curling and upright rows 100-10 x 4 45 second break between sets
Triceps with weird tricep bar 105-10 X 4 45 second break
Back squats 120-10 136-10 150-10 160-10 70 second break
Seated military press 100-10 x 4 45 second break

A discussion of my form during these exercises will come later and will not be pretty.

1 comment:

mywriteJanuary 5, 2013 at 8:42 AM
Agreed. If I was doing Crossfit, without the goal of a half marathon, I would probably have run the 400s. That would've allowed me to perform amazingly quickly on the KBs and pull-ups.

But specificity + Crossfit always beats general preparedness alone. If you were a baseball player, you wouldn't only do Crossfit (or lift weights, or only throw the ball to second base. You train for your sport. In this case, I wanted the heart rate/cardio that I wouldn't get tiptoeing through the snow.
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CFE v. Old School Concept

Merrill (Merrill) is a 48-year-old runner addicted to a basic weight routine (some might say an incredibly powerful and impressive routine) and 30 miles each and every week.

Michael (mywrite) is a 36-year-old Crossfit devotee of nearly four years who enjoys running, but not 30 miles each and every week.

Wise (old) vs. Youngish (stupid), follow the two as they train for a half marathon in the Spring, and a full marathon in the Fall with their chosen programs.

Michael will use Crossfit Endurance (www.crossfitendurance.com/) and Crossfit as his guides, with a mix of power and Olympic weightlifting, conditioning, sprint and mid-range running workouts.

Merrill will train as he always has, running four times per week 6-7 miles at 7:30 per mile pace with a longish run thrown in once a week at pretty much the same pace, and lifting three times a week (bench, curl, upright rows, triceps, squats and military press). And oh yeah, two sets of pushups (50), pullups (15) and situps (eight minutes) everyday. Like Rainman.