Couple Things

1. Starting today I'm taking 4-6 weeks (with the option of a few more weeks) to squeeze out any linear progression gains I may have left. This means my priority will be lifting 3x a week with conditioning limited to running, cycling, or a Crossfit metcon about once a week. I'm not calling it Starting Strength because, 1) I plan on doing a minimal amount of conditioning outside of the lifting, and 2) I've slightly altered the the template to be as follows:

Day A
Squat 3x5
Press 3x5
Deadlift 1x5

Day B
Front squat 3x5
Bench press 3x5
Power clean 5x3

My starting weights will allow for 4 weeks of progression until I hit my current 5RM, the 5RM's I'm going off of are as follows:

Back squat 260
Front squat 205
Press 135
Bench press 185
Deadlift 335
Power clean 185

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2. I got hit by a car while riding my bike on Saturday. I was going straight through an intersection and a car coming the opposite direction was making a left turn and t-boned me. I rolled onto the hood, made a small dent on the front quarter panel (I think that's what it's called?) and took off the cover of the rear view mirror. Miraculously my only injury that I'm aware of is a cut on my finger. In fact I felt so good I walked the remaining two blocks to the gym afterwards and found a 5RM front squat. While I certainly consider myself lucky, I also credit the strength and conditioning I've been doing for the last 3-4 years for the minimal injuries I sustained. Over the last few days I've heard stories from two people about friends they have who have walked away from car on bike accidents relatively unscathed. In one instance a dude's leg got run over by a pickup truck and his only injury was some minor road rash. In both cases the individuals were very fit, having been training for their respective sports for quite some time, which the doctors said were the primary reason they were able to avoid serious injury. I can't articulate exactly why this is but I imagine the muscles are able to provide some layer of protection around the bones, tendons, and organs when the body goes into straight survival mode. I know I had some serious adrenaline coursing through my body immediately after the fact because my heart was racing and I'm pretty sure I could have PRed my deadlift on the spot.

In conclusion - wear a mfing helmet, don't be a retard. And be strong.

"Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and are generally more useful"
-Rippetoe

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3. I registered for a one day individual competition on October 27th. There are about 20 or so individuals from DCF participating so it's gonna be a pretty sweet time. After my current strength cycle I'll have somewhere between 3-4 weeks to get primed for the competition. My goal going into the competition is to not have any glaring weaknesses - namely muscle ups at the moment. I'm also interested to see how I stack up with other DCF athletes and people from other gyms. It'll be a good barameter of where I stand and where I need to get to between October and next year's Open (Feb or March). And I'm sure it'll help me identify any areas I need to seriously improve.

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Sunday WOD - Outlaw 120818

BB Gymnastics

1) 15 minutes to establish a 1RM Snatch.
// 155, failed 165 3x, need to be more aggressive in the catch, plenty of height on the bar and depth on the squat, with a little more practice I expect to be able to hit 170 in the near future

2) 15 minutes to establish a 1RM Clean and Jerk.
// 220 PR - though I've been using 225 as my max when lifting at percentages of 1RM I've never attempted more than 215 - still not getting full hip extension on the second pull, need to work some clean pull + clean complexes


Strength

15 minutes to establish 1RM front squat
// Skipped this bad boy


Conditioning

“Deacon”

12 minute AMRAP of:

11 Pause Pullups
8 Behind the Neck Push Jerks 185 (racks may be used)
18 Pistols (alternating)
Notes: Pause Pullups are pull ups performed with a 3 second pause while holding the chin over the bar. If the chin does not remain over the bar for a full 3 seconds, the rep does not count. If there is debate on how long 3 seconds is, set up a clock within clear view of the pull-up bar and literally watch the 3 seconds count off. These may be any grip and kipping is allowed.

// 3 rounds + 4 pull ups, scaled weight to 145, should have gone with 155 atleast. Pullups were rough after the first round, pretty taxing on the upper arms and core. Broke the pullups into 6-5 on the first round then 4-5 sets on the remaining rounds. Here ends the closest I've ever gotten to finishing a full week cycle of the Outlaw Way programming. I probably did about 90-95% of the work programmed for the last week, and it was sick. Can't wait to pick it up again in a few months.

MFS 222