Nugent Coaching Systems

CrossFit Open Sectionals

Look at testing as an opportunity.  One that will help you define what you’re good at, and by comparison, what you aren’t, yet.

This year, after a couple seasons of coaching CrossFit at my local box, decided it was time to test myself.  There is no better way to motivate oneself to improve than by going public and testing yourself in an arena that leaves everything exposed.

“Leave Your Ego at the Door”

At first, notions of whether I was going to embarrass myself and/or others entered my mind.  I knew that I needed to do this as a CrossFitter, but as a coach I needed to think about it.  Eventually I decided it’s better to jump in and lead by example, face the unknown of the sectionals and just do it.

Here’s a short list of what I will be stronger at next year:

• Clean and Jerk – hands down my biggest weakness.  Coordination of the movement, timing and strength are all factors I need in order to move bigger weight faster.
• The ten minute metcon.  My lungs simply blow up and I am gasping for air.  20 minutes and I can sustain an effort OK.    Shorter stuff I need to work on.
• Overhead strength and stability.  I am going to OWN the overhead squat.

Of course there is more to work on.  The great thing about CrossFit is that never-ending list of things that you can better yourself at.

Goals for this year still include the 405 deadlift.  That is happening!  The cool thing is that the training for the American River 50 (yep ran 50 miles in the middle of the sectional competition) helped with the deadlift, push-up, box-jump WOD (see picture above).  Relatively speaking, it was one of my better WOD’s.

The awesome part about competing this year has been finding out that I can now do a lot of the WODs as prescribed.  Scaling is not a bad thing, but when you’re competing, scaling means you can not continue as a full competitor.

All-in-all, the$10 entry fee for sectionals was a small price to pay to be a part of a group of people that put it all out there for the world to see and in the end take away a stack of things to improve upon.  Accountability is key, and telling the world that you are going to do something solidifies the likelihood of that statement making it’s way into reality.

Be bold, find your strength, but first,

“Leave Your Ego at the Door”

This graph is actually about work done.  It’s not indicative of my exact work capacity, but with the workouts that I’ve been doing lately, could be a close approximation.  What’s interesting is that my training hours haven’t changed much.  I’m still averaging 6 to 7 hours of training a week.  My ability to move weight and produce power has changed.  To be fair here, I am also choosing workouts that maximize power output (i.e. kettlebell snatching)

Moving weight a farther distance faster, will produce the higher power numbers, and theoretically elicit a better athletic response when it comes to performance.

Does this mean I will run the American River 50 four times faster than last year?  No. (that would be AWESOME)  But I am expecting a big difference in times.

Why should you care?

CrossFit, and in general any training that is geared towards measurement, takes into account power output.  Cycling and triathlon training nowadays, if you’re trying to get to the podium, will involve training with power.   Rowing, crossfit training, and kettlebell training all utilize power.  It’s a true measurement of how much work you’ve done and to gauge your fitness.

How do you get started using power?

• Tape measure
• Timer
• Pen and Paper
• Weight scale (if you’re lifting odd objects like rocks – yes, you can train with power using rocks)

Step one: find out how much you’re lifting.

Step two: find out how far it’s traveling.

Step three: find out long it took you (time it)

Step four: CALCULATE!

Example:

You have a rock that weighs 95 pounds.  You decide to deadlift with it.  You decide you want to deadlift it as many times as you can in 5 minutes.  Let’s say your deadlift pull travels 2 feet.

2 feet x 2 = 4 feet (up and down)

5 minutes = 300 seconds

Now it’s time to do the workout.  You pull with clean, perfect form for 100 reps.

Power (ft-lbs/sec) = (( 4 ft x 95lbs ) / 300 sec)

Power = 126 (ft-lbs/sec)

Work (ft-lbs) = 4 ft x 95lbs

Work = 38,000 ft-lbs

Write this down, RECORD YOUR EFFORT!  Do this workout again after a couple weeks of similar but different style of training.   The next time you do your workout you should see an increase in power or work, or both.  Because this workout uses a fixed time variable (5 minutes), the next time you do this, you should see an increase in both power and work.

Take Away:

Use power to track your fitness progress.

Being scientific about your training does not mean you have to have access to million dollar equipment (or any equipment).

Measure and record if you are training towards a goal.  It’s the only way you’ll know if you’ve met your goal.

When’s the last time you lifted something awkward off the ground?

Odd object training is a great way to develop a body that works as a unit.   When you lift something that doesn’t have a handle or grip point, your body has to find another way to get the work done.

Atlas stone training is a great way to do that.  There are no hand holds, just you and the object.   If you want a core workout, this is hard to beat!  It reveals weak points in your system.   You will need arm strength, back strength, and leg strength – big muscle groups are recruited to get the stone off the ground.

As a multisport athlete, getting your body to work as a unit is critical.  It doesn’t help if you’re only half strong.  Strong legs will help, and a strong back will help even more.  Having a body that can intuit an obstacle and work as one system is priceless when the unexpected happens.  Portaging, mystery events, helping another teammate, or just getting your gear to the start line all  need that ‘functional’ cohesive strength.

Atlas stone training is a core strength guarantee.  There’s no other way around it.

About the video:

The video above is me lifting the very first stone of the series.  Making a stone takes some setup and a little skill.  I worked in construction with my grandfather a few summers while paying for college and he LOVED to work with concrete.  I only wish he was around so I could show him the latest “crazy project”.  Since those college days I’ve made concrete countertops for my house  (Thanks Cheng Concrete!) and a few outdoor projects.  Concrete is a fascinating medium to work with and it’s FUN.

Train with Stones!

If you’re interested in starting stone training, and live in the bay area (near San Jose, California) let me know.

Own Your Own Stones!

Purchase your own Nugent-made atlas stones here.

Results:

July 4th is a great holiday. Every year my family loads up the car and we head to Bridgeport, CA for a week of camping, visiting family and performing odd feats of strength and endurance.

Most of the time these physical challenges are endurance focused – night runs, long rides, hikes. Sometimes they are more strength focused – kettlebell workouts, rings, TRX… and yes all these things are with me camping

This year I still did the Bridgeport 5 miler. In fact, it was the first year I placed first in my age group! It was a good feeling especially since I shaved time off of last year’s run.

The new sport this year, as you might have guessed now, was arm wrestling.

- Photo by Sabrina Ryan

Could have been a mistake…

First off, I did not go to Bridgeport this year thinking I was going to try arm wrestling. It was actually a last minute decision based on the well intended confidence placed on me by family members.

I heard confidence boosting things like: “You do kettlebells, you are stronger than you think”, or “Pound for pound, you are the strongest person I know”, “Hey what’s the worst that could happen? You’re only up there for a little while, GO FOR IT!”

I bit. I walked up, weighed in, and signed up for the middleweight division.

Suddenly my gut was on fire with nerves. Butterflies, like finding out I was going to do CrossFit Fran, hit me hard. WHAT THE HELL HAVE I SIGNED UP FOR???

1:30pm I was to show up and be ready to wrestle. I had an hour to wait and plot my escape.

Tick tock…

Tick tock…

Before I knew it, the time had come.

My name was called, then my competitor (who I still don’t know his name).

I took a quick scan of the table. I grabbed the wrong post.

“Please grab the other post with your left hand”, the official asked.

“No wrapping of the legs around the table, please turn your hats around. I will adjust your hands and will tell you when to go”

I hear more people yelling my name. Oh my god… “You’re gonna DIE!!” I hear one of my nieces yell out.

The official said “GO!” or wrestle, or something that indicated a start. All I remember is trying to flex my arm and push in one direction while it was actually going in the opposite.

It was over in a split second.

The crowd uttered a big “OHHHHhh….”. I smiled as I saw my hand in a place I was not expecting, and before I could look back to the guy, he was out of there. Gone. Like he was embarrassed for beating me so quickly and without challenge! Rematch!!

2 weeks later and I am still thinking about it, and actually I am doing some research. What’s a hook grip? How should I approach a match? What does it mean to be always rising? Who is Devon Larratt? Why did my arm hurt for a week?

All these things have been floating around in my head, and it’s entirely possible that I’ve found myself hooked on a sport that I had no intention of even trying.

Watch out when you try new things, losing should be the least of your worries,  you might learn something about yourself.  It probably won’t go as planned, but that’s O.K.  Do it anyway.  Then do it again.

Ready….

Wrestle!