One of the Crossfit “Girls”, Angie stopped by for a 22 minute visit. (It seemed so much longer)!

This is one of the benchmark WODS that focuses on cardiovascular bodyweight exercises and is relatively steady-state, with a pick up in activity at the start of the next exercise. That little burst doesn’t last long however.

Angie is done for time and is:

100 pull-ups, in my case, were band-assisted. These were the hardest.

100 push-ups, the easiest for me,

100 sit-ups, with an Ab-mat, and finally,

100 squats, which took the least amount of time.

Val did a scaled version and seemed to enjoy herself and did well. A nice way to end a cycle. Tomorrow should be a rest day. We’ll see.

MarkFu is a big National Football League fan and has been a Green Bay Packer fan since he was a little Fu. I enjoy American football more than any other professional sport and I have no problem with the money that professional athletes earn during their careers, especially football players for the abuse their bodies take during, on average, a career that lasts less than 4 seasons with many players earning less than the $900,000 average NFL salary.

The dirty little secret in the NFL is how many of the great players and not so great players are forgotten once they leave the game due to retirement and career-ending injuries.

There is a grass-roots movement catching on, formed by Green Packer great, Jerry Kramer and backed by a number of big names in sports in and out of football, like Mike Ditka, Bob Costas, Charles Barkley and John McEnroe. HBO Sports has done a number of feature stories highlighting the plight of these former players. The organization is called “Gridiron Greats” and is raising awareness and money for those former players in dire need of help, post-football.

Every season, fans will ask each other, “Hey, I wonder what happened to so and so…Man, that guy was a good player!” The life after a pro football career for many is a living hell, but it is good to see an organization stepping up to do what the National Football League Players Association should be taking the lead on.

While there is no tried and true set answer to that question, I think the best time to train is when you can do it on a regular and consistent basis. That said, that best time is that period your body normally performs at it’s optimum and that is different for each of us. Whatever period of time that is, it is probably best to stick with that time slot consistently to accommodate the natural rhythms of the body. For me, during the week, I am used to 4:30-7:00 PM but last year I got used to 6:00 AM, although I did get injured more often during that time. On the weekends, I prefer 8-11:00 AM.

These last couple of weeks, I have been getting my training in but much later than what is optimum for me. The upshot of that is my enthusiasm, motivation and energy is diffused. Mentally, I am not as focused either. I run the risk of injury on the sessions I lift heavy. I have to reset myself and get to the gym earlier and enjoy the more focused and quicker workouts. When I do train within my time range, the workouts are done at a quicker pace and I am out of the “box” much sooner than when I go later in the evening, like tonight.

This evening, going in later, I did 7 x 3 back squats and sure enough, I wasn’t very sharp. The other night was the same thing: late and lifting heavy deads. While I did get a PR, I had poor form and did risk injury, especially on the latter sets.

I did switch from the higher Olympic style squat to lower on the back the way powerlifters do it, per Mark Rippetoe.

Back Squats

7 x 3 at 135/185/225/225/245/225/225. 60-78% of 1RM.