Friday 01/09/2009

WOD
I can't post this workout because it's Jenn's Secret (and diabolical) Surprise for next Saturday's Charge workout! Jenn, MG, Sandy and I tested it out today. All I can say is that it contained an exercise that I loathe greatly. But I actually surprised myself by knocking them out at a relatively consistent pace. Oh, and that my ass will be sore tomorrow.

Time: 32:13

WOD
NavySEALs.com CF WOD

"Run with Josh"

800m Run
21 Overhead Squats (95#)
42 Pull ups
400m Run
15 Overhead Squats
30 Pull ups
400m Run
9 Overhead Squats
18 Pull ups
800m Run

We subbed 4-minute biking for the 800 m run and 2 minutes for the 400 m run. It was snowing heavily while we were doing this workout, which made it impractical to run. Can't wait till the ergs get in!

Time: 24:30

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A little snippet from an article on T-Nation that I found quite interesting:

Tricks of the Trade: Get Strong Fast!

Tactic #4: Small Loading

The idea of small loading was brought to my attention by Dr. Mel Siff, and it's another fine psychological mind game. It consists of loading the bar with small plates, and the more confusing the loading is the better.

Normally, if you wanted to load the bar to 225 pounds, most people would put two 45-pounders on each side. With this method, you might put two 25-pound plates, two 10-pound plates, and three 5-pound plates per side, and not necessarily in that order (or even in the same order on both sides).

And it works even better if you have a training partner loading the bar for you since it's harder to mentally calculate the weight.

This method removes the psychological intimidation factor that some people have. With "wheel increments," there's a psychological block that comes from the multiple 45's per side. For some reason, loading the bar with smaller plates is less intimidating and will put you in a more confident mindset.

Do you think this method might work for you? I've seen it work for others (for instance when Sharon F. deadlifted what she thought was 170#, until it turned out to be 185# -- somehow or other there was 5 pounds more on one side too, but that's another story). I've also knowingly loaded more weight on bars sometime for others to lift (without their knowledge, of course), and consequently witnessed them succeeding at weights they hadn't previously thought they could handle. Personally, when I'm working towards one-rep maxes, I also prefer not knowing exactly what's loaded on the bar, and just stepping up and attempting to lift it. That way I don't psych myself out with thoughts of the weight before even performing the lift!

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