Without a Box?

"Plan your work and work your plan"

~ Vince Lombardi

THE CHALLENGE:
So I'm "box-less" for the next three weeks. Kinda sucks but that's part of moving, traveling, and life in general. Needless to say most Crossfitter's aren't quitters. So I'll try to describe the solution to my current problem to non-crossfitters that may read this. This basically focuses on improving my weaknesses. Maybe it will help you make improvements in your routine as well.

ON BEING WITHOUT A BOX

"Accept challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory" 

~ Patton

Basically, there are two ways to look at being without a box:
1) Fix the problem - I'm not about to roll over and simply accept the problem, take a few weeks off, and get back into the swing of things at a later date. I hope you dont if you ever find yourself in this situation either. Besides, we all know how that mindset goes: "I'll do it tomorrow," tomorrow comes, and before you know it tomorrow becomes next week, next week next month, etc......address the issue now. I've been crossfitting on my own since returning to Europe. It's not as cool as going to a box and knowing everyone. There is no community when you WOD on you own. I miss that, but at the end of the day It's all about bettering ourselves.
2) Don't fix the problem - Be lazy, inactive, and feel like crap.

ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM
Equipment:
If you plan to WOD on the road you should carry the following when traveling (at minimum): A jumprope, lacrosse ball, 65# resistance band, AbMat and gymnastics rings. Oh, and a kettle bell if your driving somewhere. You can do a grip of WOD's if you have that gear, which probably tally's up to less than $200. Finding a place to run costs nothing, same applies to ledges for box jumps, stairs, and there's likely a park around with a good pull-up bar. Think of the possibilities!
Programming:
So you've got all the equipment, what to do with it? Rather than go into detail I'll give you a screen shot of what I've programmed for myself the coming month.

Address your weaknesses! Mine are double unders, Oly lifts, and HSPU's. Force yourself to do them! I need to mention that the Olympic lifts, (and other lifts) aren't going to be done with a bar & plate set. I'm gonna perfect my technique with a PVC pipe and a gopro (for analysis) until I get it down flawless. Boxes are awesome, but being away from one helps you focus on what you suck at. Go check out sitegonebad.com and watch some clips on how to improve. Youtube is a great tool!

Technique --->Consistency--->Intensity!

Progenex!

After a month on backorder it finally came in!
Progenex=Crossfit Crack
it just works!
Ordered their new fish oil too. Just haven't received it yet. Kinda pricey but I'll give it a try!

Moar!

Crappy Pic I know

Numbers and stuff

The back of Pure Pharma's for comparison

Anyone know why this isn't listed on their site anymore?

Minimalist reviews

I'm kinda bored at the moment and it seems like a fun blog topic. This is my review of two of the most popular minimalist shoes in Crossfit and what I think of them.

Inov8 195's

Pro's: lightweight, very breathable, true to size, no odor buildup, great for rope climbs, running, etc. I'd rather do a trail run in them than a WOD. Very flexible, kinda like wearing moccasins.

Cons: they look ugly, the sole is beginning to separate after 7 months of wods 3-4x a week, and the laces always come loose or untied during box jumps and double unders. Frustrating mid wod....

Reebok nano 2.0's

Pro's: a slightly raised heel, nice for lifting. Great breathability. Comfy sole with good grip on most surfaces. Good for running, laces stay put on box jumps and double unders! The extra toe protection feels more comfortable on burpees than the 195's. Oh and you can order custom colors for them too. They look bitchen!

Cons: not true minimalists, they are a little heavier than the inov8's but not enough to notice. I got mine in the same lime green as the games athletes and I'm a little worried they will get dirty quick. They are tough to get ahold of, seems like reebok sells out fast - I was lucky to get ahold of a pair!

My Thoughts

If you are moving from inov8's to nanos and are unsure about the sizing order the exact same size. Both run identical sizing. Their prices are so close I won't make it a pro or con. The inov8 is a great shoe, but I like the reeboks better, it's a true Crossfit shoe with extra reinforcement where it belongs, great flexibility while offering good support. Let's just see how long they hold up!

Nano 2.0's

195's

Dropping in

The issue with crossfit and "dropping in" at different boxes is that you aren't getting the ideal programming. But since I can't exactly pack up my weights, kettle bells, and pullup bar in my suitcase it's gonna have to do. So for the last month plus my wods have been done at the following boxes:

Crossfit Vienna - cool box in the basement of an apartment building. Really friendly coaches and a well laid out box. But since it's in a basement I can't imagine how easy it would be to incorporate runs into wods. Rumor is they might find a new location that is a little more friendly to a Crossfit box. Coming from the states and being the product of an American education figuring out the metric system has been a bit of a hassle. Oh well, I will adapt.

Crossfit Carpinteria - I'm so stoked my hometown finally has a box. I did a weeks worth of wods there and know they will build a good community, lots of "carpas" locals have already sipped the kool-aid. Kevin is a solid coach who knows his stuff. Lots of bodyweight wods to start since everyone is still in their "onramp" phase! They have only been open since mid June and have a good following!

Crossfit quad cities - a very well laid out box (check out their YouTube "cribs" video). But the weather here sucks this time of year. It takes a different kind of fire breather to go as heavy as these guys do! They love heavy kettle bells and burpees! Yayyyy burpees!

Quad Cities Crossfit (Iowa)

 

10 @ 1.5 pood = not fun & NOT a impressive time

A new DL PR @ Carpinteria Crossfit!

Paleo diet & the Austrian diet

Eating paleo, yeah, I'm gonna talk about my goals and food. If that doesn't interest you skip the next few paragraphs. Or the entire post. I don't care. Why would you read something that doesn't interest you? Anyway, moving to a country known for beer, bread, and sausage might make it difficult to stick with a crossfitters eating habits. So a good writeup on the subject is in order. The paleo/crossfit RX is "meat, veggies, nuts & seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar." Basically habits that emphasize eating food we are naturally used to - potato chips and cookies are not "real" food! So trying to maintain this has proven to be a bit of a challenge.

I have learned some awesome things about Austria's culinary landscape. For instance, people here consume mass amounts of tubed meat - hot dogs, bacon wrapped dogs, actual dogs (kidding), chicken, duck, veal lots of other tastey animal meat and fried fillets, i.e. the schnitzel. But to be blunt I think schnitzel sucks. You don't need to fry a good piece of meat to make it taste better, and beating it with a hammer makes no sense at all, your only ruining a good piece of meat. Why the schnitzel is so famous or why everyone says you need to "try the schnitzel" is something I'll never understand - you can experience the same thing at KFC. But I digress, the point I'm trying to make is that meat is abundant. Chock one up for Austria in the meat department.

From what I've seen at restaurants the veggies are lacking here. It is a very "meat & potatoes" diet. In saying that I mean I haven't seen steamed veggies or spinach anywhere! Salads aren't that special, but its worth mentioning they do exist, and better yet, no one serves garbage like ranch or croutons with it. It's always a olive oil or vinaigrette dressing (yumm). Nuts and seeds are good, and fruit is more abundant than veggies markets. As mentioned potatoes are everywhere, they practically come with every meal, either in baked/fried/ or dumpling form - but I have yet to find a sweet potato. Still searching for that one, and doing a decent job of not eating too many 'taters. Speaking of sweets, Austrians consume massive amounts of sugar. It's just part of the culture. I've only indulged in one cheat, and it's something every visitor has to do here: eat a slice of sacher torte cake. You can't visit Vienna and not try it. Well, unless your diabetic which only makes sense. But for everyone else - try it, it's actually a law here, anyone staying over 24 hours must eat a slice.

Grains are huge here. Beer & bread can be found everywhere. So I haven't been as stringent about that (especially the beer) as I should be. I don't want to be the weird American who doesn't eat the bread. For instance - eating from one of the hot dog stands and throwing the bun away earned me a few weird looks. Maybe I should learn to say "I'm allergic to gluten" in German. And since the beer here isn't all it's cracked up to be (it's all pilsner and lager) I'm gonna ween myself off that and stick with the wine Vienna is better known for. Since I'm on the topic of drinks, the coffee here is amazing! They brew it perfectly! No need to add sugar. Sure, you could visit a Starbucks here and get your "triple mocha chino carmel espresso with soy milk" crap but you'd really be missing out. Come to think of it, I'm kinda perplexed how Starbucks even exists out here? Just order a cappuccino at one of the cafes - you'll be more than happy you did.

Anyway, I do eat better than I did in the states. Mass quantities of veggies are still needed, and I need to cut back on a few things. So why the write up on food? 1) to help you understand what the food is like here and 2) to help myself understand the obstacles in the way of my eating habits. And I say"eating habits" because It's not a "diet" - its just the way I eat!

Dont ask.....ok, ask - sachertorte and coffee

Pork, wine, and potato dumplings

Falaffel, looks alot like a burrito to me

WOD:
"Cindy"
AMRAP in 20 minutes
5 pull ups
10 pushups
15 air squats
Jon: 14+5 (prescribed)
Heidi: 19+9, ring rows in stead of pull ups
Skill: 253lb back squat

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Leidesdorfgasse,Vienna,Austria

Mobility

Not much on Vienna in this post. But I've got to start by saying "Kelly" I hate you! I'm referring to Monday's workout here. Our hamstrings still feel like rubber bands! Simply put, stairs suck after that WOD. And it seems like they are everywhere in the city. Kinda funny really, walking up and down stairs at the pace of an senior citizen. You get a few funny looks, even from the seniors. But I dont see this as an opportunity to gripe. Instead, I see it as a issue I need to learn more about, I need to really put some focus on mobility. 

Since I'm on the topic of soreness, we are still without our Progenex - ordered some from the Euro site yesterday, hopefully it ships soon! We ordered the more muscle, apparently its backordered in the states, not sure about Europe. In the meantime we've been taking some protein shake I found at the local stop & rob. It tastes like garbage! I'm sure there's a supplement store around here since the stuff at Apotheke's lack in selection and just aren't what we are looking for.  

WOD 

-From the CF Vienna Site:
Warm-up WOD:

3 rounds of 10 pull ups/10 push ups/10 OHS/Samson stretch
Then 
5 Rounds of the following: 
(2 teams of 3 people) partner 1: suicide sprints/ Partner 2: KB Swings 32/24kg,/ Partner 3: rest
rotate movements when athlete is done running. 
Cool down with skill work.

Total time was 5:46

Blog Of the Day

Crossfit Frenzy

I will use a lot of Crossfit terminology I'll start you out with the most basic: WOD = Workout Of the Day. Hope was a WOD done by Crossfit gym's around the country to raise money for St. Judes Children's Hospital cancer research. Heidi and I did it at Crossfit Bakersfield.

Power snatches

WOD: "Hope"
Three rounds for reps -
Burpees
75 pound Power snatch
Box jump, 24" box
75 pound Thruster
Chest to bar Pull-ups

Jon - 179 reps RX
Heidi - 169 reps scaled

"Hope" has the same format as Fight Gone Bad. In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On the call of "rotate," the athlete/s must move to next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep.