The Arttu Summer 2014 Strength Cycle

After the The Arttu Winter 2013 Strength Cycle yielding modest gains in strength numbers, and the open over, it's time to embark on the 1st of 3 more strength cycles up to Christmas.

The target is to get 5kg on the backsquat per cycle and achieve bodyweight (80kg) snatch before the year ends.

Strength training 3 days a week, with a Sunday snatch/clean and jerk weightlifting session.
Strength training will begin with an olympic lift, then finish with back squats.
Back squats will vary from heavy low rep to build strength, to medium weight medium rep, to light weight high rep to build muscle.
Every 4th week is a deload week.

Beginning stats on 20140420 (Sunday)

Back squat 114kg Snatch 74kg Clean 97kg Jerk 91kg
Clean and Jerk 87kg Deadlift 145kg
Bench 88kg OHS 101kg Press 62kg Front squat 102kg Weighted pull-up 26kg and weighted dip 38kg

End stats on 20140719 (Saturday) after 12 weeks.

Back squat 121kg (+6kg) Snatch 75kg (+1kg) Clean 100kg (+3kg) Jerk ??kg
Clean and Jerk 90kg (+3kg) Deadlift 1??kg
Bench ??kg OHS 101kg Press 58kg (-4kg) Front squat 1??kg Weighted pull-up ??kg and weighted dip ??kg

Kie's Predictions for the Crossfit Open 2014

After my predictions for the 2012 Crossfit Open two years ago, and my predictions for 2013, I'll have a shot at predicting what to expect this year. I am a crossfitter who is a fan of all the games dating all the way back, and know all the open and regional workouts. Again, this is just for fun:

Prediction Workout 14.1 -

7min AMRAP
Hand release push-ups
Double unders
Wall Ball
3 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 15 / 18 / 21

Reason:
There's a ladder every year.

Like all years it's all inclusive, everyone get's some of their $20 worth.
Ladder format has never been applied to more than a couplet.

Prediction Workout 14.2 - 

10min AMRAP 

Grace + Isabel

Reason: Beginners will remain included but struggle with Grace, average guys will struggle with Isabel, and it's a met-con for the elite. Good way to separate things out on week 2. One barbell makes it logistically easy and everyone knows the benchmarks.

Prediction Workout 14.3 -   

10min AMRAP of:
60 Bar-facing burpees
30 Overhead squats 55kg
10 Muscle-ups

Reason:
This is the comparison workout for 2014.
3 years of difference so HQ can brag about how everyone is getting stronger etc.
Overhead squats have had too much of a hiatus.
There has to be a workout in the format of 13.3 with a horrible buy-in, some skill, then fatigued muscle-ups.

Prediction Workout 14.4 - 

18min AMRAP
9 Toes-to-bar
12 Sumo DL Highpull 100lb
15 Backsquat 100lb

Reason:
There's usually a long one.
A controversial movement for 2014 - "That barbell wasn't up to clavicle!"

Prediction Workout 14.5 - 

EMOM

7 Thruster 100lb
7 Chest-to-bar

Score is number of reps up to their incomplete round.

Reason:
Last workout is always 100lb thrusters and CTB in some combination.
Not sure if this is the right guess because some elite guys will go forever.

Comments:

1. Overhead squats haven't been in since 2011. They weren't in 2013 either, that's too long.

2. 2012 and 2013 tested the heavy snatch, this year is likely to be the year of the heavy clean & jerk and snatch will only be used in a light power form if it's in.

3. Pistols and HSPU might come up, but they didn't last year after I worked on them so I'll leave them alone and have healthier knees for it.
4. There was so much controversy/hassle with box jumps last year I reckon they'll leave them alone this year.

5. I'll update this post after the open with the actual workouts and a review.

Update - Here are the actual WODs

14.1

14.2

14.3

14.4

13.5

What the 2014 CF open would look like if I planned it:

14.1

AMRAP 5

1 muscle-up

500 OHS at 90kg from the floor

14.2

10 minutes to find
1RM Hang snatch

14.3
30min AMRAP
row

14.4
10 minutes to find
1RM back of neck split jerk

14.5
One arm dumbbell snatch ladder

The Arttu Winter 2013 Strength Cycle

I'm following Arttu's strength cycle to the letter, doing no other work in the gym. I'll go in the gym, do the menu, and get out to rest/recover. The only other things I'll do myself is mobilise before, stretch after, eat clean and sleep well. I've no idea what he has in store, and that's the best way if I'm going to follow blindly. All I know is that we'll do it until Christmas, then test maxes again.

Pre Cycle (3 weeks)
Before we start focusing on increasing strength, I want to know your strength goals, where are you looking to be at and what kind of weights you wanna be throwing up? Also what is your biggest weakness (as in what is your weakest lift)?

Let's spend the next few weeks finding your PR's on all the big lifts and movements.

Back squat, front squat, deadlift, clean, snatch, OHS, press, bench, weighted dips and chins. I want these spread in to a span of 2 weeks or even 3 weeks, I want you to wake up in the morning and have the feeling that today I can lift some heavy sh*t! You have to be physically and mentally ready when hitting your 1 rep maxes. Once we find your 1 rep maxes then will start to focus on increasing those numbers and attacking your weaker points. The way I want you to divide them (whatever day you start on): Day 1: Back squat Day 2: Snatch Day 3: Clean Day 4: Deadlift & Bench Day 5: OHS Day 6: Press Day 7: Front squat Day 8: Weighted chins and dips This does not mean to go 8 days straight I want you to have at least 1 rest day in between. Result

Day 1: Back squat 110kg Day 2: Snatch 73kg Day 3: Clean 92kg Day 4: Deadlift 145kg & Bench 88kg Day 5: OHS 95kg Day 6: Press 62kg Day 7: Front squat 92kg Day 8: Weighted pull-up 26kg and weighted dip 40kg

Week 1
Plan is to take the 1RM numbers found in the 3 week pre-cycle and work on building lifts at 85% of that. Increasing numbers until 10 reps at 85% of pre-cycle 1RM is accomplished.

Irrelevant to the strength goal, but so as not to lose all cardiovascular ability. There will be short, 4-8min met-cons thrown in.

Day 1: 3 Pos Clean 70%/75%/78%/78%, 3-3-3-3 Jerk 3-3-3 FS
Day 2: Hang Pwr Snatch 55%/65%/75%, Snatch Pull 80/85/90, OHS 3x5, Snatch Press 4x5
Day 3: Clean 55%/65/75/85, Spl Jrk 75/80/85, Clean Dead 80/85/90, HPwr clean 5x10
Day 4: 20 min met-con

Week 2

Day 1: Hng Sq Snatch 65%~85%, Hang Sq Clean, BS 80%~90%
Day 2: Pwr CL/FS 65~85%, Clean Dead 5x3, Spl Jrk 65~85%
Day 3: Pwr Sn+3OHS 55~65%, Cl Hi Pull 3x2, Sn Pu-press 3x3, BS 90% 1x5

Week 3

Day 1: Sn Pull + Sn Hi Pull + Pwr Sn 55~65%, Pwr Sn x2x4, Sn Dead 3x3, BS 70~90%x2
Day 2: Long Met-con
Day 3: Cl+2 jerk 65~75%, FS 85% 2x5, Good Mornings 30%(BS) 8x4
Day 4: Long Met-con
Day 5: Pwr Sn 75% 1x8, Pwr Cl 75% 1x8, OHS 65~75% 3x4, Bent O Rows 40%(dead) 4x4

Week 4 - deload week
Plan this week is to not go above 55% of maxes and to do all eccentric movements fast. fast out of the hole, fast bar movement off shoulders etc.
Day 1: Push Press 55%, Met-con Day 2: 3 Pos clean 55%, Push Jerk 55%, FS 55%, Met-con Day 3: 3 Pos snatch 55%, Snatch Pull 55%, OHS 55%

Donnie Shankle Seminar Lifting

Day 1: Snatch 69kg Day 2: Clean & Jerk 83kg PR

Week 5

Day 1: Snatch, C&J, back extensions 5x10 Day 2: Snatch, OHS 1RM, Good Morning 4x10 Day 3: Snatch, C&J, BS, Snatch Dead


UPDATE

It was a massive undertaking to write all exercises and weights and sets on here as well as on my BTWB page.

All together this cycle lasted for 3 weeks pre-cycle and then 13 weeks, here are the results.

Results

Back squat 114kg Snatch 74kg Clean 97kg Deadlift 145kg & Bench 88kg OHS 101kg Press 62kg Front squat 102kg Weighted pull-up 26kg and weighted dip 38kg

Gains

Back squat 4kg Snatch 1kg Clean 5kg Deadlift untested & Bench untested OHS 6kg Press -3kg Front squat 10kg Weighted pull-up untested and weighted dip -2kg

Yama's Pull Up Progession

Kinesio Tape or Rocktape Unfortunately Doesn't Work On Me

Yesterday our local crossfit ART qualified physical therapist held a seminar on kinesio tape or Rocktape. He's been applying it to my shoulder once a week for weeks now. I tore a muscle in my shoulder in February, confirmed with an MRI and it has been very slow to recover. I leave the tape on my shoulder  shower and bathe with it on for 5 days, not really sure what it's doing. I went along to the seminar with my wife in the hope of understanding what the benefits of Rocktape are. I see 50% of crossfitters at the games using it and I was feeling left out because they are all obviously getting some kind of performance enhancement from it.

Seminar was broken into part 1 alleviating pain, and part 2 taping for performance
Here's what we did at the seminar/break out practice sessions

Lower Back

Put 2 strips up your back, helps when you deadlift.
You can feel the tape is there, maybe it helps as a cue because you can feel it stretching when your back bends and it signals to you that you have lost the lumbar spine and should either reengage it or discontinue the lift.

Knee / Calf

Use 2 strips to surround the knee, one piece from ankle up side of leg, split a piece from the ankle, up each side of calf.
The lower leg one seemed pointless. Knee one did give some support in the squat. Not as much support as a knee sleeve though.

Shoulder / Upper back
Put a strip in a sideways "V" shape on your scap to your arm/lat.
Make a "#" sign in tape on your upper back.
This is to lift the skin to allow blood flow for recovery.

Performance 1 - Falling Over Test.
Partner kneels as if shooting a gun, other partner pushes from one side. Choose the side that is the weakest. Apply tape from groin upwards towards nipple. Retest and test subject is magically stronger.
Demonstration was a massive difference.
My wife and I tried this and didn't notice anything different. Lots of other people noticed a difference.

Performance 2 - Balance Test
Partner gets on all fours, raises left arm and right leg, other partner pushes down on right leg. Take the weakest side and then apply tape from lower back diagonally up over back.
Demonstration was a massive difference.
My wife and I tried this and didn't notice anything different. Lots of other people noticed a difference.

Performance 3 - Grip
Put tape on your wrist then spiral outwards finishing back at crux of elbow.
Demonstration was a massive difference.
I tried this by hanging on a pull-up bar for as long as I could with each hand before and after.
Before and after results were the same time.
This test resulted in the what appeared to be the whole room convinced of the powers of Rocktape. Everyone was impressed by this before and after test and I felt ashamed for not feeling the big difference that everyone else did.

Performance 4 - Thruster
Put tap from spine along arms on both sides. Tape from buttock up both sides of spine towards neck.
Demonstration was a massive difference.
We ran out of time for everyone to try this one.

Conclusion
Rocktape seems to help a lot of people. After yesterday I've seen a lot of people feel immediate benefit from its application. But it has no place in my gym bag. For me it has no effect and I'm glad I attended the seminar because now I know. My wife and I also had a lot of fun putting tape on each other for 4 hours, later on we had fun in the bath taking it all off. I gave the Rocktape we received at the seminar to a friend, hopefully he'll be a responder.

It would be more worthwhile spending the time I would use applying Rocktape before training on mobility exercises to loosen up my tight glutes and hips to get a more upright position in the bottom of the squat.

Things that are worth buying in for training (and one person's belief in them)
Lifting shoes: 80% effective, 20% placebo
Heels lifted for better position in the squat (effect), feet feel sucked onto the floor and solid giving a feeling of security (placebo).
Whey Protein: 100% effective
Casein Protein: 100% effective
Wrist straps: never tried them
Gymnastics Tape: 100% effective
Without it my skin tears, the proof is there. Therefore with it on I feel more secure.
Knee Sleeves: 60% effective, 40% placebo
Slight help out of the squat, injured knee noticeably less painful after a workout (effect). Feeling of security having them on (placebo).
Rocktape: 100% placebo
Feels nice having it stuck to you like you're a crossfit games competitor. Helps rehab and performance in most, but so far I have not experienced any benefit.

Some links I found on the internet on Kinesio tape
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22796389
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2182471/Kinesio-tape-Researchers-say-evidence-works.html

Size On for Korea

As of today I weight in at just under 78kg, 14% bodyfat.
The workouts for Korea have been released and the Chikara Nokorimonos team will not make it past day one due to the requirement of 6 muscle ups for the women. So there's one thing left to really gun for and that's event #2


Event #2 is 3 rep max overhead squat with the barbell taken from the deck.

The Target

Size on 12kg up to 90kg in 22 days.

The thinking behind this exercise is bigger people move more weight.

The Plan

Eat 4,000 calories on training days paleo and whey shakes post workout and during the day, casein before bed.
On non training days skip breakfast and eat a normal 1,800 paleo calories.
Plenty of sleep
No met-cons
Creatine
Reps schemes in singles or triples.
Sundays: Rest
Mondays: Rest
Tuesdays: OHS test, C&J test
Wednesdays: Rest
Thursdays: Jerk practice
Fridays: Front Squat 5x3
Saturdays: Deadlift 5x3

Typical Eating Day

coming soon.

2013/05/09 Starting Stats

Clean and Jerk: 82kg
OHS 1 rep max off the rack: 85kg
OHS 3 reps max off the rack: 80kg
Weight: 78kg
BF: 14%


2013/05/14 Week 1 Stats

OHS 1 rep max off the rack: 85kg
OHS 3 reps max off the rack: 80kg
OHS 3 rep max off the deck: 80kg
Weight: 81kg
BF: 14.9%


2013/05/21 Week 2 Stats

Clean and Jerk: ??kg
OHS 1 rep max off the rack: 95kg
OHS 3 reps max off the rack: 90kg
OHS 3 rep max off the deck: 82kg
Weight: 83kg
BF: 15.5%


2013/05/28 Week 3 Stats

Clean and Jerk: ??kg
OHS 1 rep max off the rack: 95kg
OHS 3 reps max off the rack: 90kg
OHS 3 rep max off the deck: 84kg
Weight: 83kg
BF: 15.9%


2013/05/31 Competition Stats

Clean and Jerk: ??kg
OHS 3 rep max off the deck: 84kg
OHS 2 rep max off the deck: 89kg
Weight: 84kg
BF: 16%


*** 2013/06/03 UPDATE ***

Okay so it's just after Regionals and my experiment was a failure.
My target was to put on 12kg but I only managed 6kg. My lifts did go up but not to the 100kg that I was hoping. What I learned was that it's a longer and more gradual process and you can't fast-track getting fat.

I managed to put on 5kg in the first week, then seemed to plateau. Also I wasn't very diligent in getting 5,000 calories in on lifting days. It's a lot of hard work to remember to eat breakfast, chug protein post workout, as a mid-morning snack, after lunch etc.

I also changed my technique from clean and jerk, to clean and dip-drive-pop-head-under to get the barbell to back rack. So I stopped practicing the clean and jerk hence no results there.

Next Step

Putting on a lot of weight fast to lift more weight fast was a quick fix to lift more at Regionals. Now that's done I need to get back to work on the real holes which are flexibility, rack receiving confidence, and proper 1st pull technique off the floor.

Time to go back to paleo with some basic liftting. I expect a slow decline back to around 78kg/13% bodyfat by August.

Kie's prediction for the Crossfit Open 2013

After my predictions for the 2012 Crossfit Open last year, I'll have a shot at predicting what to expect this year. I am a crossfitter who is a fan of all the games dating all the way back, and know all the open and regional workouts. Again, this is just for fun:









Prediction Workout 13.1 -
7mins AMRAP
Wall balls

Reason: It's all inclusive, crossfit is taking everyone's $20 so they'd piss too many people off if they put pull-ups in the first week and loads of newbie's and girls would lose interest straight off. Everyone can do wall balls and programming burpees again would be too ridiculous. Just as likely to be another single modality that everyone can do. In the rules we might even see a 6" target for wheelchair users

Prediction Workout 13.2 - 

10min AMRAP 

Clean and Jerk 40kgx30, 75kgx30, 100kgx30, 120kgx30

Reason: Everyone loved the snatch WOD 12.2 last year, it brought about loads of PRs and gyms went crazy. Can't do it again and we haven't had a clean and jerk workout since Open 11.2. Rich and Dan to demonstrate face to face.

Prediction Workout 13.3 -   

18min AMRAP

5 Wall climbers, 

9 grasshoppers, 

14 SDHP@40kg

Reason: There has to be an 18-20 minute AMRAP gasser with 3 different modalities in it. The above 3 could be changed for box jumps, wall balls, push-ups, toes-to-bar, K2E, hang cleans, cleans, light deadlifts. Also SDHPs are in the judges course.

Prediction Workout 13.4 - 

12min AMRAP

150 Knees-to-elbows

50 Jump over box

30 Muscle Ups

Reason: Following on from 11.4 and 12.4 there has to be a 10 minute nightmare followed by a 2 minute nightmare to suck all energy out of you so that you fail that muscle up. Big guns will cruise into a 2nd round, fit guys will re-do the WOD in the hope of getting to the muscle up, mediocre guys will get significantly less reps separating the league table clearly. Also Knees-to-elbows are in the judges course.

Prediction Workout 13.5 - 

7min AMRAP

Chest-to-bar Fran Ladder

Reason: There has to be away to compare to last year, that's what crossfit is all about: Timing workouts and measuring against last time to see how much you've improved. Saying that though, you could choose any of the 2012 Open workouts to use as a comparison. I'll go with this one because the results will give people the opportunity to compare 3 years.

Comments:

1. I wanted to put in overhead squats because they haven't been in since 2011. But I like them too much and that has to cloud my judgement.

2. I wish my wrist didn't hurt, otherwise I'd be hammering my heavy Clean and Jerk efficiency.

3. I wish my wrist didn't hurt, otherwise I'd be hammering thrusters.

4. I've been working on wall balls.

5. I've been working on chest-to-bars

6. I've been working on HSPU & Pistols just in case but I hope they don't come up because I'm sh*t at them (most say these are Regionals only exercises, but other than running and concept 2 rower, you can't count anything out that can be filmed continuously and all garage gyms will have equipment for).

Some say kettlebells will make an appearance this year, but they haven't yet so I steered clear of them. Wouldn't be surprised if they popped up though: 13.1 7min of 1.5 pood? KBS in 13.3? 150 KBS in 13.4?
7. Double unders should be in there, they are bound to come up. But where do they fit into my prediction?
8. I'll update this post after the open with the actual workouts and a review.

Update - Here are the actual WODs

13.1

Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 17 minutes of:
40 Burpees
75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
135 pound Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
165 pound Snatch, 30 reps
10 burpees
210 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible

13.2

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
115 pound Shoulder to overhead, 5 reps
115 pound Deadlift, 10 reps
15 Box jumps, 24" box

13.3

Complete as many rounds as possible in 12 mins of: 

150 Wall Balls, 20/14 lbs, 10/9 ft 

90 Double Unders 

30 Muscle Ups 

13.4

As many reps in 7 mins as you can of:
3 Clean & Jerks, 135/95 lbs
3 Toes To Bars
6 Clean & Jerks, 135/95 lbs
6 Toes To Bars
9 Clean & Jerks, 135/95 lbs
9 Toes To Bars
12 Clean & Jerks, 135/95 lbs
12 Toes To Bars
15 Clean & Jerks, 135/95 lbs
15 Toes To Bars

13.5

AMReps in 4 mins:
15 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 15 reps
15 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups | 15 reps
15 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 15 reps
15 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups | 15 rep
15 Thrusters, 100 lbs | 15 reps
15 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups | 15 rep

Knees Out!

K* recommends somewhere between 5 & 12 degrees for optimum knees out.
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2012/03/foot-position-test-breaking-diane.html
In this one K* says "The knee can be completely safe and effective with somewhere between 3-7 degrees of foot turn out."
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/05/episode-240-10-min-squat-test-8-athletic-acl-injury-prevention.html

Diane Fu has strong "external rotators". What are they? I need some of those.

Also, with feet straighter you have more power in the external rotators to keep the knees out. I would never have thought that would be the case, so interesting.

Notes for self: "Yes, better mobility and addressing the other factors Kelly notes will allow you to keep your feet straighter and not lose torque. Other episodes to look at are 230/365: Squatting With Turned Out Feet? Hey Duck Squatter, IR Yourself Episode 274/365: The Standing Athlete,343/365 Stop Walking Like the Duck You Aren’t"

link from 70's big on this
http://70sbig.com/blog/2012/03/hip-torque-toe-angle-and-squatting/

and Catalyst athletics article in reply to K*
http://www.catalystathletics.com/articles/article.php?articleID=113

1st Pull Setups

I need to release the potential of the 2nd pull, it's not there because I'm out of position after the first pull.

Here's my setup:

here's another setup from this outlaw video: http://vimeo.com/51445112

Jon North

Ivan Stoistov BW:77kg - 180kg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_LlNW5uWBQ

and Milko Tokola

All these guys have their legs almost parallel to the floor, mine are closer to 45 degrees. This is why I'm not getting a good setup in the 2nd pull.

Do Stiff Muscles Mean Better Muscle Growth?

If I haven't trained for over 2 weeks and then go to the gym, for the next few days I have really sore Delayed Onset Muscle Stiffness (DOMS).

Psychologically it feels like I've severely damaged my muscles which will cause a massive amount of recovery and be much more beneficial than the day in day out usual training.

Which causes more muscle growth?
1) I am on week 4 of a linear squat progression increasing 5kg per week doing sets of 3x5 and feeling no DOMS whatsoever, resting 1 week between squatting and hitting other muscle groups on separate training days.

2) I've done nothing for 2 weeks, hit the gym and do a set of 3x5 squats, wake up in the morning unable to walk properly. Need at least 4 days off training.

Paschimotanasana

Totally simple thing but I've never been able to do it because my pelvis refuses to tip forwards. People who I see doing it are all women or men who do karate or other flexible sports. Sure I can touch my toes but only with a severely rounded back.

To start working towards this, I like this sitting on a block idea:

When you sit down to practice your forward bend, check out the curve of your lower back and pelvis.  Your pelvis should be upright or tilting forward, never backwards.  Your lower back should have an inward curve.  Use your fingers to feel the shape of your low back if it is not apparent to you visually.  If you feel your backbones protruding outwards towards your finger tips then you need to adjust before bending forward.  Begin by turning your thighs in and widening your sit bones.  If that does not adjust your low back enough, then prop your hips up by rolling the end of your mat up, sitting on a block, or sitting on a towel.  Do not bend forward until your pelvis and low back are safe.




sensational-yoga-poses.com advises doing this too:

If your hamstrings are really tight (like iron or steal that will not bend, even if heated to super high temperature), you'll be reaching upwards more than forwards each time you inhale. If this is the case or hamstrings are so tight that you can't even sit upright with one or both legs straight, then sit on blocks or edge of a sofa or chair (or table) so that you upper body does tilt forwards.


Then as you inhale focus on lengthening your upper body away from your pelvis and as you exhale allow your ribcage and head to sink down.


By practicing daily you may find that you can gradually reduce the height of your prop. (Don't go sawing the legs off of your sofa. Just find something lower to sit on.) As you do reduce the height of your prop, remember the feeling of keeping your spine long and also the feeling of tilting your pelvis forwards.

Kie's prediction for the Crossfit Open 2012

This is just a prediction for fun

*** Post 2012 Open Update ***
Updated with actual WODs and comments

Prediction Workout 12.1
10 min AMRAP of:
15 toes to bar
25 push-ups
35 box jumps

Equivalent Workout 12.3
Complete as many rounds as possible in 18 mins of:
15 Box Jumps, 24/20 in
12 Push Press, 115/75 lbs
9 Toes To Bars

Comment: My 12.1 and the actual 12.3 are fairly close.

Prediction Workout 12.2
15 min AMRAP of:
10 one arm dumbbell snatch
20 kettlebell swings 1.5 pood

Equivalent 12.1
As many reps as possible in 7 mins of:
Burpee

This workout begins from the standing position. The Athlete will move from flat on the ground to touching an object with both hands that is 6 inches above their max reach. Score is total reps completed in 7 minutes.

Comment: Nobody saw that coming, totally different from anything I predicted.

Prediction Workout 12.3
5min AMRAP of:
Snatch 60kg

Equivalent Actual Workout 12.2
Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
30 Snatch (M 75 / F 45 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 135 / F 75 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 165 / F 100 lbs)
Max Rep Snatch (M 210 / F 120 lbs)

Comment: Similar on the sticking snatch weight, glad I trained heavy on snatches.

Prediction Workout 12.4
10min AMRAP of:
100 double unders
30 overhead squat 50kg
10 muscle ups

Equivalent Actual Workout 12.4
12.4 record: 148, 240
Complete as many rounds as possible in 12 mins of:
150 Wall Balls, 20/14 lbs, 10/9 ft
90 Double Unders
30 Muscle Ups

Comment: So I was right that there would be a similar hard trek with the best getting to muscle ups to separate themselves from the pack. The actual 12.4 is a much cooler WOD than my prediction.
Prediction Workout 12.5
20min AMRAP of:
10 pull-ups
10 wall balls
10 plyo-push-ups
10 Jumping alternating lunges
10 double unders

Equivalent 12.5 record: 39, 48
Complete as many rounds as possible in 7 mins of:
3 Thrusters, 100 lbs
3 Pull Up (Chest To Bar)s
6....

Comment: Yeah, cool to compare to last year. I was way out with a final chipper style AMRAP. Is that an oxymoron?

Conclusion

I'd say 

prediction 12.1 maps to actual 12.3, 

prediction 12.4 maps to actual 12.4 and 

prediction 12.3 maps to actual 12.2

Not bad for a first try , looking forward to 2013 to try again.

BMR Recalculation

I've been following Martin Berkhan's Leangains protocol for the past year and it's reduced my bodyfat considerably since Jan until now, a lot of that is also due to switching to Paleo. I counted calories to get and idea in the beginning, and now I guess at 2640 (BMR + 20%) on training days and 1760 (BMR - 20%) on rest days. That was using a BMR value of 2200 calories. My bodyfat ranges between 11% and 12% depending on how much beer I drink during the week. Last week I had a friend staying from Denmark and went out on the beers 3 times and BF rose to 12.6%. No drinking this so next time I check BF should be back down under 12.

Just saw this website today with a BMR calculation showing a much lower result. He recommends eating a lot more carbs that I usually eat and less calories overall. It's also interesting what he says about fat on training days. I know it's best to eat carbs post workout to restore muscle glycogen and to spike insulin to shuttle protein to the muscle cells, and less carbs on rest days, but I never gave that much concern to the amount of fat I was eating.


Calculating Leangains Macros based on http://rippedbody.jp/2011/10/23/how-to-calculate-leangains-macros/


Metric BMR Formula
Women: BMR = 655+ ( 9.6 x weight in kilos )+( 1.8 x height in cm ) – ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66+ ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) – ( 6.8 x age in years )
Kie: 66 + (13.7 x 76) + (5 x 178) - (6.8 x 35) = 66 + 1041.2 + 890 - 238 = 1759.2 calories


Adjust for Activity
Guides to BMR usually recommend that you use an ‘activity multiplier’ (x1.2~x1.9) depending on your lifestyle/training.
( I won't bother adjusting because I work at a desk and only exercise 3 times a week )

Goal

Choose to ‘Cut’, ‘Slow-Bulk’ or gradual ‘Body-Recomposition’
The calories and thus macros you choose will depend on your goals.

Body-Recomposition: Martin himself refers to a +20%kCal and -20%kCal rule for T-Days and R-Days respectively.
Cut: Your numbers might look something like 2200kCal and 1300kCal. (+10%/-35%kCal)
Slow bulk: Your numbers might look something like 1800kCal and 2800kCal. (+40%/-10%kCal)

Based on the above recommendations, following the 'Cut' guide, I would be eating 1935 calories on training days and 1143 calories on rest days. That seems like hardly any calories at all man, I reckon if I followed that I might lose weight and strength.

I have an "Over-training and Cortisol" experiment that I'm doing first during December, then I'll think about trying this in January.

Main goal is to get stronger, after that start playing with leaning out techniques.

How Many Carbs am I Eating?

After reading an interesting article on MarksDailyApple about how many carbs a Primal eater should be eating per day, I started wondering about how close I was getting to me training plan's figures. So I tracked for 10 days to see how my food guessing is going.

The tracking site I used: Livestrong.com recommends to eat 300g of carbs per day.
My training plan goes for up to 350 carbs on days containing exercise and less than 150 carbs on days containing no exercise.

Mark from Mark's Daily Apple is a total low carber, and his recommendations are much lower. He has a six-pack, I do not.

Chart above shows 4 training days and 6 rest days out of a 10 day test period.

Interesting to see that Livestrong's recommendation is in Mark's "Danger Zone". And even though I am not putting on weight, I spend many days in Mark's "Insidious weight gain" zone. hahaha!

By eating sensibly I can see I am able to keep within my training plan carb ranges, so I'll carry on with the way I am eating/living.

PWO: Fruit or Vegetables with Your Protein?

Post workout eating ice cold watermelon tastes great when you're absolutely exhausted. In doing that am I just filling my liver with glycogen while my muscles cry out for replenishment? Is the protein that accompanies the watermelon banging on the door of the muscle because the insulin hasn't arrived yet?

I was under the impression that fruit only contains the sugar fructose. However fruits have fructose and glucose in different proportions:

PREWORKOUT
These fruits provide higher fructose than glucose for sustained fuel
that won't block fat burning. Eat one or two servings.


FRUIT TOTAL SUGARS* FRUCTOSE* GLUCOSE*
Pear (1 medium) 16 11 5
Watermelon (1 wedge) 18 12 6
Apple (1 medium) 14 9 5
Cantaloupe (1/2 melon) 22 12 10
Grapes (1 cup) 24 13 11
Strawberries (2 cups) 14 8 6
Raspberries (2 cups) 10 6 4


MORNING
These fruits provide equal or nearly equal fructose and glucose to
restock liver and muscle glycogen to help halt muscle breakdown. Eat two
or three servings.


FRUIT TOTAL SUGARS* FRUCTOSE* GLUCOSE*
Pineapple (1 cup diced) 13 7 6
Honeydew melon (1 wedge) 13 7 6
Orange (1 medium) 12 6 6
Banana (1 medium) 18 9 9
Blueberries (1 cup) 14 7 7
Nectarine (1 medium) 10 5 5
Kiwi fruit (2 medium) 12 6 6


POSTWORKOUT
These fruits provide more glucose than fructose for restocking muscle glycogen and enhancing muscle growth. (The last five fruits from the morning fruit category are also decent choices postworkout, for their ability to fill glycogen stores.) Eat one or two servings along with white bread, baked potatoes or a carb drink.


FRUIT TOTAL SUGARS* FRUCTOSE* GLUCOSE*


Cherries (1 cup) 14 6 8
Peach (1 medium) 8 3 5


* Quantities are in grams.

That's all very well and good, but post workout does a sweet potato beat them all?


The Pathway Of Fructose
When you consume fructose from the foods you eat, first it gets digested and then immediately gets directed to the liver where it is stored as liver glycogen. This is much different than when it goes into the muscle cells and gets stored as muscle glycogen because the body is not going to be using this liver glycogen for fuel – at least not the nearly the same degree as it does muscle glycogen.

So, by consuming large amounts of fructose in the diet you are actually shorting yourself on the energy-deriving potential from your diet, as well as decreasing the amount of fuel that the muscles have to build new tissue with and help you see a good weight gain.


Applying This To The Post-Workout Period In Bodybuilding
So, looking at this from a bodybuilding perspective, when consuming the post-workout meal, the main objective is to shuttle as many carbohydrates into the muscle cells as they can possibly handle so they can then use this energy to build new tissues and get BIGGER.

If some carbohydrates come from fructose, this is not going to happen. Some muscle glycogen re-synthesis will occur, but it won't be maximised.

Conclusion
So, time to re-think fruit as part of the post-workout meal. Definitely do not cut the fruit out – as it’s very healthy and should be eaten, but just move it to another part of the day instead. Use starchy carbs like sweet potatoes post workout, unless I want to go all psycho on this and start supplementing with Maltodextrin/Dextrose. Let's keep it paleo eh?

References
"Supplements composed of glucose or glucose polymers are the most effective for replenishment of muscle glycogen, whereas fructose is most beneficial for the replenishment of liver glycogen."

Int J Sports Med. 1998 Jun;19 Suppl 2:S142-5. Glycogen resynthesis after exercise: effect of carbohydrate intake. Ivy JL.

"glucose polymer drink after exhaustive exercise promoted a more rapid storage of carbohydrate during the first 2 h of recovery than did consumption of an isoenergetic sucrose drink, both in the whole body and in skeletal muscle."

L. Bowtell, K. Gelly, M. L. Jackman, A. Patel, M. Simeoni, and M. J. Rennie “Effect of different carbohydrate drinks on whole body carbohydrate storage after exhaustive exercise”. Appl Physiol 88: 1529-1536, 2000;

"Fructose and fructose-containing are not optimal for glycogen storage because they are less insulinogenic than glucose, and because fructose needs to first be transformed in the liver before it can be released into the circulation as glucose and taken up by the muscle."

Nutrition and recovery of muscle energy after exercise, Décombaz, Sportmedizin und Sporttraumatologie, 2003.