Wolf's Log: From Cub to Direwolf

[Les Hahn]

Les, are you more of a nerd than I am?

I might be! Anyone that has Silver Surfer on one leg and a space shuttle on the other probably qualifies. :-)

[Michael Wolf]

I might be! Anyone that has Silver Surfer on one leg and a space shuttle on the other probably qualifies. :-)

Oh I see you can talk the talk, but how many times have you watched Star Wars? Read Lord of the Rings?? The Silmarillion???

Bring it on, Cat-Man!

[Mac Ward]

I'll be going for 330x5x3 in your gym this weekend. With the magic socks on.

Press? WTF are we talking about, stud muffin?

[Michael Wolf]

Press? WTF are we talking about, stud muffin?

Bench Press. Otherwise known as the lesser, but stronger, press. Cupcake.

[Michael Wolf]

Bench Press. Otherwise known as the lesser, but stronger, press. Cupcake.

PS I'm waiting here by the curb like a common loiterer, when is your brother gonna get here???

[Mac Ward]

PS I'm waiting here by the curb like a common loiterer, when is your brother gonna get here???

Dude, I'm furthering freedom right now. I don't have time for this petty BS.

[Michael Wolf]

Great day of lifting yesterday with the SS Crew at Crystal Coast S&C / CF Emerald Isle. Though I was on re-loading weights for squat and DL, I couldn't help but be swept up in the energy and great lifting going on in the gym. It was also awesome having Mac coach Gillian from thousands of miles away via facetime. A small sample of many of the great sets is included in my video.

Squat
Warm-ups to 405x5x3
Notes: Feedback was I need a bit more knees out, and also knees first (I was initiating a few reps with my hips rather than hips and knees together). But the weight felt light, fast, and easy for the first time since I have been re-loading.

Bench Press
Warm-ups to 330x5x3 - PR for 3x5
Notes: Started out on the competition bench, but didn't like the squishy/soft pad, so switched to a rogue bench in a rack. It was a lot better to set my back against, but about an inch or two higher than the upright support bench I'm used to in NYC. So I had trouble getting into my usual arch and overall position. First set was hard, but I adjusted for 2 and 3 and those were solid sets.

Deadlift
Warm-ups to 475x5
Notes: After a half sized breakfast and 2.5 hrs since beginning lifting, I was low on energy. So skipped power clean warm-up and also didn't set my back well during the workset. But these still felt pretty easy.

Small sample of the day's awesomeness:

[Michael Wolf]

Trained at Crossfit Music City in Nashville today. $20 drop-in fee or $25 for a decently cool CFMC t-shirt and no drop-in fee. Guess which I chose?

Squat
Warm-up to 415x5x3
Notes: Not very good bars and only bumper plates, so these felt a lot less solid than Saturday's @ 405. Still got them all done though. Up to 6-7 mins rest. Rust all over the back of my shirt where the bar sat. The wobbly bar and bumpers really made this harder and took a lot out of me. I was gassed.

Press
Warm-up to 190x5x3
Notes: I started rushing at this point as the coach said he was leaving at 11, and it was already 10:20ish by this point. So didn't rest long after squats and only 3-4 mins between work-sets of presses. Normally 3-4 would be fine for this weight, but I never really quite recovered from squats. So these were hard.

Deadlift
Warm-up to 475x2
Notes: Really rushing at this point, and drenched in sweat - it's humid down here! The workset was a big fail. First, due to the thick bumpers, there was no way to load 485; four 45s and a 35 were the most that fit on each side. Second, the bars really just weren't meant to handle this kind of load. I also think they were a bit thick. Or maybe I was just gassed at this point from the squatting and then hurrying through the rest.

Either way, I got two reps and called it. I don't do that often, but I knew that was all that made sense today. Once I saw I could only load 475, I was going to do 6 reps since I couldn't do my planned 485x5. I got two today. Oh well.

Then as the coach was preparing to leave a woman comes in and starts warming up. Turns out this girl is a local CF Coach, Kate, who knows the owners, so they let her come and work out on her own. I didn't have to rush through after all. Oh well, can't get it back. Also, she mentioned (without my saying a thing about it) that the bars there are sub-par so I felt a little better about how my squats, presses, and especially pulls felt.

Kate took Rip's CF Basic Barbell course back in 2008 so we chatted about that for a bit before I left.

All in all it's fine for a vacation day.

[John Petrizzo]

I hope you have a good time in Nashville, Wolf.

[Michael Wolf]

Came back late last night after several hours of travel delays. Spending all day hanging in airports and sitting on planes (after a whirlwind walking tour of Graceland in the morning), and my back and hips were tight as hell today. Scheduled an 80-min massage for tomorrow, but was able to get through all of today's scheduled training without any trouble.

Also trained with and helped coach Cara today. As she told me afterwards, we are Jerry and Elaine.

Squat
Warm-ups to 420x5x3
Notes: Not as fast as the 405's felt in NC, but a lot better than the 415's on Tuesday. Having a good bar really makes a huge difference. I really miss squatting on those nice wooden platforms at CCSC though. Going back to the sub-par rubber flooring that squishes a little really sucked today.

Press
Warm-ups to 195x5x3
Notes: Better than 190 on Tuesday. In fact, everything was better today than Tuesday. Faster, stronger, more solid.

Power Clean warm-up for DL
135x3x2, 165x3, 185x2, 205x1
Notes: Hadn't done these in almost two weeks and was in a hurry so didn't do too many or anything hard. They were fine.

Deadlift
275x3, 365x2, 425x1, 485x5
Notes: Starting to get challenging again. Not limit, but challenging.

Bench Press
135x5, 185x5, 230x5, 275x5, 305x5
Notes: Done fast with little rest between sets. Just didn't want to go a whole week without some benching.