A common question from Saturday’s Bad As II practice session. Now that you know your opening weights, what is the best way to warm up for them?

I would suggest a similar approach as we use with the CrossFit Total. Your first warm up set should be relatively light and something you would warm up with in a normal class, your last warm up should be around 90% of your opening weight. In between these two weights should be three to four even increments. So warm ups for an opening weight of 90kg might look something like this:

5 x 20 

3 x 40

2 x 50

1 x 60

1 x 70

1 x 80

After the squat follow the same procedure for the Bench Press, but as the weights will be lighter, the warm up weights will be closer together and you probably don’t need as many intermediate warm ups. So for a opening weight of 55kg, your warm ups might look like this.

5 x 20

3 x 30

2 x 40

1 x 45

1 x  50

Finally for the Clean and Jerk you should be pretty good to go by now, so try a heavier first warm up and only a couple of intermediate sets before the first attempt. So for an opening weight of 50kg, it might look like this:

3 x 25 

1 x 35

1 x 40

1 x 45

I hope that helps some of you with your planning. Now lets lift some heavy shit next Saturday.

Monique finally nails the 50kg C&J that eluded her during the Open workout 11.3

Shoes

A lot of us now have minimalist shoes like INOV8s for our day to day workouts. Have you considered investing in weightlifting shoes for the strength sessions?

We have had ours for a while now, Rach and Mike S (Avatar) also have them. Mel tried Rach’s this weekend and found that they give a better connection to the platform and a more stable bottom position.

Instead of walking a mile, Mel squats 90kg in another womans shoes

They are no more expensive than a pair of running shoes and offer specific support for your lifts. Read more about them here.

If you are interested in getting some let us know. If we can get a big enough order together we can source them from One Rep Max, our sponsor for the Bad As.

Bad As

Registration closes on Tuesday so get signed up today! Click here to register.

One Rep Max is coming to the party and as well as individual prizes they will be donating the womens specific bar descibed below to the to the best performing gyms.

The One Rep Max GP Bar -  The high chromium content in our spring steel reacts with the black zinc coating process, and gives it a unique look, and feel.  A  russet, coppered coating that feels powdery and cool in hand.  The steel itself is whippy and strong, months of testing by olympic lifting, and a controlled, basic, press test with our engineer has resulted in a bar able to withstand your abuse, and give you the response you need to progress your lifts.  Knurled moderately, this bar is great for One Rep Max Lifts of any kind. The 25mm diameter spring steel shaft specifically for women lifters.  The hard chrome sleeves contain sealed, gel lubricated bearings for a virtually friction free spin under the heavy loads.  BOOM!

I was very much like most endurance athletes. I rode my mountain bike as often as possible for as long as possible. I ran and taught spin class and I did very little weightlifting. I was tight and sore most of the time. I ate oatmeal for energy before long rides and I drank beer after to celebrate the suffering I just endured. After all, I was getting stronger right?

That was 3 years ago. Now, I CrossFit. What does that mean….? I show up to the gym ready to train. If I am sore I roll out or grab a lacrosse ball. I want to bring my best to each training session. I want to get the most out of that hour I am in the gym. I am focused.

When I lift, I lift heavy. I know my 1RM’s and I work my percentages. I know this is the best way to get the most of my hour in the gym. When it is time for my met con I try to beat the piss out of it. I go as hard as I can and I always have great success knowing I did my best. When I scale, I make sure it will get me stronger. I take great pride is doing the met con as rx’d even if it takes a bit more time. I own my met con, it does not own me.

After, I stretch. I stretch and roll out in the gym, I do it again at home. I do it for next time. Last night I iced. I sat and ate dinner with ice on my knee and arnica rubbed into my shoulders. I am an athlete and I want to bring my best to the gym tomorrow. I eat, sleep, and replenish.

I share all this with you daily. I give you the tools to keep you safe, get the most our of your body no matter how young, old, busy or broken you may be. You know what to do.  You work hard 8+ hours each day. Aren’t you worth 5 minutes of pampering each night? I think you are.

Stretch

Roll

Ice

Arnica

I still mountain bike and race. Training smarter and harder, but not longer has given me more time to spend doing the things I love. I have gotten so much stronger, it makes everything easier, be it mountain biking or loading a 30kg bag of dog food into the car. – D$

Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general. - Mark Rippetoe

On another note, Rache and Sovita test drove our weightlifting shoes during Saturday’s skills session and are convinced. With Donna going to the US next month, it is a great opportunity to save on shipping and get her to bring you back a pair. Ours came from Again Faster, let Donna know if you are interested.

Next Saturday we will open at 10am, invite your friends along for some strongman skills and a workout followed by some grilled meat (provided by MaD) and whatever paleo treats you would like to share.

E-Mail or Text if you need to book a class

donna@madcrossfit.com
021-266-4264

Matt, Grant and Brendan hit today’s On Ramp WOD – 5 RFT 10 Gobblet Squats, 15 KBS and 20 Box Jumps

Lift Heavy Sh*t
Eat Meat
Sleep

and helping us along the way, look for these to arrive before Christmas.

Squat stands

Wall mounted dip stations