Tomorrow I’ll be heading to the NAGA tournament in Seattle.  That means that there will not be a regularly scheduled class this Friday.  Saturday the club will be closed for the long weekend.  To make up for lost time there will be a class this Monday at one.  Either come in and hit it or enjoy your Victoria day long weekend without me!

I know I’ve had to alter the regular class schedule over the past few weeks on a couple of occasions now due to competitions.   But don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you guys with really hard workouts!  As a matter of fact, let’s do one today.

Wish me luck this weekend!

Thursday

Tech: -5-5-4-2-2 snatch

Workout:
‘Daniel’
-50 pullups
-400m run
-21 thruster (95/65 lbs)
-800m run
-21 thruster (95/65 lbs)
-400m run
-50 pullups

Rain rain go away… So we can work outside everyday! Or maybe we should just workout in the rain sometimes… After all this is the lower mainland!

Wednesday

Tech: -4-3-3-2-2 deadlift

Workout:
-100 jumping lunges
-100 pullups
-100 situps
+partition the above in any manner you’d like
+3 burpees every min on the min

In a recent article from the Associated Press it was reported that the increased demand for quinoa has led to an increase in it’s production in Bolivia. This increase in land usage for quinoa production has caused a decrease in the production of other crops that are staples in Bolivia. Not a good thing in a country where one in five children suffer from malnutrition. Not only that, but because quinoa has become insanely popular in Western Europe and North America over the past eight years or so the price has been driven up. So although native Bolivians grow quinoa it’s cheaper for them to eat imported rice. Strange times.

Quinoa is a pseudocereal (it’s actually a seed) considered to be a ‘superfood’. The AP article highlights many interesting points regarding global quinoa consumption/production and their effects on Bolivia – where it is a traditional highland crop. But perhaps something we should be considering is how much stock we put into the notion of superfoods in general.

What is a superfood? And if something is labelled as such, should we eat only that forsaking all other options? Perhaps if we weren’t so willing to jump on the bandwagon and focused on maintaining a diet with a bit more variety it’d be better not only nutritionally but globally as well. Food for thought.

Tuesday

Tech: -3-3-3-3-3 press

Workout:
12 min. AMRAP of:
-3 ring dips
-5 kettlebell swing
-8 double unders

Well the website is back up and running!  It was down for reasons unknown to me.  It was explained… somewhat… but I don’t think it helped my understanding of what occurred.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t happen again.  If it wasn’t for the awesome people helping out I’d be lost – and I don’t just mean on the technological end.  Team!

Monday

Tech: -5-5-3-2-2 squat

Workout:
-1 rope climb
-10 deadlifts (135/95 lbs)
-1 rope climb
-10 clean (135/95 lbs)
-1 rope climb
-10 front squats (135/95 lbs)
-1 rope climb
-10 shoulder to overhead (135/95 lbs)
-1 rope climb

Wow, we sure are running a lot this week…  I wonder if there’s some kind of pattern or theme for the week?

Wednesday

Tech: -4-4-4-3-3 hang clean

Workout:
-200m run
-200 double unders
-400m run
-100 double unders
-800m run
-50 double unders

Watch this slow motion video of David Bedzhanyan clean and jerking 240 kg. It’s great! This guy is something else. He holds the official 105 kg weight class clean and jerk world record at 238 kg.

What’s really crazy is that he wasn’t even sent to London for the 2012 Olympics! Two others – Akkaev and Klokov – were going instead. They were subsequently injured and Russia didn’t field any athletes in the men’s 105 kg weight class.

Today we’re doing the push jerk and most of us could benefit from paying attention to his form and technique during that portion of the video above. I’ve had to say it quite often lately – and you can see it in the video above – you’re not supposed to be pushing the bar forward and away from you when pressing overhead. Move your head out of the bar path as best you can. Some of us should expect to lift more weight with this minor correction.

Tuesday

Tech: -4-4-2-2-2 push jerk

Workout:
20 min. AMRAP of:
-200m run
-7 thrusters (95/65 lbs)
-10 burpees

This Saturday is the Western Canadian BJJ Competition at BCIT. It’s put on by the CBJJF organization and is one of the bigger competitions we have in Vancouver or BC.

Lots of our Dynamic teammates will be competing there and I’ll be coaching. As such, the class is cancelled this Saturday but everyone should get on down to the BCIT gym to watch and cheer on the grapplers! Bring friends and family to watch as I shout myself hoarse at a bunch of sweaty guys and girls rolling around with each other.

Monday

Tech: -5-5-5-5-5 front squat (10 box jumps after each set)

Workout:
3 rounds of:
-400 m run
-25 handstand pushups

Looks like it’s going to be a glorious day!  I say we hit the workout real hard and follow up with a nice cool down at the beach.  Who’s with me?

Saturday

Tech: Lifter’s Choice

Workout:
Partner tire workout

Well it’s supposed to be sunny today… But that remains to be seen as of this writing. But given what the forecast tells me you can expect to do some running during the workout today.

During the technical portion we’ll make sure to hit the last of the power lifts for this week. Squats! Nothing builds strength like squats. Work diligently and you can expect to see the results in each of the other major lifts we do on a regular basis.

Thursday

Tech: -5-4-4-3-3 squat

Workout:
4 rounds of:
- 400m run
-15 kettlebell swings
-15 burpees