EDITOR’S NOTE:
I am proud to introduce the first installment in our brand new feature – The Athlete Journals. To start off we are featuring CrossFit athletes as they train and compete throughout the CrossFit Games season. Look for journals weekly from these amazing athletes as they share their training, nutrition, recovery, and mental preparation for these intense workouts and competitions. The CrossFit Games Open begins this week!
Journals will be posted at 3pm Pacific:
Mondays – Ingrid Kantola of CrossFit Central
Tuesdays – Peter Egyed of CrossFit Fury
Wednesdays – Michael Winchester of CrossFit Central
Michael Winchester – Athlete Journal 2/22/12
(Read Michael’s Bio here)
My training and preparation for the 2012 CrossFit Games has been the longest and hardest yet. It started the day after CrossFit Central took 4th place at the South Central Regional last year – one spot shy of making it to the Games… but light years away as far as I am concerned.
STRENGTH WODs
Strength was the focus at the close of last years Games’ Season. Travis Holley (fellow CrossFit Central coach and training partner) programs all of our strength workouts – a spicy blend of Westside Barbell, Zach Even-Esh, and Rob Orlando all rolled into one. Travis has really created his own style and it works for us – I credit him with all of the strength gains we have made over the past year.
We focus a lot on the posterior chain and getting explosive with our movements as much as we can. In our training sessions you’ll find box squats, banded Good Mornings, lateral banded walks to hit the gluteus medius and barbell, kettlebell and dumbbell complexes galore. Time under load is something else we like to stress in our strength sessions. Nothing is for time – everything is for quality and load. Lifting heavy stuff is the name of the game! Who says you can’t create a metabolic response without doing a “MetCon”?
For the past month or so we have been toning down the strength a bit and ramping up the MetCon a bit more. This includes more work on the rowers and more interval work.
1 PM Workouts
These are generally comprised of a .COM workout or variation of .COM plus skill work, mobility and/or strength work. This is a time when our coaches get together and push themselves and each other towards the Home Depot Center, one rep at a time. It should be noted that mobility and soft-tissue work happens throughout the day whenever I can grab a spare minute or two. It is a never-ending process!
Nutrition
I follow a high-quality foods diet. Meats, veggies, fruits, and healthy fats. I love GREENS: kale and collard greens, specifically. I stay away from anything processed or that has more than three ingredients on the label. I eat a LOT! In the off-season, I supplement only with fish oil. From January to present, I believe my training volume requires extra supplementation to recover and heal properly:
-Advocare Pre-WOD BCAA’s
-Advocare Pre-WOD HMB
-Progenex Post-WOD protein shake
-Natural Calm Magnesium
-Glucosamine Chondroitin
-Pure Pharma Vitamin D
-Pure Pharma Fish Oil
-SuperGreens Powder
My Current Training Schedule:
Monday
1:00PM: Competitors’ Training at CrossFit Central
Tuesday
9:00AM: Olympic Lifting Practice
1:00PM: Strength WOD
Wednesday
10:00AM: ART Session at Next Level Chiropractic
1:00PM: Competitors’ Training at CrossFit Central
Thursday
Active Recovery: Bikram Yoga
Friday
9:00AM: Strength WOD
1:00PM: Competitors’ Training at CrossFit Central
Saturday
Rest Day
Sunday
Active Recovery: Bikram Yoga
The only changes heading into the Open will be that the Open WODs will replace the Friday 1PM training sessions. We have an outstanding group of coaches and athletes hitting up the workouts every Friday, and the intensity will be off the charts!
My plan for training and intensity will be to listen to my body and get as many quality training sessions in as possible. As soon as intensity starts to fade – physically or mentally – the progress stops. Mental toughness will be more important than physical over the next weeks and months, so learning when to push on and when to hold back will be key.
