Dan on Exercise and His Exercise Routine, or: Why CrossFit? IT WORKS!

Last Updated: 2009-06-30 2009-03-07 2009-Feb-11

My weekly routine consists of three elements:

This page is about the Workouts.

"Always gain, never maintain."

"Our warmup, your workout."

"We do your stuff nearly as well as you do, you can't do ours very well at all, and we do everything that we both don't do much better than you can. Not very humble, I know, but true."

...and perhaps my favorite:

"Everytime you squat above parallel, Rippetoe drowns a kitten in milk."

==> ...Always Do Full Squats!

I am now a full-on CrossFitter. I recently started doing the crossfit.com WODs in the prescribed 3-on, 1-off fashion. The above quotes -- at least the second two -- come from the CrossFit world.

Before you convict me of arrogance -- I'll stand so accused -- let me explain: prior to CrossFit, I had *never* encountered something so effective for gaining strength, improving one's abilities to perform well at nearly any/all athletic pursuits, and losing unnecessary weight. I have a good friend, Ben, who'd been doing CrossFit for 6-9 months before me, and at least one thing that convinced me to try it, in spite of its then-seeming faddishness, was that every single time -- Every. Single. Time. -- he encountered the same workout again as they cycle around approximately every 8-12 weeks, he did them faster, stronger, more easily. It blew my mind.

I thought I was fit. (You hear that a lot when people first try CrossFit...) It turns out I'm not even a complete "Level Two" person on a scale of One to Four. (I can do all the Level One tests, and am currently at about half of the Level Two's, plus a few of the Level Three's.) The Level Four folks truly are Olympic-class; some of them actually are Olympians. Get this: the WODs are defined or aimed at them. Everyone else is supposed to scale *down* appropriately.

Two of the coolest things about CrossFit are: its public or "open source" nature, and the high bar:

  • Public and Open Source
    All the workouts are posted on the website, every day. All the exercises are accompanied by short videos. There's a *ton* of articles in PDF format available for free. Sure, there is a paywall eventually: a lofty $25/year subscription to the premium content in the CrossFit Journal. Get a subscription!
  • High Bar
    As mentioned above, the WODs are written for the Level Four "Elite" types. But everyone is encouraged to submit their weights, times, and number of rounds. In the affiliate locations, there are whiteboards where everyone's accomplishments are posted for all to see. Everyone's innate inclination to compete is encouraged -- to help each person strive and exceed self-imposed limitations.

I started dabbling in CrossFit in mid-October 2007 -- doing a bunch of reading. I did my first CF-inspired WOD on November 7, 2007: a scaled form of Diane. I did Filthy Fifties -- scaled, of course -- on 11/18/2007. I really dove in during the week-long Thanksgiving vacation took. This included making not one but two pairs of parallettes: one for me and one for the good friend of mine who'd finally gotten me to look at CrossFit. Heh. The full truth is that I did Nancy on 11/24/2007, and hurt my knees. That meant I spent the rest of 2007 rehabilitating them AND really focusing on doing the CrossFit Warmup on my workout days, doing either 2x or 3x at 10-15 reps each x. Finally, starting March and April 2008, I tired of the CFWU-only universe, and starting doing WODs. By late summer and fall, I was doing more WODs.

From oh, 1997 till mid-2007 I had done the same daily workout routine of pushups, barbell curls, and numerous abdominal exercises -- and was definitely stuck in/at a plateau... I was ready for a change. Also, two developments with my Aikido were motivating me to improve my fitness. One: in the fall of 2007, after 10 years of Aikido, it looked like I'd need to take a two-three year hiatus, ironically just when I should be ramping up for a Nidan (2nd degree blackbelt) Test. Two: it had become clear I simply wasn't as fit as I thought, at least for martial scenarios, so I wanted to address some gaps.

Looking back, it's funny, and almost embarrassing. In June 2007 I bought a complete Soloflex system off CraigsList -- I'd been looking for a chin/dip station (see the previous version of this page for the history). I started using it pretty consistently -- until the fall when my friend Ben's suggestions finally sank in. In early November I bought a used Olympic weightlifting set (and some other cool gear). I came to use the Soloflex only to do Pull-ups -- and to use its bench for seated exercises.

Here in February 2009 I am *delighted* to report that on January 17, I packed the Soloflex up and put it (back) into my garage for imminent sale, and replaced it, as it were, with the bench that had come with the Olympic Lifting cage. My "garage gym" is nearly complete. [Coming soon: a page about my equipment]

I have recently settled on what appears to be the perfect combination each week of activities:

  • Sunday: a "light" workout day: at least my "Dan Warmup," perhaps a Rowing unit, and/or my "Modified Core/Ab Day, or a light CF WOD
  • Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday: some recent Three-On official CrossFit WOD sequence
  • Thursday: a rest day, or perhaps a really light or skills workout day (can you say "practice double unders?"
  • Friday: a Rippetoe Olympic Lifting day: either the Wichita Falls program or the Intermediate
  • Saturday: a rest day

Coming Soon...details about:

    My "garage gym:"
           -        -       
  • My 15-18 minute "Dan Warmup" including the AirSquats (80 in 75 seconds currently)
  • The CrossFit Warmup -- aw, heck, I can do a little on it now
    It's one to three rounds of 10-15 reps each of the following:
    1. Samson Stretch -- I do what I call the "Gymnast Front/Back;" cf. this photo
    2. AirSquats -- I do Overhead Squats with 45# and then 95# of weight
    3. Sit-ups -- I do the so-called "advanced GHD" version
    4. Back Extensions -- I do mine with 35# of weight
    5. Pull-ups -- my weakness, I do strict/deadhang and chins -- working on my kipping form
    6. Dips -- I do mine on gymnastics rings
    ...now: do the math. Example: yes, that means 30-45 pull-ups in just the warmup alone!
    BUT yes: I do only one round of my version at once.
  • My modified Core/Ab days (this is now a thing of the past)
  • Mark Rippetoe's awesome O-Lifting programs:
  • My CrossFit Profile -- such as it is...
  • My CrossFit "PRs" (Personal Records or Bests)
  • My Level IV CrossFit Seattle Skill Level Achievements

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