Chuck-Fit WOD 7/8/2015 — The 2k Test, Here Comes the Pain

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burpeessuck.com

burpeessuck.com

Hey Everybody!

Short but tough WOD today.

Rowing is a sport of extreme fitness. This endeavor requires cardiovascular endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, mental toughness and pain tolerance. There is no better test of these characteristics than the 2k erg test. It hurts, and it hurts a lot if done right. Doing it right requires some preparation. To quote Yogi Berra, the 2k test “is 90% mental — the other half is physical”. Let’s break the it down.

The best way to tackle a 2k erg is to keep the pace consistent. Find your goal split and keep it there. During the first 250m, the nervous energy wears off and you find your pace before lactic acid returns to your legs and they begin to complain. This happens around 350m and the piece starts getting fun. Hold your split. if it begins to jump around, settle down and find the happy spot. At 500m in, take a Power 10, take 10 strokes dropping your split 2 or 3 seconds. This opens the toughest 500m of the piece. It takes mental toughness to hold the split because it hurts and your not even half way done! It’s make or break–if you back off for a few strokes here, your piece will crash and burn.

At the 1000m mark, take a power 20. Your here and alive and kicking MAXIMUM ASS! ATTACK! Races are won in the middle.

900m is a liberation, your holding your split and you’re more than half way done. Hold the split until 700m and drop it a second. You’ll see you average split drop after a few strokes. Ready for the last 500m?

At 500m, power 20, drop it 2, DO NOT DROP BELOW YOUR GOAL SPLIT WHEN THE POWER 20 IS OVER! Carry that power to the last 200m. The last 200m, you empty the tank. Expend all of your reserves. Stay long in the legs and don’t shorten your stroke. Your legs are burning and cramping, short stroking is the easy way out! Don’t do it!

Once you hit zero and are done, paddle it out. Revel in you 2k test!

Post your times.

Coach Charlie

 

 

CharlieWillRow.com WOD 6/11/2014

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Hey Everyone,

I know it’s been a while. I’ve been struggling with my knee. So here’s today’s WOD. I have pre-op physical therapy exercises to do. If you look at them, they really don’t seem that bad. Maybe it has to do with my knee being weak, but, the routine is exhausting…

Pre-op Home exercises:
Crossover hamstring stretch
Quad set, 1 x 30, hold 5 sec.
S-I Isometric adduction, 1 x 30, hold 5 sec.
Straight leg raise, 3 x 10, 2#
Short arc quad, 1 x 30, 2#
Prone hamstring curls, 1 x 30, 2#, hold 5 sec.
Long arc quad, 1 x 30, 2#, hold 5 sec.

Base:
100 push-ups
30 dips
5 x 7.5# wrist rollers — both directions

Lunch gym:
30 minute erg
Handstand work

Have a great day everyone!
Charlie

Chronic Pain and Attitute

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sissy
Hey everybody! This week has been a bad knee week, which is why I’ve missed a few days of posting. I have to come clean and admit, it’s not been all about pain. During the day, my knee has been feeling pretty good. However, every night, pain was waking me up around 2:00am and restful sleep eluded me for the remainder of the night. It was really starting to wear on me. I was tired, cranky, and off. I really got a lesson in how chronic pain can effect your attitude.

I was doing a fair job of working through all this until I had a conversation with a friend this past weekend who is experiencing chronic joint pain and has been for months. This friend told me how chronic pain can cause depression and be absolutly debilitating. Now, I’ve always looked at my knee problems from the perspective that its not really that big of a deal. I’m generally fit and healthy, and I figure that I could have health issues a lot worse than a bad knee. After hearing the effects of chronic pain, I bought the message and started to go down a dark, sleep-deprived, depressed path. Compounding this was a pending trip to my orthopedic surgeon to follow-up on my gel (Orthovisc) shots and to discuss my go forward treatment plan. I was thoroughly convinced that knee replacement surgery was imminent. I lost my motivation to exercise. I still went out on the water and rowed; but, my heart just wasn’t in it. I was in general slow and distracted. Not a good place to be. I also stopped blogging.

This trip to the doctor’s office was different because Sandie was with me and I wasn’t scheduled to receive a painful shot. Needle anxiety had always kept me from asking any good questions or even communicating any issues. I told the doctor how I was having trouble sleeping. Her response was, “If your knee issues are starting to effect your quality of life–which losing sleep is, it’s time to consider surgery.” There it was. My heart sank. She then did her typical grab of my calf followed by a twist and turn of my leg and said, “I’m going to have the brace guy come in and fit you for a knee brace. Are you willing to try that?” Ah… yeah! I’ve always been against showing any outward manifestation of my injury and getting the extra help from a brace was a symbol of me giving in and succumbing to my bad knee. No way was I ever doing that! So, I never asked about a brace nor had the desire to wear one. Now, please pardon the pun, I am embracing the brace. It is an infinitely more preferable outward manifestation of my injury than being cranky and stupid. So far, I’ve had two nights of deep sleep courtesy of my new brace, and am ready to go hit it again.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned from my my dad is that there is one common denominator in all of your bad situations. The one constant aspect of life that you always have complete control over is how you respond to and adapt to adversity. The challenges of responding to injury in the pursuit of fitness can be an allegory to life. Respond positively and adapt. Now it’s time to go KICK MAXIMUM ASS!

Charlie

 

Chuck-Fit WOD 4/25/2014 — The 2k Test

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I’ve lost count of where I am in the WA Rowing Club’s Top 10 Most Painful Ergs WOD challenge… Probably because, like any rower, the mere mention of a 2k test causes a complete mental shut-down… My PR is a 6:50. As sore as I am from the rest of the challenge, I doubt I’ll break 7:00…
BS Story
Although not actually nominated by anyone, it was already a given this would make the stop of the list. If you want to know why, watch this: The 2K test can break the best of us, even the patron saint of rowing, Sir Steve Redgrave.

Have fun!
Charlie