Variety

Barry Cooper · 05-17-2006, 09:51 AM

Couple thoughts: did Fran today, not overly happy with time. There were two things "wrong". One, Angela from Concept 2 told us a good measure of usable rowing "strength" was wattage output. You should be able to pull 1.7 times your bodyweight in watts, presumably for at least 2000 meters. For me, that's 408. I thought, well, for the warmup I'll do 1000 meters at bodyweight, since I'm in a gym with a rower. It wasn't bad. Last few strokes I pulled hard to see if I could hit 500. I got close, but not quite. However, I raised my heartrate MUCH more than I usually do in my warmup. I wasn't used to it.

Second, I was in a squat cage I had never done Fran in before. I belong to two gyms, and one is like a shoe that fits, and the other is where they do 95 lb bicep curls in the rack. I was at number 2. I racked the bar in there, and it messed my head up as far as wondering if I was going to hit it on my kips, so my kipping was in the dumper. The knurling on both the barbell and the pullup bars was also so excessive I was actually wearing my skin down, and nearly broke it in my thumb webbing, mostly due to the barbell.

Conclusion: if discomfort is our friend, then it's a good idea to occasionally do something totally out of the ordinary in your warmup, and to do benchmark workoouts in strange gyms, preferably when you are at some sort of mechanical disadvantage. Your time is what it is, but mental adaptation is priceless.

Barry Cooper · 05-17-2006, 09:54 AM

You know, I just saw that Variability thread. If the mod's want to put this there, I don't think it would be out of place. There's no need to repeat things all over again. Of course, you can leave it here too. It's all good.

Dennis Yiatras · 05-17-2006, 01:47 PM

Do you remember your time Barry on that row. I will try the wattage on my next wu tomorrow and see what I pull.. I usually go 1000m for wu in around 4.20 or so. Time to check wattage now.

Barry Cooper · 05-18-2006, 06:13 AM

No, I didn't even look. I wasn't doing a max pull for time. I was just in a hurry, and wanted a short warmup.

I'm 240, so I was just trying to keep it around 240. Come to think of it, that would likely--and Concept 2 would know better--be a good indication of the smoothness and consistency of your stroke, your ability to keep right around a certain number. I jumped anywhere between 200 and 290 or so. Each pull gives you a different number.

David Wood · 05-18-2006, 11:19 AM

The C2 readout also gives the "cumulative average" for the current workout session.

Agree that jumping around on each stroke wouldn't be good, though.

Garrett Smith · 05-18-2006, 01:05 PM

Barry,
Now I recognize you on the board! I guess I pictured someone totally different (in person) because of the pipe and French caption...weird.

All I can say here is that expecting a PR in Fran in the week after the cert weekend is something I wouldn't shoot for...

Barry Cooper · 05-18-2006, 01:31 PM

I got that a number of times. I guess I should explain that. Conceptually, it's based on a painting by Rene Magritte, a Belgian by birth, if I'm not mistaken, whose paintings figured in the Thomas Crown Affair. He's the guy with raining men in suits and hats.

His paintings evoke, for me, a sense of the mystery of every day life. There is so much that is common, that we see, but don't SEE. In my view, all of us are surrounded by clouds of ideas and perceptions which cannot penetrate the dense rock of our habitual thinking.

That painting specifically said, in the original, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe.", which means "this is not a pipe." The intention is a visual equivalent to the verbal formulation "the map is not the territory." Symbolic representation will invariably differ from actuality. What you conceive is an abstraction from what you perceive. The pipe that lands in your brain differs from the one you pick up. This idea--this conception--is critical to the effort to link thought with effective action. Abuses of this relationship lead to all sorts of trouble in every area of life.

The Danois, Danish, is simply connoting my support for the Danish cause. I've been buying Danish cheeses, and came up with this pipe--this actual pipe, which I took from a website--as a desired reward for achieving a specific, difficult, objective.

That's probably WAY too much crap for most people. I would estimate on an average day 90-95% of my mental life is invisible to the people I work with. With CrossFit, and this forum, that drops to maybe 50%, which is why it is so therapeutic for me.

As far as Fran, well, Angie didn't help either. I didn't take a rest day in between. But I don't really focus on my time. If you're 3 on, 1 off, it takes a long time to do as well as you would do rested. What I pay attention to is my subjective level of effort. As long as I feel the need to lay on the floor at the end for a few minutes, and have felt some good muscle burn, and gasped for air quite a bit, I'm good.

Tim McFarland · 05-18-2006, 03:44 PM

I think all you buff intellectuals are cool.

Grunt, snort (scratching armpit).

Barry Cooper · 05-18-2006, 06:11 PM

Who said I'm buff? I could beat that one with a halfway decent attorney.

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05-17-2006, 09:51 AM	#1
Barry Cooper Member Profile: Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 2,188	Couple thoughts: did Fran today, not overly happy with time. There were two things "wrong". One, Angela from Concept 2 told us a good measure of usable rowing "strength" was wattage output. You should be able to pull 1.7 times your bodyweight in watts, presumably for at least 2000 meters. For me, that's 408. I thought, well, for the warmup I'll do 1000 meters at bodyweight, since I'm in a gym with a rower. It wasn't bad. Last few strokes I pulled hard to see if I could hit 500. I got close, but not quite. However, I raised my heartrate MUCH more than I usually do in my warmup. I wasn't used to it. Second, I was in a squat cage I had never done Fran in before. I belong to two gyms, and one is like a shoe that fits, and the other is where they do 95 lb bicep curls in the rack. I was at number 2. I racked the bar in there, and it messed my head up as far as wondering if I was going to hit it on my kips, so my kipping was in the dumper. The knurling on both the barbell and the pullup bars was also so excessive I was actually wearing my skin down, and nearly broke it in my thumb webbing, mostly due to the barbell. Conclusion: if discomfort is our friend, then it's a good idea to occasionally do something totally out of the ordinary in your warmup, and to do benchmark workoouts in strange gyms, preferably when you are at some sort of mechanical disadvantage. Your time is what it is, but mental adaptation is priceless.

05-17-2006, 09:54 AM	#2
Barry Cooper Member Profile: Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 2,188	You know, I just saw that Variability thread. If the mod's want to put this there, I don't think it would be out of place. There's no need to repeat things all over again. Of course, you can leave it here too. It's all good.

05-17-2006, 01:47 PM	#3
Dennis Yiatras Departed Profile: Join Date: Jan 1970 Posts: 152	Do you remember your time Barry on that row. I will try the wattage on my next wu tomorrow and see what I pull.. I usually go 1000m for wu in around 4.20 or so. Time to check wattage now.

05-18-2006, 06:13 AM	#4
Barry Cooper Member Profile: Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 2,188	No, I didn't even look. I wasn't doing a max pull for time. I was just in a hurry, and wanted a short warmup. I'm 240, so I was just trying to keep it around 240. Come to think of it, that would likely--and Concept 2 would know better--be a good indication of the smoothness and consistency of your stroke, your ability to keep right around a certain number. I jumped anywhere between 200 and 290 or so. Each pull gives you a different number.

05-18-2006, 11:19 AM	#5
David Wood Departed Profile: Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 3,303	The C2 readout also gives the "cumulative average" for the current workout session. Agree that jumping around on each stroke wouldn't be good, though.

05-18-2006, 01:05 PM	#6
Garrett Smith Member Profile: Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,264	Barry, Now I recognize you on the board! I guess I pictured someone totally different (in person) because of the pipe and French caption...weird. All I can say here is that expecting a PR in Fran in the week after the cert weekend is something I wouldn't shoot for...

05-18-2006, 01:31 PM	#7
Barry Cooper Member Profile: Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 2,188	I got that a number of times. I guess I should explain that. Conceptually, it's based on a painting by Rene Magritte, a Belgian by birth, if I'm not mistaken, whose paintings figured in the Thomas Crown Affair. He's the guy with raining men in suits and hats. His paintings evoke, for me, a sense of the mystery of every day life. There is so much that is common, that we see, but don't SEE. In my view, all of us are surrounded by clouds of ideas and perceptions which cannot penetrate the dense rock of our habitual thinking. That painting specifically said, in the original, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe.", which means "this is not a pipe." The intention is a visual equivalent to the verbal formulation "the map is not the territory." Symbolic representation will invariably differ from actuality. What you conceive is an abstraction from what you perceive. The pipe that lands in your brain differs from the one you pick up. This idea--this conception--is critical to the effort to link thought with effective action. Abuses of this relationship lead to all sorts of trouble in every area of life. The Danois, Danish, is simply connoting my support for the Danish cause. I've been buying Danish cheeses, and came up with this pipe--this actual pipe, which I took from a website--as a desired reward for achieving a specific, difficult, objective. That's probably WAY too much crap for most people. I would estimate on an average day 90-95% of my mental life is invisible to the people I work with. With CrossFit, and this forum, that drops to maybe 50%, which is why it is so therapeutic for me. As far as Fran, well, Angie didn't help either. I didn't take a rest day in between. But I don't really focus on my time. If you're 3 on, 1 off, it takes a long time to do as well as you would do rested. What I pay attention to is my subjective level of effort. As long as I feel the need to lay on the floor at the end for a few minutes, and have felt some good muscle burn, and gasped for air quite a bit, I'm good.

05-18-2006, 03:44 PM	#8
Tim McFarland Member Profile: Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Whitefish MT Posts: 498	I think all you buff intellectuals are cool. Grunt, snort (scratching armpit).

05-18-2006, 06:11 PM	#9
Barry Cooper Member Profile: Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 2,188	Who said I'm buff? I could beat that one with a halfway decent attorney.