I had another outstanding workout at CrossFit USA in Berlin, CT. I can’t say too many good things about Merle McKenzie or his box (that’s CrossFit slang for a gym – get your mind out of the gutter!)
It was an absolutely beautiful day outside. I walked in and checked out the WOD.
- Run 1 Mile
- Bench Press 3X3
Jackie:
- Row 1000 meters
- 50 Thrusters with 45lbs
- 10 Pullups
My normal run is just over a mile, so this wasn’t too bad. But I never time my runs and I don’t usually push the pace on them. Merle started the timer and I took off on the route he told me to take.
As soon as I started running I thought to myself: “how many other gyms send you OUTSIDE on a beautiful day to run at the beginning of your workout?” No others that I’ve been too… This is part of the magic if CrossFit and the way Merle runs his gym. Just ONE of the reasons CrossFit will rule the fitness world.
The run was doubly cool because the route took me by the Powerhouse Gym down the road. I’m sure that was a complete coincidence, right Merle? 
As I ran by Powerhouse I was thinking how happy I was to be doing what I was doing and not pumping away in a place like that on a boring, too-long routine making no progress. But more on that later…
I did the run in about 8.5 minutes. Not too bad. Once I got back, the real work started. (BTW, my new goal for end of summer is to run that mile in under 6 minutes.)
I got my bench presses done with Merle spotting. He had me warm up with a set of 10X135. I don’t have much of a bench press at the moment, so this was heavier than I would normally go on a warm up. After that one one warm up I went right into 3 work sets of 3X165. (Yeah, I know, that’s terrible…)
I found something interesting here:
While I would insist on another couple of warm up sets next time, I was surprised to find that I did fine with just that one. The run before training probably helped here, but I was still surprised that one set of ten was enough to get ready for the low rep sets. It would be interesting to see if I was more comfortable handling more weight or reps with a better warm up or if it wouldn’t even matter. Obviously, I’ll consider all this when I plan my powerlifting workouts and be sure to keep the warm up sets down to a reasonable number.
Once I finished the bench presses it was on to Jackie. That’s Jackie the workout not Jackie my favorite That 70’s Show character.
Jackie is simple but brutal:
- Row 1000 meters
- 50 Thrusters with an empty Olympic bar
- 10 pull ups
This was an absolutely miserable workout for me. I knew I was in trouble when I finished the rows and was struggling to walk over to the squat rack for the thrusters. I got though the thrusters only with Merle’s incessant “encouragement.” At some point toward the middle of the set Merle swapped in some Van Halen on the sound system and cranked it up. That helped. I was barely aware of what was going on in the gym – all I really picked up on was the energy change when he did that.
Somewhere along the line Jenelle, CrossFit USA’s crack new intern, started shouting encouragement to me as well. It helped…
I got through Jackie and felt surprisingly good. I was wrecked, but I felt good. I was hanging out with Merle after and I could actually feel the “health” welling up inside me. I use “health” for lack of a better word. I was obviously experiencing a surge of “feel good” chemicals. One of my fascinations with CrossFit is that it produces this hormonal cascade and I’m curious to find out what the long-term effects of having a release of these hormones several times a week are. If you haven’t figured out by now, I’m becoming obsessed with the long-term health and hormonal effects of CrossFit workouts.
All in all, it was another great workout at CrossFit USA. Thanks Merle! Can’t wait to see what’s on tap for tomorrow!
ttys
Adam
Originally posted [http://adamfarrah.net/content/getting-done-merle-jackie-crossfit-usa-berlin-ct]
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