I Can’t Fight This Feeling

Sean
This is a long standing debate. On one hand, the score is the same so debate over. On the other hand, doing more work is a good thing when working out. The problem with the second example is that you start out at 38 and have to maintain it for the whole workout. You can never get better than 38. In the first example, you start at 50 and end at 38 so you have a chance of getting a better score if you can maintain the intensity.
Could Athlete one have done better if she started more moderately at 46? Could Athlete two done better by starting a little stronger? Who knows?
Over repeated attempts at this workout, both athletes have the chance to improve. Athlete one will simply try to last longer. Athlete two can simply add one rep to each exercise and try to maintain it. Which strategy will lead to a better score? Both.
Over the long term both athletes can still improve and probably will. The tortoise and the hare both win in the long run.

Because he is evil. Pure, pure evil. He’s almost as bad as that Durden fellow.
(Actually, I heard that Josh requested FGB as well, so don’t feel badly, Avery.)

If we’re still taking slogan suggestions for the next series of Crossfit NYC t-shirts, here’s my idea:
Do you have what it takes to be a Black Boxer?
Maybe we could have a picture of Josh’s face too.

!

My Fav WOD of all time and Im still down for the count. Maybe one day I can train again.

to weigh in on the hare v tortoise (as someone with two monts cf and one week tabata experience);
i personally think athelete #1 is getting far more benefit and is in fact the way i do it at home with tabata push ups. i know i can do a min rep of 8-10 but start at 20-24 and kill myself on eah one and never stop on a round just because i already the min from a prior round.my thinking is that ia am bulding up aerobic/anaerobic/muscular endurance and that pushing myself whle under maximum/increasing stress is the way to do it. 24 seems to be the very max i can get in a tb pu round so my goal is 24 min ie maxed out 24-24-24-24-24-24-24. i can’t imagine how i’d acheive that doing 8s or 10s when none of those have been under serious stress. slow and steady might win the race but won( ever pound out 200 push-ups
just one man’s thoughts…

I got 284 on FGB. It was just me and Avery this morning and she went first, while I kept score for her. Not only did she beat me by 13 points, she did it while making it look easy. She’s got some Jedi-mind-trick breathing up her sleeve or something. Meanwhile I was gasping for air by the end of round 1. When I grow up I want to be like Avery!

Allison you are too kind. You make push presses look easy. And you blazed through round one like nobody’s business.
I like to think I practice the art of zen breathing ala Lance Armstrong while working out. And I try not to sweat. Too much.
Buttermilk + sucking assholes = smile on my face this morning

A2, you just need to keep running. It’ll get better, I promise. Just don’t overdo it–build up gradually. It’s less painful (both physically and mentally) that way and also safer for your musculoskeletal system.
You better be in today for FGB, I don’t care if you’re sore from your run last night!

UMM.. I can’t move.

one thing that solidified my thinking on all this Moon was mike’s post wod discussion on perfect form as the ony true way to develop power, which is our goal afterall. it s easy to blast through a wod but if you aren’t focused on form/range of motion you cant compare that wod to the next time you do it.
likewise i thing tabating with a ‘score’ in mind vs doing as many perfect reps as you can each and every round cheats yo out of the purpose of tabata and cf. the difference between somone who has gone 20-16-12 whose goal is to get at *least* 12, ie to get as many as possible just lihe s/he did the first round, and someone who stops if they hit twelve is nights and day. the latter sees no reason to ‘waste’ effort since it won’t affect score; the former sees every rep not as wasted but as an opportunity to build that much more power and endurance.
i did the latter yesterday for the first time and while i am pretty sure i got a better score because of it, i dont think got near the benefit i should have. as daffy would say ‘wabbit season!’…

And I get to miss another WOD this week.
I’m quitting work and school and becoming a full time gym rat.

kids! don’t forget tonight is OPERATION MORAL SUPPORT.
love,
your pal,
dammit

would be cool to go represent and get the box out there, show the other fitness freaks what we got.
dropped off a copy of the registration forms and a lil sign up sheet to see whos interested.

Hey, lunchtime workouts are kind of fun!
311
Sweet–chicken and arugala and green beans for lunch. The zone rules… When is German chocolate cake day?

By the way Avery, *damn*. The 297 didn’t mean much to me when I read it at 10:00 am but at 1:00 pm… I repeat. Damn.

OK, I guess it’s time for me to start participating in and being one with this message board and you all at the Black Box. So, I was at 248 today (scaled, 41# and 8 kg). Could have done without that wall ball though!!

Here’s how I look at it:
There is no question that (8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8) is superior to (11,10,9,8,8,7,6,5). This is reflected both in the score (8 in the former, 5 in the latter) and by the simple observation that more effort is used to go from 5 to 8 in the final 20 seconds than is given up going from 11 to 8 in the first 20 seconds.
The more interesting question is whether (11,10,9,8,8 7,6,5) is superior to, say, (6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6). The former totals 64 but scores 5. The later totals 48 but scores 7. Is it fair to give a much higher score for considerably fewer reps? I think the answer is yes, because the person doing 64 reps for a score of 5 is missing the point.
The person is behaving like someone running a one-minute first quarter mile in a one-mile race and finishing with a time of 7 minutes because the last three quarters take 2 minutes each. The person has potential to run much faster than 7 minutes, if only he would pace himself.

My first “fight gone bad” 207!

“The person is behaving like someone running a one-minute first quarter mile in a one-mile race and finishing with a time of 7 minutes because the last three quarters take 2 minutes each. The person has potential to run much faster than 7 minutes, if only he would pace himself.”
Hmm, I don’t know if I agree here Hari. In a run for time, the point is to get the *fastest* time and you need to know how to pace yourself (as a non-runner I’d argue that consistently pushing yourself hard fast would show the greatest long-term gain).
A tabata is specifically designed to build endurance i.e. how many reps of a given exercice you can do after exhausting yourself doing the same exercice.
In your example, person B managed 6 reps after doing a total of 42 in 7 sets prior. Person B howevef managed 5 after doing *17* (or 40%) more, a far more impressive performance under fatique conditions. There is no analogy in racing, unless of course you want to count sprint tabatas (next up on my agenda). I still say the purpose of tabatas is balls-to-the-wall, not pacing, not final score. Or think of it like this; just don’t keep count of anything but sets; do 8 20-second sets of any exercice as hard as you can with 10 second rests. I think that is the core tabata concept. The score is meaningless *except* as a benchmark of improvement.

Oh – and I hit 253 in my first FGB. I pulled “250″ out of my buttermilk-sucking asshole as a target and unknowingly stumbled across it at the finish (stumbled across the goal number – not my buttermilk-sucking asshole.)

Hey sorry to beat this to death I just think it is a critical tabata point we are discussing;
in the analogy you gave Hari, the real point is this;
Person A simply has to continue what he is doing (59 reps in 7 sets) and try to add *1* to his last set to equal Person B’s min. Person B on the other hand has to add almost 1/3 more reps to his 7 sets AND maintain his last set minimum to reach Person A’s total. I’d say Person A is lightyears past Person B.
Anyway, I’ll keep you appraised as I am ‘Person A’; been doing Tabata push-ups for a week balls-to-wall, so far best is 98 Max/8 Min. Next goal is 110/10.

I feel your pain Kevin, its going around. Been out since Sunday, and tonight finally feeling human again.

Justin,
“the tabata protocol is different than a race. In a race, fight, etc. there is a point to being measured, because if you go out hard early, and then gas, you lose. But sometimes in training, its important to go balls out to see how far you can push yourself. If you never shoot for higher, than how do you know how far you can go?”
I understand your general point. Under the Tabata protocol, the winning time would go to the person with the best slowest quarter, which would not necessarily indicate who won the overall race.

Michael,
I think your follow up comment is absolutely correct:
“Person A simply has to continue what he is doing (59 reps in 7 sets) and try to add *1* to his last set to equal Person B’s min. Person B on the other hand has to add almost 1/3 more reps to his 7 sets AND maintain his last set minimum to reach Person A’s total. I’d say Person A is lightyears past Person B.”

238 I’m somewhat happy with this

chiefly defrayed, not by the exportation of gold and silver, but my space layouts disney villians supposing, that either to preserve or to augment the quantity of jevbuaumpp

Hm… generally I agree with you, but I wonder what our readers would tell.

Hey! I admire your writing and the way you explain things. Some of the comments on here too are insightful. I appreciate you. keep it up!

Excellent job.

UFC 114 will have a good deal of fits, but none at the magnitude of the bout concerning Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans. This is 1 of the most anticipated complement-ups, which will finally take spot this 30 days.

Considerably, the article is in reality the greatest on this precious topic. I harmonise with your conclusions and will thirstily look forward to your approaching updates. Saying thanks will not just be adequate, for the fantasti c lucidity in your writing. I will directly grab your rss feed to stay privy of any updates. Pleasant work and much success in your business efforts!