I’ve been following the plan prescribed by my coach Andy Edwards for nearly three months now, but we’ve rarely trained together one-to-one, so I was pleased when he suggested that I come down to Cradiff for a couple of days to train at his Dragon CrossFit gym, where he could assess my progress in person.
On the first day we spent a lot of time working on my big lifts, particularly the snatch and the split jerk. This involved focusing on specific parts of each lift and using assistance lifts to help improve them. For the snatch we did deadlifts from a deficit – with my feet 30-40cm off the floor – to help accentuate the pulling motion at the beginning of the lift and get my hips involved. The main issues with my split jerk are my balance, so we worked on that a lot, making sure my feet were in the correct position and that I was getting under the bar and allowing it to do most of the work rather than just pushing it above me.
On the second day we did some gymnastics work. The volume of my gymnastics training has increased to 2-3 sessions per week (as opposed to the 1-2 sessions I was doing during the first month or two) consisting of a lot of muscle ups and handstands, both of which are CrossFit staples, so I was pleased that Andy was happy with how much I’ve improved in this department.
Another thing that’s changed in recent weeks is my nutrition, with my daily calorie intake increasing from 3,400 to 3,900, due to my daily carb target increasing from 360g to 420g. I’ve noticed the difference too, both in my training sessions – where I feel more energized – and in how quickly I recover afterwards.
My current supplement regime consists of omega 3’s, vitamin B, vitamin C, magnesium and zinc taken throughout the day to boost recovery, although the zinc and magnesium also help my body top absorb protein into my muscles more effectively. Before training I drink an Optimum Nutrition gold standard whey protein shake - I’m currently using the strawberry flavour, which is definitely my favourite so far! During my workouts I’ll take BCAA’s, then afterwards I’ll have an Optimum Nutrition recovery 211 vanilla shake, along with 4 caps of creatine.
Coach’s verdict
Training with Alistair over a couple of days gave me the chance to assess his progress, and I’m pleased to say he’s doing really well, especially with his gymnastics. The volume of unbroken sets he can now complete of exercises such as eccentric pull-ups has definitely increased, as has his muscle endurance in general.
His lifting has improved too, especially his snatch work and his split jerk. His progress is most noticeable when he’s lifting slightly lighter weights – when he goes really heavy he still has a tendency to over think the lift a little bit, but getting more volume in with moderate weights will help with this.
Overall he’s feeling a lot fitter, making great inroads and is on track to qualify for Battle Of The Beasts.
Example workout
Warm up
1 Rowing
Time 10 minutes
2A Band pull aparts
Sets 3
Reps 10
2B Banded W’s external rotations
Sets 3
Reps 10
2C PVC pipe dislocates
Sets 3
Reps 10
Upper body workout
1 Bench press (at 90% of your one rep max)
Sets 3
Reps 1
Rest 2-3min
2 Bench press (at 80% of your one rep max)
Sets 3
Reps 5
Rest 2-3mins
3A Pull-ups
Sets 5
Reps 3
Rest 0sec (stay on the bar)
3B Kipping pull-ups
Sets 5
Reps 5
Rest as required
10 minute AMRAP conditioning circuit (as many rounds as possible)
1A Double unders
Reps 50
1B Push press
Reps 12
1C Rope climbs
Reps 3
