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How to Get a Lot Stronger Than Your Competition—And Dominate in Your SportBy Pavel and Dan John
"Easy Strength by Pavel and Dan John is full of information on how to become a better athlete. How? By learning how to train optimally."
—Louie Simmons, Founder of Westside Barbell
A quick tactic to help you achieve the best time possible on this WOD is at the end of this post.
A few weekends back a buddy mentioned he was going to give “100 Burpees For Time” a shot. Huh. Never tried it. I don’t fear burpees. Sure, I’ll give it a go…
Ugh. Here’s how it goes:
First 20: I’m flying! What’s the world record for this workout?
Rep count 30: Uh, I’m not even half way…
Rep count 40: I can’t remember what the range of motion is for a burpee. Does it involve sitting?
Rep count 50-100: (I’m not going to bother describing the rest. It wasn’t pretty.)
In the end I managed to complete the 100 burpees in 7:05. The next day I realized I had a bruise on my chin from the repeated impacts. Ouch.
Bottom line: This workout is predominantly mental. You will become extremely uncomfortable. The difference between individuals’ scores will primarily be dictated by how long each individual rested during the one hundred burpees.
Tactic: Here’s the bad news: resting at various points in the workout is not going make things any easier (despite what your brain is screaming). Here’s the good news: since resting isn’t going to help, skip it and power through (again, despite what your brain is screaming). While your friends are gasping with their hands on their knees, you keep moving. Steady work will win this race. The crux of the problem is that once your heart rate becomes significantly elevated, a short rest between reps will not provide any significant recovery. Realize that resting for five seconds, ten seconds, or even thirty seconds will not provide any relief from the discomfort. Focus on the fact that you will be able to rest for an extended period once the workout is complete.
Got another tip for this workout? Did this one work for you? Did you beat my 7:05 time? Leave a note in the comments!
Pic courtesy of Steve Caddy via Flickr
I got 7:27 when I did it back in September. I did it exactly like you did and you’re so right. Resting during it isn’t worth it, it just prolongs the suck. I think I’ll do it again in November and work to focus more on starting with a sustainable pace and keeping it going throughout instead of sprinting through the first 20 and then wanting to die.
I hear ya Alix. I’m curious to try it; keeping a sustainable pace throughout. At 15 burpees per minute (*sounds* reasonable) you’d finish the WOD in 6:45, a very respectable time… Damn, I wasn’t planning on doing this again any time soon but now I want to know…
Yea, 15 burpees a minute *sounds* reasonable. Until I realize that’s still 1 burpee every 4 seconds and that, while doable, doesn’t sound NEARLY as reasonable/sustainable…
Let me know when you do it again!