"The only way to get there is to work hard. Work your ass off."
Resolved to make it to the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games after missing the cut in 2013, South East Regional champion Noah Ohlsen got a new training program, a new coach and a new training partner—Maximus, a golden retriever.
“Maximus is my little puppy man,” Ohlsen said. “My girlfriend Joann and I got him for Valentine’s Day. He, Joann and my buddy Bijan are my best friends, and they are the most fun to train with. Maximus hangs at the gym with me almost every day. We're working on his box jumps, and he loves swimming!”
Ohlsen, 23, has been working on his own box jumps and swimming this past year under the guidance of his remote coach, Dusty Hyland of DogTown CrossFit in Los Angeles, California.
If it wasn’t for the support of his three best friends, Ohlsen said he would not have gotten through the hours of long, hard workouts programmed by Hyland five days per week.
“When I started with Dusty, I was intimidated by all the volume. Some days I would want to cut it short, but with support from my best friends, they always made me stick to it,” Ohlsen said.
Ohlsen originally crossed paths with Hyland coming off of regionals last year when a mutual friend recommended they meet. Knowing he needed to make a few changes in his training to be physically and mentally prepared for 2014, Ohlsen was looking for a coach who would lead him toward a spot on the podium. While Hyland already had a packed schedule as an affiliate owner and coach for several other elite athletes, such as Kenneth Leverich and Lindsey Valenzuela, he agreed to take Ohlsen on as a client.
“I walked away from last year wanting to come back and have everyone know the South East was ‘my region,’ as some of the other regions have the top spot on lock, and it’s a fight for second and third,” Ohlsen said. “I wanted to be so dominant that there was no doubt that I was going to the Games.”
“I bounced around online programming for a while, and then everything clicked when I was introduced to Dusty,” Ohlsen added. “We work well together and with all the high volume and high skill work from him, and a lot of putting in the hard work on my end, it paid off.”
Hyland spoke of Ohlsen in the same high regard.
“I am always skeptical of new athletes,” Hyland said. “However, Noah came highly recommended to me, meaning he was coachable and a good communicator. Long-distance training is troublesome. I am in L.A., he’s in Miami. But from Day 1, he jumped in with two feet, and we really developed a rapport that continues to evolve.”
Ohlsen’s day-to-day training schedule took on a life of its own, with approximately six hours spent in the gym, broken up over two sessions. Training sessions typically included an extensive, individualized warm-up, skill work practice, Oly lifting and power lifting, a metabolic-conditioning workout of some sort, endurance work and accessory work. Two days outside the gym, Hyland had Ohlsen running and swimming.
If there is one thing in particular Hyland had Ohlsen focus more on, it was his deadlift and overall strength development, particularly in light of his 40th-place finish on 2013 Regional Event 6 (the heavy deadlift and box jump event), which ultimately kept Ohlsen off the podium.
“The deadlift was, and is, a priority of course,” Hyland said. “Four-hundred and five lb. is not an issue anymore, but we continue to hammer away at underlying issues.”
Ohlsen said since working with Hyland, he has turned his former deadlift weakness into a strength. He increased his PR from 425 lb. to 475 lb. over the past year, resolving it would never crush him again.
“I obviously didn’t do well on the deadlift box jump workout in 2013, so I have spent extra time focusing on strengthening my posterior chain and deadlift, along with lots of lifting heavy in every regard so that I was proficient in moving weight no matter the lift,” he said.
“All of this, coupled with great recovery, because, in actuality, I don’t think it was so much that I just had a weak deadlift last year, but it was more about my recovery after the 100s workout that year. My posterior chain was wrecked after the pistols and dumbbell snatches. I’m talking [I] could barely stand up straight so that made those deadlifts tougher than ever,” Ohlsen said.
Ohlsen’s hard work on strengthening his posterior chain definitely showed on Open Workout 14.3—deadlifts and box jumps—in which he finished second place in the South East with 175 reps.
“I honestly surprised myself big time on 14.3,” he said. “I was worried that it would be one of my worst Open workouts just because of last year’s demons floating around in the back of my head.”
“But I put them to rest and just felt great moving through it,” Ohlsen continued. “I was so close to pulling the 365 bar with 10 seconds left. I ran to the bar, slipped a 25 on each and pulled it to just above my knee before the clock hit 8:00. It’s funny because I was so disappointed after I didn’t get it, but beforehand, I wasn’t even sure how far I’d get into the 315 bar.”
Ohlsen’s new and improved posterior chain also helped him finish first at the South East Regional in Event 6—the 50s chipper that included 100 180-lb. deadlifts—with a time of 21:06.
In preparation for regionals, Hyland put Ohlsen through trials of each event to accurately time each workout and strategize his attack so no event would sneak up on him like last year.
“The approach to regionals was surgeon-like,” Hyland explained. “We had scripted times, warm-ups, game plans and audibles to make him feel as much in control as we could. My belief is that most battles are won in prep.”
Now, as Ohlsen prepares for his first appearance at the CrossFit Games, Hyland is focusing on improving Ohlsen’s endurance for any surprises that may come his way, along with continuing to increase his barbell strength.
Ohlsen also takes his recovery seriously, ensuring he sleeps at least eight hours every night and takes two “much-needed recovery days” during the week.
He also recently consulted with a nutritionist at his box, Peak 360 CrossFit, who told him he needed to consume at least 3,000 calories per day. In order to do so, he ensures he eats plenty of protein, consumes healthy fats such as coconut oil, avocados and nuts and seeds, and gets his carb sources from lots of sweet potatoes, brown rice or quinoa, as well as some fruit.
Ultimately, it all comes down to effort.
“The only way to get there is to work hard,” he said. “Work your ass off.”
