April 8, 2014
From the Update Studio: Don't Discount Graham
By Lauryn Lax
"He's going to be a force just like every year. Everybody likes to discount Graham, but every year Graham makes it out," Marcus Hendren said.
Prior to the live announcement of Open Workout 14.5, any mention of Graham Holmberg seemed minimal.
Where has he been?
On March 27, the 2010 CrossFit Games champion joined fellow champs Rich Froning Jr. (2011, 2012, 2013) and Jason Khalipa (2008) to complete the couplet of thrusters and burpees and assure the world he is still one of the fittest on Earth.
With a finishing time of 10:20 on 14.5, Holmberg ended the Open in third place in the Central East Region and 26th worldwide. And the season is only beginning.
“It’s funny some people say it seems like I keep under the radar, because I really don’t—or don’t try to,” Holmberg said. “Even the year I won the Games, going into the final workouts in second or third place everyone was talking about who would win: Khalipa? Mikko? Spealler? Not many mentioned my name.”
“I am OK with it,” he added. “It continues to make me want to climb my way to the top.”
Throughout the Open, Holmberg has continued to remain within the top 30 in the world, and said he only did one re-do out of the five workouts.
“I don’t like to re-do the workouts,” he said. “I want to focus on my training. I had to re-do 14.2 because of a video error, and actually ended up doing a little better. But overall, I was pretty happy with my performance throughout the Open.”
Holmberg’s goals for the 2014 season are no different than years past: continually improve and remain a top contender at the Games. However, he has a few new commitments that take up a lot of his time. He’s a new affiliate owner of CrossFit Hillard and a new dad. Claiming another victory at the Games is not necessarily his No. 1 priority, he said.
“Life is definitely busy and it’s all good things,” he said. “Sure, being on the podium is what everyone wants, and of course, it’s something I go for every year. But more than anything, I want to remain healthy throughout regionals and the Games, and just have fun with it. Those two things are probably most important to me when it comes to CrossFit during this season in my life.”
Holmberg still has a competitive edge, but said his biggest competition is first and foremost with himself.
“I am constantly working on my weaknesses to be a better (CrossFit athlete) across the board,” he said.
Following his 14th-place finish at the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games, Holmberg said he returned home to Ohio inspired to work on a few weaknesses—three in particular he discovered during Row 1 and Row 2, the Burden Run and Naughty Nancy where he finished 22nd, 27th and 40th, respectively.
“I had a calf strain going into the weekend, but I also know my motor played a role in it,” he said. “However, it was a great opportunity to expose some areas I needed to work on.”
This year, more so than years past, Holmberg has been training his conditioning and endurance in order to lift moderately heavy loads for multiple reps.
Every day around 10 a.m., Holmberg starts out with some endurance-based training—a row, a run, the airdyne or a swim. Most recently, he has been consulting with one of his gym members who is a triathlon coach. He even bought a treadmill to keep his running up throughout the bitter winter in Ohio.
“I may do a four-mile run with a steadily increasing incline,” he explained. “Two-percent incline the first mile, three percent the second, four percent the third and so on. Or I may do a 5-km row and try to maintain anywhere between a 25-30 stroke tempo.”
After finishing his conditioning, Holmberg eats and recovers before coaching the noon class at his new gym, then attacking a marathon session between 1 and 5 p.m.
“I don’t necessarily have a plan. I just move around the gym from one thing to the next,” he said. “It’s funny, because in the time I am there training, two to three different guys will come in at different times for open gym and I’ll rope them into training with me, doing different workouts.”
Holmberg’s afternoon workouts are focused on moving moderate to heavy weight over a period of time.
“For instance, I’ll do something like a 20-minute AMRAP of a 500-m row, 15 overhead squats at 95 lb.,” he said, “then row another 500 m, followed by 15 overhead squats with 25 lb. more on the bar, and keep increasing the weight from then on out.”
After he’s done being an athlete, he goes back to being a coach for evening classes.
“The days are full,” he said. “Since I just opened my new gym in January, I am typically there until at least 6:30 or 7:30 p.m. most days.”
“There is a lot that goes into building a community,” he continued. “I really want to be a quality box and spend a lot of time training up my coaches and interns to provide just that—on top of coaching two to three classes most days and my training.”
He added: “It’s been great, just busy. Really busy.”
Holmberg’s other new title is “dad” to 10-month-old Storm.
“It’s been one of the best things, and at times, challenging. Especially the sleep,” he said. “There (are) some nights me and my wife, Savanna, don’t get any sleep, and other nights that he sleeps through the night. I’ve always valued my rest and recovery, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
He already has a mini-Graham in training.
“Since Savanna also is working up at the gym now, Storm is there all day long with us,” he said. “It’s fun to see him navigating the gym.”
A future Games champ in the making?
“We will see,” Holmberg said. “He loves medicine balls and loaded barbells.”
Until then, Holmberg said he’s still in the game.
“Of course, I would love to stand on the podium at the Games, but that is just a byproduct of hard work and dedication all season,” he said. “My main goals are to first and foremost, stay healthy, and to continue to improve my abilities across the board.”
