I'm just wondering... If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound? If you are doing the WOD at home in your bedroom or living room and no one is around, is it OK to do the WOD in your underwear? Or naked? Just wondering. ;)
Due to insane time constraints the week before I go out of town for a while, I have not been making it up to the box, but I did do "Angie" this morning. Everyone else did it yesterday. It is a perfect WOD to do at home or anywhere, really. The only equipment you need is a pull up bar or something on which to do pull ups. I don't have an ab mat, so I doubled over a really firm pillow to go under my lower back.
I haven't worked out since "Filthy Fifty". The last two days I was fairly sore, especially in my left gastrocnemus (calf muscle). But today was the day that I needed to do something physical or I was going to start sacrificing my "edge". I'm glad I made the time to do it.
Here is "Angie":
For time,
100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats
Do each exercise in sequence, i.e., complete each exercise before moving on to the next one.
It's important that "they" point this out to CrossFitters, because we are notorious for breaking things down into easier chunks. For some of us, it's a physical thing. As in my case, any time I can break up squats into smaller sets and even interject an exercise that focuses on a different group of muscles, I will do that to save my knees. It can also serve the purpose of keeping you from reaching muscle failure. For others, they do this for mental reasons. Doing 100 pull ups may freak some people out, but if they have ten sets of 10, mixed in with other stuff, it's not such a daunting, intimidating task at which to chip away.
Overall, this isn't a bad little WOD. It's an easy one to take on the road, so to speak, and I can do all of the exercises with relative ease. The hardest thing is just trying to stretch out a muscle before it cramps up on you while still pushing to go as far and as fast as you can. To me, that was a real challenge.
Posted time: 20:31
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Christmas Challenge: FILTHY FIFTY!!!
My stomach has literally been in knots all week long in preparation for this WOD. In fact, as I was standing in line waiting for my group to start, I felt like I was going to have spontaneous diahrrea. TMI, you say? Deal with it! This was an intimidating WOD, by far one of the top two hardest I've ever done. Add to that the fact that I am struggling to have the time to attend regularly over the last week due to holiday fracas and mayhem, so I probably was not at my leanest and strongest. Nonetheless, I gave 110% and can say that it is finally behind me.
So here is the breakdown of "Filthy Fifty":
For time:
50 24" box jumps
50 jumping pull ups
50 1 pood kettlebell swings
50 walking lunges
50 knees to elbows
50 push press (45#)
50 GHD back extensions
50 wall ball (20# for men, 14# for women)
50 burpees
50 double unders
We ran these in heats, each one three minutes apart. It was nice that everyone was able to work at their own speed so that you didn't have a million people just sitting around watching you suffer for God-knows-how-long. However, I would not have been able to make it through Filthy Fifty had it not been for my teammate "S" who was helping me to count and stay on task. She was a great cheerleader and motivator. I truly could not have done it without her -- my will would've given up and I would've been sorely disappointed in myself.
Hands down, the hardest exercise for me mentally was wall balls. I don't do these often, and when I do I really hate them. I started off with the 14# ball, but my forearms were so crapped out from everything else I had done up to that point that that I just couldn't get my grip on that weight, and it was throwing me around. I couldn't even toss it up remotely high enough to get one good one, so when the girl next to me finished hers, I grabbed the 10# ball and nugged them out.
Box jumps are OK for me, but it seems like I'm slow coming off the box. The surface was wet, which kinda spooked me a little bit, but I never slipped and got past them.
The jumping pull ups went well. Those are coming along nicely for me, and I might be able to get my kip thrown in there soon. I was proud of these.
Kettlebell swings went pretty well. I had to break these down into sets of ten for two reasons. One, my forearms were starting to fatigue, and two, I was starting to feel dizzy. Otherwise, these went really well, and I was able to maintain form with no problem.
KTE is when my forearms really started being unhappy with me. I almost balked and did the modified ones, but I am very glad that I didn't. I did the true KTE for the full 50 reps. I was doing 3-2-3-2 to get my sets of 10. It was a slow, painful process, but they got done.
Push press was difficult. Good, but difficult. Again, I almost grabbed the 35# bar, but had I done that, I would not have been pushing myself and would've been feeling guilty afterwards. My regular coach was there to help, and she kept me moving 5 reps at a time. It always seems like the hardest ones to do are reps 20-35, but after that you are downhill.
GHD back extensions are easy for me. I had really wanted to make up time here, but my hamstrings kept threatening to cramp up hard, so I was doing 5 at a time and 3 towards the end. Unexpectedly harder than I had planned.
Burpees whipped my butt. Yet another sweet friend came over there to cheer me on, along with S and my coach. She even offered to knock out 10 for me, but I told her that I had to do all of them. Wouldn't have been able to live with myself had I not done each and every one. But I tell you, it was so motivational to have her right there next to me working on those God-forsaken burpees! I felt myself on the verge of passing out with the burpees, so I rested between sets of 10. These suckers felt like they took a long time to do, almost as bad as wall balls.
Lastly, I knocked out my double unders like no one's business. I've really improved in these over the last month or so. The only problem was the bladder factor. The times I stopped and started again was in order to prevent a very unsightly problem thanks to the fact that I have "mommy bladder" after having had kids. Those of you with this medical condition know exactly what I'm talking about -- I won't gross out the men with the gory details. You're welcome!
After we had all finished, we schlepped out to my coach's house for a paleo meal of steak kabobs and grilled veggies. They treated everyone to carriage rides through town as well, so it was a true holiday event. We had such a blast! And it was really neat to get to visit with the folks in all the other classes. We truly have a dedicated group of athletes and coaches at this gym, and we all come from various walks of life. It's been a lot of fun getting to know everyone and to see the camraderie that is emerging through pushing ourselves and each other.
As for tomorrow, we've got another "biggie" coming up. No rest for the weary, right? That's OK, because at CrossFit Centex we are all truly FORGING ELITE FITNESS!
Posted time: 47:30
So here is the breakdown of "Filthy Fifty":
For time:
50 24" box jumps
50 jumping pull ups
50 1 pood kettlebell swings
50 walking lunges
50 knees to elbows
50 push press (45#)
50 GHD back extensions
50 wall ball (20# for men, 14# for women)
50 burpees
50 double unders
We ran these in heats, each one three minutes apart. It was nice that everyone was able to work at their own speed so that you didn't have a million people just sitting around watching you suffer for God-knows-how-long. However, I would not have been able to make it through Filthy Fifty had it not been for my teammate "S" who was helping me to count and stay on task. She was a great cheerleader and motivator. I truly could not have done it without her -- my will would've given up and I would've been sorely disappointed in myself.
Hands down, the hardest exercise for me mentally was wall balls. I don't do these often, and when I do I really hate them. I started off with the 14# ball, but my forearms were so crapped out from everything else I had done up to that point that that I just couldn't get my grip on that weight, and it was throwing me around. I couldn't even toss it up remotely high enough to get one good one, so when the girl next to me finished hers, I grabbed the 10# ball and nugged them out.
Box jumps are OK for me, but it seems like I'm slow coming off the box. The surface was wet, which kinda spooked me a little bit, but I never slipped and got past them.
The jumping pull ups went well. Those are coming along nicely for me, and I might be able to get my kip thrown in there soon. I was proud of these.
Kettlebell swings went pretty well. I had to break these down into sets of ten for two reasons. One, my forearms were starting to fatigue, and two, I was starting to feel dizzy. Otherwise, these went really well, and I was able to maintain form with no problem.
KTE is when my forearms really started being unhappy with me. I almost balked and did the modified ones, but I am very glad that I didn't. I did the true KTE for the full 50 reps. I was doing 3-2-3-2 to get my sets of 10. It was a slow, painful process, but they got done.
Push press was difficult. Good, but difficult. Again, I almost grabbed the 35# bar, but had I done that, I would not have been pushing myself and would've been feeling guilty afterwards. My regular coach was there to help, and she kept me moving 5 reps at a time. It always seems like the hardest ones to do are reps 20-35, but after that you are downhill.
GHD back extensions are easy for me. I had really wanted to make up time here, but my hamstrings kept threatening to cramp up hard, so I was doing 5 at a time and 3 towards the end. Unexpectedly harder than I had planned.
Burpees whipped my butt. Yet another sweet friend came over there to cheer me on, along with S and my coach. She even offered to knock out 10 for me, but I told her that I had to do all of them. Wouldn't have been able to live with myself had I not done each and every one. But I tell you, it was so motivational to have her right there next to me working on those God-forsaken burpees! I felt myself on the verge of passing out with the burpees, so I rested between sets of 10. These suckers felt like they took a long time to do, almost as bad as wall balls.
Lastly, I knocked out my double unders like no one's business. I've really improved in these over the last month or so. The only problem was the bladder factor. The times I stopped and started again was in order to prevent a very unsightly problem thanks to the fact that I have "mommy bladder" after having had kids. Those of you with this medical condition know exactly what I'm talking about -- I won't gross out the men with the gory details. You're welcome!
After we had all finished, we schlepped out to my coach's house for a paleo meal of steak kabobs and grilled veggies. They treated everyone to carriage rides through town as well, so it was a true holiday event. We had such a blast! And it was really neat to get to visit with the folks in all the other classes. We truly have a dedicated group of athletes and coaches at this gym, and we all come from various walks of life. It's been a lot of fun getting to know everyone and to see the camraderie that is emerging through pushing ourselves and each other.
As for tomorrow, we've got another "biggie" coming up. No rest for the weary, right? That's OK, because at CrossFit Centex we are all truly FORGING ELITE FITNESS!
Posted time: 47:30
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Working Out After A Holiday Sucks!
I absolutely hate getting back into the swing of things after having an interruption in my usual schedule. It's hard to wake up in the morning, your eating habits suffer, and it's just hard to get your "edge" back. Nonetheless, it's times like these when you need to seriously monitor what holiday goodies you're gorging on and also make a point not to let your fitness routine suffer too much. That being said, let's do a little recap...
Tuesday, 24 NOV 09
WOD: Four rounds for time of 50 walking lunges, 50 squats, 400m run
Any WOD that has me doing walking lunges is automatically going to be a painful one in the long run. I don't know if it is lack of strength in my knees, weak heads on my quads, both, or none of those reasons, but these really lay me out for days later. Combining those with squats is pretty much torture for me. I had extreme difficulty walking, going up and down stairs or inclines, and bending my legs for the next three days. And honestly, when I did the math, the work I had done was significant: a total of 200 lunges, 200 squats, and a mile run when it was all said and done -- almost the equivalent of half a "Murph". No wonder it was so hard! To top it off, I finished didn't just finish last -- it seemed to take forever to complete it. Really, it took me half as long to do this WOD as it did for me to complete "Murph", so perhaps mathematically I was right where I needed to be...? Who knows? The bottom line was I pushed through it and didn't fudge on any of the reps, and I lived to fight another day. And eat turkey two days later.
Posted time: 28:43
Monday, 30 NOV 09
Warm Up: "Centex Warm-Up"
Skill Work: Speed drills
WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes of 5 dumbbell snatches/arm, 10 ring dips, 100m sprint
So the coaches have designed a new warm up for us to do upon arrival at the box to allow us to warm up on our own. They want us to do 2-3 rounds (as time allows) of the following, 15-20 reps/each:
20-30 sec Samson stretch (think Warrior III)
Overhead squats w/ PVC
Ab mat sit ups
Pull ups
Back extensions
Dips
20m inch worms
20m forward/backward bear crawls
This warm up isn't extremely difficult, but it is time consuming. I feel like it takes me as long to do the warm up as it does to do the WOD. I'd rather take a little less time on the warm up and see some time programmed in for stretching at the end of a WOD. I also don't like feeling ragged out by the time I'm starting a WOD, which after this warm up and skill work, some times I feel like I don't have my full amount of strength left for the WOD. I'm sure it just feels this way since it's new, but it just seems like the time at the gym is taking longer and longer some days. Not always a bad thing, though.
The speed drills were not my favorite. It was hopping around back and forth for 20-30 seconds on some dots going side to side, front to back, and diagonally. I'm just not a speedy girl. I can do these, but I'm no speed demon. Just seemed like time I'd rather spend working on my lifts or the WOD. Again, I know I need to do these things and work on these skills. Aren't the ones that annoy us the most the areas of weakness on which we need to focus, after all?
I used the 25# dumbbell for my one armed snatches. It seemed like a lot of weight to me, but I used 20# last time (although I can't believe I didn't blog about that one! Grrr!!) and was able to move the weight just fine. I will say that my shoulders were popping some and seemed weak, but I chalked that up to having too much time off for the holidays. The WOD to which I am referring when I used 20# was about a month ago, so I felt it was reasonable to increase my weight.
The ring dips were not working for me, so I decided up front to modify that and do regular dips off the boxes. I will say here that, next time I'm doing dips, I want to do them off the side of the tractor tire because I needed a wider base for my hands.
Overall, I surprised myself on how many rounds I was able to do. I know I need to build up to doing the dips from the rings, but this was an appropriate challenge for me today.
Posted rounds: 8 rounds completed, 8 of 10 dumbbell snatches completed in round 9
Tuesday, 01 DEC 09
Warm up: "Centex Warm Up"
Skill work: Turkish get-up, pistols, floor press
WOD: Five rounds of five 80% max squat cleans, 20 double-unders
One of our coaches at the gym is getting his kettlebell certification this weekend, and he was there to conduct our skill work today. He's a college kid, sports science major, who is an amazing athlete and always kind and positive. He walked us through the steps of the turkish get-ups, which was much easier than I thought. Given, when I tried it, I was only using a 15# dumbbell, but after a couple of reps my motions were fairly smooth for a beginner. I can see how this could be a real punisher for core as well as arms. You start off lying flat on your back with one arm holding the weight straight up in the air, elbow locked out. The other arm is extended straight out at the shoulder. First, you bend your leg that is on the same side of your body as the arm holding the weight, placing your foot to the floor. You start to lift your torso up on the extended arm, leaning over at an angle. Once you are secure, you slip your foot underneath you so that you can get up on that knee, with the other foot supporting you that was already on the floor. Carefully, you stand up, keeping that arm fully extended and locked out up above your head the entire time. To complete the turkish get-up, you go back down to the floor, just reversing the steps you used to get up. One trip up and one trip down is one rep. I know it may sound really complex, but it's really pretty simple. To watch video clips, you can go to the main CrossFit website.
I need to work on my pistols (one-legged squats) to strengthen my quads and knees, but good grief -- these were hard! And to top it off, isolating the movement on one leg at a time made me realize just how weak those weak spots are for me. Needless to say, I was ready to move on. :)
The floor press really was harder than it looked. Basically, you are keeping your elbows pinned in as much as possible as you raise your dumbbell or kettlebell diagonally in the air above your body. Imagine yourself lying flat on your back, holding weight in both hands with your elbows bent at your sides. You would raise your right arm and shoulder until your arm is fully extended and your shoulder is completely up off the floor, reaching across your body. Bring it back down, repeat on the other side. It's one thing lifting the weight up -- it's another to bring it down! It takes a lot of control to keep good form here.
Now that we're all nice and tired, let's do our WOD! Haha... just kidding...
I have not done a WOD using any kind of lift in quite a while and only recently found my power clean max when I was just working on this and that at the gym. I started off doing the squat cleans with 75# and was really having to work to get it up. I think I would've been fine had I been able to simply power clean it, but adding the squat was what added difficulty for me. Also, as per usual, coming off the rack with the weight torqued my shoulders something fierce. I completely the first round with 75#, but when I came back for round two, I only rep'ed out two when I made the decision to back off the weight. I was just too much for me today, and I was getting emotional and frustrated. So I completed this WOD with 65#.
I will say, however, that my double-unders have improved a lot. I can now get up to 10 at a time. And even when it would've been easy to fudge these if I messed up before the last rep, I made a point to go back and get each individual double-under until I had done 20 true double-unders.
We didn't keep time on this; or at least, I was so frustrated with myself that I didn't want to know how long it took. I don't know if I finished last or not. That didn't really matter to me. I'm just proud of myself for maintaining form, getting good depth in my squats, getting every single double-under, and not quitting or crying when I really, reeeaallly wanted to. There's no crying in CrossFit!!!
Tuesday, 24 NOV 09
WOD: Four rounds for time of 50 walking lunges, 50 squats, 400m run
Any WOD that has me doing walking lunges is automatically going to be a painful one in the long run. I don't know if it is lack of strength in my knees, weak heads on my quads, both, or none of those reasons, but these really lay me out for days later. Combining those with squats is pretty much torture for me. I had extreme difficulty walking, going up and down stairs or inclines, and bending my legs for the next three days. And honestly, when I did the math, the work I had done was significant: a total of 200 lunges, 200 squats, and a mile run when it was all said and done -- almost the equivalent of half a "Murph". No wonder it was so hard! To top it off, I finished didn't just finish last -- it seemed to take forever to complete it. Really, it took me half as long to do this WOD as it did for me to complete "Murph", so perhaps mathematically I was right where I needed to be...? Who knows? The bottom line was I pushed through it and didn't fudge on any of the reps, and I lived to fight another day. And eat turkey two days later.
Posted time: 28:43
Monday, 30 NOV 09
Warm Up: "Centex Warm-Up"
Skill Work: Speed drills
WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes of 5 dumbbell snatches/arm, 10 ring dips, 100m sprint
So the coaches have designed a new warm up for us to do upon arrival at the box to allow us to warm up on our own. They want us to do 2-3 rounds (as time allows) of the following, 15-20 reps/each:
20-30 sec Samson stretch (think Warrior III)
Overhead squats w/ PVC
Ab mat sit ups
Pull ups
Back extensions
Dips
20m inch worms
20m forward/backward bear crawls
This warm up isn't extremely difficult, but it is time consuming. I feel like it takes me as long to do the warm up as it does to do the WOD. I'd rather take a little less time on the warm up and see some time programmed in for stretching at the end of a WOD. I also don't like feeling ragged out by the time I'm starting a WOD, which after this warm up and skill work, some times I feel like I don't have my full amount of strength left for the WOD. I'm sure it just feels this way since it's new, but it just seems like the time at the gym is taking longer and longer some days. Not always a bad thing, though.
The speed drills were not my favorite. It was hopping around back and forth for 20-30 seconds on some dots going side to side, front to back, and diagonally. I'm just not a speedy girl. I can do these, but I'm no speed demon. Just seemed like time I'd rather spend working on my lifts or the WOD. Again, I know I need to do these things and work on these skills. Aren't the ones that annoy us the most the areas of weakness on which we need to focus, after all?
I used the 25# dumbbell for my one armed snatches. It seemed like a lot of weight to me, but I used 20# last time (although I can't believe I didn't blog about that one! Grrr!!) and was able to move the weight just fine. I will say that my shoulders were popping some and seemed weak, but I chalked that up to having too much time off for the holidays. The WOD to which I am referring when I used 20# was about a month ago, so I felt it was reasonable to increase my weight.
The ring dips were not working for me, so I decided up front to modify that and do regular dips off the boxes. I will say here that, next time I'm doing dips, I want to do them off the side of the tractor tire because I needed a wider base for my hands.
Overall, I surprised myself on how many rounds I was able to do. I know I need to build up to doing the dips from the rings, but this was an appropriate challenge for me today.
Posted rounds: 8 rounds completed, 8 of 10 dumbbell snatches completed in round 9
Tuesday, 01 DEC 09
Warm up: "Centex Warm Up"
Skill work: Turkish get-up, pistols, floor press
WOD: Five rounds of five 80% max squat cleans, 20 double-unders
One of our coaches at the gym is getting his kettlebell certification this weekend, and he was there to conduct our skill work today. He's a college kid, sports science major, who is an amazing athlete and always kind and positive. He walked us through the steps of the turkish get-ups, which was much easier than I thought. Given, when I tried it, I was only using a 15# dumbbell, but after a couple of reps my motions were fairly smooth for a beginner. I can see how this could be a real punisher for core as well as arms. You start off lying flat on your back with one arm holding the weight straight up in the air, elbow locked out. The other arm is extended straight out at the shoulder. First, you bend your leg that is on the same side of your body as the arm holding the weight, placing your foot to the floor. You start to lift your torso up on the extended arm, leaning over at an angle. Once you are secure, you slip your foot underneath you so that you can get up on that knee, with the other foot supporting you that was already on the floor. Carefully, you stand up, keeping that arm fully extended and locked out up above your head the entire time. To complete the turkish get-up, you go back down to the floor, just reversing the steps you used to get up. One trip up and one trip down is one rep. I know it may sound really complex, but it's really pretty simple. To watch video clips, you can go to the main CrossFit website.
I need to work on my pistols (one-legged squats) to strengthen my quads and knees, but good grief -- these were hard! And to top it off, isolating the movement on one leg at a time made me realize just how weak those weak spots are for me. Needless to say, I was ready to move on. :)
The floor press really was harder than it looked. Basically, you are keeping your elbows pinned in as much as possible as you raise your dumbbell or kettlebell diagonally in the air above your body. Imagine yourself lying flat on your back, holding weight in both hands with your elbows bent at your sides. You would raise your right arm and shoulder until your arm is fully extended and your shoulder is completely up off the floor, reaching across your body. Bring it back down, repeat on the other side. It's one thing lifting the weight up -- it's another to bring it down! It takes a lot of control to keep good form here.
Now that we're all nice and tired, let's do our WOD! Haha... just kidding...
I have not done a WOD using any kind of lift in quite a while and only recently found my power clean max when I was just working on this and that at the gym. I started off doing the squat cleans with 75# and was really having to work to get it up. I think I would've been fine had I been able to simply power clean it, but adding the squat was what added difficulty for me. Also, as per usual, coming off the rack with the weight torqued my shoulders something fierce. I completely the first round with 75#, but when I came back for round two, I only rep'ed out two when I made the decision to back off the weight. I was just too much for me today, and I was getting emotional and frustrated. So I completed this WOD with 65#.
I will say, however, that my double-unders have improved a lot. I can now get up to 10 at a time. And even when it would've been easy to fudge these if I messed up before the last rep, I made a point to go back and get each individual double-under until I had done 20 true double-unders.
We didn't keep time on this; or at least, I was so frustrated with myself that I didn't want to know how long it took. I don't know if I finished last or not. That didn't really matter to me. I'm just proud of myself for maintaining form, getting good depth in my squats, getting every single double-under, and not quitting or crying when I really, reeeaallly wanted to. There's no crying in CrossFit!!!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Just Stoppin' By To Say Hello
It's been a rather unusual week for me, and I know I haven't posted this week. I will get around to that tomorrow, hopefully. Some of us are going to do a sand bag run up a hill tomorrow, and for once I might have the opportunity to go. I will definitely report in if I go!
P.S. -- Did work on my power cleans after the WOD to find my new max. Successfully power cleaned 95# twice.
P.S. -- Did work on my power cleans after the WOD to find my new max. Successfully power cleaned 95# twice.
Friday, November 13, 2009
"What Did We Do Wednesday?", "Thank God for Rest" Thursday, and Feet-A-Flyin' Friday
Holy cats -- where has this week gone?!? Amidst all of the things I have (or haven't) had going on, I've completely forgotten to check in here on the blog! Let's get down to it...
Wednesday, 11 NOV 09
WOD: "Tabata This" -- exercises include ring dips, windshield wipers, handstand push ups, burpees
Challenge: Five rounds of 20 ab mat sit ups and 15 KTE
Tabatas as a general rule don't bother me at all. Twenty seconds of movement followed by ten seconds of rest for eight rounds per exercise really isn't the end of the world. Except for when your arms are so sore that you had trouble getting dressed that day and almost had to come to the gym without a bra on. You know, little things.
None of us are able to do ring dips, so we substituted this with doing dips off the side of the tractor tire with our feet up on boxes. We also had to modify the HSPUs by doing them off the side of the tire. Both of these were excruciating and terrible. Normally I can crank out dips with no problem, but those kettlebell swings from Monday were still wreaking havoc on my deltoids. The modified HSPUs weren't really bad until the last three rounds, which sucked at an unreasonable level. Burpees pretty much suck no matter what. You suffer through them like a yearly physical -- you know you have to do them, and sooner or later they'll be over with and you can go back to the rest of your day.
I will say, however, that I enjoyed the windshield wipers. OK, envision holding a 45# bar by one end, and the other end is resting at an angle on the center opening of a 45# bumper weight. The bar doesn't actually go into the center; it just pivots there. The goal here was to bring the bar down on one side of your body to approximately hip height, then twist your body to the other side as you bring the bar back up and over to the other hip. Repeat this a kajillion times, and you've got a windshield wiper.
Next, true to form, just because we had done a WOD didn't necessarily mean that we were done. As if a tabata for core wasn't enough, we did five more rounds of core, not keeping our time. Ab mat sit ups aren't that big a deal, and thankfully neither are KTE anymore. I was able to rep several out at a time but still need to work on that.
Tabata scores: (keep in mind that the score you have to keep is the lowest number you did)
Modified ring dips: 8
Windshield wipers: 19
Modified HSPUs: 5
Burpees: 8
Thursday, 12 NOV 09
REST DAY!!! HALLELUJAH!!!
On a serious note, I really wanted to get up to the gym to do the CF Football "Grace" and had something come up for my daughter that needed to take priority over my gym time. That being said, I was really glad on Friday morning that I had taken another rest day to let my arms recover. I can always do this WOD at another time or on my own. In fact, I need to figure out something to do Saturday morning, and this might be a fun option.
A side note about rest: there is a time when you push through a little stiffness or soreness, and there is also a time when you listen to your body and rest. It's different for each person, but there are times when I know that every cell in my body is crying out to simply be still. There is a such thing as overtraining, and when you reach that point, you are really running yourself down. Personally I would rather take another day to rest and be able to come out of the gate hard the following day than be sucking it up during the warm up, much less the WOD. You just have to listen to your body and discern when it really does need rest and when it's just being whiny.
Friday, 13 NOV 09
"I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." -- Habbakuk 3:18-19
WOD: Seven rounds of: 200m sprint, 10 air squats, 10 burpees
Speaking of feet like a deer...
It was damp and chilly out when we started, but by the time we finished I was ready to strip down and roll in the cold, wet grass. We headed over to the middle school football practice field (so the stripping down would be HIGHLY discouraged here, haha!) and did our WOD over there. I don't think I have had to run on wet grass early in the morning since I was in co-ed P.E. in middle school, come to think of it. I forgot how messy it can be but how good the grass smells, too.
I think I have figured out the point at which running for me stops being a sprint and transitions into a longer distance. I was out of the gate fast on the first 100m of the run for at least the first five rounds, but there was just something different about coming back across the field. I felt heavier and slower, and even the breeze I created by running seemed to be resistance I was working against on that last 100m.
I am SOOOO proud to report that I was able to do all 70 air squats without a SINGLE BIT of knee pain! It was amazing. I couldn't believe it as I was flying through those suckers at how good my knees felt and how fast I was able to move. THIS is how air squats should always be. Awesome!
Burpees... well, that's a different story. Remember how I compared them to a yearly physical on Wednesday? Yeah, well, my sentiments about these has not changed. Still don't like 'em, still have to do 'em. Oh well. What are you gonna do?!?
In closing, I'm not sure why, but we didn't time this WOD. And when it was all said and done, none of us could really venture an accurate guess on how long it took. All I know is that we left that wet, grassy field exhausted but proud of our efforts, which is worth all the burpees in the world to me.
Wednesday, 11 NOV 09
WOD: "Tabata This" -- exercises include ring dips, windshield wipers, handstand push ups, burpees
Challenge: Five rounds of 20 ab mat sit ups and 15 KTE
Tabatas as a general rule don't bother me at all. Twenty seconds of movement followed by ten seconds of rest for eight rounds per exercise really isn't the end of the world. Except for when your arms are so sore that you had trouble getting dressed that day and almost had to come to the gym without a bra on. You know, little things.
None of us are able to do ring dips, so we substituted this with doing dips off the side of the tractor tire with our feet up on boxes. We also had to modify the HSPUs by doing them off the side of the tire. Both of these were excruciating and terrible. Normally I can crank out dips with no problem, but those kettlebell swings from Monday were still wreaking havoc on my deltoids. The modified HSPUs weren't really bad until the last three rounds, which sucked at an unreasonable level. Burpees pretty much suck no matter what. You suffer through them like a yearly physical -- you know you have to do them, and sooner or later they'll be over with and you can go back to the rest of your day.
I will say, however, that I enjoyed the windshield wipers. OK, envision holding a 45# bar by one end, and the other end is resting at an angle on the center opening of a 45# bumper weight. The bar doesn't actually go into the center; it just pivots there. The goal here was to bring the bar down on one side of your body to approximately hip height, then twist your body to the other side as you bring the bar back up and over to the other hip. Repeat this a kajillion times, and you've got a windshield wiper.
Next, true to form, just because we had done a WOD didn't necessarily mean that we were done. As if a tabata for core wasn't enough, we did five more rounds of core, not keeping our time. Ab mat sit ups aren't that big a deal, and thankfully neither are KTE anymore. I was able to rep several out at a time but still need to work on that.
Tabata scores: (keep in mind that the score you have to keep is the lowest number you did)
Modified ring dips: 8
Windshield wipers: 19
Modified HSPUs: 5
Burpees: 8
Thursday, 12 NOV 09
REST DAY!!! HALLELUJAH!!!
On a serious note, I really wanted to get up to the gym to do the CF Football "Grace" and had something come up for my daughter that needed to take priority over my gym time. That being said, I was really glad on Friday morning that I had taken another rest day to let my arms recover. I can always do this WOD at another time or on my own. In fact, I need to figure out something to do Saturday morning, and this might be a fun option.
A side note about rest: there is a time when you push through a little stiffness or soreness, and there is also a time when you listen to your body and rest. It's different for each person, but there are times when I know that every cell in my body is crying out to simply be still. There is a such thing as overtraining, and when you reach that point, you are really running yourself down. Personally I would rather take another day to rest and be able to come out of the gate hard the following day than be sucking it up during the warm up, much less the WOD. You just have to listen to your body and discern when it really does need rest and when it's just being whiny.
Friday, 13 NOV 09
"I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." -- Habbakuk 3:18-19
WOD: Seven rounds of: 200m sprint, 10 air squats, 10 burpees
Speaking of feet like a deer...
It was damp and chilly out when we started, but by the time we finished I was ready to strip down and roll in the cold, wet grass. We headed over to the middle school football practice field (so the stripping down would be HIGHLY discouraged here, haha!) and did our WOD over there. I don't think I have had to run on wet grass early in the morning since I was in co-ed P.E. in middle school, come to think of it. I forgot how messy it can be but how good the grass smells, too.
I think I have figured out the point at which running for me stops being a sprint and transitions into a longer distance. I was out of the gate fast on the first 100m of the run for at least the first five rounds, but there was just something different about coming back across the field. I felt heavier and slower, and even the breeze I created by running seemed to be resistance I was working against on that last 100m.
I am SOOOO proud to report that I was able to do all 70 air squats without a SINGLE BIT of knee pain! It was amazing. I couldn't believe it as I was flying through those suckers at how good my knees felt and how fast I was able to move. THIS is how air squats should always be. Awesome!
Burpees... well, that's a different story. Remember how I compared them to a yearly physical on Wednesday? Yeah, well, my sentiments about these has not changed. Still don't like 'em, still have to do 'em. Oh well. What are you gonna do?!?
In closing, I'm not sure why, but we didn't time this WOD. And when it was all said and done, none of us could really venture an accurate guess on how long it took. All I know is that we left that wet, grassy field exhausted but proud of our efforts, which is worth all the burpees in the world to me.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
I See A Pattern Emerging Here...
Warm up: 400m run, 200 single jumps w/ jump rope, 20 double unders
WOD: Three power cleans every minute/on the minute for 10 minutes
Core: Five rounds of 20 ab mat sit ups, 15 jack knives, 10 double count bicycles
Challenge: AMRAP in 10 minutes of 250m row, 50 jumps w/ jump rope, 25 overhead squats w/ PVCs
Am I the only one who sees a pattern emerging here of doing everything in threes?!? Seriously, this is KILLING ME! But in a good way, I promise. In fact, I noticed that I have lost two dress sizes and am at a weight that I haven't been at in two and a half years. The difference between me now and me two and a half years ago is that my BMI was about 34% then, and my BMI is approx. 24-25% now. Huge difference, huh?!? You can actually see my obliques and the outline of my abs, as well as most of the muscles in my legs. Doing CF at least four times a week, in addition to eating along the lines of Paleo or The Zone, is really paying off. Sweet!
At any rate, my double unders are really coming along. Just last week I could only do one at a time. Today I was up to doing four at a time. There is hope for me yet! We will be doing "Filthy Fifty" as a box for our Christmas event, and double unders is one of the exercises we have to perform for that WOD. Jumping rope is something that I think adults blow off as a playground activity for kids, but it really is difficult and requires speed and coordination.
Let me just tell you in case you didn't know: I freakin' LOVE power cleans. Even better if they don't involve squats, but I don't mind those too much either. We were supposed to be using 80% of our max. My max at last count was 90#. I started off at 75# but quickly moved up to 85#. I really need to find my new power clean max, because the 85# was really comfortable today. I was so pumped! Finally something that I'm good at and finish first when we're doing it. Plus my coach used 85#, and I consider her someone that I chase after, too. Making good progress!! Hooty hoo!!
The quick core torture was not something I saw coming up, and it was a real crap out. Sometimes I feel like core doesn't get addressed as often but you are definitely using your core for most of what we do, so it kind of works out even in the wash, as they say. We've been intentionally throwing in some core so that we can reap some overall benefits from it, and I think we'll see some payoff next month with "Filthy Fifty". The jack knives were pretty merciless, the sit ups were a real grind, but I was definitely able to make up time with the bicycles. This is where I am so glad I've done pilates for the last couple of years. I feel like I have an edge over some when it comes to core, but I still have LOTS of room for improvement. Our coach started the clock after we started (maybe 0:15 later). The clock said exactly 10:00 when I finished my five rounds, so I guess my time was about 10:15.
When we heard we had to do the AMRAP after the other TWO WODs, there was much groaning going on. Good grief! But we pressed through it and really gave it our best. I got in 3 full rounds and had completed the rowing for round four and was getting up to grab a jumprope when our coach called time.
I'm still trying to keep my blinders on and only focus on myself. There are some areas in which I have a loooong way to go (still need to work on my pull ups, etc.), but there are many areas in which I'm doing pretty good. I feel great, I think I'm looking pretty good, and I just cannot get over where I am now compared to where I was a couple of years ago. If any of you are considering making some kind of effort in the gym, just get out there and do it! You don't have to be doing CrossFit to be doing yourself some good. Start taking care of your body from the inside out -- get moving and watch what you're putting in your mouth. You owe it to yourself, first and foremost. I saw a show today about a girl who is a raw foodist (I thought she was a fruit loop, honestly), but she said that taking care of yourself and eating well is a way to love yourself. What a great perspective -- exercise and eating well is actually a way to show yourself that you love and are willing to care for yourself just as you would your kids, your spouse, your family and friends. Don't you deserve that?!?
Power cleans: 75# x2 rounds, 85# x 8 rounds
Core: 10:15, approx.
AMRAP: 3 1/2 roounds
WOD: Three power cleans every minute/on the minute for 10 minutes
Core: Five rounds of 20 ab mat sit ups, 15 jack knives, 10 double count bicycles
Challenge: AMRAP in 10 minutes of 250m row, 50 jumps w/ jump rope, 25 overhead squats w/ PVCs
Am I the only one who sees a pattern emerging here of doing everything in threes?!? Seriously, this is KILLING ME! But in a good way, I promise. In fact, I noticed that I have lost two dress sizes and am at a weight that I haven't been at in two and a half years. The difference between me now and me two and a half years ago is that my BMI was about 34% then, and my BMI is approx. 24-25% now. Huge difference, huh?!? You can actually see my obliques and the outline of my abs, as well as most of the muscles in my legs. Doing CF at least four times a week, in addition to eating along the lines of Paleo or The Zone, is really paying off. Sweet!
At any rate, my double unders are really coming along. Just last week I could only do one at a time. Today I was up to doing four at a time. There is hope for me yet! We will be doing "Filthy Fifty" as a box for our Christmas event, and double unders is one of the exercises we have to perform for that WOD. Jumping rope is something that I think adults blow off as a playground activity for kids, but it really is difficult and requires speed and coordination.
Let me just tell you in case you didn't know: I freakin' LOVE power cleans. Even better if they don't involve squats, but I don't mind those too much either. We were supposed to be using 80% of our max. My max at last count was 90#. I started off at 75# but quickly moved up to 85#. I really need to find my new power clean max, because the 85# was really comfortable today. I was so pumped! Finally something that I'm good at and finish first when we're doing it. Plus my coach used 85#, and I consider her someone that I chase after, too. Making good progress!! Hooty hoo!!
The quick core torture was not something I saw coming up, and it was a real crap out. Sometimes I feel like core doesn't get addressed as often but you are definitely using your core for most of what we do, so it kind of works out even in the wash, as they say. We've been intentionally throwing in some core so that we can reap some overall benefits from it, and I think we'll see some payoff next month with "Filthy Fifty". The jack knives were pretty merciless, the sit ups were a real grind, but I was definitely able to make up time with the bicycles. This is where I am so glad I've done pilates for the last couple of years. I feel like I have an edge over some when it comes to core, but I still have LOTS of room for improvement. Our coach started the clock after we started (maybe 0:15 later). The clock said exactly 10:00 when I finished my five rounds, so I guess my time was about 10:15.
When we heard we had to do the AMRAP after the other TWO WODs, there was much groaning going on. Good grief! But we pressed through it and really gave it our best. I got in 3 full rounds and had completed the rowing for round four and was getting up to grab a jumprope when our coach called time.
I'm still trying to keep my blinders on and only focus on myself. There are some areas in which I have a loooong way to go (still need to work on my pull ups, etc.), but there are many areas in which I'm doing pretty good. I feel great, I think I'm looking pretty good, and I just cannot get over where I am now compared to where I was a couple of years ago. If any of you are considering making some kind of effort in the gym, just get out there and do it! You don't have to be doing CrossFit to be doing yourself some good. Start taking care of your body from the inside out -- get moving and watch what you're putting in your mouth. You owe it to yourself, first and foremost. I saw a show today about a girl who is a raw foodist (I thought she was a fruit loop, honestly), but she said that taking care of yourself and eating well is a way to love yourself. What a great perspective -- exercise and eating well is actually a way to show yourself that you love and are willing to care for yourself just as you would your kids, your spouse, your family and friends. Don't you deserve that?!?
Power cleans: 75# x2 rounds, 85# x 8 rounds
Core: 10:15, approx.
AMRAP: 3 1/2 roounds
Monday, November 9, 2009
Ten Rounds of Torture
Warm up: 400m run, double unders, 10 buddy pull ups
WOD: Team relay -- 10 rounds for time of: Sprint 30m, 10 box jumps, sprint 30m, 15 kettlebell swings
Challenge: Tabata core -- sit ups, supermans, plank, hip pockets
After a weekend of being out of town and not watching what I ate, I really wasn't feeling extremely fit but knew I needed to get into the gym. Hard. I just needed a little extra self-punishment -- lucky me! That was just what was on the board for the WOD.
We had an unusually large group this morning. Some of the early morning gals were there, and we had a guy that puts up with our girly conversation long enough to workout with us some days. It was nice that it worked out to have some extra people there this morning since we were doing the WOD as team relays.
Once again, I finished last. This is getting to be a bit of a pattern for me, one that I don't like and with which I am not comfortable. However, I know I pushed myself hard this morning and didn't slack off, so I can't be too disappointed. I could've sprinted faster on the second sprint of each round, but I used the highest box for the box jumps and completed the range of motion correctly each time. I also kept moving during the kettlebell swings, my least favorite part of the WOD. At one point during the kettlebell swings, I noticed how my abs were engaging during the swinging and lifting motion, so I know my body was working hard.
My partner was one of the girls that I "chase" during most WODs. It cracks me up: she has this endearing personality and warm laugh, but you give her a "3-2-1-GO!" and she turns into a machine! This girl makes really hard moves look easy. She is really strong and fast, and her endurance is off the charts. She gives me something to work toward for sure, but I also just enjoy chatting with her and the other girls at the end of the WOD.
Someone -- I don't know who -- got a bright idea of doing a Tabata core WOD, so five of us got down and did Tabata sit ups, supermans, plank (which technically is sphinx), and hip pockets. I was a little tired during the sit ups, but I maintained consistency during the Tabata stuff. (Everyone else got at least two or three minutes of recovery at the end of their WOD that I didn't have before starting the second one, since I finished last.) While I couldn't believe at the time that I actually sat down to do the Tabata, I was glad when I finished that I had taken the time.
I'm really having to look at myself and stay focused on just myself these days. Everyone is working at their own levels, and in CrossFit, you are competing against yourself and no one else. That's hard to remember as you are starting off a WOD and you are having lots of knee pain and having to start off slowly instead of coming hard out of the gate like everyone else. As my boyfriend pointed out last night, the person I was two years ago likely couldn't hang with the person I am now, athletically speaking. I may never be as fast as some people in the class, and I'll never deadlift the same as most of the guys, but the most I can do is my personal best. That has got to be success.
Posted time: 31:08
WOD: Team relay -- 10 rounds for time of: Sprint 30m, 10 box jumps, sprint 30m, 15 kettlebell swings
Challenge: Tabata core -- sit ups, supermans, plank, hip pockets
After a weekend of being out of town and not watching what I ate, I really wasn't feeling extremely fit but knew I needed to get into the gym. Hard. I just needed a little extra self-punishment -- lucky me! That was just what was on the board for the WOD.
We had an unusually large group this morning. Some of the early morning gals were there, and we had a guy that puts up with our girly conversation long enough to workout with us some days. It was nice that it worked out to have some extra people there this morning since we were doing the WOD as team relays.
Once again, I finished last. This is getting to be a bit of a pattern for me, one that I don't like and with which I am not comfortable. However, I know I pushed myself hard this morning and didn't slack off, so I can't be too disappointed. I could've sprinted faster on the second sprint of each round, but I used the highest box for the box jumps and completed the range of motion correctly each time. I also kept moving during the kettlebell swings, my least favorite part of the WOD. At one point during the kettlebell swings, I noticed how my abs were engaging during the swinging and lifting motion, so I know my body was working hard.
My partner was one of the girls that I "chase" during most WODs. It cracks me up: she has this endearing personality and warm laugh, but you give her a "3-2-1-GO!" and she turns into a machine! This girl makes really hard moves look easy. She is really strong and fast, and her endurance is off the charts. She gives me something to work toward for sure, but I also just enjoy chatting with her and the other girls at the end of the WOD.
Someone -- I don't know who -- got a bright idea of doing a Tabata core WOD, so five of us got down and did Tabata sit ups, supermans, plank (which technically is sphinx), and hip pockets. I was a little tired during the sit ups, but I maintained consistency during the Tabata stuff. (Everyone else got at least two or three minutes of recovery at the end of their WOD that I didn't have before starting the second one, since I finished last.) While I couldn't believe at the time that I actually sat down to do the Tabata, I was glad when I finished that I had taken the time.
I'm really having to look at myself and stay focused on just myself these days. Everyone is working at their own levels, and in CrossFit, you are competing against yourself and no one else. That's hard to remember as you are starting off a WOD and you are having lots of knee pain and having to start off slowly instead of coming hard out of the gate like everyone else. As my boyfriend pointed out last night, the person I was two years ago likely couldn't hang with the person I am now, athletically speaking. I may never be as fast as some people in the class, and I'll never deadlift the same as most of the guys, but the most I can do is my personal best. That has got to be success.
Posted time: 31:08
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Triple Threat Tuesday
Warm up: 400m run, walking lunges, frog jumps, 40 jumping jacks, 30 squats, 20 push ups
WOD: 6 tire jammers - 25 jumping pull ups - 6 TJ - 25 JPPs - 6 TJ - 25 JPPs - 6 TJs - 25 JPPs - 6 TJs
Challenge: Team relays of 4 rounds of 200m rowing sprints and jog around two buildings
My legs are so sore -- I feel like I've done three separate WODs today. Thankfully my stupid knees held out on me! Actually, everything we did today felt like it was doing my quads and knees a lot of good, strangely enough. Even the walking lunges felt like they were stretching the sore muscles out and helping to strengthen the area, which isn't how they usually feel. Maybe this is exactly what I needed to be doing to work past the soreness and do some much-needed strengthening of this problem spot.
At any rate, we were all wondering what tire jammers were. We knew that it involved the 45# bar and the big tractor tire but we still had trouble envisioning what we were supposed to do. No one could've known ahead of time just how challenging this movement was going to be -- simple yet downright hard.
So here's what a tire jammer was: You take a 45# bar and put a bumper weight on one end. I used a 45# weight. That is the end you hold onto. The other end is pushed up against the side of the tire as it rests on the floor. You are basically pushing the bar up and down, making it look like a lever -- almost as if you are trying to pry it up off the floor. On our coach's count, we all went down into a squat, holding the bar on our shoulder facing the tire. When she told us to come back up, we had to come up as explosively through our legs as we could and push the bar up until our arms were straight. Each round we did this six times, slllooowwlllyyy. Ugh. By the last two rounds, I was really exhausted but still able to come up fast. I was proud of myself because it was 90# total I was toting around and going down into a good, deep squat. And my knees behaved for the whole thing!
The pull ups were on our own. For the most part I was breaking these up into groups of fives. I noticed how my arms are getting a little bit stronger and used to the kipping motion coming up to and leaving the bar. If I can just build up my arm strength, I'll have that kipping pull up in no time. That will definitely be a hallmark moment for me.
Just when we were so exhausted that we could hardly lower ourselves to sit down without falling, our coach announces that we had a rowing challenge to complete before we could call it a day. Had we been able to summon up the energy, we would've looked at her like she had lost her mind. Instead, we all pried our creaking bones up and waddled to the rowers.
As your teammate did their rowing and running, you got to sit still and recover. Thank God for recovery time! My partner was really strong at the rowing and got us ahead a little bit. The other team was really working hard, too. For the first time since I have started CF, I was ahead of one of the girls on the other team. In her defense, her partner and I are closer as far as endurance or speed goes, but just knowing that she was chasing me and not the other way around for once really made me feel lighter as I was running.
I won't be able to attend class tomorrow, but I definitely feel like I made up for my absence with everything we did today! They are doing sprints tomorrow, so I might do some sprints here at home on my street or even try another 5K here in the neighborhood. We'll see. Either way, I'm just glad I survived the butt whooping today!
WOD: 6 tire jammers - 25 jumping pull ups - 6 TJ - 25 JPPs - 6 TJ - 25 JPPs - 6 TJs - 25 JPPs - 6 TJs
Challenge: Team relays of 4 rounds of 200m rowing sprints and jog around two buildings
My legs are so sore -- I feel like I've done three separate WODs today. Thankfully my stupid knees held out on me! Actually, everything we did today felt like it was doing my quads and knees a lot of good, strangely enough. Even the walking lunges felt like they were stretching the sore muscles out and helping to strengthen the area, which isn't how they usually feel. Maybe this is exactly what I needed to be doing to work past the soreness and do some much-needed strengthening of this problem spot.
At any rate, we were all wondering what tire jammers were. We knew that it involved the 45# bar and the big tractor tire but we still had trouble envisioning what we were supposed to do. No one could've known ahead of time just how challenging this movement was going to be -- simple yet downright hard.
So here's what a tire jammer was: You take a 45# bar and put a bumper weight on one end. I used a 45# weight. That is the end you hold onto. The other end is pushed up against the side of the tire as it rests on the floor. You are basically pushing the bar up and down, making it look like a lever -- almost as if you are trying to pry it up off the floor. On our coach's count, we all went down into a squat, holding the bar on our shoulder facing the tire. When she told us to come back up, we had to come up as explosively through our legs as we could and push the bar up until our arms were straight. Each round we did this six times, slllooowwlllyyy. Ugh. By the last two rounds, I was really exhausted but still able to come up fast. I was proud of myself because it was 90# total I was toting around and going down into a good, deep squat. And my knees behaved for the whole thing!
The pull ups were on our own. For the most part I was breaking these up into groups of fives. I noticed how my arms are getting a little bit stronger and used to the kipping motion coming up to and leaving the bar. If I can just build up my arm strength, I'll have that kipping pull up in no time. That will definitely be a hallmark moment for me.
Just when we were so exhausted that we could hardly lower ourselves to sit down without falling, our coach announces that we had a rowing challenge to complete before we could call it a day. Had we been able to summon up the energy, we would've looked at her like she had lost her mind. Instead, we all pried our creaking bones up and waddled to the rowers.
As your teammate did their rowing and running, you got to sit still and recover. Thank God for recovery time! My partner was really strong at the rowing and got us ahead a little bit. The other team was really working hard, too. For the first time since I have started CF, I was ahead of one of the girls on the other team. In her defense, her partner and I are closer as far as endurance or speed goes, but just knowing that she was chasing me and not the other way around for once really made me feel lighter as I was running.
I won't be able to attend class tomorrow, but I definitely feel like I made up for my absence with everything we did today! They are doing sprints tomorrow, so I might do some sprints here at home on my street or even try another 5K here in the neighborhood. We'll see. Either way, I'm just glad I survived the butt whooping today!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Knees, My Old Nemesis, and Recap of Friday
I've been a little distracted over the last week. It's been crazy busy at my house: my boyfriend has been in town, I had to bake Halloween treats every day last week for my son's preschool, and let's not even go there about Halloween prep and madness. I completely forgot to blog about last Friday -- I have slept since then -- but it's worth covering quickly. Then I'll debrief today's WOD.
Friday, 30 OCT 09
Warm up: Buddy pull ups, kipping practice
WOD: Max deadlift, max shoulder press
The pull ups were mainly to build strength and practice getting our kipping motion down. Thankfully my boyfriend was there to help me, strong guy that he is, but he's also got a lot of CrossFit experience and has given me some great tips toward building up to a full kipping pull up. I know I should be working on these every time I walk in/out of the gym, but geez -- they are such a pain! But nonetheless, they are coming along slowly but surely.
I am proud to say that this was a fun day. As usual, I love heavy weight days. I blew right past my max deadlift from last time and probably could've gotten farther, but I could feel my form suffering to the point that I could've put myself at risk for hurting my back. I'm completely unwilling to hurt myself and have to take time off to recover if it can be helped. It's true that as you add more and more weight that your form might suffer a little bit, but I was sufficiently pleased with my new max and wanted to live to fight another day, as the saying goes.
The max press was the real challenge for me. It's so tempting to dip and drive to get that bar up over your head instead of just pressing straight up from your shoulders. I needed a little spotting but eventually got that weight up. This is just a hard one for me, plain and simple.
Max deadlift: 190 lbs.; attempted 195 but failed.
Max shoulder press: 75 lbs.
Monday, 02 NOV 09
Warm up: 400m run, butt kickers, high knees, high knee cross overs, walking push ups
WOD: For time, 40-30-20-10 goblet squats with 20 ball sit ups between each set of squats.
Challenge: Team 1000m row
Isn't it a bad sign when you're exhausted after the warm up that the WOD is only going to be even worse?!? That's kinda how I felt today. I felt a little off kilter but for the most part was ready to rock-n-roll.
When I saw today's WOD, I thought, Oh nice, something to work on intensity and go fast but not so hard that I'm hurting afterwards. HA! I couldn't have been more wrong!! Today was another really hard day on my knees. I could've moved so much faster had I not had such sharp, piercing pain in my knees. My muscles were burning well the whole time, but certainly nothing that I couldn't push through. It was the sheer pain associated with my knees that made me want to be sick. Today was actually one of two days where I thought I might be in real danger of injuring my knees. Thankfully I feel a lot better now, but I need to find the motrin soon.
The goblet squats weren't hard form-wise. I wanted to go heavy and just keep a steady pace. For my knees, going fast (Tabata-style) is no good, but keeping in constant motion is about as much intensity as I can handle on them. I chose a 35# dumbbell and racked it up. I was able to keep moving in sets of ten for the most part, sometimes in fives.
I was really surprised to see just how much my quads were involved in the ball sit ups. The emphasis on core wasn't bad at all, but it was how my legs were engaging getting down to the mat and then getting back up on my feet that liked to have killed me. I was able to keep doing those in sets of tens and then fives, too.
I had to pause between movements and stretch my quads. This helped some, but I just wish there was something I could do to better lengthen those muscles and tendons when they're warmed up and moving. That would make a huge difference. I know I need to do more workouts and movements that strengthen this area for me. It's really frustrating to feel like I could be doing more "if only..."
Something else that was getting to me was being the last one done today. We had a couple of new girls in class today, which was lots of fun. It's exciting to see more people get involved, especially women. But I'm tellin' ya -- these girls may have only been doing CF for a week or so, but they are strong and swift to begin with! Talk about a challenge to which I need to rise up! As much as I enjoy the motivation of seeing others to "chase after," it is hard to feel like I'm working as hard as I can but have this stupid situation going on with my knees. All I can tell myself is that I kept moving, worked as hard as I could, and will beat my time the next time we do this. The only person I'm really competing with here is ME!
Posted time: 18:07
P.S. -- Brandy, did you ever finish Elements??? :)
Friday, 30 OCT 09
Warm up: Buddy pull ups, kipping practice
WOD: Max deadlift, max shoulder press
The pull ups were mainly to build strength and practice getting our kipping motion down. Thankfully my boyfriend was there to help me, strong guy that he is, but he's also got a lot of CrossFit experience and has given me some great tips toward building up to a full kipping pull up. I know I should be working on these every time I walk in/out of the gym, but geez -- they are such a pain! But nonetheless, they are coming along slowly but surely.
I am proud to say that this was a fun day. As usual, I love heavy weight days. I blew right past my max deadlift from last time and probably could've gotten farther, but I could feel my form suffering to the point that I could've put myself at risk for hurting my back. I'm completely unwilling to hurt myself and have to take time off to recover if it can be helped. It's true that as you add more and more weight that your form might suffer a little bit, but I was sufficiently pleased with my new max and wanted to live to fight another day, as the saying goes.
The max press was the real challenge for me. It's so tempting to dip and drive to get that bar up over your head instead of just pressing straight up from your shoulders. I needed a little spotting but eventually got that weight up. This is just a hard one for me, plain and simple.
Max deadlift: 190 lbs.; attempted 195 but failed.
Max shoulder press: 75 lbs.
Monday, 02 NOV 09
Warm up: 400m run, butt kickers, high knees, high knee cross overs, walking push ups
WOD: For time, 40-30-20-10 goblet squats with 20 ball sit ups between each set of squats.
Challenge: Team 1000m row
Isn't it a bad sign when you're exhausted after the warm up that the WOD is only going to be even worse?!? That's kinda how I felt today. I felt a little off kilter but for the most part was ready to rock-n-roll.
When I saw today's WOD, I thought, Oh nice, something to work on intensity and go fast but not so hard that I'm hurting afterwards. HA! I couldn't have been more wrong!! Today was another really hard day on my knees. I could've moved so much faster had I not had such sharp, piercing pain in my knees. My muscles were burning well the whole time, but certainly nothing that I couldn't push through. It was the sheer pain associated with my knees that made me want to be sick. Today was actually one of two days where I thought I might be in real danger of injuring my knees. Thankfully I feel a lot better now, but I need to find the motrin soon.
The goblet squats weren't hard form-wise. I wanted to go heavy and just keep a steady pace. For my knees, going fast (Tabata-style) is no good, but keeping in constant motion is about as much intensity as I can handle on them. I chose a 35# dumbbell and racked it up. I was able to keep moving in sets of ten for the most part, sometimes in fives.
I was really surprised to see just how much my quads were involved in the ball sit ups. The emphasis on core wasn't bad at all, but it was how my legs were engaging getting down to the mat and then getting back up on my feet that liked to have killed me. I was able to keep doing those in sets of tens and then fives, too.
I had to pause between movements and stretch my quads. This helped some, but I just wish there was something I could do to better lengthen those muscles and tendons when they're warmed up and moving. That would make a huge difference. I know I need to do more workouts and movements that strengthen this area for me. It's really frustrating to feel like I could be doing more "if only..."
Something else that was getting to me was being the last one done today. We had a couple of new girls in class today, which was lots of fun. It's exciting to see more people get involved, especially women. But I'm tellin' ya -- these girls may have only been doing CF for a week or so, but they are strong and swift to begin with! Talk about a challenge to which I need to rise up! As much as I enjoy the motivation of seeing others to "chase after," it is hard to feel like I'm working as hard as I can but have this stupid situation going on with my knees. All I can tell myself is that I kept moving, worked as hard as I could, and will beat my time the next time we do this. The only person I'm really competing with here is ME!
Posted time: 18:07
P.S. -- Brandy, did you ever finish Elements??? :)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Is That A Hemi?!?
Warm up: 400m sprint, 50 air squats, 400m sprint, 50 sit ups
WOD : push a truck, 10 burpees, push a truck, 15 star jumps, push a truck, 20 box jumps, push a truck, 25 air squats
Good grief! This was a crazy WOD, and it happened to be on my 33rd birthday. The warm up was significant enough for me -- I had been working on box jumps yesterday evening and my good ol' left knee was already hurting. I was able to jump on the tallest box + two 45 lb bumpers, but I was paying for it.
My boyfriend got to work out with us today, which was fun but didn't end up helping me out because he was paired with someone else. He's a big dude -- the kind you want on your team when brute speed is called for! At any rate, I got to work with one of the new girls in the class. She and another girl got to do this as their first CF WOD. How's that for jumping into it?! They did great. They're both already really strong and fast, so they'll be at the top of the group in no time.
Overall, this was a fun workout. Lots of functional movement covered by this WOD, and we really had to power through the quads. As I mentioned, mine were already burning from the warm up, so I felt pretty smoked afterwards but recovered quickly.
No posted time -- just good clean fun!
-- Mobilelly Yours, GGG
WOD : push a truck, 10 burpees, push a truck, 15 star jumps, push a truck, 20 box jumps, push a truck, 25 air squats
Good grief! This was a crazy WOD, and it happened to be on my 33rd birthday. The warm up was significant enough for me -- I had been working on box jumps yesterday evening and my good ol' left knee was already hurting. I was able to jump on the tallest box + two 45 lb bumpers, but I was paying for it.
My boyfriend got to work out with us today, which was fun but didn't end up helping me out because he was paired with someone else. He's a big dude -- the kind you want on your team when brute speed is called for! At any rate, I got to work with one of the new girls in the class. She and another girl got to do this as their first CF WOD. How's that for jumping into it?! They did great. They're both already really strong and fast, so they'll be at the top of the group in no time.
Overall, this was a fun workout. Lots of functional movement covered by this WOD, and we really had to power through the quads. As I mentioned, mine were already burning from the warm up, so I felt pretty smoked afterwards but recovered quickly.
No posted time -- just good clean fun!
-- Mobilelly Yours, GGG
Friday, October 23, 2009
FRAN FRIDAY!!!
Warm up: 500m row, 10 push ups, 30 air squats, high knees, butt kicks, grapevines, 30 jumping jacks
WOD: "Fran" -- For time, 21-15-9 thrusters and pull ups
I have had butterflies in my stomach for a week over this one. "Fran" is a benchmark WOD for all CrossFitters, and CrossFit Centex is even having an event tonight to get a whole bunch of people together to do "Fran". I was more than a little intimidated by the thought of doing this at such a beginner's level around lots of people, mainly guys, who are virtual power houses. So, I met with my regular group this morning and we knocked it out.
It was 45 degrees when I woke up today, so I dressed for colder weather, put my hair in funky braids and a beanie, and set off. When I got to the box, we were all a little jittery but excited to be doing "Fran." I got to have two coaches talking and motivating me through this that I normally don't get to work out with, so that was lots of fun. One of them really snapped my focus where it needed to be. He asked me what my plan was for rest, and then said that he would be holding me accountable to it. If I started to go past that time, he was gonna be on me to get moving. That one thought right there really kept me moving.
Dare I say it -- I've done harder WODs. Not that this wasn't hard, incredibly hypoxic, and exhilarating all at once. For me, with the weight I used and the fact that I've been babying my knees for the last couple of days, the thrusters were manageable, and pull ups are not near as scary as they used to be, even though I'm still doing them assisted. But the thruster movement itself was not the hardest movement to perform. I think the hardest thing I've done so far was the hang squat cleans from Monday. They were completely brutal. Given, I didn't do "Fran" as prescribed -- I did it scaled -- but for my first WOD, it was appropriate weight, I think.
I think that the combination of good coaching and mental focus is what really helped me plug through today. The male coaches have a different way of pushing than my female coach, and every now and then it's nice to switch them up just to hear how they motivate in different ways. And the "zone" I've been able to get into mentally with some of the other WODs proved to be helpful today. All I know is that I felt electrified at the end of it and insanely surprised at my time.
I DID IT!
Posted time: 5:56 with 45# and assisted pull ups
WOD: "Fran" -- For time, 21-15-9 thrusters and pull ups
I have had butterflies in my stomach for a week over this one. "Fran" is a benchmark WOD for all CrossFitters, and CrossFit Centex is even having an event tonight to get a whole bunch of people together to do "Fran". I was more than a little intimidated by the thought of doing this at such a beginner's level around lots of people, mainly guys, who are virtual power houses. So, I met with my regular group this morning and we knocked it out.
It was 45 degrees when I woke up today, so I dressed for colder weather, put my hair in funky braids and a beanie, and set off. When I got to the box, we were all a little jittery but excited to be doing "Fran." I got to have two coaches talking and motivating me through this that I normally don't get to work out with, so that was lots of fun. One of them really snapped my focus where it needed to be. He asked me what my plan was for rest, and then said that he would be holding me accountable to it. If I started to go past that time, he was gonna be on me to get moving. That one thought right there really kept me moving.
Dare I say it -- I've done harder WODs. Not that this wasn't hard, incredibly hypoxic, and exhilarating all at once. For me, with the weight I used and the fact that I've been babying my knees for the last couple of days, the thrusters were manageable, and pull ups are not near as scary as they used to be, even though I'm still doing them assisted. But the thruster movement itself was not the hardest movement to perform. I think the hardest thing I've done so far was the hang squat cleans from Monday. They were completely brutal. Given, I didn't do "Fran" as prescribed -- I did it scaled -- but for my first WOD, it was appropriate weight, I think.
I think that the combination of good coaching and mental focus is what really helped me plug through today. The male coaches have a different way of pushing than my female coach, and every now and then it's nice to switch them up just to hear how they motivate in different ways. And the "zone" I've been able to get into mentally with some of the other WODs proved to be helpful today. All I know is that I felt electrified at the end of it and insanely surprised at my time.
I DID IT!
Posted time: 5:56 with 45# and assisted pull ups
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
5K Day
WOD: 5K followed by 30 KTE, 30 GH extensions, 30 sit ups
Today was another mind check for me, albeit a much easier task to complete. If you read the posts on Friday and Monday, you have a clue as to how important your mental game is when coming up to your own personal wall. I have a real fear of long distance running -- does 3.2 miles count as long distance? -- so my stomach was in knots by the time I arrived at the gym this morning. I've never even desired to attempt a long run after getting out of ROTC, and I'm definitely not one of these people whose bucket list has any sort of running feat anywhere on it. Alas, someone else programmed this to be the WOD, so I had to do it.
It had been pouring down rain and dark as I drive the kids to school. On the one hand, I thought, "Great! We'll just have to do something else -- GEE DARN." Then I had a terrible realization: if we weren't able to run the 5K, we would most likely have to row it on the rowing machine. "NOOOO!!!" screamed my knees. "We took all we could, Captain -- we cannot take any more!" Luckily the weather broke just long enough to get the run out of the way, and then the bottom dropped out when we came back to the gym to finish up.
The weather was ideal for running this morning: 65 degrees, a light drizzle, and a light breeze. That made a huge difference for me. Running in hot weather really kills me, so I felt lucky to be doing this in the fall. Traffic had subsided, I had a great playlist on the iPod, and all the external factors were checked off.
I wish I had made it further than I did before I stopped jogging to walk. I probably made it at least a mile before I stopped. Had I been running next to someone, this would still have happened but perhaps just a little later. My coach talked about several different strategies for approaching a longer run, as in goals to set for yourself before you start. For some, the goal was to improve their time; for others, it was simply to complete the run at all, and still others had goals somewhere between these two extremes. For me, I was rather intimidated by the term "5K" and the concept of how far that was. My walking/jogging is normally done on a treadmill, so I really didn't know what to expect, and I wanted to be realistic. My goal was to run as much as possible, walk only when necessary, and walk fast with active arms when I did have to walk. And also to finish without puking. :)
One of the things you learn to utilize early on in CrossFit is planned rest. This is a situation where you have to stop what you're doing and recover a little bit before you can get moving again. However, rather than just waiting around to feel better, your muscles to quit aching, your pulse to slow down too much, etc., you tell yourself how long you will rest, count down in your head, and then get moving. Basically, you have a contingency plan that keeps you from hurting yourself or allows you to rest but doesn't allow you to quit or lose momentum. I utilized planned rest on this run. The last mile I really took in intervals. I tried to run longer than I was allowing myself to rest, and before the last "home stretch," I made a point to walk, breathe deeply and slowly to really oxygenate my muscles, put the iPod on a Nickleback song, and bring it on home. This strategy worked really well! Lastly, my coach ran the last 200m with me, challenging me to keep on her heels and then really lengthen my stride and increase my speed at the end. It was such a great feeling to finally be done!
The crazy cool thing is that I didn't even feel tired at the end of the run. I had some of those cramps in my abdomen that come when you haven't run in a long time, but other than that, the rest of my body felt like it could've kept going. My leg muscles were warm and revved up, not cramping, and I wasn't so winded or nauseated that I couldn't speak. Dare I say -- I actually enjoyed this run today?!? Had I been in a little bit better situation with my breathing/cardio, I really think I could've run the whole thing and not needed to walk. Perhaps that will be my goal for the next time we do this WOD.
Once we got back to the box, we cranked out the additional exercises, not keeping track of time or anything. They were easy enough, but after 15 reps on the GHD, I could tell my hamstrings were really tight and needed to be stretched. All in all, a great day. And I even rewarded myself with a protein smoothie from Smoothie Ds.
Posted time: 34:33
-- Mobilelly Yours, GGG
Today was another mind check for me, albeit a much easier task to complete. If you read the posts on Friday and Monday, you have a clue as to how important your mental game is when coming up to your own personal wall. I have a real fear of long distance running -- does 3.2 miles count as long distance? -- so my stomach was in knots by the time I arrived at the gym this morning. I've never even desired to attempt a long run after getting out of ROTC, and I'm definitely not one of these people whose bucket list has any sort of running feat anywhere on it. Alas, someone else programmed this to be the WOD, so I had to do it.
It had been pouring down rain and dark as I drive the kids to school. On the one hand, I thought, "Great! We'll just have to do something else -- GEE DARN." Then I had a terrible realization: if we weren't able to run the 5K, we would most likely have to row it on the rowing machine. "NOOOO!!!" screamed my knees. "We took all we could, Captain -- we cannot take any more!" Luckily the weather broke just long enough to get the run out of the way, and then the bottom dropped out when we came back to the gym to finish up.
The weather was ideal for running this morning: 65 degrees, a light drizzle, and a light breeze. That made a huge difference for me. Running in hot weather really kills me, so I felt lucky to be doing this in the fall. Traffic had subsided, I had a great playlist on the iPod, and all the external factors were checked off.
I wish I had made it further than I did before I stopped jogging to walk. I probably made it at least a mile before I stopped. Had I been running next to someone, this would still have happened but perhaps just a little later. My coach talked about several different strategies for approaching a longer run, as in goals to set for yourself before you start. For some, the goal was to improve their time; for others, it was simply to complete the run at all, and still others had goals somewhere between these two extremes. For me, I was rather intimidated by the term "5K" and the concept of how far that was. My walking/jogging is normally done on a treadmill, so I really didn't know what to expect, and I wanted to be realistic. My goal was to run as much as possible, walk only when necessary, and walk fast with active arms when I did have to walk. And also to finish without puking. :)
One of the things you learn to utilize early on in CrossFit is planned rest. This is a situation where you have to stop what you're doing and recover a little bit before you can get moving again. However, rather than just waiting around to feel better, your muscles to quit aching, your pulse to slow down too much, etc., you tell yourself how long you will rest, count down in your head, and then get moving. Basically, you have a contingency plan that keeps you from hurting yourself or allows you to rest but doesn't allow you to quit or lose momentum. I utilized planned rest on this run. The last mile I really took in intervals. I tried to run longer than I was allowing myself to rest, and before the last "home stretch," I made a point to walk, breathe deeply and slowly to really oxygenate my muscles, put the iPod on a Nickleback song, and bring it on home. This strategy worked really well! Lastly, my coach ran the last 200m with me, challenging me to keep on her heels and then really lengthen my stride and increase my speed at the end. It was such a great feeling to finally be done!
The crazy cool thing is that I didn't even feel tired at the end of the run. I had some of those cramps in my abdomen that come when you haven't run in a long time, but other than that, the rest of my body felt like it could've kept going. My leg muscles were warm and revved up, not cramping, and I wasn't so winded or nauseated that I couldn't speak. Dare I say -- I actually enjoyed this run today?!? Had I been in a little bit better situation with my breathing/cardio, I really think I could've run the whole thing and not needed to walk. Perhaps that will be my goal for the next time we do this WOD.
Once we got back to the box, we cranked out the additional exercises, not keeping track of time or anything. They were easy enough, but after 15 reps on the GHD, I could tell my hamstrings were really tight and needed to be stretched. All in all, a great day. And I even rewarded myself with a protein smoothie from Smoothie Ds.
Posted time: 34:33
-- Mobilelly Yours, GGG
Monday, October 19, 2009
House of Pain
Warm up: 400m run, various calisthenics, dumbbell snatches, practice hanging squat cleans with PVC
WOD: 5 rounds for time of 15 hanging squat cleans, 30 push ups
Did I mention that I'm a big, whiny baby? Did I also mention how badly my knees and shoulders have been hurting lately? I was in the house of pain today like I've never been before, and I promise I'm not telling you about it to complain. It just is what it is.
I've been really sucking it up lately with knee pain, and mentally I've really been fighting to complete the last two WODs. Tomorrow's WOD will likely be one of the hardest I've ever done, and then on Wednesday I "get to" run a 5K and then come back to the box for a few more exercises. We're supposed to be having a "Fran Friday" this week, and I'm planning on attending, but even as I sit here typing this, I can feel the swelling starting in my knees. It is just not looking good.
My coach started me off with 65# for the hanging squat cleans. This weight should not have been a problem for me -- I've worked with this much weight many times before. I simply could not get it up high enough to get underneath it, and even when I did attempt to get underneath it, I just couldn't get there fast enough. I tried and failed five or six times, then she moved me down to 55#, which is how I completed the WOD.
I was so frustrated. I really had to fight even to complete this with 55#. At one point I was so fired up and frustrated that I was willing myself not to cry. (Think Tom Hanks yelling, "There's no crying! There's no crying in baseball!") There is no crying in CrossFit, so get your butt moving, woman.
With each time I went down, my left knee felt like it had a needle hanging out of it that dug in a little deeper with each movement. Once I had stood the weight up and was dropping it down to get another rep, the movement of bringing the bar down made my shoulders feel like they were being ripped off, or at least stretched in opposite directions by some sadistic machine you think of in castle basements.
Most days, when I'm feeling stiff and in a little pain, it wears off after the first two rounds and I find my rhythm and can stick with it. I did finally find a rhythm, but each beat was marked with the staccato of shooting pain in my knees and shoulders. It just never gave way. This was the second WOD that I felt sure, during the first round, I would not be finishing.
The push ups were easy, and I tried to crank those out and make up time there. I wanted to finish under 30:00 again today, but honestly, I was surprised that I actually made it through this one. There was no wave of proud relief. Only frustration at what had happened with my body and how far I had allowed my mind to go in attempting to derail my workout. I've been beating myself up about it all day, and I just don't know what to do with it.
I can tell you this much -- if it hadn't been for my coach, today would've been short and painless for me. I would've packed up and walked out the door. She really put up with a butt load of my bellyaching and kept me moving, kept me up to get one more rep. Watching the other girls made me wonder how they were doing this without near as much anguish as me, but I was the second one to finish out of four, so I guess my results weren't that bad.
This week is going to be one of the toughest ever for me in CF. I've really got to take care of those knees and tell my inner demon to kiss off. I've got Fran at the end of the week, and I've got to git 'er dun.
Posted time: 28:40 with 55#
WOD: 5 rounds for time of 15 hanging squat cleans, 30 push ups
Did I mention that I'm a big, whiny baby? Did I also mention how badly my knees and shoulders have been hurting lately? I was in the house of pain today like I've never been before, and I promise I'm not telling you about it to complain. It just is what it is.
I've been really sucking it up lately with knee pain, and mentally I've really been fighting to complete the last two WODs. Tomorrow's WOD will likely be one of the hardest I've ever done, and then on Wednesday I "get to" run a 5K and then come back to the box for a few more exercises. We're supposed to be having a "Fran Friday" this week, and I'm planning on attending, but even as I sit here typing this, I can feel the swelling starting in my knees. It is just not looking good.
My coach started me off with 65# for the hanging squat cleans. This weight should not have been a problem for me -- I've worked with this much weight many times before. I simply could not get it up high enough to get underneath it, and even when I did attempt to get underneath it, I just couldn't get there fast enough. I tried and failed five or six times, then she moved me down to 55#, which is how I completed the WOD.
I was so frustrated. I really had to fight even to complete this with 55#. At one point I was so fired up and frustrated that I was willing myself not to cry. (Think Tom Hanks yelling, "There's no crying! There's no crying in baseball!") There is no crying in CrossFit, so get your butt moving, woman.
With each time I went down, my left knee felt like it had a needle hanging out of it that dug in a little deeper with each movement. Once I had stood the weight up and was dropping it down to get another rep, the movement of bringing the bar down made my shoulders feel like they were being ripped off, or at least stretched in opposite directions by some sadistic machine you think of in castle basements.
Most days, when I'm feeling stiff and in a little pain, it wears off after the first two rounds and I find my rhythm and can stick with it. I did finally find a rhythm, but each beat was marked with the staccato of shooting pain in my knees and shoulders. It just never gave way. This was the second WOD that I felt sure, during the first round, I would not be finishing.
The push ups were easy, and I tried to crank those out and make up time there. I wanted to finish under 30:00 again today, but honestly, I was surprised that I actually made it through this one. There was no wave of proud relief. Only frustration at what had happened with my body and how far I had allowed my mind to go in attempting to derail my workout. I've been beating myself up about it all day, and I just don't know what to do with it.
I can tell you this much -- if it hadn't been for my coach, today would've been short and painless for me. I would've packed up and walked out the door. She really put up with a butt load of my bellyaching and kept me moving, kept me up to get one more rep. Watching the other girls made me wonder how they were doing this without near as much anguish as me, but I was the second one to finish out of four, so I guess my results weren't that bad.
This week is going to be one of the toughest ever for me in CF. I've really got to take care of those knees and tell my inner demon to kiss off. I've got Fran at the end of the week, and I've got to git 'er dun.
Posted time: 28:40 with 55#
Friday, October 16, 2009
Hamburger Buns (Again)
Warm up: 400m jog, various calisthenics
WOD: 5 rounds for time of sprints, prowler pushes, walking weighted lunges, 25 squats, 10 box jumps
First of all, I just want to vent. I had a great post written and tried to post it from my iPhone app, and it kept posting to my other blog, One More Thing. After deleting and retrying several times, it became my latest victim to the hungry internet monster. Damn you, Cyberspace!!!
I'll do my best to try and remember all the points I made in the original post. The BLUF (bottom line up front) was that it was hard and mentally had me hurting. It is amazing how much the mind can play tricks on us, and I can definitely see how overcoming mind blocks in the gym can help us to overcoming them in the rest of our daily lives.
Warm up was pretty uneventful. I only wish I could say that for the rest of the morning! The sprints, back and forth the length of the building, weren't the worst, but pushing the prowler was definitely no fun. Pushing this big metal monster across the pavement was about like trying to push a car across the parking lot that has no wheels, just metal grating on cement. I felt like Samson after Delilah had cut his hair -- powerless to move this heavy thing in front of me.
The walking weighted lunges were by far the most painful part. Lunges hurt my knees worse than almost anything I've ever done. I had to walk the length of the building like this, holding a 25# bumper weight over my head, stop at the end of the 18-step stretchg (not that I was counting, right?!?), do 25 squats holding the weight, and then come back to the starting point. Pure torture, plain and simple.
The last part was the box jumps. This was easy work for me, so I tried desperately to make up time here. I was using the tallest box this time, and I really want to add a bumper to the box next time for a bit of a challenge.
I mentioned earlier about how this WOD blew my mind. The physical pain brought on by today's WOD was nothing compared to the defeat my psyche was cooking up in my little blonde head. I've been having quite a few issues with joints as of late, and nothing puts me into self-defeat mode faster than joint pain. Halfway through the first round, I was already telling myself there was no way I'd make it through this one. My quads were already burning, and my knees were screaming, too. Somehow, about halfway through round three, I could see the end of the tunnel and knew I would finish. By the end of the last round, I was trying to go as fast as I safely could in order to finish under 30:00, which I did by a hair.
After working strength and doing heavy lifts so much recently, we really did need to work on some other things, things at which I really do suck and need to challenge myself. My coach is great to keep us moving and motivated. She's always reminding us that WOD like this one will yield growth, strength, and change for us. I know she's right. I look over at the other girls, fighting for it, too, and they keep me going.
Posted time: 28:44
WOD: 5 rounds for time of sprints, prowler pushes, walking weighted lunges, 25 squats, 10 box jumps
First of all, I just want to vent. I had a great post written and tried to post it from my iPhone app, and it kept posting to my other blog, One More Thing. After deleting and retrying several times, it became my latest victim to the hungry internet monster. Damn you, Cyberspace!!!
I'll do my best to try and remember all the points I made in the original post. The BLUF (bottom line up front) was that it was hard and mentally had me hurting. It is amazing how much the mind can play tricks on us, and I can definitely see how overcoming mind blocks in the gym can help us to overcoming them in the rest of our daily lives.
Warm up was pretty uneventful. I only wish I could say that for the rest of the morning! The sprints, back and forth the length of the building, weren't the worst, but pushing the prowler was definitely no fun. Pushing this big metal monster across the pavement was about like trying to push a car across the parking lot that has no wheels, just metal grating on cement. I felt like Samson after Delilah had cut his hair -- powerless to move this heavy thing in front of me.
The walking weighted lunges were by far the most painful part. Lunges hurt my knees worse than almost anything I've ever done. I had to walk the length of the building like this, holding a 25# bumper weight over my head, stop at the end of the 18-step stretchg (not that I was counting, right?!?), do 25 squats holding the weight, and then come back to the starting point. Pure torture, plain and simple.
The last part was the box jumps. This was easy work for me, so I tried desperately to make up time here. I was using the tallest box this time, and I really want to add a bumper to the box next time for a bit of a challenge.
I mentioned earlier about how this WOD blew my mind. The physical pain brought on by today's WOD was nothing compared to the defeat my psyche was cooking up in my little blonde head. I've been having quite a few issues with joints as of late, and nothing puts me into self-defeat mode faster than joint pain. Halfway through the first round, I was already telling myself there was no way I'd make it through this one. My quads were already burning, and my knees were screaming, too. Somehow, about halfway through round three, I could see the end of the tunnel and knew I would finish. By the end of the last round, I was trying to go as fast as I safely could in order to finish under 30:00, which I did by a hair.
After working strength and doing heavy lifts so much recently, we really did need to work on some other things, things at which I really do suck and need to challenge myself. My coach is great to keep us moving and motivated. She's always reminding us that WOD like this one will yield growth, strength, and change for us. I know she's right. I look over at the other girls, fighting for it, too, and they keep me going.
Posted time: 28:44
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Not Just A Game
Warm up: "5-4-3-2-1"
WOD: CrossFit Games -- 30 squat cleans to full press, for time
After having not worked out on Tuesday, today's WOD seemed like it would be pretty easy. My coach had been sick and cancelled class on Tuesday, which turned out to be a blessing for me. After finding my max deadlift, my back muscles needed another recovery day, so I felt good and strong going into the "game." However, I should've learned by now that the ones that look easy usually aren't.
The warm up went quickly. I mused to myself how funny it was that this was a mini-WOD in Elements that I actually found to be hard, and today it seemed to be a breeze. Given, I wasn't going for time today, but none of the moves really took it out of me. I felt like I had gotten stronger over the last couple of weeks, and I was proud of that.
Today's WOD was one of the workouts used one year in the CrossFit Games. Apparently, these are like the CF Olympics over a course of three days or so. WODs are chosen at random, and the athletes perform several of them every day. This was only one of the WODs performed on one of the days, and I can't recall which year's games from which this was taken. Either way, it looked easy enough, but it takes real stamina and focus to just keep going, something I'm working on each time I step foot in the box.
I thought I was using 55#, but my coach recorded my weight as 65#. Either way, the weight didn't feel heavy at all. I was powering through my hips nicely, getting under the bar and into a good deep squat, coming up, and then dip-driving the bar up overhead. Not difficult in and of itself, but put 30 of them together and it gets challenging.
I know I could've gone a lot faster, especially since the weight was more than manageable. Part of what made this a difficult WOD for me was the cardio capacity you need to be in constant motion and bearing weight. That, plus the unseasonal heat and humidity added to the environmental stressors and really made me breathe hard.
Something I'm noticing a lot these days is joints. How much they crackle, how sore they can be after workouts, how long it takes them to really get moving smoothly once I'm working through a WOD, etc. I think overall they will be strengthening, and I'm making efforts to be stretching and working on my flexibility through my joints, but in the back of my head, I wonder what kind of shape I'll be in by the time I'm, say, 50 years old. I live in gross fear of what my body will look like if/when something happens and I can no longer work out at the same level of intensity. All I can do now is eat well, rest enough, and stay active. I think that's as much as I can ask out of my body.
Overall, fun workout. Wish I had pushed harder to go faster, but the coach we had today did a great job yelling at us to keep moving and keep motivated. I really love this stuff. :)
Posted time: 11:30 with 65#
P.S. -- To see someone really pushing it at the CrossFit Games doing this very WOD, check out this video. It's simply amazing. Video courtesy of CrossFit and CrossFit Centex.
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFitGames08_KallistaCJFinals.wmv
WOD: CrossFit Games -- 30 squat cleans to full press, for time
After having not worked out on Tuesday, today's WOD seemed like it would be pretty easy. My coach had been sick and cancelled class on Tuesday, which turned out to be a blessing for me. After finding my max deadlift, my back muscles needed another recovery day, so I felt good and strong going into the "game." However, I should've learned by now that the ones that look easy usually aren't.
The warm up went quickly. I mused to myself how funny it was that this was a mini-WOD in Elements that I actually found to be hard, and today it seemed to be a breeze. Given, I wasn't going for time today, but none of the moves really took it out of me. I felt like I had gotten stronger over the last couple of weeks, and I was proud of that.
Today's WOD was one of the workouts used one year in the CrossFit Games. Apparently, these are like the CF Olympics over a course of three days or so. WODs are chosen at random, and the athletes perform several of them every day. This was only one of the WODs performed on one of the days, and I can't recall which year's games from which this was taken. Either way, it looked easy enough, but it takes real stamina and focus to just keep going, something I'm working on each time I step foot in the box.
I thought I was using 55#, but my coach recorded my weight as 65#. Either way, the weight didn't feel heavy at all. I was powering through my hips nicely, getting under the bar and into a good deep squat, coming up, and then dip-driving the bar up overhead. Not difficult in and of itself, but put 30 of them together and it gets challenging.
I know I could've gone a lot faster, especially since the weight was more than manageable. Part of what made this a difficult WOD for me was the cardio capacity you need to be in constant motion and bearing weight. That, plus the unseasonal heat and humidity added to the environmental stressors and really made me breathe hard.
Something I'm noticing a lot these days is joints. How much they crackle, how sore they can be after workouts, how long it takes them to really get moving smoothly once I'm working through a WOD, etc. I think overall they will be strengthening, and I'm making efforts to be stretching and working on my flexibility through my joints, but in the back of my head, I wonder what kind of shape I'll be in by the time I'm, say, 50 years old. I live in gross fear of what my body will look like if/when something happens and I can no longer work out at the same level of intensity. All I can do now is eat well, rest enough, and stay active. I think that's as much as I can ask out of my body.
Overall, fun workout. Wish I had pushed harder to go faster, but the coach we had today did a great job yelling at us to keep moving and keep motivated. I really love this stuff. :)
Posted time: 11:30 with 65#
P.S. -- To see someone really pushing it at the CrossFit Games doing this very WOD, check out this video. It's simply amazing. Video courtesy of CrossFit and CrossFit Centex.
http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFitGames08_KallistaCJFinals.wmv
Monday, October 12, 2009
Belated Recap of Wednesday and Friday
As mentioned in the post for Monday, 12 OCT, I got a little behind in posting for Wednesday and Friday of last week. Due to circuit overload in my brain these days, I had to dig back on the CrossFit Centex blog to see what we had done and what my results were...
Wednesday
WOD: For time, 10 squat cleans, 50 KTE, 8 squat cleans, 40 KTE, 6 squat cleans, 30 KTE, 4 squat cleans, 20 KTE, 2 squat cleans, 10 KTE
I can't remember what weight I used for squat cleans -- perhaps 65#? Most likely. I FINALLY got the hang of KTE, or knees to elbows. I knew I had the core strength to do them. What it took was figuring out the kipping-style motion to rock back and get them up there. During the first round, I did 45 of them on the bar when Jodi told me to move down to the mat to finish doing the modified ones. From that point on, for the sake of time and efficiency, I did half on the bar, half modified. My wrists and shoulders were really sucking badly between doing the lifting and the hanging, and I'm hoping to avoid any kind of joint injury while still pushing through stiffness to increase strength and flexibility.
Posted time: Well, there was a small problem here. The timer wasn't working properly, and we didn't catch this until I'd completed my entire first round; coincidentally, it was the longest round, too. I did the rest of them in 12:48, but this WOD was probably closer to about 18:00 or so for me.
Friday
WOD: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 power cleans
I just really like these lifts. I'm getting better at the mechanics; although, I will say that once I get up to the challenging heavier weights, I hit a sort of mental block about getting underneath the weight fast enough. But these are some of the most gratifying days when we're just lifting, adding more weight, seeing if we can keep on increasing in weight and pushing our limits. I love the mental focusing that is required on these lifts. Hit a personal record, too! Last time I maxed out at 80#, and I blew past that today. Hot damn! :)
Posted weight: 65-75-85-95(F)-95(F)-95-95(F)
Wednesday
WOD: For time, 10 squat cleans, 50 KTE, 8 squat cleans, 40 KTE, 6 squat cleans, 30 KTE, 4 squat cleans, 20 KTE, 2 squat cleans, 10 KTE
I can't remember what weight I used for squat cleans -- perhaps 65#? Most likely. I FINALLY got the hang of KTE, or knees to elbows. I knew I had the core strength to do them. What it took was figuring out the kipping-style motion to rock back and get them up there. During the first round, I did 45 of them on the bar when Jodi told me to move down to the mat to finish doing the modified ones. From that point on, for the sake of time and efficiency, I did half on the bar, half modified. My wrists and shoulders were really sucking badly between doing the lifting and the hanging, and I'm hoping to avoid any kind of joint injury while still pushing through stiffness to increase strength and flexibility.
Posted time: Well, there was a small problem here. The timer wasn't working properly, and we didn't catch this until I'd completed my entire first round; coincidentally, it was the longest round, too. I did the rest of them in 12:48, but this WOD was probably closer to about 18:00 or so for me.
Friday
WOD: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 power cleans
I just really like these lifts. I'm getting better at the mechanics; although, I will say that once I get up to the challenging heavier weights, I hit a sort of mental block about getting underneath the weight fast enough. But these are some of the most gratifying days when we're just lifting, adding more weight, seeing if we can keep on increasing in weight and pushing our limits. I love the mental focusing that is required on these lifts. Hit a personal record, too! Last time I maxed out at 80#, and I blew past that today. Hot damn! :)
Posted weight: 65-75-85-95(F)-95(F)-95-95(F)
A Little Bit O' Everything
Warm up: 1000m team row, 2x5 deadlift
WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes of: farmer walk, 21 SDHPs, 12 pull ups
Holy smokes, where did Wednesday and Friday go from last week?!? Things were outta-control-crazy last week, and I did well to get to the gym those days. To be real honest, I can't even think back that far to remember what we worked on. I do know that we worked on some power cleans on Friday in lieu of what had been programmed due to inclement weather, but I'm at a loss for Wednesday's WOD. I'll go back and blog separately about Friday -- hit a personal best, so it's worth recording!
Today I was tired and had the kids with me since the local school district was having a holiday today. But I got up and got moving, and I brought the kiddos along! We got them on the rowing machine, and my son eventually found the boxing gloves, so it was all good. I'm also trying to get my younger brother to "drink the Kool-Aid," and he came up there to check out the facility. His timing rocked, too -- he showed up near the end of the WOD, and it perked me up a little bit to see he had actually come out.
Team row was a smoker but a good warm up. I need to build up speed on this for sure for the short distances, but swapping out every 250m did afford you a little recovery time. We had a new face in class today, and it was her first WOD after Elements -- what a way to get broken in! She worked hard and kept moving and did a great job.
We also had another new face drop in today -- a brave soul, indeed. My class is prodominantly women, so when a guy shows up, I always feel a little badly for him. We may be working our butts off, but so many of these guys move a lot of weight around and work a level of intensity that would drop me dead. I feel as if they don't have anyone else working on their level to challenge or push them. On the other hand, my competetive nature comes out, and I find that I don't want to fall too far behind these guys and give them a decent run for their money. It's just fun to have new people every once in a while.
Working with the deadlift was a new one for me. For the warm up, we only did a few, but I came back to it after recovering from the WOD. I found my max at 165#! That's actually more than I weigh! I was really astonished that I was able to work that far. I'm definitely feeling the muscle soreness in my paraspinal muscles, but nothing that screams injury, just good old fashioned hard work.
The farmer walk (with 30#) was an area where I was able to make up time today. My grip didn't start to go until my third round, so I did a super fast walk with it to get through it quickly. I probably could've gone up to 35#, so next time I'll go up in weight for sure.
You all know how "fond" I am of sumo deadlight high pulls (SDHPs). Just not my favorite lift. However, I was able to perform that one as prescribed at 65#! Another milestone for me! As for the pull ups, I did them assisted with the red rubber band, but looking back I think I should've pushed myself to do this just jumping sans band.
Overall, this wasn't a bad little WOD, but I think I could've challenged myself more on the farmer walk and pull ups. The SDHPs were easy enough to do, but I need to build up consistency of speed, and 65# will be a good place to work on that.
Posted rounds: 3 rounds completed, farmer walk and 5 SDHPs into round four when time was called.
WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes of: farmer walk, 21 SDHPs, 12 pull ups
Holy smokes, where did Wednesday and Friday go from last week?!? Things were outta-control-crazy last week, and I did well to get to the gym those days. To be real honest, I can't even think back that far to remember what we worked on. I do know that we worked on some power cleans on Friday in lieu of what had been programmed due to inclement weather, but I'm at a loss for Wednesday's WOD. I'll go back and blog separately about Friday -- hit a personal best, so it's worth recording!
Today I was tired and had the kids with me since the local school district was having a holiday today. But I got up and got moving, and I brought the kiddos along! We got them on the rowing machine, and my son eventually found the boxing gloves, so it was all good. I'm also trying to get my younger brother to "drink the Kool-Aid," and he came up there to check out the facility. His timing rocked, too -- he showed up near the end of the WOD, and it perked me up a little bit to see he had actually come out.
Team row was a smoker but a good warm up. I need to build up speed on this for sure for the short distances, but swapping out every 250m did afford you a little recovery time. We had a new face in class today, and it was her first WOD after Elements -- what a way to get broken in! She worked hard and kept moving and did a great job.
We also had another new face drop in today -- a brave soul, indeed. My class is prodominantly women, so when a guy shows up, I always feel a little badly for him. We may be working our butts off, but so many of these guys move a lot of weight around and work a level of intensity that would drop me dead. I feel as if they don't have anyone else working on their level to challenge or push them. On the other hand, my competetive nature comes out, and I find that I don't want to fall too far behind these guys and give them a decent run for their money. It's just fun to have new people every once in a while.
Working with the deadlift was a new one for me. For the warm up, we only did a few, but I came back to it after recovering from the WOD. I found my max at 165#! That's actually more than I weigh! I was really astonished that I was able to work that far. I'm definitely feeling the muscle soreness in my paraspinal muscles, but nothing that screams injury, just good old fashioned hard work.
The farmer walk (with 30#) was an area where I was able to make up time today. My grip didn't start to go until my third round, so I did a super fast walk with it to get through it quickly. I probably could've gone up to 35#, so next time I'll go up in weight for sure.
You all know how "fond" I am of sumo deadlight high pulls (SDHPs). Just not my favorite lift. However, I was able to perform that one as prescribed at 65#! Another milestone for me! As for the pull ups, I did them assisted with the red rubber band, but looking back I think I should've pushed myself to do this just jumping sans band.
Overall, this wasn't a bad little WOD, but I think I could've challenged myself more on the farmer walk and pull ups. The SDHPs were easy enough to do, but I need to build up consistency of speed, and 65# will be a good place to work on that.
Posted rounds: 3 rounds completed, farmer walk and 5 SDHPs into round four when time was called.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
"Get Some" Tuesdays
Warm up: practice movement with PVCs
WOD: Overhead cleans, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
I am really loving Tuesdays at the gym lately. I don't know if they intend things to fall into this pattern, but for the last two weeks we've been working on strength with some of the lifts and working on moving heavier weight. Before starting CrossFit, this was the stuff about which I was most nervous because I was downright afraid of the heavy weight. Now I look forward to these days the most because I love the mental nature of the exercise, and it's incredible to see just how far you can push yourself.
During practice, it seemed hard to get down low enough and get my arms out where they needed to be. Then I added a little weight by doing a couple of reps with the 35# bar -- that's when all the mechanics started making more sense to me.
I'll be real honest: I came into today's WOD with zero expectation. During Elements I really had to work to do thrusters with 15# of weight and I did those yesterday with 55#, so I was going to be pleased if I could be successful today with just the 45# bar. I was so pleasantly surprised!
My coach mentioned that, by adding more weight, you really have to engage your core, focus, and fight to keep your form from start to finish. I couldn't imagine at first why heavier would be easier, so to speak, but she really was right. At 55#, I started to get really serious about my feet, arms, engage core, check my back, and get moving into that squat. By 65# I was utilizing a dip-drive to get the weight up so I could set up for the next rep, and that was pretty fun. By using the power in my legs -- which I have noticed have gotten a lot stronger even over the last two or three weeks -- that weight just popped right up there. By the time I got to 80# I had to really fight to keep it up, so that will definitely be a point I work on next time.
I have to pause to say a word about the other girls in the class. One girl was working along with me at the same weight. Dip-driving the weight up was harder for her that it was for me, but she was able to squat a little lower than me and really moved the weight well. She progressed in weight farther than me and did an awesome job. The other girl was not using near as much weight, but she showed more overall improvement during the WOD than my "partner" and I combined. In our own ways, we were all really working hard and encouraging each other, which is part of the reason why I love CF.
Posted weight: 45-55-65-75-80-80(F)-80(F)
WOD: Overhead cleans, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
I am really loving Tuesdays at the gym lately. I don't know if they intend things to fall into this pattern, but for the last two weeks we've been working on strength with some of the lifts and working on moving heavier weight. Before starting CrossFit, this was the stuff about which I was most nervous because I was downright afraid of the heavy weight. Now I look forward to these days the most because I love the mental nature of the exercise, and it's incredible to see just how far you can push yourself.
During practice, it seemed hard to get down low enough and get my arms out where they needed to be. Then I added a little weight by doing a couple of reps with the 35# bar -- that's when all the mechanics started making more sense to me.
I'll be real honest: I came into today's WOD with zero expectation. During Elements I really had to work to do thrusters with 15# of weight and I did those yesterday with 55#, so I was going to be pleased if I could be successful today with just the 45# bar. I was so pleasantly surprised!
My coach mentioned that, by adding more weight, you really have to engage your core, focus, and fight to keep your form from start to finish. I couldn't imagine at first why heavier would be easier, so to speak, but she really was right. At 55#, I started to get really serious about my feet, arms, engage core, check my back, and get moving into that squat. By 65# I was utilizing a dip-drive to get the weight up so I could set up for the next rep, and that was pretty fun. By using the power in my legs -- which I have noticed have gotten a lot stronger even over the last two or three weeks -- that weight just popped right up there. By the time I got to 80# I had to really fight to keep it up, so that will definitely be a point I work on next time.
I have to pause to say a word about the other girls in the class. One girl was working along with me at the same weight. Dip-driving the weight up was harder for her that it was for me, but she was able to squat a little lower than me and really moved the weight well. She progressed in weight farther than me and did an awesome job. The other girl was not using near as much weight, but she showed more overall improvement during the WOD than my "partner" and I combined. In our own ways, we were all really working hard and encouraging each other, which is part of the reason why I love CF.
Posted weight: 45-55-65-75-80-80(F)-80(F)
Monday, October 5, 2009
F.O.R.M.
Warm up: practice proper form for today's WOD
WOD: AMRAP in 20 min. of -- 5 thrusters, 7 hang power cleans, 9 sumo deadlift high pulls (SDHPs)
I was happy to be doing some weights today. I'm tired of being sore and tired all the time, and not just simply "sore" and "tired," I mean muscles afire and completely exhausted like being newly pregnant. Plus I really like learning all the proper form for the weightlifting because it's a good feeling to know that I can move around weight that I never thought possible.
Which leads me to the title of my blog today. I was trying to come up with some catchy title in the form of a mnemonic device or acrostic that would help me to remember to focus on proper form today. I came up with this:
Focus On coRrect Movement, or "FORM."
During warm ups today, we practiced the basic movements for each lift with a PVC. We would find out firsthand during the WOD how utilizing proper form really helps to move the weight. The times I was needing a quick rest, I could feel it if I wasn't in proper alignment.
This WOD seemed to go by so quickly. The hardest part for me was the thrusters, but not for the reasons I thought before starting. I figured it would be hard going down into the squat, but it was actually my wrists supporting the weight that really hurt. I've always had pretty wimpy, weak wrists, but that was really keeping me from cranking out reps today... until I figured out that I needed to be using more power from my hips. Once I powered up through my hips more, it was a lot easier to propel the weight up. The last two sets of thrusters I did were by far my best.
I heart power cleans. Now that I understand how important it is to throw my elbows under the bar, it's a whole different ballgame. They are actually lots of fun, at least, compared to thrusters. :)
SDHPs are OK just not my favorite. I always feel like I'm trying to find the right place to put my hands so that the bar is balanced when I bring it up. This is one of those moves you just cannot do if you're trying to pull the bar up the wrong way. (This one and the cleans, for that matter.)
Something I tried to experiment with today was wearing flatter shoes. I'll admit: I've got a LOT of shoes. Ridiculous amounts of them. But many of them were chosen for a certain function. I was finding that, when I wore my cushiony running shoes when we were lifting weight and doing lots of squats, I felt like I was floating and noticed that I rocked around a lot. By finding some training shoes that offered good arch support but were pretty flat on the bottom, I felt solidly grounded today and I think that helped a lot.
I really made a mental note today to focus on my form. Yes, I wanted to move weight quickly today, and I definitely made up time when I got to the power cleans and SDHPs, but I made a point to get that lumbar curve back at the end of each exercise. I tried to lift the weight safely to get up to a hang position for the cleans, and really had to fight for that curve when going down on my thrusters. I also waited at the top of my thrusters to be sure that I had the weight in the right position over my head if it didn't feel right, and racking it out near my collarbone was really uncomfortable but I need to develop the wrist flexibility to get there so my elbows can come out far enough. As a result, my back feels fine, and my shoulders and hip flexors are warm but not tightening up or sore. I'm sure I'll have a little residual soreness, but nothing like the neck injury I had a month ago!
I told my coach I'd rather go a little slower and get the right form down that rep 'em out and hurt myself. I see so much of that at the regular gyms I've gone to in the past. I hate to say it, but it's usually guys moving around a lot of weight. They're hyperextending their backs, swinging or rocking the weight so much that they don't have a lot of control over where the weight is going, and I'm just waiting for the look on their face that says, "Oh crap! I just pulled something and now I've got 135# swinging through the air and it's gonna land on my foot -- watch out!" Yeah, no thanks. I'd rather remember "F.O.R.M. -- Focus On coRrect Movement" and get stronger and faster, thank you very much.
Posted Results: 5 rounds at 55# and had finished 5 thrusters in round 6 when time was called. (Rx for women is 65#, so that will be my goal for next time!)
WOD: AMRAP in 20 min. of -- 5 thrusters, 7 hang power cleans, 9 sumo deadlift high pulls (SDHPs)
I was happy to be doing some weights today. I'm tired of being sore and tired all the time, and not just simply "sore" and "tired," I mean muscles afire and completely exhausted like being newly pregnant. Plus I really like learning all the proper form for the weightlifting because it's a good feeling to know that I can move around weight that I never thought possible.
Which leads me to the title of my blog today. I was trying to come up with some catchy title in the form of a mnemonic device or acrostic that would help me to remember to focus on proper form today. I came up with this:
Focus On coRrect Movement, or "FORM."
During warm ups today, we practiced the basic movements for each lift with a PVC. We would find out firsthand during the WOD how utilizing proper form really helps to move the weight. The times I was needing a quick rest, I could feel it if I wasn't in proper alignment.
This WOD seemed to go by so quickly. The hardest part for me was the thrusters, but not for the reasons I thought before starting. I figured it would be hard going down into the squat, but it was actually my wrists supporting the weight that really hurt. I've always had pretty wimpy, weak wrists, but that was really keeping me from cranking out reps today... until I figured out that I needed to be using more power from my hips. Once I powered up through my hips more, it was a lot easier to propel the weight up. The last two sets of thrusters I did were by far my best.
I heart power cleans. Now that I understand how important it is to throw my elbows under the bar, it's a whole different ballgame. They are actually lots of fun, at least, compared to thrusters. :)
SDHPs are OK just not my favorite. I always feel like I'm trying to find the right place to put my hands so that the bar is balanced when I bring it up. This is one of those moves you just cannot do if you're trying to pull the bar up the wrong way. (This one and the cleans, for that matter.)
Something I tried to experiment with today was wearing flatter shoes. I'll admit: I've got a LOT of shoes. Ridiculous amounts of them. But many of them were chosen for a certain function. I was finding that, when I wore my cushiony running shoes when we were lifting weight and doing lots of squats, I felt like I was floating and noticed that I rocked around a lot. By finding some training shoes that offered good arch support but were pretty flat on the bottom, I felt solidly grounded today and I think that helped a lot.
I really made a mental note today to focus on my form. Yes, I wanted to move weight quickly today, and I definitely made up time when I got to the power cleans and SDHPs, but I made a point to get that lumbar curve back at the end of each exercise. I tried to lift the weight safely to get up to a hang position for the cleans, and really had to fight for that curve when going down on my thrusters. I also waited at the top of my thrusters to be sure that I had the weight in the right position over my head if it didn't feel right, and racking it out near my collarbone was really uncomfortable but I need to develop the wrist flexibility to get there so my elbows can come out far enough. As a result, my back feels fine, and my shoulders and hip flexors are warm but not tightening up or sore. I'm sure I'll have a little residual soreness, but nothing like the neck injury I had a month ago!
I told my coach I'd rather go a little slower and get the right form down that rep 'em out and hurt myself. I see so much of that at the regular gyms I've gone to in the past. I hate to say it, but it's usually guys moving around a lot of weight. They're hyperextending their backs, swinging or rocking the weight so much that they don't have a lot of control over where the weight is going, and I'm just waiting for the look on their face that says, "Oh crap! I just pulled something and now I've got 135# swinging through the air and it's gonna land on my foot -- watch out!" Yeah, no thanks. I'd rather remember "F.O.R.M. -- Focus On coRrect Movement" and get stronger and faster, thank you very much.
Posted Results: 5 rounds at 55# and had finished 5 thrusters in round 6 when time was called. (Rx for women is 65#, so that will be my goal for next time!)
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Gluten-Free Wheat-Free Triple Chippers
I have blogged today over at my other site, One More Thing, about a really great recipe for GF cookies. If you are interested in fall baking that you can send to school, take to family functions, or pack in your kids' lunches, this will be one that you love. Go check it out!
Friday, October 2, 2009
You Say "Ta-bay-ta", I Say "Ta-bah-ta"...
Warm up: muscle-up progressions, playtime on the rings
WOD: Tabata sit-ups, superman lifts, flutter kicks, planks
Challenge: KTE (knees to elbows)
First of all, let me just say that my quads were thankful that there was no mention of squats on the board for today's WOD. My quads were unhappy enough about the flutter kicks toward the end, but I'll get to that.
Muscle-ups are one of three CrossFit exercises that I could just live without. (Subsequently, the other two are burpees and thrusters, but I'll blog about those as they come along.) Even doing these assisted with my legs on the ground was hard and proof-positive that I'm nowhere near bad-ass level quite yet. The rings in general are quite challenging because of all the muscle groups that come into play. There is balance, core strength, shoulders, traps, and arms, not to mention the mental focus you need to pull this off. It's a butt-kicker to be sure.
We also spent a few minutes "playing," by which I mean doing things that feel like playground fun. We did "skin the cat" but in stead of flipping all the way through, you come back over. The biggest problem I have is getting my legs up there, but once they're up, this one is fun. I can also get my legs up over my head to invert straight up and down, but I think I scared my coach because it looked to him like my grip was slipping, so I won't do that until I can tighten my grip better.
We actually had a couple of guys show up to our class today. It just kills me to watch men do CF because they can just crank this stuff out like it's nothing, especially anything involving the pull-up bar. But one of these days, boys and girls, I vow to be one of those women who can get out there and crank out a bunch of kipping pull-ups that make the guys stop in their tracks. :) One day...
Tabata (actually pronounced "ta-bah-tuh") WODs go for 8 rounds, 20 seconds each, with 10 seconds of planned rest between each round. Depending on which exercises you're doing, this may sound deceivingly easy, like today. Although nothing I've done so far was as hard as "Murph," I still thought to myself later the same day that I love doing CF but as I'm doing it, I'm really hating life! But hating it in such a good way.
I love doing ab mat sit-ups. The mat supports my lower back, and I feel like I could just crank those suckers out forever. I stayed consistent around 10 or 11 per round. My goal through each exercise was to remain consistent or improve in my reps and never to start falling off. That was true for each one. As I said, sit-ups stayed around 10 or 11, superman lifts averaged 16, flutter kicks averaged 10 (based on a military-style four-count), and for plank, the requirement was to stay elevated on the elbows and toes. (For those in pilates or yoga, this move is frequently called sphinx.)
The challenge was akin to the muscle-ups. KTE, or knees-to-elbows, is a "goat" for me. I know I have the core strength to do this one, but there is something going on with mechanics that I can't quite figure out, so I'm getting my knees up but not elevating them up to my elbows and bowing my body. Very confusing. Going to take a lot of practice, unfortunately. Tall, skinny Army boy got up there and cranked out 24 of them. Yeah, thanks. I needed that. :)
I left there thinking, Wow, today was the easiest day I've had so far. Later in the day my entire core was feeling it but not really sore, so I know I did some good. That's what I love about CF. Some days make you feel like you're gonna collapse; other days seem easy but your body lets you know you really were doing work and engaging muscles properly.
I'm looking forward to overhead squats next week!
WOD: Tabata sit-ups, superman lifts, flutter kicks, planks
Challenge: KTE (knees to elbows)
First of all, let me just say that my quads were thankful that there was no mention of squats on the board for today's WOD. My quads were unhappy enough about the flutter kicks toward the end, but I'll get to that.
Muscle-ups are one of three CrossFit exercises that I could just live without. (Subsequently, the other two are burpees and thrusters, but I'll blog about those as they come along.) Even doing these assisted with my legs on the ground was hard and proof-positive that I'm nowhere near bad-ass level quite yet. The rings in general are quite challenging because of all the muscle groups that come into play. There is balance, core strength, shoulders, traps, and arms, not to mention the mental focus you need to pull this off. It's a butt-kicker to be sure.
We also spent a few minutes "playing," by which I mean doing things that feel like playground fun. We did "skin the cat" but in stead of flipping all the way through, you come back over. The biggest problem I have is getting my legs up there, but once they're up, this one is fun. I can also get my legs up over my head to invert straight up and down, but I think I scared my coach because it looked to him like my grip was slipping, so I won't do that until I can tighten my grip better.
We actually had a couple of guys show up to our class today. It just kills me to watch men do CF because they can just crank this stuff out like it's nothing, especially anything involving the pull-up bar. But one of these days, boys and girls, I vow to be one of those women who can get out there and crank out a bunch of kipping pull-ups that make the guys stop in their tracks. :) One day...
Tabata (actually pronounced "ta-bah-tuh") WODs go for 8 rounds, 20 seconds each, with 10 seconds of planned rest between each round. Depending on which exercises you're doing, this may sound deceivingly easy, like today. Although nothing I've done so far was as hard as "Murph," I still thought to myself later the same day that I love doing CF but as I'm doing it, I'm really hating life! But hating it in such a good way.
I love doing ab mat sit-ups. The mat supports my lower back, and I feel like I could just crank those suckers out forever. I stayed consistent around 10 or 11 per round. My goal through each exercise was to remain consistent or improve in my reps and never to start falling off. That was true for each one. As I said, sit-ups stayed around 10 or 11, superman lifts averaged 16, flutter kicks averaged 10 (based on a military-style four-count), and for plank, the requirement was to stay elevated on the elbows and toes. (For those in pilates or yoga, this move is frequently called sphinx.)
The challenge was akin to the muscle-ups. KTE, or knees-to-elbows, is a "goat" for me. I know I have the core strength to do this one, but there is something going on with mechanics that I can't quite figure out, so I'm getting my knees up but not elevating them up to my elbows and bowing my body. Very confusing. Going to take a lot of practice, unfortunately. Tall, skinny Army boy got up there and cranked out 24 of them. Yeah, thanks. I needed that. :)
I left there thinking, Wow, today was the easiest day I've had so far. Later in the day my entire core was feeling it but not really sore, so I know I did some good. That's what I love about CF. Some days make you feel like you're gonna collapse; other days seem easy but your body lets you know you really were doing work and engaging muscles properly.
I'm looking forward to overhead squats next week!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Rest Day -- Food For Thought
Hallelujah! And boy did I need the rest. That is one component of CrossFit that I admit I am neglecting, and it is really starting to show. Our bodies need the right fuel and rest to make our workouts effective. Now that I'm used to being up and moving early in the day, I couldn't make myself take a nap this morning, but just taking it easy, drinking lots of water, and not exercising was just what the doctor ordered for me. And thankfully, tomorrow's WOD doesn't involve squats. I think.
Food for thought: Patsy Clairmont is a Christian motivational speaker for Women of Faith. She is a tiny lady but big on personality and has a hilarious sense of humor. She may seem wimpy at times, but she has a gift for insight and how to put even mundane, everyday events into a spiritual perspective that I can appreciate. A friend of mine shared a letter that Patsy wrote recently on her website that I found interesting. What she discusses has a lot to do with why I decided to get back into the gym and take control of my fitness and well-being two years ago.
Enjoy! I'll report in again tomorrow after my WOD...
September 29, 2009
Dear Friends,
One month ago I joined a gym―again. I think I have joined about seven or eight gyms in my time. I am very good at joining them; I've just never really got the part of actually going to them down. I'm not quite sure what the ‘disconnect’ is.
Here’s how it goes: When I finally steel myself to walk through those doors and sign up, I am very excited. I take the tour, admire the machines and return the hopeful smiles of those who are actually engaged in sweating off the pounds. My usual next step is to drive to the sporting goods store to buy my little workout outfit, as one has to look the part.
The only trouble with exercise clothes is that they tend to cling. My whole reason for going to the gym is that I have reached a cling-free zone in life where clinging is not an attractive option. So I settle for workout pants and a non-clingy t-shirt, as I cannot imagine surviving for an hour in a gym holding my stomach in.
So far, so good; but then the next morning comes. I wake up and look at the outfit waiting for me on the chair by my bed. I think to myself, “Why did I pick that color of t-shirt? I wonder if I’m getting sick? It’s probably better to work out later in the day.” Then, a miracle happens. Belle, one of our two Bichon’s, picks up one of my Nike shoes and runs off with it. It’s a sign! God does not want me to work out and I, as a humble servant, must obey. Pretty pathetic, huh? So why did I start the process off all over again a month ago?
I think the answer lies in a greater understanding that what I do in every area of my life today will affect all my tomorrows. If I want to have a fit, healthy body to serve God tomorrow then I need to take care of it today. If I want to have an ongoing great relationship with my son, Christian, tomorrow, then I invest myself in his life today no matter how tired I am. If I want to experience the peace that comes from a deep awareness of the presence of Christ today and tomorrow, then I need to spend time with him, leaning in, listening and resting.
Small intentional changes gather momentum as the days pass―so my prayer for you and for me is that by God’s grace we will take the kind of baby steps that lead us all the way home.
Much love,
Patsy
Food for thought: Patsy Clairmont is a Christian motivational speaker for Women of Faith. She is a tiny lady but big on personality and has a hilarious sense of humor. She may seem wimpy at times, but she has a gift for insight and how to put even mundane, everyday events into a spiritual perspective that I can appreciate. A friend of mine shared a letter that Patsy wrote recently on her website that I found interesting. What she discusses has a lot to do with why I decided to get back into the gym and take control of my fitness and well-being two years ago.
Enjoy! I'll report in again tomorrow after my WOD...
September 29, 2009
Dear Friends,
One month ago I joined a gym―again. I think I have joined about seven or eight gyms in my time. I am very good at joining them; I've just never really got the part of actually going to them down. I'm not quite sure what the ‘disconnect’ is.
Here’s how it goes: When I finally steel myself to walk through those doors and sign up, I am very excited. I take the tour, admire the machines and return the hopeful smiles of those who are actually engaged in sweating off the pounds. My usual next step is to drive to the sporting goods store to buy my little workout outfit, as one has to look the part.
The only trouble with exercise clothes is that they tend to cling. My whole reason for going to the gym is that I have reached a cling-free zone in life where clinging is not an attractive option. So I settle for workout pants and a non-clingy t-shirt, as I cannot imagine surviving for an hour in a gym holding my stomach in.
So far, so good; but then the next morning comes. I wake up and look at the outfit waiting for me on the chair by my bed. I think to myself, “Why did I pick that color of t-shirt? I wonder if I’m getting sick? It’s probably better to work out later in the day.” Then, a miracle happens. Belle, one of our two Bichon’s, picks up one of my Nike shoes and runs off with it. It’s a sign! God does not want me to work out and I, as a humble servant, must obey. Pretty pathetic, huh? So why did I start the process off all over again a month ago?
I think the answer lies in a greater understanding that what I do in every area of my life today will affect all my tomorrows. If I want to have a fit, healthy body to serve God tomorrow then I need to take care of it today. If I want to have an ongoing great relationship with my son, Christian, tomorrow, then I invest myself in his life today no matter how tired I am. If I want to experience the peace that comes from a deep awareness of the presence of Christ today and tomorrow, then I need to spend time with him, leaning in, listening and resting.
Small intentional changes gather momentum as the days pass―so my prayer for you and for me is that by God’s grace we will take the kind of baby steps that lead us all the way home.
Much love,
Patsy
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
My First HERO
Warm up: a little stretching, couple of pull ups and squats.
WOD: "Murph" -- 1 mi. run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, 1 mi. run
I've had my stomach in knots about Murph for days. Silly me, I was most worried about throwing up from the intensity of the WOD. What I should've been worried about was how my knees were going to survive 300 squats. Doing my first "hero" WOD was kinda like having my first baby: I was terrified of delivery, when I should've been a lot more worried about my labor. Hindsight is always 20/20, right?!?
Meet Navy LT Michael Murphy, for whom today's WOD is named:
CrossFit doesn't just forge elite athletes. It supports our military and honors our fallen soldiers. We have an American flag in our gym, and I have rarely seen a picture of a CF gym that didn't have one in the background somewhere. As the spouse of a fallen soldier and the girlfriend (and hopefully future spouse!) of an active duty soldier, I think it's fantastic that CF goes out of its way to show such solidarity with these heroes. Going along with that concept, there are some WODs, and they are usually real smokers, called hero WODs. They are usually the ones with male names, and they honor a fallen soldier. Are there any hero WODs that honor fallen female soldiers? Don't know, but it's a definite possibility.
Here was the background to "Murph" as posted on CrossFit and quoted on CrossFit Centex's site:
"In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005. This workout was one of Mike's favorites and he'd named it 'Body Armor.' From here on it will be referred to as 'Murph' in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is."
OK. All nostalgia aside, let's talk about "Murph."
AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!! Oh, the pain and the misery! OK, it wasn't that bad, but it's the hardest I've worked in my life since popping out two ridiculously large babies several years ago. The first mile went by at a nice pace, and each time one of my teammates passed by, I made sure to say something to cheer them on. I really love working out in a group and motivating each other. I needed that on a day like today in particular.
Next came the calisthenic portion of the WOD. Prior to starting, we talked about different strategies for conquering the mind-blowing numbers of pull ups, push ups, and squats. I knew ahead of time that I needed to plan for knee discomfort and try to do mine in sets that would maximize my efforts and minimize stress to my joint. I ended up with this method of attack: 10 rounds of 10 pull ups, 15 squats, 20 push ups, and 15 squats. Basically, you could do 10-20-30, but I knew that I couldn't do 30 straight squats for 10 rounds, so that's why I broke mine up. However, on the last round, I did 10-30-20 so that I wasn't ending with squats prior to running. This plan worked like a charm for me. I broke it down pretty manageably, even though it was still a struggle.
I mentioned earlier how nervous and anxious I had been going into this WOD. Today was equal parts physical exertion and mental dedication. Going into round four, I hit my wall with knee pain and quads getting tight. By the end, I was walking and bending my knee as little as possible. I really didn't know if I was going to be able to finish it. But just like my coach says, I just knew I had to keep moving, keep getting one more. By round five, I was trying to just break those squats down into groups of five and resting more between exercises. I just knew that, if I didn't fully complete this WOD, I would never forgive myself for quitting. And my coach won't let you sit still for long; she's excellent at keeping us moving and utilizing planned rest.
I have to say, I was proud of myself with my pull ups and push ups. I still can't do a completely unassisted pull up, but that's OK. I used a band and was really able to knock them out many times. My push ups had to be on my knees, but I was able to knock those out pretty fast, going all the way down to the mat and touching my head almost for almost every rep.
That last mile was just nuts. I started off at a pitiful little jog, but my knees and calves were laughing hysterically at my efforts to run. At one point, I even mused out loud, "Who the heck am I kidding here?!?" So, I decided to power walk the rest of the way. My coach and a teammate motivated me to jog the last quarter mile, so I ended on a very positive note.
As I was out there doing that last mile, I started thinking. I could imagine this young man in his PT gear, probably outside with his buddies in the humid darkness of early morning, cranking out this WOD. Then I thought of something that another one of the coaches said this morning, which was that hero WODs are really hard, and the least we can do is to give it everything to do this WOD in their honor. And as I write this, it reminds me of the amazing soldiers of C Co, 2-30 IN, 4TH BDE 10TH MTN DIV, who were going to name a FOB after my late husband in his honor as their first CO. Remembrance is so important; it is how we keep a little piece of that person and what they stood for with us forever.
I may not have posted the fastest time at the gym, but I completed "Murph" and will likely be "feeling" my tribute for days. For me, this was a milestone in many ways. Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest day!
Posted time: 72:42
WOD: "Murph" -- 1 mi. run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, 1 mi. run
I've had my stomach in knots about Murph for days. Silly me, I was most worried about throwing up from the intensity of the WOD. What I should've been worried about was how my knees were going to survive 300 squats. Doing my first "hero" WOD was kinda like having my first baby: I was terrified of delivery, when I should've been a lot more worried about my labor. Hindsight is always 20/20, right?!?
Meet Navy LT Michael Murphy, for whom today's WOD is named:
CrossFit doesn't just forge elite athletes. It supports our military and honors our fallen soldiers. We have an American flag in our gym, and I have rarely seen a picture of a CF gym that didn't have one in the background somewhere. As the spouse of a fallen soldier and the girlfriend (and hopefully future spouse!) of an active duty soldier, I think it's fantastic that CF goes out of its way to show such solidarity with these heroes. Going along with that concept, there are some WODs, and they are usually real smokers, called hero WODs. They are usually the ones with male names, and they honor a fallen soldier. Are there any hero WODs that honor fallen female soldiers? Don't know, but it's a definite possibility.Here was the background to "Murph" as posted on CrossFit and quoted on CrossFit Centex's site:
"In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005. This workout was one of Mike's favorites and he'd named it 'Body Armor.' From here on it will be referred to as 'Murph' in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is."
OK. All nostalgia aside, let's talk about "Murph."
AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!! Oh, the pain and the misery! OK, it wasn't that bad, but it's the hardest I've worked in my life since popping out two ridiculously large babies several years ago. The first mile went by at a nice pace, and each time one of my teammates passed by, I made sure to say something to cheer them on. I really love working out in a group and motivating each other. I needed that on a day like today in particular.
Next came the calisthenic portion of the WOD. Prior to starting, we talked about different strategies for conquering the mind-blowing numbers of pull ups, push ups, and squats. I knew ahead of time that I needed to plan for knee discomfort and try to do mine in sets that would maximize my efforts and minimize stress to my joint. I ended up with this method of attack: 10 rounds of 10 pull ups, 15 squats, 20 push ups, and 15 squats. Basically, you could do 10-20-30, but I knew that I couldn't do 30 straight squats for 10 rounds, so that's why I broke mine up. However, on the last round, I did 10-30-20 so that I wasn't ending with squats prior to running. This plan worked like a charm for me. I broke it down pretty manageably, even though it was still a struggle.
I mentioned earlier how nervous and anxious I had been going into this WOD. Today was equal parts physical exertion and mental dedication. Going into round four, I hit my wall with knee pain and quads getting tight. By the end, I was walking and bending my knee as little as possible. I really didn't know if I was going to be able to finish it. But just like my coach says, I just knew I had to keep moving, keep getting one more. By round five, I was trying to just break those squats down into groups of five and resting more between exercises. I just knew that, if I didn't fully complete this WOD, I would never forgive myself for quitting. And my coach won't let you sit still for long; she's excellent at keeping us moving and utilizing planned rest.
I have to say, I was proud of myself with my pull ups and push ups. I still can't do a completely unassisted pull up, but that's OK. I used a band and was really able to knock them out many times. My push ups had to be on my knees, but I was able to knock those out pretty fast, going all the way down to the mat and touching my head almost for almost every rep.
That last mile was just nuts. I started off at a pitiful little jog, but my knees and calves were laughing hysterically at my efforts to run. At one point, I even mused out loud, "Who the heck am I kidding here?!?" So, I decided to power walk the rest of the way. My coach and a teammate motivated me to jog the last quarter mile, so I ended on a very positive note.
As I was out there doing that last mile, I started thinking. I could imagine this young man in his PT gear, probably outside with his buddies in the humid darkness of early morning, cranking out this WOD. Then I thought of something that another one of the coaches said this morning, which was that hero WODs are really hard, and the least we can do is to give it everything to do this WOD in their honor. And as I write this, it reminds me of the amazing soldiers of C Co, 2-30 IN, 4TH BDE 10TH MTN DIV, who were going to name a FOB after my late husband in his honor as their first CO. Remembrance is so important; it is how we keep a little piece of that person and what they stood for with us forever.
I may not have posted the fastest time at the gym, but I completed "Murph" and will likely be "feeling" my tribute for days. For me, this was a milestone in many ways. Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest day!
Posted time: 72:42
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
A Cure For Migraines
Warm up: Pick a "goat", Coach Burg's snatch clean progressions
WOD: Power cleans, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
I went to bed last night sick to my stomach from a migraine. I can tell you that my pulse was probably in the upper 60/lower 70 bpm because I could feel the veins pulsating in my head. I have had some sort of headache since the 13th of September, on and off, but mostly on. I woke up with the same headache and having hot flashes that would've made me look like I was up in flames had you looked at my image through a thermal lens. Yet somehow, after I got up and started warm ups today, my headache dissipated. As I sit here typing, however, I can feel it coming back. I think the physical activity I'm doing at CF every morning somehow diverts the flow of blood to my muscles and lessens the pressure in my head. Just a theory.
What is this goat thing? you may ask. Are you guys doing CrossFit with farm animals? While I wouldn't put that past some of the local yokels, no goats were harmed at the gym today. A "goat" is something that is a roadblock for you, something that you could use some practice on. Box jumps can be a goat for some because of the tricks your mind will play on you about the height of the box. For me, pull ups will always be a goat until I can get up there and knock them out like a pro, doing the kipping and going all the way up on my own strength. I worked on doing good jumping pull ups and then practiced kipping back and forth. I can tell I'm getting a better range of motion on the kipping but still lack the strength to pull up my body weight. With a little practice, I think it will come.
The snatch clean progressions break down each step of this olympic lift into three reps each, finally putting them all together in one fluid movement at the end. We did these with the PVC pipes, so we weren't bearing weight but working on form and warming up those joints we would need for today's WOD. Pretty easy, pretty fun.
When we got ready to do power cleans, we did lots of practice with PVCs before actually handling the bar. It was a little intimidating to finally pick up something heavy, but once I did that and did it with the proper form, I was so proud of myself! Now for the real test -- adding weight...
I started off with 65# and got that up easily. Once I added what I thought was 10#, I just couldn't get up past the shrug. I was so bummed! Long story short, I had not added 10# -- I had added 10 kg! Big difference! Basically I had unwittingly gone from 65# to 85#. No wonder that weight wasn't going anywhere! So the girl working with me swapped out kg's for lb's and we got to cranking them out. She and I finally topped out at 80# successfully! WOO HOO!!! I worked well past the WOD requirement of seven reps because I really wanted to see how far I could go, and once I got up to 80#, I was sooo close. I failed a couple of times but was just too close to walk away from it. Finally, that last time I got it up there, and let me tell you -- that felt gooood. :)
Side note: I have learned the art of a good bail. A couple of times I either lost balance and rocked too far back or just couldn't get underneath the weight properly. Allowing myself to fall and just letting the weight go was all I had to do, and I was able to dump the weight safely. Check!
Posted weight: 65-65-85F-85F-70-70-75-75-80F-80F-80
WOD: Power cleans, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
I went to bed last night sick to my stomach from a migraine. I can tell you that my pulse was probably in the upper 60/lower 70 bpm because I could feel the veins pulsating in my head. I have had some sort of headache since the 13th of September, on and off, but mostly on. I woke up with the same headache and having hot flashes that would've made me look like I was up in flames had you looked at my image through a thermal lens. Yet somehow, after I got up and started warm ups today, my headache dissipated. As I sit here typing, however, I can feel it coming back. I think the physical activity I'm doing at CF every morning somehow diverts the flow of blood to my muscles and lessens the pressure in my head. Just a theory.
What is this goat thing? you may ask. Are you guys doing CrossFit with farm animals? While I wouldn't put that past some of the local yokels, no goats were harmed at the gym today. A "goat" is something that is a roadblock for you, something that you could use some practice on. Box jumps can be a goat for some because of the tricks your mind will play on you about the height of the box. For me, pull ups will always be a goat until I can get up there and knock them out like a pro, doing the kipping and going all the way up on my own strength. I worked on doing good jumping pull ups and then practiced kipping back and forth. I can tell I'm getting a better range of motion on the kipping but still lack the strength to pull up my body weight. With a little practice, I think it will come.
The snatch clean progressions break down each step of this olympic lift into three reps each, finally putting them all together in one fluid movement at the end. We did these with the PVC pipes, so we weren't bearing weight but working on form and warming up those joints we would need for today's WOD. Pretty easy, pretty fun.
When we got ready to do power cleans, we did lots of practice with PVCs before actually handling the bar. It was a little intimidating to finally pick up something heavy, but once I did that and did it with the proper form, I was so proud of myself! Now for the real test -- adding weight...
I started off with 65# and got that up easily. Once I added what I thought was 10#, I just couldn't get up past the shrug. I was so bummed! Long story short, I had not added 10# -- I had added 10 kg! Big difference! Basically I had unwittingly gone from 65# to 85#. No wonder that weight wasn't going anywhere! So the girl working with me swapped out kg's for lb's and we got to cranking them out. She and I finally topped out at 80# successfully! WOO HOO!!! I worked well past the WOD requirement of seven reps because I really wanted to see how far I could go, and once I got up to 80#, I was sooo close. I failed a couple of times but was just too close to walk away from it. Finally, that last time I got it up there, and let me tell you -- that felt gooood. :)
Side note: I have learned the art of a good bail. A couple of times I either lost balance and rocked too far back or just couldn't get underneath the weight properly. Allowing myself to fall and just letting the weight go was all I had to do, and I was able to dump the weight safely. Check!
Posted weight: 65-65-85F-85F-70-70-75-75-80F-80F-80
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday Morning Butt Kickin'
Warm up: 20 modified HSPUs, practice hand stands, 10 GHD sit-ups, 10 GHD back extensions.
WOD: "Christine" -- 3 rounds for time of: 500m row, 12 deadlifts (0.5 bodyweight), 21 box jumps (16" box).
First of all, I want to say how bummed I am that I missed Muddy Buddy day last Friday. Instead of doing things like bear crawls, wheelbarrows, ball tosses, and other relay-style fun exercises, I was lying on my back in a pink paper gown having my tender mercies poked and prodded for my yearly exam. Yippee.
So, after a bit of a hiatus, I was ready to get back to it this morning. It was nice outside this morning, thankfully with a cool breeze that I would enjoy after the WOD. We all gathered around the tractor tire to practice modified hand stand push-ups (HSPUs). Even modified they are still hard. I was really proud of myself when we got up against the wall to practice hand stands. I was able to get my legs up there and hold very still for at least 10 seconds at a time. I felt very stable and might have even been able to attempt a HSPU had I been brave enough. I love the GHD and really like the sit-ups the best. I am planning on adding 10-20 of them both at the end of each work out just to maintain core strength.
Christine, Christine. What can I say... Christine would be the kind of girl that seems cute and easy to get along with on the first couple of dates that reveals her true colors the day after you've made the committment to say you're exclusively dating. This was such a deceiving little sucker! I love rowing, but that was really hard. It really made my left knee, really the muscles just above it, really tight and not want to bend for the lifts or jump up on the box. Any WOD that involves rowing can be tricky because your legs feel like such jello when you get off, and 500m is a significant enough distance to have this effect on me.
I was excited to finally do some of the lifting. It's something that intimidates me but thrills me simultaneously. I realized how important it was not to ease the weight down but to let it fall, so to speak. A couple of times when my left knee was really tight I just sank down sloppily with the weight, and I just hope and pray I don't pay for it later. I was only using 65# of weight, so thankfully it was suprisingly light. When I get going fast, though, it's hard to remember that form, but it's so, so important.
Box jumping is just no fun. I was kinda proud of myself during elements for how high I can jump, but it's such a crap out during a workout. P.U., plain and simple. But I think I'd rather do that than pull-ups...
By the time I finished the last box jump, I remember thinking I couldn't possibly take one more step or do one more rep. I was tapped.out. The only position that could bring me relief was to lay out flat on the parking lot, in the shade of the building where I could catch that aforementioned breeze. I've always seen CrossFitters collapse like that but never done it myself. Now I know. I'm also proud of myself for not barfing, because that was a serious possibility today!
Posted Time: 14:47, using 65# on deadlift.
WOD: "Christine" -- 3 rounds for time of: 500m row, 12 deadlifts (0.5 bodyweight), 21 box jumps (16" box).
First of all, I want to say how bummed I am that I missed Muddy Buddy day last Friday. Instead of doing things like bear crawls, wheelbarrows, ball tosses, and other relay-style fun exercises, I was lying on my back in a pink paper gown having my tender mercies poked and prodded for my yearly exam. Yippee.
So, after a bit of a hiatus, I was ready to get back to it this morning. It was nice outside this morning, thankfully with a cool breeze that I would enjoy after the WOD. We all gathered around the tractor tire to practice modified hand stand push-ups (HSPUs). Even modified they are still hard. I was really proud of myself when we got up against the wall to practice hand stands. I was able to get my legs up there and hold very still for at least 10 seconds at a time. I felt very stable and might have even been able to attempt a HSPU had I been brave enough. I love the GHD and really like the sit-ups the best. I am planning on adding 10-20 of them both at the end of each work out just to maintain core strength.
Christine, Christine. What can I say... Christine would be the kind of girl that seems cute and easy to get along with on the first couple of dates that reveals her true colors the day after you've made the committment to say you're exclusively dating. This was such a deceiving little sucker! I love rowing, but that was really hard. It really made my left knee, really the muscles just above it, really tight and not want to bend for the lifts or jump up on the box. Any WOD that involves rowing can be tricky because your legs feel like such jello when you get off, and 500m is a significant enough distance to have this effect on me.
I was excited to finally do some of the lifting. It's something that intimidates me but thrills me simultaneously. I realized how important it was not to ease the weight down but to let it fall, so to speak. A couple of times when my left knee was really tight I just sank down sloppily with the weight, and I just hope and pray I don't pay for it later. I was only using 65# of weight, so thankfully it was suprisingly light. When I get going fast, though, it's hard to remember that form, but it's so, so important.
Box jumping is just no fun. I was kinda proud of myself during elements for how high I can jump, but it's such a crap out during a workout. P.U., plain and simple. But I think I'd rather do that than pull-ups...
By the time I finished the last box jump, I remember thinking I couldn't possibly take one more step or do one more rep. I was tapped.out. The only position that could bring me relief was to lay out flat on the parking lot, in the shade of the building where I could catch that aforementioned breeze. I've always seen CrossFitters collapse like that but never done it myself. Now I know. I'm also proud of myself for not barfing, because that was a serious possibility today!
Posted Time: 14:47, using 65# on deadlift.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
AMRAP, not Aflac!
Warm up: "5-4-3-2-1"
WOD: AMRAP in 20 min. of 10 kettlebell swings, 15 box jumps, 20 sit-ups.
When my coach told me to do the warm up and told me what she wanted me to do, I was totally peeved. During Elements that was a full WOD! And while I realize that the WODs for Elements are smaller than regular ones and are meant to be sample-sized portions of CrossFit, I was not pleased that I had to do all that work, on top of really sore muscles, and THEN get to the WOD. Oh well. I did the warm up at a nice, steady pace -- nothing too fast or too slow. The squats burned and I did jumping pull-ups, which sucked more than usual because of sore biceps and lats.
So, an "AMRAP" WOD simply means to perform As Many Rounds As Possible. Twenty minutes seems like a significant amount of time, which it really is, but during the actual WOD the time flies pretty quickly, despite what your body tells you.
I used a 25# dumbbell for my kettlebell swings. On the very first swing, I hit myself right on the money spot/crotch and had to take a second to regroup. I am quite thankful that KB swings are driven by momentum in the hips. That definitely helped me mentally.
I used the 29" (I think) box for box jumps -- it was the tallest one without adding more height to it. The first round by far felt the worst due to my pre-existing soreness. By the last couple of rounds, I was cranking through them pretty well, breaking them down into groups of five, resting for two or three seconds, and then continuing on.
The sit-ups were the easy part. I love using the Ab Mat -- it provides great lower back support that way you can really focus on engaging your abs and not worry about lower back strain.
One lady in the class was flying through the rounds and barely breaking a sweat, and the other lady was almost exactly my pace, if not a hair slower. The coolest thing about CF is that you are not in competition with others -- only yourself -- but by working out in groups, you motivate yourself to keep working at a certain pace. I didn't want the first lady to start "lapping" me, and I didn't want other lady to catch up to me. Great motivation technique for me. I was really having to take planned breaks after each activity for most of the rounds to push back nausea. I don't know if it's the coming off of being ill, having taken medication this morning, or just working hard that made me queasy, but I kept hold of my cookies. Yahoo!
Bottom line: I completed six full rounds and was 16 sit-ups away from completing my seventh when they called time. I really didn't think I'd make it past four or five, so I'm pretty happy about my first day with the group. We practiced handstands for a few minutes after we cooled off. Overall, it was a good workout.
WOD: AMRAP in 20 min. of 10 kettlebell swings, 15 box jumps, 20 sit-ups.
When my coach told me to do the warm up and told me what she wanted me to do, I was totally peeved. During Elements that was a full WOD! And while I realize that the WODs for Elements are smaller than regular ones and are meant to be sample-sized portions of CrossFit, I was not pleased that I had to do all that work, on top of really sore muscles, and THEN get to the WOD. Oh well. I did the warm up at a nice, steady pace -- nothing too fast or too slow. The squats burned and I did jumping pull-ups, which sucked more than usual because of sore biceps and lats.
So, an "AMRAP" WOD simply means to perform As Many Rounds As Possible. Twenty minutes seems like a significant amount of time, which it really is, but during the actual WOD the time flies pretty quickly, despite what your body tells you.
I used a 25# dumbbell for my kettlebell swings. On the very first swing, I hit myself right on the money spot/crotch and had to take a second to regroup. I am quite thankful that KB swings are driven by momentum in the hips. That definitely helped me mentally.
I used the 29" (I think) box for box jumps -- it was the tallest one without adding more height to it. The first round by far felt the worst due to my pre-existing soreness. By the last couple of rounds, I was cranking through them pretty well, breaking them down into groups of five, resting for two or three seconds, and then continuing on.
The sit-ups were the easy part. I love using the Ab Mat -- it provides great lower back support that way you can really focus on engaging your abs and not worry about lower back strain.
One lady in the class was flying through the rounds and barely breaking a sweat, and the other lady was almost exactly my pace, if not a hair slower. The coolest thing about CF is that you are not in competition with others -- only yourself -- but by working out in groups, you motivate yourself to keep working at a certain pace. I didn't want the first lady to start "lapping" me, and I didn't want other lady to catch up to me. Great motivation technique for me. I was really having to take planned breaks after each activity for most of the rounds to push back nausea. I don't know if it's the coming off of being ill, having taken medication this morning, or just working hard that made me queasy, but I kept hold of my cookies. Yahoo!
Bottom line: I completed six full rounds and was 16 sit-ups away from completing my seventh when they called time. I really didn't think I'd make it past four or five, so I'm pretty happy about my first day with the group. We practiced handstands for a few minutes after we cooled off. Overall, it was a good workout.
Monday, September 21, 2009
CrossFit Elements
I completed this three day program today. I had to take a week-long hiatus due to injury and illness. It's a great way to overview and practice some of the basic components of the WODs (Workout Of the Day) safely, and getting one-on-one instruction on any new movement or exercise is crucial, especially when lifting heavy weight is involved.
Day One focused on proper form for squats, which is as basic to CrossFit as learning the alphabet -- everything builds off of it. We also looked at proper form for rowing on the Concept 2 rower. Something I noticed on Day One, and would notice on following days, is that there are multiple steps to rowing the right way. It's really a lot to think about! Once I practice these movements enough, I know they will become muscle memory and feel more instinctual. For now, though, it's a mental and physical workout to remember all the steps.
WOD for Day One: "5-4-3-2-1": 500m row, 400m run, 30 air squats, 20 push-ups, 10 pull-ups. My time was 8:06, but I wasted a few seconds between the squats ad push-ups. Rowing 500m doesn't sound like much, and at first you think, "Wow, this is going to be a breeze!" But let me tell you that, around 300m, your quads start to burn and you have to will your legs to keep moving. Pacing my breath and concentrating on my rhythm worked well to keep a good pace. Transitioning from the rower to running was nearly comical. Talk about jello legs! And running past the donut shop nearly proved fatal -- the smell of the hot grease was so nauseating that I almost lost it. My coach met me for the last 100m and had me tail her in to complete the WOD. She is a great motivator and does a great job at getting me to push a little harder.
Day Two began introductions of some of the lifting, such as the push press and thruster. The form that I learned on Day One for the squat was crucial to setting yourself up to do these lifts safely. It is very understandable how poor or incorrect form can result in a serious injury to your back, at the very least. It's also amazing to discover how you can use momentum and strong muscle groups and joints to do some of the heavy lifting. Just because you're taking a bar over your head doesn't mean that your arms are the only things working to move that weight. A lot of explosive energy comes from the hips which seems to me to make the lifts not feel so intimidating. We'll see if I still feel this way after adding real amounts of weight, haha... I also learned that rope climbing is not my strong area. Let's just say I have the grip of a 90 year old woman. Heaven help you if you're hanging on the edge of a cliff and I'm the one designated to hold onto you to keep you from slipping to your death!
WOD for Day Two: Four rounds for time of 10 thrusters and 250m row, resting for 3:00 between rounds. Since I had never done a WOD with real weight, I used 15# dumbbells for my thrusters. I forget my exact times now... The first one was around 1:57. Round two was only slightly longer. Round three was the "worst" time around 2:13. I actually improved and got a better time in round four, just under two minutes.
I have to say that, out of all the Elements WODs, this was by far the hardest. By the end of round three, my form was really starting to suffer on the thrusters in that I was allowing the dumbbells to collapse down. It was increasingly harder to control them as they came down. (Over the weekend, I was in debilitating pain in my neck, down to my left trap and shoulder. I actually couldn't even turn my head for a week and was prescribed muscle relaxers!) What I have learned is this: if my form is starting to suffer from muscle fatigue or failure, utilize "planned rest" (stop and rest and tell myself I'm starting up again in X number of seconds) and focus on form rather than time. Doing each exercise, especially one involving weight, in the proper form keeps you from getting hurt, so it's worth taking the time to do the full range of motion in the right form. Lesson learned.
Day Three happened a full week later (today). As I mentioned, I had a menacing injury to my neck. In addition to that, I came down with a virus (not flu but close enough!) that had me laid up in bed for an entire week. We had a lot to cover in a short amount of time. We worked on pull-up progressions, which was everything from various assisted pull-ups to the crazy kipping pull-ups. The kipping motion will definitely take some practice to feel more natural. We worked various lifts for the majority of the time, from cleans to snatches to deadlifts and so on. The form came very easy to me. While I am enormously intimidated by lifting heavy weight, I am really anxious to try some since I have learned the right way to do them. I did use a 45# bar for deadlifts and sumo deadlift high pulls.
WOD for Day Three: 1/2 Tabata. Since there was a lot -- and I mean, a LOT -- of squatting in today's practice, and I had been doing yardwork for over an hour before I even got there, I had been experiencing some pretty sharp pains in my left knee. My coach substituted push-ups for air squats to have a little mercy on my Rice Krispie-sounding knee. So, my 1/2 Tabata consisted of four rounds, 0:20 each of push-ups and ab-mat sit ups. My best score for push-ups was 11, and sit-ups was 13. As time went on, the push-ups were fewer and fewer, but I actually improved each round with the sit-ups. Crazy, huh?
So, the bottom line for CrossFit Elements for me is: focus on form and range of movement. Overall I feel pretty strong and am a little surprised at how well I could do some of the things she asked me to do. For a beginner, that is. I join up with my class on Wednesday.
Get the motrin and ice ready!
Day One focused on proper form for squats, which is as basic to CrossFit as learning the alphabet -- everything builds off of it. We also looked at proper form for rowing on the Concept 2 rower. Something I noticed on Day One, and would notice on following days, is that there are multiple steps to rowing the right way. It's really a lot to think about! Once I practice these movements enough, I know they will become muscle memory and feel more instinctual. For now, though, it's a mental and physical workout to remember all the steps.
WOD for Day One: "5-4-3-2-1": 500m row, 400m run, 30 air squats, 20 push-ups, 10 pull-ups. My time was 8:06, but I wasted a few seconds between the squats ad push-ups. Rowing 500m doesn't sound like much, and at first you think, "Wow, this is going to be a breeze!" But let me tell you that, around 300m, your quads start to burn and you have to will your legs to keep moving. Pacing my breath and concentrating on my rhythm worked well to keep a good pace. Transitioning from the rower to running was nearly comical. Talk about jello legs! And running past the donut shop nearly proved fatal -- the smell of the hot grease was so nauseating that I almost lost it. My coach met me for the last 100m and had me tail her in to complete the WOD. She is a great motivator and does a great job at getting me to push a little harder.
Day Two began introductions of some of the lifting, such as the push press and thruster. The form that I learned on Day One for the squat was crucial to setting yourself up to do these lifts safely. It is very understandable how poor or incorrect form can result in a serious injury to your back, at the very least. It's also amazing to discover how you can use momentum and strong muscle groups and joints to do some of the heavy lifting. Just because you're taking a bar over your head doesn't mean that your arms are the only things working to move that weight. A lot of explosive energy comes from the hips which seems to me to make the lifts not feel so intimidating. We'll see if I still feel this way after adding real amounts of weight, haha... I also learned that rope climbing is not my strong area. Let's just say I have the grip of a 90 year old woman. Heaven help you if you're hanging on the edge of a cliff and I'm the one designated to hold onto you to keep you from slipping to your death!
WOD for Day Two: Four rounds for time of 10 thrusters and 250m row, resting for 3:00 between rounds. Since I had never done a WOD with real weight, I used 15# dumbbells for my thrusters. I forget my exact times now... The first one was around 1:57. Round two was only slightly longer. Round three was the "worst" time around 2:13. I actually improved and got a better time in round four, just under two minutes.
I have to say that, out of all the Elements WODs, this was by far the hardest. By the end of round three, my form was really starting to suffer on the thrusters in that I was allowing the dumbbells to collapse down. It was increasingly harder to control them as they came down. (Over the weekend, I was in debilitating pain in my neck, down to my left trap and shoulder. I actually couldn't even turn my head for a week and was prescribed muscle relaxers!) What I have learned is this: if my form is starting to suffer from muscle fatigue or failure, utilize "planned rest" (stop and rest and tell myself I'm starting up again in X number of seconds) and focus on form rather than time. Doing each exercise, especially one involving weight, in the proper form keeps you from getting hurt, so it's worth taking the time to do the full range of motion in the right form. Lesson learned.
Day Three happened a full week later (today). As I mentioned, I had a menacing injury to my neck. In addition to that, I came down with a virus (not flu but close enough!) that had me laid up in bed for an entire week. We had a lot to cover in a short amount of time. We worked on pull-up progressions, which was everything from various assisted pull-ups to the crazy kipping pull-ups. The kipping motion will definitely take some practice to feel more natural. We worked various lifts for the majority of the time, from cleans to snatches to deadlifts and so on. The form came very easy to me. While I am enormously intimidated by lifting heavy weight, I am really anxious to try some since I have learned the right way to do them. I did use a 45# bar for deadlifts and sumo deadlift high pulls.
WOD for Day Three: 1/2 Tabata. Since there was a lot -- and I mean, a LOT -- of squatting in today's practice, and I had been doing yardwork for over an hour before I even got there, I had been experiencing some pretty sharp pains in my left knee. My coach substituted push-ups for air squats to have a little mercy on my Rice Krispie-sounding knee. So, my 1/2 Tabata consisted of four rounds, 0:20 each of push-ups and ab-mat sit ups. My best score for push-ups was 11, and sit-ups was 13. As time went on, the push-ups were fewer and fewer, but I actually improved each round with the sit-ups. Crazy, huh?
So, the bottom line for CrossFit Elements for me is: focus on form and range of movement. Overall I feel pretty strong and am a little surprised at how well I could do some of the things she asked me to do. For a beginner, that is. I join up with my class on Wednesday.
Get the motrin and ice ready!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)