Obviously I've neglected my blog as of late! I don't know if there's a soul left that reads this, but that's OK. This is mainly for my accountability and to shed some light for anyone out there who is CrossFittting as well or considering it.
Since I last posted, I have had tons of life going on outside of the box. My family went out of state for two weeks over the holidays (didn't work out then), I had various out of state visitors (didn't work out then), GOT MARRIED (surely didn't work out then!), and have been sick here and there. Needless to say, I have really struggled to get back into the groove and push for more improvements. Nothing is more frustrating to me that seeing myself make such great gains and backslide so quickly. Mentally it is quite defeating to realize that your max one day is a good ten pounds lighter that your personal best several months ago. I've been back at it regularly now for two or three weeks, and as Celine says, it's all coming back to me now.
Before I launch into the WODs I've been doing lately, I thought I would make public the crazy committments I have recently made. In May I will be participating in the Warrior Dash at their Texas location. I have to admit a few things:
1) I'm totally in it for the awesome viking hat.
2) I'm scared to death about being able to do some of the obstacles, and I don't know if any of my friends are in the same heat as me.
3) I've never been in any kind of race or fun run before, so the fear of the unknown is killing me!
As if that wasn't enough, I have also registered to run the Army Ten Miler in October in Washington, D.C. My husband will be running as well, albeit he will finish hours before I do! He's a great runner, despite what he may tell you. I run around an 8:50 mile or so, and you have to keep at least a 15:00 mile pace, so I think time is on my side. I have never run further than two miles at once, so I have some serious training for endurance to work on. Thankfully I have a friend who is a triathlete who said she would develop a running program for me. Now I just have to convince myself to get out there and run.
Back to CrossFit. I have made a point this week to push myself and do all the WODs as Rx'ed. Somehow I have been able to do this and survive with relatively little damage or soreness!
MONDAY, 05 APR 10
WOD: 3 rounds for time of 30 wall balls (14#) and 30 SDHPs (65#)
Posted time: 17:39
TUESDAY, 06 APR 10
WOD: 1RM (rep max) front squats, 4x10 deadhang pull-ups, 3xL-holds for max time w/ 1 min. rest between attempts.
Posted results: New PR for front squats of 120#. Back to using colored bands for pull ups -- GRRR! Best time for L-holds was 0:40. This last exercise is harder than you think!
WEDNESDAY, 07 APR 10
"SUCKFIT"
2 rounds for points, 1 min. at each station, 1 min. rest b/w each round of:
Double unders
Lateral jumps (over bars w/ weights on them)
Push press (65#)
Kettlebell swings (1 pood or 35#)
Rowing for calories
I think I ended up w/ a 30# kettlebell b/c that was all I could find. Otherwise, done as Rx'ed.
Posted points: Round 1 -- 101; Round 2 -- 94
FRIDAY, 09 APR 10
WOD: 3x400m run for time, 3xheavy prowler pushes for length of building and back
Posted time for runs: 1:43, 1:45, 1:46. This was five to ten seconds slower than my last time; however, last time we were running on a slight downhill grade the entire way. This time was partially up and downhill at times. And the last time I even had to stop so some lady in a minivan could go get her glut on at the local donut shop. Ick. :)
We did a WOD last week that LAID.ME.OUT. It was 4 rounds for time of 10 box jump burpees, 20 air squats, 50 yd. broad jumps. It was probably all the broad jumps that did me in. I could hardly walk all week. Lastly, on Friday, we had to run a mile for time. I posted 8:50, but was really hurting most of the time in my quads. I suspect that: a) had I not been sore and had lactic acid already built up in my muscles, and b) had I been drinking more water all week, I would've been closer to 8:30, but it's still a decent time to post for me.
There we go -- all caught up! We'll see how long this lasts...!
Showing posts with label squats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label squats. Show all posts
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
CrossFitting in Your Underwear
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
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
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 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.
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, 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
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