Sunday, February 28, 2010

2/28/10; Post "Date night" WOD

FYI- Morning WODs are highly discouraged after "date night" with your wife. So, I did this one late in the afternoon.

For time:
400m
Body weight Deadlift x25 (190lbs.)
400m
Sit ups x50
400m
1.5 pood KB swings x50
400m
25 pull ups

Total time- 15:21

Warm up- I jogged for about a half mile, did strict pull ups for the first time in a LONG time. Surprisingly, I banged out 10 very easily. After that, I did the usual- 10 reps of push ups, squats and lunges. The legs were exceptionally tight from yesterday's WOD.

The WOD- I took off for the run and I was really surprised how tight my legs were. Very stiff on today's running portion. I tried to compensate by stretching my stride as much as I could, but it just wasn't happening. I hit the DLs and it was nice, because I had some chalk set aside and worked through 20 reps, regripped and then finished the last 5. I took off for the run at around 3:15. I didn't really loosen up after the first round, I still felt stiff. I came back in and started sit ups. I have an Abmat, now....but I don't have anything that can hold my feet. So, I used the bench for the first time and set it at the highest incline setting and did my 50 on that. Total suck. 25-10-5-5-5 was my split on the sit ups. I was resting in the "up" position. KB swings sucked and I always forget how much they really get your heart rate up! I stopped at 25, gasped, continued to 12, dropped the KB, re-chalked the hands, gasped some more, and went to 9. I started to see little stars in my periphery, took some deep breaths, regripped and did the last 4. I took off for the run at around 12:30. Sub 15 looked to be in sight. I returned with about 30 seconds to bang out 25 pull ups, but all I could muster for straight sets was 15. I finished up with 5-3-2 and noted the time.

I didn't feel worn out from staying out till 1:00 a.m., but I did feel a little groggy and "out of it" from the jack and margaritas. FYI- Maria Maria Restaurant in downtown Austin is amazing. The wife and I really enjoyed our time there. She skipped the WOD, as she was exhausted from working on the house all day and work constraints. She deserved an extra day off after the week of crossfitting she's done with me. She's wanting to go to a level 1 cert next, so we're looking for the next one near town. Good times...my plan is working. Mooooo-ha-ha-ha-ha!

I haven't done a bodyfat measurement in a while, but I've noticed (and so has the wife) that I'm more defined than when I started this two months ago. Another thing to note is that this type of working out doesn't destroy me like it used to in the beginning. I feel like I've got more endurance for the AMRAPs and MGW workouts. Finer points I need to work on- Oly lifts, gymnastic exercises like the handstand push up, muscleup, and, of course, walking on hands.

3-2-1...GO!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

2/27/10; Run, OH Lunges, and a community WOD

6 rounds for time-

Run 400m
45# OH Lunges, 50m

Total time- 23:26 (me)/ 26:50 (wife)

I changed this up from a previous WOD I had planned for 5 rounds of 400m and 95# OH squat x 15 reps. This one sucked considerably.

The warm up- It was a beautiful day today, so me and the wife headed out to the track and did a half mile and 10 reps each of lunges, squats, and push ups.

The WOD- I hit the first 400m at about 75s, but once I started doing the overhead lunges, it was a different story. I used a 45# bumper plate and the wife used a 25# bumper plate. The suckness was high on this WOD. I can't imagine why I threw the extra round in there, but I did. Stupid. I completed round three in about 11 minutes and that's when I realized I wouldn't meet my goal of a sub 20 minute WOD. These combinations of "M" and "W" WODs really force you to focus on form during the weight training and cardio. I was very careful to keep a tight core while doing the lunges and work on my "kick" on the runs. I had very little "kick" left in the later rounds. This was a total gut check. Great WOD that I got off of the crossfit main site.

In other news, the wife and I are considering opening up our garage gym to the community in order to build some publicity of Crossfit in this area of Austin. A possible name- Conner Crossfit or Crossfit Steiner Ranch. There are two gyms that are about 15-20 minutes in either direction of our home, but nothing in our development. I have to see how much using the affiliate name is going to cost. I have successfully hooked the wife and she's wanting another set of Oly bars and bumper plates. We're going to open weekend WODs at Canyon Ridge Middle School track on Saturdays. More to follow!

3-2-1...GO!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

2/25/10; 20 mins with Cindy

Cindy-
20 mins AMRAP
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats

Total rounds- 23 and 10 squats...New PR!
Math analysis- a repetition every 1.69 secs.

I did this WOD about a month ago and she destroyed me. Cindy destroyed me again, but I feel much better about the progress I've made over the last two months.

The warm up- I jogged with the wife and dog a little over a quarter of a mile but just under a half. We did ten reps each of push ups, squats, lunges and she started us off.

The WOD- I wasn't too sure how I'd do tonight. honestly thought that I'd only hit 20 and that my improvement wouldn't have been this significant in the last two months. When put into perspective, 5 additional rounds is 25 pull ups, 50 push ups, and 75 more squats (150 total reps) than I previously accomplished. All pull ups were straight through. Right now, the challenge is the push ups. I don't think that I'll overcome that one, though. It goes back to a torn rotator cuff about four years ago that hasn't been right since I injured it. Squats totally sucked. I took a buddy's advice a while ago and just remembered to drive through the heels. Awesome experience tonight and I almost lost my cookies. I was certainly chasing stars after I got done and realized for the first time since college how AWESOME a cold concrete floor feels when you're nauseous.

My wife- She did awesome. We subbed supine ring rows for pull ups and she banged out 26 rounds and 9 push ups. Yes, I said 26. That's a repetition every 1.51 seconds. That's awesome! She's the push up queen and can max the men's scale for push ups on the Army APFT, so she did great. I told her that the next sub is jumping pull ups, then an assist band for pull ups. I'm thinking CF games 2010 once we do more work on pull ups and Oly lifts.

3-2-1...GO!

2/24/10; AMRAP

AMRAP in 20 minutes-
75# SDHP x 12
Pull ups x 12
400m

Total rounds- 6 and 6 pull ups.

The warm up- I jogged with the wife for about a quarter mile and we did the usual 10s of pull ups, push ups, squats, lunges and I added 75# SDHP for 10, as well.

The WOD- I severely underestimated a hill near the entrance to our drive and the "little hill" near my turn around. Hitting those really sucked. I probably should have upped the weight or reps, because it seemed like I could do all rounds at 12 reps with no breaks. Pull ups were another story. Kipping is getting much easier for me, but I'm sure that I'll still need some work. My sets on the pull ups went 12; 12; 6-6; 6-3-3; 6-3-3; 6-3-3; and then on the last set it was 4-2 and time was called. I did this WOD with my wife as the time keeper and vice versa when she went through. I modified her WOD by having her use a 35lb. KB and supine rows in lieu of the pull ups. She did great. She completed 6 rounds and made it to 4 rows. I'm definitely upping her weight and having her do jumping pull ups next time. Again, she proves to be a total bad ass.

Well, the whining about getting a cert and becoming a better coach for her finally worked. I'm going to register for the May 1st CF level 1 cert in Dallas, TX. I'm so pumped!

3-2-1…GO!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

2/23/10; Elizabeth...@ the HOME GYM!




That's right! At the home gym. Woo-hoo!
Elizabeth-
21-15-9
135# Cleans
Ring dips
Total time- 9:55
The warm up- I didn't jog because I really didn't feel like it. I did some DLs- 3 sets of 135 to warm up. 10 reps each of push ups, pull ups, squats, lunges and ring dips.

The WOD- It was a very exciting time for me today. I backed the car out of the garage, blasted System of a Down on my shuffle and went to work. I burned through the 21 Cleans (12-6-3) in 2:19, which makes me think that my Grace time may have gone down. Once I hit the ring dips, though.... fahgetabadit. Holy crap, those really do suck and I need to do them more often. Not to mention that I left my rings at the office and used the strap system thingy that the power rack I purchased came with. The second round was a 5-5-5 on the cleans and ring dips were like 3 or 4 or at a time. It was at this point that I became a little warm and realized, "hey, I'm at the house...I can strip the shirt off if I feel like it." That was probably the best feeling of the workout. Having the ability to do things that you don't normally do at the globogym. Chalk up your hands, grunt excessively loud, spit, remove your shirt, whatever. The last round was really tough, and the cleans went 5-4 and the 3-2-2-2. I wasn't "lying on the floor" exhausted, but I was smoked and happy that I did this at the house.
About five minutes after I got done with the WOD, I sipped some water and did some more ring dips because I really needed it. Maybe going to the Crossfit cert in May will help me be a better ring dipper. I don't know....I'll have to sell it to the wife that way.

3-2-1...GO!

Monday, February 22, 2010

2/22/10; Run 7k

Run to Mt. Bonnell Covert park and back to the unit.

Total time- 36:19 (8:22 per mile)

Warm up- I didn't really warm up for this one, I just ran slow and easy in the beginning and picked it up at the hill and stairs.

The WOD- Today was an "M" day. Relatively easy, just run for time. The Mt. Bonnell Covert Park run is especially suck, though. It's a 7k run (just over 4 and a quarter) that starts out with an easy downhill 1 mile and then it starts to get hilly. Once you hit Mt. Bonnell road, it's over. The hill has got to be at least an 8% grade that goes for about 3/4 of a mile. Once you hit the top of the road, you head up the stairs (about 200 meters) for another steep incline. Your reward is a brief view of the lower Colorado River and a beautiful sunset. Running back is just as suck, in my opinion, because that easy downhill 1 mile in the beginning is what you get to finish up with. I felt like I could have run a bit faster and I'll certainly push myself a lot harder next time. My legs are going to be juiced for tomorrow's WOD. Tabata squats, then this suck run...ugh.

This is the third WOD the the wife has done with me. I'm thinking of getting her a crossfit shirt. Maybe I can convince her to let us drop the cash for me to attend the level 1 in Dallas this May. I can justify it by saying it's so I can be a better coach... we'll see.

3-2-1...GO!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

2/20/10; Tabata this

Tabata complex-
Tabata Row
Rest 1 min.
Tabata Squat
Rest 1 min.
Tabata Pull up
Rest 1 min.
Tabata Push up
Rest 1 min.
Tabata Sit up

Tabata score is the least number of reps performed in any of the eight intervals. Unit for the row is "calories".

My score- ??+15+5+5+10= 35

The warm up- I ran a 1/4 mile with the wife and did some light stretches and rotations.

The WOD- The display was out on the rower, so I couldn't capture how many calories I burned, or any numbers for that matter. After I got done, I was smoked. Squats sucked, but I pushed through to the last round. Pull ups were challenging and I found that my grip was giving more than I would have liked it to. I was really huffing and puffing by the time I hit these. Push ups were easy for the first two rounds. I knocked out over 20 on the first two, then 10-15 for the next two, then 10 -12 for the next two, then finally I only did five on the last couple of rounds. I was drenched in sweat by this point and really felt like I had nothing left. I thought my head was going to pop during sit ups. Breathing was difficult and I was doing my best to stay above 10 the whole time. The first couple of round, I did 20 each round, after that it dwindled to about 12-15 until the last round.

This was quite possibly the hardest 24 minutes of working out that I've ever done and I've been working out religiously for nearly 20 years. I hope I never see this WOD again. It's evil. Kudos to my wife for banging this one out. She's a trooper and she actually beat me in the squats. She's a bad ass.

3-2-1...GO!

2/20/10; CF Gym complete

So there it is. That's the final cost for the gym. Pics to follow. It costs quite a bit, but less the C2 rower, I have everything that I need.

The new house has a nice space in the garage that I've dedicated for CF. It's going to be nice cancelling my membership to the gym. No more waiting on equipment, no more people picking up the pre-positioned equipment I've had set aside for my WOD, and best of all I can workout the way I want to.

3-2-1...GO!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Programming

Some of you are probably asking me what happened to my schedule. I owe you all a bit of explaining.



I read a CF journal on programming (Journal Issue 6- February 2003) while I was on my trip to California. It was very enlightening and helped me in my understanding behind the CF programs. What I did find, is that the CF main site doesn't necessarily practice what they preach. So, in an effort to stay true to the CF ideals, I "shop" around for WODs. The three places I'll go to for WODs are http://www.crossfitcentral.com/, http://www.crossfitaustin.com/, and the main site, http://www.crossfit.com/. All the sites have awesome WODs. I will give it to CrossFit Central for their creativity in some of their WODs, though. Some of their workouts are brutal and they LOVE the KB.



Basically the program I'll follow is a 6 days a week model following M, GW, MGW, G, WM, GWM, W, MG, WMG format that will rotate out with my break in the center. Definitions are:

M- Monostructural metabolic conditioning (cardio)
G- Gymnstics (bodyweight exercises)
W- Weightlifting

Combinations of abbreviations are pretty much self explanatory, so I won't insult anyone's intelligence.

I hope this clears things up. Happy crossfitting and feel free to post your times and workouts to the blog. Healthy competition is at the heart of Crossfitting.

3-2-1...GO!

2/19/10; DLs and Burpees

DL-
3 x 70% 1RM
3 x 80%
3 x 90%
break
100 burpees for time

My totals
275, 295, 325
9:35 for 100 burpees

The warm up- I did the usual CF warm up, but added two sets of DLs. 135 x 6 reps and 185 x 6 reps.

The WOD- I had another awesome opportunity to work out with the wife today. She keeps me pretty motivated during these work outs, because she's in great shape and well...she's my wife, I feel a need to impress her. All the loads today felt really easy. I'm certain that I could have bumped all my weights up about another 10-20 lbs. The good news is that it means my 1RM has gone up. I totally bone headed the numbers, though. The first set should have been 255, and the last set should have been closer to 330. The burpees just sucked. There is no getting around how intimidating that number is. Just some numbers I recalled off the top of my head- 20 burpees at just over a minute; 50 burpees at 3:51; and after that it was a blur of light headedness and stinging sweat in the eyes. I collapsed in a heap on the floor when I got done and cheered my wife on to her finish time- 10:21. That's an awesome time.... and she's my wife. We both layed on the floor for about another 5 minutes before we picked ourselves up to go to dinner.

Great WOD. We spent about 40 minutes at the gym with the warm up, WODs, and cool down and stretching.

3-2-1...GO!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

2/18/10; No CF....again.

I just got back from work and it was one of "those days." I'm going to take a moment to digress from the usual CF blog and complain about work.

In my profession, we have a habit of punishing the performers. Specifically, if you shine above your peers and superiors, you'll be working your tail off and doing other people's jobs. I really do wish that we would run our organization like a Fortune 500 company. If you don't produce, go someplace else and suck off of their teet. It disgusts me to know that some of these fat, lazy people are actually going to get promoted and get jobs with more responsibility. How the heck does that work?

Back to working out- Although I didn't do a CF WOD today, I did run on the treadmill...like a gerbil. I've been going with the wife to the gym in the mornings to knock out some extra cardio and just hang out. Today I did an easy hill run for about 55 minutes. I covered 5 miles and my hill settings varied between 6-10% grade. I increased by increments of 1% grade every five minutes and stayed at 10% until the last 10 minutes, where I dropped back to 6%. It was an easy stroll pace, but it keeps the heart pumping because of the hills. Very, very boring, though. I watched the news while doing this.

I will give CF this- It's perfect for those of us with mild ADD.

3-2-1...GO!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

2/17/10; Fat and Lazy...sort of


That's how I feel today. I woke up late. Felt groggy all day, even after three cups of coffee in the morning. I was going to work out during lunch, but found an excuse not to. Then, I found an excuse not to work out in the evening.


It's okay, though. Having days like this, where mental and physical fatigue force you into a workout malaise, is perfectly fine. It's your body's way of saying, "I need a break....take one or I'll shut down on you."


The good news is that I spent $47 at Home Depot this evening to buy the lumber and screws needed to build my plyo box. Tomorrow morning I'm going to build it, and then I'm going to use it for the afternoon WOD. Savings- over $60, if you compare to purchasing a wooden one off the internet. The savings is over $80 if you plan on being a steel plyo box. Awesome.
This is a recent pic of me and a College buddy's kids. They came and visited me while I was staying at the NASA Ames Research Facility for some TDY. I had a great time hanging out with them and tried to convince my buddy that Crossfit is where it's at for us Military types. The programming, and conditioning (mental and physical) are exactly, in my opinion, what we need to promote in our profession.


3-2-1...Nap time.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

2/16/10; AMRAP

AMRAP in 20 minutes
Run 400m
20 1.5 pood KB swings
20 Burpees

Total- 5 rounds and 16 burpees

The warm up- It wasn't too cold today, but I still ran a little bit to warm up. 1/2 mile jog, 10 reps each of walking lunges, air squats, push ups, and pull ups.

The WOD- This was a tough one, I had a goal of beating 5 rounds which meant that I would have to "game" and pace myself for 4 mins a round. I never really game the rounds, but today I wanted to see what I would do if I paced myself. I felt good, and I honestly don't know how I would have done if I just would have went all out in the beginning. The burpees are getting a lot easier now, too. I went straight rounds on the first two and had to break up swings and burpees afterward.

Reference the home CF gym- I've ordered bumper weights, (2 x 45s, 2 x 25s) both commonly used KBs (16 and 24kg), as well as an AbMat. A total of $378.18 has been spent so far with an additional $556 being forecasted by this Friday. Shipping costs SUCK! I found a great deal on the bumper plates (no shipping) and the KBs shipping came to $50. $50 is enough to buy another 24 kg for the price that I found them. The bench and squat rack combo is going to be bought locally, as well as the Oly weight set with a bar that's capable of handling 500lbs. I'm making the pull up bar and the plyo box which is going to save me about $200. It helps to be handy in those areas. Pics will follow after this weekend. I hope to have everything together then. I'm not looking forward to cutting the horsestall mats to size. That's going to be the suckiest part according to all accounts.

3-2-1...GO!

Monday, February 15, 2010

2/15/10; CF w/ the wife

6 rounds-
1 min sprints
1 min 50% BW DB deadlift

Distance- about .9 miles. I really wasn't paying attention.
Total # of reps- We'll call it 90. I never went a minute w/out less than 15 reps.

The warm up- I hung out with my wife today, so we "warmed up" by doing 20 minutes of cardio on the treadmill. I did some light stretching afterwards and brought the dumbells in from the weight room to our apartment complex's cardio room.

The WOD- I thought I'd give running barefoot a shot this time. It felt really wierd. After round 4, I noticed that the bottom of my left foot was a little sore. It became really clear that this soreness was actually a blister. It sucks. Bad decision to run barefoot on my part. I never really counted on the friction being that bad on the treadmill, but it was. I had to use a sumo DL stance to do these DLs. Any other way was a little dangerous and risked destroying my piggies if I lost the grip on the DB. It was a very challenging WOD and really destroyed your glutes/ hams/ and lower back. After we got done, the wife wanted to do more cardio, so I obliged.

Great workout. Today was one of those days where the WOD only took 12 minutes and I far exceeded my usual warm up, prep, and cool down time. I know I normally would have spent less than 30 minutes on this WOD.

3-2-1...GO!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

2/13/10; Angie...fo' real, this time

"Angie"
For time, in order:
100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats

Total time- 18:49

Warm up- I ran about a half mile to warm up and did some light rotations and stretches. I had to keep it quick because I had to hop on a concall.

The WOD- I did this the right way, this time. As a result, I gained about 3 minutes from the last time that I posted. Some benchmarks that I remember hitting while doing this WOD- I finished 100 pull ups at about 9 minutes. I hit 100 push ups around 12 minutes, and then I realized that I had a fatal flaw in my sit ups. I never brought anything out to hold my feet down for the sit ups. As a result, my time for that sucked...bad. I felt like it took me forever to get the 100 done.

Doing this WOD properly took a lot more time and I can see how the difficulty is amplified by doing this. Breaking it up makes it a lot easier.

3-2-1...GO!

2/13/10; CF home gym

Ok. I'm tired of the globogym. I can't do half the workouts I have to on CF and I'm only really going there about twice a week. The rest of the time, I spend at my unit gym. The problem with the unit gym is not all of the equipment I need is available, so I'm forced to "modify" some of the WODs. Don't even get me started on the availability of C2 rowers.

From some research on the internet, I came up with the following cheap prices:


Item/Price (USD)
C2 rower/$900
KBs (16 and 24kg)/$136
Bumper weights (45)/$107
Bumper weights (25)/$98
Pull up bar/$65
Tower/$250
Bench/$59.97
Abmat/$30
Olympic weight set/$320
TOTAL/$1,966
Less C2 Rower/$1,066

All of these prices either came from muscledriver.com or amazon.com. I'll be prowling for great local deals on craigslist to reduce the cost, as well. The shipping costs on many of these items are what kill your wallet.

The pull up bar and plyo box are home made options. The pull up bar is 1 1/4" black plumbing piping connected by flush mounts. The plyo box is already made and was made from 3/4 thick plywood, 1 1/4 inch wood nails and wood glue. I saved over $150 with this when you compare to an again faster stud mounted pull up bar for $139 plus s/h and the plyo box retails for about $105 plus s/h.

As the gym becomes more complete, I'll take pics and post them.

Wish me luck.

3-2-1...GO!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

2/11/10; Press 5x3

Press 3-3-3-3-3
My loads-
115#
125#
135#
140#
140#

The warm up- I didn't feel like running, so I just did 10 reps each of squats, lunges, pull ups, push ups. I followed that up with some light presses- bar, 65#, 75#, and 85#.

The WOD- The weights are posted above. I kept it simple. Rest was limited to 3 mins between sets. That seemed like plenty of recovery for each effort. I've never gone all out on these exercises in the past, so you can see that I made some pretty drastic jumps from first set to last. A bad shoulder prevents me from going any further and, as with all exercises, I focus on form exectution not the poundage.

Boring WOD, but these are necessary every once in a while to help you determine poundages for other workouts. Not to mention the strength benefit when you do these WODs. Total time in the gym- less than 30 minutes.

3-2-1...GO!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

2/10/10; DUs and Squats

AMRAP in 20 mins.
25 double unders
25 squats

Total # of rounds- 5 and 23 squats.

The warm up- 1/4 mile jog. 10 reps each of squats, lunges, and push ups.

The WOD- I don't jump rope frequently. Certainly not enough to appreciate the volume of DUs that had to be done per round. I am not coordinated enough to bang those out as quickly as I had projected. I was hoping to get 15 rounds done today. So much for that. After flopping through the rounds, I fell into a rhythm at the end. I found that doing 5-7 regular jumps and then a DU was really helpful. This made my shoulders and forearms burn like crazy. The squats weren't so bad until the end. The DU is definitely an exercise that I need more work on.

Until tomorrow.

3-2-1...GO!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

2/9/10; Helen

"Helen"
3 Rounds for time-
Run 400m
21 1.5 pood KB Swings
12 pull ups

Total time- 8:26

I'll be honest with you. I saw this video on the CF website about some dude that did "Helen" in sub 7. I thought to myself, is that really remarkable? I mean his time was like 6:59:40 or something like that. I was running through the individual exercises in my head- I can do a sub 90s 400m with no problem. 1.5 pood swings 21 times is no big deal. 12 pull ups (kipping allowed) is easy. So, I set a goal of sub 8:00. I couldn't have been more wrong about underestimating this WOD.

The warm up- Today was pretty cold, about 40 degrees F in Austin. I warmed up with a 1/2 mile run, followed by 10 reps each of push ups, pull ups, squats and lunges. After that, it was game on.

The WOD- I burned right through the first 400 in about 80s. The first round was complete with no breaks- 21 KB swings and 12 pull ups straight through. The second round was pretty good, too. I was still on my time for the 400m. I ran it in about 90-95s. I again burned right through the 21 KB swings, and then I reached for the pull up bar and something happened. I couldn't feel my arms or hands. Literally. I'm not kidding. I had to shake out my hands and arms and busted up the pull ups for this session in 8/4 for the pull ups. I left for the final round cotton-mouthed and exhausted. I couldn't get my legs moving and I was spent. I returned for the last bit of swings and pull ups and just couldn't derive any more Hooah out of me. I was in Hooah bankruptcy. I split the last round of swings at 11/5/5 and the pull ups at 4/2/2/2/2.

After I finished, I fell to a heap on the cold concrete slab and felt the blood rushing back into my arms...it was a really wierd feeling. Awesome WOD. I really like this one. In fact, in my office, I have my PRs listed for all the girl WODs that I've done. It was nice to throw this one up on the wall.

3-2-1...GO!

Monday, February 8, 2010

2/8/10; Thrust, row and some other stuff...

For time:
150 Wall ball shots (20#)
Row 2k

Total time- 11:37

The warm up- I jogged about a 1/2 mile before I did anything today. I was really just trying to kill some time while my wife got ready for her workout. After jogging, I did 10 reps each of Oly bar thrusters, air squats, lunges, and push ups. I was nice and warmed up by the end of this circuit.

Note- I'm back in TX now, and I'm at the globogym where I usually workout. No 20# medballs were available, so I had to make an "on the fly sub." Without the ability to consult the Crossfit FAQ link, (http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/faq.html#top) I had to determine in my head what would suck just as bad as 150 20# wall ball shots. I decided that a 65# thruster for half as many reps (75) would do it. I would later learn that a worthy sub is Oly bar thrusters for equal reps.

The WOD- Thrusters weren't so bad. I didn't have the mettle to go it the whole way without a break, though. My split looked like this- 31/19/ 12/5/3/3/2. I had to hustle across the gym to the rowers, where I promptly sat on a rower that didn't work. Arghhh. Unbuckled from the footstraps, switched to the operable rower and started to get after it. The lactic acid burn in my shoulders was so bad at this point, I thought my ears were going to melt off. I struggled to finish the 2k just under 8 minutes. Literally, I think the timer flipped to 7:59 as I hit the mark. So, I think my time could have been much better if I had the opportunity to place the Oly bar closer to the rower and had identified the faulty rower ahead of time. Oh, well.

After I got done, I crawled over to the gym and sprawled out on the basketball court out of sight. I must have laid there for about 10 minutes. After I got done, I recalled a drill I saw on today's CF WOD site. It's the "snatch from the knees." AWESOME DRILL. I started out with a bar that could have doubled as a broom stick. Easily cranking out 10 reps. The coordination is the biggest piece of this drill. Which is why, of course, they have you do it. After that, I went up to 20, 30, 40, 50, and finally 60# for 5 reps at each set. These were only drills, and I wasn't trying to impress anyone with the weights I was handling. Of course, I did get the bizarre looks, as you often do when you're doing CF at a globogym. Oh well, it works and I'm sticking to it.

Today's WOD solidified my resolve to build a home CF gym. I'm going to start posting prices of equipment and develop my savings plan and essential equipment list.

3-2-1...GO!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

2/6/10; DL 5x5

Deadlift 5 x 5RM
Totals:
280
285
290
295
305 (regripped at 3)

The warm up- I hopped on the rower and puttered around about five minutes to get the back loose. Somewhere in the middle, I decided I wanted to see what an all out 500m would look like and I managed to get a 1:34. I thought it was a decent time, and what really surprised me was how hard my heart was pumping. I thought it was going to fly out of my chest. After the rows, I some DLs- 2x 135# at 6 reps, 1x 225# at 6 reps. After that, I started the WOD.

The WOD- I did something different today with DLs. I've seen a lot of this "barefoot" deadlifting and squatting, thrusters, etc., and decided to give it a go. It was actually comfortable. What was also interesting was the fact that I felt a little more balanced without the shoes on. You'll see my totals up at the top. I will mention that when I got done with set five, I thought I was going to pass out. It was a pretty tough effort. I had to regrip after the third rep, though. There was no chalk available at my buddy's gym and my hands were slipping a little on the last sets. I stay away from sloppy form on these lifts. These are the efforts where, if your form is off, you could seriously injure yourself. I rested about 3 minutes or longer between sets. I know that I never exceeded 5 minutes. Okay WOD...another boring one, but it's necessary for strength development. Total time at the gym- about 30 minutes.

3-2-1...GO!

Friday, February 5, 2010

2/5/10; Row & KBs

5 rounds for time:
Row 500m
KB C&P (24kg) x 8 (per arm)

Total time: 17:10

The warm up- I ran a 1/4 mile to loosen up this morning. I was feeling a little tight. I also rowed about 500m nice and easy. After that, I did a few squats, pull ups, dynamic should rotations and then prepared for the WOD.

The WOD- I burned through my first 500m in 1:39. I was really surprised with that time. My strokes are more efficient and learning that you can derive a lot of power from long, strong pulls on the C2. The KB Clean and presses were pretty tough. 24kg doesn't seem like a lot, but once you get done rowing, you're really starting to gasp for air. My technique on the C&P was to do one per arm, I'd to the right, drop, do the left, repeat. It kept me breathing hard, but the technique saved me from exhausting the arm too quickly. By the time I got to round 3 and 4, I was doing sets of three, taking a deep breath and repeating until I got done with the set. This WOD was tough, and it required a lot of focus on the KB movement. The tops of my forearms are bruised from KB hitting it, too. Great WOD, and I was smoked at the end.... I collapsed at the end and lay sprawled out on the floor of the gym.

Total time at the gym- just under 30 minutes.

3-2-1...GO!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

2/3/10; Squat, Pull, Burp

5 rounds for time:
30 Squats
20 Pull ups
10 Burpees

Total time: 15:10

Warm up- I ran a 1/4 mile and did the aerodyne bike for a few minutes to loosen up. After that, I did about 20 squats, 10 kipping pull ups, and 10 push ups. I did some stretching afterward and hit the clock to get started.

The WOD- I burned through rounds 1 and 2 in under 5 minutes and thought that I was going to bust 12 on this. It was during round 3 that I realized my legs were juiced from the last few days workouts. Between the Thrusters and some running, I was really feeling it on the squats. I did fairly well on the pull ups. My kipping is getting better...I must have watched the kipping video at least 3 times in the last week. I've also noticed some improvement on my burpees. I did all rounds of burpees straight (unbroken), so I felt good about that improvement. I did feel a little disappointed with my time. I was hoping for something under ten minutes. The time averages out to about 3 seconds per rep. After looking at it this way, I don't feel so bad about my total time.

3-2-1...GO!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

2/2/10; RowFran?

For time:
Row 1000m
21- 95#Thruster
21- Pull ups
Row 750m
15- 95#Thruster
15- Pull ups
Row 500m
9- 95#Thruster
9- Pull ups

Total time - 15:34

Warm up- I started out with an easy 500m row. I did about 15 pull ups and 3 sets of Bar thruster for 10 reps. Did some rotational exercises and stretched out.

The WOD- I cranked through the 1000m in about 3:45, 750m in about 3 minutes, and the last 500m in over 2 minutes. My Thrusters were 15/6; 9/6; 9, pull ups 11/10; 6/3/3/3; 5/2/2. The last time I did Fran was about 7:30. I think that the next time I do Fran, I’ll have made some significant improvement. The quick math on this one means that I did the Fran portion of this in just under 7 minutes. Needless to say, I’m pretty pumped with the results on this WOD. It means that my baseline Fran is improving significantly and it’s only been about a month of nothing but CF. The workout was tough. It was easy to minimize moving from station to station because the C2 rower was near (about 10ft.) the tower, and I laid the Oly bar next to the tower, so I hit pull ups immediately after Thrusters. I’d say that part of having a good total time with these CF workouts is having all the equipment near each other, which may not be possible in a conventional globogym.

3-2-1…GO!

Monday, February 1, 2010

2/1/10; Grace

Grace-
30x 135# C&J

Total time- 4:14

I was pretty smoked this morning and hit snooze for the better part of an hour. I suspect that if I'd have just set the alarm for an hour later, I'd have felt more rested. I didn't really "wake up" today until about noon. I felt pretty tired all morning long. The late hours and early mornings are beginning to take a toll.

Warm up- I jogged for a 1/4 mile to get loose and ready for this one. I did some C&Js with just the bar, being careful not to pop myself in the jaw again. After I did 3 sets of the bar, I upped the weight to 95#. I did two sets of about 6 reps.

The WOD- I lost some time on the front and back end, because I didn't have someone timing me. So, I suspect I lost a second or two setting the grip after hitting start on my watch and another second after I laid the bar down. I ground through reps 1-10 pretty easily, then the fatigue began to set in. At 15 reps I was about at 1:40. At 20 reps I was right at 2:22. From that point on it was one or two reps at a time, reset, and repeat. I paid really close attention to my form, as this exercise was the culprit behind my surgery about five months ago. Basically, I didn't rush anything too fast on this WOD.

Total time at the gym- less than 20 minutes. This was a really quick workout and when I got done, I had to lay down from exhaustion. I'm sure that I'm really going to feel this in my traps and lower back tomorrow. Good WOD, but I would probably do a Crossfit endurance workout on top of this, if time allowed.... of course, a minimum of three hours post-WOD, as CFE Rxs.

3-2-1...GO!