Today was a good example of my eyes were bigger than my body, because when I walked in and saw this WOD I thought I could at least get 12 rounds in 30 minutes.
AMRAP in 30 minutes
6 Turkish Get Ups (I did 3 each hand)
9 Jumping Ball Slams (15#)
12 Box Jumps (5 mats)
15 Ab Mat situps
I was flying but it was crowded this morning so I actually went backwards in order but still had moments where I had to jump around. I also think I took a few water breaks. Don't get me wrong I pushed it and was sweating like crazy, my ass 'a recovery circuit'. Jerry said a good goal was 10 rounds in 30 minutes and that I was on pace for 12 rounds. He wanted everyone to post their time for 10 rounds or complete the round working on after 30 minutes and note the time. Jerry announced 3 minutes and I was just starting my 10th round, I was wondering where the time went. I tried to get through at least my 10th round in 30 minutes. I was on box jumps (probably the hardest exercise of this circuit) and yelled time, 30:03. Missed it by 3 seconds. Jerry said he should have given me a count down. Oh well what is 3 seconds. I finished first and was one of the few that got 10 rounds in 30 minutes. I have really been trying to keep my but down on my Ab Mat situps and feel like I am and getting stronger. I felt good about my work today, heading into my rest day tomorrow.
So yesterday I admitted my guilt of not really following the Zone over the weekend so missed one of my weekly goals of 6/7 days strict zoning. I told Jerry and Karen (one of teammates) and pulled a Funishment out of the bowl. As I was pulling it I said "as long as I don't get the one I submitted", sure enough I got it, a 5,000 m row! I pulled the rower out today after the WOD and did it. I was not necessarily going for time and ended up with 24:03, ok. I think my form improved as I got tired. Rowing is one of my weaker exercises but a great one and I think I made some improvements today. 5,000 meters was not too bad and I am actually thinking about doing it once a week for some additional exercise.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday August 27, 2008 - Finally Chriss' Birthday
Jerry had been posting the WODs this week as a 3-day birthday celebration for Chriss, so today was the final fire-breathing one. I went to the 6:45 class and actually got to workout with Chriss this morning. A little friendly competition. Here is the WOD
3 rounds for time
800 m run
21 HandStand Pushups
21 L Sit Pullups
800 m run
15 Handstand Pushups
15 L Sit Pullups
800 m run
9 Handstand Pushups
9 L Sit Pullups
Chriss and I ran the 800m right at the same pace and headed upstairs. Jerry said Rx'd was to complete all Handstand Pushups before moving on to L Sits, so no partitioning. I have never tried to max my reps on Handstand Pushups before but got up 18! It was here where I took a lead on Chriss. I got through the L Sit pullups with the rope and headed out for the second run. I was ahead of everyone coming back in for Handstand Pushups. I knocked out 15 in 3 sets of 5 but was starting to have a problem getting up into the handstand. I was throwing my body up and often found my self bouncing off the wall. I was not maintaining an active shoulder or a solid core (hollowed out). Since this was for time I really didn't try to fix it and even muscled my way up to a vertical handstand position against the wall. I think it was the time spent on the handstands and bouncing off the wall where Chriss caught up and he headed outside for the last run a few seconds ahead. I kept pace for the first 400-500 meters and then Chriss started to pull away. He is definitely a stronger runner than me. We went upstairs and again I had problems getting up into a handstand and I was just fatigued. I tried to get all 9 but only knocked out 6 and then got 2, and then 1. Chriss was on L-Sits and I started knocking those out and encouraging him to get done. Chriss finished 24:04 and I was right behind at 24:16. Only 6 people got below 30 and 4 below 25 minutes, Mel got 24:42 and Leslie got a 24:47 later in the day.
Chriss wanted to go back out and actually ended up doing 3 more rounds with the reps at 6. He was crazy and definitely proving a point on his 42 birthday. I did not go back out with Chriss since I had a lot of burpees to catch up on and did some ab mats.
Things learned/Need to work on:
1) L-Sits need to work on the position with my abs and lower back.
2) Keeping Active shoulder when I go into a Handstand
3 rounds for time
800 m run
21 HandStand Pushups
21 L Sit Pullups
800 m run
15 Handstand Pushups
15 L Sit Pullups
800 m run
9 Handstand Pushups
9 L Sit Pullups
Chriss and I ran the 800m right at the same pace and headed upstairs. Jerry said Rx'd was to complete all Handstand Pushups before moving on to L Sits, so no partitioning. I have never tried to max my reps on Handstand Pushups before but got up 18! It was here where I took a lead on Chriss. I got through the L Sit pullups with the rope and headed out for the second run. I was ahead of everyone coming back in for Handstand Pushups. I knocked out 15 in 3 sets of 5 but was starting to have a problem getting up into the handstand. I was throwing my body up and often found my self bouncing off the wall. I was not maintaining an active shoulder or a solid core (hollowed out). Since this was for time I really didn't try to fix it and even muscled my way up to a vertical handstand position against the wall. I think it was the time spent on the handstands and bouncing off the wall where Chriss caught up and he headed outside for the last run a few seconds ahead. I kept pace for the first 400-500 meters and then Chriss started to pull away. He is definitely a stronger runner than me. We went upstairs and again I had problems getting up into a handstand and I was just fatigued. I tried to get all 9 but only knocked out 6 and then got 2, and then 1. Chriss was on L-Sits and I started knocking those out and encouraging him to get done. Chriss finished 24:04 and I was right behind at 24:16. Only 6 people got below 30 and 4 below 25 minutes, Mel got 24:42 and Leslie got a 24:47 later in the day.
Chriss wanted to go back out and actually ended up doing 3 more rounds with the reps at 6. He was crazy and definitely proving a point on his 42 birthday. I did not go back out with Chriss since I had a lot of burpees to catch up on and did some ab mats.
Things learned/Need to work on:
1) L-Sits need to work on the position with my abs and lower back.
2) Keeping Active shoulder when I go into a Handstand
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Modified Deads
I was still on a high from my Fran time from yesterday when I made in to the blue room. Jerry talked to me as we set up and told me how awesome I did and even some strategy and things to work on for next time. I definitely think Fran is one of my strongest WODs. Now deadlifts on the other hand....
5 rounds for time
12 Modified Deadlift (rx'd 225#)
9 Ring Dips
6 Burpees
We have been working modified deadlifts but this was the first time in a circuit for time. I warmed up with craig and loaded the bar with 185 and knew that was enough. My back felt weak and I knew this was going to be tough. I decided to stick with 185 for the WOD. I really have not gone heavier than 135# in my deadlifts so this was even a stretch. I have to admit it was kind of embarassing to set a gym record in Fran and then not be able to do the next WOD as Rx'd. I think that is why I asked Jerry if I could use a 20# vest. I figured I would make the ring dips and burpees harder. We started off and I felt tight and weak. I got through 12 and was finishing my ring dips when Jerry announced that if you modified the weight you had to do 20 reps of modified deadlifts, so I had to do 8 more for my first round. During those 8, Jerry said I was rounding and needed to drop the vest. No problem. I was half way through my 3 round of deadlifts and Jerry said I should go over to 115#. I finally had some good reps. Lesson learned I am getting better but not strong enough. I finished it all up in 13:54, first in the class but not Rx'd. Craig was the only man who did it as Rx'd and he finished just under 15 minutes. A good workout but a humbling experience that brought me back to reality, there are definitely things I am strong at and things I need to work on and need to focus and take time to improve on those.
I was watching others in the 645am class and I think I really need to tighten and use my core more in my deadlift. Hopefully that will give my back more support.
5 rounds for time
12 Modified Deadlift (rx'd 225#)
9 Ring Dips
6 Burpees
We have been working modified deadlifts but this was the first time in a circuit for time. I warmed up with craig and loaded the bar with 185 and knew that was enough. My back felt weak and I knew this was going to be tough. I decided to stick with 185 for the WOD. I really have not gone heavier than 135# in my deadlifts so this was even a stretch. I have to admit it was kind of embarassing to set a gym record in Fran and then not be able to do the next WOD as Rx'd. I think that is why I asked Jerry if I could use a 20# vest. I figured I would make the ring dips and burpees harder. We started off and I felt tight and weak. I got through 12 and was finishing my ring dips when Jerry announced that if you modified the weight you had to do 20 reps of modified deadlifts, so I had to do 8 more for my first round. During those 8, Jerry said I was rounding and needed to drop the vest. No problem. I was half way through my 3 round of deadlifts and Jerry said I should go over to 115#. I finally had some good reps. Lesson learned I am getting better but not strong enough. I finished it all up in 13:54, first in the class but not Rx'd. Craig was the only man who did it as Rx'd and he finished just under 15 minutes. A good workout but a humbling experience that brought me back to reality, there are definitely things I am strong at and things I need to work on and need to focus and take time to improve on those.
I was watching others in the 645am class and I think I really need to tighten and use my core more in my deadlift. Hopefully that will give my back more support.
Monday August 25, 2008 - Woke Up Went Back to Bed....Knocked out a PR Fran
The weekend took it out of me. Saturday night or should I say Sunday morning I went to bed around 4:30 am after watching the USA Men's Basketball team win the gold medal! I got about 4 hrs of sleep because I can't really sleep in. I dragged through the rest of the day and once I got home was beat. I was too tired to cook so I went across the street to get some Chinese - Sinagpore Noodles. I know, how does this fit in the Zone. I basically slacked all weekend on the Zone and will be giving myself a funishment on Wednesday. Anyhow back to the Chinese, I went to bed after eating it and crashed. I woke up with my alarm and felt sick. I was sweating and had the chills and well basically had a stomach thing that left me on the floor of my bathroom. Nuff said, I didn't make the workout and called in sick to work and went back to bed and slept til about 10am. I woke up and felt better, probably because the Singapore Noodles were out of my system. Harold had emailed me and told me they did Fran! I was bummed, I missed the last Fran because my shoulder was still injured and I have not done a Fran in about 4-6 months when I knocked out a 4:19 at Gold's Gym with a rack and by myself.
Around noon I told myself I need to try and make the 5pm class. I started to get pumped up and psyched for Fran. I knew it would be hard to get a PR after the morning and weekend I had but you know the rule "GO HARD or GO HOME."
I got there at 5pm and knew a few people but not everyone. There was about 20 people so we had to do waves of people. I jumped in to the first one after the warmup and got pumped up for the WOD. The way I look at Fran is, it is only around 5 minutes long so bust it out and then you get to relax. Mike S was in the first heat as well. I was glad he was because I knew he would put up a good time and I could use the competition to fight through it.
SO Fran is
21 Thrusters 95#
21 Pullups
15 Thrusters
15 Pullups
9 Thrusters
9 Pullups
I focused in and then ...3..2..1..go! My plan was to not drop the bar and go at a fast steady pace, I mean it is only 95#. The thrusters felt good and I really felt like I was exploding and using my hips. Andrea was coaching me through and I tried to make slight corrections but nothing drastic and I was focused on knocking them out. I threw the bar down and jumped on the pullup bar. My hands have pretty much healed so grip was not an issue. I was worried about the pullups because I had never done Fran on a moving bar and the kip takes a little longer. I got an efficient kip down and then closed my eyes and knocked out 21 consecutive pullups.
Now the 15's are by far the worst and the best, because once you get done with the 15 thrusters you know you are half way and know you only have to pick up that bar one more time. I stuck to my plan and didn't drop the bar, I think I rested in the top position once but hammered them out. I think others started to realize my pace and I heard a lot more people cheering me on. To be honest with you all I heard was myself and Andrea counting them out for me. I had to break the pullups up to 2-3 sets but had limited rest 3 sec max each time.
I jumped on my nine thrusters and felt great! I always finish strong because I know I am there and it is no different than a race when you see the finish line. I knocked out my nine and grabbed the pull up bar. I ended up doing 4, 3, 2 and just let go of the bar and Andrea yelled time which Jerry responded with 4:09! 4:09! I was going for a 5-5:30 Fran! I beat my PR which was on a stationary bar and by myself (so may not have been so strict). 4:09! I was as happy as I could be and in much pain as I think I could be, my head was killing me.
I got up and helped others through the workout, there were some crazy efforts and times. People were very congratulatory to me for my time. Chriss was there and he previously had the record of 4:46 and came over and told me 'I killed it.' I would be lying if I said I didn't like the recognition but don't want to be cocky and want to be humble. Jerry mentioned it at the end of class which was nice.
Because I am who I am, I started thinking about next time. The plan is to not rest and try not to break up the pullups. It may be on a stationary bar next time, if that is the case I am definitely thinking sub 4 minutes. It is all about setting a PR so you can beat it next time!
Around noon I told myself I need to try and make the 5pm class. I started to get pumped up and psyched for Fran. I knew it would be hard to get a PR after the morning and weekend I had but you know the rule "GO HARD or GO HOME."
I got there at 5pm and knew a few people but not everyone. There was about 20 people so we had to do waves of people. I jumped in to the first one after the warmup and got pumped up for the WOD. The way I look at Fran is, it is only around 5 minutes long so bust it out and then you get to relax. Mike S was in the first heat as well. I was glad he was because I knew he would put up a good time and I could use the competition to fight through it.
SO Fran is
21 Thrusters 95#
21 Pullups
15 Thrusters
15 Pullups
9 Thrusters
9 Pullups
I focused in and then ...3..2..1..go! My plan was to not drop the bar and go at a fast steady pace, I mean it is only 95#. The thrusters felt good and I really felt like I was exploding and using my hips. Andrea was coaching me through and I tried to make slight corrections but nothing drastic and I was focused on knocking them out. I threw the bar down and jumped on the pullup bar. My hands have pretty much healed so grip was not an issue. I was worried about the pullups because I had never done Fran on a moving bar and the kip takes a little longer. I got an efficient kip down and then closed my eyes and knocked out 21 consecutive pullups.
Now the 15's are by far the worst and the best, because once you get done with the 15 thrusters you know you are half way and know you only have to pick up that bar one more time. I stuck to my plan and didn't drop the bar, I think I rested in the top position once but hammered them out. I think others started to realize my pace and I heard a lot more people cheering me on. To be honest with you all I heard was myself and Andrea counting them out for me. I had to break the pullups up to 2-3 sets but had limited rest 3 sec max each time.
I jumped on my nine thrusters and felt great! I always finish strong because I know I am there and it is no different than a race when you see the finish line. I knocked out my nine and grabbed the pull up bar. I ended up doing 4, 3, 2 and just let go of the bar and Andrea yelled time which Jerry responded with 4:09! 4:09! I was going for a 5-5:30 Fran! I beat my PR which was on a stationary bar and by myself (so may not have been so strict). 4:09! I was as happy as I could be and in much pain as I think I could be, my head was killing me.
I got up and helped others through the workout, there were some crazy efforts and times. People were very congratulatory to me for my time. Chriss was there and he previously had the record of 4:46 and came over and told me 'I killed it.' I would be lying if I said I didn't like the recognition but don't want to be cocky and want to be humble. Jerry mentioned it at the end of class which was nice.
Because I am who I am, I started thinking about next time. The plan is to not rest and try not to break up the pullups. It may be on a stationary bar next time, if that is the case I am definitely thinking sub 4 minutes. It is all about setting a PR so you can beat it next time!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Badger
We knew since Tuesday night that today was going to be a Benchmark WOD, so I made sure today wasn't my rest day. I will be off this weekend from Crossfit so came in for the last tough workout of the week. I have to admit I was trying to figure out what the WOD would be and thinking about it last night. Harold posted on his Blog that he knew what it was and even though he didn't mention it by name said he scored a 49:00 last time and his goal was sub 35. I tried to figure it out from this but had no ideas and was really close to calling Harold. I mean knowing would have been nice so I could mentally prepare for the WOD but that takes away from Crossfit and randomization and not knowing what you are in store for when you walk into the box.
I was driving in this morning and have to admit that I was nervous, very similar to how I would feel before a football game. Maybe this is embarrassing that I am getting pre-workout jitters but I love it. I want to perform at a level that is above the expectation of others as well as my own, just like football. I don't know if this is a strength or a weakness of my personality but bottom line it is the way I am and always will be, that is why I love Crossfit.
Enough of this pyscho-analysis, I walked in this morning to Badger! A hero workout that is a brutal test of strength and endurance.
The WOD as rx'd is:
3 rounds for time
800m run
30 hang squat cleans @ 95#
30 pullups
I was a little worried at first because hang squat cleans are something I am working on improving my form in so thought I may not be efficient as I want. The good news it was only 95#, of course the bad is that there was 90 total reps. I have never done Badger before and found myself even telling myself during my second run to go hard and that you need to set a benchmark in order to improve on something. Jerry had said before the WOD that only one person has gotten sub 30 minutes and it will take most people 45 minutes. Of course I was gunning for 30 minutes but didn't know my status during the workout because I had taken my watch off for the WOD.
Round 1: The first round was not bad, Scott ran with me at a really good pace and then we got inside and I started knocking out hang squat cleans in sets of 10. By 10 reps my grip was weak and I could use a 5-10 breather so that is what I did. I really focused on my form as much as I could while still going at a good pace. I was telling myself to use my hips and jump shrug the weight up and throw my elbows forward to get under the bar. I know my first one or two reps I was not getting low enough on my squat but quickly loosened up and corrected it. The pull-ups, the first round I broke it down and did 10-10-5-5. My forearms were tight after the hang squat cleans and that definitely impacted my pace on pullups. That and I think after doing 150 on a stationary bar last Saturday that my kip hasn't gotten back to what is needed on a swinging bar, oh yeah and my hands did not allow me to do a full palm grip. I was the first one done with round 1 and out the door. Side note you know your forearms are fatigued when you have a problem untying your shoes.
Round 2: The 800 wasn't bad and I was all by myself. Gar was a about 60-90 behind me and I ran past him since he was doing the loop the other way. He was the only one I saw. Also I can't weight to the new location when we don't have to walk/run up stairs after a run during a WOD. The shirt came off during the run to cool off and then went back on to knock out some more cleans. Again I started off not low enough but felt it and fixed it right away, it is like I don't feel limber or warmed up for my first rep, weird. I kept the same strategy of 10-10 and broke the final 10 into 2 sets of 5 and moved on to pullups. Here is where I started to feel it and tried doing sets of 5 with a quick 3 sec break and found myself doing sets of 2 towards the end of the 30 pullups. Got through it and headed out.
Round 3: Shirt off and out the door! I felt good and tried to focus on my form and using my arms during the run. I am kind of curious of my splits to see the effect of the workout and fatigue, oh well. I ran up the stairs and said the hell with it I am busting my ass and the shirt is wet and just going to be in the way, screw it! I jumped on the hang squat cleans and knocked out 10-10-5-5. Harold was there encouraging me and that helped and I knew I was almost done. I am happy that I kept my form throughout the rounds, they felt really good. The hips and shrug do help enormously when fatigue starts to set in. I moved over to pullups and here is where I hurt again. I found myself doing 5-5-5-2-2-2-4-3-1. Wow! Time 32:27.
To be honest I had a moment of hesitation where I was disappointed because I really wanted sub 30 minutes but again you have to start somewhere and I know where I can improve on next time. PULLUPS and my grip/kip.
I was spent and took about a minute to recover and then got up and started encouraging others. Gar, Blake, Leslie, Martha, Scott. Even though I am very competitive I wanted them to fight through and finish strong. Knowing someone is there and on you helps me so much, so do onto others as you want done on to you. Everyone said thanks and that it helped. Overall a great crossfit workout. God I love this stuff.
BTW totally forgot about my burpees so today is day 40 and I now owe 79 from yesterday and today. Maybe I can squeeze them in tonight if not I will knock out 120 tomorrow in Charlotte.
I was driving in this morning and have to admit that I was nervous, very similar to how I would feel before a football game. Maybe this is embarrassing that I am getting pre-workout jitters but I love it. I want to perform at a level that is above the expectation of others as well as my own, just like football. I don't know if this is a strength or a weakness of my personality but bottom line it is the way I am and always will be, that is why I love Crossfit.
Enough of this pyscho-analysis, I walked in this morning to Badger! A hero workout that is a brutal test of strength and endurance.
The WOD as rx'd is:
3 rounds for time
800m run
30 hang squat cleans @ 95#
30 pullups
I was a little worried at first because hang squat cleans are something I am working on improving my form in so thought I may not be efficient as I want. The good news it was only 95#, of course the bad is that there was 90 total reps. I have never done Badger before and found myself even telling myself during my second run to go hard and that you need to set a benchmark in order to improve on something. Jerry had said before the WOD that only one person has gotten sub 30 minutes and it will take most people 45 minutes. Of course I was gunning for 30 minutes but didn't know my status during the workout because I had taken my watch off for the WOD.
Round 1: The first round was not bad, Scott ran with me at a really good pace and then we got inside and I started knocking out hang squat cleans in sets of 10. By 10 reps my grip was weak and I could use a 5-10 breather so that is what I did. I really focused on my form as much as I could while still going at a good pace. I was telling myself to use my hips and jump shrug the weight up and throw my elbows forward to get under the bar. I know my first one or two reps I was not getting low enough on my squat but quickly loosened up and corrected it. The pull-ups, the first round I broke it down and did 10-10-5-5. My forearms were tight after the hang squat cleans and that definitely impacted my pace on pullups. That and I think after doing 150 on a stationary bar last Saturday that my kip hasn't gotten back to what is needed on a swinging bar, oh yeah and my hands did not allow me to do a full palm grip. I was the first one done with round 1 and out the door. Side note you know your forearms are fatigued when you have a problem untying your shoes.
Round 2: The 800 wasn't bad and I was all by myself. Gar was a about 60-90 behind me and I ran past him since he was doing the loop the other way. He was the only one I saw. Also I can't weight to the new location when we don't have to walk/run up stairs after a run during a WOD. The shirt came off during the run to cool off and then went back on to knock out some more cleans. Again I started off not low enough but felt it and fixed it right away, it is like I don't feel limber or warmed up for my first rep, weird. I kept the same strategy of 10-10 and broke the final 10 into 2 sets of 5 and moved on to pullups. Here is where I started to feel it and tried doing sets of 5 with a quick 3 sec break and found myself doing sets of 2 towards the end of the 30 pullups. Got through it and headed out.
Round 3: Shirt off and out the door! I felt good and tried to focus on my form and using my arms during the run. I am kind of curious of my splits to see the effect of the workout and fatigue, oh well. I ran up the stairs and said the hell with it I am busting my ass and the shirt is wet and just going to be in the way, screw it! I jumped on the hang squat cleans and knocked out 10-10-5-5. Harold was there encouraging me and that helped and I knew I was almost done. I am happy that I kept my form throughout the rounds, they felt really good. The hips and shrug do help enormously when fatigue starts to set in. I moved over to pullups and here is where I hurt again. I found myself doing 5-5-5-2-2-2-4-3-1. Wow! Time 32:27.
To be honest I had a moment of hesitation where I was disappointed because I really wanted sub 30 minutes but again you have to start somewhere and I know where I can improve on next time. PULLUPS and my grip/kip.
I was spent and took about a minute to recover and then got up and started encouraging others. Gar, Blake, Leslie, Martha, Scott. Even though I am very competitive I wanted them to fight through and finish strong. Knowing someone is there and on you helps me so much, so do onto others as you want done on to you. Everyone said thanks and that it helped. Overall a great crossfit workout. God I love this stuff.
BTW totally forgot about my burpees so today is day 40 and I now owe 79 from yesterday and today. Maybe I can squeeze them in tonight if not I will knock out 120 tomorrow in Charlotte.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Rest Day...of course not
I talked with Jerry yesterday after the men v. women workout and figured today would be a good rest day so I could hit the benchmark WOD on Friday. My shoulder was sore from the burpees and Jerry said we were going to be doing handstand pushups. I even thought about maybe running in the morning before work. Well the alarm went off at 5:10am as usual and I began to rationalize why I needed to make it to CFOT. I mean I am going to Charlotte tomorrow night and won't be able to do any WODs Saturday or Sunday, I shouldn't run because I am planning on doing that in Charlotte. I jumped in the Jeep and was excited about the WOD. I was a little pumped up driving to CFOT because we lost the men v. women challenge last night by .6 pts and I knew the women would be gloating a bit. I was ready to kill a good MetCon WOD.
I got in the blueroom and looked at the white board and saw the following
5-10 Hand Stand Pushups
5-10 Knees to Elbows or other variations*
5-10 High Box Jumps
10 round ~ 45 minutes
I asked Jerry if this was for time because it wasn't too strict with reps. He said it wasn't planned to be but he would time anyone that wanted to do it for time. I thought about and then realized I could make this a "fun" crossfit day and try to push myself by making these exercises harder. I am confident in my hand stand pushups and knocked out 10 reps right away, then I started to think I may need to break out the parallettes. I moved over to the rings and played around by working up to a vertical position after the knee to elbow and then worked on a front lever. A front lever is when you can keep your body straight and just about hold your body parallel to the floor. This is tough! I moved over to box jumps and did 4 mats and planned on moving up to 5 mats the next round.
Today was fun, I challenged myself and yet took the time to work with others. Jerry saw me with the parallettes and asked me if I could go head to the deck and that was a true parallette hand stand push up. I had been going deeper than a handstand pushup without the parallettes but was timid and never tried head to the deck. I got over it and tried and knocked out 3 consecutive ones, wow that was tough! I continued working on my front lever and getting more confident on the rings and feel like I really progressed. Box jumps I kind of cleared 5 mats, and definitely was not going to be trying 6 mats. I mean "white men can't jump."
I was challenged today in a different way than i expected but in a good way. It is good to have days like today. Now to get pumped for tomorrows benchmark. The plan is to go for a light run tonight and get my 39 burpees done and get some good sleep to wake up and kill it in the am.
I got in the blueroom and looked at the white board and saw the following
5-10 Hand Stand Pushups
5-10 Knees to Elbows or other variations*
5-10 High Box Jumps
10 round ~ 45 minutes
I asked Jerry if this was for time because it wasn't too strict with reps. He said it wasn't planned to be but he would time anyone that wanted to do it for time. I thought about and then realized I could make this a "fun" crossfit day and try to push myself by making these exercises harder. I am confident in my hand stand pushups and knocked out 10 reps right away, then I started to think I may need to break out the parallettes. I moved over to the rings and played around by working up to a vertical position after the knee to elbow and then worked on a front lever. A front lever is when you can keep your body straight and just about hold your body parallel to the floor. This is tough! I moved over to box jumps and did 4 mats and planned on moving up to 5 mats the next round.
Today was fun, I challenged myself and yet took the time to work with others. Jerry saw me with the parallettes and asked me if I could go head to the deck and that was a true parallette hand stand push up. I had been going deeper than a handstand pushup without the parallettes but was timid and never tried head to the deck. I got over it and tried and knocked out 3 consecutive ones, wow that was tough! I continued working on my front lever and getting more confident on the rings and feel like I really progressed. Box jumps I kind of cleared 5 mats, and definitely was not going to be trying 6 mats. I mean "white men can't jump."
I was challenged today in a different way than i expected but in a good way. It is good to have days like today. Now to get pumped for tomorrows benchmark. The plan is to go for a light run tonight and get my 39 burpees done and get some good sleep to wake up and kill it in the am.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Men v. Women Part II
Jerry sent an email out last night letting us know today was the awaited rematch of the Men v. Women team competition. The men won last time by one point thanks in part to the 5pm class. Last time I ran outside a lot because it was worth more than one point to run 1000m and do the farmers walk. I figured that you can fly through exercises and single points faster doing the inside exercises. Plus I can take care of my 37 burpees from yesterday and my 38 burpees for today. So here goes.
Men Vs. Women
All Day Team Competition
3 PointsFarmers walk (w 20lb m 35lb)
1 Point
500 M row
400 M run
10 Burpees
50 Double Unders
150 Single Jump Ropes
35 Ab Mat Sit-ups
20 Wall Ball (w 10lb m 15lb)
70 Bull Whip
10 TGU (w 15 m 25)
I got there a few minutes late put really didn't lose any time based on the start time. Everyone was going outside and I smiled inside with the intentions of busting out points inside. I started with the bull whip after a few exercises I asked Jerry why burpees were not on the list, he put 10 burpees for 1 pt on the board. Then I realized my goal was to get through the entire list and do 10 burpees in between exercises. I did not keep track of my individual points but got through the entire list with the exception of the double unders because I struggle with these and plus I did the 150 singles twice. I did make it outside for a few 400 m runs and one farmers walk. If I had to guess I would say I scored around 25 points. I was inside for the end and the guys were pounding out burpees at in the last minute or two. We tallied up the results and the 8 men got 152 total points for an average of 19. Let's put it this way, I was disappointed because I knew Leslie and Katie stayed outside alternating between runs and farmers walks. I was trying to figure out where we fell short but knew it was done and not worth it. The 5 women came in with 115 for and average of 23. Didn't think we were that far behind!
It was then that I realized I was staying for another round. I mean I could only make the situation better, and knew I was at least going to score 19 points our average from the 6am class. I wasn't really that tired and Danny was the only guy at 645. Katie followed suit because she knew the men's average was going to go up with Danny and I teaming up. Danny told me he was going to do 10 burpees every minute for the 37 minutes! He almost did and finished with 310 burpees. I stuck with my strategy from the first round and after running 2 400m and doing a farmers walk for a quick 5 points headed upstairs to get through exercises quickly with 10 burpees in between. I finished with 28 points and with Danny the men scored 61 points for an average of 30.5! We blew away the 600 am average. The 5 women got 118 points for an average of 23.6. When I left the overall average was separated by a pt, with the women in the lead. As I was leaving I saw Katie doing a third round! Ok, I am crazy but 3 rounds or 90+ minutes of circuit training is mental!
I will be checking out the website waiting to see who wins at 5pm. Funny thing is I actually thought about going to the 5pm class for my third circuit to help the team but knew better and my shoulder was pretty sore from all of those burpees.
Men Vs. Women
All Day Team Competition
3 PointsFarmers walk (w 20lb m 35lb)
1 Point
500 M row
400 M run
10 Burpees
50 Double Unders
150 Single Jump Ropes
35 Ab Mat Sit-ups
20 Wall Ball (w 10lb m 15lb)
70 Bull Whip
10 TGU (w 15 m 25)
I got there a few minutes late put really didn't lose any time based on the start time. Everyone was going outside and I smiled inside with the intentions of busting out points inside. I started with the bull whip after a few exercises I asked Jerry why burpees were not on the list, he put 10 burpees for 1 pt on the board. Then I realized my goal was to get through the entire list and do 10 burpees in between exercises. I did not keep track of my individual points but got through the entire list with the exception of the double unders because I struggle with these and plus I did the 150 singles twice. I did make it outside for a few 400 m runs and one farmers walk. If I had to guess I would say I scored around 25 points. I was inside for the end and the guys were pounding out burpees at in the last minute or two. We tallied up the results and the 8 men got 152 total points for an average of 19. Let's put it this way, I was disappointed because I knew Leslie and Katie stayed outside alternating between runs and farmers walks. I was trying to figure out where we fell short but knew it was done and not worth it. The 5 women came in with 115 for and average of 23. Didn't think we were that far behind!
It was then that I realized I was staying for another round. I mean I could only make the situation better, and knew I was at least going to score 19 points our average from the 6am class. I wasn't really that tired and Danny was the only guy at 645. Katie followed suit because she knew the men's average was going to go up with Danny and I teaming up. Danny told me he was going to do 10 burpees every minute for the 37 minutes! He almost did and finished with 310 burpees. I stuck with my strategy from the first round and after running 2 400m and doing a farmers walk for a quick 5 points headed upstairs to get through exercises quickly with 10 burpees in between. I finished with 28 points and with Danny the men scored 61 points for an average of 30.5! We blew away the 600 am average. The 5 women got 118 points for an average of 23.6. When I left the overall average was separated by a pt, with the women in the lead. As I was leaving I saw Katie doing a third round! Ok, I am crazy but 3 rounds or 90+ minutes of circuit training is mental!
I will be checking out the website waiting to see who wins at 5pm. Funny thing is I actually thought about going to the 5pm class for my third circuit to help the team but knew better and my shoulder was pretty sore from all of those burpees.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Surprise...Modifed Deadlifts
I totally was expecting a timed workout or AMRAP and was pleasantly surprised when I saw today's workout. One thing is I got to work on my deadlift form (one of my 12 week goals) and my legs were a little sore from Sunday (2-day soreness).
The WOD was
working up to heavy on Modified Deadlift 10 reps
Hollow Rocks maintain for 30-60 seconds
Heavy Ring Dips 5 reps (try ring out)
I started light because I am still working on my form and don't want too much weight where my form goes and I round my back. I worked up to 145# on my modified deadlifts. They felt really good. I did 7 rounds so definitely worked it. I have been focusing on the first deadlift from the ground and it feels good but I feel like I round and have trouble on my second (first from the hang/modified position). I immediately realize it and correct myself and knock out the rest. I finally feel every deadlift in my hamstrings! My goal is to go for a max at the end of the 12 week challenge, I would be so happy with 250# or even do I say 300# with good form.
I maintained my hollow rocks for 45-50 seconds each round, they felt a lot better than the first time i did these.
Ring Dips I definitely challenged myself. I did the first few rounds with rings out which is basically with your hands out with the rings away from your body so you are not riding the straps. Craig grabbed a 40# vest so I did a few rounds with that, then things got fun. I did a round with a 35# kettlebell and the 40# vest and knocked out 4-5 in each round. I want to try to dip with half my bodyweight on me so with 85-90# of additional weight. I took the weight off and knocked out a few more ring out dips and they felt great with no weight. Dips are definitely one of my strong exercises. My shoulder is a little sore from being a little crazy and stupid but nothing some ice won't fix. I probably should have not done so much but that would not have been fun.
Today is day 37 for burpees, I forgot to do them after the workout but will knock them out tonight. I am going to start timing myself and see track my average time per burpee.
The WOD was
working up to heavy on Modified Deadlift 10 reps
Hollow Rocks maintain for 30-60 seconds
Heavy Ring Dips 5 reps (try ring out)
I started light because I am still working on my form and don't want too much weight where my form goes and I round my back. I worked up to 145# on my modified deadlifts. They felt really good. I did 7 rounds so definitely worked it. I have been focusing on the first deadlift from the ground and it feels good but I feel like I round and have trouble on my second (first from the hang/modified position). I immediately realize it and correct myself and knock out the rest. I finally feel every deadlift in my hamstrings! My goal is to go for a max at the end of the 12 week challenge, I would be so happy with 250# or even do I say 300# with good form.
I maintained my hollow rocks for 45-50 seconds each round, they felt a lot better than the first time i did these.
Ring Dips I definitely challenged myself. I did the first few rounds with rings out which is basically with your hands out with the rings away from your body so you are not riding the straps. Craig grabbed a 40# vest so I did a few rounds with that, then things got fun. I did a round with a 35# kettlebell and the 40# vest and knocked out 4-5 in each round. I want to try to dip with half my bodyweight on me so with 85-90# of additional weight. I took the weight off and knocked out a few more ring out dips and they felt great with no weight. Dips are definitely one of my strong exercises. My shoulder is a little sore from being a little crazy and stupid but nothing some ice won't fix. I probably should have not done so much but that would not have been fun.
Today is day 37 for burpees, I forgot to do them after the workout but will knock them out tonight. I am going to start timing myself and see track my average time per burpee.
Monday, August 18, 2008 - Strength Day
Today we revisited a strength workout that was one of my first workouts at CFOT in July.
Repetition Max - 5 rounds
Strict Press (50% bodyweight)
Pullup
2:30 for each exercise once you drop the bar or are off the bar your done and can rest until the 2:30 expires to start the next
Jerry posted the results from the last time we did this, I had 92 reps on strict press with 85#. I asked Jerry if I should increase to 95# even though I weighed in at 175# and he said that would be a good challenge. I totally even forgot about my shoulder until Jerry asked if my shoulder would be ok. I thought about it for a second and it felt great, especially since I didn't even have a concern regarding the workout. I did have a concern about my hands from Saturday's workout. The rips/cuts were just healing and I wanted to avoid any more damage so I decided to do pullups with a finger tip grip. Basically, the bar did not rest in my hand but at the bottom of my fingers with my fingertips wrapped around the bar. I knew my grip may not last that long but really was focused on my strict press so it didn't really bother me.
I ended up with 85 strict press and 71 pullups. I was pretty happy with this, and until the 5:00 class my 85 strict press was the highest reps. Andrea got 96 with 55#! A lot of people got PRs on consecutive pullups. The most I got in a round was 17 but I have done at least 20 before. I have never done pullups for a PR, but need to set a benchmark and will once my hands heal. Here is my reps per round
Strict Press 21 19 17 15 13 85
Pullups 17 17 14 12 11 71
Oh yeah the 36 burpees were tough! My shoulders were done so that made my burpees not too fun or smooth!
Repetition Max - 5 rounds
Strict Press (50% bodyweight)
Pullup
2:30 for each exercise once you drop the bar or are off the bar your done and can rest until the 2:30 expires to start the next
Jerry posted the results from the last time we did this, I had 92 reps on strict press with 85#. I asked Jerry if I should increase to 95# even though I weighed in at 175# and he said that would be a good challenge. I totally even forgot about my shoulder until Jerry asked if my shoulder would be ok. I thought about it for a second and it felt great, especially since I didn't even have a concern regarding the workout. I did have a concern about my hands from Saturday's workout. The rips/cuts were just healing and I wanted to avoid any more damage so I decided to do pullups with a finger tip grip. Basically, the bar did not rest in my hand but at the bottom of my fingers with my fingertips wrapped around the bar. I knew my grip may not last that long but really was focused on my strict press so it didn't really bother me.
I ended up with 85 strict press and 71 pullups. I was pretty happy with this, and until the 5:00 class my 85 strict press was the highest reps. Andrea got 96 with 55#! A lot of people got PRs on consecutive pullups. The most I got in a round was 17 but I have done at least 20 before. I have never done pullups for a PR, but need to set a benchmark and will once my hands heal. Here is my reps per round
Strict Press 21 19 17 15 13 85
Pullups 17 17 14 12 11 71
Oh yeah the 36 burpees were tough! My shoulders were done so that made my burpees not too fun or smooth!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
A sucka for a good workout
Last night was interesting. Everyone saw my hands and kept asking me what the hell happened. I told them pullups and I got one of two response, (a) why don't you use gloves or (b) you are crazy, 150 pullups. First I will never use gloves, people may think that is stupid but crossfit is not for people who use gloves. It is a pride thing. Second I found myself being very proud of my cuts and my performance in the workout and Crossfit. It was a total meathead moment, oh well, I loved it!
I woke up praying we were not going to do any pullups at CFOT on Sunday. It was actually my lucky day.
My friend Charmaine had emailed me and wanted to try crossfit on Sunday and I had planned on picking her up Sunday morning for her introduction. She has worked with a personal trainer but I have no idea about her current fitness level. She talked it up like she could do it and I really starting thinking she should be careful what she says and be a little humble. I was expecting a humbling experience this morning but I was woken up by her and her friend Heather at 3:30 am explaining that she fell down the stairs at the bar and sprained her ankle and would not be able to workout. I was a little relieved because I knew I could focus on my workout and not have to walk her through it. She would have been fine but I would have definitely had her on my mind during the workout.
Ok the workout was Adrienne's benchmark while she was injured:
3 rounds for time
800 m run
50 squats
50 Ab Mat Situps
Not too overwelming and we were taking mats outside to do the entire workout outside (so glad because that meant no stairs to climb up to the blue room after the run). We were walking outside and I felt confident considering what was in front of me, so I asked Harold if he wanted to do it with a weight vest. Harold is a big of a sucka as me and agreed. I never back down from a challenge and Harold is no different so we grabbed the 20# vests.
The run wasn't too bad, Harold and I ran the first 800m together. I tried to really focus on my airsquats and actually did overhead squats the first round with the PVC pipe. They felt good, but I could feel myself rounding a little bit towards the end of the 50. The situps were tough with the vest but not too bad and I managed to maintain a good pace without really stopping. I got up and started on my second run. Charlie, Adrienne and Pat were the only ones ahead of me. I knew I wasn't going to get the best time, but I guarantee I was getting the best workout. Doing the workout with the vest was kind of my excuse to not expect the best time. I guess I knew I was probably going to be working as hard if not harder than everyone else with the vest on.
Got through rounds and finished with 21:11, behind Charlie, Adrienne and Pat but was definitely happy with my performance.
Ok, so I have skipped a few days of the Burpee Challenge and today was day 35 as well as make up day for Friday (Day 33) and Saturday (Day 34). I went up stairs and knocked out my burpees. When I came back out, Adrienne and Harold were telling me about the 400m walking lunges they just finished in about 15 minutes. Adrienne talked it up and challenged me (sort of challenged me) so I got this attitude of "anything you can do I can do better." It was tough but I fought through it in 13:05, HA! Basically I can't say no to an idea especially a workout. My punishment is that I probably will not be able to get out of bed tomorrow.
I woke up praying we were not going to do any pullups at CFOT on Sunday. It was actually my lucky day.
My friend Charmaine had emailed me and wanted to try crossfit on Sunday and I had planned on picking her up Sunday morning for her introduction. She has worked with a personal trainer but I have no idea about her current fitness level. She talked it up like she could do it and I really starting thinking she should be careful what she says and be a little humble. I was expecting a humbling experience this morning but I was woken up by her and her friend Heather at 3:30 am explaining that she fell down the stairs at the bar and sprained her ankle and would not be able to workout. I was a little relieved because I knew I could focus on my workout and not have to walk her through it. She would have been fine but I would have definitely had her on my mind during the workout.
Ok the workout was Adrienne's benchmark while she was injured:
3 rounds for time
800 m run
50 squats
50 Ab Mat Situps
Not too overwelming and we were taking mats outside to do the entire workout outside (so glad because that meant no stairs to climb up to the blue room after the run). We were walking outside and I felt confident considering what was in front of me, so I asked Harold if he wanted to do it with a weight vest. Harold is a big of a sucka as me and agreed. I never back down from a challenge and Harold is no different so we grabbed the 20# vests.
The run wasn't too bad, Harold and I ran the first 800m together. I tried to really focus on my airsquats and actually did overhead squats the first round with the PVC pipe. They felt good, but I could feel myself rounding a little bit towards the end of the 50. The situps were tough with the vest but not too bad and I managed to maintain a good pace without really stopping. I got up and started on my second run. Charlie, Adrienne and Pat were the only ones ahead of me. I knew I wasn't going to get the best time, but I guarantee I was getting the best workout. Doing the workout with the vest was kind of my excuse to not expect the best time. I guess I knew I was probably going to be working as hard if not harder than everyone else with the vest on.
Got through rounds and finished with 21:11, behind Charlie, Adrienne and Pat but was definitely happy with my performance.
Ok, so I have skipped a few days of the Burpee Challenge and today was day 35 as well as make up day for Friday (Day 33) and Saturday (Day 34). I went up stairs and knocked out my burpees. When I came back out, Adrienne and Harold were telling me about the 400m walking lunges they just finished in about 15 minutes. Adrienne talked it up and challenged me (sort of challenged me) so I got this attitude of "anything you can do I can do better." It was tough but I fought through it in 13:05, HA! Basically I can't say no to an idea especially a workout. My punishment is that I probably will not be able to get out of bed tomorrow.
Saturday Bloody Saturday
I ended up staying out longer than I wanted to on Friday. I ended up home around 2:30am, and fell asleep thinking I had to wake up in 4 or so hours to work out. Since Friday was my rest day (I did run 7.5 miles in 68 minutes Friday night-great run!) I really knew I had to get up. I got to Dulles just as Iman was posting the workout. It was the WOD on the mainsite the day before.
50 Pullups
50 Ring Dips
40 Pullups
40 Ring Dips
30 Pullups
30 Ring Dips
20 Pullups
20 Ring Dips
10 Pullups
10 Ring Dips
I saw this WOD on the mainsite on Friday and thought wow but definitely doable. Well this was my chance. The pullup bars at Dulles are stationary and I knew I could knock out the pullups pretty quickly but I had no idea what a good time would be. Mike Lee and I were the only ones there. Mike is a real fire breather. Every time I go up to Dulles Mike and I usually push each other and go head to head. Mike went to the Crossfitgames this year and did well. We both looked at each other, said here goes and jumped on the bars.
My left hand opened up a little bit on Wednesday and was healing fast so I didn't think much of it but after I finished my first 50 pullups it opened up again. I fought through the 50 ring dips doing 5 at a time and jumped back on the bar. It was during my 40 pullups that I opened up my right hand and my left got worse. I was bleeding on the bar. Now after the fact I should not have used the taped bar, the friction was too much. There wasn't any tape and I ran into the l0ckeroom to get some paper towels to wipe off most of the blood. I have never thought about modifying or quiting once I have started a workout but the thought answered my head. I made it quickly leave and moved to an untaped bar. I had to jump on the bar and slide my hand so the skin that came up was over the open wounds that it should be covering up. I was not going to quit. Mike was moving along and Iman was not going to let me. I fought through the pain and slowly chipped away at the sets. I didn't give myself much rest and before I knew it I was on the last 10 ring dips. Mike had gotten to the rings before me so I knew I had to kip them up and knock them out. I have never really kipped my dips but I had to for this workout. I basically remembered the motion from Jacob and others on the website. I knocked out my dips and yelled "time" one second before Mike! Time was 19:58.
It was one hell of a workout and I really needed some more results to assess my performance. I went on the mainsite and went through the comments. There were a lot of people in the high 20's and 30's. There was only a handful of people under 20 minutes so I was proud. For the record Chris "Speal" did this workout in sub 14 minutes, insane! I know I could have had a better time had I not nursed my wounds but what can you do, roll with the bunches and GO HARD or GO HOME! My hands were pretty bad. Iman took a photo, I hope she posts it.
50 Pullups
50 Ring Dips
40 Pullups
40 Ring Dips
30 Pullups
30 Ring Dips
20 Pullups
20 Ring Dips
10 Pullups
10 Ring Dips
I saw this WOD on the mainsite on Friday and thought wow but definitely doable. Well this was my chance. The pullup bars at Dulles are stationary and I knew I could knock out the pullups pretty quickly but I had no idea what a good time would be. Mike Lee and I were the only ones there. Mike is a real fire breather. Every time I go up to Dulles Mike and I usually push each other and go head to head. Mike went to the Crossfitgames this year and did well. We both looked at each other, said here goes and jumped on the bars.
My left hand opened up a little bit on Wednesday and was healing fast so I didn't think much of it but after I finished my first 50 pullups it opened up again. I fought through the 50 ring dips doing 5 at a time and jumped back on the bar. It was during my 40 pullups that I opened up my right hand and my left got worse. I was bleeding on the bar. Now after the fact I should not have used the taped bar, the friction was too much. There wasn't any tape and I ran into the l0ckeroom to get some paper towels to wipe off most of the blood. I have never thought about modifying or quiting once I have started a workout but the thought answered my head. I made it quickly leave and moved to an untaped bar. I had to jump on the bar and slide my hand so the skin that came up was over the open wounds that it should be covering up. I was not going to quit. Mike was moving along and Iman was not going to let me. I fought through the pain and slowly chipped away at the sets. I didn't give myself much rest and before I knew it I was on the last 10 ring dips. Mike had gotten to the rings before me so I knew I had to kip them up and knock them out. I have never really kipped my dips but I had to for this workout. I basically remembered the motion from Jacob and others on the website. I knocked out my dips and yelled "time" one second before Mike! Time was 19:58.
It was one hell of a workout and I really needed some more results to assess my performance. I went on the mainsite and went through the comments. There were a lot of people in the high 20's and 30's. There was only a handful of people under 20 minutes so I was proud. For the record Chris "Speal" did this workout in sub 14 minutes, insane! I know I could have had a better time had I not nursed my wounds but what can you do, roll with the bunches and GO HARD or GO HOME! My hands were pretty bad. Iman took a photo, I hope she posts it.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Rest Day.........sort of
I said it, "I hate rest days." I am sitting at my desk and checking the CFOT website to see how everyone did on Elizabeth today. I have been making Fridays my one rest day of the week since I wake up and volunteer at Miriam's kitchen versus going to workout at CFOT. I wish I did the workout, well sort of..
I had mixed emotions when Jerry sent out an email that the workout for Friday was Elizabeth. I have to admit I am a little intimidated by some of the Benchmark workouts. Elizabeth is a workout for time:
21 Hang Squat Cleans (135#) - 21 Ring Dips
15 Hang Squat Cleans (135#) - 15 Ring Dips
9 Hang Squat Cleans (135#) - 9 Ring Dips
My Hang Squat Cleans are not where I want them to be. I need to work on my transition from the shrug/jump to rotating my elbows forward quickly and falling under the bar into a front squat position. The last workout we did Hang Squat Cleans I used 115# and that was not easy. I know I could have powered through the workout but was worried about the sort of time I would throw up. I have an expectation for myself that I am sometimes afraid I won't live up to, and may avoid trying something to avoid the disappointment. I know this is ridiculous and I really need to do all these workouts and measure my progress instead of waiting til I feel that I am ready to put up a good time. It basically goes back to a theory that I use for other things in life which is, it is easier and better to make short term goals instead of just working for one big goal because you are more likely to become frustrated and give up without the satisfaction of knowing gains. It is that simple, after all GO HARD or GO HOME!
If these benchmarks keep coming on Fridays I am going to make a point to find time to make them up. I have to start somewhere and can continue to work on form and make small gains. Eventually I will be at an optimal level and getting a sub 7 min Elizabeth time.
As for my rest day, it never is a complete rest day. Planning on going for a run and breaking in my X2 Weight Vest!
I had mixed emotions when Jerry sent out an email that the workout for Friday was Elizabeth. I have to admit I am a little intimidated by some of the Benchmark workouts. Elizabeth is a workout for time:
21 Hang Squat Cleans (135#) - 21 Ring Dips
15 Hang Squat Cleans (135#) - 15 Ring Dips
9 Hang Squat Cleans (135#) - 9 Ring Dips
My Hang Squat Cleans are not where I want them to be. I need to work on my transition from the shrug/jump to rotating my elbows forward quickly and falling under the bar into a front squat position. The last workout we did Hang Squat Cleans I used 115# and that was not easy. I know I could have powered through the workout but was worried about the sort of time I would throw up. I have an expectation for myself that I am sometimes afraid I won't live up to, and may avoid trying something to avoid the disappointment. I know this is ridiculous and I really need to do all these workouts and measure my progress instead of waiting til I feel that I am ready to put up a good time. It basically goes back to a theory that I use for other things in life which is, it is easier and better to make short term goals instead of just working for one big goal because you are more likely to become frustrated and give up without the satisfaction of knowing gains. It is that simple, after all GO HARD or GO HOME!
If these benchmarks keep coming on Fridays I am going to make a point to find time to make them up. I have to start somewhere and can continue to work on form and make small gains. Eventually I will be at an optimal level and getting a sub 7 min Elizabeth time.
As for my rest day, it never is a complete rest day. Planning on going for a run and breaking in my X2 Weight Vest!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Who says we never train core.....
I woke up today and was definitely a little sore, not too bad but the last few days have left an impression with me. Here is the workout for today.
WOD
Buy in
50 AB Mat Situps
5Rounds of:
400m Run
10 Turkish Get-Ups (40# Dumbbell)
10 L-Sit Pullups
10 Burpees
Cashout
50 AB Mat Situps
I was pretty excited about this workout because it was not too intimidating and a workout I felt I could perform well with. Plus it was an easy way to get my 32 Burpees in! Today was a good mental day because I knew I could kill this and was planning on going really hard!
I was not the first person done with the 50 AB Mat Situps but caught up some ground on the first 400m. I ended up doing 40# on the Getups because there were no more 35# Dumbbell's which were prescribed. They were tough but come on what is 5 more pounds. Needless to say I made head way on the Getups, L-Sits and Burpees. I did them all consecutively. Some people partitioned the exercises. The L-Sits were tough especially after practicing L-Sits on my parallettes for 30 seconds every 5 minutes for 35 minutes while I was watching tv last night. I used the rope because I think it is easier to maintain the L position and did end up doing a few reps and getting off the rope for a few seconds. But that was the extent of my rest. I was going through rounds at a great pace and running my 400m hard! I finished in 36:51, first at 6am and second for the day only to Chriss (my new nemesis) who finished is 35:19. I was really happy with my performance, I pushed it to the limits on a manageable workout. I think it was a confidence thing especially after the last few workouts had so many reps, that and I was killing each round and had a good lead on everyone.
Oh yeah Jerry posted video of me and my Turkish Getups on line. Pretty Cool! I would post it if I knew how.
I am off tomorrow but planning on hitting a workout at Dulles Saturday morning.
WOD
Buy in
50 AB Mat Situps
5Rounds of:
400m Run
10 Turkish Get-Ups (40# Dumbbell)
10 L-Sit Pullups
10 Burpees
Cashout
50 AB Mat Situps
I was pretty excited about this workout because it was not too intimidating and a workout I felt I could perform well with. Plus it was an easy way to get my 32 Burpees in! Today was a good mental day because I knew I could kill this and was planning on going really hard!
I was not the first person done with the 50 AB Mat Situps but caught up some ground on the first 400m. I ended up doing 40# on the Getups because there were no more 35# Dumbbell's which were prescribed. They were tough but come on what is 5 more pounds. Needless to say I made head way on the Getups, L-Sits and Burpees. I did them all consecutively. Some people partitioned the exercises. The L-Sits were tough especially after practicing L-Sits on my parallettes for 30 seconds every 5 minutes for 35 minutes while I was watching tv last night. I used the rope because I think it is easier to maintain the L position and did end up doing a few reps and getting off the rope for a few seconds. But that was the extent of my rest. I was going through rounds at a great pace and running my 400m hard! I finished in 36:51, first at 6am and second for the day only to Chriss (my new nemesis) who finished is 35:19. I was really happy with my performance, I pushed it to the limits on a manageable workout. I think it was a confidence thing especially after the last few workouts had so many reps, that and I was killing each round and had a good lead on everyone.
Oh yeah Jerry posted video of me and my Turkish Getups on line. Pretty Cool! I would post it if I knew how.
I am off tomorrow but planning on hitting a workout at Dulles Saturday morning.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Fight Gone Bad-ish....
I keep walking up the stairs to CFOT at 5:50am and a little sore and tired and just hoping for a heavy day. I need to really stop hoping for that because it doesn't appear it is going to happen soon. Got in today to see Jerry had posted a workout similar to Fight Gone Bad, so here goes:
Four Exercises - Five Rounds!-Total Reps- a minute at each exercise with two minutes between rounds. The Exercises were
Row for Calories
Jumping Lunges
Sumo Deadlift High Pull with KettleBell (52#)
Dumbbell Thrusters (30#)
Each round you start with a different exercise except the fifth when you repeat where you started.
I have done FGB before and my PR is 311 reps, I got this 7/1/08, which was Jacob's last day. I am signed up to do the FGB fundraiser on 9/27/08 and my goal is 350 reps. I am a firm believer that (a) there is a strategy to FGB and (b) you have to pace yourself. With that being said I made the worst choice and started with Thrusters. I immediately felt it in my shoulders and noticed my right arm was a lot stronger than my left. Just a result of being injured and doing one-armed workouts for a few weeks. I probably would have done better with a barbell but who knows. The others at Thrusters with me were Craig and Chip, two really strong guys. I kept looking at them and working harder and harder.
I could go through the details of every round but too tired to write all that. I finished the 5 rounds with 445 total reps (detail by round and exercise below). I was one of the last people to write my number on the board and thought I miscalculated because I was the highest #. I recalculated it and was the top performer at 6am. Leslie was next at 431.
Dumbbell Thrusters 22 13 14 15 21
Row for Calories 12 16 11 10 10
Jumping Lunge 30 35 45 30 30
KettleBell High Pull 25 27 23 28 28
89 91 93 83 89 = 445
Of course I started analyzing my performance and my strategy (because that is what I do). I was surprised and proud I scored the same reps in the last round as I did in the first! I really should have started at Jumping Lunge because that 45 in Round 3 was the first exercise, if I had started with jumping lunges I would have had two high rounds. Other than that and the fact I should have tried for my reps on jumping lunge, I was pretty happy.
Since today was my day off I hung out and got my 31 burpees in and watched the 6:45 class. Chris was at the 645 class and I told him to start with jumping lunge, my mistake. He started his first round with 60 or so jumping lunges. So I finished watching them and Chris scored 498! I was now disappointed with my score. I did good but could have done better and Chris' score proves it. I know I am hard on myself but that is the drive and competition I love and the reason why I love Crossfit. Chris and I were talking about joining Harold for another 1 round since it looked like Harold was going to be by himself at 730. Others showed up but Chris and I still said lets go hard for one round and we started with jumping lunges. Now I had a lot more recovery time than Chris but I got 140 reps (didn't row because of space but did KB High Pulls twice) he got 110 or something. I knocked out 60+ lunges and just didn't stop. Makes a world of a difference when it is just one round. That is what makes FGB so hard it is 3 rounds and like I said before it requires strategy and pace. I am already thinking of my strategy on FGB and if I am going to reach 350 then I need to work on my box jumps, here is to September 27! Can't wait.
Four Exercises - Five Rounds!-Total Reps- a minute at each exercise with two minutes between rounds. The Exercises were
Row for Calories
Jumping Lunges
Sumo Deadlift High Pull with KettleBell (52#)
Dumbbell Thrusters (30#)
Each round you start with a different exercise except the fifth when you repeat where you started.
I have done FGB before and my PR is 311 reps, I got this 7/1/08, which was Jacob's last day. I am signed up to do the FGB fundraiser on 9/27/08 and my goal is 350 reps. I am a firm believer that (a) there is a strategy to FGB and (b) you have to pace yourself. With that being said I made the worst choice and started with Thrusters. I immediately felt it in my shoulders and noticed my right arm was a lot stronger than my left. Just a result of being injured and doing one-armed workouts for a few weeks. I probably would have done better with a barbell but who knows. The others at Thrusters with me were Craig and Chip, two really strong guys. I kept looking at them and working harder and harder.
I could go through the details of every round but too tired to write all that. I finished the 5 rounds with 445 total reps (detail by round and exercise below). I was one of the last people to write my number on the board and thought I miscalculated because I was the highest #. I recalculated it and was the top performer at 6am. Leslie was next at 431.
Dumbbell Thrusters 22 13 14 15 21
Row for Calories 12 16 11 10 10
Jumping Lunge 30 35 45 30 30
KettleBell High Pull 25 27 23 28 28
89 91 93 83 89 = 445
Of course I started analyzing my performance and my strategy (because that is what I do). I was surprised and proud I scored the same reps in the last round as I did in the first! I really should have started at Jumping Lunge because that 45 in Round 3 was the first exercise, if I had started with jumping lunges I would have had two high rounds. Other than that and the fact I should have tried for my reps on jumping lunge, I was pretty happy.
Since today was my day off I hung out and got my 31 burpees in and watched the 6:45 class. Chris was at the 645 class and I told him to start with jumping lunge, my mistake. He started his first round with 60 or so jumping lunges. So I finished watching them and Chris scored 498! I was now disappointed with my score. I did good but could have done better and Chris' score proves it. I know I am hard on myself but that is the drive and competition I love and the reason why I love Crossfit. Chris and I were talking about joining Harold for another 1 round since it looked like Harold was going to be by himself at 730. Others showed up but Chris and I still said lets go hard for one round and we started with jumping lunges. Now I had a lot more recovery time than Chris but I got 140 reps (didn't row because of space but did KB High Pulls twice) he got 110 or something. I knocked out 60+ lunges and just didn't stop. Makes a world of a difference when it is just one round. That is what makes FGB so hard it is 3 rounds and like I said before it requires strategy and pace. I am already thinking of my strategy on FGB and if I am going to reach 350 then I need to work on my box jumps, here is to September 27! Can't wait.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Tuesday, August 11, 2008
I caught up with my burpees last night by doing 28 and then 29 after I rolled for 1:15. It was the first time I have sparred in quite awhile because of my injury. I got my but kicked for the most part but one think for sure was that I was not exhausted and felt my endurance and conditioning were there. If I have any advantage over an opponent I feel that endurance and conditioning is it. I owe that to Crossfit and the Zone.
So I have been Zoning pretty strict for about 5 weeks, with last week being a debacle, but one thing that I am noticing is that I am maintaining my weight. I am not expecting to lose weight but am surprised I have not really lost any weight. I don't think I am losing body fat either. I tested my body fat about 5 weeks ago and it was 7.7%, so I am planning on testing it again tomorrow. Even if the results of the zone are not physically apparent I do feel healthy and full of energy.
Needless to say I was a little sore from the WOD yesterday, rolling and catching up on my burpees ( I did 135 burpees yesterday). I was looking forward to a nice heavy skill day. Not so much.
The warm up was 3-5 rounds of:
5 burpees
10 OHS (PVC)
15 Abmat Sit-ups
I was happy that I could use the warm-up to count for 25 of my 30 burpees needed for today but once I did my first one regretted every associating burpees with happy.
The WOD was intimidating. Jerry had told me after his 5pm class yesterday that he had to change the WOD yesterday for the 5pm class because we did a ton of reps (110 Snatches, 110 OHS/Lunges, 110 ring dips). So I was not expecting this WOD:
For Time
Pull-Ups/Kettle Bell Swings (55#)/Box Jumps
36-30-24-18-12-6
Yes complete 36 pullups, then 36 swings, then 36 box jumps, followed by 30 pullups then 30....
I thought as positive as I could because I knew it was going to be tough and jumped on the pull up bar. I knocked out 20 pullups and jumped off the bar, I realized that I shouldn't go for a PR and exhaust myself to wear the remaining pullup were harder. I started pacing myself by breaking reps into little sets. I found myself doing sets equal to 1/3 the total reps, taking 5-10 seconds and then going again. I thnk this is more managable and not as intimidating, plus you give yourself a little reward to reaching your short-term goal. I felt like I was flying through and kept a constant pace other than the 30 seconds or so I asked Jerry for tape on my ripped open callus. Adrienne finished in 20 something but was going ring rows instead of pull ups, still a killer job and I got a sense of time when she yelled "time". Not to say I don't compete with Adrienne because I do, she is one of the toughest girls I know. However, it is hard to compare my time to her when her WOD is modified. Now that I am back (yep shoulder is feeling good) I have a larger amount of people to compete/compare myself with. I was on that last box jump and couldn't wait to yell time, since no one else had and then Steven yelled time at 26:33, I was at 26:34. I know it is just one second but I immediately started thinking through my strategy like what if I didn't get tape, or did I take too many short breaks between my little sets. I think this is good because I know what I can improve on to decrease my time but at the end of the day I was happy with my performance one second behind Steven.
I was reading a affiliate page and saw something that nailed it, you can't go at the same pace everyday or go hard everyday but need to focus on going as hard as you can TODAY. Basically focus on today, and because of different variables (tired, sore) you may not be at the level you were yesterday or tomorrow but go as hard as your body can go today. I do feel like I did because I was beat after this workout and made one hell of a "sweat angel."
One hell of a workout that I can learn from and improve on, but bottom line is I gave it everything I could today.
So I have been Zoning pretty strict for about 5 weeks, with last week being a debacle, but one thing that I am noticing is that I am maintaining my weight. I am not expecting to lose weight but am surprised I have not really lost any weight. I don't think I am losing body fat either. I tested my body fat about 5 weeks ago and it was 7.7%, so I am planning on testing it again tomorrow. Even if the results of the zone are not physically apparent I do feel healthy and full of energy.
Needless to say I was a little sore from the WOD yesterday, rolling and catching up on my burpees ( I did 135 burpees yesterday). I was looking forward to a nice heavy skill day. Not so much.
The warm up was 3-5 rounds of:
5 burpees
10 OHS (PVC)
15 Abmat Sit-ups
I was happy that I could use the warm-up to count for 25 of my 30 burpees needed for today but once I did my first one regretted every associating burpees with happy.
The WOD was intimidating. Jerry had told me after his 5pm class yesterday that he had to change the WOD yesterday for the 5pm class because we did a ton of reps (110 Snatches, 110 OHS/Lunges, 110 ring dips). So I was not expecting this WOD:
For Time
Pull-Ups/Kettle Bell Swings (55#)/Box Jumps
36-30-24-18-12-6
Yes complete 36 pullups, then 36 swings, then 36 box jumps, followed by 30 pullups then 30....
I thought as positive as I could because I knew it was going to be tough and jumped on the pull up bar. I knocked out 20 pullups and jumped off the bar, I realized that I shouldn't go for a PR and exhaust myself to wear the remaining pullup were harder. I started pacing myself by breaking reps into little sets. I found myself doing sets equal to 1/3 the total reps, taking 5-10 seconds and then going again. I thnk this is more managable and not as intimidating, plus you give yourself a little reward to reaching your short-term goal. I felt like I was flying through and kept a constant pace other than the 30 seconds or so I asked Jerry for tape on my ripped open callus. Adrienne finished in 20 something but was going ring rows instead of pull ups, still a killer job and I got a sense of time when she yelled "time". Not to say I don't compete with Adrienne because I do, she is one of the toughest girls I know. However, it is hard to compare my time to her when her WOD is modified. Now that I am back (yep shoulder is feeling good) I have a larger amount of people to compete/compare myself with. I was on that last box jump and couldn't wait to yell time, since no one else had and then Steven yelled time at 26:33, I was at 26:34. I know it is just one second but I immediately started thinking through my strategy like what if I didn't get tape, or did I take too many short breaks between my little sets. I think this is good because I know what I can improve on to decrease my time but at the end of the day I was happy with my performance one second behind Steven.
I was reading a affiliate page and saw something that nailed it, you can't go at the same pace everyday or go hard everyday but need to focus on going as hard as you can TODAY. Basically focus on today, and because of different variables (tired, sore) you may not be at the level you were yesterday or tomorrow but go as hard as your body can go today. I do feel like I did because I was beat after this workout and made one hell of a "sweat angel."
One hell of a workout that I can learn from and improve on, but bottom line is I gave it everything I could today.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
I am back! Well rested and pretty much healed. I no longer have any discomfort in my shoulder when I raise my arm or go parallel and have no numbness in my thumb. I did work out over my vacation. I ran on the beach (approx. 4-5 miles) almost every day and did some burpees, which were fun in the sand. I brought my rings but did not even end up putting them up until the last day I was there, a little disappointing. There really was not a good spot for them but finally rigged something up on the last day. I was jealous throughout the week as I checked the CFOT website to see the daily WODs, they looked tough and challenging. Hopefully I will catch them, the next time around. I tried to Zone over vacation but it was pretty much impossible because I didn't want to be a brat with eating when other people were preparing dinners. I didn't eat terribly bad but it wasn't good. I woke up Sunday knowing vacation was over and it was time to get after it, both in terms of my workouts and the Zone.
I was pretty excited about getting back into the blue room. Sunday's WOD was group based work out, there were 24 of us! I agree with others that it is often hard to measure your own performance/output because you are just trying to complete the WOD as a team, but I do like the change of pace and I just go as hard as possible but not too hard that I don't support my teammates. For this WOD each team had a deck of cars. Each card represented a particular movement. The number on the card represents the number of reps. Pretty simple.
The goal was to get through 2 decks of cards for time. The exercises were: jumping ball slams (15lbs), sumo dead high pools with a kettlebell (55lbs), rowing renegades, and pullup
If you pulled the first Joker, then 10 reps of all 4 exercises. Of course I pulled this one in the first deck. The second Joker was a Group 800 meter run, basically drop what you were doing and go! I was in the middle of the 10 reps of all 4 exercises when we pulled the second deck. It as a fun workout and I definitely broke a sweat. My team finished first, right around 22 minutes. Once everyone got done, I asked if anyone wanted to go again for one more round and we got 3 teams of 4 to do one more round. Overall a great workout to get back into it.
Ok so today! Today was the first day I have woken up before 8am in approximately 10 days so it was rough when the alarm went off at 5:10am. I ran into Jerry before I got into the Blue Room and he asked me how my shoulder was, I told him just about 100% and that it felt great. Then he told me overhead squats were on the WOD and he and I basically agreed to do the WOD with dumbbell lunges, just to be on the safe side since I had hurt my shoulder the last time we did overhead squats. The workout was a ladder workout and good be done one of two ways:
Option 1 - The ladder was 1-10 reps with one rep = (a) One Arm Dumbbell Snatch Left, One Arm Dumbbell Snatch Right Arm (completing all snatches before moving to (b) Overhead Walking Lunge Left, Overhead Walking Lunge Right - Men 35lb DB and (3) ring dip. Once up to 10 then go run 800m and come back and work from 10-1. Killer
Option 2 - The same ladder and 800m run with the ladder down but one rep was barbell Snatch, then one overhead squat. Men 75lbs, then the ring dip.
Option 1 was tough but the barbell snatches and overhead squats looked tough. I just did two overhead lunges with my right arm, since I didn't want to put too much on my left shoulder since I felt rehabbed. I finished first in 34:41 and was absolutely soaking wet from sweat. It was tough. On top of that I knew I had to catch up on Burpees since Thursday was my last day I did them, which was also a catch up day. I waited a little bit to catch my breath than did 25, then 26 and finally 27 burpees. I felt great on my burpees, they were quick, soft and explosive! Today is Day 29 so tonight after I roll I am going to knock out 28 and then 29 burpees so I am caught up to do 30 burpees tomorrow!
I was pretty excited about getting back into the blue room. Sunday's WOD was group based work out, there were 24 of us! I agree with others that it is often hard to measure your own performance/output because you are just trying to complete the WOD as a team, but I do like the change of pace and I just go as hard as possible but not too hard that I don't support my teammates. For this WOD each team had a deck of cars. Each card represented a particular movement. The number on the card represents the number of reps. Pretty simple.
The goal was to get through 2 decks of cards for time. The exercises were: jumping ball slams (15lbs), sumo dead high pools with a kettlebell (55lbs), rowing renegades, and pullup
If you pulled the first Joker, then 10 reps of all 4 exercises. Of course I pulled this one in the first deck. The second Joker was a Group 800 meter run, basically drop what you were doing and go! I was in the middle of the 10 reps of all 4 exercises when we pulled the second deck. It as a fun workout and I definitely broke a sweat. My team finished first, right around 22 minutes. Once everyone got done, I asked if anyone wanted to go again for one more round and we got 3 teams of 4 to do one more round. Overall a great workout to get back into it.
Ok so today! Today was the first day I have woken up before 8am in approximately 10 days so it was rough when the alarm went off at 5:10am. I ran into Jerry before I got into the Blue Room and he asked me how my shoulder was, I told him just about 100% and that it felt great. Then he told me overhead squats were on the WOD and he and I basically agreed to do the WOD with dumbbell lunges, just to be on the safe side since I had hurt my shoulder the last time we did overhead squats. The workout was a ladder workout and good be done one of two ways:
Option 1 - The ladder was 1-10 reps with one rep = (a) One Arm Dumbbell Snatch Left, One Arm Dumbbell Snatch Right Arm (completing all snatches before moving to (b) Overhead Walking Lunge Left, Overhead Walking Lunge Right - Men 35lb DB and (3) ring dip. Once up to 10 then go run 800m and come back and work from 10-1. Killer
Option 2 - The same ladder and 800m run with the ladder down but one rep was barbell Snatch, then one overhead squat. Men 75lbs, then the ring dip.
Option 1 was tough but the barbell snatches and overhead squats looked tough. I just did two overhead lunges with my right arm, since I didn't want to put too much on my left shoulder since I felt rehabbed. I finished first in 34:41 and was absolutely soaking wet from sweat. It was tough. On top of that I knew I had to catch up on Burpees since Thursday was my last day I did them, which was also a catch up day. I waited a little bit to catch my breath than did 25, then 26 and finally 27 burpees. I felt great on my burpees, they were quick, soft and explosive! Today is Day 29 so tonight after I roll I am going to knock out 28 and then 29 burpees so I am caught up to do 30 burpees tomorrow!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
Once I completed today's workout I truly felt like I am on vacation. There is the minor detail of going to work for a few hours, which should be plenty of time to read the news and catch up on some crossfit sites.
I wanted to get one last workout in the blue room before I hit the beach, mainly because I knew the workout was going to include deadlifts, my nemesis. Jerry ended up doing an open gym format so some people did some benchmark workouts (Gar and Katie rocked out Fran!) and others did Cindy or Karen. Anthony and I took the time to work on deadlifts. Anthony is working on his PR and of course I am working on the bar, I mean form. My lower bag felt a little weak but I stretched out and everything felt better. I did 2 sets of 10 with the bar and focused on the stretch in my hamstrings. I then added 30 pounds so did a few sets of 5 at 75#. Anthony was a big help, we would watch each other on form and he let me know what I needed to correct. I was pumped with Jerry didn't really say anything negative about my form other than looking good! I ended up putting 50# more on and maintained doing sets of 5. Anthony told me to put some more weight on, but I was somewhat timid and only but another 20# so ended up doing my last two sets of 5 with 145#.
I have realized that focusing on the little things and visualizing my form helps. I feel like I can feel when I do something wrong or get a good rep. I think I want to keep working form with weight around what I did today and my ultimate goal would be to go heavy or attempt a PR on week 12.
I am about 2 hrs from hopping in the car for the beach. Got it loaded up with rings, jump rope, elastic band, and hopper cards! Can't wait for some beach workouts. Working out should not be a problem, I am more worried about Zoning while on vacation.
I wanted to get one last workout in the blue room before I hit the beach, mainly because I knew the workout was going to include deadlifts, my nemesis. Jerry ended up doing an open gym format so some people did some benchmark workouts (Gar and Katie rocked out Fran!) and others did Cindy or Karen. Anthony and I took the time to work on deadlifts. Anthony is working on his PR and of course I am working on the bar, I mean form. My lower bag felt a little weak but I stretched out and everything felt better. I did 2 sets of 10 with the bar and focused on the stretch in my hamstrings. I then added 30 pounds so did a few sets of 5 at 75#. Anthony was a big help, we would watch each other on form and he let me know what I needed to correct. I was pumped with Jerry didn't really say anything negative about my form other than looking good! I ended up putting 50# more on and maintained doing sets of 5. Anthony told me to put some more weight on, but I was somewhat timid and only but another 20# so ended up doing my last two sets of 5 with 145#.
I have realized that focusing on the little things and visualizing my form helps. I feel like I can feel when I do something wrong or get a good rep. I think I want to keep working form with weight around what I did today and my ultimate goal would be to go heavy or attempt a PR on week 12.
I am about 2 hrs from hopping in the car for the beach. Got it loaded up with rings, jump rope, elastic band, and hopper cards! Can't wait for some beach workouts. Working out should not be a problem, I am more worried about Zoning while on vacation.
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