Kaizen.

In the spirit of some old-fashioned New Year's Eve reflection, I've been thinking recently about what I have and haven't managed to accomplish in 2009. On balance, it's been a pretty good year: I quit a job I didn't love and have spent the last 9 months getting much closer to actually applying to grad school. I got engaged in September and finally feel like my fiance and I have time to plan for the big day. I joined Potomac Crossfit in February and over the last 11 months--despite a few self-inflicted setbacks--have become a fitter, healthier, and happier person. I've made some mistakes (overscheduling my life and not prioritizing my well-being being chief among them), but I've learned a lot about nutrition, fitness, and self-motivation, and am looking forward to continuing to improve and learn in 2010.

Now, onto a few short-term goals. As I mentioned, I signed up for sectionals, which will take place at the end of March. Like I said, I have no illusions about doing well, but I think that I can make a reasonable amount of progress from now until then, and I like the idea of having something to work towards. In any event:

First, January 1 to February 16 I will conduct my own personal Paleo Challenge: Zone-proportioned lean protein, no caffeine or artificial sweeteners of any kind, 2 or fewer servings of fruit a day, and a daily dose of Carlson's fish oil. I'll take before and after photos for the sake of having an additional metric for comparison, and I'll look for support from the other PCF folks doing the real challenge.

Second, except for during my overnight ambulance shifts, I'm aiming for 8-9 hours of sleep every night. Except for a 10-day period a few weeks ago, I was pretty close to this goal in December, and my spring schedule will be even more conducive to making it happen.

Third, I am shooting to average 4-5 WODs per week, and I plan to periodically evaluate whether I need to cut back on other commitments if they start to interfere.

Last, each month I will choose a goat (or goats) to work on, with an aim for raising my competence in a few critical arenas. I have 2 goats for January: stringing kipping pullups together (5 is my goal) and doing the same with double unders (25 is my goal). Both are technique-dependent moves that would be perfect for me to work on at the 1100 skill hour at the box several times a week.

Ok, if you've made it through this post, it's your turn. These seem like reasonable aspirations, but I would love to hear thoughts, comments, and suggestions if anyone has any. Happy New Year, everyone!

Push jerks weren't good today. I managed to get 100 up before failing on 105 two times, egh.

Metcon afterward was

42 wall balls (8 ft, 12 lb)

21 pullups

30 wall balls

15 pullups

18 wall balls

9 pullups

8:27 as Rx'd, really am looking forward to learning how to string kips together, as that would greatly improve my time. Broke the wall balls once in each round more than I wanted to.

Did a modified version of gymnastics warmup 1:

5 rounds

3 HSPU negatives

5 pushups

10 sec tripod/frog stand

and

3 rounds

10 squats

I then went down to the treadmill and farted around on it for a bit before doing a fast-as-I-can-manage-two-days-after-Christmas mile. My treadmill math is a little fuzzy, but I think I ended up in the vicinity of a 7:30 pace. I didn't expect much more after what I've eaten the past few days, and it'll be interesting to see how I might improve after a few weeks on a clean diet. Stretched a little afterward, and did some myofascial release this evening while watching the Redskins get stomped once again.

The overeating and drinking to activity ratio has been pretty pathetic the past few days, but I can report that I did about 5 hours of downhill skiing the day before Christmas Eve and today I did

50-40-30-20-10

Squats

Pushups

Situps

in 18:45

A few hours later, I then did 5 x 1 minute (unbroken) handstands.

Felt pretty crappy throughout the morning's workout, I'm sure as a result of the carb-fest that's been happening the past two days, but I was glad to get moving. Sleep has been for the most part fantastic for the past week - I think I have finally eliminated any sleep debt that may have accumulated during exam time.

Signed up for sectionals a few days ago. I have no illusions about placing well (or even finishing, for that matter), but I like the idea of having something to work toward over the next 90 days. More on this later.

Wednesday was an all-day study fest, Thursday was a 16-hour work day, and Friday and Saturday were spent travelling and spending time with family. Not being able to do anything but stumble from obligation to obligation is not the way I was hoping to spend the last week, but sometimes life happens. In any event, I am now caught up on sleep and am hoping to regain some sense of routine (or at least personal time) in the coming days.

This morning I did

5 rounds

100 m sprints on the minute

Then

Tabata handstands and Tabata situps (94 situps)

I was hoping I could finish my exam in time to make the 7 pm WOD, but that was not to be. Alas. Instead, later I did a modified gymnastics warmup 2 (only 3 sets of pullups) and the WOD from a few days ago:

5 rounds

Max reps bench press (65 lb 1st round, 75 lb for the rest)

Max reps pushups (with no rest after bench press)

Totals were 18/7, 10/10, 8/7, 6/10, 5/10. This was pretty hard, especially considering I have no idea what my 1 rep max is.

Wasn't feeling it on the way to the box today, but I'm glad I went in. Group warmup today, and WOD was

Find 1 RM Back Squat

Rest

3 rounds

1 min DU

30 sec rest

1 min box jumps

30 sec rest

1 min row

30 sec rest

I ended up with 170 lb on the back squat, which is a 10 lb PR! Props to Dan for pointing me toward an actual low bar position, which I think helped. Oddly enough, I feel like I maybe could have thrown 5 to 10 more on, but I'm happy with what I got considering my crappy mood before the WOD.

Met con was another matter. I ended up with 155, which is extremely low considering my rows were solid for me (even though the damn damper kept falling from 6 to 4) and I got about 20-24 box jumps per round. In retrospect, it would have been better for me to do single-double-single-double; I likely wasted a lot of time regrouping after each failed set (of which there were many).

December 11-13

Been a long, workout-free weekend, unfortunately. Looking forward to getting back in the gym on Monday!

Did a hybrid of gymnastics warmup #1:

3 rounds

3 HSPU negatives

5 parallette pushups

10 second tripod work (actually got a few seconds without any pressure on my head at all)

Then

3 rounds

10 OHS

10 KB deadlifts (1 pood)

WOD was

Deadlift 5x5 (125-145-160-180-190)

I actually felt like I had another 10-15 lbs in me, but it was cold (I did this in my carport) and I decided to call it a day while my form was good. As a result, my back feels great right now!

Combination of studying and family concerns put me in a don't-wanna-workout-today mood, but my better angels prevailed and I managed to get something done. Tonight I started things off with a modification of the PCF WOD (partly because I was too lazy to bring the rings inside, but also because didn't read it properly) and did

On the minute:

1 parallette pushup

1 situp

1 goblet squat (1 pood KB)

Add 1 rep for each exercise after each minute.

I ended up getting 7 rounds/minutes done. Limiting factor was of course the parallette pushups. I then felt guilty for not doing my gymnastics warmup beforehand (or any warmup, really), so I did a modified version of warmup #2:

3 rounds

3 kipping pullups

3 deadhangs

Then

3 rounds

10 sec tuck L-hang

10 KB swings (1 pood)

So not an ideal day by any means, but I'm glad I did something, if only because I felt better afterward.

Monday was

Gymnastics warmup #1

Then

Back Squat 5x5 (105-115-125-135-145[2])

Shoulder Press 5x5 (55-60-65-70[3]-70[3])

Back squats actually didn't feel super heavy, I just couldn't focus like I wanted to. Shoulder press sucked, mostly I think because I lower the bar too slowly, causing unnecessary fatigue.

When I got home, did 8 sets of 2 deadhang pullups before calling it a day.

On Sunday morning I had my first myofascial release massage. Oh my, that was painful, but nearly all of the lower body tension that I've been feeling is gone. Sunday evening I went into the box, and did

Gymnastics warmup #2 (with only 3 rounds of upper body stuff instead of 5)

then

"Hey Boo Boo"

Which is basically 3 rounds of 5 sets of the Bear Complex. I proceeded cautiously and did the first round at 65, the second at 80, and the third at 85. All went well until the third round, when I accidentally dropped the bar after the first set (trying to regrip). I ended up performing the rest of the movements except for the last 5 push presses, as my shoulders were pretty tired and sore by then.

Friday I worked a 16 hour shift on the ambulance, so no WOD. I brought my jumprope in the hopes that I could spend a little time on double unders in the afternoon, but we were busy, so alas.

Today was the Lumberjack 20. Holy cow.

20 deadlifts (155 lb, scaled down from 185 lb)

400 m run

20 kb swings (1.5 pood, Russian instead of American)

400 m run

20 OHS (9 at 65 lb, then 11 at 35 lb)

400 m run

20 burpees

400 m run

20 pullups

400 m run

20 box jumps (20")

400 m run

20 DB cleans (20 lb each hand, down from 35 lb)

400 m run

29:36

Disappointed with my OHS performance, mostly because I know I can do 65 lb. I was tired, though. Probably should have done 25 or 35 lb DB cleans, but my tired self won out on that argument too, and those things were murderous at the end of the WOD. Despite all this, given the terrible mood I was in when I woke up this morning, I consider finishing a victory!

Thursday was a rest day. Did a little work on double unders tonight, but had to stop a few minutes in after my right calf tightened up big time. Got the tightness massaged out, but it's still a little sore. Weird...

Warmup at the 5 pm WOD was a dynamic group warmup, so I didn't get to do my gymnastic warmup 2 today. WOD was

AMRAP 15:00

20 box jumps (20")

20 push presses (55 lb)

20 situps

4.5 rounds completed as Rx'd

Box jumps weren't so bad, but I really need to work on not breaking them (or at least doing 10 at a time). Push presses were ok but hard, partly because of some lingering soreness; I need to work on not breaking them as often too. When I focused on good form, though, I really felt them fly up. Situps were all unbroken. Overall, I tried to get right into the next exercise after a set was completed, but I still felt like I wussed out in terms of my breaks, especially at the end.

I got inspired by all the different "focus on a good warmup" blogs/articles out there and decided to give the gymnastics warmup in the CFJ a try. Am starting at the beginner level there given all of the upper body strength I sorely need to develop; when I can, I'll be alternating between the following two warmups for awhile, with slight modifications or additions depending on the day's WOD:

Day 1

5 rounds

10 sec handstand (working on staying off the wall as much as possible)

5 parallette/ring pushups

10 sec tripod

3 rounds

10 OHS

10 KB deadlifts (1 pood)

Day 2

5 rounds

3 kip attempts

5 dead hang pullups

3 rounds

10 sec tuck L-hang

10 KB swings (1 pood)

The goal is to be able to get through the warmup effortlessly before proceeding onto the next level. Day 1's warmup did not go effortlessly, only really because of the parallette pushups, but I have hope for the future.

After the warmup, I did

Back Squat 5x3 (115 lb)

Then

6 rounds on the minute

7 deadlifts (145 lb)

7 box jumps

Was supposed to do 7 rounds, but back tightened up at the end of round 6, so I decided not to press it. Should have put more space in between back squats and deadlifts.

Saturday and Sunday turned into rest days. On Sunday I spent 14 hours in the car, and while I tried to at least stretch a little during our rest stops, sitting for that long certainly didn't do me any favors.

Today I was pleased to get back to the gym. Did a scaled version of Cindy's Got Gas, which for ease of remembering's sake turned into

AMRAP 10:00

3 Power Cleans (100 lb), then

3 rounds

3 pullups

6 pushups

9 squats

I ended up doing 2 full rounds plus cleans and 27 reps through the third round. Hadn't done cleans in a bit, so I was happy to be able to get 9 of them done (a few were a little ugly). Next time I'm going to do the full 5 pullups, even if it takes me a bit longer. Chest to bar is another matter entirely, though. Pushups and squats were all unbroken with the exception of one squat set, when I zoned out. Then later, while watching football (go Saints!) I did

Tabata handstands

Managed to stay up for all 8 rounds, which was pretty exciting...

Today was another day in New Orleans. I did

250 lunges for time

Took me about 14 minutes. I did it outside on the patio next to the pool, and so had to do each lunge pretty slowly to avoid banging my knee on the pavement. I then played around with headstand tripods a little - handstand ones proved way out of my reach for now.

Tuesday and Wednesday were rest days, on account of school and travel. This morning before the turkey fest began Alex and I did

4 rounds

25 squats

25 m run

4 rounds

25 situps

25 m run

4 rounds

25 pushups

25 m run

Took 16:30, which included at least 15 seconds knocking fire ants off my back. Both legs and arms are still pretty sore from Monday, so squats and pushups were brutal.

Tonight was "Elizabeth's Purse," which consisted of

21-15-9

35# single DB clean

ring dip (on toes)

8:09

I followed it up with 25 knees to elbows. Felt good on the cleans, but really wish I could get real ring dips...I was happy to get 28-30 pullups in the warmup no problem, though. Need to work on kip form.

Thank Goodness

After nearly 2 weeks of not being able to do much of anything, I am now cough free and was able to get into the box - finally! Tonight we did a 3-person team WOD called "Three," which consisted of 3 rounds of each person rowing 3 minutes. My team of Erin and Jenny got 5550 meters; I didn't keep track, but I guess I was responsible for about 2200 of that. I felt pretty good, considering my situation, and was pleased to be able to stay pretty steady on my 500m rate (a little less than 2:00 for round 1, and between 2:05 and 2:12 or so thereafter). I upped the damper setting to 5/6 for the last 2 rounds, which was harder but helped me keep my stroke smoother.

Yay!

Also, I forgot that last Thursday (the 12th) I did manage a little something before succumbing to my cough:

Back Squats 3x3 (140)

Shoulder Press 3x3 (70)

Deadlift 1x5 (180)

Monday was a self-imposed rest day; I was ready to head to the gym after my exam, but my cough was still so wicked that I could barely move without coughing hysterically for a couple of minutes.

This afternoon I did

Pullups 4-4-3-3-2-2-1-1

Nearly coughed my head off after each set, but oh well. In any case, I've found that one key to being able to do multiple pullups is to keep active shoulders and try to cycle as quickly as possible. The longer I stay at the bottom, the harder it is for me to get going again.

Tonight before cleaning I managed

Ring Dip Negatives 5-5-5-5-5

Nearly peed myself while coughing after my walk to the gym; that pretty much discouraged me from doing anything else this evening. Color me frustrated.

Today was

Shoulder Press 3-3-3-1-1-1

55-65-70-75-80-85(f)

Got some good cues from Ryan and Liz which helped me PR at 80 - push head through once bar is over my head, clench butt cheeks (helps me keep my core tight), and start with the bar off my chest and my forearms more straight up and down.

I then wanted to do the metcon team WOD, but my stupid cough prevented me from moving at any speed faster than a slow walk. Extremely. frustrating. Anyhow, I did a little bit of ring work before spending some committed time stretching (something I should probably spend more time doing anyways). Sigh.

Felt a little under the weather yesterday, but worked on

Pullups 10x2

Half-Tabata (4 rounds) hanging from the bar

Tabata Squats (17-17-16-16-16-16-16-18)

Half-Tabata (4 rounds) hanging from the bar

One of my biggest issues with pullups (especially with the big bars) is grip, so I figured working on that would be a good alternative way to attack my pullup deficiencies.

Did the push jerk workout from Tuesday. Rep scheme was

5-5-3-3-1-1

and I think my loads were

75-85-100-110-115f-105

Was a little disappointed, but had a lot of trouble keeping my torso upright and tight, which is what made the really heavy stuff go to hell. Afterward, worked on double unders and handstand pushups (really just negatives, but full ROM). At the end of the skillwork session, we did

5 rounds

1 minute double unders

1 minute handstand pushup negatives

My double under performance went bad quickly once my arms were tired. Then I got frustrated and that didn't help either. Boo.

Ok, so Tuesday didn't quite happen - felt a little under the weather and friends were in town. Wednesday wasn't looking great either, but I was able to skin my cat in lab quickly (seriously, I skinned a cat - it was oddly fun) and get home to lift. Did:

Back Squats 3x5 (135 lb)

Bench Press 3x5 (75 lb)

Power Clean 5x3 (75 lb)

Put simply, back squats weren't fun to come back to after a 10 day break. Bench presses were hard but not unpleasant. Power cleans were fun, which obviously means 75 lbs is too light.

Also discovered that I can do pretty decent dips on the bars of my GHD. I'm going to practice on that every so often just to get some ROM practice in my quest to get ring dips.

Nationals

So it's been a whirlwind week. Before I could leave on Wednesday with my ultimate frisbee team for our national tournament in Sarasota, Florida, I had to take 1 exam, 1 midterm, and 2 quizzes. Tuesday and Wednesday as a result turned into rest days, both because I had no time to work out but also to rest my body for the long weekend.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday was chock full of frisbee frisbee frisbee. We ended up breaking seed (13th) and ended up placing 11th in the tournament, which I'm pretty proud of, even though I feel that we did not necessarily play to our potential at times. All three days were hot as Hades (sunny, high 80s/low 90s, and high humidity), though, which negatively impacted my own play along with the play of everyone else. My lower body felt terrible, partly because of all the running (I hadn't done much with cleats on in the past month) on the progressively harder fields, but I for the most part enjoyed myself throughout the weekend.

Sunday was a rest/travel day, and today will likely be one more rest day as I catch up on schoolwork and life.

Level 1 Certification

Friday was a rest day in anticipation of the 16+ hours of Crossfit-ness on Saturday and Sunday, at the Level 1 Certification at Crossfit Fairfax. Needless to say, I learned a lot, and my legs are killing me from the workouts and all of the time I spent hanging out at the bottom of my still-immature air squat.

On Saturday, we did a Tabata squats workout in the morning, and followed that up with a team Fran in the afternoon. I gamed the squats a little bit since our lowest score ended up being the score we reported; 15 was a somewhat solid number, but I'd of course like to do better. Team Fran went relatively well: as a team of 5 (all of the PCF crew who attended the Cert - Jamie, Tara, Jen F, and Laura B), we had to accomplish 200 thrusters (mine were at 65 lb) and 250 pullups. I didn't keep exact track of my numbers, but am guessing I got somewhere in the 45 rep range for thrusters, and about 30 pullups, which were all kipping singles. Ok scores, considering I felt kind of worked over after the morning seminars and WOD. Got some good tips on making my thruster more efficient - I need to keep my elbows down, unlike during normal front squats. This helped me explode a little better into the push press part of the movement.

Sunday they took it a little easier on us and gave us a 10:00 AMRAP couplet of 10 burpees and 10 partner medicine ball situps. The gym was a bit crowded, which may have slowed me down a bit, and I lost count, but I think Jamie and I managed at least 6 rounds, if not 7. Tweaked my burpee form a little bit by widening my stance throughout the burpee, which really helped me get onto my heels and explode out of the pushup position.

I could go on and on about what I learned this weekend, but I have two midterms to study for, and I've already done some serious procrastinating this evening. Monday will be a rest day!

Wednesday was mostly a rest day: all I did was work on deadhang pullups. Did 4-2-2-2.

Today was another modified Stronglifts day:

Back Squat 3x5 (135 lb)

Overhead Press 3x5 (70 lb; 3-4-3)

Deadlift 1x5 (175 lb)

Decided to back off the weight a little for back squats and work on form. I kind of had a feeling today was going to be my first overhead press fail. I'll take another crack at 70 lb next time it comes up in the rotation. Deadlifts were surprisingly hard, probably in large part due to my core being tired by the time it was time to do them.

This evening, I had frisbee practice. Pretty short in terms of time and numbers, but I was glad to get out there and get some short sprints in. I then did 5 sets of 2 pullups with about 90 seconds rest in between before my shoulders called uncle.

Today's WOD was

5 rounds

50 double unders

10 HSPUs

Since I managed a couple of honest-to-goodness HSPUs (albeit with an ab mat) last week and after a consultation with Erika, I decided to try to do at least a few of them each round before going over to a black/blue band harness. Took me around 32 minutes to finish, in equal parts because of my C- double under ability and HSPUs being fricking hard. I also underestimated how much harder double unders would be after a bunch of HSPUs. In any event, it was good practice for both of those movements, and I was happy that I could get an average of 4 ab mat HSPUs every round before going over to the harness. Also, thanks to Ryan P for giving me the "relax" tip on the double unders. It really did help!

Mid-afternoon I worked on deadhang pullups:

3-2-2-2-1-1-1-1-1-1, trying to keep the breaks between sets as small as possible.

I've been frustrated by how hot and cold my pullup ability has been, so I'm going to try and grease the groove as much as I can without overdoing it on my shoulders. After doing the deadhangs, I then worked a little bit on the first part of the kipping pullup progression - swinging back and forth underneath the bar, making sure to employ my shoulders and not my hips to make the movement happen. Props to Again Faster's Mic'd Instructor videos for explaining the progression so well.

After class I did another modified Stronglifts:

Back Squat 3x5 (155 lb; 5-2-1)

Bench Press 3x5 (70 lb)

Power Clean 5x3 (70 lb)

GHD Situps 3x20

I was kind of bummed about failing on the back squats, but it had to happen sometime. The fact that I managed 8 reps on a weight that was 10 lb lower than my previous 1 rep max is probably a good sign, though. I'll probably deload a bit to work on form and work my way back up.

Weekend Update

Didn't get much sleep on Friday night, which resulted in me forgetting that the 12:00 class on Saturday was the free class. I was kind of bummed and also really tired, so couldn't motivate to do the snatch/row WOD on my own. I did decide to work on double unders and a little bit of met con by doing Annie, which is

50 DU

50 situps

40 DU

40 situps

30 DU

30 situps

20 DU

20 situps

10 DU

10 situps

My time ended up right around 13:00, which is pathetically slow, but this was the first time I've been able to do it as Rx'd, so I was pleased about that.

Sunday was frisbee practice, which was short and inside because of the weather. We basically scrimmaged 5s and 4s almost the entire time, which was pretty fun (and a fair amount of running). Resprained my thumb again, though, which sucks.

Thursday turned into another unanticipated rest day. Bleh.

Friday was modified Stronglifts B:

Back Squat 3x5 (150 lb)

Overhead Press 3x5 (65 lb)

Deadlift 1x5 (170 lb)

This workout was made less pleasant by the cold weather (my home gym is in the carport). D'oh! After deadlifts, I tried doing some pullups, and only got 6 done before I decided to take it easy on my shoulders, which were pretty tired from the overhead presses.

Did a modified version of Stronglifts A today:

Back Squat 3x5 (145 lb)

Bench Press 3x5 (65 lb)

Power Clean 3x3 (65 lb)

GHD Situps 3x20

Pushups 3x15

Was a little worried about lingering neck pain from yesterday, but decided to go after it anyhow. Man, does dropping down to 3x5 make a difference! I don't know if it was psychological, but I felt good to great throughout all but the last couple of back squats. Bench press was solid, and power cleans were a fun, welcome (and light, at my chosen starting weight of 65 lb) addition to the workout.

P.S. Neck felt fine throughout workout.

Monday was an unscheduled rest day due to my cold. Damn.

Tuesday was

Double Tabata

L-pullups (scaled to regular dead hangs)

Overhead Squats (65 lb)

61 reps

Not an impressive number by any stretch of the imagination, but there were a few factors working against me, namely dropping the bar on my neck too hard during the second round of OHS and having to ditch during another round. Felt good otherwise on OHS form, and am glad I scaled up to 65 lb (the Rx'd weight). Pullups were not great, as I only managed 2-4 per round (and couldn't count some because I didn't get up over the bar), but hey. At least I did real pullups, so I'll take it.

Saturday we spent nearly the whole class drilling the snatch with PVC (wasn't nearly as dirty as it sounds), then I worked a little just on form at 55 lb. I then did a few skin the cats and even managed a few handstand pushups, which was a first! I used the skinniest side of the ab mat, so it wasn't technically full ROM, but I got pretty dang close. Arms still felt pretty tired from the two previous days of pullups, pushups, and presses, so I didn't push it too much.

Sunday was frisbee practice and that's it. I felt a cold coming on before practice even started this morning, so I took it relatively easy and then decided to not go to the evening WOD...

Took a crack at Stronglifts B today:

Back Squat 5x5 (140 lb)

Overhead Press 5x5 (60 lb)

Deadlift 5x1 (165 lb)

Pullup 3-2-2-2-2 (arms were too worn out to make it through all 10 sets)

3-45 sec prone bridges

This workout is now officially hard - back squats have been pretty tough for the past few weeks, but today overhead presses and pullups were hard too. I'm guessing it had something to do with yesterday's workout, but the weight for overhead presses is starting to approach my previous 1-rep max, so I'm not surprised things are getting tricky.

From now on I think I'm going to replace inverted rows with 5x5 power cleans, just because I'd like to work on them more. Also, just realized that I should be doing 1 set of 5 deadlifts. Oops. Will rectify that next time.

Tuesday was a planned rest day, and Wednesday was an "oh damn I'm going to fail my anatomy and physiology quiz if I don't spent the entire day studying" kind of rest day. Today I intended to do the Oly lifting class and Stronglifts A afterward. I made it to Oly lifting, during which we worked on the snatch. I only managed a solid one at 65, which was kind of disappointing (I got 70 up, but let the bar get too far out front from me so it was hard to lock it in at the bottom), but it was nice to work on form.

Got home and started to squat, then decided it wasn't going to work out today (core was a little too tired from the snatching). Finished the rest of Stronglifts A, which was

Bench press 5x5 (60 lb)

Inverted row 10x3

Pushups 3xf (15-15-15)

Reverse situps 3x20

I then did a small pullup pyramid (4-3-2-1).

Pushups were a little painful because of my thumb, and I felt a little lethargic, but oh well.

I spent Saturday and Sunday at my frisbee team's regional qualifying tournament. We ended up placing second and qualifying for a spot at the national tournament at the end of the month! I felt relatively good, albeit a little slow, over the course of the weekend. I have a feeling that my focus on improving my strength may be slowing me down a little bit, but I don't really care right now.

Tonight I did Stronglifts B:

Back Squat 5x5 (135 lb)

Overhead Press 5x5 (55 lb)

Deadlift 5x1 (150 lb)

Pullup 10x3

Really need to concentrate on form on all of these exercises: for example, if I maintain a tight core for back squats, things are much easier. Same goes for overhead press and deadlift, actually. Pullup form wasn't great on all of my sets, but am going to stay at 10x3 for the next couple of times just to work on it. Even though it's still taking me a while to recover in between those sets of 3, I still think I'm making some progress, strength-wise. Now I just need to fit in a little kipping pullup work to really up my chances of being able to do pullup workouts as Rx'd.

Wednesday turned into an unscheduled rest day, due to some studying issues.

This morning I did Stronglifts A:

Back Squats 5x5 (130 lb)

Bench Press 5x5 (55 lb)

Inverted Row - Bar 10x2

Pushups 3xf (20-15-15)

Glute Ham Situps 3x10

Can really tell the difference when I set my back properly on the squats. Otherwise, I'm feeling pretty good about being able to get through these sets.

At night I did Gwen:

15-12-9

Clean and Jerk (85 lb), all touch and go

85 lbs was tough, but I got through without it getting too ugly. Need to remember to shrug hard when I get tired.

Didn't get motivated early on, so my workout just ended up being a short one:

Tabata L-sits (knees bent), then

Death by Pullup (4.8 rounds completed)

I was able to stay up the whole time for the first 4 rounds of Tabata, then managed 15 consecutive seconds for the last 5 rounds. Death by Pullup was interesting in terms of how tricky hard it was - I couldn't finish out the 5th round in time, although after I rested a few minutes, I was easily able to do another pullup (and 10 more after that!).

Did a slightly hurried Stronglifts B today:

Back Squats 5x5 (125 lb)

Overhead Press 5x5 (50 lb)

Deadlift 5x1 (135 lb)

Pullup 10x2

Felt pretty good on everything today. Back squats are getting pretty heavy, in terms of what I have historically been capable of doing for 5 reps, so I was surprised when all 5 sets went relatively well. Pullups felt easier, and I am pretty sure I rested less between each set this time around.

Friday and Saturday were rest days. Didn't do FGB as planned due to some sleep deprivation issues that knocked me on my butt pretty much all day Saturday. On Sunday, however, I did

Freddy's Revenge

5 rounds

5 push jerks (90 lb)

10 burpees

8:16

Did this workout in the same amount of time about 6 months ago, but at 70 lb. I maybe should have tried doing it at the prescribed weight, even though it would have taken me forever, but I just wasn't feeling that confident about the weight before the workout began. Alas.

Also had frisbee practice in the afternoon. Not a ton of running since we were working on some defensive strategy, but legs felt really tired afterward...

Today was an Olympic lifting session, during which we worked on our clean and split jerks. I worked up to a relatively good clean and split jerk at 90 or 95 lb, then got a clean and regular jerk at 105 lb. Wore the new lifting shoes and felt really solid on the squat portion of my cleans.

Afterward, did Stronglifts workout A:

Back Squat 5x5 (120 lb)

Bench Press 5x5 (50 lb)

Inverted Ring Row (10x1)

Knees-to-Elbows, or close (3x10)

Pushups 3x10

Shoulders sore as heck from yesterday, so I took it easy on the pushups and inverted ring rows. Squats are starting to get hard, which means I am going to need to make sure to get enough rest in between workouts (so I shouldn't do workout B tomorrow). With FGB on Saturday, I'm going to aim for doing workout B.

This afternoon at home I did yesterday's PCF WOD, which was:

5 rounds

1 minute overhead squat (55 lb)

1 minute ring pushups (1st round real, rest on knees)

1 minute rest

Finished with 122 total reps. Rep scheme was 12-12-12-12-6 for the overhead squats, and 12-12-15-15-14. Felt pretty good about overhead squats, considering this was the first time I'd ever done that particular movement in a WOD. Wheels kind of fell off in the last round, but eh. Ring pushups were ugly, but I definitely couldn't do any a few months ago, so I'm pretty happy.

Got to use my new lifting shoes, which are pretty awesome! Yay for stability!

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were all rest days, for the most part.

Today I made it to the Olympic Lifting session, during which we worked on cleans. Managed to get a couple of good full cleans in at 90 lbs, all the while knowing that I can go heavier.

Then I did Stronglifts B, which was

Back Squats 5x5 (115 lb)

Overhead Press 5x5 (45 lb)

Deadlift 5x1 (120 lb)

Pullups 10x2

Planks 3x60 sec

Did two WODs today, right back to back.

First up was Stronglifts Workout A, which was

Back Squat 5x5 (110 lb)
Bench Press 5x5 (45 lb)
Inverted Row 3xf (11-7-9, I think)
Pushup 3xf (20-20-20)

Had to run to the PCF WOD, so didn't have time to fit the reverse crunches in. Oh well. PCF WOD was:

"Death by 10 meters"
With a continuously running clock, do 1 10m sprint the first minute, 2 10m sprints the second minute, and so on.

I got to 15 rounds before throwing in the towel, which was pretty wimpy considering I still had a few seconds to spare. Had a lot of trouble counting, though, so it was probably for the best. Also, those back squats an hour before didn't help matters for my back.

Wanted to do Isabel or Randy, but the ole thumb still hurts too much. Instead, I did

21-15-9

Thrusters (65 lb)
KB Swings (1 pood)

8:04

Even though I had the support of my boyfriend, it's tough to workout at home! Doesn't help that I'm feeling like a slow chunky butt right now - I did the first 21 thrusters unbroken, but fell apart in the last two sets. In related news, I have decided to give the Zone another month-long trial, starting next Tuesday!

Today I did Stronglifts Workout B, which consisted of:

Back Squats 5x5 (105 lb)
Overhead Press 5x5 (40 lb)
Deadlift 5x1 (110 lb)
Chinups 6x2 (wanted to do 10 sets of 2, but shoulder soreness stopped me at 6 sets)
Prone Bridges 3x30 sec

Everything felt good and easy (except the chinups, obviously, even though I'm pretty confident of my ability to do 10 sets of 2). Also, I'm going to do longer prone bridges next time.

Ok, update:

Friday I did the Stronglifts Workout B, which consisted of:

Back Squat 5x5 (95 lb)
Overhead Press 5x5 (35 lb)
Deadlift 5x1 (100 lb)
Pullups 10x1

Saturday and Sunday was a frisbee tournament in Chicago. We did pretty well, and for the most part I felt ok about my play. I played more points than I probably should have, at least on Saturday, and definitely felt beat up on Sunday. Hopefully the thumb I jammed during a drill on Saturday will feel better soon, too - I tried doing a power snatch with it and it didn't feel great, which is a bummer.

Monday was a day off.

Tuesday was Stronglifts Workout A, which consisted of:

Squat 5x5 (100 lb)
Bench Press 5x5 (35 lb)
Inverted Row 3xf (11-10-10)
Pushups 3xf (15-15-15)
Reverse Crunches 3x12

Since I couldn't make it in for the PCF WOD, I did a deadhang pullup workout, which consisted of:

5x3
5x2
5x1
5x1

I was glad to be able to actually do all of these with relatively good form, even if it was over a long period of time.

Today I went to the Oly Lifting Class. We worked on clean technique, and then went for 1 rep max squat cleans, which was pretty fun. I did several light ones, and then managed a few at 105 before trying 115 and falling to pieces because of crappy technique.

All I could manage time for on Wednesday was a strength bias workout. I tried Stronglifts Workout A, which was:

Squat 5x5 (90 lbs)
Bench Press 5x5 (35 lbs)
Inverted Row (Ring, then Bar-Bar) 3xf (8-8-8)
Pushups 3xf (20-20-15)
Reverse Crunches 3x12

Unplanned rest day because of some extreme butt soreness after yesterday's lunge/run/squat fest. Kind of bummed I missed out on the deadlift/burpee WOD, but need to not be too sore for this weekend (tournament). Instead, all I did was

Deadhang Pullups
3-3-2-2-1-1-1-1-1

Still suck at these. Sigh.

Before the Monday WOD, I took a crack at some 5-rep shoulder presses. Ended up with

55-60-65-70(2)

My shoulders are a little more rested than they were last week for the CFT, so I was pleased to see that I could crank out a couple at 70 (instead of just one feeble rep at 70). After the shoulder presses I did the class WOD, which was

100-m lunges
800-m run
100 bodyweight squats

9:54

I was pretty happy to get this in under 10 minutes, although I now think that I could have afforded to run the 800 a little faster (I kind of eased up, especially in the last 200, as I started to think about all of those squats I had coming up)...

Jackie

Saturday was a rest day.

Sunday was

1000m row
50 thrusters (35 lb)
30 pullups (red and orange band)

11:14

Arms were feeling sore, so I scaled the pullups even more than I should have. Boo. Finished the workout up with 3x10 back extensions with a 10 lb plate.

The Total.

It was my fourth day on, but I figured I'd give it a try, just to see where I'm at. Ended up with 450, which broke down as

BS - 160 (PR)
SP - 70
DL - 220 (PR)

Pretty happy with this, not gonna lie. As Erika said, though, I really need to work on setting my back properly, as it's probably costing me weight on both my squats and my deadlifts.

Today was a hang power clean day. Yes...

1-1-1-1-1-1-1
85-95-105-115-120-125(f)-105

Felt pretty good, despite still being pretty sore in the arms from the past two days. Maybe should have tried that 125 one rep sooner, but I didn't quite know where to start on this one.

After the main WOD I stuck around for the skills session on kipping pullups and double unders. It was good to practice, but my arms are really toast now.

Today we encountered some upside-down, backwards Fran action:

9 pullups (red band)
9 thrusters (65 lb)
15 pullups
15 thrusters
21 pullups
21 thrusters

8:32

Shoulders felt suprisingly ok after yesterday's push jerk/dip debacle.

Friday turned into a day off. Spent the weekend at a tournament, running around. Saturday we played 5 games, and Sunday we played 3, so I got plenty of running in. Monday was a day off too.

On Tuesday I did Monday's WOD at home, which was

15 dips (using the bench for support)
15 push jerks (85 lbs)
12 dips
12 push jerks
9 dips
9 push jerks
6 dips
6 push jerks
3 dips
3 push jerks

Took me 12:30 to finish, which included 30 seconds to strip down to 85 lbs from 95 lbs. Oh well. Afterward I did 3-3-3-3-3 back squats, which ended up as

115-125-135-145(2)-145(epic fail)

A little disappointed with the final set, but it was late, so I'll just be happy to have gotten some work in.

Not much sleep last night, so just the evening WOD today:

4 Rounds
Complete each exercise for 1 minute with a running clock
Row (Calories)
Power Cleans (65 lbs)
Dumbell Push-Press (25 lbs)
KB Swing (1 pood)
Rest 1 Minute

211 reps as Rx'd

As a result of being a little frustrated with my lack of strength progress lately, I've decided to change my approach to working out a bit. For the next month or so, I plan to

a. follow a Crossfit Football-esque plan that involves separate strength work from the WODs, and

b. up the number of WODs I've been doing a week from 4 to 5 or 6. When I started frisbee again, I was wary of overdoing it, but I think doubling up and doing a WOD on a practice day should be fine. That been said, we have a lot of tournaments coming up...

In any case, I decided to do another 5-5-5 of back squats, and added on 5-5-5 of bench presses afterward. My first 5 was a light 105, followed by 125 and 135. I was pretty happy to get 135 after failing on it yesterday; I really worked on breath control and pushing through the heels. Bench presses were undiscovered territory for me, and since I was doing them solo, I decided to take it easy (lest I be pinned underneath the bar until nightfall), so I did 65-75-85(1)-65.

Did the day's WOD at night before bed:

4 rounds
20 DB snatches, 30 lb
10 pushups

6:19

No way I could do slapping pushups, so it wasn't as Rx'd.

Saturday and Sunday was frisbee practice, and Monday turned into an unscheduled rest day due to some post-first day of school sleepiness and unexpected shoulder soreness. Ah well.

Today's WOD was:

Back squat
5-5-5

Rest

Shoulder press
5-5-5

Back squats ended up being 105-125-135(3)-130(4). Wasn't over the moon about my failures, but at least they were in the vicinity of my previous 1 and 3 rep maxes. Shoulder presses ended up being 55-65(2)-65(2)-55-60. Pretty upset about this, but I guess it was partially due to the soreness and a smoked core after the back squats...

On a nutritional note, things have been going pretty well on my 90% Paleo 90% of the time plan. Basically I'm approaching 40 days, and have only really had 3 or 4 not-so-great days (of which a majority of them were bad as a result of some fruit overdoses). I think I've leaned out some, but I'm not worrying about it too much anyhow, since I'm concentrating on making the right substantive choices.

Today's WOD was:

50 pullups
50 burpees

8:51

I used the red band again for the pullups, and worked on kipping (although I wasn't able to string more than one or two together). Burpees took much longer than I thought they were going to take - the pullups really took it out of me, I guess.

Worked a little on ab stuff at the end - Jon showed me ghd bench presses, which were an awesome addition to the ole arsenal.

Today's WOD was:

Ring Work: mostly max jump-to-holds and inverts. Hard, but fun!

Rest

21 Deadlifts, 155 lbs
21 Box Jumps
Run 400m
15 Deadlifts
15 Box Jumps
Run 400m
9 Deadlifts
9 Box Jumps

11:33 as Rx'd. Form got a little ugly toward the end and for time's sake I wish I was a little closer to the front of the box, but I was pleased to finish as Rx'd. I need to really focus on taking fewer breaks when doing workouts like this. Then I won't end up just catching up on the runs - I'll be working ahead!

Today's WOD was

On the minute complete:
5 DB Thrusters, 30 lbs
10 Box Jumps, 20 in

I did 10 rounds in exactly 10 minutes using 25 lb DBs. It was kind of a punk out for me to do just 10 rounds, since I finished before the 10 minute buzzer, but eh - 10 rounds was plenty, and I just wasn't feeling it. In any case, I'll live to fight another day.

Monday's WOD was:

5 rounds

8 power snatches, 65 lb
8 pullups, red band

10:40, I think. I took a little longer than the others, but I was really happy to do the snatches at the Rx'd weight, and even though pullups still frustrate me, I was happy to do all of the pullups at a lower level than the red band. Next time I'm going to try it at an even lower band, even if I end up just stringing singles together (so long as it doesn't take me forever).

Fight Gone Bad

3 rounds of:

1. Wall-ball: 16 pound ball, 8 ft target. (Reps)
2. Sumo deadlift high-pull: 55 pounds (Reps)
3. Box Jump: 20" box (Reps)
4. Push-press: 55 pounds (Reps)
5. Row: calories (Calories)

Score was 255 as Rx'd, which is a pretty decent improvement over my Foundations FGB score of 220-something (and was definitely not as Rx'd). It was also pretty impressive considering the wicked noon heat and some pretty terrible (and not in my favor) counting!

Friday's WOD was:

Pullups

3-3-3-2-2

Ring Dips

5-5-5-5-5

All pullups were unassisted. First two sets of ring dips were supported by a bench, but the last three were supported by a person, which made it harder. Ankles were pretty tight by the time I got to the end of the dips, so I didn't do the double unders.

Today was:

4 Rounds for time:
10 Deadlift
10 Front Squat
10 Hang Power Clean
10 Push Jerk

17:something

Did the first round at 80 lbs, but stripped down to 75 for the rest. Felt terrible during the workout, but also felt like I took too many breaks...

Drove down to Williamsburg today in the afternoon, and am now suffering from some serious workout/drive-related soreness. Iced my butt and right quad this evening, and it felt somewhat better, but wow.

Monday was a planned rest day. Tuesday turned into one because I worked at the bike shop all day and my feets were hurting. Wednesday I did a frisbee workout called Snertz with a teammate. Basically, Snertz is a bunch of agility and short-distance sprinting drills. I kind of wished I'd worn my cleats for it, since we did it on grass, but I felt pretty good throughout. Perhaps next time I'll time it to get a better sense of how long the workout takes...

Saturday was frisbee practice, so no additional WOD. I may do 2-a-days at some point, but I'm not quite ready for it yet.

Sunday's WOD was

21 hang snatches, 55 lb
15 situps
15 hang snatches
30 situps
9 hang snatches
45 situps

11:07

I decided to go the full squat depth snatch route, even though lots of folks were doing the power snatch in my class. Figured it would do me good to get the practice in on a high rep snatch workout, and I actually felt pretty good throughout, other than my grip going all to hell by the end.

I still felt pretty beat up on Thursday, so it turned into a rest day. Friday's WOD was:

4 rounds
9 24" box jumps
6 85# squat cleans
3 hspus (w/ help of blue band)

8:46

Squat cleans were definitely the biggest challenge. Rx'd is 95#, so it's not that far away. HSPUs were probably a little too easy - maybe next time I should try a slightly harder way of doing them.

Tough day today. Didn't feel good going in (legs still feel kinda dead), and my performance reflected as such:

Deadlift
5-5-5

rest

50 burpees for time

185-195(f)-185

3:04

Don't think I've done 5-5-5 before, so I guess it's a personal best. Still didn't feel great about them, though - I think I may have lost some strength over the past few months. Beat my last 50 burpee time by 2 seconds, and still think I could have done better. I need to remember to avoid taking any rests, and just power through - keeping moving the entire time is better than burning out and having to rest.

Saturday and Sunday were spent in Charlotte, NC, at my first serious ultimate frisbee tournament in over 2.5 years, and there was plenty of sprinting to be had, so they both count as workout days. Sore does not adequately describe how I felt on the Sunday evening drive home.

Tuesday's WOD was:

For time:
25 Thrusters, 65 lbs
30 Pullups
15 Superman
15 Situps
15Thruster, 65 lbs
20 Pullups
30 Superman
30 Situps
5 Thruster, 65 lbs
10 Pullups
45 Superman
45 Situps

18:20

Once again, pullups were the limiting factor.

Reminders

It's days like these where even though I know I have a long way to go, I've already accomplished quite a bit. Today was a bear:

15-12-9

thrusters 85 lb
kb swings 45 lb

13:46 (or thereabouts)

I definitely am a ways from doing it as Rx'd, and two months ago I probably could have done the same weights a little faster, but after I finished and was done being catatonic, I realized that just a few months ago I couldn't have done 45 thrusters even at 65 lb...here's to progress, no matter how small!

Post-Vacation Update

Ok, so we're back from what felt like a million-year vacation in Minnesota. Don't get me wrong - it was awesome, and in some spots physically challenging (4 days of canoeing and portaging around northern Minnesota isn't a piece of cake), but I'm happy to be home and get back into the swing of things.

So I took last Saturday and Sunday off, mostly because of Alex's brother's wedding. Monday through Thursday was then spent on our canoeing trip, which was a lot of rowing punctuated by short bursts of carrying a 70 pound canoe on my shoulders on sections of rocky trail. Good times. Anyhow, we got back on Thursday night, and on Friday immediately proceeded to Alex's family's cabin in the woods of Wisconsin. Did a mini-Cindy on Saturday, which consisted of:

10:00 AMRAP

1 ring pullup
10 pushups
15 squats

7 1/3 rounds

I wasn't pleased with my pullup performance, but what can I expect after basically a month and a half of inconsistent workouts, right? Alas. Today I was home and raring to go, and we did

4 rounds

400 m run
40 squats

12:49

I probably should have pushed myself harder, but overall I felt ok about it. I was really dreading the runs, and they weren't pretty, but it's all good. No more vacations in sight, work is all freelance for the moment, and class is under control, so I'll be around the gym much more consistently. Which is good, considering I signed up for the Level 1 Cert at the end of October! I have a goal of being able to do Fran as Rx'd by then, but that's a lot of pullups, so we'll see...

out of town

Wednesday was a 2 exam day, and Thursday was a travel day, so not much time for WODs. Alex and I are in the Twin Cities for his brother's wedding and a canoeing trip, so we did the following workout on his front lawn this afternoon:

150 pushups for time, and every time we needed to rest, we ran 100 meters

12:10

rest, then tabata:

on back, legs together, straight, and in air (kind of an upside down plank)
squats
supermans

Glad we could get something done before the rehearsal dinner...

Did yesterday's WOD today, since I hardly ever get to do snatches:

Snatch

1-1-1-1-1

55-65-65-70-75-80(f)

Got a lot of technique help from Jimmy, which was awesome. Really focused on getting my butt down to start and keeping a good head-to-butt ratio through the first pull. Felt pretty good about this, considering it was the first time I'd ever done any kind of real weight with the full snatch.

Then did the mini metcon, which was

3 rounds

50 situps (unanchored)
50 hip extensions

10:50

Brutal, is all I can say.

Friday's WOD was in New Orleans, in between huge meals:

tabata handstand holds, squats (106?), situps (100), and superman holds

Flew back today, and had chem so I couldn't get to the box. Did Sunday's WOD:

10:00 AMRAP

10 BW deadlifts (just about - did 135 lb)
15 box jumps

5.5 rounds

Deadlifts were beastly, and I definitely have lost some form, but I'm glad I forced myself to do it. Operation pullup took a brief holiday, but I'm back on it today. I've only done 1 so far, but I plan to get 9 in by the end of the night.

Today's WOD was

Hang power clean

3-3-3-3-3

rest

Annie (not as Rx'd)

20-18-16-14-12 DU
50-40-30-20-10 situps

Numbers were 65-85-95-100-85 and 8:59. Curtis's coaching on the hang power cleans really helped me get that 100 lb set up, which I'm pretty sure is a PR. And I had a double under revelation mid-Annie which I am hoping will vastly improve my double under performance henceforth - my hands drift out, which effectively makes the rope shorter and causes me to trip up.

In other news, today is day 2 of Operation Get More Pullups, which means that every day I vow to do at least 10 pullups. Yesterday I managed to do 15 throughout the day. The count today is at 12, and I'll see if I can't bang out 3 more later today.

Saturday was the 4th, which I spent on an EMS bike team on the GW Parkway. I wouldn't call it a workout, per se, but we did bike about 25 miles over the course of the evening.

Sunday and Monday were off days.

Tuesday's WOD was

Push press

3-3-3-3-3

rest

Front squat

3-3-3-3-3

I managed 65-85-95-100-105(f) and 85-105-125(f)-110-115. Should have started a little heavier on the push presses, since I was pretty gassed on my last attempt (and was reasonably sure I could have gotten 105 up had I tried it in an earlier set). Both quads tightened up considerably on the third set of the squats, which was kind of a bummer. Altogether the workout was a little disappointing, but to be expected given my lack of commitment in June. This, and the fact that I signed up for the Level 1 Cert in late October, only increases my motivation to put my nose to the grindstone these next few months...

Yay! I'm unemployed!

Thursday's WOD was:

AMRAP 5:00
9 thrusters
5 power snatches
(both at 55 lb)

rest 3:00, repeat cycle twice more

1 - 3 rounds
2 - 3 rounds
3 - 3 rounds minus 1 snatch

Felt pretty good considering my half-assed workout regimen lately.

Friday's WOD was

"Karen" - 150 wallballs

10:14, with a 16 lb pound ball

No way I could do these using the 10 foot target. Oh well...

Grace

Didn't feel great this afternoon, so I decided to do a short workout at home instead of the longer one at the box. It was also nice to talk my boyfriend through another WOD - he did the 3x5 hang power cleans with the rowing/box jumps met con afterward. Now if he could only fork over the money for a PCF membership, I'd be in heaven...

I did Grace at only 75 lbs, in 5:30, and really tried to focus on doing quality cleans every time. I still feel a little bit weaker/more winded than I would expect out of myself, and think I am capable of doing at least 85 lbs when at my best, but I was glad to do something. I also practiced double unders a bit beforehand, which was good - I got out of the habit of practicing them, and subsequently got worse, of course.

So my couple days of not working out turned into an entire week, mostly because I've been a little sick and a lot stressed out. Egh. Hopefully things will improve next week, though, when I'm done with my job! Saturday I got back on the saddle and did Friday's WOD:

Push Press
3-3-3-3-3

AMRAP 10:00
9 thrusters (45 lb)
1 strict pullup

Push presses went 65-75-85-95f-95. Really focused on breath control in the last set and was pleased to see that I could get the weight up. Managed 7 rounds of the second half of the workout - I don't know if it was continued weakness from being sick or just being a little out of tune because I didn't work out all week, but those thrusters were a doozy.

Didn't work out Monday (class) and couldn't get to the box on time Tuesday (work), although I did do a number of kipping pullups during my gym cleanup this evening. Wednesday isn't looking so hot either for making it to the box, but I am going to try to do a short WOD at home tomorrow after class...

Did Saturday's WOD today (Sunday) at home again with the boyfriend. My rowing machine counter is a little f-ed up, so I subbed situps for the row portion:

Tabata Fight Gone Bad
6 rounds of:
Situps
Box Jumps
Push Press, 55 lbs
Sumo Deadlift High-pull, 55 lbs
Wall Ball, 12 lbs

269 as Rx'd

Felt pretty good throughout. Everything was roughly even through the rounds except for push presses (I did 10 in the first round, and things got kinda ugly after that).

Took Friday off because I was feeling lazy. Couldn't get into the box, so did yesterday's workout today (Saturday):

AMRAP in 15 mins:
5 Front Squats (85#)
7 Burpee Box Jumps

7.5 rounds

Couple my hatred of all things squat-related with the fact that I did the workout outside in the heat a few hours after having 2 glasses of wine, a piece of cake, and 3 egg-salad sandwiches at a baby shower. Needless to say I was not pleased with my performance. Since my squat weight was quite a bit lighter than my previous max and probably a little lighter than I should have done, I did try to focus on my form, which felt pretty good.

Today's WOD was

7 Rounds, Each Round 2:30
7 Deadlifts
7 Pullups

The goal was to try and do as many unbroken rounds of the deadlifts as possible. I did 170#, and had to break up 3 of the rounds. Pullups were with 2 tan bands in the first 2 rounds, and the blue band in all subsequent ones. All in all pleased with my deadlift performance, frustrated with my lack of pullup progress.

Poultry Days

Friday was an exam and travel day, so no WOD. On Saturday and Sunday I was in southern Ohio, eating chicken, drinking beer, and playing a little frisbee. Diet was not spot on by any stretch of the imagination, so I was actually glad to play quite a bit on Sunday (despite not intending to play at all). Today (Monday) will be another rest day due to another exam and the studying that needs to happen before I take said exam. Sigh.

Wednesday was a rest day on account of chemistry class (and my birthday).

Thursday's WOD was

For time:
10 Push Jerk, 90 lbs
50 Sit-ups
8 Push Jerk, 90 lbs
40 Sit-ups
6 Push Jerk, 90 lbs
30 Sit-ups
4 Push Jerk, 90 lbs
20 Sit-ups
2 Push Jerk, 90 lbs
10 Sit-ups

8:30

Felt great about this one - didn't break any sets, even, so I probably should have gone heavier. Situps were my limiting factor, surprisingly...although I should have guessed this would be the case.

WOD today was

5 rounds
21 SDHP 65#
21 ring dips (on toes)

16:00

Felt good about being able to do all 5 rounds as quickly as I did. I initially only planned on doing 3, but felt pretty good, so decided to go for it. Maybe should have done some of the ring dips with the tan band - I did them on my toes and felt like they could have been harder. The SDHP movement felt awkward and I would have liked to do them with fewer breaks, but I got 'em done. In any event, I'm feeling pretty good these days - this extra fat is really helping with my energy level!

Back was a little sore still from Saturday, but I went to the 6pm Sunday WOD, which was:

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

push jerks (80 lb)
chest-to-bar pullups (blue band)

12:42

Wrists were the limiting factor with the push jerks by the end, but I felt pretty good about the whole thing considering I'm still getting back into the groove after being sick last week. I've been working on deadhang pullups the last 2 days at my house, and managed to get 3 in a row at one point (my best ever was 4), so I still have a ways to go before I can reasonably expect to kip successfully during WODs...

So glad to get back into the box! WOD today was

7 rounds of:
15 seconds Deadlifts, 155 lbs
45 seconds Rest
15 seconds Box Jumps, 20 in
45 seconds Rest

Did it as Rx'ed (102 total reps). Number of deadlifts each round was between 6-8, with 7 being the most common number. Tried the jump up-jump down method on the box jumps (instead of my usual jump up-step down way of doing it) after the second round and was able to get about 3 more done on average.

Pullups in the warmup were weak, but that was to be expected given my week off.

Sick

Haven't worked out since Saturday, first because of rest, then because of scheduling, and finally because I've been sick. Pretty sure my immune system staged a coup after all the stress I've been putting on it these last few weeks. I'm feeling better today but will probably not attempt a workout until tomorrow (Saturday) just to be sure...

I'm getting really tired of writing how disappointed I am with my nutrition slip-ups, so I've decided to just report my workouts for awhile.

Saturday's WOD was "Are We There Yet?," which was originally supposed to be

100 each of:
Dumbell snatch each side, 25 lbs
Box jumps, 20 in
Thrusters, 55 lbs
Pull Ups

in 24:55

I scaled the number of movements down to 50 for all of the exercises, and did half the pullups with a blue band and the other half with a green band. Got totally worked by the thrusters, which as Dan put it, was "really when the workout began." Did them all in extremely painful sets of 5, but was glad to do so with the heavy weight. I am feeling like I'm becoming stronger, especially in my upper body.

I then spent Saturday afternoon at the Olympic Lifting seminar, which was fun. I ended up not doing any of the movements with real weight, as my back was super tight after the deadlifts on Friday and the Saturday morning WOD, but I really enjoyed doing the progressions with PVC. We never really do snatches in the WODs, so it was fun to go over the movement in some depth. I think I actually ended up more sore from holding my squats in the bottom position
during the seminar than from the WOD.

Sunday was a rest day. Monday will likely end up being a rest day too, given my schedule.

Friday wasn't exactly Zone, but it was relatively close to Paleo (minus the cheese, salad dressing, and croutons on my dinner salad). I did eat more than 1.5x fat, and other than feeling a little uncomfortable at the beginning of the workout (ate too many almonds right before), I felt pretty dang good!

WOD was

“Dead Ringer”
21-15-9
Dead Lift, 155 lbs
Ring dip (first set with tan band, second with two tan bands)
Burpees

I was very pleased to be able to do the deadlifts as Rx'ed. Had almost talked myself out of it, but I'm glad I didn't. My rings came in the mail, so I'm excited to be able to start working on dips at home.

Thursday was another rest day, due in part to lingering soreness, but mostly because there was lots of studying that needed to be done. This of course meant that my nutrition was good for most of the day and then degenerated into a carb fest as the evening progressed. Sigh. While I'm not pleased with my inability to completely control my stress eating, I'm happy to be able to confine it to 1 or 2 slipups per week right now. Hopefully things will improve when I quit my job and my stress levels go down (at least that's the plan).

Wednesday was a rest day - I felt pretty beat up after Monday and Tuesday's WODs, so decided to take it easy.

Food was good. Went over a little on protein, but wasn't desperately hungry at any point in the day AND I managed to avoid late-night stress binging.

11:00 - 4 whole eggs, 1 apple, 39 cashews (4P, 2C, 13F)

2:00 - 4.5 oz ground beef, 39 cashews (3P, 13F)

4:15 - 4 oz ground beef, 1 apple, 1 medium-sized cucumber, 39 cashews (2.75P, 2.75C, 13F)

4:45 - 3 oz beef jerky (3P)

Back on the Zone! I'm gonna aim for 1.5x fat for the next 2 weeks to see if it can help keep me full and satisfied. I feel good today!

2:40 - 4 oz pork sausage, 18 stalks asparagus, 39 almonds (4P, 1.5C, 13F)
4:40 - 4 oz pork sausage, 39 almonds (4P, 13F)
8:15 - 4 whole eggs, 1 apple, 1 small cucumber, 39 cashews (4P, 2.75C, 13F)

Total: 12P, 4.25C, 39F

Today's workout was Jackie:

For time:
1K row
50 thrusters (35 lb) barbell
30 Pull Ups w/ blue band

10:54

Felt pretty good on the row - I really tried working on my form, pulling hard, and taking it easy on the way back. Kept up a reasonably good pace, especially compared with my usual time. Think I should put the damper on 5, because I was feeling a tiny bit inefficient.

Tomorrow's a rest day, which I'm pretty excited about. Monday and today worked me over something fierce.

A Nutritional Lark.

So I've pretty much been eating what I've wanted to over the holiday weekend. It's been great, at times, but I am so ready to get back to the ole hunter-gatherer routine on Tuesday. It was actually really nice to eat some of the things I've been dreaming about these past few weeks and realize that they weren't as tasty as I remembered.

Sunday was another rest day. Today's WOD was

"Bulletproof"
50-30-20

pullups (first 30 with blue band, rest with green)
kb swings (30 lb)
burpees

25:11

I was just happy to finish this. Pullups really kicked my butt.

Saturday was a food debacle. Seriously, I pretty much ate everything in my path. It was glorious.

WOD (before most of the eating) was:

AMRAP in 20:00

10 wall balls (12 lb)
10 box jumps
10 deadlifts (145 lb)
10 burpees

5 and 21/40 rounds

Did this one at home with the boyfriend, and we don't have a 16 lb medicine ball, so not quite as Rx'd. Got to 5 and 1/2 rounds with about 20 seconds left and was pretty fried but decided to do one more deadlift to show it who was boss. Was surprised how heavy 145 lbs felt given that my 1 RM is 205, but I know that doing 51 of them is another matter entirely, especially with the other exercises thrown in.

Friday's WOD was

push jerk

1-1-1-1-1-1-1

75-85-95-105-110-115(f)-115(f)

Perhaps I should try split jerks next time, especially at the higher weights. 110 is the heaviest weight I've ever put over my head, though, so I'm pretty happy.

Nutrition was fair today. I worried less about getting exact block numbers than eating pretty clean and feeling good (and not eating for any other reason than being legitimately hungry), and other than the two glasses of wine I had at night, I did alright. I did eat a little more protein than usual and was probably slightly over my 6 block goal for carbs, but I was legitimately hungry, so I ate. In related news, I have officially abandoned my cheese and legume strike - I for the most part avoided them for around two weeks and just wasn't feeling any kind of dramatic benefit, at least one that outweighed me not being able to eat cheese, cashews, and peanuts.

Thursday was a rest day, workout-wise. As a result, I decided to fast for most of the day after my Wednesday carb binge. At 9:30 PM, I ended up breaking it (after 22.5 hours) with

3.5 oz pepperoni
3 egg whites
1 apple
54 almonds

for a total of 5P, 2C, 18F

I felt pretty good after the fast, and while I probably should have eaten a little bit more before I went to bed, I was tired and ended up passing out on the couch before I could even attempt another snack. I don't fast all that often, but this was a good experience for me - it reminded me how often I am tempted to eat just because I'm bored!

If It's Wednesday...

Then it must be time for my weekly carb binge. First 18 hours of the Wednesday was great, food-wise, but as a result of poor planning, poor luck, and nonexistent willpower, the last 6 went all to hell. Dang.

WOD on Wednesday was "Health Lift."

Using your max deadlift weight complete the following:
10 reps @ 30% max
5 reps @ 50% max
5 reps @ 60% max
5 reps @ 70% max
3 reps @ 80% max
3 reps @ 90% max

Assuming a 1 RM of 210, I ended up doing:

65-105-125-150-170-195

My callouses were killing me on the last couple of rounds and made deadlifting a much more unpleasant experience than usual. I need to fix the callouses asap; in terms of the deadlift itself, working on my hook grip will probably make things better too. Also, I was surprised by how tired I was by the last set - this may have partially been a result of doing the 6:30 AM WOD after doing the 7 PM WOD the night before, though.

Oh, got my "Door Gym" on Wednesday, so I can now (responsibly) GTG pullups until I am blue in the face. Yay! I'm hoping to get some rings in the coming weeks so I can start GTG ring dips too...

WOD today was:

150 pushups for time.

*Every time you stop and rest with your chest on the ground this constitutes a penalty. If a penalty is counted, you must immediately sprint 100 yards. Once the penalty is completed continue with the push ups. You can rest in an up position but once you can not do push ups any longer and need to rest on the ground, a penalty is counted and a 100 yard sprint must be completed.

14:55 as Rx'ed, broken up into 9 rounds.

Deceptively difficult workout. I maybe should have broken the 150 up into even more sets, since I spent a lot of time resting in the pike position towards the end of the latter sets. In any case, I really tried to concentrate on keeping good range of motion throughout.

Food-wise, felt pretty good today.

10:15 - 6 egg whites, 2 cups strawberries, 30 almonds (3P, 2C, 10F); 1 vitamin c pill; 10 fish oil pills

12:45 - 3 oz chicken, 2 small cucumbers, 3 tsp olive oil (3P, 1C, 9F)

2:15 - 2 1-oz buffalo sticks, 30 almonds (2P, 10F)

5:00 - 3 oz chicken, small handful green peppers, approximately .3 cup coconut milk and red curry mix (3P, .25C, 6 or 7F)

total - 11P, 3.25C, 35-36F

Monday was another rest day, what with work and 5 hours of chemistry class in the evening.

Food was good, though:

9:15 - 6 egg whites, 1 apple (3P, 2C); 1 vitamin c pill

12:00 - 4.5 oz deli chicken, 2 servings paleo pizza with pepperoni (3P, .25C, 20F); 10 fish oil pils

2:30 - 2 oz tilapia, 1 apple (1.25P, 2C)

5:00 - 3 oz deli chicken, 1 oz pepperoni, 1 small cucumber, .75 cup tomato, 2 tsp olive oil (3P, 1.5C, 6F); 10 fish oil pills

The goals for this week are to eat clean and make sure that most of my carbs are veggies (instead of fruit and alcohol, like it has been).

Sunday was a rest day, which was great, because my back was still pretty sore after Saturday's cleans. Food was so-so on Sunday. I tried some Paleo pizza which was delicious but put me over on fat. I also have been eating too many apples, but other than that (and having a bite or two of my boyfriend's real pizza and ice cream), I felt ok about my choices. Weight has gone back up a little (in the 139 range), but I still feel pretty good, so I'm not going to worry about it too much.

9:00 - 4.5 oz deli chicken, 1 apple, 24 almonds (3P, 2C, 8F); 1 vitamin C pill, 5 fish oil pills

1:45 - 4.5 oz deli chicken, 1 apple, 24 almonds (3P, 2C, 8F); 5 fish oil pills

4:00 - 2 1-oz buffalo trail sticks

7:00 - 2 servings paleo pizza with turkey pepperoni, 2.5 oz ground beef, 2 egg whites, 1 apple, 4 sugar-free popsicles (4P, 3.5C, 20F)

Monday is going to be another rest day because I have class tonight from 5-10:30. Egh. I briefly considered getting up for the 6:30 am class, but decided that sleep was more important than the workout.

21-15-9

Power Clean (3 at 95, rest at 85)
Ring dips (blue band assist)

8:15

Felt good about the 95s during warmups, but I felt like it was going to get too ugly, so I dropped 10 after only a few. Probably should have gone with the tan band on the dips, honestly - the blue ones felt too easy. Got about 20 deadhang pullups done before and after the WOD (5 of which were done afterwards as ring pullups starting in a flat-footed position, but hey), so I was nice and tired after all was said and done. My back really tightened up on me in the hour or so after the workout - probably should have stretched more. D'oh!

Food was pretty good today. Having panang curry meant I ended up going over on fat, but I'm ok with that:

1:00 - 4.5 oz chicken slices, 1 apple, 24 almonds (3P, 2C, 8F)

3:00 - 3 oz turkey pepperoni, 1 apple, 24 almonds (3P, 2C, 8F); 1 vitamin c pill, 10 fish oil pills

6:00 - 1.5 oz turkey pepperoni, about 3.5 ounces chicken, handful chopped green pepper, 4 sugar-free popsicles, 15 almonds, about .5 cup coconut milk (5P, 2C, 15F)

"Superwhite"

3 rounds
5 db renegade man makers (25 lb dbs)
10 pullups (blue band)
10 ring dips (tan band)
10 one-arm kb swings (5 each arm; 35 lb)
1 lap bear crawl

13:55

Felt ok today - those manmakers were killer! Still nowhere near real pullups or ring dips, which is frustrating, but just something I need to keep working on. Cooled down with 50 double unders - managed to get 18 in a row at one point!

Food relatively good today until dinner, when I went a little over on protein and way over on carbs. Am having trouble with willpower recently...

9:00 - 6 egg whites, 1 apple, 24 almonds (3P, 2C, 8F); 1 vitamin c pill, 5 fish oil pills

12:00 - 4.5 oz tilapia, .75 cup tomato slices, 2 tsp olive oil (3P, 1C, 6F); 5 fish oil pills

2:00 - 3 oz tilapia, 24 almonds (2P, 8F)

8:00 - 4.5 oz ground beef, 1 oz turkey pepperoni, 2 cups lettuce, handful tomato and onion slices, 1 apple, .5 oz crouton, 2 tbsp avocado, 2 tbsp caesar dressing, way too much ice cream (4P, ?C , ?F)

“Danny”
AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
30 Box Jump, 24 inch
20 Push Press, 75 lbs
30 Pullups (5 deadhangs, 10 double tan bands, rest with blue band)

2 1/3 plus 3 push presses

Not as Rx'd, but felt pretty good doing 24" box jumps for the first time and push press pretty close to the Rx'd weight of 85 lb. Pullups were another story - I really need to keep building strength (and learn how to kip), because my lack of pullup ability is killing me in workouts. Cooled down with 75 double unders - managed to string together a couple good sets, although I definitely need to work on doing them when I get tired (that's where the trouble starts).

After yesterday's stress-eating debacle before and after my EMT exam, felt pretty gross today, so didn't eat until almost noon. Food today was relatively solid:

11:50 - 6 egg whites, 1 apple, 21 almonds (3P, 2C, 7F); 5 fish oil pills, 1
vitamin c pill

2:30 - 2 oz turkey pepperoni, 2.5 oz tilapia, 1 cup tomato, 2 tsp olive oil
(3.5P, 1.25C, 6F); 5 fish oil pills

3:40 - 12 almonds (4F)

7:45 - 1.5 cups chicken tikka marsala with onions, 1 glass wine, .5 apple, 30 almonds (4P, 3.75C, 10F)

total - 10.5P, 7C, 27F

Blah.

Team workout today. Basically, I ended up doing

box jumps
400 m row
double unders
kb swings (1 pood)
box jumps
400 m row
double unders
kb swings (1 pood)

cool down/skill work:

6 pullups (in sets of 1s and 2s)
3 rounds 15 second static ring holds

I did the non-rowing stations in the time it took for one of my teammates to row 400 m. 185 reps during that time. Basically, being gassed screwed me on the double unders. I also felt weak during the kb swings. Not sure what that's all about.

In general, a little frustrated because I feel like I'm plateauing. I don't necessarily have any data to back this up; it's more of a feeling than anything. Motivation to go super hard is still kind of a problem too. Tomorrow's a rest day, though, so maybe all I need is a reset.

Nutrition good today.

8:45 - 3 slices bacon, 3 whole eggs, handful onions, 24 almonds (4P, .25C, 8F); 1 vitamin c pill, 5 fish oil pills

12:00 - 4.5 oz tilapia, 1.25 cup cauliflower, 2 tsp olive oil (3P, 1C, 6F); 5 fish oil pills

1:30 - 1 oz buffalo stick, 1 apple (1P, 2C)

3:45 - 33 almonds (11F); 5 fish oil pills

5:00 - 4.5 oz tilapia, 1 apple, 1tbsp raisins, 1tsp olive oil (3P, 3C, 3F)

total - 11P, 6.25C, 28F

9:10 - 2 egg whites, 2 oz turkey pepperoni, 24 pecans, 1 apple (3P, 2C, 8F); 5 fish oil pills, 1 vitamin c pill

1:00 - 4.5 oz tilapia, 1 9 inch cucumber, 3 tsp oil (3P, 1C, 9F); 4 fish oil pills

3:00 - 2 1-oz buffalo trail sticks (2P); 5 fish oil pills

7:00 - 2 oz turkey pepperoni, 2 egg whites, 1 apple, couple handfuls popcorn, 24 almonds (3P, 3C, 8C)

Pretty solid other than the slight overage on carbs. Couldn't help the popcorn - we went to see the new Star Trek movie!

Workout:

front squat
5-5-5

85-95-110 (f)

rest

for time: 50 burpees

3:06

Front squats felt ok. Thought about trying a slightly lighter 4th set after failing at 110, but ran out of time. Happy we did ring dips in the warmup - want to work on those more nowadays. Need to remember to keep working on double unders too.

Near-Perfect Sunday

A wicked crick in my neck this morning prevented me from doing the park WOD at W&L, and I had work tonight, so I couldn't make the afternoon WODs at the box, but I managed to fit in the afternoon WOD at my house. It was

For time:

21-15-9

ground to overhead (55 lb; bar, not dumbbells)
ghd situps

7:55

Working out alone is hard - I definitely had a little trouble pushing myself. Looking forward to getting back in the box tomorrow.

Food today:

11:30 - 4 egg whites, 1 oz pepperoni, 24 almonds, 1 apple (3P, 2C, 8F)

1:30 - 2 egg whites, 1 oz chicken, 1 oz turkey pepperoni, 2 cups lettuce, .25 cup tomato and onion, .75 oz croutons, 2 tbsp caesar dressing, .25 apple (3P, 3C, 8F?)

4:30 - 2 oz sausage, 15 almonds, 8 oz beer (2P, 1C, 5F)

5:45 - 3 oz buffalo trail stick, 27 almonds (3P, 9F)

Not all the way Paleo, but not bad. I'll keep avoiding legumes and dairy for another week or so before I decide whether or not it's worth it to me to cut them out of my diet. Also, I started taking fish oil yesterday. I bought some capsules from Costco, and based on my calculations, it appears that I should be aiming to take about 20 a day. I've only managed about 5 a day so far (kept forgetting), but will work my way up and try them out at that level for awhile to see if I notice anything.

Saturday's food:

11:00 - 4 egg whites, 3 slices bacon, 27 almonds (3P, 9F)

2:00 - 3 oz chicken, 2 tsp olive oil, 1 apple (3P, 2C, 6F)

5:30 - 5 oz sausage, 24 almonds, 12 asparagus spears, 3 12-oz beers, 1 5-oz glass wine (5P, 6C, 8F)

Total - 11P, 8C, 24F

Not bad, but not great either.

Update

Couldn't make it to the park WOD today, but managed to squeeze in a 10:00 row.

I feel pretty gross after 3 days of rest and 2 days of pretty crappy nutrition, but exams are over now, so it's back to a normal sleeping, eating, and working out schedule. Yay!

Solid.

9:00 - 6 egg whites, 1 small apple, 2 tsp sunflower seeds (3P, 2C, 8F)
12:00 - 4.5 oz ground beef, 1.25 cups cauliflower, 2 tsp olive oil (3P, 1C, 6F)
2:30 - 4 egg whites, 18 pecans (2P, 6C)
6:00 - 3 oz turkey pepperoni, 1 small apple, 30 pecans (3P, 2C, 10F)

total: 11P, 5C, 30F

Feeling better today - no binge last night, and I got 8 hours of sleep for the first time in awhile, thanks to the airplane eyemask my boyfriend found around the house. Amazing what a solid night's sleep can do for one's state of mind. I can't make it into the gym this afternoon, but have resolved to go strict Paleo on the intake today to get myself back on track. This mostly just means no ketchup (thanks for the reminder, Ryan P!), which is fine, because it was knocking me off balance anyhow (when I have ketchup with something, I have a lot of it).

T-Minus 7 Days

Nutrition ok today. I'm going to try to avoid another stress binge before I go to bed, but I can't count it totally out. I felt bloated and gross all day after yesterday's escapades, so I cut out the 8 blocks of fat that I'd usually have at dinner. Carbs were all apples (and ketchup with my eggs), but other than that, not too bad.

Workout was eh. I went into the gym in a really bad mood, and only left feeling slightly better. Plus my shoulders were still sore from Sunday and tweaked a little during the pullups - poop. Anyhow, after the Burgener warmup (which I did enjoy, since I am not comfortable with technical movements like the snatch), we did the following:

Weighted Pullups 1-1-1-1-1
Weighted Ring Dips 1-1-1-1-1

I ended up with:

BW-2.5-5-5-10(f)
on toes x 5, with each time trying to put more weight on the rings

Seven days until the semester is really over, a few other things wrap up, and life will start to sort itself out again. I'm hoping that once that happens, I'll be able to get my motivation back - I don't like feeling totally derailed like I do right now (this is the first time I've felt this way since starting Crossfit). At least the raccoons were evicted today, so I'm hoping to be able to sleep better tonight!

Stress

Got through most of the day fine, but couldn't work out because I needed to study for my EMT final. Then my exam happened, and all hell broke loose. I'm chalking this one (and in retrospect, my slip-up on Friday) up to stress and exhaustion, and not beating myself up about it. Exams will be over soon, thankfully!

Inadvertent IF

Today was fun at the gym - after mandated double under work (100 doesn't seem so scary now that I've been working on them every day for two weeks) and some deadhang practice during warmups (I ended up getting 15, mostly in sets of 1s and 2s), the workout was as follows:

Shoulder Press: 1-1-1-1-1
Push Press: 3-3-3-3-3
Push Jerk: 5-5-5-5-5

I didn't really know where to start, since I haven't really gone heavy on these movements, but I ended up with the following numbers:

55-60-65-70-75(f)
65-70-75-85-95
75-90-95-100(f after 4)-65

Overall I was pleased, given that my shoulder felt good and I bested my last shoulder press PR of 55 by a good 15 pounds.

Nutrition was solid today. I ended up not eating until 1 pm, but I felt ok, so I just made sure to eat everything I should have eaten. I'd still like to lean out a little more, so I'm going to back down off of 1.5x fat for a few days.

1:00 - 3 whole eggs, handful onions, ketchup, medium apple, 24 almonds (3P, 2.5C, 8F)

3:15 - 2 1-oz buffalo trail sticks, 21 almonds (2P, 7F)

5:45 - 4.5 oz sauteed ground beef, 1 small cucumber, .5 medium tomato, 3 tsp olive oil (3P, 1.5C, 9F)

7:30 - 3 whole eggs, handful onions, ketchup, medium apple, 18 almonds (3P, 2.5C, 6F)

As you can plainly see, I am a creature of habit when it comes to food. Other than the ketchup, olive oil, and almonds, everything I ate today came straight from the farmer's market, so it's partially a matter of what I have on hand. Honestly, I also kind of like not having to think too much about what I'm going to eat at any given time.

Lazy Saturday

Got back in the gym this morning, which felt good. I enjoyed Siddarth's group warmup, and despite feeling not on top of my game, I got through the workout ok. I even managed to string some double unders together!

10 rounds:

5 burpees
10 double unders

10:03

I worked on pullups (kipping and strict) before and afterward. Siddarth helped me with the first movement in the kipping progression - rocking back and forth, feet together, pointed down, with only the shoulder and the hip as hinge points. I also worked a bit on static holds on the rings before I left.

Food quality was pretty good today, even though my quantities were a bit off. Am still eating too many sugar-free popsicles in between meals, but after this box is gone, I'm going cold turkey for a bit.

8:45 - 1 whole egg, 4 egg whites, handful green peppers and onions, ketchup, 30 almonds, 1 small apple (3P, 3C, 10F)

1:30 - 3 whole eggs, handful onions, ketchup, 30 almonds, 1 medium apple (3P, 3C, 10F)

3:30 - 2 1-oz buffalo trail sticks, 27 almonds (2P, 9C)

6:45 - 2.5 oz pepperoni, 1 egg white, 1/3 cup tomato slices, 1 6" cucumber, 4 tsp olive oil (3P, 1C, 12F)

Blown.

Another rest day yesterday, given my class and work schedule. All was well food-wise until the evening, where I demolished my good day by cannibalizing my friend's french fries and downing 3.5 oil cans of Strongbow cider. D'oh! In my defense, this was my first time out on the town in many moons...

10:15 - 6 egg whites, 1 small apple, 30 almonds (3P, 2C, 10F)

1:00 - 4 egg whites, 1 whole egg, handful chopped onions and green pepper, ketchup, 30 almonds (3P, 1.5C, 10F)

4:00 - 2 1-oz buffalo trail sticks, 33 almonds (2P, 11F)

6:30 - grilled tuna salad with pine nuts and balsamic vinegarette, glass of wine, 10 fries (3P, 3.5C, ?F)

8:30-11:30 - way too much hard cider

Oh well. Today is a new day!

A Beginning.

About two and a half months ago, I started Crossfit for serious at Potomac Crossfit. A few weeks in, I found myself hooked, and decided to tackle the Zone diet in an effort to lean out and boost my performance. I've been tracking my workouts for awhile and logging my food intake in FitDay since I started the Zone, but I'm hoping that putting both on this blog will give my coaches and peers the chance to provide me with some good constructive feedback.

Today was a rest day, so nothing to report on the workout front. Eating was a little off because I stayed home to work on getting rid of the raccoon family that recently moved into our attic. Words cannot sufficiently describe how it feels to wake up at 3 am to a chorus of baby raccoons shrieking at the top of their tiny little lungs. But I digress - here's my food intake:

10:15 - 1 whole boiled egg, 4 boiled egg whites, 1 small apple, and 2 oz honey roasted peanuts (3P, 2C, 11F)

1:00 - 3 oz chicken breast, 1.25 c cauliflower, 2 oz honey roasted peanuts (3P, 1C, 11F)

3:30 - 2 1-oz buffalo sticks, 15 almonds (2P, 5F)

6:15 - salad (2 c lettuce, .25 medium tomato, .15 c onion, .5 oz croutons, 1 oz chicken, 1.5 oz part-skim shredded mozzarella, .5 oz pepperoni, 2 tbsp caesar dressing), 21-ish cashews (3P, 2C, 9F)

Add in a bunch of sugar-free popsicles that I took down while sitting on my can all afternoon, and I think I ended up around 11P, 8C, and 36F - not too far away from my goal of 11P, 6C, and 39F (am trying out 1.5x fat these days). I know honey roasted peanuts aren't an ideal fat source, but I bought a can as a treat after foregoing them for many weeks, and am done with it now, so no worries...in fact, I've decided to go legume- and dairy-free for the next 2 weeks, just to see how my body responds. Other than sugar-free popsicles and the occasional glass of wine or beer, this would put me pretty close to Paleo, which is pretty amazing considering how far away I was from anything resembling Paleo not more than 4 months ago.