03.31.10 - Farewell

Press 1-1-1
Push Press 3-3-3
Push Jerk 5-5-5

9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Knees to Elbows

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9
Man Makers (25/15#)

Alternate 9/1, 8/2, etc.

Max: 70#/95# (PR!)/70# (?)
Time: 16:21
Comments: We kinda went about the lifting a little wrong, and I never figured out my Push Jerk. I did a few of them with the 70# but I did not feel right about the movement for some reason and then we ran out of time. Definitely maxed out on the press, even though 75# is my true max. Push press could have maybe gone a little bit higher? But just realized 95# is a Personal Record. Used 10# dumbbells on the man makers. Maybe should have done the 15#, but I was pretty exhausted at the end. Felt good overall despite $5 Tuesday night wines!

03.29.10 - Change is Good

15-12-9

Front Squat (155/105#)
Ring Dips

Checkout: Tabata (8 x 20 sec On/10 sec Rest)
Sit-ups
Push-ups

Time for MetCon: 6:35
Comments: I love it when I love a WOD, and I liked this one quite a lot. I really love the barbell workouts. Used 65# on the squats (105# is my max). Maybe should have done 75#? Used a green band on the ring dips. After that and those push-ups on the checkout, holy triceps! I will say I think I'm getting better at the crazy ladder exercises in second round warm-ups. Running those drills definitely cracks me up.

In other news: I used to have this crazy click in one of my hips all the time. (Being a bit of a hypochondriac, of course I assumed I'd need hip replacement surgery by the time I was 40). I have no clue when this went away, but I realized it was gone this weekend. Even when I was trying to make it happen, it would not. I "blame" Crossfit.

03.24.10 - To the Core

4 Rounds for Time:

25 Dumbbell Thrusters (20/10#)
30 Push-ups
35 Sit-ups
40 Mountain Climbers

Time: 22:36
Comments: I had nothing in me today. My cold has settled in my chest and I was freezing all day. I decided to go to help my body warm up. My arms were still friggin' killing me (left especially) from those pull-ups Monday. MAJORLY scaled this one: 10 > 5# dumbbells, bench (!) for push-ups. I really am not feeling all that well, but I'm glad I at least went.

03.22.10 - Intervalz

5 Rounds for Time

20 Box Jumps (24/20")
20 Kettlebell Swings (45/35#)
20 Pull-ups

Rest 2 min. between rounds.

Checkout: 100 Double Unders (400 Singles)

Time: 26:48
Comments: 18" box, 25# kettle bell, grey band pull-up. Definitely not the worst. Except for pull-ups. I had nothing left at the end and maybe didn't even get my chin up there. I almost used the 30# KB again. Again I'm so glad I didn't. Deceptively difficult, that kettlebell swing. I could barely do singles again. I only did 200! (Don't tell anyone).

My back is still really sore from last Wednesday's glitch. And all day I felt like I was getting a cold. Thought I could maybe sweat out the cold? Honestly my symptoms could also be trail mix/food allergy related.

03.17.10 - Excellence

3-3-3-3-3 Press for 3-Rep Max

5 Rounds for Time:

20 Kettlebell Swings (45/35#)
15 Burpees
10 Ring Dips
5 Handstand Push-ups

3-Rep Max: 70#
Time: 25:52
Comments: 25# Kettlebell, green band on ring dips, and the box-scale-for-push-ups mess. In the final round of burpees, I broke my back. Something crimped between my shoulder blades dead center. I think tomorrow morning is going to be ugly. I don't know what to blame it on! Press? Burpees? HSPUs? Never did a flat "press" before. I did do two at 75#, so I got a "Max". I would be hard "pressed" to beat that on 1-rep. Also at 75, it's the most burpees I have ever done in a WOD. Burpees suck, yes, but I really do believe that doing the new "standard" on these in fact DOES make them easier. Or at least more fluid?

03.15.10 - Madness

2 Rounds for Time:

500m Row
15 Toes to Bar
500m Row
15 Overhead Squat (95/65#)
500m Row
15 Man Makers

Time: 33:17
Comments: Man Makers*. Dang. I used 20# DBs on this one last time and scaled it to 15 this go around. Also took the overhead down to 45#. In all honesty, I probably should have done 55# – but I was seriously afraid when I saw Vance doing this before us. What a bad ass she is – using 65# for squats and 25# dumb bells! Holy crap. And I also gave considerable thought to the toes to bar and a way to scale it. Rather than doing the best we could (yikes) wouldn't a better "full range of motion" be to lay on the ground hands over head and bring toes to touch your hands? Just wondering. Also, double warm-ups seem to be the norm now, so I will quit mentioning the extra drills we're running before we get started. With practice, I may be able to pull these off successfully by about 2012.

In other news: Signed up for the Warrior Dash today!

*Very quite possibly my least favorite of all we do at the box. SO BAD, I almost kinda like them.

03.12.10 - Paleo Challenge Winners

Sit-ups
Medicine Ball Full Squat Cleans (20/14#)
Pull-ups
Dumbbell Power Snatch (35/20#)
Box Jumps (24/20")
Row (for calories)

3 Minutes on each exercise for total reps.

Total Reps: 195
Comments: We tried to set little goals for each one before this, what we thought we should shoot for. I'll put those numbers next to the actual. I was a little ambitious. I USED A GREEN BAND for the first time on pull-ups. Good Night! That was really pretty hard. The rest I did as Rx'd, although I think that box is 18".

Reps vs "Goals": 61/70, 25/25-45, 17/30 (green band!), 27/30, 33/30, 32/36. I find it hilarious that the only one I beat my goal on was the box jumps, which are usually my worst. We also did a second "warm-up" which had me sweating my ass off before we even started the workout. Suicides, twisting lunges, high-knee skipping, side-shuffles, inchworms, etc., up and back the length of the gym. Pretty fun.

In other news: The results of the Paleo Challenge were outrageous. Look at the side view of Jessica's arms!!

3.10.10 - Hump Day

Max Box Jump – then:

5 Rounds for time:

7 Burpee Box Jumps
9 DB Push Press (35/25#)
11 Jumping Air Squats
13 Push-ups
15 Sit-ups

Max: 27
Time: 19:43
Comments: I didn't have this max in me today, I knew it going in – 29 is my max. Definitely liked how before we went up an inch at a time. The larger increases in height moving up was intimidating. Katy however increased by 2 inches to 37!!! Nice PR for her today! Definitely had another round to go when everyone was done... and a cheering crew as I finished. Thanks to the rest of my class today for that. I was glad to land under 20 minutes. Used 20# dumbbells, thank god. I tried the 25# before we got started and luckily had the sense to scale it down. Bruises on my shoulders tomorrow for sure. Box jump mystery solved. I've not been using 16 or 20, but 18" for the last several WODs. Did a couple green band pull-ups between the TWO warm-ups. That ladder mess was back. This time followed by Allison who also has clearly done this type of thing before – she was fast (and kicked ass on the box jumps too)!

03.09.10 - Pick it up

3-3-3-3-1-1-1
Deadlift for Max

MetCon
3 Rounds of:

10 Deadlifts
15 Hang Power Clean
20 KTEs
25 Double Unders (100 Singles)
30 Box Jump Leaps (per leg, 24/20")

Deadlift Max: 185#
Time: 25:13
Comments: Used 65#, singles and, well, I can't tell a 16 from a 20" box unless they are right next to each other apparently, so I don't know what I used. It felt tall. We did a new warm up and it really highlighted my horrible coordination. Running patterns on a ladder made of plastic on the ground. If you're new to this, slow on the uptake of such things, and Kevin W. is in your class, make sure he's not behind you. I think he's done this before... It felt great to be back in the box after practically two weeks off. Pretty sure that deadlift was a PR.

03.04.10 - FGB Comparison

I was able to find our first score sheet so we could do a side-by-side comparison.

The not-to-10' wall balls the first time definitely impacted the overall score for the better, but if you ignore those numbers and focus on the numbers for the push press, sumo and even box jumps, there's a definite improvement. This is timely considering the post from today talking about – wait, it disappeared. Anyway, I think this is kind of a nice example of being able to measure results.

People seem to ask a lot, Have you noticed a difference? My sort of standard answer has become, I FEEL different and I'm definitely stronger. Now here's a way to see the difference – just after an average 3x/week for 8 weeks.

03.02.10 - Fight Gone Bad, Part II

3 Rounds of 5 stations:

Wall Ball (14#)
Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (55#)
Box Jump (16")
Push Press (55#)
Row (for calories burned)

1 minute per exercise, and 1 minute in between rounds for a total of 17 minutes.

Reps: 180
Comments: This is funny – I actually entertained pipe dreams that I'd break 200 all day (last time I did 171). Didn't hit that by a long shot, but THANK GOD I at least improved! The threat of not doing so had my heart pounding before we began. One thing was different - wall balls. We had to get the ball up 10' and now there's a line so you can't "guess" it's about there. No way I was anywhere near that last time.

I did a better job on each of them except the wall ball (obviously) and the row (when I "strategically" decided to "rest"). Here's a comparison of today's to 8 weeks ago using my max numbers. Push Press (22/17), Sumo (15/10), Row (9/12), Wall Ball (12/19) Box Jump (13/10).

This goes without saying: FGB is probably even harder after a 4-day weekend eating and drinking at a cabin in the mountains with a bunch of old friends from college. Ouch.