I'm not really sure what to call yesterday's workout. It was kind of a mix mash of strength/cardio work, but more strength than cardio, and it was set up in an intereting way. Chriss has been doing the programming for the last two weeks, and it's interesting to see the things different people come up with. Chriss is an absolute metcon ninja master (he's not even just a ninja) and he came up with some nasty stuff these few weeks. So, it's interesting to see him put these together too.
Yesterday's WOD looked like this
FT
3 rounds
5 Muscle ups (or progressions)
10 box jumps
2 rounds
15 HSPU or modified to abmat
20 KBHP (53 lbs)
1 round
25 pull-ups
30 burpees
I was actually excited to work on the muscle up progression because we haven't done those in a long time. In fact, I haven't so much as thought about a muscle up since my summer of CF last summer when I was done with school. Ah, that seems so long ago... :( But it felt good to work the progression even if I'm weak as crap. Same with the HSPUs. I have to use an abmat as a touch point but as Jerry has said, better to use them and get a benchmark then to just keep half assing it.
The pull-ups are still killing my hands. I think the only way to get my hands to adapt to those bars is going to be to come in and do about 30 chins on my own each day. If I'm off it for a day, my skin starts to heal and then they hurt something fierce all over again. Burpees suck no matter how you slice it, so that was just plain mean and wrong to put them at the end. I finished around 22 minutes, but was ok with that because I was adjusting the rings and really trying to get a lot out of the MU work. I'm not really feeling CF today, so we'll see if I make it in or not. I'm wiped after being late at work last night. I had a table sit until almost 11. Made it home around 11:30. Yuck. Tomorrow I'm def going for a run. I need to get more work in this week. I'm thinking about a swim on Sunday too. I haven't done one of those in awhile.... we'll see though... we'll see...
Thursday, February 26, 2009
On Wednesday I worked on my snatch...
You know what I love about snatches? All the fun I get to have giggling at the word snatch... :) Wednesday was great because we were working on heavy snatches. To be honest, we've really never worked heavy snatches, at least not that I can remember. We've gone heavy on lots of other stuff, but never snatches. I like the snatch (uh... not like THAT!) because I love to throw weight over my head. To me, it's fun. Keep your dead lifts and squats, but give me some clean and jerks or some snatches and I'm in heaven. (Wow, I really can't stop giving you guys lots of room to make comments can I?)
But anyway, we worked up heavy on the snatch and here's what I came up with.
45 X 3
45 X 3
55 X 1
60 X 1
65 X 1
70 X 1
75 X 1
80 X 1
85 X 1
90 X 1
95 X 1 (hang)
100 X 1 (hang)
105 X 1 (SOF, hang)
105 X 1 (SOF, hang)
So what the f does SOF mean? Well, it means sort of failed. On the first snatch with 105 I had it overhead but couldn't lock out. On the second one, I had it overhead and stood it up but it was too far behind my head so I had to dump the weight. I have 105, solid i know. But by the time I got up there I think I was just too tired to hang onto it. Once I went to the hang, I was surprised at just how much more efficient my movement was. Everyone says pulling from the floor gives you more power. For me, it's the opposite. Once I have to try to squat down and use my legs from the floor, something gets lost in translation. I was still able to put up 90 from the floor but I lost that explosive hip speed. As soon as I went to the hang, the speed came back and I felt much more confident. Interesting how that happens. But anyhoo... I'll take a 100 lb snatch... and a SOF at 105. :) I hope we hit these again.
But anyway, we worked up heavy on the snatch and here's what I came up with.
45 X 3
45 X 3
55 X 1
60 X 1
65 X 1
70 X 1
75 X 1
80 X 1
85 X 1
90 X 1
95 X 1 (hang)
100 X 1 (hang)
105 X 1 (SOF, hang)
105 X 1 (SOF, hang)
So what the f does SOF mean? Well, it means sort of failed. On the first snatch with 105 I had it overhead but couldn't lock out. On the second one, I had it overhead and stood it up but it was too far behind my head so I had to dump the weight. I have 105, solid i know. But by the time I got up there I think I was just too tired to hang onto it. Once I went to the hang, I was surprised at just how much more efficient my movement was. Everyone says pulling from the floor gives you more power. For me, it's the opposite. Once I have to try to squat down and use my legs from the floor, something gets lost in translation. I was still able to put up 90 from the floor but I lost that explosive hip speed. As soon as I went to the hang, the speed came back and I felt much more confident. Interesting how that happens. But anyhoo... I'll take a 100 lb snatch... and a SOF at 105. :) I hope we hit these again.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Helen make-up...
After completing the "Grace Challenge" Jerry has decided to host another challenge. This time, Jerry has focused on "Helen", another particularly short, but brutal lady. Our initial time trial was on Saturday and unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it, but fortunately, Jerry was nice enough to get me a make-up day. So, Monday due to my computer issues, I wasn't able to get into CFOT. So, yesterday in the wind and cold, I had to go hit Helen. (That sounds kind of funny... I promise that no women were injured in me hitting Helen. :P) Anyhoo, I drove off to CFOT after school and got ready to do battle.
Helen looks a little sumptin' like this:
3 RFT
400 M run
21 KB swings
12 Pull-ups
Despite teh freezing cold temps, this workout actually didn't feel too bad, well except on my lungs. I'm not a metcon ninja, not by any means. It's one of my areas I've been working on, but really this didn't suck for me too badly. Round 1 actually felt easy, and on the KB swings I did the 21 unbroken. I had to break on the pull-ups though as I'm just having a hard time getting used to the fixed bar. It took months to adjust to the swinging bars and get used to doing pull-ups at all, so I'm sure my fixed bar mojo will come, it's just going to take a hot minute.
So, round 2 I had to break the KB swings at 13, and the chins 3 times. I was a bit disappointed with that. Round 3 wasn't so hot and I broke the chins four times. If there is an area where I could say that I would pick up time, it's def with the chins. Taking as many breaks as I did on that last round cost me a bit of time. All in all though, I really didn't feel too terrible. So we'll see where I can go with my metcon ninjary in 8 weeks.
As an aside, I'm not Catholic, but I'm going to give stuff up for lent.... perhaps it's cheating, but if I give up chocolate and soda for Lent, they can't ruin my Zone right? *sigh* Still trying to get back into it... it's been a whole lot harder this time around... I'm going to keep plugging along though and hopefully start making some better food choices. Next few weeks will be rough though, as I have a party and a bachelorette weekend planned. Eeek... stay tuned to see how that works out... LOL.
Helen looks a little sumptin' like this:
3 RFT
400 M run
21 KB swings
12 Pull-ups
Despite teh freezing cold temps, this workout actually didn't feel too bad, well except on my lungs. I'm not a metcon ninja, not by any means. It's one of my areas I've been working on, but really this didn't suck for me too badly. Round 1 actually felt easy, and on the KB swings I did the 21 unbroken. I had to break on the pull-ups though as I'm just having a hard time getting used to the fixed bar. It took months to adjust to the swinging bars and get used to doing pull-ups at all, so I'm sure my fixed bar mojo will come, it's just going to take a hot minute.
So, round 2 I had to break the KB swings at 13, and the chins 3 times. I was a bit disappointed with that. Round 3 wasn't so hot and I broke the chins four times. If there is an area where I could say that I would pick up time, it's def with the chins. Taking as many breaks as I did on that last round cost me a bit of time. All in all though, I really didn't feel too terrible. So we'll see where I can go with my metcon ninjary in 8 weeks.
As an aside, I'm not Catholic, but I'm going to give stuff up for lent.... perhaps it's cheating, but if I give up chocolate and soda for Lent, they can't ruin my Zone right? *sigh* Still trying to get back into it... it's been a whole lot harder this time around... I'm going to keep plugging along though and hopefully start making some better food choices. Next few weeks will be rough though, as I have a party and a bachelorette weekend planned. Eeek... stay tuned to see how that works out... LOL.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
It died...
Sooooo my laptop crashed yesterday. Not my home one which I paid for (thank goodness) but my work laptop. Yup. Right in the middle of my staff meeting, thus preventing my from getting much done during my afternoon, which means, I was at work until 8 last night, and I missed CF. I'm not a very happy camper about that. Grrrr... CF tonight I hope. Still lots to do.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Clean and jerk...
Chriss finally programmed something in the workout I can do! Or so I thought. I've been able to jerk a lot of weight overhead so far. But I've noticed over the last few weeks that I'm losing my overhead strength. I don't think that I've gotten weaker, no no. But I've gotten so focused on going heavier, that my ramp ups are not as strong, so when I work heavy, it doesn't feel good, and I think I've really lost the efficiency in my movement. Biggest problem with getting overhead is losing the bar in the rack position and then moving it away from your body instead of going straight overhead. With 85 pounds, that's not a problem. With 145 that becomes a rather large problem.
I was able to put up 125, and then 135 just wouldn't move. My efficiency had gone so much that it felt like poo. I literally stripped the bar and went down to 85 pounds and started working reps. I was working on keeping the bar higher on my shoulders, and making sure that my dip and drive was coming straight up off my shoulders and not out away from my face and then up. With any overhead movement you always want to work on keeping the bar close to your face. Last week I managed to nail myself in the nose (giving myself one heck of a bruise on the bridge of my nose I might add!) with a piece of PVC pipe while working on push presses. Now I need to refocus myself for other overhead work like the jerk, and start thinking about efficiency of movement, otherwise I won't ever be able to lift 140 or more again.
Always something to work on in CF...
I was able to put up 125, and then 135 just wouldn't move. My efficiency had gone so much that it felt like poo. I literally stripped the bar and went down to 85 pounds and started working reps. I was working on keeping the bar higher on my shoulders, and making sure that my dip and drive was coming straight up off my shoulders and not out away from my face and then up. With any overhead movement you always want to work on keeping the bar close to your face. Last week I managed to nail myself in the nose (giving myself one heck of a bruise on the bridge of my nose I might add!) with a piece of PVC pipe while working on push presses. Now I need to refocus myself for other overhead work like the jerk, and start thinking about efficiency of movement, otherwise I won't ever be able to lift 140 or more again.
Always something to work on in CF...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thursday interval insanity...
Not going to lie. This just flat out sucked. Chriss is a metcon ninja to the nth degree. I am not. It's a weakness. In fact, I would be willing to say that Chriss has had at least one, if not more, of my weaknesses in every single workout this week. I get that you're only as strong as your weakest link but GD. It's been a rough week. So here's how this one breaks down.
1000 M Row
21 Thrusters
15 Pull-ups
750 M Row
18 Thrusters
12 Pull-ups
500 M Row
15 Thrusters
9 Pull-ups
250 M Row
9 Thrusters
6 Pull-ups
You were to record each interval and then take 2 minutes rest. After the heavy deads the night before my legs were smoked on this one. Getting through this one really really hurt.
1000 M Row
21 Thrusters
15 Pull-ups
750 M Row
18 Thrusters
12 Pull-ups
500 M Row
15 Thrusters
9 Pull-ups
250 M Row
9 Thrusters
6 Pull-ups
You were to record each interval and then take 2 minutes rest. After the heavy deads the night before my legs were smoked on this one. Getting through this one really really hurt.
Wednesday night DL workout...
Chriss has been doing our programming this week and he's really been picking some doozies. Here's what he thought up on Wednesday night.
3 RFT
10 DL heavy
20 K2E
I am having a very hard time with particular movements lately, DL's being one. I couldn't use the Rx'd weight which was 185 so I backed down to 155 and did the workout. It took me awhile because I was really focusing on not rounding and getting a good set. I also have been told that I'm over arching at the top. I'm thinking about getting my hips to the bar, so I'm leaning back at the top when I finish my lift which is why I've been having so many back problems with DL's. So, not a bad workout, but again, kind of like my other post said, I have to slow down and work on form now. I've gotten strong, now I need to back down on the weight and work on efficiency of the movements. I can't go anywhere until I get it down.
3 RFT
10 DL heavy
20 K2E
I am having a very hard time with particular movements lately, DL's being one. I couldn't use the Rx'd weight which was 185 so I backed down to 155 and did the workout. It took me awhile because I was really focusing on not rounding and getting a good set. I also have been told that I'm over arching at the top. I'm thinking about getting my hips to the bar, so I'm leaning back at the top when I finish my lift which is why I've been having so many back problems with DL's. So, not a bad workout, but again, kind of like my other post said, I have to slow down and work on form now. I've gotten strong, now I need to back down on the weight and work on efficiency of the movements. I can't go anywhere until I get it down.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Heavy Tuesday Night metcon ninjary...
Yar... all this metcon is giving me pains... Chriss keeps picking all my bad movements!! GD! We're only on day 2 of his 2 weeks... I'm so in trouble. :( Right now I'm in the swimming has sort of ended down swing. My life is slowly returning to normal but my body is still in full own fatigue mode because now, I'm allowing it to rest and relax instead of kicking it awake everyday to beat it up some more, and believe me, it's taking it and milking it big time. I slept so much this weekend and watched so many movies, it was almost disgusting.
So anyway, I think I will be back to full on ninja status in prob two weeks. I'm thinking of throwing in some two a dayers... maybe getting back to some running. But right now is healing time, and time to allow my blood pressure and stress levels to lower themselves. Basically, I'm going to the gym, putting in some work, but I'm not stressin the times too much. I need to improve my all around fitness, and you know what, sometimes you just can't worry about the clock because you need to slow the movements down. This need for a slow down just happens to have come at a perfect time.
I'm just sort of learning some new stuff now and I'm discovering a lot of my weaknesses, some I already knew, some, NSM. For example, today was a heavy KB swing day, so I really had to focus on my hips. I have mhf so these are still a bear for me. But it was good. We also hit double unders today. I didn't know how to do those but got my very first double under today before then needing to do 100 in the workout. So, sometimes I have to remind myself that I need to go back to step with some things and slow down. This is counterintuitive for me, but good nonetheless.
The insanity looked a lot like this... no wait, it did look like this... :P
For time
50 double unders
40 KB swings (53 lbs)
40 box jumps
40 abmats
30 KB swings
30 box jump
30 abmats
20 KB swings
20 box jumps
20 abmats
50 double unders
Time 27:22
The first set of double unders really slowed me down. Those alone took 6 minutes. I got very frustrated. But, BUT, in the last set, I think something finally clicked because I started putting them together. After the workout, I was playing around with the jumprope and was wondering if it was a fake out. You know, I got lucky and just happened to sort of get it. Well, I guess not because then I hit 11 in a row. But after that 11 when I tried to go back and get 12, I could only get 3. Fudge! :P But, I guess either way, I def got it, now I just need to work on it. See, told you. I'm learning... see, you can teach an old dog new tricks... :P LOL.
So anyway, I think I will be back to full on ninja status in prob two weeks. I'm thinking of throwing in some two a dayers... maybe getting back to some running. But right now is healing time, and time to allow my blood pressure and stress levels to lower themselves. Basically, I'm going to the gym, putting in some work, but I'm not stressin the times too much. I need to improve my all around fitness, and you know what, sometimes you just can't worry about the clock because you need to slow the movements down. This need for a slow down just happens to have come at a perfect time.
I'm just sort of learning some new stuff now and I'm discovering a lot of my weaknesses, some I already knew, some, NSM. For example, today was a heavy KB swing day, so I really had to focus on my hips. I have mhf so these are still a bear for me. But it was good. We also hit double unders today. I didn't know how to do those but got my very first double under today before then needing to do 100 in the workout. So, sometimes I have to remind myself that I need to go back to step with some things and slow down. This is counterintuitive for me, but good nonetheless.
The insanity looked a lot like this... no wait, it did look like this... :P
For time
50 double unders
40 KB swings (53 lbs)
40 box jumps
40 abmats
30 KB swings
30 box jump
30 abmats
20 KB swings
20 box jumps
20 abmats
50 double unders
Time 27:22
The first set of double unders really slowed me down. Those alone took 6 minutes. I got very frustrated. But, BUT, in the last set, I think something finally clicked because I started putting them together. After the workout, I was playing around with the jumprope and was wondering if it was a fake out. You know, I got lucky and just happened to sort of get it. Well, I guess not because then I hit 11 in a row. But after that 11 when I tried to go back and get 12, I could only get 3. Fudge! :P But, I guess either way, I def got it, now I just need to work on it. See, told you. I'm learning... see, you can teach an old dog new tricks... :P LOL.
Overheard in my classroom...
Have you ever heard about Overheard in New York? I think that's the name of it, but people write about all the conversations they overhear people having. Well over the weekend, I decided that I was going to play with my hair a bit. Hey, it's my hair and I'll do what I want. I'm grown! :P Anyhoo, it also happened to be President's Day, and well, seeing as how swimming is almost over, and they were having huge sales at Ann Taylor, weeeellll I decided to go shopping. I bought the cutest dress ever and it was work appropriate and I decided to wear it today.
I was standing at the chalkboard today writing the morning message for my kids when I hear this (mind you they are all in the classroom and I'm WRITING on the board:
Student 1: "Where's Ms. _____________?"
Student 2: "I don't know, I guess we have a substitute."
Student 3: (After standing next to me in a state of confusion for a good solid minute) "Oh it's you. I like your haircut."
Me: "Thank you."
Student 1: "Oooooh, it IS Ms. ___________."
As heard during the class switch:
Student 1: "I wonder what she looks like."
Student 2: "Yeah, they said she actually looks nice today."
Hmmmm as opposed to every other day?
As heard during my walk through the building this morning... "I love your hair!" (several times) and "I can't believe how cute you look in your dress!". Just another few signs that I really am that boring and apparently wear WAY too many pants. I cut my hair and wear a dress and people don't know WHAT to think... :P
I was standing at the chalkboard today writing the morning message for my kids when I hear this (mind you they are all in the classroom and I'm WRITING on the board:
Student 1: "Where's Ms. _____________?"
Student 2: "I don't know, I guess we have a substitute."
Student 3: (After standing next to me in a state of confusion for a good solid minute) "Oh it's you. I like your haircut."
Me: "Thank you."
Student 1: "Oooooh, it IS Ms. ___________."
As heard during the class switch:
Student 1: "I wonder what she looks like."
Student 2: "Yeah, they said she actually looks nice today."
Hmmmm as opposed to every other day?
As heard during my walk through the building this morning... "I love your hair!" (several times) and "I can't believe how cute you look in your dress!". Just another few signs that I really am that boring and apparently wear WAY too many pants. I cut my hair and wear a dress and people don't know WHAT to think... :P
Monday Metcon Ninjary...
I cheated at this workout, but it was TOTALLY by accident. Last week when we ran the big orange sign was the 400 meter mark (so there and back was 800). Then yesterday I was only half listening when they explained the run... so I sort of cheated cause I stopped at the orange sign and then ran back... whoops! I feel bad now... I should probably do 50 burpees or something to make up for it... :( I sowwy. Ah, jess, but now for the metcon ninjary... Andrea did our programmning for the last two weeks, Chriss is doing it for the next two... have I mentioned that I miss Jerry? We are so going to run and row our asses off.... :(
Chriss's Monday Metcon Ninjary
200 M run
25 ring dips (done with floss band)
400 M run
35 push press (65 lbs)
800 M run
45 wall ball (14 lbs)
I won't record my time since technically I cheated... I swear I REALLY didn't mean to... if I meant to cheat, hell, I would have stopped a whole lot sooner... duh... :P
Chriss's Monday Metcon Ninjary
200 M run
25 ring dips (done with floss band)
400 M run
35 push press (65 lbs)
800 M run
45 wall ball (14 lbs)
I won't record my time since technically I cheated... I swear I REALLY didn't mean to... if I meant to cheat, hell, I would have stopped a whole lot sooner... duh... :P
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Valentine's Day Massacre...
Although yesterday is typically considered the international love day, at CFOT I wasn't really feeling the love. I was feeling more like pain. Andrea's present to us on Valentine's Day looked a litte sumptin' like this.
For time
100 hang power cleans
85 lbs
For every drop do 10 pull-ups
Time 27:36
My first round was a set of 30. So I was pleased with that, but after that the forearms were fried and I was a hurtin' pup. I think I dropped the bar 6 times in total, but I wasn't really counting. I was just trying to get through the darned thing. I wasn't really going to work out yesterday when I went, so I wasn't dressed appropriately. I was wearing long sleeves and a pair of fleece pants. I was sweating my behind off. I just wanted to finish the damned thing.
Thankfully I didn't tear. There were some really wicked bad hand tears during this one, but thankfully I just tore the inside of my thumbs pretty well. This one sucked but overall wasn't the worst I've done. Happy Valentine's Day! :P
For time
100 hang power cleans
85 lbs
For every drop do 10 pull-ups
Time 27:36
My first round was a set of 30. So I was pleased with that, but after that the forearms were fried and I was a hurtin' pup. I think I dropped the bar 6 times in total, but I wasn't really counting. I was just trying to get through the darned thing. I wasn't really going to work out yesterday when I went, so I wasn't dressed appropriately. I was wearing long sleeves and a pair of fleece pants. I was sweating my behind off. I just wanted to finish the damned thing.
Thankfully I didn't tear. There were some really wicked bad hand tears during this one, but thankfully I just tore the inside of my thumbs pretty well. This one sucked but overall wasn't the worst I've done. Happy Valentine's Day! :P
Friday, February 13, 2009
Rest day... aka... attack of the killer Valentine's Day candy...
Hokay, so really and truly, I have been trying to get my way back into the Zone. I've been having some successes, and some failures, but nothing quite like this. The mound of lollipops, chocolate hearts, kisses, packages sugar hearts... it's like a Zoners worst nightmare and it's all sitting right on top of my desk. It's no secret that teachers like sweets. I'm not going to lie, we use them as a coping mechanism. Parents stress you out? Have a brownie. Kids stress you out? Have a girl scout cookie that your kids have been shopping around to you. Hate your job immensely? Have a peanut butter cup. Boyfriend tick you off? Have some M&M's. We're copers. We do what we have to do to make sure we can get the job done, and very often we rely on sugar to ease that stress burden.
So, it's no wonder that the kids, who are waaaaaay more observant than most adults give them credit for, INSIST on loading us to the gills during holidays. Christmas and Valentine's Day being the worst. It's a zoners worst nightmare to sit next to this and not be able to eat it. I don't need any more help falling off the Zone. I'm doing a good enough job of that on my own. It's like the attack of the Valentine's Candy has struck and I'm powerless to do anything about it. And, since I was on for 4 days this week, I decided to do the smart thing and take a day off today. Ugh, just what I need. Chocolate and no exercise! :( Ah, well, at least tomorrow I'll be hitting the morning workout with the crew.
So, it's no wonder that the kids, who are waaaaaay more observant than most adults give them credit for, INSIST on loading us to the gills during holidays. Christmas and Valentine's Day being the worst. It's a zoners worst nightmare to sit next to this and not be able to eat it. I don't need any more help falling off the Zone. I'm doing a good enough job of that on my own. It's like the attack of the Valentine's Candy has struck and I'm powerless to do anything about it. And, since I was on for 4 days this week, I decided to do the smart thing and take a day off today. Ugh, just what I need. Chocolate and no exercise! :( Ah, well, at least tomorrow I'll be hitting the morning workout with the crew.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A new movement: Back squats X 5-5-5-5-5
Because of our limited space in the Blue Room, we were never able to do back squats because we didn't have racks. With the new facility, we now have the ability to do back squats thanks to our plethora of racks! Woot!
So, today was more an introductory day to back squatting than anything. It feels weird to not have to try to keep your torso completely upright as you're used to doing with the front squat, but it was neat to explore a new movement. Since we were all newbies at this movement, Jerry gave us very strict instructions. NO MAX EFFORTS! So, even though I was feeling pretty good after my first few tries, I cut myself off when I felt things start to get heavy and force me to work harder. My day looked like this.
35 X 5
55 X 5
75 X 5
95 X 5
105 X 5
115 X 5
125 X 5
135 X 5
135 still felt pretty easy, but I could feel myself getting tired, and also feel myself having to start working harder to get the reps up, so I decided to end there. My max single front squat last week was 170, so I figured I was getting close to my max for a 5 rep effort. I felt good with form, so it felt good to end on a good note. A new movement to work on, woot! Gotta love CF!
So, today was more an introductory day to back squatting than anything. It feels weird to not have to try to keep your torso completely upright as you're used to doing with the front squat, but it was neat to explore a new movement. Since we were all newbies at this movement, Jerry gave us very strict instructions. NO MAX EFFORTS! So, even though I was feeling pretty good after my first few tries, I cut myself off when I felt things start to get heavy and force me to work harder. My day looked like this.
35 X 5
55 X 5
75 X 5
95 X 5
105 X 5
115 X 5
125 X 5
135 X 5
135 still felt pretty easy, but I could feel myself getting tired, and also feel myself having to start working harder to get the reps up, so I decided to end there. My max single front squat last week was 170, so I figured I was getting close to my max for a 5 rep effort. I felt good with form, so it felt good to end on a good note. A new movement to work on, woot! Gotta love CF!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
A metcon thrasher...
After hitting last night's WOD, I was reluctant to crawl out of bed this morning and get into CF, but I needed to get in this morning because I don't want to have another night where I don't get home until 8 because I'm busy playing with toys at CF.
I got up and hit the zero dark thirty class which was good. I haven't seen those guys for a hot minute, so it was nice to be back at my original time slot. It was another metcon thrasher though and boy, this one really hurt.
5 RFT
400 m run
20 pull-ups
30 weighted sit ups
Time-28:30
DC is experiencing some unusually warm but nonetheless beautiful spring like weather, so it's no wonder Jerry had us out for a run circuit today. The run felt really bad on round 1 but after I loosened up, it felt decent actually. I'm not going to lie though, what slowed me down in this circuit was the pull ups.
Getting adjusted to these new bars is taking me a little bit. My hands are tearing and staying on these bars just plain hurts. Jerry mentioned maybe he might paint them and that may help, but man, they just tear the crap out of your hands and are downright painful. I wasted a lot of time today staring at the bar. I was cranking sets of three and four, but to get 20 done that way takes awhile, and I was so gassed from running that it was taking me even longer because I wanted to be able to breathe. Huh, imagine that. Wanting to be able to breathe. :P Whoda thunk? :P
Not to mention, after last night's thrashing, my shoulders were pretty well shot. I didn't have a whole lot of "umpf" when pulling myself up today. But, I didn't quit or give up which is a good thing. I always give myself points for that. I got really dizzy a couple of times during this circuit, and I'm not sure if it was a direct result of the movements themselves, or of something else entirely. I haven't been feeling up to snuff lately, and after this weekend have felt EXTREMELY lethargic and run down, so I'm wondering if I'm coming down with whatever all the kids in my school have. I hope not, because I really don't want the bubonic plague again, but I won't lie. I'm not feeling 100% today.
Anyhoo, enough of the whining... off I go! Until next time...
I got up and hit the zero dark thirty class which was good. I haven't seen those guys for a hot minute, so it was nice to be back at my original time slot. It was another metcon thrasher though and boy, this one really hurt.
5 RFT
400 m run
20 pull-ups
30 weighted sit ups
Time-28:30
DC is experiencing some unusually warm but nonetheless beautiful spring like weather, so it's no wonder Jerry had us out for a run circuit today. The run felt really bad on round 1 but after I loosened up, it felt decent actually. I'm not going to lie though, what slowed me down in this circuit was the pull ups.
Getting adjusted to these new bars is taking me a little bit. My hands are tearing and staying on these bars just plain hurts. Jerry mentioned maybe he might paint them and that may help, but man, they just tear the crap out of your hands and are downright painful. I wasted a lot of time today staring at the bar. I was cranking sets of three and four, but to get 20 done that way takes awhile, and I was so gassed from running that it was taking me even longer because I wanted to be able to breathe. Huh, imagine that. Wanting to be able to breathe. :P Whoda thunk? :P
Not to mention, after last night's thrashing, my shoulders were pretty well shot. I didn't have a whole lot of "umpf" when pulling myself up today. But, I didn't quit or give up which is a good thing. I always give myself points for that. I got really dizzy a couple of times during this circuit, and I'm not sure if it was a direct result of the movements themselves, or of something else entirely. I haven't been feeling up to snuff lately, and after this weekend have felt EXTREMELY lethargic and run down, so I'm wondering if I'm coming down with whatever all the kids in my school have. I hope not, because I really don't want the bubonic plague again, but I won't lie. I'm not feeling 100% today.
Anyhoo, enough of the whining... off I go! Until next time...
Tuesday Night Workout: 40-30-20-10
Yesterday morning I had a really hard time rising to the alarm at 4:30, so I set the alarm for an hour later and decided to hit CF last night. But wow oh wow, was this a doozy.
40-30-20-10
For time
OHS 35lbs
Lunges 15 lbs
KB swings 35 lbs
Ring push ups
Now the weights for this were not incredibly heavy, and they weren't supposed to be. They were supposed to be light enough that you could just fly through. Surprisingly, I did just that. The ohs felt great actually, and I'm finding these days that I actually kind of LIKE squats now. Shh... don't tell Jerry. No really, squats used to be a really bad achilles for me, but they've gotten a lot better. I just need to remember to initiate with my butt back instead of bending my knees first. I also noticed the improvement in my hip speed when I did KB Swings. Normally these are also a bit of a struggle with me because of the hip movement, but I actually tore through them pretty quickly (well for me anyway). I did really well with this circuit.... until.... the ring push ups.
As if normal push ups don't suck badly enough, try doing them on a lowered set of rings. Oh yeah, let me tell you... I had a good fun grand time banging out 100 ring push ups. Yeah... about that... not so much. I honestly think too though that one of the worst things about this workout was the strap burn. Seriously, I took a layer of skin off my arms, and today I have bruises forming. It's uber retardo looking. And I keep hurting myself cause I forget and then lean in the doorway or cross my arms. Grrrrr... But, even though this was a killer and I was grunting and screaming "I hate these f'ing (I didn't really say f'ing... I censored myself here... c'mon now) things!" this was really a good workout. It was good for me to work the push ups and work on speed. That is, as Andrea put it, the next frontier for me. Somewhere between July and now, I went and got a little strong. For me, the next level of my fitness is working on perfect form and motion and speed. I still have a few kinks here and there I need to work out. Clean pull from the floor, deadlifts etc. But overall... a good day in the... hmmm... well I can't say Blue Room, so, a good day at the new box. :)
PS- The push ups slowed me down so much I don't really want to admit my time...
40-30-20-10
For time
OHS 35lbs
Lunges 15 lbs
KB swings 35 lbs
Ring push ups
Now the weights for this were not incredibly heavy, and they weren't supposed to be. They were supposed to be light enough that you could just fly through. Surprisingly, I did just that. The ohs felt great actually, and I'm finding these days that I actually kind of LIKE squats now. Shh... don't tell Jerry. No really, squats used to be a really bad achilles for me, but they've gotten a lot better. I just need to remember to initiate with my butt back instead of bending my knees first. I also noticed the improvement in my hip speed when I did KB Swings. Normally these are also a bit of a struggle with me because of the hip movement, but I actually tore through them pretty quickly (well for me anyway). I did really well with this circuit.... until.... the ring push ups.
As if normal push ups don't suck badly enough, try doing them on a lowered set of rings. Oh yeah, let me tell you... I had a good fun grand time banging out 100 ring push ups. Yeah... about that... not so much. I honestly think too though that one of the worst things about this workout was the strap burn. Seriously, I took a layer of skin off my arms, and today I have bruises forming. It's uber retardo looking. And I keep hurting myself cause I forget and then lean in the doorway or cross my arms. Grrrrr... But, even though this was a killer and I was grunting and screaming "I hate these f'ing (I didn't really say f'ing... I censored myself here... c'mon now) things!" this was really a good workout. It was good for me to work the push ups and work on speed. That is, as Andrea put it, the next frontier for me. Somewhere between July and now, I went and got a little strong. For me, the next level of my fitness is working on perfect form and motion and speed. I still have a few kinks here and there I need to work out. Clean pull from the floor, deadlifts etc. But overall... a good day in the... hmmm... well I can't say Blue Room, so, a good day at the new box. :)
PS- The push ups slowed me down so much I don't really want to admit my time...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Monday night workout: Max Thruster 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
"Thruster? I damn near killed 'er!" Har har har har har... ;) Oh such fun with innuendos in CF. Didn't I write a blog about that? Hmmm... if not, I should. :O)
So, our Monday night workout was a pretty good strength workout. We were working on max thrusters. You know, I've never actually hit a max thruster workout, so this was interesting for me. My hip function and my speed off the bottom have been something that I've been working on for awhile. So, this was an interesting test for me. I knew after doing that heavy Fran back in September that I could put up 90, but I wasn't sure how much higher I could go without losing the thruster and finishing with a press. Andrea was looking for a wave of contraction because, well that's what a true thruster is. Sooo... my weights looked like this.
55
75
85
95
95
105
65
I did 95 twice just because it felt like I lost that solid movement that Andrea was looking for. So, I just hit a repeat. I think that I could have gone higher than 105, but I wasn't feeling it, and I was starting to lose the integrity of the movement. So I dropped down and just worked on hitting it for the speed off the bottom. I think that was a good choice for me. So, all in all, not too shabby.
So, our Monday night workout was a pretty good strength workout. We were working on max thrusters. You know, I've never actually hit a max thruster workout, so this was interesting for me. My hip function and my speed off the bottom have been something that I've been working on for awhile. So, this was an interesting test for me. I knew after doing that heavy Fran back in September that I could put up 90, but I wasn't sure how much higher I could go without losing the thruster and finishing with a press. Andrea was looking for a wave of contraction because, well that's what a true thruster is. Sooo... my weights looked like this.
55
75
85
95
95
105
65
I did 95 twice just because it felt like I lost that solid movement that Andrea was looking for. So, I just hit a repeat. I think that I could have gone higher than 105, but I wasn't feeling it, and I was starting to lose the integrity of the movement. So I dropped down and just worked on hitting it for the speed off the bottom. I think that was a good choice for me. So, all in all, not too shabby.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Clean and jerk
Alright, since Robin's giving me crap, I guess I better get these up huh? It was a crazy weekend with district swimming and work and what have you but I guess Robin doesn't take excuses very well... :P On a positive note before I get too into these, our ladies team finished as the district runners up behind the three (probably four from the looks of things) time state champ girls team. I was proud of them. They swam very well, and it's the first time in the ladies' history I believe that they've done that well. We're a weak conference (I'm not being mean we really are) in terms of swimming, but still, they swam well and it was nice to see.
Hokay, so clean and jerk. Andrea has been doing the programming this last week or so and she's picked some doozies. Here we go...
1 clean
5 jerks
2 cleans
4 jerks
3 cleans
3 jerks
4 cleans
2 jerks
5 cleans
1 jerk
Now, this is a pretty speedy workout, but man let me tell you. I threw 100 lbs on that bar and on day 5 of my CF week, it took me over 5 minutes to get this done. I was sore, tired, and this hurt like crap. Note to self, 5 CF days in a row = bad idea. It's also challenging not to bring 100 lbs down under control and not crack yourself in the chest before going for another jerk, cause yeah, if you drop the bar you get to do extra cleans... woot! :P
Hokay, so clean and jerk. Andrea has been doing the programming this last week or so and she's picked some doozies. Here we go...
1 clean
5 jerks
2 cleans
4 jerks
3 cleans
3 jerks
4 cleans
2 jerks
5 cleans
1 jerk
Now, this is a pretty speedy workout, but man let me tell you. I threw 100 lbs on that bar and on day 5 of my CF week, it took me over 5 minutes to get this done. I was sore, tired, and this hurt like crap. Note to self, 5 CF days in a row = bad idea. It's also challenging not to bring 100 lbs down under control and not crack yourself in the chest before going for another jerk, cause yeah, if you drop the bar you get to do extra cleans... woot! :P
Wednesday night workout: Cindy
With torn calluses in the palm of my hand...on the new fixed bars.. and on day 4 of CF week... I decided to still go and do Cindy. I'm the smartest person alive! Jerry told me I could sub abmats, and Andrea made me feel like a wuss (not intentionally but she said she had done Cindy and hers were worse then mine... *Katie hangs head for sheer and utter wussitude*) and so I got my butt on the bar and actually (surprisingly) busted out the best Cindy I've ever done.
I mean, I know it's no land speed record, but if you've been reading me long enough (or hell really even short enough) you know that body weight movements, and workouts that involve speed are two of my achilles. And to combine them into one workout, well crap. Let's just say that Cindy and I aren't BFF's, hokay? Soooo, anyhoo, I busted out 12 1/4 rounds. I have to say, I was pleased. It's the best Cindy I've done, and circumstances abounding, I will def take that.
BTW, if you want to know why I keep saying "Hokay" you really need to watch this... ps... if you're at work... turn the volume down LOW... there are a few too many bad words... :) Just FYI...
I mean, I know it's no land speed record, but if you've been reading me long enough (or hell really even short enough) you know that body weight movements, and workouts that involve speed are two of my achilles. And to combine them into one workout, well crap. Let's just say that Cindy and I aren't BFF's, hokay? Soooo, anyhoo, I busted out 12 1/4 rounds. I have to say, I was pleased. It's the best Cindy I've done, and circumstances abounding, I will def take that.
BTW, if you want to know why I keep saying "Hokay" you really need to watch this... ps... if you're at work... turn the volume down LOW... there are a few too many bad words... :) Just FYI...
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Front squats 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
After last night I got up early this morning to hit CF at my normal time. I rolled out of bed at 4:30 and scurried my behind to CFOT. I was stoked to see that today was a strength day. After the pull-ups tore my hands to crap last night, I was hoping we'd stay off the bar today, so I was happy that today was a front squat day. We've been doing lots of 3-3-3-3-3 so I was even more interested to see that today was a max day. Soooo, I busted out the squat rack (woot for squat racks!) and I got jiggy with it. (Yeah, word, I said jiggy with it. What are you gonna do about it?)
I started low to get some good warm-ups in and then ramped up from there.
35 X 10
55 X 5
85 X 5
115 X 1
135 X 1
155 X 1
160 X 1
165 X 1
170 X 1 (F)
By the time I got to 170 I had the jiggly leg syndrome. You know, where your legs wiggle and jiggle and you know you're not going to get anything up. Sooo, next time, note to self, I'm going to jump from 155 up to 170. The gaming of a strength day is critical I'm learning. Ramping up too slow causes me to get jiggly leg syndrome before I can get up my true max. I think gaming the strength days is key. I'm learning this slowly. :P (In case you haven't noticed, I can be a bit dense sometimes. :P ) I think tomorrow may be a rest day... I've been on for three days straight, but we'll see. It all depends on my hand. It hurts like a biotch and if we get on the bars tomorrow I'm done. It's going to bleed and I'm not going to be happy. Soooooo... we'll see.
I started low to get some good warm-ups in and then ramped up from there.
35 X 10
55 X 5
85 X 5
115 X 1
135 X 1
155 X 1
160 X 1
165 X 1
170 X 1 (F)
By the time I got to 170 I had the jiggly leg syndrome. You know, where your legs wiggle and jiggle and you know you're not going to get anything up. Sooo, next time, note to self, I'm going to jump from 155 up to 170. The gaming of a strength day is critical I'm learning. Ramping up too slow causes me to get jiggly leg syndrome before I can get up my true max. I think gaming the strength days is key. I'm learning this slowly. :P (In case you haven't noticed, I can be a bit dense sometimes. :P ) I think tomorrow may be a rest day... I've been on for three days straight, but we'll see. It all depends on my hand. It hurts like a biotch and if we get on the bars tomorrow I'm done. It's going to bleed and I'm not going to be happy. Soooooo... we'll see.
Monday's metcon ninjary...
I'm not going to lie... after the Grace Challenge on Sunday, I zonked out. I mean, out out. I climbed in bed at about 12:30. I woke up sometimes around the 5:00 time frame and couldn't figure out where I was. I was zonked. Soooo I tried to go to sleep on Sunday, but I couldn't sleep AT ALL. I tried to get up yesterday to get to CF but I didn't get to bed until at least 1, so I called in a "snoozer" and decided that since CF is now offering later classes at night, I would hit a later class.
Perfect! So last night I rolled into the 5:45 class and hit Andrea's little doozy. It looked like this.
800 M run
21 DL
9 Pull-ups
15 DL
15 Pull-ups
9 DL
21 Pull-ups
800 M run
This should have been a smoker, but honestly, my back was hurting and the deads felt wicked bad. Sooo, I decided to play it smart. I backed the weight down. It was supposed to be bodyweight, but I started with 135. Andrea was watching me do my deads and we both agreed that something was off. So, we threw the weight off and just watched form. I have a very flat back, which is why I always round on my deads. I had an "AHA!" moment. So, when we ditched the weight, I really tried to work on getting my chest out. Getting my dead form down as well as say, my cleans, is going to take a lot of work. Over the last few weeks, it's gotten better, but still room to grow. I think backing down is key. I need to stop trying to think heavy all the time. I love to throw me some heavy weights around, but sometimes I just need to back off. (That should be a duh kind of thing, but it's taken me awhile... yeah yeah yeah, I know.)
FYI... we got the new pull-up bars in on Saturday. This was the first workout with fixed bars. I tore my hands miserably. It's not one of those tears you can ignore... it's right in the middle of my hand. Ouch. Fixed bars are going to take some getting used to... more learning for the teacher... how ironic... :P
Perfect! So last night I rolled into the 5:45 class and hit Andrea's little doozy. It looked like this.
800 M run
21 DL
9 Pull-ups
15 DL
15 Pull-ups
9 DL
21 Pull-ups
800 M run
This should have been a smoker, but honestly, my back was hurting and the deads felt wicked bad. Sooo, I decided to play it smart. I backed the weight down. It was supposed to be bodyweight, but I started with 135. Andrea was watching me do my deads and we both agreed that something was off. So, we threw the weight off and just watched form. I have a very flat back, which is why I always round on my deads. I had an "AHA!" moment. So, when we ditched the weight, I really tried to work on getting my chest out. Getting my dead form down as well as say, my cleans, is going to take a lot of work. Over the last few weeks, it's gotten better, but still room to grow. I think backing down is key. I need to stop trying to think heavy all the time. I love to throw me some heavy weights around, but sometimes I just need to back off. (That should be a duh kind of thing, but it's taken me awhile... yeah yeah yeah, I know.)
FYI... we got the new pull-up bars in on Saturday. This was the first workout with fixed bars. I tore my hands miserably. It's not one of those tears you can ignore... it's right in the middle of my hand. Ouch. Fixed bars are going to take some getting used to... more learning for the teacher... how ironic... :P
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Grace Challenge Finals
Back in the beginning of December, we hit the beginning of our Grace Challenge. The idea was to choose a weight, train 8 weeks, and then hit the same workout with the same weight again, and look for improvement. Now, there was a bit more to it of course as Jerry also put money on the line for the best man and woman in the pro and elite categories, as well as the most improved.
During our initial trial run, I decided to go elite and use 100 pounds for the Grace Challenge. For those of you who aren't familiar with Grace, or who have a hard time keeping all the ladies in line, Grace looks like this.
Grace
30 rep
Clean and jerk
For time
RX-85 lbs
I love shoulder/upper body work because next to my tongue, my shoulders are probably the strongest muscles in my body. Honestly. So, the Grace Challenge seemed right up my alley. In our trial run I somehow managed to bust out a 4:48. I was pretty pleased with that, seeing as how the CF ninjas do it in about 2:30 with less weight than what I used. I was pretty happy with that.
Going into the finals today though, I was really nervous. I really didn't want to go slower, and I'll admit, I went in with the fastest elite time and I really wanted to win. I know that at times I'm too competitive for my own good, but for once, just once, I wanted to be on top of the white board.
I went in and just hit it hard. I busted out a 4:07 with 100 lbs. I was really happy with that, and thought to myself, that maybe, just maybe I might actually win this thing. That was until our uber athlete hit the bar a few minutes later, and then just basically kicked my ass. That was frustrating. It's not that I'm not happy that I went faster or PR'd, but it was a challenge. It was a competition, and GD I wanted to win.
I know I posted that whole thing about PR's the other day, and I know it seems like I'm going against my whole thing, I'm not. Really, you shouldn't compare your output to someone else's in a workout. Having said that though, today was actually about competing. It's not like today was just another workout. And just for once, I wanted to actually sit on the top of the white board. I know that's retarded because that's not what CF is really for. CF is for making yourself better, which I did, but just once I wanted that, and I was really bummed that it didn't get to happen. It's a frustrating feeling sometimes when your best is just not good enough. I know I'm more competitive than I should be about this, but like I said, sometimes I am too competitive for my own good.
Tomorrow will be back to business as usual....
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