Hockey game and WOD

The Punishers win!  We defeated the Monkeys last night.  I really do enjoying playing street hockey.  It is a lot of fun.  Tonight for the WOD we used one of my favorite instruments, the kettlebell!


5 rounds for time
21 KB swings (1.5 pood)
15 Wall ball (20 pounds)
9 Ring dip
Total Time: 12:23

Sadly the kettlebell was substituted for a 50 pound dumbbell.  I still have to sub the ring dips for ring rows due to the thumb but it is feeling better.  It has been two weeks as of today since I took the brace off.  I am happy with the progress so far.  The next 5k is only 10 days away and I just realized I have not had a good CrossFit Endurance session since the last 5k!!  Yikes!  I will have to remedy that.  Today was also the 2nd day of the 100 push-ups program.  Woo hoo 2 days down a lot more to go!  I also decided to try out the 200 sit-ups program just for fun but they are doing crunches not sit-ups.  A nice way to start the morning either way (along with some hollow rock, good mornings, etc)

Overhead Squats

Ah Monday my favorite day of the week........ yeah right!  Seriously though, despite being tired, today was a good day.  The day of course is not complete with some exercising!  It was a strength day today.  Overhead squats.  Honestly this is one of my least favorite exercises.  I think that is because it is a challenge for me to keep proper form which is why it is even more important for me to continue to work on them (along with double unders)

Overhead Squats

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

75-95-115-135-145-165-185(FAIL)

I did a lot better than I thought.

New toys to play with

Today I decided to stop by Home Depot and pick up some  1'' PVC pipe.  Why do I need PVC pipe?  PVC pipe is a very good tool you can use for practicing your form on lifts as well as a way to stretch you out a little bit more.  For example, I can work on keeping my toes pointed forward while performing an overhead squat.  It is easier to do this with some type of "bar" overhead.  It can also be used for the Single leg Good Morning stretch or something like the burgener warm up.

In addition to getting the 1'' I also picked up some 3'' PVC.  This one is for Self Myofascial Release Techniques.  You can get a foam roller instead but I picked up the PVC based on the recommendation of one of the coaches and wrapped it with a yoga mat.

It has been a week and four days since the brace has been removed from my thumb.  My range of motion has been slowly increasing and the pain in the joints has been slowly decreasing.  Another thing that has decreased (which was noted with the deadlifts) is my strength.  While I do have to build myself back up, I'm trying to look at it as a positive.  Yes it will take time to get back to where I was but I have a goal and I know I can achieve it!  One of the things I will be doing is 100 push-up program.  I have mentioned it before but this time I'm starting from the beginning.  Let's see if it really works.  Even if it doesn't, you can never have enough push-ups.

So if you're at home sitting while watching tv, listening to music (personally you should be dancing if you're at home), or just not sure what to do go out and grab yourself a PVC pipe and start stretching or some type of exercise.  The more you do it (with correct form), the more muscle memory you will have.  You could always break out with some burpees if that's what get you going :)

Tire Flippin Fun

Woo hoo we flipped some tires today at CrossFit Impavidus!  I am so happy.  That was the first time for me.  So Saturday's at CFI are free for anyone to come and play. Today we had some new faces come in.  29 people in all showed up.  So what did we do today?  Well we had four teams of 7 (one with 8) and there were 2 different circuits today.  Each person would be at a station (rest counts as a station).  Once the first exercise was done for each circuit (tire flip, sled drag), everybody would shift to the next station.  We were counting (rep wise) only one of the exercises in each circuit.  Each circuit would be preformed for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, you switch to the other circuit.  It was a little hectic but it was still fun.  As Coach Conan said everybody was helping each other out, if people weren't sure what there next station was they would hop up and do pull-ups, burpees, jump rope, etc.  They kept moving which is important.  I had a little slip up if you will.  When I was on the DB Snatch, I grabbed the 20 lb. DB.  Coach noticed that I was more or less flinging the weight like it was nothing and he said you need a heavier weight and he was right.  While I knew that the weight was light (I grabbed it because it was the one next to me) I was initially thinking reps, reps, reps.  What I should have been thinking was I should be challenging myself.  After a few more with the 20, I dropped it and grabbed the 30.  Much better.  After we were done, I worked on some kipping pull-ups and double unders.  My thumb is still sore at the joints but it does seem to feel better.

Also, signed up for the Brambleton Ribbon Run (5k) with Team CrossFit Impavidus.  The race is on the 9th of April.  Hoping for a better time than the last one.  Come out to run or to support!


20 AMRAP (10 min split w/ teams)
Tire Flip – rest
Pull ups – rest
DB Snatch  (count reps) – rest
burpees

sled drags- rest
pull ups – rest
wall ball squats (count reps) – rest
jump rope

Odd number day and Street Hockey Schedule

Come on out and support the Loudoun Street hockey League on Tuesday's!

I definitely had some stress to workout after today.  Luckily I have CFI to help iron out those issues with weights :)

15-13-11-9-7-5-3-1 reps of:

Deadlift (~70% 1RM)  210 first set then 165 for remainder
Ring Dips

Total time: 10:00

Wow that was pathetic.  Prior to my injury, my max deadlift was 315.  So lets knock that down to 300.  That means 70% of my max is 210.  Well as you can see I started with 210 but certainly did not finish.  I was struggling and not in a good way.  See what happens when you don't deadlift (or have to modify all your lifts) for over three months!?  I will get that back.  Hey I had good form!

I still have to sub the ring dips for ring rows due to my thumb.  On the plus side my thumb isn't hurting more than it did last week when I got the brace off.  On the downside, it doesn't really feel better either.  I am still hopeful that is will get better in the coming weeks.  So long as I continue to workout!  I'm sure there are people out there that would have used this injury as an excuse to not workout.  You have to keep pushing!  Virtually everything can be modified or you can do a similar exercise.

Tabata Something Else

Happy Wednesday!  It really was a good day today.  I purchased some new shoes to replace my tattered and torn pair from last night, I got my wonderful package of Paleo Krunch Bars from Steve's Original, signed up for the Brambleton Ribbon Run/Walk 5k/10k under Team 'Ashburn CrossFit Impavidus', and of course I got a great workout at CFI!  What's not to like!?  Actually there is one thing.  Because I tore my callus off yesterday, I had to wear gloves today.  Not a big fan.  I did pick up a metal nail file though to shave down the rest and it worked really well.  On to the workout:

Tabata Something Else

Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest where the first 8 intervals are pull-ups, the second 8 are push-ups, the third 8 intervals are sit-ups, and finally, the last 8 intervals are squats.

Total: 310

What is Tabata you may ask?

A popular regimen based on a 1996 study^[2] uses 20 seconds of ultra-intense exercise (at 170% of VO₂max) followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated continuously for 4 minutes (8 cycles). In the original study, athletes using this method trained 4 times per week, plus another day of steady-state training, and obtained gains similar to a group of athletes who did steady state (70% VO₂max) training 5 times per week. The steady state group had a higher VO₂max at the end (from 52 to 57 ml/kg/min), but the Tabata group had started lower and gained more overall (from 48 to 55 ml/kg/min). Also, only the Tabata group had gained anaerobic capacity benefits. (wikipedia)




Look at those yummy paleo kits....

Where have I been?

Ok I have been slacking horribly (as you can easily see) on updating my blog.  What is the point of the blog if I'm not going to update it???

So what have I been up to for the last 1.5 months?  Well (short version) as you know I had skier's thumb due to an injury from dodgeball.  I had to wear a cast (my first ever!) for a whole month.  That was lots of fun.  After I got that off, the orthopedic was 50/50 on whether or not I needed to have surgery.  So he gave me a soft brace for three weeks.  Personally, I wanted the cast back.  The cast prevented me from bending my thumb.  The soft brace did no such thing.  I actually had to pay attention.  Sheesh.  Well those three weeks have come and gone and guess what?  I am not wearing a brace!  Yay!  I am allowed to use my thumb as normal now however if there is any pain that does not subside or if I do not get my full range of motion back in the next 2 to 4 weeks, I will need surgery.  Fingers (and thumbs) crossed that I will not have to do that.

So today at CFI, I finally was able to do KTE (knees to elbows).  Holy crap.  You certainly feel the love.  To make it oh so much more fun, I did them on the rings (easier on the thumb).

AMRAP
10 Kettlebell Swings
10 KTE
Total Rounds: 8 +11

Ripped my callus off again.  One of the guys at CFI said to file them down to prevent the ripping of said callus.  Why didn't I think of that?  Gloves for me tomorrow and for the next few weeks.  Boo.

That's not all!  Today was the first day of hockey!  I was very upset that I didn't think I was going to be able to play this season because of my thumb but look at me now.  It was a lot of fun.  I also put holes in my shoes (again) but no injuries!



p.s. - While this is not workout related, I also have been talking to an Army recruiter and have scheduled my ASVAB.  Study, study, study!