27 October 2011 Barbells for Boobs

I registered for the Barbells for Boobs Amazing Grace event at Trident CrossFit in Alexandria.

"Amazing “Grace” began as a small, local fundraising event to help fund mammograms for the young women of Southern California who couldn’t afford one themselves. Thanks to a ton of support (and sweat!) from our local CrossFit community, we were able to raise $4000 and fund our very first mammogram.

Before we knew it, we were receiving countless emails and phone calls from CrossFit affiliates from around the world asking how they could participate and help our cause. We are proud to say, that just one year after the inaugural event, we have over 400 CrossFit Affiliates from all over the world participating in the 2010 Amazing “Grace” fundraiser.

Mammograms In Action is a non-profit organization located in Lake Forest, CA. Our mission is to provide funding for qualified women who need screening and/or diagnostic procedures in the prevention of breast cancer. By supporting MIA you help low-income and uninsured women. 100% of the proceeds of Amazing “Grace” will be donated to Mammograms In Action."

So as you can see, this was for a great cause how could you say no?  I met some awesome people and got my WOD on.  I couldn't ask for anything else.  Well except for a new PR but 1:46!  The last time I saw Grace was 04 August.  Yeah I'm pretty happy.

Grace

Clean and Jerk 30 reps 135#

Time: 3:39

26 October 2011

Oh how Diane just absolutely destroyed me.  I mean, seriously.  Obviously my goal was to beat my previous time, but that did not happen.  In fact I was slower!  Now this time though I did do it with the 15# on either side of the ab-mat which is I guess you could say the right way.  Honestly I'm not 100% if it is but I know that is how they do it for the competitions so we will call it that.  It give a whole new degree of getting the HSPU let me tell you.  While yes my time did go down, in a way this was a different workout and as such, it in a way can be treated as a base line.....I still wanted faster.  That actually brings me to another point.  Yes I was slower and that sucks.  Am I going to sit her and dwell about it?  Heck no.  I did it, I did not do as well as I wanted so what do I need to do?  Work on it.  Practice.  Me complaining about it isn't going to do me a whole lot of good when she rolls back around.  Get better at the HSPU and next time DO better because I will be able to.

Diane
21-15-9
Deadlift 225#
HSPU
Time: 10:08

25 October 2011

I have 8 weeks to increase one of my weakest lifts, the shoulder press.  The 1RM shoulder press is part of the wellness program I am in with CFI and I want, no I will show progress in all areas.  Even if it is only 5# it is still progress.  So naturally how to you get better at something?  By doing it.

Shoulder Press 3 x 5
100, 120, 125 (3)

This is one less than the last time!  Oh no!  I think when I pop this one again, I will change the 120# to 115#.  Not to say that will help but I am damned determined to get that 125.

Shoulder Press 12=>15
100# 11

By one!  The good news about this one is that I increased it by one.  So it isn't all bad news!

WOD


4 Rounds Max Reps
30Sec Ring Push-up
15Sec Rest
30Sec Box Jump 20/24
15Sec Rest
30Sec Double Unders
Total: 303

To see each of my rounds broken down, click here.  I was pretty happy with getting 48 double unders in one round.

Tonite I made spaghetti squash for the first time.  Now I have had it before through Catalyst Meals but I wanted to try my hand at it.  It is really easy.  There is nothing to it.  Let me tell you though, a small squash has a lot in it!  I'm going to be gorging on squash for 3 days for sure.  Fine by me!

23 October 2011 - 2 pood

For quite some time I have used Sunday as a rest day.  Seeing as I do not want to get in the habit of having the same rest days, I decided of changing it up.  What better way to get my WOD on for a Sunday then with my first ever 2 pood (70#) WOD!  It was challenging (which is always good), and I was happy that I did it.  You really have to make sure your form is on point because you will seriously mess yourself up swinging a 2 pood if not done correctly.

5 rnds for time of:
7 Squat Cleans 155#
14 kettelbell swing 2 pood
Time: 15:28

I didn't really set a time goal for this one.  This was more, finish the workout without hurting yourself!  That doesn't mean I wasn't pushing.  I was pushing as hard I could.  Got a little dizzy.  No pukie.  My sweat angel had a very nice wing span!  You better believe I stretched/mobilized for like 15 minutes right after too.  I need to record myself doing squat cleans. While overall I felt I was doing the relay race correctly for the squat cleans, I want to see it and also have a few people critique me on it.  Not going to get better or lift heavier if I'm not doing it correct!  Even a little extra bit of a shrug, faster elbows, whatever it is, will help.

CFI Whole Life Challenge

I will be participating in the 8 week CrossFit Impavidus Whole Life Challenge!  It is going to be a lot of fun for sure.  Very Short version:  The goal is to eat correctly while still working out and being active.  A lot of people think that by only working out they are going to get the results they want without changing their nutrition.  Well you COULD do that but your results will take a lot longer to get and you more then likely will not achieve the goal you have.  It is a combination of eating right and working out.  It doesn't matter how much you workout, you can't out train a bad diet.  In addition to working out, mobilizing is very important.  I myself am guilty of not mobilizing as much as I should but have recently started (from the beginning of the site) following Mobility WOD.  In fact, that is the next cert I plan on getting.  It is something that I know I need to work on as do may others.

So our baseline WOD was

800m run
Time: 2:49

1RM Shoulder Press
135#

10 AMRAP (reps)
30 Single Unders
20 Squats
10 Sit-ups (no abmat)
Total: 611

In 8 weeks I plan on having improvement in all three.

THE RULES

What to avoid

Grains/starches (corn, soy, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes) - Quinoa and wild rice are grains. Quinoa contains saponins, a concentrated source of anti-nutrients which increase intestinal permeability and lead to "leaky gut" which in turn may promote low level, chronic inflammation. Quinoa also contains phytates which inhibit the absorption of nutrients such as iron and zinc. Wild rice also has similar gut irritating qualities. It comes down to whether or not you can OWN it. If you are not sure, the best answer is always avoid it until you are clear. 

Sugar - ANY caloric, natural (honey, agave, cane juice, evaporated cane juice, maple syrup, Truvia, etc) or non-caloric artificial sweetener (aspartame, nutrasweet, sucralose, etc.). Stevia is fine for this challenge, just be sure you are not preserving a sweet tooth you’d be better off without. Unwire your palate from sweet! There is also some research that says that there is an insulin response just from the taste of sweet. Gum and mints are not OK - artificially sweetened or not, they are a violation. There is a reason that people dip and chew tobacco. The mouth and gums are a highly permeable entranceway to the bloodstream. Whatever you chew in your mouth ends up in your system.

Alcohol, soda, juice -. No soda - it's either sugar or artificial sweetener, so lay off. No alcohol. No juice allowed. It's just liquid sugar, people. If you choose to drink any of these, portions for 1 point are:

• 1 oz. liquor, 16 oz. beer, 4 oz. wine, 1 mixed drink
• 12 oz. soda
• 8 oz. juice

Dairy - Only butter is permitted. No milk, raw or not, yogurt, cheese, kefir, etc. If it is made from the milk of any animal and is not butter, it is not allowed. That's the rule.

Diet or processed foods - nothing artificial, nothing processed in anything besides traditional cooking or preserving methods (curing, cooking, drying). If it required a lab, it's not OK.

Food points - multiple violations in 1 item 
Combo items such as coffee with milk and sugar, pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, baked goods and pastries, pasta with sauce and cheese, etc count as 1 point even though there are technically multiple violations contained within. It is the item, not the combination of parts. If you want to put your cake into your plate of pasta, go ahead.

A single instance of the item is 1 point, repeated instances are additional points (a single cafe mocha, a single piece of pizza, one piece of cake, pie, bread, etc, 1 drink). Size? Can you own it? Is half a cake one piece? Can you say with a straight face to yourself that you only had one piece of cake?

Workout 
Minimum of 10 minutes active recovery DAILY. It's about focus and habits, not killing yourself. Work out, active recovery, yoga, hiking, jogging, etc.

Mobilization 
Any kind of stretching whatsoever. 10 minutes minimum.

Weekly Challenges
Every week we will introduce a new weekly challenge. If you successfully complete that challenge, and report that you completed the challenge when you report your score on Monday, you will be awarded 10 extra points. You will only get one opportunity to report the completion of the weekly challenge.  

21 October 2011

My favorite lift ever!  The wonderful Front Squat.  Really why more people don't like this squat I have no clue. Maybe people don't like having to keep their elbows up.  Or that slight choking sensation with the bar right up on you.  Personally it is those things that I like about it.  If you don't keep your elbows up, the bar will go down or you just won't get the lift.  If it's not too close to you, the weight can go forward and you will dump.  I like having to make sure I do those things.  Plus a strength day means I get to pull out my Rogue Do-Wins which I haven't used in a week or so.  During the CFSB the sets would usually be 3 x 5 or 5 x 3.  Today we had 5 x 5.  Something I had not done before but I was looking forward to it.

Front Squat 5 x 5
205, 215, 225, 235, 255 (1)

I was very happy with the fact I got up to 255#.  I was shooting for 2 reps but when I went down for the second one, that weight was not coming back up.  E for effort!

Tabata sit-ups

14, 13, 13, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12

Score: 12

Not too bad.  Was planning on keeping that 13 though.  I missed it by half a second.  Next time!

19 October 2011

By this day, I was feeling all the workouts from the previous days.  That doesn't mean I wasn't going to workout though.  I knew I could get this day in before my active rest day.  My shoulders got much love this week.

21-15-9 of

OHS 95#
Ring Dips
Time: 6:58

The number I had in my head was closer to 6 which I did not get.  The OHS weren't really an issue until the last set.  I was able to keep the bar overhead, I was losing my core which made it all the more fun!  A well deserved stretching day next....

18 October 2011

My schedule dictated that I needed to get to the 0600 class this morning.  Regardless of which class I go to, the important part is that I go.  I don't work my working out into my schedule.  My schedule is worked around my WORKOUT.  That is the most important thing to me above all and like I have said before I will sacrifice what I must in order to do so.  Is sacrificing always fun?  No but it's one of those things where if you want something, you'll do what it takes to get it.

Death by 10 meters

Every minute on the minute complete the following:

10m Run - 10 Meter Line
Increase one 10m run every minute.
Rounds: 15 + 14

I really wanted to finish that 16th round but obviously I didn't want it enough otherwise I would have.  Need to work on that quick turn to start the next 10m to finish faster.

Tabata kettlebell Snatch

Rep: 5

For each of my 8 sets I did 5 reps at 1.5 pood.  This was with alternating arms.  I wanted to focus on getting the proper form more so than a high number plus I really wanted to push myself.  Sure I could have used the 1 pood but that really wouldn't have pushed me nearly as much.  I don't want to stay in my comfort zone and neither should you.  Push past your boundaries.  You are capable of more then you think.  So the next time this pops round, I want and will get at least 6 per round.

17 October 2011

Oh Cindy you are back so soon?  Well to be fair when she dropped by a few weeks ago I was not able to say hello to her.  This time though......

So my goal for this time was 20.  Never have I hit 20 with Cindy and for me it is the "top" if you will.  That is until I finished with her.

Cindy
20 AMRAP of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats
Rounds: 20 + 7 push ups

I have finally reached my goal of 20 with Cindy.  This is 2 more round from the last time I saw her which is great.  It is all about measurable improvement.  Which by the way, it helps if you write it down!  Like using the awesome beyond the whiteboard website.  Anyways, so now that I have reached my goal of 20 I now have a new one.  This one is to finish Cindy with 25 rounds.  Just like the 20, it will take work and I will need to really work on the push-ups as they are my down fall.  You would think I would have no problem with push-ups just by looking at me but you'd be wrong!  It's not that I can't do them, it's getting a high volume of them that is my problem.  Practice, practice, practice....

15 October 2011

Typically I do not talk about the skill we do before a WOD.  Not that I don't believe it is important because it is.  Today we had an extra special skill....we used the sled! We broke into two teams. (from where the bay door is) run to the stop sign (on the left) with the sled then back. The person next in line does box jumps on the tire once the person running gets to the stop sign. Everyone else in line is doing front, back, go. 90# sled men, 45# sled women.  Not sure how far the fun actually was but I would say between 100-200m.

Now the WOD:

400m run
50 wall ball shots
200m run
50 knee to elbows
100m run
50 burpees
Total: 14:08

Yeah today was definitely a good day!  I can tell you everyone was feeling this day after they were all done.

14 October 2011

So I decided to get in on the 0500 class.  A nice way of shocking my body and it did thank me for it.  I was greeted with running and tabata bottom to bottom squats!


With a continuing running clock

800m run
Tabata bottom to bottom squats
800m run

Time/reps: 11:08/14

The highest I got was 18.  I was shooting for 15 as my lowest but I missed it by 2 rounds.  After that last round when the coach yelled go, I went to go run.  Yeah my legs were like why are you doing this to me!?  To which I to tell them to shut it and move.  They listened.

12 October 2011

Just because the CFSB program is done, it doesn't mean I no longer do strength days.  In fact I still plan on having 2 a week.  1 at the bare minimum.  I decided to go back to my favorite, the front squat.  Instead of the 5 x 3 sets I was doing, I went to the 3 x 5 this time for a change.

Front Squat 3 x 5

215, 225, 235

I was pushing to get the 235# and I really was concentrating on pushing my knees out not letting them bow in which I would say is my biggest fault when it comes to this lift.  I kept it in check.

Jeremy
21-15-9 rep rounds

OverHead Squat 95#
Burpees
Time: 6:50

Now I knew going into this WOD it wasn't going to be easy.  First off OHS is a very weak lift for me.  Don't worry you will see more of them from me for that very reason.  Second, burpees.  I was shooting for a low 6 but as you can see, I did not accomplish that.  Next time....

11 October 2011

If there is one exercise I hate it is the dreaded toes to bar.  Why do I hate them you may ask.  Well simply for the fact that I suck at them.  How do I get better to not suck?  By doing them.  It doesn't matter if you like an exercise or not, whatever is posted for the WOD is what you do.  Sure you may have to scale but the point is don't skip on just because it is something you find difficult.  In fact those are the WODs you really need to be there for.  Attack your weaknesses.  They will always be a weakness if you choose to not practice them.  You know what?  I'm glad I did go.  Not only did I practice my weakness but I had a dramatic increase in my performance from the last time.  The secret to that is I practiced!  I worked on my technique and I honestly have to say I don't hate them as much after today.  I felt a sense of accomplishment today and it feels awesome.

15 AMRAP

10 Wall ball 20#
10 Toes to bar
10 Box Jumps 24''
Total: 7 +5 wall ball

The first three sets I did unbroken which I just couldn't believe.  I can tell you right now this same WOD a couple of months ago I would have been lucky to get 5 sets.  PRACTICE MAKES BETTER.

New look

You may have noticed that my blog has changed it's look a smidge.  Well that's because some new dynamic templates came out and I wanted to give them a go.  If you notice on the top bar there are 7 different layouts that can be selected.  Classic, flipcard, magazine, mosaic, sidebar snapshot, and timeslide.  My personal favorite is flipcardbut try them all out and see what you think.

Ok enough about non exercise stuff...

10 October 2011

I don't know why people dislike running.  I think it is a perfect way to put your headphones on, get outside and just go.  Nothing to really think about.  Granted I'm talking about like a 5k as opposed to 400 m but still.

21 Thrusters 95#
400 run
18 Thrusters 95#
400m run
15 Thrusters 95#
400m run
Time: 9:26

I was able to get through the first set of thrusters unbroken.  The second set I did 9, 5, 4 and the last set was 3x5.  By that last run I was sucking in air like it was going out of style.  Not surprising.  I thought this was a good combination of exercises and I had fun!

09 October 2011: ICE

As I mentioned earlier in the week I knew I had to get CFT done.  I needed to see where I was at after the CFSB program.  Well I finally got it done today.  I will show the WOD for today but tomorrow I will put up a before and after thing showing my measurable improvements.  Trust I have some!  Before getting to the WOD, I went ice skating.  Who doesn't love ice skating?!  My skates have barely been used but that is changing this season for sure.  I actually got a friend to come with! Good times were had.

CFT
Back Squat 1 rep  295#
Shoulder Press 1 rep 140#
Deadlift 1 rep 335#
Total: 770#

The BS and SP were new PRs for me.  +70 for the BS and +5 for the SP.  I figured the SP was not going to be a really huge gain.  It is one of my weakest lifts.  Regardless, whether it is 60 or 5 it IS measurable improvement and that is the name of the game.  Overall I am very happy with the lifts mentioned above and overall my performance.  I guess it has done something to me physically because (not being vain), a few people have mentioned that they have noticed I have trimmed up and have some more bulk.  I associate that with eating correctly and getting in the box.  I would say sleep too but that would just be a lie.  Something I continue to try to work on but sleep evades me over and over.

So many extra activities coming:  Bowling, ice skating, gymnastics, races, and whatever else comes up.  I'm looking forward to all of them not just because they are exercise but because they are fun!

07 October 2011

I wanted to give my body a little shock so I went the the 0500 class.  Yeah my body was like what are we doing here at this time.  Getting our WOD on of course!

15-20-25-30-35 rep rounds

Double Unders
Sit-Ups
Time: 5:38

I actually missed twice on the 15s and once on the 20s.  I was like WHAT?!  I think I could have gotten under 5:30 had that not happened.  Oh well, a goal for next time.

In the afternoon since it was so nice I decided to go rollerblading with the 20# vest.  It was only 12 miles nothing big.  It was nice to get out and just go.

05 October 2011

Don't worry I have not forgotten about CFT!  I'm shooting to get it done this weekend.  I need to get it done so I can put the before and after together.  Today I decided to do clean and jerk as a strength.  Plus I really just wanted to lift some heavy things.  The last time I did this my max was 175# so my goal was at least 180#.  Very happy to say I got it!

Clean and Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
115, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, 180

Woo hoo!

For the workout I had some more burpee action.

3 rnds for time:

15 Sumo Deadlift High Pull 95#
15 Burpee pull-ups
Time: 7:07

I know I can go faster than that!

Recap

Sorry for going ghost for the last few days I had an event come up unexpectedly.  Everything is getting back to normal as should me posting!

04 October 2011


I wasn't able to make it to the box today so I threw some things together and hit it at home.

5 Rounds for time of:

5 Weighted Burpees 20# vest
10 Kettlebell Swings Single Arm R
10 Kettlebell Swings Single Arm L
15 Weighted Box Jumps 24'' 20# vest
Time: 9:45

Yeah those box jumps really got me pretty good.  Doing this workout reminded me of what it felt like with carrying an extra 20# on my body (believe I was carrying A LOT more) and I didn't like it!

After this headed over to Apex for some gymnastics fun!


03 October 2011


Before the WOD, I worked on Back Squat as a lifting skill.  3 x 10 at 135#.  I was really focusing on form like keeping my knees tracking and not bowing in!


20-15-10

Push Press 95#
Knees to Elbows
Time: 4:28

Knees to elbows.....that is one of my weak exercises.  Although I have improved greatly from the beginning, I still have a ways to go. I am still wasting energy with a little bit of the swinging.  After I was done with this I worked on hand stands.


29 September 2011

I decided to whip something up myself again for fun.  Nothing like a lunch workout to get you going.

21-15-9

Pull-Ups
Box Jumps 30"
Push-Ups
Sit-Ups
Time: 7:28