8/10/2016 - Sunny afternoon WOD

Back to the weights today after a few days away.  Still feeling quite sore in the midsection from Ultimate but pushed through anyway.

Modified Saturday's partner WOD from Southern Crossfit.

The weeked WOD was a 20 minute AMRAP with partners alternating every round.  Instead I just did 5 rounds for time.

WOD
5 rounds for time
5 thrusters (30/42.5kg)
7 hang power cleans (30/42.5kg)
10 SDHP (30/42.5kg)
9:25 @25kg

My arms were seriously shaky after this one.

Felt solid in the warm up and plan was to hang on to the bar for each round but that didn't quite happen.  Managed the thrusters and HPC's in the first round fine then put the bar down to adjust my grip and also to try and breathe.  Did the SDHP's in one set for this round but then broke them up every one there after even when I tried to hold on just to finish the last round (but couldn't).

The thrusters were good.  I paused a little at the top to breathe but otherwise rolled through them.  The HPC's (being one of my favorite movements) felt solid.  I actually muscle cleaned a few of them every round just to make them go a little bit quicker.  This probably didn't help with being able to breathe which was exacerbated by the SDHP's which really took my breath away (and not really in a good way).

I finished the first 4 rounds in about 8 minutes or so and knew that I was going to have to push if I wanted to finish under 10 minutes.  Like the 4th round, I made myself pick up the bar right away after adjusting my hands for the SDHP's even if it was only for a few reps - and I surprised myself too (even though I should probably know better by now) that I could still get through half the reps.  Doing this shaved a bunch of time off of my last two rounds I'm sure.

Couldn't quite hang on for the full 10 reps to finish the last round but minimised my rest as much as possible to finish at 9:25 which I felt good about.  It was quite a gassy WOD for me (which it will continue being while I keep the weight low) but that is what I need to work on most at the moment so it's not a bad way to go.

You should try this one too Steph.... it's a good one and not too taxing on the body.
 

1/8/2016 - Another SXF WOD

The start of another week.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a rest day.  My legs were rebelling making even the simplest things very difficult.  Walking was the hardest thing ever and so I knew I needed to relax.  Listening to my body is what is going to keep me on this journey and I know it well enough to back off a little when needed.

It was enough to get me feeling better for a good start to the week today.

I'm going to follow the programming at Southern Crossfit as much as possible with what equipment I have here at home which I mentioned in a previous post and today was another one of those days.

Strength 
E2MOM for 12 minutes
1 rep clean
35-40-42.5-45-47.5-50

Was very happy for this one.  I was going to start at 35 kg and jump up 2.5kg every round but couldn't help myself after how good the first one felt.  They all felt solid and probably could have tried to go heavier but as I keep saying I'm easing back into it.

It's a funny what you realize after more than 6 months off (or any time off for that matter) - the strength is really easy to get back (if it even ever left to begin with), it's the lungs that are the struggle and doing multiple reps of lifts is really taxing too but singles with adequate rest can (almost) make you think you might not have lost anything at all.  Funny to realize I guess.

WOD
8 minute AMRAP
2,4,6,8,10,12... etc
Sumo Deadlift High Pull (SDHP) 60/40kg
Clean 60/40kg
74 total reps (25kg) 10 +12 SDHP and 2 cleans

This got gassy really quick and I'm happy I kept with a lower weight.  I did most of the SDHP's unbroken until the last two rounds and they went pretty quick, quick enough that I didn't feel my back jack up until the first couple of cleans.  

***Sidenote: for those following along - a clean is a full squat clean (not that it should need to be spelled out that way) - a clean is always to full depth and at SXF when written as a clean it is a full clean, ALWAYS.  When it is meant to be a power clean that is when it is specified otherwise.  I know (some) of our coaches find the term 'squat clean' quite laughably redundant***

This WOD tested me mentally to just keep moving and keep chasing a completed round.  I pushed really hard through the last minute to finish up the round of 10 cleans and get into the next round with the SDHP's being quick and getting right back onto the bar to get through a couple cleans.  Was happy with how it went.  Feeling good  and glad to be moving again even though it's on my own - good tunes help though.

12/18 - Butterfly pull-ups!!!

Let me get right to the best part of last night (if the title of the post didn't already give it away)…

BUTTERFLY KIPPING PULL-UPS

Yes, all caps AND bold required there. 

I had mentioned to Tim on Monday night that this was next on my list of goals as the muscle up is being slowed by my shoulder issues.  I figured it would take a bit of time and more than anything switching up the mental rhythm of the movement (similar to going from alternating double/single skips to full on double unders).  It was much easier than that.  The trick – well, just watch the video below (thanks Tim for recommending it!).  That’s all that it took for me to get it on my first attempt.

I managed at least three every time I tried.  Definitely requires more thinking (for now) but I love having the skill whether or not I actually use it anytime soon.

On to the class…

We did a fun partner workout.  Jaimie and I partnered up – he said it was because he could justify going with a super light (KB) weight being paired with a chick (his words, paraphrased).   He made me laugh my ass off so it was totally worth it.

Warm-up

(pairs)

300m run (together)

30 (each) KB SDHP

30 (each) KB Swings

30 (each) KB Upright Row

30 (each) HR push-ups

30 (each) partner sit-ups

I talked a lot of crap on the run which was fun and enjoyable (at least for me) and we worked well through the SDHP’s.  Then on the swings – which by the way were ridiculously light (for me) and I almost threw the first rep – Jaimie decided that doing sets of 10 was a better option even though Coach Match had explicitly stated that we were to only do sets of 5 each.  Silly boys, unable to listen to directions (no surprise).  Ha!  Apparently I was sounding like a nagging wife because of this.  Oh well…. Live and learn and definitely laugh.  I found it all amusing.  It was a fun start to the class.

Strength

5-5-5

Bench Press

30-35-35(PR)

I managed a PR on this one basically because I’d never done a set of 5.  I also realized just how bad this movement is for my shoulder.  I was definitely not going heavier than 35kg and I wasn’t doing a third set at 35kg either.  It was too much already and I definitely felt my shoulder rebelling.  Hmmm, not sure what to do about it other than just not do it?  I asked Jaimie to spot me for the last set as it was tough and I knew I’d need him to keep me on it – he has a good way of pushing me in both a hard-ass and also supportive way.  It’s a skill.  He’s also probably the only person that can call me dwarf and I’m okay with it.  He’s a good one (but no Jaimie, I’m still not going to set you up with my single girl friends).

WOD

12-6-12-6-12-6

SDHP (30/45kg)

Burpee bar hops

Jump squats

7:47 Rx.5

The 12-6-12-6-12-6 combo is starting to become as dreaded as anything 21-15-9.  Both are deceivingly hard. 

I did the first set of 12 SDHP’s unbroken then was down to sets of 6 for the rest of the WOD – though I didn’t take much time in between, just enough to question myself as to why I was stopping because it wasn’t that hard (except for my racing heart but still).  The burpee bar hops (almost) made me happy.  I didn’t mind them but again, Jaimie made a comment that they’re not that hard when I’m already so close to the ground.  Fair but also awesome.  I was steady through all of them – the first 6 would always be pretty quick then I’d slow down a bit on the second 6 (in the rounds of 12) but only a little.  By this point my heart was racing and my legs were aching.  The jumps squats were just an evil addition.  My quads were burning (need to work on my squat form obviously) but I managed to get through them.  It was quite similar to a WOD that Cam gave me when I was up at site that had both burpees and jump squats in them.  I felt like I smashed through this WOD but there are still a few girls I have to (try and) chase down – Tash, Chriselle, Kirst…  thanks for continually pushing me (indirectly).

9/19 - A Six-Pack for Christmas

First off a few of things to get out of the way upfront both blog related and non-blog related…

Paul – thank you for reading my blog, I apologize for implying that you couldn’t cook/bake – I promise I will taste test your cooking any time (please?)… haha.  I *knew* better when I wrote that yesterday I do  however find it awesome that you’ll try new recipes – I mean when was the last time that you made chocolate cupcakes (with no sugar, butter or flour) in the microwave?  *That* was more my point.  This WLC is (partly) fun!

Secondly, I forgot about just how exhausting I get the first week of eating clean.  I remember the conversations with Pete about it last time and his reassurance that it will pass – my body is just purging all the crap – but wow.  Tired.  I a two hour nap on both Saturday and Sunday (though also pushed my body hard both those days) and was in bed no later than 10pm since Sunday night – with getting up at 6ish I am sleeping for 8 hours a night and most nights (last night was an exception) I’m sleeping solidly straight through and yet, so.very.tired.  Can’t wait for this to pass – though it’s a good indication that I load my body with more crap than I realize when not entirely focused on what I eat so that’s a positive for me.

Thirdly (and lastly) – Perth drivers – what’s up?  Driving while on your cell phone is dangerous enough but this morning on my commute to work I saw a woman putting on her makeup at red lights (and sometimes even still as the light was green and traffic was moving) and though I thought that was bad – I saw a dude who pulled out a book at a red light – a real solid book that he was reading, while driving (well stopped but still) – are we really that busy that we need to drive and read now?  Oddly enough the book was called ‘1000 places to see before you die’ – I think that dude better hurry up, dare I say he’s pushing his luck?

Alright on to bigger and better things.  Namely the six-pack I’m going to have for Christmas if Coach Match has any say in it. 

Kirst coached us tonight and it was a nice change up.  The warmup was the opposite of Coach Tim’s structured mini-WOD the night before.  With Kirst we had fun gossiping/chatting while warming up which makes counting quite difficult so we just sorta winged it and laughed about it and chatted some more.  It was a smaller class too which allowed all this to happen and still be an effective warm-up.

Warm-up

(all numbers approximate)

100 single skips

10 lunges each leg (arms overhead)

10 sdhp  (empty bar)

10 hang cleans

10 push press

Then to test our mobility – have a good laugh – she had us keep our arms overhead (thumbs pointing back) and squatting to depth trying to keep our arms locked out – quite difficult actually.  We then repeated this motion with our arms in the same position but with our hands like we were gripping the bar.  Kelly Starrett had these same moves on mobilitywod.com to test ‘Is it your shoulders?’.

WOD

100 Sit-ups

40 SDHP (30kg)

100 DU’s

40 Push Press

50 Sit-ups

20 SDHP (30kg)

50 DU’s

20 Push Press

19:46(ish) Rx.5

I know I was under 20 minutes but couldn’t remember *exactly* when all is said and done but that’s about the right mark give or take a few seconds in either direction. 

Going in we all knew this was going to be a long WOD – 30 minute cut-off – and it was great as we haven’t done many long WODs lately it seems.  My abs were already quite sore from the 100 sit-ups the night before so I knew the first chunk of work was going to hurt.  I had to remind myself going in that it wasn’t  a sprint and that I’d have to pace myself if I wanted to survive.  I kept a steady pace all through the sit-ups, not stopping but also nowhere near as fast as I was the night before.  Hard part done – or so I thought.   

I had a plan going in this time (unlike the night before) where I was going to break the 40 reps into 4 sets of 10 for each movement and bang out the DU’s and Sit-ups pretty much in one go as best I could.  This didn’t quite work out.  I did the first 2 sets of SDHP as sets of 10 but could start to feel my arms fatiguing a bit so I did the final 20 as sets of 5.  I was surprised how hard they started to feel so quickly.  The DU’s were pretty good – a few large chunks in the 30+ ranges which made them go pretty quickly – I’d take a few deep breaths when I’d trip up and then get back at it trying to find that relaxed, zen place I can go to with doing DU’s that makes it easier to just keep going.  It was good.

The push presses were a killer.  Definitely surprising for sure.  I did 8 sets of 5.  Didn’t even try to go for 10 as I knew it’d burn me out and it’d be a hard place to come back from.  I started push jerking right from the start knowing I’d have to rely on my legs.  I made it through those and it was back to another round with half as many reps.

My tailbone was taking a beating during the ab mat sit-ups even with a yoga mat under me.  I (like many others it seems) lost a bit of skin on my ass.  Ouch!  The lifts on the second round were really tough.  Definitely had to use my legs to get it done and thankfully had used them in the first round to save my arms a bit more.  I did all the lifts in the second round in sets of 5.  The DU’s were pretty good.  I was really trying to get the 50 unbroken and managed to trip myself up at 46 – what a pain to get untangled just for 4 more.  No biggie though. 

Kayla was long done as I was doing the push presses again and she came over to urge me on.  It was funny afterwards (after we’d hassled Glen with lots of tough love to get finished), I realized that Kayla had been surprisingly gentle on me when I was near the end and I asked her about this because normally we are full of tough love in both directions (depending on the day) and she said she could see the pain in my face already and knew I was at that suffering point.  Thanks Kayla.  I do love training with you even on the days you shout at me to pick up the bar when I really don’t want to – it’s nice to have that push in whatever form – some days just in picking weight to load on the bar – I push myself more to try and keep up because you’re in the same class and I’m getting better because of it!

I can now feel every single ab muscle individually.  I asked Coach Match about it later, if it was his plan to have us doing 100+ sit-ups two days in a row and he said it’s just how it worked out but that he was giving the gift that everyone generally wants for Christmas – a six-pack – and that he couldn’t just bestow it on us on the day but rather had to get a head start.  Hello summer, we’ll be ready for you!

Today was my last WOD before Primal Pairs on Saturday with my lovely partner Jane.  I am pretty excited, a little nervous but know full on that it’s going to be a great day of fun and challenges.  My body does need these two days to recover and hopefully figure out how to survive effectively on 8 hours of sleep.

Mobility

10 minutes spent on my legs, glutes and lats.

WLC Day 5

Another perfect day for eating.  I enjoy my black coffee and tend to let it linger all morning which slows my water consumption until later in the day so I need to literally drink from both hands to stay better hydrated rather than trying to catch up but it’s going well otherwise (other than the detoxing my body is going through).  I had Brenda’s leftovers for lunch which was awesome – two meals out of one – and Angie’s curry for dinner.  So good. 

I’ve also got a new little lazy easy trick for my morning smoothies – namely around the almond milk. I don’t mind making almond milk in larger batches but since I only use it in my smoothies it tends to go bad before I get through it all which is both a waste and annoying.  I don’t want to be making it every other day either so… I now soak some almonds over night and in the morning I rinse them out, toss them in the blender with three times as much water and blend while I’m preparing the other goodies for my smoothie.  And since I’m lazy efficient (perhaps lazy *is* the correct word here) I don’t even strain out the almond meal in the bottom I just keep it in there.  I figure since I’m already added LSA (instead of protein powder) it really makes no difference.  I fill up the blender with a banana (or a couple since I keep getting the mini ones from the market), some (straw)berries, spinach (thanks Bonnie), chia seeds (which I mixed right in with the LSA in the jar in my fridge), cinnamon and some UDO 369 and blend.  It’s an awful green colour (thanks to the spinach) but the chia seeds give it a good texture (not exactly smooth but sort of) and it’s flavorful and while not as packed with protein as when I was using the 180 Nutrition Protein powder it is pretty close with the LSA and chia seeds (I add one more scoop of that then I did with the protein powder and it’s about ¾ of the protein it had been).  It works for me and like most other recipes I use I tend to go for easy over complex otherwise I’d probably never eat anything.

9/4 - more burpees... and c2b...

Remember Monday night when I did 100 burpees ‘for fun time’… and remember last Thursday when the chest to bar pull-ups left me literally bleeding and broken?  Well, guess how I felt when I saw both on the board for last night’s WOD…  miserable.  In fact that is probably an understatement to how my mood shifted.  Jaimie even noted it – something along the lines of me usually getting after everything and how tonight I wasn’t into it – brought on by my saying I was going to quit if my hands ripped on the bar and how I was going to use bands and everything else in between.  I honestly wished I had stayed home.  But alas…

Warmup 
Leg swings forward/backward/sides
High knees – forward/backward
Butt kicks – forward/ backward
Bear crawl
30 mountain climbers
Bear crawl (turns out Coach Tim will let me handstand walk instead of bear crawl – next time!)
Air squats
Push-ups
Shoulder mobility 

Strength
1 RM bench press
20-30-40(f)-40 (PR)-37.5

Thirty didn’t feel hard at all but the jump up to 40 was probably a bit too big in one go.  I missed the first time partly because I wasn’t well positioned under the bar and ended up  hitting the pin on the way up.  The second time I got it but really struggled through my left shoulder.  I felt the weakness in it and though I made the lift I knew it wasn’t great.  I did 37.5kg after just for one more lift but again I should have known better as it did no favors to my hurting shoulder. 

WOD
3 rounds
15 chest to bar pull-ups
20 burpees
15 SDHP (30/45kg) 
13:10 (red band strict/ Rx)

This was a struggle right from the start.  I knew I’d be needing bands and this really played with my head.  It’s been so long since I’ve needed them for pull-ups that using them now kind of feels like a step backwards and it’s a huge mental struggle.  Really mental.  But as Angie said afterwards, as long as I’m working at the same capacity and totally pushing myself then it doesn’t matter if I’m using bands or not (paraphrased, clearly).  And it’s true.  And I get that.  But still… mental mind f@$% (personally).  It really just tells me that I need to work on c2b a lot more.  A lot! 

I did the first two reps with just the yellow band but knew I wasn’t going to go much farther with just that so I switched over to the orange band and did the first set kipping with orange but I could feel my hands rebelling.  The second set I grabbed a red band but told myself I was going to do them strict because I had a bigger band and that this would also help my hands and so I did for all the remaining except I think maybe two in the last round where I needed a bit of a kip to get it done.

The burpees – as usual – are all about getting through them.  Just.keep.moving.  In all three rounds I made it through 15 straight then had to stop for a few breaths before tackling the last 5 and they hurt.  I could feel the 100 from the previous day which made it that much tougher.  The SDHP’s were the ‘rest’, even at Rx weight.  I did 10-5 in the first and third rounds and 6-6-3 in the middle round as I had to stop and readjust my grip.

I finished the WOD and it was hard but still manageable I think like I said it was just a mental struggle to resort to using bands.  I know it’s not a bad thing but I also don’t want to do it.  I want to feel like I’m still making forward progress and this felt anything but.  I remember back last November-December-January where I started to make big improvements – I was going heavier and I knew that I might not make cut-offs or I’d finish last and while that too was a mental battle I got through it and I got better because of it.  I have spent the last few months typically Rx-ing WODs and not always being the last person finished and it’s been great but I think maybe I might be back to climbing that hill again in order to make the same gains I did last go round.  Heavier/slower but in the end stronger and fitter.  As much as we Crossfit for physical health it’s just as full of the mental challenges that ultimately make us better all around.  Always learning. 

Post-WOD
Shoulder mobility (so much ouch!) - and chatting with Angie (the best!)

Some great videos for shoulder mobility tips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWNirIqaDPk
http://www.allthingsgym.com/2011/09/shoulder-internal-rotation-mwod/
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2012/07/the-beauty-queen-first-rib-overhead-mob-of-death.html 

7/30 - Fight Gone Bad!

Back to Crossfit tonight here in Kits and it was much needed.  I knew last night that we'd be doing Fight Gone Bad (FGB) one of the bench mark crossfit WODs - one I'd never done before.  I wasn't looking forward to it - especially after a week of too many beers and too much rest but I went and as always I'm glad I did.

After going through the movements and a bit of a warm up we partnered up and were into it.  I was glad to have done WODs of similar format back at Cooee and also to have done a lot of judging in similar situations which took some of the pressure off.  I also went first which I know generally works better for me (get it over with).

WOD
'Fight Gone Bad'
3 rounds for total reps
1 minute at each station, 5 stations
1 minute rest in between each round

Wall Ball (14lbs/6kg)
Sumo-Deadlift-High-Pull (55lbs/25kg)
Box Jumps (20″)
Push Press (55lbs/25kg)
Row (calories)
251 Rx

I was quite happy with my score.  Going in I know that it's best to have a game plan though having never done this before I wasn't sure what to expect.  I was hoping for about 15 reps on each station through out which would give me a score over 200 but I wasn't sure I could maintain it so openly I was aiming for a score of 200 or better while secretly hoping I'd get something over 250 which I did - so happy with it.

My scores for each round went as follows:
Wall Ball - 20/15/15
SDHP - 22/19/21
Box Jumps - 23/20/17
Push Press - 16/12/12
Row - 14/13/12
Total - 95/79/77

I still need to practice my wall balls but they are getting better.  The problem was that on rounds 2 and 3 my legs were pretty shot which didn't help.  The SDHP were pretty standard and consistent.  The box jumps were a bit of a struggle.  We didn't have to do games standard (full extension on the box) but I haven't had any practice with rebounding while extending in the air so it was a bit of a mix of both but mostly full extension on the box with rebounding.  I wasn't surprised with the push presses. My shoulders have been a bit achy from all the paddling and I don't have a massage appointment until Wednesday so I knew that anything overhead would be tough going.  The row again was pretty consistent and while hurting didn't kill me.

I'm happy to have this one under my belt and to have a target for the next time I do it.  After, I judged a girl named Nancy and she was a rockstar - quite inspiring - the first round of wall balls she went unbroken for the full minute and pulled out a score overall of 340 - definitely something to work toward.