Saturday, October 31, 2009 by Rebecca

Presses

Warmup: ME, tabata KB swings-7 w/12 kg

WOD:
Press 5-5-5-5-5
30-35-40-45-50

Comments:
50 is my standing 5RM, and I'm pretty pleased to have matched it despite a POUNDING headache due to too little sleep and too much coffee

Press 5x5

85-90-95-95-100(4)

Haven't done this in a while, and am somewhat dismayed that I came in 7 pounds below my PR. I've found that I lose overhead strength gains very quickly if I'm not vigilant.

Friday, October 30, 2009 by Daniel

Squats and Double Unders

100 Double-Unders
25 Squats
75 Double-unders
50 Squats
50 Double-Unders
75 Squats
25 Double-Unders
100 Squats

18:48 RX

Thursday, October 29, 2009 by Daniel

21-5-9 times 3

21 C2B Pull-Ups
15 Deadlift 225/155
9 HSPU

19:00
HSPU's were not full ROM, but they were strict

I also got my first full-ROM kipping HSPU afterwards, which is very exciting

Metcon

WOD:

For Time:

3 Rounds:

Advanced
Intermediate
Beginner
21 C2B Pull-Ups
15 Deadlift 225/155
9 HSPU
21 Pull-Ups
15 Deadlift 185/135
9 Push-ups
21 Jumping Pull-Ups
15 KB SDHP 1.5/1.0P
9 Push-ups


Results on beginner using mens weight: 11:36
I forgot my regular watch, so I did not get split times.  I think I finished the first round in about 3:30 - I didn't quite manage to maintain that pace.  SDHP after jumping pullups is really HARD.

Comments:

Max said that this should really be a blazing metcon, and even one round of 21 legit pullups and  15 deadlifts at 135# would not have been anything close to a metcon for me, which is why I opted for the beginner selection at the men's weight.

Having the SDHP right after the jumping pullups was still a little bit of a roadblock to 'blazing' because i frequently had to wait for my hip flexors to recover enough to get another SDHP rep.  The 9 pushups were an absolute breeze. 

I really like that Max has been has been breaking up the workouts into Advanced, Intermediate and Beginner - it really helps to have the scaling pre-thought out.  It's a little disheartening that I am still stuck at beginner level on so many exercises, but only a little.  I know I am still WAY better than I was when I started.  It just reinforces was an amazingly low place that was.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 by Daniel

Nancy Failed

"Nancy"

5 Rounds for time;

Run 400 meters
15 OHS 95/65

DNF at 40:00, four rounds.

Was using #80 on the Atlas bar. My OHS really, really suck. There were a couple glorious points where I found a groove and was able to knock out 7 or 8 OHS in a row, but otherwise they were slow, painful and only 2-3 at a time. Need to get better about finding that groove. I stopped due to fears of dropping the bar on my head as my shoulders and wrists got too exhausted.

10-28-09

WOD 091028
Advanced:
"Nancy"
5 Rounds for time;
Run 400 meters
15 OHS 95/65

Intermediate:
5 Rounds for time;
Run 400 meters
15 Front Squat 95/65 *subbed 45 or 55#

Beginner:
5 Rounds for time;
Run 400 meters
15 Kettlebell Front Squat 1.5/1.0P


34:09

2:22, 3:22 - 5:44
2:37, 3:04 - 11:25
2:40, 4:26 - 18:31
2:22, 4:47 - 25:40
2:41, 5:48 - 34:09



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday, October 25, 2009 by Rebecca

Snatch Pracrice

Warmup:
Run 800m, ME, Squat practice and drills, snatch dowel drills.

WOD:
Hang Power Snatch 3-3-3-3-3-3

Results:
Meh.

30-35-40x2- DNF (essentially)

I was having a great deal of trouble getting 40 up - but it was motly a failure to get my brain out of the way. I spent the rest of the hour working on heavier snatch highpulls, and 30# snatches, just trying to nail the form. By the end of the hour, I really had nailed the form with the 30# bar, and it looked like i really should have more weight on it. I tried a few with an empty 45# bar, and failed them. I got 1 at 40, and a few at 35#, but by that time, i was just tired, so called it a day.

Saturday, October 24, 2009 by Daniel

KB/Pullup ladder

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Kettlebell Swing (2P/1.5P)
Chest-to-bar Pullup

8:41 RX

Fastest time! Granted, the classes were REALLY small. Max was out competing in Walnut Creek so I led the classes, and the folks that showed up did not have great kips.

Friday, October 23, 2009 by Rebecca

Team WOD - winner!

Warmup:
was quite late, missed the warmup.

WOD:
In teams of 2 or 3

Run One Mile

30 Box Jumps 24/20
30 Muscle-Ups (or 120 pull-ups + 120 dips)
30 Handstand Push-Ups
30 Back Squat 135/185
30 Deadlift 135/185
30 Push-Press 95/65
30 Thruster 95/65
30 Kettlebell Swings 2.0/1.5P
30 Burpees
30 Double-Unders

Run One Mile

Partition the movements as needed. Athletes may assist each other with movements, as long as they work through the full range of motion. Start and finish with a team mile run.

Results:
46:?? I failed to stop my watch properly. My team came in first!! I got split times for the miles, but that was it.

My first mile was actually a PR - despite having to walk a portion of the second lap due to a really horrible side stitch. I did two laps - no driveway - in 9:46. My previous no driveway record is 10:12 - a 26 second improvement! I finished the first lap in something like 4:34, and the running felt really strong and easy - I was doing really well at keeping up with the girls ahead of me - even felt like i might be able to pass one of them, and then the sidestitch actually just kind of surprised me. My energy still felt realy good, and my air even felt good - usually I feel like i can't get enough breath in when i start to cramp up, but that was not the case today. I even had enough energy - despite the impending cramp - to pour on a little extra gas for the last 50 meters or so.

My team split up the exercises where we could with each person doing all he reps of the exercises they could do. Fortunately, despite having two of the weaker girls in the class, our third member was probably the strongest guy in class, so it was a good break down. He was able to churn out all the heavy stuff like nothing.Half way through class Max switched the backsquats to 135/95 - but Robin had already done all 30 at 185.

I took on the burpees and the double unders on my own. The burpees were fine. I had to do the double unders 1 at a time, but i had a much lower failure rate than I have had with them in the past - I'd say I probably made about 80-85% of my attempts. That's MUCH higher than the 40-50% (maybe even less) successful attempt rate I've had before.

With the team, I helped with 10 assisted deadlifts, 20 assisted HSPU - Robin basically just lifted me up and down while offered what limited help I could. And I also did 30 assisted muscleups - I guess technically, they're my first ;-) - I sat on Robin's shoulders and he basically squatted me while I went through the motions of a muscle up. - I did do some of the work - but he really did most of it. He was an incredibly good sport, and probably got about twice or three times as much of a workout as either of the other of us, but it was a good team effort.

My second run was actually much more decent than I thought it would be - it was 10:37 - also no driveway.

Thursday, October 22, 2009 by Rebecca

What a difference a day makes

Today went very differently than yesterday.

Yesterday I had huge heaps of energy and enthusiasm.  Today I found myself on the edge of tears, pre-workout and nearly quit the workout after round 1. Round 2 I managed to pull myself together, and the workout went pretty much fine after that, but it was an EXTREMELY rocky start, and there was definitely no energy left at the end for a finisher.

There are only a couple things that were different from the day before. I woke up at about the same time, got about the same amount of sleep, ate almost exactly the same food and even at approximately the same times. The only things that were different was that my luch was carnitas and beans instead of chicken and yams, I was slightly sore from the workout the day before, and the warmup was far less rigorous.

Until just this moment, I had been thinking that it was the reduced warmup that was part of the problem, because once I got going I was ok - but I just remembered that I did not have nearly as much fat in my lunch as the day before - I didn't add much extra because I thought the fat in the meat would make up the difference. Conversely yesterday, when I did so amazingly well, I probably had an overabundance of fat because my lunch was accidentally swimming in 'gravy', which was essentially just rendered chicken fat because we were out of flour when Daniel made it.

Based on this accidental experiment, I am going to switch to 2x fat immediately, and see what sort of effect it has on my moods, constant hunger, and overal performance.

And now on to the actual info about the WOD:

Warmup:  ME
WOD:
Five rounds for time of:
135 pound Hang squat clean, 15 reps (subbed russian swings with the 1.5P/55# KB)
30 Push-ups

Results:
25:21

I forgot my usual stop watch so I don't have the exact splits, but I kept an eye on the watch when I could. The first round took my about 5:10, I managed to keep each consecutive round until the last round under the 5 minute mark - round 2 finished a bit before 10:00, round 3 a bit before 15:00, etc. the KB swings generally took a little less than 2 minutes, the remaining 3 min was the pushups.

The first round - as I've said - was terrible. i couldn't figure out how to swing the bell - i only got it up in singles, and only barely chest high. i couldn't string any swings together. I actually did the last 5 swings of round 1 with the 1P KB because I got so frustrated. The pushups were similarly difficult.

When I finished the pushups from round 1 I thought about quitting, I thought about switching to the 1P KB, I contemplated trying the 1.5P bell again. It took 10 or 20 seconds for my stubborn nature to kick in to gear, and I picked up the 1.5P bell. And managed to string a couple together at a decent height. From there it was just a matter of finishing it 1-5 reps at a time.

Several people commented on how good my KB swings looked - they were not full ROM - not anywhere near full overhead, but most of them got as high as my chin, and it was definitely as a result of hip power because the only way I could get it that high was in the moment of 'weightlessness' from a full body launch. In that regard they were a lot like SDHP.

In the last round I managed to finish the KB swings in the allotted 2 min, but my pushups just completely ran out, and I just barely missed my goal of 25 min or less. :p

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 by Rebecca

So much more energy!

Warmup:
  • ME
  • 8 or 9 kipping pullup attempts(was supposed to be 20 pullups) - I actually made the first 2 - consecutively! - though they still weren't pure kip - i still had to pull the last few inches on both reps,but I wasn't getting even close by rep 8 or 9.
  • 30 pushups
  • 30 air-squats(was supposed to be 40) - i was having a terrible time with form on these - i kept falling backwards,
  • 50 partner situps. i was partnered with Suen - we weren't the first to start because i insited on grabbing a mat - but we finished before several other pairs
  • timed 400m run either 1:58 or 1:59 - which either meets or beats my prior 400m pr! AND the first part of it was kind of ginger and slow because my ankles really don't like running when i first start - and frequently threaten to send me sprawling but after the 200m turn around (when my ankles were warm and the sun was no longer in my eyes) I managed to pass one girl and nearly pass a second.

WOD:
Four rounds for time of:
Walking lunge 50 meters
Sit-ups, 50 reps

Finisher:
Run 800m

Results:
Round
Lunges
Situps
Round
Elapsed
1
3:20
2:10
5:30
5:30
2
3:58
2:01
5:59
11:29
3
4:00
2:07
6:07
17:36
4
3:38
1:44
5:22
22:58

Comments:
I am very pleased with how this went. I mean - I still hate walking lunges - but now it is far more about balance than strength. My lame-brain balance slowed me down so much today that I still had lots of gas left in the tank at the end of the workout (hence the untimed 800m finisher). The other thing I am extremely pleased about is despite the fact that i was by FAR the slowest walking lunger, I always made up time on the situps, and I actually finished ahead of three other people.

I don't actually remember the last time my energy was this good. After a pretty rocky start, i really feel like the Zone is finally starting to work for me, particularly now that I have pushed my daily block count up to 12. At 11 I was hungry all the time, and consequently, angry and irritable all the time, too.

I've really been working my dead-hang pullups on the bar in our kitchen doorway the past few days. I've never been as close as I am now. I can regularly and repeatedly get my arms past a 90 degree angle from full lockout at the bottom - it's just the last few inches that seem to be eluding me. Daniel suggested that i try jumping to the top, lowering just a little and then pulling back up to the top. That sounds hard - and totally useful - so that is what I will work on for the next few days and see if that helps. I was pretty excited about my two pullups in class today - they were the closest I've come to a real kip yet. and they were consecutive. ha!

Walking lunges and situps

Warmup
Run 400m
1:19

Workout
Four rounds:
50m walking lunge
50 situps

14:07rx

First in my class, which was satisfying, but probably the closest I've ever come to puking. Man, I felt awful after that was done.

Saturday, October 17, 2009 by Rebecca

Strength day

Warmup run 400m, ME, Bear crawl, aligator crawl, lunge twists, jump rope drills

100 single skips (subbed for 50 DU) + 25 pushups.

WOD:
Hang Snatch & Overhead Squat 7-7-7

Hang Clean & Push-Press 3-3-3

Results:

Snatch+OHS: 15-20-25
Clean + PP: 55-55-60

Run 800m to try out my new shoes - Thanks Hanna!!

Comments:

I'm pretty pleased with this workout. I kept the OHS light because I was concerned about being able to make it through a full set of 7. I probably could have done my last set at 30, but I wanted to make sure that I was really dialed in with my form - which could certainly use the work. Even at the lighter weights, my form was not great. I asked Polly to watch my last set, and she really got after me to keep my knees out even more.

My first set of cleans and push-presses felt extraordinarily heavy - i wasn't sure if maybe I had counted the weight wrong - but it was 55#. my second set felt better. so I decided to try 60# for my last set. 60# is my standing 3RM for both cleans and push jerks from March, and I got it without too much trouble, although I did have a bit of trouble with my 3rd clean. I had to try it twice to get it up - I was thinking too much. Makes me wonder whether I could have gotten any at 65#. I should have tried it. Alas - the second class was short on bars due to the first class taking forever, so I gave mine over. Besides, I was eager to try out an actual jog with my NEW SHOES!

Hanna - who was in the second class - had a pair of super cute Saucony running shoes pictured here she had bought online that were just a bit too small for her and asked whether, if they fit me, I'd be interested in them. Turns out they fit PERFECTLY, and i LOVE them!! I think part of the reason I did so well with the 60# clean and PP was because I was so jazzed about the shoes.

I originally intended to only run 400m, but by the time i got to the 400m turn around, I wasn't ready to stop, so I did a full 800m - just because I felt like it. That's certainly unusual for me. particularly AFTER a workout.

It was a good day. I had oatmeal with cottage cheese and some milk for breakfast instead of my usual eggs and toast. It definitely lacked in the flavor department. Maybe I'll substitute a block of cottage cheese for a block of bacon next time just to add some flavor - but it did a good job of getting me all the way through the workout and then a little bit extra without feeling hungry or overloaded.

Friday, October 16, 2009 by Rebecca

An individual WOD as part of a team WOD

Warm up: Run 400m ME

WOD:
In two teams:

Each team will pick one card from The Hopper Deck for each athlete present, plus two additional cards (limit strength WODs and WODs without fixed reps will be thrown out and a new card picked).

Each team will perform the entire volume in any order they desire. WODs can be done as designed, broken up or combined.

Each team will have access to 1/2 of the available equipment, regardless of the draw. The squat rack will not be used.

Each team will have five minutes from the time the volume is collated to plan: the WOD will then begin, ready or not.

Our team decided to hit individual cards individually, and then all contribute to the high chipper WOD cards.

I ended up with the card for :

Four rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
50 Squats

Results:
400m/50 squats
2:05 / 2:26
2:18 / 2:38
2:19 / 2:57
2:26 / 3:11

20:23

Comments:

I've done this WOD once before

My time today was not that much better - only about 1:30. But my running was pretty consistent, and i was really trying to work on my squat form - keeping my knees out and my back up as much as possible, so I was not blazing through the squats. So I'm happy enough with my performance.

Once I was done with this, I helped out the rest of the team by doing some burpees and some kettlebell swings - i'm not sure what WOD they were for. Our team finished long before the other team - but they had drawn cards with a much higher volume than we had, so most of our team actually chipped in to help them finish their WODs out. I did some more burpees.

As far as the Zone goes, I'm not sure whether I'm seeing much in the way of performance gains, but my energy seems better. I'll save more commentary about my experience so far for a separate dedicated post.

Thursday, October 15, 2009 by Rebecca

Elizabeth

WOD:
"Elizabeth"

21-15-9

Hang Clean 135/95
Ring Dips

Results:
I forgot my watch - i think this took me 13:45 or thereabouts - maybe 14 something. I forgot to write it down too. Bad blogger, no cookie :-p

I used 50# for my cleans and the red band for my ring dips. It was the first time I'd tried ring dips in a WOD - i have such a hard time stabilizing the rings that I've neer felt comfortable trying them, but using the strap makes the rings stay together and i don't have to worry about accidentally ripping my shoulders out of their sockets. I'll have to practice this more. I was able to get a couple with the green band before the WOD started - when i was just trying it out - but I knew I'd never get through 45 reps using the green band. Even using the red band, I had to do lots of singles, and if I'm being totally honest there were several reps where I did not acheive full lockout at the top, but I counted them anyway.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 by Rebecca

Chelsea

WOD:
"Chelsea"

Set up before a clock, and every minute, on the minute, perform 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 squats.

Comments:
I had to work late, and I showed up for class about 30 minutes late. I was kind of just intending to go home because Daniel had to skip class to babysit a website launch, but he convinced me that I should go to the gym even though I was so ridiculously late. I got almost no warmup. I substituted 55# KB SDHP for pullups because I thought it would just take too long to use a box or a strap for the pullups.

Results:
1 round + 11 squats

Turns out I squat too slow for this workout. I finished my pushups with about 25 seconds to spare, and I just couldn't get all my squats done.

Bleah. so glad i made it to class.

I did get some pullup practice done after everyone else was finished and I ALMOST got my first real kipping pullup. I got my nose to the bar. Once. That was satisfying, at least.

Sunday, October 11, 2009 by Rebecca

AMRAP - Pullups, KB Swings, Pushups

WOD:
As Many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:

5 C2B Pull-Ups
10 2.0/1.5P Kettlebell Swings
15 Push-Ups

Results:
5 rounds + 10 pushups

Comments:
I subbed kip attempts for pullups and 1P for 1.5 KB swings.

I have to say that this was not a 100% effort - I probably gave this about 85% and got a pretty good workout out of it. Some of my kip attempts got pretty close. The thing I was happiest about with this workout was the KB swings.

Except for the first round and the last round which each had 1 little break when I sort of lost my balance, all the KB were unbroken w/ full ROM - KB all the way overhead. That's certainly new territory for me. The 1P KB has been pretty easy for me for he first 5 swings or so for a while, but they quickly fall apart, and it's unusual for me to get long strings of unbroken reps.

The pushups sucked. I tried to keep myself as tight as possible for them because they really put a lot of strain on the place in my back tat was feeling tweaked. They were definitely the limiting factor in the number of rounds I was able to complete.

AMRAP

Warmup: As many double-unders in 2 minutes as possible: 63! I just love our new ropes.

AMRAP in 20 minutes:
5 C2B pullups
10 2P KB swings
15 pushups

8 +5 pullups RX

Goddamn pushups. Yet again, I spent so much time between sets resting on the floor. But the pullups were great - I've finally managed to string c2b's consistently, which is so satisfying.

Saturday, October 10, 2009 by Rebecca

Presses - Strict, Push, and Jerk

Warmup:
Tabata Squats
11-11-11-11-11-10-10-10

WOD:
Press 5-5-5-5-5

Push-Press 3-3-3-3-3

Push-Jerk 1-1-1-1-1

Results:
40-45-45-45-45x4

50-55-60-DNF

Comments:
I had it in my head that the push presses were 3 x 3 instead of 3 x 5. I worked really hard for that set of 3 x 60, and when i discovered that I still had 2 sets to go I just had an utter failure of will. My back was feeling a little tweaked from the presses, and I just couldn't contemplate doing 2 more sets of 3 at 60#. By the time I made it that far most folks were done or just finishing their jerks anyway.

Overhead

Press: 5-5-5-5-5
Push-press: 3-3-3-3-3
Push-jerk: 1-1-1-1-1

Press: 95-95(4)-95(4)-95(3)-95(1)
Push-press: 95-100-105-110-115
Push-jerk: 120-125-130-135-140



Friday, October 9, 2009 by Rebecca

Terrible Team WOD

WOD:
In two teams:

Break up into squads of 3 people.

Each squad must perform the following as a relay:

Row 1500 Meters #4 - 500m
Run 1200 Meters #2-400
105 Pull-Ups #5 - 35 green band assisted
150 Push-Ups #7 - 55
150 Box Jumps #9 - 60 (step ups)
105 Burpees #10 - 30?
75 KB swing 2.0/1.5P #8 - 25 (1P)
105 Wall-Ball 20/14 Pounds #3 - 20
75 Ground-To-Overhead 75/55 #1 - 15
75 Front Squat 75/55 #6 - 12

- Each athlete may only perform each movement once.
- Only one squad may do an event at one time: another squad cannot start the event before the currently performing squad is finished.
- There are no additional rules.
-The winning team is the team with the lowest cumulative time across all squads.

Results:
78 minutes - or so. Would have been a great deal longer except that for the last 4 exercises we all worked in tandem. we just wanted to be done.

Comments:
I knew I would hate this WOD as soon as I heard about it. I REALLY resent workouts where the structure is such that it becomes necessary for other athletes to do more work to make up for my inability to keep up. REALLY. I appreciate the theory - I'll work my ass off to try to make my weakness as little of an impact on the team as possible - but in practice it just makes me feel shitty and inadequate.

I was paired - based on the rankings of a pre-WOD warmup - with two very strong, but not super fast people. For every exercise, I went first and did as many reps as i could, and then the rest was up to them. I'm afraid I made our time even slower, because the few reps I could do for the strength based exercises - like front squats and ground to overhead, were done quite slowly, and since I couldn't go back to an exercise after resting they had to wait for me to rest in order to be able to do more reps before giving my turn over to them - and even with the extra effort, my total reps were usually well short of a third of the total reps. They were extremely nice and very supportive, but even with 'cheating' for the last 4 exercises, we were still the last squad to finish.

Yuck.

Thursday, October 8, 2009 by Rebecca

Deadlifts & Burpees

WOD:
5 rounds
5 deadlift rx: 185, i did 115
10 burpees

Results:

Round
Deadlifts
Burpees
Elapsed Time
1
0:24
0:54
1:18
2
0:49
0:57
3:04
3
1:05
0:59
5:08
4
1:00
1:01
7:09
5
1:37
0:55
9:41
Total
4:55
4:46



Comments:
yuck. my burpees were at least consistent(though they could certainly have been faster). I clearly fell apart on the DL.

For the record, I HATED my bar. First of all, it was dark out, and the bar was dark, and it was impossible to tell where the knurling was, so I often picked up the bar with an uneven hand position which made for very awkward lifts. But the very worst thing is that it had a very rough finish, and it would not slide up the fabric of my pants - it snagged on it - like socks without fabric softener, and there was something about the sensation of it or the sound of it that was just like nails on a chalk board to me. it made me ANGRY. Deadlifts are plenty hard enough without having to deal with added friction from one's clothing slowing the bar down.

115# just is not that heavy, but it sure felt heavy. I really thought I was going to do better that this on this workout. :-(

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 by Daniel

Two, Two, Two Workouts in one!

100 double-unders
25 burpees
75 double-unders
25 KB swing 2.0/1.5P
50 double-unders
25 dead-hang pull-ups
25 double-unders
25 Thruster 115/75

46:18RX

I think this was intended to be a solid mid-length chipper, but for me it was really two workouts: a twenty-five minute metcon followed immediately by a twenty-one minute strength workout. Yep: the thrusters alone took me nearly as much time as everything else combined. This just goes to show how poor my thruster strength is (hardly news).

The new jumpropes are nice, though - I was pretty consistently able to get sets of 10 double-unders, even when really tired.

Sunday, October 4, 2009 by Daniel

5x5 Deadlifts

Warmup:
21-15-9
1.5p KB swing
Pushup

3:13rx

Workout:
Deadlifts 5-5-5-5-5

275-280-285-290-295

Finisher:
Row 500m (damper 7ish)

1:31

Comments:
Deadlifts felt much better than last week without the cold. The deadlifts were heavy, but I think I was able to maintain about 80% good form even in the higher sets. The row was only 1 second slower than the PR I set at the cert, which isn't bad considering it was after a bunch of heavy deadlifts.

Food Log:
2 eggs, 2 slices turkey bacon, 2 slices toast = 4 blocks
Spinach salad with tuna, apple and pear = 4 blocks
Cottage cheese, applesauce and milky coffee = 4 blocks
Chicken sausage, black beans, zucchini, salsa & avocado = 4 blocks

Deadlifts

Warmup:
21-15-9
1P KB swing/Pushups

5:31

That warmup couplet was pretty evil with my shoulders as sore as they are from yesterday's OHS. I had the slowest time in the class by several seconds - maybe as many as 30. My first 15 or so KB swings were really good, but then they totally fell apart. My shoes had almost no traction on the floor which made both the swings and the pushups tricky. These shoes are much better for burpees. The pushups were particularly hard.


WOD:
Deadlifts 5-5-5-5-5

125-130-135x3-135x4-DNF

These actually went relatively well - despite the DNF.

We were supposed to start at 85% of our 1rm - which means that with a 1RM of 155 i should have started at 130, but I wasn't ready to start just 5 pounds shy of my 5RM. So i started with 125. I think it was the right place to start.

Every set was definitely hard. I was never sure whether I was going to make it through all 5 reps - but at least I always made it through at least 3. Since 135# was my 5RM right at the end of our strength cycle, I'm actually pretty pleasedthat i was able to get 135# x 4 today. 135# x 5 feels within range of immediate acheivability with just a little form work.

For some reason, my trouble area seems to have become the top of the lift - once i get it past my knees, I was having a hard time just standing the rest of the way up. But apparently my form from the ground to my knees was fine. Which - as Daniel points out - is just backwards. But that seems to be the way I roll ... >.>

After the 4th attempt I was shaky, and lightheaded, and due to the arrival of fall, also somewhat chilled, and I tried to wait long enough to let the shaky and lightheadedness go away - but apparently I waited long enough for all my muscles to cool down too, and attempt #5 just wouldn't leave the ground.

My main take-away from the day is that I'm relieved to find that I appear to have finally made up most of the ground I lost (at least as it pertains to the deadlift).


Food Log:
2b breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 1piece toast w/ butter
4b lunch: 1cup milk (1p/1f/1c) + 3b quesadilla: 2oz chicken (2p) 1oz cheese(1p) 3tbs avocado (3f) garnished with salsa

Saturday, October 3, 2009 by Rebecca

OHS

Warmup:
9-6-3
OHS (dowel)
Burpees
Pullups
4:33 - this was slow - i was the last one done i think. Partly it was waiting for a box to be available at the pullup bar. partly it was just me being slow. I kept losing my balance backwards on the OHS

The first 2 rounds were weak little barely chin to bar jumping pullups, the last round was 3 kip attempts.

WOD:
21-10-5-5-3-1 Overhead Squat

15#x 15 (21F)
20 x 10
25 x 5
30 x 4 (5F)
30 x 3 (5F)
35 x 2 (3F)
35 x 2 (3F)
40 F (x 2) (1F)

The thing that kept failing for me here were my shoulders. I'd just lose all ability to stabilize the bar - even when standing still - the bar just would not stay up overhead. I'd get the first few reps done and they'd be EASY - i though 'oh hey - i'm not using enough weight!' - and then the next rep - maybe 2 - and down the bar came. My sidebar says 30# is my 5 rep max, the last few OHS posts make it sound as if it might actually be my 7 rep max. Which would mean that today was not as close to my peak performance as I thought - but it's still not substantially worse - only moderately. One thing that DID go well today is that I was much better at keeping my knees out on my way out of the hole in the squat.

As uncomfortable as this movement is, I'd really like to work this more often. It works everything.


Food log:
2b breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 2 pieces low-carb flax seed bread
3b lunch: chicken tostada salad from picante - sans tostada - I'll just take Daniel's word for it that it was 3b. (seemed to me it might be a lot more like 4)
2b snack: 1/2 cottage cheese, 18 slivers of almond, 4 dried apricots
3b dinner + 1b milk: chicken sausage + yams & sauteed spinach

... I miss being able to snack while making dinner :-(

Overhead Squats

OHS 21 - 10 - 5 - 5 - 3 - 1

65-75-85-95x4-95-105(f)-105(f)

Felt good on technique, weak on strength. Wrists still hurt like a sonuvabitch, I should be trying to narrow my grip more, but I find that pressing up against the bar tends to push out my hands, too. 105 was close - it was a failure in my front deltoid to keep the weight stable while changing direction at the bottom. More practice would get me there pretty quick, I think.

Food Log:
3 eggs, 1 bacon, 2 slices toast, 2 cups strawberries = 4 blocks
Picante chicken tostada (no tortilla), 1c milk = 4 blocks
cottage cheese, applesauce and milky coffee = 4 blocks
TJ's chicken sausage, sauteed spinach and a yam = 4 blocks

Friday, October 2, 2009 by Daniel

Mutt and Jeff

So during the bench relay the other night, Polly and I got into our endless argument over whether CrossFit favors the short or the tall. I, of course, maintain that it's easier for shorter people. Polly's response is, invariably, "wall ball." Max heard the the argument, and came up with this fun team workout to test the theory: take 6 movements, 3 that supposedly favor the tall and 3 the short, divide the class into equal teams sorted by height (all the tall people on one team, all the shorter people on the other), and have them do a massive quantity of reps for time.

Each team, which was (I think) 12 people, had to complete the following:

Run 10k
300 Push-ups
300 GI-Janes
300 Ground-to-Overhead #95/65
300 Hang Squat Cleans #95/65
300 Wallball 20/14

Team short beat team tall, 24-something to 26-something.

I don't recall exactly what I did to contribute. Something like:

Run 1600m
50 GI-Janes
20 Push-ups
30 Wall-ball
20 Ground-to-Overhead
10 Hang Squat Cleans

It was a fun workout. And remarkably close, actually.

Food log:
Spinach salad with tuna, apple, toast and strawberries (5 blocks)
Cottage cheese with applesauce and milky coffee (4 blocks)
16 oz milk PWO (2 blocks)
Chicken with Broccoli and Garbanzo beans (4 blocks)
Slice of turkey, Guinness draught and 3 almonds (1 block)

Short vs. tall

WOD:
Athletes will line up by height in two separate groups, male and female. Tallest athletes from each gender group will form one team, shortest athletes from each gender group will form the other team.

For time:

In two teams:

10K of running per team
300 GI Janes per team
300 95/65 ground-to-overhead per team
300 95/65 squat cleans per team
300 push-ups per team
300 Wall-Ball 20/14 per team

Results:
As Daniel said - our team actually came in really close on the heels of the short team. We had a couple really great athletes on our team, but team shorty had the majority of CFEB all-stars - Polly, Robin, Hodges, James Chiu, Elaine, and Alex, and we had two people on our team - myself and a new guy who didn't have time to be taught them - who could not do either of the barbell exercises. I think our team did an outstanding job. I got to do some pushups - 40 or 50 and 45 reps with the 10# wall ball which counted for 30 reps - but that was about it. I did a lot of score keeping.

Food Log:
3b lunch: 3 oz chicken(3p) yams & broccoli(3c) gravy & slivered almonds (3f)
1b snack: coffee w/ 1 cup milk(1b) - i had this about 45 min after my lunch and it made me unbelieveably jittery. that hasn't happened in a long time.
2b snack: 1/2c cottage cheese(2p), 4 dried apricots(2c), slivered almonds(2f)
3b dinner + 2b milk: Chicken sausage with Broccoli and Garbanzo beans (14.4 oz)

Thursday, October 1, 2009 by Daniel

Running and Bench

Gotta get more regular with the blogging again...

Run 2 miles.
20 minutes after the beginning of the run, entire group relay bench presses two reps each, starting at 45 pounds and continuing in 10 pound jumps until failure, in reverse order of first to last on the run (slowest runner goes first). After all who are able have lifted a given weight, those remaining add 10 pounds. Bench Press continues until strongest athlete fails. There is no rest between lifts, except as needed, momentarily, to increase the weight.

13:40 run (I think)
Bench 155 x 1

Food log:
2 eggs, 2 bacon, 3 toast and 1 apple = 4 blocks
2 slices turkey and 1 apple = 2 blocks
3 oz. chicken, sweet potato, broccoli and gravy = 3 blocks
1 1/8c applesauce, 3/4c cottage cheese, 1/8c walnuts = 3 blocks
3 oz. chicken, 1 oz. cheese quesadilla = 4 blocks

Going shopping tomorrow. Clearly I need more quantity and variety of fruit.

Running & Bench ladder

WOD:
Run 2 miles.

20 minutes after the beginning of the run, entire group relay bench presses two reps each, starting at 45 pounds and continuing in 10 pound jumps until failure, in reverse order of first to last on the run (slowest runner goes first). After all who are able have lifted a given weight, those remaining add 10 pounds. Bench Press continues until strongest athlete fails. There is no rest between lifts, except as needed, momentarily, to increase the weight.

Results:
1 mile: 11:13

65#

Comments:
I had thought I'd be able to pull off at least 1.5 miles - I felt pretty good going into this workout, but about 2/3 of the way through the first miles, a good Beastie Boys song came on - Sabotage maybe? - and got me going a little faster than my measured pace, and I totally burned out. I had to take my headphones off entirely, and I was just relieved to make it all the way through the mile. No more music when running. It messes with my rhythm (ironically?). Although, looking through my recent mile times - and even my mot so recent mile times - this is actually a pretty decent time for me. That's gratifying.

I really liked the relay with the deadlifts. I liked it a lot less with the bench press. Mostly because it's not a lift I am good at, and my max lift is not that far above 45#, so I was out after 2 cycles - Max jumped from 45# to 65# to try to speed things up a bit, and I did not have a chance to 'warm up' to a max lift. My first few reps of the Bench are ALWAYS awkward and strange - even when I was doing it every week - my arms just have no muscle memory for this lift.

When we did the DL relay, we started with 95# and even in 10# increments, that was enough to let me really warm up to my max rep weights. This time I got a 'warm up set at 45 (with crookedly placed hands), a decent set at 65, and I failed at 75# - I didn't even get one rep, but I was having a really hard time figuring out where to put my hands, and it just felt like they were way too wide on that attempt.

This was not a particularly satisfying workout.

Food Log:
3b breakfast:
2 eggs (2p) & 1 piece turkey bacon (1p) wrapped in a wheat tortilla/wrap (3C) the fat was in the butter the eggs were cooked in (and the eggs)
2b snack:
1/2c cottage cheese (2p) 3/4c apple sauce(2c) slivered almonds(2f)
3b lunch:
3 oz chicken(3p) yams & broccoli(3c) gravy & slivered almonds (3f)
3b dinner:
2oz chicken(2p) 1oz cheese(1p) wheat tortilla/wrap (3C)cooked in coconut oil(3f)

Trying the Zone

Starting Oct 1 Daniel and I are trying the Zone diet.

I have many reservations about this. My last food based experiment (the no dairy) did not go well. I already have weird OCD tendencies about my food. I get overly invested in systems that let me find excuses to strictly control what I eat. I am afraid that I'll become somewhat obsessive about weighing and measuring my food. I'm relying on Daniel to keep me 'on the level' about this aspect. In many cases I'm just going to rely on him to do the counting and measuring. It means more work for him, but this was his idea, so - he can manage ;-P. If it gets overwhelming I can stop.

I only get 11 blocks/day. Technically, I should only get 10, but I made Daniel round it up. It just seems like hardly any food at all - or at least it does if you're eating high density/high GI (glycemic index) carbs. Once you start factoring in lower GI carbs the volumes of food get kind of ridiculous. Which is the other thing about this diet that I am finding so strange. Eating large volumes of carbs - much larger than we have been.

The thing that makes me the very most sad of all is that this will really restrict my milk consumption. Since milk is a combo food, one cup of milk = a whole protein/fat/carb block. If i stuck to my normal 16oz PWO milk and 16oz with dinner, that would only leave me 7 blocks for the rest of my food for the day. The size of my daily cottage cheese snack has been cut in about half, too. After hearing repeatedly and often that the key to good performance is to 'eat more food', this feels almost as foreign as the need to eat more carbs to meet the required ratios.

If it seems at any point like it is negatively affecting my performance, or I am getting obsessive about the weighing and measuring, the diet will go, and I'll go back to the low-carb, whole food, solid portion size way I was eating before that seemed to be working just fine. All that said, though, I have heard and seen enough positive results from following this diet that I do feel it is worth trying. So - here goes.

Beginning Stats:
Weight: 125
Waist: 29"
Hips: 37"
Body Fat: 24%
LBM: 95#