12 days of Christmas

Warmup: Jump rope - got several right footed single skips. even managed to get three consecutive! It may sound like a terribly minor achievement, but it's actually pretty major. I have not ever had any success trying to jump exclusively on my right foot, and having enough balance to stay only on my right foot and make it over the rope three times is an exceptional achievement.

WOD:
On the first day of Christmas CrossFit gave to us.....

1 - Muscle-up - subbed 4 band assisted ring dips
2 - HSPU - subbed piked push-ups
3 - Dead-hang pull-ups - green band assisted (mostly) dead-hangs
4 - Jumping squats
5 - Burpees
6 - Push-ups
7 - Toes to bar - subbed knees to elbows
8 - Forward rolls
9 - Double Unders
10 - KB Snatch 1.5pd / 1pd - used 8kg
11 - Box jumps
12 - Virtual snow shoveling 45# plate/25# plate (24"barrier)

Comments:

This went pretty well for a workout I didn't really think i wanted to do.

Actually the most exciting part was pre-WOD when i decided to see whether I could do box jumps, and I managed to jump - without any assistance - to a stack of bumper plates. First I tried 2 of the fuzzy 45# plates - about 10" maybe? - and it was no problem, I put a smooth 45# plate on top of that - maybe another 4" - and tried it, and it was still totally manageable, so I put a 25# plate on top of that (another 3") and, while it was a bit intimidating, I found I could do that, too. I nearly took a nasty backwards spill when I tried to show Daniel my new achievement; I got distracted by someone else. But I got it on my second attempt. I was actually bummed not to get to the box jumps in the WOD. That's a first, for sure.

Since the 3 pull-ups were supposed to be dead-hang, i tried to keep my band assisted pull-ups as kip free as I could - and for the first several rounds, they were fairly static - as the rounds went on, as I started getting tired i started kipping a bit more.

I have to say that I find it very gratifying that I am still making improvements in some areas despite the fact that my diet has been absolute crap this month, and I've only been making it to a handful of workouts a week.

Diet wise, I've pretty much written off the month of December. There are just too many wonderful things out there this time of year, and I am enjoying my freedom to eat whatever terrible food i want, but I definitely feel and see the effects of not eating clean, so I am also looking forward to getting 'back on the wagon' in January.

Strength Cycle, week 4 part 1

Back Squat x 5: 115 - 145 - 170
Back Squat x 21: 125
Bench Press x 5: 115 - 135 - 145(pr)
Bench Press x 21: 110
Handstand/Forward roll practice

Although I was not sore today from yesterday's Karen, it still had an effect on tonight's workout. My muscles felt fatigued, and my form on the squats felt decidedly unpretty. 170 matches my previous PR, though, and I think I should be able to manage 175 next week. The superset was painful, but I made it through only taking extra deep breaths on reps 7 and 14. The bench also felt tight and suboptimal, but I pushed through. The superset was brutal - I expect to start failing on that any week now.

Rebecca, Ynez and I spent way more time than we really should have on handstand and forward roll practice, but we were having a lot of fun. I was practicing primarily "jumping rolls," kicking up to pass through the handstand position, then breaking the legs and arms and rolling out. I have a really hard time bending my elbows, resulting in a big flop forward onto my back that, were it not on a giant blue mat, would really hurt. I managed a small handful with decent form, I just need to figure out how to do it consistently. I also, basically by accident, got a freestanding handstand for like two whole seconds before I freaked out and rolled out. That was exciting.

Next week: BS 175/130, BP 150/110

Strength Cycle, week 1

Today was the first workout in our experimental, 12-week strength cycle. I'm starting easy for the first couple weeks, aiming to hit current PR weights in the third week (80-90-100%) before moving on to true PRs. Even so, this felt good.

Back Squat x 5: 95 - 115 - 135
Back Squat x 21: 100
Bench Press x 5: 95 - 115 - 130
Bench Press x 21: 95
Forward rolls: 10 x 3

I warmed up with Good Morning Squats and Stripper Stretch (never knew that was what it was called), and worked hard to keep my chest up throughout the squats, with moderate success - of course, it isn't really heavy yet.

The supersets after the strength set certainly give the neuromuscular hit I hoped they would - I felt woozy and quite worked after the squats, like I'd just done a max effort deadlift set. I wasn't able to do all 21 without stopping for breath a few times, though I didn't have to rack the weight...I'm not sure if that counts as unbroken, or if I should be able to knock out 21 without pause - I'm kinda thinking the latter, but will need to do a little more research into the matter.

The forward rolls were fun. I got quite good at rolling straight back up to my feet without using my hands, and the big blue crashpads at the gym made it all totally painless. I'm thinking next time I should just use the regular climbing pad floor. They sure made me dizzy, though! It felt really good to work a gymnastic skill that didn't fill me with fear, though - baby steps.