Upside-frickin'-down

I have made my first resolution for 2009. Yeah, I know it's March, but I was focused on March 1st as my one-year anniversary, so there's hardly been any time at all. OK. So you ready? Here it is:

A free-standing handstand.

I have a block against handstands. I've realized I just hate going upside down. It freaks me out, in a way that nothing else we do in CrossFit does. Of course, this means I need to face it down, figure it out, and - in the words of Robb Wolf - embrace it and make it my bitch.

This is a long-term project. Tonight I took some first steps and finally managed my first completely unassisted handstands against the wall - three times. It took half an hour of hops and bouncings OFF the wall before I made it stick, but once I got it I was able to get the others fairly quickly. Of course, the wall is a crutch that most gymnasts recommend AGAINST using, as it trains you against using proper hollow form. I want to be able to kick up to a wall handstand easily for HSPUs, but for this project I'm going to be working freestanding progressions. Forward rolls of varying heights, then handstands facing the wall and rolling out of, then tons and tons of practice figuring out how to kick up into thin air.

Baby steps.

Oh, and I also did a little climbing. Two Jim climbs: a 10b arete that was a nice little puzzler, and a delicate-as-all-hell 10d that involved a great deal of liebacking off holds that really didn't feel substantial enough to lieback on, and shoving my nose into a corner while inching arms and legs up to tiny holds. I fell several times. Definitely want to try that one again.

About, Face!

OK, Bulking is over. I don't like the way I feel when my waist is over 34", and I hate the way the extra fat affects my climbing performance, so I think it's time to scrap this cycle and start over.

Results of this cycle
OK. In two months I managed to gain 13 pounds, approximately 5-6 of which were muscle. Much of this cycle was marked by frustration and no gains, though, until the final rest week when I managed to double my gains in one fell swoop. Lesson learned: rest more. Actually DO the half-intensity weeks and weeks off. I will continue to try and improve LBM gain efficiency next time, most likely with IF.

Goals looking forward
First, I want to drop the bodyfat I picked up this cycle ASAP, so I can get back on the growth wagon. I figure losing 10 pounds of bodyfat should put me at about a 32" waist and 10% BF, which seems a good place to start again. Here's the plan on how to do that...

Intermittent Fasting
Approx 4-5 days a week, I will fast from ~8pm until ~noon the next day (target: 16 hours). Never on rest days. I will learn to appreciate black coffee. I will learn to take my vitamins at different times.

HIIT Me Baby, One More Time
To complement the IF, I will try to incorporate 10 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training in a fasted state in the mornings. This should cause my body to activate some body fat for energy and dump it into my bloodstream. After a 10 minute break, I will then spend the next 30 minutes or so in some form of lightly-elevated-heartrate activity to burn that dump. Here's what I'm thinking:

• Gym mornings: 10 minutes on the rower (30 sec sprint, 90 sec cruise) after climbing, followed by a shower and the ride uphill to work.
• At home: Tabata burpees, followed by a brisk walk to work. Heavy on the brisk!

Macrobionic Man
This will be tricky, as there are a lot of goals to cover. While I'm focusing on fat loss, I'll primarily be interested in muscle retention rather than growth. So 160g/protein (1g per lb LBM) daily should do it. If I like how IF goes and decide to try and GAIN weight with it, this will go up to 210+g/day, and therefore become even trickier. I would like to limit my carbohydrates to below Mark's Daily Apple's "magic number" of 150g/day. 100 would be better. Not only that, but I want to have the bulk of those carbs post-workout. This means no more toast, no more protein bars or shakes, and limited milk. I won't concern myself with fat - whatever it wants to be, it will be. I have enough on my plate already (so to speak).

5x5x0
I can't expect to grow on a caloric deficit, so I will suspend the linear increase of my 5x5 program until such time as I can support growth again. However, I do not want to lose what I've gained, so I will keep doing some deadlifts and squats, but just maintaining current levels.

Expectations
Oh, who knows. This is changing a LOT of things all at once, several of them outside my regular experience. I don't think it will take long to lose the weight - maybe a month, certainly not more than two. At the moment I'm thinking I would like to continue the IF during another gaining cycle, to see if I can achieve more efficient growth, but this from a perspective of not having actually TRIED it yet. I'll revisit in two inches.

Happy Half-an-anniversary to me.

September 1st marks my six month anniversary with CrossFit.

It's kinda crazy to think I've only been doing it that long, since it feels like such an integral part of my life now. But it's impossible to deny the results - I'm far fitter now than I was when I started.

But there's still a long way to go. I have set for myself the goal of achieving ALL the level II skills by my one-year anniversary on March 1, 2009. Since this is the halfway mark, it seems a good time to take stock and plot my future course.

These are the skills that remain (and where I stand with them):

• 1 x BW Squat (140x5, 40# short)
• 1 x BW Benchpress (135x5, 45# short)
• 15 Ring Dips (Uh...0, if you're talking full ROM)
• 1.3 BW Ring Dip (An even bigger 0)
• 20 Pullups (12 at last attempt)
• 1.3 x BW Pullup (I've only tried this once, and I think it was with 25#. It needs to be 60#.)
• 1 Muscle-up (0, obviously)
• 30 second L-sit (0 seconds. This may be the hardest one to achieve.)
• 30 24kg Kettlebell Snatch (I could do this with 20kg on my right arm...probably not with my left)
• 45 0.5 BW Thrusters (Nowhere near. I MIGHT be able to do this with 65#. Needs to be 90#.)
• Helen <> (16:02 at last attempt)
• .75 x BW Power Clean (Needs to be 135#. Never attempted)
• 0.5 BW Power Snatch (Needs to be 90#. Never attempted)

Of the thirteen skills left on the list, a large chunk of them can be taken out simply by working towards a muscle up (six by my count - my limiting factor in Helen is the pullups). So that will be a priority - I'm thinking of doing a linear 5x5 program with weighted dips and pullups, one day a week. The other day will be Squats/Bench until I get to the goals. This leaves five miscellaneous skills. The Clean and Snatch will, I think, primarily be technique development. The KB Snatches are just strength and, I think, not THAT far away. The thrusters and L-sit are just brutally difficult. I can try to improve compression with Richard Vanmeerbeek's crazy leg raises, but the thrusters are just gonna be practice, practice, practice I think, until I can get enough gas to handle it.