Drats...AHA...and everything in between!

Monday - CrossFit Total...

or for me, now known as "what the bleepity bleep bleep just happened??"
I'm not certain if I need a week or two to psych up for this or what, but the last couple times we've done this it's just been sad.
Back Squat - last two previous attempts - got the 235. Today. Tried.....twice.....and never got it up. From what people say, I was going alot lower than I normally go.  Well, duh, it's easy to squat lower than low with 200+ on your back!! - it's the getting up that's hard, and apparently out of my reach on Monday.
Shoulder Press - I'm pretty sure I messed myself up on this one. I did a warm up at 95, then went to 105, and couldn't get that up to save my life! Because of that pathetic showing, I did the first lift at 95 again. No problem. 2nd lift I went to 105 - but as I was putting the weights on, I believe I saw what the problem was. I think in my warm up, I grabbed the wrong plates, and was going for 115, not 105. 115 is my 1 rep max - that I hit once, and only once. The reality is, I could be mistaken and this could be some lameass excuse for patheticism (not really a word, but it sounds good), but I believe I screwed up the weights in the warmup, which threw me off completely.
Deadlift - After the awesome successes I'd had in the first two lifts, I started relatively light, at 255. Actually, that didn't feel too bad. 2nd lift - I went for 285, slightly higher than the 275 I've gotten a couple times before, but a tad bit lighter than that one tiny 300 moment from 6 months ago. Well, it didn't really go anywhere.   I'll expound a bit moore on this in the Deadlift Functional focus information on Thursday.

Tuesday - Fran   21, 15, 9 reps, 64# Thrusters, Pullups.
Crud - I don't remember what I did timewise on this - I believe it was 8:47 or so.  The thrusters actually felt good - first set I broke it up into 15/6, then 8 /7, then the last 9 were unbroken.  Naturally, the pullups took the most time, but I did 'em kipping in the red bands.  Overall, Fran felt pretty good, but I can't really remember anything special about this day.  There have just been too many other highs and lows this week I guess...

Wednesday - Functional Focus: Deadlift

I had a total "AHA!" moment.  Now, hopefully, I can keep that going next time we do DL's.  In the back of my mind, for quite some time now, I've been thinking that I'm pulling too much with my back on the deadlift.  My guess was that it was because I was using the narrow stance, rather than the sumo.  However, on Tuesday, I had my first massage with Melissa, and she was working out my lower back kinks and knots.  She thought maybe I was doing something wrong, causing me to use my back rather than glutes...which kind of confirmed my thinking.  So, it was kind of ironic that the next day we did functional focus on deadlifts.  We started with 1 round at light warmup weight (135), just looking for the perfect form.  Suddenly, out of nowhere comes the video camera.   We do another round, only this time, it's being filmed - and we get the joy of watching.  Ok, first of all, let's take a gratuitous moment, and just say - HOLY SCHMITZOID!!!........please tell me I am not that roly-poly in the video!! UGH!  I am much cuter and far more buff in my head than on film!!

Ok - gratuitous moment over...other than that, I did notice in the video that my butt was higher up in the air than it felt, and I saw the rocking motion that I have.  The next round we added some weight, brought it to 185.   This time, I really concentrated more on getting my hips lower, but back staying mostly in one position and putting everything through my legs.  I know it sounds strange, but in that set of 5, 4 were closer, and I think 1 of them actually felt the way it was supposed to.   Which, is completely different than I'd been doing them.  Kind of surprising that a small change, actually made it feel right, the way you know it should.   Next we did Deadlift from the hang.  Started much higher this time.  We did alot of these, last set was at 305 for me.  Let me clarify - it was a set of 5 at 305.  Jonathan "wanted me to remember what 300 felt like".   Shoo-dog did I remember, 300 feels freakin' heavy!    I felt pretty darn good on these when I left though, like I've had a break through or something.  We'll see when we do 'em again if this is the case, but I'm going with that mantra for now.

Thursday: Annie    50-40-30-20- 10-rep rounds of: double unders/situps.
I like Annie, despite the elusiveness of a good double under run.  I sucked 'em up the first two rounds.  Took forever.  Then my shoe was untied for the 30's so I kicked 'em off.  I think the desire to avoid the rope smacking into my toes, made me a bit more agile.  Just a bit - not a ton, but that bit helped some.   I ended much better than I started.  End time was 15:27 - some 30+ seconds longer than last time.  I've decided that Annie's time is all dependent on how ya feel doing the DU's. 

That's it so far - a week of lows and highs, and everything in between!

The work week....

Not sure what happened, but apparently I seem to have fallen a week behind.
Monday:  CrossFit Stations #2 - three rounds
- Wallball (16 lbs)
- Pullups
- Slamball (16 lbs)
- Situps
- Box jumps (16")

For some unknown reason, I was feeling kind of weak.  The 16 lb balls were heavy.  It was very strange.  I'm using the 3 vials of blood that were drawn as my excuse, but that's pretty much just an excuse.   I believe I got in 96, 96, then ...73??  I think I added up to 255 total.  Which means those individual numbers are off.  Hmmm...was I at 265? Possibly.  I'm not entirely certain.  I thought I was close to 100 the first two rounds though.  3rd round, as usual I dropped.  Someday I'll be able to stay semi-consistent on all rounds.

Tuesday: The VinMan - 3 rounds

- 1-1/2 rep goblet squats (25 lbs)
- KB swings (12 kg)
- Glute-ham raises
- Deadlifts (125 lbs
- FitBall hip extensions
- Single-leg goodmornings

This one was designed to "Hammer your glutes 'til your butt's like a bowling ball!" 

....and I suppose it would have if my back didn't lock up so bad it.  To say that I sucked at this one would be the understatement of the year.  I started with the Squats.  First round, my back muscles started tightening probably on the glute ham raises a bit, got to DL's, didn't get in nearly as many as I should have but it wasn't too terrible.  Round 2 & 3, was a bit different.  My back was just too locked up to get much done. I did what I could, but it was just painful.  Grand total, I recorded 199 - but I may have gotten 209ish - I know I counted wrong that 2nd round.  This is the first time, that I've been semi close to tears from the pain, I wasn't, but I was close.  Add to that the frustration of itty-bitty numbers, and it just was not the best day.    I'm still not certain why my back muscles seem to lock up so much.....either I'm doing something wrong, or they just don't like working and make no bones about telling me so.  Again, after I stretched 'em out, all was fine.  Aggravating, I tell ya!

Overhead Anyhow -1-1-1-1-1-1-1

I haven't done this one in a while, for some reason Push Jerks have been feeling a bit off for me lately.  I think it's because once the weight hits a certain heavy point, I'm not fully believing that I have enough spring to hoist overhead.  That's all I can figure out.  

I did the first couple as Push Press..with a bit of jerk involved.  125/135/145.  Missed on the 145. Then I decided to try the Split Jerk - this one doesn't come naturally for me, but watching others do it, I am definitely believing that this is a stronger way to do them.   I didn't believe it at first because of the whole balance thing, but I'm seeing it now.  Never having really done split jerks with much weight, I went down.  I went down, so that I could go up.  Next 4 I did were 95/115/135/145.  Again, missed on the 145.  that could be because it was the last round. I'll have to try it earlier.  The disappointing part is that I didn't increase in weight at all.  CRUD! I didn't realize this little fact until afterwards, when I looked at the board,  I definitely should have been able to get the 145.  Next time.

Friday - 200 meter run x 8 rounds
Running sucks.  I don't think I can say that enough.  We did this one in the park.  I matched my fastest time, and got my longest times ever.  Not sure what that means.   I will say, I felt like I was gasping for air at the end worse than before, either that, or I've blocked it from my memory, kind of like women do with childbirth.  Not sure.  I believe I did 48/50/53/56/102/100/56/102 ....or something along those lines. It's definitely a downward spiral through the later rounds.

Mish Mash of fun!

Tuesday: Functional Focus - Slosh Pipes, Tires, Rope Climb

This was low key - super fun day.  Almost like those old gym classes from grade school, but more fun.  Slosh pipes are PVC tubes partially filled with water that you have to balance overhead.  Sounds easy and simple right? HA! Not quite as simple as it sounds. Although, I probably could have/should have gone with  one that was a bit bigger/heavier.  The one I used was pretty light - and relatively easy. The next one up though, was a huge pipe, that my tiny little hands couldn't get around very well.  Unfortunately, I couldn't even really try that one  - the boys were using it.  Except Luke - he went for the mambo-super jumbo pipe.    Next we climbed the rope.  All I can say is that I tried.....   I was looking at it with dread, knowing in my heart that if by some miracle, I actually was able to climb the silly thing, I would probably freeze up when I looked down.  Ok - definitely not the mentality to go in with.   I'll try almost anything -but when it comes to heights, I know what they do to me - refer back to the Hawaii trip if you need a reminder!  So, I gave it the ol' college try.  Wrapped my feet, held the rope and kind of jumped a bit so I was off the ground.   Then, it came time to try to actually climb, so I go to move my hand up the bar. Disconnect. The hand would not let go of the rope. It downright refused.  Somewhere in it's pinky finger of a brain, it knew that if it let go, I would fall to my imminent death. My hand did not realize that I was MAYBE 1/2 an inch off the ground, and death from that height would be downright close to impossible.   I guess I need to work on the release mode!  Tire flipping was good -they are some big ass tires.  I can't quite get the correct motion - it's a two step process for me, but I can do it.  I was a bit bummed, and this sounds strange, but Patty and Cheri R had some big bruises on their arms from it.  I got nothing, strangely I felt a bit ripped off.  Wonder what that means?

Wednesday: Lynne - Bodyweight bench press/Pullups - Max Reps, 5 rounds

The point this time was, if you are not able to do bodyweight bench press, do a weight that in the last round you will end up with 3-5 reps.   I've been doing these at 125, and getting in 12-7.  Knowing the huge differential 5 pounds makes on the bench, I went with 135, to see how that would go.  It's 20 lbs less than my 1 rep max.  On Bench I did 7/6/6/5/3 - that last set, I probably could have/should have done more, but I didn't set myself correctly, and didn't realize how off  I was until I had started. Trying to correct with 135 bar above you - kinda difficult.   Pullups, I did kipping in the red bands.  I believe I got 10/11/10/10/9 one of those rounds may have had another 11 in it, I'm not certain. Last round I was going for 10 - but then Tricia made a comment about how the bands made my boobs look good (???? must have lifted and separated???) - and that just ended it.  I busted up! So only 9 the last round.  I have to say again, though, I'm jealous of her pullups - they are probably some of the prettiest in the gym, even if she is still using the bands, it's all muscle!

Thursday:   Double under Doody! (yes, as in poo-poo, ca-ca!)

I'm not certain what got in my mind, but I wasn't signed up for this one, was quite ok with it for the most part.  Then came that tiny little guilty part of my mind, bursting on the scene, telling me I was being a big old wimp.  So, what did I do??  What any rational, sane person would do, I posted my mental dilemma on Facebook, so someone could help me decide - to go or go ahead, take a day off !!  Now really, what did I really was going to happen???  Shockingly, I was talked into going.  Here's the gist of the workout.

50 double-unders- these weren't good, but weren't terrible, I got in 30 to Joe G's 50
50 box jumps 16"- these took a while....I was stepping down trying to coddle my ankle a bit.....
50 double-unders - started these when Joe G was starting his 3rd round of DU's - I was at about 27 to his 50.  slowing down.
50 situps - these were fine, although I did have to pause more than usual.
50 double-unders - slow.  I think Joe G finished when I was working on these...
50 supermans - these were slower than you would have thought.  I did the back extensions on the GHD thingy.  Had a lot of back and hammy crampage.
50 double-unders- there were about 3 or 4 minutes left before time was gonna be called.  Trying to do DU's, with back muscles cramping and hamstrings aquiver, is a bit of a disaster.  I attempted it though.  Did about 25 single missed attempts before landing one.  Needless to say, this is where I ended.  Time was 26 minutes and more than 30 odd seconds.
200 m run
50 double-unders
Didn't get to the run (not that I would have been able to run anyway, as locked up as my back was!), or the las set of DU's.   I probably would have been more bummed about that if I didn't need to immediately stretch the crap out of my back.    Once I did that, all was fine with the world.  I think I'm the only one that has back muscles cramp up on them, it's kind of peculiar.

Friday: "Diane"  21, 15, 9 reps of Deadlift 155#, Handstand pushups.
The goal of this one was, no matter what the modification on HSPU's - full ROM.  Did I accomplish that??  not really.  I did them with feet hooked on the bar.  Here's the scooper:

21 rep set: Deadlift - no problem, a little difficult because my back muscles were sore from yesterday, but that didn't affect anything.   HSPU's - did about 6 or 7, full ROM - then had to upright myself for breathing purposes.  After that they came slow, a couple at a time.  I have to admit, there were a couple lame ones in this set.  

15 rep set - again DL's, no problem.  HSPU's - got the first 5, then it came slower.  These were better than the 1st set.

9 rep set - DL's fine.  HSPU's - Did a set of 5, then 4 - these were all good.

I think on the first couple I wasn't setting my hands correctly - because the last set of 9, where I was doing the full rom, felt alot better than the post first 5 or 6 in the first two rounds.  I'm almost positive that played into it...but I could be wrong.   Completed this is 13:27?? 13 minutes, again, not sure about the seconds, but it was a good 4 minutes longer than last time.   I would say on average, overall - I would rate myself at about 90% range of motion. Some were 100%, some, not so much.

Overall - a good week.

Dips and "The Chief"

Sumo Deadlift High Pulls 65#/Ring Dips  10 reps of each for 7 rounds.  Hmmm...I can't remember how I did on this one.  I want to say 14 minutes and some odd seconds, but I'm just not certain.  I know the high pulls were cake walk, probably took a total of about 3 minutes. The vast majority of time was spent on the dips.  I did them on the bar, the first 30 in the red band,  the last 40 blue band assisted.  My shoulders were not diggin' on these, while doing them.  But they got over it.  Not my best time - I know it increased by a couple minutes, but the band assist is a bit  more difficult than the box assisted. There is no pushing up with your legs on it, and you have to go ALL the way.

Yesterday was "The Chief".  3-95# power cleans, 6 push ups, 9 squats.  AMRAP 3 minutes, 1 minute rest, for 5 rounds.  I have to say, this one is really high up on my list of favorites.  Why? you may ask, it includes the dreaded cleans!!  I think I really like the 3 on 1 off thing.  For the first time that I can really remember, I was able to "keep the intensity" throughout the entire workout.  First round, I got in 3 complete rounds.  Last round, I got in 3 complete rounds.   By the end, I usually fade away, so I feel like I totally kicked this one. Whether or not it's true, I don't know, but I'm quite happy with total of 15, especially for the first time ever doing it. It was definitely an ass kicker, but a really good ass kicker.  I don't think I've been quite as happy with my performance after a workout in a while, darn tootin' close to proud, I think.  So, YAY! Good one Patty!

A whole lotta ,,"eh"

Push/Pull - 3/3/3 Bench Press, Deadlift

Well, these are 2 of the main lifts in a Powerlifting competition. It seems that my fate is sealed, and barring some freak accident, I am pretty much going to be doing this thing in August. YIKES, JINKIES and all of that crap!

So, this woulda/shoulda and coulda been a good thing.  However, I believe that all the running I've done in the last week or so has completely thrown off my lifts.  I took a gander at my previous weights for this workout, quite honestly, was a bit intimidated.  Holy crap!  

Did I match what I did previously??  Hell no.

On the BP - last time we did 3's I did 145/145x2/145x2  This time, I wasn't really feeling it. Some was Cindy repercussions, yes, I was a bit sore, but really, that's just an excuse, and shouldn't have affected things that badly.  I ended up doing 135/145/155x1.   I guess the good thing is that I repeated my 155, which was my 1 rep PR.  So, I'm actually ok with the bench.

Deadlifts on the other hand. Not so good!  I can't remember exactly what I did previously, but I know I got in 3 reps at 270.  This time, 255 about made me crap myself.  I swear my face turned a bright purple shade of red, and blew up like a balloon. (in other words, I was one sexy beast trying to hoist that baby up!)   I did it, but it wasn't exactly pretty, and it was darn tootin' hard.  Next set, I went up 10 lbs to 265.  I got 1.  One really hideously, ugly one.  Tried to get another and another...but they were off.  I would get it off the floor hit a point, started to feel my back rounding, and knew the only way I could go any further was pure back hoisting, so to some extent,  I admit, I did give up on 'em. I could feel all sense of form going to hell, and  that wasn't gonna get me anywhere.   3rd set, I went back down to 255. Got 'em, but it wasn't pretty.

Floor to Overhead anyhow - 5000 lbs  

This is an interesting one because there are different ways you can do it - high reps at lower weight, or fewer reps at a high weight.   I was kind of torn on what to do with it.  The lower weights, I can get through faster.  However, I have a theory in my head, (I always have one theory or another going on, and I believe they are correct, until proven wrong!) this latest theory, is that if I work heavier weights on most everything - especially the things I've become too comfortable with, then in theory, that should help strengthen my other lifts (AKA DL, BP, perhaps cleans, etc).

Also, my cleans and snatches at low weights are ok - not fabulous, but once they hit about 80 or 85 lbs - they need work.  So, while this one was supposed to be for time, and I did work the time element - I also wanted to work on the lifts at heavier weights.  I ended doing 59 reps at 85#.   I did 3 sets of 10 snatches, and 3 sets of 10 (ok 1 set of 9), clean and jerk/press alternating.   My final time was 12:55.  Not overly spectacular timewise, but I did the higher weights for a reason, and only time will tell if this theory pans out. 

H-Ellen - 200 m run, 21 kettlebell swings 16kg, 12 pullups.  5 rounds.

This was my answer to Helen??   I hate running, and apparently am not so good at math. I wanted something without so much running. My answer, many months ago - H-Ellen.  Uh huh.  In reality, it's only 200m less, and it's a heck of alot more KB swings and pullups.  Not so smart am I?

I added time, but last time I did this I was in the big blues, on the low bar doing jumping pullups today, red band kippers.  Big ass difference.  Actually, I was quite happy, although ahead of me by quite a bit, at least for the 1st two rounds I was able to keep Joe G in my sights!  ....and Joe G is a machine!

Round 2, I made the mistake of wiping the sweat from my brow with my hand. Not a good thing to do when your working on your pullups.  Grip was lost. So I threw on some chalk and continued.  For some reason I decided chalk was a good thing.  It's really not. By the end, I had torn the crap out of my left hand.  Ah well, I guess that's the price we pay.

I did do all the KB swings nonstop. YAY!  The run ...SLOW like a turtle.  The pullups - "eh"

Final time was 19:20.  Majority of time spent on the run and pullups.  Shocking, I know.  

Overall - this week - performance wise - very mediocre.  fair to middlin'...."eh"  nothing to write home about.  Ah well, there's always next week.

Playing in the Park with Cindy

We finally have a nice weekend so rather than working out indoors, it was a "play in the park day!"   Sounds fun - but it did entail alot of running.  Now, thinking about it - of course it entailed alot of running - what else do you do in a park that is nothing but a bunch of grass??   We brought every last "ball" from the gym - the slamballs, the wallballs, the medicine balls, even the bitsy balls! Along with a few Kettlebells.  We played the run and toss the 14# ball overhead - better catch it or your whole team does burpees!! Yes, there was definitely a certain grade school gym quality to the whole thing, that made it fun, charming, endearing...yet a tad bit horrible.  Strange combination, I know - but I've never been much of an athlete!   We also played - "Clean your house".  2 teams - lined against each other, a bit like dodgeball, only the point was to get all of the balls on the other teams side - not to hit each other.  So there were balls flying everything from a 2 pounder to 25 pounders.  I believe I am the only one who got nailed.  Shocking, I know!

While it may have brought back some tiny flashes of childhood gym horrors, it was actually fun. (I'm totally exaggerating the gym horrors - I actually liked my grade school gym teacher - Mr. LeMieux! )

Today was Cindy - although it hasn't been that long, it seems like it's been a while since we've done Cindy.  (5 pullups/10 pushups/15 squats - AMRAP 20 minutes).

This was a bit more focused on form and full range of motion.  So pullups high, pushups low, and squats - hip below knees.  I actually didn't get any corrections tonight - so I must have done better.......

I was in the red bands and did kipping pullups.  Tricia and I were totally on pace with each other - in fact we both ended up finishing 9 rounds, and 3 pullups.  EXACTLY!   I have to say though, I am super-uber jealous of Tricia - she has some downright pretty pullups and it's all muscle!  So, while we were on pace, if this were a competition, if ya ask me, she'd get the prize for the quality of her pullups.   

I'm beginning to think I'll never get these things - stupid pullups.