Cindy with some squats and KB's

Thursday was a heavy lift day.  Front squats 3-3-3-3-3 for weight.

My squats have felt a bit off lately, so I just didn't know what to expect.  I actually ended up getting a PR.  Set 1, 115 - no problem.  Set 2, 135 - ok heavier, no doubt about that.  Set 3, 155 - now we are in the heavy zone - this is my max.  I got all 3, and it wasn't too-too awfully bad.  Set 4 - 165 - got the first one, got the second one...third- ended up with a sit down and drop.  So 2 @165.  Set 5 was back down to 155.  The very strange thing is that these did not feel as awkward as they normally do.  Overall, I'm happy with the 165 PR on these.  It seems like since I started going "low" on the squats, AKA breaking parallel, I've stagnated a bit on the weight.  So, getting a PR in any way shape or form is a good thing.

Friday - Cindy.  I like Cindy - as difficult and taxing as she can be.
Complete AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
- 5 pullups
- 10 pushups
- 15 squats

Because I was really concentrating on doing "kiss the floor" pushups, my rounds went down.  I got in 10 round, + pullups and 7 pushups.  Pullups were in red bands, high bar with 35# weight underneath.  I was slower this time, last time I got in 12 + rounds.  I was really working on doing "kiss the floor" pushups...which really did slow me down a tad.  I thought my pushups were pretty good- but nope, they needed to go lower, so I was really concentrating on that.  Imagine my consternation, when I was told "they're looking a lot better, but you're still not breaking parallel"  WHAT?  What's this breaking parallel thing?  Apparently your elbows need to be higher than your shoulders for a true full range of motion pushup.  Cripes! I'm screwed.  I tried one, had to basically have my entire torso hit the floor - once that happens, you just lay there, there's no pushing up - as in push up style.  Yes, you can push off the floor - but not until you've relaxed a bit.  OY!  I guess I still have to work on these, darn it all, these are one of the things that I thought I only really had to work on getting the numbers up - but alas no.  So - this was KTFPUNQGE (Kiss the Floor Pushups - Not Quite Good Enough!)

Today: 1-hand kettlebell swings:
10-ladder (up and down) for time and weight.

(this ends up being 100 swings per arm)   I used the 16 kg again, and only managed to knock off a measly second from my previous time.  I finished 8:28.  On something like this, I think my "undoing" is that I will stop when I feel my form deteriorating.  I got through the 9 up on the ladder before having to rest, but didn't think I could do the next 10 per arm without form going to complete hell.  So I stopped to rest for a moment.  Of course once you stop once, the momentum is gone and there are a couple more rests on the horizon.  Either way - I'm ok with the 8:28.  I'm not certain how fast it's really possible to do this one. Yes, I could probably knock off 2 minutes - but any more than that, I'm not certain - you can only swing that sucker so fast.  So, I think I still wrestle a bit with the whole, "when you know your form is failing, do you rest or keep going" thing.  On the plus side - at least now I know when my form is going to hell, and don't have to be told that it is.

Now - onto a pullup update:  Unfortunately, there is none.  I can feel the kipping pullup in me so close I can taste it, and that sweet taste of success is truly one that I need and want!  However, I just can't quite get it. UGH!  At least I'm closer........I hope I get one before Hawaii - all I'm gonna say!  Next Cindy I do, I want it "as prescribed"  - even if I only get in two rounds!!

3 days worth!!

Slacker!! Yes, I am a slacker!! As Yoda would say -" several days behind I am!"  Ok - now that really scares me: I'm channeling a Star Wars character - YIKES! What has happened to me???

Not only am I channeling little, ancient, green....ummm...muppets, but I also seem to be at a bit of a stagnant point when it comes to the heavy lifts.  To add to the strange happenings in the galaxy, while the heavy is just sitting there, the Met-Cons are kickin' it into high gear.

Here's the scoop - Monday, CrossFit Total - 2 attempts.   Let me just start out by saying - this completely threw me for a loop when it was posted.  Last time, I psyched myself up for a week.  This time, doing CFT after work...on a Monday to boot, with no mental preparation, I didn't know if I would surprise myself, or really be as weak as I felt.  Well, it wasn't really either one.

Back squat, 1 rep - 1st try - 235 - made it.  2nd attempt - 245 - miss.  Apparently I should have made this one, because despite me feeling like I was maybe at parallel, I was almost there.   I'm not sure what is going on with my squats, but they've felt off the last several times we've done them. I can't pinpoint exactly why.   Wait... now that I think about it, perhaps it's my cracklin' knees.....the noise throws me....hmmm.
Shoulder Press, 1 rep -  1st try - 110  - got it, and it felt pretty good!    2nd attempt -115 -not so good - I could barely move this sucker!
Deadlift, 1 rep -   1st try - 275 - got it.  2nd try - 300 - I was just trying to repeat my last score on this one, and it just didn't work out so well, in fact it was quite laughable.

So - while I didn't break any records, I at least managed to hit the same levels as last time on the Squat and Shoulder Press.  The good news - I'm still in the 3X  score. YAY!!

Tuesday - Crossfit Stations #2 - 3 rounds
- Wallball 16 #
- Pullups  - minis - low bar
- Slamball 16 #
- Situps
- Box jumps 16"

I did pretty good on this.  I think it was a pretty comparable average score to last time, but I was in minis rather than the red bands.  Overall score was 266  - I believe I hit 94, 88, 84.  It averaged to about 88 per round.  So - happy with that!

Tonight:  200 meter run x 8 rounds   2 minute rest between rounds

Lovely.  Running.   I told myself all day that 200 meters was nothing - it was just a hair longer than the sprints we did over the summer.    Hello  - Reality check to Ellen!! Not even close!  Criminy towards the end, it took everything I had not to walk.......but I didn't.  I ended up, ending with a high of 59 seconds, low of 53.   So, overall pretty happy.  

Of course thinking about it, I was running full tilt, putting every ounce of energy into every step.  If you were to add it all up, and by some incredible miracle I was able to tie all 8 rounds  together at the same speed - it would be about  an 8 minute mile.  Not terrible, but for the amount of energy I put into it, kind of sad, and completely unrealistic for me!  Have I mentioned before that running kills me??

Enough on the thighs already!!

As if 150 jumping squats Thursday weren't bad enough, yesterday was "Tabata Something else".

I don't really  get muscle soreness very often - so when I do, I am usually pretty darn sore.  I can always rely on the jumping squats workout to leave me a bit hobbled for the next couple days.  However, I have learned that taking the next day off just makes it worse.  By Friday afternoon, the soreness had set in, but it was not nearly to the extreme that it was last time we did this one. (last time it felt as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to my quads, this time, it was mere crowbar).  So, I was pretty optimistic that Tabata Something else would work 'em though.

Tabata Something Else: Pullup, Pushup, Situp, Squat - done in Tabata intervals.

Tabata intervals are another one of those innocent sounding things.  20 seconds work, 10 second rest - for 8 rounds - then onto the next exercise - no rest in between.  Really, doesn't sound horrible, it's only 20 seconds after all.  Don't be fooled. Rounds 1-4 are all fine and dandy - but when you get to the last couple rounds, those 20 seconds are forever.

I started with Squats - after the first painful 5 or so, my thighs went numb until the end.  I ended up getting in 102 squats. Which, ain't too bad considering!

Pullups - jumping/minis on the low bar.  I'm slower at these because I do really try to get as much hold/pull time as I can.  I got in 40.

Pushups - First set I cranked out 10.  Then came the voice.....That's right - the big bad voice that you must obey when at the gym - Jonathan.  I, as proud as I am of my pushup, have apparently spent my time cheating.  I needed to do full range of motion - in other words, basically kiss the floor.  That 2 inches makes a HUGE difference!  I ended up only getting anywhere from 3-5 in per round after that.  Final pushup score was 39 - this is odd - I've never done less pushups than pullups!!

Situps - I ended up doing 84 I  believe.  

Final score: 265.

Ironically, the 3 times I've done this one, my score has remained basically the same. 263 the first time and 265 the next two times. Modifications - very different.

This morning, as I got out of bed and tried valiantly to walk to the kitchen for my morning cup o' coffee, I realized if we were doing anything squat related I was gonna be in deep doo-doo.   250 squats in 2 days, 150 of them jumping - had my thighs screaming at me in a big bad rage.

I look - hmmmm...Turkish Getups for weight - ok - not so bad.  Read on - 3 sets of 30 of them.  Ok - not so good.  That's 90 TGU's.   90 -Nine - zero.  Darn tootin' close to 100.  Ok - no worries....it's not squats, although that "lunge" part where it's all legs getting up - may hurt a bit......

Oh, and I forgot to mention the kicker - like doing the bear, you are not allowed to set the weight down to rest.  We started these with a low weight, because we were about to do a plethora of them.  I used the 8kg kettlebell for sets 1 and 2.  It wasn't too bad - although holding your arms up that long, you do feel the burn.   Set one I did 10 each arm then the last 5.

Set 2, I broke it into 3 sets of 5 per arm.

Last set, I decided to try the 12kg - knowing I was getting tired of holding that darn-tootin' KB up for so long, I broke these into sets of 3.

I don't think I did too bad.  Probably could have gone a bit heavier - or done the 12kg for more sets, but first time doing this, I just didn't know.  Next time, I want at least one set with the 16kg.  As I suspected, the up part of the TGU did start inflicting it's torture on my thighs.  Now - I'm hoping that with tomorrow off, and plenty of rest, I'll be able to walk like a normal person again, and not do the gimpy, hobble dance that I've been doing!

Cleaning my monster.....with some strange night thoughts

Cleans are a complete boondoggle for me.  Yesterday was supposed to be Cleans - 7x1 for weight.  Well, I didn't quite do that.  I did sets of 3 and worked on form.  I have a bit of a blind spot on these, and can't get the hip action before the arm lift quite right, and then the flipping under of the arms kind of throws me.  So I just did 7 sets of 3 -85/75/75/75/85/85/85.  They still need work.  That's all I can say about them.  My brain gets too involved trying to figure them out. I really do think doing them "Randy" style may help - less time to think.

Today was the monster of my creation - 50/40/30/20/10 - jumping squats/push press 35#. 

This one sounds deceptively simple, and innocuous, but don't be fooled - this one is a brutal, pain-inflicting ass-kicker!!  Your legs will ache for days afterwards.  Last time I completed this in 19:28, today - 16:45 - almost 3 minutes quicker!

I'm still a bit perplexed by the sudden improvements, in fact, it's kind of throwing me for a loop because it came out of nowhere. Not that I'm gonna fight it mind you,....

So, I've been asked by a couple people this week, if I'm going to compete in the upcoming powerlifting competition, and the first time I was asked, it took me by complete surprise because I had forgotten completely about the competition.  I still don't think I'm really ready, I don't think I've made any great strides in this area - a pound here, a pound there, but nothing fantastic.  So - I'm just not certain about it.  Ironically, Jonathan suggested the CF gymnastics cert to Patty and I last week, and that has me a bit intrigued and curious....

I don't know what I would ever do with it, and it's a lot of money, but I think I'm more inclined to do something like that than a powerlifting meet.  I don't know -but the last couple nights have been rather sleepless, and these are the thoughts that pop into my head when trying to stay away from stressful work thoughts.  Who knows.  It's really quite bizarre that I would even contemplate these things.

Kelly and the Evil Monkey

We had some new fun this week.  Yesterday was our first experience with "Kelly".  Kelly is a feisty one.

Kelly: 400 meter run/30 box jumps 16" box/30 wall ball shots 16# ball...that's all fine and dandy, until  you hear the topper - 5 rounds!  Of course we had a 30 minute cutoff time, so getting in 5 rounds, for me, AKA Speedy Gonzalez, was going to be a miracle.

Round 1 - actually wasn't too bad - I think I went pretty fast, "pretty" being a relative term. Round 2 - slower, but ok.

Round 3 - much slower, and during the wall balls my back muscles did their tighten up and cramp thing.

Round 4 - well, I did the run, although I ended up walking most of it, because my back muscles wouldn't relax.  Then got to the box jumps, partway through them, time was called.  So, I didn't finish round 4.  End result 3 rounds plus the run/box jumps - time was 31:24.  It was 31 - not positive about the 24 though.  I was surprisingly ok with not finishing the 5 rounds - I was even ok with not completing the 4th.  That in and of itself is kind of peculiar.

Today - Death by Pullup.  I did actually do alot better this time. Last time, I was in the red bands, did 9 +9 first round and 10 + 7 second round for a total of 116.  This time, I hit 12 +9 first round and 10+9 second round for a total of 151.  Big difference this time I was on low bar, but in minis (woo-hoo!).  Pullups are still jumping - someday I'll be able to drop the jump, hey, someday I may even be able to do an ACTUAL pullup.....I must believe it, or it will never happen.

So here's something peculiar - kind of took me by surprise today. I've been on thyroid meds, longer than I've been off them, actually, a thought that kind of freaks me out - I've been on them more than 25 years.  YIKES! How did I get that old?  I've gone through prescription changes on and off.  For some reason, when I got my blood tested this time, I was thinking there wouldn't be a change, possibly a decrease, but unlikely, I've been on the level for a couple years now.   I've been working out, eating right, so nothing really should have changed.  I was really surprised when I was told they had to increase my doseage.  I guess it's good, because at least there's a reason that weight isn't melting off of me (HA! like it ever has...but still, it's a rationalization).  Overall, it just puzzles me, because you would think the working out, eating right etc, would have a positive effect on my system, and to find out that it doesn't.  It's a bit like my body is saying:

 "SCREW YOU!! HAHA! I'm gonna do what I have to, to stay where I want to be!!" 

 .....kind of weird, I know. Even stranger: now my body has taken on a persona separate from my brain...hmm.   Anyway, I just found it interesting, a bit perplexing, and yet funny in a warped kind of way.   It is as if my brain is working, and trying and my body has turned into the evil monkey that won't go away.

What a week!!

The last couple of days have been fun. 

Yesterday, Bench Press - 5/4/3/2/1 

I've been stuck in the 140-145 max range for, well, I think it was July or so.  I got 150 once during that time, never to be repeated.  This time, I asked where to start, and we did the same as last time, with the plan to go up 10 lbs each round.   So, I started at 115 for 5, then 125 for 4, 135 for 3, 145 for two - whoops, failed on the 2nd one.  Then 155 for 1.  This was the big one, but I tried really hard to keep the amounts out of my head.  My head always gets in the way.  I brought the bar down, then up, not quite half way, and my right arm just decided to quit. This was one time, I knew I had it.  I was so close, an inch further and it would have been past the sticking point.  We had extra time, so I tried again, and holy cheeseburger!! I got it.   It wasn't necessarily the most beautiful lift, but I got that sucker locked out.  YAY! New PR!

Today was Randy - 75 snatches for time 55#.  Last time we did this I was a bit more than 10 minutes.  This time, the snatches didn't feel bad at all.  The hard part was the cardio aspect, how to  keeping enough oxygen in my lungs so I wouldn't pass out.  I finished this in 8:09.  Damn! That's another PR.  2:00 off my last time!  Have I mentioned that I like snatches a heck of alot more than those freaky cleans?

It's a full moon week, Friday the 13th was yesterday, and a really strange thing is happening.  After a long time of what appears to be little to no improvements in my workouts, I'm suddenly doing really good - getting PR's,  taking big chunks of time off, doing things that I've never done before.  I've been talking to Cheri R, and I told her that right now, she is in a really fun phase, because she can now see where she was and how far she has come.   In the first couple months, the improvements are vast, and apparent.  Then you hit the point where improvements are hidden.  Times don't increase, in fact, sometimes they decrease, the heavy lifting part is stuck in a rut, and won't move.   I feel like I've kind of been in this phase since about July or so.  For a while it was really bothering me, I just couldn't see any improvements at all.  This is when Jonathan's words of "t make sure you mark down exactly what you are doing" kind of set in.  At that point, I started noting, or trying to note, exactly what I was doing.  I had to be brutally honest about it with myself, and I did try to note the range of motion, etc.  This was the only way I had to see if I was doing any better at all, searching for those little improvements that are there, but so very difficult to see.  It's frustrating to be stuck, that's when it's great to have the comeradery of others to keep you doing what you're doing, trying to do better and not left "wallowing in mediocrity" like I usually do.

I must say it certainly is gratifying when that invisible wall is broken down and suddenly you've broken through to the next layer of "fun".    The last week, or so has been crazy, but probably one of the most gratifying weeks I've had.   In retrospect:

Annie - took 8 minutes off

Fran - took 2 minutes off

Fight Gone Bad - added about 5 points (better, but not by leaps and bounds!)

Squats - yeah - these weren't so good.

Did my first Pull to Inverted Hang, granted it was jumping, but I was upside down.

Bench Press - new PR 155

Randy - took 2 minutes off  

So - of the last 7 workouts, 5 of them had huge improvements.  I can't really ask for a better week, I hope these things continue this way!!

Now...if I can only get that dastardly pullup!

Diane update and THE COOLEST THING EVER!!!

Diane 21/15/9 - Deadlift 155#, Handstand pushups. Handstand pushups were done with hooked feet.   Last time I did these in 9:04, with what I estimate as as 1/2 ROM.  This time 9:03, with about 5  decent ones...then the range of motion dissipated into nothingness.  Next time, I'm working the range of motion on these and the time will have to suffer a bit.

Now - the coolest thing ever!!

Tonight, we did "Pull to Inverted Hang"  max reps in a 1 minute for 10 minutes (2 minute rest in between).  Last time we did these, I ended up doing the wacky wall walkers.  This time, as we were talking about it, I'm not sure what got into me, but I not only got my first one, but then proceeded to do 40 more!!   To say I was excited about this, would be a gross understatement.  I morphed into a strange combination of myself and Nadia Comenici.  

Out of nowhere came this fantastic prowess.....like a cat, I jumped, curled then unfurled my legs as I was upside down. I couldn't see it myself, but I can only imagine it was MAGNIFICENT!

Okay, shocking as it may be, that may be a bit of an exaggeration!!  But it was fantastic, and completely out of nowhere.  I ended up doing something like 5/4/4/5/4/4/4/3/3/3.

Not a plethora of them, and in reality, they had to go on the board in blue, because I didn't just power myself up, I did have to jump - BUT...I can hang upside down on the rings now.

Yep...I'm cool!