Tuesday, March 31, 2009

31 Mar 09 - Dead Leg Runs

Four rounds for time of:

15 Deadlifts (225M/155F)
400m Run

27:43 165#


Oye! I thought my DL form was way more dialed in that it apparently was. I'm really struggling with keeping my shins vertical and maintaining proper back angle and tension. Also on the downward part of the movement I keep forgetting to push the hips back first which is resulting in banged up knees.

My back was really struggling with the measly 165#, ah well.... at least HBS and Cherie were doing great so it meant that Amber could have more time to correct me.

Monday, March 30, 2009

30 Mar 09 - Body Weight Fundamentals

Complete all 5 rounds for time of:

Pull-up/push-up/ squats
• 25-15-5
• 20-15-10
• 15-15-15
• 10-15-20
• 5-15-25

28:12 Rx'd

75 Freakin' kips!!!! I am really excited I pulled this off. Sure my time was slow, and my pushups were too saggy, but I hit my goal of 5 linked kips 1 week ahead of time, did 60 more pull-ups, and did other work on top of it.

I think I've hit on a new trick for my air squats too. My biggest form break down on my squat are my knees tendency to cave or wobble in and out while I run through the ROM. My new trick is to squat with hands together and elbow out setting a width gauge for my knees. That helps me have a tactile correction on each rep if I'm caving and also helps me focus on where my knees are at various points in the ROM.


I also just realized that very soon I will be able to make a serious go at Fran (the holy grail benchmark WOD, even if it is over-hyped a bit). I think once I can link 10, Fran will start to be a truely valid benchmark for my capacity.

Friday, March 27, 2009

27 Mar 09 - Karen

150 Wall Ball Shots



13:55

Man wall balls kick my ass every time. Particularly in large volumes. My form was ok for the first 50 or so, but after that, I had wobbly knees all over the place...

Freakin Karen :(

Thursday, March 26, 2009

26 Mar 09 - Push and Burp

21-15-9

Push Press (M:95, F: 55)
Push Jerk (M: 95, F: 55)
Burpees


14:42 (65#)


This one whooped me. Which is a bit sad considering how much I had to drop down from the RX'd weight. Ah well, this frustration will turn to progress someday (I hope).

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

24 Mar 09 - Clean and Jerk Revisited

3-3-2-2-1-1-1

Clean must be full squat clean.



65/85/95/105/115/125-PR


The small group meant that I could really shape up my form. 125 is a new PR for both the clean and the jerk, but only by 5 lbs on the clean.

Monday, March 23, 2009

23 Mar 09 - Overhead Squats

3-3-3-3-3


45/65/75F/75/85


I feel ok with this, of course those numbers are too small but thats just where I'm at right now.

It was really great to have He-Man Stew there to help motivate as well as watch and correct my form.

Friday, March 20, 2009

20 Mar 09 - Ball Slamming Burpee TapouT

Boys get 20lb Slamball, girls get 15lb Slamball.

1 Slamball, 1 Burpee the pass the ball until everyone goes
2 Slamball, 2 Burpees
3 Slamball, 3 Burpees
.
.
.
You will go until there is one person left. This WOD is all about mental toughness and the willingness to force yourself not to quit.



I was knocked out in the 13th round by the guy that got 2nd place. His burpees were lightning fast and it was all I could do to hold him off for as long as I did. I could have done more slams and burpees, but I couldn't do the burpees fast enough to stay in

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

18 Mar 09 - Tabata Something Else


Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest where the first 8 intervals are pull-ups, the second 8 are push-ups, the third 8 intervals are sit-ups, and finally, the last 8 intervals are squats. There is no rest between exercises.

Post total reps from all 32 intervals to comments.


210


I am happy to announce that I pulled off 3 linked kips in the first of 8 pull up rounds!

I am pretty happy about what I was able to do today. I could have gotten a higher score but I only did straight RX-ed kips on my pull ups, so after round 3 it was zeros across the board. The other limiting factor was my push ups. With as much should strength that I've gained since starting CrossFit its amazing how weak I still am.
Stew did teach me about his close arm push ups as opposed to my scarecrow form. He explained they are more efficient because you can recruit more muscle groups. I'm going to use those when ever I can, although as I tired my elbows got wider and wider.

The picture is from a couple workouts back, but you can see Stew's form next to mine.

Monday, March 16, 2009

16 Mar 09 - Pre-Pady's Day Penance

5 rounds for time:

15 push jerk (M95/F55)
25 Double Unders


22:23 3X singles for DU/95# for first round, 75# for 2-5


It sucked dropping down weight from the RX, but the 95-ers were just way too ugly.
My singles seem to be getting much better, given the lack of yelling I've been receiving from Amber :)

....the push jerks are a whole other matter however.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

14 Mar 09 Ay Curumba Suckage en Sabado


5 rounds for time of:

Run 400 m
15 Front Squats

Loads are M95/F65


23:23

I came in last on this one, and should have been able to push more. It was really a mental battle (that I lost every time)to get past 10 squats unbroken.

Friday, March 13, 2009

13 Mar 09 - 5K

Run 5K



34:05

my first split was 16:45, so my second was 17:50

This was the first time I did this run completely unbroken. It wasn't a fast time, but it was 7 to 10 minuets faster than I was able to pull off 3 months ago, so thats saying something.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

11 Mar 09 - Cheese

5 rounds for time:

Run 400m
25 Burpees



32:33

It was rough, particularly with the form of my burpees being watched by several pairs of attentive eyes.... but thats why I keep going. Who wants to do something that is easy and requires little work?

Friday, March 6, 2009

Burpee Happy Hour

150 Burpees for time.

Incentive - Do 50 in a row with no rest and you are done. Break in the first 50, you do all 150. You put out, you get rewarded. If you can't get 50 in a row, take an extra 100 to practice.


14:18

Well I'm all conflicted about this one. So my plan all day was to go 100% for the first 50 (I was confident that I could get them all without stopping), and then take it down a few notches and finish out the rest for good measure.

Gabe says go... I am going as fast as I can....Gabe correcting some weak form (I wasn't getting my chest to the deck for a few, I was hitting my stomach and coming back up).

...and then I get to 50: 1:57 or something like that... thats a bit too fast not to be suspicious and Gabe absolutely doesn't believe it. Whatever Gabe says goes so it doesn't count but I really don't feel like I miscounted. I'm not saying I didn't, but it bothers me that I dont have that nagging feeling that "yeah I might have skipped the 40s" or something like that.

I just really dont want to be one of those guys that has a reputation for shorting reps.... I hope this incident doesn't put that in any of the trainers minds

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

4 Mar 09 - Clean and Thrust - WTF?

Technically this WOD is supposed to be Heavy Thrusters. But since we are cheapskates and do not have racks, you have to clean the load before you thrust it, hence:

"Clean and Thruster"

3-3-3-2-2-1-1



- 85,105,125(F on 3),105 (F on both),105,125


Heavy days are always so anti-climatic for me....

66% of body weight is terrible I suppose, but I didn't walk away stoked either.

At least I got that last 125.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Snowed Out

3 rounds for time of:

10 Burpees
20 Sit Ups
30 Squats
20 Sit Ups
10 Burpees

Rest exactly 3 minutes between each round.



14:39!!!!!!!!!

I am really proud of this time. My burpees were pretty floppy but I certainly had the intensity thing down.

I was really surprised how hard the sit-ups were.

Anyway I'm psyched, I even had a celebratory beer :)