Born to Run

That does not describe me or how I am built.  It is the book that I am currently reading.  It talks about finding the joy in running.  As I was reading it today, I came across a quote in the book that made me think of Crossfit.  The quote was describing a young breed of ultra runners and how they loved to push their bodies.  It was from William James:  "Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."

This quote describes a lot of my Crossfit workouts, and why I enjoy doing them in a group.  Working out by yourself is fine for some people, but I prefer to be in a group.  The reason is summed up in that quote.  When I am fatigued and feel like I have nothing left, there is someone telling me 1 more rep, just pick up the bar.  If I was working out on my own, I would stop.  I would never think that I could do more or really know what I was capable of.  Having a group there to help push me past anything I ever thought possible for me is why I enjoy the group workouts.

And if you haven't read the book Born to Run, I recommend it.

Lesson Learned

A big lesson I learned at the certification was to play around with your programming.  Some will be good, some will suck.  The key is to experiment and see what works and what doesn't.  My plan for today's workout was to do a Tabata style workout with deadlifts, push press, and front squat.  All I have at home is 115 lbs., so that is what I will use.  For those that don't know, Tabata workouts are 8 rounds of 20 sec. of work/10 sec. of rest.  There are 2 ways to keep track, you can count your lowest rep during the 8 sets, or you can total all of the reps.  I decided to use the lowest rep.  

There were 2 lessons learned today.  1. 115 lbs is too heavy for tabata push press and front squat for me right now.  Most importantly lesson 2.  Move your head out of the way before you push the bar up over your head.  Now I know that there are people that have cut their chin doing this.  Fortunately, I was lucky enough to just graze my chin, but hit it hard enough to not make that mistake again.  

Today's programming I don't consider a failure, but it definitely was not my best effort.  Next time I pair these exercises, I can just use a lighter weight, maybe 95 lbs.  For me, I enjoy the programming aspect of Crossfit, learn from your mistakes and make changes as needed.  The possibilities are endless.