Wall Balls Galore

I decided to take an hour off work early today so that I could workout at the gym.  I normally get off at 7 am and the last class at the gym is 630.  So I got to the gym about 545 this morning.  Today's workout, 150 wall balls with a 20 lb. medicine ball.  For those that don't know what a wall ball is, it is when you take a medicine ball, squat down until your butt goes below parallel to the floor, then stand up and throw the medicine ball 10 ft. in the air off of the wall.  And today's workout called for 150 of them for time.  It may not sound that bad, you think it's only 20 lbs.  After awhile, it gets really heavy.  About halfway through my shoulders were burning.  15:36 and I was done.  Rest 3 min. then 150 sit ups.

The sit ups took a little longer because my abs are still fairly weak, but they are getting better.  Overall, I am glad that I decided to take the hour off to make it to the gym instead of working out on my own.  It is much better to suffer in a group then by yourself.

Working Out on a Full Stomach

I feel like I ate too much food today.  It wasn't that I ate bad, but I felt too full when I went to workout.  Breakfast I had 6 egg whites, 2 slices of Ezekial toast with almond butter.  Before I left for work I had 1 cup of cottage cheese and blueberries.  Dinner was a tuna steak salad.  I had a protein bar a few hours later, then I had some whole wheat, gluten free pasta with lean beef and sauce.  The only bad thing that I ate was a piece of chocolate cookie cake that was at work.

I didn't eat anything about 2 hours before I went in to the gym to workout.  Today's workout I took from my buddie's gym, Crossfit Militia.  It was 4 rds. of 500 m row and 10 thrusters w/95 lbs.  Total time was 14:50.  Not too bad.  The only thing that was bothering me during the workout was that I felt like crap.  I felt that I just ate too much food.  It is all about trial and error.  I am glad that I worked out, just tomorrow I won't eat as much food.

Suck It Up Sally

Last night I got off work around midnight.  I had about 2 hrs. of sleep and then worked side jobs from 3-midnight.  It would have been easy to just say screw it and not work out.  I could have justified to myself that rest was more important.  But I know what would happened, I would have skipped yesterday and then probably not worked out today because I have to work again.  So, I told myself to suck it up and just work out.

Today's WOD:
Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3-3-3
run 200 m after each set and rest 2 min.

I had a disappointing workout.  Not in the aspect of pushing myself, but with the weight.  I was hoping to get around 385-400 lbs for my last set of 3...not even close.  I did 335 for my top set of 3 reps.  I am glad that I worked out last night.  Thu. is a rest day for me.  Back to the gym tomorrow.

It Hurts Like Hell

I ripped my hand open today during the WOD.  If you have never ripped open your hand working out, let me tell you that it hurts like hell.  Most tears usually occur from doing a lot of pull ups.  That's what happened today.  Here's the workout:
15 rounds of Cindy:
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 air squats

This workout is usually done in a 20 min. AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible).  I usually get 10 in that amount of time.  I figured today's workout would take me around 30 min.  About 5 rounds into the workout, my right hand ripped open.  It hurts like hell, especially when you sweat.  There is only really one option when that happens.  Suck it up and keep going! I managed to make it through all 15 rds. in 36:26, and I did it rx'd, which means I completed all the reps without any assistance.  I was absolutely smoked from the workout.  Cooldown was a 1 mile run.

Try to be Better Than You Were Yesterday

Today's workout I had the dreaded DNF.  Does it suck?  HELL YEAH it does.  But, it beats passing out.  If anyone has pushed their limits to where they get light headed when they work out, then you know what I am talking about.  I think it was a combination of pushing myself and maybe not eating enough for breakfast.  Today's breakfast I had a protein shake and 2 pieces of Ezekial toast (it's an organic bread) with almond butter.

Here was today's WOD: 30-25-20-15-10-5 pull ups
                                        10-20-30-40-50-60 jumping squats
                                        25 min. and some change, DNF during the 50 jumping squats

Jumping squats suck, especially that many.  And to top it off, my legs still hurt pretty bad from Weds., so they especially sucked.  My legs felt like lead today.  As for the pull ups, I did the first set pretty much rx'd, but then I switched to jumping pull ups for the rest.  When I got to 40 jumping squats, I started to get a little light headed when I would rest.  I made it through those and went on to the next round.  I was still getting light headed during the 50 squats, so I decided that it was in my best interest to stop.  So, I didn't finish the workout, but I know that I pushed myself to my limits today.  I'm ok with that.  DNF sucks, but there is always tomorrow.  That's the main thing, try to be a little better each day.

Sometimes You Need to Listen

After doing the Turkish Get Ups and OH walking lunges, me legs have been killing me.  My body is sore from pushing it the last 2 days.  Today when I got off work, I was going to do a quick workout before I had to go to court.  I had about 30 min. for a warm up and WOD.  As I began warming up, my body was aching.  My legs were sore, to the point where I could feel the lactic acid build up in my legs with each step.  It was that soreness you get when you haven't worked out a part of your body for awhile.  The rest of my body was pretty fatigued and sore too.  Combine that with the 12 + hour day I had at work, and I was a  hurting man.  I decided to listen to my body and take today off and work on a few movements.

I decided that I would practice my snatch today.  So I put 65 lbs. on the bar and did a few sets, practicing my form and explosiveness.  After that, I decided to continue my work on hand stand pushups.  I was able to do a few 5 second holds in the hand stand position today.  This was an improvement from last time.  The thing that I learned today was you can't always keep going and going.  You can have a set schedule for your workouts and stick to it, but sometimes you need to listen to your body instead.  And today, that is what I did.

Group suffering is so much better

The great thing about Crossfit is that you can do it on your own.  The workouts are posted online, I know how to do the exercises, and I have a free gym at my work.  But something was still missing.  It was the competitive aspect of it all.  I don't have a problem pushing myself to do the workouts.  The problem is when you do it by yourself, you may rest a little longer or not push yourself quite as hard.  That is the best part about going to a Crossfit gym, the atmosphere and community.

Today I went and joined a great gym today, Crossfit Cleveland.  It is in Lakewood and right down the street from work for me.  They have classes that I can attend pretty much every day.  Today reminded me why I get so much more from working out with a group then by myself.  I can't make any excuses.  The other people in the class cheer you on, making you want to give it just that little bit extra that you wouldn't if you were training by yourself.  There is something about suffering in a group that doesn't make it suck so bad because there are other people going through the same thing with you.  And there is always someone there to make sure your form is correct, which is extremely important to prevent injury.  I also like that I don't have to think.  I just show up and whatever is on the board, I just have to do it.  I can't wait to see the results in 8 weeks, when I go for my certification.

Today's WOD:
3 turkish get ups (google it, plenty of videos on you tube) with 1 arm, then 3 push press, then 12 walking overhead lunges (holding the weight straight up over your head and doing walking lunges).  Then you switch arms and do the same thing all over.  Take a 1-2 min. rest between sets and repeat for 5 rds.

It was the first time for me doing turkish get ups, which are a great core exercise.  My rds. were 20 lbs, 15,15,20,25.  Then the cool down:
33 jumping squats
33 jumping ball slams
33 jumping squats