Adapt and Overcome

For the most part, I have everything I need between the gym at work and the gym I am a member at.  The only thing I really don't have is a 20 lb wall ball and a 24 inch box.  So when a work out calls for these, I have only one choice, adapt and overcome.  The wall ball that we have at work is 16 lbs and the box for jumping is 20 inches.  I could just do the recommended reps but with less weight, or do more reps.  I chose option 2.  For example, today's workout was 150 wall balls w/a 20 lb ball.  Since I have 16 lbs, to even out the weight, I needed to do 188 reps.  And when box jumps are in the wod, I just put a bumper weight on top of the box to make it about 24 inches.  The nice thing with Crossfit is that you can adjust things to make them work.  The important part is to make sure your form is not compromised and that the intensity is there, which I can do with those tweaks.  It is all about how you adapt and overcome.

Make up Day

There is not a Sat. workout posted for my buddy's gym, which is the one that I am following.  So I decided to make Saturdays a make up a missed wod day.  I didn't get a chance to do the workout from Thu.  Today was a great day to make it up.  And the workout was something I have never really done before, which made it a great wod for me.  It was a 15 min. AMRAP of 50 m farmers walk w/45lb plate in each hand, 5 burpees, 50 m overhead plate carry w/45lb plate, 50 m sprint, 50 m overhead plate carry w/45lb plate.  That is 1 round.  I was pretty disappointed with my performance.  4 rounds + 50 m farmers walk.  The overhead plate carry was harder than I thought because you have to keep your arms completely straight up over your head.

Because I was unhappy with my performance, I decided that an active cool down was in order.  We have a tractor tire at work that is probably around 300 lbs.  What better than a 10 min. cool down of tire flips.  So that is what I did.  10 min. I flipped the tire somewhere around 110 m or so.  This week has been a good week for me.  I didn't stray from my diet, and I worked out 4 days.  To top it all off, I even dropped 9 lbs.  I know a lot of that weight is water weight, but it's a start.

From the Way I See it Shooter...

We've only just begun.  That is what I had to tell myself after today's workout.  I didn't think that it would take me as long as it did, but I quickly realized that I was sadly mistaken.  It wasn't so much the cardio portion of the workout, but the muscle endurance.  The workout started with a strength wod, followed by a short rest then 4 rounds of 25 reps each of 135 lb. deadlift and push ups (hand release).  The hand release push ups are chest to the ground and you lift your hands up off the ground before pushing back up.

First part, strength wod.  5-5-5 shoulder press.  135 was good, but I failed at 140.  4 reps and 3 reps.  Discouraging, but it will only improve.  After a short rest, it was time for the DL/pushup wod.  I was hoping to finish in 15 min. or less and quickly realized that probably wouldn't happen.  First round wasn't too bad, but then muscle fatigue set in.  It just made me realize that I had lost a lot of strength.  I managed to finish the workout rx'd in 19:50.  While I am not anywhere near where I want to be, just changing my eating and working out has made me feel much better, which is a step in the right direction.

That's a Heavy Snatch

Today's workout consisted of Power Snatches and running.  I am not the most efficient at the snatch, which is an olympic lift, and today it called for using 135 lbs.  It was 5 rounds for time (RFT) of 5 power snatches w/135 lbs and a 400 m run.  My goal was to just finish it rx'd.  Just getting back into eating right and working out, I am not so much worried about my times as I am with doing the movements right and just finishing a workout.  My times will improve the more consistent I am with eating healthy and doing Crossfit.

The first round wasn't too bad, but I wasn't used to that much weight.  My form was not the prettiest for that round, but I made some adjustments and it got better.  Overall, the wod took me 25:13.  Not great, but at least I finished it rx'd.  My times will get better.  Making sure I am doing the movements correctly will only make me more efficient, which will lead to faster times.

And So It Begins

This morning after I got off of work, I began my slap bet challenge.  I am transitioning my diet into a paleo eating lifestyle.  The problem right now, I don't have the right foods at home.  So I had a seared tuna steak salad for dinner last night, but that was about it.  Without packing my lunch, I didn't have anything with me to eat, and I didn't want to hit the drive thru.  Today, breakfast was a little better.  I had 2 whole eggs, cut up chicken breast, asparagus, a hand full of walnuts, a few apple slices, half a grapefruit and a big glass of water.

What was the workout you ask?  It was 6 rounds of 250 m row and 15 push press w/115 lbs.  While the workout wasn't terrible cardio wise, it made me realize how weak I have gotten.  During the push press, I can't get all 15 reps at once because my shoulders fatigued.  I had to break the first 2 sets into 8 and 7 reps.  Then after that, 3 sets of 5.

This workout should take about 15 min. or so. It took me 22:42.  Not a great performance, but you have to start somewhere.  And the motivation not to get slapped is enough for me to keep moving forward.

It Starts with a Slap Bet!

So today I was talking to my friend Man-Baby.  That is a nickname bestowed on him back when I worked in Hollywood.  He is one of the owners of Crossfit Militia and he is a freak of nature.  We were talking about how I haven't really been giving this journey my full 100 %.  He said something that put it in perspective for me.  He told me to stop making excuses and start making sacrifices.  That got me to thinking.  What is the reason that I haven't given it my all?  Am I not worth it to myself?

It has been a year since I started this journey, and I am exactly at the same point I have always been.  I have lost and gained the same weight numerous times.  I needed some new motivation.  Why not make a bet that involves physical harm?  A slap bet seemed to be in order.  The bet we made is that I will follow the workouts everyday from crossfitmilitia.com., paleo diet and maybe some supplements.  If I am not in better shape when my wife and I go back to FL to visit, which is hopefully this summer, Man-Baby gets to slap me.  And for those that don't know Man-Baby, I have seen first hand how hard he hits.  I do not want to be on the receiving/losing end of this bet.  Maybe this is the extra push I need, a little Slap Bet.

Sunday=5k fun day

I have decided that Sundays are going to be referred to as 5k fun days.  This means either run or row a 5k.  Today I decided that I would row.  My original goal was to finish in under 25 min.  This meant that I needed to average under 2:30 for 500 m.  Shouldn't be too bad.  I ended up finishing in 22:02, just about 3 min. under my original goal.  I now have a baseline to judge for the future.  This should be my slowest time.  I am hoping that it only gets better.  Next Sunday will be a run.