As the Chalk Dust Settles

As the chalk dust settles, I am lying on the ground gasping for air.  That is how pretty much all my workouts end it seems.  Like many crossfitters, I use chalk to help with gripping the bar instead of hand wraps or gloves.  It really helps considering that during the workouts I am dropping pools of sweat.  The chalk helps to keep my hands dry and keep my grip on the bar.  And it helps to keep my hands from ripping.

Today's workout was no different.  3 sets of 3 reps for DL and then on to the wod.  I was able to do 315-365-385.  Not great by any means.  The workout was 21-15-9 reps of Power Cleans, Burpees, Power Snatch.  The rx'd weight was 95lbs, not bad.  I didn't have an issue with the cleans or snatches, but when you add burpees in the mix it absolutely kills me.  Today's workout should take me less than 15 min.  I did it in 22:23.  Terrible!  It's the burpees in the middle that get me every time.  As I finished, the chalk dust settled around me, like a chalk dust outline.

Expose Your Weakness

That is the great thing with Crossfit.  With it being constantly varied, there will come a time when you find a big weakness.  Then, it will get exposed for the entire workout.  Today was that day for me.  It was finding a Snatch 1 rep max in 10 min.  I have done power snatches, but I haven't really done full squat snatches.  Today that all changed.  I was able to get up to 135 lbs.  I failed twice at 145 because my balance was off.  Before I knew it the 10 min. was up and I hit a disappointing 135 max.  Take a 5 min rest then the wod was 15 min AMRAP with 70% of your snatch max, 105 lbs.  The main focus was to concentrate on form and making sure I get a deep full squat.  20 reps is where I ended up at, but my form and squat depth were kept in tact, which is what I was really going for.  Form is more important for me with movements that I am not used to or good at.  The weight will come.  Today I had a big weakness of mine exposed.  The only thing to do now is to practice it to make it a strength so that I can move on to the next weakness.  And believe me, I have plenty of them.

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.