Conditioning

Gave it another shot...

3 circuits:
2 minutes skipping
15 inverted rows off parallettes
15 kettlebell lateral swings per arm
2 minutes lateral jumps over small bench
15 dips off parallettes
20 ball squats (lifting ball to top of punch bag)
25 burpees

Conditioning

Very poor performance in my personal training session today, due to a throbbing headache caused by my sinuses. While I was training, I felt like my left eye was going to explode as the pressure built up in my nose had spread. The discomfort today might have been caused by the humid weather and/or a shitload of water entering my nose while swimming yesterday. I took a decongestant a couple of hours before my workout, but it had no effect whatsoever. Nothing I could do about it, but I'm always disappointed when I can't give 100%, especially in a PT session. That being said, it's been a long time since I've been unable to give it everything.

Circuits:
2 minutes skipping
15 inverted rows off parallettes
15 kettlebell lateral swings per arm
2 minutes lateral jumps over small bench
15 dips off parallettes
20 ball squats (lifting ball to top of punch bag)
25 burpees

I'm not sure how many sets Cosmo wanted me to do, but I was only able to finish two. The burpees were a bit of a challenge because I kept slipping in my own sweat!

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2 sets:
20 barbell twists @ 80lb
20 leg raises

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2 sets:
20 sit-ups/ball throws (straight sit-ups and alternate sides)

Conditioning

The next CrossFit Games champion?

A bit off plan today, but just wanted to try a couple of things I haven't done for a few months.

Cindy
Score = 15 rounds + 1 pull-up

I didn't use my usual "death by" strategy today, but simply went when I felt good to go. Perhaps this accounts for the low-ish score.

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30 power cleans @ 95lb

I didn't time myself and I went a bit lighter than I'm capable of, but I wanted to concentrate on good form and technique, not hitting a good score. I broke down the 30 reps into sets of five, and I think my form was perfect throughout. Because this was so light, it turned into a bit of a lung burner.

A good, quick session today.

Full body

Limited time today, so I did some shoulder strength work, followed by a fixed-time metcon.

Military press - 5, 5, 3, 3, 2
65, 75, 80, 85, 90 (1)

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Yesterday's main site wod.

"The Chief"
Max rounds in 3 minutes of:
115lb power cleans, 3 reps
6 push-ups
9 air squats
Rest 1 minute. Repeat for a total of 5 cycles.

Scores:
3 rounds + 5 squats
3 rounds + 3 cleans
3 rounds + 3 cleans
3 rounds + 2 cleans
3 rounds + 2 cleans

The RXed weight is 135lb, which is close to my max for cleans. I think 115lb was the right weight for this routine, which is 20lb heavier than the women's RXed weight, so my ego remains intact. Most reps were t&g, but with some of the later reps I needed to quickly reset. Sometimes when I do cleans I get doms in my biceps, which means I've been curling the bar and not using my shoulders enough. However, two hours later I'm already starting to feel sore in my traps. Hopefully, that means my technique was good. Here's the CrossFit demo video.

Full body / Cindy

I don't usually train on Sundays, just because I take rest day after my Saturday personal training sessions. However, because I trained with Paul on Friday, I rested yesterday and was itching to do something today. I started with power cleans, but I tried a different strategy to normal.

Power cleans, t&g
95 x 3
120 x 3
135 x 3
140 x 2
140 x 1

I wanted to try getting to the heavy stuff more quickly than usual. Last time I did power cleans, I went from 95lb to 115lb, then 125lb, 130lb, 135lb, finishing with 140lb. I thought that perhaps I might save my strength for the later sets by taking heavier jumps between sets, but it didn't work out that way. Oh, well - it was worth a try and it was only an experiment, so I'm not going to get too frustrated by the result.

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I felt like doing a girl WOD today, and - coincidentally - Cindy came up on the main site.

Cindy - amrap 20:
5 x pull-ups
10 x push-ups
15 x air squats
Score = 16 rounds + 3 pull-ups

The last time I did this was back in July, when I tried a "death by" type of strategy. For as long as I could manage, I would only start the pull-ups on the minute, and when I finished the last squat I would rest for the remainder of that minute. Today's score was identical to July's, which was a PR. However, back then I started my workout with Cindy, whereas this morning I started about three minutes after I'd completed the cleans. I didn't use the "death by" technique today, opting for just going when I felt ready. I rested with the slow breathing method I've been using for recent metcons, and I definitely felt comfortable with that. I know that kipping pull-ups are allowed with Cindy, but I started off by doing strict ones and only really resorted for a slight swinging motion about halfway through the routine. That meant I didn't get out of breath too quickly, which seems a bit smarter than attempting to sprint all the way through; that never works out well. 

I didn't improve on my previous score, but a big positive for me was that all of the rounds of pull-ups and air squats were unbroken, except for the last three pull-ups, which I knocked out as singles straight after completing round 16. It's a good thing I did, as I hadn't made a note of my PR, so I didn't realise until now that I'd matched it. I would have been pissed if I'd missed out by one or two reps.

Full body conditioning

Personal training with Paul

Amrap 10
1 deadlift @ 225lb, 1 burpee, 2/2, 3/3 etc.
Score = 9 rounds exactly

Edit: I only just checked back to see my score when I did something similar but easier a few weeks ago. Back then I did jump squats instead of the RXed burpees, which I did today. Even though my lungs burned like hell this morning, I did much better.

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"Ensign"
3 x 3 minute rounds of:
3 power cleans @ 115lb
6 push-ups
9 air squats

Scores:
3 rounds + 3 power cleans
3 rounds + 6 squats
3 rounds + 6 push-ups

I'm not surprised that the second round was better than the first. I deliberately moved slower, which allowed me to breathe slower. I slowed down in the third round just because I was fatigued.

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3 rounds:
10 ab rollouts
20 sit-ups (strict)

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It's two hours later, and my lower back is already seizing up from the deadlifts! Great workout, though. I'm used to one of the routines in my PT session knocking me on my ass, but not two at the beginning!

Barbara

I don't usually train on Friday, but (a) I had a rest day on Wednesday, and (b) I won't have my regular personal training session tomorrow, only a gentle 3k run with Madi.

Barbara - 5 rft:
20 kipping pull-ups
30 push-ups
40 sit-ups
50 air squats
Time = 38:56

Okay, this is 19 seconds slower than last time, which was over a year ago. A couple of things to note, neither of which I'm offering as excuses, only observations.

1. This time, I did strict sit-ups, not the old "hands-over-head" that gave me some momentum. That may or may not have slowed me down, but, on the other hand, I hope I'm stronger than I was in September 2011. Also, the air squats were a2g; I can't remember if I only broke parallel last year.

2. Usually when I do a significant number of pull-ups in a metcon, I start with strict pull-ups rather than the kipping version. This is to enable my shoulders to warm up a bit before I start resorting to kipping. This morning, however, I went into straight into kipping because I wanted to move as quickly as possible from the beginning. My form was fucking awful; I lacked control and although I managed 12 consecutive reps before I had to rest, I was already out of breath. From that point onward I was struggling with breathing too hard, and that meant I needed to take too many breaks throughout the rest of the routine, just so I could catch my breath. Not a smart start by any means.

Regardless of whether or not I could/should have done better, this was still a good workout. I'm typing this a couple of hours after I left the gym, and I'm already seizing up. My moobs are sore as hell! Thankfully, tomorrow's Santa Pur-Suit won't be too taxing.

Conditioning

Picture of me - with one-year-old Madi - taken in July 2005. Man boobs!
Compare this to a couple of days ago...

Short of time today - again - so I made up a quick routine that I could do in Stonecroft's gym.

In 20 minutes:
Buy-in - Row 1km

Amrap in remaining time:
10 x sit ups
10 x burpees
10 x air squats (a2g)

Score = 7 rounds + 10 sit ups and 9 burpees

Cindy

Well, I finally broke my Cindy hoodoo.

Cindy - amrap 20:
5 kipping pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 air squats
Score = 16 rounds + 3 pull-ups

Last weekend, after discussing workout strategies with Paul, I searched for a new approach to Cindy, as my scores had dropped drastically the past couple of times I did this routine. I found an article from 2010 called "To Game or not to Game", which describes a kind of "Death by Cindy" approach. I started off by completing a round, then resting for the remainder of that minute, before starting the next round. Unfortunately, this wasn't effective for too long. Each of the first five rounds were under a minute, but as soon as I started to get out of breath, the whole strategy fell apart. I got to a point where I took a couple of pretty long breaks - around 30 seconds each - just so I could take much shorter rests during each round. The pull-ups were unbroken until the last three rounds, while the push-ups tended to be 4-3-3, with really short breaks, just to take a couple of breaths. The squats were almost all unbroken, but much slower than usual because of a distracting, niggling pain in my right knee. (Perhaps this is because of all the box back squats I did yesterday. I usually race through the air squat portion of Cindy, but not today.) 

I'd been looking forward to tackling Cindy since last weekend when I read the aforementioned article. However, from the moment I woke up this morning, I felt some apprehension in case my score dropped even lower. I went from feeling really positive earlier in the week, to almost talking myself into failing. That being said, today's score was a reasonable improvement, if not spectacular. My last PR of 15 rounds plus 5 push-ups and two push-ups was set way back in November 2011. I definitely gave it everything today, and I was completely exhausted at the end. I've felt more worn out at the end of other workouts, but not this bad after Cindy. I had to rest about seven minutes before finishing off today with a couple of pretty easy routines.

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Barbell curls @ 45lb; max reps - 10, 8, 7, 5

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Tricep push-downs @ 30lb - 12, 10, 9

Conditioning

Not a picture of Christmas Abbot

For time:
1 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
2 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
3 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
4 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
5 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
6 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
7 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
8 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
9 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
10 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
(Cindy= 5 Kipping Pull-ups, 10 Push-ups, 15 Air Squats)

Time = 27:27

Full body

10 rft:
3 x power cleans @ 115lb
6 x push-ups
9 x air squats
Time = 11:16

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Box jumps for height:
5 @ 24"
5 @ 26"
5 @ 28"
5 @ 30"
5 @ 32"
1 @ 34"
1 @ 34"

It's been a while since I did box jumps for maximum height. Last time I got four jumps at 32", so this is a slight improvement. Today, as back then, my progress was hampered by my mind rather than my legs. Even though I had completed a rep at 34", I kept psyching myself out when it came to the second one. I tried twice, and the second time I experienced a "CrossFit Moment", with other gym users shouting words of encouragement, plus David - who was training a client nearby - stopped to give me some advice. The 32" jumps and both 34" attempts are shown in this video, including my mental breakdown!

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Dips, relative max: 10, 10, 7, 5, 5

To finish off the week, I decided to test my left shoulder with some dips. They were all slow and controlled, and I went down just about to parallel, as I didn't want to push my luck. My shoulder felt okay, so hopefully it's fully recovered this time.

Full body / Conditioning

A Paleo-licious dish I made yesterday for my nephew's birthday dinner: mashed butternut squash,
covered in pecans, with a butter and honey glaze. I think this is the most popular healthy dish I've ever
taken to a family event - it was almost totally devoured!

Early start for me today, due to a morning meeting.

For time:

30 x back squats @ 115lb (a2g)
20 x pull-ups (kipping)
10 x push presses @ 85lb

30 x front squats @ 95lb (a2g)
20 x pull-ups (kipping)
10 x push presses @ 85lb

30 x air squats
20 x pull-ups (kipping)
10 x push presses @ 85lb

Time = 23:30

This was loosely based on a main site WOD from last week. There are various ways of scaling it, as shown in the YouTube demo; the RXed version uses heavier weights and more reps. I sometimes get a head rush from swift up and down movements like squats, but  I made sure not to rush any of the back and front squats too much, concentrating on smooth, controlled reps. Hamstring to calf causes me problems with heavy back squats - partly because of confidence, not just strength - but 115lb was light enough not to be an issue. Good, sweaty workout.

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For time:
75 sit-ups
Time = 3:31 

Far from my quickest time. I don't do these often enough. I keep making excuses to myself, especially after a deadlift or squatting routine when my back is feeling tight. Today, I actually went into the changing room after the workout above, thought, "Screw it", and went back out again to do the sit-ups.

I'll be doing some running at the track while Madi swims this afternoon, which will be my last run before next week's New Hamburg Classic 5k.

Full body

Julie Foucher

This is my first time in the gym training on my own for a week. I had the best night's sleep for weeks, and my nutrition was good yesterday (not that I eat a lot of crap, but some weekends I don't eat enough if I'm running around doing errands.) Bearing all that in mind, I can't figure out why today's session was so disappointing.

Power clean and jerk:
95 x 3
105 x 2
105 x 3
110 x 2
115 x 1
115 x 2
120 x 0
120 x 0

Only 2 reps at 105lb was pretty shit, so I redid that set before proceeding. Likewise, I should be able to get 2 reps at 115lb, but I failed my second rep in my first attempt, so I did it again. Even though I didn't manage to hold the bar overhead with either of my 120lb jerks, they were both pretty close. I got the bar overhead, but couldn't hold it there for long.

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Cindy - Amrap 20: 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 air squats
Score = 12 rounds plus 5 pull-ups and 5 push-ups

The last time I did this - in January - I was disappointed and frustrated with my performance. Today was even worse. However, back then I felt pretty weak and that accounted for my low score; today I felt really good but my strategy was different - and failed. I didn't count my rounds so that I could concentrate on just completing the movements as my body allowed. This was a mistake because sometimes knowing how much I've done and how long I have left can push me to increase my speed. Also, I deliberately tried not to go at full speed from the beginning so that I could save my energy for later in the routine. Again, this didn't work very well.

I'm disappointed with today's performance because I felt so good and very positive heading into the gym. I felt fully rested and full of energy, which makes the results so frustrating. 

Full body

Bailey and Froning - what the hell do they know?

I started today with a snatch routine so I could work on my technique.

Hang power snatch:
45 (5), 65 (5), 75 (3), 85 (3), 85 (3), 90 (2), 90 (3), 95 (1)

The first set at 85lb lacked control, so even though I got the bar overhead and kept it there for two  seconds each time, my balance was poor and my feet were all over the place. I rested a couple of minutes, then tried again at the same weight. The second set was much better - and, dare I say it, elegant! I could only do 2 reps with my first set at 90lb, but I felt like I had an extra rep in me, so rested and went again, completing all 3 reps. 95lb is a PR. I tried a second rep, but couldn't get the power to move the bar higher than my stomach. Not a major accomplishment, but overall I was pleased with my form and technique. With every (successful) rep the bar ended up overhead and slightly behind me, so good positioning.

Coincidentally...

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My metcon today was nicked from my friend Chris, who's just started CrossFit training in Brighton. Following advice from my trainer, Paul, I upped the weight for the push presses from 55lb to 85lb (roughly 38.5kg).

In 20 minutes:
Buy-in - 3 rounds of:
6 x push-press @ 85
12 x pull-ups (kipping)

Amrap in remaining time:
10 x sit-ups
10 x push-ups
10 x squats (hamstring to calf)

Score = 11 rounds plus 10 sit-ups and 8 push-ups

Bloody hell, that got tough quickly. I was - to put it in Madi's words - sweating like a meatloaf about halfway through the second part. Sweat was pouring into my eyes and stinging like acid. My time at the end of part 1 was 5:17. The first round of part 1 was nearly unbroken; I had to break after 10 pull-ups, then did the remaining 2. All the sit-ups and squats were unbroken.

I was going to rest a few minutes then attempt the CrossFit Open routine 12.1 - 7 minutes of burpees - but ran out of time. Still, that was a fun way to end the week.

Full body

That reminds me: got to start practicing skipping soon!

Awful workout today. I simply didn't have any energy and I don't know why. I don't feel fatigued or overtrained, but I got out of breath very quickly today. I hate to make excuses, but perhaps the 45 minutes of snow shoveling early this morning took more out of me than I thought, although that seems a bit feeble considering I'm in much better shape now than I was last winter.

Cindy: 5 pull-ups (kipping), 10 push-ups, 15 squats
Score = 13 + 5 pull-ups and 5 push-ups

That's a terrible score and much lower than last time, which was poor enough. Nearly 2 months ago my score was 15 rounds plus 5 pull-ups and 2 push-ups. My results seem to be slipping backwards.

Bench press - small bench, 6 holes, starting from the top
95 x 6
105 x 5
115 x 5
125 x 3

Again, this is piss-poor. In December I managed 5 reps at 125lb and then went on to 1 rep at 140lb. I felt so weak at this point that I decided to call it quits. Improving on 3 reps at 125 felt impossible, so I'll rest tomorrow and go heavy on Thursday. 

Although I might give the Men's Health (U.K.) Bastard Challenge a try! This guy did 16 reps in 60 seconds and the video makes the move look similar to burpees, which I can do anyway. I'll have to get Cher to film me and upload it to the Facebook challenge page.

Full body

At what point does one decide enough is enough?

Like Monday, today's workout followed a poor night's sleep. I revisited a metcon I did with Paul a few weeks ago. Back in December I got really bad cramp in my calf and hamstring late into the routine, so Paul paused the stopwatch to allow me time to recover. Of course, this meant that I was able to catch my breath, too. My time in December - not including the recovery break - was 44:23. Which makes today's time even more surprising.

For time:
1 Clean and Jerk - 110
1 Round of Cindy
2 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
3 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
4 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
5 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
6 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
7 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
8 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
9 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
10 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
(Cindy= 5 Kipping Pull-ups, 10 Push-ups, 15 Air Squats)

Time: 33:54

I knocked 10:29 off my previous time! When I finished the last air squat I sat down on the bench I used to step up to the pull-up bar and stared at my watch because I couldn't believe the time.

When I did this with Paul, he checked the quality of my jerks, but there was no way to do that today other than to trust my own judgement. Nevertheless, I do think that my form was pretty good. In fact, following the third rep of the 8 clean and jerks, I dropped the bar onto the top of  my head (ouch). That could only happen if my arms were holding the bar straight overhead and not in front of me! I got plenty of power from my hips. My feet actually left the ground for both the clean and the jerk movements.

All of the sets of kipping pull-ups were unbroken because I was able to maintain a good, efficient swinging rhythm. The only time I failed a rep in any of the moves was on 1 push-up. I was fatigued - I think it was in the 7th or 8th round - and I couldn't keep my body straight, so on the 5th rep my stomach touched the ground before my chest. I didn't count that rep, rested a few seconds, then continued.

Regardless of the possibility of poor c & j form - although I'd like to think they were acceptable - I'm extremely pleased with that time. And no cramp!

Legs

Partial back squats:
185 x 5
225 x 3
235 x 3
250 x 3
270 x 3
285 x 3
295 x 3
305 x 3
310 x 2 (PR)

I thought I had the third rep at 310lb, but felt my legs give out on the way up. Still, this is still a PR; I only hit 2 reps at 305lb last time. The video - showing my last 2 sets - was shot by Cher, which explains why you can't even see my bloody legs in the first part.



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For time:
20 back squats @ 135
30 back squats @ 115
40 air squats
20 traveling lunges @ 50s (total)
30 traveling lunges @ 35s (total)
40 traveling lunges (total)
Time = 13:10

This is 1:01 quicker than when I did exactly the same routine in July last year. I could have gone heavier on the weighted sections, but I wanted to see how I compared by doing the same set up. It's an improvement, but I would have expected better after 6 months. It was the traveling lunges that killed me, perhaps because I haven't done them for a long time. I'm typing this an hour after I finished my workout, and my glutes are still burning. The back squats all broke parallel, while the air squats were all hamstring to calf.

Conditioning

Jenny LaBaw. Something is surely wrong if I look at a fit female body and think, "Nice lats."

Amrap 10:
Power squat clean and jerk @ 95 Power clean, front squat and push jerk @ 95(jeez!)
Score = 26

I did an amrap 10 hang squat clean and jerk with 85lb in April 2011 for a total of 24 reps. This is only a 2 rep improvement, but with 10lb extra and from the ground. I didn't video myself today - there wasn't anywhere I could set up my camera - but I'm pretty sure my form for the jerks was pretty good. As this was an amrap, I didn't keep the bar overhead for long, but my arms locked out and the bar was straight above my shoulders, not in front. Of course, I have no way of knowing what my form was like last year, but I'm guessing it wasn't as good as today.

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Half Angie:
50 x squats (hamstring to calf)
50 x push-ups
50 x pull-ups
50 x sit-ups
Time = 14:29

That's 3:01 better than a year ago. I would have been even quicker if I was using the pull-up bar in the squat rack, but that was already being used. I used the other pull-ups station, which meant limited kipping because the whole set-up wobbles from side to side and I was afraid of the whole thing toppling over. My pull-ups weren't strict, but certainly slower than they would have been in the squat rack.

Conditioning: a.k.a Breaking Point!

Angie Pye - CrossFit Article

Personal training with Paul

For time:
1 Clean and Jerk - 110
1 Round of Cindy
2 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
3 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
4 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
5 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
6 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
7 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
8 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
9 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
10 Clean and Jerks
1 Round of Cindy
(Cindy= 5 Kipping Pull-ups, 10 Push-ups, 15 Air Squats)

Time: 44:23

Not a completely accurate time because Paul paused his watch during the round of 9 clean jerks when I got cramp in my left calf. I also cramped up my right hamstring during round 8 of the pull-ups (I think), but that didn't last too long. I think that must be the worst pain I've ever endured during a workout. Thankfully, it cleared up and I was able to continue. Watching my calf muscles twitching was pretty creepy. It would have pissed me off that Paul was laughing at me if I hadn't been laughing myself! :-)

One theory for leg cramps during exercise is dehydration, and I was actually pretty thirsty at this point in the routine. However, in the past, drinking too much water while I'm doing an air squat routine usually makes me feel like I'm going to throw up because of all the liquid swilling around my stomach. Therefore, I deliberately didn't drink too much while I was resting. Also, I once saw a video where Iceland Annie criticised herself for chalking up her hands during a routine as just an excuse for taking a rest; I've done that with water breaks but didn't want to do it today.

Another cause is low sodium, and in the past few months I've cut down on my salt intake by eating much less processed food. I'd estimate that 90% of the food I eat now is prepared from scratch.

Conditioning

Cindy: as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 air squats
Score = 15 rounds plus 5 pull-ups and 2 push-ups

That's a new PR, which was previously exactly 15 rounds. I was worried my hip might be a problem with the squats, but I didn't feel a thing. Every squat was a2g. All the pull-ups were unbroken up to and including the 7th set (the whole of the first 2 rounds were completely unbroken). I got a good rhythm going with the kipping, plus I wore gloves today, to avoid ripping open my calluses from Saturday. The last 5 pull-ups were all singles. I was exhausted from the previous round, but I could see I was running out of time and I wanted to get at least 1 rep so I could PR. In the end I did better than I expected.

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I rested 5 minutes before the next routine.

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 dips
8 push-ups after each set
Time = 17:56

Today's time was a lot slower than before, which was 13:11. However, my shoulders were toast by this point. The first round of dips were unbroken, but after that they were pretty much singles. Also, none of the push-ups were unbroken, which isn't surprising considering I did 80 of them during Cindy.