Archive | May, 2011

Recovery

31 May

I started writing about my experience with my first “Hero WOD”, but it was about much more than fitness, so I ended up leaving my account on my main blog. It was pretty awesome, in both physical and spiritual ways, and was well worth my two recovery days afterward.

I don’t normally like resting more than one day in a row, because that’s when I start feeling restless, and worry that I’ll ruin what has become a good, healthy habit. What if those two days of recovery turns into three? And then it’s been half a week since I worked out last? But I think 2 miles, 100 ring rows, 200 push-ups, and 300 squats is enough workout for two days of rest! I tried not to let it bother me, especially yesterday as the soreness grew less debilitating by the end of the day, and of course the holiday weekend “diet” was catching up to me. It was one of those mental battles where I had to reassure myself that this was okay.

Today, despite a tight schedule where I didn’t have a free lunch hour to workout, and we had plans after work was over, I still managed to squeeze in about a 17 minute intense workout before picking Skyler up from preschool. It was nothing new, so in my rush I chose a recent workout that kicked my butt, thinking that’s a surefire way to get the most out of this quickie. It did the trick, and I didn’t even complete it in it’s entirety! I made it through four rounds (obviously in only 17 minutes), instead of the 6 rounds I did in twenty minutes last time. Was it backtracking? Neh. I raised the box height up three inches from last time, so though I didn’t make as many rounds, at least I challenged myself with a new height!

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We meet again.

27 May

That Fran – she just can’t stay out of my way. Not even two weeks from our first meeting, I had to face her again. I was pretty sure that in two weeks time I wouldn’t have gained enough strength or speed to make any improvements in my Fran workout, but surprisingly, I came in around a minute faster than the first time, which is almost a 20% improvement!

My thrusters were better – used 49 lbs again and struggled through the press less this time than last, but the pull-ups were still killer! I used the same band to assist me this time, but at the end of the last two rounds, it wasn’t providing enough assistance to my weakened state to get my chin up over the bar. With a little help from the coach (he put his hand under my foot so I had something to press up on) I was able to finish my reps above the bar with a full range of motion. Next time, when I start struggling, he told me to move a box beneath the bar and finish with full range jumping pull-ups to keep the motion. That sounds reasonable!

I was the first one done in the class and beat my time, so other than the fact that the whole thing (all 5 minutes and 41 seconds of it) was mostly difficult and pretty miserable, I’m quite thrilled to have shown clear and solid improvement. That’s the most fulfilling part of doing this stuff – to get results!

Today I’m getting more sore as the day goes on, in the shoulders and upper back region. So what did I do? Went back to the gym for another WOD today. Did a combination of prowler pulls with a rope, wall ball sit-ups, and rowing. Just couldn’t give my upper body a break! And I’m just crazy enough that I think I’ll join the crew at Sky’s Limit CrossFit tomorrow for the Memorial Day Hero WOD, “Murph,”, which will likely be my toughest challenge yet!

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Falling down

24 May

I’ve been looking forward to trying my hand (hands?) at “wall-balls” ever since I heard of the exercise. It just looked fun.

Tonight in class we learned how to do them (correction: were taught how to do them) and did it as part of the workout. While I still think it is fun, I struggled to actually learn how to do them right and get any sort of rhythm going. The ball kept landing on my face and on my way back down in my squat, I fell backward on my butt not one, but two or three times. And not just during the lesson part – in the middle of the actual workout where we are supposed to be going fast!

If it weren’t for my terrible wall ball coordination, I would’ve had a decent time. I came in third, even though I sped through the dead lifts and kettle bell swings. The two in front of me definitely got the edge on the wall ball portion of the workout! It was a killer workout too. FULL BODY ALL THE WAY. Here it is, what I completed in around 5:40.

15-12-9 reps decreasing over three rounds of:

Deadlifts (first time doing these, so kept it a reasonable 49 lbs)
American kettlebell swings (I think it was a 16 pounder)
Wall balls with a 10 lb medicine ball

Thought about puking a couple times but kept focused and worked through it! It was a good one. Just need to get the hang of those wall balls so I can be more efficient. Falling down and dropping the ball repeatedly aren’t really efficient at all!

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Deceptive perspective.

22 May

It only takes about two mismanaged meals or snacks to make me lose any confidence in the positive changes I’ve seen in my body over the last couple months. Whether it was pizza, cookies, french fries, WHATEVER that isn’t meat, veggies, or fruit, my view of myself plummets. And I’m pretty sure that had I taken a photo of my body the day before my bad judgement, and then the day after, they would be identical.

I wish I could rid myself of this blinding guilty conscience, and just have some realistic lenses of forgiveness through which to view myself. Everyone enjoys a little diet imperfection now and then, and it doesn’t have to get in the way of progress and positive results. Can’t I just enjoy the moment and move on?

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Hope

19 May

This CrossFit thing…I hope it continues to be everything I think it might be at this point.

I am jazzed and motivated and enjoying all this learning and growing. I’ve entered this new world where fitness is not just about looking good and doing miserable things to get that way. In fact, that’s far from it. Looking good has become this secondary, maybe even tertiary aspect of the CrossFit that I’m discovering. It’s about trying, testing, and reaching for my best. And doing it alongside other people that are doing the same thing.

And “best” isn’t about appearance. It’s about performance and function. The misery part? There are some rough workouts that really challenge physically and mentally, and could be categorized as “miserable” at least for a few seconds or minutes in the midst of it. But then it’s over so fast. You grit your teach, grunt, yell, heave, and breathe on through it till it’s done. And then the misery is forgotten and the triumph and often euphoria is what is remembered. You hi-five your fellow teammates as they’ve just endured the same test.

That wasn’t some vain, boring, do this miserable move over and over this many times per week for 60 or 90 days to get results. The results are immediate. Maybe not a change in appearance, but that feeling of accomplishment, that you really did something today, growing both mentally and physically. And it doesn’t take long till you’re increasing your reps, decreasing your time, or adding more weight. Those are results. Actually getting stronger, faster, better.

And the part about doing this with others – that used to freak me out. I didn’t want to be critiqued or judged. I didn’t want to be laughed at for not being able to do something right, or just not being able to something at all. I didn’t want to be the last one done. Or the first? What if I just happened to get in a class or group where I was actually one of the more fit? I didn’t want other class members to feel any intimidation or bitterness toward me.

But none of it matters. We’re all in this together. We’re competing against ourselves, and doing it side by side with the support of [new] friends that are in the exact same boat.

I hope this is how it really is and not some sort of honeymoon stage with CrossFit. Maybe I will get bored with it like I have so many other workouts I’ve done. I hope not, since we don’t really ever do the same thing. And the shift in focus from “I’m doing this annoying move to look better” to “I’m learning this functional strength move to make me stronger and help me live life better, alongside some other great people” is a much more motivating way to go about fitness. It’s a lot more fun and a lot more effective.

I hope.

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Hi Fran, Nice to finally meet you.

16 May

I met Fran the other night. She is one of the most dreaded CrossFit workouts. They name the really hard workouts after women. Ronnie has cussed about Fran many a time, and I’ve heard pretty much the same from any other CrossFitter. Fran is a workout that doesn’t really look like much:

3 rounds for time, descending reps 21, 15, 9

Thrusters
Pull-ups

So, that’s 21 thrusters (I used a barbell setup for 50 lbs), and then 21 pull-ups for the first round (I used a giant rubber band on the pull-up bar to set my foot in to assist me). Followed by 15 of each, then 9 of each.

I finished in a little under 7 minutes, and throughout the second and third rounds, thought for sure several times I couldn’t do another rep. It was shaky and painful, but I guess it was over pretty quickly!

The workout itself was rough, but what I experienced for the first time was a different kind of motivation than I’d ever experienced. My husband, along with two other friends that had completed Fran earlier in the day, were standing around me, cheering me on. Counting for me, correcting my form to make me stronger and more effective, helping me in and out of the pull-up band, encouraging me to finish strong. In most of my workouts, I’m by myself, and have to find every bit of motivation from inside myself. Sometimes, it works great, but others, especially the real challenging stuff, it’s easy to let myself take too long of a break, lighten the weight, or stop a few reps short. There was no way to get away with that this time, and I’m really looking forward to getting into these CrossFit classes as a regular part of my schedule!

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Learning to walk again

9 May

Today was one of those surprisingly hard workouts; the kind where you feel the burn but keep going for some odd reason, and at the end have to focus on every normal movement like walking. Mentally telling your knees and thighs to move and balance and hold your body up to walk across the room to fill your water bottle, fearing you’ll make an ass of yourself in the gym when your legs just buckle and you collapse.

I didn’t collapse, but it took every bit of willpower to learn how to walk again for the first five minutes after the workout was over. And I mentioned how surprised I was, because I had looked at the workout prescribed and thought “sure, this will be good, a little cardio mixed with mostly lower body work.” Nothing about it really phased me. I had no idea what I was in for.

20 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

15 stationary lunges on each leg, with opposite arm holding a dumbbell overhead (bicep to ear). I used 20 lbs.
15 kettle bell swings. I didn’t have a kettle bell so I used a 30 lb dumbbell, which worked just fine.
15 box jumps. My box was around 15 inches.

I got through six full rounds and a seventh of the lunges. And then almost fell over.

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Almost puking is a good thing

3 May

I’m pretty proud of yesterday’s workout. Today’s too, for that matter; it was a butt kicker. But yesterday’s was the kind where somehow, I focused and pushed hard enough to make myself want to puke.

I know this doesn’t sound victorious or something to be proud of, and don’t get me wrong, I am not promoting bulimia by saying this! It’s about knowing I did my best without completely losing it. Pushing to just that point prior to puking is about as far as you can get and still be effective, at least I think. I wouldn’t be able to finish the workout if I actually chucked in the middle of it. It would be game over.

I worry that when I’m working out by myself like I often do, that maybe I don’t challenge myself enough or put forth the best effort possible. I work pretty hard most of the time, but sometimes I don’t have that edge, that will to really get after it. But yesterday, it was there. I don’t know what it was specifically, but there was an intensity I hadn’t experienced in awhile. I had to take a walk across the gym between sets to keep my stomach under control, gather my wits, and get back to the workout. But I finished, and I finished strong.

I’m noting the workout for future reference, in case I want to remember the thing that got my tummy churning, and maybe try it again at a later date?

Complete 5 rounds of 15 reps each
70 lb lat pull-downs
90 lb squats
18 inch box jumps

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