"Megan"

I did a single muscle-up during the warm-up.  Somehow my technique is getting uglier. 

Complete 3 rounds for quality (not for time) of

TGU x 3 each (increase weight each set)

Dead hang Pull up 6-8 @ 2010 (bands are permitted)
Banded anti rotation press x 10 ea (Banded Anti Rotation Press)
rest 45s
Done.  I got up to 55lb TGUs on my right arm, 45 on the left. 

 

Bench Mark “Megan”21-15-9
Burpees
KBS 55/35
Double unders

 

I may have gone a bit too hard during the first round.  My pace really slowed during the 15s and 9s.  But I finished with 5:07, which was one of the better times in the gym all day. 

Burpees, Pull-ups and Sit-ups, with a dash of Thrusters

It had been a while since I made it to CFR on a Saturday morning.  At 11a.m everyone was going to be doing 14.5, but the 10am session had a slightly different WOD:

21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps of:
-Burpees
-Pull-ups
-Sit-ups

Between each set, do five thrusters with 95lbs. 

I finished this in 18:34.



I did a muscle-up before the WOD.  I had to work to get up there.  I think I could be kipping and pulling harder.  Lifetime total is now 15.   

T2B Cindy; Turning the corner on muscle-ups

I arrived at CrossFit Regina way early for the 7pm WOD last night, so I spent some time doing muscle-ups.  Five, to be precise, which brings my lifetime total to 14. I'm averaging 2 MUs per year, for each year I've been doing CrossFit. Yay, Tyler!  

The muscle-ups in question were ugly as hell.  I'm barely getting the bottom of the ring armpit height, so there's always a brief, mini-struggle to bring my right elbow closer to my body so I can lock it out.  Shae gave me some advice on gripping the ring that I'm going to try out.

Still, I think I've almost reached the point where I can go up to a set of rings and be totally confident that I could do a muscle-up.  Almost.

WOD of the day

"T2B Cindy":
-5 toes-to-bar
-10 push-ups
-15 squats

I did 16 rounds plus 5 T2B.



Beforehand, I was a little unsure about this because the last time I did Cindy, I developed that hamstring injury that still lingers to this day.  I'm not sure if the injury was a result of Cindy or the sprints I had done two days earlier in Edmonton, but I sure as hell didn't want it to flare up again.  I was also unsure how good the T2B would be for my shoulder.

14.4 was announced yesterday right before I got to the gym.  I thought maybe I'd to that instead.  Then I found out it was a chipper with 50 consecutive T2B, which sounded like a recipe for hand tearing or shoulder fuckage.  Screw that, I thought.  T2B Cindy it is.

Sure I ended up doing more T2B with the Cindy WOD, but they're done in smaller sets, and separated by however long it takes to do the push-ups and squats.

Now that I've had some time to think about it, I may end up doing 14.4 at some point.  There's a fine line between injury avoidance and just being a pussy.    

To Twelve and Back

Another Tuesday night at CrossFit Regina


"Thunderstruck" Warm-up

This was fun. As we jogged in place, they played "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC and everytime we heard the word "thunder" we had to drop and do a burpee.



Skipping

100 running skips - I did these unbroken.
75 double unders - This took me three or four sets, which is pretty bad.
25 crossovers -  I'm pretty sure I look awkward and spazzy when I do these, but I got through them.



To Twelve and Back

1 -> 12 <- 1="">Pullups
KB Snatch 55/35
**Alternating movements (1 pullup, 2 KB Snatch (1 per arm), 3 pullups, 4 KB Snatch (2 per arm), etc…)

This took me 13:52.  I think my technique fell to shit on the snatches by the end.  Also, my sissy hands were starting to hurt. 

  **Bonus**   I did a tremendously ugly muscle-up at some point in the warm-up portion. That brings my lifetime total to nine.  I thought about going for another one after the WOD was done, but I thought I would be courting disaster.   I'm thinking I should probably try to do at least one or two everytime I come to CFR. 

Muscle-Ups / Tabata Awfulness

A. Muscle-Up Practice

We were supposed to do 5-4-3-2-1 MUs, but c'mon, let's be serious for a second. 

I did however do 3 single muscle-ups.  This brings my lifetime total to 6.

There were no failures and not a lot of warming up for me, either.  I did a jumping MU during warm-up, then listened to Keenan's instructions and did a bit of visualizing. 

Then I did one. 

Later, I did a second one.  After that, a third. 

I'm still not getting very high, on them and I'm having to really force my way up on my right side.  Because it's kind of awkward and I'm forcing it, I opted against attempting anymore rather than doing something that would end up with me injured. 

Something to work on.  But I'm happy with the progress. 

 


B. “3/4 Tabata This”


4 minutes of Tabata Air Squats
1 minute Rest
4 minutes of Tabata Push-ups
1 minute Rest
4 mintues of Tabata Abmat Situps

Each 4 minutes is 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work / 10 seconds of rest.  Complete 4 minutes of one movement before moving on to the next.

Score is total reps.   I screwed up on the math in the chart below.  I actually got 140 squats, not 123.  61 push-ups is correct.  Pathetic, but correct.  97 sit-ups is also correct.    

Total score is 298.    

 
Nothing really unexpected here.  I think.   

After eight rounds of push-ups, I'm averaging about 7.5 sit-ups per round. I wonder if on, I should try to do 9 per round and rest the rest of the time, rather than going almost to failure?  If I got that, it would allow me to hit 72, which is higher.  Going from a high of 19 to a low of four is bad.  Just bad. 

Sandbag Shitstorm / MUs #2 and #3

The programming at CrossFit Regina called for a strength segment and metcon, as per usual.

I was looking forward to doing back squats for the first time in a while, but got hung up at home so completely missed that part.

I did get there in time for the metcon, though. 

 

A. "Sandbag Shitstorm"*

*not the official name... but it's an awesome name and if you think otherwise, I will fight you. 

10min AMRAP:


30 Sand bag walking lunges 45/20
30 sand bag shouldering (15 each) +5 squats with bag on left shoulder, 5 squat with bag on right shoulder
100 sand bag carry

I got 2 rounds, plus 30 lunges plus 15, uh, shoulderings and 4 squats.

I guess that's okay.  But I think I was without inspiration due to a lack of appropriate WOD music.

Given the sandbaggy nature of this WOD, they should have played "Darube" by Sandstorm on a constant loop. (Please enjoy this timeless techno classic, accompanied by visuals of legendary MMA fighter Wanderlei Silva mauling people by punching, kneeing, and stomping.  Oh so much stomping)

Really, this song should be the soundtrack for all of our lives.  It would make us all a minimum142% better. 

 

B. Muscle-Up practice

So I figured that I'd do the backsquats with the 7pm crowd, after doing the metcon at 6:30.  When I mentioned this to Aaron, he replied, "Your backsquats will be severely compromised by the metcon."
While I am the #VoiceOfReason for my Neanderthal buddies on our upcoming UFC roadtrip to Winnipeg (a group which includes Aaron), I have to admit that he was right.   It's reassuring to know I have someone who can step in as a #SubstituteVoiceOfReason should I get stabbed by a Winnipeg ne'er-do-well or throttled by Harlan. 

Instead of doing backsquats, I thought I'd work on muscle-ups, since I hadn't been able to get a second one since the day I finally knocked the MU monkey off my back. 

I got some tips from Ann-Marie and Leya.  After a few frustrating attempts and walking away, I did a few jumping MU's and then came back to the rings with no one around. 

Nailed it.  I was so happy, I just stayed up there and waited until Leya noticed from across the gym, since it seems like the only time I can do these fucking things is when she's present. 

I then made a less than graceful dismount that ended up with me falling down on my ass. 

A few minutes later, I decided I wanted to try for a second one.  I got it, though it was a bit more of a struggle to push myself up.  No one-legged eggbeater move though. 

So, in the course one evening, I managed to increase my lifetime total for MUs by 200%. 

First Muscle-Up / Annie-Karen Mash-up

So pumped to see Tyler do his first muscle up tonight! Great job buddy!!! P.S. that one legged eggbeater move was the tits ;)
-Tiff (on Facebook)


The first part of the WOD today at CrossFit Regina had us practicing muscle-ups or muscle-up transitions. 

To be honest, at this point I had become resigned to the idea that I would ever be able to get a muscle-up.   After all, I've been doing CrossFit five years now, and haven't ever gotten close.   I've done jumping muscle-ups, but that's like having your mom tell you how handsome you look.  

I can do pull-ups (kipping, chest-to-bar and strict) and ring dips competently, so problem wasn't physical. 

It is all mental.  On the very sporadic occasions when I've tried, I've gotten frustrated and given up too easily. 

I couldn't wrap my head around the way to transition myself from being under the rings to over them... the whole "headbutt" thing threw me for a loop.  And I was so bad at it that I didn't want to practice.  

It bothered me a bit that muscle-ups came to others so easily.  But obviously it didn't bother me enough to work diligently and intelligently to change.  (This is a longstanding character flaw)  It was easier to fall back to my position of "I just can't do them."  

Tonight, though, Keenan was showing us non-MU-havers how to do transitions.  He gave a tip about looking up at the ceiling as you pull yourself up, then keeping the rings tight to your body.  Also showed how the false grip is supposed to work... which I guess I had never really paid close attention to.  

I did a couple of transitions, and then, decided to head over to the rings hanging from the ceiling. 

My first attempt was close to how they usually go. Not even close.

Leya gave me some tips on the false grip and doing a BIG kip. 

On my next attempt, I did a couple of big kipping swings underneath before attempting to pull myself up.  I got up pretty high.  I think I even surprised myself at how close I got.   At that point, I had a good feeling that I might get a MU tonight. 

After a few minutes, I grabbed the rings again.  False grip.  BIG SWING.  Look up.  GO!  

I got up over the rings... mostly.  My left arm was able to straighten... but my right arm was still bent.... and I was struggling to lock myself out. 

I have no idea how long I was in that position. I later described it as "the muscle-up version of the Dave Castro deadlift." It felt like 20 seconds, but that's doubtful.  However, it was long enough that people who weren't watching could turn and see what was happening. I was doing everything I could to push myself up, which included, as Tiff alluded to, a one-legged eggbeater kind of thing. 

Whatever I was doing, it finally worked and I was able to lock out both arms. 

I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty happy to finally get that muscle-up monkey off my back.  I posted the above picture  on Facebook with the caption "Finally, after five years. (It was ugly, but it still counts). I think it took Kyle a month."

I got a bunch of "likes" and congratulations from CrossFitters because they're awesome, supportive people... even though this is like congratulating a 12-year-old for finally getting the training wheels off his bike. 

I guess that would be a pretty big day for the 12-year-old, too. 

I didn't make any fewer attempts because my right shoulder was hurting after the extended time I spent not being locked out. 

On to the metcon...

Annie Karen mash-up

20min AMRAP of:

• 30 Double Unders
• 20 Sit-ups
• 10 Wall Ball

This was hard, but the good thing about it is that it was a reasonable number of each exercise so you were transitioning pretty quickly through it. 

I did 9 rounds plus 30 DU and 11 SU. 

Beware black cats

As I was driving to the gym today, I saw a black cat cross the street about a block ahead of me.  I could have turned around and gone a different route to the gym. Even though I would like to avoid any bad luck at the moment, I was already short on time and I figured it was just a superstition.

Clearly I'm a dumbass...

A. Muscle-up practice

Yup, still can't do muscle-ups.  So I decided to practice jumping MUs, and it was going okay, until I lowered the box by -- I'm not exaggerating -- about two inches. 

Then, after a couple of unsuccessful attempts and one successful one, I had a bit of a mishap.  My right arm basically lost control and twisted behind my back and up toward my head, as I was still holding onto the ring. 

I freaked out a bit, not knowing how serious it was.  After the initial flash of pain and my subsequent profanity, it didn't appear to be all that bad, and I finished the other two parts of the workout. 

As I write this, the shoulder is a little stiff but I seem to have the full range of motion.  I'm icing it and taking it easy.


B. 250 double unders in as few sets as possible in under (10-minute time cap)

Since the clock was less of a factor in this one, as long as you can get under the 10-minute time cap, I decided to take good breaks between the sets and regain my breath so I could maximize the number of DUs in each set.  It seemed to work out well.  Consistently getting sets of 30+ double unders is better than I would typically expect.

7 sets.

Set # -> Total reps (including previous)
1.  48
2.  80
3.  116
5.  151
5.  186
6.  220
7.  250


C. 10-minute AMRAP - 20 sandbag lunges and 10 push-ups

The sandbags were held across the back. 

I completed the first round in under a minute and things slowed way down after that.

7 rounds exactly.  I wanted to get one extra lunge in at the end, but couldn't get the sandbag up in time.

My muscle-Up inferiority complex plus a 12.3 sampler

A. 12 minutes of Muscle-up practice (transitions and/or negatives)

Three-plus years of CrossFit and I'm still miles from being able to do a muscle-up. It's not a lack of strength, I just don't have the technique down, yet have not worked seriously on correcting this obvious deficit in my CrossFit abilities. Why? There is only one conceivable answer. I suck. I abso-fucking-lutely suck.


B. Short breathing ladder 1->10->1 kettlebell swings 55/35lb overhead

5:55. Nolan wrote down 5:56, but it was 5:55, dammit. 5:55!


Part C was supposed to be a 1K row but the Games competitors (which I am not one) were told to do three rounds of the 12.3 WOD.


C. 3 rounds of 12.3 for time
(The full 12.3 is an 18-minute AMRAP)

15 Box Jumps – 24/20″
12 Push Press – 115/75lb
9 Toes to Bar

Shit... forgot the time. I think it was 6:29. I did it alongside Thomas, who is much better at box jumps than me.

Muscle-Ups & CLOC #5

A. Skill: Muscle-up + 2 second L-sit x10 reps (not for time)
If you can’t do MU, do transition + 2 second L-sit x 15 reps

Yup. Still can't do a muscle-up.

B. CF Ladies of Canada #5
As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of
10 Deadlift – 165/115lb (Maintain good form)
15 Anchored Situps – shoulders all the way back, touch front of DBs
5 Pull-ups (use bands as needed)

I counted 6 rounds plus 10 DL and 3 sit-ups. Jacob thinks I got one more round than that. Then again, he's a relentless optimist.

BONUS

I convinced Jacob to join me in doing the Competition Team EXTRA, which was...

Three minutes of sandbag shouldering (90lbs). Basically, fill a duffel bag with two 45lb sandbags, and transfer it from shoulder to shoulder, pressing it out each time.

I got 24 reps in three minutes, but I was only in "75% serious / 25% fucking around" mode.

C. Mobility = share your favorite with the group

Queensland Australia Sectional WOD #2

After yesterday's Strength work, I wanted to do a CrossFit WOD today and this one is perfect in that it is only 10 minutes of work and shouldn't mess me up too bad to do strength stuff on Thursday or Friday.

10 mins max reps, consisting of the following stations:
4 minutes – Thruster 110/77lb
3 minutes – KB Swing 55/35lb
2 minutes – Muscle-ups
1 minute – Burpees

People like me who cannot do muscle-ups, sub 10 pull-ups. That means I don't get the RX’d star, which is sort of a bummer. I've been meaning to get an MU tutorial, seeing as it's my other major CrossFit goal for the year. The problem is that the Strength workouts take at least an hour, so time is sort of an issue. I should probably just carve out some time to work on some muscle-ups when I know Aaron or Robin is going to be there, and after I've done some work on that, I could do a brief metcon as well. Perhaps I'll try to work that in next week.

Athletes move from one station to the next at the end of the allotted time without rest.

My results:

35 thrusters
43 bell swings
20 pull-ups (equal to 4 MU for the purposes of scoring)
14 burpees
____________96 total. I thought I could break 100 on this. I spent a little too much time trying to catch my breath. Still, I felt pretty good about this. Not necessarily because the result was all that impressive (it wasn't) but just having done it.

Either that, or it just might be a nice day out and I had an extra dose of Vitamin D this morning. Life is good. Go out and hug someone.

If ya like it, then you shoulda hung some rings from it

I just hung my brand spankin' new Rogue Fitness rings in my garage.

Time to start getting serious about dips and working toward a muscle-up. The latter, I figure, is a long-term project, but I am not in any rush.