Back to it

First WOD at CFR in a month and a half, unless you count me overhead-squatting and then breaking the sloshpipe at the farewell party for Robin and Aaron.  (I sort of do, but I didn't record it on the blog so...)



A. Snatch Complex: Snatch DL, Snatch Shrug Snatch high Pull, Snatch (bar, +20lbs, 40%,50%)


I did the complex with:
-the bar (twice)
-65lbs
-95lbs
Power Snatch – 70%x3x5
95x5
105x5
105x5


B. "Some Synergy

1. AMRAP in 5 minutes

- wall ball (20/14)

- Pull-ups

one of each, two of each, three of each, etc.

I completed the round of nine each, and did an extra 3 wall balls

Rest 2 minutes



2. For time

DU’s 50-40-30-20-10
Inch worm push ups 10-8-6-4-2

Time cap of 10 minutes

My time was 8:07  (according to Shae.  I think I finished in under 8:00.  I note this because I am that much of a wanker)

 

Mahalo, Kahala CrossFit

Toward the end of a two-week holiday in Hawaii, I managed to hit one CrossFit, in the hopes of countering all the fast food, beer, chips and mai tais. (No dice; I'm still a fat bastard).

Despite my many personal shortcomings, Kahala CrossFit let me join in on an early morning WOD on Christmas Eve. 

We did a verson of the 12 Days of Christmas WOD.  This one was considerably harder than the version I've done previously. 

Here's what we did:

1 power clean (135lbs)
2 handstand pushups
3 front squats (135lbs)
4 barbell roll-outs
5 C2B pull-ups
6 box jumps (24")
7 burpees
8 push-ups
9 wall ball
10 bell swings (55lb)
11 deadlifts (135lb)
12 thrusters

Remember, this workout is patterned like the song:

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: one power clean (in a pear tree, which sounds awkward as hell).
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, two handstand pushups, and a power clean. etc.

So, just like the song, the workout got increasingly more difficult to perform.  After not having worked out in nearly a month, this hit me like a ton of bricks.  At one point, I laid on my back on the ground during the actual workout.

My spirits were bolstered, however, by the gym's sound system blasting modern versions of classic tunes, like this little ditty:

Thankfully, once we performed the 12 thrusters, we were done (ie. we didn't have to go back down through the movements again.)

I'm not sure of my actual finish time.  It may have been in the 37-minute range.     

I liked CrossFit Kahala and would recommend it to anyone going to Honolulu. After the WOD, the class was nice enough to pose for a pic with me (which I will post as soon as I can get Blogger to stop sucking so hard).  The owner, Shane, is a good guy who knows his stuff and prioritizes proper form over the RAWR WE'RE GONNA WORK YOU OUT TIL YOU MEET PUKEY CUZ WE HARDCORE mentality. 

I would love to go back to that gym and not only because it would mean I was in Hawaii instead of freezing my giblets in this goddamn Saskatchewan winter.  Seriously, why doesn't everyone just live in Hawaii? 

VolkeFit: "Getting Ripped n' Shit"

Not to be confused with "Getting Ripped and Shitting."

Three 8-minute AMRAPs - resting for 8 minutes in between.

#1

15 Wall ball
50 double unders
10 Hand-release push-ups
15 KB swings

#2
Airdyne, with 15 sit-ups after every minute of cycling completed

#3
5 pullups
10 ball slams
5 ring dips
10 squats

More Rowing

Back on the C2.  

I did about 600m as a warm-up.  It wasn't intended as a warm-up, but my daughter (age 3) took a tumble down a couple of stairs, so that interrupted things.  (She was fine, just a little upset about it)

Once that had been dealt with, I decided to do a couple sets of 1000m again with a two-minute rest between.  I also figured out where a stopwatch was on my new phone, so I didn't have to use the clock on the basement's cordless phone like I was some kind of reject. 

1. 1000m: 3:40   Not a PR, but a pretty good pace.  I think I started off a little slow. 
2. 1000m: 3:44   By the end, I was going hard, grunting, and looking for all intents and purposes like a total spaz.  I may have freaked out my in-laws (who live in my basement).

Rowing

My seldom used, practically brand new C2 rower got put to use yesterday.  Everyday, I see it and I feel guilty that it doesn't get used more.  It wasn't cheap and it takes up valuable real estate in our rec room. 

This week, for one night anyway, it got used a little bit.  Because of some stuff going on at home, it's been tough to make it to the gym lately.  But that's no excuse for not exercising. 

I don't like long rows.  I like them nasty and short. 

So I did 5x500m, resting two minutes between each one.

I wasn't attempting to go balls out, but I did want to keep my time for each under 2:00 consistently.  I did that.  I actually think I was between 1:40 and 1:50 for all of them, except for maybe the first. 

Judging from the amount I sweated, and the fact that I was just a touch lightheaded afterward, it seemed to do the trick.

VolkeFit: "Ground and Pound"

5x 5minute rounds, one minute at each station.

Mountain Climbers - I should probably be quicker; if I was climbing an actual mountain at the pace I use, a Yeti would easily catch and eat me. At least I'm paleo. 
Ball Slams - I still fucking love these.  UNLEASH THE HATE, TYLER. GO AHEAD.
Burpees - I am sort of slow on these now because the jumping up with hands above my head irritates my leg.
Ropes - I don't look nearly as impressive or intense as Steve when he does this.
AirDyne - I was trying to keep the pace above 200 watts. I go a little faster at the end.

I got one minute rest after the first and second rounds, and three minutes after the third and fourth. 

I didn't keep score, and I didn't have a result in mind that I wanted to hit, but my goal was just to do as much as I could and keep moving. 

I mostly did that, except on the burpees. 

Nautical Nancy

I've done variations of this but tonight was the first time I've done Nautical Nancy in the strict, "Five rounds, for time" way. 

Five rounds for time:

500m row
15 overhead squats (95lb)

16:59 rx'd

Nicole wrote down 17:00, but I made her change it, because I made sure to lock out before that second was up, and also because I'm a wanker. 

I'm happy with that time.  Hell, I was only 20 seconds slower than Shae, and anytime I'm in the same neighbourhood as him on a WOD, I'm not gonna complain. 

I took it relatively easy on the rows (all were between 1:50 and 2:05, plus transition time)

As a result, I was able to do all but one of the OHS sets unbroken, or at least without lowering the bar.  I did pause a bit or adjust my balance.  I also did the squats fairly quickly.  That's really the key to doing well on this.  Putting the bar down, picking it back up, re-setting your feet... those things will all cost me far more time than if I row the 500m in 1:40 vs. 1:55.  Plus, the more time you hang out with the bar above your head, the more fatigued you get, and the more you wear out your shoulders. 

Snatchy Snatch Snatch / "Breathless"

A. Snatchy Snatch Snatch*

*Not the official name. But it should be, amiright?

1. Snatch Complex: Snatch DL, Snatch Shrug, Snatch high Pull, Snatch (bar, +20lbs, 40%,50%)
2. Snatch 60% x 3, 65% x 3, 70% x3x3 – build into with snatch with complex, focus on bar positioning and ending up on toes in full extension. Do not set bar down in between each rep, lower the bar so it is about 1 inch from floor (completing 3 reps not 3 singles). 

I did 95, 105 and 115. 

Uncles gave me a good tip on the snatch.  He said I could be opening my hips more.  I kept that in mind and noticed an immediate difference. 


B.  Metcon = “Breathless”
AMRAP in 12mins:
15 Burpees
35 Double Unders

Note to self: When doing a WOD that has double unders, ensure that your shorts are laced sufficiently tightly so they don't start falling down around your ass in the first fucking round, forcing you to drop the rope and waste precious seconds retying your shorts so that you preserve some shred of modesty.

Other than that, things went just swimmingly.  Meaning, I sucked wind like this one as much as I did when swimming* at Spring Fling.

*Fuck swimming, amiright? Fuck it in its ear.

In addition to the near self-pantsing, my first attempt at double unders also featured a couple of sets of five or less.  Somewhat less than efficient. 

In subsequent rounds, I did them in 20 and 15.  In the last one, though, I was trying to maximize my score, so I did 35 straight.  Not sure if that was smart, because I wanted to complete 15 burpees and get back on the rope, but I was pretty gassed.

No dice.  I only got to 12 burpees. 

Final score: 5 rounds + 12 burpees.

Partner AMRAP: Box jumps, Thrusters, Pull-ups

I didn't think this one would be that bad. 

Stupid me.  Those are ALWAYS the ones that get you. 

Partner AMRAP in 30 minutes:

15 box jumps
10 thrusters (95lbs)
5 pull-ups

One partner completes a round while the other one rests.

I partnered with Rankin. 

He went a lot faster than me on this.  The thrusters slowed me way down.  When it was my turn for rest, I would sprawl out on the floor, praying that he would just slow the fuck down.  I mean, c'mon dude, what is your fucking rush? 

We got 18 rounds, plus 15 box jumps plus 3 thrusters. 


* * *

On another front, I've written before about my personal rule against cherrypicking WODs. 

In this article, which I found thanks to my pal Paul Park, a guy who makes a case for doing just that:


Stupidity Spreads Like a Cold Sore at a Christmas Party

Excerpt:

I’ve always had a problem with this idea that CrossFitters shouldn’t cherry pick their WODs. At some point, there is going to be a workout on the whiteboard that your gut is telling you NOT to do. You need to decide right then and there if you are going to be a lemming or not. Maybe it’s not in line with your goals. Maybe you think the risk of injury is too high. Maybe it’s your birthday and you hate running and would rather deadlift. Maybe it’s a sumo deadlift high pull and therefore, not even a real thing.
The point is, when you ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?,” an intelligent coach will be able to give you an answer. If they cannot tell you why they program the way they do, then take your money elsewhere and find a coach who can.
...
To quote myself, “If more people had the balls to cherry pick WODs, I think some Crossfit coaches would stop being so stupid about programming. When a room full of people finally looks at the whiteboard and says, ‘You know what? This is just fucking idiotic. This isn’t a productive use of my time and it doesn’t help me reach my goals. I refuse to do this,’ then I shall celebrate.”


Truthfully, I don't disagree with any of this.  Well, maybe not the "I don't want to run because it's my birthday" thing.  Don't be such a pussy. 

When I wrote about not cherrypicking WODs, it was more targeted at people like myself who could find a good reason not to work out.  For me, skipping the gym is a first class ticket back to Fatfuckville. 

My fitness goals have never been well-defined, other than "Be less of a fat fuck."

However, in light of a few injuries, I would probably amend that to add "and try not to cripple yourself, idiot."

With that addition in mind, I will probably be a bit more selective in what I ask my body to do.  Ideally, this would not mean skipping a workout, but rather simply modifying it.   

VolkeFit: Awesomesauce

I think Steve actually does name his WODs, but I can't for the life of me remember what he called what I did on Saturday.  For the time being, let's just call it "Awesomesauce":

12 minutes, rotating through three different one-minute tasks:

First minute:
-6 ball slams
-6 pull-ups

Second minute:
-5 burpees over kettlebell
-20 double-unders

Third minute:
-Ten calories on the AirDyne

Repeat this four times. 


A few notes:
-I was able to do everything in the time allotted. 
-I was worried I wouldn't get done the DUs in time, but I didn't have any problems there other than a couple of times my rope hit something.
-I managed to have a good 20 seconds left over to rest after the pull-ups.  I also had some time left over in each minute after the AirDyne. It's funny how 20 seconds can seem so short when you're resting, but so very long when you've already been holding a "hollow rock" pose for 40 seconds.  
-I find ball slams very cathartic. There was something uniquely satisfying about picking up something somewhat heavy and slamming that fucker down as hard as I can. Steve, if you're reading this, make me do more of those.


Afterward, Steve had Tracey do alternating four-minute stints on the AirDyne.  For the first two minutes, we'd go at a reasonable pace (I tried to keep my "watts" between 160 and 180) and then a bit faster in the second two minutes (I was over 200).

We each had three shifts.   I was happy when it was done. 

Deadlift / DHPLUs / KB Snatch

Made it to a 6a.m. workout.  On my day off, no less.  I wouldn't want to hold myself out as some sort of inspirational figure, but if you were to see me that way, I'd understand. 

A. Work up to a one-rep max deadlift

So I figured I'd do something relatively heavy, but not near my max before trying for something big. 

So I worked up to 255.  Then I put another 60lbs on the bar. (took off the 15s and put on 45s) 

In my head, it was only 305, so it was kind of discouraging when I failed it. 

I decided to try it again, then I got it up in a lift so ugly you wouldn't kiss it if it roofied you.

Later, I realized that it was 315.  For a little while, I was stoked because I thought that was a new PR. 

Nope.

Turns out, I lifted that much back in 2009.   Geez.

I was spent from getting that up -- lightheaded and my shitty leg was threatening horrible consequences -- so I didn't attempt to go five pounds heavier.   But maybe someday soon.

B.  Max Deadhang Pull-ups

I think the 500m row I did in warm-up and the deadlift was a good way to prepare.  I did 16, which is the most I've ever done.  I don't know if I've done it before, but I'm pretty sure I've never broken it.  The most I ever remember doing is 15, so I'm calling it a PR. 


C. Five minutes of KB snatch

I can't say my heart was in this one.  I sort of hate these. 

61.  The Janimal got 82. 

Close, but no PR: "Power Elizabeth" / 500m row for time

A. “Power Elizabeth”
21-15-9 reps for time of
Power cleans – 135/95lb
Ring Dips
20 minute time limit

I did this in 7:26 which I THOUGHT was 18 seconds better than my best recorded time. But I just checked and the best time I've done this in is 7:22, not 7:44.   So I was actually four seconds slower than my PR. 

Fuck.  Normally I wouldn't be that bothered by it, but today it annoys me, because I went into the WOD trying to beat the 7:44 and let up during the final set of dips of the WOD when I knew I would. I'm sure I could have found five seconds or even a bit more.


B. KB snatch practice, various weights up to 55/35lb

I still hate these.



C. 500m Row for time

1:37.9  

This is darn close to a PR.   I thought my PR was 1:36, point something, but I can't find any evidence that I've done this faster than 1:37.7.

So, again I'm a little disappointed in myself that I didn't push (or in this case, pull) just a little bit harder. 

I tried a new technique of not bringing the handle as far forward as I could.  It seemed to make a difference.  I was on pace for a 1:35/500m time for a good chunk of this sprint.    

Sexy Saturday at VolkeFit

My darling wife Tracey decided she wanted to get more physically active. She's wanting to do something like CrossFit once a week, along with yoga and rowing on our almost new and only gently used C2 rower.

She also thought having me around would help motivate her, so we decided that we're going to do a workout every week at Steve's garage under his tutelage.

I think Steve's approach is a great fit for Tracey.  The one-on-one training and his focus on mobility and avoiding injury suits her to a tee.  She's not concerned with socializing at the gym or trying to beat someone else's time on a whiteboard, both of which I enjoy.

But, in addition to my time at CrossFit Regina, I think it's good for me to benefit from Steve's knowledge and perspective on this fitness stuff.   I also enjoy seeing my babe of a wife get a little sweaty; hence the blogpost title "Sexy Saturday."

For our first couple's workout, Steve had Tracey and I doing different things.

Steve drew this one up for me:

AMRAP NATION

1. Seven minute AMRAP:
4 bell swings
6 burpees
4 cals

Rest 7 minutes

2. Seven minute AMRAP
Ride AirDyne for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds

Rest 7 minutes

3. Seven minute AMRAP
Wallballs.
Every minute, do 10 situps. 


I didn't write down results for any of these, but here's what I remember:

1. I think I got 6+ rounds
2. I totaled more than 90 calories
3. In the first round, I had 22.  Second round, maybe 15. After that, it was 10-12.
 

Rack Jerks / WLC Benchmark WOD

A1. Spend 5mins on Jerk balance as described here: http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/60_07_Teaching_The_Jerk4.pdf

A2 Spend 15mins to a heavy single Split Jerk, max 5 attempts

I got up to 215, which ties a PR from a couple of years ago.  It actually felt lighter than the 205 I did a few minutes earlier.  I may have more in me. 
WLC do max C&J to retest (instead of just jerks)



B. “WLC Benchmark WOD”

AMRAP in 9 mins:

7 bell swings 55/35
7 burpees
50m run

8 rounds, plus four bell swings.

Squat cleans and another Tyler falls on his ass story

A. Clean Work


A1. (all at 50% – 60%) Spend 5 minutes doing clean pull to the knee only, focusing on back position and squeezing the floor away with your legs.

A2. (all at 50%-60%) 5 minutes doing tall cleans, focusing on the pull under and speed.

A3. Spend 15 mins to build to a heavy Clean, max 5 attempts, only increase weight with good form.

I did cleans of 155-185-195-205 

205 ties a PR from last year and was a big confidence booster since I failed on it during power cleans last week. 


B. Team Rowing:

With a group of 3(max), complete 10min of rowing to a max distance. Each person will row 20 strokes maximum before switching, continue with 20 strokes each for the 10 min period.

I teamed with Mitch and Cara.   We had a system where we would try to minimize transition time getting on and off the rower, so the other two teammates would loosen the footstraps.  Somehow, I got worse at this as the WOD progressed, so I ended up costing my teammates some time.   It wouldn't be the only way. 

So I was concentrating on big, powerful strokes, and thought I was doing okay.  Then Cara gets on the rower and proceeds to go full Viking on it.  I mean, this girl was going HARD at this rower.  It made me realize I needed to step up my game, so I tried going all out when it was my turn. 

Things were going okay until it was -- I think -- my second last turn.  Then, I hop on, start pulling furiously... and my ass rises enough off the seat that it ends up rolling out from under me. 

I bounce off the slide bar and am off  to one side.  I'm stuck there because my feet are immobilized.  I'm not hurt, just embarrassed.   But I can't move.  My teammates didn't realize at first that I was utterly helpless. 

"Uh, HELP!" I grunt.  Mitch helps pull me back up and I resume rowing.  I managed through the rest of my shift and my next one without falling off. 
We finished with 2807m rowed in 10 minutes. 

Knock the Wind Out of You

3 rounds, for time:

500m Row
30 OH Walking Lunges (35/15) – 15 per leg
15 burpees, jump onto plate
200m Run

This took me 18:27.

The hardest part was the overhead lunges. 

When you have a WOD that involves rowing 500m and then other stuff, it's almost always a good idea to pace yourself on the row.  If you can complete the row in less than 2:00, and then transition quickly to the next movement, that beats killing yourself to get a 1:42 row and then being destroyed. 

The Boy joined in on this WOD and he was pretty hardcore about it.  Aimee took a picture of him doing overhead lunges with a 10lb bumper plate and it's one of my new favourite things.  I meant to post it on here but my computer wouldn't let me so you'll have to go to my Facebook timeline to look at it. 

If you can't view the picture because we're not FB friends, then why the heck are you reading this blog?  I mean, you have to be a pretty crazy obsessed CrossFitter to care about the random results of some 30-something average CrossFitter you don't know personally.

Unless you're stalking me.  Are you stalking me?  I've never had a stalker before. Wow. That's sorta flattering (as long as you don't hurt my family, me, or my dog).

Turkish Get-ups and Tabata Stuff

A. 0:10-0:20 Turkish Get-ups 3-2-1-1-1


Ended up with a 55lb single on my right arm, 45lb on the left.

I'm pretty bad at Turkish get-ups.  Like, if an actual person from Turkey saw me doing it, I feel like they'd be so insulted by my ineptitude that they'd consider it an affront to their culture and have no choice but to physically attack me. 

So, for any Turks who happen to be reading this, please accept my apologies.  To somehow try to repair the damage I've caused, here's a short video promoting Turkey as a tourist destination.  Enjoy!

Apparently, Istanbul has flying boats, levitating drummers and giant, bridge-jumping horses.  Unless those things terrify you, you should definitely go there.

C. Tabata Mash-Up

8 mins (20sec on, 10 sec off):

Pushups  (80)

Situps  (100)

For push-ups, I did 10s across, rather than do as many as I could in each round.  I thought this would maximize my results, because in previous Tabatas, I've started off with a lot and then by the end I was doing four or five, so the results were shitty (eg. 55 and 61).  HOWEVER, if I had done a bit of research, I would have noted that those Tabatas where when I was doing four minutes of straight push-ups, then moving to a different exercise.  On alternating tabatas, (20 sec of push-ups, 10 rest, 20 sec of box jumps) I managed to get my push-up numbers into the mid-90s.  So I actually might have been able to do better without using the strategy I employed here. 

Perhaps I should try to bump up my push-ups-per-round goal in the future. 

8mins (20sec on, 10 sec off):

Ring Rows (95)

Squats (23)

There was a bit of a clusterfuck here. They Boy was writing down my results.  In one of the later rounds, there was some confusion and while I was showing him what to write, I didn't notice that the 10-sec rest had elapsed.  So I ended up doing zero for one of the squat rounds.  It was my own fault, though. 

Total: 398

Annie, are you okay?

Back to CFR for a nice little Sunday WOD.

21-15-9

Thrusters (65lb)
Med Ball Cleans
Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
Wall Balls
Burpees
Rowing for Calories

This was somewhat nasty.  It took me 21:44 

VolkeFit: Some quality time with the Devil's Bicycle

Went to Steve's garage yesterday and he threw together a little bastard of a partner WOD. 

Partner 1 - 50 calories on the AirDyne (a.k.a. "The Devil's Bicycle")

Partner 2 - goes through the following circuit:

• 10 "cals" (drop to a plank over a weighted ball, come up as if you're in a burpee, but bring the ball with you, bring it overhead and then slam that fucker on the ground like you mean it) \
• 5 strict burpees
• 10 box jumps (stepping down) \

Switch off every 50 calories on the AirDyne, until we get to 400. 

We got through 15 rounds of the circuit in total for the 20-some minutes it took us to get to the 400. 

Afterward, Steve showed me how to use the elastic "floss" around my injured leg and it made a big difference. 

He really knows what he's doing.  I'm happy to see his personal training sideline is growing rapidly. 

Usain Bolt, you have nothing to worry about

The WOD at CrossFit Regina called for Power Cleans 3-2-1-1-1 and a metcon involving box jumps, bell swings and 400m runs. 

I did the power cleans, sort of, but was wary of doing box jumps or bell swings, as both have aggravated my injury previously.

Power cleans:
3x165
2x175
1x195
1x205 (FAIL, TWICE, seriously, like what the fuck?!)


After that, instead of doing the metcon, I did a WOD from a little while back, 8x100m sprints. 

I timed myself using a stop watch, and here are my times:

16.89 seconds
15.74
15.92
16.02
16.00
15.89
16.10
16.64

The Lion

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

1 Power Clean
2 Front Squats
3 Push Press
4 Back Squats 75/55lb

As far as I've been able to determine, this was my first time ever doing this WOD.

The number of moderate-weighted squats might not have been a great idea for my leg, but figuring out what I can do without consequences and what I'm going to pay for is a crapshoot these days. 

I was feeling this one for days after, in both legs. 

During the WOD, there were a few times, maybe more than a few, that I did three front squats instead of two.  Dumb.  The sets of four back squats were the hardest at the end.  The push press were still pretty easy, thanks to the fact that I have short arms and the bar doesn't have to travel very far. 

I ended up with 31 rounds, plus 1 clean and 1 front squat.  (31 rounds + 2).

Kim Fe's Dirty Dozen

That title sounds dirtier than I meant it to. 

Kim Fe loves chippers.  So she was coaching today and got to make up her own:

500m row buy-in
25 walking lunges
25 pull-ups
25 double unders
25 box jumps
25 ring dips
25 knees-to-elbows
25 bell swings
25 abmat sit-ups
25 dumbbell hang squat cleans (2x35)
25 push-ups
25 back extensions
25 wall balls
500m row

I found this pretty hard.  It took me 26:15.  I had way too many longer-than-necessary breaks, especially on the K2E.  Those were tough on the still-not-all-better leg, but once I concentrated on rocking back and looking up at the ceiling, they became manageable from a "my body is capable of doing these" standpoint.  However fatigue kicked in bigtime so it was more like "I don't want to do any more exercise, ever" situation.


The Boy has learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels, so we went for a long bike ride (for him) afterward.   

Later, I watched the CrossFit Games on TSN2 and gave thanks for the fact that I'm not an elite athlete.

"Five Alive"

5 sets for times of

•  250m Row
• 10 KB swings to shoulder height – 70/55lb
• 10 over the paralette burpees
• 1x gym length bear crawl

I chose the tallest paralette, which my right leg made me pay for, especially in the last round. 

Otherwise, not a bad little WOD, with the quick little sprints, followed by a rest. 

2:15, 2:17, 2:26, 2:18, 2:50

One of these things is not like the other. 

Chantelle

Today was the funeral for Chantelle Desmarais. 

Chantelle and her husband Blair are former members of CrossFit Regina, so that's how I met them.  I don't know them as well as some, but everything I do know, I like. 

Chantelle was a lovely person in every sense of the word.

Her courageous battle against cancer inspired countless people.  Her passing is heartbreaking.  She leaves behind a good man, three children who are far too young to have to have their mother stolen from them by the cruel, random whims of a terrible disease, and friends and family who mourn the untimely loss of someone who was -- by all accounts -- a kind and wonderful person.  

Hang Squat Clean / Three Minutes To Win It

A. Hang Squat Clean 3-2-1-1-1

95x3, 105x2, 115x1, 125x1


B. "Three Minutes To Win It"

• Three 3-minute rounds, one minute rest between them.
• In three minutes, do 75 double unders and 35 squats.
• In the time remaining, do as many strict pull-ups as you can.  Score is total number of pull-ups. 

I started out strong and faded.

First round, I did 13 pull-ups. 
Second, six pull-ups
Third, I didn't finish the squats (I got 34) so zero pull-ups. 

Total: 19 pull-ups

Tyler: "My leg's all better." Tyler's leg: "Nuh-uh."

I had to go to Saskatoon for work, and this gave me the opportunity to finally check out CrossFit Brio, which is something I've been wanting to do for some time.

 Brio always has a good representation at Saskatchewan competitions and it seems like they've got a really good sense of community in the gym.  David and Jocelyn, who own the place, are nice people who -- according to Jocelyn -- get into debates over supper about whether Jocelyn can hold a plank for five minutes... debates that need to be settled that very moment by her attempting to do so. 

The gym itself is a nice big open square concept, perfect for all sorts of stuff.  Which is good, because when I was there, that's exactly what they did.

Warm-up was a group 400m run.  They run on the street that goes in front of the gym and the 400m route takes you over a set of train tracks.  So we had to do 10 squats when we crossed the tracks and another 10 when we came back.  

WOD #1

Six-minute AMRAP

10 Toes-to-Bar

10 Jumping squats

10 "Speed Burpees" - These ones were different than what CFR refers to as speed burpees. In the Brio version, when you drop down, you go to a plank but you don't have to touch your chest to the floor.  It is kind of similar to a mountain climber, but you bring both your feet back under you at the same time and jump up.

It was during this WOD, and even during the time before when we were warming up on T2B, that my right leg started to feel pretty tight and a bit uncomfortable.  It hampered my ability to string together T2B during the WOD, other than in the first round.  The speed burpees were pretty uncomfortable, too.  The jumping squats actually seemed to help.  

I got 4 rounds plus 2 T2B

WOD #2

AMRAP - One minute of work, one minute rest. 

Five stations, do each station twice, add up reps.  

Rope Climb

70 lb KB swing

Box Jump (Rx'd was 30", but they didn't have enough boxes that tall, so I did 24") 

Handstand Push-ups 

Double Unders 

  

Gym rule was that you need to wear long socks if you want to climb the rope.  I didn't have any with me, but Jocelyn lent me one of hers.   

I feel pretty.

It had been a while since I'd climbed a rope.  I wasn't worried about the climb, but I was concerned about the dismount.  CFR used to have a big crashpad to drop onto.  Brio has a floor, with thick excess rope gathered at the bottom.  

This means you have to control your descent a lot more, which is great for increasing the level of fitness for people, but bad for the inherently lazy like me.   Since my leg was sending me signals that it was more than willing to stage a mutiny, I wanted to be careful.  

Round 1

2 rope climbs - I thought about going up for a third, but after starting, I quickly abandoned the idea.  One rep wasn't worth the potential for injury.  

20 bell swings -  Did not feel great on the leg.  

20 box jumps - I could have done these with more urgency.  I stepped down, rather than hopped down.  And I was grateful they didn't have another 30" box.

16 HSPU - I think I did 10 straight, took a break, and did another 6.  Coming off the wall was awkward and I tried to use my non-injured leg as much as I could. 

53 Double Unders - Not bad, all things considered.

Round 2

1 rope climb - I had the energy for the second one, but decided to not risk aggravating the leg.  

17 bell swings - I really wanted to beat my previous total.  Then I picked that fucking thing up and gravity reminded me who was in charge.

22 box jumps - Found some of the urgency that was missing in Round 1, even though I was more tired by this point. 

11 HSPU - kept my legs together to get more efficiency out of kip, as Jocelyn had advised.  It helped.  I did 8, stopped, then fell off the wall on my first one back. Did another couple before time ran out.

60 DU - I thought my previous total was beatable.  It was. 

If my math is right, I did 111 reps in each round, good for a total score of 222. 

After a couple days in the car and more sitting around than I'm used to, I'm still feeling it in the leg, but I'm not considering this a major setback.

  

Back at it: Power Snatch and Running

I think the leg injury is mostly behind me now.  Standing up at my desk at work seemed to accelerate the healing, even if I couldn't go to CrossFit for two weeks due to getting snipped.

I'm not lazy.  I'm just not taking any goddamn chances. 

I wasn't completely inactive during this time, though.  Just this past week, the Boy learned to ride his bike without training wheels, so there was some light jogging beside him, mostly to make sure he didn't crash into a car or a tree while he was bragging about how awesome he was doing.

But, my leg and my junk have now healed to the point where I can go back to CrossFit Regina and give "not taking it easy" a shot. 

A. Power Snatch 3-2-1-1-1


95 x 3, 115 x 2, 125 x 1, 135 x 1, 145 x 1(FAIL), 145 x 1

I could feel a bit of tightness in my leg, but I don't think it really hampered anything. 


B. For times:

Run 800m, 400m, 200m, 100m

800m - 3:25
400m - 1:34
200m - 0:45
100m - 0:19

Running felt good.  I didn't think about my leg at all while I was doing it. 

It was pretty dark in the alley, so I wasn't sure about footing and may have been a bit more tentative because of it.  I don't think it made much of a difference in the times. 

I didn't set any PRs, but it feels pretty good to be back. 

"Nicole"

AMRAP in 20mins:
400m Run
Max Pullups

  My leg was still bothering me a bit but I felt it more on the dismount from the bar rather than the runs.  I wouldn't say I was going 100%, but I was going faster than I thought I would've been able to.     This was my first time doing kipping pull-ups since coming back.  It was fine.      Here's how the rounds looked like for me:    400m, 20 pull-ups 400m, 17  400m, 17 400m, 15 400m, 13 400m, buzzer went before I could get to the bar.      

"Helen's Homely Cousin"

Back at CrossFit Regina for a second day, as I seemed to be doing alright after the first day back. 

The WOD was Angie, but that's not something I'm close to ready for. 

I made up my own little thing. 


"Helen's Homely Cousin"

Four rounds:

200m run
12 shoulder press (75lb)
6 deadhang pull-ups

My pace on the run was about the same speed as you'd see me running on the last round of Helen, maybe slower. 

This did allow me to work up a bit of a sweat, and the strict presses became challenging, especially in the later rounds. 

I finished in 9:44.  That's not great, but it's something. 

FMLeg

Leg still hurts. Resting, occasionally stretching, and going to physio didn't seem to help.  I decided that I might as well go back to CrossFit and try to do a little something.

First I just did some stretching, which hurt.  Then, a slow version of the warm-up.  Squats weren't bad. Push-ups and small numbers of deadhang pull-ups were fine, except getting up off the ground was awkward and dismounting from the bar had to be done onto one leg.  I could do the Samson stretch. 

I tried a little bit of light jogging in the alley, maybe 200m.  The leg protested at first, but finally went along with it, grudgingly.  It was the first time I travelled faster than a slow walk in a month, though I did wonder if I would pay for it later. 

I turned up the speed to maybe 50-60%.  It felt good to be moving again, even if I had to ease into a jog, rather than just take off in a sprint. 

I was at the gym during the time set aside to make-up WODs that had been missed.  The WOD for that day included a bunch of stuff that my leg wouldn't let me do.  Hang power cleans, burpees and toes to bar.  I could have done the bell swings at 35lbs, but not 55 (I checked). 

So I made up my own WOD.  It was kind of lame but, then again, so am I (literally).

First minute - one deadhang pull-up, one push-up
Second minute - two and two
Third minute - three and three
etc....

I got through the seventh minute and threw in the towel. 


Later, I actually felt pretty good.  As long as I kept standing.  Sitting down for an extended period (like, say, in a car for the length of time it takes me to drive to work) then attempting to stand and walk still sucks.   

INJURED

I'm going to break one of my cardinal rules of blogging and explain why there have been no updates for a while.

Well, this is a blog that chronicles my results at CrossFit, and for the past month there haven't been any results to chronicle. A few days after Cindy, I noticed that I was experiencing a lot of stiffness and pain in my right leg.  After no improvement for a week, I went to see a doctor who diagnosed me with a muscle strain.

I was given a prescription for anti-inflammatories and a requistion for physio and massage.  I think it's gotten a little better, but some days it's still bad.  I haven't been doing anything more physical than cleaning out my garage or the occasional set of deadhang pull-ups, and I'm going a bit batty. 

"Cindy"

I didn't look at the WOD before I went in.  It's probably good that I didn't. 

"Cindy"

20-minute AMRAP of
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats


Every time I do Cindy, I'm reminded that I don't work enough on my push-ups. 

This time, I wanted to try something different.  I started breaking up the push-ups from the start, thinking it might mean that my arms would take longer to fatigue. 

I think it worked.  I didn't PR this, but I came close. 


17 rounds + 5 pull-ups + 6 push-ups

Edmonton

So we went to Edmonton on this family trip.  We fly in and cab it to the hotel at the West Edmonton Mall.

I had found a CrossFit about 4km away from the mall, so I was pretty psyched

I plan to go there, but then stuff happens and it's our last day in Edmonton, so I've got one last chance.  I have to hit a morning class.  No problem.  I wake up early, hail a cab, and get there at 6:40am. 

Closed.  The affiliate has morning classes, but just not on Tuesdays. 

So I decide to make the best of it and run back to the Mall.  I do sprints, running as hard as a can for the distance of two lengths between streetlights, then walking for two lengths. 

At the hotel, I'm told that there's a Gold's Gym that we can use for free. 

I wander over there, but don't really know what to do with myself.  I try some back squats in a squat cage.  It seems weird to me. 

I do some deadhang pull-ups. 

I row on a poorly maintained C2 rower, as an old lady beside me watches Treehouse on the TV built into the elliptical. 

I cool off by shooting some hoops in a raquetball court. 

Shoulder Press / Back Squats / Sled Drags that didn't suck

A. Max Shoulder Press (one-rep)

115-135-145(PR)-150 (PR)-155(F)

The 150 was a bit of a fight, but I got it up.  I could barely move the 155, though.  Funny how that works.



B. Max Back Squat (one-rep)

I'm still wary of my back, so when I was thinking about squats earlier in the day I thought I might stop at about 250 or so. 

I can't remember my exact progression, but I ended up at:

245-275-305

275 felt pretty good, so I was fairly confident with the 305, which is five pounds shy of my max.  I did ask for spotters, though. 



C. Partner sled drags 80m repeats


The deal here is that partners go back and forth on 40m sprints, dragging a 115m sled for ten minutes. 

I liked this a lot, actually.  I was able to go pretty hard for each of the 8 sprints I did, knowing that it would be over soon and I could stop.  My partner Jamieson apologized for not going faster, but I was happy to have a bit more of a breather. 

Oly Total / Petranek Fitness Test

A. Oly Total

Max one-rep snatch + max one-rep clean and jerk.

It's been a while since I went heavy on the snatch.  (Tee-hee)

As I warmed up, 135 felt pretty good.  155 didn't feel too bad, but 160 just wasn't happening today. 

Snatch: 155

On the clean and jerks, 205 felt like a real struggle.  I failed to clean 215 on my first attempt.  I got the clean on the second, but didn't even come close on the jerk. 

Clean and Jerk: 205

Oly Total: 360


B. Petranek Fitness Test

500m row
40 squats
30 sit-ups
20 push-ups
10 pull-ups

I didn't know what my previous best on this was.  I knew it was probably 4:00 and change and I was sure that I wasn't getting any PRs today.  I finished the row in about 1:40, which is not bad, but then my legs protested loudly and repeatedly as I was doing the squats.  I ended up having to take breaks (SO MANY BREAKS).  

I felt like I was sluggish on the sit-ups.  Push-ups were done in sets of 12, 5 and 3.  I didn't pause too long on the breaks, but still, they were breaks. 

I did the ten pull-ups unbroken, but there was a lot of flailing and extra motion in my attempt to do this quickly.

Finished at 4:16.  Turns out that is a PR over my previous best of 4:23.

Partner Grace & Helen / Parner Rhiannon

A. “Grace and Helen back to back…”


For time:
30 Clean & Jerks (135/95)

then:

3 rounds:
400m Run
21 Bell Swings (55/35)
12 Pullups

Only one partner can work at a time; all work is split. Partners do not have to run together, but no other work can be performed until the last partner enters the building.

I partnered with Nathan. 

For the 30 clean and jerks, I believe I did 13 of them and he did 17, so when we transitioned to Helen, I wanted to give him a bit of a break, so I did 15 of the KB swings in the first round and all of the PLU

Then I was bagged for the second round, so he did 15 of  the swings and half the PLU. 

For the final round, I did maybe 12 (?) of the swings and 7 PLU. 

We finished in 11:37


B. Partner Rhiannon

For shits and giggles afterward, we did 10 minutes of double unders. 

We ended up with over 600... I think 640-something.  Nathan did more of the work on this one, I think. 

Dread the sled

A. Front squats 3-3-3-3

185-195-205-215



B. Sled Drag Suicides

115lbs on the sled. Three rounds of:
Run to the 10m line and back
Run to the 20m line and back
Run to the 30m line and back

Each round is timed individually. 

Sled drags are always horrible for me.  It's deceptive, though.  On paper, they don't seem so bad.  In fact, I always tell myself I'm going to do a bit extra.  Then I do one and I revise my plans.

They start off okay, and I feel like I'm moving pretty quick to the 10m and back.  On the 20m, I'm still hustling, but my legs are starting to mobilize a protest.  By the the 30m turnaround,, I'm fighting for every step.   After the first round, I really didn't want to do it again.  When I stepped up to the line, I felt this faint sensation of fear mixed with nausea.

I wasn't particularly fast with these, but I was very consistent. Other people had huge time disparities between their first run and subsequent ones. 

Round 1 - 1:10
Round 2 - 1:13
Round 3-  1:12

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. 

"A Short Four Minutes"

3 rounds of:

800m Run
15 Burpees
30 KB Swings 70lb KB

Rest 4 minutes between rounds

Rx'd for this WOD was using a 55lb KB, but the ACT kids were using 70lb so I did too. 

(Geez, Tyler, speak in code much, do ya?)

My second round was more than a minute slower than my first. My run took about 35 seconds longer, and I rested more during the bell swings.  I had less of a drop-off for Round 3. 

Round 1: 5:54

Round 2: 6:58

Round 2: 7:02

A Bucketful of Fail

Made it to another 6 a.m. class. 

A.Snatch Complex

Snatch push press + OHS + snatch balance, x2(reps) x3(sets), 65-75% of Snatch

I used 115, which falls nicely between 65 and 75 per cent of my max snatch of 165.   But it was probably too much for me to use today. 

First set - made it through until the snatch balance on the second rep. 

Second set - I think I dropped it on the overhead squat in the first rep. 

Third set - Completed

Fourth set - made it through until the snatch balance on the second rep. 

A bucketful of fail. 

I was a little pissed off about this right after it happened. Then I had to move on to the other parts of the WOD, so I didn't really think about it again until I was home in the shower.  I started to get mad again. 

Then I gave my head a shake and remembered that if I don't fail every now and then, then I'm probably not pushing myself as hard as I should.  It's actually probably a good thing that I failed. 

Hey you can just call me Little Johnny Brightside.

 

B. Weighted pull up 2-2-2-2

25-35-45-57.5(FAIL)

I was trying to break the 55lb PR I set recently.  I didn't have a lot of confidence, though, as 45 was a struggle.  I got one rep at 57.5, if you're feeling generous.  

C. “If Annie and Karen were sisters…”

AMRAP in 20mins:

30 Double-Unders

20 Situps

10 Wall Ball 20/14lb

  Not a lot of surprises on this one.  Because the reps in each exercise were pretty reasonable, there wasn't a lot of excessive resting.     

My DUs were fairly good.  I think there were only a couple of the rounds where I didn't do 30 straight, which is better than I would have expected.   

Sit-ups got tough.  Once that happened, I broke sets up into three-ish.   

Wall balls were done in sets of 10.   

Thanks to a strong push in the last round, I was able to finish my 10th round and get another five DUs in before the clock stopped. 

10 rounds plus five double unders 

  .

Back Squats / KB Cleans and Sled Drags

A. Back Squats

Back Squats 5-5-5 start at 75% and increase


- Nope.  I went light, trying to avoid re-aggravating my back.  My last set was 185. 


Back squats @ 60% of 1 RM 3×10. Rest 90-120s between each set.

- Close.  I did this with 165.  The first ten were hard.  The last ten were much better, and I did them without much of a rest.   



B. “What a Drag”

Every 3min complete: (for 3 rounds)

5 KB cleans left (70/55)

5 KB cleans right

80m sled drag (95/65)

Complete each round under 90sec

The KB cleans, especially with the 70lb KB, were not fun, but at least they were over quickly
Approximate time it took me to complete the work in each of the three rounds:   Round 1 - 75 secs. When I transitioned to the sled drags, I wasted a couple of seconds trying to bring the straps over my shoulders.  Another guy (Eldon?) just held the straps and let his arms trail behind him and he was off to the races.  I copied him.  I fell like I started off slow but picked it up at the end.   Round 2 - 70 secs. Was more efficient in my transition to the sled drags.  I didn't waste time messing with the straps.  Ran hard enough to hate life at the end.   Round 3 - 80 secs.  Thought I'd try the straps over the shoulder again.  Stupid.  Just ended up wasting time and then ended up holding the straps like I did in the first two rounds.  Plus, I was tired.  I'm actually surprised that this time wasn't slower.   

Leya is Awesome (a.k.a. One of those posts in which I eventually link to a blog containing advice that I, upon reading, think is pretty good)

Do you remember that episode of the Simpsons when Homer bought a truck with a snowplow on the front? He became "Mr. Plow" and he started experiencing some success for the first time in his life.

Then, his alcoholic friend Barney became inspired by Homer's example.  Barney bought a bigger truck, dubbed himself "The Plow King," and put Homer out of business with the help of a TV ad featuring a catchy jingle sung by Linda Ronstandt.

While it's been years since I've seen the "Mr. Plow" episode, so I don't know if it's overtly explained, I always figured it was extra painful to Homer to see himself surpassed by a guy on whom he had a head start.  I mean, Homer is portrayed as a loser on "The Simpsons," but compared to pre-Plow King Barney, he was doing alright.  Homer was gainfully employed, a homeowner, and married to a woman who is clearly out of his league.  Barney seemingly lived on a barstool and couldn't utter a sentence without belching.

While the situations aren't exactly parallel, for some reason that episode sprang to mind as I was thinking about the respective CrossFit journeys of Leya and me. Minus the Homer resentment from me.  And the Barney-belching from her.

Here's the part where I explain why I'm not insulting her when I'm comparing her to Barney fucking Gumbel. 

Yeah, I started out kind of fat with a number of unhealthy habits.  Thanks to CrossFit, I lost some weight, gained a significant bit of fitness, learned a thing or two about better eating habits and generally changed my life for the better.  All in all, I do this CrossFit thing pretty good. 

But, if you compare CrossFit apples to apples, Leya kicks my ass.  In a few short years, she's transformed herself into a fucking ninja.  She not only does CrossFit but she actually coaches this stuff, and does so in a way that is intelligent and entertaining.  She went to California to compete as part of CFR's affiliate team. The only way I'm going to California is if my kids convince me that they deserve to go to Disneyland.

Leya also -- on a daily basis -- kicks the ass of a mysterious movement disorder she suffers from called dystonia. She apparently does this through healthy living and sheer force of will.

In addition to that, she's a self-schooled nutrition guru, which is incredible when you consider how unhealthy she was earlier in life.  I forget the exact stat she used to use, but there was one month in her life when she ordered takeout pizza 20+ times.  (I realize she used that as an example of how terrible her diet was but goddamn that still sounds kind of awesome to me).

Meanwhile, I eat 7-11 nachos on a weekly basis and am the top patron of every candy dish within a 100m walk from my desk.  Sure, I posted the "World Class Fitness in 100 Words" on my blog's sidebar.  (One day, I'm going to get around to writing a blogpost analyzing how much of that I actually live by.  Fearless prediction: I will not fare terribly well.)

Also somewhat pertinent to the point that I'm eventually going to make with this post: Leya and I both work in communications.  Although we don't work in the same office, I suspect she's better at that too because of her obsessive attention to detail and because I enjoy reading everything she writes even when it's about stuff I'm not all that interested in.  Kale, for example.  Fuck kale.

Okay here's the point of this: Leya just wrote a very good thing on her blog Dechubbing (even her blog's name is better than mine) about how to eat well without becoming a calorie-counting lunatic.  It was targeted at people who suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome but these are guidelines that are useful to anyone.

Here's an excerpt:

  1. Eat protein every time you eat. Preferably something that once had eyes and a soul or came from something that had eyes and a soul.


2. Eat vegetables every time you eat. Mmm vegetables. Corn, iceburg lettuce and peas are not veggies.

3. Eat starchy carbs. Root vegetables are preferable because they're packed with nutrients that are nicely bioavailable for you. But, eat them when your body needs them. And that's usually after you've worked out.

4. Eat when you are hungry. Hungry is not bored. Hungry is not sad. Hungry is hungry. And if you're hungry, eat!

You should read the rest of the post, which can be found here:  http://dechubbing.blogspot.ca/2013/07/one-of-those-posts-where-i-post-advice.html.

Clean & Jerk / Run & Burp



Warming up with the Boy



A. Clean + Jerk 3-2-1-1-1

3×145, 2×165, 1×185, 1×205, 1×220 (PR)




B. Run + Burpee

Every 2 min for 5 rounds complete:

100m sprint

5 speed burpees

Record each round time. Use a continuous clock and start every 2nd min.


30s, 30s, 29s, 28s, 30s
        Photo courtesy of Drew Fossum.

Fight Gone Worse

“Hope for Cures”

3 rounds:

Burpees

Power Snatch (75/55)

Box Jump (24/20″)

Thruster (75/55)

Chest to Bar Pullups

Same format as Fight Gone Bad.  Five-minute rounds with one minute at each station.  One minute rest between each round.  Your score is your total number of reps.

I was a little pissed off about something before I got to the gym on Saturday. I figured I could use that as motivation to get through the sucky parts of this, because any FGB-style WOD is going to be tough.

Well, I’m not sure if the anger-as-fuel strategy worked. Holy crap, this was terrible. I was terrible.

I had a pretty good pace in the first round, but I was incapable of sustaining it. I went from a score of 90 in the first round, to 59 in the second and 50 in the third. Some drop-off is inevitable, but that’s pretty terrible.

It’s also possible that I wouldn’t have gotten much more than that in the second and third round anyway, so maybe scoring big in the first round was the right way to go.

Yeah… probably not.

Total score: 199

Front Squat Fives / T2B & KB PP AMRAP

A. Front Squats 5-5-5-5

135-165-195-205

205 seemed plenty heavy too me. I wasn't going to push my back too much, and I always think that I'm capable of front squatting more than I actually am. 

I'm in no way sure about anything I did other than the 205

B. AMRAP - 10 minutes

As many rounds as possible of:

10 kettlebell push-press (left arm) - 35lb
10 kettlebell push press (right arm) - 35lb
10 toes-to-bar

I did seven rounds and one push press

At the start, using the kipping technique Aimee showed me, I was finally able to string together 10 T2B for a couple of rounds, and groups of 4-5 in subsequent rounds.  It made a real difference in time.  However, it hurts the hell out of my hands and I eventually had to go back to my one-at-a-time method. 


Hey, speaking of Aimee, she had a hand in decorating the washrooms at CFR, which have been spruced up a bit with some new paint and a couple of new decor touches.  It's very nice.

One of the decor items is a large sign with a series of tips that seem to be telling couples how they can be in a loving and fullfilling relationship.  

But I noticed something kind of funny about it.  See if you can spot it. 

Scroll down if you want to see what I noticed. 



...




...




...







"Stay in bed all day."  Hey, I like the sound of that!  What comes next?

"Create memories you will tell your grandchildren about."  Whaaa....?

How other people see CrossFit, Vol 1

When I describe CrossFit to people who don't know what it is, I usually start out with "It's sort of like a fitness cult." 

While I'm an unabashed CrossFit enthusiast (changed my life, made me a better man, yada yada yada...) like any kind of cult, religion, lifestyle or hobby, there are definitely some aspects that can seem goofy, ridiculous or absurd to the non-believers.  Seeing those people try to describe their encounters with CrossFit can be amusing.

I see examples of this quite a bit.  It seems like a shame that I see them once and then forget about them, and I don't share them with the four people who occasionally read this blog.

So this is the start of a new feature:

How other people see CrossFit

Today's example comes from Hamilton Nolan, a writer for the Gawker and Deadspin websites.  He's the author of "I of the Tiger," an occasional column about fitness and how you're doing it wrong (not you, Leya... you're swell).   From the numerous fitness-related pieces I've read by Mr. Nolan, I'd say he seems to know what he's talking about.  He does believe in the squat.  I mean, he really believes in the squat.  

A while back, Mr. Nolan even wrote this piece that explores, from his perspective, the good and bad of CrossFit, which got some attention among CrossFitters and even attracted a hilarious retort from an active NFL player.  The comment alone makes the article worth the read.  (For the record, I agree with all of the good aspects Nolan identifies, and the stuff he doesn't like about CrossFit that I do like can be chalked up to personal preferences or differences of degree, e.g. I like working out in groups; he doesn't.)
Basically, Nolan sees merit in CrossFit, but isn't afraid to point out the goofy shit about it, too. 

Recently, he authored a terrific piece called "Health is Bad for You: My Weird Weekend at Toronto's Fitness Shitshow"    and that viewpoint comes through loud and clear. 

First, some context.

The Toronto Pro SuperShow is one of North America's biggest fitness extravaganzas: a three-day collection of competitions in bodybuilding, powerlifting, arm wrestling, strongman, Crossfit, boxing, pro wrestling, and just about any other activity that might require you to wear a tank top, all mixed inside a convention center alongside an "Expo" of all the world's workout supplement companies hawking their wares. It is where members of every zealous fitness subculture, from rippling steroid monsters to gaunt competitive jump-ropers, come together in uneasy proximity for one single strange weekend. It is a flourishing zoo, with the human body as every exhibit.

Again, I encourage you to read the whole thing, but I'm going to quote what he  has to say about CrossFit, which actually gets off pretty easy compared to, say, bodybuilding.  (And rightfully so.)

It took only a glance to determine who was who. The powerlifters all wear Chuck Taylors. The Olympic lifters have the straps of spandex singlets hanging down under their shirts. The Crossfitters all wear T-shirts emblazoned with the name of their "box," and they smile with the dead-eyed intensity of Scientologists. The boxers have poorly drawn boxing gloves tattooed somewhere close to their necks. The bodybuilders have shirt collars and sleeves stained by excess spray tan, like the red dust one might accumulate while rock climbing in the desert.

Yeah.  I have met a number of CrossFitters who do have a vaguely Tom Cruise-ish way about them. 

There's more.  Much more. 

Crossfit is good, clean fun that makes your skin crawl. All the Crossfit teams looked like Abercrombie & Fitch retail staffers on their days off. Crossfit is the office bowling league of a generation far too good for bowling leagues. Crossfitters tend to have the bright smiles, boundless energy, and barely concealed smugness often associated with adherents of slightly denigrated religions, like Mormons or Heaven's Gate UFO doomsday preppers.

CrossFitters do spend a lot of time talking about how our CrossFitness will uniquely prepare us for the zombie apocalypse, which is ridiculous. 

I mean, the far more realistic apocalypse scenario is the technological apocalypse in which computers become sentient, declare war on humans, trigger a nuclear war to kill most of the human race, and develop near-indestructible robot terminators to hunt the remaining human survivors.

It's so bloody obvious. 

Anyway, back to Nolan's article. 

Sometimes they don't do a great job concealing the smugness. One girl sported a T-shirt reading, "Crossfit is like a fine art. Critiqued by many. But understood by few."


Haha, yes, well. How special.

Okay.  I will admit that I have spent good money on a T-shirt from CrossFit affiliates I've visited, only to have second thoughts about putting on the shirt because of my fear that the slogan on it will make me seem like a pretentious douchebag. 

Don't get me wrong... I always put on the shirt.  But there is usually that brief internal debate.

Crossfitters are impeccably fit, generally affluent and attractive, and, I think, worthy of scorn, because that they revel in overthrowing the yin-and-yang that allows society to tolerate fit people. Bodybuilders look great, but their lifestyle is freakish; weightlifters are strong, but often look like dumpsters; athletic people in general may be able to beat you up, but you can take private satisfaction in the knowledge that they're dumb. It's a matter of hydraulics. Every benefit must come with an equivalent fault, or the social fabric will rupture. Crossfit, though, aims to take educated, attractive, popular, upwardly mobile, fashion-forward people, and also make them super-fit, so that there is no area in which the average person may measure up.

Mr. Nolan, if it makes you feel better, I'm not really that upwardly mobile or fashion-forward.  I am reasonably educated, decently popular and incredibly attractive.

(I'm kidding, of course. My ego is not that out of control. The truth is I'm only somewhat popular.) 

(I do not recommend working out in a group, and I certainly don't recommend working out in a group of super-fit type-A overachievers. Bad for one's self-esteem.) Indeed, Crossfitters would doubtless be poised to take over the world if not for their collective sense of persecution and tendency to trumpet their hobby to the world by draping themselves in branded apparel, up to and including the T-shirt I saw on one guy in Toronto that had been painstakingly folded so that only the "WODKilla" slogan showed and then wrapped into a bandanna that matched a pair of neon yellow sneakers.

I haven't encountered that many CrossFitters with a sense of persecution, but most are big fans of branded apparel. 

I can safely say that I will never wear anything with "WODKilla" on it.  That would be blatant false advertising.  I might go for something that said "WODTrya"

Doing burpees does not constitute an identity. Take up jazz, or something.

NO.  Jazz is the worst.  Unless it's being delivered by one Ron Burgundy. 

Okay, after that pleasing musical interlude, let's see what else Mr. Nolan had to say:

And for the entire weekend, everything hummed on at once under the featureless roof of the convention center. The powerlifters tottered out stiff-legged in their knee wraps and bent under a squat bar; the Olympic lifters brushed their hands with chalk and adjusted their singlets; the Crossfitters swung from pull-up bars like flopping fish and slapped high-fives...

That totally reminds me, I need to work on my butterfly kip.