Back at CrossFit after a week off. The week off wasn't really intended, but I slept in a couple of times and missed 6am WODs. Taking a rest week wasn't a bad thing, as it turns out, but I was glad to get back there tonight.
Did max deadlift singles. For me, it went like this:
285 lbs (PR) 300 lbs (PR) 305 lbs (PR)
I need to get stronger. I wish I could figure out a way to join strength club, but it's only open to unlimited members and evenings are pretty tough anyway.
The worst part about the deadlifts wasn't my inability to lift any more weight off the ground. It was the fact that we had to listen to that crap Miley Cyrus song, "Party in the USA" which is the last thing you want to hear when trying to pick heavy things off the ground. I rant further here.
Then it was time for "Chipper From Helen":
1200m run 63 55lb bell swings 36 pull-ups
The run went really good. I wasn't really sure how to pace myself, but I never got tired and finished it under 5:20.
Bell swings, I did 35-15-13.
Pull-ups, I would have liked to sting together a few more at the start but I only did 12-9-5-5-5.
Time was 10:22.
Better than I expected. Still have some work to go to match machines like Chris T, Nick, and Franz, who were all sub-10.
That was a line I used to explain why I decided to sign up for Division 1 at the Saskatchewan CrossFit Challenge.
In CrossFit, the biggest competition is within yourself. How much did I improve from the last time I did this? Did I go faster? Did I lift more?
It makes sense that those are the victories you focus on and chase, because you will see progression, and that progression will motivate you to keep coming and to keep improving. Especially when you first start out, and the WODs seem impossible and the people who can do them all as rx'd seem like impossibly athletic cyborgs.
This article from Again Faster reminds us that it's not such a bad thing to look at those around you who are stronger and/or faster than you. And, rather than accept the fact that they are better at CrossFit (or at least certain aspects of it), and they always will be... why not try to catch up?
Rather than look at the fastest guy or gal in your class and say, "She's amazing, I could never do what she's doing," maybe look at what they are doing and realize that it is possible for a human to perform at that level.
There will be times that you surprise yourself. It happened with me when I did "Helen" and you know the real reason why? I was trying to come close to Robin's score.
Look, I know there are limits to what a human body can do, and as a 33-year-old, three-or-four-day-a-week CrossFitter who likes to drink beer and eat shitty food on occasion, I might not ever get 23+ rounds of "Cindy" like James. I might not ever get a 346 on Fight Gone Bad like Franz. I might not ever run a 5K in 21 minutes like Nick.
It was held at CrossFit Saskatoon on Saturday and it was a hell of an event. I started shitting bricks about Thursday.
There were more than 80 athletes from Regina, Saskatoon, and a handful from Alberta.
WOD 1 800m run 50 45lb sandbag thrusters 30 burpee pull-ups to an 8'5" bar.
12 minute time limit.
Here's a video explaining in detail.
I just wanted to get done this. With the time limit, there were plenty of good athletes who didn't get done in the earlier rounds, and I really didn't want to get a DNF. 12 minutes isn't a lot of time for this. There's no shame in a DNF, but I really, really wanted to finish this one.
I was one of the first ones in from the run, did the thrusters in sets of 25, 10, 5 and 10.
The last part was the worst. Burpulls to a fucking 8-foot-5 bar. That's like Nature taunting me for being short. I'm 5'9" with no vertical, and actually missed my first fucking jump, and at least a couple others.
I finished in 10:57, I think. That was good for 9th place out of the Division 1 men.
WOD 2 Anyway Overhead
You get three lifts. The heaviest weight you can take from the rack, onto your shoulders and then overhead counts, whether it's press, pushpress, push jerk or split jerk.
Demo video:
I haven't done enough weightlifting to know my max, and I didn't warm up because I'm an idiot who doesn't pay attention enough to know when it was almost our time. First lift was 135. Second was 165. I almost asked for 180, but went to 185 on the third and got it. I may have been able to do a bit more, but not much. There were some really strong dudes in Division 1, so 185 was only good for 14th in that event.
WOD 3 Three rounds of 1 minute Row for Calories 1 minute 95lb Snatch 1 minute Double Unders 1 minute 75lb KB swings 1 minute Rest
Demo video:
It's scored like a Fight Gone Bad, so maximizing reps was everything. The way this was structured, if someone is good at DUs, they were going to do well... as long as they had something left in the tank by the time they got there. Good news for me, who can do them, bad news for awesome athletes like James who just don't do them that much. I borrowed Hardcore Ange's speed rope and did okay on them.
Those 75lb KB swings were just inhuman. See the picture at the top of this post. The rest was basically just enough time to get back into the rower. It was good for 5th place in this round. After everything was said and done, I finished in 8th place out of 19 guys. I have absolutely no problems with that, and feel lucky to have finished that high. Hell, Robin and Flood finished in 8th in their divisions, and I'm flattered to be in the same company as them.
Christian was the top CFR rep in Division 1, coming in fifth place. We had five guys in the top 10, though. Kelly and AngDesj were 1 and 2 in the women's podium. BrianB got third in Division 2, though he should have been in Division 1, and probably would have finished higher than me.
I was so grateful to have my wife Tracey and the Boy cheering me on in events 1 and 3, taking pictures and making sure I got plenty of good nutrition before and after. I am sure that I wouldn't have done nearly as well without her coming with me. Tracey was completely supportive and she was on "Mom" duty for the better part of the weekend so I could focus on the SCFC events (and then the afterparty). Yeah, I'm not sure what I did to deserve someone so awesome, either.
The Boy (two years old) even showed off his burpee technique in between events and won a few fans.
I also consider myself fortunate that I was able to go to this great event with an awesome group of people from CrossFit Regina. There were no assholes and no egos, just strong, supportive people who cheered on their fellow athletes. We even got visited by Nick and Christine, awesome CrossFitters themselves, who drove up just to cheer us on.
This is basically a workout journal that I use to keep track of my workout results. I started Sissy Hands in 2009, a few months after I started going to CrossFit Regina. I find this is better organized and more convenient (for me, anyway) than a notebook. I'm under no illusion that this blog would be interesting to anyone else, except perhaps for the people I work out with.
These days, I work out when I can at B Squad Fitness , the Regina Boxing Club and OPEX Regina. I regularly do workouts with my buddy Nickin my basement or one of our garages. When motivation strikes, I also exercise on my own as a weird grunting loner.
I'm not an elite athlete or a certified fitness professional. I'm just a dude who learned that exercise had a place in my life, and then became less fat and weak than I was. However, I still binge on crappy food and skip workouts more than I should. Yes, I really do eat 7-11 nachos on a semi-regular basis.
If you came to this blog because you're a spambot, please achieve sentience and then die painfully. At the very least, don't leave a comment on my posts.
To see me write about stuff other than burpees and pull-ups, you'll have to follow me on Twitter
Annie: 8:04, (Feb. 24, 2012) Previous was 8:53 Angie: 22:25 (Nov. 18, 2009) Barbara: 3:39, 5:20, 5:54, 5:32, 5:28 = Total work time of 25:45 (Dec. 22, 2009). Previous was 26:44 total work time on Sept. 9, 2009 Christine: 13:40 w/185lbs (Aug 1, 2012) Cindy: 17 rounds plus 5 PLU + 10 PU + 4 SQ (Nov. 30, 2009) Diane: 10:47, with 185lb DLs and kipping HSPU (August 24, 2009) Elizabeth: 12:49 (August 4, 2010) Fran: 4:50 (Sept. 14, 2012) Previous 5:03 (Sept. 10, 2010) GI Jane: 18:25 (Sept. 29, 2009) Helen: 9:24 (Sept. 27, 2010). Previous: 9:42 (Aug. 31, 2009) Isabel: 6:45 (Aug 22, 2012) Previous: 8:16 Jackie: 8:16 (Dec. 12, 2011) Previous: 8:35 Karen: 8:15 (October 22, 2010. ) Previous: 9:55, (June 17, 2009) Kelly Overboard: 33:17 (Dec. 2009) Nancy: 15:47 (Nov. 11, 2009) Rhiannon: 420 (Dec. 30, 2014) Tabata This PLU, PU, SU, SQ: 333 (Dec 10, 2011) Petranek Fitness Test: 4:16(July 22, 2013) Previous 4:23 Filthy 50: 31:33 (July 2, 2012) Previous: 33:14 Fight Gone Bad: 318 (Sept 26, 2009) Previous: 291 (July 18, 2009), 256 (Sept 27, 2008) Bear: 130 lbs. (May 16, 2012) Tiger: 14 rounds + 5 DL + 1 HPC (Oct 20) 400m run: 1:17 (Nov 16, 2009) 800m run: At CrossFit Regina 2:57 (Nov 6, 2009), On puddle-spotted Usher track 2:55 (May 26, 2012) 1km run: 4:01 (Sept. 3 2010) Previous: 4:17 (May 15, 2010 - post-workout) 5km run: 24:55 500m row 137.7 (Oct. 18, 2011) 1km row: 3:30. 2 (Nov. 16, 2010) 100 calorie row for time: 5:34 (Oct. 10, 2015) Consecutive Kipping Pull-ups: 33 (May 4, 2010) Consecutive Deadhang Pull-ups: 16 (Nov. 9, 2013) Consecutive Double Unders: 98(Nov. 5, 2014) CrossFit Total: 705 (Dec. 7, 2009) Bench Press: 190x1 (April 7, 2015) 165 x 3 (Aug. 17, 2012) 155 x 5 (July 12, 2010) Deadlift: 315lbs x 1 (Dec. 7, 2009) 295x5 (Jan. 8, 2013) PowerClean and Jerk: 215lbs (July, 8, 2013) Squat Clean and Jerk: 205lbs (Jan 14, 2013) Power Clean 225 x 1 (Jan. 19, 2013) 205 x 3 (Sept 10, 2012) Hang Power Clean: 175x3, 205x1 (July 5, 2011) Squat Cleans: 185lbs x 3, 205lbs x 1 (June 11, 2012) Power Snatch: 165 (May 26, 2012) Hang Power Snatch: 135lbs x 3, 155lbs x 1 (Oct. 24, 2011) Squat Snatches: 135lbs x 3 (April 23, 2012) 150lbs x 1 (April 23, 2012) Back Squats: 280 x 5 (June 20, 2012), 290 x 3 (March 14, 2012) 300 x 2 (March 6, 2012) 310 x 1 (Oct. 25, 2012) Front Squats: 225 x 5 (Jan 10, 2012) 225 x 3 (May 11, 2011), 255 x 1 (Sept. 12, 2012) Overhead Squats: 165lbs x5 (July 13, 2011) 180lbs x 3 (Feb. 3, 2012), 190lbs x 1 (May 14, 2012) Push Press 190 x 3 (Jan. 8, 2013) 200 x 1 (Jan 16, 2013) Rack Jerks 195 x 2, 215 x 1 (Oct, 2011) Shoulder Press: 135lbs x 1(Nov 4, 2011), 130 x 5 (May 10, 2010) Weighted Pull-ups 55lbs x 2 Total Muscle-Ups (Lifetime): 32 (Most recently: 2 on April 23, 2015.) 30 Muscle-Ups, Vol. 2 Start Date:April 23, 2015
World-Class Fitness in 100 Words:
Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc hard and fast. Five or six days a week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.
