Does it work?

Still alive

2009-03-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

A brief update, since people were emailing me that I hadn't updated.

* In general, I'm doing two Heavy days plus two Mediums and one or two Light/Aerobic days each week. It hasn't been very formal, depends on how I feel that day. The weights are moving up. I'm finally at a kinda-lean 200#.

* I'm doing 50 pushups each night regularly, more irregularly is 50 squats and 50 situps. The pushups might be 2x20 regular + 1x10 narrow or 5x10 explosive or whatever.

* I'm wearing around a 20 pounds weight vest all the time. Started with a 10 pound vest but 20 pounds is more appropriate for me. I try to do some plyometrics on the Medium or Light days. Reason behind wearing a weight vest? Read this

* I'm trying to walk to/from school more often. This takes 40-45 minutes each way and when combined with the vest, seems to be burning off some fat.

last week

2009-01-31T13:39:00.000-08:00

1-26-09
I wasn't supposed to do anything today but it was warm and I felt really good. So I did a quick 15 minutes of pullups and dips, plus a few sets of crunches. I'm glad that I did.

1-27-09
Heavy Weight day
Regular warmup
Squat: 135x10, 185x6, 195x5, 215x5, 225x5, 235x5
DB Bench: 40# DBs x 10, 60x6, 80x5, 85x5, 85x5, 85x5
Seated 1-arm row: 4x[100x5 (each side)]

This felt like a good workout. I liked the weights.
1-28-09
This was a G/M day, so after the warmup, I did 5 sets of [5 1-leg squats to chair/low bench (each leg) + spring down basketball court, jog back, sprint out, jog back]. It took 6:30.

1-29-09
Busy day at school. Pushed the workout off until tomorrow.

1-30-09
Regular warmup followed by 20:00 of [5 lunges (each side) holding 30# DBs and doing upright row at the top + 5 lunges holding 30# + 10 burpees + 10 crunches]. It was plenty tough. I took rest by doing more crunches near the end. Sometimes 12, sometimes 15. It was a good workout.

Two for the price of one

2009-01-25T22:27:00.001-08:00

1-24-09
Another W(eightlifting) day. After a solid warmup of jumprope|pushups|air squats|shoulder rotations|stop-overs/unders, I got right to it.

Deadlift	135x8, 225x5, 275x5, 285x5, 295x5, 305x5
Military Press	barx10, 65x8, 95x5, 100x5, 110x5, 115x5
weighted pullups	4x[40#x5]

* The deadlifts were a little lighter than last week but I did them all clean, from the floor. I felt that this was a better workout than my last deadlifts. I should start with 285 next week.
* The press felt pretty good too. Maybe start with 100# next time.
* I was a little tired by the pullups but I focused on making each one strong. I could stick with 40# and try to do them straight in a row or go up to 45# and focus on making each one explosive.

Finished with some ab crunch work on the bosu ball plus 5kg ball held in different positions.

1-25-09
Ran for 28:11. Pretty hilly, got my pulse up. Supposed to throw some G element in but I just felt like running. It was a good workout.

All Together Now

2009-01-22T23:01:00.000-08:00

Today's workout was a GMW workout. After my usual warmup (although I need to stop cutting corners on the jumprope. Jump for a minute, not 40s, not 55s.)
[1-arm OH lunge (5 reps each arm), bent row, burpees (w/o pushup)]. I used 35# for the lunge and 90# for the bent row.
I did this for 18:00 and was shot. Meant to go for 20 minutes but I was getting sloppy holding the weight up for the lunge. This was a Good Workout. I was breathing hard, struggling to keep form. For next time, I want to use more weight for the bent row, like 115#. I will keep the lunge weight the same just b/c it was my shoulders that made me finish a little early.
I finished the workout with weighted crunches on a ball.

P.S. Today was 11 [pushups, squats, crunches] at home.

G, the MW

2009-01-21T22:13:00.000-08:00

Keeping up with my own CrossFit(tm)-style workouts...

1-20-09
This was a G(ymnastics) day. The template said to spend 45 minutes working on my handstands. I knew there was no way I was strong enough to do that for 45 minutes. So after my usual jumprope, squats, step-over/unders, I worked on pistol squats and then handstands.

Pistol Squats - I read through Pavel's Naked Warrior first. Then I spent ~15 minutes working on pistol (one-legged) squats, moving to lower and lower platforms to rest my bum on. I stopped when I was too tired to stand up cleanly. Probably did 7 or 8 sets of 5 reps on each leg, with stretching after every two sets. Some reps would be clean and strong. Others felt sloppy and weak. Form and tension really make a big difference.

Handstands - I probably spent about 8 minutes on this total, with maybe 5 actually being in a handstand position. I put my hands close to a wall and then kicked up and rested my feet lightly against the wall. Before I ended each rep, I'd try to pull my feet away from the wall and balance there. This was super tiring! It is going to take some time just to get the strength to stay in that position and only then will I try to do it without the support of the wall.

1-21-09
Today was a M(etabolic)- W(eight) day. After the usual warmup, I did 5 x [10 Burpees w/ pushup at the bottom + [5 Hang Clean + Push Press @ 95#]]. This took 10:59 and had me breathing pretty hard at times. I could've cleaned more, maybe even as high as 135# but I would've had problems pressing that right now. Next time I do something like this workout, I'll keep the weights/numbers the same and just try to go faster. Maybe move up in weight when I can do this under 8:00. I could've gone faster if I had gotten rid of the pushup in the burpees and/or the push press. My shoulders were pretty tired. I think I'm going to incorporate burpees more into my Metabolic-combo workouts. 3 sets of lightly-weighted crunches and then I was done.

2009-01-19T10:15:00.001-08:00

This is where I deviate a little from the formal CrossFit schedule. Instead of 3 on, 1 off, I do 3 on, 1 off, 2 on, 1 off. This fits the week better (and I like consistency) plus I will always have a W(eight) day on the two-day segment. So without further ado, the workouts...

1/17/2009

Regular warmup	jumprope, pushups, squats, shoulder rotations, step-overs/unders. I did some double-unders, better than I have in the past plus some single-leg jumping.
Deadlift	135x8, 225x6, 4x[315x5]
Military Press	barx10, 65x10, 95x5, 3x[105x5]
Pullups w/ weight	4x[30#x5]

The deadlifts were harder than I thought. I did the last three sets by starting from standing up. This is easier for some reason.

After the deadlifts I was pretty bushed. Hard to stay focused for the presses and pullups. I'm also fighting a cold and I think that caught up to me.

I ended with some crunches.

1/18/2009
Today was a G(ymnastics)/W(eight) day. I did an easy 25:00 trail run with Nicole, with two or three stops to do 10 pushups as fast as I could.
Today was also Day 7 of my Challenge. Every day I do one more pushups, situp and squat than the day before. These are done at night, independently from any workouts I did that day. I guess the goal is to get to 100.

All together now

2009-01-15T23:33:00.000-08:00

Today was scheduled to be a MGW day and so it was, as best I could. It began with the usual warmup (jumprope, pushups, squats, steop-over/under, shoulder rotations). I did some double-unders for one round. I need to work on those more. They really are pretty hard.
The workout was...

as many rounds as possible in 20:00

25 mountain climbers, 10 pullups, 10 thrusters

If you aren't familiar with 'mountain climbers', here is a clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSTK0XzbFN0
I did these b/c I wasn't sure if the ceiling would be high enough to jumprope. It is hard to do the metabolic conditioning part of these CrossFit workouts inside. Not enough room to run. Not enough 'height' to jumprope. Besides mountain climbers, I could do burpees or maybe jumping jacks.
I used 40# DBs for the thrusters.

Overall it was a good workout. I got through 6 sets, I think, in 20:36. I really died off during the last 10:00! Breathing really hard, this was how I expected to feel yesterday.

GW to you

2009-01-14T12:08:00.000-08:00

In CrossFit terms, today was a GW day (gymnastics/weightlifting). I used the example given in the CrossFit template PDF (http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:uYtXVMI72zUJ:library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/06_03_CF_Template.pdf+CrossFit+template+site:crossfit.com&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us) of 5 rounds of [handstand pushups/deadlift] for time.
After a good warmup of jumprope, pushups, air squats, step-overs & step-unders, and shoulder rotations, the workout was...

5 rounds of

pike pushups, deadlift (225,245, 265, 285, 305)

I wasn't sure about true handstand pushups, so I did them in a pike position that was pretty near vertical. As it turns out, these weren't that hard, so I'll get my feet elevated more next time. It had been a long time since I deadlifted but the weight moved pretty easily. I wasn't breathing like a train so I will try harder next time. The total time was 6:32.
I then did 4 sets of Tabata (20s on, 10s off) hanging knee raise and two sets of lat pulldown, just to get the feel of contracting my back.

Back In The Saddle, Part Deux

2009-01-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, I did almost no workouts for the last six weeks or so. I totally vegged out over break. But I'm back, with a slightly different plan than last semester. I had a weight-centric focus then but I'm swinging back towards a CrossFit/all-around fitness focus. I'm happy around 200# and I want to run a race or two this Spring. Maybe even a 50 miler Just In Case(tm) I want to run another 100 next Summer.

1-11-2009
5 minutes of warmup, 1:00 jump rope, 10 good pushups, 1:00 jump rope, 10 good air squats, 1:00 jump rope, 10 shoulder rotations, 1:00 jump rope, 5 step-overs + 5 step-unders both directions.
20:00 [5 DB military 30#, 5 pull-ups, 10 crunches] I lot count of how many sets I did. I was sweating but not breathing that hard. It was a good starting-back-up workout.

1-12-2009
Mondays are probably going to be rest days and/or easy metabolic conditioning days. It was a beautiful day so I rode my bicycle to school and back. Plus I started a challenge of 1 pushup, 1 situp, 1 squat each day, adding one to each every day. The goal is to do this for 100 days. These are to be done before I go to bed and are on top of any other training I'm doing.
1 pu, 1 su, 1 sq

1-13-2009
Today was a metabolic conditioning day, so I ran for 30:00 incl. 4 x hill (0:40 up, 1:20 jog down). Then I biked to school.

Pullups

2008-11-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

Found the time to do a workout today. I didn't feel like moving any weights so I did an 'Angie'.

100 pullups	~12:30, I needed a lot of rest and I don't kip very well.
100 pushups	~8:30 Plain out of shape; Noticed that hand placement made a huge difference (moving hands up made it easier)
100 situps	~5:00 4 sets of 25, was strong almost up to 75
100 squats	<4:00 Took a brief pause at 50, picked up the pace around 80. Definitely my strongest exercise

Took me just under 30 minutes. I needed a lot of rest time on the pullups! I saw online that Greg Amundson did it in 12 minutes! Yikes! I need to kip better and just get all-around better at pullups to imagine getting to 20 minutes.

Intermittent at best

2008-11-18T13:04:00.000-08:00

Final exams are right around the corner so I'm just happy to get to the gym when I can. I've stopped doing the Heavy/Variety program and switched to doing the Statham workout, for lack of a better name (see it here). I don't have the facilities that he has so here is what I did today.

Rowing	10:00
One exercise, sets of 5	10:00 Cable Row machine, 180#
High intensity lifting	using 40# DB, [2-hand DB swingx10,10 situps, 10 cleans(5 each side), 10 situps, 10 presses (5 each side), 10 situps,10 DB overhead lunge (5 each side), 10 pushups, 10 situps]x2 plus started a third round. 10:00

I was breathing pretty hard and my lats are sore as hell. This was a good workout. But if I'm this sore right after the workout, I wonder if I'll be able to keep it up every day.

Baby steps

2008-11-12T18:25:00.000-08:00

Another heavy day. My right hand is still not 100% so I squatted instead of deadlifts. The workout was ...

squats	some air squats, barx10, 95x10, 135x6, 185x6, 245x5, 255x5, 265x5, 265x5
Military Press	barx10,65x10, 95x8, 115x8, 115x6
Pullups, weighted	bodyweightx5, [45x5]x4

I finished up with some ab work and 2x20 pushups.

I'm really liking squats. Once you get used to the feeling of the heavy weight, it isn't hard to squat heavy. Overhead presses weren't with me today. I did as much as I could but I was still tired from yesterday.
My hand held up to the pullups so I think I'll deadlift next time.

Not-Heavy Day

2008-11-11T21:38:00.000-08:00

My workout has devolved into two heavy days/week, maybe one medium day and two or three Variety(?) days. Today was one of the latter and it went a little something like this...

Rowing Machine	10:00, 2515 meters
Incline Bench	70#, sets of 5, 6 or 7 sets in 10:00
Push press/Cable Row	10:00

Smooth, not too physically taxing, not too mentally taxing. I see more workouts like this as I get closer to finals.

I kinda miss squats

2008-11-09T21:32:00.000-08:00

Again with the two-workouts-in-one-report.
Not much to report for Friday's workout. Another [10 minutes rowing, 10 minutes OH Press, 10 minutes pulldown/Inc. Bench no rest]. I was limited in exercises b/c I ripped open my hand deadlifting the day before. I like this abbreviated 30 minutes workout and expect to do it a lot as I get closer to finals.

Today was a Heavy day. I still can't deadlift heavy b/c of the hand injury, so I squatted. The workout was...

Squat	barx10, 135x10, 185x8, 205x5, 245x5, 245x5, 245x5
Overhead Press	barx10, 65x10, 95x6, 125x5, 125x5, 125x5, 115x5
Hammer Pulldown	140x10, 180x10, 230x6, 230x5, 230x5

Finished with two sets of 10 on seated rows (140#), a bunch of ab stuff with medicine ball and two sets of 20 pushups. Right hand is healing nicely.
I felt really good about the squats. My last two sets were my best. I forgot to do any warmup and felt really creaky up until I started the 245's. Note to self, don't be afraid of doing an extra set or two of warmups. I could easily have done 255-260# for a few sets today. I'm not far off where I was at the end of the Summer Of 5x5.

Heavy Metal

2008-11-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

Back on track today. I started with the usual warmup of jumprope, shoulder swings, squats and pushups. The workout was ...

Deadlift	135x10, 225x5, [385x3, 385x3, 385x3, 315x3] where the [] sets were on pins.
Overhead Press	barx10, 95x6, 115x5, 135x2, 120x5, 120x5
Hammer Row	90x10, 140x10, 140x10

Points

I did my Dead sets on pins, lowering a notch each set. I like this workout when moving up in weight b/c it introduces you to a heavier weight both mentally and physically.
I ripped off a callus on the last set of deads and was bleeding on the bar. I didn't notice it until I was taking the weights off.
Because of the rip on my hand, I couldn't do pullups. So I did the Hammer rowing machine instead. It was some back work and I could hold on with my fingers.
I was surprised at my failure at 135# for the OH Press. I've done more reps at that weight in other weeks. I think 120-125 is a good weight to try next time.

Deads are hard on your hands...

The Week That Was

2008-11-05T22:44:00.000-08:00

This week is what it is going to be like during Finals. Very busy, reduced workouts and post-dated reports.
I last lifted on Tuesday. I didn't have a lot of time so I tried one of my 'new' workouts, just to try one on for size. These are the workouts I plan on starting after Thanksgiving. The workout was...

10 minutes of	rowing machine
10 minutes of	Med-Heavy lifting on one exercise: Military Press
10 minutes of	Circuit (Hammer Pulldown/Hammer Inc. Bench)

1. Rowing is good exercise! The first few minutes were a warmup then I really got my heart pumping, and my legs tired, by pulling hard for 6 minutes, then a 2 minute warm down.
2. I got about 6 sets of 5 reps at 95 pounds on the military press. I will try it with 115 or 125 next time. I was resting almost a minute b/n sets.
3. I did the bench/pulldown back-to-back w/o any rest. Just kept doing 10 reps and switching. Both were both done with 110#. It was a good weight as I had a hard time getting 10 smoothly at the end of 10 minutes.

As far as incorporating some cardio work while keeping up heavier lifting, I think this was a good workout. I need to come up with other combinations (Thrusters/Pullups, Deadlifts/Pushups, DB Cleans/Overhead Lunges).

Two for the price of one

2008-11-02T22:54:00.000-08:00

Two workout reports here. One was for last Friday and one is for today.
Not much to report for Friday, really. I was still tired, physically and mentally, so I did some 6" box squats and then two sets of normal back squats but only with 185#. I did a few (three, I think) sets of incline bench with 60, 75, 75 pounds. I think I got 10 on the first two and 8 on the last set. I did one more set of flat DB bench at 75# and got 6. I was really out of steam at this point and wandered around doing some ab work and some tri work.

Today was brief b/c the dog I was babysitting was in the car.
The workout was...

Deadlift	135x10, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x5, 365x5, 365x3, 315x5
OH Press	bar x 10, 95x8, 115x5, 135x5, 125x5, 125x5
Pullups, weighted	[45x5]x3

I was still tired and not really sure if I could do 365# today. I lacked the conviction going in. I went for a drink before trying 365# and this guy asked how many sets I had left. I told him I just needed some floor space and could move the bar so he could use the platform. I didn't really think it through but just walked over, picked up the bar, backed up about 5 feet, turned around and knocked out 4 more reps. Thinking about moving the weight but not about lifting it made the set almost easy. After reading 'Zen and the Art of Archery' today, I think it was a very Zen experience.
I got through a heavy-ish military press workout but it was kinda loose. I push my hips back too much to get the last few reps. Doesn't seem healthy. I want to keep a 'full' lower back, kinda like good Tai Chi posture.

Also, I'm running low on energy as this semester gets busy. I can't keep up the Heavy/Medium/Variety(CrossFit) workouts now. I've also been going hard on the heavy weights for a few months. I plan on keeping the heavy stuff twice/week until Thanksgiving and cutting back on intensity on everything else. Starting at Thanksgiving, I want to do shorter workouts as many days/week as I can manage. I look at this as a good time to do more cardio and lose a little bodyfat. (Funny, the calipers say 7 mm, ~11% BF but I feel fatter than that.) The workout I have in mind is something like this 'Jason Statham' workout. 10 minutes of rowing is a good thing, then 10 minutes of heavy lifting (I figure one basic exercise, with a different one each workout [squat, deadlift, military press, pullups), then 10 minutes of intense circuit training (I think some CrossFit workouts will fit the bill here, ie. Joshie)

2008-10-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

I didn't do much today. Walked almost an hour after dropping off my motorcycle to the shop. Rode my bicycle into school. Did two rounds [10 DB push press (one side), 10 lunges w/ DB overhead (both sides), 10 push presses (other side), 10 lunges w/ DB overhead (both sides)]. Tiring! Then did two rounds of 5 reps of DB snatches. Used 50# DB for all this.

Did some situps and triceps work just for fun. I didn't want to tire myself before tomorrow.

Deads and not Dead

2008-10-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hello Dear Reader,
Did I forget about you? Did I give up working out entirely? Did I die? No, no, and no. I simply have not worked out in a week. It wasn't intentional. School and life got busy. I finally got back to the gym today, which I will address shortly.
Entering the workout, I was scared that I had lost a lot of ground on the deadlift. I had been stuck at 335# for awhile. I was so out-of-sorts that I forgot to do my warmup, so I was standing at the bar cold. I took some time to do a few more sets but I didn't know what to expect.
The workout was ...

Deadlift	135x10, 185x8, 225x6, 275x5, 315x5, 365x5, 365x5
Pullups, weighted	42.5x5, 40x5, 40x5
OH Press	barx10, 65x10, 95x8, 115x5, 125x5, 125x5

I finished with some weighted crunches on a machine in the new weight room. It was one of those machines where you crunch forward as you also lift your knees. I liked that you could put a lot of weight on and do explosive crunches.
I also did 2x20 pushups.

What can I say but that I am as surprised as you are that I got 365# for two sets of 5. A few weeks ago, I could barely get it off the ground. Today, it seemed to jump off the ground! I'm curious what anyone who reads this thinks b/c there are a bunch of variables that could've caused this, incl.

My back needed a week off of rest.
I didn't do an intense CrossFit workout the day before.
The special exercises (lifting off of pins, roman chair) I added physically prepared me for this.
The special exercises (lifting off of pins, roman chair) I added mentally prepared me for this.
This was just the natural result of my lifting.

The first set of deads was downright easy. The second set started with a long, hard pull but once I got it up, the rest were alright. No problem with my grip. But deads do a job on my hands...

Be flexible some days

2008-10-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

Today was a Heavy day although I felt sore from yesterday, especially traps down the spine. After failing on 365# twice last workout, I wanted to do something to work with 365#.
The workout was ...

Deadlift	135#x8, 225x5, 315x3, 365x3,365x3, 365x3, 365x3
Press, overhead	barx10, 95x8, 135x3, 125x5, 125x5
Supported Rows	70x10, 80x10, 80x10
1-arm Tri Extension, cutdowns to failure	1 set
1-arm Curl, cutdown	1 set

I finished with situps (31,30) and some split stretches.

I did my deadlifts in the rack. The first 3 sets were with the pins in the normal deadlift height. Then I started at the highest hole, mid-thigh. The next set was just above their kneecap. The third set (at 365#) was just below kneecap. The last set was just one pin hole (~3 inches?) above a normal pull. Each pull started off the pin so I released tension between each rep.
I was pulling the 365# pretty well, a little less explosive as I went down each hole. The lowest set was slower but I still got it. I was very happy with today's workout. Anyway, I think that the only reason I didn't get 365# from the floor was 1) mental and 2) maybe form.
I'm surprised at the Press numbers. I barely got the three reps at 135 but I cranked out two sets of 5 at 125#.
At this point, my back and shoulders were tired so I did supported rows instead of weighted Pullups. I had a little energy left so I did teh one set to failure for arms b/c even I get sucked up in the aesthetics of lifting sometimes.

Oh yeah, I forgot

2008-10-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

Today was a Variety day and the scheduled workout was the 'Joshie'. I've done it before. As previously, I made some adjustments to get through it.
The workout was ...

3 rounds for time

* 40 pound Dumbbell snatch, 21 reps, right arm
* 21 Pull-ups
* 40 pound Dumbbell snatch, 21 reps, left arm
* 21 Pull-ups

I did the pull-ups on a cybex assisted pull-up machine, using 40# the first set, 60# the second and 80# the last set. The total workout took 26:33 which may have been slower than my last 'Joshie'. I blew through the first round fast and was breathing really hard during the second round. My last round was faster than my second round. My back and shoulders were pumped afterwards and I was exhausted so I'm happy with the workout. But I wonder how I can improve my time. I think I'll start w/ 60# on the pullups and try to keep it for all three rounds. Also, go slower on the first round and not be so beat for the second round.
I finished the workout with two sets of 30 situps.

Two for the price of one

2008-10-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Two days of workout here. Don't have my cards in front of me so this is from memory. Here is what was _supposed_ to happen:

Thursday	off
Friday	Medium
Saturday	Variety
Sunday	Heavy

and here is what really happened...

Thursday	off
Friday	almost nothing
Saturday	off
Sunday	Heavy

Wha'pened? I was still drained on Friday from pulling an all-nighter for the ADR midterm. I could barely move warmup weights. I think I worked up to 155# on front squat for 3 or 5 reps and called it a day. Did two reps of 10 supported back rows at 70#. Did one all-out set of cybex bench. Blah.

Saturday was a big studying day and I just never got to the gym. I got a lot of sleep that night.

Finally got back on track Sunday. Here was the workout...

Deadlift	135x10, 185x5, 225x3, 315x5, 365x0, 365x0, 335x5
Roman Chair	60x10, 60x10, 60x10
Overhead Press	95x10, 95x10, 95x10
Pullups, weighted	47.5# x 5, 42.5x5, 42.5x5

The deads went well. I felt so good that I tried a heavier weight. I couldn't quite pull 365 past my knees. Both times I got it about four inches off the ground and stalled. Couldn't tell if my butt was rising too fast. It just felt like I ran out of pull. The last set of 335 wasn't very hard though so I am getting stronger. 30# was just too much to jump at once.
I want to break through to 365 so I'm going to start doing some supporting exercises.

Thus the roman chair workout. I used a 60# dumbbell and really focused on working the glutes and hamstrings.

My left shoulder was tweaked from something. Maybe sleeping on it wrong. Rather than do a 4x5 heavy workout, I did a 3x10 medium workout and it felt okay.

Yesterday

2008-10-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

I had a 24-hour take home test due yesterday morning. Only got a few hours of sleep. I took two naps during the day but by the time I got to the gym at 4 I had no energy. I went through an abbreviated Medium workout and called it a day. The numbers are unimportant. I'm not upset about it though. This is going to happen again as I get closer to Finals or other due dates.
As I struggled with squatting 135# I was thinking that I might have done better with a fall-back workout plan for days like this one. Not so much heavy weight as more reps. Something like dumbbell cleans and presses combined with pullups. Hits most everything and I can just do it for 15-20 minutes.

Necessary Evil?

2008-10-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

Hello Dear Reader,
I've been playing around with Google Analytics b/c I don't really know anything about this Marketing crap and figure I should have a passing knowledge. Plus it is more buttons to push and data to graph. To generate some numbers, I added a few advertisements to the page. I stuck them in places I didn't think interfered with reading the site. Let me know if these new ads bother you and I'll remove them. "Fat Loss Secrets from China! -as seen on Oprah" recently came across my screen and I cringed.

Ed.

Fran, take two

2008-10-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

A Variety day, finally cycling back to the one that started it all, 'Fran'. For those who don't like to follow links, Fran is three rounds (21 reps, 15, reps, 9 reps) of Thrusters (95#) and pullups.
Because of how my school gym is setup, I use the preloaded barbells near the pullup bar. These preloaded bars come in 90 and 100 pounds so I've been using the 90# bar.
Everything seemed a little easier than last time. I was able to squat down without squatting forward on the thrusters. I was able to bang out ~5 pullups at a time with good form (some kipping on the last set). I finished in 9:33, a big improvement over my last Fran in 12:00-ish.
What is a good time? I know of guys doing 6:30ish and thinking that is a good time. How about 2:19? Holy smokes. I think I was finishing my first 21 thrusters at 2:19. I really don't know what I could do to get that low. One, he didn't take any breaks in his thrusters whereas I broke each set into two or three parts. Two, he kips like a mofo. And he does it so smoothly! I think that doing the pullups 'clean' is harder but there is something to kipping and being explosive.
I finished with 8 rounds of 20 sec on/20 sec off hanging knee raises, 20 pushups and some good split stretching. My right wrist was sore so I only did one set of pushups and did them on my knuckles instead of open hand.
I also tried some vertical jumps but was lacking in explosiveness. I should start working that on rest/Variety days.

Back In The Saddle

2008-10-14T15:41:00.000-07:00

Today was supposed to be a Variety day, 'Fran' to be exact. But I didn't lift heavy on Sunday and lifting heavy today would give me an extra day before the next heavy day. So heavy it was.
The workout was ...

Deadlift	135x8, 185x5, 225x3, 315x5, 335x5, 335x5, 335x5
Pullups, weighted	[45x5]x4
Overhead Presses	barx10, 95x6, 115x3, 135x4, 135x3

I finished with my 2 sets of 20 pushups, 50 crunches, and 1 set of 10 windshield wipers.

I've been working around a light strain in my lower back for a few weeks. Today was my first really heavy day in awhile. But it felt great! I'm really psyched that I'm moving up in the Deadlift again. If I feel this good Friday I may go for 365#.
I like to do Presses after Deadlifts to give my grip a rest. However, my grip felt good today (maybe that gripper I use in class is working?) plus the rack was full so I did Pullups. I moved up in weight and was barely making it. It was a good workout but I'll stay at this weight for another workout.
I write down my sets/reps on a 3x5 card as I workout. Helps me remember where I'm at during my next workout. I didn't have my previous Heavy workout card with me. I think I got 125# for a few sets before so I wanted to ride my wave from the Deadlifts and move up to a big plate on each side for the Press. I didn't get that many sets/reps but I felt good about it. It didn't feel sloppy. Plus I have 'Fran' scheduled for tomorrow and that has a lot of thrusters. So I was short on Presses today.

A good day overall. There is a strong psychological boost when you realize that you are coming out of an injured period.

Weekends never work out as planned

2008-10-12T21:14:00.001-07:00

This weekend was supposed to have an 'Angie' on Saturday and a Heavy day on Sunday.

Saturday 'Angie'
I was very intimidated by this workout before I started it but it went pretty much as planned. I walked to the neighborhood park with my friend Brian, where the pullup bars are. The workout, 'Angie', is 100 [pullups, pushups, squats, situps], at least that was the order I did them in. This is the order listed on the CrossFit site but I did them in order from hardest to easiest. Also, since I was on the dirt again, I didn't do true situps but did crunches instead. I did a bunch of situps in the same spot a few weeks ago and got some bruises on my lower back that are just healing.
As for the workout, I got through the pullups by doing them in sets of 5 and kipping like crazy. Took about 10 minutes. My back was pumped and my arms were tired at the end so I think it was still a good workout. I knocked out 20, then 10 pushups. Then it was sets of 5 again. Had to take a longer pause after 70 to walk around for a minute. Took about 8 minutes The squats and crunches were easy. I think I did two sets of 50 squats in about 4 minutes. The crunches took about 4 minutes too. The whole thing added up to ~28 minutes. Room to improve but I'm glad I did it.

Sunday Heavy Day, or not
I didn't get to the gym today. If I'd gone early I might have gotten to it but I spent the day showing Brian around San Francisco. At around 5:30 PM we went for a good uptempo run that lasted almost 38 minutes. I haven't run in months but it felt really good to get back on a trail. We ran at a decent clip but I wasn't too winded. And when we hit a hill (the only real hill on the run, Brian) I was able to bound right up it. The strength and explosive work definitely helped me there. I don't think I've ever run up that hill so fast!
I never did get a heavy workout in but between Saturday's and today's workout, I'm sore and tired and that is okay. I'll be fully rested to go heavy on Wednesday!

Medium Day, as advertised

2008-10-10T11:07:00.000-07:00

The statement for this site used to say I was going to quantify my results so I could graph them. Because I'm a geek like that. I never did come up with good measurements. A friend asked me if I was keeping resting heart rate or VO2 max. I haven't not started to measure those things.
One way to slice available data would be to look at if my numbers go up in my lifts, aka the "Proof Is In The Pudding" approach. I could take body measurement but that seems goofy b/c I'm not really interested in getting 18 inch arms or anything like that. I weigh myself about once a week but I'm holding steady at 199# so there isn't much change there. I keep measuring my bodyfat but I'm holding steady around 10% (last measurement was 6mm, which is about 10%).
The point of measuring something is to see if I'm approaching my goals. The goal of my working out at this point in the semester is just to burn off steam and wake myself up between classes. Maybe I should measure how much more or less coffee I have to drink to stay awake in class? At least for the rest of this semester, I have no goal other than staying healthy.
On to the workout...

Front Squat	135x10, 165x10, 165x10, 165x10
6" box Squat	135x5, 155x5, 165x5, 165x5
Supported Row	70x10, 85x10, 85x10, 70x10
Incline Bench	60x10, 65x10, 65x10

I finished with 50 crunches, 2 sets of 10 windshield wipers, 20 pushups and some split stretching. I bailed on the pushups b/c I have 100 to do tomorrow.
The front squats felt pretty good. I have to really focus on staying upright or else I put too much strain on my hands trying to hold the bar up. The box squats are lighter and faster. I rest briefly on the box and explode up.
I believe that I had the incline bench at a steeper angle today b/c 65# was hard.

Day of the Deads

2008-10-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

Today was a Heavy day but I was still kinda tired from yesterday! I could really feel it in my forearms and biceps. Still, I felt I should soldier on and work as heavy as possible. As it turns out, it was a good day. After the usual warmup, the workout was...

Deadlift	135x5, 185x3, 225x5, 275x3, [315x3]x3
Overhead Press	barx10, 65x10, 115x5, 125x5, 125x4, 115x5
Pullups, weighted	[42.5x5]x4

I finished with Hanging Knee Raises [20s on, 20s off]x7, pushups 20 reps x 2 sets and brief split stretches.

I dropped the explosive component before Deads because I was still tired! Plus I'm doing explosive movements on my other days. Instead, I did more sets at lighter weights to warm myself up, mentally and physically. Deadlifts are hard and I need to get my head into it as much as my body. When I decided to only do 3 reps today, it was as much to ease my mind as for my body.
I accepted doing sets of 3 instead of 5 for Deadlift b/c I wanted to lift from the floor and go heavier than recent workouts. I can accept lifting a little less than a few weeks ago b/c 1) I'm not getting great rest and 2) I'm working out harder on my Variety days. I figure that I'll get used to #2. If not, and #1 doesn't change, I'll switch back to only 2 or 3 Heavy days/week near the end of the semester when my free time gets tighter.
I tried to go up a little in the Press, with some success. It will take a few weeks to make 125# for all sets. Pullups were done in two straight sets at a normal hand width. I didn't need to do rest/pause for the last set at all. So I need to start thinking about how to improve from here. Do all my pushups in one set? Do a third set? Make them explosive or different hand positions?

Late night ramblings

2008-10-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

Saw some interesting exercises/workouts from San Francisco CrossFit (who are moving!)
5 rounds of (20 kettlebell/DB swings [70#?], 20 pushups) for time
Or 10 rounds of (7 db hang cleans [40#], 7 pushups) for time?

Also, until my arse gets better (rubbed it raw doing tabata situps on the ground the other day), I need other ab exercises. How about knees-to-elbows or L-sits (20s on, 20s off)?

Anyway, Thursday is supposed to be a day off but I'll probably do one of these.

My hats off to you, SSGT Whitaker

2008-10-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today was a Variety day and as part of my plan for more organized Variety days, I did one of CrossFit's "Named" workouts. After my usual warmup, I did the 'Joshie' after SSGT Joshua Whitaker (killed May 15, 2007 in Afghanistan).
All I can say is that SSGT Whitaker must have been an ass-kicker because I had to severely modify this workout.
The "correct" workout is...

3 rounds for time

* 40 pound Dumbbell snatch, 21 reps, right arm
* 21 L Pull-ups
* 40 pound Dumbbell snatch, 21 reps, left arm
* 21 L Pull-ups
The snatches are full squat snatches.

My modifications
* I used 30# b/c I haven't done this workout before. It got me sweating pretty hard and garnered several comments from other gym members about how hard my workout looked. I could work up to 40# pretty quickly, ie. I'll try 35# next time.
* There was no way I was doing 'L' situps, if that means in a pike position. I did my first three attempts on a standard pullup bar but standing on a box. I could get about 5 or 6 at a time and then pause for breath. I switched to the assisted pull-up machine for the second half, starting with 60, then 80 and even 100# assistance on my last set.
* I didn't see the 'full squat snatches' line so mine were only about half squats.

Probably my weakest link was my grip! Not the usual weakness that I've reported in my deadlifting but fatigue because I bring a gripper to class to work on my grip during boring class discussions. I'm waiting for someone to ask me about it, "It's anger management!"

My overall time was about 23:00, using the wall clock. I look forward to doing this again in two weeks and trying to beat that. I think I'll be on the assisted pullup machine for awhile, lightening the load.

I did 50 (knees-in-air) crunches and 2x10 windshield wipers b/c off sore on lower back (really low, top of arse) from lots of situps on the dirt a few days ago. Plus the usual 2x20 pushups and split stretches. I was drained from the workout!

By Any Means Necessary

2008-10-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

I did a full shift at Sports Basement this morning then lifted. After the usual warmup, the workout was...

Swings	40# x 10, 60# x 8
Deadlift*	135x10, 225x3, 315x3, 335x3, 365x3, 385x1
Overhead Press	95x6, 115x5, 120x5, 120x5,120x5
Pullups, weighted	[40# x 5] x 4

Followed by pushups [close 20, normal 20], windshield wipers (I hurt my ass doing situps on the grass yesterday so this was my replacement. 4 sets of 10) and split stretches.

'Swings' are usually done with a kettlebell. Grasp the handle, swing it back between your legs and stand up forcefully, swinging the weight up in front of your face. Keep those arms straight!
Once again, my lower back (left side) couldn't handle a heavy day. So instead of starting on the ground, I picked the weight off the rack, lowered it to the ground and stood up. This is easier for two reasons, 1) my form off the ground isn't that good and 2) when lowering, you are loading the muscles making it easier to stand up. My back felt fine doing these 'reverse' deadlifts until I let go off the bar at the end. This removed the tension on my back muscles and they hurt for 1/10th second. Weird. Anyway, I feel like lifted heavy today and that is important.

Good Enough

2008-10-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I was planning on doing a Tabata This workout (squat, rower, pullups, situps, pushups) but I wasn't at school. So I jogged to the local playground (~10 min run) and did tabatas for pullups 7, pushups 5, squats 17, situps 12 (where the number is the lowest count I got for that exercise), stretched and then jogged back.
Overall it was a good workout. I was breathing hard which isn't something I've been doing on recent Variety days. I had to do 'box' pullups b/c I couldn't get my kipping pullups working well enough. I was surprised that the pushups were so low. The squats and situps were about what I expected. It was hard to do a full 8 rounds of tabata for each exercise. I would've gotten higher scores if I had just done 6 but then that isn't the workout, is it? I took 40 seconds rest between exercises.

Medium-Well Done

2008-10-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

The workout for 10-3-08 was

Cleans	bar, 135x3, 135x4
Squats, front	135x10, [155x10]x3
low (6") box squat	[135x10]x3
Supported Row	70x10, 80x10, 80x10
DB Incline Bench	60x10, 70x10, 70x10

Followed by the usual situps (29, 29), pushups (10 close, 10 close, 20 normal) and split stretch.
It was a good Medium day. Not too heavy, different motions. I felt sore from the squats later that night. I had to concentrate on staying upright on the front squats, to keep pressure off my hands. The box squats were explosive and I can see/feel how they will help my deadlifts.
I liked the exercises today and plan on keeping them in frequent rotation.

Yesterday

2008-10-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

Today (10-2-08) was a day off but I had some nervous energy so I hit the gym. The usual jumprope/squat/pushup/shoulder rotation warmup...

The workout was...

5 or 6 rounds of	tabata rowing machine
2 sets of 6 reps, each side	1 hand DB snatch
2 sets of 6 reps, each side	1 hand DB Clean and Jerk

I finished with some pullups (a set of 10, a set of kipping), situps (29,29) and pushups (20, 20).

The rows were to get a feel of tabata rows since that is an upcoming variety day. I get about 9 calories per 20 seconds of rowing. It was tough and I look forward to doing this again.
I used 30# for the snatch and 40# for the clean & jerk. I could've gone up 10# for both exercises. I feel much more comfortable with 1 hand DB snatch and clean than I do with a bar. Weird. I want to incorporate these more into my workouts. They might even replace my bar cleans on heavy days...
It was a good workout for a day off. Not too intense and some new skills.

Holding Pattern

2008-10-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

Let's start with the facts. A decent warmup of ~1:00 jumprope sets + squats/shoulders/pushups.
The workout was...

Cleans	95x4, 135x3, 135x3, 145x3
Deadlift	225x5, 275x5, 295x5, 295x5
Overhead Press	[115x5]x4
Pullups, weighted	[35x5]x4

The last rep of the last set of cleans was the best. I can pull the weight up explosively but I have trouble catching it on my shoulders. I think I was correct in feeling that 135# was too light to 'force' me to have better form in catching. I could just muscle it into place. 145-155 is a better weight for now.
Deads were not what I expected. My back felt good up to that point but when I finished the first set I knew something wasn't right. Instead of pushing on to the regular weight I made the choice to just go lighter today. And I was happy with it. Better to maintain than to injure myself and fall back. My lower back was still tired plus I was probably dehydrated = I wasn't in a position to go heavy. I still feel that I got a decent 'maintenance' workout and I'll try again at 335# this Sunday.
Overhead Press and Pullups went well. Clean reps, got the weight I wanted and I will go up a little next time.
For pushups, I did 10 Tiger pushups (see this post), then 10 close-grip pushups for triceps and finally one set of 20 regular pushups. I'm definitely getting stronger at these if I can finish with a good set of 20. Should I start moving up in reps?
I forgot to check where I was at in my ladder of situps so I did (29,28) instead of (28,27). I was tired but I also did 2 sets of 15 knee-to-elbows after the pullups.
The stretch is coming along. I wish I had a reliable way to measure how close I am getting to a full split. I think that I'm within 8 inches of the floor now and it doesn't take me as long to get there.
So a good day overall. I'll just try again on the Deads.

Learning Curve

2008-09-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

The workout was...

6 sets of

10 Wall Balls, right hand
10 Wall Balls, left hand
10 throw-ins
10 box jumps, ~24 inch box
10 rugby passes, right side
10 rugby passes, left side

The entire workout took about 15 minutes. I was sweating and kinda tired but it didn't get me breathing like CrossFit did. I need a place to keep intensity/interval-like workouts. Instead of picking my own set of workouts, I think I should stick with CrossFit 'named' workouts. I already know that I want to do 'Fran' twice a month, probably every other Tuesday. That leaves three Variety workouts b/n 'Fran's. Some choices include...

Angie	* 100 Pull-ups * 100 Push-ups * 100 Sit-ups * 100 Squats
Barbara	5 rounds of * 20 Pull-ups * 30 Push-ups * 40 Sit-ups * 50 Squats
Joshua Whitaker	3 rounds of ... * 40 pound Dumbbell snatch, 21 reps, right arm * 21 L Pull-ups * 40 pound Dumbbell snatch, 21 reps, left arm * 21 L Pull-ups
Tabata This	Tabata Intervals ( 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest repeated 8 times) is applied in turn to the Squat, Rower, Pullups, Sit-ups, and Push-ups with a one minute rotation break between exercises.

I like Angie more than Barbara b/c I'd rather knock-out each exercise all at once. I'm scared about the pullups and pushups but also eager to see just how much that workout will kick my ass. So the tentative plan for the four Variety days I have every two weeks is this: Fran, Tabata This, Joshua Whitaker, Angie.

Heavy Metal

2008-09-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

I brought my own jumprope today and did the usual warmup. I was a little worried about my left shoulder going into today's workout but it held up fine.
This was a heavy day and the workout was ...

Hang Cleans	95x5, 135x3, 135x3, 135x3
Deadlift	225x5, 315x5, [335x5]x3
Overhead Press	barx10, 65x8, [115x5]x3, 115x4
Weighted Pullups	[32.5x5]x4

I finished with the usual situps (27, 27), pushups (20,20) and split stretches.
The cleans were 'cleaner' in form than last time. I was able to whip the weight up to my shoulders w/o too much squatting down. I tried to squat down on one set just to get used to it. I whipped the weight up strongly, dropped into a squat and ended up clobbering myself on the chin with the bar!
The deadlifts went well although I ran out of steam. I wanted a fourth set at 335 but I just lost all desire to get the weight off the ground. I got four worksets including the 315# so it was okay. I'll stick to 335 and try to get all four sets next Heavy day.
The presses went well. I was worried about my shoulder but I think it was sufficiently warmed up at this point. I couldn't safely get the last rep so I'll stick with 115# next workout.
Overall it was a good workout even though I didn't feel like I had all my energy today.

Note to self: Things I want to include in the next workout (Variety): box jumps, wall ball (maybe one-handed, alternating sides? with a lighter ball?), four rounds of tabata kipping pullups
UPDATE: Bodyfat at 6mm on calipers. Roughly 10.5% That is down a little from last I checked.

Variety is the spice of life

2008-09-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

I'm still a little under the weather, from my flu shot a few days ago. At least, my left shoulder and some lymph nodes in my armpit are still sore.

6 sets of	5 wall balls, 5 "throw-ins", 5 over-shoulder throws, 5 rugby passes-right, 5 rugby passes-left, jog ~100 meters
6 sets of	sprint ~25m, jog ~75m

The 6 sets of ballwork took about 12 minutes. I used a 6kg ball, the heaviest USF has. The throw-ins are just like a soccer throw-in except more 'down', similar to ball slams but I didn't want to throw it against the floor directly. 'Over-shoulder' throws are like a kettlebell swing, from a squat exploding up and throwing the ball over your head and against the wall behind you. I added the rugby passes to get some torso twisting in. I wasn't breathing super-hard at the end but I did feel tired so it was a workout.
I ended with the usual situps (27,26) and pushups (20,20). I feel that the pushups are getting a little easier.

Experiment a bit

2008-09-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a Medium day. Meaning work the same muscles as a Heavy day but with a different rep scheme and from different angles.
After the usual jumprope, squat, pushup warmup, the workout was...

Snatch/cleans	snatch - bar, 65. Clean - 115, 135 sets of 3-5
Front Squat	135#, 3 sets of 10.
Back Squats	DEEP (ass-to-grass; literally the bottom) 65x5, 85x5, 85x5 115 next time
Bench	6 sets of 3 at 135#. drop the weight and catch a few inches above chest and explode up
supported row	45x10, 70x10, 70x10 Concentrate on pinching scapulae
Hyperextension	10, 8, 10 at 70# 90# next time

I need to do cleans specifically next time. Kinda scary to do snatches given the lack of room and lack of bumper plates. Maybe do 6-8 sets of 3 to just work on catching the bar.
I liked the deep squats (Thanks to Louie Simmons!) I had to focus on hyperextending my back but really it was all I could do to keep from tucking under at the bottom. I could feel it working out my back.
The explosive bench I could give or take. I'll do another chest workout next time. I tried a few dips but they definitely tweaked my left shoulder.
I also did the usual closing situps (26,26) pushups (20,20) and split stretches.

Keep learning

2008-09-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

I didn't workout today b/c A) it is an off day (more on that later) and B) I got a flu shot this morning and now have a light touch of the flu. Instead of exercising my body, I tried to read up more on training. And now I'm more confused than ever!!

First off, this article claims I need to work out more (20-25 hours/week!) It claims that burn out comes from working one 'system' too much. So I might only have 2 heavy lifting workouts, 2 support exercise workouts and 2 or 3 interval workouts per week. He actually talks about more than that! I think I could pull it off if I was sleeping better. My current pattern is 6ish hours at night and a 40-60 minute nap during the day.
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/g-flux.htm

Then Louie Simmons gives some advice. Like doing more work (kinda like the guy above. Read the 'Extra Workouts' articles) Like doing all sorts of supporting movements when training for the squat, deadlift and bench. "If your squat stops making progress, more squatting will not help."
http://www.westside-barbell.com/articles.htm

So much to think about. I can fit some of this stuff in right now, on my variety days and even on my Medium days (like tomorrow!)

Keepin' on, keepin' on

2008-09-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

Today was a Heavy day. I did the usual warmup of jumprope 30s alternating with shoulder stretches, pushups, and squats.
The work was ...

Cleans	bar, 95#, 135# 3-5 reps
Deadlift	185x5, 225x5, 275x5, [315x5]x3
Overhead Press	barx10, 65x10, 95x5, [105x5]x3
Pullups, weighted	some bodyweight kips, [30x5]x4

I finished with 2 sets of 10 Tiger pushups. At least, that is how I've heard them described. Googling for it brings up another exercise. You start in yoga 'Downward Dog' position, lower your self until your nose touches in between your hands, slide your body forward along the ground and end up in an Upward-facing Dog position. Then reverse the movement and push backwards. That's one rep. Imagine a bar about one foot off the ground running above your hands and you have to slide your body underneath it without moving your hands or feet.
Then I did one set of 20 normal pushups and 2 sets of situps (26,25).
I showered, ate and took a nap. I can feel the workout already but that is okay because tomorrow is a day off!

Start of a New Day

2008-09-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

Using my new workout schedule (see previous post), today was a variety day. I slept in and didn't feel like going to CrossFit so I did my own thing at the USF gym. My lower back feels a lot better but still not 100%. I did a decent warmup with jumprope, squats, pushups, shoulder rotations.

The workout was ...

Fran w/ 90#

21,15,9 reps on Thrusters and Pullups

I completed it in 12:01. It wasn't pretty but it was a decent workout. I didn't have kipping pullups ready so I did them off a box. I'm taking this as a benchmark and plan on doing it every two or three weeks to see how I'm doing.

I then worked on my split stretches, did 2 sets of 25 situps, and 2 sets of 20 pushups.

The More Things Change

2008-09-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

Things done changed. I'm stopping CrossFit on a monthly basis. Nothing really wrong with CrossFit workouts. The time (6:00 am) doesn't really fit my schedule and it costs too much for my law school budget. And it doesn't really train me towards my goals in the sense that it tries to be a little of everything and I have some focused goals. I will now lay out my plan for the rest of 2008. Just to be clear, I have nothing against CrossFit, I just can't afford the money/time right now. I expect to still go once in a while on my Variety days.

My Workout Plan for the rest of 2008.

Long-term Goals
Dunk a ball
Run a 50 second 400m
Run a sub-5:00 mile
Body fat <10%

Strength

Power

Conditioning

Flexibility

Skill/Coordination

Squat
Deadlift
Overhead Press
Bench Press
Pullups (lower reps, higher weight)
Dips (lower reps, higher weight)
Seated Rows

Snatch
Power Clean
Box Jumps
Pullups, kipping
Pushups, explosive (clapping)

Swimming (also good to loosen back)
Biking
Running (jogging and sprints)
Circuits (think CrossFit)

Stretching, esp
Split
Shoulders (pull around)
Hips in general
Hamstrings!

Jumping to the rim
Sprinting
Greasing The Groove

Lifts w/ eyes closed (ie. Deadlift)

1-leg stiff deads, w/ bar

I'm thinking about these goals in terms of next Summer. As for this winter, I see two-ish cycles, a Strength cycle (4-6 weeks) and a Power cycle (4-6 weeks). I've read in several sources that 4-6 weeks is long enough for your body to adapt to the stresses of a consistent workout plan. I figure I'll get 4 weeks for sure and then carry on that cycle for another week or two, until I feel stale. Then I'll switch to the other cycle.
During the Strength cycle, I'll focus on Strength movements and rep schemes but will incorporate Power movements (lighter, concentrating on technique and some explosiveness). Ditto for the Power cycle, I'll maintain a Strength day.

As for how each week will be laid out, I thought for awhile about Pavel's 4 on, 1 off, 1 on, 1off (Light, Variety, Medium, Variety, off, Heavy, off). I think I'd rather go two Heavies, a Medium/Light and two/three Varieties. I think this sounds reasonable b/c I was doing 3 Heavies through the Summer (as part of a 4x5 program) and it seemed to work well until I got near the end and then I did two Heavy days/week. I will lay it out like so...

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
off	Medium	Variety	Heavy	off	Variety	Heavy
off	Variety	Heavy	off	Medium	Variety	Heavy

I like the second row for b/c it always has the Variety day (discussed more below but more Skills/Power work) before the Heavy day. I don't think I'll have the lower back strength to do Skill, Power work after a Heavy day. I also like it b/c it leaves my Mondays (my busiest day of school and work) free. The last row is even better b/c it makes frees me up during the week and has me workout on a day off of school (Friday). I'm still deciding which one works best for me.

Heavy

Medium

Variety

Strength Cycle

1x10, hang snatch/clean, 4x5 - Deadlift, 3x10 weighted Pullups, Overhead Press, ???

3x5 Snatch or Clean, 3x10 Front Squats or overhead squats, Handstand Pushups, Seated Rows

The idea is to work the whole body w/ different exercises, different angles but not as intensely as a Heavy Day.

CrossFit (tons of combinations here, ie. 1 arm DB overhead lunge 5 on each side followed by 10 pullups. Do that 5 times each side or something.)

If lower back is tired, could be just swimming.

Could warmup and start with a few sets of technique and light weight, then move into some interval-style tabata, cardio work.

Variety days are about mixing it up. This is where I don't want to repeat. I think there is something to that, whether it be mental freshness or all-around core conditioning.

Power Cycle

4x5 Snatches or Cleans, Explosive pushups, ...

Thrusters, Box Jumps

Note that Robert Dos Remedios recommends one set of explosive work before your worksets on a heavy day.

I want to speak about benchmarks for a minute. I figure I'll use the rest of September to get used to this workout plan and the exercises. I won't be doing heavy 5-reps, probably 3x10s. The last heavy workout of September will be a benchmark. I will be adding weight each workout for the Heavy days so that is its own feedback. Depending on how I feel, I can either up the weight on Medium days too or keep the weights and try to go faster. Or even just maintain for a day if I don't feel up to it. Some of the CrossFit 'Girl' workouts are well-rounded enough to incorporate as a workout on Variety days (Angie, Barbara, Chelsea, Cindy, Fran) while others seem kinda one-sided (Grace, Isabel) yet others are impractical for my training environment and abilities (Jackie, Linda, Nancy). I could see me doing a Fran or Angie every two weeks just to see where I'm at. Which one would be the best for that?

Crash and burn

2008-09-19T16:44:00.000-07:00

Weird day. I had a hell of a time getting up at 5:30. If I didn't already have a commitment this evening, I would've gone to the 7PM class. (Ding! #1) The Presidio Police wouldn't let us in when we arrived b/c the Sports Basement alarm had gone off. I did some warming up in front of the gate as we waited.

The workout was ...

3 rounds of

10 back squats, 10 box jumps, 60s line touches

I worked with Big John (the squatter) and we set up the recommended 185#. I took a few warmup sets and it didn't feel good (Ding! #2) But I was already here and I didn't want to look weak so I went forward with the workout.

I shoulda known. I _did_ know. My body wasn't ready to workout intensely today. About halfway in my lower back/psoas seized up and I had to bail. Luckily Kelly knew the cause and gave me some effective stretches which helped a bunch.

The first round was alright, not very explosive but I was getting through it. In the middle of the second round's line sprints, I turned back to the other line and my whole lower back seized up. I tried two more lines and just walked off the course. I couldn't bend over enough to touch my knees.

Kelly said that fatigue and poor form let my pelvis dip, not remain parallel with the ground. That put a back muscle in a weak position and the psoas cinched up to protect it. He had me lay on my back and push one leg 'down' (try to straighten it) and the other 'up' (knee to chest). I used my hands to resist both movements. Do this for 5 seconds, reverse direction on the legs w/ resistance, then pinch knees together. When I eventually did it with him, he held my knees parallel as I tried to pinch them together. That seemed to do the trick. My lower back is still fatigued and not ready to work out but the muscle spasm is gone.

I didn't really dig the workout anyway but didn't say anything when Kelly asked the class about it. Maybe I was just upset over my results but I had already boxjumped three of the four days and the entire workout seemed half-baked. In Kelly's defense, he probably made it up on the spot to deal with our time constraint after waiting outside the gate for so long.

Doesn't matter. I'll be back on Monday.

Keep on, keeping on

2008-09-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

First off, I did not workout yesterday. Fine; I needed the sleep. My first casualty of the semester but there will be plenty more as deadlines approach.
Angel was here this morning. Funny how you notice little differences. He had us do a little more jumprope than Adrian and Angel posted the workout the board while we were warming up. I kinda like that b/c I feel a little anxiety somedays when I don't know what we are doing.

The workout was ...

5 rounds of

15 Snatches, 9 burpee+box jump

I finished in 15:28.

I used 83# for the snatch. I got a womens' bar (33#) and had two 25# plates. It was wide enough for a good snatch grip. The burpees ended with a jump onto a platform. I used a high box. It was a little scary while still dark b/c I can't see the box very well w/o my glasses.
I've only done the snatch once or twice before and always from a hang, never from the ground. Still, Angel broke it down (almost) like Adrian does and it went smoothly. Again, the little things. Adrian seems to demonstrate the movement himself more, both good form and bad form to watch for.

I feel better about my snatch form. I could probably do 135+ for non-high rep snatches. I was breathing during the workout but didn't push it like I did on Monday. The snatch still requires more focus on form so I can't just blast through it.

We finished with 8 rounds of hanging L-sits or at least knees parallel with the ground. 10s on, 20s off. The contest was who could keep their knees up the longest on the last round, which I won with ~50 seconds. I don't think I was doing them right b/c my shoulders got more tired than my abs. I want to start working on my L-sit ability.

Misfire

2008-09-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

Usual jumprope/squat/pushup warmup plus some 'burpulls' (jump up into a pullup at the top of the burpee). Neat idea but not enough bar space for everyone so I did straight burpees.
The workout was...

1 round of

run ~400 meters, 12 tire flips, 400m row

These were done as teams of three. I worked with John (the Squatter) and Neal (the Marine). After one set, Kevin realized the exercises weren't balanced time-wise. So we stopped and reset to this workout.

3 rounds of

~400 run, 15 tire flips, 250m row

As a team we finished in 16:20. I know that the rows took me anywhere from 45-49 seconds. I don't know about the tire or run. It wasn't as intensive a workout as yesterday but I liked that b/c I was tired. Sometimes you need a lighter day.

Start of a Long Day

2008-09-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

OT, but a few posts ago, this became my longest running blog ever. Woo. Also, my bodyfat crept back up to 8mm, or about 12%. I felt that I had been eating more in the last week. So I need to go back to "nursing a hunger" as my friend Brian calls it. Get a little hungry and stay hungry before eating again. No more grazing.
We warmed up with the usual jumprope, squats before a few rounds of team tug-of-war. I don't know if the tugs did anything but they were kinda fun.
The workout was...

15 minutes of

~120m run, 15 box jumps, 15 kettlebell swings

Each round was a point and I got through 8 rounds (I think...) I used a 52# bell and a high box. Supposedly I got the most rounds in although there were some other people around 7. It was hard, no doubt. I could've saved time by jumping down and exploding back up instead of stepping down.
That's about it for today. A busy day of two classes and work at Sports Basement.

On my own, II

2008-09-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

Like most weekends, I worked out myself today. It was a pretty good workout though. I made some changes mid-workout so it gets a little complicated.

10 wall balls (12#)	10 Double unders (got all 10 in a row!)
10 wall balls	10 double unders (not in a row)
10 wall balls	10 double unders (not in a row)
10 wall balls	10 double unders (not in a row)
10 wall balls	10 double unders (not in a row)
10 burpees (couldn't get through 10 rounds of wall ball)	10 double unders (barely got through this)
10 burpees	jogged down basketball court and back
10 burpees	jogged down basketball court and back
10 burpees	jogged down basketball court and back
10 burpees	jogged down basketball court and back

I was breathing pretty hard and dripping sweat on the floor. It took 11:45. Those are the signs of a decent workout. Usually the weekend workout is about technique. Today I was able to crudely get through double unders. I still jump pretty high but I can knock out 10 or so without too much problem.
I then stretched a fair bit, including for splits. Finished with a couple of kipping pullups to work on form. My visualization of how to come down and prepare for the next kip seem on track. Just need to bang out more.

Workout, not-so-bad

2008-09-12T23:00:00.000-07:00

So San Francisco CrossFit is holding some fundraiser where people do 'Fight Gone Bad' to raise money. An interesting business model. To get us ready, Kelly had us do a modified version this morning. Warmup was just a few quick rounds on our own of the exercises.
The workout was...

0:40 on, 0:20 off

stepup (w/ bar), row (for calories), sumo high pull (w/ kettlebell, 55#? 62#?), handstand pushups (in a pike position)

There was some confusion and we paused during the second round to get people to move to the correct station. It was a decent workout overall. I couldn't read the calorie count on the ergometer so I just rowed as hard as I could. The stepups were the easiest. Sumo high pulls, nothing new. The handstand pushups were tough though.
No one was ready to do 'real' handstand pushups. So you got into a pike position, with your feet up on a box and your torso as vertical as possible. It was pretty tough. Adrian and Damian had talked about starting a contest of these handstand pushups (doing one more each day, working up to 50? 100?) I might try to jump in on that.
As for today's workout, I broke a sweat. I was tired. But I noticed that Kelly replaced the handstand pushups with some other exercise on the board before we left. I wonder what the afternoon people did?

9-11-08

2008-09-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

Warmup, mostly double unders, which I need to learn!. The workout itself was...

18, 15, 12, 9, 6 reps

burpees and pullups

Bodyweight all the way. I finished in 8:37, slowed down mostly by my pullups. I still do traditional pullups, no swinging, kipping,...dare I say cheating? And there is no way to do high volume pullups relying only on your lats. Adrian saw me struggling and said, "We'll have to teach you to kip."
And that is what happened. It was a short, but intense, workout and after everyone finished Adrian brought his usual excellence at breaking down techniques to the kipping pullup. I can now kip, if I think about it. I can't quite put them together smoothly but practice will round off those corners.
Double unders, you're next!

Double nothing

2008-09-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

I didn't get much sleep last night and have been time-stressed in general so I wasn't expecting much today.
After the usual Adrian warmup, the workout was...

8 rounds of tabata	20s air squat, 10s rest, 20s Double Unders, 10s rest
4 minutes	DB Hang Clean and Push Press, as many as you can do

The clean&presses started 10s after the tabata ended.

I used a 40# b/c I couldn't get a 45# or even 50#. I'm definitely ready to move up to 45/50 for overhead shoulder exercises so I can say that CrossFit has strengthened my shoulders.
We scored the workout by remembering the lowest number of reps for each tabata exercise, adding that to the number of clean&presses. I had 19 for the air squats and with a little more focus can get 20. I'll discuss the DUs below but I had a 4 there and I did 56 clean&presses. 79 was a pretty decent score overall.
On a side note, if you look at my early posts, you will see that I got caught up in the competitive nature of CrossFit. My friend Brian pointed that out to me and I've tried to back away from it. I'm too competitive by nature and don't need to accentuate that. As I wrote my numbers on the board today I heard, "Oh, you got X more than me. (sic)" I laughed because I don't care about that so much anymore. Except the sprints; I like to win at the sprints.
I can't double-under to save my life, plus I had a short jumprope (as I joked with Adrian later, "My jumprope was broken, even though it has no moving parts.") My first tabata was the worst as I averaged about 7 DUs after that. Damian's worst round was 35 DUs by comparison. He has his own jumprope that he brings with him. If I want to get serious about DUs I should look into that.

I also measured my bodyfat last night and I'm holding steady at 6.5/7mm, or around 10.5%. This is okay but I want to get under 10%. So I'm writing down everything I eat and trying to follow the Zone diet. Check back in a few weeks to see how it goes.

Strength Day - Front Squat

2008-09-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

Warmup focusing on shoulders and overhead squat position. I didn't even touch my jumprope!
The workout was the Front Squat...

5,5 reps	135# for both, just to get good technique down
3,3,3 reps	185#, 185#, 205# [PR]
1,1,1 reps	225# [bail], 225# [PR], 245# [bail]

I worked out with Damian and Neil. Damian got his new PR of 245# while Neil did a strong 295#. The good news is that I set two PRs, using the 'Jerk' hand positioning instead of crossing my arms. The bad news is that I got the 225# up strongly and really think I can do 245#. Slightly better form and much better mental focus and I'm there.
After this we ran five sprints 50-75m, on the minute.

Hoo-ah!

2008-09-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

Adrian led us through a solid warmup before partnering us up and having us grab a heavy kettlebell and two heavy dumbbells. What is all this for?

15 minutes of

20 kettlebell swings or 12 DB thrusters, both followed by a combined 20 reps of pullups and ~120m run

So one person swings while the other person thrusts, then both do a combined 20 pullups and run ~120 meters. On their return, the swinger does the thrusting and the thruster does the swinging.

It was a hard workout, made harder by being partnered with Neil the Marine. A really nice guy who was "terribly out of shape". He was also a pullup monster and all-around pretty strong. We used a 44# kettlebell and two 40# dumbbells. The DBs were almost too heavy. We got through 6 rounds so we did each exercise (swings, thrusts) three times each. Anyway, it was a good workout and I'm still drained at 4:45 PM.

I weighed 199# at the gym this morning after the workout but before eating. I'll check the bodyfat soon.

Step To It

2008-09-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

All experienced regulars so Kelly gave us 5 minutes to do our own warmup, with special attention to hips and shoulders. Great.

The basic movement of the workout was one one-handed DB thruster followed by a stepup on a box while holding the weight on your shoulder.

The trick was that we would start performing at 90 second intervals, increasing the number of reps each round. So the first round was one 'movement' for right hand and one 'movement' for left hand. Then two each side, three, etc. If/when we got to the point where we couldn't finish the number of reps during round, then we reset to 1 rep and built up again.
I got through 5 rounds (5 'movements' each hand) before I had to reset. Then I got through four more rounds, reset and got through four more rounds. Kelly stopped us at that point and not a moment too soon, I say. I was using a 50# DB and a high box to step on.

A few minutes after this Kelly had us hold a pushup position 1 inch off the ground for as long as we could, at exhaustion push up to the top position and immediately back down to one inch off the ground. I repeated this three or four times and that was it. I don't know whether it was the thrusters w/ more weight or the pushup holds but my triceps are toast. I thought this was a really good workout and something I could see myself repeating.

Pull, Push, Squat

2008-09-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

Seemed like a slightly briefer warmup today or maybe I'm just getting used to them. Today's workout was done with a partner.

For 15 minutes

5 Deadlifts, 10 pushups, 15 air squats

The team got a point for each round of 5,10,15. The partners could be working out at the same time, so one person was always an exercise behind the other. I worked with Damian, using 225# for our deads. Since I started, I really had to push to keep him from catching up. Working out with him pushed me harder than I probably would've gone. We got 12 points and started our 13th round when the time was up.

It was a really tough workout and there was a small pool of sweat under the bar when we were done. Pushups are still my weak link. Maybe I should just do 50 or 100 pushups a day?

Kinda OT, I did a few sets of split stretches after the workout. That would be a neat achievement. I also noticed that I had some interesting data on my bicycle. ~86 miles since I installed it, a top speed of 41.1 and an average speed of 11.1. I think my average speed before I switched to the (bigger) 40 tooth chain ring was 10.7 or something. I'm going to reset the odometer and see how much I ride in a week.

Also, I saw the results from the two evening classes on the same workout we did yesterday (see 'Pre-emptive Jesus'). Almost everyone beat the time I had with a handful of people getting 9:30-10:00. That is incredible. There must be a bunch of monsters in the 6 PM class.

Pre-emptive Jesus

2008-09-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

Workouts are nice while the mornings are warm. I'm still worried about making it to class on during the rainy months...
Adrian warmed us up and got right into it. As he started writing the workout on the board, someone muttered 'jesus' sotto voce. Adrian was upset that someone would mutter a 'pre-emptive jesus'.

5 rounds of

10 DB snatch R, 10 overhead lunge R, 10 DB snatch L, 10 overhead lunge L

I used a 40# DB and was very worried about being able to clean it, much less snatch it. Men were supposed to go as high as 50# although only one or two did. Adrian did his usual magic at breaking down the movement and getting everyone comfortable with the one-hand DB snatch.

I finished in 13:03 and it was a tough run of it. I was able to control the weight but I was really breathing hard near the end. This was a great workout that I'm still feeling 7 hours later as I type this. I might have been able to do 45# but 50# would've been courting injury. The hard part wasn't the snatch but the lunge afterward. My shoulder was already tired and now I had to hold the weight overhead!
We finished w/ 2 sets of knees-to-elbows but I didn't go hard enough.

Second Month

2008-09-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

Several days of posts here. Did not work out last Saturday, worked out Sunday in Monterey and did not work out Monday. Worked out today.
SUNDAY
At the Monterey Presidio with my friend Brian. Mostly a form day. A few sets each of push-to-snatch grip (like overhead press but from backsquat position), push snatch (like push press but behind the head), overhead squat and front squat. I was able to get my hands narrower on the bar for the overhead squats by the end. Did 25 reps of 225# deadlift to break a sweat. A few sets of pullups. 4 sets of wall ball. 4 rounds of tabata situps and some stretching. Nothing really focused but enough to keep me from feeling lazy.

TODAY
Kevin warmed us up, focusing on shoulders. There were two parts to the workout. One, 5x5 push press and Two, 6 rounds of ~100m sprints on the minute (~16s on, 44s rest).

Kevin had some helpful tips on the push press, like narrowing my grip, not pausing at the bottom, putting the front of my foot on thin plates to make sure the weight stayed on my heels. I had been leaning forward at the bottom. I did 115# for all five sets. I didn't feel any pain in my shoulders and they felt stable during the lifts. Lower back felt ok. It was a good workout overall.

My nemesis, the Overhead Squat

2008-08-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

It has been Kelly all week and he runs his warmups differently. You almost feel tired just from the warmup. Lots of planks, moving limbs, lunges and squats held in uncomfortable positions (ie. arms overhead like in a snatch).
The workout was ...

5 sets of

15 reps overhead squat, ~120m run

We worked out in pairs. Kelly recommended 95# for guys but I knew there was no way I could do that. I ended up doing 55# with Guy. One person squatted while the other ran. While the weight was no problem for squatting, I had to focus the entire time to keep my shoulders 'active' (keep your shoulders touching your ears w/ arms overhead). We ended w/ "5" sets of tabata 'knees-to elbows'. Hanging from a bar, crunch your torso up until your knees touch your elbows. Rough. One set was a little short.
I'm typing this in at 9:25 PM and my shoulders are still a little sore so I think I picked the correct weight. Guy and I finished very quickly but I was happy with the workout. A good week!

Three's A Charm

2008-08-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well, how the world turns. I had my third good workout in a row and I'm feeling good again. A smaller crowd today at CrossFit so Kelly let us do our own warmups for 5 minutes. He felt that we had done a few high volume days so today would be a higher intensity day.
The workout was...

5 sets	max rep front squat, max rep pullups
my reps	(5,16), (3,12), (3,12), (2,10), (3,10)

The front squats were supposed to be done at, or near, bodyweight. I chose 185# b/c that was were I had trouble earlier in the week. I currently weigh about 197# so I wasn't that far off.
There wasn't any limitation on rest although everyone kept moving the whole time. If you've read my earlier posts, you will know that I have problems using the Clean&Jerk hand positioning for front squats. I practiced them last weekend so my first two sets were ok. I bailed on my third set b/c my wrists hurt so badly. Before my fourth set, Kelly gave me a huge tip. "Don't grip the bar when you step under it. Barely touch the bar with two fingertips and let it rest on your delts. Oh, and put your hands wider, wider than your bench grip."
These tips made a big difference. Sure my fourth set was only two but it felt better. I found my next weak link: my upper back. I have trouble coming out of the hole and holding my back upright. Something to focus on in upcoming workouts.
We finished with four rounds of tabata situps.

I also checked my bodyfat again last night and this morning. I'm measuring a consistent 7mm which is about 11% (I think, don't have the chart in front of me right now). This is down from 8mm last time so I'm getting the diet in order.

Two In A Row

2008-08-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

Hello folks,
Today was another good workout day. It was also the first time I had Kelly Starrett as instructor. He has a lot of energy, periodically punctuating the workout with a hearty " 'Morning!". He also led us through a different warmup, with a lot of planks with limbs held up in different directions and combinations.
The workout centered around [5 reps deadlift, 5 reps clean, 5 reps thruster] where you held a dumbbell in one hand. So it was about core and shoulder stability as well as moving the weight explosively. My partner and I used a 40# DB. I could've gone with a 45 or 50, maybe.

7 sets of

Partner 1 runs ~120 meters while Partner 2 does the 15 reps with one hand. Then Partner 2 returns from their run and does 15 reps with the other hand and runs again. This is one set.

I felt like running today plus the left shoulder and lower back felt good. So I ended up going faster than my partner and got a little more rest. I kept it hard by running fast and trying to complete the lifts as fast as possible. I think it took us 22:33 to do it all.

Looking Up

2008-08-26T21:59:00.000-07:00

Today was a step forward. After the usual warmup (jumprope, squats, jumprope, stretch, jumprope, pushups) we had a two-part workout.
Part One

6 sets

10 reps, squat

Sets started roughly every two minutes. I worked out with Bernard again and he had the good sense to choose 175#. I might have done 185# but it was a good workout and my lower back felt better than it has in a week.

Part Two
After we were done, we did this suicide line drill thing. Partnered up with Bernard again. We each ran (15 yards and back, 30 yards and back, 60 yards and back) x 5. When one partner completed one set of three runs, the other person went. It was tough!
So I had a good weight workout and a good metabolic workout as well.

Winter of My Discontent

2008-08-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

As my first month of CrossFit draws to a close, I've finally come to grips with some discontent I've been having. It boils down to not knowing how much resistance to use in workouts. For instance, today we did 'Fran' (I'll explain it later). I started with 50# on the bar but switched to a plain bar in the middle of the workout. If I had known beforehand, I would've tried 20# or 30# on the bar and had a better workout. With workouts almost never repeating, I find it hard to know how much to use today. I can see how experience will tell you this but I wonder how long it will take to get that experience. I plan on signing on for September at least.

Anyway, the workout today was 'Fran'.

21 reps	thrusters + pullups
15 reps	thrusters + pullups
9 reps	thrusters + pullups

I finished in 8:32.

School starts tomorrow

2008-08-24T09:49:00.000-07:00

I was at school for most of the day, getting ready for stuff. So I worked out at the USF gym.

4 sets of	DB overhead lunge (10 each side) + 10 pullups
8 sets of	20s box jumps, 10s rest, 20s pushups, 10s rest

3 of the 4 sets of lunge were done with a 50# DB but I had to use a 45# on the last set. I had originally meant to do 8 sets of that alone as workout but my shoulders just couldn't hold the load for 20 lunges. Next time I'll try 50# but only do 5 per side. I had to use a little jumping on the last 2 sets of pullups.
There was a brief rest b/n lunge/pullups and the tabata part. I did one set of overhead squats with the bar but decided to leave that until tomorrow. So I walked to the room next door where I could stack mats to make a jump box. I also took a ~1 minute rest b/n sets 4 and 5 of the tabata. I was going to stop after 4 but am happy I powered through.
I measured my bodyfat and noticed that it is up to 8 mm, or ~12%. Hmmm, either I need to hit the CrossFit harder or, if my back can't take it right now, to come up with some other high-intensity workouts to burn more calories. And watch that diet! All this becomes easier when I get into a schedule at school.

Hmm, I've been making up my own quasi-CrossFit workouts but in browsing their FAQ I see that they have some really gut-busting workouts that I could do at USF. Like Tabata This or any of the Girl workouts. Or just maybe this.

On My Own

2008-08-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

Slept in and had to be at school through the afternoon CrossFit sessions, so I did my own thing.

8 rounds of

10 wall balls, run basketball court up and back, 10 pushups

I used a 6kg (~12#) wall ball. I was breathing pretty hard and sweating at the end. My stopwatch stopped so I don't know how long it took but roughly 10 minutes I think.
I plan on going to the open gym time tomorrow to work on overhead squats and cleans. Who knows what else I'll toss in or what other people will be doing.

More of the same

2008-08-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

My lower back still isn't right. Today was a squat day and I could not get through the entire workout. Here is what we were supposed to do...

3x5 overhead squats	I did 3 sets. Two with just the bar and one with 5# plates on it.
3x5 front squat	I started, and stayed, with 185#. I'm used to crossing my arms but Adrian wanted me to hold it like I'm doing a clean. Hmmph, I couldn't get that right b/c it hurts my wrists and collarbone. I have to practice that. I ended up bailing twice while trying the clean-n-jerk style.
3x5 back squats	My back was shot by this time. I did one set at 185#, another at 135#.

I'm torn about going tomorrow. I could just do my own thing, probably more weighted lunges, pullups and pushups. I might not be going to morning Friday's anyway b/c it is my day off from school so I can sleep in.
We finished up with ~5 minutes of tabata [line sprints | pushups]. At least that got me sweating w/o hurting my back too much.

I get depressed when I don't have good workouts.

We Shall Overcome

2008-08-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

Hmm, I did not complete today's workout b/c my lower back acted up. Specifically my lower left-hand side hurt badly. I did another workout on my own that was ok.
First, the official workout, an altered 'Grace'.

10 power cleans, followed by 10 burpees

10 Push Presses, followed by 10 burpees

10 Clean and Jerks, followed by 10 burpees

10 Push Presses, followed by 10 burpees

10 Cleans

I was only using 95# and got through the first 10 Push Presses but my back was crying. I felt like an ass for not finishing. I don't know where the back problem came from but I guess I'm still tired/dehydrated from last Saturday.

I ended up going to the USF gym and doing this workout

4 sets of ... no rest b/n sets	10 lunges holding 40# overhead in R. hand, 10 lunges holding 40# in L. hand, 10 pullups
a few minutes rest
4 rounds of tabata	pushups, Killer V's

I was breathing and sweating so I figure it was a decent workout. I'll drink water tonight and take an advil tomorrow.

Back on track

2008-08-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

First, some background. I took last Friday off so as to recover for the epic 36.5 mile run with John on Saturday. We went from the west end of the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, along the northern side up past Rancheria Falls, to Pleasant Valley, to Pate Valley, to Harden Lake and down to White Wolf camp. If you zoom in a few times, you can see the trails.

The trip was a disaster. I was woefully underprepared. Thankfully John, a Marine, was tough enough to drag my ass out of the sticks. It took over 13.5 hours. I was so beat up Monday that I went to the gym and did my own abbreviated, low-intensity workout of push presses, pullups, Killer V's and stretching. It seemed to work b/c I felt good enough today to return to CrossFit.

Kevin led us through a more active warmup consisting of Tabata jumprope interspersed w/ air squats, pushups, pullups and lunge jumps. Everyone then rowed max for one minute supposedly to split into even teams. I got 357 meters which was near the top. We ended up just partnering with anyone b/c we were all working out for the same time.
The workout was alternating 30 seconds of rowing with wall ball tosses (like thrusters but tossing a ball up). We didn't have enough rowing machines and I didn't feel like rowing so I teamed up with Bernard and did running/tossing. We did a total of 10 rounds, with the first 5 rounds being about 150 meters run/row + 7 ball tosses. Each round after that added 10 meters and 1 toss. It was a decent workout. Not the hardest but something I could tinker with and do again. Bernard and I weren't sure how far we were running so we just ran a little farther each time.

Pullagee

2008-08-14T07:08:00.001-07:00

BTW, "Pullagee" was the name of the horse my great-grandfather used to deliver ice in New York Century at the turn of the previous century.

Standard Adrian warmup: 20 double unders, 20 squats, 20 lunges 20 pushups, 1 set pullups

The first part of today's workout was to build up to 3 sets of 5 reps in the deadlift! I love the deadlift. And my partner was Damian, the local CrossFit hero. We got up to 2 sets at 315 and a set at 335. My 335 was pretty slow out of the hole but I banged out the last four reps. The photo is me at 315#.

Then we did 0:30 box jumps (big box :-() + 0:30 pushups + 0:30 rest. Lather, rinse, repeat with 0:25, 0:20, 0:15, 0:10. Then 0:30 hanging from bar with knees up (L-sit but I couldn't hold my legs out straight). Repeat with 0:25, 0:20.

Stretching and we were done!

2008-08-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

Gotta run to work so here is a quick writeup...

Parking lot ~75m, divided into 15m blocks. W/ weight above head in one hand, lunge ~7.5m, switch hands and lunge rest of 15m. Put weight down and run back to original line and return. Lunge next 15 meters and run back to original line (30m). Lunge another 15m and run back to original line and return (45m). Do this for full 75 meters then start over and do it the whole way back. Took me about 9:30 with a 40# dumbbell. I caught up to people b/c they started out too fast. I think I was four or fifth out of 20-ish people.

A short rest and then 4 sets of tabata 'rockers' (like "Killer V's", laying down, legs straight, feet about a foot off the ground, arms up behind your head and shoulders off the ground. 20s on, 10s rest)

It was a pretty good workout. Both shoulders were still tired from yesterday so I was concerned about the overhead hold but it worked out alright.

Getting better

2008-08-12T15:36:00.000-07:00

Small class today, 6 people I think. Kevin was teaching again. We warmed up mostly on our own. Then Kevin led us through an intro to the Snatch that was pretty similar to Adrian's intro. Today's workout consisted of two parts.

(# of snatches, # of overhead squats) (1,1), (1,2), (1,3)...(1,10), (1,9), (1,8), ... (1,1) So always one snatch and a pyramid of overhead squats. It was a tiring but not grueling skill workout. I finished in the middle of the pack with a 11:30 I think. That could be way off b/c I don't remember the time. It wasn't a highly time-sensitive workout. I used a total of 65# but I was the only person to put weight on the bar. I can't do a good overhead squat b/c my left shoulder isn't strong enough to let the weight go back. So I spread my legs wide and do a sumo squat.

A few minutes to rest and then 5 x ~40 meter sprint. I cleaned up in this. It felt good to run fast again!

My left shoulder was tight to begin with and now is tired but that is okay. I'll keep working on range of motion. I'm curious what tomorrow will bring.

2008-08-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

First off, I measured my bodyfat using the same Accu-measure Fitness 3000 calipers and got a consistent 6mm. This translates to about 10.5% bodyfat. Given the three or four pounds I lost last week, this makes sense. So far, CrossFit seems to be successful at reducing overall bodyfat. Next weekend is the two week mark and I'll be running a self-supported 40 miler with my friends John and Nicole. That will give me an idea if CrossFit is helping my endurance.

On to today's workout. We had a usual warmup (0:30 jumprope, 12 squats, 0:25 jumprope, shoulder warmup, 0:20). There were a lot of people today, maybe 23 or so. My fear is that there is not enough equipment to get a good workout in. But Adrian was creative. We split into teams of four and did this workout

Hydrant run (not 400 meters. I'll have to measure it someday.)
200 Thrusters (Thrusters are a front squat into an overhead press. We could split up the exercise however we wanted. We ended up doing sets of 15. I did a an extra 8 or so as the last person b/c one person was a little short.)
Hydrant run
150 Tire Flips (This was originally 200 but Adrian changed midstream b/c it was taking too long. The tire was a _big_ truck tire. We form two lines of 2 on each side and took turns flipping it back and forth.)
Hydrant Run
200 Pullups (I was the weak link here. I can do 10 clean pullups but I don't know how to kip. Thank goodness the rest of my team were pullup monsters.)
Hydrant Run

My team finished in 26:20, first by almost a minute. People seemed to have trouble with the run. I would place the workout as a Metabolic conditioning via Weights workout. Maybe tomorrow will be Metabolic and Gymnastics?

For Whom The Bell Tolls

2008-08-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

Adrian had us warmup with 20 double-under rope jumps. I swear that my rope was broken. I could barely do normal jumps and I'm a decent rope jumper! Then 20 air squats, 20 lunges (10 each side) then 20 pushups and 1 set of pullups (I did 15 and felt sufficiently warmed up).

Adrian gave his usual, detailed, good instruction in kettlebell swinging. Good since I've never held one before. Some people used dumbbells so you could do this at a normal gym too.

The workout was

8 sets of

10 kettlebell swings
10 lunges while holding kettlebell to your chest
11 pushups

It was "Jeff's" 31st birthday, thus the number of reps. I was assigned a 53# kettlebell. Two guys got 70# 'bells. I finished in 12:50, which was pretty good among the group times, meaning I finished 6th overall, and the first guy. Although some of the guys right behind me had heavier 'Bells and/or did explosive pushups. I did not do explosive, slap-your-chest-b/n-reps pushups though. Just normal pushups. Overall it was a very tiring workout. I remember pausing b/n pushup reps with a whine starting to form on my lips. Then I remembered that I wanted a hard workout after some lifting technique days this week.

I weighed right about 200# at the gym today, but after drinking a quart of milk and eating some fruit. So I may have lost a pound or two this week. I'll do my bodyfat check later tonight and update this post.

Best snatch I've had in a long time

2008-08-07T07:21:00.000-07:00

Warmup was kinda left to us, mostly jumprope and air squats. Then Adrian stepped us through the Snatch. I really like how Adrian breaks down a lift into small techniques and drills them. The first half of the workout was the Snatch and I had no real experience with it. I got up to 85# comfortably by the end. No real rep counts. Just do one or two and switch with your partner. No rep count took the pressure off.

After 20 minutes of that, we did 8 rounds of tabata [pullups|squats]. Someone asked what the 'Gold Standard' was for the squat. I guess there are levels of achievement at which you can consider yourself as 'good enough'? The standard is 18, meaning the lowest rep count of any set is 18. I got 19 as my two lowest counts so I guess I meet this standard. But my pullups sucked, only doing 5 the last three sets.

Today was primarily a Weight day. I liked how Adrian separated the metabolic conditioning from the weight training. I was able to push heavier weights b/c I wasn't worried about rowing 300 meters immediately afterwards. I spoke with Adrian about the Weight-Gymnastics-Metabolic workout balance. He said that they have a problem following the optimum CrossFit program b/c people come on different days of the week. If someone only comes three days/week and those days change, they might never get a balanced workout.

Still figuring things out

2008-08-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

There was the usual jump rope + air squat + jump rope + etc warmup. The workout itself was

Row 500 meters As Fast As You Can (tm) = 1:30

3 sets of [Military Press for 5 reps, push press for 3 reps, Jerk (from clean+jerk) Press for 1 rep. The sets weren't back-to-back like that. You could take rest as you needed it.

Row 500 meters As Fast As You Can (tm)= 1:31

I misread the board and did 3 sets of 5 reps military press. 3 sets of 3 reps push press, 3 sets of 1 rep jerk press. And I might have missed one set in the push press. I was very worried about my shoulder so I kept the weight lighter than my max. I maxed out at 115# for all three presses. I'm okay with that b/c of the shoulder issue and also my inexperience in the Jerk.

I did have the two fastest row times today. I saw on the Big Board that some members have posted faster times including 'Judy' at 1:24 and 'Damian' at 1:28. But I am close. A little redemption since I was so weak in the presses.

I guess this workout was mostly Weightlifting with a little Metabolic Conditioning thrown in. Yesterday's rowing was harder. Neither yesterday nor todays' workouts got me sweating so I feel kinda guilty. I hope that tomorrow is a hard one.

Easy Day?

2008-08-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

My first Tuesday class so it was news to me that [name changed to protect the innocent], not Adrian, taught on Tuesdays. I'm sure he is a fine fellow. Maybe he had a bad day. Maybe he will grow on me. But seemed to be just walking through the paces and not as energetic or helpful as Adrian.
We had a brief warmup, mostly air squats to get ready for the day's workout...

Squat, 3 reps. It was a partner workout again b/c of so many people. Bernard and I used 185#. Yes, in retrospect I wished I had used more but I wasn't sure how much I could squat after rowing.

Row 100 meters: 20s

Squat, 3 reps

Row 200 meters: 36s

Squat, 3 reps

Row 300 meters: 55s

Squat, 3 reps

Row 400 meters: 1:15

Squat, 3 reps

Row 500 meters: 1:36

Squat, 3 reps

So it was a Weightlifting-Metabolic Conditioning day. Funny b/c the WOD recently was simply 5x3 backsquats. My hunch is that they don't have beginners do really intense single-event days. We were allowed as much rest as necessary b/n events so there was no reason not to squat, and row, hard.

Apparently none of the big guns were there because I had the fastest 400 and 500 meter rows and I didn't see anyone squatting more than 185#.

It was an easier day but I needed it. Still, I was gunning for a squat day where I could hold my own and now I need to wait for another. Or maybe a deadlift day.

In the swing of things

2008-08-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

6 AM is not getting any easier. Thank goodness we start with light exercise. Today it was 30s jump rope, shoulder rotations, 25s jump rope, 10 air squats, 20s jump rope. This was followed by instruction in the Clean & Jerk, the exercise of the day.

The workout was (Hmmph, tables don't work like I remember. -Ed.)

10 reps	Clean & Jerks (I used two 40# DBs for the entire workout.)
5 sets of	5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 air squats
10 reps	Clean & Jerks
5 sets of	5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 air squats
10 reps	Clean & Jerks

Again, it was pretty rough. Lots of pauses, especially during the pushups. I also lost count on the first group of 5 sets. So I watched people who came in after me and left when they left. I may have done too much or I may have done too little. So my finishing time of 15:12 is suspect but I don't think I would've been over 16:00. The best time was low 12's and there were several people in the 15's.

In perspective of the CrossFit Template, I think today was a Weightlifting/Gymnastics day. I kinda expected a single Weight or Gym. or Metabolic day since Saturday was all three. Mebbe I'll ask Adrian tomorrow about it.

Took a long nap when I got back since I didn't have to be at work until 12:15.

And then the rains came

2008-08-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday's workout was a few minutes of jump rope and air squats followed by [400m run, 30 box jumps, 30 medicine ball (I used a 10# ball) squat-tosses] x5, and we had to work with a partner. Pat and I finished the second part in 30:03. This was my second CrossFit workout and Pat's third. He had come twice earlier in the week and was too sore to return until Saturday. It was a tough workout. I thought so at the time (breathing hard, having to pause between reps) and I think so now (muscles sore like I had done power cleans and squats).

I've been reading this document to gain some understanding of how CrossFit workouts are laid out. Saturday seemed to hit all three modalities whereas Friday's workout hit Gymnastics and Metabolic Conditioning. I don't know if San Francisco CrossFit follows the 3 on/1 off or 5 on/2 off plan. Neither since they have classes six days of the week. I'll ask if we are supposed to attend all six or if they recommend taking a break after three days. I'm curious if Monday's class is going to be only Metabolic?

I spoke with the instructor (Angel) about mixing running and CrossFit. He thought I should run 3x/week and CrossFit 3x/week. I'm sticking with my plan of only running one long run each Sunday and doing CrossFit the rest of the week. Unless I keep feeling this sore in which case I'll run one day during the week.

Eric

One down...

2008-08-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hola,
  I was going to do an entire post about yesterday's lifting fiasco. Long story short, my lower back seized up just as I started a work set in squats. It felt better this morning but not 100%.
  I got up at 5:30. I've been practicing this for most of July but it still wasn't easy. Got down to CrossFit in time to sign up. Common practice for the group is for everyone to introduce themselves and shake your hand. Too many people! Too many names! They were nice enough people.
  The workout started with 1:00 jump rope, 10 body-weight squats, 0:45 jump rope, 10 squats, 0:30 jump rope. A little explanation of the next part and then we started. The workout was 10 lunges w/ a dumbbell in one hand overhead [R,L], 15 pushups (flat on ground to arm lockout), then roughly 100 meter 'sprint'. Do this for five sets. I used a 30# DB and finished just above the middle of the pack at 11:12. Someone else was in the low 8:00's. Men were supposed to try as much as a 50# DB. I opted lighter b/c first day and weak L shoulder. Pushups were the hardest. Had to pause every few pushups by the last set. At least I did them all as full pushups and didn't have to resort to resting on my knees.
  After this there was a brief rest until everyone finished, then we teamed up in two's and did team pullups. One pulled-up while the other lifted them by grabbing around the waist. I teamed up with John, a pretty big guy. First round was 30 total pullups b/n both partners (John 10, me 15, John 5). Next round was 25 (Me 16, John 5, Me 4). Then some stretching as a cool down.
  I might wear my heartrate monitor one day, just to see where the workout puts me. It was an interesting workout. I have to an entire week to see how balanced the workout is. I also want to ask an instructor about incorporating running on days off.

Where it's at

2008-07-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hello folks,
   My fitness goals and methods have changed significantly in the last few months. Last winter had me running about 70 miles/week with the idea of ramping up for one last attempt at a good 100 miler this summer. But I didn't get into Western States so I gave up running in February. Cold turkey. Started lifting and rapidly went from 177# to ~200#. Roughly the same bodyfat % (~12% but more on that later).
   Now that I'm at 200#, I want to balance it with some aerobic fitness. Oh, and I signed up for a 50 mile run in October so that I can make one last try at Western States next summer. All of this leads to the point of this blog. I'm signing up for CrossFit on August 1. Being who I am, I want to quantify any changes (improvements?) to my fitness and graph it. I also want to document the workouts. I see the CrossFit Workout of the Day [BTW, Yahoo! Pipes is really cool but I can't think of a killer app for it yet] but is that really the whole thing? It doesn't look like enough work.
   How to quantify fitness? Measure things!
Measurements:
   Bodyfat % - I bought a skinfold caliper. After practicing a few times for consistency, I figure that I'm around 12.5% which is what I was told a year ago when I had my bodyfat % checked at the school gym.
   Weight

   Strength
      Squat - heaviest I can do for 5 reps
      Military - same as squats but with dumbbells
      Pullups - either number of reps at bodyweight or heaviest dumbbell I can hold and still do 5 reps

   Endurance
      400m - Can I still break 60 seconds?
      5 kilometers - A standard road race distance. Shouldn't be hard to find a race once in a while
      long run - Distance doesn't matter. Rather, does my time improve for my bread-n-butter run in the Headlands?

   I figure that I will do a strength test every four weeks and the endurance test every four weeks but I will interleave the tests like the Olympics. One weekend is the strength test, then a weekend off, then the endurance test and a week off. I'll post initial strength and body measurements on Thursday, right before the Big Day.