WOD Wednesday 8/27/08

AMRAP in 20 mins

Snatch
OHS
Hang Power Snatch
20 Double Unders

Used 95# barbell for snatch complex

12 rounds+ 1 Snatch complex + 17 Double unders

FUN!!

WOD Monday 8/25/08

Woke up early today and decided to go for a walk. That walk turned into a 5 K run. Didn't time it but I'm guessing between 25-27 minutes.

WOD

for reps

5 Min DB Hang Cleans
5 Min Push ups
3 Min DB Hang Clean
3 Min Push ups
1 Min DB Hang Cleans
1 Min Push ups

46 Total cleans/117 Push ups

Used 2 35# Dumbbells for cleansThis shows how much my muscle endurance has suffered while focused strength training. next time I'll do better.

WOD Tuesday 8/19/08

Muscle Snatch: 114
Tall Clean+PP+PJ: 40Kilos x2x4

3 rounds

10R/10L 1 arm kb swing 53#
20 situps
5 24" box jumps

time: 6:24

Followed by contrast shower and ZMA capsules before bed. Contrast showers means that you get in a cold shower for a few minutes then turn the water to warm for a few minutes. This is fine but I like to change it more than once. This really helps to alleviate soreness after workouts.

WOD Monday 8/18/08

Back Squat: 220#x3x5
Snatch Deadlift: 154#x3x3
Push Press: 130#x5x5
Pullups: 3x10
Wtd situps: 25#x10x3
Lateral Planks: R: 43,38,39
L: 47, 32, 38

This was really hard and took forever. Had a nice date with a contrast shower afterward :) Be back tomorrow for more.

New PR's 8/15/08

I PR'ed twice in both the snatch and clean and jerk today. The first PR in the snatch happened by accident because I miscalculated what was on the bar. What a fortuitous mistake :)

Snatch: From 55 Kilos to 62 Kilos
Clean and Jerk: From 75 Kilos to 81.5 Kilos

I'm only 8Kilos from my goal in the snatch and only 18.5 Kilos from my goal in the clean and jerk.

WOD Friday 8/15/08

Tested my 1 rep maxes today so I have something to base my percentages off of when I start the CA WOD

Snatch: 131#(59.5K)PR, 136#F,136#F, 136#F, 136#(~62K)PR
Clean & Jerk: 154#(70K), 169#(76.8K)PR, 174#(~81.5K)PR

Lifts felt great today. Had technique flaw in my failed snatch attempts, but straightened it out and made the final lift. C&J was not that difficult. I felt that I could have gotten more but I didn't want to push my luck. Besides, I am always happy with 15 pound PR's!

WOD Tuesday 8/12/08

3 Pos Snatch(Floor, Mid-hang, High-hang) 43 Kilos x3
Snatch Balances: 95#x3, 115#x2(f), 115#x3, 120#x3, 125#x2(f)
Back Squat: 185#x3, 205#x3, 215#x3, 215#x3, 220#x3

I'm pissed about failing on some of those snatch balances! Oh well, at least I know what to concentrate on next time, aggression and stable abs.

I drove all the way to Boston and all I got were these lowsy shins!

This past weekend I went up to Crossfit Boston for a 2 day Olympic lifting seminar with Greg Everett and Aimee Anaya. I just have to say that if you have any interest in learning the lifts, look no further than Greg(well maybe Coach Burgener). His learning progressions are thorough and get you pulling correctly in no time. I love these lifts and am focusing on training them more exclusively.

Up top is a picture of my shins after training with the Pendlay Elite weightlifting bar. The knurling on this bar was rougher than a cob and turned my shins into swiss cheese as you can see, other than that it was a nice bar.

On another note, the people I met at this seminar were awesome. It never ceases to amaze me how many genuinely good people there are in the Crossfit community. Thank you to Aimee and Greg, all the folks up at CF Boston, Lynne Pitts, Lisbeth Darsh, and my co-pilots on the ride home Allison and Marisela. It was truly a pleasure to meet you all.

Lifting PR's

To the best of my knowledge these are my personal best lifts:

As of 8/7/08
Squat: 265#
Deadlift: 340#
Press: 130#
Bench: 190#
Power Clean: 160#
Snatch: 55 Kilos
Clean & Jerk: 75 Kilos
Push Jerk: 165#x3

My Stats

Here are my current measurements as a reference point for progress:

8/7/08
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 186 lbs.
Waist: 35"
Hips: 34"
Chest: 44"
Thigh: 24"
Biceps: 14"
Body Fat: 16%

WOD Wed. 8/6/08

After Push up challenge workout I did a snatch assistance exercise warm up.

3 x(w/ 45# bar):
3 OHS
3 Pressing Snatch Balance
3 Heaving Snatch Balance
3 Snatch Balance

WOD
21 Push Jerks
10 Shuttle Runs
15 Push Jerks
10 Shuttle Runs
9 Push Jerks
10 Shuttle Runs

Time: 7:27
Weight for Push Jerks: 105#
Score: 105/447 secs. = .23

Day 3 of push up challenge

2 Minutes rest between rounds

Round 1: 15
Round 2: 13
Round 3: 10
Round 4: 10
Round 5(ME): 34

Total of 82 push ups.

And now for something completely different...

Ok, so I know a bunch of you guys at CFDV have this kipping pull up thing whipped. Now I issue the challenge of... The Butterfly Kip:



If you think you can do it, give it a shot. It can shave critical time off of your benchmarks that have pull ups(e.g. Fran, Helen). The first person to get this will have a video posted on the CFDV website.

WOD Monday 8/4/08

Last meal yesterday 6pm, first meal today @ 10:30am: 16.5 hour fast

I had my first workout at CFDV in over a week. It was a fun partner workout which kicked the hell out of me. I started off with some Oly practice.

3 sets w/ 45# bar
-3 Overhead Squats
-3 Pressing Snatch Balances
-3 Heaving Snatch Balances
-3 Snatch Balances

WOD

5 rounds

20 Deadlifts(225#)
40 Box Jumps(20" box)

Reps were split evenly b/w me and Dan D.

Time: 13:56

I needed a good kick in the pants like that. Those snatch assistance exercises were a great warm up too.

Day 2 of pushup challenge

Round 1: 12
R-90sec.
Round 2: 12
R-90sec.
Round 3: 10
R-90sec.
Round 4: 10
R-90sec.
Round 5: 28

100 Pushups

Today I'm starting the one hundred pushup challenge(one of many things I'm working on). This is a 6 week program which claims to get you to 100 consecutive push ups. I'll post my results and we'll see if this thing is worthwhile.

Initial test: 37 consecutive pushups

Day 1:
Round 1: 10
rest 60 sec
Round 2: 10
rest 60 sec
Round 3: 8
rest 60 sec
Round 4: 6
rest 60 sec
Round 5(max effort): 27

Next day is Monday.

Observations on the last month

This past month was educational. After a month trying to stay on a strict zone I realized why I always stopped doing it in the first place, because it drives me batshit!! It definitely works. The weeks that I was on I was losing weight like it was nothing, but the constant weighing and making sure you had enough of this or that is just nerve wracking. I was taking the 5 days on 2 days off approach. I found that this was not very effective. I would lose a lot of weight during the week, only to gain a bit of it over the weekend; one step forward two steps back. If you decide to follow the Zone prescription, do it right! Don't make compromises and eat crap on weekends or have a cheat day. Throwing in an occasional cheat meal is ok, but don't make a whole day(or two) out of it.

Today I weighed in at 186, down 6 pounds from the start of the month. I feel like my weight fluctuates so much that it is a bad measurement. I need to get accurate body fat% measurements to track real progress. I am anxious to see how the other people did on their hard routine. Maybe the problem with mine is it wasn't hard enough; or not followed enough...

This diet is a good one if you are a structured, disciplined person. I don't fall into that category. From now on I will stick to what I was doing before, Intermittent fasting on the low carb end of the spectrum. I will do mostly 15-18 hour daily fasts with an occasional 24 hour fast thrown in there. My calories will be mostly made up of protein and fat, with as little carbohydrates as possible. I like this approach as it is more natural than weighing(aaaargh) all your food out, it is easier to implement, and I feel good while I'm doing it.