CrossFit Metcon

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Coach Arik

(6AM) T$$$, Laura, Matt, Dalton, and me

Warm-Up

200m skip, 15 squats, 10 box jump overs, 10 GHD sit-ups, 10 supermans, 10 strict pull-ups, 10 dips

The GHD sit-ups were new.  Once in position on the GHD, lay back with a bend in the knees to parallel, lock knees and pop back up.  While strenuous, this was a pretty cool variety of core exercise.

Metcon

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 rep sets for time of box jumps (24”), pull-ups, kb swings (53#), and burpees

We did a couple of practice rounds at 2-3 reps each and I was convinced that this would be a killer workout. I started off OK, but on the round of 8, I missed the box and got a beauty scar on my left shin.  Starting the round of 7, Arik suggested I go with jumping pull-ups.  On the round of 6, I switched to the 20 inch box and the 35# KB.  If not for these changes, I would not have been able to finish the workout.  I ended up finishing in 22:31.

The burpees were the toughest part and to go right into box jumps, did not provide an opportunity to recover at all.

CrossFit NANCY

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Coach Zach

(6AM) Liz, Dalton and me

Warm-Up

400m Run, Shoulder Circuit, 8 Samson Complex, 10 Goblet Squat, 10 Pass Through, 10 Overhead Squat (PVC), 10 Overhead Squat (Bar, 35#)

Mobility:  1^st Rib:  Attach band at knee height on rack, hook over shoulder close to neck, raise arm overhead and stand, press arm against rack, finally lean forward at hips

NANCY:

5 Rounds for time of 400m Run and 15 Overhead Squats at 95#

This was my first time with overhead squats.  Start with knees wider than shoulder width apart and bar in snatch grip overhead.  Lower to a full squat, if torso leans forward, keep the bar tracking above heals.  Rise back up for one repetition.  It is important to keep the arms locked and your core stable during this lift.

The 400m run was easy, but I was not moving as fast as I would have liked, probably averaging 2:45 for the splits.  I did the Overhead Squats at 45# using a women’s 35# bar and 2 wooden 5# plates.  The first round, I did the squats in two sets.  On the last round, I had to break the squats up into 3 sets.  I finished in 21:51.  I was pleased with the effort and could probably manage 55# or 65# with good form, but that is a far cry from a 95# Rx.

CrossFit Total

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Coach Arik

(6AM) Kayla, Laura, T$$$, Lisa, Whit and me

Warm-Up

15 reps of Samson Stretch, Overhead Squat with PVC, Sit-ups, Back Extensions, Pull-ups and Dips.  I did Supermans for the back extensions, 3 regular pull-ups and 12 jumping pull-ups and bar dips.  My left shoulder feels OK, but I did not want to risk re-injury while doing pull-ups during the warm-up.

The CrossFit Total

Back Squat (1 Rep Max), Shoulder Press (1 Rep Max), Deadlift (1 Rep Max)

This is a test workout that was proposed in the CrossFitJournal in December 2006.  We had tried most of the exercises before, but I struggled to get low enough on the squat.

Back Squat:  8x45, 5x95, 3x135, 2x165, 1x175, 1x185NR, 1x185

Shoulder Press:  6x45, 3x75, 2x95, 1x105, 1x115, 1x125, 1x135NR

Dead Lift:  5x95, 3x135, 2x185, 1x205, 1x215, 1x235

--

Total = 545

I may have had a little more Dead Lift in me, but wasn’t sure how to work up the weight.  On the others, I maximized my efforts.  While it is not grueling at the time, I will be sore for a couple of days.

CrossFit – FRAN

Friday, May 22, 2015

Coach Jared

(6AM) Laura, Esther, and me

CrossFit Warm-up

3 rounds of 10 reps of Samson Stretch (15-30 seconds), Overhead Squat with PVC (5-10 seconds), Sit-ups, Back-extensions, Pull-ups, Dips

This was a grueling 33 minute warm-up.  On overhead squats, I need to rotate my elbow pocket more.  For back-extensions, I tried out the Glute-Ham Developer (GHD).  The technique is to lower by dropping the neck first and then lowering each vertebrae in succession.  During the raise, start by extending the lower back and raising vertebrae successively until finally raising the neck.  I was doing good on pull-ups until I felt something stretch in my left shoulder during the second rep of the second round.  From there on, I was doing jumping pull-ups (for future reference, start with strict pull-ups, make sure shoulders are warm and then try kipping).  I did bar dips and need to focus on getting as low as possible to my maximum range of motion.

FRAN

(Time) 21-15-9, Thrusters 95#, Pull-ups

The box did this workout on Thursday May 14, and since then I had been interested in learning thrusters.  Today was dubbed Open Gym.  Laura did the “Murph Challenge” with the rain coming down pretty steady.  Esther did a WOD with wall balls, box jumps and double unders.  I chose Fran.

Thrusters are a coordinated squat and push press.  Starting with squat, keep the chest upright and rest the weight on your shoulders.  The push press is a slight dip and then popping the weight up overhead.  When doing a thruster, accelerate at the end of the squat to pop the weight up overhead.  I worked on technique with 45# and then 65#.

I had to scale Fran to thrusters 45# and jumping pull-ups.  I still struggled to get through the sets without shaking my arms out.  I got through the first 21 in about 3 minutes.  The round of 15 I was breaking up into sets of 5.  Even the round of 9, I had to shake my arms out once.  At the end, I finished in 7:10 and felt really good about the effort.

I ended by doing some banded stretches of my shoulders.

Crossfit – Power Cleans

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Coach Arik

(6AM) Laura, Lisa, Kate, Nick, Zack and me

Warm Up

2 rounds of 250m row, 8 goblet squat (53#), 8 KB swing (53#), 8 Shoulder Press (45#), 8 Triceps Extension (45#), 8 Front Squat (45#).  I need to get my knees further back on squats and keep my chest up.  The triceps extensions were tough and the only place I still noted some lingering discomfort in my right triceps.

Mobility:  Front Rack

First stretch - Hook elbow under band and lean forward.  Second stretch - Grab band and twist so it is pulling over your shoulder.  Hold each position for 2 minutes each arm.

Metcon: 

13 minute AMRAP of 100m run, 5 Power Cleans (135#), 5 Front Squat (135#), 5 Box Jumps (30”), 5 Pull-ups.

Power cleans start from the hang position and do not include a squat.  I built up the weight starting going from 45#, 65#, 75# and finally 95#.  I may have been able to clean a little more, but the squats were getting tenuous.  Even on the clean, my weight was not balanced well and I wasn’t getting the bar to come up on a straight line.  The 135# prescribed weight for men will have to wait until another day.  I decided to use a 24” box as I have yet to try the 30” box and today was not feeling like the day.

The first round went pretty well and I even managed the pull-ups in succession.  This round took a little over 2 minutes.  The next few rounds slowed considerably as my form was falling off on the power cleans.  I was having the most difficulty with the squats.  I surprised myself by stringing together 3 kipping pull-ups during the third round.  With 2 minutes to go, I started my fifth round getting through the run, cleans, squats and completing 2 box jumps for a final of 4 + 13.

Crossfit – CINDY

Monday, May 18, 2015

Coach Arik

(6AM) Marie, Laura, T$$$, Ben, Nick and me

CrossFit Warm Up

2 rounds of 10 reps:  Samson stretch with 3 second holds, OH squat with PVC, sit-ups, back-extensions, pull-ups, dips.  I actually managed this, but did jumping pull-ups on my second round

Mobility:  Banded Shoulders

Pull straight down, hook band around elbow and lean forward, grab band and bend over, 2 minutes each position, each arm.  My right shoulder was much tighter than the left shoulder.

CINDY

20 Minute AMRAP of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats

I was determined to Rx this workout and was hoping to get 3 rounds, but given the 20 minute duration I wasn’t sure how that would work out.  I got through the first round in about 1:10 and felt pretty good.  The second round was tougher and I started sub-setting the pull-ups (2-2-1) and push-ups (5-5).  At the half way mark, I wasn’t sure how it would end.  The second half I was doing pull-ups 1 at a time and doing push-ups (4-3-2-1), but kept a good rhythm and could complete a round every 2:30 to 3:00.  My total was 8 + 0 rounds.

While a far cry from making the board (15+ rounds), I was quite pleased with the effort.  The Mechanix vented gloves worked great and I will continue to use them during pull-up days.

Crossfit Tire Flips

Friday, May 15, 2015

Coach Zack

(6AM) Ben, Nick, Laura, Liz, T$$$, and me

Deadlift Warm Up

500m row, 25 Bandy GM (step on blue band feet wider than shoulder width apart and perform good mornings with band resting on traps, not on neck), 20 Bandy Side Step (L & R, with same band step sideways, abduction 20 times and then go back the same way), 15 pass through, 10 kb swings (53#)

Mobility

Hamstring floss:  With green band anchored to cage about waist high, loop around middle of hamstring and then perform 10 good mornings, repeat 10 times pivoting right and 10 times pivoting left on each leg

Metcon:  Tire Flip

16 minute partner AMRAP tire flip for reps + 5 burpees every 2 minutes

Technique is to keep arms inside your legs, get low and push forward with back straight, from here rest tire on leg with a flat foot and reset.  With arms still narrow and upper body engaging tire, push forward.  For speed you could also use momentum to reset and push tire forward.

Laura and I used an ~200# grader tire and managed 95 reps.  We started doing 3/3 and then switched to 4/2 and were able to keep a steady rhythm.  95 reps total.  The workout originally called for 20 minutes, but with form deteriorating, Coach Zack thoughtfully cut the workout short.

The last time we did tire flips, I managed 7 reps in two minutes with the crane tire ~400#.  I felt a lot more comfortable and confident developing technique with the lighter tire.  Knowing I would get dirty, I wore an old white t-shirt which will be my designated get dirty shirt.

We finished with 10 minutes of foam rolling and were shown a forearm technique.  From all fours bring opposite forearm under knee and bone saw back and forth as tolerated.

Crossfit Agility

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Coach Zach

(6AM) Matt, Kayla, Liz and me

WU

800m run, 10 inch worm, 10 Samson complex (lower elbow adjacent to knee, rotate towards knee).  Agility warm up (3X) – 10m run forward, 10m run back, 10m side shuffle, 10m karaoke, 10m sprint

Agility Course

1 foot each plate, 2 foot each plate, linear hop, slalom hop, shuffle, lateral plate jumps, box jump overs.

This was a day that I just wanted to get through without hitting the deck.  We went through each motion several runs.  The plate moves were set up on about ten 15 lb plates in a row in both directions.  One foot on each plate started with a lean forward and then hitting each plate with 1 foot.  Two foot means tapping it twice.  Linear hop is jumping quickly from one to the next.  Slalom hop is much tougher landing on either side of the plate.  The shuffle is a real test of agility.  From the left hand side of the plate, land the left foot on the plate, bring the right foot onto the plate, take the left foot off and then take the right foot off.  This could also be done taking only 1 foot off the plate rather than both.

Lateral plate jumps were from one 45lb plate to the next.  The plates were 5-6 feet apart in a diagonal pattern.  There were about 10 plates set up.

Finally the box jump overs.  There was a 20”-24”-24”-20” set up and a 12”-16”-16”-12” set up.  They were 5-6 feet apart.  Jump onto the first box, jump off and then onto the next box quickly staying upright the whole time and not resetting.  I could get on-off the first set but was resetting.  The 12-16’s were much easier.  I also finished up with an attempt at 16-20’s which went pretty well.  Matt set up 24-30’s and got through.  Kayla’s attempt at the 24-30’s resulted in a choice bruise on her right shin.

I am glad we did not do a Metcon for time.

Exercise Motivation

“One piece of the story may be that exercise is the one thing that you can control in your life, when the economy is down, when things aren’t going so great with your job or in your dating life,” says Cutright, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania. “Particularly with exercising, we believe that the more we put into it, the more we’ll get out of it… Pretty much everything else we do in life, someone else has some influence. And this is something where you feel like you’re in charge.”

from "Why Would Anyone Want to Work Out Until They Puke?" The Atlantic, Julie Beck, July 31, 2014

Crossfit Medicine Ball Push-Up

Monday, May 11, 2015

Coach Zach

(6AM) Nick, Ben, Eric, Kayla, Laura and me

WU

2 rounds of 10 reps:  Samson stretch with 3 second holds, Overhead Squat with PVC (lock arms out, push elbows up), sit-ups, Back extensions (supermans), Pull-ups, Bar dips

Mobility:  Couch stretch

Metcon:  2 Round Sprint of:  500m row, 25 pull-up, 20 medicine ball push-ups (alternating), 30 jumping lunges.

For the pull-ups, I did ring rows.  I was able to manage the 20 pull-ups with assistance during the warm-up but was spent.

Medicine Ball Push-Up:  With feet wider apart place right hand on medicine ball and do a push-up as low as you can go, then place both hands on the medicine ball, then place the left hand only on the medicine ball and the right hand on the ground and do a push up.  The transitions were most difficult for me and although I did the push-ups on my toes, I frequently had a knee down for transitions.

I started the jumping lunges, but switched to in place lunges about half way through each set.

Overall I finished in 19:05 for the scaled work-out.  The triceps felt good, but weak.

Several of my cohorts had bloody hands and I am thankful that I removed my rings prior to class and intend to order some gloves today.

Crossfit Gymnasty

Friday, May 8, 2015

Coach Arik

(6AM) Ben, Lisa, T$$$, and me

WU

50 jumping jacks, shoulder circuit, 10 pass through, bear crawl, lizard crawl, duck walk, and horse walk down and back.

Lizard crawl was reaching with your right hand and bringing your left foot to your stationary right hand and repeating on the opposite side.  Horse walk was with knees pointed out in a wide squat position (as opposed to duck where the feet are close together).  The bear crawl was a little tough on my triceps, but OK.

Metcon (No Measure) “Gymnasty Like Fight Gone Bad!”  3 rounds of 2 minutes each station for strict form.  Hand Stand Shoulder Touches, Superman Rock, Skin the Cat, Hollow Rock and Candle Stick.  Rest 2 minutes between rounds.

I knew this would be tough going in as I have seen my girls do gymnastics and I have a relatively weak core on which these movements depend on.

Hand stand shoulder touches – From the hand stand position, touch hand to adjacent shoulder.  Scaling includes feet on a box and just rocking by lifting hand slightly off the ground.  Further scaling could include just un-weighting one hand at a time.  This was tough on my right triceps and I only lifted the right hand off the ground.  Locking the right hand and lifting the left was painful.

Superman rock – Arms extended in front feet close together in back rock on pelvis.

Skin the Cat – Hanging from rings with straight arms, pull legs up and through behind you, pause and rotate forward.  From the hanging position, I tried to bring my knees up to my chest, but could not leverage them through.  I also tried this with bent arms rather than straight arms to no avail.

Hollow Rock – Feet close together in front of you, arms overhead, rock on a rolled back.  I could do this but was often slamming onto a flat back rather than rolling.  I was also in more of a U shaped rock, rather than a more extended position.

Candle Stick – From hollow rock position, pull feet in and stand straight up.  For a more difficult challenge try it on one leg.  I could not pop up and used my hands to get my body over my feet.  A suggestion was to reach feet for the sky before launching forward.   This helped a little, but I could not bring myself to the landing.

Although the Metcon was a no measure, it was exhausting and I paused several times to catch my breath.  I will definitely feel it in my abs tomorrow.  I also developed a little crick on the left lower section of my neck.  After the first round, I felt myself giving less than 100%.

Injury:  The triceps feels stable, but I have developed a gouty elbow. 

Crossfit Rope Climb

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Coach Zach

(8AM) Heather, Liz, Rafa, Lee and me

WU

20 double unders, 10 air squats, 1 mile run, 1 rope climb, 10 wall ball.  I could manage everything except the wall balls.  I did 10 wall balls (14#) only pushing it up to about 7 or 8 feet as opposed to above the red line.  I felt pain in my triceps and Coach Zach advised me to not put any stress on it during this phase of recovery.

Technique:  Rope Climb

Start with hands straight up overhead.  Next wrap leg from outside-in.  Then pull knees to chest and shimmy rope through with short counter-clockwise circles.  Finally, hang back into sitting position and stand up on rope.  Repeat.  The sitting position was really important and made rope climbs a lot easier.

Metcon:  AMRAP 5 minutes of rope climb, 1 minute rest, 5 minutes of wall balls (20#), 1 minute rest, 5 minutes of double unders.

Starting with the rope climb, I finished 3 trips to the top and started a fourth, but did not make it all the way up.  This felt pretty good.  I should always bring tall socks on rope climb days as I grabbed a sock from the dirty bin instead of the clean bin.

Instead of wall balls, I did walking lunges.  This really started to burn after 4 minutes.  I managed to get 74 reps.

Finally with double unders, I was still not stringing them together but I could do single-single-double to get a few reps before having to reset.  The last 2 minutes was just a double then reset.  At the end of 5 minutes, I had managed 39 reps.

The triceps felt really good.  Zach said it would just take time to heal and there was nothing I should be doing except resting it and evaluating range of motion.  He was hesitant about knee push-ups also.  In retrospect, I probably pushed it too hard on Monday.

Crossfit Chipper

Monday, May 4, 2015

Coach Arik

(6AM) Karly, Mike and me

WU

2 Rounds of 10 Reps:  Samson Stretch with 3 second holds, overhead squat with PVC, sit-ups, back-extensions (supermans), pull-ups, dips.  With my triceps still really tender, I skipped the dips.  Pull-ups felt OK on the way up, but hurt on the way down.  I switched to jumping pull-ups.

Metcon:  (Time) 100m run, 80 air squats, 60 sit-ups, 40 push-ups, 20 pull-ups, 40 burpees, 60 kb swings (53#), 80 wall balls (20#), 100m run.

This was a really tough workout and even if my triceps was in good shape, it would have been tough to Rx.  I could manage push-ups on knees, jumping pull-ups, instead of burpees, I did jumping lunge, I used 25# for the kb swings, and instead of wall balls, I did thrusters with a 20# medicine ball.  The hot spot on my ass flared up again.  I was so spent near the end, I was doing the thrusters in sets of 4.

I finished in 29:17 and was just glad it was over.  I even walked part of the last run, I was sucking air so bad.

Injury:  Prior to starting, Arik wrapped my elbow with the Voodoo wrap and I did a minute of flexion, extensions which resulted in some nice tiger striping.  Post workout, my tricpes felt like a good sore.  I do not feel like I aggravated the injury, but it could be several weeks to get to 80%.  Box dips were extremely painful.  Also when trying to do a chest press with 20lb dumbbells, just getting under the dumbbell was extremely painful.