Crossfit 66 (the next 8 weeks is going to be dull) and Leangains

Crossfit


Bah, tonight was the first Crossfit session where I haven't been able to squat/jump/lunge/run etc. If you know what Crossfit is like then you know that it will pretty much cut out half the damn exercises! I think the next 8 weeks is going to be tedious.. maybe I'll end up with awesome arms and abs instead though.

Warm-up


It was supposed to be overhead squats and handstands, so I got a 1km row and handstands.

Strength


It was overhead squats for everyone else, so I got to do kettlebell swings to halfway and then back extensions, both of which work your hips and hamstrings, so the aim was to help strengthen that area up.

For the kettlebells I did:

10 x 16kg
10 x 16kg
10 x 16kg
10 x 20kg
10 x 20kg
10 x 20kg
10 x 20kg

Or something like that, I wasn't really counting. For back extensions it was about 6 rounds of 10 reps.

WOD


It was supposed to be power-snatches, chin-ups and double unders.. so I got chin-ups, sit-ups and rowing.

7 x chin-up (Blue and yellow band.. woo!)
14 x sit-up (got some good ass crack rash happening now)
250m row

20min AMRAP

I really don't know how many rounds I got through, probably around 5 or 6 rounds I think,  but I totally lost count and it didn't help that I had to do things a bit out of order due to a chin-up band shortage.

If I did 5 rounds then that's 35 chin-ups, 70 sit-ups, 1250m row.

To finish


30 x medicine ball taps
10 x leg raises

x 4 (I only did 3 rounds cuz I'd already been doing abs)

Then I went home and did some of the physio exercises and used my new torture device:

How awesome is our rug?

Leangains


A while back I was experimenting with leangains, which is a way to do intermittent fasting, but I got off track and gave up on it. Now I've decided to give it another shot because it does work and it's really not that hard to stick to, once you're in the habit. It also saves you time because you don't need to worry about breakfast, for example, today I got to work at 7:55am!! Crazy! It does mean no more eating things like this for breakfast though, unless I can work out how to bring it to work and eat it there after the fast (smoothie with protein powder, spinach, berries, coconut cream/milk, cinnamon, coffee and water):

To do Leangains properly you have to work out a bunch of numbers, including the macro-nutrient ratios you need to eat on workout and rest days. This is the part that takes a bit of time and experimentation, but there is a good calculator to put everything into, but it still takes some reading of forums and FAQs to really get it.

So I'm going to give it a shot at least until S&S (which is now only 2 or 3 weeks away.. eek!) and see how I go with it.

Crossfit session 65 (Friday) and the physio

Crossfit 


Amazingly I got up at 6:10am on Friday and dragged my ass to the 7am Crossfit class and it wasn't so bad! There was only 4 of us in the class too which was good, sometimes it can be bad if it's a small group and you're the least fit and everyone else finishes miles in front of you but this was a timed AMRAP workout so everyone finished at the same time.

Warm-up


10 x dips
5 x strict chin-ups

x 3-5

I went down a band on chin-ups! WOOT! Now I'm only using blue and a very thin yellow one.

Strength


Push-jerk to 3 x 6 rep max (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwiOOPD-fHY)

That's 18 push-jerks per weight, which is a lot, so I didn't go up very far. I started at 20kg and then went to 25kg and that was enough.

WOD


This workout was brutal, especially after all the push-jerks. I only used 20kg in the end because my shoulders were already fatigued.

5 x push-press (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0gEsMc1JZ4)
5 x back squat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dpwZ0Vaih4)
1 x behind the head push-press (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMwcZi1qrjU)
1 x wall-climb with push-up at the start (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCptZVnWvFE) I suck at these!

5min AMRAP, 2min rest (So get through the above sequence as many times as possible in 5mins)

x 5, so 25mins total workout time

Although because it was such a long workout we only got through 4 of the rounds before it was 8am and people had to get to work.

I think I did 3 rounds of the workout in the first 2 rounds and then was up to the behind the head push-press in the 2nd round for the last 2 rounds.

Physio


I finally made an appointment to see someone about my knee and had my appointment today, luckily he said he doubted I would need surgery or anything and it should be right in about 8 weeks. He thinks the issue is tight/weak hips, which is causing other areas of my legs to have to do all the work and also pulling my patella off track, which is causing all the issues when I'm running. So I have to do exercises to strengthen my hips and go back and see him in a fortnight to see how it's going.

The downside is that I'm not allowed to squat, jump, lunge, run or step up, so lots of Crossfit exercises are out, which is going to be really dull and mean I'll be getting a super strong upper body for the next couple of weeks! Oh well, I just want to be able to run again, so I'll be good and do all my exercises and avoid all the above. I also have to foam roll my hip, which is okay because I had already ordered a foam roller about a week ago to see if that would help loosen things up. They're total torture devices but everyone swears by them so I'll just have to bear it!

Diet


Glenn was awesome this weekend and was totally up for eating paleo, which made it a lot easier to stick to my 80% rule. We did eat some junk at the cinemas and then the left over junk on Sunday but all our main meals were paleo, or close enough to it.

The one thing I'm having trouble with at the moment is bingeing.. it is on paleo food but it does mean I'm eating way too much generally and I feel like I'm getting pudgier around the middle, which ain't so good with S&S coming up! I really need to get on top of it, so I'm going to try and track what I eat and see if that helps. I might also put notes to myself on the fridge and cupboards to see if that helps me stay out of them!

Here's some good motivation that was up on our Crossfit's website today, maybe I should stick this to the fridge!

Crossfit session 63 - curse of the double-unders

Woo 2 Crossfit sessions so far this week, that beats last week's effort! I'm also going to try and get to the 7am class tomorrow morning too, although I've said that tons of times and never do, so we'll see!

Warm-up


5 x inch worm
15 x sit-up

x 3

Strength


Deadlifts to 5 rep max

5 x 30kg
5 x 40kg
5 x 50kg
5 x 60kg
5 x 65kg
5 x 70kg

I wanted to stop at 65kg but ended up getting convinced to try 70kg, which was actually my 5 rep max last time, but for some reason it felt really heavy today! I guess because I haven't been going regularly in the last few weeks. My reps at 70 were rubbish and they wanted me to have another go at it but I wasn't having any of that, I was done with them!

WOD


10 x sumo deadlift high-pull (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTafqGjSeXk)
20 x wall ball
25 x double-unders (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TfjmxeUsIs)

17min AMRAP

I've never done sumo-deadlift high-pulls before, they looked scary when we were being shown, but they were actually kind of fun, in a weird way!  I used 25kg because I wasn't sure how hard they'd be, I could probably have gone to 30, although I'm not sure my technique was that great.

I only got 2 full rounds done! It was all because of the goddamn double-unders, some days they work, some days they don't and today was one of those days. Oh well.


I finally made an appointment with a physio for tomorrow, so I'll see what he says about my knee, I really have no idea what to expect or what he'll recommend. Hopefully I can keep doing Crossfit and just cut out squats or something for a while until it's sorted. I'm a bit scared about how much it's going to cost me if I have to keep going back. It's really annoying, something like this always comes up when I'm trying to get my finances under control.  I know it's worth sorting it out, but it does mean I'll have to take my post-it note off my credit card :(.

On another note, this stuff is EVIL! I could eat the whole block by myself no worries and they are huge blocks! Sue and I demolished one in Perth quite easily. It's pretty much the opposite of paleo too!

Crossfit session 62 - doing Cindy, a trip to Perth and money

Crossfit

Woo, first Crossfit session in a week and it was a named workout, luckily not a hero workout though. We got to do 'Cindy', which is one of the benchmark workouts and also one I've never actually done before.

Warm-up


15 x leg swings each side
10 x stick rolls

x 5

'Cindy'


5 x pull up
10 x push-up
15 x air squat

20min AMRAP

Apparently the record in our gym is 24 rounds, which was by the owner of the gym. My aim was to do 10 rounds and I succeeded! I got up to the squats in the 11th round.

So in total..

55 pull ups, 110 push-ups,  150 air squats, fun!

My knee was feeling a bit dodgy after all the squats, so I'm going to have to get off my ass and actually call a physio and get it looked at instead of procrastinating about it.

I was trying to find a video of a Cindy workout to post, but all the ones on the internet have dreadful technique! None of it would fly in our gym, they'd be getting 'no rep' yelled at them all the time! They were quite strict with the technique tonight as well, lots of people were getting no reps, mostly for the push-ups.

To finish


In pairs row as fast as you can for 1 min, then swap with your partner.. repeat 4 times. So each person rows for 1 min then has 1 min rest, 4 times. I only got around 235 metres every time, which was crap considering the aim for girls was 260m in a minute.

I'm going back tomorrow for more punishment.

Now onto other fun stuff, like Perth!


Perth


On the weekend I went to Perth for 4 days and stayed with some very non-paleo friends, which of course led to me eating junk all weekend. My boyfriend is not paleo either, so I do tend to eat a lot of non-paleo food on the weekend with no real issues other than feeling like a failure, this time however, I definitely noticed a difference in the way my stomach was behaving after eating all the junk.

This is probably going to be way TMI, but I was seriously going to the bathroom 5+ times a day, which is ridiculous! I'm usually a once a day kinda girl and that is fine with me, 5+ times a day, when staying at other peoples houses is just not on! My stomach was also feeling heavy and bloated all weekend too. At the time it was annoying, but now I'm actually kind of glad because it has shown me that eating paleo does actually make a difference in the way I feel, I'm not just imagining it! Plus I get to eat breakfasts like this:

So hopefully next time I'm considering eating junk all weekend I'll remember how I felt in Perth and make better choices. One day hopefully I'll be able to just say no to all the junk and not even be tempted at all, but that's a way off yet.

We did spend one lunch-time demolishing seafood though!

Money

I have to rein in my spending habits again, I really want to pay off my credit card ASAP but I keep putting more crap on it all the time so it's always 1 step forwards, 2 steps back. Glenn and I want to go to the USA this year as well, so I need to be able to save for that too. Hopefully I won't lose my job with all the government cuts cuz that'll just screw everything up. 

This is my latest drastic measure to curb my credit card habit, a sticky note attached to the credit card and the credit card placed in the hardest to reach spot in my wallet. I'm too paranoid about accidents etc. to just leave it at home, so this is the next best thing I've come up with!

Crossfit session 61 and Prince

I've been kind of slack this week.. however I had a good excuse for not going on Monday.. PRINCE! He was phenomenal! Well worth the wait and if I had the money I would have seen him again last night too. He's just such a good showman, he had the entire (sold out) crowd at Rod Laver arena dancing and clapping and singing, it was the best concert I've been to and we had good seats as well. For a 53 year old guy, he's still got it! I've kind of got my 12 year old self's crush back! Pity he's all religious now and not singing about all the ways he could have his way with you, I'd still do him though!

So anyway, now that I've had a cold shower.. I'm off to Perth tomorrow, so I'll miss Crossfit on Friday as well and will probably eat heaps of crap and drink a ton of booze (going on a Swan River winery tour for one!), but I'll just have to get back on track next week. I'm going to try and go to Crossfit tomorrow morning at 7am, although that will involve getting up before 6:30am.. which I'm not very good at.  It's only 4 weeks til S&S and until my boyfriend is going to make me wear something tight and skimpy though, so that's pretty good motivation! 

I did go to Crossfit tonight though and luckily it wasn't too bad. 

Warm-up

5 x inch worm (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmTEE53zojs)

10 x stick roll

5 Rounds

Strength

3 x 6reps for power clean (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCUmi2oqlvA)

In between each set do 10 dips.

I only did 25kg because my form was a bit rubbish, I wasn't sticking my butt out enough apparently.

WOD

1km row (4min 18 sec)

Then a 20min AMRAP of:

8 x deadlift (40kg)

8 x push-up

8 x pull-up

I got through 6 full rounds and only had 2 pull-ups to go in the 7th round before the buzzer went. Boo!

Still it was 56 deadlifts, 56 push-ups and 54 pull-ups.

Then to finish we had to do some ab exercises, which I struggled with for some reason, maybe because I haven't had to use my abs for anything for ages so they're weak and pudgy!!

Crossfit session 60 (Thurs)

Warm-up


15 x overhead squats with a stick
10 x stick shoulder rolls

x 5

WOD 1 


12 x overhead squat (training bar!)
12 x box jump (medium box, woo!)

12min AMRAP

Overhead squats are my least favourite of all Crossfit lifts, because I suck at squats and doubly so when I have to try and keep a bar above my head! I just used a training bar with no weight on it, I think those things weigh less than 10kg but I can't remember exactly what they are.

It wasn't such a bad workout really, I'm really glad I didn't use much weight though because there was one round where I almost got teary (Only happens with squats! What is with that?) but pulled through.

As usual I got lots of corrections from the trainers about my squats and one of them said he could feel his hamstrings tearing every time I squatted (as in, geez your hamstrings are tight), I can't argue with him, there is definitely something crazy going on with my leg muscles, I've decided to buy one of those torture devices foam rollers and use it every day and see if that helps.

I'm not really sure how many rounds I got through, maybe 4 full and then was up to the 5th squat in the 5th round?

WOD 2 


In pairs do:

Person A: 400m row
Person B: 1 x rope climb, 10 x kettlebell swings

12 min AMRAP

So person A had to row 400m and while they were doing that, person B had to do as many rounds of rope climbs and KB swings as possible.

I think we got through 3 rounds each! I still suck at rope climbs, although I did get halfway up which was cool, totally bruised the crap out of my shin though! I need thicker socks.

Then after all that we had to work in groups and practice handstands, so one person does a hand-stand and the other two people hold their legs and gradually let go and see if the person can balance and not fall down. Apparently I hold my form really straight, but as soon as my partners let go of my legs I wobble and fall. I'm getting there though, I should practice against a wall at home or something, although we have floorboards.. not so comfy if I go splat!

Maybe I should practice on the beach!

Crossfit session 59 (Wednesday), some weightloss progress and general challenge stuff

Warm-up


I think the warm-up was almost as brutal as a WOD, but maybe it was because I hadn't been in a while.

15 x dip
10 x strict pull-up (no kipping)

x 5

That's a lot of dips and pull-ups!! It took so long (waiting for the dip thingy) that I only finished 4 rounds before my class started.

Strength


Push-jerk to 3 x 6 reps

6 x 20kg
6 x 25kg
6 x 30kg
6 x 30kg

We didn't get to do our 3rd round of 6 at 30kg because we were working in 3's and it just took too long.

WOD 1


10 x dumbbell push-press (7kg dumbbells)
20 x air-squat
20 x double unders

20min AMRAP

Because of my retardedness at double-unders I only got through 3 full rounds and was on something like 16 double unders in the 4th round.

WOD 2


Sled pull - 20kg
10x hanging knee raise

1-5 rounds

I only did 2 rounds, there was quite a big group so it took ages as there was only 1 sled as well. Oh well!

Sled pulls are fun!

Weight-loss


I went to the doctor today and he weighed me and I was 73kg! That is the lightest I've been since I started weighing myself. I weighed myself at home and was 73.9kg, so I'll see what it is next week again on my scales and use that. I'm pretty pleased with that.

I also bought some size 12 jeans from the Salvos yesterday, but they're Just Jeans ones which I'm pretty sure are for larger people or something cuz they're quite stretchy, so I wouldn't count them as a real 12.. still, it's progress!

Nerd Fitness Challenge


One of my goals is to stick to paleo at least 80% of the time, which I've probably been pretty much doing already, but I want to keep track and see just how many cheat meals I am having a week.

I've worked out that depending on how many "meals" (snacks also count) I eat on the weekend, I can have around 4 or 5 cheat meals per week, which is quite a good number! I usually eat 4 meals every day during the week (3 main meals and an afternoon snack) and a random number of meals on the weekend, somewhere between 2 and 4 per day.

So far this week I haven't had any cheat meals, which is great because I'm going out for dinner tonight and having dinner with my Dad on Saturday, which also leaves two meals for Sunday for when I'm hanging with the very non-paleo boy.  I'm not counting alcohol here though, if I eat a paleo meal and have some alcohol with it, that's still counted as paleo in my book, I'm not that strict!

Crossfit session 58 (Friday) and pre-challenge photos and measurements

Warm-up


10 x dips
15 x leg swing each leg

x 5 rounds

Skills

Rope climb practice, I got halfway up the rope, woo!

WOD


10 x push-up
1 x rope climb attempt
7 x pull-ups
15 x kettlbell swings (16kg)
30 x double unders (or 60 normal skips)

x 5 rounds

Then handstand practice and 2 rounds of 15 back extensions.


Nerd Fitness Challenge Goals etc.


Just to re-cap, my goals for the next 6 weeks are:

1.) Go to Crossfit at least 3 times a week
2.) Eat paleo 80% of the time (no more weekend-long non-palo junk binges)
3.) Lose 5cm from waist measurements
4.) General life goal of doing at least 30mins uni work a day


Well I have to say I'm not doing so well at any of these so far!

1.) I was slack yesterday and didn't go to Crossfit because I got the flu-shot and was generally just really tired, so I was supposed to go tonight instead, but after I got home from uni it was already 7pm so I would have had to go to the 8pm class, which I decided was really too late because I wouldn't get home til almost 9:30 and would then only have an hour or so before bed. I will go tomorrow and Thursday though! Friday I'm going out for dinner, so unless I can get there in the morning then it's not going to happen. I might try and do 4 days next week to make up for it.

2.) I did well on the weekend and only had one day where I ate non-paleo things. The last two days have been okay paleo-wise, but I've been feeling like eating sweets in the evening, which I need to get on top of cuz it's a slippery slope! I maaay have made paleo pancakes last night.. totally not worth it, the only good thing about them was the honey, which I ate too much of anyway.

3.) Too early to say how this is going, but if goals 1 and 2 get sorted out then I should be okay.

4.) Totally failing this goal, except for tonight! I just realised my next assignment is due in four weeks so I'd better get cracking.

My main aim of this 6 week challenge is to lose cms/fat before Saints and Sinners in June and hopefully get back to, or below, my measurements from when I completed my Whole30 (super strict 30 days of paleo) back at the start of March 2012. As you'll see from the measurements below, whilst my weight hasn't gone up, my waist measurements have.

Anyway, here are my before measurements and photos for the current challenge:

3rd May 2012

Weight: 74.7kg (same as at the end of Whole30)
Waist measurement 5cm above belly button: 81cm (2cm above end of Whole30 measurements)
Waist measurement at belly button: 91cm (5cm above end of Whole30 measurements)
Waist measurement 5cm below belly button: 94cm (same as end of Whole30 measurements)

May 3rd - Excuse the look, this was before 7am

May 3rd - Side view

Here are the photos from the end of my Whole30 for comparison (1st March 2012)

After Whole30 - March 2012

After Whole30 - March 2012 side view

Crossfit session 57 and the Nerd Fitness challenge

I was a bit worried about going to Crossfit tonight because I hadn't been for a week so I was feeling a bit weak, but tonight was fun!

We got to do deadlifts to our 5 rep, 3 rep and 1 rep maxes, what that means is lifting until you find a weight where you couldn't do more than 5 reps at a time and then going heavier until you get to the weight you could do 3 reps of and then finally your 1 rep max. Tonight for the first time ever I lifted above my own body weight! That's been one of my goals at Crossfit so I'm pretty pleased! The lift wasn't the greatest, but I got it up there and don't think I fucked my back, so all good! I also lifted heavier in my 5 rep max than I had before.

Warm-up


5 x inch worm
max handstand hold (hand stand push-up for people who can do them)

x 5

Strength


Deadlifts! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTQt_bmFRIg

10 x 30kg
5 x 40kg
5 x 50kg
5 x 55kg
5 x 60kg
5 x 65kg
5 x 70kg
3 x 75kg
1 x 80kg
1 x 80kg

WOD


10 x push-jerk (25kg)
10 x overhead lunge per leg (5kg plate)
15 x sit-up
7 x burpee

15min AMRAP

I got 3 full rounds and then up to the first lunge of the 4th round. I was having wrist trouble with the push-jerks so I never got through a set of them unbroken.


Goals


I have joined the Nerd Fitness 6 week challenge, it's basically a combination of roleplaying and goal achievement and is perfect timing for me because I was just about to start a pre-Saints and Sinners get-into-shape program anyway, which I do every time with mixed results. By doing it on Nerd Fitness though, I have a whole community of people to be accountable to, and it's kind of  a game, so it's more fun.

The way it works is you have to set 4 goals - 3 diet and exercise goals and 1 general life goal and then create a character and over the 6 weeks you have to work towards your goals and also participate in mini challenges within your character class (yes it's that nerdy!), your success at achieving your goal and participating earns you points towards your character. If you're interested my thread is here.

I will cross post my results so anyone who is interested doesn't have to muck about trying to find things in a forum.

Here are my goals anyway:

Diet and Fitness Goals

1.) Stick to paleo 80% of the time, or more. So no more weekend long pizza/chocolate/junk binges! 
2.) Go to Crossfit at least 3 times a week for the next 6 weeks, 4 times if possible 
3.) Lose 5cms from waist measurements

Life Goal

1.) Do at least 30mins of Uni homework every day 


So far I've failed my life goal today! 


I think I'll post pictures and measurements tomorrow as well so that I know exactly what's changed in 6 weeks, it seemed to work well for Whole30.

Slacker

I am so behind on updating this. I can't even remember what workouts I've done, I could check the Crossfit website, but I think I'll just skip over them and just assure you that I have been a couple of times at least since I last posted!

Although, I haven't actually been to Crossfit since last Wednesday because I had a friend staying with me for a couple of days and we went out for dinner on Friday when I would usually go and then last night I had to madly  finish my assignment. I probably won't go tonight either because I've only had about 8hrs sleep total for the last two days and I'd rather just chill out and do nothing for one night at least. So.. I will be sore when I go tomorrow, that's for sure!

My eating went completely off the rails on the weekend and I ate far too much chocolate and far too many lollies (yay stress eating), and also had some risotto, noodles, a sandwich and some sushi when my friend was in town. I'd noticed that my clothes were fitting way better last week too, so I hope I haven't completely reversed any of my progress! I'm back trying to be a bit more strict this week, although I'm going out for lunch and dinner Thursday so that day might be a write-off. One day at a time!

Crossfit session 53 (Wednesday) and fasting

We did sit-ups today, which means only one thing... ass crack rash!! It really hurts today, I think it's been a while since we did sit-ups, I clearly need to get some ass callouses happening like I have on my hands!

In case you have no clue how doing abs could cause a rash on your ass-crack, there are actually lots of Crossfitter blog posts about it, for example - http://www.fitbomb.com/2010/11/infamous-abmat-ass-crack-rash.html. Just one of the fun side-effects of doing Crossfit!

Fasting


So, a couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was going to try intermittent fasting, which is really big in the paleo community. If you're interested in what it's all about, Mark's Daily Apple has had a great series of posts recently about the reasons why it can be beneficial.

I'd already stumbled on the leangains website, which is one of the most commonly referred to methods of incorporating fasting into your routine, but one of the trainers at my gym also mentioned it and said he'd found it really helpful at cutting some weight, so I went back and had a better look at it. Note that the leangains guy is not paleo, but lots of his clients are, so instead of eating the carbs he mentions, I eat sweet potato.

He recommends a 16hr fast (14hrs for women) and an 8hr feeding window (10 for women) daily. There's more details about it on the website which vary depending on your routine and work hours, but for me it means finishing eating by 10:30pm and then not eating again until 1:30pm the next day. You can have coffee and tea during the fast but that's it.

For people who usually skip breakfast this probably sounds easy, but I've never ever been someone who skips breakfast, so it was a huge change for me, even just mentally. To be honest though, it was way easier than I thought it would be, I think this may be because I've been mostly paleo for a while now and my body has adapted to fat burning instead of sugar burning, so it complains initially for food and then gets on with burning fat (I hope!). Previously if I'd have skipped breakfast I would feel so hungry it would make me feel nauseous and I'd be really cranky, so it's good to know that I can go without food and I won't get faint or shaky or anything, which is great news if there's a zombie apocalypse!

So for the last two days I've done 15hr fasts and I've had no issues, I get hungry when I get up but it goes away and then I get hungry again at about 11-11:30, but I just drink water and it goes away. It's actually really convenient to fast as well, because it means I don't have to bother organising breakfast when I get up, so I get to work earlier!

I won't fast every day because some days I just really like eating breakfast, but I am definitely going to continue experimenting with it and see how I go. Anyway onto Crossfit..

Warm-up


10 x dips (red and orange bands)
10 x squats

x 5

(50 dips, 50 squats)

Strength


We worked on our hang power-cleans to get our 3 x 5 rep max. I quite like power-cleans, even though I don't really have the movement completely down yet.

Here is a video of one - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzQJB9XHd5c (she makes it look easy)


I think I did something like 8 reps at 20kg before one of the trainers told me to add some weight and stop messing around with tiny weights cuz my technique was fine! So then I did 2 x 5 reps at 25kg and again got told to add more weight, so I then did my 3 x 5 reps at 30kg. I still got told to add more weight, but 30kg was heavy enough!

So that's 33 power cleans total.

WOD


20 x box jumps (I wussed out and used the small box)
10 x dumbbell push-press (7kg dumbbells)
20 x ab mat sit-ups

x 5

(100 box jumps, 50 push-press, 100 sit-ups)

This was a pretty easy workout, very quick, I think I completed it in 12mins something. Again one of the trainers was trying to get me to go heavier, but I tried the 10kg dumbbells and they were just too heavy for 10 reps and unfortunately they don't have any weights in between.. which is kind of annoying because the 7kg ones were a bit too light.

After that we worked on some stability exercises and then went home! Woo.

Push-press

Crossfit session 52 (Monday)

A couple of times after Crossfit I've noticed little red dots all around my eyes from broken capillaries, I assumed it was just from the exertion of lifting weights, but now I've realised that it's probably from the handstand holds!!

When I'm doing them, there is this weird pressure in my head and it just doesn't feel right and I can't stay up there for anywhere near as long as I should be able to. I'm not sure if everyone gets this feeling, or if I have some strange thing going on which also causes my capillaries to burst? I will have to do some research.


My chest is still really sore from this workout!

Warm-up


Max handstand hold (handstand push-ups for the less crap)
15 x over-head squats

x 5

Then max dips x 2 (extra exercise for ppl not doing handstand push-ups), I got 15 the first time and 9 the second.

I hate handstand holds because they make my head hurt (and ruin my capillaries!), so I think my max was maybe 20 seconds.


WOD 1 


1.6km row (run for everyone with good knees)

Then 5 rounds of:

12 x overhead squat (maybe 12kg, not sure what a training bar weighs)
12 x push-ups

Then another 1.6km row.

Fun, not. The rows took me about 7 mins each time but I wasn't going flat out.

I went really light with the overhead squats so that I could get my technique right, which was a good choice!

WOD 2


15 x hanging leg raises
15 x back extension

3 rounds

Crossfit Session 51

I weighed myself this morning and I was lighter than when I finished Whole30, which is surprising given I spent all weekend eating crap.. lots and lots of crap!

First day back at Crossfit since last Thursday and I was feeling quite unfit and lazy I can tell you!

Warm-up


10 x stick roll
10 x squat

Repeat 5 times

WOD 1


"Kelly"

Woo a named workout.. always fun, not!

400 run (row in my case)
30 x wall ball
30 x box jump

5 rounds for time.

This is a total of a 2km row and 150 wall balls and box jumps, nasty!

I did it in 37mins 30 seconds I think. I had to rush to the bathroom in the 4th round because my stomach was doing dodgy things, which is not so good for jumping and squatting!

I went with the small box and I'm so glad I did because my legs were just not working after the wall balls, for the first few jumps each round it was quite a struggle just to get to the small box so I'm glad I wussed out on the taller box!

As per usual I got coached (aka yelled at) for my squats with the wall balls. We have a new coach who was the one that was trying to get me to squat properly and he was quite good actually, usually they just yell at me to get lower, which I never thought was the problem and this guy was saying that I'm not shifting my weight into my heels and I'm coming forward instead, which makes sense to me and probably explains why my knees are dodgy.

I talked to him after and he said next time he was coaching he'd help me out with squats, so that's good, I do want to be able to do them properly because they just make me want to cry at the moment, which is no fun.

Wall ball - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XJm3u27fEc
Box jump - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UweKybOuivA (I do jump up, step down)

WOD 2 


1 min hollow hold
1 min plank
1 min rest

3 rounds

I almost can hold a plank for a minute.. almost!

Hollow hold - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QMpN9uFHeI

Plank!

Crossfit session 50 - 17 minutes of hell

Woo, I've been to Crossfit 50 times! Doesn't really sound like that much actually, but I normally go 3 times a week and have done since November. I am definitely improving at most things and do really enjoy it.. most of the time..

Tonight's workout was horrible however, really really horrible. It was all squat-related movement, which are my major weakness. I have incredibly tight hip flexors and I just really suck at squats, I'm always being yelled at to go lower but I just can't a lot of the time. I really need to work on them I guess. Tonight's squats were dreadful, I just couldn't get down and was almost in tears throughout the entire 17mins.

Warm-up


10 x dips
10 x squat-jumps

x 4

Strength


Work to 3 x 3 power cleans (max weight for three rounds of three).

I hate power cleans! They just feel unnatural to me and I can never tell if I'm doing it properly or just lifting with my arms and not using my hips at all, which is the point.

I started at 20kg and got up to 35kg.

Power-clean video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TlbDQUWs0s

WOD


There were two parts to this workout:

1.) The complex (all at 25kg)

2 x power clean
2 x squat power clean
2 x thruster

2.) "Cindy"

5 x chin-up
10 x push-up
15 x air squat

One round = 2 x complex and 1 x Cindy and we had to do five rounds total.

Squat power cleans and thrusters totally suck if you suck at squats, I struggled every single rep and never got low enough. I also almost cried every time, haven't felt like that at Crossfit for a long while!

I completed this workout in 17, horrible minutes.

Here's a video of the difference between the power clean and the squat power clean from a guy with a porny moustache - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVpsiAtVx7s

Here's a thruster - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OhqIGYqELk

I'm really going to have to work on my hip flexor mobility outside of Crossfit and see if I can sort out my squats.

Crossfit Session 49

I wasn't sure whether to go to Crossfit tonight, I had a sore throat and was feeling very lazy. In the end I decided that seeing as I didn't go on Monday and I can't go on Thursday or Friday because I'll be in the country, that I should just suck it up and go, otherwise I'd only get one workout in this week, which isn't good enough.

I'm glad I went, the workouts were short and involved deadlifts, so I was happy.

Warm-up


Stretching
10 x stick roll
10 x leg swing each leg
5 x overhead squat

x 4

First up we warmed up our deadlifts, so I did 6 x 30kg, 10 x 40kg and then maybe another 5 x 45kg, which was the weight I went with for wod 1.

WOD 1


9 x deadlifts (45kg)
15 x box jumps (20 inch box)
21 calorie rowing (eg. row until you've burned 21 calories, about 350m)

x 4

The point of this workout was to do it as quickly as possible. I did it in 15mins 10 seconds. The box jumps at 20 inches still freak me out and I think I'm going to smash my shins every time, so that slowed me up.

Crazy huge box jump!

WOD 2


7 x dumbbell power-clean (7kg dumbbells, so 14 total)
14 x sit-up
21 x double unders

10min AMRAP

I think I only managed 3 rounds because I was sucking at the double-unders. I think I only got through about half the double unders each round too, after a lot of attempts!

Dumbbell Power clean - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5xU6ZP1M_8
Double-unders  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix8TbKyvJcw