It’s been a busy and stressful few weeks for me, yet I have largely been able to continue my diet and workout routine, and I’m healthier, more productive, and stronger/faster/more flexible than ever.  This might not sound like a big deal, but it’s Crossfit and the desire to constantly improve that has given me the mental strength to overcome situations that might have broken me just a few short years ago.

I’m about to go into a period of time that’s going to be very difficult for me emotionally, and it will be the things like Crossfit, Kung-Fu, and the healthy, nurturing way of life that I’ve chosen for myself will form the bedrock of my life while it changes.

Monday (08/03)

For a month or two after I started Crossfit, on my drive from my house to the Gym, I would get a knot in the pit of my stomach. It was a foreboding feeling, like I was heading into a trap. I believe that it was my body’s homeostatic system attempting to dissuade me from doing such foolish things as putting myself under extreme discomfort in new and awful ways, or exceeding my limitations, or putting myself “out there”, or preparing to fail. It was my ego’s attempt at self preservation before it got crushed time and time again in my quest to remake myself.

I remember one workout where I was hit with a particularly acute bout of this feeling. I remember standing on the box, preparing for the start of the workout, listening to JDP count down from three to one, and literally thinking to myself :

“Oh my god, this is really happening. This is fucking brutal, but I’m already standing here and it’s too late to do anything about it. I’m really going to do this.“

Well, times have changed. Now I look forward to almost every workout with a sense of perverse glee and I anticipate competing against the lesser part of me that urges me to rest (and who still too often wins). However, there are still some workouts the fill me with that same sense of dread, and those are the monthly benchmarks.

It’s not so much that Crossfit Central’s monthly benchmarks (Total, Angie, and Fight Gone Bad) are incredibly difficult (well, Angie and FGB are true beasts. I find Total enjoyable as hell), it’s that the first class of the month is time to prove myself, to apply what I’ve learned and apply the improvements I’ve made to myself over the month. And sometimes it’s scary having no one but myself to hold accountable for my improvement.

This month’s benchmark was one of my favorite workouts: Fight Gone Bad:

Three Rounds:

• 1:00 Row
• 1:00 Wall Ball
• 1:00 Sumo Deadlift High Pull
• 1:00 Box Jump
• 1:00 Push-Press

The score is the number of calories burned on the rower plus the number of completed reps on the other four exercises. My very first Fight Gone Bad turned out very well, with a score of 259 over the three rounds (as RX!). The past few times I’ve done FGB, it was two rounds, due to not having enough time or equipment, as well as schedule changes at the gym. Don’t worry though, just go more intense.

Long story short, my score was 239 over two rounds. This was the first big milestone for me this week, and it puts me on pace for a score well over 300 for the fundraiser in September! More impressive to me was almost attaining my 3 round total in two rounds. Now THAT’S improvement! What made me prouder was the fact that it was the best score made that day up to my class time. Anyone wanna bet on a 300+ two rounder for me next time?

Wednesday (08/05)

Ah, now I remember why I didn’t blog this week in depth; it was the week that crushed me to dust with my worst exercises and skills, and the followed up those brutal workouts with brutal followups.

Overhead squats are probably my worst skill, and workouts ladders (where the reps go down but the exercises stay the same) probably exhaust me more than anything else. How about a WOD that combines them both?

For Time:

• 10 Overhead squats: 95lb, 30 Knees-to-elbows
• 8, 24
• 6, 18
• 4, 12
• 2, 6

I am not particularly good at high volume output of things like K2E or Pull-ups, and I’m bad at Overhead Squats. At 95lb I didn’t get anywhere near the RX weight of 135 on the squats, and ripped my hands terribly on the K2E. This was not a good day for me! I finished in 11:40 which was ahead of most of the field, but not exactly elite. However, it was the heaviest sustained series of overhead squats that I’ve done (my previous best was 65!) Therefore, my second big milestone of the week!

As if that workout were not hard enough, the followup sucked out of me any energy I had left: an 800m run followed by three sets of Burpee Broad Jump Relays (up and down the gym floor).

Thursday (08/06)

The Texas Hand Skin Massacre continues with a pullup-centric slice o’ hell:

The clock continuously runs; each minute do:

• ‘n’ pullups during minute ‘n’.
• On pullup failure, do ‘n’ kettlebell squats during minute ‘n’.

I got to n = 11. The heart and body were willing, but the hands said “fuck no”. Starting at the 12th minute I did kettlebell squats and gassed on minutes 19 and 20, completing minute 18. I still owe JDP 39 kettlebell squats.

I feel that had my hands not ripped, I could have gotten to round 15. I felt strong, but I was bleeding like a stuck pig on the bars. Nasty.

Of course there was a followup; It was more bodyweight relays:

• 3x Rabbit relay
• 3x Spider relay

My martial arts and kata training came through for me again; The rabbit relays were trivially easy for me. It seems that on at least two or three of Crossfits 10 physical skills, I get high marks (agility, coordination, flexibility).

Monday (08/10)

Another killer. The volume has been relatively low lately but the weight has been high.

5 Rounds for Time:

• 21 KB Swings @ 24kg (32kg RX)
• 14 Burpees
• 7 Back Squats @ 155lb

My time: 18:42, one of the better finishers that day (almost no one did it as RX. It seems that given my time and the 20-minute cutoff, 24kg was just right for where I’m at. I’m impatient to move on, but smart enough to avoid injury. I have my whole life to do this).

Wednesday (08/12)

A truly horrendous WOD.

3 Rounds for Time:

• 10 Man Makers @ 45lb
• 500m Row

The order was originally inverted, but because we didn’t have enough rowers, some of us started on the Man Makers. This marks a personal record on weight for the Man Makers for me (for those of you playing at home, that’s three milestones set!)

18:45 RX (how I love typing “RX”!)

Thursday (08/13)

Deadlifts are my favorite movement. They just feel right and powerful and I love the big numbers I’m able to put up, yet today I just didn’t feel strong at all. The 225 I pulled felt more like 350, and I felt sluggish in general. Yet I showed up and persevered. When I saw the workout, I groaned inwardly; Muscle-ups are one area where I just don’t feel competent. I feel like a fish out of water, and like the muscles required to do them just don’t exist on my body. Meh! Well, I surprised myself…

For time:

• 25 Deadlifts @ 225lb
• 500m Row
• 15 Muscle-Ups
• 25 Deadlifts @ 225lb

My Time: 15:59 Almost-RX.

What does “Almost-RX” mean? Well, it means that on that day, I did more muscle-ups in a single WOD that I had cumulatively done previously in my 30 years of life. That is a huge milestone and I was thrilled to have done what I did, which was 10 real, genuine muscle-ups! I did 5 by scaling various ways (knees, jumping), but 10 muscle-ups was a huge achievement for me. I still have form work to do (such as locking out fully between reps, and doing some reps unbroken), but I am very happy with what I accomplished.

Friday (08/14)

As fellow Crossfitter and Kung-Fu instructor Cindy came to my class, I decided to make the workout Crossfit’s benchmark “Cindy”, which also happens to be one of my favorite workouts in general:

AMRAP 20 Minutes:

• 5 Pullups
• 10 Push-ups
• 15 Squats

A workout deceptive in its simplicity. and devastating in its effect! My record is 12 rounds with bar pull-ups, but all we have at the Kung-Fu school is the ability to hang rings for pullups, etc (more difficult!). I did 13 full rounds and one scaled round (jumping pull-ups). That’s yet another milestone set for this series of workouts! I am not sure what inspired me, but in spite of being tired and stressed, I’ve felt like a million bucks and ready to take myself on. What will tomorrow bring?

As a last note, we should always appreciate the special people who add color and meaning and beauty and happiness to our lives, and let them know how much they mean to us. We sometimes take them for granted, and when they depart, their absence is palpable.

Monday

Shoulder is feeling a little wonky today; Better than in the past. It doesn’t hurt per se, it just feels weird. My entire body is tired and crappy from all the bad food I ate. It is amazing how it affects me!  I actually felt worse after 4-5 days off than I did immediately after my last workout! My Psoas has been bothering me a little too. The WOD was another ass kicker:

Four Rounds for Time:

• 400m Run
• 50 Squats
• 30 Box Jumps (24″ Box)

My Time: 24:33. not the best time in the world, and not the worst time in the world. It is a supremely difficult workout, and seemed to work the aerobic and both anaerobic systems. I am not sure whether to attribute my exhaustion to the workout, the fact I was on a fast day after half a week of carb fests, or the fact that I actually felt a little dehydrated. At any rate, I didn’t perform my best, but I did the best I could!

I went to Kung-Fu and taught class as well, and did quite a bit of Warton active-isolated stretching. I am trying to make my teaching more engaged and hands on. When I got home, I did Triggerpoint, which seemed to have somewhat of a magical effect on my psoas. Weird.

Tuesday

A Kung-Fu day. I mainly hung out in the back room. I did a full compliment of Wharton stretching, and a nice long Triggerpoint session, and a little mini workout with pal Andy:

135lb Deadlift x 25, 20 Ring Rows, 185lb Deadlift x 15, 20 Ring Rows, 205lb deadlift x 5, 20 Ring Rows.

Just a little diversion.

Wednesday

When will I learn? My shoulder hurts a wee bit more from all the ring exercises I did on Tuesday (I admit to doing some ring dips). Anyway, another day another dollar. At Crossfit:

For time:

• 2000m row
• 2″ rest
• 1 mile run

My time: 20:04 including the rest period. I had an 8:14 (or so) split on the row, where 7:30 is considered pretty good. I admit to phoning in the run somewhat, but I also admit to my legs being paralized after the row. Whatever that muscle is on the front of the shin, it was numb. Yikes!

The rower is a beastly contraption and I hate it (but in a loving way).

Thursday

Guest torturer coach, Lance Cantu! What a bad dude he is. Everywhere you look at Crossfit Central, there’s someone to look up to.

For Time:

• 50 – 40 – 30 – 20 – 10 Kettlebell Swings @ 1.5pd/Situps

My Time: 11:51. This was the first time in quite a while I’ve done the recommended WOD, and it felt good to do so. I scaled down to 1 Pood because of the kettlebell, but also scaled up to my new AbMat. Not quite making up for the half pood difference, but it’s something

There was also a supplementary workout:

Five Rounds:

• 25 Air Squats
• 100 yard farmer walk with two 1.5pd kettlebells

I initally thought that we’d have to do the squats with the kettlebells, so I picked out 1pd kettlebells. After receiving clarification that they were air squats, I upgraded Mark and I managed three rounds before time ran out. That is an exercise that truly challenges the grip strength!

Friday

Conditioning class time! I continue to inflict primarily lower-body workouts on my class due to my shoulder. I will likely discontinue this in the next few weeks and start inserting upper-body and core workouts into the programming of the class, and just not do those exercises. My shoulder NEEDS to get better and I am not helping out the process.

For Time:

• 250 Squats
• 250 double-unders

My time: 11:40 (I think, didn’t write down times today. I will do it and update Monday)

Tabata:

• Farmer Walk (selection of 55lb dumbbells and 35lb kettlebells, as well as 20lb dumbbells)
• Body Blasters
• Medball Slams
• In-Outs (paralellettes)

The Farmer Walk is a truly excellent finisher. I will keep that in the rotation regularly!

Monday 03/02/09:

Back to Crossfit after a much-needed break. My shoulder is feeling better, but I can’t use that as an excuse to go full tilt boogie again. I’mm just injure myself more! Today was another benchmark workout, this time the first part of Crossfit Total. One rep max of:

• Deadlift
• Shoulder Press

The previous week I had set a personal record (PR) of 300lb even on my deadlift, a weight I considered enormous at the time. Nevertheless, I was pretty hellbent on shattering that record, considering that deadlifts are one of the few things that don’t really bother my shoulder! I made a number of attempts:

• 185 x 8 – 255 x 5 – 305 x 3 – 365 x 1 – 365fail – 370

Wow, beating my PR by almost 1/3. I wonder what my real ceiling is! I am pretty much overjoyed at my progress.

I didn’t very well want to leave the shoulder press blank on the progress sheet, so I decided to do some light weight:

• 45 x 5 – 95 x 3

So a fairly light weight for a PR of 95 on the shoulder press. It kills me, because I know I could have put up 135 easily.

The last part of the Total, the Back Squat, we will do Wednesday…

Tuesday, 03/03/09

As I have injured shoulders (type 1/2 ACJ sprain) I’m finding it necessary to take it easy for a while. the only thing that is absolutely intolerable is pushups. I can’t do them at all. Other things are possible but why risk it? Today I went to my Kung-Fu school and did a full body stretch routine using the Wharton active/isolated method.

Even when injured, there’s always something you can do.

Wednesday, 03/04/09

The shoulder is getting better. As much as I want to, I can’t use that as an excuse to start working it hard again! John was nice enough to modify the workout (which had shoulder presses and squat cleans in it) for my special needs (man that sounds bad!)

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps:

• Deadlift at 50% bodyweight (95 lb)
• Back squat at 50% bodyweight
• Also, 10 box jumps (24″ box) each round.

completed in 17:29. Not bad, fairly difficult! My lower back was incredibly sore during the deadlifts, but within 5 minutes of finishing, I was perfectly fine again. Once again, I think I have far more headroom in my performance than I am utilizing. In addition, I will now sub in the 24″ box whenever possible for box jumps.

Thursday, 03/05/09

More Crossfit fun! My shoulder is in that dangerous territory where it feels well enough to almost, kinda-sorta do stuff, but I know if I do I’ll jsut injure myself more. So John, the kind soul that he is, put together a workout that seemed more difficult than the recommended WOD (which was):

“JT”: 21-15-9 Reps:

• Handstand Pushups,
• Ring Dips
• Pushups

The substitute was less strength and more metabolic. Kudos to JDP for realizing the leg-strength focus on the previous day’s workout, and subbing in core/endurance work:

Three Rounds for Time:

• 500m Row
• 400m Run
• 30 GHD Situps

Done in 19:43. This was a fucking killer. The GHD situps are incredibly brutal things that work muscles in places I didn’t know I had places. Has it ever hurt your abs to fart? If not, you should try doing 90 GHD situps and experience the phenomonon first hand.

Friday, 03/06/09

My Friday class returns after a two week hiatus! It was a special class tonight, the first re-appearance of a benchmark primary workout. It was time to see if the exercise protocols I had enstated had caused a significant improvement in the performance of the students. The Benchmark workouts will be ones that I feel are gold-standard in terms of difficulty and practicality. The “Beinedämmerung” (Twilight of the Legs) is one of these. It’s a four-round version of Mountain Athlete’s “Leg Blaster” with some double-unders thrown in:

“Beinedämmerung” (Twilight of the Legs). Four Rounds for Time:

• 20 Squats
• 20 Lunges
• 20 Jump lunges
• 10 Jump squats
• 20 Double-unders (or 60 single-unders, or any combination thereof)

I believe my time on this was about 9:25 or so (I didnt write down the numbers as I was in a hurry; I’ll accomplish it this week). I shaved around 30 seconds off my previous time, which I was satisfied with. This is a very difficult workout!

What I truly was impressed with were all the folks in class that were shaving well over a minute off their times, and at the same time, increasing their range of motion and intensity. No one in my class “phones in” a workout, and I’m very proud of that fact!

Saturday, 03/07/09

Helped out as a volunteer at the Crossfit Central Fittest Games Challenge, and wished I could have competed.

The fact of the matter is that every WOD you do can be the most difficult one you’ve ever done, if you put everything you have into every movement. Even though some WODs have left me more tired at the end, none has left me more sore than this one. On the other hand, It was a huge victory because it established some new personal bests for me and once more boosted me above my previous plateau:

For Time:

• 50 Box Jumps (20″ box)
• 40 Pullups
• 40 Pushups
• .
• .
• 10 Pullups
• 10 Pushups
• 50 Box Jumps

21:14 RX. Thats all kipping pullups and chest-to-deck pushups.

For those of you counting, that is 100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 box jumps. I believe that on that day, I did more pullups than I had on all previous days of my life combined. Now that’s a freakin’ accomplishment.

The aftermath wasn’t pleasant, but it’s a reminder of the positive physical and mental changes that one undergoes by breaking through those mental (I don’t know if I can do this, but I’ll leave it all on the mat) and physical (My body has never done 100 pullups before…) barriers.

This month’s benchmark was “Fight Gone Bad”. It apparently simulates the strength and cardiovasular load of a typical three-five-minute-round mixed martial art fight. To a first timer like myself it also felt like it simulated pretty well the “getting the shit kicked out of you” aspect of a typical three-five-minute-round mixed martial art fight:

Three rounds of five minutes, one minute each of:

• Row
• Wall Ball with 20lb medicine ball
• Sumo Deadlift High Pull, 75lb
• Box Jump, 20″ box
• Push-press, 75lb

Plus one minute of rest at the end of each round, to give you time to purge your stomach of that pesky food, or just let you dry heave until you feel better.

The scoring is one point for each of the rep-based exercises, plus calories burned on the rower. My score: 259 RX. Not bad, considering my goal was to get above 200 RX! As usual, I left feeling challenged, but excited because I felt I actually could have gotten 275 with a little more oomph.

The Concept 2 rower is an amazing thing. Deceptively simple: A metal frame, a sliding seat, a handle and chain, and some sort of friction device attached to a computer. Decidedly low-tech apart from the computer, it is a beastly monster that sucks the life out of you. One minute full blast and you feel like a husk of your former self, drained of all vitality and ready to stagger and stumble to the next station.

The push press is probably my favorite, as I found it much easier to get into a rhythm (even in the last round) than for the others. The deadlift high pull… Needs work, and we’ll leave it at that. Overall a challenging and awesome experience. Next time I want to break 300.

• 150m Row
• 10 In n’ Outs (An exercise on the Parallelettes, not tasty hamburgers from the Western-US-only (Much to my chagrin) chain. Trust me, halfway through the allotted time, you’ll wish it was the burgers. Although if it WERE the burgers, you probably would vomit. But, I digress)
• 15 Box Jump (20″ Box)

Completed 8 Rounds plus the Rowing and In-n’-Outs of the 9th.

Wow, rowing, jumping, and playing on parallel bars! An 8-year-olds dream workout becomes an adult’s nightmare. Yes, you little bastard, once you weigh more than 30lbs these movements will seem difficult to you, too!

I was really pleased with my performance today. I think that today’s WOD played into whatever strengths I had when I joined Crossfit. I have done acrobatic type stuff such as the In-n-Outs and, of course, lots of jumping from the katas for years now. The difference is, as I’ve said before, that of degree, not kind!

Once again I upped the intensity and actually beat my goal of 8 rounds. I stayed afterwards to practice the kipping pullups, and reached a personal record of 8 consecutive.

Baby steps…