World O’ Hurt

Phew, what an exhausting week this has been! I don’t think I’ve ever worked out this much or this hard in a single week before. This past month I’ve continued to reach dizzying new heights in overcoming what I thought were my limitations. Physically, I have to credit Crossfit Central in stoking the fire inside me to try more and harder to do well at everything. I think I feel stronger, younger, happier, and more energetic now than in any other time of my life.

I have had some rough times the past few years, and it seems that a confluence of events and knowledge has happened to address a lot of my life problems. Part of it has been diet, exercise, a change of scenery, and the company I keep. These tough weeks and tough workouts have served to keep at bay the rough times.

Thursday’s Crossfit workout was the second I’ve had working on a pure lifting/strength area. Last time it was power cleans, this time, three rep max of:

• Deadlift: 3-3-3-3-3

Of course this is a three-rep tap-n’-go max. As I haven’t done deadlifts extensively, I was a little conservative with the weight this time around. I think next time I will be starting a bit heavier:

205-225-255-275-300

The interesting thing is that just like pullups, my grip seems to be the failing component. When I changed from matched to reverse grip to test that hypothesis (the “hook” grip didn’t do much for me), the 300lb came up much easier. My preference would be to continue working on getting a stronger grip, and to not use things like straps or different grips. I want to make all of myself strong together, and not work on one thing in exclusion to others.

After the deadlifts, John wasn’t done with us yet. He had a little surprise for us:

• Four 30-second rounds with a 3-second rest:
  • Star Jumps

I got (if I remember correctly) 22-19-21-24 reps. So WTF is a star jump? It’s a jumping jack on crack. Very exhausting, and will be making an appearance in Friday class soon.

Speaking of Friday class, it continues to be awesome. The format of the class has changed substantively, but the content has not. We continue to do the same excercises we always have, but I am putting a much stronger emphasis on progress for each and every one of the students. I’ve been doing this by tracking their progress in a notebook, and implemeting Crossfit-style “AMRAP” and “Time to X Rounds”. Holding a stopwatch and saying “three, two, one, GO” seems to be the most motivating thing I have ever done.

This Friday’s workout, I tried to adapt the Crossfit “Cindy” workout to Kung-Fu conditioning. I have not yet found an adequate replacement for pull-ups. I believe that all our school needs is some nice pullup bars, and we’d be good to go! I believe that I am going to try to purchase some more medicine balls soon, or at least make some out of basketballs and sand.I also want to explore using dumbbells in a limited capacity (thrusters, etc).

AMRAP 20 Minutes:

• 20 Double-Unders
• 5 Pushups
• 10 Situps
• 15 Air Squats.

I got in 15 rounds plus 20 double-unders. All reps strict. I haven’t done Cindy, but I can’t see how I could have gotten 15 rounds of Cindy in! Freakin’ pullups…

We also had a second workout, a nice set of Tabatas. I divided the students up into two groups, A and B, with different workouts. I wanted to give group ‘A’ a emphasis on core/abs, and ‘B’ an emphasis on arms:

A:

• In-outs on the parallelettes
• Russian Twist
• Medicine Ball Twist (25lb ball)
• Bicycles

B:

• Punch-out drill on the kick shield
• Elevated push-ups
• Medicine ball throw (15lb ball)
• Medicine ball slam (12  and 10lb balls)

I haven’t yet implemented Tabata scoring (I’m not sure if people will be able to keep track of their reps), but I am trying to figure out a good method.

Overall, this year has been fantastic for my Friday class. Every year I try and bring something new and exciting into class, so that no year is the same as the last. Every year I try and improve the “secret sauce” a little more. It is a fine line. I know that I may have alienated some students from the class, but I think that the progress is worth it.

A few Thursdays ago, Crossfit Central played host to the annual afiliate gathering, where affiliate members from across the country came to Austin to meet and gree and work out together. Unfortunately, it took place during my Thursday class. Bummer. Fortunately, I was allowed to attend a make-up class of my choice. This means that this week, I will be doing four days of Crossfit. Whew!

Monday, 02/16/09: Choose your Poison:

“Cindy”. AMRAP 20 minutes:

• 5 Pullups
• 10 Pushups
• 15 Squats

vs.

“Mary”. AMRAP 20 minutes:

• 5 Handstand Pushups
• 10 Pistols
• 15 Pullups

For this workout, I chose Mary, after being goaded out of my original choice, Cindy, by my coach (John). In retrospect, I’m very glad that I made that decision because it worked on tougher skills at the expense of not being able to put as large a number on the board. I managed six rounds plus two handstand pushups.

Tuesday, 02/17/09: “Nancy”. For Time::

• 15 Overhead Squat (RX 95lb)
• 400m Run

My time: 15:44.

This was a tough workout for me. I think along with cleans/snatches, overhead squats are the most challenging exercise for me. During a previous WOD, I managed two and a half (out of five) OHS rounds with the recommended 95lb, but did not at all feel good in my form, so I kicked it down to 65lb from the start in today’s WOD. Even though it felt a little bit light, I’m glad that I did it, as today is a four-session week for me, and I am still a little iffy on the form.

As this was a make-up class I had my first Crossfit experience with a different coach today, Zach. One tough dude! After Nancy, he didn’t feel that we’d had enough, so we did a little ab work:

• Two rounds:
  • 50 Russian Twists
  • 20 Medball situps
• Planks (1 minute, I think)

I felt good on this little finisher because it’s stuff I commonly do in my Friday class. I should have used a heavier medball though.

I have a pretty tough Crossfit schedule. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday. Doubling up like that is gonna hurt, I can feel it. Indeed, today it sure did!:

Three Rounds For Time:

• 50 jumping pullups
• 15 1 1/2 pood Kettlebell swings
• 9 burpees

But wait, there’s more! Sixteen Tabata rounds, alternating between:

• Full Situps (shoulderblades to floor, chest to knees)
• Russian Twist with 12lb medicine ball.

I completed the first part, which was the main WOD in 9:54. I was happy that I got a sub-10-minute time, but I do feel I could have done better.

I think one thing that threw me off was the weight of the kettlebell (I’m used to the 1-pood, or 16kg or 35lb model), as well as the fact that Crossfit utilizes a full overhead swing (I’m used to the more standard chest/forehead height). The 1.5-pood kettlebell is a harsh mistress, and I lost control of it several times. I also almost lost control of my bowels and stomach several times, but just managed to keep it together. Whew!

The second part should have been cake for me (it’s similar to some of the stuff we do in conditioning class), and yet there seemed to be a difference. Like I’ve said before, it’s a completely different experience being the person who is being pushed along by a coach/teacher/trainer than is is being the coach/teacher/trainer. Have I been shortchanging myself for that long? I did not count my reps for the second part of the workout, but I acquitted myself adequately (but again, could have done better!)

The great thing about Crossfit is that I’m able to step back and let someone else do the programming for me. It really lets me evaluate my own performance honestly, and during the workout, concentrate on surpassing my own limits, rather than wrangling students. Superb!

All of the above fun ensured that I was a complete wreck for Kung-Fu. I haven’t had to phone in katas like that in a long, long time, added to which, Master Joe decided today would be a fantastic day to do a shitload of pushups and crunches. I believe we did somewhere in the area of 300-some pushups and 200-some crunches, but I didn’t keep track. Right now I’m pretty much unable to lift my hands above head level. Ow!

I’m hoping that this is a transitionary period for me of sorts (what actually got me was a twinge in my groin muscles, as well as soreness in my calves). I don’t mind being tired, but feeling injured? That’s another story. I want to be superb in the fitness and Kung-Fu areas of my life. I suspect this is just my body ramping up for new challenges. We’ll see. So far though, I’m enjoying the ride!

Ah yes, I almost forgot to mention: Dinner! I sliced up the last of the wonderful tri-tip I grilled up a few days ago, over a mountainous pile of salad greens and spinach. It was absolutely wonderful. I also enjoyed a bowl of Kiwifruit, which are my new fruit obsession.

A few meals over the next few days will probably consist of the Pork Chili that I have in the slow cooker right now. The aroma is wafting around the house now, and it smells wonderful. Let’s see if the taste lives up to that promise…

By the way, a shout out to the indomitable Edgar Garcia for helping me get pretty permalinks working!