World O’ Hurt

I’ve been jotting down notes about my workouts the past few weeks, but I haven’t yet sat down to go in depth about any of them. That’s odd because I’ve set several important milestones for myself the past few weeks, and it’s well worth taking a moment and patting myself of the back for a job well done. If six months ago, someone had told me that I would be doing some of the things that I’m doing now, I would not believe them, and yet here I am today, constantly exceeding what I thought were my limits.

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.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful July 4th!

Monday

A workout that catered to my strengths. AMRAP 20 Minutes:

• 10 Double-Unders
• 10 Hip Extensions
• 10 24kg Kettlebell Clean+Press
• 10 20″  Box Jumps

9 Rounds, finished the 9th immediately before time expired! We did a slightly different version of the workout than the other classes; There were 10 Kettlebell lunges in the earlier version, right after the clean and press. No wonder no one got more than seven rounds before my class! This was further different than the D/U / Deadlift / C/P / Box Jump workout that was on the site (and I was incredibly excited about). This was still a great workout and a good time!

The interesting thing is how much contrast there is between my strengths and weaknesses. For instance, I tore through everything except the clean/press, which was a huge speed bump. I would not be surprised if I hit 15 or more rounds if the C/P had been replaced with something like push jerks. It is good because my weaknesses were exposed and now I know what I have to work on!

Tuesday

We hung some rings from a tree in the backyard next to the pool. A little tropical paradise. Throw in a mini-WOD, float around some, get back to work refreshed. I love working at home! 21-11-9 reps of:

• Ring Pull-up
• Push-up
• Sit-up
• Squat

I didn’t time myself. I just wanted to blow off a little steam. I did, however break my consecutive ring pull-up best: 12 (up from 11). Float around a bit in the warm water to refresh myself, and I’m good to go!

Wednesday

The nice thing about going to Crossfit Central is that whatever class you go to, you’re bound to be surrounded by dedicated, hardworking people who are bound to inspire you to reach new heights. Two of the many in my class are Paul and Tom who, like me, didn’t like the idea of going a full week without a Crossfit workout (perish the thought!). Luckily, a few of the Crossfit Central coaches stayed behind from the Games, so we got the opportunity to schedule a three-person session with Central’s resident Kettlebell guru, Chris Hartwell.  The workout didn’t look that daunting at first. It was three rounds for time, with a 15-minute limit:

• 9 Dual-Kettlebell Squat-Clean (I used 20kg Kettlebells, a total of 88 or so lb)
• 12 Pull-Ups
• 400m Run

I’m not sure why this workout was so incredibly difficult. Maybe it was the fact that I was on a fast. Maybe it’s the fact that I’d never done Kettlebell squat cleans before, let alone dual kettlebell squat cleans. Maybe it was the Central-Texas-in-July blast furnace outside of at least 105′ with 120′ reflecting up at us from the blacktop. Maybe it was the gulf of difficulty between how the workout looked on the whiteboard, and how it played out.

It was a killer. I barely made it in below the cut off, at 13:40 or so. The KB squat cleans squeezed the energy and sweat form me like I was a sponge, and although I did the first squat clean set and first pullup set unbroken, the next two didn’t go so well. I struggled at the runs, especially. Nevertheless, a great workout! Thanks, Chris!

Thursday

No serious workout, as I treated this as a rest day. I landed awkwardly dismounting from the bar on one of the pull-up sets on Wednesday, so my ankle was and still is a little sore. I did a lot of katas at my Kung-Fu class. Something struck me at class that I still haven’t identified. It was the germ of an idea about my martial arts training that could be a game changer for me. I’ll be sure to write more about it as I develop the idea.

Friday

We received an unexpected boost to the difficulty of Friday class this week. In fact, it was the Friday class that has been most like a real Crossfit class for one reason: The A/C was broken! I discovered this unpleasant fact upon unlocking the school and being greeted by a blast of not cool, but hot air as I opened the door.

Thinking that someone left the A/C off, I turned the two thermostats to the “meat locker” settings, and was greeted by a disappointing silence from one unit, and an anemic trickle of cool-ish air from the other. We were in for a long workout.

As someone who grew up without A/C in my martial arts schools, and who attends the 5:15 Crossfit class, just when the day is getting it’s hottest, I’ve never been overly concerned about working out in the heat. But I can’t assume that others are like that. While I continued with my overall workout plan, i tried to keep a close eye on everyone.

Jump Rope Ladder with 30 seconds of rest between each round, and 2 minutes of rest between the first and second halves:

• 5 Minutes
• 4 Minutes
• 3 Minutes
• 2 Minutes
• 1 Minute
• 30 Seconds (all-out sprint)
• 15 Seconds (all double-unders)
• 30 Seconds (all-out sprint)
• 1 Minute
• 2 Minutes
• 3 Minutes
• 4 Minutes
• 5 Minutes

2nd Workout: 21 – 15 – 9 reps of:

• Ring Pull-ups
• Push-ups
• Sit-ups
• Squats

I finished in 6:40 or so. Everyone looked very very tired by the end of the workout. I can attribute that to the long jump-rope effort, a sequence that we had worked up to over a period of months last year, but which came at us full-force all at once on Friday. That fact alone, that we performed the culmination of a progression, out of the context of that progression, should be a testament to the tenacity of the students and the efficacy of the methodology.

The heat took its toll on many students, which I suspected it would. In fact, upon stepping outside the school, it was immediately apparent that it was quite a bit cooler outside than inside the school! More fans as well as large bay doors would have helped here and daresay, made things tolerable.

After some reflection, I would not repeat the same class under these circumstances. The lack of ventilation as well as the heat produced bad conditions for working out, especially for those used to air conditioning. The prolonged cardiovascular nature of the jump rope workout along with the short breaks gave no opportunity for recovery . I am proud of those who stuck though it, and understanding of those who left.

It’s the second week since the end of the Spartan 300 Challenge, and quite honestly I’ve never felt better in my life! The results speak for themselves and aside from the physical transformations, I definitely feel like emotional, mental, and attitudinal changes have come with them. I feel more confident, more liable to push my boundaries, and less liable to put up with other peoples’ bullshit just to go along or be “likable”, whatever that even means.

I plan on giving it a week or two more recuperation and normalization time, then I will go through the 6-week program again, but this time I will change it up a little. The supplementary workouts I will do on a 3-on1-off schedule, instead of fitting them in on off days. This means that I will largely be concentrating on form, technique, and correctness rather than going balls out to complete them, since I will often have other workouts on the same day! It’s at least as important to work on form as it is on speed and intensity. Hence, I will not time the workouts, but trust me when I say I won’t dawdle either.

Monday

A Crossfit Central first-of-the-month benchmark! It’s hard to believe that even though I’ve been going to Central for six months, I was sidelined through two benchmarks due to my injured shoulder! Therefore today was my first encounter with the infamous Angie. For time:

• 100 Pull-ups
• 100 Push-ups
• 100 Sit-ups
• 100 Squats

All exercises must be done consecutively, no moving back and forth. There was a 25-minute cut off here. I went in with the goal of finishing the workout under the time limit. The only intimidating part is the 100 pull-ups. That’s a lot of pull-ups, and indeed, although I finished far better than my goal (21:59) this workout revealed my weakness in that particular movement; I finished the other three exercises in almost the same amount of time the pullups took! I started off very strong, with 26 consecutive, and then tapered off to sets of 7, 5 and 3 to finish out.

I taped up my hands, but about halfway through the pull-ups, started feeling that the tape was actually hindering more than it helped, and took it off right around 65 reps. Afterward, I felt I had better control of the bar. Live and learn. My right hand ripped quite badly, leading me to believe that I am gripping the bar differently or moving differently on my right side. I will have to analyze!

After ‘Angie’, Tom, a guy from my class, and I went on a 1.4mi run, which we did in about 14 minutes (slower than usual).

My Monday Kung-Fu class is the opportunity I have to help other students with their skills and katas. I have shifted the format around a bit as of late. In particular, I am experimenting with the concept of putting the onus on the students themselves to set and achieve goals for themselves in class. In the past, it has been incumbent upon the instructor to set goals for the students, leading to much confusion and 10-minute conversations, trying to find that perfect Venn diagram intersection of material that everyone needs.

Instead I have tasked everyone the past few weeks with setting a personal goal for the material portion of class. I trust that everyone has that secret weak point that they want to shore up, or that one technique they want to work on. As I consider both that my Monday class is almost a ’supplement’ of sorts (it is not the only material class for anyone) and that people generally know what they need, I let them set their goals, and I take responsibility for guiding them to the completion of that goal.

I have found that students are often afraid to directly ask for material, or directly ask for help with something. After all, asking for material is considering (well, and it IS) presumptuous. However, I want to root out insecurities and make people comfortable with what they should know. What I want to do is indirectly give them permission to state what they think they need, and help them with it, even if everyone’s need varies from katas, to spinning sidekicks, to needing a pretest after class, to just practicing on one kata without worrying about getting any new material at all.

I will evaluate the efficacy of this approach after a few months. My hope is that students will find it empowering and helpful. If not, we can always go back to top-down command-and-control.

Wednesday

It’s Tuesday as I write this, and I ache all over, terribly. Not in a bad “I’m gonna die” way, but in an almost pleasant, gratifying way. It is satisfying knowing that I gave it my all Monday, and all the soreness is just my body’s maintenance mode, busily repairing itself and making me even stronger and better. It’s satisfying knowing that I worked out hard enough to provoke an acute physiological response and associated adaptation.

Today, I think was almost meant as a rest day after Angie on Monday:

Hang Power Clean: 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1

My minimum was 135 and my maximum was 185. I tweaked my shoulder a bit on the 185 attempt, so I stopped. I’m happy enough with a body-weight hang power clean! Ah yes, we also did 25 Burpees during warm-up.

Thursday

We weren’t supposed to have a CrossFit session at Central today, but enough of us bugged JDP so that he agreed to get a group personal training session going today! I think he really wanted to punish us. AMRAP 20 Minutes:

• 10 24gk Kettlebell Snatch (right arm)
• 10 24kg Kettlebell Snatch (left arm)
• 10 35lb Dumbbell Renegade Rows
• 30yd Shuttle Sprint (5, 5, 10, 10)

I did this as RX, despite my trepidation. My hands are pretty ripped up from Angie, and KB snatches are pretty big hand rippers. My plan was to go with a 16kg kettlebell, but I finally sacked up and just wrapped a towel around the handle instead! This was a killer, let me tell you. I know I say that every week, and maybe it’s because no matter what the workout is, I am learning to MAKE it hard. I’ve been saying to students who come to my classes for years now “even short kata 1-10 is a workout, just make it a workout”.

I got 5 full rounds and the 10 right hand snatches.

Friday

The first Friday of the month is a benchmark for the class. I generally use the Beinedammerung, Kung-Fu Fight Gone Bad for benchmarks, but it’s time for some new hotness. Meet “Mister Beast”:

• 100 Pull-ups/Ring Rows
• 100 Push-ups
• 100 Sit-ups
• 100 Squats
• 100 Double-Unders

Bon Apetit….

An important week for me! Saturday is the Spartan 300 Challenge finale. I’ve made some huge leaps and hit many of the goals for which I was aiming. The 400lb deadlift felt really good to hit. Not only was it a 30lb PR, but it was a specific goal of mine for the 6-week period! I also wanted 30 consecutive pullups, and I did get 20 last week, so I do believe that with a concerted effort, I could get 30! We’ll see if I reached my <8% body fat goal (which isn’t incredibly important to me, just a “let’s see if I can do it” sort of thing) during the weigh ins and measurements.

This week I really have to keep the diet under control and get adequate sleep and rest/recovery. I am signed up for the Level 1 challenge on Saturday (10:30, if anyone wants to watch…). I did sub-15 minutes on the level 2 during the beginning of the challenge, so I just don’t have too much more to prove there. I am going to enter the level 1 challenge with a little trepidation. I feel that it’s MUCH more difficult than the level 2, and I am going to take JDP’s advice and pretend like I already have it. I can’t afford to second-guess myself!

Monday

Crossfit workout. Brutality defined and refined. Three rounds for time:

• 100ft Lunge with Kettlebell (24kg)
• 15 Burpees
• 25 Kettlebell swings (24kg)

I finished in 13:45 I believe, maybe a minute quicker. Better to assume slower than faster, and try harder next time! This was a brutal workout. Kettlebell swings leech the life and vitality from you like nothing else.

Tuesday

Spartan 300 Challenge Workout:

• 50 Squats 2 Pull-ups
• 40 Squats 4 Pull-ups
• 30 Squats 6 Pull-ups
• 20 Squats 8 Pull-ups
• 10 Squats 10 Pull-ups

More difficult than it looks but also quick. I finished in 6:35, with all pull-ups on rings. My time was too slow for my liking but I have an unfortunate penchant for not pushing myself as hard when I’m solo. I must overcome this. I wanted 5 minutes on this workout. I saw several areas for improvement. Over the 6 weeks after this challenge, I will be going through all the workouts again, to try and get more out of them than I did this time around. This was my first Crossfit challenge, so I’ll do better on my next one. Fight Gone Bad IV, anyone???

Wednesday

“Heavy, Running Grace”. This was a beastly workout. It was a “Heavy” (20lb extra on the bar) “Running” (phases punctuated by a 400m run) “Grace” (30 Squat Clean and Jerk) for time. This challenged both my metabolism and strength to the extreme. On a side note, we had the priviledge of having Crossfit Central Affiliate Team member Kris Kepler work out with us. It’s humbling seeing a master at work. He finished the workout 4.5 minutes faster and 40lbs heavier than I did. Pretty amazing stuff. Three Rounds for Time:

• 10 Squat Clean and Jerk @ 155lb (I did 115lb, a 20lb personal best on the movement. I am moving cautiously forward due to my shoulders)
• 400m Run

I finished in 15:43, completely exhausted.

There was an interesting question posed to the class over whether it is better to do a workout lighter and with perfect form, or heavier with compromised form. I responded on Central’s blog entry like this:

It seems to me that the optimal weight is just enough to finish the workout in time.

I think there was an article about scaling in Crossfit Journal a week or so ago. As it turns out, if you go with a lighter weight and complete the workout faster, your energy expenditure is actually more than if you had done full or RX weight and taken a longer time to finish the workout.

In terms of form vs. Weight, I consider proper form to be very important. If you constantly increase your weight without considering your form and technique, you are not only reinforcing bad habits, but as above, you might not even be getting as good a workout.

I think the correct answer is to increase weight just until the point your form begins to break down, then remove a little. At some point it becomes impossible to increase weight without compromising form and correctness. I don’t think that is a bad thing, but it should be an informed decision: “You have to know the rules well enough to break them”.

To elaborate on my thoughts there, I believe there is a point where adding more weight is a long-term detrement in exchange for short-term gains.  as we see in this Crossfit Journal article, it is often a faustian bargain to always go RX weight, as this can compromise both the safety and efficacy of a workout. There is no question that for those capable of getting the most out of an RX workout, those persons should do an RX workout, but for many, including myself, the greater gains are made from scaling down the weight and concentrating on form and maximal energy output per unit of time.

I believe that since my shoulder injury, I have been just a touch too conservative with the weight, but I am still new at this, and exploring my boundaries.

Thursday

I will let this workout speak for itself:

• 50 Chest-to-bar pull-ups
• 50 Burpees

Gross! This workout was a nightmare. I have been working on my pullups, but chest-to-bar is a whole other ballgame. I stalled out rather early, dissappointingly enough (much to my chagrin, I was the last off of the pull-up bar), but I made up a lot of time on the burpees, finishing a close second or third with 10:10 RX. For a comparison, this was a workout at the “Hell’s Half Acre” qualifiers, and I believe that the best time was a stunning 3.5 or so minutes. Amazing.

This workout examplified some of the great things about CrossFit for me, it scales to fit all fitness levels, and there’s always room for improvement. In my case, 7 minutes worth, and that’s just for this workout.

Friday

I sat out this conditioning class workout, since I wanted a rest day before the Spartan 300 Challenge workout on Saturday. I’m pretty proud of this workout, and I think it’s very representative of what kung-fu conditioning workouts should be. It’s very metabolic but has a good strength component, and was easily scaled for different skill/conditioning levels. The after workout was one of my favorite stand-bys. The strategy was to exhaust the core during the main workout, and then finish the job after a little rest.

AMRAP 20 Minutes:

• 10 Knees-to-Elbows
• 15 Push-ups
• 20 Lunges

I gave the option of stationary or walking lunges. I was pleased to note everyone mixed it up, and received the feedback that the walking ones were easier on peoples’ knees. Interesting.

After workout. Three Rounds:

• 1 minute front plank (on elbows)
• 1 minute front plank (high push-up position)
• 1 minute side plank (each side)
• 1 minute max reps sit-ups

This is an instant classic. I will have to tell my Crossfit coach about it . It does take more time than we usually have for Crossfit after workouts, but might be idea for a shorter WOD day.

I’m back to blogging again. Hello, it’s been a long time, I hope this blog post finds you well.

I suppose I fell off the blogging wagon at the same time I found it necessary to take some time off working out because of my shoulders. As I’ve always been a kinetic, physical person, this was tremendously difficult. I would often stare at the composition fields on this blog and find myself with little to say. I suppose you could say that I was a little depressed over my injuries, especially when compared to the progress I was making.

The past few weeks have seen remarkable progress in my healing, and I’m now back to regular Crossfit classes, as well as having done the 2009 Spartan 300 Challenge this past Saturday. I turned in the fastest Level 2 time (90lb bar, 12kg Kettlebell, and jumping pullups) at 14:44.

My goal was to take the knowledge that I could have at least been competitive (although probably not have finished in the 20 minute time limit) in the Level 1 competition (135lb bar, 16kg Kettlebell, Full kipping pullups), and channel it into doing the Level 2 workout as fast as possible, with as good form as possible. And, I did it fasted.

On to this week’s workouts (this post will be updated):

Monday:

Crossfit:

• 20 Squats, 1 Barbell Snatch (RX 135. I did 20lb to give my shoulders some TLC), 1 Suicide Run
• 20 Squats, 2 Snatches, 1 Suicide Run
• 20 Squats, 3 Snatches, 1 Suicide Run
• 20 Squats, 4 Snatches, 1 Suicide Run
• 20 Squats, 5 Snatches, 1 Suicide Run

My time: 8:44. This was a wicked workout. The suicide runs are strangely harder than running in one direction for the same distance. I haven’t figured out why.

Kung-Fu: Light sparring and some Kata work. I am beginning to figure out that katas work one’s body differently than anything else, and in a way that totally compliments Crossfit. Amazing.

Tuesday:

Crossfit 300 Workout:

• 50 Pull-ups/Reverse Pull-ups/Standing Rows
• 50 Burpees

I will change the pullups to jumping pullups on the rings. The burpees will be… Burpees. Time: 5:42. It’s hard to do good jumping pullups on rings because you can’t push down. This slows the recycle time significantly.

Wednesday

Crossfit Workout. Five Rounds for Time:

• 15 Back Squat. RX 155lb, I did 95lb. I will not make the mistake of doing too much, too soon again.
• 400m run.

My time: 17:21. I felt surprisingly solid on the back squats. I need more strength, but my form is acceptable to good, and I actually felt stronger the longer I went on this. The run was another story. I felt progressively weaker each run, and I’m sure it won’t get better as the summer gets hotter and hotter! One thing’s for sure though: I’m going to be in sick shape.

Thursday

Crossfit: Cindy. AMRAP 20 minutes of:

• 5 Pull-ups
• 10 Push-ups
• 15 Squats

I managed 12 rounds and 1 half-hearted pullup before time ran out. I felt it a little bit in my shoulder (so THAT’S what did it!) and will be taking it a little easy on the pullups for a few weeks.

Bottom line: I’m back.

Friday:

Crossfit 300 Workout. For Time, Four Rounds:

• 25 Air Squats
• 10 Vertical Jumps
• 15 Pushups

My time: 5:45. I felt slow because of Cindy yesterday, but still pretty good. I try and maintain excellent form and range of motion throughout. All my squat jumps were bottom-to-top. I know this costs me time but I consider technique to be more important, and am willing to not cut corners at the expense of time. That is a faustian bargain in my opinion.

My Kung-Fu Conditioning Class:

I made these guys do a scaled version of Cindy. I think that getting the Rings to hang from the ceiling rebar was a really great choice! I can’t let those guys rest on their laurels, you know! The arms race continues!

AMRAP 20 Minutes:

• 5 Pull-Ups
• 10 Push-Ups
• 15 Squats

I decided to give myself a little rest today. I did do 5-rep sets of ring pullups occasionally while running around and correcting everyone’s form, etc.

My shoulder is feeling significantly better. The swelling in my AC joints is significantly less, and I am feeling pain only when I pull my arms across the centerline of my body. I am a few short weeks away from being able to do full WODs again. No need to rush though, JDP has been giving me plenty to work on without involving my crippled shoulders

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!

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.

I teach a conditioning class on Fridays at my Kung-Fu school. It has a reputation for being very difficult and for “edge-seeking” students. I do nothing to dissuade people of that notion! I suppose that I take a certain perverse pride in teaching the class that is apparently talked about in hushed whispers. I also believe that there is tremendous value in a class such as mine. People know they will be pushed to their limit, and I think they value such an outlet.

Tonight, I tried to give my own twist to one of my favorite conditioning sets, that I borrowed from the amazing Mountain Athlete gym. It’s a little ditty I like to call “The Leg Destroyer”, that I put a few special twists on this time:

• As Many Rounds As Possible – 20 minutes:
  • 20 Air Squats
  • 20 Lunges (10 each leg)
  • 20 Jumping Lunges (10 each leg)
  • 10 Jump Squats
  • 20 Double-Unders (or 40 rope turns if double-unders aren’t gonna happen)

This is without a doubt one of the most brutal sets I’ve ever inflicted on the class. Generally, the Leg Destroyer is four rounds. Making it AMRAP was quite the eye opener. As I’m now keeping track of the performance of the students, some interesting trends surfaced. It seems that most people plateaued at five rounds. There were a few at six and some change, and a few at four and some change, but the overwhelming majority of people got in five rounds and a few squats.

This setup really becomes a grind after the first round. I would say that most people knocked out the first two sets fairly quickly, then spent 15 minutes on their next two or three! The decline in performance is pretty startling, which makes it all the more important to keep doing the exercises as quickly as you can!

One thing that I really tried to accentuate today was correct form on the squats and lunges. I was incredibly pleased to note that people still got in a large number of rounds even with that added difficulty. For me, the only conclusion I can reach is that people are a hell of a lot tougher than they think they are. As difficult as my class is, I will occasionally throw in a set like this one, and to a man (or woman!) the students invariable rise to  the occasion. I love and am proud of them all!

Since we still had some time left after the “Leg Destroyer”, I decided to throw in a little something extra that I discovered at the Crossfit gym the previous day:

• 16 Tabata Rounds, Alternating:
  • Situps
  • Bicycles

I have done Tabata circuits innumerable times in class, with multiple exercises (sometimes six or seven). The character of the alternating exercise protocol really seemed to be quite different than those setups. I felt there was more intensity and more at stake as the rounds went on. It’s not something we’ll do every week, but it is a wonderful variation.

Bravo to my students for tackling what is absolutely the hardest task I’ve given them to date!

Ah yes, dinner. I cooked up the last Ribeye steak with some salt and plenty of fresh-cracked pepper. Add in some crispy, verdant salad greens, and you have a paleolithic delight!

Today was the first day of Crossfit for me! I have to say that it was exactly as I expected, and that was a relief. Truthfully, it’s really nice NOT being the one yelling at people, motivating others, and coming up with a game plan for class. Now I’m the target of motivation, which was a very strange thing for me! Luckily, I’m always more than happy to empty my glass and learn new things.

The workout was very challenging, not so much in its components, but in the fact that you’re timed and working both with and against your classmates. The motivation is all very positive and supportive, although it’s very much in the “tough love” vein. It was really great having that “I’m going to puke, I’m going to puke, press it down. hold it down” feeling once again. I know this is the right thing for me.

Workout for 01/12/2009:

• Four rounds for time:
  • 400m Run
  • 50 Squats (Medicine Ball height)
• 30 – 20 – 10:
  • Knees-to-elbows
  • Pushups

Strangely enough, I found the second part of the workout harder than the first (my upper body strength is sorely lacking!). It was inspiring seeing the older gentleman classmate of mine doing kipping knees to elbows like a champ! I learned the kipping motion a lot better by watching him!

After Crossfit, I retreated to my old haunt Shaolin-Do to do a little weightlifting and to teach my sparring and material class. I did 5-5-5-5 back squat with the final load being 185. Soon we’re going to pick up the “Starting Strength” book and put together a really great strength program!

Sparring was good, although I was pretty wiped out by the day’s previous activities. Now though, it’s time for dinner!

Well that was eye-opening…

Even more so than the two Crossfit workouts that I had done the other week, this one kicked my ass, even though it was relatively simple as far as those things go. I don’t know what to chalk it up to. Not having eaten? Having been sick? The bone-dry air? I felt like crap, even given the relative ease of the workout:

• 500m Row
• 400m run
• 30 Air Squats
• 20 Pushups
• 10 Pullups.

I felt less than great after this workout. I’m inclined to give myself a pass, since I had previously completed two much harder Crossfits already! Now, I don’t want to be Negative Nancy! I learned a great deal about the Crossfit movements today, and it looks like this is just what I needed to push me past that comfort zone and up into dizzying new heights. Getting there is gonna be hell, but being there? Ah, it will make it all worthwhile.

Dinner was a delicious treat. Sam and I grilled up 1.5lb of london broil that I’ve been marinating for three days now. We sliced it up and tossed it over a salad. As usual, I did not exactly measure any of the ingredients:

• Mixed greens and Spinach
• 1 large Hass Avocado
• 2/3 Red Bell Pepper
• Thinly sliced steak
• Ample Walnut Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Fresh-cracked black pepper

I felt like a million bucks after devouring that beast! My next update and Crossfit Elements tomorrow!