Barely There

For the first time in nearly 2 weeks, I worked out. I'm trying the SimpleFit workouts. I didn't start all that well.

SimpleFit Week 1 Day 1
as prescribed
complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of
1 x pull up
2 x push ups
3 x squats

I finished 13 rounds in just under 10 minutes and then quit. By round 3 or 4, I 'm not sure my pull ups were all the way to the top. By round 6 or so, I was basically doing jumping pull ups with a controlled negative. Somewhere in the middle I did a set of 3 push ups instead of 2 and I adjusted the next round to only do 1.

My motivation for this workout was very low and my diet continues to be a real problem. I haven't been sleeping well for a couple of months.

Coach Coached the Coaches

I went to the CrossFit Des Peres class this morning. Dan and Brandon went to a CrossFit certification last weekend and it seems like they got a lot out of it.

There were 8 of us in the class today. We started with some pseudo Simon Says. Really it was just Brandon telling us what to do. First, run back and forth from wall to wall, then push ups then run then squats then run then burpees then run the jump squats then run.

Next, we did some skills. Lots of slow air squats and push ups for form. Brandon's focus on technique was awesome. Next we did overhead presses and 1 leg squats. The sqauts were not quite a pistol but were a great progression to a pistol move. I'll be doing more of these. Then we mixed push-presses into our overhead presses. Finally, we finished the skills out with work on deadlift form and then kettlebell swings all the way over the head. I appreciated Brandon's openness to the more traditional CrossFit swings. It sounds like he will be having us do both the CrossFit all the way over the head version and the Russian up to the shoulder version.

Finally, we did the WOD. Brandon wrote up 2 WODs and I picked the easier version. I just can't do 60 pull ups in a workout yet.

WOD
3 rounds for time
15 x body row
20 x wall ball (8 lbs)
15 x push press (35 lbs)
~400m run

16:47 (I think.)

My legs are destroyed. Standing up from a chair is rough right now. I'm sure this workout did me a lot of good.

Next week, I'm hoping to start doing SimpleFit 3 days a week for a little more structure then throw in 1-3 CrossFit WODs. I need to up my time spent training but I need to cut back a little on the full CrossFit WODs. I've been getting way too many injuries from pushing my body too hard.

Reach for the Floor

Yesterday, I did lots of push ups. I've been trying to work my way up to handstand push ups so I tried a lot of variations of push ups. I did traditional push ups on the floor. I did push ups in a pike position which seemed like a great intro to the handstand push up. I'll probably do a lot more of these in the future. I did handstand push ups with my legs supported in front of my body on a cabinet. I tried to do handstand push ups with my legs supported on the same cabinet but behind me and I wasn't strong enough. I might be able to do the negatives on those. I also tried handstand push ups with my legs supported against the wall but bent over in front of me. That position didn't seem to help at all. The last kind of push ups I did yesterday were with my feet supported on a swiss ball. I was really surprised by those. My legs were so unstable that it really magnified the effort to tighten my core during the push up. I'm going to do a lot more of these too. Nothing like extreme mid-line stabilization to improve the quality of an exercise. And this wasn't a trick of balance. My core had to work big time to keep my legs from rolling off to one side or the other. These were probably the most intense push ups I've ever done.

Jumping (for Joy)

Yesterday, while warming up for Randy, I completed an unbroken set of 100 single unders. Today, I completed 102. I'm working towards 200.

Honoring our Heroes - Randy

Randy (as rx'd)
75 x 75 lb power snatch for time

Randy (as performed)
75 x 80 lb sandbag power snatch

27:36

I had to choose between using the bar at 65 lbs or building part of my sandbag system. I actually aimed for 75 lbs in my sandbag but missed by 5 lbs. Such is the misery of life. Oh, pukie visited twice.

My weight and eating have been horrible recently. I'm up to 255 lbs. I'm also sleeping very poorly and usually less than 5 hours a night.

splits (completed 5 reps each time)
 1:09,  2:25,  4:08,  6:01,  7:48, 
 9:50, 12:26, 13:34, 15:43, 17:41,
20:49, 22:04, 24:12, 26:20, 27:36

Injuries, Recovery and Jumping on Horses

My legs were unusually fatigued the day after my singlet workout of 100 box jumps last week. I tweaked my left hamstring while getting up out of a chair the next morning. I walked funny for a few days and couldn't run for a couple more. I did no workouts while I let my leg recover. Today, I got back on that horse.

Sean's WOD
500 single unders (simple jump rope)
25 box jumps (24" box)

11:13

splits
 1:50 150 SU (150)
 2:59  50 SU (200)
 3:53  50 SU (250)
 4:36  50 SU (300)
 5:24  50 SU (350)
 6:15  50 SU (400)
 7:01  50 SU (450)
 8:00  50 SU (500)
 9:27  10 BJ (10)
10:20  10 BJ (20)
11:13   5 BJ (25)

I've yet to complete more than 71 single unders in a row without missing. During the 500, I would usually rest just long enough to record the time and figure out how many I had to go. Towards the end of the single unders I needed to jump higher and higher just to complete revolutions without missing. In the last set of 50, I probably missed 10+ times.

I rested from 8:00 to 9:00 before starting the box jumps then dug in. The 4" increase in heigh from before seems huge. Since this is an explosive motion, giving no extra time to get the same energy, I think it probably takes a lot more power than the 20" jumps. I really wanted to finish the box jumps in 2 sets but after 10 I wasn't sure I could make it to the top of the box and didn't want to hurt myself again on my first workout. I started each set of box jumps on the 1 minute increments. Eventually, I hope to do more than 5-10 of these at a time and to cut my rests down a lot more.

Easing Back In

I've had a severe sinus infection since Wednesday of last week. It is a poor excuse but it was enough to let me avoid working out for most of a week. Today, I thought I'd ease back into my workouts.

WOD (workout of the day)
100 box jumps 20" for time

7:59

If this was my idea of easing back into it, I need my head examined. These were full jumps, hips at least as high as they would be standing on the box. I admit sometimes my peak height wasn't until I jumped back off but I always fully extended my hips at the top. Pukie watched from the wings but never had the courage to hit me full on. I did stop to get a bucket at one point. It was a close thing.

Cumulative Split times:
20 0:49
10 1:29
10 2:24
10 3:18
10 4:29
10 5:19
10 6:17
15 7:35
5  7:59

My turnover rate actually improved towards the end. I started most sets on the even minute marks, especially the last 4 sets of 10 and the set of 15. The set of five, I started at about 7:45 or so, just determined to beat 8:00.

Balance of Work

I've been having a hard time keeping to a consistent schedule recently. I'll do great for a bit then something, injury, illness, laziness, will keep me from working out for several days to a week. This, on top of my relaxed eating habits recently, has reduced the progress I'm making, particularly with my weight. Still, I am making progress. My recent results with Grace certainly show that.

Right now, I' fighting a bad sinus infection that has shut me down for three days and promises to make my weekend less productive than I'd like. At least I know the nutrition seminar tomorrow will be good. I hope I feel up to the workout afterwards.

I have a few short term goals right now:

each of these should be completed in one set

• 5 kipping pull-ups


• 3 strict pull-ups


• 1 L pull-up


• 5 minutes supported handstand


• 30 seconds unsupported handstand w/movement


• 10 seconds static unsupported handstand


• 30 push-ups


• 200 single-unders

It is interesting that all my current goals are gymnastic / calisthenics / bodyweight exercises. Strength exercises seem so much more achievable but then why focus on my strengths?