So Far... It's Okay

Well, I was on myself for not working out yesterday, until I realized I worked out on Sunday and Monday. Both days I did weight work instead of any real Crossfit metcon.

One thing I know is I need to get a bar and some bumper plates. I went to the gym on Monday and the only two weight stations were swarmed with a couple of 'talking benchers.' You know the type. They do three reps of bench press, then sit and talk with everybody and their brother for 5-10 minutes, before doing a second set of 3 reps of... bench press.

I ended up doing one handed snatches with dumbbells instead of my planned work. I managed to break a sweat and come home, but I wasn't very happy about it. I guess sometimes you just have to adapt.

Today is martial arts day. I usually end up going twice, just 'cause it's fun. =D

Mostly Martial Arts

I've been spending more of my time doing martial arts instead of Crossfit. This means my technique gets better, but my fitness doesn't improve as much.

I think I need to revise my workout time. I'm still investigating getting up earlier in the morning to work out. I guess I need to prepare for that.

Weekend Recap

Had a great holiday weekend with the family. Saturday was a 'hang out around the house' day. Didn't do much but read and walk the dogs through the neighborhood. Sunday was even more fun. We went out to a hiking/multi-use trail close to the house and hiked around for about an hour. Only did 3 miles, but for the daughter (6 years old), the hike was a ton of fun.

Monday, I got back after it a little bit. I did some strength work in the evening. Did 3x5 of seated press (on stability ball), bench press and hang power cleans. Not too hard, but it was fun to stress the body a little.

Overall, it was a fun 'hang-out' weekend.

Off Day and Heavy Lifting

I took Wednesday evening off and managed to get a few errands done, including a haircut. I also took some time to goof around with my airsoft toys. =D I'm such a little kid.

Yesterday saw me in the gym, doing heavy Push Presses. I did 3,3,2,2,2 and went looking for my 2 rep max. Apparently, it's about 110#. Unfortunately, I had to use dumbbells instead of a normal lifting bar for the work out, since the bars at my gym were both taken. *SIGH* I need to get my own equipment.

Quick Report

Doing okay on the workout front. Saturday, I managed to get in a mountain bike ride with the wife. We rode for about an hour and a half with a friend. The weather was perfect and the trails were fun without being too challenging. Very nice.

Sunday was spent at the lake. Mostly, I just hung out in the boat and enjoyed the weather. I even got a little sun.

Monday was an evening workout at Unity Martial Arts. Not too stressful, but definitely fun and informative.

Yesterday, I put together a full-body workout I could do in the back yard. I did 15-12-9 of 35# Kettlebell Swings, 70# Push Press and Pull Ups. I thought about doing thrusters instead of the push press, but I would have had to come down on the weight. I manged to finish the workout in 9:38. Not too shabby, but I want to do better.

I think I'll take a break today. I have some errands I need to run tonight. If I do anything, I'll probably do martial arts again.

Scheduling Struggles

Didn't get the workout in yesterday I had planned. What I wanted to do ran into family scheduling issues and responsibilities. Family won. Of course, the same thing happened today, since I have visitors from out of town.

I think I need to start working out in the morning as much as possible. This way, as soon as I get up I get the work done. It also gives me the flexibility to do workouts in the evening, if needed.

One advantage of starting to workout in the morning is it will help get me into the routine of waking up early. This will help since I will most likely start teaching exercise classes in the morning starting in after my certification classes in December.

AMRAP Hurts

So Tuesday I did As Many Rounds As Possible of:

Thusters, 5 Reps

Hang Powercleans, 7 reps

Sumo Deadlift High-pull, 10 reps.

I used 70# for the lifts (2x35# dumbells). The two places that were really worked were my hamstrings and my forearms/grip. By the end, both places were screaming. After the workout, I went inside and took an ice bath, with the water slightly over the top of my legs. Definitely worth it. I was still sore the next day, but not nearly as sore as I would have been without it.

Wednesday, I simply went to my class at Unity Martial Arts. We spent most of the hour long class working on applications for all of the material we've learned. I really enjoyed it because it gave me a chance to figure out how the movements we learn as part of our katas might work in the real world.

Today looks like it'll be a scaled version of Nate. And some grocery shopping.

Back in the Saddle

Went on a quick bike ride last night. I took the Crossfit approach to cycling, though. Instead of just pedaling around for a couple of hours, I decided to hit it hard. I rode along the River Trail in Little Rock, so I didn't have to worry about traffic that much.

The first half of the ride was my warm up and a steady state ride. I tried to keep a strong pace without over-taxing myself. The second half of the ride started with Tabata intervals. Ouch...

For some reason, I felt kind of slow throughout the ride. However, the whole ride only lasted about 45 minutes. I also managed to average close to 17 MPH. Not too shabby.

Today is a 'back to Crossfit' day.

Recap

Monday's workout was from the main site. I did the 4x800 a little faster than I expected. I have an 800 route mapped through my neighborhood (with ills of course). First was 3:13, with the last three all being 3:07. Of course, the perceived exertion went up with the last three, but at least my time didn't slow down.

Tuesday I did Tabata intervals on the bike in the morning with the wife. Dude, she kicked my butt. Of course, I was riding my mtn. bike and she was on her road bike. Hit close to 22mph for some of the intervals. Fun, but tough.

Today will be a workout at Unity Martial Arts. We're working on sparring basics today. It's a chance to take all of the technique work we've done and apply it. Should be a cool workout.

Tuesday Fun

Did Nicole today (AMRAP-Run 400, Max Rep Pull-Ups). It was a pretty tough workout. I actually came off the bar during the third round because of callous and tearing issues. Instead of quitting, I just taped up my right hand and went back at it.

I managed to complete 5 rounds. Pull ups looked like: 12, 9, 5 (hand issue), 7, 4. I wanted to do more, but I just ran out of time. The pull ups felt pretty good, except for my grip. I used plenty of hip for the kipping pull up.

Tomorrow will be difficult. The wife is going to be late, so I'll have to do something at home.

Weekend Report and Tuesday's Workout

Took it easy this weekend and didn't do much. My knees have been a bit sore because of the back stance in some of the new Cuong Nhu katas. I've taken to icing them a bit to help with the soreness. I went to class on Saturday and we worked on push hands, as well as the beginnings of sparring. All this after we went through several of our katas first to warm up. I definitely need to work on my katas, since I stumbled through some of the katas during the workout.

Sunday was more of a rest and recovery day for the legs. I did do a little weight lifting (very little actually). Basically 3x6 presses (sitting on balance ball), 3x6 bench press (back on a balance ball) and 4x5 pull ups. This, as well as some stretching, were all the athletic endeavors for Sunday.

Didn't do much Monday evening either. I planned to get out, but I dilly dallied around the house instead.

Today I'm back at it hard. The WOD is "Nicole."

Wednesday Martial Arts

I spent this evening working out at Unity Martial Arts. Seems like a good way to head towards a rest day. I always have fun, learn something and have a chance to work on my accuracy of movement. In addition, it usually helps me work out the accumulated soreness from my Crossfit workouts.

Tomorrow, I'll spend some time stretching and doing some warm up exercises to help clear the soreness.

Filthy Almost 50

Didn't feel much like a workout this evening. Rainy weather just makes me want to lay abed and be lazy. Instead, I got out and did a scaled Filthy Fifty workout. It consisted of completing the following (for time):
35 Box Jumps
35 Jumping Pull-Ups
35 Kettlebell Swings (35#)
35 Walking Lunges
35 Knee Raises
35 Push Presses (40#)
35 Super Mans
35 Burpees
35 Rope Jumps

The total time was 19:54. The burpees were the hardest. I had a little back pain during the burpees until I modified my form a bit by spreading my knees. I did the workout without much warm up, since I had to take care of my daughter. It wasn't the workout I planned, but it was a good one all the same.

Monday Report

I took it pretty easy this weekend. I had my first green stripe test at Unity Martial Arts on Saturday. Part of the test was a "stamina" portion. This focused on whether we could do a certain number of push ups, lunges and punches from rectangular stance. This wasn't too difficult, but they did it at the start of the test to kind of wear me out a bit before the knowledge portion of the test. The test was made a little more difficult because I was still feeling a little under the weather.

Sunday I decided to take things easy. I read and napped mostly. By the end of the day, I started feeling quite a bit better. I think I did the right thing.

Today, Monday, was a good workout day. I spent about 30 minutes warming up, including some work on my jump rope. Then I did a scaled version of Cindy. Did 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 squats, AMRAP in 15 minutes. Only managed to get through 9 rounds in that time frame. Tough workout. I'm glad I did it. Thought about doing the full Cindy, but I didn't think I had it in me.

Funny thing about the workout. I've had problems with my pull ups, so I expected that to be an issue. Instead, my pull-ups were fine. Instead, my push ups were what sucked! I guess it's time I worked on a new goat.

Out Sick a Bit

I've been feeling under the weather lately, and so I took a couple of days off. I decided today is the day to get back to it. So, today's workout is the "Pull Up Complex." I'll let you know how things go after I do the work tonight.

UPDATE: Well, I managed to get a DNF in my own back yard. The number of rounds involved in the workout totally dropped me, as did the extra weight for the weighted pull -ups. I went down from 35# to 20# but still couldn't complete the entire rep set. I ended up doing 5 rounds in about 35 minutes. Yuck!

It was ugly. I looked at the Brand X forum, but the workout they had posted for puppies was too easy, while the pack workout (what I originally posted) was too much. So I ended up having to scale on the fly. Sad thing is, even the last two rounds of weighted pull ups were truncated. I only managed to do about 2 reps in each set before my arms totally let go and couldn't pull me up.

The up side is, my double-unders are much better. I worked on them during the warm up. I've been watching several videos from the Crossfit Journal (a steal at $25 a year). Several have had information on how to do better double unders, with the post by Boz and Todd on July 16th really helping me out.

Nate Tried to Kick My Butt

Well, I managed to get through Nate. I had to modify it a bit more, since I couldn't even get the seated muscle ups working. Instead, I used the squat muscle up progression movement. I probably should have increased the number of reps as well, but I left it at 2.

In the 15 minutes I had for the workout, I managed to get through 12 complete rounds. I almost got 13, but got caught with 4 kettlebell swings left. Dang!

Tomorrow, Pull Ups!!!

Weekend Update and Weekly Plan

Well, the weekend went pretty well. All weekend long, the legs were feeling Friday's workout. Ouch! Saturday, there was a special Seminar at Unity Martial Arts. Shihan Duke Swain taught quite a bit about pressure points. In the morning, the focus was on self defense and how to use the pressure points to make your opponent want to stop fighting. The afternoon was on using the pressure points for healing. Both of these were great. I learned a ton of stuff. Unfortunately, I had to leave before the day was complete. The rest of the class had a chance to learn some Chi Gung breathing.

Today, I rested a bit in the morning and tried to stretch. The legs are still a little sore. Even with that, the weather was too nice not to get out and do something. So, I got in a 50 minute mountain bike ride. I ended up going by myself, but the CARP trails here in Central Arkansas are awesome! The sore legs made it a bit tough, but I just kept at it for awhile. I still had fun.

The plan for the following weeklooks like this:

Monday - Since I didn't get to do it last week, this week will start with Scalled Nate - As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) 15 Minutes of 2 Seated Muscle Ups, 4 Handstand/Bridge Push-Ups, 8 35 lbs Kettlebell swing.

I've got rings setup in the back yard, as well as a weight to use for the kettlebell swing, so this will be a work from home. I'll work on the muscle up progressions from this Crossfit Kids video.

Tuesday - "Pull Up Complex" -
Ten rounds for time of:
3 Weighted Pull-ups, 35 pounds
5 Strict Pull-ups
7 Kipping Pull-up
I love this workout. I don't know why, since it usually wrecks me for awhile. I guess I like it because it is so hard. This is scaled to Pack level on the Brand X forum. Didn't want to go puppy, since it didn't look as challenging.

Wednesday - Unity Martial Arts Focus Class - This week's class is on being a "Good Uke". The Uke is the person standing in to help someone practice or demonstrate a technique. Should be informative and helpful.

Thursday - Rest Day - By this day, I'm sure I'll need to take a break. Afterall, the seminar may not have been too physiccally challenging (more mental learning was needed), but Sunday's ride was a good workout.

Friday - Thrusters 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 - Well, I guess I get to go heavy today. I'll have to be in the gym pretty early to get this before I go swim with the family.

Saturday - Scaled Nancy - 5 rounds for time of: 400 meter run then 25-35 pound Overhead squat, 15 reps. Another workout from home today. This may change, since I may or may not be testing at Unity Martial Arts. Depends on the wife's schedule.

Sunday - If the weather holds, I'd like to get in a good bike ride. Preferrably, it would be a mountain bike ride, since I need to improve my bike handling skills. If not, a good road ride would be cool. If I get rained out, I may just head to the pool and do some lap swimming. Sounds boring, but if you get into it, you can lose yourself in the swim.

One More Time

I took a rest day yesterday. I guess the main Crossfit web site is correct in assuming you need at least 1 day off for every three days on. I noticed I started to get pretty sore and a little stiff. I guess I just need to listen to my body and get more rest.

Instead of working out, I ran errands. You know, run to Wally World for supplies, stop by "Buy N Large" for food. That sort of thing. Normally, when I have a workout planned, I feel like the rest of the evening is a little rushed. You know, you have to get home and get into the flow of your pre-workout/workout/post workout routine. Instead, I simply "lollygagged" around the store. I found a couple of items I would normally have passed if I was in "quick shop mode."

So today, the planned workout (again) is the "Squat, Sit" workout. Shouldn't be a problem this time. I'll update tonight after I lift.

UPDATE: Well, I got the workout in this evening. It was a short one, but a scorcher. Doing the front squats at 95# was the hard part. I tried to break them up a bit to keep from getting gassed at the beginning of the workout. I had to do normal situps, since my gym does not have a GHD. I managed to crank through the workout in 7:33.

During the workout, I was managing the weight well. I seemingly had more issues with my cardio than the weight. That is, right up until I stopped. As I tried to walk down the stairs of my gym after the workout, my legs started complaining. I think I had it scaled just right.

Yesterday's Workout and Today's Plan

Yesterday was a great workout. I managed to press 115#, which is a new PR for me. Previously it was about 110#. Of course the push press and push jerk were close, but not quite as much. Seems when you add reps, the weight goes down... yeah, go figure. This morning, my hips and legs were actually a little sore from the workout. Seems I did things right.

This evening, the plan is to head back to the gym for the "Squat, Sit" workout. Should be an interesting workout.

Updated: I've decided to head back to Unity Martial Arts for an Aikido focus class. Because Unity teaches Coung Nhu, there is always so much to learn. I think I might have to start adjusting my schedule so I'm in there every Wednesday evening.

Tired, But Happy

Tired because I managed to finish the Scaled Badger workout in 24:55. Once again, the pull ups seem to be my sticking point. One thing that made them difficult was my sweat. I mean, my fingertips started to get pruney! My shorts looked like I had been swimming, not running around the block. But I stuck it out and finished. I think the scaling for this was just about right. It was tough enough to leave me gasping, yet not quite so hard to drive me to complete failure.

One reason I'm really happy, though, is my Rogue Rings finally came in! These things are AWESOME! I spent some of my warm up messing around with them, including dips, scaled muscle ups and push ups. Wow! The rings definitely add a new dimension to the exercises. Now I just need some chalk.

P.S. - You know you're a Red Neck Crossfitter when part of your warm up involves applying mosquito repellent. Have fun y'all.