Tag Archives: CrossFit Blogs

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First Thirty Days of Focused…ish…. Nutrition Plan

It is amazing how time flies. It is hard for me to believe we are already through the first week of August. Summer is just about over. Believe me, I am not wishing it away. Autumn is my favorite time of year. Fires, Cocktails, Football,  and hooded sweatshirts. Summer is my second favorite time. We have not gotten to the beach once and we do need to fix that, quickly. We have been on the water a few times in the kayaks and Berger took her maiden voyage. She did well. She was very focused on a paddle boarder behind her and Kylie…not sure why.

It has been seven months since I last posted. Way too long. Things have been going well this year, however I have not been focused on hitting my goals. Life gets in the way. Things happen. We all make choices and push what needs to be done at that time to the top. Sadly I think many of us put ourselves last. Then we find ourselves kind of pissed that we are not achieving the things that six months ago were important to us. And of course, there is also the reality of New Years’ resolutions…..that are the same year after year.

For those of you who know me, you know that I lost my Dad the end of April. Losing a parent seems to change the view of one’s own mortality. It is an assault on it actually. When I was little I thought he was the strongest guy in the world, able to do anything. I watched him age and his physical capabilities diminish. He was hard on his body and in the end his body just gave up. It was done.

So, in part because of that, and because it just beyond time, I spoke with a fellow CultFitter and he recommended a nutritionist he had worked with previously. So I contacted her and we were off. I had to get a Resting Metabolic Rate test and a VO2 max test. The first was not hard, just took twice as much time as it was supposed to. Based on those readings I burn about 2500 calories a day just living. The VO2 max test was a giant PITA. It was on a treadmill and everyone who reads this blog knows how much I looooooove running. So imagine me on a treadmill with basically a fighter pilot mask on, a heart rate monitor around my chest, and a clippy thing on my finger. Quite the sight. I hoped that i did not trip and take out the whole thing.

The numbers came back no differently than I expected. Average/Slightly above average for a person of my age and dimensions. I met with the nutritionist via phone and went over all pertinent information. She put together a meal plan and sent it to me. Using MyFitnessPal is a huge win. It was as one would expect. Reduced calorie, high protein, moderate fat, and low carb. I am at 130 grams per day, which is not bad. Just have to make each one count.

I have enjoyed it and as the title indicates, have been committed…mostly. There was one night that was just silly. I am down 21 pounds in a little over a month. It is a steady clip of 3-5 pounds per week. CrossFit five times per week, 2 runs a week, and yoga once. I do not always get both runs, in however I’ll make it longer if I only get one run in.  The big difference on this one is that I followed exactly what I told, and it is paying off much better. Funny how that works, huh? Kind of like that thing, when you finally do what your Coach told you to do, and shocker, it works.

The eating has been easy to follow. 5-6 meals per day. I like having a plan for the week as it makes it easier to prepare and not worry about it during the day. Sunday is meal prep day. I won’t bore you all with a picture of a counter covered with food and individual prepped meals. Do I miss eating pizza? Do I miss desert? Do I miss cocktailing? Absofreakinloutely! She suggested two drinks on Saturday night. I really don’t have that switch, so i cut it out for a few weeks. The stories aren’t quite as funny, however the mornings are much more fun.

It has been a very good experience thus far and am looking forward to it continuing. Drink a few for me folks. Have a great week. Lift something heavy even if it is not in the WOD.

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Week Ending 11.19.16—-First Good Clean Week in a Looooong Time

 

It has been quite a while since I posted an entry, a little over a year actually. It was a good week. Ate clean, no cocktails. Set a PR. Good times all around.

Monday:

Part 1 ———— 8 Sets Every 2 Minutes – 3 Reps Back Squat

***add weight every set***

My best lift for 3 was 365. I felt pretty good this morning, due to a lazy Sunday and nine hours of solid sleep. Truthfully, i could have continued sleeping without much trouble. I think I will be in bed early tonight as well. Things lined up pretty well and the warm-up sets went smoothly, so 375 became the target number.

185, 225, 275, 295, 315, 335,3 55, 375

I could have gone heavier. 395 or 405 will be the goal if this one comes around again.

Part 2 ————— “Baseline x 2”

2 Rounds for time:

Row 500m

40 Air Squats

30 Abmat Situps

20 Pushups

10 Pullups—-Ring Rows

I did 13:10, first round was 6:10, which was 15 seconds or so longer than my best score. I was pretty smoked after the first round. Rowing was lengthy on the second round. All in all a good day.

Tuesday:

“The Roaring Twenties”

20 Minute AMRAP

20/15 Cals AB

20 Shoulder to OH s(115/75) f(75/55)

20 Toes to Bar f(abmat situp)

I opted for “SPITNESS”, a combination of Sport and Fitness. I chose the 115lb weight and ab mat situps. I am built to be on the ground. I don’t do T2B, pull ups, etc.,…yet.

Score was four rounds and 8 calories. I was smoked afterwards.

Wednesday:

Every 2 Minutes for 20 Minutes:

Double Unders s(30) f(15)

3 Squat Cleans s(155/105) f(115/75)

***add weight each set***

****score is highest weight of completed triple for squat clean***

I did 30 singles at the beginning of each set and decided to add weight every other set. My goal was to focus on the actual form of the lift. Catching the bar low, hitting full depth, knees out, and elbows up. My PR for clean is either 205 or 210…not sure.

I did 95, 115, 135, 155, and 185. The 185 was challenging. They were not touch and go. All in all the form felt good and the coach watched several times and said it was good, nothing more to really offer. I’ll take that as a major win as I am the king of reverse curling and calling it a clean.

Three days in with clean eating and no cocktailing.

Thursday:

Rest Day. ROMWOD and lots of water. Also slept for 9.5 hours. That felt damn good. I didn’t stick with the 12 Labours eating plan today. Thanksgiving dinner at work, so stuffing and sweet potatoes with brown sugar. Also, wifey wanted Italian for dinner so it was penne pasta with in house made crumbled sausage and roasted tomatoes. Needless to say, I was slightly over on carbs. 🙂 No cocktails.

Friday:

Friday’s WOD was “Kelly”, which for those of you who do not know the hell that Kelly is….5 rounds, 400 meter run, 30 box jumps, 30 walls balls. Hell to the No,…squared. It would take me 45 minutes to finish that thing and I would feel like absolute crap for at least two days. Instead I went with one of my own:

WOD 1 Movement Weight (Pounds) Distance Reps Rounds Total Reps
Row 250 Meters 1 6 6
Shrug Bar Deadlift 225 5 6 30
Wall balls 30 7 6 42
Ab Mat Sit Ups 10 6 60
Strict Push Ups 5 6 30
Total 168

I like AMRAP’S with shorter “series” of reps. I think these enable the athlete to focus on the form of each movement and rep and not instead focus on how many reps are left and just getting through it. This may not look like much, however it was harder than I anticipated and I was washed out afterwards. Took about a minute afterwards to get right.

This is very scalable, either be increasing distance, weight, or reps. My plan is to increase the reps of the movements and then compare the total number of reps over time, while keeping weights the same.

I have an appointment in the pain cave today. Definitely need one as things are not feeling as good as they should. That means therapeutic/deep tissue massage. I usually come close to throwing up and or crying. I go with an empty stomach…

Saturday:

Had a late night call last night so sleep was interrupted, however no big deal. Susan broke me yesterday. Have not looked yet, however there should be lots of bruising.

“Pinky and The Brain”

20 Minute Partner AMRAP
10 Deadlifts s(275/185) f(185/125)
20 C2B Pullups s(10 Muscle Ups)
30/20 Cal AB
***split it up however you want***

Saturday has become the day of partner WOD’s. This one does not look at that bad. Basically split everything in half. 5 reps on deadlifts, 5 ring rows, and then 15 calories…and repeat. Right? Can’t be that bad. We shall see. I am usually wrong with these things.

As it turns out, I was not that wrong. It was challenging, however quite doable. I ran an 800 as my own warm up and that helped workout the kinks.

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The Open is Closed.

15.5
 15.5 We all saw it coming. We knew it would be thrusters, and a lot of them, and guess what. Thrusters. Thruck Fusters.  It could be worse. No burpees!!! I  was prepared as I could possibly be. Bullet Proof coffee in the morning.  Followed by a little BSN NO-Xplode…happy hour!  Last night’s IPA’s will have absolutely no effect whatsoever.

15.5 thruster

Going in I was thinking it wouldn’t be bad. I could break up the thrusters in halves since it’s 95lbs,  not super heavy, just a lot of legs. Rowing isn’t bad, just hard pulls to get a calorie a stroke. No worries! Then I watched the 900am class suffer through. I couldn’t leave. People had already seen me. A quick chat with someone who had completed it, and was finally fully functioning, resulted a in a rethink. Cut the thrusters in thirds.

27 cals went quicker than I thought it would. Set of 9. rest. Set of 9. rest. Set of 9. Back on the rower. 21 cals. Set of 7. Set of 7. Set of…whumph. What just happened! I can’t breathe and my legs don’t want to push back up. Finished the last set and then started 15 and that’s when the fun began. Coach Christa the Fembot in my ear, “you won’t catch your breath, just GO!”. “Back on the bar”. I calculated it would take me between 12 and 15 minutes to finish and it turned out to be 14:43. It’s not a matter of strength, it was a matter of wind. I was chasing something I couldn’t catch. My breath. Need to fix that.

Kicked

Two Natty Boh’s, and a Progenex shake and I was back to normal. I usually opt to go in the second round because, well nobody wants to go first, and I want to get it over with and it provides the opportunity to cheer on those who are still going through it. That’s they key with CrossFit. Something the other gyms won’t get. It’s the community. It’s the support and friendships. After that WOD, there was a potluck happy hour. As you can imagine, carb city. Krispy Kreme, pasta salads, chips,..you name it.

This year’s Open was by far my favorite. The scaled WOD’s were challenging however very doable. 15.4 was my favorite. Hit 100 reps. I happen to like push press and that helped significantly. 15.5 was the most difficult, however I liked it and hope it finds it’s way into the 12Labours rotation. You know it’s a good when you are washing down two Aleve with a a Manhattan a few hours after the WOD. Of course, looking forward to the 12Labours Team heading to Regionals, and then back to the Games. We expect great things!

12Labours

3, 2, 1….

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WOD: Cindy…we all know her and love her….

thecindyworkout

 

It is April, which means May is right around the corner, which also means Murph is coming. What’s the best way to prepare for Murph? By doing Cindy of course! Twenty rounds of Cindy sandwiched between mile runs. Your friends will be at BBQ’s, opening pool parties, you know, enjoying themselves while you and the rest of the CrossFit addicted horde will be running pulling and pushing. Yay.

In my mind this is what “Cindy” looks like. She can’t hurt you. The highest rep count is 15 and it’s squats. You do this all day every day. How can this possibly be hard. She wouldn’t hurt you. She’s little and innocent. You are going to crush this…in twenty minutes there is no reason why you logically can’t get at least 20 rounds. At least. No way you get less. It’s Cindy.

I wouldn't hurt you...

 

Here is a picture of you before Cindy.

Bullet proof coffee, Kill Cliff, exuding confidence and pissing excellence. You are a mixture of Froning, Ricky Bobby, and the Hulk. Nothing will stop you from destroying Cindy. She stands no chance. She will run and cower in the corner.

Games08JeremyPostRun_th

 

Chalked, taped, stretched, rolled, rowed, and assault biked. You are warm, limber, caffeinated and fueled. 3,2,1 GO! Jump on the bar, get your grip right and…what the hell? How is that person already on push ups? shoot. I better get going. Knock out the first round in less than a minute. You own it. This feeling continues, until about five or six rounds in. Time to Suck it up Buttercup. Dig deep.

The rubber mat feels cool against your face as you have now resorted to hand release push ups. Don’t fall into that trap. Keep pushing. When squatting all you see is your sweat imprint on the floor from the push ups. That’s weakness leaving the body. It’s a good thing. Another pool has formed on the floor between your feet. Damn, should have invested in that Rogue headband!

Hands are starting to tear but it doesn’t matter because you are over halfway there and while 20 rounds may be out of reach you are however on pace to PR. No stopping you now. Damn, she is still doing unbroken push ups. How? Isn’t she tired!! WTF.

Three minutes left and you need two full rounds. No problem. Does that person not feel pain? Jeez…they have been doing two rounds to my one round. How the hell do they do that? Can’t focus on them. Finished the second round and started the third…you Pr’d but have to keep going. TIME! Because you are a bad ass you finish the round and this happens:

Mommy…?

Mommy…?

The walls are vibrating. Can’t really catch your breath. You’ve never sweated this much….of course you have. You are a CrossFitter. We sweat a lot. Heartbeat is finally slowing down. Need water. Vision is back to normal. Whew. Thankfully that is over. The average person would have quit halfway through. You have done more in the past twenty minutes than most people will accomplish all day. The hardest part of your day is over. Time to EAT!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mommy…?

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Rest Days; Take Them

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Image courtesy of Jessica Sepel

Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the week. It is a rest day. I am still up early however I am not heading to CrossFit BWI for a WOD. Time to repair the damage I did on Monday and Tuesday, which was pretty serious. Those WOD’s were no joke.

I used to not take rest days and then wondered why I was tired and was always sore. It shouldn’t have taken me that long to figure it out. I am stubborn. So be it. “I paid the dues so I am going” six or seven days a week. Not very conducive to healing. We spend a lot of time tearing down our muscles so we have to give them time to heal.

The only time we grow is when we sleep. That explains why I am 5’8″ and my brother is 6’4″. When we were growing up he would sleep to noon, and I would be up early. He slept more so he grew more. That makes scientific sense, right? The same is true for muscles repairing themselves. All of those dead lifts from yesterday tore the muscle fibers in your legs, back, arms, and shoulders. That is why your muscles are sore. Now they need time to put themselves back together, and get bigger so they are harder to tear. They can’t heal if you are tearing them apart four days in a row.

So, what is active rest? Stretching, Yoga, light exercise like walking the dog, slow swim, etc. Fran doesn’t qualify as active rest, and neither do Turkish Get Ups. I hate those things. I take two rest days a week. Sunday is the active rest day with Yoga. Wednesday is an off day, with the exception of the next few weeks because of Whole Life Challenge. I’ll probably get in the pool for a while this afternoon and do so mobility work tonight.

Mobility. Very much needed and probably overlooked by those who need it the most, including myself. Click here. Kelly Starrett has been kind enough to post videos for just about every type of issue with a solution. Need to work on squat depth, should not working, ankles not loose enough, etc. Do a quick search on his site and you’ll find a half a dozen different suggestions to get rid of the sticky junk and become a supple leopard.

Today I’ll eat a little more, all Paleo of course. Need to load up the fuel tank for tomorrow morning’s fun and provide enough nutrients for the necessary repairs. I’ll spend some quality time with the grid roller and a lacrosse ball. Getting old sucks, however it does beat the alternative.

Take your rest days. Eat well. Kick ass tomorrow morning.

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First Week Back

This week was my first week back and the kickoff of Whole Life Challenge, so it was a double whammy!

For those of you who are not familiar with WLC, it’s well worth it. It is an eight week program where exercise, mobility work, and perfect nutrition are the goals. It can be challenging, however it is well worth it. I lost about 10 lbs the last time, unfortunately I found it again. These things happen.

Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, vegetables, nuts, seeds, some fruit, and good fats like coconut and avocado.

None of this:

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Lots of This:

20130217-071521.jpg

I published a blog not too long ago about Paleo. It can be expensive, time consuming, and frustrating, however if it was easy, it wouldn’t be any fun! Work with me people.

The first couple of days are the hardest because your body is clearing itself of a drug. It it is similar to other withdrawals. Speaking of which, please watch Flight if you have not already. Wow. Your body is addicted to sugar and when you take it away, your body wants it again. You will survive. You will get through it. You will feel better and perform better.

It was great to get back to CrossFit this week. Working out in a regular gym is fine but it’s not the same. I definitely pushed myself harder and got a much higher caliber of a workout. As proof, I am having a tough time walking today. Quality time with the roller is needed.

First Wod:
Nicole
20 min AMRAP
500 M Row
AMRAP pull ups

I subbed rowing for running and got six rounds and forty two pull ups. I was pretty beat afterwards. It felt great.

Second WOD:
Six Rounds
10 BW Bench Press
30 Slam Balls
100 ft BW stone carry

I scaled this down and kept the bench press weights between 185 and 205. Subbed 20 squats for slam balls and used a 115 lb. stone. I didn’t record the time. I was just glad to be done!

Third WOD:
Five Rounds
10 reps of 185 lb dead lift
15 Wall Balls

I subbed 135lbs and did the wall balls. TIme was 9:50.