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Monday, November 29, 2010

Month Two: Round 18 - 11/29/10


Stats:

Weight - 158/159
Bust - 38.75"
Waist - 29.5"
Hips - 39"

As promised I have some stats for you. They’re nothing spectacular and I don’t know how great the photos are (since this one was taken at night and I’ve drank a ton of water so far), but there’s improvement (at least in the measurements).

Today I did not want to go to the gym. I was stuck in a doctor’s waiting room all morning for a walk-in appointment and then I went to Whole Foods to get some Vitamin D drops and more stuff for my protein smoothies. By the time I got home I still had to eat and it was already 2:30 and...it was just hard to go today.

But I went. After a little bit of probing from some of my friends I bit the bullet and got changed and went.


And I’m really really glad I did. The workout was one of my best yet I think.


For starters we did deadlifts, working up to a five rep max. I asked the trainer if she thought I could break 100 today. She said “absoluuuuutely”. So that was my goal.


And it was achieved! I did 2 sets of 5 at 100lbs! I deadlifted a (tiny) adult person, haha! I was so excited. Next time I want to back squat a (tiny) adult person, haha.


As for the conditioning workout...I’m fairly certain it almost killed me. I was dripping the entire way through. We had to do 42 double unders (which take me forever, ugh), 21 overhead squats and 14 pull ups. Overhead squats are another new one for me. Basically, you perform a hang power snatch (from Friday) to get into your starting position...and then you squat. It’s way harder than it sounds (or looks). It’s tough to hold your balance in that kind of position. You have to really shrug your shoulders and lock your arms and if you don’t (probably because you're getting tired) you won’t be able to squat. They were so tough...but in a good way. The technique wasn’t all that challenging, but executing it was.


We had to complete 3 rounds of the circuits as fast as we could. I did it in 21:34. My time was respectable. I wasn’t complaining because the double unders took me so damn long. They were really frustrating. At the end I was so tired I just wasn’t able to jump high enough. I had to really put my head down and focus to get through those.


I’m heading there tomorrow after work (which I am really dreading), so I’ll try and post when I get back.


Have a great night!


- N

Friday, November 26, 2010

Round 17 - 11/26/10 - Four Weeks COMPLETED!

It really hasn’t felt like four weeks. I honestly feel like I’ve been going to this gym forever (in a good way!). I’m really enjoying it and I’ve already improved in a month. I can’t wait to see how much I’ll have improved by the end of January!


So the workout today was kind of fun. It was the perfect balance - challenging workouts with ample rest (unlike Tabata, which we haven’t done in a while, surprisingly). I don’t usually like taking long rests (and have to force myself not to jump back into something), but today I needed them! All-in-all a thorough, fun workout.


So, WOD:


We did a new exercise (for me) today called the Hang Power Snatch. I’d seen people doing it before, but had never attempted it myself. Personally, I think I like it better than the power cleans. It seemed like a more fluid motion or something. Things like this are definitely more about technique than about strength. We were working to a 1 rep max on the hang power snatch, but the trainer said you’ll max out because your technique is suffering...it’s not like a press where you max out just because you simply can’t push a bar over your head anymore. These exercises are kind of frustrating until you get them right. Personally, I’m still working out the kinks ;).


I ended up doing the exercise a few times at 47lbs and called that my max. She said my technique improved significantly so we ended on a high note instead of trying to max out. Looking at everyone’s numbers, I think I did pretty well for my first try.


Next we did a circuit with long rest in between. There were only two exercises: wall balls and burpees (uggggh, gross, *flaily hands*). We had to do 15 wall balls and 10 burpees (which soooo deceptively sounds like barely anything). We had to do the circuit five times with three minutes of rest in between each circuit...but, here was the catch: if you stopped at any point in the middle of an exercise you had to start all over again. You could rest as much as you wanted between the wall balls and the burpees, but once you started an exercise you had to finish it. They called this an “unbroken” round.


My first round was brutal and I will tell you why. My stupid wall ball was too heavy. I lost my rhythm right away and I couldn’t get it back. The intern timing us didn’t know I shouldn’t be using a ball that heavy, but the trainer saw me and quickly ran in to switch out the balls from the 16lb to the 12lb. It worked muuuch better after that, but it killed my time.


They scored you based on your worst time for the five circuits so mine was 1:48 because of the first round. Had that round not happened my worst time would have been 1:32. Ohhh well, live and learn.


I still felt really good after this workout though (waaay better than yesterday). I went after work and I noticed that the Friday night crowd seems very lively. I kind of like going at that time just for that reason.


Another thing I’ve noticed is the idea of going to the gym straight from work hasn’t really seemed daunting. I like going and I look forward to it when I’m at work. I look forward to ending up sprawled out on a gym floor in a pool of my own sweat. It’s fun, it’s exhilerating and it’s empowering. What more could a girl want?


On Monday I’ll take my official measurements/stats/photos for the month of November. I’ll probably stay away from Crossfit until then anyway (I really want to get a good run in on Sunday).


Have a great weekend everyone!


- N


Thursday, November 25, 2010

Round 16 - 11/25/10

I was feeling kind of crappy today and the weather isn’t great, so getting to the gym was definitely a bit of a struggle. The workout was pretty grueling too. For starters, I did some HSPU (handstand push up, see an earlier post) progression. I think I’m holding myself up my straighter and I can stay there for much longer. I still hate the headstand exercise with a passion though.


I didn’t spend too long on the HSPU this time. I just didn’t have the patience for it today. The trainer told me I did enough anyway and overdoing it would just get discouraging. I’m inclined to agree in this case.


The rest of the WOD was a major circuit that you had to repeat five times. We did 10 pull ups, 20 pushups, 30 kettlebell swings (@ 26lbs for me) and 40 squats. The pull ups were actually the best part. The pushups and the kettlebell swings were horrible. I don’t know if it was partially because my head just wasn’t in it, but it felt never ending. The squats were okay, doable, but they took a while. In the end I completed the workout in 25:38. My time was close to everyone else’s (some people even took 35 minutes), but I personally just felt like I was dragging the whole time. It’s nice to have something to compare your numbers too, but in the end it really is about you. You know how hard you worked and whether you had more to give. Today was just one of those days.


I will say this though… Previously in my workouts, (whether it be runs or my own circuit training), I wouldn’t have done anything if I felt like I did today. I wasn’t that sick and I could’ve worked out, but I wouldn’t have felt motivated to go. I should feel accomplished for getting there and getting through the workout. The trainers weren’t going to let me slack, but they weren’t going to make me overdo it either. I was exhausted by the end of it (and still kind of am), but I did it. That’s something to be proud of.


It’s just one of those days. Tomorrow will be better (I used to hate going to the gym after work, but it’s honestly something I look forward to now). I’m going to take some official measurements and pictures on Monday for you guys since it will have officially been a month at Crossfit! That’s kind of exciting. Everyone says it takes about that long for your body to figure out what it’s doing and for the changes to really start to show, so I’m hoping month two will show even more progress


- N

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Nutrition Update

I’m getting better, I swear. I’ve been tracking my calories online (using The Daily Plate, which I used almost religiously when I was losing weight). I just wanted to show everyone what a difference in your protein/carbohydrate ratio one change can make. It’s not perfect yet, but I’m still tweaking. I’m aiming for Zone-ish ratios (40:30:30 for carbs:protein:fat). So this is a comparison of the last three days. Hope it’s a little helpful to everyone.


Thus, I present…(*drumroll*)


The Protein Shake Saga


Day 1 (Nov 22) - This was prior to the introduction of my protein shake and what a typical day would look like for me. My fat was a little high that day because we had cheeseburgers for dinner (at home, not fast food. They’re a once in a blue moon thing). As you can see my protein % is low compared to my fat and carb %.


Look at how ridiculous the protein requirements they set you up with are. Based on my height and weight on my worst day I’m eating almost double my daily recommended intake (DRI). Blue numbers mean under DRI and red numbers mean over DRI. The black numbers are your goal. No wonder people are confused when they’re trying to lose weight! This kind of information is totally useless and may be what a lot of people base their weight loss regime on because it’s a government standard. The carbs are way too high (for an average day) and the protein way too low. The sodium’s also a little high for weight loss in my opinion. We need to update these numbers, governments of North America…*phew*. Rant over. Annnyway...

Day 2 (Nov 23) - Today was a bad day. I was starving all day for absolutely no reason (or possibly for “hormonal” reasons) and I could not get full. The most filling thing I ate all day was my protein shake as a mid-afternoon snack. We had fish and salad for dinner, but I just wasn’t satisfied. I broke down around 11:30 and had an Ezekiel english muffin with cream cheese. I couldn’t have slept, I was so hungry. I hope this isn’t a pattern!


Look how high my protein was today! (And my calories, blergh.) I’m glad my sodium’s staying low, but my sugars were a little high for my liking as well. I did well in fibre though! The calories bug me the most. Oh well! It was only one day.

Day 3 (Nov 24) - Today I had protein at every meal (a good amount of it too), and I will say that protein shake left me satisfied for far longer than any other breakfast I would have had. I was working, so usually I feel the hunger a lot sooner, but today I was fine. We had shrimp, salad and a little bread for dinner and while I’m a bit peckish now I’m not that hungry. My calories are the lowest they’ve been in the last two days, so that could have something to do with it. Hormones could still be a factor (sorry, tmi, haha).


Look at my ratios! So cloooose! I just need a little more tweaking.


Protein was great again (over 100g is my goal right now and the protein shake is really helping me with that). I have no idea why my cholesterol is so high… I think it’s because the item I chose that was closest in calories to my dinner was probably higher in cholesterol than my actual dinner. My cholesterol is never this high. I think overall my numbers are showing a lot of improvement.


And all because of a protein shake!


- N


(P.S. Let me know if you did or didn’t find this helpful and what I could do to maybe make it better. It was just something I thought I’d try for now :).)



Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Round 15 - 11/23/10

Today was the day we spiced things up a little bit ;). The first part of WOD was either a press or a bench press. As promised, I went with the bench press for something different. I was actually quite strong in that respect (probably from the amount of pushups I’ve done since joining, hahaha). I ended up working to a 5 rep max of 75lbs. I was working with one of the other girls there and we took turn spotting each other. I worked out with her for the AMRAP workout yesterday too so that was cool. No lie, I’m happy I made a friend. I don’t feel like such a newbie now.


The second part of the WOD was called “Annie”. Certain baseline workouts are given names (actual names, apparently), so today it was Annie.


Well let me tell you something...Annie’s kind of a bitch. It was a loooong workout and it was painful and challenging technically. We’re not really a fan of Annie.


Basically what we had to do was 50-40-30-20-10 (reps) of double unders (formerly known to me as double jump rope, where the rope circles you twice before you land) and then sit ups. I didn’t think I could do one double under, so the trainer told me just to do triple the reps of single jumps.


But, funny thing, today I discovered I can do a double under. I can actually do them fairly well a few times in a row and I don’t always end up caught up in the rope. So I did the real workout and was pretty proud of myself. I had never successfully done a double under before and I did over 100! I guess I finally got the hang of it!


The workout took me a while (I was slow, 3.5 minutes behind the next slowest person), but I was just happy I completed it to be honest. I clocked in at 14:56. Take that, Annie!


My abs are going to be dead tomorrow, I can feel it already and my abs always take the longest to recover. I’ll be going back again on Thursday, so we’ll see how I do then.


- N

Round 14 - 11/22/10

Today’s WOD was a good one for me. I just felt really great about the entire thing. I made some big improvements on my back squats and I the AMRAP workout was one I quite enjoyed (even though I was dying, haha).


First up, back squats. I worked up to a 5 rep, 3 set max of 90lbs. Wahoo! Maybe I can break 100 in a week or two. That’d be really exciting (that’s a small person!). The guy trainer at my gym said my squat form was perfect too and had me do a few little tweaks to help take the weight off my wrists (your wrists shouldn’t hurt or feel stretched on a back squat). The 90lbs was tough, but I felt really accomplished after. It was exciting :). I still love going to this gym. Even when I’m kind of dragging to get there, I never feel unmotivated once I’m there. I was kind of under the weather (and have been all weekend), but I didn’t notice it one bit when I was working out.


Secondly, the AMRAP. It was a long one (15 minutes!), but no burpees, thankfully - I would’ve crashed and burned if there’d been burpees, haha. We did 7 squat thrusters (@ 42lbs for me), 7 pull ups and 7 box jumps. For the first 3 rounds of pullups I used only one band instead of two. I switched to two bands when my form started to suffer; but to put it in perspective, my first week of Crossfit I couldn’t have done one pull up with only the one band. I felt really accomplished to have improved to that extent. I ended up doing 6 full rounds with an extra set of thrusters and pull ups in the 15 minutes.


All in all, a really great day. My legs kinda felt like jelly as soon as I left, but that’s a good feeling. It’s the feeling of having worked hard ;).


- N

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Food! (And Nutrition)

I really wanted to write a post about this today, because I think I seriously need to revamp some of what I’ve been eating. I haven’t been eating badly and I haven’t been eating a ton of calories, but I’m missing out on things nutritionally. I need to get back to eating more salad and try and incorporate protein into every meal (breakfast is brutal for that. I’m not a big egg person and I have a hard time eating a bigger meal for breakfast).


I’ve also been having little indulgences that I probably don’t need. I remember hearing someone (my mind’s blanking on who right now) say that the last 10 or 15lbs are the hardest to get off. You have to be perfect and little “cheats” aren’t going to cut it. I used to have the luxury of having the odd cookie or piece of chocolate while I was losing weight (without counting it in my calories) and it was never an issue. I think things have changed though.


So for the next week I’m conducing a food experiment. I’m counting all my calories religiously and I’m not having any “treats”. If I want something it goes into my calories. I’m also going to try and have protein at every meal and salad (or some serving of veggies) more than once a day. It’s time to kick things up a notch. I may even purchase some whey protein isolate just to increase the protein a bit. If I can find a low cal one, without a bunch of sugars and crap, that is. (Any recommendations?) I’d much rather get protein from food, but breakfast is what’s going to be my downfall. Whey protein might save me.


I think I’ll aim for between 1500 and 1700 calories a day and see how that works out. Losing weight is 80% what you eat and 20% how you workout and I think I forgot that this summer. Let’s see what happens to the scale if I behave for a week.


Round 13 - 11/19/10

So, I’m a little later in updating this time. I had to work Saturday (went to the gym Friday night) and then we had our work Christmas party right after. I ate a lot (fat girl flashbacks, haha) and drank a bit and I’m just ready to get back on track. I need to drink lots of water today and get back to eating when I feel hungry. Dinner was so good last night, but I have no intention of doing that again for a while. The last time I ate most (or all) of a big dinner by myself and a full dessert to myself was probably a year ago. I don’t really regret it, but I’m back in “healthy” mode now.


But anyway, my workout on Friday was good in some parts and bad in others. I hate HSPU (handstand push up) progression. The one way I tried it (putting my feet up on the wall) made my arms tired after only a few tries and I couldn’t walk myself in any more. The second way I tried it was with a mat beneath me. I would put the top of my head on the mat (which felt so weird) and try to kick up a bit. That was going okay until I accidentally over kicked too much and ended up against the wall completely and totally unprepared. My arms weren’t straight and my spine wasn’t straight and I crumbled and kind of panicked.


I was done after that, haha. My neck kinda hurt for a few minutes after.


Next we went onto power cleans which I think went much better this time. The techniques finally coming more naturally and these felt a lot more fluid. I had a few slip ups, but it was easy to tell what I’d done wrong. I got up to 57lbs for 2 reps of 3. Still not my favorite exercise though. I’m at least glad I can see improvement.


Lastly we had to pick a cardio machine to do Tabata on. I’m a runner, so I picked the treadmill. You just can’t sprint the same way on the rower or the bike because you’re relying on the machine to help you move. I’d rather just run.


I ran the sprints at 10mph and it was hard. I started at 9.5 but that felt easy. I went up to 10 for the first 5, came back down to 9.5 for two of the rounds and then back up to 10 for the last one. It felt really awesome. I was dripping by the end of it. I think most people avoided the treadmill because it was probably harder aerobically, but the movement is just so much more natural to me. After the first two exercises I wanted something I knew how to do.


And that’s all for today. I’m going back tomorrow, so I’ll update then. Hope everyone had a great weekend!


- N

Friday, November 19, 2010

Round 12 - 11/18/10

Day 1 of accounting for a pathetically unorganized workplace. They’re nice people, they really are, but it’s really driving me nuts how they scheduled me in for an extra 16 hours and told me less than a day before when they scheduled me in two days ago. Not impressed. I used to be fat, I treat the gym like it’s a priority one and I don’t appreciate people assuming it’s not.


In all honesty, I was really glad just to get to the gym. I need some sort of activity to get out some aggression...


Annnnyway, so I went early this morning (I don’t work until 11:30) and it was kind of a longer (and more unusual) WOD. We started with something called “Skin the Cat” and did a skill warm up on that. Basically, it’s a gymnastics move using those big rings. You’re supposed to hold onto the rings and essentially flip yourself over and do a handstand. I only got as far as hanging on them. They were gonna come and get the guy trainer (who’s like 6’5”) to come and make me flip (all the girls were too short, hahah), but I told them noooo way was I going upside down. Images of me dropping on my head were too prevalent.


So I just kept hanging there for a bit (it’s brutal on your arms, though if you flip over it’s supposed to be more of a core workout). It was kind of fun watching everyone try to do it, so we had a few good laughs.


And then, chin ups...which are way harder for me. Apparently chin ups isolate your biceps more than pull ups, so if you have strong biceps they’re easier. Personally, I’d rather use my back more. Chin ups are the underhand grip ones and your hands are closer together. We did 30 of them (with as much rest as needed). Those were hard. Some of the more advanced people were doing those plus a weighted chin up at a 3 rep max...but I’m still using bands so I didn’t make it that far.


Our last part of the WOD was a 21-18-15-12-9-6-3 workout with deadlifts and pushups. It’s similar to the workout from Tuesday in that you do 21 of both exercises, then 18, then 15, etc. It’s just longer, haha. I just did basic pushups but others did pushups on the rings. Those looked really hard. I don’t think I’m strong enough for that yet. I did 65lbs for my dead lift, but I think I could have handled 70. Maybe next time.


Back again tomorrow (hopefully)! I’ll try and take some measurements too.


- N

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Round 11 - 11/16/10

I went to Crossfit this afternoon with my legs already sore from the day before. I think the worst had to be my lower back, though. Getting up/out of bed was a challenge. LOL.


For WOD we had the option of doing either a bench press or a regular press. I chose to do a regular press just because I wanted to see how high I could get my number. Bench press uses your chest and I know I’m already pretty strong in that respect. My shoulders need more work. I’ll try bench press next time.


I worked up to a 3 set (of 5) max of 55lbs. I was happy. The last rep of the last two sets was really challenging, but I got it up there somehow. You definitely feel a sense of accomplishment when you barely make something happen. I think most people are stronger than they realize and it’s nice having that little extra bit of encouragement so you can power through.


After, we did a 21-15-9 push press/pull up conditioning workout. I started with 53lbs on the push press (which just about killed me. Apparently the number was supposed to be close to your regular press, but 21 in a row was so hard. I hate when I feel slow compared to everyone else). After the 21 pull ups she changed the weight on the push press to 45lbs, which was much better (but still tough). I completed the whole workout (last, ugh.) in 8:57. It wasn’t awful, but I felt like such a sloth. I really maxed out in the press so the push press killed my time.


I’ll be back again on Thursday (work tomorrow), so I’ll see how I feel by then. I’ll take some official measurements on Friday and post them here, just for comparison’s sake.


- N


Update: Stupid work has randomly thrown in double my hours this week so I get to work Thursday-Saturday. Awesome. I’m really pissed off they’re throwing off my gym schedule. I hate getting things sprung on me. I guess I’ll be at the gym early tomorrow and hopefully a blog post late tomorrow night.

Round 10 - 11/15/10

11/15/10


I went to Crossfit in the morning today around 10am. The gym was a lot quieter than it is at night (even though it’s not really that busy around 3:30 either). It was almost all women too, so the dynamic was a little different. Honestly, I think I was just surprised at first to see no boys in the gym, haha.


But I digress. For the WOD we did deadlifts and an AMRAP workout. For deadlifts I got up to 85lbs (wahoo!) for 3 sets of 5. I was pretty pumped. For the AMRAP workout we were doing 6 burpees, 12 box jumps and lunges to one end of the gym and back.


I don’t know why but burpees always kill me. 6 didn’t seem like it would be that bad, but I was dying after. The box jumps were doable, the lunges were doable, the burpees absolutely killed me. I was slower than everyone on the burpees and then made up that time and passed everyone on the box jumps. I have no idea what it is about burpees but they are the bane of my existence, apparently.


I ended up doing 3 rounds plus a 4th round of burpees in 10 minutes. It wasn’t bad. I got through the 2nd most reps of all of us, so that was good. My legs were like jelly after. I’m good at lunges and I liked that we focused on so much leg work for a change, but it was intense. Good thing my legs recover quickly.


I’ll be back again tomorrow so we’ll see how I’m feeling then!


- N

Friday, November 12, 2010

Round 9 - 11/12/10

I felt soooo gross this morning when I woke up. It almost felt like I had a stomach bug or something. It was bad. I need to start eating a bit cleaner and kick up the water intake. I might make this water/tea drink next week. You’re supposed to drink it for a week and it helps to flush out some of the bloat. Maybe my body’s still adjusting to the new workout so my system’s a little shocked and I’m retaining. My weight’s up pretty high today too; I’m just not feeling great.


My workout was good though. For starters we did a handstand pushup progression exercise. I basically was trying to get myself as close to the wall as possible with my feet high against it (the idea being that you build up to being able to do a handstand push up). I was supposed to try and walk myself in closer to the wall using my arms, but that was too hard. Hopefully I’ll be strong enough by next time. The trainer said it was important to keep my arms as locked as possible, because by doing that I was using my skeletal frame to support myself instead of my muscles. It did feel a bit easier when I tried it that way, but I still couldn’t walk on my hands.


As I was finishing the rest of the workout I looked over to see one of the guys doing the handstand pushups. It was kind of awesomely insane, haha.


We also worked on power cleans. I’m still kind of rocky with the technique so we spent a while just practicing that. I got up to 52lbs.


After the power cleans we went onto a pushup/pull-up circuit. You had to do as many pushups as you could and then as many pull-ups as you could and then rest for a few minutes. And then you repeated that circuit 4 times.


Again, I watched some of the guys while I was resting. They were doing “muscle ups” where you literally lift half of your body over the bar and your weight is supported by your arms. It looked like something gymnasts would do when using the parallel bars. It was pretty cool.


I still feel pretty gross right now, but I felt good during the workout. I’m sure my arms and my back will be sore tomorrow, but that I can handle. I do feel like I’m getting stronger with pull ups though. Maybe next week I’ll try taking the skinny band away and just using the thick one...hmm…


I may go back on Sunday but I may just wait until Monday. I have work tomorrow so there’s no way I’m getting there then. Guess I’ll play it by ear.


Have a great weekend, everyone!


- N

Round 8 - 11/11/10

Today was actually a pretty fast workout, but I was still in a lot of pain from Tuesday. My arms and my abs (in particular) were dying, so I think I kind of needed/earned the break. Hehe.


I warmed up on the treadmill because my arms were so sore. I walked on an incline for 5 minutes and then ran for 5 minutes. That was pretty comfortable. Running at an easy pace always loosens me up and I was only running around a 10 minute mile when I was running at all. I felt better after that.


For WOD we did 3 sets of 11 squat thrusters/11 burpees. I ended up doing 42lbs for the squat thrusters (though at the time I didn’t think I was going to make it, haha,). I did the three sets in 8:25 so I was happy with that. I never seem to be on the slower end of the time numbers compared to everyone else; I guess that means I have pretty good stamina from running.


After that I ran/walked for 10 minutes to cool down. I went for a run this afternoon for about 40 minutes too. I wanted to take advantage of my legs not being sore and I haven’t been having very good runs since my half marathon. The weather was perfect and it just felt really good to hit the pavement, so all-in-all a good workout day.


I’m going back to Crossfit tomorrow and that might be it for the week. I work on Saturday so if I go back it won’t be until Sunday and I kind of wanted to run again then. 4 days a week is still solid I think.


- N

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Round 7 - 11/9/10

Holy shit, my arms hurt. Today was brutal on them, just absolutely brutal. I was already stiff when I woke up (it was my shoulders and back), so I rowed to warmup in hopes that would get some blood flowing and loosen me up a bit. It was a slow row; I really felt how tired my legs and back were from the day before too, but I do think it helped a bit.


And then we went onto the WOD.


First, presses! Yay! I like presses! I did 27lbs last time and 42lbs on my push press (which is where you can use your legs to help you a bit). I warmed up a little with the bar alone and then tried pressing 27lbs. It wasn’t really a challenge and the trainer decided I should work up to a 5 rep max at 42lbs. So I did that. 42lbs was a challenge, for sure, but I could’ve done more…


So I did. I did 2 sets of 5 at 47lbs. That was killer. My shoulders just wouldn’t push anymore weight. I finished the first set and then got told to do another one and was kinda like “yeah right”. I barely completed the second set (though apparently I can take a longer rest between sets than I have been), but it happened. My shoulders were done, but I felt pretty proud I’d increased my press by so much.


And then we did an “AMRAP” workout for 8 minutes. 8 minutes of 12 pushup, 12 sit up circuits doing “as many reps as possible” (I just googled AMRAP. Get it? Hehe.) It’s exactly like the squat/burpee workout I did last week for 8 minutes, only pushups and sit ups this time.


I completed the circuit 6.5 times, but from those first push ups my arms were dying. I couldn’t believe how bad it was. I knew they’d tire easily after the presses, but as soon as I got into push up position they buckled. I swore a lot during this workout, haha. I think most people swearing a lot during this workout, actually ;).


By the end my arms were barely moving and my abs were so sore they weren’t helping me at all. I’m going to be in paaain tomorrow. I was dripping sweat by the end and my shoulders haven’t stopped hurting since. Getting out of bed with sore arms and sore abs should be interesting…;)


I seriously love going to this gym. Most people are really friendly and say “hey” even though they’ve never met you before. On Saturday some random guy introduced himself to me and asked me how I liked the workout; yesterday some other guy and I were running the second half of the workout together and kind of competing (in a fun way) with each other. It’s just cool. I like getting out and talking to people and not staying in my own little bubble. It’s a very social gym and since I’m not working working so much right now I thoroughly enjoy that aspect of it. Sometimes it’s hard to get there, but I’m always glad I went when I’m there.


Tomorrow I have work and I’m taking the day off working out, so I’ll hopefully be back at the gym on Thursday. I’m feeling (slightly) discouraged just because my weight hasn’t changed/has gone up a little. I thought the first week or two I might drop something just because it was such a shock to my body...but I guess the stress is making me hold onto weight. Any words of wisdom from some veterans on that?


I’ll take measurements at the end of the week. Maybe that’ll help me see some progress. :)


- N

Monday, November 8, 2010

Round 6 - 11/8/10

I went running yesterday for a break from Crossfit and it was bad. I went out thinking I’d do 5 or 6 miles and I ended up doing 4 (and they were half-assed). I guess my legs were just way too tired and I couldn’t get into the zone. I wasn’t happy at all, haha.


Today was better. I went back to Crossfit and we did some heavier weight work today. We did back squats (I got up to 72lbs this time for 3 sets of 5!), and then a timed workout involving squat cleans and pull ups. For the timed workout I did 21 squat cleans, (go search youtube if you wanna see exactly what that is, there are lots of videos and it’s kind of hard to explain), and 21 pull ups. Then I did 15 squat cleans and 15 pull ups, then 9 squat cleans and 9 pull ups. I even used a thinner band on my pull ups this time, so I was really struggling with them by the end. I did the timed workout in 12:59, which actually seemed like a fairly fast time when I compared it to everyone else’s. I felt like I was going sooo slow during the workout though. It was hard! The squat cleans are deceptively challenging, especially when you’re doing pull ups in between. You really have to use your legs.


So as promised, I weighed myself today. I’m up to 158lbs right now, but there could be other reasons for that at this present time. I don’t think the scale was too accurate today. We’ll see how it reads tomorrow.


- N

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Round 5 - 11/6/10

Day 5! Wahoo! It’s beautiful out right now, (1 degree celsius and nice and sunny), so I was raring to go when I woke up. I was barely sore at all this morning and that was promising but also kind of disappointing. I like being sore to an extent. I knew I should’ve used the thinner band on those pull ups yesterday!


However, tomorrow I will be sore. Haha. Today we did Tabata for WOD, which is what I did the first day. It was a little bit different though. One of the interns was timing me and she was really cool. The gym was a lot busier today than I’ve seen it so far, but I still had no problem getting space/equipment. For the Tabata we did front squats (my poor wrists actually felt better than they did yesterday), push presses, kettlebell swings and burpees. It was still 20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest, but this time you did 8 rounds of each exercise, not 4 (apparently she went easy on me, haha), and instead of alternating exercises you did all 8 rounds of each exercise back to back.


So I’m dead, haha. By the time I got to the burpees I was exhausted. My arms didn’t have anything left and I had to practically stand myself up off the ground instead of using my arms to jump back in. What I like so much about these workouts is when you think you have nothing left you have to keep going and then you realize when you really have nothing left. I ended up doing 205 reps (which looked comparable to the rest of the numbers on the board). I literally collapsed on the floor afterwards and let her read me my numbers; my arms still feel like jelly.


So all in all, a killer workout. The gym was really lively today compared to how I’d seen it before. I hung around for a bit and one of the guys that had been working out there introduced himself to me, so I’m starting to feel a little more included already. I did the Tabata by myself, but right after 3 people were doing it together while the intern timed them. Some people were doing their own thing, but most did the WOD. I’m actually glad yesterday was easier; I like alternating between intense workouts like today and more of a power lifting workout like yesterday.


I’ll probably go for a run tomorrow and go back to Crossfit on Monday. I’ll weigh in on Monday before I workout so I’m hopefully not too swollen.


Have a great weekend everyone!


- N

Friday, November 5, 2010

Round 4 - 11/5/10


This morning I woke up feeling pretty good. My shoulders were a little sore, but that was it, really. I think I have allergies or a sinus headache or something though because that’s been bugging me all day. Thankfully, it didn’t interfere with my workout. I drank tons of water right before, so that probably helped a bit.


Annnnyway, today we completed our first WOD! Woohoo! It was more of a heavy lifting workout. It consisted of back squats, front squats and a pull-up progression and I think I did pretty well overall. I did 62lbs on the back squats and 42lbs on the front squat (those things kill my wrists. Anyone have any tips for getting passed that?). I probably could’ve done a bit more on the back squats, but I didn’t know how I would be with the front squats, so we stopped there. It’s still a solid number considering I did 42lbs a few days before.


After that we did a pull-up progression workout (with bands). It was a timed workout in one minute intervals. In the first minute you do 1 pull-up and then rest for the remainder of the minute. In the second minute you do 2 pull-ups and rest for the remainder. Third minute, 3 pull-ups and so on and so on, as many times as you can. I ended up doing 11 rounds of it. My arms (and my one leg from pushing the damn resistance bands down, haha) are dead.


I’ll probably go back tomorrow morning to finish up my week and then run/rest on Sunday.


I also want to add that while I’ve been weighing myself daily or semi-daily it’s just to see how my body reacts to the exercises I’m doing in terms of fluid retention. I’m only “counting” the weight on a week to week basis. There’s no need to weigh-in that much. I’ll do an official weigh-in on Monday and compare the results then. I’ll also take some new measurements either Friday of next week of Monday of the week after.


Updates tomorrow!


- N

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Rest!

I’m resting today, and I need it. This morning it hurt to sit up, it hurt to go to the bathroom, it hurt to make coffee and walk downstairs, it hurt in general. Haha. It’s all in my shoulders and my back and a little in my legs. You really focus on you shoulders in these workouts and I’m really feeling that today.


I also haven’t been drinking enough water. I need to work on that. Somedays I’m great about it and others I’m forcing it down. My muscles are sore and swollen and I need to flush some of this out so water is necessary. Moving also helps with that too. The more I move, the less it hurts. I’ve also done some of the shoulder and back stretches my trainer showed me. It’s nice to have a day off, not gonna lie. I feel like I earned it.


And honestly, I like feeling sore. It’s a good sore, it means I worked my ass off. When I wake up the day after a workout and I’m not sore I feel cheated or something. Being sore just reminds you of what you did the day before.


As of today I’m up 2lbs, which does and does not surprise me at the same time. It feels like I should weigh less because a) I’ve been hungry for three days and normally, when I feel hungry constantly, I lose weight next time I’m on the scale; and b) my stomach seems less bloated than I did when I started initially. However, it makes sense that I’m up 2lbs because I’m sore. My muscles are filled with lactic acid and I’m retaining fluid (thanks second year physiology class) because during my awesomely intense workouts created I micro-tears in my muscles. Basically, I'm swollen because my body's trying to repair these micro-tears. That’s what I mean when I say I need to flush everything out.


Either way, I’m not too worried about a slight gain. It’s a new workout, my body’s under stress as it gets adjusted to everything I’ve been doing. I’m confident if I keep going as I have been the weight (and inches) will come off.


I’ll update tomorrow after my workout!


- N