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Friday, February 11, 2011

Month Three Round Up!

Hey Everyone!

Let me start by saying today I feel bloated and it's probably not the best day to be taking pictures of my stomach...but I do owe you something so I sucked it up (not literally ;)) and took my progress pics/measurements today. I feel like the waist measurements may be slightly off so I might try again in a day or two just to see.

Stats

Height - 5'7"ish
Weight - 157-159
Chest - 38"
Waist - 29.5"
Hips = 38"


Okay first, let's talk about how I changed physically. Pictures haven't really done it justice, but I have a ton of more muscle/definition in my back and my arms. I also have less flab in that generally waist area. Yeah, the narrowest part of my waist hasn't shrunk much (if at all), but my stomach looks less flabby (even if I've still got flab to lose). My body does look better...the inches just didn't fall off me like they do some people. Weight training and circuit training wasn't new to me...Olympic lifting and Tabata and burpees were, but I have lifted in the past. I don't think you could expect to see the drastic changes on me you would see on someone that's never done anything even remotely like this before. I'm happy with my physical results. Would I like to get a six pack faster? Hell yeah, but I'm realistic. I always lose weight in my stomach last and this is no exception. I lost inches in my chest and in my hips...the stomach will come eventually. Do I need to improve my diet? Definitely, there are areas to work on (I'll talk about that in another post)...but on a whole I think I did pretty well.

Now let's talk about how I have changed fitness wise. I grabbed my first record-keeping book to review some of the numbers.

Back squat then: 72lbs (I actually started at 42lbs but that was extremely light even then)
Back squat now: 145lb max

Front squat then: 42lbs
Front squat now: 115lbs

Press then: 47lbs
Press now: 67lbs

Deadlift then: 75lbs
Deadlift now: 160lbs - achieved yesterday. Body weight!

Power clean then: 42lbs (with awful form)
Power clean now: 75lbs (in a workout, max undetermined)

Pull ups then: One large band and one skinny band in workouts.
Pull ups now: One medium band and one skinny band in workouts. I wish I knew how much weight each band supported, but trust me when I tell you I feel like there's very little under me now. I will manage a pull up by the 6 month mark.

Now let's talk about flexibility. After using the torture devices of death my shoulders are significantly more flexible. (Funny story, I was able to zip/unzip a dress all by myself I always needed help from another person with before. Haha.) Both trainers have commented that my shoulders look way better and my form is like night and day on my overhead squats/snatches/presses. I've also been told my pushup form has improved as well. My wrists (which killed during front squats, you remember) don't hurt the same way anymore either. I definitely feel more mobile in the upper body.

Lastly, I'm going to mention some injuries. Yes, my knees have been bugging me still (not as badly, but still bugging me). I talked to the girl that recommended me to CF and she basically said she found her injuries got worse for the first little bit (because certain muscles get stronger faster than others) and then went away completely. Hopefully this will be the case for me. I'm going to take 2 weeks off running and see if that helps.

So what have I learned after 3 months of CrossFit?

Well for starters, I can never go back to a regular gym. The idea of putting on headphones and going through the motions of an hour long workout by yourself...I can't do it. I won't do it. That holds no appeal for me anymore. Now I not only like the results I get from working out, but I like working out.

If your gym doesn't have a puke bucket it's probably not pushing you hard enough. I've always known that to really force your body to change you have to feel uncomfortable. CrossFit takes feeling uncomfortable to an entirely new level. Forcing yourself to do things that just don't seem possible (like 100 burpee pullups) is the best part of CF. When you pick up a bar and think "there's no way I'll be able to get through the entire workout with this" and then you somehow manage it...that is how you should feel every time you go to the gym. Yeah, for 10 seconds you may think you're about to puke, (and a few people might puke), but you'll still feel kind of incredible when you're done. I firmly believe that when you workout you should feel like a badass and I've never felt more badass than I do now. It's definitely empowering.

I like working out with other people. I have never wanted to workout with other people until I started CF. I was always the person that put their head down in a spin class and focused on themselves...that got annoyed when my friends would giggle during bootcamp classes because I taking it seriously... I never felt as though I liked working out with others until these last three months. Now I hope I get to workout with other people at the gym. They push me and I push them and you encourage each other, but the goal is still the same. Everybody's a little competitive but you still want each other to do well. The camaraderie is definitely something I've learned to love.

I'm so, so glad I joined CF. Thank you guys for sticking with me during this! I can't wait to see what the next 3 months will bring.

- N





1 comment:

  1. You look great! And I'm so proud of you for sticking with it! <3

    ReplyDelete