Sorry for the delay in this posting everyone. The last two days have been very, very long. I think my entire family’s exhausted. I ate pizza tonight (just a few slices of the Domino’s cracker crust, but still) and drank a few glasses of wine. It was nice to unwind.
But back to yesterday! Our WOD was all things I was pretty comfortable with, so I was kind of looking forward to it. We hadn’t done Tabata in a while and I quite enjoy that for some reason (it’s fast and to the point!). All day at work I was kind of just waiting to get to the gym.
WOD started with presses. I set myself up (albeit, a little ambitiously) to try and press 60lbs. Well, sad to say this goal of mine didn’t happen (at least not yesterday). I worked up to 57lbs and attempted 62lbs and it just didn’t happen. I did a 5 rep max at 57lbs. I’ll just have to break 60 next time!
The conditioning workout, like I said, was a Tabata mash up (that’s where you alternate between the exercises instead of completing one in its entirety - like I did my first day). The four exercises were pushups, ring rows (that’s where you hold onto gymnastics rings, leeeeean back and, well, row), kettlebell swings and burpees.
I did 281 reps total. Overall I think I did well. There were a few areas I could improve upon next time (my kettlebell technique wasn’t quite perfect and they said to put a plate under my chest for push ups in the future). I’m not gonna lie, that took away from my feeling of accomplishment a little (I did some of the most reps of anybody). I wish they’d just corrected my technique or told me I wasn’t going low enough on the pushups during the workout so I didn’t feel like I cheated the whole workout. I didn’t stop, even when I slowed down, so I’m attributing my awesome number to that.
And hey, maybe I just did a really good amount of reps in pushups and they’re trying to give me ways to challenge myself a bit more. I understand not correcting kettlebell form during a rep because you’re only doing it for 20 seconds, but it’s easy enough to say “lower on the pushups!”. Anyway, I’m trying not to dwell on it (I was for about an hour yesterday after the gym). I’m just a competitive person and things like this bug me a little. I’m not ashamed to admit it, haha.
But tomorrow is a new day and a workout’s going to feel really great after all the crap this week. I’m not working again until Saturday and I couldn’t be more happy about that. It’s just gym and (maybe) some running for the next two days!
I’ll update tomorrow after the gym! Have a good night!
- N
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
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
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
Thus, I present…(*drumroll*)
The Protein Shake Saga
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!
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.
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 :).)
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
