Busy Busy Busy

Just got back from Indianapolis last night and from visiting great friends and an awesome Box....Crossfit Indy North. I was unable to post last night and will probably be posting again later today so I will make this short. Did two WODs at the box:

Blake

100 Ft Walking Lunge 45# Plate OverHead

30 Box Jumps 24'

20 Wall Balls 20#

10 HSPU

My Time:

13:27

then about 2 hours later:

The Seven

7 HSPU

7 Thrusters 135#

7 K2E

7 Deadlift 245#

7 Burpees

7 KB Swings 70#

7 C2B Pull Ups

22:25

Did some DLing after the WODS but nothing structured.

Awesome WODs and a great day. Look forward to visiting again.

NU

10,000

Kinda like 300 but a lot more. This morning at the box we did the Crossfit Football WOD:

Lift 10,000#

1 Back Squat
1 Bench
1 Power Clean

You choose the weight. Try to do as much weight as you can. After doing the 3 lifts you have done 1 RD. This was tough to judde what you could do consistantly. You go as fast as you can no stopping if poosible. I warmed up and decided......well I kept changing my decisions.....until ultimately I decided......

275# Front Squat
235# Bench Press
245# Power Clean

This equalled out to 13 Rds to hit my 10,000#......at least I thought 13Rds. I just decided to do the math and it came out to 9,815#. So I missed a lift, wish I would have paid more attention in math class now. Oh well, cannot go back now. I decided to do Front Squat because that will help me more with my Olympic Lifts which i need to get good at in the bottom position.

I maintained my weights for the workout except after Rd 4 I went to 235# Power Clean. My Time:

10:36

Very good workout. It took a lot more prep work then I anticipated so I was unable to get another WOD in. I did do some other things in stead:

No Time

3 Rds

20 KB Swings 1.5 Pood
40 DU's

Then:

50 Burpees for time
1:46 (PR)

It was a good day and I may do more tonight!

NU

Yoga....Finding My Center

I planned on going to the box but when I woke up at 5:30 my body was calling for a rest day. I really thought about going in but felt that it would be more beneficial to my body to take it easy.....so.....i slipped down stairs and pooped in my Rodney Yi (sorry Rodney if I spelled that wrong). And....my gosh that did not feel like a rest day. I could barely stretch and anytime I would get into a movement everything would tighten up. Sometimes Yoga is harder then a long metcon.

But, like Rodney says..."Find your Center," I guess that is supposed to make everything better. I will tell you Rodney is wrong. I cannot find center nor find comfort in many of the movements. And my breathing...out the window....it is so uncomfortable when you are all twisted to get a breath in. I do really enjoy the aftermath and how well I feel when I am finished.

Will have to hit it hard tomorrow because I have a meeting early in the morning and cannot make it to the box. Have to get at it early.

NU

Alarms

If I wasn't motivated yesterday....then I am today. I set my alarm to get up 2 hours before I had to leave to work (I am working a half day today). Well......sometimes they do not work right. I woke up and thought, "I feel like my alarm should have gone off (looked at window) still dark, I'll go back to sleep."

Wake up again thinking, "ok seriously, I am wide awake", pull phone up to see time. 7:07AM (was set for 6:15). Are you serious! Now I can never get a workout in. I jumped up, knowing I had multiple WODs planned this morning. My wife and I have many plans after work because we are spending the weekend together for our 2 Yr Anniversary.

I jump down stairs in my skivees, knowing I have 20 minutes Max to get warm and get a WOD in. I decide Diane will be good. I needed to get dealifting in, not enough time, and a WOD. instead I will incorporate them. (I barely warm up and jump into it).

Diane (21-15-9: Deadlift 225# / HSPU)

4:37

Humiliating!!!!! My PR is 2:49......I went in thinking I would smash it! Now......I know last nights WOD left my back tired......but still, after straight setting the 21's I was like a sloth. What is wrong with me!

This has me focused, I have to be able to be at peak performance at all times, and this showed that I am not. I WILL PR on this next time! And it will be very soon! I WILL!

You should beat that time Lion.

Got home from work and Back Squated 95#:

40x

20x

Then did Deadlift work (need to increase the max)

185# x 3

275# x 5

305# x 5

325# x 5

345# x 3

345# x 3

375# x 1

Felt good, will need to increase sets and reps.

NU

Muscle Ups

So I have been working on muscle ups randomly to get better at them during workouts. I was able to get into the box early with Brandon and I new this was something that I wanted to work on....but before that I had to do a WOD at home. The wife and baby left to a friends to do a DVD workout so I had a free half hour. I wanted to hit running and body weight so I did:

400 M
50 Air squats
20 Paralette Push up
400 M
40 Air Squats
20 Paralette Push ups
400 M
30 Air Squats
20 Paralette Push ups
400 M
20 Air Squats
20 Paralette Push ups
400 M
10 Air Squats
20 paralette Push ups

13:34

Workout was good and actually made me more tired then I expected. Hoping to hit a few like this at home a week.

I left for the Box about 10 minutes after this. Got there and did 20 MU's. No time but I think I will be doing 30 for time soon to set a mark at what I need to beat. After that did band pulls and runs with Brandon. Then some OHS's with 185. Shoulders were shot. Great day. Tonight I will do some Power Cleans.

All in the search to get better.

NU

I like Chippers....like.....THE DIRTY DOZEN

I have been writing down workouts I want to do like a mad man. Everyone I write I look at it to make sure it will make me uncomfortable and that it will make me better. I knew I had a day off from Crossfit Football (Wed and Sun and OFF days). So, I was contemplating what I would do.....the decision was simple once I jumped on the main site. A chipper! A chipper is a long workout with multiple movements, sometimes high rep, low rep, high weight, low weight.....it is an anything goes workout. Here is what sparked my eye:

For time: THE DIRTY DOZEN

25 Walking lunge steps
20 Pull-ups
50 Box jumps, 20 inch box
20 Double-unders
25 Ring dips
20 Knees to elbows
30 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood
30 Sit-ups
20 Hang squat cleans, 35 pound dumbells
25 Back extensions
30 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
3 Rope climb ascents (12 Ft rope)

I walked in and said..."I am doing the Main Site WOD!" The gym ended up doing it so I guess I didn't need to really emphasis I was doing it. But, I wanted to make sure I got to! This was also a good workout because FGB is this Saturday and instead of doing that workout I was able to do something like it that I could push through the whole way. There were a few hick-ups....I had to really break up the ring dips, knees to elbows, wall balls after the first 15, and the KB swings (used a 70# DB). All in all I was happy......I can do better with lots more work:

12:35

After the WOD I did some snatch work:

3 x 135
3 x 155
2 x 185 (failed on the second one and tried 2 more times with no success)

Working hard to get better....rest of the day will be off and hope to spend quality time with the Family after work!

Last nights Deadlift workout:

3 x 2 325#
3 x 2 345#
1 x 1 375#

Felt lighter and had little rest between sets. The 375# felt very heavy though and my back was still a little sore from last time. Going to continue to do this twice a week, increasing weight and reps when needed.

NU

Unsure?

I was unsure all day yesterday what I was going to do today. I was not going to be able to go to the gym because of work and the WOD posted for the football page was one I wanted to do but I did not have KB's. It was 5 Rds 1 minute on 1 minute off. Try to get 30 KB swings with 2 Pood (70#). I decided multiple times what to do and finally when I woke up I decided on the fly.

I took the dog on a 20 minute run and then grabbed my Oly bar and stepped outside. I decided to use 65# and do swings with it. The same workout from the football page. 30 swings and every time you did not get 30 in a minute you had to do 1000 row (or in my case 100 SDHP with 45# (which I still owe Chelssie 2000 M Row (200 SDHP). The workout did not go as planned:

Rd 1 - 25 swings
Rd 2 - 23 swings
Rd 3 - 21 swings
Rd 4 - 23 swings
Rd 5 - 25 Swings

Which ultimately means I have a whole lot of SDHP to do tonight. 700 to be exact!

Geeze....I am hoping to get them done tonight after deadlifting. I am planning to do RDL's and then get at least 6 sets of heavy deads before jumping into those SDHP's. I am just hoping my traps stay in tack for tomorrow mornings WOD at the box. This better make me better!!!

NU

Developing Myself

This morning I woke up with my back still sore from the Deadlifts....which made me excited, "I am getting better when I am sore this long!" This where I will maintain my focus with two days a week of strict deadlift work to increase my back and hopefully maintain constant soreness! (well...maybe not constant, but hopefully some)

When I got to the gym this morning I knew that they had a good WOD on the football site from the night before:

15 Min AMRAP

2 Power Snatch w/ 75% of your max (Max is 200#)
2 Rds
3 Pull ups
6 push ups
9 box jumps 20"
= 1 Rd

Before the WOD our stength work was 3 x 5 Front squat Max effort an 3 x 12 GHD sit ups. Warmed up and then did:

3 x 5 255# (the last set was rough)
3 x 12 GHD

For the WOD I had been talking with Brandon about scaling up and decided this was a good WOD to do that to. I am hoping to add or make every workout harder when possible...some don't need any help! My scaling up was:

15 Min AMRAP

2 Snatch 155# (correct weight)
2 Rds
3 chest over 2nd bar (belly to pull up bar)
6 Ring push ups
9 Box jumps 24'

Finished with - 7 Rds

Immediately after I did a Split Jerk for Max weight. Got 225# but failed on 245# and was to lazy to pick it back up to try again. Weight gets heavy when you are tired.

I need to work on my form for the Jerk because I do not do it enough and normally push press the weight up instead of using a strict jerk.

This WOD was a one good and I was able to maintain a good pace throughout which is what I was hoping with my modifications. I am beginning to love the body weight WODs with some heavy weight thrown in so I can work on constantly moving while fatiguing. Taking the rest of the day off.

NU

Deadlifts....trying to get to know them better

I say and say it.....over and over....Deadlifts are my worst lift! The reason it is my worst lift is because my max is just over 400#. Not sure exactly because what it is because I have not done it in a long time. I tell everyone how I want to get better at it but I have not had a program to get better. So I made a ten week schedule to use. Last night I warmed up to 325# then did:

3 x 2 325#
3 x 2 345#
1 x 1 375#

Feeling it in the lower back which is exactly what I am wanting. I know I have time to get better and I know it takes time. My goal is 475# by Sectionals, I know that is a long shot but I will work to get it.

Today I decided to do Nancy but after watching the journal about scaling up Wods. They explained it that sometimes we scale people down, why not up? So....I scaled to 115#:

5 Rds
400 M
15 OHS 115#

14:24

This was tough, I almost wanted to stop because I could not go unbroken. But, that is what I need to work to go unbroken with that weight on Nancy.

A couple hours later I ran some sprint intervals:

3 x 400 m
3 x 200 m

Felt good, but definitely want to get faster. I will do intervals 3 times a week as long as the weather holds up. Increasing the amount I run weekly to bi-weekly. I feel I need to get used to running, I may end up putting in air squats or pushups while resting for the next sprint.

I came up with a WOD I want to try for tomorrow if I am not a fan with what comes up on Crossfit Football. The WOD is:

AMRAP 20 Minutes:

10 HSPU
20 Toes 2 Bar
30 KB Swings 55#
40 DU's

This should be good, and if I like the WOD I will pull this out in a couple days. This one should help me with some weaknesses.

NU

Fun With the Girls!

The nasty Girls, ones that can strike fear in a crossfitter. I know for me they do. So.....I decided why not make a monster Nasty girl. I will call her.........Burfranisagracindy! The monster I now know it as. I went to the gym this morning to attack it after doing some Front Squats working my way up to 245# x 3.

Burfranisagracindy:

10 Burpees
Fran
10 Burpees
Isabel
10 Burpees
Grace
10 Burpees
10 Rds of Cindy
10 Burpees

25:50

My goal was to finish in under 24 minutes (like an idiot I think it should go better then it actually did). I figured I could get Fran, Isabel, and Grace in under 4:00 leaving me 10 minutes to do the rounds of Cindy and :30 seconds for each sets of burpees. After finishing I was initially upset but realized that I was closer then i thought.
I had made a bet with my wife that if I did not do it under 24:00 I had to Row 2000k immediately after. Lets just say that didnt happen....i uh...had to be somewhere after I finished! HAHA...

This workout helped me realize I need to examine my training and really push myself past the norm. I want to get better and be great at Crossfit, and I have to do this type of programming. Next up will be Deadlifting tonight (what I feel is my work lift). Wish me luck!

Feeling like I got a little bit better today!!! Always a good thing.

A great PLAN...that somehow changes

I went to bed last night having the perfect plan in place for what I wanted to do for my workout since I was not going to the Box because my wife would go instead while I stayed home with Jada.

The plan was to do an AMRAP for 20 Minutes:

10 Burpies
5 HSPU
5 DL 245#
15 Air Squats

But......I woke up feeling wrecked....(do not know why since I had the day off????) Looked at what I had down and thought....the yoga made my hamstrings tight so I do not think dl's are a good idea...ill do those tomorrow...then I saw 10 burpees and thought that is a lot! So i modified it. Instead I did this:

AMRAP 10 Minutes

5 Burpies
5 Paralette HSPU
15 Air Squats

Finished w/ 7 Rds + 3 Air Squats....had to end up breaking up the Paralette HSPU into singles as I got farther in. Thought it would be better to do a short Body weight metcon becasue tomorrow I am going to kill my body.

And the workout that will do this to me is....dun dun dun....

10 Burpees
Fran (21-15-9: Thrusters 95# - Pull ups)
10 Burpees
Isabel (30 snatches 135#)
10 burpees
Grace (30 Clean and Jerks 135#
10 Burpees
10 Rds Cindy (5 pull ups - 10 push ups - 15 Air squats = 1rd)
10 Burpees

Came up with this two days ago and thought this would be perfect because tomorrow is open gym. I have no expectations except to go with minimal stoppage. This one should help make me better!!!

That is the ultimate goal!

NU

Much Needed Rest

One of the hardest things for me to do is rest. I always feel that when I rest I get worse.....and I want to get better. Today is a truly needed day of rest. I have been pushing hard and my brain has been turning to find new ways to push myself and enhance my fitness. I did not totally rest though, I did my Yoga DVD, which makes me feel amazing when I finish. Recommend it to everyone...don't do it as much as I need to, but I do stretch every day.

I have made up a few WODs that I hope to be able to use in my training. I am also going to start do a painstorm, or something like a painstorm at least once every two weeks. They should be fun.

A painstorm is a workout designed in the old country (across the Atlantic) that are long and hard WODs. It was made because when people met they did not want to do just FRAN since they all travelled so far, so they made sure to get the most out of their visit.

A simple one to list is 500 Thrusters with the Olympic Bar (45#). Sounds rough but very intriguing to me. This will come up in the near future for me to do I assure you.

Already looking forward to my AM workout tomorrow!

Still trying to get better.....even when I rest!

NU

Muscle Ups!!!......AHHHHHHH!!!!!

Well, woke up and went to the box, a normal early morning ready to go. Off day in the box since we are following Crossfit Football so the WOD was supposed to be "easy" (hard to imagine for Crossfit).

9 Hang Clean 185#
15 Toes 2 Bar
6 Hang Clean
15 Toes 2 BAr
3 Hang Clean
15 Toes 2 Bar

Well I thought why not throw in some things I need work on. I new I needed to get used to GHD's in WOD's and doing multiple reps. I also thought I can do muscle ups pretty easily and consecutively but have never used them in a WOD. So.....why not throw them in? Decided to tweak the workout for myself.

9 Hang Clean 185#
15 Toes 2 Bar
15 GHD Sit Ups
3 MU's

6 Hang Clean
15 Toes 2 Bar
15 GHD Sit Ups
3 MU's

3 Hang Clean
15 Toes 2 Bar
15 GHD Sit Ups
3 MU's

Well......let's just say work needs to be done. This is the first time in a long while that I have failed multiple reps on a workout. After the first round went smooth and I repped the 3 MU's and then on the 2nd rd I failed the 3rd MU (here is where issues started. Not sure how many trys it took but I know I looked at B and said I think I am taking a DNF on this. He said no!, and I was finally able to get it. The 3rd rd was worse and I ended up finishing the workout, but in ugly terms:

15:40

then immediately after a 2 minute rest did 50 burpees

2:26 (this really sucked!!)

Still trying to get better and have a lot of work to do!!!

NU

PR

I have been trying for a long time to get a PR in Snatch. Of course I worked and worked and nothing, 195# and thats where I stayed. And I only got that once. So it had been awhile since I tried so I said what the hay. Even though I am still so sore. And you know what....I got 200#. And I know I can do more, so my goal is 225# and I just moved up.

After that I decided to try FGB since we have the fundraiser in 2 weeks and I had never done it. The workout was tough but I was expecting my body to be dead afterwards because of all the horror story (which the reason my body didn't feel this way is because I could have pushed just a little harder, that will be determined to be true or not next time). I wasn't sure what a good number was but told myself I wanted 400 during the fundraiser.

I ended with 392 reps, counting for myself in the box because everyone else was busy. They said there will be judges so hopefully that knocks me up a few points. I was happy with the showing though.

Thought about doing death by Clean and jerk per Mikko Salo, but the wife and baby needed to get home, save that for tomorrow after the WOD. Still trying to get better.

NU

Todays WOD

Here are some picks from the weekend:





Todays WOD was a good one but hard for me because of how sore.

We did Max 20 rep Back squat:

185# (rough because of soreness)

WOD:

AMRAP for 15 Minutes:

5 Ground to Overhead 185#
7 ball slams 20#
9 Pushups (hands off the ground)

5 Rds + 6 slams

Crossfit Fittest in the Region

Well, the competition is over and there ended up being 4 WOD's. It was so much fun! There were 15 Elite Men that competed and all were awesome people. I also wanted to say thank you to Crossfit Crown Point for putting on the event. The first event went well and I got 2nd place overall behind Brandon who is the owner of Crossfit South Bend where I train. I got 9:12 and he got 8:28 just killing the workout which was:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Deadlift 225#
KB Swings 1.5 Pood
Chest 2 Bar pullups

The 2nd was one that I felt really good about:

21-15-9

Burpees
Thrusters 95#
Box Jumps 24'
Then Ground to Overhead Max within 5 Minutes for the workout

I finished 1st in 6:48 and Brandon got 2nd place in 8 Minutes something (cant remember exactly, sorry Brandon).

The Ground to Overhead I did 255# which was exactly what I was shooting. I was excited and won that part of the event also.

The 3rd workout was a Max wattage on the rower in 3 rows. This one I got 5th place on with a pull of 614. Not what I would have hoped for but it was my first time and had no idea what to expect.

The final WOD is a hard one to explain:

3 Rds:

There was a 5 Foot wall and you had to throw a 40# sandbag over and then jump over doing this 5 times
sled push that weighed around 165# 100M
then switch a grab a sled weighing around 165# and pull it back 100M
last 15 OHS 95#

I finished 1st in 8:33 (4 Minutes faster then 2nd Place)

I was very excited and won overall, but Brandon was right there the whole time and we really represented the gym going 1st and 2nd place overall. I can't wait for another competition and signed up for one in Baltimore that is Nov. 6th that I am hoping to be able to compete in. We also have decided to have a competititon in the Box in January. Very excited!

Deadlifts

I have to do deadlifts Saturday and of course, Jason (the owner at Crossfit Roselle) decided to put some Deadlifts in our workout yesterday.

500 M Row
25 Deadlift 225#
50 Double Unders
25 Deadlift 225#

7:03

The workout was hard and the Deadlifts killed my back. Making my decision to take off the next two days easy.

The Strength Wod was AMRAP Body weight OHS. I weighed in at 173# but decided to do 185#. The goal was to get 15. I failed on 15! Sucked.

Next was AMRAP pushups. I got 78. Not bad but I want to get 100, so I have work to do. THen came the Wod which is listed above. Good day but my body will thank me for 2 days off and then be mad again on Saturday when we do some fun WOD's at the competition.

NU

3 Days

Just got to Chicago the other day and ended up heading to the Crossfit Box in Roselle. 3 Days left until the COmpetition and I am getting very excited

Yesterday morning the owner set up a workout just for me that was entising, yet I could not go all out without killing myself for the weekend competition. So, I went about 75%. The Strength was:

Power Clean 1-1-1-1-1-1

Did 185# - 225# - 245# - 255# - 265# - 275# (Failed)

Then the WOD:

5 Rds

15 Thrusters 135#
5 Mountain Climbers (5 leg thrusts and then a push up is one)
30 Ab Mat Sit Ups

18:39

__________

Today woke up and went back. I knew that he was going to have something for me again since I told him if he gave me something short I would go all out, and he did not disappoint:

The Strength was OHS Max reps Body weight. Weighed 173# but decided to do 185#

14 Reps (Failed on 15)

Then:

Max Push ups: 78


The WOD:

500 M Row
25 Deadlift 225#
50 DU's
25 Deadlift 225#

7:04

The WOD was rough. My legs were shot after the OHS and the Row that I could not knock out the Deadlifts. They were rough. Then I could not get through the DU's because my arms were so tired. Rough workout and humbled me a lot! Cannot wait to work on Deadlift to get better! Great WOD Jason Rice.

NU

Yesterday and Today

I decided to do #2 WOD for the games. But, before that we did Death by 10's. Which consists of running ten M every minute. Increasing by one run every minute. So you do 1 then 2 and then 3 and so on every minute until you can not make the runs within the minute.

18 RDs PR

Competition WOD:

21-15-9

Burpees
Thrusters 95#
Box Jumps 24'

7:12

This workout again, was like the 1st WOD for the competition....a lot harder in person then on paper. Felt slow and wish I could have done better, but it is all relevant. Hoping to beat that time next Saturday.

Then did Clean and Jerk Max weight within 5 minutes of workout. (This is how it will be for the competition, I did it about 10 minutes after)

225-245-255PR-265PR-275PR-285PR

I was very pumped about these lifts and have them all on tape. But, I am skeptical about the weights. I have a feeling it was 10-20# less then what I have recorded. I am hoping I am wrong but I have a gut feeling. I am going to post 265# as my new PR and not change it until I get 285#.

Today:

Happy Labor Day!!

Got to the gym today and started off with Max Front Squat with Rep scheme 3-3-3-3-3-3.

225#-235#-245#-255#-265#-275#-275#

Never done this before so the 275 is a PR. Then we went into an AMRAP for 15 Minutes.

3 Power Cleans 55% of Max (used 185#)
3 Rds of Cindy (1 Rd is 5 pullups - 10 Push ups - 15 Body squats)

Finished with 4 Rds + 3 Power Cleans.

I did not push very hard but took it easy on the WOD. I think this is the first time since doing Crossfit that I have ever done this. It was nice, I didn't get tired, yet felt I worked out. It is good to do the week of a competition. Can't wait until Saturday's Competition!

Until then, I will keep trying to get better.


NU

The WOD's.....Finally!

Well, they are posted...WOD #1 and #2:

Fittest in the Region competition 9/11/2010:

WOD #1

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Deadlift 225#
KB Swings 55#
Pullups


WOD #2

21-15-9

Burpies
Thrusters 95#
Box Jumps 24'

Then within 5 Minutes of finishing Max Groung to Overhead


WOD #3

Will be announced on the day of the competition


I am so excited, these WOD are great and should seperate the field of athletes. I did the 1st WOD this morning:

9:13

Not as fast as I wanted but I also thought it was going to be easier. Not at all! it was very hard and really pushed me. I am going to do WOD #2 tomorrow morning and then try to bring them together by Tuesday. I only wish I new other times that people will do for these WOD's.....what's the fun in that though.

What makes me even more excited is that my wife and daughter will get to watch me compete!

I will do my best.

NU