Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Crossfit Day 108 | Nutrition Challenge Day 9

January 24, Tuesday
Workout – Oh boy, today’s WOD sounds incredibly hard & long. I am so not looking forward to it, but at the same time excited to go in today! The Nutrition Challenge has been going ok for me. It’s a little easier this time around since I know what is expected & what I can/cannot eat when I go out to restaurants. It’s hard to control myself & I still tend to overeat, but I also know my metabolism is pretty high so that whatever I eat, I tend to get hungry pretty quickly soon afterwards. It’s only Week 2, so I have a long way to go. I weighed-in today & I am 116.8lb w/ clothes on, so I am back to my original weight when I did the first Nutrition Challenge back in early October. I still think the “loss” of 3lbs from the last challenge isn’t really accurate. They didn’t consider that women’s weight tends to fluctuate monthly (when we get our periods) & for those that retain water during that time of the month. Also, I weighed myself around 6pm both before & after the challenge. If I had weigh myself when I woke up, I tend to be a few pounds lighter. There are lots of inaccuracy that should be considered, but they are not. I am doing the challenge to try to control myself w/ food & am slowly trying to not overeat especially when I’m already full. On another note, JR noticed my arms are looking cut up & I think I agree. I’m not sure when or what happened, but I didn’t notice this last week. *shrug* Nevertheless, this is a very good thing!

WOD –5 Rounds Row 500m, 40 Double Unders, 30 Mountain Climbers, 20 Kettlebell Swings (53/35), 10 Toes To Bar For Time. My Results: 29:07 minutes.

I was right, this WOD was completely insane. I started & ended the WOD w/ exercises I do not like, nor do I do well with. Again, I was the last person to finish rowing. But I definitely caught up w/ everyone when I did double unders. I think the rope I used helped. I whizzed by those w/o any issues. For the first 3 rounds, I did 2 attempts to finish my 40. The last 2 rounds, I did 4 attempts to finish. One of the rounds, I messed up after 1 jump, & then I did 39 in a row. I am getting much better at double unders & it makes me proud! The Mountain Climbers are killers on the legs, but then went by ok. I did ok w/ KB swings too. But I struggled w/ Toes to Bar. It took me probably a minute just to finish 10. I will have to work on Rowing & TTB from now on because those are keeping me from getting a better time.

Crossfit Day 107 | Nutrition Challenge Day 8

January 23, Monday
Workout – Today’s WOD looks simple enough. I’m a bit glad because I didn’t feel like a really hard WOD today. But I expect it to get progressively harder the next day. haha

WOD – 8 minute AMRAP 2-4-6-8…increasing rep scheme of Right Arm DB Thrusters (15lb), Left Arm DB Thrusters (15lb), Hand-Release Push Ups For Total Reps. My Results: 14 Full Rounds + 2 Right Arm Thrusters.

We practiced Overhead Squats first. We were suppose to do 3x10 OHS, but I was only able to do 5 reps w/ the 22lb bar. The rest of the time, I had to downgrade to the PVC pipe because it was causing too much strain on my arms. I was proud I was even able to do 5 reps at 22lb! The WOD wasn’t too bad at all. It just got a little tiring when we had to add more reps to each round, but I think I did fairly well. I probably could have used a 20lb db, but I didn’t want to overdo my right arm. We did 3x20 GHD Hip Extensions afterwards.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Week 29 Summary | Nutrition Challenge Day 5, 6 & 7

January 20, Friday
Workout – None.
January 21, Saturday & January 22, Sunday

No weekend work-out.

Results – First week of the Nutrition Challenge & I have cheated 3 times already. We are only allowed 6 cheats total for the 6 weeks of the challenge. I don’t know how long I’ll last on this challenge as I think I’ve already fallen ½ off the wagon. It’s the most difficult on the weekends w/ family & friends. I accidentally ate the bowl of rice that was put in front of me while everything else I ate was “clean.” That was a bit frustrating because it didn’t occur to me I was eating rice! Oh wells. I actually really hate to restrict myself from food, but I feel like I need some discipline to stop myself from overeating & engorging on foods that I find delicious. I can’t seem to control myself when I like something, even though I’m completely full. I thought the Nutrition Challenge would provide the rules for me so I’d have to follow it, but it doesn’t look like it’s working as well as the first Challenge we did. I’ll see how I feel in another week.

NEAC Workout | Nutrition Challenge Day 4

January 19, Thursday
Workout – I will go check out the local gym, New England Athletic Club, to see if there’s a class I can take tonight. I always want to try out something new!

I worked on my Front Squats at the NEAC. I started w/ 45-55-65-75-85-95-105-115lb. I couldn’t do anymore. That’s already my PR, I wanted to see if I could do more. I wasn’t able to lift any heavier, but in time I think I will be able to. I also did some kettlebell swings, sit ups, planks, double unders & stretches for an hour. At 6:30pm, I took the Body Pump class. It’s produced by the BeachBody (P90X, Insanity) group & I wanted to see what the hype was about. I thought it wouldn’t be challenging for me, but my butt got kicked. The instructor told the newbies to start w/ a lower weight, so I went w/ 10lbs. Wow, did that 10lbs get heavy fast. The class is not about heavy weights, but lots of repetitions, so you do get a really good workout. There were parts where I was getting really tired. We don’t do reps like these at CF. The bicep & overhead parts were the hardest for me because of my shoulder issue, but otherwise, it went pretty well. I think it’s a good class for women to take since many do not do any weight training. I doubt I would take something like this again though considering I already do CF & that totally kicks my butt everytime!

Nutrition Challenge Day 3

January 18, Wednesday
Workout
None. It’s still a struggle having to figure out what to eat that complies w/ the Nutrition Challenge, but I am doing fairly decently considering I don’t have to think about anyone else & I can go anywhere I want for food. I got one of the best massages ever today at Body Wellness in Cromwell, CT. Afterwards, I decided to take the day off from working out just so I can relax for the rest of the day.

Crossfit Day 106 | Nutrition Challenge Day 2

January 17, Tuesday
Workout
– I had forgotten to mention that we started yet another Nutrition Challenge as of yesterday. We are doing the Primal Blueprint. It has all the same restrictions as the Whole30 except that it starts from the very first day. *sigh*I’m in CT for training this week, so I decided to contact a local Crossfit box to see if I can drop in for a WOD. We’ll see how that turns out.

WOD – 4 Rounds 1 min Box Jumps (20”), 1 min KB Swings (35lb), 1 min Rest for Reps. My Results: 46+41+43+42 = 172 Reps.

I got a bit lost heading to Crossfit Religion, but finally got there. I missed out on the 5:15pm class, so I had to wait for the 6:15pm class. Of course, no one shows up for the 6:15pm class. The owner (Russ) did the WOD w/ me. He first showed me some stretching exercises, & then showed me the Turkish Stand Up, which uses a small kettlebell. It was interesting. I practiced my double unders & got warmed up. It was pretty cold in their box which is a warehouse sharing space w/ a boxing group & another group. The cold air wasn’t too good to my lungs, but I still did pretty decently. The trainer’s total was only 5 more than mine.  I practice jumping off the box instead of walking down, which made the process much faster, but it also tired me out a bit. I will try that in my own box. It was a very different experience from my box, but it was cool just to check it out. They have a very small number of members (~25) & the owners only do this part-time, so it’s understandable.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Hotel Workout | Nutrition Challenge Day 1

January 16, Monday
Workout – I’m in training this week so I can’t go into CF. I will either use the gym/pool at the hotel or try to do a WOD at a local CF box. The local CF box never emailed me back so I’m not comfortable just dropping in. I’m a chicken! Today is the start of a new Nutrition Challenge where they are following the Blueprint Diet. This diet restricts just about everything right from the beginning. So no dairy, no legumes, no grains, etc. ARGH! This is even tougher than the last challenge. I don’t know if I have the willpower to stick w/ this for 6 weeks especially since I’m at training & it’s so difficult trying to find food that I can eat under this diet. I’m realizing I lack willpower.

Swim 30 Laps in small pool – 15 minutes; Run 1 mile – 10:30 minutes; 3 Rounds 10 Dumbbell Thrusters (15lb), 10 Sit-Ups, 10 Box Push Ups (~5 minutes).

I was going to try to do a mini triathlon at the hotel gym, but the bicycle machine wasn’t working properly. However, I did do the swim, which I estimated I did 1000m in about 15 minutes. And a 1 mile run, which I could have done in a faster time, but I didn’t make up my mind whether to do 1 mile or 3 miles, so I went w/ a slower speed. The rest was just something I made up but I didn’t look at the clock to see how long it took to finish. I just wanted to give my workout a little life to it.

Week 28 Summary

No weekend work-out.

Results – No results again. I am hitting a plateau. I need to change my diet to see results, but I have no willpower to stop myself from eating. It’s pretty bad.

Crossfit Day 105

January 13, Friday
Workout – Thank goodness I’m finally not feeling so sore today. There’s a 1 mile run today which I’m dreading because it’s so cold outside (~20 degrees).

WOD –3 Rounds 15 HSPU (box push ups), 20 Toes to Bar, 30 KB Swings (35lb) & finish w/ 1 mile Run For Time. My Results: 27:49 minutes.

The Box Push Ups did a number on my arms. Then the Toes to Bar were rough. I was having a hard time just hanging onto the bar. I tried my best to do complete TTB, but towards the end I had to modify to Knees to Arms. Argh, it’s so frustrating because my arms are so weak. I was getting shooting pains in my left arm from trying to hang on the bar. The KB swings went ok. I was really slow w/ the WOD. Then I ran out into the freezing cold. This time I wore a tank top, pull up & a fleece w/ my fuzzy fur trapper’s hat along w/ my workout gloves, so I stayed warm for the most part. But I started losing feeling to my thumb because I was wearing cut-off gloves. I will have to invest in a pair of running gloves to keep my hands warm. It took about 4 minutes back inside the gym before I got feeling to my thumb. It was numb & hurting so badly until I got it warmed up again. I will never do that again!

Crossfit Day 104

January 12, Thursday
Workout – I didn’t feel like going today either. I feel a bit unmotivated when there isn’t a set WOD to do. I don’t feel like working on anything. Am I in a funk?

WOD – Nicole Bday 12 minute AMRAP 12 Ring Dips, 29 Jumping Lunges. My Results: 6 sets + 8 Ring Dips.

My arms were getting pretty tired from the Ring Dips. And the 29 jumping lunges were brutal, but I think I did pretty decently. It took about 2 minutes per rounds, so it wasn’t too bad.

Crossfit Day 103

January 11, Wednesday
Workout – I am totally sore. My calves are shot from doing 250 double unders. They are a killer exercise & I’m sure they burned tons of calories. Too bad getting up & walking around the office is super difficult today. I feel like an old fogie.

WOD –”Jackie” Row 1000m, 50 Thrusters (45lb), 30 Pull-Ups (red) For Time. My Results: 17:17 minutes.

I was in the 2nd heat for the row & of course, I’m the very last to finish. At least I finished the 1000m in 4:57 minutes, which to me is pretty good. Anything under 5 minutes is good for me. I think I’m improving slightly. The thrusters were a killer on my arms, but I made through it. I was doing 4 at a time, then resting. The pull ups are always pretty difficult for me. Towards the end, I was doing only 2 at a time since my arms were practically dead. We finished with 50 Toes to Bar, but I only managed to do 30. I didn’t want any more incidences occurring.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Crossfit Day 102

January 10, Tuesday
Workout – The legs took a beating from the front squats, so my quads are all sore. I think I should get use to this feeling of soreness from now on. The WODs have all been pretty difficult & challenging, which is good because my body has not gotten used to this at all, even after 6 months of beating. I thought I was getting a bit tired of CF, but I was wrong. I am still pretty motivated by CF & just being in there w/ the camaraderie I feel w/ my fellow CFers makes the WOD that much more bearable.

WOD –25 Double Unders, 5 Deadlifts (83lb), 15 Burpees, 50 DU, 10 Deadlifts, 15 Burpees, 75 DU, 15 Deadlifts, 15 Burpees, 100 DU, 20 Deadlifts, 15 Burpees For Time. My Results: 19:15 minutes.

This WOD was pretty brutal. I struggled badly w/ the first 25 Double Unders. I was messy & I didn’t get even 1 for the longest time. People were already doing their 50 double unders when I finally finished my first 25. It was completely & utterly frustrating. I was ready to quit, but I honestly would never do that. I finally found my groove when I hit the 75 DUs. It took me long enough to warm up. Sheesh. I was trying to catch up & I actually did, so I’m happy about that. Although I know I could have done better, I at least didn’t quit & continued & kept working hard at it. It’s been over 3 weeks since I’ve done DUs, so it was to be expected. Next time I will need ample DU warm up time so I don’t go through this frustration again. We finished by doing 2 minute side planks on each side. Those were a killer to my abs.

Crossfit Day 101

January 9, Monday
Workout – I’m still sore from last week’s WOD, but it’s going away. Thank goodness! I have to go to CF just about every day from now until Feb. 14th since my purchase will expire then & I need to finish up my remaining days. And I have training all of next week so I can’t go then. I only have 3 days that I won’t have to go into CF, so that’s not a big leeway for me. I hate losing what I’ve paid for so I’m going to use it all up before 2/14.

WOD –Row 500m, 5 Rounds 10 Front Squats (62lb), 10 Ring Dips (blue), 800m Run For Time. My Results: 20:09 minutes.

My body is still sore from last week’s WOD. I think the 2 weeks away from CF really affected me. I’m sore from everything! I was in the 2nd heat since we are limited on rowers. I was the very last person to finish rowing. I have not improved. I will have to keep working on that. We started w/ the bar on the ground, so we have to deadlift it, & then clean it before we can do our front squats. The clean was the worst part for me. I don’t think I’ve ever done 62lb cleans before. I struggled w/ them at different points in the WOD. I finished the best I could & when I went for the run, boy were my legs wobbly. It was freezing out too & I didn’t put on a hoodie, so I was pretty cold for 800m. My time really stinks but I did the best I could.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Week 27 Summary

January 7, Saturday
Workout – 30 minute Run 3 mile.

January 8, Sunday
Workout – None.

Results – First week back & my body is taking a beating. It’s sore from top to bottom. It’s my own fault for getting this way, but now I’m back. I will get back into the swing of things. No results for this week except that my entire body aches.

Crossfit at Home Gym Day 100.5

January 5, Thursday
Workout – I am extremely sore today. Walking down the stairs is so freaking hard. My arms are swollen & it’s hard for me to take off my clothes. I feel like how I did the first 3 days of Crossfit, only slightly better. Yikes! I really shouldn’t be away from CF for too long else I’ll have to feel like this again! I missed the deadline to sign up for today’s class, so I ended up going to my own gym to do a made-up WOD.

WOD –3 Rounds 400m Row, 21 2-for-1 Jumping Lunges, 12 Burpees For Time. My Results: 15:35 minutes.

I worked on my Deadlifts first to find my 1RM since I missed Monday’s session. I ended up doing 65-75-85-95-105-115-125-135-145-155lb. That’s my highest thus far, 155lb! I tried 165 but it wouldn’t budge. It took me over 30 minutes to finish doing deadlifts & I was sweating from it. Then I did my own WOD at my gym. There wasn’t anyone there, so it was good that I could experiment w/ the equipment we have to set up future WODs that I can do while away from the CF box. I tried some pull ups, but would definitely need a band to aid me. I can’t do wall balls since the ceilings are pretty low & we don’t have kettlebells but I can substitute it w/ dbs. I can work w/ this.

Crossfit Day 100

January 4, Wednesday
Workout – I am so sore today from yesterday’s WOD. This is what happens when you’re away for 2 weeks. I feel good that I’m back at CF, but walking down the stairs is a killer on my quads. My abs are sore too.

WOD – “Cindy ” 20 min AMRAP 5 Pull Ups (red), 10 Push Ups (knee), 15 Air Squats. My Results: 13 sets + 3 pull ups.

Today is my 100th day at Crossfit! WhooHoo! It took me 6 months to get here, but it feels great that I’ve kept up w/ this for so long. Today was definitely a rough WOD. Luckily the pull ups were only in increments of 5. The push ups got really rough even though I did them on my knees. The air squats are pretty easy for me, so I flew by those. By the end of it all, I just couldn’t feel my arms anymore. They were rough. We finished w/ 1 min of Hollow Hold. I hate them w/ a passion.

Crossfit Day 99

January 3, Tuesday
Workout – I’m finally back at work after having over 2 weeks off. I’ve been away from CF for 2 weeks & am feeling like I’m losing my muscle mass on my arms already. I am still having the holiday blues & feel really unmotivated to go back to work out, but I will force myself to go. I know I’ll feel better once I’m there.

WOD – 4 Rounds 40 sec Row for Calories, 20 sec Rest, 40 sec Box Jumps (20”), 20 sec Rest, 40 sec DB Push Press (20lb), 20 sec Rest For Total Reps. Round 1: 10|17|13, Round 2: 7|16|10, Round 3: 7|18|10, Round 4: 7|19|10. My Totals: 145 Reps.

We first worked on Shoulder Presses to find our 1RM. I was able to do 53lb, which is 1lb shy of my 1RM of 54lb. I wasn’t able to go any higher. My arm still isn’t strong enough. For the WOD, it didn’t seem too bad at first, but after the 1st round, it got harder & harder. My legs were wobbly going from row to box jumps. My arms were tired from the push press. I was pooped by the time I finished, but happy that I did it. We finished w/ 3x20 GHD sit ups, which were a killer for my abs.

Week 26 Summary

December 26, Monday
Workout – 4 hr Snowboard lessons

December 27, Tuesday

Workout – 4 hr Snowboard lessons

December 28, Wednesday
Workout – None.

December 29, Thursday
Workout – None.

December 30, Friday
Workout – None.

No weekend work-out.

Results – Other than snowboarding, I didn’t do much else. I was in VT or NYC, so I didn’t have a chance to go into CF. I didn’t feel like going either. I was in a CF funk & I needed a break so this was very much welcomed.

Week 25 Summary

December 24, Saturday

Workout – None.

December 25, Sunday Workout – 4 hr Snowboard lessons

Results – Other than Monday, I haven’t gone into CF since then. I am already getting the vacation jitters & did not want to go to CF. I had errands to run before X-mas & had made plans in NYC w/ some friends, so CF was neglected. I have no results from this week since I didn’t really do much. I packed my stuff & headed to Killington, VT for the X-mas weekend. I didn’t intend to snowboard because I didn’t want to injure my right arm any further, but then V & I decided to take snowboarding lessons so that we can get better. I fell down a lot less than normal. Too bad I didn’t bring any of my equipment or knee/butt pads to help w/ my falls.

Crossfit Day 98

December 19, Monday
Workout
– I’m feeling a bit unmotivated now that the holidays are drawing near. I will also be off from work starting today until January 2nd of 2012, so I will be away from CF for quite a long while. I feel like I need to get away from CF for a bit. I feel slightly burnt out from work & then running over to my CF gym & then either running errands after or getting home late & not being able to do anything else other than make food, shower & relax for an hour or so before bedtime. I have neglected my arts & crafts which I really enjoy but haven’t had time for. Or even just watching some tv since I hardly even turn the tv on anymore other than when I eat my food. I haven’t gone shopping in a long time nor have I done much food shopping either. I feel like I’m neglecting a lot in my life in order to go to CF, so I will take the time off to gather myself together. I might want to go into CF less just so I can get some time back for myself.

WOD –25 Push Press (42lb), 50 Bar Facing Burpees, 25 Push Press (42lb) For Time. My Results: 11:12 minutes.

We started w/ Front Squats 5-4-3-2-1. I did: 85-95-100-105-105lb. I wasn’t able to get to my 1RM of 115lb, but I was still happy w/ my results. Then we did the WOD. The bar facing burpees stink even more than regular burpees. You face a bar & do one burpee, then instead of jumping & clapping your hand overhead, you jump over the bar & do another burpee on the other side. And doing 50 was a killer. I was exhausted & it seemed like it would never end. We finished w/ 2x30 GHD sit ups. Even though I was feeling a bit unmotivated to come into CF, I was happy I did. I always feel better afterwards.

Week 24 Summary

No weekend work-out.

Results – No physical changes. I think my body has somewhat reached a plateau. I need to either push myself harder & go for higher weights or change my diet to see some real changes. After finished the Nutrition Challenge, I think I went a little crazy w/ the foods I eat. I definitely don’t watch what I eat as much as I should & I eat lots of everything. The only thing I’ve been good w/ is processed potato chips. I have not touched one since Oct. 10th & I’m pretty proud of myself for that. I will only eat chips that I’ve made myself w/ sweet potatoes or taro, but not white potatoes. I know I am getting stronger & I am pushing myself, but I think I can do more & do better. I am happy w/ meeting all my goals for 2011. I think I’ve accomplished a lot in the past 6 months. And to think, it’s really only been 6 months of Crossfit. It really has made a big difference/impact on my lift, both physically & mentally as well. I am more confident about my strength & I feel like I look better too. And of course, I think I’m pretty darn healthy as well.

Crossfit Day 97

December 15, Thursday
Workout – I am determined today to work on my remaining 2 goals (deadlift 145lb & do 50 consecutive double unders) & meet my goals before the end of 2011.

I warmed up & then started working on my deadlifts. I started w/ a low weight to ease my muscles into the deadlifts. I went from 65lb-75-85-95-105-115-125-135-145lb. I finally got to my 1 RM as well as my PR! I was determined to meet my goal & I did it. I was ecstatic! Once that was done, I went about working on my double unders. I was messy at the beginning, but then finally got the swing of things (pun intended). I was getting reps of 20s, then 30s. At one point I got up to 47 reps & then messed up. I was really upset, so that made me even more determined. Then finally, I really got the hang on it & I went for it & surpassed 50. I kept going until I couldn’t go anymore & I ended up doing 69 reps in a row! Oh my goodness, that was just so freaking exciting. I was beaming w/ pride. I made 1 goal & surpassed another. So 2012 will be even tougher for me since my goals will have to go up in numbers now. I’m so ready for it!

Crossfit Day 96

December 14, Wednesday
Workout – My upper body & legs are a bit sore from yesterday’s WOD, but I still feel pretty good. We have a Hero WOD, so it means it will be super difficult. I am not looking forward to it, but I’m pumped at the same time. Go figure.

WOD –”Wood” 5 Rounds (1 minute rest between rounds) Run 400m, 10 Burpee Box Jumps (20”), 10 Sumo Deadlift High Pull (42), 10 Thrusters (42) For Time. My Results: 31:45 minutes.

I wanted to do a higher weight for SDHP but we used the same weight for the Thrusters & my arms couldn’t handle any higher. We finished w/ 3x20 GHD Hip Extensions.