Tabata Something Else

Well, after FGB we had Tabata This. Jerry said this was a good workout for post-FGB, and at first I thought he was crazy, but afterwards it made sense.

WOD:
20 sec of work, 10 sec of rest
Push ups X 8 (59)
Pull ups X 8 (40)
Squats X 8 (118)
ab mat X 8 (83)

The pushups were difficult, but they are getting easier all the time. I didn't even try to do Danny's kip with the pull ups, so I did pretty well with those. I should also mention that I did not tear any calluses, and that my hands got the "thumb's up" from Jerry. Glad to see I've gone from hand ignoramous to hand knowledgable. If I may digress, I really like how there are so many little aspects of Xfit to learn. I love learning, almost as much as I love teaching. Back to the WOD... the squats were surprizingly easy, given how my legs are STILL sore from the jumping lunges on Friday. I feel like I'm really getting good technique with the exercise, which is nice since it helps with everything else. I also felt special because the Barrier I use is different from everyone else's since I'm so tall (Ok actually I was a little embarresed, but I still thought it was funny) The ab mat were a little tougher than I thought they would be, didn't feel like I was dialed in. All in all my score was 300, and I'm ok with that.

...Then there was the "finisher" although it took longer for me than the WOD:

Burpees
KB High pulls 52#
reps of each: 21-19-15-12-9-6-3

Before we started, I was talking with Danny about proper form with the KB high pulls, and I talked about how you should front squat them. I was told to approach it as a front squat yesterday, and it turns out that was completely wrong. Danny said I should approach it as a deadlift.

Bingo.

Everything with that movement clicked. Viewing the movement as a deadlift turned one of my weakest exercises into one of my strongest. When I let go of the weight during the 12 or 9 round, Jerry started telling me how this is my exercise, that I was dialed in. It felt great, and that 52# was really, really light. After that I never had to break up the set.

The Burbees, on the other hand, still suck. I know they never really get better, but right now I'm still having a lot of trouble with them. After doing all those push ups it was tough. So even though I flew through the KBHP, I still came in at 17:51.

FGB round 2

Today was a rough day. Of course, Fight Gone Bad isn't meant to be cake. My legs are really, really sore from Friday's workout, they were sore yesterday and they're sore today. Just jogging into the blue room today made my glutes feel like they're on fire with each step.

I had the fortune of having Charlie as a partner today. Today was the first time I've had a chance to talk to him, and it was because of him that I performed as well as I did. The wall balls and KB high pulls were def the most draining for me. Charlie asked me if I rowed in college because "my stroke was so smooth", always feels nice to hear compliments like that. I don't know why, but everything just seemed to suck. There were a couple of times when I felt just completely worn out, but I knew I couldn't stop, that I had to go "one more round" like Jerry talked about.

All in all, I scored 228, 17 points higher than I did three weeks ago. I didn't have a strategy last time. This time I didn't have a strategy, but Charlie had one for me. He would keep telling me to get X number, and I would take a couple seconds for a break every now and then after banging out a certain number of Y.

Looking back at my previous score, I wonder why it's only 17 points. I remember with the row getting something like 21, 15, and 15 and that right there is 15 more points than last time. I know I didn't get as many KBHS, but I felt like my wall-balls were about the same. Guess I better not forget to keep the sheet next time.

My ultimate goal of breaking 300 seems far off, but I figure if I can keep improving roughly 6 points a week then I should be able to get to 300 in roughly 12 weeks. ...I really don't konw if that's a realistic goal, but I'll make it my goal regardless.

Snatch work/met-con

So today we warmed up with the overhead snatch, 5 reps at a time. I got up to 95#, I'm still working on keeping my stance narrow, but near the end Justin commented that I was no longer moving my feet out when in getting under the bar, so I feel like I'm starting to get it.

After that, the WOD looked like this:

20 min AMRAP
6 ring dips
9 KB swings 52#
12 jumping lunges 30#

I only managed 7 rounds, it was the ring dips that really slowed me down. I should've gone up to 70 lbs for the KB swings and maybe 35 lbs for the lunges. They were really easy, I never had to break up a set nor rest between sets, guess I had enough rest with the ring dips. I could only bang those out 1-2 at a time. Seems that my chest is still my weak point: burpees, ring dips, and pushups all seem be be the exercises that take me the longest. I can tell that my chest is developing, can't wait for when it catches up with everything else.

On a side note, I'd like to report that my hip has really been feeling better since my visit to the DO, I now see him about once a month for maintenance.

On another side note, I feel like I'm getting better at hand maintenance. Although we haven't done any pull-ups this week, I feel like I'll be prepared with my new-found tape grips. Today I found an article, "I've got to hand it to you", teaching some athletic tape origami at crossfitvirtuosity.com. It's a fantastic how-to on making a tape grip that won't bunch up when doing pull ups, yet will protect ripped calluses.

FYI, at crossfitvirtuosity they have a blog post about muscle-ups, and they feature Jerry's vid muscle up 101, always cool to see some CFOT recognition.

Running Barefoot, or the next best thing

So I'm thinking it's about time to get a new pair of running shoes. After checking out some threads on the crossfit message board, it seems like Pose running is something I'd like to try out. As one sports website states:

The distinguishing characteristic of pose running is that the athlete lands on the mid foot, with the supporting joints flexed at impact, and then uses the hamstring muscles to withdraw the foot from the ground, relying on gravity to propel the runner forward. This style is in clear contrast to the heel-strike method that most runners deploy and which is advocated by some health care professionals.

In pose running, the key is to maximize your effort in removing your support foot from the ground; good training is essential to ensure that you do not over-stride or create excessive vertical oscillation. The runner should fall forwards, changing support from one leg to the other by pulling the foot from the ground, allowing minimum effort and producing minimum braking to this body movement. The idea is to maximize the use of gravity to pull the runner forward.

Here's a reasonably funny video comparing the styles of running, plus some always cool 80's music:

Now I'm not ready to start running barefoot on pavement, so I'm looking at a shoe that will help will help. After checking out a Pose website, my top three choices are:

1. Vibram Fivefingers KSO
2. Puma H-street N.C.
3. Nike Free
   

From what I can tell, the VFF's are the closest to being barefoot, followed by puma, then Nike. Although I am tempted to get the VFF's, I think it would be wise (and fashionable) for me to get ahold of some Puma's first, and transistion into barefoot or VFF. Going from the cushion of my thick-soled nikes to almost barefoot places a lot of strain on the feet, ankles, and calves as the muscles get used to being worked. It seems to take about two weeks to fully adjust to wearing pose-friendly shoes.

My only issue with the H streets is the largest I've seen them in are 11's, and I tend to run 12-13. Looks like I'll be doing some shopping this weekend.

Working smarter and harder

Thankfully, there were no pull ups involved in today's WOD, so I didn't have to worry about the hands. Here's what I did, which was a little out of order than RX'd

400m run
35 Ab-mat situps
30 cals rowed
400m run
35 Ab-mat situps
30 wall-ball
400m run
35 Ab-mat situps
30 box jumps
400m run
35 Ab-mat situps
30 burpees

Have to say, I felt really good throughout this one. starting out with rows was easy, I burned a calorie for every stroke so it took like 45 secs. The ab mat's were a lot easier with the correct technique, and now that my squat form is better wall-balls are a lot easier. ...the box jumps and burpee's sucked, as normal. My time was 25:48, I tried to beat Melissa, but she's in just too damn good in shape :)

Feel like my technique is starting to really help out, things aren't as hard as they used to be. That, and I must be getting stronger.

Hand maintenence, implimented

Part one: The Equipment

Alright, just went out and bought some tools that I was lacking (from left to right): Callus Shaver, Pumice Stone, Tape, and Liquid Bandage. In addition I have lotion for the hydration and salt (ugh) for the treatment. I should also get a pair of manicure scissors, I forgot this time around.

Part two: The Hands

Behold the ripped calluses! Never had these rip, usually it's my other hand that's the problem. I can tell the one in the middle will be trouble, as it's a partial tear.

Part Three: The Treatment

The partial tear is where the scissors would have been helpful, I used a small nail clipper instead. As per Crossfit Athen's advice, I soaked the raw skin in salt water. Soaking the hand in salt wasn't as painful as I expected, need I remind you salt was number one on my painful experiences. Then applied the Neosporane, followed by a band-aid.

Part Four: Maintenance

Now to work on the non-torn calluses. Afraid of the shaver, I instead went for the pumice stone after a good soak. After scrubbing my hands for a while, not a whole lot happened, so I went for the shaver. Thing reminds me of a cheese server you see at parties. Shaved a VERY small amount off, then went back to the pumice. After all of that, I put on some real thick cream, like aquaphor.

Part Five: Prevention

I plan to apply the liquid bandage and then maybe tape up, that'll be a game-time decision. Fyi THE place to learn how to tape up is here at crossfitvirtuousity, the tape grip he teaches is the type that won't bunch up in your hand.

Hand maintenence

Ok the last post was written up late at night while a little frustrated about getting conflicting suggestions. After a good night's sleep, I'm now going to get a callus shaver and pumice stone. Crossfit Athens talks about what you need to do, They talk about shaving the calluses, but they also add some steps that I haven't heard of:

1. if you tear a callus soak your hand in salt water for 10 minutes. This is suppose to toughen the skin. ...Motivation alone to never tear a callus again.

2. moisturize your hands, although I don't have dry hands I think this will help a lot.

...Looking forward to tomorrow's WOD, whatever it may be. I'm starting to find my mental approach to ignore my body's demand that I stop and rest, and with every wod I get a little better at pushing myself.

I don't care what his Fran time is, I'm not giving him a high five.

Learning the snatch

Worked the snatches, this was the first time I've done them so it was a bit of a learning experience.

For time:
30 snatches @ 75#
30 pullups
Run 800m
25 snatches @ 75#
25 pullups
Run 800m
20 snatches @ 75#
20 pullups

Did it in 40:45. Again Danny worked with me, seems like my Kung Fu training makes me go for the horse stance. I dropped the bar a couple of times, but I eventually got it.

For Grace's b-day we did an extra 25 overhead squats, wall-balls, and burpees. I've never done overhead squats before, but again working with Danny I nailed it. Jerry commented that I've really dialed in on the technique, so I'm very happy about that. I really do feel like barbell work is my best work.

On that note, I can't stand pull-ups, they really hurt my hands. I've talked to some non-crossfitters about hand maintenance, and everyone says I shouldn't shave my calluses. ....I know they don't know how crossfit works, but they really seem to know what they're talking about. I'm just not sure what to do now.

Make-up post

Had a 9:30 flight on friday, so I got up at the ungodly hour of 5:45 and went to the 6:00 class. Here's the WOD:

5 rounds for time of:
Squat
Abmat situps
Power clean 95#

The reps per round were:
Round 1: 80-60-40
Round 2: 70-50-30
Round 3: 60-40-20
Round 4: 50-30-10
Round 5: 40-20-5

My time was 38:41, I'm finding that my squats still need a little work. I've been using the barriers as a guide, but I've come to realize that it's too low for me. Jerry commented that they're for people who are around 5'9", almost half a foot shorter than me, so no more barriers for me. The last couple of dozen squats were a lot easier since I wasn't going as far down. Worked a little with Danny on my cleans, I think I've got them down pat now. Ab-mats are good as it ever was.

New PR and finding my least favorite exercise

Today Jerry had us start out with strength exercises, then finish up with a gasser, which was mean.

Warmup:
5 or 6 rounds
55% of max with mod deads 12 - 20 reps
5 to 10 ring dips with rings out

This was the great part of the WOD. My previous pr for ring dips was one, I couldn't even do that one Monday. Today I knocked out 2, then later got 3, then 4, and finally got 5.

With the deadlift, Andrea corrected my form. My upper back was flat, but she suggested that I stick my chest further out, putting a slight arch in my upper back. This seemed to make everything else come together. Danny watched me bang out a set of 15 later, and commented that I nailed them, always a good feeling. I really struggled to keep my core tight thoughout the movement, but I think I did a good job. ...Once again I feel like I have to comment on how unatural it is for me to engage my abs, I've really tried using them more when sitting at work and walking.

Now for the gasser:

3 rounds for time
25 jumping slam balls with 15# ball
run 400m

I've never done jumping slam balls before, and never will be too soon. After working on my legs though deadlife, I now have to take a 15lb ball, jump up in the air with arms stretches up, slam the ball into the ground by squatting, catch the ball on the bounce, and jump back in the air again. My technique wasn't very good, if you actually slam the ball down the resulting bounce will allow you to not squat all the way down. I, on the other hand, couldn't slam the ball into the ground hard enough to get a bounce, causing me to lower myself beyond what one needs to for a front squat. This just killed my legs. It was such a unusual/horrible sensation it was really hard for me to push through it. Then there was the "run". My legs really felt like jello, and I just couldn't figure out how to push myself to take larger/faster steps. I came in with a good attitude, I kept telling myself I could rest later. I think I did about as good as I could, given I had never experienced anything like that.

Weight analysis

I've been on a strict zone for about seventeen weeks now, with the exception of the two week vacay and four weekends with weddings. Actually, after the first two weeks I've allowed myself one cheat meal on Saturday night, for when I go out. I haven't thought much about this cheat meal, after all, it helps me stay on the zone for the rest of the week. Then I decided to analyze my weight.

I've been weighing myself pretty much every morning before breakfast for the past couple of weeks, and I've taken the average weight for each day of the week:

As you can see, my weight goes down each day, only to go back up on Sunday. Seems like that one night of zone-free living results in a roughly three pound increase. Now I highly doubt I eat three pounds of food, and I'm sure there are a lot of other factors involved, but it makes me want to try to have another full strict week and see how my weight responds.

This is just an experiment, but I'm looking forward to seeing the results. So far I've been pretty happy with my progress, can't wait to see where I will be in another six months or so.

Intro to crossover pushups

Check out the video at 1:30 for a demonstration on how to do crossover push ups, Danny's form is perfect.

Have to admit, I thought about making this a rest day. Then I saw the WOD, and I knew I had to show up.
WOD:

50 Abmat Situps

5 rounds
8 pullups
8 crossover pushups

Run 800 meters

40 Abmat Situps

4 rounds
8 pullups
8 crossover pushups

Run 800 meters

3 rounds
8 pullups
8 crossover pushups

My time was 39:00 even. I have mixed feelings about my performance, and will address each exercise independently.


Pullups: I started off trying Danny's kip, and after watching the video I have a loooong way to go, but I feel like I am getting there and I'll have it figured out soon. After a couple tries though, I went back to the normal kip. Using the standard kip, pullups are actually pretty easy now; they just hurt my hands. I mean, I probably spent like 4 min just trying to get a comfortable grip. I don't have a torn callus, but that area of my hand is very tender, and gripping the bar just hurts. Are pull-ups supposed to kill your hands, or is there some type of hand maintenance I'm missing? I shave my calluses, perhaps my hand just hasn't recovered from those brutal tears I got a few weeks ago.

Ab-mat: My speed is getting better now that my technique is better, the last thirty was unbroken, and for me that was a big deal. I'm starting to realize how weak my abs are with regards to endurance. I keep finding myself sitting or standing without engaging my abs at all. It's something I've always had trouble with this, but I hope xfit will help me out in this department.

Crossover Pushups: Never done these before, and they are tough, just like regular pushups. My technique wasn't very good, my strength just isn't there. However, I do feel like it's getting better. It seemed like after doing 15 pushups I couldn't do more than two at a time. Now i feel like it's 20.

800 m Run: This was a tricky one. I by myself most of the time, so it was difficult for me to really push. Near the end, however, Brenda came up from behind and reminded me that I should really push myself.

Mental: I feel like the first part of this wod I was approaching as an oppertunity to work on my technique, trying to be like Danny and all ;), but this also made be a little slower. To be perfectly honest with myself I think I went in thinking this was going to be difficult, and that made it so. The second half of the wod things got a lot better. I just started telling myself to suck it up and do it, and things started to pick up from there. I don't know why I can't bring this to the table more often, but when I do it is a great feeling. Hopefully now that I'm more aware of it I'll be able to push myself farther and harder. Unlike most crossfitters (at least the vocal ones) I'm not a competitive person in the sense of trying to beat other people, so I need to find my motivation eleswhere. I think I've got a couple of ideas/experiences to draw upon, we'll see how this works out.

So all in all: my technique is improving but still has a way to go, my endurance seems to be picking up a little as well, and I need to get a better mental gameplan.

Team FGB

Well, today was team FGB:
six min at each station, teammates can trade off at any time but may not work out at the same time:

6 min wall ball
6 min KB high pulls
6 min boxjumps
6 min push press
6 min row

Stacy was my partner, and I think Jerry summed it up when he asked, "How'd you get so lucky?" ...I would like to say that I did help out with the row, so we made a good team: I'm good at row, and she's good at everything else. Seriously though, Stacy was ridiculously awesome. I know she'd disagree, but we weren't team Adam/Stacy, it was team Stacy/adam. I think this picture sums up the whole experience, it was her show and I just showed up to watch. For pretty much the entire time she would do 25 reps and then I'd do 15 reps. Her performance was inspiring, especially because to her it was no big deal.

Barbell Work Day

Funny note: Tommy and I were the only men at today's 5pm class, it's great to see that crossfit knows no gender boundries. Friday was a barbell work day, and I'm starting to discover that this is the type of workout that I really like. I believe one reason why I struggle with the WOD's is my technique has a way to go. My pull ups are far from the effortless kip that Danny uses (although I'm starting to get there), I use too much energy/muscle in the negative motion of a push-up (one reason why they slow me down), and I just learned that I move too far forward/up with my ab-mat situps, so that I use other muscles after my abs finish engaging.

However, I seem get barbell work. I think it is because I am a visual thinker. It's extremely easy for me to visualise the movement of the bar and the body positions needed to move the bar in the proper way. Not saying I'm perfect, just saying that I intuitively understand a hang clean more than a pull-up.

Since my technique is relatively better I'm able to have better workouts, and it feels good. Here's the WOD:

Record your 5 highest rounds
You may do as many as you want
Round only counts if you don't put the bar down

3X Mod DL
3X Hang power clean
3X Push jerk
3X Front squat

my top 5 scores went as follows: 95, 125, 135, 145, 150

I think what helped me most was my attitude, I thought it was going to be easy, and that made it easy. Well, not easy per se, but doable. My first attempt with the 150 was pretty brutal, deadlift was fine but trying to shrug the weight was not happening. I waited and rested, and the second attempt was much more doable, although I was surprized with the difficulty of the front squat. I can't wait until I become as strong as people like Danny and Chriss; I've got a 60 lb advantage over Danny yet he almost strict pressed 185, amazing.

Missed the 9/11 workout

Since the 9/11 workout is on a Thursday the latest class is 7:30. I normally wake up at around 10, but I tried setting my alarm at the early hour of 6:30. Well, I slept through my alarm and woke up around 1 pm today, guess the 93 workout really wore me out. Alright time to get to work.

Flight 93

To honor those who were on Flight 93:

For time:
93 box jumps
93 ring dips
93 medicine ball squat cleans with 20# ball
All told it took me 54:48.

This was my third attempt at ring dips, so I did jumping ring dips to try to work on my form.I partitioned it up to reps of 15, but the kid class was coming in so on my 66th ring dip I switched over and just finished out the box jumps. After that Jerry had us move to the black room and finish up. We did 2 push ups for every ring dip we had left, so that was 54 for me. after that it was the squat cleans. The squat cleans took up a lot of time because I'm having problems with the deadlift aspect of the movement. I kept doing back extensions and front squats since I'm having problems figuring out where to keep my hips. I can't wait to get my endurance up.

Thoughts about the Zone

After reading Harold's blog I started to think about my diet. I've been on a strict 4-4-2-4-2 plan for 3.5 weeks now and have noticed quiet a bit of difference with how I look, albeit I weigh the same. No question that I am getting into better shape, but I I am hungry every day. My energy levels are fine, but because I take Concerta I wonder if this is a good indicator. I think the 5-5-2-5-2 meal plan might actually be appropriate, and it might help with my weakness in my strength endurance. I think I'll talk to Jerry about doing the 5 block plan again and go from there. ...I'm basically writing this to remind me to talk to Jerry about moving back up to the 5 bock meals.

A very interesting moment at crossfit

Today's WOD:

5 rounds with a 30 min limit
20 pull-ups
30 push-ups
40 ab mat sit-ups
50 squat(-ups?)

I did the first round a little over 5 min, about on pace with everyone else, but after that my strength really started to leave me. I'm unsure how long the second and third one took me, but I just started the fourth one when time expired. Jerry said we could finish the round so I did and wrapped it up at around the 44 min mark. The toughest part was the push ups. I simply could not do a push up. I would drop the chest to the floor, and then try pushing back up. This was the first time I felt real frustration while working out, and I tried to use it as fuel to get me to finish. Everyone else is done and talking, and I couldn't get a modified push-up. I really dug deep and gave a few grunts/yells/screams, and it worked some of the time. As soon as I was done I felt fine (if not tired), and it's nice to have a better picture of where I need to improve.

FGB

Just when I was thinking I didn't push myself of Friday, I woke up today with sore lats, and a sore right calf and hip muscles. I think I was only sore on my left side because my hip is now in proper alignment.

So today's WOD was fight gone bad. First time I've done it, so here's my score:

Round 1 2 3
Wall Ball 13 12 13
KB High Pull 26 14 2
Box Jump 17 20 13
Push Press 15 15 15
Row 14 11 11
Subtotal: 85 72 54
Total: 211

Because of the enormous class size today (28) we all started at different stations. I started on KB swings, and those 26 reps the first round took out all the leg strength I had. My partner, Lef, made a somewhat similar mistake with starting on the row. He started off with 35 calories on the row, and just couldn't catch his breath after that.

Today really was an awesome day, there were so many people in attendance. Sunday is the one day where the 5om class can meet up with the morning classes.

No-pants crossfit

Jerry just emailed me the photos, and I know you all have been dieing to see these pictures, so here goes:

I like this pic, anyone who's done burbee's can relate to the pain on my face. Right after doing this, I got an idea for a new competition Jerry should add to his repertoire: strip crossfit. Men vs women, both teams have 5 min to do as many reps of an exercise of choice (teams alternate in choosing the exercise), and whoever has the lower average rep/person has to take off an article of clothing. Remember, the original Olympic athletes did everything naked, maybe they know something we don't.






In any case, I'm not planning on forgetting my workout shorts anytime soon. Today I feel good, and I'm looking forward to another week of getting stronger, faster, and just an all-around better athlete.

Favorite quote of the day:

"Usually it's the shirt that comes off first man."

A tough circuit, a PR, an unorthodox waredrobe choice, and a training question

Well, when I tried to change at work before getting over to CFOT I realized I forgot to pack some exercise shorts. Don't know how I did that, but I figured I could workout in jeans, I've seen Chriss do it plenty of times.

Today's WOD:

For time
30 HSPU
40 pull ups
50 KB Swings 52#
60 abmat situps
70 burpees

This was my second attempt at a hand stand in my life, so I really couldn't do a hand stand push up. Jerry posted if you can't do a Hand-stand to do 4 mini-hands 15 times, so that's what I did. It took forever, not to do the four mini HSPU's, but to just get my hand stand's ready for the mini HPSU's. I just took this part of the WOD as a skill day, I wanted to really get hand stands down. During most of the time I felt a little light-headed, and saw stars prety much the whole time.

Not sure how long it took, but by the time I had finished HSPU's some people were fininishing up pull-ups, others were in the middle of KB, and some were already at ab-mat. I tried to go this part as fast as I could. I banged out 16 PU's, which is a new PR for me. After that I did them in smaller sets. I tried using Danny's big kip at first, but I just couldn't get it right, so I went back to my smaller, more vertical kip. Again, my hands felt like they were getting pretty torn up, but I didn't have any torn calluses. The KB swings were a little tough, I did them in set's of 10 with short breaks in between. The ab mat situps were a bit of a break, I've noticed a real improvement with this exercise.

When it got to burbee time I was having trouble doing them in my jeans, especially since they don't quite fit (a little too loose). So, I decided to go to the men's dressing room and do them in my boxers, with Stuart as a witness. After doing eight the JJ class started to come in and change, so there wasn't any more room. I really couldn't go back to doing them in my jeans, so an idea hit me. I changed into my briefs, then put my boxers back on, and viola: shorts. When I went back into the blue room it got a few laughs/comments/stares, but I was more concerned about finishing up my burbees. I hammered out about 12 more really quickly and then hit a wall. I had to stop and them did them in sets of 10. I couldn't believe the last set was as tough as it was, I just didn't have the strength to do another straight 10. After 5 I just kind of colapsed, even though I kept telling myself the faster I got it over with the faster I would get to rest. When the last five were done, so was I. I'd post a pic of me working out in my boxers, but so far Jerry hasn't posted any of them, guess they didn't turn out so well.

Turns out working out in my "shorts" caused quite the commotion, I heard comments about how I would drive away potential xfitters, comments on how I would help bring in potential xfitters, Danny didn't want to do burbees too close to me (really don't know why), I even heard Jerry mutter "psycho" under his breath after taking a picture of me lying in a puddle of my sweat.
Although I wasn't surprized, I have to say I find it odd that people make a big deal out of it. I think my lack of modesty stems from growing up in a household with a lot of nude people in it. Before you judge let me explain. My father is an artist (I've uploaded one of his drawings here) and he's always done life drawings. Not only were my dad's works everywhere in my house, sometimes he would host art classes in his studio so there would be live nude models. I've never really thought much of this until recently, when Mom told me some galleries wouldn't exhibit Dad's work because of the subject matter. It was only then that I realized that my experieces with the human body were not normal.

Alright, back to Crossfit. I've got a quesiton for the anyone who's reading this. I tend to try to do the WOD's as perscribed, this has been my approach since day one. However, I recognize that I'm still a xfit newbie, and I usually come in last or near last in these exercises. Am I biting off more than I can chew? Would scaling it down and really nailing the workouts provide better results?

Day of Strength

Today was a day to get stronger, the WOD:

5 rounds 1 minute 30 seconds at each station
5 reps of heavy strict press
5 reps of heavy strict chins
Rest (and in a gym who's slogan is "rest later", weird I know)

Here's what I did:

Strict Chins
4 @ 13lbs
1 @ 0

5 @ 0

2 @ 20
3 @ 0

1 @ 10
2 @ 0

4 @ 0

Strict press:
5X95lbs
5X95lbs
5X95lbs
4X95lbs
5X95lbs

I feel like I haven't gotten back up to my pre-Spain strength when it comes to pull-ups, and when comparing it to July it seems like I've got a way to go.

This is how I did 21 July, right before Spain:
5 strict chins
5 chins with 12 lbs
4 chins with 20 lbs
3 chins with 20 lbs
3 chins with 20 lbs


On another note, a week ago when I was at the therapists for my hip I decided to do some of my rotator cuff exercises. That was a mistake, because I pushed a little too hard and have re-aggravated my shoulder. The good news is I know it wasn't crossfit, but I think I might have to take another week off of not working the shoulder. I'm not sure, I'll have to figure it out. It's funny, now that my hip is feeling great, my shoulder is acting up. I feel like an old man.

Thought this was interesting

Found this link and I thought is was pretty interesting. It talks about the pointlessness of making six-pack abs your sole focus in life, how if you want to make exercise a priority you should go for useful strength and join a cross-fit (sic) gym.

Second appointment with DO

Met up with the Doc for the second week. He was amazed with my progress, and commented on how people who are at least in reasonable shape respond beautifully to treatment. I have to say this past week is the first week in a long time where I don't feel searing pain in my hip. It's amazing how much pain you can live with if it increases gradually. Now that I've had a week pain free it makes me realize just how much pain I was in at the time. I am so glad I did this.

...I would also like to mention I talked so much about crossfit during the first session with the doc that he and a med student looked up www.crossfit.com and checked it out at length.

I can not wait until the day comes that I've finally talked some one into crossfitting. Perhaps I'll stop bugging all my friends and family about it after that. ...maybe not :)