Positive reinforcement

So I go to my quarterly meeting with the Allergist, and I see the Nurse Practitioner:

NP: So what is it that you do?
Me: I'm a patent Examiner
NP: Oh right right, I thought I knew that when I saw your chart but when I walked in I didn't recognize you.
Me: Really?
NP: Yeah, well, you look really different, there's a big change in your... *Flexes*
Me: Physique? *Sits up straighter and also flexes*
NP: Yes, you've changed a lot since last time.

It's always nice to hear I'm progressing.

Ab workout with running and climbing

So I finally got up this morning, it was a rough one for me, and I showed up 15 minutes late. Halfway there I knew I was going to be late, but I was going to no matter what. Here's the WOD:

3 rounds
3 rope climbs
50 GHD (I did one round of this, and then went down to "pack" level of 30)
800m run

Time was 21:13, a seemingly fast time looking at the other times. When I looked over the White Board with Jerry before the workout, I commented on the 50 GHD's and he commented on how it was a lot, and that I should be careful not to hurt myself. I felt like I was ok, so I went "elite" with the 50 GHD's.

This one was nice, albeit I had no time for warming up so the first set of rope climbs was rough. I went through the GHD's fairly easily, and then I tried really hard to push myself in running. Given that is was something like 28 degrees and I wasn't wearing the warmest of clothes, I had a lot of motivation to run as fast as I could.

During the second round, I was really starting to struggle with the GHD's (that I still love). At around rep 23, I had flashbacks to Jerry saying I should watch out so I don't hurt myself. Thinking I might push myself a little too hard if I did all 150, so I dropped down to pack level.

I'm kind of happy I didn't do the whole 150, because my stomach is already sore, and it hasn't been more than 13hours.

Done with the Holiday break

So I spent the past week in Chicago, and had decided that I should take some time off from working the shoulder so I didn't exercise at all, although I was hoping to pay Crossfit Arlington Heights a visit yesterday. My schedule didn't allow me to, but I'm ok with taking the week off given the circumstances.

However, I have very little self control when it comes to eating anything close to healthy when I'm surrounded by cookies and pie and all kinds of carbs. I was constantly full, always snacking.

Anyway, when I was leaving for Chicago last Tuesday I weighed 208, this Tuesday I weighed in at 216. So that's an 8 pound increase in one week, quite the feat. I'm not mad at myself, I'm not even really disappointed, because what good would that do. Instead, I'm looking forward to seeing how quickly I'll lose this weight just getting back on track.

Tomorrow I will see Olga for the fourth time, one step closer to having relaxed hip muscles. Every time I see her she notices marked improvement, so I know I'm not just spinning my wheels here.

Cleans and AMRAP workout

Tuesday's WOD:

3 Squat cleans every minute on the minute for 10min (around 80%)

rest 5 min

AMRAP 15 min of 6 Dips, 9 box jump(24"), 12 ghd Situp

So I came into CFOT in the morning, and showed up a little behind schedule, so I was unable to really warm up. Because of this, and because I haven't done a real squat clean for a while, I used 95#s. I really wish I had had a chance to do a proper warm up, because my 1 rep max is 195, and 80% of that is 165. However I still had plenty to work on.

I was still needing to work on pulling the bar straight up, still needed to work on preventing the bar from crashing down on me, and I still needed to work on landing in a proper squat position. All in all it wasn't heavy enough to really push me, but the second part of the workout fixed that problem.

The dips were really rough, and I started to feel my shoulder start to tingle. The box jumps were fairly easy, and the GHD's were not a real problem. I would like to take this opportunity to say that I LOVE GHD's, they work my core in a way never before. Just when you think there isn't an exercise that will quickly render you sore, you find something like the GHD.

Can't remember how many rounds I did, but I was very glad to do this before my week long stay in Chicago.

Snatch work and interval wod

Two parts, part A:



3 snatches a minute for 10 minutes



Today I did real snatches, ones where I recieve the bar in a squat position. Historically I've had a lot of problems with this, so I went light with 95#'s, treating it like a skill day.

The first couple were pretty rusty, and my hip didn't appreciate going all the way into the squat. However, I might have been going lower than necessary, as I have a tendency to do that. I really tried to dive under the bar, but not go as low as I can possibly go (which is like three inches below parallel). After the third or fourth set, I started to find the right position.

However, I was still a little unstable when coming up with the bar. Andrea pointed out that after recieving the bar I should wait a second, stabalize, and then stand up. I started doing this and while the extra core strength effort really sucks the life out of you, it is effective.

Near the end I think I really started to catch the bar in active shoulder after flipping out my hands. Usually I feel like moving my hands around the bar takes a little bit, and in the process I move the bar around my hand, instead of moving my hand around the bar. Well, for the last couple of set I was really starting to get a nice snap out of flipping out my wrists, and I could tell I wasn't pushing or pulling the bar forwards or backwards. At the end I really felt like I've improved on the snatch, even a year after I attended the Olympic lift certification class.

The second part, an interval wod, was hell.

3-5 rounds

350m row
25 push ups
15 pull ups

The 25 push ups were deadly, I don't know why but those random sets of push ups I'm doing don't seem to help too much. Also, I'm afraid that my shoulder is starting to feel that twinge of pain that is tendonitis. I'm an idiot and ignored the pain (since it is so slight) and pushed through. On the third set Andrea started setting goals for me, like "Now do 5 push ups" then "rest for three breaths". I was dead tired on the third set, but Andrea's breaking the wod down was extremely helpful.

Appearently, doing sub-max reps and resting a bit will get your farther faster than doing max reps. For example, if I do pushups until failure (say 19), I'll be so exhausted that banging out those last six will take forever. However, if I broke it up into 5 sets of 5, I won't push my body to the breaking point, will recover faster, and will accomplish the goal of 25 push ups in less time.

I'm a little concerned about the shoulder, but I have a week of rest/holiday ahead, not to mention I will meet up with Olga tomorrow, so she can work on my shoulder for a bit.

Saturday, SNOW DAY!!

There was supposed to be the hopper final this weekend, but due to 20" of snow in one day there was NOTHING BUT FUN!! Never really experienced snow, and definitely nothing like this. Made a giant snowman, dude's about as tall as I am, and that itself was a workout.

Moving 7000 lbs

So today was moving 7000#s over one's head for time.

I was going to try to lift 135#s for 52 reps, but I talked to Mellisa and she recommended I go for 74 reps of 95#s. I think this was a better strategy, as I was able to go touch-and-go for the first 15. I was over half way done when it hit 5 minutes. However, I had to slow down considerably after that and finished it up in 11:43 (or something like that).

This was very easy with regards to my glutes, hams, and traps. But what really slowed me down was my lack of breath and my quads. My quads were really barking at me for the clean and screamed at me for the jerk.

I loved this workout, it was awesome. There were some crossfitters who managed this in under 7 minutes, but it's a goal to strive for, right?

Jumping Burbees met-con WOD

So Thursday was a met-con day, typically not my strength, and I think I landed one of the slowest times, again.

5 rounds
250m row
20 jumping burbees (@8" jump)
15 GHD's

Time was 27:42, and I was starting to get a little frustrated at the end. Everything was fine but the burbees (of course), but I felt like I was really starting to get a nice, smooth rhythm. However, I had to pause inbetween breaks a lot longer than I'd like to admit. This time it wasn't the pushup aspect, it felt more like it was my core. Something non-specific was really tired, and I was having a tough time telling it to shut up, that I could do this. I kept trying to tell myself what I would tell others, that I could do this and that I didn't need to rest, but I still found myself standing there with my hands on my hips. I went through the row fairly quickly, and the GHD's didn't prove to be much of an issue, just the burpees.

...Tried doing some PVC overhead squats, and it felt very strange. It was strange because I didn't experience the pain in my hip like I normally do. Very happy about this.

Just got back from the Chiropractor

Dr. Bills commented on how much looser my hips are feeling. However, my right hip abducters (sp?) were tight enough to warrant a started "Whoa" from the doc. I don't think Olga has worked on these, so I will try to remember this for next time. Regardless, doc commented that my flexibility and the tightness of my muscles have greatly improved. Given that this is only have two weeks, it's very, very positive feedback.

He also commented that my left shoulder was all kinds of jacked up, but he put everything back in place so everything should be good now. It wasn't tendonitis but the collerbone and ribs were out of alignment.

...I can't help but notice the fight to become and stay healthy is super expensive. I don't enjoy spending money, I inherited some of my fathers frugality (the man simply does not fing any joy in buying new things), but I'm not buying some tangible thing, I'm buying my health. Instead of getting some temporary high from buying a big screen TV or new clothes, this is something that will last me the rest of my life, and truely improve the quality of it. I'm very, very thankful that I'm in a position to both attend and afford crossfit, as well as the treatments for the various ailments that come along my way. I feel like I'm healthy and experienced enough now to warrant giving back to the community, so my new year's resolution is to find a level I cert and attend it.

Another inadvertent Rest day

Last night the power went out for a brief period of time, so I had to reset the clock and the alarm. Given that I had a 9:00 appointment with Olga, I figured I should make the 6:45 class. However, I woke up on my own at 7:30, realizing that I had mixed up the am with the pm. A little deflated, I got over it and went over to Olga's. She felt like she was able to get more movement/release in my right hip. Can't really do anything today, but looking forward to tomorrow.

Deadlifts, Jumping lunges, and running, oh my!

This was a super tough leg workout, because it involved such a high rep of a heavy deadlift I thought to play it somewhat safe, to go for high intensity and lower weight. Thus I went "pack" with 225

15 Deadlifts (225#)
45 jumping lunges
400m run
12 Deadlifts
36 jumping lunges
400m run
9 Deadlifts
27 jumping lunges
400m run

My time was 17:13. I went through the deadlift with little problem, I decided to try to go touch and go, only being really successful on the last set. The jumping lunges were tough, but I really tried to push through. ...I think this really felt like an exercise that will become easier once I fix my hip. My running sucks, but I feel like I'm improving. For example, now when I lean forward I don't feel my lower back getting tight. I'm trying to keep my stomach engaged more throughout the run and I feel like this is helping out. However, I just simply can't figure out how to get faster. Damnit.

Strict press 1 rep max PR and double under PR

Was very surprised, but today I managed another large gain on the strict press.

Strict press: 1 rep
Rep out at 70%

On the fourth round I hit my old PR of 125, but I hit it pretty easily, so I upped it to 130. Racked the weight, sucked in a big breath, flexed the abs/gluts/quads, and pressed it out without slowing down. So that's a 5 pound improvement in less then a month over last time.

Tried 135 but only got it up like three inches.

Dropped it down to 85 and banged out 17 reps, quite dramatic the difference 50#s can make.

Did 3 rounds of the conditioner:
10 dips
30 double unders

I got 9 dips in a row, but when I got to the DU's I hit three, hit my foot, and then banged out 21! That's a five rep improvement. However, I still suck at dips. I feel like I've lost a lot of strength from recovering from the shoulder tendonitis.

If seeing this type of improvement is typical after teaching my shoulder muscles to relax (aka getting rid of the huge knots in my back), I can not wait to see what happens to squats once my hip muscles learn to relax. Maybe I'll get a 300+ fgb score next year. Speaking of that I meet Olga the masseuse this Wednesday again, can't wait.

So excited.

Interval work including wall balls

I didn't think today's wod would kill me like it did. But it did:

300m Row,
25 KB Swing (53#),
20 Wall Ball,
15 burpees
Rest 2 minutes between each interval repeat for 3-5 intervals

I have no endurance whatsoever. Although the number of seconds escape me, my time went something like this:
Round 1: 4:XX
Round 2: 6:XX
Round 3: 7:XX
Round 4: 16:XX

Sixteen minutes?!?!?! Let me rehash the last round. The row was ok, I managed only a 1:50/500m speed but it wasn't exhausting. The KB swings were extremely hard on my grip and my abs. It was taking a lot out of me to keep my core tight, and my back was starting to feel the strain as it tightened up. I had to break it up 10-5-10, which is sad since i did the first two rounds unbroken. Then I had to do my nemesis: the wall ball. This one was extremely tough, and I started to feel that old familiar tingling pain in my left shoulder from the tendonitis. I did four, then two, then four again. I had to rest for a little bit, trying to breathe deep and prepare myself to go all out and just nail the last 10.

The whole time I was doing this last round I kept trying to tell myself, "You can do this! You can rest later! You're stronger than this!" I'm trying to become my own mental coach, so I tell myself what I would tell some one else.

So I pick up that ball, and I think I did five and then quit. I waited only a second, picked it back up, and then finished it.

Then there were the burpees. I was trying to do good form, but my shoulder at this point is really starting to protest. I start out trying to bang them out three at a time, and I think these were the slowest burpees ever. The pain in my shoulder really weakened me, it wasn't responding like I wanted it to, and I really couldn't push it. When I finally finished the last one I saw the time was 34:XX, and I had started out at something like 17:XX.

I'm a little frustrated that the shoulder pain is back, it's been so long since I've experienced this I almost forgot what it feels like. Guess I will have to ice and massage, the usual stuff. This pain is a little different than what I was experiencing before feels a little more precise and in the front of the shoulder, not sure what's going on but I'll make sure to mention it to Dr. Bills when I see him next week.

I think I might now know why I hate wall balls and can't seem to really improve upon them. If my hip muscles are as tight as everyone tells me they are, then it's no wonder I can't improve. Like my shoulder, if my hip muscles are always tight I can't really control them. If they're always flexing, then I when I work out I can't flex them any more then what's currently going on. If I can't push them, then they can't improve. I've noticed steady increases in my strict press once I took care of my shoulder, so now I hope that dealing with my hips will lead to unprecedented gains in wall balls and other squat intensive movements. When you think about it, that's a lot of movements. Perhaps the world is about to see Adam break through PR's like he's never done before? It's exciting to think so.

OHS, running, pull-ups and Box Jumps

Today's wod reminded me of the first wod at the Atlantic hopper:

400m run

15, 12, 9
overhead squat
box jumps
pull ups

400m run

My time was 16:19. This was a really, really tough workout for me. However, I did finish the first 4o0m run in 1:38, before anyone else. I attempted the OHS at the elite weight of 115#, but after the second rep I lost my balance/core tension. So I dropped down to 95# and finished it out.

It felt like I was OHSing for the first time, it was so strange and exhausting. My hips felt... wierd, like they were doing something they weren't used to. I took waaay too many breaks here. More than once I thought to myself "what is your deal Adam?" I guess the endurance of my core is crap, because the OHS really requires core strength.

I hope we do more WOD's with OHS, because I need to do a lot of work on them.

Possibly a light at the end of the tunnel of hip pain

Finding a way to relieve the pain pain in my hip has been been quite the journey, one that almost sounds like an episode of House, MD (although I was never dieing at any point). Because I'm not sure if I've been very clear on my plight for a cure, I've decided to write up a summary of my dealings with this problem:

Part One: Hip feels like it's on fire.

June 27, 2008: Started crossfitting, and soon after my right hip started to feel pain, like it was on fire.

July: Saw Dr. Bruno, an Orthopod, for my hip, and he wasn't sure what was going on but had some physical therapists work with me. This involved stretching and weight exercises as well as TEMS and ultrasound therapy. Nothing was really working though.

August: After researching the crossfit forums, I realize I need to see a DO, and I have the therapist confirm that my pelvis and hip are twisted, causing the illiopsoas to stretch unnaturally resulting in severe inflammation. This inflammation is what is causing the sensation of my hip being on fire. Dr. Craddock also tells me the twisting of the pelvic muscles is why my hip clicks when I raise and lower my knee (a problem I've had since I can remember).

August 26: I meet a DO, Dr. Craddock, for the first time, he resets my hip and the pain goes away almost immediately.

August '08 - June '09: I receive regular treatments from Dr. Craddock, but after two months of no longer experiencing the inflammation of the illiopsoas I notice there is still a lingering, deep throbbing pain. This pain doesn't feel like fire, and is much easier to ignore. I figure it's still the illiopsoas, that it just needs some time to get used to being un stretched. However, this pain doesn't really go away.

February '09: I see a massage therapist and tell her about all of my various ailments, although I find her massage relaxing I do not find it therapeutic.

Part two: Maybe it's a torn labrum?

July '09 part 1: I casually mention to Dr. Craddock that my hip still clicks when I raise and lower my right knee. For a brief moment he seems a little confused by this because all the muscles are in the right place. After a second he then says I may have a torn labrum in my hip, and this might be causing the clicking and the residual pain.

July '09 part 2: I see Dr. Bruno again and he reccomends an MRI, but without contrast. He gets the results and tells me I have a torn laburm, but he's not sure since he deals mostly with old people. He then sends me to another Orthopod, Dr. Johnson, who deals with sports medicine.

July '09 part 3: Dr. Johnson determines I have fermoral acetabular impingement (FAI), but is unsure about the labrum because the MRI does not have contrast. I believe the pain I am experiencing is in my hip joint, as it feels incredibly deep. It's around this time when I come across prolotherapy for torn labrums. Dr. Johnson says that if theses treatments don't work there is arthroscopic surgery for this condition.

August: I meet up with the prolotherapist Dr. Wagner, and he says he needs an MRI with contrast in order to do anything.

September: I see Dr. Wagner again, and after the MRI he tells me that I do not have a torn labrum, only FAI and that he can not do anything for me. So I'm back to square one. Or is it two? I'm confused now with all these doctors and procedures.

Part three: No, it's tight hip capsules.

September: I go back to Dr. Johnson, preparing myself to have surgery. He comments that there probably is a small, small tear in my hip labrum, but it is the FAI that is causing the pain. He suggests trying Euflexxa injections to lubricate the hip joint and render me asymptomatic.

November part 1: The meds finally arrive and I get my first injection of Euflexxa, where they take a needle, pierce the hip capsule, and then inject the viscous solution. During the procedure I find out that I have extremely tight hip capsules, which Dr. Johnson notes may be the cause for my FAI. After the procedure, thanks to the numbing agents I receive during the procedure I do not feel any pain in my hip, and Dr. Johnson takes this, as well as my description of the pain, as a sign that the pain is indeed in the joint and not muscular. However, as the meds wear off the pain returns. ...I have a feeling that this new piece of the puzzle is important.

November part 2: I meet up with the chiropractor Dr. Bills for back and shoulder pain, but then mention the tight hip capsules, he then works on them and they suddenly feel a whole lot better. This indicates it is muscular and not a joint problem. This gives me a lot of hope.

November part 3: second Euflexxa injection. Still have pain in the hip.

November part 4: I talk to Dr. Craddock, and he recommends Rolfing, a deep tissue massage. I find one and book three appointments.

November part 5: I mention this to Andrea and she recommends Olga, her massage therapist. I cancel my appointments with the Rolfer and make one with Olga.

Conclusion: There is hope still

So yesterday I saw Olga, and she worked me over thoroughly, and unlike the previous time I got a massage I felt like this was extremely therapeutic. She worked extensively on my hip/leg muscles, and it was an incredible sensation. I told her to go as hard as she could, and the pain was indescribable. It was like my muscles were bubble wrap, and she was a rolling pin. As she slowly dragged her elbow up and down my muscles, I had this sensation like some combination of popping or sparking in muscles I never even knew existed. She commented that my muscles were extremely tight, but they were releasing quite nicely. She worked both my right and left hip.

While she was able to get my left hip to release, she said she was unable to get my right hip to release. She also commented that because this is a chronic problem it will take a while to fix it. I've scheduled an appointment with her next week, and I really hope that next week will be the week the muscles learn to relax. Unfortunately, she told me not to workout after the massage, so I had to forgo the wod.

Today I saw Dr. Bills again, this time exclusively for the hip. As he worked on them, I asked if he noticed any difference, and he said they felt a LOT better, that he couldn't feel as much "gristle" in them as he did last time.

This makes me very happy. It has been a long, long journey, but it seems like I've finally figure it out: Tight hip capsules twisted my pelvis causing the inflammation of the illiopsoas, but the tight muscles also jam my femur into the hip socket, creating the FAI.

I know I've said this before, but I'm very excited by the thought of no longer being in pain. Hopefully there will be no more curveballs, and this will finally kill the throbbing ache that I experience everyday. I write this so that others out there who may have hip pain or any other type of ailment may have hope and learn from my experiences. If I help at least one person out there, then I am a happy man.

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Front Squat 1 rep max

This one was a little frustrating:

Find your 1 rep Front squat max.

On the second rep I tied my 1 rep max of 225 from almost three months ago without any problem, and then I went to 245 (which i thought I could've done last time). On the first attempt I went down way too quickly and got stuck at the bottom. On the second attempt I went down slowly enough, and then tried to drive out of the hole. What ended up happening is me going up maybe half an inch and then freezing. On the last attempt I lowered the weight to 235, and I went up from the bottom maybe two inches, but then I once again froze, and after what felt like an eternity of pushing I dumped the weight for the last time.

I take these attempts with mixed feelings because my core was strong throughout; I never caved and my elbows were up the entire time. Chriss even used my attempt as an example of keeping the core tight no matter what.

However, this means that the failure was due to a lack of strength in my legs, and that's something I'm not used to happening. ...I still feel that my legs have the strength so what's going on here is yet another mental block. Although I really, really feel my hamstrings engage when I squat, I almost never feel my glutes engage. Maybe I don't notice it because I'm focusing on the hamstrings, or maybe I just haven't figure out how to engage them yet.

Regardless, I feel like I really need to work on the front squat with regards to my approach. I need to be more violent, when I hit bottom I really need to just explode up with such great force that nothing will keep me down.

I am a little bummed that I did not get a PR, but this was a valuable learning experience and I will apply it to the next time we do this lift. I also have Oly shoes on my christmas list, so hopefully next time we do this I will have some proper lifting shoes.

Afterwards my hip started to feel a little more pain, which makes sense. Tomorrow I will meet up with a masseuse who is supposed to be well versed in Rolfing [EDIT: deep tissue massage] if not accredited in structural integration. Given that she charges about half as much as the only accredited Rolfer in the area, I'll try her out first and see what happens.

Rope climb and C&J, Double under PR!!!!

A heavy metcon, yay!

5 rounds

1 rope climb
5 clean & Jerk (I did Elite at 165)
30 Double unders


My time here was 26:10, but I'm honestly not sure if I did 5 or 6 rounds. I started out on the DU's and after one failed attempt I nailed 16 of them! I messed up because I was so amazed at myself at rep 15 that I lost my rhythm. After that though, I started to bang out more 6+ DU's in a row.


On the second round I could not climb the rope to save my life. I couldn't figure out where to put my feet so I could stand up. After three tries I just moved on, but on the following rouds I had almost no problem climbing. Go figure.


I attempted the new core position with the first few C&J's, but it was so heavy that I simply forgot about keeping my abs flexed and went back to just holding in a big breath. I feel like I took too much of a rest between reps on this one, need to keep that intensity needed if I want to perform better for the next crossfit competition.

Annie, getting my guns

So it's first friday and I'm now sore from Jerry's b-day and the air squats. Not really wanting to do a wod that had any heavy lifting, I thought Annie would be great as an opportunity to work on my double unders.

Annie

50-40-30-20-10

Double unders

Ab-mat situps

I did it with Alyssa, and in the beginning I looked over at her and saw how she did them, and for some reason something clicked in my head. I then did three singles, and tried a du. Failed and whipped the tops of my feet. Tried again, and I got two in a row. Then I tried it again, and got nine in a row! I went from a PR of alternating single to double to single maybe six times to doing nine DU's in a row. After that I had a hard time getting more than 3-5 at a time, but these were straight DU and I was starting to find my rhythm. There were still painful parts, still got a lot of lashings on the top of my feet from messing up. Coach Burgener has talked about motivational consequences, using burbees as a "reward" for unwanted behavior. You would think the consequence of whipping my foot for messing up a DU would be a great motivation, so either I'm learning these very quickly, or I'm just a masochist.

Due to my slow DU's, my annie time is 17:2. Lots of room to improve here, but I'm really excited about the Double under PR!!!

Air Squats and running

Well, I really must not have pushed myself on Jerry's b-day because when I cam into the box I felt pretty good, not sore or disabled like some. It was an active recovery day with bodyweight exercises:


4 rounds
50 air squats
400m run


My time was 15:58, and I think the real reason here was my running was not fast. This is the same issue I had when we did a similar wod back in October. Three years ago when I weighed 170 I had all kinds of speed and endurance. I probably would've given Steck a run for his money on this wod. However, I don't know if I ever want to go back down to that weight. Obvserving the 4 block meal, 2 block snack pretty religiously has me currently at 205, and even though I'm 35 pounds heavier now I don't think my lightweight self would've had the strength to do any weight lifting wod as Rx'd. At first when I thought about this I thought I needed to find some balance of strength and speed, but maybe the real issue here is endurance. I seem to be fairly fast for the first round, but after that I slow down considerably. That, in turn, makes me think it is once again a mental issue. I don't think my problem is really self-confidence, but rather I have a tought time focusing on pushing myself when I go out and run a 400m sprint. Perhaps I should start bringing an ipod for all the wods, as the music seems to help me focus on the exercise.

Jerry's B-day workout!!

So Wednesday was Jerry's Birthday! Since he turned 43 this is the WOD:

2 Power Cleans every minute on the minute for 43 minutes, choose a weight that will be very heavy for you.

Now my 1 rep max is at 195, and when I was warming up I could feel the rust in my form making things difficult, so I chose what I thought was a heavy weight: 165. Just in case it turned out to be too easy, I had two 5# plates to make it 175. After the first 5 or so sets, the rust really began to wear off, and I started to really work on my form. I worked on keeping my core tight and making sure my back was in the right position. I knew that it wouldn't be my quads or traps that would fail me first, I knew that it would be tightness in my lower back, tightness that always feels like it's about to do something really, really bad.

As the minutes and reps pass by, I started to realize that when I suck in a breath to keep core tension I might actually be relaxing one group of my ab muscles. It's difficult to describe. I suck in my breath and keep tension, but it feels like I'm relaxing one of my core muscles to allow my diaphragm to open up. If I keep all of my muscles tight, then it pushes the air up into my chest a little bit, and I know that's not suppose to happen. I talked to Danny about it, but he wasn't sure which was correct either. I'm going to try to keep core tension while keeping my abs engaged because perhaps there is an imbalance going on that causes that discomfort/tightness in my lower back.

Back to the wod, I didn't fail on any attempt, and over time I didn't feel like my form degraded. I decided to put on the extra 10 pounds for the last 10 reps, and I really didn't have any problem with that either (although my back was starting to tighten up). Looking at the pictures, seeing Jerry work is pretty impressive, you can see the intensity in his face. ...When I saw this picture I instantly thought he looked like one of those Kibuki Maskes, you be the judge.

When I look at pics of myself, I see how... calm I am? I think that's the proper word. I really try to focus on only the muscles needed for the lift, but maybe I need to figure out a way to psych my self up, I don't know.

Tuesday come and gone.

Coming back from home, I didn't have the opportunity to crossfit. Felt a little useless, like I wasted the day. However crying about it isn't going to do anything so onward to the next day.

Back on the Wagon via Crossfit Richardson

It's been almost a full week of not xfitting, of a diet of pecan pie and turkey and stuffing and sweet potatoes, and I feel... fine?

I do feel a bit lazy, the idea of not crossfitting for six days straight does not sit well with me, but diet wise I don't feel any guilt or real regret. Of course, I think this is because I haven't noticed a real change in my physique. This reminds me of the cycle I used to go through with exercise and diet: I'd watch what I'd eat and then start to see results, and then think I could keep seeing results and not have to watch what I ate, which would then negatively affect me. Thankfully, now that I am back home I'm back to zoning, but I think I may change up my diet to remove dairy from my diet. I don't know if it will do anything, but it's worth a shot. ...It will be very, very difficult to do this, because sometimes cheese is my main source of protein. Looks like I'll have to figure out another way to get protein.

This rest has also allowed me to refocus on the pain in my hip, and it is getting harder to push through the pain, and Monday's workout over at Crossfit Richardson was a great example.

Wod:

5x3 front squat

10 minute "Cindy"

I only hit 205 with the front squat, which is ok given my two rep max is 215. But the thing is when I loaded the bar with 215 I just mentally didn't have it. I racked the weight and stood up, and it just felt too heavy. I'm pretty upset with myself because I didn't try, I just let myself off the hook. It was a lot easier to just quit at CFR than CFOT because there was much more of a "do it by yourself" vibe that day. For example, there is no group warm up, John posts it on the board and then we do it on our own. I wasn't doing it with anyone, so there wasn't anyone to prod me, to hold me accountable. ..I don't say this as an excuse, but rather an illistration of how a strong crossfit community can make strong crossfitters. Always appreciative of what I have here at CFOT.

The 10 minute Cindy really made me feel weak with my chest. Maybe I've gained 10 pounds over the holiday, but I only managed to eek out 7 rounds, and my shoulders were toast. I can not wait for them to catch up with the rest of my body, because I feel like once I become in pushups my met-con times will lower significantly.

Thanksgiving Holidays

So I've taken the week off to be in Dallas, and it's been strange not zoning and crossfitting. Living off of mostly pie and stuffing this week, I don't feel too bad as long as I don't eat too much. I've been doing random sets of pushups and the occasional air squat. But the throbbing pain in my hip is killing any motivation to really work out. I might visit Crossfit Dallas tomorrow if I have time. I am really looking forward to recieving treatment on my hip, very excited.

A Heavy Snatch Workout

The Wod:

AMRAP in 20 min
3 snatch
6 pull up
12 box jump @24"

I decided to try going with the elite weight of 135# for the snatch, which was a little cocky of me because it's my one rep max. I did three reps warming up, and then I did one round. For the second round, however, I failed twice, so I backed down to 115#. I ended up getting 9.3 rounds in this time.

I really worked on using my arms to pull myself up to the bar in pull ups, this seemed to help a lot. ...Someday I will get a nice smooth kip like I had back in the blue room.

After one of my snatches my hip was on fire, like lots of pain shooting down my leg and wrapping around my hip. As bad as this sounds, I take it as a good sign because it felt muscular, not joint/bone. I called and left a message with the Rolfer, now I just have to wait for her to call me back.

Three rep Deadlift Max PR

So today I quickly hit 335, which is a paltry 20 pound increase over the last time we worked on three rep deadlifts. I could've hit heavier, but my core is still just too weak. Even with 335, I can feel that thorasic bend. I keep the core tension so nothing breaks, but I just really don't want to push it.

...During this workout Andrea cautioned against people pushing themselves to the point of injury. "Not everyday is a PR day", and if you don't have it in you, you don't have it in you.

However, as I look back at the past 7 days of workouts I've had PR's in the snatch, front squat, strict press, and now the deadlift. The gains seem to be slowing down, but I'm still achieving my goal of making everyday a PR day. I'm not disagreeing with Andrea's advice, I think it is dangerous to push beyond what you're capable of. But my point is if I make this stuff my main priority, if I zone/paleo religiously, attend crossfit every day, and focus on the movement it is possible for me to make everyday a PR day.

After talking to my DO about my tight hip capsules, he reccomends I see a Rolfer. Rolfing is hard to describe simply, but basically it's deep tissue massage, and if this works I will be a very, very happy man. If my tight hip capsules are slowing down my core progress like the shoulder tendonitis was slowing down my upper body progression, then fixing this would (Cue heroice music) herald a new era of gains of which the world has never seen before.

Alright, time to set up an appointment.

Strict Press 5 rep max with a 1 rep PR

So we worked on our 5 rep strict press max. I got up to 120, but then managed to bang out only 1 rep of 125. 125 is a four pound improvement over last time we did 1 rep max.

After that we did:
AMRAP
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 double unders.

Think I did 7.6 rounds. The DU's were tough, I think what makes it so difficult for me is they require mental focus. I have to really fight to concentrate on more than one. If I can figure out how to do 5 in a row, I will be very, very happy because that means I can do 100 in a row with practice. For right now though, I'll be happy with 2 in a row.

Front Squat 2 rep max with PR

So we got to Front squat. Haven't done them in a while, and my hip hadn't missed them at all. However, I got up to 2 reps of 215 and managed 1 rep of 220, which is a five pound improvement over last time. My legs are definitely strong enough to way heavier, but my core is still playing catch-up.

On a related note, I'm starting to finally feel like my inner Spartan is starting to show. I don't know if it's the slight changes I've made in lower-caloric zone meals, or if the shoulder tendonitis was holding me back, but for some reason I've noticed a significant leaning-out over the past couple of weeks. Very happy about this, as you can imagine.

Chipper with heavy C+J

Once through:

800m run
15 C+J @ 155
20 burbees
25 box jumps
25 KB swings @ 70
30 dips
30 pull ups
80 Double unders

Time was 37:13
I chose to do the double unders because I need to get used to doing them while fatigued. I'm starting to find a good rythem with one double, one single, but it's still shaky. Vibrams are the worst shoe for double unders, I keep finding the rope catching in between my toes and it takes a while to detach myself. The clean and jerks were heavy, but they were fun. My dip strength has gone down a bit from where it was pre-tendonitis, but I can not wait to get back to doing muscle ups.

Snatch 1 rep max PR

Today we worked on the overhead snatch. I tried really, really hard to not power snatch it. Previously my 1 rep max was 125, but I really think it was a power snatch. Today I treated it like a skill day, I wanted my 1 rep to be perfect.

I got up to 135, so it's a 10# PR, but I think I have a lot more in me. Was going to do the extra, but I had to hurry home. ...That and my quads are still not right from Murph.

Murph!

So Friday was Murph, and I going in I thought my last Murph time was 50:something, so why not add a weight vest? Well, appearently last time it was actually 69:51, not the best of times. However, my time today was only 10 minutes faster than last time, 80:23.

It's a little silly in that it took me twice as long as others, but one thing I noticed constantly is that no one else was doing real push ups. Like their chest would get to 2" off the ground, and then they'd go back up. I only commented on this once, but I figured it's not my place to really call out some one like that, so I kept it to myself through the workout. I did 200 real push ups, I never lowered the standard, and my shoulders are barking at me for it.

I tried combating mental fatigue with my own iPod. Chriss says that they take your mind off the exercise, but for me it helps me focus, prevents my mind from wandering to other places. I also wore my compression shirt to help with running in the cold (and strong wind!) and with endurance. I think having these were definitely good mental tools.

Pull ups were good, I was using my arms a little too much at first, so I started to really use my hips, and that helped and felt good. My hands were almost unmolested, but on the VERY LAST ROUND one callus tore (but not badly) and some skin on the palm of my hand was removed.

Squats were good, the pain in my hip feels more like weakness, but I don't think it is weakness because if it was it would've gotten a lot stronger months ago. I plan on opening up a flexible spending account and then seeing Dr. Bills with a game plan to get my hips nice and loose.

I feel awesome for doing this workout. ...I also feel incredibly sore.

FInally a wod for tall people

Two out of three exercises favored tall people here:

450m row, 30 box jump (24"), 15 Shoulder to overhead(85w, 135m);
360m Row, 24 box jump, 12 shoulder to overhead;
270m row, 18 box, 9 shoulder to overhead

Did this in 15:52, I used the Jerk to get it over head, and my left quad was on fire after the first round. I guess you know your'e doing something right when you're having problems with the Jerk because you're quads are screaming at you.

Vet's day Rest day

So I wanted to go to the workout yesterday, but lately I've been plagued by a sense of light-headedness. I felt it come and go over the past four days, but on Wednesday I just couldn't shake it. I felt fine if I just sit or stand, but when I changed height, like in standing up or sitting down, I got really light-headed. I tried doing a pushup or two but just couldn't handle it. Since the workout for Veteran's day involved both burpees and GHD's I simply couldn't do it.

On another note, my lats and serratus is super sore today, still from Monday's wod. Feels great, feels like I'm pushing myself and being re-introduced to Crossfit.

OHS 3 rep max

...Got up to 155, and then I only got 2 reps of 165 out. I thought this was an awesome breakthrough because my 1 rep max was 150, but I was totally wrong, 150 is my FIVE rep max. Oh well, it still made my goal of 175 a good goal. I simply had no core strength at the end to sustain me. I really like this lift, I feel like it's one that I can do more easily than others.

During this lift I could def feel some pain in my hip, seems like the Euflexxa is not doing very much. However, I plan to pay Dr. Bills a visit and see if he can get me onto the path of wellness. Stupid hip.

Nicole plus 4

So we did yet another variant of Nicole:

20 min AMRAP
Max Pull ups
400m run

I got 15, 10, 12, 12, 12, 12, 10 for a total of 83. This is a 14 point improvement over last time and I broke my PR on the fixed bar, if only by 3. I used the re-gripping technique I found a few months ago and that helped greatly. I still haven't mastered a rhythm on the fixed bar though, every once in a while I feel it and everything falls into place, but most of the time I find myself resetting while hanging on the bar, wasting valuable grip time.

I was very happy with the running, I seem to have found a faster sprint/pace with pose style. So glad to be back. Also, very glad to report that there is no discomfort in my shoulder. What. So. Ever.

Argh, trying to find a box in IL

So I left this morning to attend Crossfit Arlington Heights, about 20 minutes from Kristin's house in Barrington. However, I didn't write down the directions and forgot about one of the roads I needed to turn on. Instead of looking for Arlington Heights road, I was looking to turn on College. We didn't have a GPS with us, so there was no way to realize our mistake until after coming home and looking it up on Google maps again.

I was super, super excited to do the workout to, this is what they have posted:
AMRAP 20:00
12 Power snatch 65/45#
10 Pushups

It was as if Jerry had called them up and told them to work on snatches. Sadly, the next class they offer is at 7pm, and I have plans for then. I'm trying to make up the lack of activity by doing lots of pushups, but I should be at a point where something like not having a crossfit gym to attend doesn't get in the way of getting a good workout. ...Maybe I'll add some airsquats to the workout. I wish I had bought a jump rope, didn't get a chance to before the plane trip to Chi-town.

Update on my hip

[EDIT: finally figured out what was causing the tight hip capsules (tight muscles), as well as the cure: deep tissue massage as I explain here.]

[UPDATE: if you have tight hips or hip pain you should definitely check out this mobility blog, where you work on one stretch a day. Do the stretches and you will see the pain go away, did for me.]

[UPDATE 2: This is a great, great stretch for fixing a hip impingement:

]

So I've received two injections of Euflexxa into my hip. It's a pretty cool (if not painful) procedure where they guide a needle under flouroscopy into my hip capsule. Once the needle is in, they then inject the Euflexxa directly into the hip capsule. Euflexxa is some kind of real viscous solution, meant to help with some friction points. Last week I really felt like it was working. Of course, my level of activity was lower than usual.

Last week I saw Dr. Bills so he could work on some kinks in my back/right side of my neck. He asked if there was anything else and after a pause to think I told him about some tightness in the lower left side of my back, which Chriss seemed to think was my illiopsoas. After a bit of a feel Dr. Bills determined it was my quadratus lumborum, a muscle that connects the ribcage to the top of the pelvis. The discomfort I was experiencing was like a toned down version of the excrutiating pain I felt earlier this year where it felt like fire right on top of my left kidney. Dr. Bills was pretty amazed with how much tighter one side was than the other. Having the left "QL" as it's called be really tight makes sense, given that my pelvis used to be twisted so that the right side was forward and down while the left side was backwards and up. After Dr. Craddock re-aligned my pelvis, this would have lowered the upper-left tip of my pelvis, stretching out my left QL. After a little work on it, Dr. Bills had it right as rain. Five ailments down (Bursitis in my hip, tightness in my lower back, tedonitis in the left shoulder, weakness in the left ankle, and tennis elbow in my right arm), one final one (pain in my hip joint) to go.

I told Dr. Bills about the fact that I have tight hip capsules, and his eyes kind of lit up with recognition and said, "ok I know just what to do." Basically he twisted my leg right into what is painful because of the impingement, and I told him that. Apparently that's how this particular treatment works because he continued and then there was an audible, and very tactile, clunk. It didn't hurt, and it didn't feel any different, but Dr. Bill seemed very happy with this and said it was significant. The point of this was to break stuff up, much like how trigger point massage is to break up the scar tissue and help the muscle relax. I might have to start seeing Dr. Bills on a regular basis for this, I don't know. If it does end up looking like the best course of action I should take it will definitely be motivation to get in as much overtime as I can.

The second injection of Euflexxa was similar to the first one in regards that there was great difficulty getting the needle into the hip. Like the first injection, this also helped reveal some more information about what exactly is going on in my hip. The doctor doing the injection commented that my bones look great, but my hip capsule looks tight and shows signs of inflammation. The capsule usually looks nice and smooth, but in certain areas mine looks fuzzy and cloudy. Weather this is acute inflammation from Dr. Bill's adjustment (the good kind because the joint is healing) or chronic inflammation from Crossfit (which would be bad) I can't say, but I plan on asking Dr. Bill as well as Dr. Johnson.

I was scheduled for three injections of Euflexxa over the course of three weeks, but due to some wacky series of events that are too complex to really describe here one of the syringes was disposed of when it shouldn't have. Not sure why Dr. Johnson can't get me another syringe of Euflexxa, but now I'm going to just see how two injections work.

Regardless, the fact that my impingement may stem from too tight hip capsules rather than a malformation of my bones. This may mean that surgery won't be needed.

I will have to find out if there's a way to tell if the inflammation is acute or chronic, and if it's chronic perhaps I need to take a few weeks off from crossfit. The idea doesn't make me happy one bit, but because I have an idea of what to do that will be hip friendly, I'm not scared that I'll lose ALL that I've gained here.

In the mean time, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, because even through all these problems, I'm getting stronger and faster. I looked at myself the other day in a mirror, and I have to say I know I'm getting closer and closer to where I want to be. Can't wait to see how I do in the next Mid-Atlantic Hopper.

Catch up post, Back Squat 3 rep max

Well, Tuesday was a workout I got excited about:

Back Squat
3,3,3,3,3

I saw Patrick made it up to 275, and since that was my one rep max I figured I should make that my goal as well. I know I've done 250 five times, so I figured this wasn't an unreasonable goal.

However, there was a small part of me that was intimidated, and I don't know why. Perhaps it's still me getting used to the fact that I'm getting to be very strong. In any case, I got it up to 245 and really pushed to get that. It felt great, I could really feel my hamstrings engage (although it feels like I have trouble getting my glutes involved in back squats and deadlifts). However, when I tried 255 the bar just felt heavy, and when I lowered the weight I went down way too quickly. I ended up going down quickly and then just being stuck in a really low squat. I tried 255 a second time, but once I hit bottom I just didn't have the strength to get it back up. After racking the bar, Jerry commented that I was about three inches below parallel, and after an attempt like that it's hard to recover.

I'm super glad that I got to string two crossfit workouts together, given these past few weeks have been full of traveling and hip injections. I also feel that the fact that I tend to go well below parallel in squats might be an important clue in the mystery that is my hip pain. Perhaps if I didn't lower myself as much, I wouldn't experience as much pain? Regardless, it's been a long time since I've hit the back squat, so I'm not too surprised that I experienced some rust with technique and desentsitazation of lifting really heavy weights.

Snatch work (PR) and intensity

So today we worked on the snatch again. The Wod:

5 rounds )(
3 snatch
6 muscle up (6 lou burpees)
9 box jumps

Given that my 1 rep max was 120, I thought to go with 105, but during the warm up I thought to myself, "Why not?" and put it up to 125. I tried it once, and I got it. My original thought was to work on form and to make lighter weight and make each one a squat snatch, but then I just figured to power snatch it all and use heavier weight.

Near the end I really started to find my form with the full hip extension. The weight was actually very light in my hands, so I knew I had to really push myself with everything else. I tried doing a muscle up before the wod, and I've gotten closer than I have in a while, but still no dice, so I did the burpees. I ended up doing this in 11:22, so I'm very glad that I'm starting to find my form. Can't wait to see what my 1 rep max is.

Tabata Sell out and too many rest days

So for only my second workout of the week I got to do Tabata Sell out. I managed to get a score of 304, think the work on the push ups is starting to pay off. I'm now getting in 6-8 sets of 20 pu's a day.

I started off with push ups due to the large 1230 class. Started out on push ups instead. Got like 23 the first set, but died after that, should've paced myself a little more. The ab-mats easy at a 1 second-a-sit-up pace, but I was finding it very difficult to push through to a faster pace. The squats were interesting in that this was the first squatting I've done post Euflexxa injection. I could still feel some pain, but it's been reduced. Given that I'm to get three injections over the course of three weeks, this is a positive sign. I tried my kip, but today my core wasn't as tight as it usually is, so I'm a little bummed that I sacrificed form for intensity, but I wanted intensity today.

Was totally gassed after squats, had very, very little left in the tank for pull ups. I conjured up the Hopper experience, how if I had been able to finish those last five toes to bar I would've placed so much higher. That helped me some, and I was able to bang them out two at a time. While standing on the ground I just stared up at the bar and told myself to take one deep breath and jump back on there. I didn't want to end this workout with any doubt that I laid it all on the floor.

I think I was a success in that regard, because after wards I couldn't really stand (my quads and lungs were killing me). As you see in this picture, even after a minute or so rest I really wasn't up for standing.

With pull ups I noticed the improper mechanic with my left shoulder showed up again, and worked on being symmetrical, am VERY happy that I've responded so well to the massage therapy, I've almost forgotten what the shoulder pain felt like. Definitely feeling positive concerning my physical ailments, seems like everything is falling into place for me to be able to do this pain free. Well, at least free of the bad-injury kind of pain.

I'm trying not to be frustrated that I've taken so many days off. I had to take Fri/sat/sun off because I was on the road the whole time, and I had to take Wednesday off because of the Euflexxa injection. But if I had figured out how to wake up earlier on Tuesday I could've made it to a morning class, and if I had done a better job of scheduling at work I would've been able to attend the 12:30 class instead of having to forgo crossfit for the sake of shower curtain shopping. Now I'm going to have to miss tomorrow's class because I the missus and I need to go dresser shopping in the morning, not to mention I'll be out of town for the later half of next week, and I'll have the second Euflexxa injection to deal with as well.

It's not that I feel like I'm getting fat or lazy (I'm getting better and better at push ups and still keeping with the zone), and it's not like I need my crossfit itch scratched. What's bothering me with all these misses is I'm not getting stronger. If I want to improve, I have to put the time in. I've never missed a crossfit class for the reason of "eh I didn't feel like it" I've always been out of town or on doctor's orders not to workout a day here or a day there. I've been pretty damn consistent, and every day I try to give it my all because I'm never going to get this day back, so I only have one chance to make it count; and I want it to count. I want to continue this progression I've started, becoming stronger and faster than ever before. I want to master all of the crossfit movements, and I can't do that if I'm not putting the time in. This is where I need to walk the walk and just not talk the talk. ...I think tomorrow I'll make sure to have a detour to Sports Authority so that I can get a jump rope. That way I can work on double-unders no matter what time it is or where I'm at.

This crossfit-master dream of mine is obtainable. One thing I've learned is that no dream of mine, or anyone else's is out of reach. Heck, there was even a point in time where I held a CFOT record on the whiteboard. But for me to achieve this dream I will have to continue to make it a main focus in my life. Only through dedication will I really be able to get where I want to be. It all comes down to choice and priorities, and if Crossfit really is as important as I make it out to be, then I need to make the proper choices and priorities. If you're not going forward your going backwards, and whenever I miss a couple days of crossfit I fear that I'm starting to head in the wrong direction. The only thing that can stop me from getting to where I want to is myself, and I don't plan for that to be an issue any time soon.

Euflexxa injection and moving

So on Tuesday I got an injection of Euflexxa into my hip joint. Took the docs a couple of attempts to finally get the needle into the capsule, once they did I swear they were going to chest bump, lead aprons and all.

Had to take two days off from crossfit, still doing pushups though. I've gone from doing sets of ten to sets of twenty, I can really start to feel how a pushup is supposed to feel, establishing a stronger neural pathway to the pecs.

Today I had to forgo Crossfit to shop for shower curtains and pack/move with the gf, felt like Frank the Tank's tank in Old School, "Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time."

Hopefully will be back in the box tomorrow. My hip muscles are a little tender from the injection but the joint itself is pain free. I almost dare to hope this treatment could render me asymptomatic of the FAI, which would be awesome.

Snatch, pullups, and running

So the drive from Chicago to DC didn't really leave me any time to workout, but I think rest and self massage were what was needed to work the kink out of my neck/back. I was itching to get back to crossfit, and I'm glad I did:

15 pullups, 9 snatch (115#), 400m run
12 pu's, 12 snatch, 400m run
9 pu's, 15 snatch, 400m run

Time 23:57. I attempted to do chest to the bar pull ups, but after about three I started having trouble, and with memories of the last time I attempted chest to bar, I figured I should just do regular pu's. I don't know if I just didn't have the strength, or if I don't have the technique down (I still attempted to get my chest to the bar with each one, and even though I could get the height, I couldn't bring my body close enough to the bar to touch.

The snatch was pretty solid, Andrea told me to lean back more so I didn't have to re-bend the knees as much (if at all) and that seemed to work. I'm having a bit of difficulty catching the bar in active shoulder, but I had no problem diving under the bar, and the speed strength is what I really want to work on. I was fearful of hurting my back on attemptind touch and go, so that slowed down my pace considerably. I think next time I will try it because resetting the bar does eat up a lot of time.

I still need to figure out how to improve my speed with pose style running. I try to lean forward, but my lower back really tightens up and starts to feel pain. After the wod I worked with Chriss to see what muscle is really really tight. Turns out it is the illiopsoas on my left side, which makes sense because the illiopsoas on my right side also tends to be really tight but on the front. I plan to start stretching and seeing if that helps at all.

Working on the snatch

Today we were to find our one rep snatch max. However, Melissa said I needed to ride every snatch down to a squat, which made things a little more difficult. My speed strength just wasn't there for diving totally under the bar, but I got up to 115 which is 5#s short of my PR.

My technique is very rusty, only now as I'm writing this do I realize I totally forgot about the rebend after the bar clears the knees. The snatch is the most technically challenging lift to me, but I love it. My biggest problem is getting proper hip extension (which involves the knee re-bend), after that, I think I'll have a better time getting under the bar.

I also have a HUGE knot now in my right shoulder blade. I saw Dr. Bills and he gasped in surprise at the size of the trigger point.

I'm flying up to Chicago tonight and will be driving back to DC. I might get a chance to re-visit Crossfit Bloomington, should be interesting to see how those guys are doing.

Double unders Galore!!

I approached today as more of a skill day, I'm still not fully recovered from Saturday, but I really, really, really want to work on double unders.

5 rounds
400m run
30 double unders
10 toes to bar.

I see some definite inspiration here from the hopper challenge. I decided to force myself to do this exercise Rx'd, so I had to learn the double under or die trying. I have had some recent success, so I'm hoping to keep it up and get proficient at it in no time. The clock read 1:45 when I finished my first run, and by the time I finished 30 DU's I think it read 12:something. So it looks like it took me about ten minutes, or 20 seconds a double under. ...I'm glad I scaled it for the last workout Saturday! I was starting to get a good pattern of one on, one off, with DU's but when I messed up it would then take me like 10 tries to get back into the groove. I kept getting whipped on my forearms by the rope when I messed up, and sometimes (ok, many many times) the metal tip of the rope would bang against my left hand's knuckles. It's like getting rapped in the knuckles by a ruler but more painful. Afterwords I iced my hand to try to reduce any swelling, but as you can see I've got some nice bruises now on my hand. Seems like I need to find myself another type of rope, one that doesn't hurt as much.

After the third round it was 33 minutes, and I had had enough of this "skill work" workout. My shoulders were shot, and holding the rope in the right place was starting to be simply too painful. Not pain as in injury pain, but as in muscles burning pain. My shoulder hasn't given me any trouble since like last month. Yay for recovery!!!

I also figured out how to hold onto the bar and bang out a lot of toes to the bar. That movement is a tough one, and caused many athletes problems in the last workout at the Hopper.

First wod post hopper

After taking Sunday and Monday off, I was only slightly sore in my quads and shoulders, and thought it might be a good idea to return to active duty. So here's a wod that I was looking forward to:

21 pullups, 9 hang clean and jerk (95#), 400m run
15 pullups, 15 hang clean and jerk, 400m run
9 pullups, 21 hang clean and jerk, 400m run

Coming off of two DNF's I think I've found some mental game plan to really push myself. My goal was to try to get it under 15 minutes, and I was able to harness some of Saturday's urgency to really push myself on that last set of 21 C&J's. Near the end I felt my stomach muscles really start to weaken, causing my back to bend back kind of funny, so I racked the bar for two breathes and really tightened the core for the last couple of C&J's. I think this is something I really need to work on, and will be the secret to getting a great six pack.

My run felt very slow, I keep trying to figure out how to go faster, but my pose style still needs some work. I was very happy with my pull ups, I taped up nicely so there were no tears, and I am starting to really figure out what I need to do for keeping a good grip on the bar after rep 5.

I also noticed some asymmetry with my shoulder mechanics on the pull. I think this stems from the tendonitis preventing me from really using my left shoulder, so I really focused on working both equally and I think I succeeded at that.

My time was 17:30, over my goal of 15, but I can say that I never really stopped for breath on this one, and I was very successful in pushing myself.

Mid-Atlantic Hopper Challenge: Epilogue

This story may require a little back story so bear with me if you already know this stuff. I have femur-acetabular impingement, which basically means there is a bump in the femur head that rubs the hip socket the wrong way. The impingement causes pain when I'm active (such as squatting or running), and the condition may eventually lead to osteoarthritis and may require a hip replacement way down the road. I saw the same surgeon I talked to earlier a few weeks ago, and he said I should stop doing stuff that hurts while I do it (deep squats). I told him about the MAHC and asked if he recommended participating or not.

He said it was probably not a good idea, and wrote up some doctor's orders prohibiting me from competitions. This wasn't done because he actually thought I would hurt myself, but was done so I could back out of the competition if I wanted to and could possibly recoup the registration fee.

So here I am a week before the competition. Nervous as hell and fairly certain that I will be one of the weakest/slowest there, and I have a get-out-of-jail card, a medical reason for bailing out at the last minute so I wouldn't seem like a wuss. The idea of just going and playing camera man is tempting.

Now here I am a few days before the competition. I'm now no longer nervous but excited. Even if I earn last place I earned it. I worried about looking weak, but to not show up due to nerves is to be truly weak. I'm no longer concerned with how I do relative to others, I just want to give these three workouts everything I have and see how I respond. I joke about my goal, "I just don't want to be dead last."

Finally, it is the day of the competition. I start to truly understand how crossfit is designed to expose any weakness in an athlete so that they may improve in every aspect of fitness. I start to really understand what it's like to workout with a clock counting down, working out with a time limit. By seeing how I "failed", I start to see what it takes to succeed. To be honest there are moments, right after the time expired, where I feel disappointment, but I have nothing to be ashamed of.

So I'm done, I've done three very difficult workouts and have come out stronger. After everything I have found some motivation/focus that should help me keep the intensity up for these crossfit workouts. I want to prepare for the next crossfit competition, and I guess that just means keep doing what I'm doing.

I've been waiting to post this peice until after the hopper's final results were posted online. Turns out I did reach my goal. I didn't come in dead-last: I came in second to last. If I had been only 5 reps faster on the toes to bar I might've moved up by like ten spots, but if you get a DNF you can't place higher than anyone who finished the workout, scaled or not. I was one of three guys who DNF'd both time workouts, but I was middle with regards to deadlift.

As I see the results over a week after the competition, I just kind of mentally shrugged and said, "Oh well, gotta start somewhere." And I am only starting. I've been doing this for only a little over a year, and I forget that I'm still considered a noob relative to all that is crossfit. Since I'm considered a "vet" by many in the pm classes it can be easy to forget that I'm still new to all of this. I mean, in January '08 if you had told me that I'd be able to do a muscle up in about a year I wouldn't have believed you. ...Well, my real reaction would've been "What's a muscle up?"

It's also easy to forget how much stronger I've become. My deadlift max has increased by about a hundred pounds in a year, and I think there's a lot I can do to improve in that area. My olympic lifts are much sturdier now, especially after attending the oly cert back in March. I've been unknowningly trying to push through tendonitis in the shoulder, and now I've figured out what's wrong, got the necessary treatment, and now I'm pain free and the sky's the limit. Everytime the girlfriend comes to visit she notices an improvement in my musculature. If I keep improving while working out the kinks in my body, I should be in a position to place much higher in next year's competiton: like third to last :)

Mid-Atlantic Hopper Challenge, Part III

So I'm done with the first two, and now it's one last workout, comprising of seven different exercises. After some discussion, this is what the last one turned out to be:

30 double unders (ugh)
7 back squat (135#)
30 GHDs
7 snatch (135#)
30 wall balls
7 push jerk (135#)
30 toes to bar

Well, I doubt I can do 30 double unders in 30 minutes, let alone 15 minutes, and my 1 rep snatch max is 120, so I doubt I could muster 7 reps of 135#. This meant I had to scale the workout. Scaling is difficult to admit because it means admitting that you're not capable of doing the workout as is. Scaling is also hard to admit to because in the competition the best scaled time can not be scored higher than an RX'd time.

However, I can't do double unders yet or snatch 135, so scale it is. This is what Crossfit, and especially crossfit competitions, is all about: exposing your weaknesses and showing how you suck. To be a great crossfitter you have to be great at EVERYTHING. Great runner, great olympic lifter, great rower, great with body weight exercises, etc. etc. etc. If there's one chink in your armor, crossfit will find it.

I, however, don't have a chink, I have all kinds of chinks. I have chunks. I was the only one at the hopper that coudln't do double unders (my feet still showed the lashing marks from the learning lesson three days earlier). Guess I will have to put in a lot more skill work into muscle ups and double unders.

Back to the workout. I did singles instead, and thank God my judges forgot that I had to do 120 singles because when I hit 30 they said I was cool to go to the squats. Squats were easy, the GHD's made me light-headed, the snatch was a piece of cake, and the Wall balls were hell. The wall balls were simply awful, requiring a lot of power from my body. The push jerk was easy (thank you DT), but I had a real tough time with the toes to bar.

I looked up at the clock, 14:50, with ten more toes to bar left. I gritted my teeth, tried to summon the energy, grabbed the bar, and tried to will my feet up to the bar. Everyone was cheering me on, trying to help me.

..As time expired, I was only 5 reps short. Chest heaving, I sat down on the nearest box jump, leaned back, and breathed/panted while waiting for life to re-enter my body. I felt that sense of shame start to creep back into my mind, but again, I felt like I gave it my all, I just wish "my all" was more. I guess the shame comes from the thought that I haven't been training hard enough, that my DNF of a scaled workout is the result of not zoning strict enough, or not pushing myself hard enough in the gym. It makes me question my commitment to crossfit. I try to stay as close the zone as possible, I measure everything out for every meal I eat. I try to attend CFOT as much as humanly possible, and have been consistent for quite some time now. Perhaps it is my mental game that's been keeping me back, I don't know. But I was definitely feeling some frustration.

As I was trying to recoup, Jerry came over and gave me a fist pound. I feel that I made him proud, and that motivates me to try to do better for the next competition.

Mid-Atlantic Hopper Challenge, Part II

So after the first workout, I had to participate in the strength workout: 2 rep deadlift. There was no specific time to do this, but I had to do it before noon. After finishing the first workout at 8:35, I had plenty of time to recoup and snack on some wonderful (paleo?) cookies (Shout out to Laurie who provided all kinds of snacks and wonderful things. She made us feel like sponsored competitors!)

I think it was around ten where I decided to go for the DL. I wasn't worn out from the first workout, but I wasn't cold either.

I warmed up a little with some light weight. The rules concerning the 2 rep deadlift was we could Touch-and-go; meaning we could not let go of the bar, and could use the bounce off the ground to assist with the second repetition. Jerry doesn't really approve of this because the bounce renders the second rep a non-deadlift, so I had to learn how to do a heavy touch-and-go. With like 175, I learned how to breath while standing up straight, hold my breath, and then drop the weight and bounce the weight back up.

I figured I didn't want to really wear myself out, and there was a long line for deadlifts, so I stopped after I figure it out with light weight. Once I got a chance to lift, I decided to use the first set as a get-used-to-heavy-DL (300#), the second to tie my one rep max (345#), and if that worked then go for a PR (365#). Like Chriss always says, if you trying to find your max, then you should try to go for a weight you might fail at.

The first set was easy, the second set was doable, and the third was just right. For the third set, the first rep was fairly easy, but the second rep was very tough. I felt my back bending all kinds of bad ways, but I focused on keeping the core tight and held my breath against my stomach as hard as I could, and I got it.

The judge (who was uber-cool) commented that he was worried when he saw my back, but I told him I just kept the core tight and "although my back did bend, it did not break."

I was very happy with the new PR, even though I knew it wasn't going to get me very far. That's one aspect about these crossfit competitions. It really is all about what you do, and not what others do. There might have been a guy who deadlifted 595 twice, but who cares because I just beat my 1 rep PR by 20#s!

I should also note that Sean was lifting at the same time, and he managed to lift 405 once. Damn, looks like he won the bet and I owe him some Chipotle now. Congrats Sean!

After this there was a definite lull in the CFOT group. Many of us were finished with both workouts early, and just sat around and napped/ate/meditated. It was also at this point in time I learned that Adrienne owns and uses a Snuggee. Pure Awesomeness.

It was also around this time we had the most supporters. Judy, Nikki, Hazen, Patrick, Rachel, Lauri, and a few others were there to see how we were doing. Not only did CFOT had one of the largest showings with regards to athletes, but we also had the largest support group.

I got to see (and record) Harold's first workout, and it was a great performance. I like to try to help the group out in my own way, and that includes being the gym's historian.

By this time the intimidation factor of the hopper had worn off, and I was just wanting to get this thing over with. Again, I just prayed it didn't have muscle ups, hand stand push ups, or double unders.

The Mid-Atlantic Hopper Challenge, part 1

At 7pm on Friday I took some Tylenol Simply Sleep, allowing me to fall asleep at around 9:30. That, in turn, allowed me to wake up comfortably at 4:50 (a full 10 min before my alarm was set to go off). Showered, did my hair, dressed, made my typical Oatmeal dish, and put all the food I made last night into a cooler. Drove over to CFOT and actually got there at 5:45 am! I viewed this as my greatest challenge, everything else was downhill.

Drove with Stuart and Blain, and after a starbucks stop we showed up at Crossfit BWI at 7:05, and they have a nice new box. They moved in the night before, so it took them a while to set everything up. I was starting to get nervous, but I was with friends and there wasn't anything else to do now except to wait. They announced the wod, and after a little confusion they finally decided on the first workout. Lo and behold, what I like to call the "MAC Attack":

3 rounds, 21-15-9 of
Overhead Squat 95#
Lateral Jump burpees (BWI called them Bastards)
Pushups



At first I was excited because there wasn't an exercise I couldn't do, no double-unders or muscle ups or handstand push ups.

I didn't bother to think about the fact that pushups and burpees are my weak points, but that was illustrated quite clearly to me as I went through the workout.

...Those 15 minutes were a real wake up call. I don't know if I can accurately describe the pain that went on during that workout. Near the end I was breathing so hard I was slobbering on myself and the ground. My shoulders simply did not have anything left in them. Once when I attempted a OHS I dropped the bar on my neck (thankfully I didn't hurt myself). I ended up having to step down to the plank for the burpees. I look at the video and I am amazed that I was unable to do this workout. My chest is so weak, this is something that I've always known, but the hopper really brought this to my attention.

Near the end, I could hear everyone cheering me on. As I heard my name being called, I tried to draw strength from this, and I think it helped some. But I could not find a way to push any more than I did. As I heard time expire, I just felt sad, like I had let myself, and everyone else, down. I know that I gave it my all, and I am proud of that. I am simply not satisfied with where I am, I want to be strong enough so that I can be proud of not only my effort but also the result. I want to be strong enough to be satisfied with my performance, and right now I'm not. There is a simple and beautiful truth to these contests. Either you are strong enough to do these workouts within 15 minutes or you are not. Currently, the truth of the matter is I am not, and while that may not be what I want, I do take comfort that it is the truth. Also, this situation can change. I believe I have the ability to get strong enough to do these workouts, and I really don't feel anything will stop me until I do get to that level of the playing field.


After time expired, I tried to turn to the crowd to show my appreciation, and after that I just needed to get off the competition floor and collapse and recuperate. This was only the first workout, and I needed to get my act together and prepare for the next two.