The crossfit difference

So I've been taking a picture of myself every Wednesday for a while now, so I thought I should post them online. I don't see much difference myself, but I can tell that the difference is over my entire body, and I know I'm getting stronger, and hopefully faster.
The one on the left was taken 2/11/09, the one on the right was taken 5/28/09. Again, I really can't see much of a difference in these pictures, but when I look in the mirror I can see a big difference. Also, people who I don't see very often, like my girlfriend or parents, always comment on how I'm more muscular/leaner. The nurses who administer my allergy injections keep telling me to relax my arm. When I tell them I am relaxing, they say that it's difficult because they have to inject into fatty tissue, and it's getting harder for them to find any fat in my arm :)

I think one thing is I'm getting a better understanding of what my body type is. I used to think I was more of an endurance guy, with mostly grey twitch muscle fiber, like 2009 Crossfit competitor Sean Provost (left). As I workout, and see how my body is changing, I think I'm more of a power, fast-red twitch muscle fiber type of guy, more like 2009 Crossfit competitor DJ Wickham (right). As I've embraced this fact, figuring out and accepting how my body works, I get better and better and see more drastic results. And who knows, maybe someday I'll actually be more like these two beasts than not.




Here's a side by side pic with the middle one being 4/15/09:

This is what happiness looks like

Went back to CFOT and did another muscle up, this time with the video recording. This is what I look like when I do something that I previously thought was out of my league:

This pic also reminds me, I need a haircut.

My first Muscle up!!!

Well, today Jerry had me demonstrate a Muscle Up. I was like "fine, fine, wink wink". I mean, I haven't really worked on muscles ups in a long time, and I never really felt like I was close. Well, my first time I got a good grip, pulled, and kipped. I kipped so hard that I launched myself up, higher then I expected. I was so socked at finding myself above the rings I just let go of the rings, almost caught my hand in a ring, and fell to the ground.

Pumped, I went for it again, and nailed it. It was beautiful, all my work and effort paying off, and as I looked down at everyone's shocked and excited faces I had the biggest grin on my face. Jerry asked me to do it again, but I tried and failed because I gave up on it. I think because my first one was so easy I wasn't expecting the second one to be more difficult.

Because my muscle up looked so easy, Jerry told me to do the workout. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention there was a workout?

30 muscle ups for time

or

10,9,8... 2,1 ring dips
1,2,3... 9,10 chest to the bar pullups

For about seven minutes I attempted another muscle up, and I couldn't get another one. I'd get really close, and would be able to get above the rings, but I couldn't press myself up from such a deep ring dip. I guess I was able to throw myself up so high the first time I didn't have to press myself up as much.

Anyway, after seven minutes I gave up and did the other workout, which took 24 min. I was able to do 10 ring dips in a row, a first for me. I guess my pushups training, even if it's a little uneven, has helped. I had some difficulty finding my kip for the pull ups, but for the last set I took off my shirt for some mental motivation, and nailed them.

Great, great, fantastic day! Although Jerry didn't record the muscle up, I'll make sure he gets my second one :)

Thursday and tight hammies

Today was (surprise!) metcon:

800m run
40 box jumps
40 kb swings @ 53#
800m
30 box
30 kb
800m
20 box
20 kb

I actually didn't finish this workout because my back was waaaay to tight and painful. I was surprised because my kb swing form is awesome. Like, if we had a contest, I think I'd win the prize for the prettiest swing. Chriss commented about three times about how nice my kb swing was (it always seems like he's surprised, don't know why).

Anyway, you get the point, my form was great. However, after the first set my lower back was tightening up. I forced myself to do the second set, but after that I was done. It was a really, really new pain. It wasn't like the othe pain I've suffered in the back. The old pain was on the side, around the kidney. This was definitely the lumbar/lower back muscles. I walked the last 800 m, did the box jumps, and called it quits.

Talked to Danny about it, and appearently the back pain comes from tight hamstrings. Since I'm keeping my back rigid, it's not from my lower back lifting the kb swing, it's from the back muscles fighting my hamstrings. After about 20 min my back was 90% better, and after an hour it was back to normal. I imagine this confirms Danny's hypothesis

OHS max

Today was finding our overhead squat max. Mine was 155.

....Pushups were abysmal today. Work took over today, so I only did two sets, a paltry 30 pu's.

My new favorite workout

Tuesday we did an awesome workout, DT:

5rft
12 Deadlifts
9 Hang Power Cleans
6 Push Jerks

I was a bit hesitant about doing the Rx'd weight of 155 since my 3 rep max jerk is 185, but I thought I could do it. However, when I was warming up I attempted 145 on the hang power clean and after 2 reps I was feeling exhausted. So I scaled it back more. Unfortunately I think I scaled it back waaaay too much, but I was pressed for time and didn't have any real time to adjust before the workout started. So the end result:

Time: 16:23
Weight: 115

When I figured out the actual weight I was really disappointed, but there will be another time and I will use a heavier weight. I really really like this workout, and I'll make it my "first of the month" hero workout next time.

Push up update:

Yesterday I only did 5 sets of pushups throughout the day. I've been doing 15 reps as set, so that's 75 push ups. Also, 30 of those were ring push ups. Thanks to Sean to reminding me about it.

Murphalicious

We did Murph on Friday, it was the beast it always was. This workout was a favorite of Navy Lt. Michael Murphy:

For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run.

It was surprising in that my time was about four minutes more than the last time I did murph, 69:51. What really killed me was the last mile run. My pecs and shoulder muscles were so exhausted that the actual movement of running hurt my shoulders. Sooooo frustrating, I wasn't breathing hard, my legs weren't sore, I just couldn't run because of my... arms?

Had quite the compliment during this workout. After the first run La Saun randomly came up to me, introduced herself, and said she knew me from the old blue room, and I've drastically improved since she last saw me. It always feels good to hear such positive feedback, especially since it was unpromted.

A break from the strength days

Well, today was more met-con intensive:

5 rounds
400m sprint
15 kb swing @ 53#
21 box jumps 24"
9 pull ups

According to Harold, the first lap I ran "like a bat outa hell". After all, these are suppose to be sprints, right? So I ran the first lap in 1:52, but after that I ended up slowing down a lot. I never broke up the kb swings, but I usually had to break up the pu's into two sets with a real brief pause for my hands. The box jumps weren't that easy, but they weren't that hard. For the last set, with Harold's support, I was able to jump onto and off the box jumps, as opposed to jumping up, and stepping off.

Finished in 25:20, not the best time, but after I finished I dry heaved for a bit, so I feel like I pushed myself sufficiently. I am really, really sore. Like all over sore, especialy my pecs. I've decided to let them rest today, and start the push up challenge tomorrow. I swear I'm not wussing out, I just think exercising sore muscles is counter productive.

The weakness that is my chest

Today was a surprize:

10,9,8...1 Power cleans (at 135#)
2,4,6...20 Ring Push ups

I thought the difficult thing would be the cleans, but I was totally wrong, that was the surprise. I was doing a really, really good job of just pushing through the cleans, I never really wanted to stop. The weight might have actually been a little too light, although my form is still not perfect, and I could feel that I was using my lower back ever so slightly. However, I focused on finishing the workout as opposed to my technique, and I think that really helped. ...I was also surprised to find that I am incredibly sore, and it's only Tuesday!

What didn't help was my atrociously weak chest. I was crushing the workout until I hit 10 ring pu's. At that point, I hit a strength wall, and my body was simply too weak to keep up the pace. I had to start breaking the pu's up into sets of 1 or 2. I was honestly trying as hard as I could, but my pecs simply stopped responding to what I was telling them. I had to hit two, recover for like 30 sec, and the hit them again. This took FOREVER. I mean, I was the only one who was having this much of a problem. All in all it took me 32:02, by far the longest time.

I'm really getting tired of my chest being so weak. I've been pretty spotty with greasing the groove with regards to pu's, but I think today was a sort of rock bottom for me. Now I am determined to work on them throughout the day, every day. I will start reporting in on how I did, and this shall keep me inline. Kettlebell guy does this with the various challenges (e.g. box jumps) he competes in, so I'll do the same. Think I'll start keeping a record of how many push ups I do in a day.

The increase in oly strength juxtaposed to the weakness of my chest is very... not sure how to describe it. Frustrating, yet motivating? I feel that once my chest catches up with my lats and legs I will be officially jacked. Can't wait.

Snatch one rep max

Well, I was hoping to really nail this workout:

Snatch
1-1-1-1-1

Unfortunately, I maxed out at 115, my previous 1 rep max. I don't know why it was so low. I mean, a lot of time has passed since my last 115 rep, not to mention I attended the oly lift cert. I went into this workout with the intent of really getting a great finish, finish being that moment when you're an inch off of the ground, the bar is weightless, and you're starting to dive under the bar.

Whatever the case, I lost my speed strength quickly. I feel like it was mental, but I couldn't tell what was wrong, what was bugging me.

Looking at getting myself a pair of oly lift shoes. Danny if you're reading this comment on what type of shoe's you're wearing so I know what to look for on eBay.

Deadlift delight

Well, the workout was deadlift intensive. I really haven't pushed my deadlift since December when I hurt my back, but I haven't felt anything in my back in months. So I figured this was as good a time as any, so I went heavy. The WOD:

5 rounds
5 deadlift (I went "pro" @ 245#)
10 pushups
20 squats

My time was 11:19. This was waaay slower then anyone else, but I was really pushing my strength and didn't want to hurt my back. The heaviest I've ever done was 265, so this wod was a mental challenge, almost more so then a physical one. I am starting to really see myself as a strong person. As I start to realize more and more of what i'm capable of, I'm able to push myself more and more. Although it took me twice as long as some, I think as I get more acustomed to really, really pushing myself physically in new ways, I will continue to improve.

Strict Press and Weighted Chins, with a PR

Well, because I didn't work very much yesterday I had to stay late at work. However, when I saw what the workout was, I realized I could do it at the PTO's gym. The Wod:

1-1-1-1-1
Strict press
weighted Chins

It was strange doing a xfit wod in a regular gym. It took me forever to find the belt with which to hold weights for the chins, but I eventually got it. I got up to 125# on the fourth round, but when I got up to 130 I failed completely. I'm pretty stoked about this because my previous PR was 116#, and I feel like an increase in shoulder strength will lead to the ability to do handstand push ups. It still impresses me that there are exercises I can't do, like a muscle up or a hspu. I also got up to 59#s on the chins, which I don't believe to be a PR.

Afterwards I worked on dips, they weren't ring dips, but I figured fixed bar dips are better then no dips.

Rest day

Today I decided to stop and smell the roses....I know these aren't roses, so don't bother pointing that out to me. ...I took this picture today while out visiting the botanical gardens by the capital. The main part of the garden was closed for Mrs. Obama's luncheon, but there was a side part still available. For those that prefer blue flowers:

Clean and Jerk for time

Again have to keep it short, but today was a strange, intense workout:

15 min
2 clean & jerk (90% max) every minute
for every missed C&J do 5 burbees

I couldn't remember the last time we found our C&J max, so I chose 165# (Appearently we found our ma was seven months ago and mine was 165#). My form was fairly good when I stuck it, but 4 times I missed the jerk because I attempted to get under the bar before it was weightless. In other words, I hadn't completed pushing the bar up before attempting to dive under the bar.

However, today I felt really, really good about the workout. There are groups of people with whom you associate yourself, and people who you always imagine as being much stronger/faster/quicker than you. Today I started to see myself as being strong enough to start to approach some of the big boys, like Blain and Devon. I've still got a long way to go before I'm as strong as them, but I now see it as a possibility, whereas before I couldn't.

There was extra at the end, but I was so worn out from the C&J/burbees that I called it a day and went home.

Back squats

Gotta keep this short. Monday was back squats.

5 rounds
5 reps

Last time we did this I went up to 185, but I was being safe since it was a new movement. Now that I'm more familiar with it, I went up. I got up to 215, so it's a pr. Gar was ridiculous and did 300#, and almost got 305#.

Strict Press and Chest to the bar Chins

Today's wod:

5 rounds
max reps strict press @ 50% bw (100#)
max reps chin to the bar chins

My score was something like
8/8, 9/6, 9/6, 8/3, 8/3

Had a rough time figuring out the kip for chest to the bar at first, I also realized I wasn't pulling myself to the bar like I should.

...Still feel good about squat cleaning 195 on Monday, now that I'm getting a better idea of what I can do I plan on doing even better.

Zone Diary

Breakfast:
1 cup of oatmeal
1 Tsp of protein powder
1/2 cup of grapes
3/4 cup cottage cheese
handful of cashews

Lunch was the same as yesterday, whole lot of veggies. Actually, it's really tough to eat that many vegtables. Today it took me about 1.5 hours while working to finally finish it all, by that time I was ready to start my snack!

Here a fave of mine, steak and Eggs:
4 oz steak
1 egg
1 slice of bread
1 orange
some Margarine (i don't measure)

Metcon, and a day in the life of a zoner.

WOD:

400m Run
30 Burpees
30 KB Swings (53#s)
30 Calorie Row
30 Box Jumps
30 Jumping Slamballs
400m Run

My time was something like just under 18 minutes. The burbees were a huge slow-down for me. I was one of the first to be done with the first run, but I was one of the last to finish the burbees. I tried to be fast, but those suckers just seem to take forever. Still working on an improved box jump. I now jump down, whereas I used to step down. Trying to use the improved rowing technique, it got me to 30 cal in a min and a half. My slamballs and kb swings are solid. Chriss was coaching today and he seemed impressed with my movements with both of these exercises.

There was some extra as well

3-Rounds
10 Ring Dips
20 Sledge Strikes
30 AB-mats

Because of the ring dip work I didn't practice the muscle up progressions, I figured my shoulder had had enough.

I've talked about the zone quite a bit here on the blog, and I'm also picking up a habit from my friend Taylor of taking a picture of my meals. So I decided to combine the two and take a picture of my lunch. This is pretty much what I eat every day for lunch, got TONS of veggies (notice the hot sauce and lime juice, yum!):

I think I'll start taking pictures of every meal of mine, this might make for an interesting Zone diary. ...I should've taken a pic of dinner, it was one of my favorites:

4oz steak
1 egg
1 orange
1 slice of bread
some butter

A great day

Today's wod:

5 rounds, 1 rep squat clean max

I got up to 195, a new PR! I was only so-so about it because I thought I didn't get low enough for it to really count, but Jerry said I broke parallel, and after that I couldn't stop smiling. It was solid, I had fast elbows, I exploded right after the re-bending of the knee, everything worked out great.

Had a finisher that included chest to the bar pull ups, only near the end did I really start to remember all the little nuances of the kip. A while back there was a day where chest to the bar was effortless, it felt natural, and I think it'll start happening more and more frequently now.

After that I figured my shoulders are better so I did 10 Muscle up progressions, I think dip strength really is where I need to work, so I'll start doing them after class each day.

...This is all after a successful day at work, a great day.

The Ultimate Hangover cure, Jackie, and Hand maintenence

Well, when Friday morning came around and I was definitely not feeling it from a rough night out on U street (by the way, highly recommend the martini's and the rooftop bar of Tabaq). However, since I was flying out that day to Dallas, I had to make it to the morning class.

I've heard exercise can help a hangover, but this is the first time I've tried. ...It works wonders. True, it was tough to get mentally ready with the four hours of sleep and whatnot, but once the blood got pumping I felt infinitely better. Because of my situation, I wanted a short, intense workout that didn't involve running (my calves are killing me from pose running). That led to Jackie:

1000m row
50 thrusters (45#)
30 pull ups

Now Last time I did this the weight was 65, but the sheet said 45#, so that's what I did. My time was looking pretty good until I got to the pull ups. My hands were just in so much pain, I had to break it up two at a time at first. Then I really started getting frustrated and pushed through the pain and banged out the last ten in a row. All in all my time was 14:04, pretty bad but today wasn't about hitting a pr, it was about feeling better.

Afterwards, looking at my hands it was pretty obvious I haven't been maintaining them like I should. The build up of callus was causing a lot of the painThey've been such a non-issue up until now, I've ignored them. That's the thing about crossfit, you gotta be disciplined in so many things, there's always room for improvement.