Increasing my work capacity, and lowering my blood pressure

So yesterday I ran to the gym, and I could tell today that my body wasn't used to running 2 miles. During the warm up my quads were screaming at me. By the fifth round of the wod came, I was close to being done. ...Done as in nothing left to give, not as in I was on my fifth round and was almost finished.

5RFT

300m sprint
20 jumping lunges on a 45# plate
10 pull ups

Lanette also mentioned having sore quads, but she took me to school and lapped me. I kept telling myself that if she could do it, so should I. Time was 14:43, and I'll take it. I know that today the run negatively affected my performence in the wod, but if I keep doing it my body will eventually adapt and I should be able to increase my work capacity. Hopefully I'll be able to run to (and back) the gym everday and not have it bother me.

I started to figure out pull ups in the end. For the first couple of rounds I couldn't find a rhythm, but I started to figure it out on the fourth and fifth round.

On a different note, my blood pressure has recently dropped dramatically. I take Concerta, and it has been known to boost blood pressure. However, I reduced my dose from 45mg to 36mg, and this has resulted from a bp of 140/80 to 110/70. Now my bp looks like some one who works out. Finally.

Shoulder workout, PR's

Ran from work to the gym today, given that today was a heavy lifting day:

Strict Press 1 1 1
Push Press 1 1 1
Push Jerk 1 1 1

I got PR's with the Press (120) and the Push Press (155). Sadly, I only got up to 185 with the Jerk. I love the Jerk, and I know I have more in me, but after the strict press and push press I simply did not have the speed to get under 195 (my last attempt).

I was a little frustrated with the strict press in that it's only 4 lbs more than my previous pr, I guess I just need to work on strict as well as hand stand push ups.

Was very happy with the push press. Andrea told me to flex my glutes when I reach the apex of my jump and it worked like a charm, I think I have much heavier weight in me.

Mentally, I'm still in a bit of a funk. I think I'm getting a little frustrated that the gains I once saw are now starting to slow down, combined with dealing with the pain in my shoulders and hip. I'm now improving my Fran time my 90 seconds instead of 5 minutes, not every heavy day results in a new PR. Obviously this will happen when i start to become more of an athlete, but I feel like I have so much farther to go that I'm disappointed in the slowing down already. I also recognize that these feelings as possibly baseless, but that's the whole issue with emotions, they don't necessarily need to make sense.

Whatever the case may be, I don't plan on doing anything but positive things. I'm going to stick with the zone, and I'm going to continue to Crossfit. ...I'm holding off on the push ups as they seem to irritate my shoulders, but they'll be added to the mix soon enough. Also can't wait to see the surgeon on Wednesday.

New rest day

Well, today's WOD was push up intensive (150 push ups for time), but due to my donating of blood I couldn't work out today.

It's funny, doing 150 pushups probably would've rendered my shoulders numb/pain/worsen the tendonitis in them. Andy yet, I feel guilty not attending, even with the fact I'm a pint of blood short of normal. I don't like not working out is equal to a failure on my part. However, in order for me to fully recover the tendonitis in my shoulders I need to give them a rest to fully recover.

I'm also still scared about the possibility of sugury on my hip. As I read about arthroscopic surgury on the hip, I'm finding that this is pretty new. I know the surgeon is starting to come across this injury more and more. He even attended a clinic on this procedure in Janurary. So he might start to see these cases a lot, but I'm still unsure how much experience he's had with clearing up torn labrums in the hip. When I meet the surgeon on Wednesday here are the questions I will have for him:

1) How bad is the tear?
2) What will the surgery be like?
3) How much experience do you have with this?
4) What will the recovery be like?
5) Will I have to miss work?
6) How long will I be in physical therapy?
7) Will I be able to regain my current strength and more?
8) Do you know anything about Prolotherapy?

I'm still looking into prolotherapy, from what I can tell it will help with pain but nothing mechanical. The thing is, it doesn't seem like my problem is mechanical, I just feel a lot of pain. So many questions...

Snatch one rep max

This was going to be my rest day, but when I saw we were working on the snatch I couldn't help myself. Went through the progression and then got a 125 snatch, which is 10 pounds more than the last time we did this in May. I know I have the strength to do way more, but my technique needs quite a bit of work, especially transitioning from the first pull to the second pull. I also jump back a bit more than I should, which carries the bar behind me just enough to not really catch it correctly.

Shoulders felt good afterwards, seems like the snatch doesn't affect them. Really am kind of excited at the thought of no longer having pain in my hip, and if I really do have tendonitis in my shoulders and elbows, some rest could do me some good. Just have to see what the doc says.

Helen

Today was Helen:

3rft
400m run
21 kb swing @53#
12 pull ups

My time was 13:43, about a minute faster than last time I did this in November last year. My running was what really held me back here, felt like I was running in quick sand, I just couldn't figure out how to break through. I'm still figuring out the pose style of running. To be honest, I'm sorely tempted to go back to my old, faster style, but I know better. The heel to toe method gave me the occasional shin splints, something I don't need to add to the list of ailments. I simply need to get better at sprinting pose-style, instead of running pose-style. I might be experiencing short-term losses in performance, but if I want to improve in the long run I must make sure to focus on technique (no pun intended).

The Orthopod took a look at my MRI and said I do indeed have a torn labrum. Am going to a specialist next Wednesday to discuss my options. Not really sure if I want to take 2-3 months off to end the pain in my hip, but I don't have to choose right now. I also think the pain/numbness in my shoulders and elbow stems from acute tendonitis. This is usually fixed by rest, ice, and massage. I plan on taking two weeks off soon, but I think I have one more week in me, although it may be devoid of pushups or pull ups.

Bring on the met-con pain

Well, once again I was one of the last ones to finish. ...Or I miscounted and did way more work than required

5 rft
15 push press (95#)
300m row
45 ab mat

My time was 30:10, but I may have done 6 rounds. I lost track, again. Chris started on the push press while I started on the row. He then passed me twice, so when we were both on the push press and he said he was starting his fifth round, I figured I was just about to start my fourth. ...if anyone cares to check if my logic is correct let me know.

I again felt good about this wod. I never stopped and I really focused on the intensity. I think for the first four rounds I never rowed slower than at a 1:40/500m pace. I decided to kip my sit ups after the first two in an effort to up the intensity, to get this wod done faster. Still, I just don't know what I could've done here to get a sub 25 time here, like I just don't know where I could improve.

The push press took some time, I had to break up the last two sets. Turns out my push press is pretty crummy. Chriss told me, "you know you're really stict pressing that right?" Seems that my jump isn't as violent as it should be. This might help further explain my suckage with Fran: I'm really not push pressing the weight.

Regardless, I was very happy when it was over. My shoulders were fried after this. Fried meaning the felt numb/pain again. I iced afterwards, but they still felt tender afterwards. Perhaps I should have this checked out, or just back off on the shoulder exercises.

Tomorrow I see the Orthopedist on my hip. Today I had the MRI, and after looking at it on my own... I have no idea what could be wrong. Just have to wait.

Cindy getting stronger

Well, this was another metcon, but in the unusual AMRAP format:

20 min AMRAP
3 weighted chin (I did 26#)
5 front squat (a measly 135)
7 clapping push ups

To be totally honest, I'm not sure if I did 7 or 8, but at the time I was leaning towards 8. Coming into this workout, all I could think about was my hip MRI scheduled for the next day. I've noticed a dull throbbing pain in my right hip since last week, and I really want to find out what causing the pain.

Nevertheless, after changing into my workout clothes I did a pretty good job of pushing all of that stuff out of my head. The group warm up helped tremendously. We covered muscle cleans, which lack any re-bend. The purpose of this exercise is to focus on the elbow whip. I was still re-bending when Jerry told me flexing my glutes would help lock down the core and prevent re-bend, and it worked like a charm.

Back to the wod. When I was done with the workout I was puzzled by my low score. I only stopped for a quick drink of water once, which took all of 30 seconds. Other then that, I never really stopped moving. I guess it was the pull ups, as they were the only exercise I had to regurarly break up. I never had to break up the squats, and I only had to break up the push ups for the last two sets. You heard right: I did not have a problem with the clapping pushups.

But back to my puzzlement over my low score. I never really stopped moving, but my low score tells me I was never moving quickly enough. Perhaps I lack intensity? I think when I'm working out I focus on the form and the exercise at hand. Too many times have I lost focus and hurt myself, such as straining my back during deadlift or tearing my rotator cuff with push press.

Regardless of the reason, I think my focus on form prevents me on focusing on intensity, and that is why I do so poorly with met-cons. I don't know if I should slack on my standards or not for met-con. Obviously, I don't want form to deteriate to the point where injuries will occur, but is there really a benefit from lowering my standards on pushups when I workout? I don't feel like there is, except for the sake of raising the intensity of the workout at hand.

Perhaps there is some mindest I need, some game plan that will help me push to not only never stop, but to increase in speed. ...I just feel very slow, if tomorrow is a met con I will try to focus on doing the movements quickly and correctly.

On a brighter note, I think the cleans came very easily to me, and I felt like I did a great job of keeping core tension throughout the squat, and as I pointed out earlier, clapping push ups were not a problem for me.

Friday strength met-con

Friday I decided to run the two miles between work and CFOT. It actually takes about the same time, if not less time, and I figure it will help improve my fitness. I talked to Jerry about it and he reccomend I run about 2-3 times a week, and when my work capacity increses I could up it again. However, Friday I decided to get a ride back to work, I was exhausted after today's workout.

It's been a while since we've done Snatches, which is one of my favorite lifts.

5 rft

12 snatch (75#)
12 pull ups
12 burbees

I think I was again the last one to finish. The fact that I'm usually last doesn't really bother me, it's the fact that I feel like I'm not improving. When Jerry called the start I almost didn't use my legs at all with the snatches. They were such a light weight I could basically back extend it and shrug the weight up. I "flew" through the first twelve, but I noticed that even thought I never stopped, that I went through the snatches as fast as I could, I was one of the last ones to finish the snatches.

Pull ups are something I need to get back to working on. Since going to the fixed bars, I've never been able to get back to find my rhythm to enable me to really bang out a lot of them in a row. But right now, I can only get about 6-10 pullups at a time, as opposed to getting 27 like I did bac in November. I will just have to work on my form I guess.

Burpees suck and still render my left shoulder numb. ...That's all.

Rest day

My goodness I am sore. Seriously, it hurts to laugh or cough, and my pecs are sore to the touch, my lats are starting to feel it as well. Good thing I had planned for today to be a rest day. Also slept for about 11 hours, so I know I got adequate rest. I also plan on getting a massage this week to help with soreness.

One thing I know not to do is to take ibuprofen. I just read a fantastic article from Crossfit Milford, originally posted by crossfit San Francisco, about the effect taking vitamin I. Basically, how Ibuprofen works is that it interferes with inflammation, which is how the body heals itself. As in, repairing muscle tissue you worked so hard to destroy so that it may repair itself to become stronger. So after a long workout if you take some Advil, you will negate any gain you would've made, and probably end up even weaker then before. So whatever you do, DO NOT TAKE IBUPROFEN FOR SORE MUSCLES. Of course, I'm no doctor, so if he/she tells you different obviously do so.

Max Clean & Jerk

Being that I had an appointment with the DO this morning, I had to attend the 7:30 class. I was rather late so I couldn't warm up much, but I don't think that really was a factor. What was a factor was the apparent toll yesterday's WOD took on my shoulders and elbows. They felt tender, and after my third real lift I was in so much pain that I just had to call it quits.

This was a disappointment because after the sucess I had with the clean doubles and jerking 185 three times, I was hoping for a C&J of 195. However, my last rep was at 175 pounds, a paltry 10 pounds more than my previous pr. I will just have to wait for the next time, when I can really push myself.

The pain is very hard to describe, it's a numb/tender/fire feeling. I just wanted to put both of my arms in slings. When I reached up to get my keys from a cubby hole my right elbow and shoulder screamed in pain. Using my forearm muscles to hold the keys sent fire up from my wrist to my shoulder. On the ride home (to get some ice) I could barely hold onto the steering wheel. I'm not the kind of person who freaks out at the first sign of pain, it's the in strangeness of this pain that bothers me. Thankfully, after 20 minutes of icing I showed up at Dr. Craddock's office. He worked on my elbow/shoulders in addition to the back/hip. Seems like it was just a case of acute inflamation, probably from the 150 pushups and 75 pull ups. Anyway, after leaving the DO's my arms felt 100% better.

Tomorrow I'm going to see the Orthopod about my hip. I don't really care if it turns out to be a torn labrum or not, so long as I figure out the cause of the pain in my hip.

As the day progresses, I find my abs and pecs are getting sorer and sorer. ...Just thought I'd share that with you.

push up mania

Today's WOD was a great opportunity for me to work on my weaknesses:

5 rft
15 pull ups
30 push ups
45 ab mat

I was surprised at the difficulty of the pull ups, I needed more focus because I could only bang them out 5 at a time. Not surprisingly, the push ups were difficult, and took up quite a chunk of time. I kept telling myself "just get the next rep done". The ab mats were fairly easy, I made a point to make every rep as perfect as I could, chest out the whole time and what not.

This took me a really long time, I was the last one of the 5pm class to finish at 37:55. It was a little discouraging, still working while the 5:45 class started their warm up. At the last set of pushups I tried to ignore the numbness in my shoulders/elbows and finished it. I think I also slacked a little with the last ab mats and kipped a little with my arms.

With the exception of the pull ups, I don't think I really could've done this any faster. I had the goal to finish as fast as I could constantly in my mind throughout the workout. Regardless, I'm done with it.

Back squat 1 rep max

Wow, I really need to work on core tension.

I watched the video of my last attempt, I hit the bottom tight, but then relaxed on the way up. Despite this, I still finished the rep, so my max is 275. Keeping a tight core is so unatural for me, but it's so key for me to take it to the next level. At work I keep catching myself sitting there with a relaxed core, and that sh*t just don't fly anymore.

Lately I've been feeling like I'm not as dedicated as I once was. I can't point to anything in particular, but I guess I'm not as driven to keep improving my diet as well as my mastery of movements. I'm still strict zoning, and I've recently gone back to the 4-4-2-2-4 because for some reason I no longer as hungry as I once was (go figure).

However, I'm still consuming beans and oats, so I'm still not paleo (no other bread or sugars, however). Also, I've been spotty with the random push ups. However, I now do sets of 20, where I used to do 15. Today I also added 20 ring dips to the mix.

...I know that these things might seem minor to some, but my philosophy is either you're going forward or you're going backwards. So far every time we've repeated a wod I've improved, so it's hard to ask for more then that. However, I want more, and it's starting to bother me that I'm being hesitant to make the choices I need to make in order to keep improving like I have in the past.

I want to become elite, I want to have a sub 5 Fran, I want a 400# deadlift, I want to be able to get 50 double unders in a row, get 5 muscle ups in a row, etc, etc.

Speaking of muscle ups, today I attempted one again, and failed. I've been looking at the vid of me MU'ing for motivation, and tomorrow I am determined to get it again. I don't konw why there's been a month long dry spell when it comes to muscle ups, but the desire to get another one has been amped. I want to do it, I have done it, I will do it again.

Catch up post

Ok, I've been meaning to post about these wod's but didn't find the time.

7/2/09

I did 5 reps of 235 with the back squat, 20#'s more than when we did it a month earlier. Woot.

6/30/09

We worked on cleans. I was really, really dialed in with the first two pulls, but I still need a lot of work on my third pull. I'm willing to bet that once I get a good third pull I'll be cleaning 225 easy

Here is also last friday's wod:

filthy fify:
shoulder strikes @ 16#
wall ball
calorie row
burpee
box jump
kb swing
j slamball
ab mat
push up
jumping 6" above reach (double under sub)

time was 44:46. This one was really tough to push through, I have trouble placing importance on every rep when there are so many of them. This is something I need to work on, or else I don't see how I'll improve on long met-con's like this one. Also, I really, really need to improve my double unders.

Crossfit: A year in review

In May, 2008, I joined crossfit. Unfortunately, it only took a week for me to tear my rotator cuff, putting me on the sidelines. So I consider June 27, 2008 to be my first real day of crossfit. It's now been over a year, so I'd like to take this time to look back at where I came from, where I'm at, and where I'm going.

Crossfit, the early months

While healing from the tear, I learned about the zone diet and was able to strict zone for a couple months. However, I fell out of shape anyway. Well, that's not really accurate because it implies I was in shape in the first place. I was soft, I was the product of isolation exercises like leg press, bicep curls, and lat pull downs. I could leg press 600 pounds ten times, but I had no core strength whatsoever.

Well, crossfit changed all that. My first workout back was a severely scaled Badger, 2 rounds with only 45 pounds for the squat clean. Although the 5pm class was only three days a week, the first month seemed to result in drastic change. When Kristin came to visit after the first month, she stared at me for a good five minutes while driving her from the airport. When I asked her why, she commented that she had forgotten how good looking I was. Truth be told, I think it was the changes in my physique were significant enough that she could see it in my face.

At that time Jerry seemed to have more of an attachment to the morning classes, most of the pictures he posted on the cite were taken in the morning, and he rarely mentioned any 5pmers accomplishments on the site. I now attribute this to many things, namely there were only three 5pm classes, and the fact that the 5pm class was the last class of the day, so by that time everyone already knew what the WOD was and any news or photos would be redundant, but at the time I felt a little left out. For example, when it was Jerry's birthday he took photos with the morning classes, but not the 5pm class. I tried to go to some mornings, but mornings and me just don't mix, no matter how hard I tried. I also (and this is where I think my own insecurities messed with my head) felt like I was caught in some limbo with regards to coaching. I felt because of my false start in May I was considered more of a vet and thus focus was paid to the other new, but unfamiliar, faces. I also felt because I was weak I never lifted enough weight to deserve notice. I felt accepted, just not respected. In order to gain some sort of aknowledgement, I decided that I would simply have to progress to the point where everyone would have to recognize me and acknowledge my dedication and achievement.

However, I think attending crossfit three, sometimes four days a week, was preventing me from going to the next level. I had improved, but I was still consistenly one of the slowest in the class. In order to really progress, I made it a point to never back away from doing the workout Rx'd, even if it took me forever. The first time I did Fran I did it Rx'd, even though it took me almost 20 minutes. Sometimes it was a little embarassing to see so many people blow by me in workouts, that I really was that out of shape. But I knew the only way to really improve was to do the work, and that's what I did, albeit sometimes slowly.

The fall/winter of 08: Zone, Sleep, Crossfit

In November CFOT expanded its 5pm crossfit class to five days a week, I was excited and I took full advantage. I was working out 5-6 times a week, and still staying on the zone. I experienced soreness like I never had before, but after the second week my body started to get used to it. However, I think I went from doing too little to doing too much. I never really gave myself time to recover, and although I was still seeing some improvements, it seemed to be slowing down even more than the three-a-weeks.

But I was improving, and I felt like I was starting to become part of the group. December also saw a rather long streak of morning attendence. I was still zoning, and I was still working out, but I just didn't feel like I was where I should be. I think my body was still trying to get used to lifting heavy weights, still searching for proper form, as I was constantly dealing with pains in my back, hip and ankle. Thankfully seeing a D.O. was exactly what I need for my hip bursitis, and after some time my back began to feel better, and the ankle was helped by pose running in my vibram five fingers.

I also felt like once I could attend 5-6 times a week my dedication was beginning to be appreciated, that I was spending enough time with the crossfiters to feel like I was more a part of the group. ...I'm willing to fully admit this was all in my head, but I want to mention this because I still had the desire to feel acknowledged, to feel like I had improved to the point where I was deserving of the respect of the CFOT elite. It was this motivation that drove me to make every workout count, to push as hard as I thought possible.

Phase three: dialing in

Starting in late January, I started taking more rest days and started eating more cheat meals.
Strangely, I started to see improvement with this. I think I realized when to push my body and when to let it recover. After all, the body only gets stronger when you're resting, the workout only causes a break down of the body. I also started eating a little bit more, and once I decided to just run with the idea of getting bigger and weighing more, my body has been responding beautifully.

My form also started improving dramatically, partially because my experience finally started paying off, partially because of the Olympic lift certification class. My improved form lead to less injuries, which meant I could really start to push myself, which meant I could get stronger, which meant the exercises were starting to become more manageable. I finally built up the strength/technique to allow me to muscle up!!! (Still get pumped when I think about it)

It is around this time where I started to feel confident enough to finally realize that I was a respected member of CFOT. Looking back I don't think people didn't respect my efforts, it was the fact my self-image hadn't changed from when I first walked into the blue room for the first time. I hadn't realized how strong I had become, I hadn't realized what I am capable of.

I'm looking forward to the road that lays ahead and what's in store for me. There are two possible medical obstacles: my shoulder and my hip. Tears in the rotator cuff never heal, you just strengthen the muscle to the point where there isn't any pain. However, as I learn new movements, like the muscle up, sometimes my shoulder flairs up and can render my left arm immobile. Sometimes I wonder if it makes sense to have surgery to repair the tear.

My hip is still a bit of a mystery. Although it no longer feels like it's on fire all the time, I still experience pain when I squat. Because it still clicks when I bring my knee to my chest and back down, my DO thinks I might have a torn labrum, like what A-Rod had. I plan on getting an MRI or some diagnosis, and if I do have a torn labrum I will first try prolotherapy, provided by my DO. If that doesn't work, I might get surgery. Understandibly, I'm a little hesitant about the idea of the sugery and then having to take three months off in recovery. I mean, I've been doing pretty well so far. However, the idea of being able to squat without pain seems like only a dream right now, so I might end up willing to do it.

I also really, really, really want to consistently find the mental fortitude to push through long met cons. I'm all about lifting heavy weight, but I have yet to find something to consistently push me. However, I think once Jerry shifts us from strength to endurance I will have more opportunities to find something. I really, really want that six pack, and as I tweak my diet, I am confident that I will get there.

I consider myself extremely lucky to find crossfit, it's given me purpose, friends, and a sense of belonging. This past year has been great, and I look forward to many, many more to come.

Finally, a met-con

I'm seeing a pattern here at CFOT
Mon: Fran or some variant (interval or gymnastic)
Tues: Deadlift or clean (lower body strength)
Wednesday: Met-con
Thursday: Upper body strength
Friday: Still not sure (met con again?)

Anyway, today kept with precedent and today was a met-con:

3rft
400 m sprint
50 squats

Simple, but deadly. My legs felt like mush after the first set, got it done in 18:24. I need to revisit the squat, my hip flexors felt weak and fatigued quickly.

Tried the extra afterwards, which included 3 minutes of doing maximum double unders. I think I got four total, I just need to work on timing. Dayna, on the other hand, rocked the house and nailed 100 du's in a row.

deadlift max

Given that every muscle in my body except for my hamstrings are sore, this wod made sense. This was an exciting day for me since I feel like I'm getting very strong very quickly right now, and although I didn't reach my goal I did get a pr. My goal was 315, and I hit 295. That's a 30 pound increase over my 3 rep max. I think I have at least 300 in me, I just upped the weight by too much (again).

The idea of not being intimidated by 225 (two "plates" on each side of the bar) and even being excited at the prospect of lifting something 315 is getting more and more familiar. I know throughout my time here at crossfit I find my mental game lagging behind my physical game: I always think I'm weaker then what I actually am. Thankfully these past two-three months have been injury free as my body is finally starting to get used to these exercises. Combining this with accepting that I am probably more of a fast-twitch muscle guy, and my slight increase in zone blocks, and have resulted in gains at a pace that might match my first month of crossfit.

I feel good, and I'm really looking forward to cranking things up this month, should be fun.


Future blog post topics (this is more for me than you readers):
finishing my first year of crossfit
the highlights of last week's wods
Diet and motivation

gymnastic Fran

Today's wod:

15-12-9
Thrusters @115#
muscle ups (alt is ring dips + pull ups)

I did three attempts on the muscle ups, and all three times I got myself into a deep ring dip position, and three times I couldn't hold onto it for the finish. This was on one hand very frustrating, but on the other hand this was the closest I've been to getting a MU in a while. So I did the alternate workout, and this was a very tough one for me. My time was 24:something. I don't know why these execises take up so much time, but they do.

The thrusters were very difficult for me, but near the end I started to figure out why. For one, I was having a real tough time keeping a tight core throughout the motion. Jerry pointed out that I wasn't keeping a tight core. This can still be tough for me, but I'm still unhappy with how much wind these things suck out of me. Secondly, Danny pointed out that my rack was inefficient. I was keeping my elbows down, but that prevented me from letting the bar tough my shoulders. Because of this dicconnect of the bar and my body, I couldn't readily transfer the energy from my body to the bar. This, in turn, forced me to press the weight overhead. When changed my form to more of a front squat rack, the thrusters had more of a pop and were easier.

Kind of sad to say, but I could only bang out 5 ring dips at a time in the begining, and it got worse as time went on. I did not allow myself to count shallow dips (although there were many of those) until the last set. My chest was just so tired I simply couldn't get back up once I lowered myself to a low dip. ...Although I've been doing random sets of pushups throughout the day, I think I need to step this up even more. I would like to try to get at least 10 dips a day.

On another note, I am now adding 100 ab mat situps to the end of the workout. these used to be easy for me, but now they are difficult.

I would also like to improve my Double unders. Right now I can occasionally get one for every five regular jumps. ...Just when you figure something out there's always something else to learn.