tweaked my neck/back

So I woke up Wednesday to some horrific neck pain. There were some huge knots in my back, right inside the shoulder blade. These knots were causing some extreme pain, like breathing in deeply made my neck feel like it was on fire. This was aweful, and a disappointement because I really wanted to attend CFAH's wod today (Cindy).

Hoped that just rest will help, but just in case I called and got a massage for Thursday.

Woke up on Thursday and it was almost worse. Got the massage, and it helped some. Also went to a sporting good store and got a softball to roll around on. Both seemed to help some, but in the evening things got very, very painful. Felt like I was an old man/person with whiplash. I couldn't move my neck at all without pain.

Woke up today and am pretty much pain free. Thankfully since this was acute it could also go away quickly. When I roll around on the softball I hear this sound, kind of like a crack or a pop. I think it's the sound of the muscles releasing, at least I hope it is. I think working out today would be a bit much, but I'm doing pushups and when I walk around I practice taking in big breaths and flexing my abs.

I feel like after all the progress I've made all this nonactivity is slowing me down and starting to set me back. However, there is life outside of crossfit, and there are other things in my life that are important to me.

Snatch work and knees to elbows

So appearently the programming is set to prep the atheletes here for one of the game competitions. For that reason, they're doing more skill work with some light amrap.

Tuesday's wod was:

1 rep snatch work

followed by

3 min AMRAP Knees to elbows
1 min rest
3 min AMRAP unanchored situps

I think my score on the metcon was something like 73, my grip strength was def the weak point for the knees to elbows. The whole time my hands were on fire.

Once again I only got up to 135 with the snatch. I simply can't get under the bar fast enough, all I seem to do is power snatch it. I mean, I like the fact I can power snatch 135, but I should've worked on diving under the bar, only allowing myself full squat snatches.

Animated Gifs post

Ok I've been having so much fun making animated gifs of people lifting, I think I'll make this post a sticky of sorts, adding to it as I make more of them.

Here's one of me hang cleaning 195:




I'm pretty proud of this one. If you are friends of mine on facebook, you can see my frame by frame analysis of what is going on.

Here's one of Katy rowing, check it out!




Will add more later.

Scaled back met con for my weak chest

Thurs is usually my rest day, but when I saw this I HAD to come in:

20 min AMRAP
9/6 ring dips
9 push press @ 115#
9 burbees

My chest is so weak I had to work this, plus we haven't done ring dips in a long while. Not to mention PP is a weakness of mine (kills me in FGB).

I scaled it down to 6 dips, because I knew they were going to get hard quick. for the first round I did the Rx'd weight of 115, but in the second round I missed like three times in a row so I scaled it down to 95. Managed to get 6 rounds flat in. The dips got very, very difficult as I struggled to maintain good form. My chest simply has no endurance whatsoever, I need to get back to doing push ups on the regular.

Near the end I started to find some semblance of a proper push press. Most of the time I was using my shoulders WAY too much, but near the end I found a way where the shoulders hardly did any work. That's what I need, because they just can't do it.

Saw Olga and it was wonderful, she worked on all kinds of knots in my body, and my Illiopsoas was tiiiiight. She worked on it and afterwards when I stood up she commented that I was no longer tilted with my right pelvis higher up than my left. I feel sooo much better, I desperately needed this.

Back squat with chains

So we did this wod two Saturdays ago, where I did 205#s and I was sore for the next week.

7 rounds
2 back squats with chains in 3 minutes

This time I did 215 and am not experiencing any soreness. Don't get me wrong the reps near the end were getting tough, but I think maybe I should've hit 225 with the two big wheels.

Not much more to say on this one, to be honest it feels a lot like my old workouts in the globo gym, when it was leg day. (of course, I was using the leg press machine instead of a back squat.)

Snatch, L-sit, and running

I really like L-sit pullups, mostly because I can do them where there are many who seem to have trouble.

5 rounds

10 Lsit pull ups

6 power snatch

400m run

Again, the problem here was running. I went with the pro weight because I wasn't sure if 135# would give me problems, during the warm up I was having some difficulty with 115. However, as the rust fell off I was starting to really feel myself diving under the bar. There's a certain snap in the wrist as I go from over the bar to under, and I didn't find that until like the last round. Here's a pic of me during the wod, I need to work on my tan.

Concerning my hip, the sucker really is starting to bug me, but thankfully I'm seeing Olga on Thursday, so it will hopefully become a non-issue. On the first L-Sit I felt something click/clunk back into place in my hip, and it's been a long time since my hip has needed to click back into place. I also have a HUGE knot in my shoulder/trap. I've been working on it throughout the day for like a week now, and that sucker is paaaaaiiiinful. Hope Olga can work on that as well.

Monday, Handstand work

So the wod was to walk as far as you can for 12 min, on your hands!

If you couldn't do that, then you had to work on a freestanding handstand. I had to work on the freestanding part. It was difficult because the guy who was spotting me was grabbing my ankles with his whole hand. Because I was getting sensory feedback from all around my ankles, I couldn't figure out if I was leaning too far forward or backwards. I tried telling this to him but I couldn't put it into words, so he didn't really undestand me. So although I did make some progress I was annoyed pretty much the whole time.

We had a conditioner afterwards, and it was all exercises that favor tall people

12 min ARAP
200m row
15 box jumps
50 feet walking lunges

Rowing was easy, box jumps I found a really fast rythem, and the lunges were where I could ignore the pain. I got 4.3 rounds in, felt good about that.

Saturday, power cleans met con

If I had to pick only one lift as my favorite lift, it would be the power clean. I guess that's the one where I feel like I can hang with the big dogs because my technique is pretty advanced (still room for improvment though, as always.) Saturday's wod:

5 rounds

5 power cleans @ 155#

10 burpees

200m run

Jerry used me as an example for the power clean. In order to show the importance of opening up the grip as you recieve the bar, he asked me to keep my fists closed, with the expectation that trouble would occur. ...I suprised him by being able to do it without a problem. Yay for shoulder flexability! Thanks to all that self-massage and all those dr.s I saw, flexability is not a huge issue for me (still have tight hamstrings though)

Anyways, the cleans were fun, but I was having trouble doing touch and go. I didn't enjoy the ride down, if you will, so I kept dropping the bar. Need to work on this so I can get faster.

The burpees are getting easier and easier, even though I'm not doing those random pushups as much as I should, I seem to be improving in this area.

The run, however, sucked balls. Now that I'm around 205, I'm not as near as light on my feet as I was when I was weighing in at 170, those extra 35#s are just slowing me down. But Crossfit is all about balance, and if I weighed 170 I doubt I would be anywhere as near as strong as I am now with regards to my max lifts.

I'm still doing the whole pose thing, but I'm finding it tough to kick it into a high gear with that form. Everytime I sprint, I end up feeling my legs starting ot really reach out ahead of me, instead of catching myself as I run forward. There's a running cert at CFOT, I thought about attending it but the $600 needed is a bit much for where I'm at right now.

Cindys and push press max

Today was a weird wod:

6 min Cindy

18 min find 1 rep push press max

6 min Cindy

So the first Cindy I was a bit slow, managed to get 5 rounds and some change. I was a bit slow on the pushups. I should also note that my hamstrings were SORE when I squatted. Again, perhaps I should've had an early rest day. Then again, perhaps I just need to push through to raise the tolerance of what my body can take. Not sure, it was a tough call. I also haven't been sleeping as much as usual this week thanks to a new schedule I'm trying to implement, and I think this is slowing down my recovery. Also, I plan on purchasing Under Amour recharge pants, they are suppose to help with recovery.

So now it's push press time. I was excited because the push press is a lift where my weak abs would cause a severe arch in my back, and now that I'm using my abs more I wanted to see how much better I'd fair. I managed to get up to 165, which is 10# more than what I was able to snatch grip press three months ago. I'm not sure how the two lifts compare, but I'll take it.

For the earlier part of this year, I've had a bit of a set back with the weight I've been able to lift as I relearn the lifts with the abs engaged. I know it's for the better, which is why I do it, but I still hunger to make every day a PR day. I think I'm now getting to the point where the abs are catching up with the rest of my body, so I can now break through the plataus I was previously experiencing.

Last week I jerked 200#s, and to be honest it felt light, but I was too excited to really push myself any more since 200 was my goal. The rush of breaking a PR is so addicting, I was litterally jumping up and down after that Jerk. With the push press I didn't have a goal, so when I hit 165 I didn't feel that rush, now I know better. It's all about goal setting and focus with me.

I feel like my body is really starting to respond now to the improvement in form, and I can't wait to see where I go from here.

Concerning the second Cindy, I was blazing through the rounds, I even did some rounds with the butterfly kip. For the first round my pushups were unbroken and perfect. Once my chin/chest/hips touched the floor I exploded upwards so quickly that my palms left the floor for each rep. I only started to slow down near the end, but I got either 6.5 or 7.5 rounds in, waaay more than the first one. Not having to stop felt great, I'd like to feel that more often.

I'm improving, and I feel great about it.

Snatch and double under couplet

I think I should've made today a rest day i was so sore, but when I saw this wod I really wanted to partake in it:

7 rounds
7 snatches (95#)
21 double unders

Did this is 11:35 I think, the snatch wasn't hard, but it was hard to go quickly. By the time I had finished my first 7 snatches, I think Joel had started his second round. Ouch. The double unders were not that difficult, I can now easily get chunks of 10, where I used to have trouble getting 2 consistently.

The speed of the snatches kind of bothers me, I didn't want to do true touch and go because I wanted to make sure I engaged my abs, but I imagine I should be getting to the point where it should be more natural for me.

Also did weighted pull ups, got up to 58#s. Don't think that's a PR, but I'm happy with it.

It has been a really long time, but my hip is now hurting, going to see if I can have an emergency Olga session tomorrow.

Hang clean, and an announcement

So my new apt finally has internet access, I'll try to be faithful to the blog again.

Walking in to the gym today hurt, my legs were fried from the Saturday's wod (lots of back squatting 205 with chains). Despite this, Jerry had a strength wod for us:

Hang clean x 1

the hang clean has been a tough one for me, mostly because it would strain my lower back muscles. However, this was because last time I hang cleaned I wasn't using my abs, it was all lower back. I was excited to try it out with using my abs.

My soreness was pretty bad, so I didn't really want to push myself. However, I got up to 195 and nailed it. Well, I say nailed it, but in fact my right hand slipped out so I just caught the bar with the rack position. It wasn't a problem, but it wasn't pretty. I have pictures, but I can't find the connector cable for the camera, so whenever I have them I'll post them.

Speaking of camera, today at the 12:30 class I got caught up in trying to help others out with their hang clean. I hit 195, but I never felt pressure/need to go up in weight until I fail. Possibly because of the soreness, I was more eager to help others out. Near the end of the class I realized I wasn't working out anymore, that I was coaching, so I did the met-con afterwards:

10 min AMRAP
9 KB swings (heavy!)
8 burbees

For today, heavy was 54#. I wanted a lighter weight so that I could work on keeping my abs tight and prevent my back from tightening up. I also used the knowledge of using light weight to motivate me to really push myself, I got up to 7.5 rounds, I think.

Burbees are becoming much more managable, I should start doing random sets of 20 pushups instead of 15.

I also have an anouncement to make: I'm now officially a coach here at CFOT. Right now I'm only shadowing Melissa on Monday nights, and I have to say I love it. Right now I'm at the point where I can tell what's wrong, but sometimes have difficulty relating it simply so that it is understood.

I'm not sure how I feel about blogging about my coaching expereince because it involves other people, and they might not want their experiences made public (even if I keep their identity private).

I would like to post some pictures of people's attempts with analysis, as well as make some more animated gifs (those are fun). However right now time is a bit tight for me, still figuring out the new digs as well as catching up on work.

Regardless, expect to see more regular postings here.

Back Squat with Chains

Just like the rappers, I was busting out with the chains today. They brag about 5ct, well I used 40#s. It really was a weird experience, but it was pretty cool.

Back squat:
3 rep max

I got up to 225, then tried 245 but only got one rep. I was going up in such small increments by the time I hit that weight I was tired. I was conservative about the weight since this was my first time working with the chains, but to be honest what they work on is something I don't seem to have a problem with. Ever since I starting thinking of going slow down and fast up, I think I've done a great job of moving the bar up and down.

...On a slightly different if not relevant note, I've moved into an new apartment. This is relevant because I don't have internet until Thursday. So for the past two weeks I've been blogging either at work or in the commons area. I'll be a lot more regular with the entries once I can blog in the comfort of my own home.