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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Jul 30 WOD: Chipper sandwich

Why am I seeing more and more of these chippers?!

For time (30 minute cap):

Buy in: 50 double unders

50 front squats (Rx: 95/65; Elite: 115/85)
40 push press (Rx: 95/65; Elite: 115/85)
30 back squat (Rx: 95/65; Elite: 115/85)
20 strict press (Rx: 95/65; Elite: 115/85)
10 thrusters (Rx: 95/65; Elite: 115/85)

Cash out: 50 double unders

I think the buy in and cash out of DUs are the coaches' way of telling us to practice them consistently. Something that I know I must but don't do. Which makes me all the more nervous about the throwdown.

I'm teamed up with Ian and Jerwin, who I might mention are total beasts. Like they could go Big Rx if they wanted to. And I don't like the pressure that being teamed with really strong guys puts on the lone girl member of each team! I get anxiety attacks every time I see a facebook post or a tweet by CFMNL about the throwdown.

Gulp!!!
(Image credit: @CFMNL on twitter)
Anyway. My score for the WOD: 23.21 (55 lbs)

Monday, July 29, 2013

Jul 29 WOD: Baby Nancy

The 2013 CrossFit Games is in the books and Rich Froning was crowned the fittest man on earth for the third time, while Sam Briggs earned the right to be called the fittest woman on earth. The weekend was a blur of seemingly impossible workouts. One of them involved what was called an iditarod, which the athletes harnessed themselves to and dragged across the field. I'm not sure how much it weighs but I seem to recall hearing the commentators say that it's around 250 lbs. It's almost unreal what these athletes are asked to do, but they still do it, and do it well!

Kaleena Ladeairous on the iditarod
(Photo credit: CrossFit Games)
A. Barbell gymnastics

Snatch complex EMOM x 10 (touch and go)

1 power snatch
2 snatch balance
1 squat snatch

B. Metcon: Baby Nancy

3 RFT (12 minute cap)

400m run
15 overhead squats (95/65)

I used only 45 lbs for the snatch complex. Your score for the complex is the total weight you carried for all the rounds you successfully completed. I failed one round. And I wasn't able to finish all 3 rounds of the metcon within the time cap. Another DNF.

My score: 405 (snatch complex); 2 + 400m run

Garret Fisher (aka Clark Kent) during the log carry portion
of the Burden Run event
(Photo credit: CrossFit Games)

Friday, July 26, 2013

Jul 26 WOD: Partner WOD

Well, I never thought I'd find older men attractive but I changed my mind when I saw all those fit masters athletes in the CrossFit Games. I watched a footage of a woman in her late 50s doing a clean and jerk with 135 lbs. Just. Wow. I hope I'll still be setting PRs when I'm in my 50s!

A. SWOD

Split jerk 5 x 2 (70%)

B. Metcon

PWOD

50 hand stand push ups
60 kettlebell swings (32/24)
70 toes to bar
80 wall balls (20/14)

We had to clean the bar off the ground for the split jerks so I didn't go too heavy.

I partnered with Helen and for the first time since I did Open workout 13.3, I used a 7 kg ball. It turns out that using a rubber ball instead of the big, soft ones makes a difference. Rhona and I had already practiced doing wall balls using those 7 kg balls so today's WOD didn't seem too daunting. I just had a hard time with the knees to elbow (since I was scaling).

My score: 75 (split jerk); 14:04 (16 kg/14 kg)

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Jul 25 WOD: Throwback Thursday

I was in the box area super early but I decided to while away the time in the office. It was only then that I checked the WOD and saw that we were doing Open workout 12.1 again. As if doing it once in your life isn't enough.

A. SWOD

Clean complex EMOM x 10

Dead lift
Power clean
Front squat
Squat clean

B. Metcon

7 minutes AMRAP burpees

These were my sets for the clean complex: 75 x 3; 85 x 5; 95 x 2. The score is the total weight multiplied by the number of successful sets you did. Lucky me, I was able to complete all 10 sets. For the metcon I aimed to do 10 burpees per minute so I could at least get 70. When I did this last year I only got 54, and we had to touch an overhead target that was 6" away from our fingertips. This time there was no target but we still had to bring our hands together to complete one rep.

Just so you know

My score: 840 (clean complex); 76

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Jul 23 WOD: Something new

Dmitry Klokov is a Russian weightlifter who recently became popular in the CrossFit community because of his YouTube channel. He has tons of videos of his training and apparently, even though I don't understand a lick of Russian, he incorporates some CrossFit style training in what he does. So when I saw that the SWOD was called "Klokov Press," I had an idea of what we were going to do.

A. SWOD

Klokov press 4 x 8 (50% of strict press)

B. Metcon

OTM x 10

3 muscle ups
1 hang power clean (Rx: 135/115; Elite: 185/135)

The Klokov press starts with the bar on your back and your hands in a wide grip position then you do a strict press. For the metcon, I did kneeling muscle ups. And to make up for not being able to press 45 lbs, I went for a heavier weight for the cleans.

After the WOD, I practiced doing wall balls, double unders, and stringing together knees to elbows (my knees and elbows just won't meet!).

My score: 40 (Klokov press); 95 (HPC)

Monday, July 22, 2013

Jul 22 WOD: Ladder

People are still talking about last Saturday's box party, or what they remember about it anyhow. With the way Coach Bets was handing out shots, I'm pretty sure not a few went home hammered.

But today is Monday. Although it was difficult, I managed to convince myself to work out this morning.

A. SWOD

Overhead squat 5 x 3 (70%) with 3-second pause at the bottom

B. Metcon

Ascending ladder of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10...

Burpees
Double unders

I didn't want to go heavy with the OHS so I went with 45 lbs. It was a good exercise to practice not just the OHS but also the snatch. During the metcon, it was with the burpees that I struggled with. Surprisingly, I was able to do most of the DU sets unbroken. Whew!

My score: 45 (OHS); 16 + 5 burpees

Before the mayhem

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Jul 20: Kapitolyo vs. Libis mini-throwdown

Coach Matt sent some of the Libis people a last-minute invite to come to the Kapitolyo box for a friendly mini-throwdown, supposedly to give the other box a feel of how a throwdown feels like. At first I thought it was going to be all fun and games, and then I started feeling the stress when we arrived early. The aircon was busted and since there aren't any windows at the box, at some point it became too hard to breathe (or was it just the stress?).

The WOD was a 3-person team relay (30 minute time cap):

Grace
30 clean and jerks (95/65 lbs)

Helen
3 rounds
400m run
21 kettlebell swings (16/12 kg)
12 pull ups

Karen
150 wall balls (7/5 kg)

I was teamed up with Macky and Albright and among the three of us, we decided that I'll do Grace, Macky will do Helen, and Albright will do Karen. Since the box was small, the teams were divided into two heats, and our team was part of the first heat. Just before we started, I realized that I was the only girl doing Grace! But I'll take Grace any time over Helen or Karen. Those are just eewww.

There was a running clock and I finished doing Grace in 3:40; Macky finished Helen in 18:04; and Albright finished Karen in 29:11.

Sadly, Libis lost. Three Kapitolyo teams won and only two Libis teams won. Cry. We just consoled ourselves at the box party in the evening.


Friday, July 19, 2013

Jul 19 WOD: Diane

It's been a long time since my calves have felt sore, and I guess it was the tuck jumps yesterday that's the culprit -- I very rarely do tuck jumps.

A. SWOD

Front squat 20RM (70% of 1RM)

B. Metcon: Diane

21-15-9

Dead lifts (235/155)
Handstand push ups

When I saw the SWOD, I remembered coming in early one morning and watching Charles crank out his 20RM thrusters. I'm just glad that we did front squats, not thrusters. Tere and I shared a bar and we started with 80 lbs. We thought we were done after we finished one set of 20 reps, then Coach Jordan said  we should add weight if we were able to complete the 20 reps because we should continue to work to failure. I thought he was kidding because, believe you me, 20 reps is a lot.

The metcon wasn't so bad. I got pressured into using 135 lbs for the DL like Helen and Tere and I did pike push ups instead of HSPUs.

After the WOD, Rhona and I practiced doing wall balls with the 7 kg ball then the knees to elbows in preparation for the throwdown. Eep!!!

My score: 85 (front squat 20RM); 7:43 (135/pike)

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Jul 17 WOD: Tabata style

The site said that today's WOD was Hope, but when I got there the WOD on the board was different. And Nickey said it was worse than Hope!

Tabata style:

Thrusters (65/45)
Tuck jumps
Hang squat clean (65/45)
Sumo dead lift high pull (65/45)
Snatch balance (65/45)

When you do a tabata workout, you do each movement for 8 sets of 20 seconds working/10 seconds rest, so that's a total of 4 minutes each movement. Since there were 5 movements the workout was 20 minutes long. That's 20 freakin' minutes of intensity, because you don't really get to rest during the 10 seconds in between. You're still catching your breath when the coach yells, "Next round! Get ready!" And you're like, what??


I used the prescribed 45 lb weight. Tuck jumps almost killed me. This is one of those WODs where a pinprick of self-doubt creeps in while you're doing something that hurts, and it makes you want to throw in the towel. But I found out that those voices could be silenced by picking up the bar and just going back to work.

Thanks to Rhona for the photo

Post-WOD, we rewarded ourselves with the shepherd's pie I'd brought and the assorted cheesecakes that Greg brought. He's the guy behind Cheesecakes by Guy and he brought chocolate, blueberry, and layered apple spice cheesecake. He had us road test the blueberry and apple spice cheesecake he'll be introducing soon, and we were his happy guinea pigs.

My score: 234 total reps (Rx)

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Jul 16 WOD: Not Rx enough

Today is 1RM squat clean and jerk day. Wooo! Coz you know how much I love the C&J.

A. SWOD (20 minutes)

Squat clean and jerk 1RM

B. Metcon

12 minutes AMRAP

7 power clean and jerk (135/95)
14 front squat (135/95)
200m run

I was able to do 105 lbs for the squat clean and jerk. I attempted 110 and although I was able to clean it I failed at the jerk.

Coach Jordan wanted me to go Rx for the metcon and I agreed to try. I knew it was going to be challenging because it's one thing to use 95 lbs for strength WODs; it's another thing to use the same weight in a metcon. Anyway, I was able to get in about 4 or 5 reps when I asked Coach to let me use a lower weight. I felt that it would be reckless of me to continue doing that and let my form deteriorate just so I could say that I did the WOD as Rx'd.

My score: 105 (squat clean and jerk); 1 + 14 front squats (75)

Monday, July 15, 2013

Jul 15 WOD: BBG and a snatch sandwich

I was wondering what BBG meant on the site where the WOD was posted. It wasn't until Coach Jordan explained the SWOD did I find out what it meant. We were doing the hang snatch and it was taking us some time to get it (especially the part when you catch it in a full squat). He said what we were doing were called barbell gymnastics. Ohhh. I get it now.

A. Barbell gymnastics (BBG)

Hang snatch 8 x 2 (65%)

B. Metcon (15 minute cap)

5 rounds of Cindy:

5 pull ups
10 hand-release push ups
15 air squats

Then:

10 hang power snatch (135/95)

Then, 5 rounds again of Cindy:

5 pull ups
10 hand-release push ups
15 air squats

I used 45 lbs for both the SWOD snatch and metcon snatch, and I did ring rows instead of pull ups. For the second 5-round Cindy, I kinda lost count of the number of rounds I had completed -- yes, even with the whiteboard! So just in case I had counted wrong, I did another round.

My score: 45; 13:49

Friday, July 12, 2013

Jul 12 WOD: Dead lift couplet

As if yesterday wasn't bad enough, another challenging WOD was in store for us today.

For time (15 minute cap):

21-15-9

Dead lift (235/155)
Overhead squats (135/95)

If you think about it, it's just 45 reps of each movement. But I started to feel my back muscles tightening about halfway through the second set. On the third and last set, I made myself do both the dead lifts and the OHS unbroken. I just wanted to get it over and done with!

After the WOD, we were rewarded with Nickey's spaghetti (her birthday treat) and Albright and Maig's chocolate Guinness cupcakes with vanilla bean Irish cream cheese frosting (whew!).

My score: 11:29 (125/55)

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Jul 11 WOD: Open test

In our group, rumors of the next day's WOD spread like wild fire. It's not that we want to know so we could avoid doing it if we thought it was going to be hard, but it's more of wanting to be mentally prepared for what's going to happen. Right. As if it's ever possible to be mentally prepared for WODs. Anyway, yesterday Gigay told us that Coach Pau warned her to prepare for today's workout because "it's going to be a killer." And when Coach Pau says that, you better believe it.

So, this was what was waiting for us today...

For time (20 minute time cap):

50 wall balls (20/14)
50 double unders
40 box jumps (24/20)
40 toes to bar
30 burpees
30 chest to bar pull ups
20 power cleans
20 jerks
10 snatch
10 muscle ups


They said this is going to be used as a benchmark, and Charles even said that they're going to make us do this again later this year. Ewww. It has all the classic CrossFit movements in one WOD. I knew (was it that I knew, or did I simply decide?) that I wouldn't make it to the cleans so I didn't even bother setting up a bar.

My score: 13 CTB (6 kg for wall balls/20" for box jumps/blue band for CTB)

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Jul 9 WOD: Maximum effort

It was the squat cleans that made a comeback today. We couldn't help but speculate that these are the kinds of WODs we'll see at the throwdown.

A. SWOD

Squat clean 8 x 2 (75%+ of 1RM)

B. Metcon

5 rounds

30 seconds max effort burpees
30 seconds rest
30 seconds kettlebell swings (32/24 kg)
30 seconds rest
30 seconds sit ups
30 seconds rest

I was going to use 85 lbs for the squat cleans but then Coach Jordan saw me warming up, and he remarked that I'd be able to do 95 lbs so I took his advice. The thing about the squat clean is you need to be able to front squat the weight you're going to clean. Which is why I prefer the power clean.

For the metcon I used the 24 kg kettlebell for the first time. Good thing we were asked to do Russian swings (swing up to eye level) instead of overhead swings. I kept getting off balance the first few reps of the first set, but I finally found my groove in the succeeding sets. I also tried doing burpees the way Trish does it, which is to finish by touching the tips of the fingers behind the head instead of clapping. Maybe it was just my imagination but it felt more efficient.

My score: 95 lbs (squat clean); 194 total reps Rx

Monday, July 8, 2013

Jul 8 WOD: Snatch triplet

It seems double unders are making a comeback at the box. Until last week, it had been quite a while since we did them during a WOD. Before the warm up, Coach Jordan told me to fix my double unders so I could join one of the "competitive" teams for the throwdown. But, but, but Coach, I just wanna join one of the "fun" teams!

A. SWOD

Overhead squat 3 x 5 (60 to 70% of 1RM)

B. Metcon

15 minutes AMRAP

10 power snatch (95/75)
20 push ups
50 double unders


I shared a bar with Helen for the SWOD. For the metcon I almost used an empty 45 lb bar for the snatch, but Coach Jordan needled me into adding weight, so I did. I'm an obedient girl. But it was those DUs that slowed me down again.

My score: 60 (OHS); 2 + 11 DUs (55)

Friday, July 5, 2013

Jul 5 WOD: Squats and burpees

There was no SWOD today. What we did have was a PWOD -- partner WOD. I guess the WOD-maker figured we'd need a break from the past 2 weeks' 1RMs.

For time (23 minutes time cap)

30 back squats (70% of 1RM)
40 burpees
30 back squats (60%)
40 burpees
30 back squats (50%)
40 burpees
30 back squats (40%)

Only one person at a time should be working, and we could divide the reps any which way we wanted. I got paired with Helen and we agreed that we'd split the number of reps evenly. I was able to do the 20 burpees unbroken only on the first set. Those goshdarn burpees! It didn't help that the squats had made my legs heavy. Although I did have an epiphany while doing those burpees (apparently, that's possible)... it's possible to ride out your tiredness by letting your breathing dictate your rhythm. Wow. Must experiment on this further.

Our score: 18:36 (85/75/60/50)

And in other news, another box throwdown is looming on the horizon.

CFMNL team throwdown
I'd been thinking about joining the Med RX division, but I knew I had to work hard on getting those knees to elbows down. I initially thought they'd require toes to bar, but since they scaled it to a more doable movement my apprehension has somewhat abated. My only other issue is the venue, which is in Alabang... which is like the province for me since I live way up north. We'll see. Diane had already put my name down on the sign up sheet, but nothing is final until I've paid (P3,000 per team, so that's P1,000 per team member).

The details are here.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Jul 4 WOD: Mini chipper

My butt is still a little sore from last Tuesday's WOD. I'm sure it was the lunges that did it.

A. SWOD

Hang power snatch 8 x 2 (50% of 1RM)

B. Metcon

For time (12 minute time cap)

20 thrusters (95/45)
20 pull ups
10 thrusters (115/75)
10 power snatch (115/75)
5 thrusters (135/95)
5 power clean (135/95)

For the SWOD I used 45 lbs for the first set then increased it to 55 lbs for the remaining sets. I like strength workouts like this because there is no pressure and it allows us to focus on our form. For the metcon I used 45 lbs for the first set of thrusters, 55 lbs for the second set, and 65 lbs for the third set. Also, I did ring rows instead of pull ups. And I love that the WOD involved lotsa barbell work.

My score: 55 (hang power snatch); 8:46 (45/55/65)

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Jul 2 WOD: Leg day

It feels good whenever I'm able to finish a WOD. :)

A. SWOD

Front squat 1RM (20 minutes)

B. Metcon

3 RFT, same weight across all movements (15 minute time cap)

4 push press (135/95)
8 Pendlay rows
12 front rack barbell lunges

Trish and I shared a bar for the front squats. I did 120 lbs, which felt much heavier than it really was. For the metcon, I used 65 lbs. The barbell lunges were hard on the quads!

My score: 120 (front squat); 5:45 (65 lbs)

One of my favorite quotes (source)

Monday, July 1, 2013

Jul 1 WOD: Guilt workout

Maybe it's all in my head, but Monday WODs are so much more difficult. Probably because I usually eat faileo the whole weekend. This weekend I pigged out on way too much cake during the weekend and felt so heavy and lazy today that I briefly toyed with the idea of skipping the WOD.

A. SWOD

Power clean 12 x 2 (80% of 1RM)

B. Metcon

5 RFT

15 double unders (unbroken)
10 parallette push ups
5 strict pull ups

I used 95 lbs for the power cleans, and although I wanted to complain about re-bruising my collarbones -- I didn't want to sound like such a girl so I kept my mouth shut as much as possible. The metcon called for unbroken -- yes, unbroken -- DUs. It was at the 10th minute when I finally got my 15 unbroken DUs, and so I was able to finish 1 round. Pathetic! I virtually spent 10 minutes working on my DUs. I was so pissed that for the first time, I joined the other double WODers in the bootcamp.

Well, 0% would be an exaggeration.

Bootcamp WOD:

4 RFT

400m run
15 ring rows
15 overhead lunges
15 hollow rocks
15 medicine ball cleans

Rhona and I just considered the WOD as practice for the throwdown, since we know that there will inevitably be a running WOD there.

My scores: 95 lbs (power clean); 1 round (blue band pull ups); 29:41 (25 lb plate for OH lunges, 6 lb ball for MB cleans)