May 24 WOD: Oly

I like that Olympic lifts are fondly called "Oly." Sounds cute, no? Like the name of a guy. Also, it makes the snatch and clean and jerk sound less intimidating. We worked on those today. And how fitting that I'd just read Chad Vaughn's CrossFit Journal piece on getting better at Oly.

A. Oly lifts

In 12 minutes and in 7 attempts (successful or failed), work up to 80% of 1RM snatch.

In 12 minutes and in 7 attempts (successful or failed), work up to 80% of 1RM clean and jerk.

B. Metcon

3 RFT (5 minute time cap)

30 sumo deadlift high pull (45/35)
15 mountain climbers
8 toes to bar

For the snatch, I worked up to 60 lbs. I attempted to snatch 65 lbs twice but wasn't successful. The clean and jerk went better and I was able to work up to 100 lbs. For the metcon, I used a 35 lb bar and I did 12 situps instead of 8 TTB because I didn't want to aggravate my ripped calluses. It was supposed to be an all-out sprint since it's only 5 minutes but I still DNFed. Pfft.

My scores: 60 (snatch); 100 (C&J); 2 rounds + 4 SDHP

Aug 6 WOD: Max reps + Wendler Day 4

Backslide (v.) - to lapse into bad habits or vices from a state of virtue, religious faith, etc.

I backslid big time over the weekend. I had everything most un-paleo, from pizza, pasta, bread, cookies, and ice cream. And I paid the price yesterday -- I felt so bloated and heavy, and I was sweating even though it wasn't hot. Ugh. But today I start on a clean slate. :)

The box is being renovated, and we're finally going to have another bathroom! There's only one right now, so sometimes when someone knocks while you're doing your business, you feel a slight sense of panic. Well, at least I do.

For my 4th day of doing Wendler, I worked on my dead lifts pre-WOD.

Warm up: 3 x 55; 3 x 65; 3 x 85

70% x 3 = 3 x 105

80% x 3 = 3 x 120

90% x 3+ = 3 x 135

Assistance: 6 x 3 pull ups (green and blue band)

For the WOD, we had to do 3 rounds of:

- 2 min max reps hang power clean (Rx: 95)

- 2 min max reps box jumps (Rx: 20")

1 min rest in between rounds

Then, 4 mins AMRAP of:

- 15 double unders

- 30 mountain climbers

One of the many things I love about CrossFit is working out with a bunch of other people who have fitness backgrounds different from yours, and everybody still gets to do the same intense workout. I thought about this when a pro basketball player joined our class today (which the coaches jokingly call the "moms' class" because most of us who attend are moms). In the midst of all the cleaning and jumping, it crossed my mind that rarely will you be able to say that you did the same workout as someone who plays sports for a living.

Anyway, my scores: 63 (hang power clean 65 lbs); 101 (box jumps 18"); 2 + 4 DU.

Jul 4 WOD: Alternating tabatas

According to wikipedia, the tabata is "20 seconds of ultra-intense exercise (at an intensity of about 170% of VO2max) followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated continuously for 4 minutes (8 cycles)."

I think it's a great exercise because it's short and sweet, but also intense enough to kick you in the *ss. You can tabata just about any exercise as long as you have a timer. You don't want to be counting on your own because you'd be too busy getting your *ss kicked (or kicking *ss, depending on how you look at it).

Anyway. We did alternating tabatas and tabata abs today:

- Squat cleans (Rx: 65 lbs)
- Burpees

< 1 min rest >

- Mountain climbers
- Russian twists (Rx: 14 lbs)
- V-ups

Screen shot of the WOD from the CFMNL website

My score: 39. The breakdown of lowest scores: squat cleans - 3; burpees - 4; mountain climbers - 20; Russian twists - 6; V-ups - 6.

January 9 WOD: Good to be back

My last workout was one week ago. I had fully intended to go to the box yesterday for the afternoon class but my son got sick.

Anyway, today we did another descending ladder workout. We had to do 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 sets of:

- Squat cleans (Rx was 65 lbs)

- Pull ups

- 4-count mountain climbers

So actually, for the mountain climbers, we had to do 40 for the first set of 10 reps, then 36, then 32, and so on. It looks like this, but you have to do it fast, as if you were running:

Source

For the squat cleans I used the 25 lb bar, and for the pull ups I used the green band.

My time: 15:07.