March 21 WOD: Open 14.4

I almost flaked again after watching the Open workout announcement.

Josh Bridges and Scott Panchik faced off for the fourth Open workout. You know, I never realized how cute (and hot) Josh Bridges was until I watched the video introducing him.

There were only two rowers left at the box, and we let the ones registered in the Open use them. For the non-competitors, Coach Jordan let us choose between an 800m run and 60 burpees. And of course I chose the run. Lesser of two evils. I finished the run in about 4 minutes but it took me forever to get those 50 TTBs, and when I'd finished them there was only about 1 1/2 minutes left, during which I was able to do 14 wall balls.


My score: 124 (7 kg MB)

February 24 WOD: Cheeper

I think I've acquired the habit of deliberately mispronouncing words. Hence, cheeper (chipper, if you still don't get it).

For time or reps (10 minute cap):

70 double unders
50 bar-facing burpees
30 clean and jerks (135/95#)
10 muscle ups

The burpees were neverending and just awful. I completed 123 reps at the end of 10 minutes but the others wanted to finish and even though my mind was screaming no, I did it. Well, just until the 30 C&J at least. By the 13th C&J I wanted to stop but Anton sat in front of me and kept count and I had no choice but to see it through.


My score: 123 (75#)

January 7 WOD: Running clock

What's better than doing an AMRAP? Doing three! Yay! Well, not really yay.

6 minutes AMRAP

5 dead lifts (225/135#)
10 lateral burpees over bar
50 double unders
Rest and transition 4 minutes

6 minutes AMRAP

4 hang power cleans (135/95#)
8 hand stand push ups
Rest and transition 4 minutes

6 minutes AMRAP (sets ascending by twos)
Power snatch (115/75#)
Bar muscle ups

I did the first workout as Rx'd but my DUs sucked. For the second one I did pike push ups instead of HSPU, and for the third one I tried to do strict pull ups with the blue band.


My score: 1 + 12 DUs (135#); 6 + 4 pike push ups (75#); 6 + 4 power snatch (55#)

December 19 WOD: My third 12.4

Throwback WOD time! A lot of people at the box seem to be preparing for the 2014 Open and I think today's workout served as sort of a gauge for their progress.

The first time we did this was in March 2012, and again in March this year.

12 minutes AMRAP

150 wall balls (9/7 kg)
90 double unders
30 muscle ups

The real time cap is 12 minutes but Coach Jordan set the clock at 20 minutes. I know. Ugh, right? Actually, when the 12 minutes expired I sat down for a bit and contemplated on whether or not I was going to continue until the end of the 20 minutes. Not hard to guess what I did. But man, those wall balls were never ending. I think I got a stiff neck because I was always looking up.


My score: End of 12 minutes - 126 Rx; end of 20 minutes - 150 wall balls + 46 DUs Rx

Sep 5 WOD: Squat cleans

A. SWOD

Front squats

5 x 60%

5 x 65%

5 x 65%

5 x 70%

B. Metcon

9-7-5

Squat cleans (135/95)

Ring muscle ups

Rache, Rhona, and I shared a bar and rack for the front squats. For the metcon I let myself get needled into doing a heavier weight (what's new?). Didn't regret it though. I'm thinking maybe I should've gone a bit heavier, even.


My score: 95# (front squats); 6:00 (80#/ring rows and parallette dips)

Aug 6 WOD: 12RM front squats and Hulk Hogan's son

Coach Bets handled our class today. After the WOD, over chunks of Zubuchon, chocolate-covered chicharon, and chocolate-covered dried mangoes she joined what we now call the "chika" WOD and we blabbed about the throwdown, food, nutrition, boys, and girls who look like boys.

A. SWOD

5 x 12 front squats (clean off the ground) to get 12RM

B. Metcon: Hulk Hogan's son

Every 2 minutes for 10 minutes:

3 ring/bar muscle ups
5 power cleans/squat cleans (175/115)
7 burpees

One of the scales for the muscle ups was kipping pull ups and I finally dared to do them during a WOD. I need more practice but it's a start!

My score: 85 (front squats); 5 rounds (85 lbs for power cleans)

Aug 1 WOD: Wall ball ladder and another birthday celebration

It's Dong's birthday tomorrow, and since feeding your boxmates has become somewhat of a tradition at the box (or at least in our class), he brought food today. Actually, he hired a caterer to bring food. Yes, he's that nice.

A. SWOD

1 1/4 front squats 5 x 3 (80% - 90%)

B. Metcon

12 minute ladder:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5... ring muscle ups
10, 20, 30, 40, 50... wall balls

Lala and I shared a bar for the front squats, which at first felt weird. I mean, why bounce? But then I realized it's supposed to train us on how to get out of the hole. Nobody likes getting stuck in the hole. For the metcon, I did kneeling muscle ups and used a 7 kg ball for the wall balls. It was terrible!

After the WOD I worked on my kips and my kipping pull up. I let all the tips from Smacky, Rhona, and Lala sink in. Several tries later, I was eventually able to do several legit pull ups. Finally, finally, FINALLY!!! I felt like dancing. I'm so glad my grips are arriving soon so I can continue practicing!

My score: 85 (front squats); 4 + 5 kneeling muscle ups (7 kg)

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)

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)

May 30 WOD: Upper body stuff + Wendler

Strength: Shoulder press

40% x 5 = 5 x 25
50% x 5 = 5 x 30
60% x 5+ = 10 x 40

I was supposed to do back squats today but the WOD already includes those so I did presses instead.


WOD

A. Strength: Back squat

In 20 minutes, work up to a 3RM.

B. Metcon

3 RFT

8 thrusters (135/95)
6 muscle ups

Coach Jordan wanted us to focus on the timing of our squats. He said we should start by bending our hips and then slowly going down, and then just before breaking parallel we should go faster and bounce to help with coming up. Trish and I shared a bar for the back squats and we worked our way up to 120 lbs. Well, it was actually 122.5 because she'd mistakenly put a 2.5 lb plate on one end of the bar. Tee hee.

For the metcon, I used 55 lbs for the thrusters, and instead of 6 muscle ups, I did 12 seated muscle ups.

My score: 120 (3RM back squat); 10:03 (metcon)

After the workout, most of us stayed around. I tried working on my pull ups, which are still a fail. But I have to admit that I'm often too lazy to practice. It's just so much more fun to hang around and talk with boxmates! Anyway, I did get around to working on my handstand. It turns out, you're supposed to let your left leg lead, and after that it's like taking a leap of faith that your feet will find the wall. Coach Jordan spotted me and I was able to do handstand holds in order to get comfortable with the upside-down position.

Thanks to Smacky and Dingdong for the photo

And here's what most of the 10 am class looks like upside down (that's me in the lower left corner!).

Apr 29 WOD: Nate

I'm experiencing another holiday hangover. I went to the beach again with some others at the box. We went to Smacky's place again and although there were a lot of people at the beach and by the pool, it was still good fun.

The view from our balcony

With Anton, Amie, Albright, Rhona, Gigay, Benjie, Maigirl,
Smacky, and Ken (I grabbed this photo from Rhona)

And now, back to regular programming.

It was benchmark day at the box and I had no idea because the WOD wasn't posted at the site. We did Nate again, which is:

20 minutes AMRAP

2 muscle ups

4 handstand push ups

8 kettlebell swings (32/24 kg)

I did sitting muscle ups, pike push ups with feet on the box, and used a 16 kg kettlebell.

My score: 11 rounds + 1 sitting muscle up

The last time we did Nate I scored 12 rounds, but that was an even more scaled version so I'm quite happy with today's workout.

Oh, and happy news: Coach Matt announced that "due to popular demand," there will now be a 10 am class every Tuesday and Thursday starting in May, and we couldn't be happier!

Mar 21 WOD: Open 13.3

I watched the live announcement on the CF Games website again this morning. I feel like such a CrossFit dork for setting my alarm to make sure I didn't miss it. Then again, I'm sure millions of CrossFitters around the world did the same. Well, maybe not millions, but, you know... a lot.

Grabbed from the CF Games site

So it turns out that 13.3 is 12.4. I remember doing this last year. I used a 10 lb ball for the wall balls and I only made it through those. For the CFMNL Open, this was the scale they gave:

Grabbed from the CFMNL site

I've never used a 14 lb ball for wall balls before and of all the days to do it, it had to be today. I told Miggy about it and he said, "Good!" with a big, happy smile. Well, when push comes to shove, there's no other way to do it but to just do it.

My score: 120 (sucks that I wasn't even able to do the double unders with my nifty new Rogue SR-1 rope!)

Oct 29 WOD: 1RM Snatch + Wendler

Strength: Back squats

Warm up: 5 x 45; 5 x 65

5 x 65% = 5 x 80
5 x 75% = 5 x 95
5+ x 85% = 5 x 105

Assistance (post-WOD): 5 x 10 sit ups; 5 x 10 good mornings (65 lbs)

I hate to admit it, but I've gotten a wee bit scared of back squats ever since I accidentally let the bar roll down my back some days ago. So when it was time to do the last set (105 lbs), I made sure to keep in mind 2 things I've learnt from reading up on back squats: 1) I kept my core tight by inhaling before going down and holding my breath until I was up again; 2) I pushed my back up against the bar. I also used the low bar position, which hurts my shoulders, but does help when the load is heavier.


WOD

We worked on the snatch today. We had 20 mins to find our 1RM, then the metcon was a 5-minute ascending ladder workout of:

- Thruster
- Muscle up

The score for the 5-min workout is the total number of reps completed. My scores: 55 lbs (1RM snatch), 30 reps (50 lbs for thrusters, jumping muscle ups).

Oct 8 WOD: Push ups + Wendler

Strength: Back squats

I'm halfway through my 2nd Wendler cycle -- woohoo!

Warm up: 3 x 65; 3 x 75

75% x 5 = 5 x 90
85% x 3 = 3 x 100
95% x 1+ = 2 x 110

I have to say, I'm a little frustrated with my numbers. I know that 110 lbs is my back squat 3RM, so I'm sad that I was only able to do 3 reps today. Or maybe I got scurred again and didn't wanna try for one more rep?


WOD

Coach Jordan took more time than usual to explain today's workout because it looked complicated on the board. The workout is broken down into 2 parts:

A. Max reps push ups: we were given 9 minutes, and every 3 minutes we had to do as many unbroken push ups as we could. I did girl push ups (on my knees) and completed a total of 85 reps.

B. The workout is only for 12 minutes, and on odd minutes we were to do 5 strict shoulder presses. On even minutes we were to do 1 to 3 muscle ups. I did kneeling muscle ups (as did most of the others), so I had to do 6 of those plus 6 paralette dips.

It was recommended that we use 70-75% of our 1RM for the press, so I used 40 lbs for mine. The penalty for every strict press that is missed was x5 bar-facing burpees. So you can be sure I did my darnedest to get every rep.

Sep 12 WOD: EMOM + Wendler

WOD

The WOD came first today, and I did Wendler after the workout. On the menu: every minute on the minute (EMOM) for 10 minutes of:

- 3 muscle ups
- 5 box jumps (Rx: 18")

After that, there's a 3 minute rest, then tabata abs:

- Sit ups
- Russian twists (Rx: 14 lbs)

I did 6 kneeling muscle ups instead, and used an 18" box. For the Russian twists, I used a 15 lb plate.

My scores: 10/7/8.


Strength: Back squats

So Coach Jordan shared a back squatting tip with me today because I told him I sometimes have trouble coming up from the squat (or, as I learned it's called, "getting out of the hole") when doing heavier weights. He told me to use the momentum coming down to create a little bounce when I get to the bottom... and it worked!

Warm up: 3 x 45; 3 x 65

65% x 5 = 5 x 75
75% x 5 = 5 x 90
85% x 5+ = 6 x 100

I just love the feeling of finishing a challenging strength workout!

"Feeling alive is way more fun than being scared."

- Lisbeth Darsh

Sep 7 WOD: Bar complex + Wendler Day 13

Strength: Dead lifts

After some dilly-dallying, I finally started my 2nd cycle of the Wendler 5/3/1. I did what I read on some websites and added 10 lbs to my working 1RM (that is, 90% of my 1RM).

Warm up: 3 x 45; 3 x 65; 3 x 85

65% x 5 = 5 x 105
75% x 5 = 5 x 120
85% x 5 = 7 x 135

People started coming in as I was finishing up and I totally forgot about doing assistance lifts.


WOD

I noticed that I complain too much. I complain about everything. It's become a habit and sometimes I don't even notice that I'm doing it. So I've resolved to stop complaining and just do what needs to be done because complaining won't get the job done.

Today's workout was fun, although a little bitin.

Buy in: 7 muscle ups

Then, 5 rounds of:

- 5 hang power cleans (Rx: 115, the same for all 3 exercises)
- 4 front squats
- 3 shoulder to overheads (press, push press, or push jerk)

Cash out: 7 muscle ups

Since nobody in the class could do muscle ups yet, we did 14 kneeling muscle ups and 14 jumping muscle ups. (Are muscle ups the new double unders at the box?) I like how the coaches are slowly easing us into more challenging exercises. My WOD-mates and I were just talking about how before the prescribed height for girls' box jumps used to be 18", and now it's 24"! And the prescribed weight for girls' overhead lifts used to be 95 lbs, and now it's 115 lbs.

I used a 55 lb bar for the exercises. It was too light for the cleans and front squats, but just right for the push jerks. Although I could've gone a tad heavier - maybe 60 lbs? Shoulda, coulda, woulda. Bah.

My time: 5:52.

Gerard (aka G) is celebrating his birthday today, and as if to make a statement, he went Rx! Good job, G!

Post-challenge Day 2 + Mar 16 WOD: Open 12.4

Today's meals

Breakfast: Bananas with coconut butter
Lunch: Sisig, orange
Dinner: Boiled sweet potatoes, hard boiled egg
Snacks: Carrot and cucumber sticks

WOD

For today's WOD we did Workout 12.4, or as I like to call it, WTH?!

From the CrossFit Games website

Rx for women was the 14 lb ball for wall balls. I used the 10 lb ball. I didn't get to do the jump ropes but if I'd been able to go that far, I would've had to do 270 single unders (90 DUs x 3). And after that, instead of muscle ups I could've done pull ups. So, my score: 150. I can't believe this is an AMRAP workout. Sheesh.

Oh, and about last Wednesday's workout, it turns out that we were given the wrong instructions for the lateral burpees. Because we were told that 1 rep was burpee, then side-jumping over the bar twice, and we found out this morning that 1 rep was burpee then side jump. So that's why the people from the earlier classes were able to finish under 12 mins.