March 4 WOD: Double AMRAP

A. Skill/SWOD

4 sets of:

2-3 Strict pull ups/chest to bar pull ups/ring rows

Rest 90 seconds

Front squat + jerk

B. Metcon

5 minutes AMRAP

10 pull ups

10 pistol squats (5 per leg) or goblet squats

Rest 5 minutes, then:

5 minutes AMRAP

10 toes to bar

20 double unders

I can't do strict pull ups yet so I did 3 weighted ring rows (10# plate on the chest). Now I know how it feels to be 10 lbs heavier. For the front squat + jerk combo, Coach Jordan emphasized that these must be done as 2 separate movements. For the metcon I chose to do pistol squats since I really need to work on them.

My score: 95# (front squat + jerk); 3 rounds; 2 rounds + 10 DUs

January 28 WOD: Leg killer

A. Skill

3 rounds (not for time; focus on technique)

10 box jumps
10 toes to bar
10 alternating pistols (5 per leg)

B. Metcon

4 RFT (10 minute cap)

5 squat cleans (155/105#)
10 chest to bar pull ups
20 double unders

Rest 5 minutes

4 RFT (10 minute cap)

10 dead lifts (155/105#)
20 wall balls (9/7 kg)

You know I rarely lie on the floor after a WOD but this... this had me on my back a good few minutes. It absolutely owned me. The 7 kg ball played a particularly cruel staring game with me.


My score: 3 + 1 pull up (65#); 3 + 3 dead lifts (95#)

May 17 WOD: Double chipper

Every once in a while, a WOD comes along and makes you wish you had stayed at home and had a decent breakfast instead. Today is one of those days.

2 RFT (rounds for time), 12 minute time cap:

30 wall balls (20/14)
25 chest to bar pull ups
20 pistol squats
15 kettlebell swings (32/24 kg)

Rest 5 minutes, then

EMOM (every minute on the minute) x 5 minutes:

4 squat cleans (225/135)

Since I am not a WODkilla but a WODscala, I used a 10 lb ball for the wall balls, did ring rows instead of CTB, and used 16 kg for the KBS. Being positioned right beside one of the CFMNL beasts Ken helped a ton in pacing. The last minute was such a struggle, though, and the heat only made it worse.

The 5 minute rest in between the 2 workouts didn't seem to be enough. My legs were still wobbly and my arms were a little numb, and I really didn't want to do squat cleans after 2 rounds of that chipper but I did them anyway. I am a CrossFit sucker like that. I used 65 lbs for the squat cleans and managed to do all 5 sets unbroken. That felt good.

My score: 11:47 / 65 lbs

How cool are these tops?!

Tank top by Life as RX

Tank top by DNF Apparel

Mar 20 WOD: OTM + Wendler

Strength: Dead lift

70% x 3 = 3 x 125
80% x 3 = 3 140
90% x 3+ = 5 x 160

Assistance: Kettlebell swings

5 x 10 x 16 kg

I haven't been feeling the Wendler love lately but I still do it. It's probably because of the lack of sleep, so I'll be glad when my shift changes and starts an hour earlier.


WOD

OTM (on the minute) x 20 minutes

Odd: Choice between push ups or dips, 8-12 reps
Even: Choice between max reps pistol squats, 10 kettlebell goblet squats, or 20-40 double unders

My score: 102 push ups; 115 pistols

So another thing to add on my ever growing list of CF stuff to work on: pistol squats. I need to work on doing it with my leg out in front and not letting it stray to the side when I need to balance myself.

In other news, 13.3 is going to be announced tomorrow, 8 am (Philippine time)!

I found this floating around on Pinterest

For me, half the battle is in my mind. I need to just shut up and do the work.

Jan 14 WOD: Hello again, snatch

Thankfully, I didn't get bitten by the lazy bug today and I didn't have such a difficult time getting my butt to the box.

I did my first snatch workout of the year! Today's WOD was 3 RFT (rounds for time):

- 4 power snatch (Rx: 95 lbs)
- 12 pistol squats
- 20 toes to bar

I set up a 55 lb bar and this time it was Coach Jordan who said I should add weight, so for the first time I used 60 lbs in a snatch workout. Halfway through, he remarked that it still seemed too light for me but I didn't add any more weight. I still can't do toes to bar, so I did my best to do knees to elbow instead. No such luck. My knees couldn't get anywhere near my elbows. Maybe just a little more practice will get me there.

For the cash out, we again did 4 x 400m runs every 3 minutes. The score for the run is your fastest and slowest times. My calves felt so stiff and heavy I thought I was going to get cramps.

My scores: 11:41 (60 lbs) for the metcon; 2:06 and 2:30 for the cash out.

Dec 18 WOD: Jerk

First, we did skills work and we worked on the behind the neck jerk. We were given 20 minutes to do 5 sets of 1 rep each. Which meant we had to go heavy. Tin and I shared a bar, and we worked our way up from 45 lbs to 65 lbs (me) and 90 (Tin). I made a couple of attempts at 75 lbs but I kept thinking about how heavy it was and I kept seeing images of the bar hitting my head, so I wasn't even able to jerk it up. The body was willing but the mind was weak. I much prefer jerking from the front. Boo hoo me.

After that, cash out was pretty much the same as last Tuesday's. It was OTM x 16 minutes:

Odd minutes: Max reps pistol squats
Even minutes: 8 chest to bar pull ups

My score: 65 lbs (jerk); 100 pistol squats

Dec 11 WOD: Choose your weakness

On the menu today: clean and jerks as an appetizer and pistol squats and pull ups for the main course.

Before the 15 minutes of skills work started, we were supposed to warm up to our working weight, which is 85-95% of our 1RM clean and jerk. Then when the 15 minutes started counting down, we had to do 5 sets of 1 rep each of this weight -- no adding and no subtracting of weights.

I used 75 lbs, basing my calculation on a 1RM of 85 lbs, but upon checking my log, I find out that my 1RM is in fact 80 lbs. Oops. That's still 95% of my 1RM, though.

After that, there was an on the minute (OTM) 16 minute metcon, where again we had the choice:

Odd minutes: 6 squat cleans or max reps pistol squats
Even minutes: 8 pull ups or 4 muscle ups

I went with the pistols and the pull ups, because those were what I needed to work on. I'd been practicing pistol squats at home and at the office (when I'm sure nobody is looking), so I also wanted to try doing it in a WOD. Success! My pistols are not perfect, but I will get there. I just need to gain a bit more flexibility.

Someday, I'll be able to do it perfectly like Christmas Abbott:

(source)

But for now, I like that I'm able to say, "My butt hurts from doing 107 pistols!" :)

My score: 75 lbs for the C&J; 107 reps for the pistol squats.

Nov 7 WOD: Double AMRAP + Wendler

Strength: Dead lifts

I finally got a chance to start Week 2 of Cycle 3 today.

Warm up: 3 x 45; 3 x 65; 3 x 80; 3 x 100

3 x 80% = 3 x 120
3 x 85% = 3 x 140
3+ x 90% = 3 x 155

Assistance: 5 x 10 good mornings (65 lbs); 3 x 15 knees to elbow (included in the WOD)

WOD

Today was a light day compared to the last 2 days. For the first part of the workout, it was 5 minutes AMRAP of:

- 10 pull ups
- 10 pistol squats

Then rest for 5 minutes, and another 5 minutes AMRAP of:

- 10 toes to bar
- 20 double unders

I used the blue band for the pull ups and did assisted pistol squats. I also did 15 knees to elbow (actually more like knees to chest). Thank you to whoever came up with today's workout for having us do only 20 double unders!

My scores: 4 + 4 pistols; 2 + 2 DUs.

Aug 15 WOD: Mary + Wendler Day 7

We don't have work today so I was able to attend the 12:30 pm class. I still went early, though, to work on strength.

I'm on my third week of doing Wendler, and Tere and I did dead lifts today.

Warm up: 3 x 65; 3 x 85; 3 x 105

75% x 5 = 5 x 115
85% x 3 = 3 x 130
95% x 1+ = 4 x 145

Assistance: None. We were doing a benchmark WOD so I wanted to save my energy.

My sets (left) and Tere's

In between the strength workout and the WOD, while working on double unders... I was able to do 22 unbroken. Unbroken. And in case you didn't read: Unbroken! Achievement unlocked. In yo face, double unders! You know when you are finally able to do something you thought would be a long time coming? Amazement. That's what I felt. Now I just need to keep at it and be consistent.

We did the benchmark workout Mary today. It's 20 mins AMRAP of

- 5 Handstand push ups

- 10 Pistol squats

- 15 Pull ups

I did pike push ups with my legs on a 12" box. It was my first time to try pistol squats, and I discovered that they are as hard as they look. I held on to the windowsill for support while doing them. As for the pull ups, I used the blue band.

My score: 7 + 6 pistol squats.

Post-WOD, Amy, Isabelle and I did some ab exercises using the app that Amy had on her phone. It was only 10 mins long, but still -- ouch!