A little bit of running

Day 3 I slacked a bit on the warm up, I did none. I did start off slow on the run though and was pretty tight for the first 1/4 mile. It is cold as shit out there too which doesn't help. It was 26 degrees when I took off from the house. I ran 2.43 miles in 32:49. Before you go all bat shit on me talking about how slow I was let me finish. At 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 I did the following:

• 20 walking lunges
• 20 tiger crawl
• 20 mountain climbers
• 10 burpees

As you can see I did not do the recommended 5 miles from the workout I told you I was basing this on. I will get there but not yet. I also did 10 rather than 20 burpees, I am a wuss and will punish myself tomorrow. I walked a little to cool down but no stretching. I felt generally pretty good during the run and I think I was doing a bit over 9:00 pace when actually running but it is hard to tell because the split times get all screwed up when you do the exercises in the middle.

Christmas Eve Workout

I did day 2 of the plan I posted yesterday, sort of. I started off with a warm-up of a 400 meter run followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 sit-ups
• 10 PVC arm circles

I then did a bunch of stretching focusing on my back again as yesterday. I figured I might as well be safe and take the extra time. I then did the following workout:

• 3x
• 100 meter sprint
• 8 barbell rows @ 68#
• 8 push press @ 68#
• 2 minute rest
• 3x
• 100 meter sprint
• 8 barbell curls @ 58#
• 8 tricep extensions @ 48#
• 2 minute rest
• 3x
• 100 meter sprint
• 8 hang cleans @ 78#
• 8 slamballs @ 20#

I said yesterday that I had told everyone about my last race a month ago but after going back and looking at the blog it appears I had been lazier with the blog than the workouts. I was working out consistently until a month ago when my sister and I did a 10k relay together in 25 degree weather. As I mentioned I was sick for awhile and jacked my back up again but here I am going at it again. 

As you might notice I switched up the high pulls on the last set for slamballs. I am not a fan of high pulls after reading a few articles by PT's about how they measure shoulder impingement and that the move is much the same and how they would not suggest doing that move under much load. I also was not a big fan of the pairing of that with cleans. I would rather pair something that works a little different set of muscles, not sure I did real well with slamballs on that but I felt it was better than high pulls. You may also notice my weights are pretty low starting out this new workout, especially on squats yesterday. As I mentioned I am coming off a tweek in the back and a month break so I figured I will ease in a bit. Finally you might notice there was a finisher in the workout for both day 1 and day 2 that I skipped. I will work my way up to that but again I figure I will ease in. Wait until you see how much scaling I do on day 3.

Finally Worked Out Again

If you recall all that long time ago when I did that 10k relay with my sister I mentioned I had a chest cold. I was having a hell of a time breathing and was coughing like I still smoked or something. I could not shake that thing for the longest time and I tried some running a couple times but I really could not get any air once I started working out so I figured I would just give it a week or two. Well just as I was getting better we had a snow and ice storm here and I slipped and went feet up on the street in front of the house and hurt my back. I was out of commission for a bit longer with that and finally now felt like I could get back at it. I think it has been just about a month sincce I did any regular sort of workout.

I started off with a warm-up of 200 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 sit-ups
• 10 PVC arm circles

I then did a bunch of stretching focusing on my back. I figured I might as well be safe and take the extra time. I did three supersets as follows for the workout:

• 5 sets of 3
• back squat @ 118#
• box jumps (weight bench)
• 3 sets mixed reps
• kettlebell swings @ 35# 20 reps
• pull-ups 5 reps
• dips 8 reps
• 3 sets mixed reps
• farmers walk @ 45# each arm for 40 paces
• hanging knee raise 10 reps

I was certainly a bit out of it today after so long off but it felt good to get back at it. I am going to modify a Spartan beast workout plan I found a bit and work that for the next couple months I think. It is based on 4 days a week of work with day 1 being strength based, day 2 is anaerobic, day 3 is running, and day 4 is muscle endurance. Day 3 is supposed to be trail running and I will do some of that but I will also do road running and probably mix in some work wit a 50# pack as well. I have some thoughts on some other modifications as well but we will see. Mostly I just want to keep it interesting. I actually did not do all that was prescribed for today but it is pretty aggressive and seeing how I am coming off a month break I figure I will work up to the workouts over a couple weeks. The plan I am basing this on is here if you want to have a look.

Good to be back at it.

Forgot to post yesterday

I ran 2 miles in 15:02 for a pace of 7:30. Then proceeded to perform the following:

• 4x15 push-ups
• 4x20 sit-ups
• 3x3 pull-ups

I performed this alternating exercises so I do one set of push-ups followed immediately by one set of sit-ups and immediately by one set of pull-ups and continued without any break until the exercises were done.

Hockey

Not much working out going on this week. I have lots of Hockey. I played Monday night, have a game tonight, game Saturday, and game Sunday. I don't know if I will even get one workout in this week.

Friday and Saturday

I went for a run on Friday but I was not feeling so hot (stomach was a mess) and it showed in my time. I stopped after a pretty short one, 1.74 miles, and I completed it in 13:44 for a pace of 7:53. Hopefully I can do a little better next time.

Today I did a warn up of 200 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 air squats
• 10 PVC arm circles
• 10 abmat sit-ups

The plan after that was to do a 9:00 EMOTM (Every Minute On The Minute):

• 8 push-ups
• 8 push press

I put 88# on the bar to start and began the clock. First problem was I used a different clock app and it soes not make any noise on the minute so that was a pain in the ass. I was able to get the phone close enough and at an angle so I could see it. I dropped the weight after 2 rounds to 78# and that cost me a little time. After I got to minute 4 I was no longer able to complete within the minute so it now became an AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible). I was doing the push press 2 at a time at that point with a real quick break and right back in. I ended up doing 7 full rounds and made it through the 8th round of the push-ups right as the clock ran out.

Run

Went for a little run this morning. According to mapmyrun it was 2.47 miles and I completed it in 18:22 for a pace of 7:26.

Burpees

Warmed up with 200 jump rope singles and 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 pull-ups
• 10 abmat sit-ups

I then did the following for a 20:00 AMRAP:

• 5 burpees
• 5 weighted abmat sit-ups (20#)
• 100 meter sprint
• 10 burpees
• 10 weighted abmat sit-ups (20#)
• 100 meter sprint

Continue in this manner adding 5 reps to the burpees and sit-ups each time through for the full 20:00. I ended up making it through to the 30 rep round but only got to 25 abmat sit-ups before the alarm sounded on the 220:00. So I guess that gives me a grand total of 105 burpees and 100 sit-ups with 5 sprints in the 20:00 time frame. this was a fun workout and went pretty fast. The burpees get tough real fast though.

Hockey

Played hockey last night at 10:00 pm so no workout this morning. I might try to sneak something in tonight if possible.

Bear

Warmed up with 200 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 pull-ups
• 10 abmat sit-ups

I then did the following workout for time:

• 400 meter run
• 3 bear complex
• 10 slam balls
• 6 bear complex
• 10 slam balls
• 9 bear complex
• 10 slam balls
• 6 bear complex
• 10 slam balls
• 3 bear complex
• 10 slam balls

I had 93# on the bar for the bear complex. If you are unfamiliar with this move you can have a look at this for an explanation. By the time I hit the second round where I had to do 6 I was doing them 2 at a time. Those things are brutal and hit pretty much everything in your body. I used a 20# slam ball to do these. I did not do a very good job with timing myself on this one. I had to go outside to run and then to the basement to start and atr the end I forgot to stop the clock for a bit. The final time on the clock was 21:45 though. I will be taking a break tomorrow I think.

Bench Press

Did my usual warm up this morning. 150 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 pull-ups
• 10 abmat sit-ups

I then did 3 sets of 3 bench press. Weights were 158#, 168#, 168#.

Short Run

I took a short run this morning. According the mapmyrun app I did 1.74 miles in 12:19 for a pace of 7:05, not too shabby although I did not go very far. You can see the result here. It is interesting that it takes me almost a full minute to get up to pace. I don't typically do any warm up for a run and I would be curious how much increase in pace I could get if I did a warm up first. Looks like I might be able to cut my time by a little more.

Clean and Deadlift

I had a hockey game Monday night and I workout on game day or the day after so today was the first since the weekend. This morning I got up and did a warm up of 100 jumping jacks followed by my standard 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 pull-ups
• 10 abmat sit-ups

I thine did a 23 minute AMRAP:

• 3 power clean
• 3 deadlift

I put 118# on for the cleans and went through the whole workout with that. I started out with 178# on the deadlift bar but dropped it to 148# pretty much right away. I think I should be doing more on the deadlift but I was not feeling that one this morning. I lost a good bit of time when I removed the weight too. I ended up doing 14 rounds but I was pretty careful to concentrate on form rather than get going too fast. I feel pretty good about that result, 42 reps of each exercise is plenty.

Really???

I just read this article on CNN about this kid who had weight loss surgery at 2 years old. You heard right, 2!!! I will admit that I do not know the whole story here but I have to say this makes no sense to me. They claim the surgery is supposed to reduce the kids capacity to intake food by up to 85%. I am wondering why the hell it is necessary to perform surgery on a 2 year old in order to accomplish that goal. Is this 2 year old going to work and earning money? Is he making trips to the grocery store to purchase his own food? Is he preparing his meals and placing them on the table and then feeding himself? It would seem to be a simple matter of the parents performing the restrictions themselves and then there is no need to perform an invasive procedure that could have lord knows what kind of long term affects on a 2 year old. I can think of no reason why this would be necessary, ever! Although like I said I don't know the whole story I just can't come up with any scenario that would excuse this. It is interesting to note that this did not happen in the US which was a bit surprising to me.

More Tabata

I set off to do the following workout today.

8 Rounds 20's of work 10's of rest

• knees-to-elbows
• thrusters
• push press

The thruster weight I started with was 98# and 88# on the push press. I rolled through the first 3 rounds and my tabata timer rang as if I was done. I fucked up the number of rounds on it again, I am a moron. I was pretty much hurting already at this point so I dropped the 88# bar to 78# and set the timer for another 3 rounds. I finished that up and set up the bars for 78# and 68# and then did another 3 rounds. So I ended up doing 9 rounds instead of 8 but dropped the weight on the way through.

My warm up for this one was 200 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 pull-ups
• 10 abmat sit-ups

Hockey

Played hockey Monday and tweaked the back a bit so did not do anything until today. I ran today with 50 push-ups in the middle. 1.2 miles, 50 push-ups, 1.2 miles. Average pace over the full 2.4 was 7:29. I did the first 1.2 in 8:55 and the second half in 9:08 so my pace on the front was 7:26 and on the back was 7:36. A little slow down but not too bad.

Interesting Article

I have not read the source study but the article is interesting but not really surprising. The conclusion that exercise is good for you should be intuitively obvious to anyone who has ever engaged in it. Check the article out here.

Skipped a day

I did not get a workout in on Friday but this evening I was able to do one. I warmed up with 125 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 pull-ups
• 10 abmat situps

I then did a 29:00 AMRAP:

• 5 power cleans (118#)
• 13 walking lunges

I completed 13 rounds and 1 extra clean. I also made it through the whole thing at the 118# weight which I felt pretty good about. That is higher than I historically clean. I felt like I was going slow as hell but I guess I averaged under 2.5 minutes per round for the whole workout which is pretty good I suppose, at least for me I think. I know I was moving a good bit faster than that for the first few rounds but by the end it was pretty tough to get through those cleans and by the end of a set of lunges my legs felt like jello every time.

Run

Went for a little run yesterday in Tampa. You can check it out here.

tabata

Did a tabata workout today 8 rounds with 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds rest each exercise:

• front squat
• pull-up

I am at a hotel so no barbells. I used the dumbbells they had and held the 45# ones up in front of my chest for the squats. Not a ton of weight but because it was dumbbells it was tough to hold there and I don't really think I could have held much more up. They had a pull-up bar so that was good. I screwed up when I set my tabata timer and set it for 8 rounds of 20 seconds on 10 seconds off which is really only half the work because there are 2 exercises. Because of this I had to stop for a few seconds half way through and reset the timer. Not sure what my rep count was to start but at the end I was doing 6 squats and 5 pull-ups each round. This workout goes by fast but I was sweating my ass off by the end too.

Little Run

Took a little run this morning. According to mapmyrun I did 2.9 miles in just under 23:59 for a pace of 8:16. That is a pretty slow pace for me but I felt pretty good. Here is a link to the route I ran.

Clean

I have been busier than a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest and have not been posting here lately as a result. I have still been doing workouts however. I recently completed the Super Spartan race at Wintergreen Resort VA. The distance was just under 9 miles, based on this guys gps maps. The elevation changes in this race were unreal. People were dropping like flies all over the place. None of the obstacle were particularly tough but the hills were brutal. My race results are here. Not bad for a beer drinking 40 something. this was my first spartan and I will be a bit better prepared next time I think. Gonna try to do all 3 distances next year. I severely underestimated the terrain on this one. The week before I ran 8.15 miles in about 68 minutes and some change and yet this 9 took me almost 4 hours. There was almost nowhere on the course where you could run because the hills were so steep. The downhills were brutal on the knees. I already signed up for another short, 5k, mud run in November and pre-registered for the same Spartan for next year.

I have been working out since then just not posting about it. Today I warmed up with a 400 meter run followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 pull-ups
• 10 abmat sit-ups

I then did 5 sets of 5 cleans with the weights for each round being 98#, 108#, 113#, 118#, 123#. I failed on the last rep at the 123# weight. Not particularly heavy I guess but I had to find the right weight. I would start higher next time and just not go up as much but I think that 123# is real close to my 5 rep max on the exercise.

Still slacking on the blogging

...but I have still been doing workouts. I don't remember them all but yesterday I ran 5.23 miles in 41:50. I have a Spartan race coming up and the distance is over 8 miles so I am trying to increase my distances.

Today I warmed up with a 400 meter run followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 sit-ups
• 10 pull-ups

For the pull-ups I did 7 unassisted the first round, 5 the second round, and 3 the third round. I used a ball for jumping pull-ups on the others. Next I did 6 sets of 2 reps deadlift with 148#, 158#, 168#, 178#, 188#, and 198#. I followed this with 4 rounds for time of:

• 7 pike push ups
• 50 meter walking lunge
• 50 meter sprint
• 14 kettlebell swings (35#)

I completed this in 12:37. My legs are pretty well shot but it feels good. I have a hockey game tomorrow night so no workout tomorrow. I have a tournament this coming weekend with lots of games as well but will try to get one more workout in this week. It looks like I will have a game Friday night, 4 games on Saturday, and minimum of 2 maximum of 4 games on Sunday. I am playing on two teams in the tournament. I am going to be pretty damn tired after this weekend.

Very much a slack ass

Still working out but not really having time to blog about it. This morning I ran 3 miles, time was 22:55. Yesterday I did:
21-15-9-3

• kettlebell swings 35#
• air squats
• abmat sit-ups
• alternating lunges

*50 jumping jacks between each round

I completed this in 11:44. Last week I played hockey and ran 2 times. Did 3.1 at 7:42 pace one day and 2.6 at 8:00 pace another day. I don't remember other than that.

Take a Walk

I got up this morning intending to do a workout that involved a lot of legs. When I got up my legs and glutes were really sore from yesterday's run and the workout the day before. I decided to go for a walk instead rather than do a full up workout. I went out and walked about 3.5 miles pretty fast. I forgot to set up the mapmyrun.com tracking app on my phone to see what kind of pace I was doing but I think, based on total time, I was moving at something around 15:00 miles. While not a brutal workout it felt pretty good and was relaxing. It also spared my legs what I think would have been some overwork so I think it was probably the right way to go today.

Run

Went for a run at lunch today, it was hot as hell. The following stats are all from mapmyrun.com which I use to record all my runs. I did 2.4 miles in 18:52. average pace was 7:51. My pace numbers sucked at the beginning. When the first 2 minute split was spoken to me my pace was 10:05 or something like that. I picked it up from there and hit a split with a pace of 6:45 or something like that at one point. I apparently slowed down again a bit at the end for the last couple tenths of a mile. Average pace throughout was under 8:00 though so I am happy with that for today. Will see if I can improve that next time.

Sunday Workout

Started the warm up with 200 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 PVC arm circles
• 12 air squats

The workout was then 3 rounds for time:

• 800 meters
• 16 abmat sit-ups
• 18 walking lunges (35#)

The workout I got this from called for 45# on the walking lunges but I used my kettlebell which is 35# mostly because it is simpler to hold onto doing the lunges than anything else I have. I suppose I could use a dumbbell next time. I completed the workout in 15:38 and did not really stop at all throughout although I am sure my last 800 meters was way slower than my first.

I have been a bit lazy about the schedule and maintaining a set workout routine. I am currently looking into some things and might set up a much more regimented schedule after my vacation next week. It is not like I have not been working out but it has been sort of all over the place.

Swimming

I failed to post about this yesterday but I was invited by my sister to go to her gym and do some swimming. I have not swam in years, other than getting in the pool and playing with the kids. I used to swim a lot and actually was working as a lifeguard instructor for a period of time. My sister recently started training for triathlons and started learning to swim and wanted me to join her for some training. I went with here and ended up doing something like 600 meters in various 25 meter, 50 meter, and 100 meter sets. I had a tough time with my breathing, it is not like riding a bike, but it was fun and a good workout. My sister mentioned I could get some visitor passes for her gym if I want to go again and I think I may try to work that in as a more regular part of my workout, maybe a couple times a month or something. Who knows, I might even be able to do something like once a week.

Time to get serious

I have a spartan race coming up in August so I think it is time to get back at this thing seriously. Got up this morning and started with 150 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 pull-ups
• 10 abmat sit-ups
• 10 PVC arm circles

Following this we dis 15 minutes to get a bench press 1 rep max. I have mentioned before I am not a big fan of any 1 rep max work but what the hell we did it anyway. I did 148#, 158#, 168#, and 178#. following this the workout was prescribed as a 15 minute EMOM (Every Minute On the Minute) of:

• 5 burpees
• 10 push press (75/55)

For an EMOM you do the prescribed round at the top of each minute and then when done rest until the top of the next minute. So for this one the idea is you would do this set of work 1 times, once each minute. I loaded the bar with 78# and got to work. It became apparent after the first round that this was going to be an AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) for me and not an EMOM. I finished the first minutes wotrk just in time for the start of the next minutes work, i.e. no break.I started the second round and had to drop the weight on the bar part of the way through because my form was suffering too much and as I mentioned before these overhead exercises are tough with my back sometimes. I dropped it to 58# and finished at that. I worked throughout, mostly. I was doing the push presses in 2 sets of 5 with a couple seconds between after the first couple rounds. I ended up finishing 10 full rounds and through 3 push presses on round 11. I probably would have made 11+ if I did not stop to drop the weight down to 58#. Will be trying something new tomorrow that I have not done in a while.

Lazy with the blog

I have not been very good about posting anything here lately. I have had lots of hockey the last 2 weeks and we wen camping for a weekend so I have not had as many workouts as normal either. I can't really remember all the workouts since last time I posted but one was 21-18-15-12-9-6-3:

• Thruster
• lateral bar jumps
• burpees

Additionally you were to do a 100 meter dash between each round. I used 78# on the bar and completed in 25:52. My legs were a wreck at the end. Today I did Fran plus a mile. 21-15-9

• Thruster (95/65)
• pull-ups

Then run a mile. I just did this a few weeks back and completed the fran portion in 8:40 with 78# on the bar. Today I started with 93# and dropped it after 4 reps of round 2. I completed the fran portion in 9:28. I was doing the 93# thrusters 2 and 3 at a time after the first 10. My transition to the run took me like 1:30 which is kind of a long time. I work out in the basement and by the time I pulled off my gloves and got my ear buds and music going it was 11:00 in. I finished the run in just over 8:00, clock read 19:08 at the finish. Running in this humid nasty weather sucks. I have a spartan race coming up in august, I better get serious about training.

Run

Went for a run this afternoon. It was warm and pretty damn humid. Felt kind of like running in soup. I only went 2.69 miles according to mapmyrun and my pace was pretty slow, 7:53. I should probably run a little more especially with a race coming up in August. I am doing a Spartan race.

Fran plus some

Warmed up with a bunch of jumping jacks and then a bunch of stretching today. The workout was Fran plus a mile. Fran is 21-15-9:

• Thrusters(95/65)
• pull-ups

So you do 3 rounds with 21 reps of each exercise the first time, 15 the second, and 9 the third. I dropped the weight on the thrusters to 78#, I am still a lazy ass, and did most of the pull-ups jumping with a slow negative. I completed this in 8:40 which is pretty slow by crossfit standards but I was sweating like a pig and felt like I was getting a good workout so I don't really care. The fran portion was followed up with a 1 mile run and I have no idea what my total time was with that because my phone, which I use as a stopwatch, rebooted once I started running. The run seemed like a reasonable pace though, maybe 8:00 or a bit less.

Seven

Warm up this morning I did 200 jump rope singles followed by 2 rounds of:

• 10 air squats
• 10 pull-ups
• 10 PVC arm circles

Workout was seven rounds for time:

• 200 meter run
• 5 hand release push-ups
• 10 push press (95/65)
• 15 abmat sit-ups

I loaded the bar with 93# and after the first 2 reps it was pretty clear that was not going to work for me. I dropped it down to 78# and finished the workout at that weight. I finished the first round in something like 3:30 and that included the slow down to remove a little weight. I decided I wanted to do the total workout in under 21:00 based on that so I had something to shoot for. I am finding that a useful technique, do one round and then set a goal for the total workout based on that, helps me since I have no one to compete with like at the gym.I did the push presses from the ground since I did the workout in the garage due to the run. This means there was a clean at the start of that exercise in each round. I did most of the push press unbroken. I put the bar down once in round 4 and once on the last round but that was it and both times I jumped back in quick. All others were unbroken. I ended up finishing in 21:02 so I missed my goal but not by too much, if I had not put the bar down those 2 times I would have made it. What a lazy ass.

Workout.. and Coffee, MMMM

Started the warm up with a 400 meter run, holy shit are my hamstrings sore as hell. I then did 3 rounds:

• 10 mountain climbers
• 10 abmat sit-ups
• 10 push-ups

The workout today is a hero WOD in honor of Army 1stLt Omar Vazquez who was killed by an IED in Iraq in 2011. There is a news article about it here and many more sources for information if you are interested. The workout is prescribed as:

• 10 thrusters (95/65)
• 15 bar facing burpees
• 20 thrusters (95/65)
• 25 bar facing burpees
• 30 thrusters (95/65)
• 35 bar facing burpees

I started off with 93# on the bar and knocked out the first round pretty damn fast, a little over 3:00 without stopping at all on the thrusters. On round two I hit a bit of a wall and I had to drop the weight to keep my intensity up. I dropped to 78# after the first 13 of round 2 and finished with that. I might have been able to do the 93# all the way through but I was doing one at a time and wanted to get going a bit faster. I did round three thrusters in sets of 3 with a few seconds between. My range of motion and form were very good all the way through though so I am pretty happy with that. I also split the burpees a bit on the last round doing 10 at a time with a brief break and then back in. I was sweating like crazy by the end. I completed the workout in 19:13. I did some stretching after to cool down. Sarah did a few thrrusters as well and then even tried with a bit of weight on the bar. She is doing well but we need to get her doing some strength work, I will have to look into that.

I read an article this morning in the NY Times about the health benefits of drinking coffee. I know there is some discussion among thee crossfit community on coffee and if you should drink it or not. I have never given it up. I figure I drink it black so I really am adding nothing as far as calories, I think it is maybe 2 calories a cup, and I just enjoy it so I am going to drink it. The article talks a bit about some studies that indicate reduction in all kinds of things from cancer to diabetes to Alzheimer's. There does not appear to be any direct evidence of a causal relationship but there is a strong correlation in many of the studies. I am mostly just happy to have someone tell me it is good to drink my 5 cup pot every morning, not that I was going to stop anyway.

Jello

I did a warm up this morning that was a 400 meter run followed by 50 jumping jacks. I then did a bunch of stretching. The workout for today was 3 rounds for time:

• 50 straight leg deadlifts (95/65)
• 50 air squats
• 50 GHD sit-ups
• 50 GHD hip extensions

First problem is I don't have a GHD machine. Those things run anywhere from $400 to $800 and after reading a bunch about possible back issues from GHD sit-ups I swore I will never do them again anyway. I substituted abmat sit-ups for the GHD sit-ups. This is not really an accurate substitute I know but like I mentioned I have no desire to be going below vertical on these anyway given my history with lower back disks. Got the GHD hip extensions I put weights on my bench and laid stomach down on a stability ball with my heels hooked under the bench. This worked pretty well and is an accurate substitute. I had never done, or even seen, the straight leg deadlift so I read a bit last night and watched a few videos. This is a good one that goes over all the key points. I have not checked out men's health for videos since starting crossfit but as I recall from when I was doing my own programming they have a bunch of good ones explaining all the exercises, I will have to have a look around there again. I tried a few of these with no weight on the bar to make sure I had the move down and then loaded up. I loaded to 93#, as close to 95# as I can get without going over, and gave it a try. It did not seem near as heavy as I thought it was going to be. I completed the workout at that weight. This workout took me forever; I finished in 35:46. I was shocked at how much work my legs were getting throughout this one. By the end of round one my legs were shaky and weak as hell. I never would have thought this from looking at the moves. I also had some grip troubles on the deadlifts as my forearms were on fire after the first round. I had to take many quick 1-5 second rests throughout this one except on the abmat sit-ups which I did unbroken on all 3 rounds. My legs feel like jello right now and I am sure they are going to be sore tomorrow. I did some stretching after to cool down.

Hero WOD

Got up this morning and started with a warm up of 150 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 abmat sit-ups
• 10 air squats

I also did some stretching once I got that done. Today's workout was DT, with a bit of an extra thrown on the end. DT is a hero WOD named in honor of USAF SSGT Timothy P. Davis who was killed in February 2009 by an IED. To learn a bit more about him you can have a look here or I am sure you can find more info elsewhere. The workout is prescribed as 5 rounds for time:

• 12 Deadlift (155/115)
• 9 Hang power clean (155/115)
• 6 Push jerk (155/115)

Now I con deadlift 155# but there is no chance in hell I am cleaning or push jerking 155#. I put 153# on my deadlift bar, I have 28# bars so my numbers will vary a little from standard. I loaded up another bar with 113# and tried a couple cleans and it was not happening. I lowered it until I felt I could do both exercises without killing my form. I settled on 78# and then began the workout. I had to split the deadlifts into 2 sets of 6 with a second or two in between. On the cleans I was doing 2 sets each time as well of 5 and 4. My forearms were screaming on those. I also put the bar back down after the cleans so I had to do one extra each round to get to the rack position for the push jerk.  I was able to do all the push jerks unbroken at that weight. I probably could have done a bit more on the push jerk but I only have 2 bars so there was no way I could do 3 different weights without spending a lot of time switching weights. I completed the 5 rounds in 20:10 and was sweating like a whore in church by the end.

The bit of extra I mentioned was that once this DT workout is done you go immediately into a timed 1 mile run. I completed the mile in 7:40, not bad considering I just did that workout.

Monday and back at it

I did not do a workout this weekend. I was thinking of it on Saturday morning but I had a hockey game at 3:00 on Saturday and decided it would be better to just skip that. We won. This morning I started out with 100 jump rope singles and 3 rounds:

• 10 jumping jacks
• 10 abmat sit-ups
• 10 PVC arm circles

I followed that with a bit of stretching and then went into some strength work which was 5 sets of 5 on the bench. This is the first time I have done bench presses at home since getting that new bench and it worked out pretty well. Sarah got up and did this as well, gotta have a spotter when doing bench press. I did the sets with 118#, 128#, 138#, 148#, 153#. I needed a little spot on the last 2 on the last set at 153#. This was then followed up with a METCON of 21-15-9-15-21

• Push press (95/65)
• Weighted step ups (95/65)

I did 83# on the push press for the entire workout. For the step ups I used the bench with a pair of dumbbells and started with 80# (40#each). I dropped during the 9 rep set to 70# (35# each) and then again during the second 15 rep set to 60#. I was getting a tweak in my upper back at the top of the step up on the right side and it finally went away when I hit 60#. If I do this again I think I could do 10# more on the push press and try to stay at 80# on the step ups. I finished in 17:22. By the last round I was doing 5 at a time on the push press but a real quick 1-2 second stop, just long enough to step away from the bar. I also had to split the step ups into sets by the end too. My forearms were screaming and the grip just could not make it to 21.

Went for a Run

After the workout on Monday I had a pain in my upper back. It was a very sharp point pain in between the shoulder blades on the left side, so nothing related to any problems I have had before. I decide to skip any kind of upper body work on Wednesday to avoid using it and let it heal. I went at lunch time to a nearby lake and ran 2.5 miles. It was hot, maybe 90 degrees, and the pollen was so thick you could just see it in the air. I completed the run in a average pace of 8:19 which is a bit on the slow side for me. The first 2:00 split was reported as something above 10:00 by mapmyrun and after that my splits were where I would expect. I never did make up for that slow start though. the back feels fine today so I guess the rest worked. I assume it was from the pull-ups although I did also do thrusters. I have a hockey game tonight so I might do a workout tomorrow evening but probably not in the morning.

Memorial Day

For the warm up today I did 25 jumping jacks followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 wall ball shots (16/12)
• 10 abmat it-ups
• 10 PVC arm circles

This is the first time I have done wall ball shots since I started working out at home. I measures out back to see where 10' would be from the new patio and it is high enough that I would be hitting the siding on the house and I don't want to do that. It turns out the side of the deck is just about the right height, maybe a couple inches low but close enough so I used that as a target. The workout I chose for today is called "Daniel". Since today is Memorial day I decided to be sure to do a hero WOD. This one is named for SFC Daniel B. Crabtree who was killed in Iraq in 2006 when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb while on a combat patrol. The workout was the following for time:

• 50 pull-ups
• 400 meter run
• 21 thrusters (95/65)
• 800 meter run
• 21 thrusters (95/65)
• 400 meter run
• 50 pull-ups

I completed the workout in 22:27 with a some modification. I dropped the weight to 78# due to a tight lower back today. I loaded up 98# and tried a couple but due to yesterdays running and burpees my back was feeling pretty tight so I decided to drop the weight and go for speed over weight to get the intensity today. 50 pull-ups is a shit ton of pull-ups in a row!! I did pretty well on the first 50 but was jumping by about half way through. The runs are nice in this one because they are almost like a break. I felt pretty good with the thrusters except at one point I got my hands out in front of me too much and almost fell over forward. That last 50 pull-ups is a bitch at the end of this one. I was doing them jumping with a slow negative but by the end I was still only able to knock out 2 at a time. I had done this workout last November, check it out here. My time was a good bit better this time around but it looks like I did it with 95# last time. I will have to give this one a shot with the prescribed weight some day when I did not do something as brutal the day before. Here is a video that shows the thrusters.

Not at Home

We are staying at the mother-in-laws for a bit this weekend so I did a bit of a road workout today. I typically do this one, or a variation, when I am on travel for work. The workout is a run with 50 burpees sandwiched in the middle. I typically do 1 mile on each side of the burpees but today I ran a total of 3 miles. I completed it in 28:37 according to mapmyrun. I had the voice on the app set to give me 2:00 split times and I know I was doing 7:30-7:45 splits on the first half. I stopped at 1.59 miles for the burpees and did them in 4 sets 15,15,10,10 with just a 5 second or so break in between. I started off slow on the back half with a first split time of maybe 9:00 I think but most of the splits reported by the app on the back half were about 8:00. Last time I did this, read about it here, I completed a 2 mile version in 19:50. That means that extra mile added something like 8:47 to the time. I think I can do better than that, I will have to try this one again. For a summary of the workout or the map you can look at the mapmyrun log here.

When You Get a Minute

I had to be in early today for a customer meeting so I waited until this evening to work out again. I started with a warm up of a 400 meter run followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 jumping jacks
• 10 abmat sit-ups
• 10 PVC arm circles

Next was the workout which is 3 rounds:

• 1 minute front squat (95/65)
• 1 minute push-up
• 1 minute kettlebell swing (53/35)
• 1 minute air squats
• 1 minute rest

Score is the total number of reps completed and there is no rack allowed on the front squat portion. The no rack restriction is meant, I think, to make you hold the bar for the full  minute since if you put it down you are doing so to the ground and that means you need to clean it back to position to continue. I put 98# on for the front squats, my bar weighs 28# not standard 44# so my numbers end up a little off from standard. I initially thought I might not be able to complete the workout at that weight but I made it through. I did 35# on the kettlebell swings as usual. I completed a total of 245 reps on this workout. I did 82 reps in round one, 88 in round two, and 75 in round three. I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing until that third round and I really hit a wall. I had to put the bar down once during the front squats on round 3 and the kettlebell a couple times. I feel pretty good about the workout though in general and I like the fact that it was 15:00 and you are out; you can do almost anything for 15:00.

Heavy Cleans, Well Not Really Heavy...

I got up this morning and started with a warm up of 100 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 sit-ups
• 10 air squats

I was thinking as I was doing the jump ropes how much better I am at these than I used to be. I have not done much practice but I used to not be able to string together 20 singles without tripping. I know am more limited by my endurance than clumsiness. Progress I guess. Perhaps I should try some double unders sometime...

I then did 15 minutes of strength work consisting of a search for a 3 rep max on squat cleans. I had watched some videos last night on squat cleans, very detailed, and wanted to concentrate on my form and perhaps did not concentrate as much on going heavy. I am fine with that though. as I have mentioned before I have never been much of a fan of maxing anything.The video I watched can be seen here. Interestingly this video is from again faster, the same company I bought my gear from. I don't know who the instructor is but I am more impressed with these guys now that I have found their videos online than I was after they fixed my bumper plate issues. I guess I would say if you are buying gear I would really check these folks out, and no they are not paying me.

My squat clean numbers for 3 reps each time over the 15 minutes were 58#, 78#, 78#, 88#, 98#, 108# (Failed), 108# (2). I repeated the 78# set because the first time my form was wrong. I got my hands out in front of me as is talked about in the video and ended  up having to take a step forward to catch it so I decided to redo that weight and get the form right. On the first 108# attempt I flat out failed. On the second 108# attempt I hit the first but felt my back arch out at the bottom on the second and thought better of going for a third. I am clearly not fluid on the move and should continue to focus on form.

The next part of the workout was a 15:00 AMRAP

Infinity ladder (1, 2, 3, 4,...)

• Hang power clean (115/75)
• Toes-to-bar

*100 meter sprint between each round*

I set up 98# on the bar and did the workout with that. I have a bit of an issue with the 100 meter sprint in the middle since I work out in the basement. I have to run upstairs and out the garage to do the sprint so that slows me a bit. I completed up through 7 of the cleans and 1 toes-to-bar on the 7th round before the 15:00 ran out. I was again trying to focus on some of the form from the video, I still need some work on that.

Hero WOD

I didn't get up to work out this morning. seems I am getting lazy about the morning workouts now that I have the gear at home. I did workout after work before dinner though. I warmed up with an 800 meter run and some stretching. Then I did Hansen. This WOD is named for Marine SSgt Daniel Hansen who was killed in Afghanistan in 2009 by an IED. You can read more about him here. The WOD is 5 rounds:

• 30 kettlebell swings (53/35)
• 30 burpees
• 30 GHD sit-ups

I did 35# on the kettlebell as is my normal and I also did abmat sit-ups, partly because I don't have a GHD machine and also because I have been doing some reading about GHD sit-ups and am not going to do them ever again due to the back problems I have had in the past. I might talk more about that at some other time but not today. I completed this in 32:30, and it was pretty damn tough, burpees suck!! I did the first round in 5:00 and was shooting for 25:00 after that but I guess I slowed down as this one went on. I was very deliberate on the kettlebell swings concentrating on keeping my core really tight and it was obvious that it was working. My core is going to be sore tomorrow. It is nice to be able to adjust when I workout, that was one real problem with the gym. I do wish I had someone to compare my times against though so I can make sure I am pushing myself. I felt pretty ragged by the end of this one though so I think I did pretty well although 32:30 seems like a long time.

Friday Workout

I went to bed a little late Thursday night so decided to not get up early for the workout. I left work a little early and did the following before dinner. Warm up was 100 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 abmat sit-ups
• 10 jumping jacks
• 10 PVC arm circles

The workout was a 20:00 AMRAP Cindy. This means do as many rounds of the following as possible in 20:00:

• 5 pull-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 15 air squats

I completed 13 rounds plus through 7 push-ups on the 14th round. I started doing some of the pull-ups jumping at some point, maybe halfway through. I would start off and do as many of the 5 as possible dead hang and then when I could not do the jump with a slow negative. I made it through the push-ups without stopping most of the way but maybe 2/3 through I would get to 6 or 7 and take 1-2 second break and jump right back in. I did all the air squats uninterrupted. I looked back and this is an improvement, slightly, over the last time I have this workout down which you can see here.

Everyone is Looking for the Easy Way Out

I read an article in the NY Times today which you can have a look at here. The title of the article was "The Scientific 7-Minute Workout." The article attempts to describes another article that was published in the May-June issue of the American College of sports Medicine Health & Fitness Journal which you can find here. The NY Times article accurately describes the sample circuit that was described in the original article as well as the reason why the authors believe this is a good circuit that can allow you to get a substantial workout in in less time than some other more traditional workouts might allow. However, they also try to claim that the authors conclusion is that you only need to do 7-minutes of exercise:

Those seven minutes should be, in a word, unpleasant. The upside is, after seven minutes, you’re done.

If you take the time to go read the actual article this is directly contradicted when the authors state:

Because most individuals may not be able to execute the program at an intensity significantly greater than 100% of their V˙O_2max, following the established ACSM guidelines for high-intensity exercise of at least 20 minutes is recommended. This may require multiple repetitions (or circuits) of a multistation exercise circuit.

How many of the people that read the NY Times article are actually going to go read the source material? I am going to guess almost none. So what does that mean? It means we have a conclusion by the author of the NY Times article (Gretchen Reynolds) that is likely to be taken by most that read that article as fact and it isn't even an accurate representation of the original work. This is either laziness, i.e. Gretchen never read the original article in it's entirety, or incompetence, i.e. Gretchen read the article but failed to understand what it said. Either way why is the NY Times publishing it?

The bottom line is there is no 7-minute workout that is going to solve all your problems folks. There never has been and there never will be. You need to commit to making a change and making the time to do the work if you want results. We all make time to brush our teeth and take a shower we should be making time to exercise now that we live in a largely sedentary world. If you are still living a hunter gatherer lifestyle or doing manual labor you might be able to skip the workouts. If you are like many of us though who work in an office you need to put in the work.

Skipped the Blog

I have not posted anything in a few days here so I guess I have a bit of catching up to do. I did a run last Thursday (look here for the stats). I did not get anything workouts done over the weekend. My wife was gone and I had the kids and it just never worked out right. On Monday I got up and did a warm up of 200 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 abmat sit-ups
• 10 jumping jacks
• 10 mountain climbers

This was followed up with 5 rounds for time of:

• 10 man makers
• 400 meter run

I completed this in 25:28 with 25# dumbbells. The man maker is sort of like a burpee except you do it with dumbbells. Drop to push-up position with the dumbbells in your hands, perform a push-up, right arm row, push-up, left arm row, feet between hands and stand, clean the dumbbells to shoulders and do a thruster to put the dumbbells overhead and that is one rep. I had done this before with 20# dumbbells in October of last year as you can see here.

This morning I got up and did a warm up of  a 400 meter run followed by 2 rounds:

• 10 push-up
• 10 pull-up
• 10 PVC arm circles

The workout was a 20:00 AMRAP:

• 10 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (95/75)
• 5 Overhead Squats (95/75)
• 15 Deadlifts (95/75)

I can't do all of these with 95# so I set up 2 bars. I did the SDHP and OH Squats with 60# and the Deadlift with 95#. I could probably have done the SDHP with a bit more weight but not the OH Squats and I only have 2 bars so this seemed like the best approach. I got a great workout and completed 7 full rounds and up through 2 deadlifts on the eighth. I did 4 full rounds in the first 10:00 so I must have slowed a little on the second half.

I finally got all the bumper plate issues resolved. I ended up going back to Play It Again Sports where I had bought my bars and finding one that they all fit on and they exchanged it. So I now have 2 bars that all the bumper plates fit on but they are both only 28# and 6 feet not the 7 foot 443 ones I am used to using. I bought some light weights to make one 33#, the women's bar weight for my wife, and 44# for me. The folks at Again Faster have been very good about making things right. They sent out replacements the first go around and were going to send more when I had problems again but I got the new bar. I will say that I think the issue was a combination of both the bars and their bumper plates. The replacement plates had metal shavings on them and the customer service rep said they had the people at the factory try them on a bunch of bars before sending so I assume they had to adjust them. They also are not really all the same width. I noticed this because I made a rack for the weights and the new ones did not fit like the old. They did make it all right though so I think they will have my business next time I need some gear.

A Workout on Tuesday Morning, Yeah!!

So this is one of the benefits of doing the workouts at home. I did not want to do one yesterday because I had done an afternoon workout on Sunday so I pushed it to Tuesday. It used to b, when going to the gym that I could not do this because their 0600 workouts were only available on Mon. Wed. and Fri. I can now do them whenever is convenient for me. There are a couple of issues. I have to figure out substitutions for exercises I don't have equipment for but so far that has been fine. I also don't really have anyone to compare my performance against. I was planning on looking at the times of my classmates from when I used to go to the gym but the gym has since updated their website and I can't see that information any longer.

So this morning I got up a little later for the workout, 0630. I was planning on going in to work a little late since I am staying late to go to a hockey game that is closer to work than home. I started with a warm up of 100 jumping jacks followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 air squats
• 10 pull-ups
• 10 PVC arm circles

I also did a little bit of stretching but not much. The warm up is one of the problems with me doing my workouts at home, often there is not a warm up listed on the web site and I struggle a bit to come up with something. I am figuring it out though. The workout today was 2 rounds for time:

• 400 meter run
• 50 GHD hip extensions
• 400 meter run
• 50 overhead weighted abmat sit-ups (20/10)
• 400 meter run
• 25 knees-to-elbows

I modified a little bit. I did 10# on the sit-ups and the last few knees-to-elbows I did  power tower knee ups. I also had to figure out a way to do the hip extensions since I do not have a GHD machine. I put some weights on my weight bench to hold it down and put my feet under the bench while doing them on a stability ball something like this video. It was raining outside today which slowed me down a bit because I did not want to wear wet shoes in the house so I had to remove them and put them back on in between runs. I think I lost about a minute for each run except the first since I started with that one. I completed the workout in 32:16, felt like a good workout so I am happy.

Rare Sunday Workout

I usually do a workout on Saturday but had a bunch of things yesterday so I did today's workout instead. I started with a warm up of 100 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 abmat sit-ups

I had just finished mowing the lawn when I started so the warm up might have been overkill but it was pretty short anyway. I also added in some stretching, mostly my back and hips. The workout was a 3 round for time:

• 10 bear complex (95/65)
• 12 pull-ups
• 15 dips

I did the bear complex with 80# and by the end was doing 2 at a time, that is a crazy tough move. I did the pull-ups jumping but the dips I did normal. This is the first time in a long time I have done dips. I completed this workout in 19:52. Not sure if I will work out tomorrow morning or not since I did this one late today. I will probably wait to see what it is.

Friday Workout and Update on Bumper Plates

I was able to get up a little later today to work out since I was going in to my daughters school for dads and donuts and coming in to work late. The warm up was 3 round:

• 60 foot bear crawl
• 10 air squats
• 5 burpees
• 10 jumping jacks

I think this is the first time I ever did bear crawls, interesting and tough. If you want to see them have a look at this video. I then moved on to the workout which was:

• 200 meter run
• 12 push jerks (155/105)
• 30 walking lunges
• 400 meter run
• 9 push jerks (155/105)
• 60 walking lunges
• 800 meter run
• 6 push jerks (155/105)
• 90 walking lunges

I did the push jerks with something like 80#, should have done more but I did not really decide that until the end. I also am still having the issue with the bumper plates fitting the bars so that did not help, more on that later. I completed this in 16:04. The walking lunges were pretty damn brutal by the end of this one but overall it was not too bad, as I mentioned I think the weight was too low. I brought the bar in the garage and did this one outside instead of inside which helps speed up anything that involves running. If I need to run I have to go upstairs from the basement and outside to run.

I took the 2 new 10# bumper plates this morning to play it again sports to see if there were any bars there they would fit on. the 10# plates seem to have the smallest hole so I figured if I can't find a bar to fit them there is a real problem. They had 4 bars there and I was able to get one of the plates to fit one side of one of them. Neither would fit on any of the others. I sent an email to the againfaster.com customer service representative and they have put an order together with replacement plates for all those that do not fit. we shall see when they come in if they fit on my bars. At least they are trying to make it right, I thought for a while they were going to just say it is the bar.

Night Workout

It has been a while since I have done a workout in the evening but since we did not do one this morning I was kind of feeling like I wanted to tonight. We warmed up with 2 rounds:

• 200 meter run
• 15 plate hug squats (15/10)
• 15 PVC arm circles
• 30 jump rope singles

We then did the workout which was 3 rounds:

• 30 squat cleans (95/65)
• 30 pull-ups
• 800 meter run

I completed this is 35:00 with 65# and did jumping pull-ups. Sarah did 2 half rounds in something like 40+. This is a hero WOD named Badger in honor of Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Mark Carter who was killed in Iraq on 11 December, 2007.

Still waiting on word on getting the bumper plates taken care of. Will let you know.

Tuesday Yoga

The MIL was staying at the house in the basement last night so I did not want to get up and work out down there at 0530 and wake her up. Instead I went to a 1 1/4 hour yoga class. It was very good and I think I will try to keep adding in some stretching and yoga on a regular basis. We might still do a workout tonight, I will let you know. This is one of the reasons doing this at home instead of the gym is appealing, if I can't get to the gym I am stuck but at home I can do the workout any time. I am still working with AgainFaster to try to get these bumper plates taken care of. They asked for pictures of all the plates that won't fit. I went home and set up both bars, we have a 6' and a 7' bar, and tried every plate on every position. Turns out that only the 15# plates fit everywhere. Some of the plates fit one bar and some neither but none fit all the positions. The customer service rep from AgainFaster is now asking if I have a way to measure the inside diameter of the plates. I am looking for some calipers but not having much luck. They also asked me what type of bars I have so I suspect they are thinking it is a problem with the bar not the plates. Seems to me that they are probably both off a bit since the 15# plates seem to fit no problem. My bars are both CAP bars which are not great but it seems that if they can ship some bumpers that fit they should be able to ship all bumpers that fit. alternatively, if this is a known issue they should let you know that on their site before you make the purchase, i.e. tell you they are not guaranteed to fit if you don't use their bar. The problem at this point is I can't use them. The bumpers also have a pretty strong rubber/chemical smell and they seem to leave a good bit of black on my hands when I handle them. I am not sure what that is about but not sure I like it.

Monday Workout At Home

We got up this morning and did the workout at home in the new home gym we set up. For a warm up we did 400 meter run followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 PVC Overhead Squats
• 10 PVC Arm Circles
• 10 Jumping Jacks

We have no PVC so we just used some bands for the PVC work. The workout was a ladder workout defined as follows:
1-10 Thrusters (95/75) Ladder with Cindy between rounds

Round 1:

• 1 Thruster
• 5 pull-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 15 air squats

Round 2:

• 2 Thrusters
• 5 pull-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 15 air squats

Continue this pattern for 10 rounds. I completed the workout in 25:30. Sarah did 6 rounds in something like 30 minutes. I did the workout with #65 and Sara used something around #30, not sure the exact weight on the bars we have. I am not sure how this compares to anyone at the gym since they changed the web site and I don't have access to results any longer. Today was the first time we used the new barbells and bumper plates. I put the #15 plates on the bar and then went to add the #10 plates and neither would fit on the bar. I decided I better try all the plates and found one of each #25, #35, and #45 that did not fit either. The bar is slightly too large for collar on some of them as you can see in the picture below.

I contacted AgainFaster customer service and they asked for pictures which I have provided and am waiting for another response. My guess is they will blame the bar, which may be true but we shall see. I am looking at getting my hands on some calipers to see if the bar or the collars are out of spec but I may end up having to fix this one myself somehow.

Saturday, First at Home Crossfit

Well, all the gear showed up yesterday and when I took a look last night at the gym web site it looked like a perfect workout for home. I had to jump on Google Earth to measure some running distances but I have a pretty good idea where a 400, 200 and 100 out distance are now. There was no warm up on the site so I came up with one on my own. We did 100 jump rope singles followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 air squats
• 10 push-ups
• 10 walking lunges

The workout was called an 800 meter run sandwich:

Run 800 meters
21-18-15-12-9-6-3

• Kettlebell swings (53/35)
• Weighted overhead abmat sit-ups (30/20)
• pull-ups

Run 800 meters

I did 35# on the kettlebell swings and started with 30# on the sit-ups but switched to 20# after the first round of 21. I also did jumping pull-ups. Sarah skipped the 21 rep round and started at 18. She did 18# kettlebell swing round one then 8# for a few rounds and then finished back up with the 18# for the last 3 rounds. She used no weight on the sit-ups and we both did jumping pull-ups. I finished in 27:56 and Sarah finished in 36:00. We finished off with a bunch of stretching. I don't know how I did compared to others at the gym because there are no times up yet. Will be interesting to know if I was pushing hard enough, felt pretty tough.

Friday Workout and Delivery (Hopefully)

Went to the gym for the 0600 class this morning and the warm up started with a 500 meter row. Following that we did 3 rounds:

• 10 Push press (45/33)
• 10 Jumping air squats
• 5 pull-ups

We then did 5 attempts at a one rep max on front squats. I did bot go real heavy on this as I wanted to make sure I was keeping good form and protecting my back. I did 75#, 105#, 125#, 145#, 155#. I may have been able to push up a little more but I am fine with that for now. The workout was then prescribed as 3 rounds for time:

• 25 Push Jerk (95/65)
• 25 Push-ups
• 400 meter run

I used 85# on the push jerk instead of 95#. This was again to protect my back. As I have mentioned before I need to be careful on any overhead move. The push-ups were brutal after all the push jerks, my wrists were screaming every time I started them. By the last round I was doing the push-ups 2 at a time. The run was almost like a break, I like having a run in the middle of the workout. I completed the workout in 20:37. Following the workout we cooled down with another 500 meter row and a bunch of stretches. I told coach Brent I was quitting my membership at the end of the month. He tried to talk me into coming back, saying they might start offering more morning classes but I already have bought equipment.

Speaking of the equipment, the freight company is supposed to deliver my shipment today. I can't wait to get everything and get it all set up. There is some rearranging I am going to need to do and maybe build some racks as well for the weights. I will post pictures when it is done.

Wednesday Workout and Gear on the Way

Went in at 0600 this morning and began with an 800 meter run followed by 2 rounds of:

• 10 pull-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 10 back extensions
• 10 PVC around the worlds

Following this warm up the workout was 4 rounds of:

• Row for calories
• GHD sit-ups
• Row for calories
• Toes-to-bar
• Row for calories
• Abmat sit-up
• Rest

Each station is performed for 1 minute in each round so you have a total time of 28 minutes in this workout. The score is the total number of reps completed, calories instead of reps for the row. I scored a 332. I scored 79, 87, 89, 77 respectively in each of the 4 rounds.The cool down was another 800 meters followed by a bunch of stretching.

In other news, my shipment of gear from againfaster.com is on it's way. as I mentioned we bought a couple of bars from play it again sports  but I ordered the rest of the gear from this site. I ordered a 260# bumber plate set, an abmat, 35# kettlebell, 18# kettlebell, 20# slamball, 15# slamball, and 10# slamball. I already have most other things we will need to do the workouts and I will do some substitutions as needed for things like rope ascent. The gear is supposed to be delivered tomorrow and according to tracking it left Atlanta at 6:33 this morning (14 pieces @ 390#), I can't wait. Once we get the gym all set back up and ready to go I will post pictures and an equipment list.

Not missing, just busy

I have not posted much here in a while. I have been missing gym days most of the time over the last couple weeks due to lot's of hockey and work travel. The hockey does not bother me too much because I am still doing something active but the work travel... Sometimes on travel I can get a workout in depending on when meetings are and such but other times between meetings and "dinner's" with sponsor's it can be tough to get one in. This last week I was in NC and I did get a 2.5 mile run in on Wednesday. I ran at a 8:15 pace, not too shabby but I can do better. On Saturday we went to my son's school for a 1 mile fun run and they were also having a 5K. I was planning to just do the fun run with the kids but when we got there I was told I could do both for the same price so I figured what the hell. The 5K was first and I ran it in 23:19 which works out to about a 7:45 pace. Again, this is not too shabby for a guy who really does pretty much no running. My gym will put a run in a workout every couple months but when they do it is usually 1 mile. I think I have done a 3 mile run at the gym once since I started there.

I went back in to the gym this morning for the workout and the warm up was 3 rounds:

• 100 meter sprint
• 10 medicine ball burpees (16/12)
• 20 plate hug squats (25/15)
• 30 flutter kicks

The workout was prescribed as follows:

• 500 meter row
• 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 3 - 2 - 1
• burpees
• overhead squats (95/65)
• wall ball shots (20/14)
• 400 meter run

So you do the row and then 10 rounds of the 3 exercises in a descending ladder and then finish with a run. I put 75# on the bar to start with but pretty quickly dropped it to 65#. This is one of those tough on your back exercises that I like to be real careful on. Anything where you are putting weight up over your head tends to be a red flag for people with back issues. Not that I can't do them, I just need to adjust the weight and pay very close attention to a tight core and what it is feeling like as I go through. I finished this in 23:09.

In other news, I have informed the gym that this month is my last month of membership. With all the hockey and travel as well as some other things that have come up I could no longer justify the $135 a month cost. My gym only has the 0600 class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday so if I miss one because of a hockey game the night before it is very difficulty to make it up. I usually am not home from work in tome to make the evening classes. I understand why they do it, there are usually only 3-4 of us there at 0600 so I can't blame them but it just is not working well for me. This weekend my wife and I went to a play it again and bought a couple of Olympic bars and I am planning on ordering some bumper plates, kettlebells, slam balls, and ab mat as well. I figure I can use the slam balls for wall balls as well and this should be enough to get us going at home with most things needed for most workouts. She is going to start doing them with me and I will just do the WOD the gym posts. For now I will start with the gym I have been going to so I can make sure I am pushing myself enough. I know the folks there and they post their times so I will have a point of comparison to know if I am slacking off or not. Eventually I may try to switch it up and try some programming from some other places. It will be fun to work out with the wife again, although she is not much of a motivator and is certainly not going to push me at all. Still, she could use the weight work and plyo to help with impending osteoporosis that runs in the family so it is all good. I will just have to be sure to push myself and keep good records so I can compete with myself when workouts repeat.

Monday Workout

Warm up started with 400 meter run followed by 3 rounds:

• 5 pull-ups
• 10 jumping alternating lunges
• 20 jump rope singles

We then did strength work of 5 attempts at a one rep max on a strict push press. Strict here means no lower body movement just a push up from the chest to overhead with arms locked out. I did 75#, 85#, 95#, 105#, and 105#. I could possibly have pushed it and gone heavier but I am still a little off in the back and after more reading on overhead weight bearing exercises I am going to take it pretty slow with these and probably get a belt for them soon.

The workout was a 20 minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) of:

• 5 push jerks (115/85)
• 10 lateral jumps (over the barbell)
• 15 air squats
• 20 double unders (60 singles but not Rx)

I did the workout with 95#, again I am not trying to push too hard with the overhead stuff at this point. I also did the single unders not the doubles, maybe one of these days I will try them. I did 8 full rounds and made it up through 33 single unders on the 9th round in the allotted 20 minute time. I was pretty happy about that.

This week is going to be another tough one for getting to the gym at 0600. I have hockey on Tuesday night and am going to a Washington Capitals game on Thursday night. Some of us on the Frederick Force military hockey team have been offered a suite for the Thursday game for military appreciation night. They are going to show us on the big screen and let us meet some people apparently. If you get it on TV they may show something there as well so keep your eyes open for us. We also have a tournament this coming weekend with that team so games ever day (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) so no gym then either. This is becoming an expensive membership for the amount of time I have to miss. Stay tuned for updates on that.

The One That Did Me In, Almost

So I took a look at the gym's website last night and was really struggling to decide if I was going to go in or not this morning. The workout was almost the same as the one I had hurt my back on a few weeks back and to be honest I was more than a little nervous about it. I went in anyway. The warm up was 300 single jump ropes followed by 3 rounds:

• 10 sit-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 10 air squats

No problems so far but then the workout. This was a 20 minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible)

• 30 box jumps (24/20)
• 20 push press (115/75)
• 30 pull-ups

This differs in numbers from the one where I got hurt and we did toes to bar instead of pull-ups but it was pretty damn close. I did step ups on the box instead of the jumps as I did last time we had box jumps. I also dropped the weight on the push press to 75#. When I did the injury I got hurt on I had 95# on the bar. I also, as usual was doing jumping pull-ups with a slow negative pretty early on. I am still trying to avoid any type of kipping and I think I will keep it that way possibly forever. I completed 2 rounds and made it up to 18 pull-ups on the third round. I took it pretty slow and stretched a few times in the middle. I noticed on the push press that after about 6 reps or so I could feel some breakdown in form that was causing some pressure in the back. I talked to the coach about it a bit and I think my core was not tight enough. It seems that I start out with it tight and then as I fatigue that goes first and causes some over extension in the lower back, there is a good description of this problem in an article I read here. I think there may need to be a bit of work on my part to get my core and glutes more engaged in this exercise and I possibly want to add some side core work to my routine along with some stretching. I have been thinking on what kind of changes to make to avoid future injury and this may be part of it. I also may be changing where I workout soon but more to come on that in the future.

Box Jumps, YIKES!!

If you recall a couple weeks ago I hurt my back while doing box jumps. I have been dreading a workout with box jumps and this morning it arrived. We did the "filthy fifty."

• 50 box jumps
• 50 jumping pull-ups
• 50 kettlebell swings (35/26)
• 50 walking lunges
• 50 knees to elbows
• 50 push press (45/33)
• 50 back extensions
• 50 wall balls (20/16)
• 50 burpees
• 50 double unders

Last time I did this, November 4th, I completed it in 34:37. This time I did it in 34:36 so the time really did not change but I did not push myself as hard as I probably did he last time due to concerns of my back. I did the second half of the wall balls with a 16# ball because the 20# just got to be too much. I also did 150 single unders instead of 50 doubles as prescribed, just as last time. This time I did box step ups instead of jumps, could not bring myself to jump and probably better that I wait on that anyway. I also substituted supermans for the back extensions to avoid over extending my back at this point, still want to be careful. I started complaining about not being able to do the jumps prior to the workout and coach Brent put me in my place. He told me to do step ups, it isn't worth hurting yourself just to get an Rx next to your name on the board and he is right. It was good to hear him say that too because I am sure some coaches would not.

Saturday Workout

I did not get to the gym Wed or Fri since I had hockey games both Tue and Thur nights. I went back in Saturday and they were doing a special St. Patty's Day WOD. The 11:00 version even included beer drinking, I did not participate in that one. Three rounds for time:

• 400 meter run
• 17 burpees (22 if not wearing green)
• 17 kettlebell swings (53/35)
• 50 meter sandbag carry (45/25)
• 17 sandbag squats
• 50 meter sandbag carry (45/25)
• 17 tire flips
• 17 pull-ups
• 17 abmat sit-ups

For the drinking version each round included 3 beer chugs of 6 oz following the kettlebell swings, the second sandbag carry, and the sit-ups. I scaled a bit and did 35# on the kettlebells and was doing jumping pull-ups pretty early on. I ended up using a lighter tire than usual as that move did seem to cause some feelings in my back I was not liking. I finished in 34:16 and I don't think there is any way I could have done the beer version without puking. That is 4.5 beers and I don't normally drink that many if I go out let alone during a workout. I still took it a bit slow on this one and concentrated real hard on protecting my back. I was particularly worried about kettlebell swings but I paid close attention to form and kept my core tight throughout the move and it worked out. I have still been doing some stretching regularly and probably should be sure to keep that up. I have hockey this week Tue, Wed, and Thur so another week with not too many gym workouts.

Back In

So I have not posted anything for a while... because I have not been to the gym for a while. Last time I was at the gym was Feb 25th and it did not end well. My back had been a little sore the week before although nothing major. That morning it was fine and I went in and knocked out the warm up which started with an 800 meter run followed by 3 rounds of:

• 20 walking lunges
• 10 PVC arm circles
• 5 pull-ups

I then started the workout which was an 18 minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible):

• 15 box jumps (24/20)
• 12 push press (115/75)
• 9 toes-to-bar

I only loaded up 95# for the push press and went to work on the workout. Knocked out round one no issue. On the first box jump of round 2 my back just seized up before I made it to the box. I fell out of mid air and hit the floor in a heap. I ended up doing a bunch of stretching and such for a while to get myself moving again and then went home. I ended up in bad shape and taking 2 days from work because of inability to do things like walk and sit. I went to the doctor and got some muscle relaxers and NSAIDs and tried to stretch as much as able. After 4-5 days or so I was feeling significantly better. I did play hockey one day last week but was still feeling very nervous about going to the gym. I have had back issues in the past and even ended up on my ass with no feeling in my legs before but this was different. There was no warning. In the past it would get sore and then get worse and worse but not this time. Finally I decided I need to get back to the gym today, gotta do it sometime and it worked out well. I took it slow but I feel good.

I did the warm up but substituted abmat sit-ups for GHD to protect my back. The workout was 5 rounds for time:

• 20 bench press (135/85)
• 20 pull-ups
• 400 meter run

I started out with 115# on the bar and dropped to 10%3 during the 3rd round and 95# in the 5th round. I also used a band for the pull-ups pretty early on so I could make sure to not revert to kipping since I want to avoid that if at all possible. I completed the workout in 35:48, slowest of all 4 of us there but I did it and remained uninjured, SUCCESS!!

Missed a Couple Days, Not Really Though

So I did not get to the gym Wed. or Fri. this week but it was due to having hockey games at 10:10 the night before on both days so I did get some work in. This is one thing about my gym that I would change if I could. They only have the 6:00 am workout on Mon. Wed, and Fri. so if I miss there is no way I can make it up. If they had one every morning I could have switched days this week and not missed any workouts. So I made it back in this morning for the workout and here is what we did. The warm up was a 400 meter run, in the rain no less, followed by 2 rounds:

• 10 air squats
• 10 jumping pull-ups
• 10 GHD sit-ups

The workout was prescribed as follows:

• Tabata row (for Cal)
• Rest 1 minute
• Tabata air squats
• Rest 1 minute
• Tabata pull-ups
• Rest 1 minute
• Tabata push-ups
• Rest 1 minute
• Tabata abmat sit-ups

The tabata is 8 rounds of the exercise where you do 20 seconds max effort followed by 10 seconds rest. So to start you row for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, row for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds... continue this for 8 rounds and then there is a 1 minute rest. You then do the same with the rest of the exercises. The score is the sum of all reps performed except for the row is calories. Seems confusing but not really. The first thing I will say is that this looks on paper like you will be resting a lot, that is not at all how it feels when you are doing it. I completed this workout with a score of 372. I did 55 calories on the row, 127 reps of air squats, 52 reps of pull-ups, 66 reps of push-ups, and 72 reps of sit-ups.

We then had a cash out for the day which was:

• 30 wall ball shots
• 100 flutter kicks

I did the wall ball shots with a 20# ball and did them in sets of 5. I did some cool down and then cam e home and knocked out my burpees for the burpee challenge. I missed yesterday so today I had to do 29 even though today was day 15 (14 for yesterday and 15 for today). All caught up now.

Multiple WODs?

Not sure what the hell happened today, felt like we did 3 WODs. The warm up started out with 3 rounds:

• 250 meter row
• 15 kettlebell swings (35/26)
• 10 burpees

Following this the workout was prescribed as follows for time:

• 100 front squats (115/95)
• EMOM 20 double unders or 40 single jump ropes

At first glance this seems like it might not be too bad until I realized that the 40 singles were going to take up 30 seconds of every minute. In case you are unaware EMOM is Every Minute On the Minute so you stop at the top of every minute to do the jump ropes. I finished this in 12:43 but had to scale the weight down to 95#. I started off with 115# but it became apparent real quickly that this was too much. My form broke down on the first couple and I dropped the weight to 95#. Following this we had a cash out prescribed as 20-15-10-5:

• pull-ups
• push-ups

So you do 4 rounds with 20 reps of each exercise the first time, 15 the next and so on. Coach Brent did time this one but the times were not posted on the web page. This was not really supposed to be timed so that is fine. My legs are screaming today and I have a hockey game tonight, should be fun.

This is Sparta!!!

Today's warm up started with a 400 meter run followed by:

• 20 box step ups
• 20 GHD sit-ups
• 20 air squats

The workout was called the 300 challenge and is supposed to be something that was done to prep the cast of 300, see this article. The workout was prescribed as follows:

• 25 pull-ups
• 50 deadlifts (135/95)
• 50 push-ups
• 50 box jumps (24/20)
• 50 floor wipers (135/95)
• 50 kettlebell clean and press (35/26)
• 25 pull-ups

I performed this as prescribed. I did all the first 25 pull-ups without jumping, I was kipping. The deadlifts seemed simple on paper but as it turns out 50 is a lot, I was doing them 5 at a time by the end. Push-ups was a similar situation to the deadlift, I was doing them 5 at a time by the end. I kicked ass on the box jumps but not so much on the floor wipers. The weight for the floor wipers was a tough one for me. I had to stop about 3 times throughout and I needed help getting the weight back up off the floor each time. Coach Jay helped me with that but at one point he was busy with someone else and that probably cost me 30 seconds. The kettlebell move was hard as hell at that weight too, I did them 5 at a time on each arm. We did 50 total on that not 50 each arm. I started off real strong on the second set of pull-ups but had to jump on the last 10. I don't really know what my time was because the coach today was coach Jay and he never seems to put the times up on the web site. I do know it was above 20:00 but I think less than 25:00. This is a pretty deceiving workout, looks a lot easier on paper than it is. We finished with a 500 meter row and a bunch of stretches.

Friday Workout - Increased Weight

Warm up started with a 200 meter run and then there was 2 rounds of the following:

• 10 PVC arm circles
• 10 kettlebell pass through
• 5 burpee bar touch

Two of these, kettlebell pass through and burpee bar touch, were new to me. I looked them up last night but did not find a whole lot of information.The things I found online for the kettlebell pass through all said kettlebell pass through lunge or something similar and I was unsure if this was the same move. After the demo by coach Brent I found out it is the same and you can see it in this video. We did it with a walking lunge is the only difference. The burpee bar touch was nothing more than a burpee but on the jump you reach up and touch a pull-up bar or something else elevated above your head. I don't get why we need this one since I am always jumping on the burpees anyway but I did it. The workout today was prescribed as a 20 AMRAP:

• 10 push press (115/75)
• 10 kettlebell swings (53/35)
• 10 box jumps (24/20)

I did not do the 115# weight but I was able to complete the entire workout with 95# on the bar which is an improvement for me on the push press. I typically have been doing the push press with 75# of if I do start a workout with 95# on that exercise I have to drop to 75# at some point shortly after the start. By the end I was doing the push presses 2-3 at a time with a very brief rest but still I got through it. I also used 35# instead of 53# on the kettlebell swings as usual. I completed 8 rounds exactly in the allotted 20 minutes which I thought was pretty good, average 2:30 per round or one rep every 5 seconds. I was close at the end and had to push real hard in the last 20 seconds to knock out the final 10 box jumps but I got there. We then did a "core cachsout" which consisted of the following:

• 90 seconds V-Up
• 30 seconds rest
• 90 seconds weighted abmat sit-up (20/10)
• 30 seconds rest
• 90 seconds GHD sit-ups

This sucked!!! We ended with the usual cool down type stuff, 500 meter row and a bunch of stretches. I also knocked out my 7 burpees for the burpee challenge after the core cashout and before the cool down. I think I was a bit tired becase I smashed my face into the ground on the first burpee, no damage though.

No Gym Today

I had a 10:10 pm hockey game last night so no gym for me today. Still doing the burpee challenge though. There was an update from the gym on their Facebook page yesterday that reads:

For anyone doing the 116 Day Burpee Challenge... The official ruling on burpees in a WOD is in: THEY DON'T COUNT. Any burpees done in a WOD can NOT go towards your count for the day. 

This comes directly from the organizer so we are going to honor it. He is right. Consider the work outside the WOD as extra work, hence "CHALLENGE." Do it. :)

He wrote: 
Q: I already know the answer but... Can we re-address the common opinion that burpees within a WOD count for that day?
A: Only if we change the name from 116 Royal Burpee CHALLENGE to 116 Royal Burpee Super Fun Festival and Sing-Along.

7 Minute AMRAP

Today the warm up started with a 500 meter row then 3 rounds of:

• 10 PVC overhead squats
• 10 banded good mornings
• 5 pull-ups

We then did some strength work which was 6 single rep power cleans for a one rep max. I did 95#, 115#, 125#, 135#(F), 135#, 145#(F). The F indicates a failed attempt.Following that we did a 7 minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) of:

• 7 thrusters (95/65)
• 7 toes-to-bar

I did 4 full rounds and made it through the thrusters and 1 toes-to-bar on the 5th round. I did scale the weight on the thrusters. I started with 95# but dropped to 75# pretty quickly during the first round. I also did 6 burpees at the end to catch up on the 116 day burpee challenge. The rules are do one burpee on day one and add one burpee each day after that. Here is a video showing how to do the burpees. Further rules are:

• You may complete each days burpees all at once or break them up over the course of the day.
• If you miss a day you must make up all the missed burpees the following day.
• If you don't start on day one you can buy in at any point by doing all the missed days burpees on your first day (This is why I did 6 today on day 3).
• Any burpees you complete during your regular workout may be counted toward your daily count if you wish.

I got home and told the family about this one and they are all going to join in as well. Everyone did their 6 this morning to catch up. I hope we don't miss day 115.