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.