Monday Workout

Three of us at the gym this morning. Started with a warm up of 400 meter run and 3 rounds of the following:

• 10 push-ups
• 10 hip extensions
• 10 jumping jacks

I was unsure what a hip extension was, thought I knew what a back extension was but as it turns out I was wrong. I asked coach Michele and she walked me through the difference between the two. For a good demo watch this video. The workout today was the first one I have done that is not timed. It is called "Bear Complex," don't ask me why I have no idea. The workout was described on the board as follows:

5 Rounds, 7 Sets, for weight:

• Power Clean
• Front Squat
• Push Press
• Back Squat
• Push Press

*Hands must remain on bar for the round to count

Well I had no idea what this one meant but once again coach Michele came to the rescue to explain. The idea is to do all the exercises listed in progression without putting the bar down and that counts as one rep. & reps constitutes one round and you are to do 5 rounds and try to increase the weight each round to the maximum you can do on the last round. You may take a break in between rounds for as long as you like but once you start you are not supposed to put the bar down just touch the ground with it. Michele told us we could rest with the bar on the ground as long as our hands were on it but after doing a bit of online research it appears that is not how the workout is normally prescribed. For a good demo of the progression watch this video. I performed the 5 rounds with 65#, 75#, 85#, 85#, and 85#. I did rest a bit on the last couple sets with the bar on the ground rather than holding it, I would not do this if we do this workout again. I also performed the exercises using the second method shown in the video as opposed to the first simply because that was what Michele had shown us. The hardest part of this one was the push press from behind the head. The weight feels so much heavier when you are pushing it from behind your head.

Cool down was:

• 200 meter run
• Sampson stretch
• Hamstring stretch

I did a few other stretches as well.

I am very interested to see what kind of results I get over the next few months with the crossfit program. I already feel like I am getting much stronger even after just a couple weeks doing the lifting which is something I had not been doing any of at home. I had largely stopped lifting anything and was mostly doing body weight workouts at home that centered around variations of pull-ups, push-ups, and burpees with interval training of some kind worked in as well. It does feel pretty good to be throwing some weight around again. It is also nice to have the clock and others around pushing me to work harder. I absolutely get a better workout that way. I guess this approach doesn't work for everyone but I really like it.