Drinking the cool-aid, Crossfit diaries

[AAOBob]

Good descriptions of what you've been doing: ring dips are tough and 25 in a circuit is a big ask. Did anyone in the class get through a straight 25 reps in a single set? Benching is unusual to see in a crossfit gym .. what weight did you use for the 3 rep sets?
You're fitness will sky-rocket if you end up doing daily WODs

The class I was in wasn't one of the fittest so no one did ring dips 25 straight.

They do a bit of benching here, I've seen barbell and dumbell benching, I was only able to do 135 for the reps, and bench has always been my weakest lift, I've got a really narrow chest.

[AAOBob]

So I woke up this morning still sore from Thursday AND with a new doms pain in my tricepts, so I had that to look forward to for the workout today.

Warm up, basic stuff, jumping jacks, air squats, pank, and a 400m run.

WOD: Partners
2000 m run relay style (so basically 1000m run each)
100 partner pushups (50 each, slap hands each pushup)
1 min holding left/right leg lunges
200 wall balls, with 10 burpees every 20 wallballs

The run was fine, the pushups sucked with the doms but it is what it is, the wallballs + burpees just gassed the crap out of me. Plus I get migraines and had a minor one going for me which was fun because it didn't bother me when I was working out but when I was resting, I could feel each pulse as a throb of pain in my head. All in all I got threw it. My partner was my wife and she did as well. So over all, all good.

[silverlightning]

the problem I had with cross fit was with people that just started training in CF and/or any type of weight lifting and saying it's the best thing ever. however, i've been watching the CF games on youtube and enjoy watching the athletes like Rich Froning, Dan Bailey, etc. there are some strong athletes in Men/Women CF games, most were top athletes in other sports. I do like some of the types of training and movements/exercises they do. it's not easy. it's a whole different type of training than Bodybuilding, PL, OLY lifting, etc. I won't knock anyones style of training as that is there choice. people have different objectives/goals.

Good Luck OP.

[AAOBob]

the problem I had with cross fit was with people that just started training in CF and/or any type of weight lifting and saying it's the best thing ever. however, i've been watching the CF games on youtube and enjoy watching the athletes like Rich Froning, Dan Bailey, etc. there are some strong athletes in Men/Women CF games, most were top athletes in other sports. I do like some of the types of training and movements/exercises they do. it's not easy. it's a whole different type of training than Bodybuilding, PL, OLY lifting, etc. I won't knock anyones style of training as that is there choice. people have different objectives/goals.

Good Luck OP.

I'd consider it to be a pretty good strength and conditioning style workout for us middle agers which pushes most people beyond what they would do on their own. Lets face it at 44 I don't have to "get better" for any sport, I'm not in competition with anyone directly, and just not being fat makes me better than 85% of guys our age. My sole desire is to be able to be active for as long as possible, and be a good role model for my kids here being my parents haven't worked out since the late 60's back when it was a requirement for college.

Being both my wife and I went yesterday (and shes been weightlifting/active for years prior too) we had to take our kids (they have a big office room where kids can play around a bit). My son who's 9 said, "Dad you were really sweating there!" Yes son, yes I was.

[GnomusMaximus]

I hate burpees....I think all people should hate burpees....

[silverlightning]

that's a good perspective Bob. i concur. i've started to do strict OHP(the correct way) to get ready to learn how to do OLY lifts. it's not easy as there are some many mechanics to think about. flexibility is the main issue, but it's getting better.

eventually i want to start mountain biking again, or even road. as much as i like trail running, my achilles tendon on my right foot is an issue and i had a bad ankle strain 20 years ago and I'm not able to make sharp turns. need to ice it more probably.

keep at it as your body will adapt and eventually your strength and conditioning will improve. of course diet is key as well.

[AAOBob]

Allrighty.... Last official required training day for me.

Start with some review, and working on my shoulders, I've been semi-hunched my whole life and am pretty unbalanced in my back muscles. Reviewed more lifts. I did the rope climb now that my abs are no longer strained and that went ok.

Then I did the official workout to graduate....
1 min wall balls
1 min sumo deads where you lift the bar to your upper chest (forget what they are called)
1 min box jumps
1 min push press
1 min row (calories)
1 min rest

Do the above for 3 rounds, if you rest in the sets you lose that time.

The idea is your numbers for 3 rounds should add up to 200 to pass. I got 181, which is another word for failure. My cardio conditioning just isn't up to snuff. By the end of round two I felt like I was going to puke. Now to my excuses, I didn't eat and it was about noon when we did this, I've been cutting, and I didn't get enough sleep but still my heart rate was the limiting factor.

Hes not so worried about that as that will improve, but I'm going to continue 1 training session a week to work on my posture for DL's. My rounded back is an issue, and its been improving but I have a life time of bad posture to correct so its going to take more effort. In the mean time I'm going to start the classes as long as they don't contain elements I'm still weak on form on.

[silverlightning]

i never heard of a sumo dead where you lift the bar to chest. cross fit invented lift?

[AAOBob]

i never heard of a sumo dead where you lift the bar to chest. cross fit invented lift?

No idea tbh, I'll have to ask what the proper name is for them, I don't recall. Lots of new lingo.

Well yesterday was a after work session for me. I hate working out after work but it was the only time I could go.

So the EOD was 2 hanging cleans and then 1 jerk. My form still is lagging a bit, and during it I started to get some forearm tendonitis. Never had it before in my life, but I do have a history of tendonitis in my right leg, in fact that is why I started trying to get healthy. I was 37, and it hurt to walk up stairs.

So I worked through it, and it stayed a dull annoying ache.

WOD: *3
30 push press
30 v ups
30 pushup

I did my best through this but gassing was happening. My arm was really bugging me and yea maybe I shoulda just quit but it didn't feel structural just inflammation so I decided to keep at it. I only made it for 20 on my last round, and it wasn't a strong 20.

Got home and popped 3 advil, arm got better, its ok now but still a very dull ache left there. No real pain just a little reminder its not 100%. I'm going to leave it alone until Saturday and see how it goes.

Tonight I'm hitting our treadmill to see how I do. I did some work prior to starting xfit and I want to see if I'm better CV wise.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Making good progress. Form over weights and reps.

[GnomusMaximus]

i never heard of a sumo dead where you lift the bar to chest. cross fit invented lift?

No, but they use it a lot.

[AAOBob]

Ok been slacking on updates but not workouts. I've done four more WOD's (I'm trying to work out 4 a week, but its tricky with my schedule) and am definitely improving, though I still have a ways to go.

I mentioned earlier I liked rowing for cardio, and I have to say that its something I'm actually good at for whatever reason, relatively speaking. Rowing was a big part of a partner WOD and I rocked it. My viking ancestors would be proud....

Form.... my form on deadlifts is an issue and I REALLY miss mirrors, we had a WOD where part of it was 50 DLs (135) *2. The weight wasn't an issue but my form did break down, not because of the reps but because of my natural tendency to roll my back, the trainer was on me for it, but I still did it too often. A bit sore for a day (no real issue it was only 135), but a lifetime of computer geeking and tight ham strings are something I'm trying to over come. It was actually easier to have good form in the gym using higher weight and the mirrors.

Improvements I've seen/felt.

Endurance is up.
Abs are better, gains on obliques. Some say they can get abs without doing ab work, I am not one of them.
Glutes are getting hit hard, I tended to ignore things like lunges, I don't get to any more (my ass is sore as I write this)
Bench/OHP - about the same as prior. Bench day is usually Thursday and I try to make that one every week.
Lats are improving but slowly.

So over all I'm pleased with crossfit and I'm becoming addicted to it in a way. I'm looking to see how I can go more often, and I've become "that guy" who talks about crossfit. I try not to but it comes up, people ask and there ya go.

One thing I have to say about this box is all the trainers really walk the walk. All are in top shape, and really push themselves. You will often seem them in classes when they are not instructing and working on lifts when there is no class. You don't see a lot of people too worried about "over training" there.

[TWhit67]

In. Love seeing all types of workouts and Circuit Training intrigues me.

[AAOBob]

Ok...

Couple of more WOD's under my belt and I'm going again in an hour. I'm having a few problems with form though. My natural lack of whole body coordination, no mirrors, rounded back, and often fatigue is making my form pretty pathetic on a lot of the oly style lifts. I need to tape myself or something I think to get this, I need to SEE it. Both of my thumbs were also rubbed raw from snatches/cleans and I really need to tape.

The good news.

Endurance up a ton.
Gains in my shoulders.
Big gains in obliques.

The bad news.

Strength oddly down on lats, I'm not sure if they were fatigued but hitting my regular gym my normal lat pull down for reps was 140, and 140 felt like I was lifting a truck. I'll have to go fresh.
Biceps. Curls of just about any kind are not part of crossfit, and I really seem to need them. All the pull ups are lat based, no chin ups, and the OLY lifts are heavy on quads, hamstrings, shoulders, just about everything but biceps.

So I'll be doing bro-curls at home.

[AAOBob]

Crossfit has ruined me for normal body building routines.

Prior to this, I did all pros beginner routine 3 days a week or so, with a few additional exercises. All good, felt like a good workout. Yesterday I couldn't make crossfit so I hit the gym. I got to the bench and I just couldn't do the normal progression, by couldn't meaning I just didn't feel good about doing it. So I did a timed three rep on the minute for 10 minutes bench press.

Then I head to the lat pull downs and again, I just couldn't do it normal style, felt wrong, so I did it 12-10-8-6-4 style with the same pushups in between.

My cool down was a 500m row.

Mentally my definition of "workout" has changed, personally I think for the better, from a fitness standpoint.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Crossfit has ruined me for normal body building routines.

Prior to this, I did all pros beginner routine 3 days a week or so, with a few additional exercises. All good, felt like a good workout. Yesterday I couldn't make crossfit so I hit the gym. I got to the bench and I just couldn't do the normal progression, by couldn't meaning I just didn't feel good about doing it. So I did a timed three rep on the minute for 10 minutes bench press.

Then I head to the lat pull downs and again, I just couldn't do it normal style, felt wrong, so I did it 12-10-8-6-4 style with the same pushups in between.

My cool down was a 500m row.

Mentally my definition of "workout" has changed, personally I think for the better, from a fitness standpoint.

It does change up the mentality.