Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face

That's a common boxing maxim, and it's true for many situations. There is a financial tsunami sweeping through our banking institutions. The interesting fact about a tsunami is that it doesn’t do the most damage when the wave crashes inland. It's when it recedes that we see the devastation that has resulted. The collapse of the subprime mortgage business began some time ago and only now do we see the wreckage that has followed. There is a bright spot. Our Canadian financial institutions are strictly regulated and have escaped the disastrous results that have befallen the enormous investment banks in the US. Our holdings are largely intact although my mutual funds have taken a nosedive with the stock market plunge. Warren Buffet advises buying blue chip now because they are bargains, strengthening your portfolio.

What does this have to do with Crossfit? Plenty. Because I work for a Credit Union, our staff have been busy helping customers understand the impact to their portfolios and planning new products to give our customers greater choices. Resulting from that, this plucky Crossfitter and blogger has been compelled to be early to work and late to leave on the days when I head to the gym. Coupled with a busy home life doing renovations, I have done only two Crossfit WODs in the last two weeks. Meantime, I have continued to Zone diet and I have been going to the fitness centre in my building during my lunch to row 6000 metres for time. I feel I must do something to keep my fitness.

I got to test my plan yesterday during the "Elizabeth" workout at Crossfit Langley.

But before that, we worked on strength training with push presses - three repetitions for five rounds. I started light with the bar, and then working my way up from 95lbs to 145lbs for the last round. I was feeling the difficulty with my weights. While 135lbs isn't light, I can usually handle that easily. The gas in the tank just wasn't there. I realized that my first WOD after a layoff was like the first round in a routine. It's the worst one and it will get better. I also realized that rowing 6000 metres for time doesn't do diddly for strength training.

On to Elizabeth. Sweet, sweet Elizabeth.

21 - 15 - 9

Squat cleans

Ring Dips

I had some soul-searching to do. Rx weight was 135lbs and I knew it was too heavy. But I had a hard time letting go. I didn't want to go light because of my layoff - just suck it up and take longer. I opted to be sensible and choose 115lbs. That turned out to be very, very wise. Within 12 cleans I knew that it was going to be difficult. At 15 reps, I had to put the barbell down and shake my arms and breathe. My heart was pounding like a jackhammer and I could see stars at the edges of my vision. After a short rest, I picked the barbell up and did the remaining 6 reps in two sets. Over to the rings. These are not too bad although doing them strictly adds much time to the round. I had to break these up into sets of six to preserve decent form.

After the first round of 21, I was done. Absolutely fall down on the floor drooling ... done. I would pay someone, preferably someone in India who works for rupees, to do the rest for me. Seriously, I had money in my gym bag. With fear and fatigue rising, I went back to the barbell. I struggled and barely managed 5 cleans before I had to stop for breath. I remember this feeling. This was like my first weeks in Crossfit where I thought I was going to DIE and was asking myself why the hell I was doing this.

I chalked up because it helps. 5 more cleans, stars dancing around when I stood up. Who would have thought that 115lbs was so heavy? I stood there gasping for breath, feeling a strong urge to puke, the went back to the barbell. Rinse and repeat.

I thought the last round of 9 reps would be much better, with the surge of power I often feel when coming in for the homestretch. That eluded me today as I crash, bang, boomed my way to the last few cleans. My form was okay, but I couldn't muster the intensity. What a sad feeling. The last ring dips I forced myself to make them as best as I could, part from wish to honour the spirit of the routine and partly as punishment for allowing myself to get into such a state.

And then it was over. 13:58. I lay down on the mat and stared up at the ceiling fan. Sometimes I looked at the lights too. I have no idea how long I lay there but it wasn't long enough.

I remember reading the blogs of Sterling, Michelle and Leanna, all lamenting about how hard a layoff is when returning to the gym and how badly it sucks to suffer so much at stuff you could zip through weeks before. I add my voice to theirs. It sucks bad. Like a punch in the face.

See you Saturday.

Zoning and Moaning

Have you ever walked into your gym and felt as if you haven't worked out a day in your life? Your arms and legs are heavy, your butt is dragging the ground and everything feels heavy - even the plastic training weights? Yes, I am feeling that today.

I developed a cold last Thursday and decided to take a rest day on Saturday instead of Crossfit. That was probably a wise choice as I could hardly breathe without sneezing and I was a bit woozy. The end result is that it's been four days since I've been to the gym. To make matters worse, I took a 'holiday' from the Zone over the weekend. Burgers, hot dogs, cola, pumpkin pie, and at least a half dozen double-doubles from Tim Hortons. It was glorious. Every now and then I need to relax the restrictions and remind myself why I do things like the Zone. It tastes delicious but then I feel awful afterwards - tired, sluggish and not strong.

Today we did a three-round complex to warm up the body, using progressively heavier weights. The complex was made up of Olympic moves like deadlifting and snatching and it got me breathing deeply. The heart of the WOD was three rounds of five squats. I warmed up with 135lb and then jacked it up to 180lb for a set of five. After that round I added 10lbs and stayed there for the other two rounds. That was about all my legs were interested in lifting for me today so I console myself with the fact that I squatted 2785lbs this morning. Yay me!

The final part to this WOD was a fast three rounds of 12 pullups and 7 box jumps. Just right.

That was an nice way to break into a banner week of fitness and to celebrate I am strict Zoning again. I am starting to feel a bit more energetic. I hope it doesn't take all week to get back to where I was. Ah the price we pay!

Big Bada Boom

Four rounds looks like cake. But the devil is in the details and it's all about maintaining clean form while working as quickly as you are able. Four rounds begins to look like a trip across the North Sea with no land in sight.

Should I pick which exercise was the hardest and which was the rest? I'm afraid I can't. There was no rest and each one was hard. My shoulders were sore and protesting from Monday's one-hundred bench presses. And squatting down for the cleans, jumping up for the boxes and driving back in the rower ensured that my legs were filled with molten lava during this WOD. Once again I had to go to the "place" in my head when it gets tough. It's not a place of smiles and rainbows. This place is full of Vikings in battered horned helmets landing their longship on a conquered shore. This rower breathes fire.

Workout of the Day

4 Rounds for time:
15 - DB hanging cleans 35x2/25x2db
25 - Box jumps
500m row

19 minutes, 31 seconds

My fellow trainees did wonderfully and the extra speakers in the Langley box really kicks it into high gear. I'm diggin' the satellite radio.

Prison Break

I went to the 6:30 PM class on Monday night for this WOD. Normally I attend Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but my quarterly performance review was first thing Tuesday and I thought it best to show up on time. My boss is punctual. The effect of this, however, is that I knew what Coach Clarke had programmed for the day. I like my morning workout because I prefer not knowing in advance what I’m going to do. I like to show up, my gear bag packed with both running and weight lifting shoes, and tackle whatever lies ahead. In this case, I knew for hours that I would be doing bench presses and pull-ups for one hundred reps. That gave me a serious case of the butterflies.

I decided to Rx this weight and see how it would go. I knew from experience that 135lb was light for max bench-pressing, but doing 100 reps will take the starch out of your gym shorts pretty quickly. I promised myself that no matter how long it took, I was going to hang in there and finish what I started. I chalked up and did some presses with the bar to get my shoulders warmed up. I love the feeling of the barbell. It’s not easy to explain that to someone whom the iron bug hasn’t bitten, but I know that you Gentle Reader can appreciate what I mean. It’s perfect.

There is that tense moment when it’s time to turn on the clock. All eyes watch as Coach walks over to it.

“Everyone ready?”

Gulp. “Yeah, ready!”

And with that, it’s on. I pump out ten smooth bench presses. Without a break, I do ten pull-ups and then reward myself by marking the two sets on the whiteboard. Little things like that begin to mean a lot. Two more rounds go by and my train is pulling into the station a little slower each time. The exercise I feared the most – the pull-ups – are in fact the easier of the two. I was worried about tearing calluses and brought my sport tape but my hands are holding up. By the fourth round, I have to rest midway through the presses and shake out my arms. Luc wrote in his blog that failure is abrupt. Absolutely! Four clean presses and then failure on the fifth. Just like that. I learned to listen for the warning sign. Just a little wobble in my right shoulder and I knew the next rep would fail. I stopped, shook my arms out, and then pumped out a few more. My tactic is dead simple. Work to ten reps no matter what before moving to the other exercise. Ten rounds of ten reps. Easy to remember when you’re head is in delirium.

By the seventh round, I am pressing in groups of three, or even two reps. Each time a small break to shake out the arms is all I need to press out a couple more. It’s very tough going. Psychologically, the bar can defeat you if you focus too much on its weight. I instead focus on my goal – pressing it up! My hands hurt now and the pull-ups are uncomfortable. What is most unpleasant is that my back still hurts from the WOD on Saturday and as I drop to the bottom of each pullup, it stretches my lats until I feel exquisite pain from it. Hauling myself up (with a kip) actually feels better.

During the last round, it happens. I just can’t lift that weight up and it hovers there above me looking more and more like an anvil from a Saturday morning cartoon. Slowly it wins over me and it sinks to my chest as I fight to keep it from crashing into me. I’m pinned there like a butterfly. I can’t lift it up off me so I roll it down to my waist and then sit up. I gently take it off and place it on the mat. Bastard. I finish my last set of pull-ups, also broken into sets of five, and walk over to the whiteboard and write my time of 24:27. Booya!

Giving Back

Workout of the Day

21-15-12-9-6-3-6-9-12-15-21
B sqaut 95/65lbs
Pullups
Push press 95/65lbs
weighted situps 25/20lb
With a partner complete the above work only 1 person working @ a time. Finish the one movement before you move to the next.

I like ladders. I think it's mentally refreshing to break the work up in a fun game like this. We partnered up for this blaster and Bryan was looking like he needed someone to work with so I walked over and introduced myself. It turns out that he has been coming to Crossfit for a couple of months in one of the other classes during the day. Judging from his expression, I guessed that he could use a little moral support today for this daunting ladder.

We divided the work evenly, with me taking the extra reps for the ladder down and he taking them for the ladder up. We tested the weights at first and he opted to use the bar with training plates to allow him to finish all 60 reps and I went for Rx. And so it began.

For me, this was an easy morning, gliding through the squats, presses and pullups. I've crossed the abyss and I have built a core of stamina and strength that I know will carry me through tough WODs. But Bryan hasn't done that yet and he was fighting with every ounce of his will, and then some to get through this. How I recognized the look on his face and the laboured breathing from my own first few months. I kept supporting him, encouraging his efforts and helping him through it. At the same time, I pushed him as hard as he could go - probably harder than he thought he could. But that was the favour that people in the gym did for me when I started and it helped me tremendously. And he didn't back down an inch.

We worked through it, together, every last round and every last rep - each one quality and deserved. And in the end, during the last set of situps, I told him "It's the last set - savour it Bryan!" and he laughed hard as we finished. It was an hour well spent.

Row, Row, Row

I had missed the Met Con workouts a little bit as Oly lifting became more of a focus for me. You do what you love I think. Well today it was back in the saddle for a serious blaster at metabolic conditioning. I confess I was a bit worried because although I keep up with my workouts, I only visit the box three times a week and keeping myself conditioned between workouts is tough. I've added rowing to my lunch hour since it's so easy to head downstairs for that but it's too early to reap the benefits of that work yet. So when we started today's WOD it was with that old-time feeling of Do or Die. Dying being the metaphorical death caused by rowing. Does anyone else picture themselves aboard a slave ship rowing to save your life? Am I the only one? My mind goes funny places during Crossfit.

I work out in the morning and before that I make sure I eat a good zone breakfast of oatmeal, cottage cheese and nuts. This can be a double edged sword. If it works out fine, then I have plenty of fuel in the tank. If its too close to the WOD, it becomes an oatmeal anchor in my belly which threatens to introduce me to Mr. Pukie. I have running to thank for that. But today I was happily surprised to find I had tons of energy and "gung ho". Our mission was simple - row 400 metres, lunge 8 steps, and box jump 8 times, for a total of eight rounds. Everything looks so wonderfully achievable on paper.

We got into it and by the third round I knew I was going to have a great WOD. I was keeping my rowing pace at just over 2:10 which is a good speed for me and I was still breathing well. The lunges were okay and I found that if I just committed to doing eight in a row, the pain was tolerable. By number eight I had to shake my legs out before box jumping. Last Saturday, I spent some time jumping the tall box from a seated position. Because of the confidence I gained from that, the little boxes today were a piece of cake. I kept my pace for the seven rounds and gave 'er guns during the last. In my mind, I was rowing furiously, driving incredible power with my legs, then taking moon-walk strides for the lunges. From the outside I'm sure it looked like a man walking through molasses. No matter, I Rx'd this WOD in 21:35.

Rowing

I'm doing some off-day rowing in the corporate fitness centre in an effort to blow through a fat loss plateau and also build some cardio endurance. This post will be a note for times.

Sept. 29     6446 metres/ 30 minutes (Metallica - Death Magnetic)

Cheat Meal Continued

Cheat Meal

Pieces of the Puzzle

Mornings are my favourite time of day. I'm actually a morning person, if you can believe it. Who *is* these days? I have been for a long time and it's also been my habit to get my workout in first thing in the morning. That leaves me with a wonderful low-key feeling for the rest of the day. Besides, after a Crossfit workout, nothing in my day will be as hard as that. It's not the easiest thing to roll out of your comfortable house and head off to lift twelve thousand pounds. But you know what's cool? In my office I look to my right. I look to my left. I know for a FACT that I am stronger and faster than most of the people I worked with. While most people are exercising their distinctions in what channel to watch, WE are breathing fire. We're the cool kids.

Of course my favourites are on the menu this morning. The overhead squat challenges me because it asks for considerable shoulder flexibility. When I'm down low in the squat position sometimes I feel myself teetering forward a bit. It's barely noticeable  but to my inner balance I feel like the leaning tower of Pisa. No problem - just keep practicing. Now the front squat used to be something I did NOT like. "Tricky tricky" I thought.  I remember Mia stepping in front of me when I was learning this lift. "Do me a favour", she said. "Take a step back from the rack so the barbell lands on the mat when you lose control of it." That was good advice, as it turns out. I've had a few wrecks doing the front squat. Something funny happened along the way. I started to appreciate it's merits. It was cool because it was different than the back squat. Elbows up is such an important thing to learn and the key to driving that weight upward. Today something happened that made me smile all day. I was working with Coach Clarke on the front squat and we were loading plates for his set and deloading plates for mine. I knew my maximum was 185lb so we loaded to that and I gave it my best. My first attempt failed and I was a bit disappointed. Nothing like blowing a lift you have done before. But, I thought, it was my maximum so just chalk it up and move on. Coach suggested I try a weight belt. He also noticed that I took a breath during the upward push of my lift. That caused me to lose stability and the barbell came down to the floor. So I took his advice and strapped on the belt, inhaled a deep breath, held it, then went down for the squat. It was tough but I kept my posture and nerve and drove it up for two nice reps. Ah, that felt good. I knew I had learned something powerful that will help me with all my lifts. Then I noticed something else. In my focus to get good technique I didn't count the pounds on the bar. Instead of lifting my personal best of 185lb, I had actually lifted 205lbs! I didn't just sail through that lift, I drove by it with the car window down and knocked over it's mailbox with a baseball bat! I beat my personal best of TUESDAY by twenty pounds. Damn, I have felt good about that all day.

I always talk glowingly about the Oly lifts, but don't get me wrong here - I need the Met Con. I'm always glad (afterwards) to leave a swangel on the gym floor. It's my bread and butter of feeling fit and happy. I naively thought the walking lunges would be the rest exercise of the round. Ha. Was I ever wrong. I was begging for a pullup after a set of those. The pain! I was able to squeak out six rounds in ten minutes and then I lay on the rubber mats with that good old fashioned feeling of exhaustion and exhilaration.

OHS

3 X 75lb

3 X 95lb (failed on the last)

3 X 95lb

F Squat

2 X 135lb

2 X 185lb

2 X 205lb (fail)

2 X 205lb (with belt)

Bars and Bumpers

There's nothing more wonderful than a beautiful snatch. I say that without a trace of irony  but I did hear a few titters in the crowd. Stop that. This morning I was wondering what WOD the Coach had programmed. I knew that he attended Olympic lifting certification over the weekend and I figured there was a good chance we'd be practicing the moves today. But, you never know. Crossfit teaches us to train for tomorrow. What happens tomorrow? Exactly.

By the grin on his face I knew we would be doing some heavy lifting today. Sweet! I took off my squishy running shoes - won't be needing those - and put on my lifting shoes. It felt like coming home. I'm always glad to practice these lifts because they can be so challenging. Just when you think you've got it nailed, the body does something funky and it's all over the map again. There is the tendency to overthink the lift because there are many parts to it. I picture a chain, each link being a step in the lift. Deadlift the bar, keeping it close to the shins. Over the knees and into the crease where the thighs meet the trunk - arms straight! At that point, everything speeds up. Shrug the weight up so the bar is traveling up close to the body, jump under  it while rotating the wrists. Catch it in a power squat with the feet wide apart in the jumping position and having active shoulders. Rise and hold the weight there. It's a complicated move that looks beautiful when done correctly and feels even more wonderful when you get it. Love the snatch.

I've been doing this for a while now and I'm still amazed at how the body has memory of its training. I make a small adjustment in how I am using my shoulders, train that a hundred times, and then it's part of my automatic repertoire. Adjustment by adjustment, we incrementally add skill to our lifts and they become smoother and easier. The benefit is being able add a few pounds each time you improve. If you're anything like me, it's a constant negotiation with myself to keep the weights heavy enough to be challenging yet light enough to keep excellent form. I have the urge to test myself - how much can I lift? It's a healthy ambition but must also be tempered with patience. I believe the heavier weights will come when I master the form that will allow me to lift heavier. And, my muscles need to adapt to this new thing I'm asking them to do. They sometimes protest.

I was so pleased with training the Clean & Jerk and the Snatch that I almost forgot I set a PR in the Front Squat. 185lbs for two reps. In a previous post, I wrote that I was feeling fear when I tried the squat clean because I had a confidence issue with jumping under a heavy weight. Practicing drops helped a lot. And Coach said, almost in passing, the route to feeling confident in the squat clean is to work on your front squat. That made a lot of sense to me. If I know that I can front squat 185lbs, then I know I'll be fine squat cleaning 135lbs. Elbows up!

We finished the morning with a quick Met Con routine of box jumps, pull-ups and sit-ups. It's not Crossfit without some fitness in there. Instead of feeling like this was a toss off, I got into it. I can do kipping pull-ups! Five months ago I felt like a fat kid jumping for a jelly doughnut trying to get to that bar. And missing. I was a sad panda. And now that's changed. Sterling wrote to me in those early days, encouraging me to keep pushing it. "I was once where you are!", he wrote. Man that meant a lot to me. Sticking with this has been completely worth it.

Clean & Jerk
105lb X 3
115lb X 3
135lb X 3

Power Snatch
75lb X 3
85lb X 3
85lb X 3

Front Squat
135lb X 2
165lb X 2
185lb X 2

Thrusters

Have you ever done something that was so damn hard that even after when you are finished you still want to kick it around? Let me set the scene: early morning at the Langley box and the morning shift arrives to see what the mission is. There's mist in the fields and the cold air feels good. I feel so much better than Tuesday and I'm up for anything - even running. Okay, I'm kidding. Running sucks. Coach Clarke grabs a marker and writes 'Thrusters' on the whiteboard. I've never done these before so I don't have the experience to be afraid. "Cool", I think. "I can get some practice in." Five sets of five reps sounds doable.

Here's a link to the exercise. After a 750m row to get the blood flowing, Coach and I set up the barbell with 135lb. We placed a medicine ball behind it to ensure we would get proper depth in the squat.

Strength training is tough. You should not walk away from it with a light sweat, slightly raised heartbeat and a pleasant story to tell around the dinner table. No. You should feel fear when you walk up to the barbell because you know it's going to ask everything you have - and then some. The first round, I did not feel this fear because I was blissfully ignorant of the thruster. But I had some clues because Coach went first and he was working hard. My first set splashed cold water in my face and woke me up. Even punched me in the guts. Holy crap it was heavy!

"The first set is the hardest", Coach remarked. Thank god.

We keep forging on, grunting and swearing through the sets and high-fiving through the rests. Partner workouts do make a difference. We find the groove and keep moving that weight up, time and again. The last couple of reps of each set are spectacularly hard. I'm almost locked out, so I stand there PUSHING with everything I have until I can fully extend my arms to lock out. For a microsecond I stand there, barbell overhead, feeling like Atlas holding the world, and then I drop that damn thing to the floor. It bounces nearly to my waist before settling down. That is the most satisfying feeling I experience in heavy lifting.

"Auf Wiedersehen motherfucker!"

I have now learned to fear thrusters. And that's good, because I'm not happy unless I'm testing my limits. Honestly, I can do without the pleasant dinnertime stories. I want the gut-wrenching, gag-inducing hard as nails workouts that will build me cannonball shoulders and a spine made of iron. There are dues to be paid for that.

Bent-over rows almost feel easy after this. We loaded up to 135lb for a light set, then ramped up to 205lb for the fifth one. I like this exercise. Back work is difficult, like doing leg work, but it pays off in so many ways. And five reps is achievable when doing heavy sets. My mind can wrap around the idea that I only have to do it five times, and I'm sure I can do that. I'm watching my form in the mirror to make sure I'm keeping my back set and not using cheater movements to get the bar moving.

The last exercise is unique and one I've never seen before - Renegade Rows. I like that. Crossfitters are renegades. Essentially, assume the plank position holding a dumbbell in each hand. One at a time, row a dumbbell up and then down. Alternate sides. It's a fun movement and challenging depending on the weight selected. I opt to start with 40lb, then increase by 5lbs per set for 3 sets of 10 reps. After the heavy work sets of the thrusters and bent over rows, 50lb dumbbell rows is plenty heavy. My hands are sore from the knurling and I'm watching them carefully for tears.

I like pushing myself and today was an opportunity to do so. I discovered the keys to my performance a couple of years ago and it's positive peer support - teamwork. I always get the best workouts and results working with a partner and team. Working with my Coach is a treat, and he's so damned strong that it pushes me to extend my game even further.

I'm going to feel this tomorrow.

Thrusters

5 X 135lb
5 X 135lb
5 X 135lb
5 X 135lb
5 X 135lb

Bent Over Rows

5 X 135lb
5 X 185lb
5 X 195lb
5 X 195lb
5 X 205lb

Renegade Rows

10 X 40lb
10 X 45lb
10 X 50lb

Ladder

A quick question for you: What is the most important thing to help you through an early morning WOD?

a) set a good pace and stick to it

b) determination

c) coffee

The answer is coffee. In fact, for all questions, the answer is always coffee.

I completed this in 17:01 not Rx'd. Halfway into the second ladder I had to switch to knee pushups and do my pullup off a little box. I was having trouble jumping up to the bar, hanging on and then doing the pullup. I just didn't have it today.  Figures, as I ultimately took the day off sick with a stupid cold.

Oly. Oly. Oly.

Saturday was an awesome continuation of strength training. Coach programmed a heavy day of squat cleans and deadlifting to build on Thursday's Olympic lifting class. I was reading last night in Starting Strength that these two exercises are very beneficial to train together - one helping the other. And I relish the opportunity to practice squat cleans when I can. On my journey to a thousand squat cleans, I figure that I've done about 60 in the last week. 940 to go! Mike and I worked on technique, building up to our maximum weights and keeping the form as strict as we could. It's a difficult move. I've addressed my issue of pulling the bar too high, but now I'm jumping under the bar to soon - essentially sitting down. When I compensated for that, I jumped quite high and was airborne with the weight for several inches. Heh. That must have looked hilarious. Even so, there were a few that felt just right, as Goldilocks would say. It's funny to work on these because the more the brain gets involved, the worse it gets. Here's my depiction:

But that's also what makes it so great and worthwhile. If it was easy, I wouldn't be trying to damn hard to get it. I performed some light moves and then loaded 135lb for my work sets. This weight is heavy enough to keep me from muscling up the bar and light enough to allow me to keep my form. Just right. A few of these and I loaded two 10lb plates on for another attempt. Fail. I also read in Starting Strength that this is the nature of the clean. The addition of just 5 or 10 more pounds and the weight just won't rack. This is such an interesting sport.

Deadlifting was next and Mike decided to keep pace with the weight I was loading on the bar, based on my 295lb personal best.

1x4 50% - 150lb
1x4 70% - 210lb
1x4 70% - 210lb
1x4 80% - 255lb (Actually higher than 80%)

Bar over the shoelaces, I repeated to myself. Arms straight and back set. A reverse grip, and hoist! (I love this stuff) We both gave it our all and I was impressed with Mike's strength and determination. Partner workouts really help build the enthusiasm to do your best. The deadlift felt awesome and soon I'll be ready to challenge my PR. I think I deserve a weight belt.

Box jump drills after that. These were surprisingly fun and I read AGAIN in Starting Strength that the vertical jump is a good predictor of athletic performance. Hollie and I created a pancake stack of bumper plates on a box and challenged ourselves to keep jumping higher and higher as we added plates. At the other end of the gym, Mike was LEAPING atop the tallest box stacked with three plates. Impressive.

I left the gym with my mind and body refreshed and renewed from drinking at the Crossfit well.

What A Difference A WOD Makes

My hands gripped the rings and I pulled myself up for a try at skin the cat. Starting in the hang position and keeping my arms straight, I lifted my toes up and back overhead, to an inverted hang. Then, slowly lowering my toes towards the floor behind me as far as I could go.  Then lifting my hips I pulled out back through the hang and lowered to my feet. Once down, I could hardly believe I was able to do it so well. I have to extend some credit to the Grace workout for increasing my shoulder strength. My profile picture you see on the right was actually taken during the Grace workout. I've felt notable improvement in all my shoulder movements since doing that. I wouldn't want to date her exclusively but I will see that beotch now and then.

The next ring exercise captures my imagination too - the Archer ring pushup (variation 3). This is an amazing exercise and my chest is hurting now from it while I write this. I've been challenging myself to go much lower in my ring pushups and dips. As my strength and flexibility improves, so has my form. However, the last couple reps were shaky as I tired from the rounds and my final pushups were ugly. My chest hit the deck on the last one as I collapsed. God, that rubber matt can feel good sometimes. It's like a vacation. Just lie there, not moving - maybe the eyes just a little - but nothing else.

And what WOD would be complete without at least one total gong show. Thy name is double-unders. I took Coach's advice - practice, practice, practice! I realize the only way to get good at something is to keep pushing it, so I started cranking out double-unders - as many as I could do before stumbling. That was two. <grimace> Push. Push. Push. I did nine rounds as double-under's, starting and stopping, resetting and accidentally whipping my shins about a hundred times. For the tenth round I decided to get some quality skipping in and did fifty singles. What is it? Jumping? Coordination? I dunno.

Later in the day, I arrived for a class dedicated to Olympic Lifting. When I heard we were going to do this, I nearly jumped out of my shoes for joy. Readers of this blog know that Oly lifting is my religion. I'm not even that good at it but I will squat clean a thousand times to gain this skill. It's like honing a golf swing. There is a lot to practice at each point of the lift. How to grip the bar. Starting the clean from the hang. Foot position. Jumping under the bar. Mental attitude. I'm practicing this, so I backed the weight way down to 135lb and kept in that groove. I tend to pull the bar too high before jumping underneath it. I couldn't figure out why until I realized that I had fear of jumping under a heavy weight that is crashing back down to earth. Since I pull it too high, getting in the squat position underneath would have the bar traveling at a good speed when it makes contact with me. Ouch. I have visions of falling over backwards with this thing on me. I think I know what to do. I was watching a video of clean drops on Crossfit.com. Using a light weight, like an empty bar, just drop into the squat over and over. I figure if I do that, gradually increasing the weight and getting confident, I'll overcome my tendency to pull too high. It's going to take much work, but I want it real bad.

Secret Confessions of A Crossfit-A-Holic

During a tough round in the WOD, do you work your butt off to get to a favourite exercise so you can have 'fun' before diving into the tough work again?

I do, and today it was the kettlebell swing. Today's WOD was 7 rounds of clean & jerk, 6 pullups, 9 kettlebell swings and a 200m run. Because this workout has NO rest periods, I need a psychological rest point each round. I do this a lot. It's like reaching a safe harbour before venturing out into the storm again. It's safe to say that the 200m run is NOT the rest spot. Besides, the kettlebell swing is *fun*. It's weighed in poods which makes it strangely exotic. I like that. You don't see these in Globo gyms and I like that too. If I had one, I'd paint a skull and crossbones on it.

I haven't done a met con for a while and this was a heart pounder. It's the running, you see. I find it very challenging to run for distance and, ironically, it's probably the thing I should do the most. I foresee more time at the LSS track with a stopwatch. Shudder. I want to improve my time on the 400m run. However, I was pretty pleased with my pullup effort today. While I struggled with doing six full dead hang pullups in one go for the last three rounds, I went full extension and up over my chin for my mini-sets near the end. Clean and jerks, what can I say? This lift makes me feel good. Afterwards. In the middle of the WOD, that 135lb bar strikes fear in my heart.

I clocked a time of 20:19 which is okay. My old friend oxygen deprivation is still sticking around but at least I can keep moving. I've come a long way in four months with miles to go before I sleep. It's time to up my game again so I'm going to add a fourth Crossfit workout to my week. I wanted to start at an achievable pace and build from there. Now, I can properly recover between workout days. It used to take days for the soreness to abate. It still happens occasionally when I do a new movement. 

I think I'm addicted to this.

Paradise Found

"Feels heavier than twenty-five pounds, doesn't it", Jeff said as he handed me the dumbbell.

"It does", I said as I double checked the weight before hefting it into the trunk of my car. I was borrowing two dumbbells so I could do a WOD on the weekend while I was staying in Victoria. I hate missing a workout.

"Take the ab wheel too".

Grimacing, I threw it into the trunk. When you first see the ab wheel in action, it looks  fun. Around about sixty, it begins to resemble a medieval torture device.

"Thanks buddy, I owe you".

I wasn't exactly sure what kind of WOD I was going to do. I had surfed the Crossfit site getting some ideas and settled on some kind of shoulder work, skipping, and ab wheels - all with equipment that would easily fit into the trunk of my car.

Here was my plan:

On a beautifully clear and warm Sunday morning, I pulled out the equipment and set up on our cabin deck overlooking the Gorge waterway. The setting was tranquil and pretty. I started with skipping to get my heart rate up and warm up my joints and muscles. I got to five skips and the rope tangled on my shoes. No matter, I began again. A dozen later I stepped on the rope. A few more and the skip rope handle flew out of my hand. This was getting frustrating. "Damn it", I thought, "What is up with this?" Getting a little angry, I rattled off 50 skips quickly. My calves were burning and I recognized that good old-fashioned feeling of being pissed off. Rather than stop and do something else, I kept skipping in 50 set chunks until the 300 were done. I tripped a few more times but I was skipping much faster and smoother.

Without waiting for my heart rate to settle, I sat down on the deck stairs and grabbed up the 25lb dumbbells. Man, they really do feel heavier outside the gym. I pressed them overhead, touching them together at the top, and then back down. Then a few more, full repetitions. I was trying to concentrate on the idyllic scene of the narrow inlet flowing in with the tide, but my shoulders were burning and my reps were getting hard. I finished my ten and set them down for a 20 seconds. After what seemed like too short a rest, I picked them up again and pressed them overhead quickly, full repetitions, with aggression. After each set of ten, I rested for just 20 seconds and then snapped up the weights and pressed them skyward again. I was feeling pissed off again because I don't enjoy struggling with weights that I know I can lift easily. With pain rising in my arms, I slammed them up ten more times to finish them off. The deck was made of wood and I was disappointed I couldn't just slam them down because that is what I wanted to do.

I saved the easy one for last. A mere 72 ab wheels and victory was mine! In fact, the first four rounds were okay. I've been doing these a lot so it isn't the gong show it was in the beginning. Mind you, by the fourth round I was in the shit again. Each extension was harder than the last and because I'm stubborn, I try to wheel it forward to the very limit of my ability to control. The stretch in my shoulders was deep and I wondered how a small inexpensive piece of plastic could so humble me. I wanted to throw it in the Gorge, but I didn't because it belongs to Jeff.

I got to thinking afterwards. What made this workout so challenging? The weight wasn't that heavy and I've skipped before, for goodness sake. Why were things different this time? The beautiful setting was inspiring and working outside in the sun always makes me feel good. What made the difference between almost getting it right and shifting into the Crossfit athlete high gear and getting it done?

Attitude.

When you read the preceding paragraphs carefully, each time I moved from feeling whipped to feeling unbeatable, it was because I was determined - I was pissed off. In my mind, there was NO way I was going to fail and that caused me to lift with passion. By concentrating on the beautiful surroundings and how peaceful and tranquil I felt, I may as just as well slipped on something from Lululemon and practiced yoga. Crossfit demands everything from you. It's not a peaceful endeavour and the only time you feel relaxed is when you are done. I had no pre-WOD jitters for this workout which signalled that my head wasn't in the right space yet. But I got there.

So the next time you see saunter into the Crossfit Langley box talking about what a gorgeous morning it is, slap me upside the head. I need to stare into the chalk bucket and get my game face on.

A Journey of a Thousand Power Snatches

I love it when I get to spend some time practicing Olympic lifting. I feel like it's a pilgrimage to my own personal Mecca, made up of smooth steel bars and heavy bumper plates. There's something exhilarating and addictive to the sport. It's truthful. I love it. You hate it compared to how much I love it.

But I am not a master of the lifts. I admit this freely to you. I need LOTS of practice. My Power Snatch sometimes looks like a starfish, as Mike calls it. But now and then, everything aligns and I find myself standing under the weight after almost effortlessly lifting it overhead. I could do that all day. In fact, I probably need to practice this move a thousand times to achieve good competency in it. PVC pipe won't cut it so I'll have to be creative.

 

It was just Mike, Coach and I this morning and that led to some great personal coaching in the lifts. Nothing can beat getting instruction from someone who is great at this sport and these sessions are like deposits in the bank. I value them.

 

                   

Most of the morning was spent on practice, but it wouldn't be Crossfit without some kind of gasser in there. And to finish off the morning we did a quick three rounds of burpee pullups and half-moons. I actually enjoyed the burpee pullups if you can believe it. I can do them! Booyah! The strength training is really paying off in the met con WODS. The breathlessness is still there, but my muscles aren't giving out early in the WOD. The sandbags are another story. They look so innocent when you first pick them up. They're diabolical because the sand shifts inside as you swing the bloody thing around. If you did this workout, you'll know what I mean.

Front squat
2-2-2-2-2
Power snatch
3-3-3-3

3 Rounds
10 burpee pullups
10 sandbag half moons

Training for Strength

Row 500m @ easy pace

Back squat
5-5-5-5-5 loading 80% 1rm or more

6-1 ladder
pushups
pullups
box jumps
DB split power snatch 40lb

I'm favouring a sore lower back today. I was walking in the park during the weekend and my left foot went into a hole, jolting my spine. I felt a pain in the left side of my lower back, which has persisted for a few days. It's not very painful, but enough of a warning to practice very safe lifting and book a chiro appointment ASAP.

Today was a quiet workout, with only three of us in the box - Coach, Holli & me. That suited me fine as strength training is a slower activity with lots of rest in between. My squat numbers are pretty bang on for 80% of 1rm. A few weeks ago, I squatted 205 lb for three reps. So if I consider that my maximum (until proven otherwise), then 80% is 164 lb, which I squatted during the last three rounds. The new lifting shoes have made a big difference in my stability and confidence. I would have enjoyed piling on a few more pounds but with a sore back I will retreat to fight another day.

The ladder was just plain fun. I remember when something like this would have been a big deal to consider. 6 pullups? Ug. Not too hard these days. But Coach Clarke said something interesting this morning - if you walk out of Crossfit without breaking a sweat, then you need to bring more intensity. So I ran through the ladder as quickly as I could, following strict form. My heart was beating fast at the end. But he still beat me by three rounds. Will I ever be that strong and fast? I remind myself that I've been doing this for just four months and in that time, everyone else has been improving too. So my marker for progress are these blog entries, which tells the story of how far I've come.

5 X 135lb
Failed on 185lbs
5 X 155lb
5 X 165lb
5 X 165lb
5 X 165lb

The Logical Case for Using Chalk

Let's do something really stupid: Let's avoid using chalk for lifting. Let's always go barehanded. Especially for cleans. 

One of the worst side-effects is the torn callus. When you have a solid grip on the bar, it prevents slippage and helps prevent the torn calluses. I have a persistent callus on the inside of my thumb just below the knuckle. Every time I clean a heavy barbell without chalk, I have torn it off. I don't usually notice this until after the WOD when it starts to hurt. Chalking my hands before lifting helps prevent this.

Sweaty hands can't grip the bar well, and a heavy load might normally slip out of your grip. If you are forgoing chalk, you might want to wear your steel toed boots for when the bar drops on your toes. Ouch. The other downside to chalk is the fingerprints all over the gym floor, right next to the sweat angels. Most big box gyms ban chalk. The managers know that if they get rid of the chalk, the big scary guys will go with it, leaving more room to sign up people who prefer heavy gossip to heavy lifting. Like Mark Ripettoe says, "If your gym doesn’t allow you to use chalk then it’s not a gym, it’s a spa."

But Crossfit isn't about posing, and chalk has it's rightful place near the bumper plates. Use it. Don't make a mess and lift with respect given to others. Whether it's accurate or not, chalk is the symbol of the serious strength athlete.  By the way, it's not chalk anymore, but magnesium carbonate. And by using it, it can lead to greater control of the barbell and higher totals.

Evil and Awesome (But mostly awesome)

Four rounds for time:
Run 400 meters
Rest 2 minutes

On paper, this seems like an easy morning. At least I thought so. A little jog with some rest in between, easy peasy. What I failed to consider is that this run is for TIME. That jolted me awake. Running is not my best activity and although I don't avoid it, I don't enjoy it. But I didn't get all dressed up for nothing, so I was all in. I met Jeff and Mike at the the LSS track. It's a beautiful rubberized oval that feels like a dream to run on. There is something Olympian about running on a track, with overlooking grandstands. The place was filled with soccer players getting in some good practice and the occasional jogger rounding the track. Perfect.

We did some pre-run stretches and joking around until the inevitable moment arrived when we had to start running. Mike and I elected to run first and Jeff stayed at the line to time us. The first round started well and I was keeping to a good pace. Mike was right beside me and we rounded the track making good time. All was going well when we rounded the last leg. We started running into the wind and that cold breeze felt like a freight train hitting my body. We sprinted into it for the last 100 metres for a finish of 1:28. Not bad.

Jeff ran a quick round next while we rested (longer than the Rx'd 2 minutes - judge me, I don't care) and then alternated running for the remainder of the rounds. It was quite evil for round 2 and 3. I was tired and my time was slipping each race. Ironically, I should probably run more.

By the fourth round, I think we were all gassed and I no longer considered this to be an easy WOD. Far from it. But like the title of my post says, it was mostly awesome. The beautiful track to race on and two good friends to bust heads with makes it all worthwhile. And since we are all bonafide crazy, we topped off this pain cake with bodyweight exercises in the grassy field. Jeff did his 39 burpees for the challenge, Mike elected to do 60 pushups, and I chose my favourite air squats for 80.

My times were:

1:28
1:38
1:39
1:49

Dead. Lift.

I'm coming up for air, deeply inhaling sweet oxygen. Little stars are dancing at the edge of my vision, sparkling messengers of the effort put forth. My grip hurts and the calluses on my hand threaten to catch on the bar and tear.  My hands are so beat up these days. Pushing those thoughts aside, I once again grip the bar and heave on it. For a second, it refuses to budge, then slowly I overcome it's inertia and deadlift it. I'm so aware of how heavy it is and that makes me feel a bit scared and intimidated. Can I keep lifting this for ten rounds? I push that aside, too. Those kinds of thoughts only lead to doubt and defeat. There is only one way to keep lifting this damn thing and it's to visualize doing it. I love Churchill's speech: "If you are going to go through hell, keep going.".

I find it's best to get in touch with my inner bastard and move the bar like I mean it. Clutching it weakly and entertaining thoughts of how hard it will be is like putting a spoonful of sugar in your mouth. The taste is sickening and it will leave you feeling weak. But strongly envision the obstacle giving way to you and setting micro-goals of making it to five reps helps. One. Two. Three. Unnngg! Four. Five. Fuuuck! Six. Seven. Jesus! Eight. Nine. Ten. Bang!

I love dropping the weights and walking away. See you soon, mutherfucker. Hopping on the rower is like a vacation after that. I'm using this 500 metres as a rest break and the rowing motion is helping my back stay limber between lifts. I can't believe I have five more rounds to go. Snarling, I grab that thought and wrestle it to the ground. You are not welcome here. Picking up the barbell again, and finding that it is still heavy, I fight on. I'm taking breaks at the 5 rep mark. I didn't want to do that but the alternative is to drop a few pounds off and I don't want to do that either. It's such a hard choice to make when you get into this position. Do I honour my commitment to the weight I started with, or do I back it off so I can do the required reps without rest pauses. I suspect the right thing to do is drop some plates off but I don't. The inner bastard has a strong ego. We're still working things out.

What do you do?

10 Rounds
250m row
10 Deadlifts 225lbs *last five rounds were broken into two sets of five

Buried Treasure

You get out of Crossfit what you put into it. This is the lesson that I've noted time and again with my workouts. When you first start Crossfit, you want to survive. After a few months,  and realizing it didn't kill you, you want to thrive. How can I squeeze the most out the WOD? If you stand back and reflect on that for a bit, you will realize it's an incredible testament to the progress you have been making. Your world has changed. You notice greater depth to what used to be a fight to the death just to finish. The fight to the death remains, however you can now be certain of making it through, in fact, having fun with it.

I remember a movie called Contact a few years ago, about the search for intelligent life. Dr. Arroway, played by Jodie Foster, received a signal from a distant star. That signal contained a mathematical progression to point out it was a beacon - a message. And that seemed to be all. But listening more closely, they discovered a second message, one with pictures and detail. And then that seemed to be all. But there was more to discover. A deeper hidden message contained incredibly detailed plans to build a device that would allow a person to travel further than any human had before.

The theme of that movie can be a metaphor to getting more acquainted with Crossfit. When you first start, it's all about learning the exercises and surviving the WOD. Who here has tried anything in the past that is as challenging as Crossfit? Show of hands please. Few hands are up. My goal in the beginning was to finish, period. If it was a timed session, I rushed through the exercises because I wanted to show more than two rounds when the time was up. A little sloppy form here and there, coasting in to the finish line, that sort of thing. I wince when I recall that but then forgive myself. I was new to this and it takes time to build the discipline to challenge the WOD and make it work for you. So, like Dr. Arroway, I only saw the first objective. Then I started to win some victories that meant a lot to me. Learning the proper form of the clean, being able to do a pullup without jumping, and deadlifting 165% of my bodyweight. I began to see the second, deeper goal. Be strict in the movements, care that you are doing each repetition well and to form. Cheating on the movements is cheating yourself out of the benefits of doing it. If someone was robbing me a little bit everyday of my progress, I would drop a safe on them. So I resolved to be as proper as I could. If that meant less weight and not Rx'ing a workout, then so be it. If I did half as many pushups, but my arms were fully extended then I feel those were vastly more valuable to me than the other. One could say the pushups were Kosher.

This was my focus for today's WOD. At first glimpse, an easy little ditty made up of cleans, pushups and squats. Pshaw. Let's get started! If you did this workout and you are reading this, you may smile at my naiveté. After a great coaching session about the value of quality over quantity, we began our fifteen minutes in hell. Fifteen minutes will seem short when you talk about it with people you work with, but in Crossfit it can be an eternity. My cleans were going well and I devoted my pushups to being properly strict. I used a wall ball to ensure my air squats were regulation depth. I managed three revolutions of the circuit in the first round. The second and third round I was able to add six pushups as well as that. By the fourth round, I was gassed and breathing like the walking wounded. My cleans were still good, but I had to break my pushups into two sets. On the last rep, my chest didn't touch the floor, so I repeated it properly. No pushup left behind. In the final round, I dug deep to make it memorable and cleaned the weight up with a burst of power. I didn't realize at the time that I tore a callous off my thumb and left it bleeding. Intense focus. Pushups again and this time my chest hit the floor on each rep. The air squats seemed like cake after that, except for the fire working it's way up my thighs. I think I'm starting to have fun with the pain. That's just bizarre. The finish was a sweet victory, made even sweeter knowing that I could be proud of each rep. No excuses. No rushing. Just plain Kosher work. Because of what I put into it, I have felt phenomenal all day. Crossfit rewards you tenfold.

5 Rounds
3 - Power cleans 135lb
6 - Pushups
9 - squats
Do this as many x in 3 minutes and then rest 1 minute you just did 1 round

Round 1 - 3 X
Round 2 - 3X + 6 pushups
Round 3 - 3X + 6 pushups
Round 4 - 3X
Round 5 - 3X

The Complex

I play favourites. You know who you are. And when it comes to exercises, the barbell complex is in my top three. It's my second favourite next to the granddaddy of all movements - the squat. But what the complex gives me that the squat doesn't is variety. And in today's WOD, it included both a front squat and a back squat. Have your cake and eat it too, I say. I often wonder what other people's favourite moves are. I know Jill likes the complex too - she's over the moon about it. I relate to that. I'd like to go back this evening and do it all over again. But I think I'll have a zoned Starbucks instead and reflect upon the great session this morning.

The mission is:

5 Rounds
BB Complex
6 - DL-Row - H power clean - F squat - P press - B squat - P jerk (That's 30 of each, if you're counting)

7 am is early. I've been up for a total of 45 minutes when I greet the gym. Fed on four blocks of zoned oatmeal, I'm ready to go. I decide to start light and work my way up. The weak link in the complex is going to be the overhead press. After so many sets my shoulders will be very tired and not able to press overhead what I am capable of deadlifting and squatting. I load on 65lbs but in a cruel twist of fate, I select the 'girl' bar with my two 15's . Meh, heavy is heavy. It's not painted pink. I stand with my back to the mirror. I'm learning a thing or two, you see. While the mirror can be useful, I find it a distraction when I'm focusing on complex movements. I keep catching my eyes and look upward during the clean and squat. That's bad form, so, with my back to the mirror, I start with the deadlift (dead easy), row it, then power clean it (yeah!), descend into the front squat (must remember to put the bar on my shoulders, not strong-arm it), presssssssss it overhead, squat it down (love it) and then jerk it overhead, finally touching the plates to the mat quickly before starting the cycle again.

Oh man, I am loving this. I've got my new lifting shoes on and I'm feeling strong and in control. The weight is right and I'm working hard to get through this. After a few rounds, the presses and jerks are getting difficult. I take great lungfuls of air when I rest between rounds. I think I averaged about two minutes between rounds which is probably a bit quick for strength training but I'm itching to get back at it. You have to make hay when the sun shines.

The last two rounds are very difficult. Pain has arrived and brought friends: lactic acid and oxygen deprivation. They are miserable houseguests. I am working now with a precipice on either side of me. If I go to slowly and rest at key points in the complex, it takes me longer to complete. If I blast through it, I run the risk of exhausting myself on that pace. I pick the middle - a breath catch here and there, but no rest stops until the round is done. Aggression turns to power and that helps a lot. Fuck it. Breath later. Fuck it. Rest later. I look deep into that desire to stop! stop! stop! and I remember the words of Robert Frost. 'The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep'. I redouble my efforts and I close the WOD with a great finish.

Yeah, definitely a top favourite. Look out squat.

65, 65, 75, 85, 95lbs.

A Dark Place

I'm back at my writing desk after a few days taking care of my sick family. I took two work days as well.

I enjoy the freedom of working from home and when I start my next career (writing) it will be from a studio at home. Freedom, baby.

These last couple of days I have been reflecting on the post that Leanna put up about finding the dark place within yourself to go for a PR. Do you ever set records when you are thinking sunshine and lollipops? No, I figured not. It's another kind of feeling that rises up. It's almost like anger mixed with a bit of fear. A surge of adrenaline in your veins as you approach the bar. It sits there, unmoved by your desire. I can feel it in my heart when my fingers wrap around the knurling of the bar, where so many have been before - their stories of victory and defeat has worn the bar a bit smooth. You cannot be anything less than completely committed to the objective. If you have your max weight on the bar and you intend to squat for five, you better fix it in your mind that you will do it. Firm up your body, place your feet properly, take in that deep breath, and then do it. The descent can sometimes be hell because at the very bottom when you are in deep, it takes an effort of strength and will to get that bar to rise up again. And when you do it, the short lived relief gives way to fear again as you know that it's time to do it again. And again. And again. Pushing those feelings down deep and summoning something else that doesn't like the sunlight. The primal instinct is powerful and determined. The instinct will not be denied. Blisters on your hands? Can't feel that. Bar digging into your back? Suck it up. There have been WODs were the thing that got me through was this hostile takeover of my mind and body with these emotions. I am not Iceman when I'm pushing through the wall. I don't feel the cool, emotionless surety of my goal. It's a burning mission to succeed.

Not every WOD is like this. In fact, for a long time I didn't have the capacity to push through with that kind of intensity. When I first started, finishing was enough of a challenge. I certainly wasn't going to make it any harder by attempting personal records. And I have my favourite exercises. I do well with the squat and the deadlift. Pullups are difficult and the box jump sucks the life out of me. I want to write the names of mountains on the boxes - Everest, K2, and Mt. McKinley. I jump as fast as I can like I'm swallowing bad tasting medicine. And I'm not defeated. I swear that I will box jump the 56 inch. I think Coach keeps in locked up in the back, like a tiger that might escape it's cage and hurt someone.

There is so much more to do.

Saturday

21 - 15 - 9
Deadlifts 185lb
Ring dips

As many squats in 2 minutes (level 1- 80) I did 80

Tuesday

1-10 10-1
Deadlift 135lb
Box jump
Pushup

Up the Hill Again

Tuesday's WOD was great metabolic conditioning and I was glad to see the variety. It's the spice of life. I get bored with doing the same things every time and that's the reason why Crossfit is perfect. Each session brings a new mission to train and test the body. I don't peek at the workout before heading to the gym. I like to be surprised. Occasionally I've also been shocked.

7 Rounds
10 - DB split jerks loading use 23% of BW
10 - Box jumps
10 - Ab wheels
1 - Rope climb
10 - Pushups

I started with Ab wheels to be in the middle of the pack and not fighting over the rope when my turn came. I can climb the rope now. I couldn't do it three months ago, nuh uh. Just hung there at the bottom like bait on a hook ... dangling. My upper body strength has improved considerably and I've lost the hitchhiking fat around my middle. Climbing a rope becomes a lot easier when you're not also hauling up the equivalent weight of a dwarf.

The start was strong and I was especially pleased with how well the DB split jerks were coming along. 40lbs was not possible three months ago. Everything is coming along easy for the first few rounds. Then, just past the halfway mark, I started to feel challenged with the box jumps. I'll make a small confession to you, gentle reader ... I hate the box jump. I abhor it. When coach pointed out the 56 inch box and suggested we try a few practice jumps, I literally walked away from it and never looked at it again. It was like a skulking black tower of doom and I wanted no part of it. I was having enough challenges with the little box jump Everest of my own. I had to break it into sets of five for the last three rounds. I think I need more of these met con days because my aerobic endurance isn't doing so well. Hard on the heels of the challenge with the box jumps came the surprising difficulty with the pushups. I am surprised because I don't usually have trouble with these. But my shoulders are so tired after so many split jerks that I am having trouble supporting my weight for ten pushups. I keep pushing it. I am unwilling to relinquish this territory to the enemy. The final two rounds are feeling good. The rope climbs give way to modified climbs because my shoulders are blasted. BLASTED. If they could sing, it would be opera. The shrieking kind with the fat lady wearing the horned Viking hat. An aria of pain, if you will. I love it.

The next workout on Thursday is a welcome change to the gut busters. It's all about practicing the overhead squat. I am totally stoked for two very important reasons. The first is that Crossfit is so diverse that it takes me a long time to learn a movement and the overhead squat, of which I've tried once, is a difficult one to master. Five sets of five reps of practice. Yahoo! The second reason, and arguably the most important is that I get to try my new lifting shoes. I've been jonesing for an opportunity to put my new Do-Win shoes on for some squats. I'm a shoe nerd and this makes me very happy. And let me tell you what a profound difference it makes to feel that support underneath your feet as you are under the weight. I'm so glad I bought them.

I start light with the 35lb bar only. Coach was demonstrating the squat and the most important thing to remember is to have active shoulders. I have to tell you, even with that light bar, when I let my shoulders drop, my form deteriorated and I found myself forward on the balls of my feet, struggling for balance. Bad juju. Active shoulders through the whole movement are key to keeping that weight moving in a straight line. I learn that I have good flexibility in my back with a good curve. My shoulders could use some work as there is a slight stretching pain in them when I do this squat. I put on a little bit more weight and that helps with the balance. The progression is: bar, bar, 55lb, 65lb, 75lb, 75lb, 65lb, 65lb. I did a few extra sets because it was a practice day and I was having fun.

The fun stopped when we went for the L-sit.  These things are frigging hard! I even took off my shoes to drop the weight off my legs. I saw the picture of Michelle doing an L-Sit on Crossfit.com. Jeepers, can I borrow that? I got the first round okay, but the next two were a total gong show. You would think I was tap dancing with how often my toes were touching the matt. I couldn't help it, I just had to take the weight off, even for a second. With much satisfaction, I see everyone else is struggling too. It's mean to feel like that, but I did anyway.

It's a good week for Crossfit and although I'm hitting the wall a lot, I'm enjoying it more and more each day. It's time to renew my membership at the gym and I've made arrangements for another three months. That gives me bite-sized time frames to make something terrific happen. I feel like I'm on the other side of the abyss now, fitter, lighter, happier, and ready to move forward and go for more. That will be my mantra for the next three months - go for more. A bit more weight, a few more reps. an even greater diligence to proper form and perhaps a try at that 56 inch box jump. Shudder. If you'll excuse me, I've got to start climbing this hill again.

So ... what can you Zone?

Turns out, just about anything. Oatmeal of course. Just add some protein powder or slice up some Canadian bacon and you have a great Zone breakfast. Also easy is a quick Zone shake before bedtime. But what about more exotic dishes, say something forbidden? Which leads us to cheesecake. In the ancient world, all roads led to Rome. In our modern one, all diets lead to cheesecake.

I have found a recipe for Zoned Cheesecake. It's not possible, you cry. I don't blame you my spinach eating friend. I didn't believe it either until it was right before me. I've done all the dirty work for you. I have tested this cheesecake to ensure that it tastes like wonderful dessert and not dirt. I have diligently watched my weight to ensure that not only did I NOT gain weight, but continued to lose fat weight as I follow the Zone diet. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you ... Zoned Cheesecake.

3 large egg whites

32 ounces Philadelphia Fat Free* Cream Cheese *important to be fat free

1 cup granulated fructose

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup fat free sour cream

3/4 cup natural full-fat creamy peanut butter

50 grams of pure whey protein powder

Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, blend the cream cheese and fructose until smooth. Add vanilla, sour cream, and peanut butter. Add whey protein powder until well blended. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the cheese mixture until well mixed. Pour the mixture into a prepared springform pan. Place the pan in 1 inch of hot water in it on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake the cake at 325 F for 45 minutes on the centre rack. Turn off the oven without opening the door, and let the cake cool for 1 hour. Cool thoroughly before unmolding. The cake can be covered in plastic wrap and kept in the refrigerator for 10 days, or frozen.

Ahem... it makes 20 servings. Measure carefully. ;)

Per slice: 160 calories; Grams = carb-16g, protein-12.5g, fat-5.5g

It’s in the pacing, you see.

I thought it was a misprint. Forty-two rounds it read on the whiteboard. That's FORTY-TWO ROUNDS, people. But it wasn't, and the mission for Saturday was laid out in black and white.

8-Calorie row
10 SDHP 75/55lb
18 sec ring support
15-box jumps
10 wall balls 20/12lb to ten ft target
10 ab wheel rollouts

Each exercise counts as one round, so the WOD was seven rounds of the above. There are days when I walk in ready to spit nails I'm so ready for it. Other days, I have to psych myself into it. Today, I needed all the game I could muster. As I mentioned, I love strength training. However, I need metabolic conditioning. This kind of workout builds my capacity for endurance. It's a work in progress and this kind of WOD takes the piss out of me. Heading into it, I would have picked the box jumps as the toughest part of the round, but in fact, it turned out that the wall balls were the worst. By far. But I'll be kind … the wall ball is sort of fun and on the last rep you can let it drop thudding to the floor. On to the ab wheels, which ARE fun. I like these – I think the motion is interesting. I used to fear these when I first started because it was so hard to bring that wheel back. It just hung out there, enjoying the view while I tried to figure out how to make it come back. It's easier these days. When I'm feeling in fine form, I can stretch out pretty far and then roll it back. I usually position myself so I can roll the wheel to the yellow marks on the matt and then back. I like that little game and it makes me feel like each roll of the wheel meets my criteria for a good effort. I play little games in my head like this. The plan for me is to get the most value out of the rep that I can. Good form, full range of motion, and strong control. I could spend the next year just working on that.

I was exhausted by round five. My ring dips started suffering because of my huffing and puffing for air and I could only hold for mere seconds at a time. I just kept going for the whole 30 seconds, holding and resting. The box jumps are next and I'm glad I have my springy shoes on. I have a funny little double hop when I land and then square up for the next jump. I begrudge it a little bit because it wastes a smidgeon of time between jumps. When you are doing 105 box jumps, these little things become a big waste of time. I'm doing GREAT on the sumo deadlifts. I have a pace going that lets me bang off my set and rest between rounds. In fact, I'm trying to maintain a sustainable pace throughout the whole WOD. In high school, I ran track and field. One of my strong events was distance running. The key to distance running is to pick a good pace and stick to it, so energy reserves hold out until the end. These met con WODs benefit from the same strategy. Pick a pace that isn't too slow and isn't too fast. Too slow and you get little done, too fast and you burn out quickly.

With Coach nipping at my heels every round, I finished round seven and lay on the matt, astounded that a mere 25 minutes can lay me out so completely. I'm always amazed at how effective Crossfit is at pushing my body to the limit. Then I'm equally amazed at what my body and mind is capable of.

I'm glad it wasn't a misprint. I needed this today.

Digging Deep

Sometimes I surprise myself. I have an idea in my head of what I can do and then I go and make it happen. I choose my goals based on what I think I can do. I think I can deadlift 200 lbs and therefore I am able to achieve that. Only, there’s a flaw in the logic there. If I only try what I think I can do, then I’m not stretching myself – I’m not discovering what I really can do. It must be an instinct to protect ourselves from harm. And often it’s a very good thing. It can also hold us back from our potential.

Our mission today included 4 rounds of deadlifts. (3-3-3-3) I love strength training. I know there are many systems in the body that we must train and I’m cool with that, but if you asked me my favourite it would be strength. It pleases the ego but it also builds a fundamentally different experience of living in your body when you know, at a cellular level, that you are strong. You can’t get that out of a bottle.

I started with 135lb to get a feel for the heaviness of the barbell. Not very heavy. The second round we piled on 225lbs and I deadlifted that. Getting better, but I could lift more. I had surpassed my estimate of deadlift ability and now I was in undiscovered country. Coach Clarke talked about how walking up to the bar and being passive would never allow you to lift as much as you could. You need to be feral in your intensity. Grab that bar, own it.

How much could I lift?

A lot more, it turns out. Round three went to 275lbs and I powered through round four at 295lbs. That was one hell of a pull and I think I found the edge of my strength. And I gained a valuable insight. Last time I squatted, I learned to go inside my body and stop looking in the mirror. To that, I can now add moving past imagined boundaries I must be willing to listen to my body and keep on pushing. (Or back off, it that’s the case.) I thought I could deadlift 200lbs. And I was right. What I didn’t know is that I could also deadlift almost 300lbs. Life is a lot like that.


Back Squats
3-3-3-3
135lb, 165lb. 185lb, 205lb

Deadlifts
3-3-3-3
135lb, 225lb, 275lb, 295lb

Ab Roll
12 X 3

Amazing Grace

Helen and Grace. Pretty names, and I dearly wish I could report to you that I experienced that lovely aura when I undertook the WODs with these namesakes. But Helen is tempestuous and demands every ounce of courage you have, and Grace follows up with a flurry of punches to your ego and stamina. I am writing this battered and bruised from my battle with these two ladies.

I met my fellow warriors on Sunday for Helen. Knowing little about her, I assumed the worst. She did not disappoint me. That cheeky wench consists of a 400 metre run, followed by 21 heart-pounding kettlebell swings, and topped off with 12 pull-ups like a cherry on a heart attack. Three rounds of this for time. (I think Sterling should measure that 400 metre run again. Raise your hand if you agree.) I would say the run wasn’t bad but it was enough to suck the gas out of your tank. The kettlebells were the real demon in this routine. Those damn suckers are HEAVY and I found myself thinking "What the hell is this movement for?"

"The ship is sinking! Throw those cannonballs overboard. No, not those ones! The other ones … with the handles!"

Each time I finished a swing, the kettlebell dropped back to earth as I struggled for control. On my last rep, I dropped it and it came crashing to the pavement. I think it left a dent. You will be relieved to hear the kettlebell will be okay. I followed with jumping pullups. I must report that I am still working on the pullup. I find it difficult to chin my bodyweight, although it’s getting easier with the loss of twenty pounds of fat while following the Zone diet. I know that it won’t be long now.

My time was 11:09.

The next day we tackled Grace. This one sounds easy. 30 repetitions of clean and jerk for time. That’s it. Fini.

Oh, how you would be mistaken. 30 repetitions feels like 300 when you’re into the thick of it. I watched each person go with a building sense of dread. I hate waiting for my turn. The butterflies are awful.

Sterling lent me his lifting shoes. If you’ve never tried them, I wholeheartedly recommend them. Standing in those shoes, I felt so sure. That’s the only way I can describe it – a feeling of stability and surety. I loved them.

And so it began. I chose 115 lbs – midway between the Rx men’s and women’s weight. Clean the weight up, a slight bend of knees and then jerk it overhead. Drop to the platform and square up for the next one. I had prepared for this lift by reading in Starting Strength to dip-drive the legs and think about bouncing the weight off the meat of the shoulders and then driving it upwards. But all that went out the window as I got deep into the set. The distant shore of rep 1 faded behind me and I was adrift on the ocean, my eyes keenly searching for Land Ho! on the horizon – the fabled land of 30 reps.

Sterling was right at my ear, counting down the reps, shouting encouragement and tightening the weights when they became loose.

"Ten more pulls!"
"Good expression – I love it!"

He was like a coach at my side, traveling with me through the reps, keeping me confident that I was going to make it. And I did. With one triumphant heave, the last rep of Grace was over my head and I was standing there, victorious. Time: 4:13

And so, what makes a great WOD? Is it the twisted mind of a demented genius crafting ever more difficult routines? Not really. Is it the inner journey we take as we try these feats of strength? Yeah, for sure. And to that I would add the shared experience of doing this with your friends. I feel great when I’m finishing and the group is cheering for me. And what feels even better, is cheering for them when they are deep in the hole, busting their guts to a good finish. Thank you Sterling and Michelle. And you too, DeBoer family. You are awesome. Jeff, I owe you buddy. Jill, we did it!

Fuck you Grace. Tell your sister Helen for me.

Are you a fire breather or a puff of smoke?

You know those multiple-choice quizzes you get in magazines? Well here's the kind of thing I think they should really be asking - here's a gasser little quiz for you - let's see just how much of a dragon you are ;)

Choose the answer that's closest to how you feel. Total up your points at the end of the quiz: (a) = 1 point, (b) = 2 points, (c) = 3 points. Once you have your total, check at the end of the quiz, to see just what a fire breather you are ;) And no cheating! Hope it'll make you smile - and don't forget to leave a comment and let me know how you did ;)

1. How often do you visit Crossfit sites and blogs?
(a) Just every once in a while, they’re bookmarked so why not?
(b) Every week, to catch the new post, I wish people would post more often.
(c) Every day, sometimes two or three times a day, I can't get enough!

2. How often are you so inspired you can’t wait for the next WOD?
(a) Hey, what kind of person do you think I am – a gym rat?
(b) Yah, okay I get kinda worked up about it. Don’t tell anyone.
(c) Every damn time, it’s so exciting.

3. What does your wardrobe contain?
(a) Nice clothes for work, some casual items
(b) Sweats and t-shirts. I like to be able to do an impromptu workout when the mood strikes.
(c) Weight lifting shoes, a weight belt, ClimaLite breathable shirts and shorts. I’m ready for the shit.

4. What would you do if a friend called up inviting you to take a turn in a boxing gym?
(a) Erm, I’d have to check my schedule before accepting. And is it a nice gym or one of those basement dungeons? Ew.
(b) I’d be up for it, maybe a little footwork and some speed bag.
(c) It’s called CROSSFIT! Of course, I’m up for it. I train because I DON’T know what’s going to happen tomorrow.

5. Your friends are coming over and you just started a WOD in your garage … What do you do?
(a) Blow off the WOD and get ready to party!
(b) Do a WOD ‘lite’ and then spend the afternoon socializing. Friends are important.
(c) If they’re friends of mine, they have their gym clothes on and they’re coming to join me! Yeah!

6. I’m looking for someone to be a workout buddy. Would you be up for the job?
(a) Maybe, what’s your schedule like?
(b) I’ll think about it, but I guess I would like to hear about your goals and to see if they mesh with my own. Sounds like it might be fun.
(c) Why are you standing around asking stupid questions? I want FIFTY push-ups! Go! Go! Go! Yeeeaaaaaaah!

7. You have a free night. What would you like to do?
(a) Plunk down on the sofa, put in a great movie and just relax with my sweetie. *sigh*
(b) Grab my sweetie (heh) and take a long walk.
(c) Meet sweetie in the garage gym and work on our muscle-ups.

8. If you went shopping, what would you buy?
(a) Shoes, either sensible or silver. Oh heck, buy them both.
(b) New clothes for my new fit body.
(c) Zone friendly groceries, more protein powder and some fish oil. And the new clothes.

9. What’s a pood?
(a) That thing I put my music on so I can sweat it out to the oldies. You know, iPood.
(b) Um, that’s an impolite question.
(c) The Russian measure used for kettlebells; common ones: 1 pood =36 lbs;

10. You’re planning a picnic and a terrific lunch. What are you bringing?
(a) I prefer take out – something deep fried and salty. And a cold fizzy drink to wash it down. *sigh*
(b) A nice salad, a few pickles maybe. You know … healthy food.
(c) A ‘zoned’ lunch of Chef’s Salad - turkey breast, egg whites, lettuce, avocado and lean ham. Delish! And following that, K2E rounds from the branch in a nearby tree.

Okay... total up the points:

10-14 points: You’re light hearted and a bit of a romantic. Just for reference, the dumbbells are the blobby things in the gym that weigh a lot. No, not the exercise balls.
15-19 points: You like a little tough workout now and then, but you’re a little bit shy of giving it your ‘all’. It’ll take you three WODS to get your first blister.
20-25 points: You’re clearly a warrior. Pick up the other end of that barbell and let’s squat clean this mutha. ;)
26-30 points: You are a fire-breathing dragon! For breakfast, you sprinkle ground up barbells on your steel-cut oats. Your hands have so many calluses and blisters you take pictures of them. You rock.

What's in my Gym Bag?

What's in yours?

Epiphany – Part II

Sterling is right. He writes in his blog post that the squat clean is poetic when it's done right. Heck, it could be a Haiku.

Steel bar

It glides above

I jump beneath its shadow

Today was all about the squat clean – starting with six reps and working down to one. Mike and I started with a light weight to better focus on form. I'm slowly getting this one and the more I do it the more I like it. However, I keep pulling it up with my arms. This works with the light weight but is impossible with a truly taxing load. I did a couple of rounds and Sterling wandered over. "Like this", he said shrugging up with elbows wide. "Up a little bit on your toes."

Picture a marionette if you will, with strings attached to the elbows. The strings are pulled and the shoulders and elbows pull up and the marionette comes up onto its toes. So that's what I had in my mind as I deadlifted the barbell and then shrugged it up with elbows wide. When the bar reached my waist and felt weightless, I quickly jumped under the bar into a squat, with elbows upward. Voila! I was easily under the bar and driving it upward as I came out of the squat. This was promising. It was so easy like this. And what a sweet feeling! I kept practicing this, doing a few reps of shrugging the bar and coming up on my toes. I didn't get it every time, but enough that I'm encouraged to say that I understand the feeling of the movement. That's been so important to my progress. Not having a mental picture, not looking in the mirror, but feeling how the movement in my body before I do it. Sounds weird I guess and it works for me.

Alternating with these squats cleans we did weighted pull-ups. Mike and I did 35lbs each, starting with one and working up to six. By rep five, I was gassed. How I got the sixth rep out I cannot tell you. Anger mode I think. Following strength training was a cycle of burpees and straight leg raises, which I did as K2E.

I felt amazingly good today. My energy is peaking and pushing it hard like this in the morning makes my day better. My day job is stressful. Negotiations, politics, delays, changes, and surly department leads. All part of the package, you see. Having a deep grounding of a successful WOD in the morning makes all that go down easy like sugar coating on bad medicine.

Workout of the Day

Squat clean
6-5-4-3-2-1   115lb, 95lb, 95lb, 95lb, 135lb, 135lb
1-2-3-4-5-6
Weighted pullups 35lbs
rest 2 min
Burpees
8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
Straight leg raises (K2E)

 

Epiphany

Some days are just like the others – you lift the weight, you rack the weight. You do your best and you feel satisfied with that. I like these days because I feel I'm making progress as I lean into my comfort zone. (I just coined that) I call these 'Steady Eddy' days. I made progress and took another step along the thousand-mile journey. Then there are other types of days – difficult, tortuous growth experiences like this and this and high-flying days when a breakthrough occurs in technique or ability. Like today.

This morning we worked on strength training and our main entrée was front squats. Three rep rounds, building to three sets of single tries. I love squats. I never used to be able to say that but I can now with conviction. I fell in love with them when Mia taught me how to squat properly. Before, I was doing a bodybuilder squat – narrow stance, legs hardly bent as I descend into a half squat and then back up. A waste of time, really. Now, I have the proper stance and I go right down into the bottom position. Ass to the grass. When the muscles stretch in the bottom position, the lifter can take advantage of the bounce and EXPLODE upwards, lifting with the hips. Working at Crossfit Langley with Coach Clarke and Mia has improved my technique (and enjoyment) a thousandfold.

I had the bar loaded up with my max lift and descended into the squat. I just felt like I couldn't do it and did a half-squat, then quickly racked the bar. I felt cheated. My lifting partner Mike took me aside. "You psyched yourself out. I could see you looking in the mirror at the weights and you backed off. Don't look at your face – listen to your body."

Good advice it turns out. I got under the weight again, descended into a FULL squat, not looking in the mirror but just straight ahead and putting my mind inside my body. I listened to it and drove upwards with my hips, still not looking in the mirror. I lifted that HEAVY bar with proper form and I did it handily. A new PR for me. So what was different? The bar was no lighter and I was no stronger. Gravity still works. It was my focus. I stopped looking at my outer self, instead looking inward to my body mechanics, and trusted that I would know what to do. And it did.

Which brings me to my epiphany. It's simple – stop looking in the mirror. I read that in Starting Strength but it didn't sink in until Mike pointed it out. My best lifts are outside or at the rack not pointed at the mirror. Noting form while practicing is fine, but under weight, the focus should be on lifting, not watching myself.

The second part of my epiphany is that it doesn't matter how much weight is on the bar. The value of knowing what you've loaded is to measure your performance, during the WOD and over time. It's just a tool used to affect your body and produce the reaction you want, in my case it's power. So, my 166lb personal best today might be less or more than your personal best. Irrelevant if we've both had a great workout. And when I started thinking about that it became clear what my goals should be. I can hold out an icon in front of me of the body that I want or the strength I wish to have and that is my vision that keeps pulling me forward. But my real goal, the one that I can work towards every single WOD, is to lean into my comfort zone and push just a little more weight, do one more pull-up, run a bit further and faster. The next step is always just slightly out of reach and achievable in the short-term. Next week, it will be just slightly out of reach and I take another step along the journey.

Workout of the Day

Front Squat
3-3-2-2-1-1-1 (135lb, 135 lb, 146lb, 146 lb, 166lb, 166lb, 166lb*) The * was my full squat repeat.

As many rounds in 10 minutes: (4 rounds)
12 push ups
10 kipping pull-ups (round 1-3, round 4 was jumping)
8-weighted sit-ups feet anchored #30db behind the head (30lb, 30lb, 25lb, 15lb)
4-sandbag to shoulder power cleans 77lbs