A Crossfit Adventure - 8 Week Update

Training Training Logs
141

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
Thanks thirteen, much appreciated. Oh yeah, on the fourth and fifth set of jumps, my knees were feeling it. I was ready to fall over any minute, but thankfully stayed up.

On the box jumps, are you jumping onto the box with two feet, and jumping off the same way? That’s the way I was doing it.

I looked at the average times after I saw your post, and I was kinda pumped that I’m finally starting to get some respectable numbers, but gotta keep working harder and get the times lower.

How did your workout go Thirteen?[/quote]

Well, to be frank, I got dominated (hahaha). I was happy with my rowing times (did 500m row instead of 400m run):
1:39, 1:46, 1:50, 1:54, 2:00, but died on the 24" box (that’s high for 150 jumps!) and the wallball with a 22pounder was devastating. I think your 20lb db swings were a wise choice :slight_smile:

Overall time: 35:59, not one for the record books, but one I’m glad to have survived…

142

[quote]Backlash79 wrote:

I didn’t catch it before but the standard sub for a 400m run is a 500m row. Even though I can sprint 400m sub at sub 1:30, my PR for a 500m row is 1:31.

[/quote]

Hey Backlash, I think I might challenge your 500m record - I pulled 1:39 in today’s workout so I figure if I “monster” it a bit I might hit the high 1:20s… as long as I don’t have burpees or wallballs or chinups or squats or whatever after!

If I do it, I’ll videotape and post the vid, just to prove I’m not “one of those internet heroes” hahaha

143

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:

On the box jumps, are you jumping onto the box with two feet, and jumping off the same way? That’s the way I was doing it.[/quote]

As long as you are getting full hip extension when you jump on top of the box you can get down any way you like. Whenever I’ve been doing box jumps recently I’ll jump up get full hip extension then step down. Not quite as fast but I feel like jumping down just tweaks my knees too much.

144

[quote]Thirteen wrote:
Backlash79 wrote:

I didn’t catch it before but the standard sub for a 400m run is a 500m row. Even though I can sprint 400m sub at sub 1:30, my PR for a 500m row is 1:31.

Hey Backlash, I think I might challenge your 500m record - I pulled 1:39 in today’s workout so I figure if I “monster” it a bit I might hit the high 1:20s… as long as I don’t have burpees or wallballs or chinups or squats or whatever after!

If I do it, I’ll videotape and post the vid, just to prove I’m not “one of those internet heroes” hahaha

[/quote]

Sweet. Best of luck!

145

Thursday 4/10/08

Deadlift 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Worked up from 135-225-275-295-315

Then did 7 singles at 315.

20 minute walk on treadmill afterwards, 7.5 degree incline, 3.5 MPH.

I think I could have pulled more than 315, but didn’t have a belt or chalk or straps, so didn’t want to chance it.

Confession time: I feel like I’m going at it pretty hard, but I’m still leaving some ‘in the tank.’ I know I can run faster, lift more, get better times, etc. but am not giving it 100% (but pretty close though).

From now on, it’s balls to the wall, all out effort, because that’s the only way I will accomplish anything. Leaving nothing in me at the end, and I want to be totally exhausted when I leave, so I will take advantage of the rest day on Friday, and nail it on Saturday and from here on out full force.

146

[quote]Backlash79 wrote:
tmoney1 wrote:

On the box jumps, are you jumping onto the box with two feet, and jumping off the same way? That’s the way I was doing it.

As long as you are getting full hip extension when you jump on top of the box you can get down any way you like. Whenever I’ve been doing box jumps recently I’ll jump up get full hip extension then step down. Not quite as fast but I feel like jumping down just tweaks my knees too much.

[/quote]

Sounds good backlash, thanks for the information. Just want to clarify one thing: when you say ‘full hip extension’ do you mean jump onto the box, then basically stand straight up on the box before coming back down?

On the first three sets, my knees were good, but were barking on the fourth and fifth set, so I stepped down instead of jumping off.

147

Made up a workout from yesterday:

April 10 2008 WOD
Deadlifts: 7x1

my weights:
kg: 100,120,140,160,170,140,140
lb: 220,242,308,352,374,308,308

No deadlifts since starting crossfit so all things considered, it went pretty well! As with the squats it seems one of the biggest things is the mental side-wondering how my body will respond to lifting decently heavy weights. Again, maybe my limit was higher than 374, but mentally I didn’t have more in the tank.

I didn’t do a max deadlift test for my pretests but did do 315 for 9 reps, which gives a predicted max of 385. Deadlifts for reps don’t predict maxes that accurately, so I’d say my performance today is at least equal to my strength when I started this little experiment.

148

Saturday 4/12/08

Run 10 K

My knees are still a little sore from earlier in the week (even though I’ve increased my fish oil intake), so just 2 separate rounds of treadmill walking, 7.5 degree, 3.5 MPH, 20 minutes each.

The track at the gym where I work out was closed today due to a aikido/judo tournament, and it’s pouring rain outside, so I didn’t have the chance to run on the track.

Thirteen/tanimal, hope things are well.

149

Doing well over here tmoney! Did you get to the deadlift workout two days ago? I’ve been finding out quickly that going full out all the time in these workouts will grind a person down pretty quick so I’ve been taking the advice of an earlier poster and doing full warm-ups and am open to cutting the volume/weight if needed to protect my joints.

Hit the bike today for the WOD, but only got to 5.54 miles (~8.8k) before my hip began to feel strange. Stopped it there, recorded my time (17min), stretched, and called it a day.

Next time I do this workout, I’ll just go for 17min and see if I can beat my distance…

150

[quote]Thirteen wrote:
Doing well over here tmoney! Did you get to the deadlift workout two days ago? I’ve been finding out quickly that going full out all the time in these workouts will grind a person down pretty quick so I’ve been taking the advice of an earlier poster and doing full warm-ups and am open to cutting the volume/weight if needed to protect my joints.

Hit the bike today for the WOD, but only got to 5.54 miles (~8.8k) before my hip began to feel strange. Stopped it there, recorded my time (17min), stretched, and called it a day.

Next time I do this workout, I’ll just go for 17min and see if I can beat my distance…[/quote]

Hey thirteen! Yeah I did the DL workout, I posted it a few days ago, it’s a few posts above this one. Yeah it seems like if I work my shoulders one day, they are still sore 3-4 days later. I take that as a bonus to an extent, but would like to be fully rested for the next round.

I’m loving Crossfit so far, it’s giving me a really good workout, and it makes my trip to the gym worthwhile. I’m still a long ways away from my physique goals, but crawl before you walk, right?

151

Hello I am sure you all missed me, I haven’t posted in awhile. I just recently bought a business and things have been pretty hairy for me. Working a lot to get things up and running and minimal energy for little else. I have been working out, just not crossfit styles…Just some moderate cardio and little weights. I tried to do the shoulder, push press, push jerk workout and it was a no-go…Too tired.

Today we did go to the gym and I tried some bench press for heavy weight. Surprisingly, even though we haven’t done bench press at all, my bench today was 135lbs x 2. Then I hit the bike for a bit.

I also met a friend in Naniamo and played some tennis for an hour or so.

I have surgery in 8 days and I have been a lot harder on my ankle this past little while than the whole of this past year so it is pretty angry with me. Tennis was cut short because it was not feeling so hot. You probably won’t see much of me anymore. I may do the tests again sometime this week just to see what went up and what went down…

152

WOD, Sunday 4/13/08

Five rounds for total reps of:
135 pound Thruster, 15 seconds
Rest 45 Seconds
50 pound Weighted pull-up, 15 seconds
Rest 45 Seconds
Burpees, 15 seconds
Rest 45 seconds

Substituted 135 pounds thrusters for 50 pound dumbbell thrusters, and substituted 50 pound weighted pull-ups for bent-over dumbbell rows with 50 lb dumbbells

Round 1:
6 thrusters, 13 bent-over db rows, 5 burpees
Round 2:
5, 12, 5
Round 3:
5, 12, 4
Round 4:
4, 11, 4
Round 5:
4, 11, 5

Total: 106

Man, this was tough!!! First three rounds were good, the sweat was burning in my eyes by the fourth round, and wasn’t even standing up straight in the fifth round.

After I was done, I thought my heart was going to explode out of chest, it was beating really fast. I walked twice around the track (approximately 1/3 of a mile) and called it good.

I didn’t get many burpees because I was wearing baggy basketball shorts and kept having to pull them up after each burpee, but that’s my fault.

153

Hey all,

I lied, I am back. We did the WOD and it was pretty good.

Tanimal:
65lb Thrusters, Inverted Rows, Burpees
Round 1 - 9,12,5
Round 2 - 8,11,5
Round 3 - 8,10,5
Round 4 - 8,11,5
Round 5 - 7,10,5
Total Reps - 124

Thirteen:
88lb Thrusters (parallel bar), Inverted Rows, Burpees
Round 1 - 8,13,7
Round 2 - 7,12,7
Round 3 - 7,12,6
Round 4 - 6,11,6
Round 5 - 6,11,7
Total Reps - 126

Damn it, he JUST beat me…

154

nice work Tmoney… gotta love the sweat hey? Burpees are one of those things… if you’re 150lb they’re easy, if you’re over 200, it’s a frickin chore!

I’ve found that since being unable to run etc. because of my foot (and the resulting 15lb weight gain), burpees, pushups, box jumps, and chins/pullups kick my ass. I do find though that the heavier I am, the better my row times are, and of course it’s easier to gain strength!

I’m still hoping to lose some fat and drop down into the 185lb range - my goal is essentially all-round fitness and that weight for me will offer a good balance of efficient movement and strength…

155

[quote]Thirteen wrote:
nice work Tmoney… gotta love the sweat hey? Burpees are one of those things… if you’re 150lb they’re easy, if you’re over 200, it’s a frickin chore!

I’ve found that since being unable to run etc. because of my foot (and the resulting 15lb weight gain), burpees, pushups, box jumps, and chins/pullups kick my ass. I do find though that the heavier I am, the better my row times are, and of course it’s easier to gain strength!

I’m still hoping to lose some fat and drop down into the 185lb range - my goal is essentially all-round fitness and that weight for me will offer a good balance of efficient movement and strength…
[/quote]

Man, you should try doing burpees at almost 300 pounds LOL. I’ve noticed on my jumps, however, I’m getting higher than I have in the past (not that I will be entering a dunk contest anytime soon, but I’m definitely exploding up harder than before).

I think you’ll get into the 185 lb range soon enough. You’ll be a lean, mean, Crossfit machine haha.

156

WOD, Monday 4/14/08

Hang power clean 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Worked up to 175, then did 7 singles at 175.

Anything past 175, my form starts breaking down and I’m using too much of my arms and not enough from the hips, so 175 was good.

157

[quote]tmoney1 wrote:

Man, you should try doing burpees at almost 300 pounds LOL. I’ve noticed on my jumps, however, I’m getting higher than I have in the past (not that I will be entering a dunk contest anytime soon, but I’m definitely exploding up harder than before).

I think you’ll get into the 185 lb range soon enough. You’ll be a lean, mean, Crossfit machine haha.[/quote]

Yeah, you’re right - I shouldn’t be whining too much haha. What’s your goal (bf/weight)? I’ll be doing some bodyfat measures at the end of this week and we’ll see if I’ve dropped down any…

Today’s WOD: 7x1 hang power cleans

Hit a new PB (alltime) of 95kg (209lb)… pretty happy about that! Here are my seven singles:

kg: 60,80,85,90,95,100(miss),100(miss)
lb: 132,178,187,198,209,220(miss)

Got the 100 up pretty well but just couldn’t dip to catch. I find my grip is a major factor, but I think I’ll get 100/220 next time around…

158

Just in case anyone was wondering who the dude in my avatar is, that’s Frank Bunce… former NZ all black outside centre (#13). In my mind, he epitomized all of the best qualities of an athlete: power, stamina, speed, vision, creativity, and toughness. Take a look:

159

[quote]Thirteen wrote:
tmoney1 wrote:

Man, you should try doing burpees at almost 300 pounds LOL. I’ve noticed on my jumps, however, I’m getting higher than I have in the past (not that I will be entering a dunk contest anytime soon, but I’m definitely exploding up harder than before).

I think you’ll get into the 185 lb range soon enough. You’ll be a lean, mean, Crossfit machine haha.

Yeah, you’re right - I shouldn’t be whining too much haha. What’s your goal (bf/weight)? I’ll be doing some bodyfat measures at the end of this week and we’ll see if I’ve dropped down any…

Today’s WOD: 7x1 hang power cleans

Hit a new PB (alltime) of 95kg (209lb)… pretty happy about that! Here are my seven singles:

kg: 60,80,85,90,95,100(miss),100(miss)
lb: 132,178,187,198,209,220(miss)

Got the 100 up pretty well but just couldn’t dip to catch. I find my grip is a major factor, but I think I’ll get 100/220 next time around…[/quote]

Well, my original goal was to be 250 pounds (I started at 350), so that would be a 100 pound weight loss. But I figured if I’m going to lose weight, might as well go all the way for the abs and ultimate leanness, so I’m thinking I’m going to have to get to 225 and 10% BF or less to start seeing some serious results. I’m 288 now, so I have a ways to go, but I’m working on it.

Nice job on the PR, that’s some good weight.

160

[quote]Thirteen wrote:
Just in case anyone was wondering who the dude in my avatar is, that’s Frank Bunce… former NZ all black outside centre (#13). In my mind, he epitomized all of the best qualities of an athlete: power, stamina, speed, vision, creativity, and toughness. Take a look:

[/quote]

Ahhhh nice, I thought it was you in the avatar. I was like wow, this guy is an animal. Thanks for the video link, superb athlete indeed.