1.7.25
CF INVICTUS DAY 2
Took 45 minutes from start to finish. Heck, the warm-up felt like a workout.
3 Likes
Itās interesting how, the more the acceptable number drops and the more folks are on statins, the faster weāre dying.
Iāve heard of Alzheimerās referred to as ātype III diabetesā, and have seen a few instances of a ketogenic diet being effective in reversing symptoms. And even outside a pure ketogenic diet, simply the use of exogenous ketones has also shown some impact.
Brains and bodies be weird.
2 Likes
1.9.25
INVICTUS DAY 3
Well, the 12 min AMRAP was sad. I thought I grabbed a 35 lb KB but saw it was 53 lbs after the first round. Made me feel a little better because it felt awful. I also struggled with the parallettes. Below is what I actually did:
Squats - 53 lb KB x 12, 12, 12
Parallettes - 9 horrific attempts, 3 + 6 v-ups, 2
Burpee Box Jump Over - 6 in round one, 6 step-up and overs in round two.
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Sounds like youāre enjoying this way of training 
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Itās tough! My level of conditioning is about a 1 out of 10. These are definitely CrossFit workouts. The wall walks are handstand practice. The parallettes are gymnastics and Iām just a big oaf.
Iām going to stick with it. I just might not train every day like they do. Yesterday was actually Wednesdayās workout. I had time to train or go to the chiropractor and I chose the latter. I drove through a snowstorm to go train last night. If I follow their order then today is a ālong conditioning workoutā and while it wonāt be easy, it looks like a nice change. My body feels tired even with Wednesday off.
The Invictus gym sends athletes and teams to the CF Games. They know what theyāre doing. I need someone smarter than me to program this stuff. Iāve tried in the past and itās been terrible. I create workouts that are beyond my abilities and struggle to find full body balance. Iāve always ended up going back to traditional lifting.
Iām going back to the āCommitted Challengeā and trying something new to accompany my T-ransformation. Iāve always liked the look of a good CrossFitter. Letās see how I do.
5 Likes
1.10.25
INVICTUS DAY 4
Close to doing it as written. I canāt do double unders so I got to do 200 singles. The performance version has handstand push-ups. I wanted to try them instead of the push press so I did some abomination of a modified one with my feet on a box. I was supposed to get my torso vertical, but I think it was more like a feet elevated push-up.
Time to complete: 33:07 and my watch thinks I burned 600 calories.
Rowing
Rd 1: 5:00
Rd 2: 4:50 which surprised me because I was gassed
Bike
Rd 1: 5:40
Rd 2: 5:58
Didnāt time the others.
4 Likes
Not sure if Iāll do anything today other than shovel snow. My lower body is fatigued to say the least. Here a shot of my heart rate during yesterdayās fun. I believe the white line is my average HR for the session and that was 153 bpm.
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Likeā¦freestanding HSPUs, or up against a wall? Just trying to understand your progression. Kinda in my wheelhouse.
Up against a wall. I believe this is the progression. I wasnāt able to do the first version. I had to bend my knees to make it easier. My workout said strict reps but they tend to do the version in the video in competitions.
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Not being cheeky, because I am not sure exactly what you are struggling withā¦but have you actually tried a real one up against a wall? It might not be as hard as you think, I seem to recall you having pretty good shoulder strength. Plus, there are easy ways to shorten the ROM.
Also, haha, I have to laugh at the progression that they describe in that video.
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Yes and Iām not strong enough to do them. Iām getting fatter and weaker as I age. The handstand holds are tough and I get a pump in my whole shoulder girdle after one of them. I was supposed to do 60 seconds today and had to quit at 45 sec so I didnāt hurt myself. It turns out you need to have a tiny bit of strength to get off the wall without falling or dislocating a shoulder.
1 Like
1.12.25
INVICTUS DAY 5
Only did 2 rounds of the warmup. Had to sub ring rows because I donāt have rings.
For āAā I could only do 45 sec on the handstand holds. Iso holds in the lockout position are just as hard as any shoulder training Iāve done.
For āBā I did chin-ups and had to break the sets up. I opted for the Cossack Squat and used a 35 lb KB for swings.
Kept things light for legs because theyāre very sore and itās draining all my energy leaving me feeling quite lethargic.
Edit
Forgot to add that I walked on the treadmill for 35 minutes at various speeds and inclines while watching football. I didnāt work very hard.
6 Likes
1.14.25
INVICTUS DAY 6
Took yesterday off to go to the chiropractor again.
So I donāt have a partner so I completed two full rounds of this:
- 500m row
- KB Sumo Deadlift x 30 with 24kg bell
- 20 push-ups
- .25 mile run
- 25 Wall Ball with 8lb ball
As you can see, I went light on the sink deadlift and wall ball. 24kg is the biggest KB in the gym and I didnāt want to go get a heavier dumbbell. The type of med ball that I prefer to use for wall balls was in short supply. The only one I could find was 8lbs. My have been sore every day since I started this so I signed really care that I went light.
Couldāve finished a third round under the time cap but didnāt want to. Less than two weeks ago I was doing nothing. I donāt see a need to destroy myself. It would be nice to recover and not be sore for a day or two.
5 Likes
1.15.25
INVICTUS DAY 7
Used 26 lb KBs for The Eagle. Front squats suck. Took 5:43.
Did bodyweight only for the split squats since it was a 3 sec eccentric. Used 90 lbs for rows but couldāve done more.
The seemed like a short workout but I was still at the gym for almost an hour. I guess I wasted more time than I realized trying to find a 20 meter space.
2 Likes
Iām sitting at my daughterās volleyball practice so Iāve got time to kill. I think I was officially down 3 lbs this past Sunday. I like Sundays for my progress monitoring because Iām usually pretty consistent in my Saturday eating.
Training - believe it or not Iām enjoying this stuff. The first key was to forget about the old stuff - my traditional training. Stop worrying about maxes and the need to practice the lift or plan a progression. This has freed my mind and I like it.
Second is the inclusion of things I donāt like or typically wouldnāt take the time to do. The warm-ups are awesome and add to the sessions. Look at todayās side planks. I donāt do those. They both trained my sides and warmed up my body. Goblet and KB squats arenāt fun but I think my hip mobility is improving. Iām settling into a deep squat with a wider stance to allow space for my elbows and the KB.
Iāve been sore every day since starting this journey; mostly in my legs and shoulders. Iām going to try to commit to this for the duration of the challenge and see what happens.
7 Likes
1.16.25
INVICTUS DAY 8
Used two 24kg KBs for the carries. They were the biggest they had and provided a good struggle since I was out of breath when I got to them.
I made it through five rounds and my partner would have had 90 seconds for their fifth round.
Approximate Time Per Round
- 3:33
- 2:55
- 2:56
- 3:10
- 3:05
4 Likes
1.17.25
INVICTUS DAY 9
Planned to take the day off and sit in the hot tub, but I felt like training when the time came.
Only changes today were that I tried to do each part as rounds for time instead of EMOM to save time. Came out ahead on Part A and Part B turned out to be a wash.
3 Likes
Thatās a great sign, looks like youāve found your new thing!
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This is different but hard to argue that itās not what I need. I donāt know if itās the high volume or fatigue or something else, but I find that I have no choice other than to drop into a rock bottom squat with the goblet squats or dumbbell front squats. There are also some good mobility drills in the warm-ups.
I feel sore and fatigued every day, but itās different and I kind of like it.
One thing I canāt deny is that there are a lot of aspects of training that I ignore. Mobility past a proper squat depth, core strength, stability, conditioning, endurance. I really only focus on maintaining or recovering strength and my physique. If Iām short on time, lift. Well, that happens a lot.
These sessions are all well timed and last about 45 minutes which is perfect. I might have a little less peak strength, but I think this is a better way to train for me. Iāll have decent strength in a lot of planes of movement. Iāll hopefully have a decent level of body fat. Iāll have decent conditioning eventually. I say I value performance - the ability to actually be active and athletic. But I think Iāve lost that.
Maybe Iām turning the corner to my own reality. I think weād all give similar answers to this question: would you be happy to be at 80-90% of your PRs while improving mobility, stability, conditioning, joint integrity, and physique?
Letās see how I feel at the end of this challenge. Itās easy for me to get infatuated with new training ideas, but Iād like to think I can continue this.
3 Likes
1.19.25
INVICTUS DAY 10
I donāt think Iāve shared this on here, but I had to get a second job because teaching pay canāt compete with inflation. I found a small town nearby that hires part-time police officers. The pay sucks compared to my old police pay, but I get to pick when I want to work. I only have to work 16 hours a month. Iām working today and they have an awesome weight room at the high school that they let us use.
Did the workout as written except for the bike/row because there isnāt one here. I did 50 jumping jacks on round one of the warm-up and the arc trainer for the next two rounds.
Time to complete part B was 23:40. I set the treadmill at 6.0 mph or a 10 min mile pace. It still sucked.
5 Likes