Mirtha's Crossfit Experience

Training Over 35 Lifter
1 
     hey all, you probably dont know me, i have been a member since 2002, and lately a regular in the over 35 lifter section. i am an old power lifter/Olympic lifter/ thrower who is just trying to get in the gym every now and then without hurting anything else, lol.

but my girl of 5 years is a pretty good lifter/athlete, and has been training with me for as many years.

she was sort of a jock in high school, playing basketball, volley ball, soccer and cheering. she played one year of college basketball and a small college in southern California.

she is now a 36 year old mother of two, a pretty darn good registered nurse working 12 hour night shifts in an intensive care unit, and still manages to train nearly every day.

there are some pics and videos of her lifting in my profile page.

the last year or so, her training has been pretty much a cross fit type regimen, mixing endurance work, metabolic conditioning(HIIT), olympic lifting and the power lifts weekly.

she is too embarased and modest to publish her own log, but every-day she amazes me at her drive to train hard and get a little better each day and challenge herself.

this log is my way of showing my appreciation of how hard she works to take care of her body and push herself.

i will with this week.

sun-

superset split squats with body weight and pushups, 12 reps on the split squats, 7 reps on the pushups, for 20 minutes straight. little to no rest.

monday-

played soccer in an over thirty womans rec leage

tues(today)-

the “cross-fit total”

worked up to a max in:

back squat 245lbs

bench 135lbs

deadlift 220lbs

i was pleased with the squat and bench. the deadlift is off for her, she has had some low back issues the last few weeks.

2

Very cool! I will be checking out her log. She and I have a lot in common - same age, same # of kids, and I play ice hockey in a rec league.

Does she always do crossfit-type workouts or does she mix up different things?

Tell her welcome and don’t be shy! :slight_smile:

3

jilly,

the thing about crossfit is that they DO mix things up. heavy-lifting every now and then is part of the protocol.

every now and then the do heavy sets of 5, 3, and singles in a "money: exercise such as a pull, squat or chin or bench.

now there are much much better ways to increase max strength in the big lifts than the way they go about it, but the way they do it serves there purposes.

instead of a bunch of different work that will increase your power-lifts, instead they do heavy lifts every now and then to assist in the different types of strength endurance they do.

4

yesterday

40 minute RUN, not jog, not sprint, but run.

today

REST

5

[quote]heavythrower wrote:

worked up to a max in:

back squat 245lbs

bench 135lbs

deadlift 220lbs

i was pleased with the squat and bench. the deadlift is off for her, she has had some low back issues the last few weeks. [/quote]

Her numbers are great, btw! Did she start training 5 years ago, you said? How was her strength when she started and what does she think has helped her the most?

6

hey jilly, when i meet mirtha a 5 years ago, she was primarily a “kardio-kween” as she puts it, treadmill, stair master, pre-core, and of course the different sports she played in various rec-leagues.

she played around with resistance training fomr time to time, mostly machines.

i started with her on basic core strengthening exercises, and building up her posterior chain. as a young man i tried my hand at personal training and hurt may female client’s low backs (even the ones who were athletes) by starting the big lifts too soon.

we did reverse hypers, glute ham raises, tons of abds and low back stuff, and a lot of gpp with the sled and medicine balls.

a typical workout would look like this:

1 warm up with broomstick practicing form on squat, and olympic lifts
2. circuit: med ball throws/stability ball trunk twists/glute ham raises/med ball wood choppers/dumbbell swings/back extensions/ sit ups on stability ball

i did this sort of thing for 6 weeks before i let her squat, bench or do an olympic lift.

shortly after i started fazing in the power versions of the ol, the power lifts, and later the full olympic lifts.

the iron bug bit her hard, and she wanted to lift heavy all the time.

she trained withme at diablo barbell for about 3 months, and entered a pl competition where she squatted 260, benched 140, and dl 303.

after s few injuries, she opted more for “fitness with some heavy lifting every now and then” and we were members of crossfit nor-cal for a while. that is prety much where we are now.

7

to continue, her dl numbers are off right now, about a year ago she did a 100% raw WITH a hook grip 250llbsx3. she has done 7 bw dips, and 4 full rom chins. push press 125lbs, snatched 40kg, and cleaned 70kg, and front squated 185lbsx2 RAW.

8

today was sled work, 90lbs loaded:

front drag 200feet
row 200feet
backward drag 200 feet
press 200feet

repeat this circuit twice, no rest at all about 11 minutes of constant work.

9

[quote]heavythrower wrote:
today was sled work, 90lbs loaded:

front drag 200feet
row 200feet
backward drag 200 feet
press 200feet

repeat this circuit twice, no rest at all about 11 minutes of constant work. [/quote]

HT-At work we carry two 200lb. hydraulic jacks to support the drill pipe we hardband in the oilfield.I noticed that I was winded after hauling them around.Are you winded good after the sled work?Jimmy T

10

[quote]Jimmy T wrote:
heavythrower wrote:
today was sled work, 90lbs loaded:

front drag 200feet
row 200feet
backward drag 200 feet
press 200feet

repeat this circuit twice, no rest at all about 11 minutes of constant work.

HT-At work we carry two 200lb. hydraulic jacks to support the drill pipe we hardband in the oilfield.I noticed that I was winded after hauling them around.Are you winded good after the sled work?Jimmy T

[/quote]

if i load adequately, i get pretty winded form this workout. mirtha however, handles them pretty good, as she is in very good condition and has a pretty large gas tank, especially for a big booty latin mamacita!! LOL.

11

yesterday-

20 minutes straight super-setting strict overhead presses and 25lb dumbbell swings. 10lb for the presses and 25lbs for the swings.

12 rep sets with the presses, and 7 reps with the swings. she took no rest breaks, and managed to do 21 rounds in 20 minutes.

today-
40 minute run

12

First time reading this - interesting stuff! Obviously, Mirtha is in decent shape! I think you will benefit as well as her by watching/coaching her!

13

this past weekend, mirtha did various sled dragging drill.

fri- 10 minutes continuous dragging with 70lbs

sat- 6 100 feet springs with 90lbs

sun-rest

monday- soccer game

today, 16 miles on bike here in town.

14

Yesterday

bodyweight split squats x 20 reps
push ups x 8 reps
sit-ups x 10 reps

repeated this circuit for 20 minutes straight.

15

monday was soccer game,

today a crossfit “total”

  1. front squat, bar x 15, 95x5, 135x2, 155x2, 185xmiss, 185xmiss, 135x5, all DEEP and 100% RAW

  2. military press bar x 10, 65x5, 95x2, 115x1, 115x1, 115x1

  3. technique work on full squat cleans, 5x5x40kg

  4. roman chair sit ups 3x12

16

sled dragging one plate, 10 trips.

17

i do the crossfit WOD everyday before i lift. It’s ridiculously badass

18

Awesome front squat numbers!

19

thanks jilly, she actually has done a double with 185, yesterday was not her day, and she was very disappointed and hard on herself re her performance.

20

circuit:

bench dips 20 reps
sprint with 80lbs on sled 200 feet
upper body row with sled 200 feet

repeat 3 times, no rest, as fast as possible.