Monday, April 15, 2013

Recovery Week & The Importance of Pushups (Workout Recap 4/8)

Monday: REST
 
Worked on choreographing a number for my musical theatre class (sat on my butt while making notes and listening to music).
 
Tuesday: CrossFit
 
 
In the 2nd round of the warmup, linked all 10 pullups!  And then curtseyed. 
 
 
Went super light and really thought about pulling under the bar.  Sometimes I hear people say they could do the form better if they had more weight.  In the words of my little friend Susanna, "Pish pish!"  If you can't get the form with light weight, going heavier will not help. 
 
 
Scaled thrusters to #45.  Still in PT for calf, so did pullups instead of box jumps and rowing in place of running.  Sand bagged the first couple rows but really busted out some reps on pullups and thrusters. 
 
 
And then got blisters.  Oops.
 
 
 
Wednesday: CrossFit
 
I was kinda sad there was an EMOM cause I usually love trying to go heavy on these.  I kept the weight light for my recovery week, which ended up being smart as my shoulder wasn't feeling great.  For the WOD, I did V-ups instead of deadlifts so I only had bodyweight movements to worry about.
 
 
Coach Jared really stressed the importance of good pushup form in class.
 
"It's the basis for all pressing movements.  You have poor mechanics on your push-up and you will have poor mechanics on OH presses, jerks, push presses, everything."
 
Standards at our box require chest to touch the ground, but for good form, your hips shouldn't really touch at all.  Unless you keep your core engaged, it is really hard not to let your hips stick up or sag down (especially as you get tired).  If you are not able to do "real" pushups yet, a good way to start is by lowering from full extension till your chest touches before your hips hit the floor.  You can then come back up with your knees down, but this way you get help from gravity while still training your body to think about proper form.
 
 
For me, having great form on my pushups means I cannot link as many reps, particularly as the WOD goes on.  But since I want to build strength and continue to improve all my lifts, I feel like it's worth having a slower time or lower score on the board in order to do every rep right.
 
 
Thursday: REST
 
Love volunteering with my musical theatre students!  They picked up the choreography for "Greased Lightning" so fast. 

Awesome beer (Blue Moon Agave Nectar Ale is my new fave) with chicken and sweet potato fries for dinner.



Finished up the day with more musical theatre madness by watching the first few episodes of SMASH with chocolate and wine.
 
Friday: REST
 
Hung out with Coach Allison and ate peanut butter frosting.  Mmm.
 
 
Saturday: CrossFit
 
We worked on squat snatches, power snatches, and overhead squats.  Took it light at first, then felt good on the EMOM, so I went up as high as #65.



For the Girl, we were doing Nicole, so I had to sub the whole workout (no running cause of my calf, and my hands and forearms were still kinda worn down).  I did max wall balls and rowing.



Afterwards I had one of the best massages of my life!  Then we went on a hike in the afternoon with Jared's family.
 
Sunday: REST
 
Slept WAY way in and had a really chill day with Jared. 

All ready for killing it next week!  Planning for a full on cycle of Wendlers with all four lifts and gonna work on speed at CrossFit.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

CrossFit Open WOD 13.5 (Workout Recap Week of 4/1)

Monday: Back Squat/Bench Press Retest
 
Came into the gym feeling like I needed a nap.  Got some encouragement from Jared's boss who told me sometimes those are the best PR days.  Got in a solid warmup, then got to work on my back squat and bench press.
 
Previous 1RM Back Squat (I go to hips below parallel): #175
New 1RM Back Squat: #185
Previous 1RM Bench Press: #90
New 1RM Bench Press: #100
 
I was sooo pumped! 
 
If you are looking to build strength, check out the Wendler's lifting cycle
 
I generally don't have time for all four lifts (back squat, bench press, deadlift, strict overhead press) in one cycle, so I do deadlift and press one cycle and then back squat and bench press the following cycle.
 
Tuesday: CrossFit
 
Just me and the 6am guys.  New 2 minute challenge?  Knees to Elbows.  Coach Jared told us to be really strict on these.  Most of us got low scores, but room to improve!  I find these harder than toes to bar, actually.
 
 
Really fun WOD - love a chance to work on my handstand pushups! 
 
 
Used a band for ring dips and scaled the kettlebell swings to #26.  This one got tough FAST. 
 

 
Wednesday: CrossFit
 
Worked on my freestanding handstands during the warmup.
 
 
Holy crap this WOD was a doozy.   Made myself try the RX weights even though they scared me.  Really tried to push myself on the runs and not just use them as recovery.  Gave myself a time goal of 23:00 and squeaked it in!
 
 
 
Totally love my Reebok CrossFit Nanos 2.0 - I wear them everywhere!
 
 
Sweaty but proud.
 
 
Thursday: Rest
 
I was sore after the thrusters and probably also just from watching the live 13.5 announcement (go Camille!!!)
 
Friday: 13.5 (Chest-to-Bar Fran)
 
 
My mental game was the best on the WOD of all five of the 2013 workouts.
 
I was really glad I had RX'ed Wednesday's WOD, because I knew if I could do the #75 thrusters, #65 would be a piece of cake. 
 
I had worried about chest to bar pullups a little until I heard reverse grip was allowed, and I was inspired by my girl Amy who got her first SEVEN chest to bar pullups on Wednesday.
 
I also knew there was no way I'd have to do more than 4 minutes, so I felt really confident I could work my hardest for a short time.
 
I always hate thrusters but I head during the live Open announcement that thrusters are a great movement for small people.  I am small, so I decided I was going to rock thrusters from now on and not make excuses.
 
I did about 30 minutes of mobility and then a fairly brief warmup.  I rowed a little and tried some chest to bar pullups with the reverse grip.  I loaded a bar with #45 and did a few reps, then did a few reps at #75 so that #65 would hopefully feel light when I started the WOD.
 
It worked.
 
I linked my first 12 thrusters and felt really strong.  I picked up the bar again and finished my last three - I wanted to leave a ton of time for the pullups. 
I linked my first three chest to bar pullups, and then the next three.  After that, it was ones and twos with a couple no reps where my chest didn't make it to the bar.  But I kept getting up without taking too long to rest.
When I finished, there was still time on the clock to start another round.  I ran back to my bar.  Thnakfully it had rotated so I could no longer see the clock.  All I had to do was keep doing as many thrusters as I could until I heard the timer beep.  I got ten before it went off!
 
 
 
Yeah, I know it's a no rep
We got to have dinner and drinks and hang out and chill with the Mercer Island CrossFit crew.  Stayed out way too late, but it was awesome to celebrate the end of the Open!
 
Saturday: Team WOD
 
Dragged myself out of bed cause I knew moving would be a good idea after Fran.  Plus I got to WOD with my Team Neon buddy Heidi!
 

I started physical therapy for my calf and am taking it easy on certain movements.  I subbed in rowing for running and step-ups for the box jumps.  We really pushed it on this one and had a ton of fun! 

 
 
Enjoyed a killer dinner of homemade fish tacos with Jared - protein!!!  (Okay, and wine.)
 


 
Sunday: Rest
 
 

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Open WOD 13.4 in Photos (And Other Workouts)

 
 
Wednesday: CrossFit
 
 
 
 
Thursday: CrossFit
 
 
 
 
Friday: 13.4!!!
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
Saturday: Olympic Lifting/Annie Fail
 
 
 
Sunday: Sticky Buns/Pullup 2 Minute Challenge Retest