Death By Kettlebells/Workout Recap Week of 2/11

Monday: CrossFit at Home

 

Couldn't make it to the box, so scaled the skill work and WOD to what I had on hand.

 

Skills (10 mins)

2 ascents – Rope Climb
10 reps – Med Ball Cleans
8-12 reps – Ring Dips

2 rounds

 

Med ball cleans I could do, no problem.

 

 

Subbed in 20 V-ups for the rope climbs:

 

 

And chair dips instead of ring dips:

 

 

WOD
15-12-9

Squat Clean Thrusters #135/93
bar burpee

 

Used my med ball on the thrusters and stepped over the ball on my burpees.  Woulda jumped, but thought the folks downstairs wouldn't appreciate that.

 

 

 

Working out at home means great post-WOD refueling options!

 

 

 

Tuesday: CrossFit Invictus

 

I scaled the competition workout from 2/11.  Even scaled, this stuff kicks my butt!

I worked my back squats and the handstand pushup/kettlebell WOD in the fitness center, then popped into the box to work my muscle snatch. 

Skipped the heavy triple snatch due to time constraints.

 

 

Wednesday: Death By Kettlebell Swings! (CrossFit)

 

Everybody's favorite WOD!  Seriously. 

 

The way it works?  Pick a heavy (for you) kettlebell. 

Set a clock. 

At the start of the first minute, do one rep. 

Rest the remainder of the minute. 

At the start of the second minute, do two reps. 

Rest for the remainder of the minute. 

Keep going up until you can no longer finish the number of reps as the minute you're on within the 60 seconds. 

(E.G. In the 17th minute, you only get 16 swings in 60 seconds.  Your score for the WOD would be 16 - the last minute you successfully completed the prescribed swings.)

 

I've done this one twice before and it's always fun.

January 31, 2012: 20 rounds with the #26

July 31, 2012: 20 rounds with the #35

 

February 13, 2013?  15 rounds with the #44!

 

Also worked front squat form and saw improvement during the warmup

in my row, toes to bar, and handstand pushups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously love WODding with Jessie!

Thursday: Active Recovery

 

After all those workouts, I knew I needed a recharge day. 

Got into the box before the 6am class and did a 10 minute recovery row at 60-70% effort. 

Ate lots of food and took a bath after work. 

(Recovery row paid off, by the way.  Totally minimized soreness.)

 

 

Friday: CrossFit and Racquetball

Worked on depth in front squats.  All the mobility time I've put in over the last few months has really helped me improve my strength and range of motion in squats.
 

 
Next we did a squat clean EMOM.  Am I the only person who loves EMOM workouts?  Started light and moved quickly up to #95 for my fifth set.  It went alright and so I kept the weight.  On the sixth set, made the first rep, but failed the second, bailed out and landed (unharmed) on my butt.  Was gonna scale the weight back down but Jared encouraged me to have another go.  Finished the 7th and 8th sets with the #95.

 
WOD was fun.  Used blue band and worked chest to bar pullups for first AMRAP, rowed for 10 calories in place of DUs in the second AMRAP.

Racquetball date after CrossFit.

 

Saturday: CrossFit Invictus

 
Worked out with Jared - a rare treat!  Got to learn some new things doing a highly scaled version of the day's Invictus WOD.

Used the #10 to learn kettle bell single arm snatches.  Did handstand "walks" against the wall.
Tore up my hands pretty badly during parts B and C...not so fun.  Used #65 for squats and #45 for shoulder to overhead in both sections.  Red band for pullups.  Score was total time for B & C including rest.

Got to see the Mercer Island CrossFit Kids in top form!
 

Kids' WOD: 

 

 

Sunday: REST - Hallelujah!

Workout Recap/REVIEW: CrossFit Excellence

 

 

Monday: 5pm MI CrossFit.  Walked a mile from the bus stop and arrived early enough to sit in the sauna a little to warm up.

 

Skill work (not strength) was deadlifts.  We worked on form...although it turns out our coaches haven't all conferred on what they feel is good form for deadlifts, so throughout the week we got some differing opinions.

 

Kept the weight very light.

 

 
Scaled the handstand pushups to plates.  Used my kip which is helping a ton.  Can't wait until I get stronger and can do them RX from the floor!  Red band for the pullups since there were so many.  Scaled kettlebell swings to Russian swings with the #26 due to a tight back.  RXed situps and (my fave!) burpees.

Was trailing the boys for most of the WOD but knew I could make some of it up in the burpees if I REALLY pushed myself.  I did, and I was pretty happy with my time!  Loved Wodding with some folks I don't always get to see.

Got in some extra mobility at home before bed.  Always a great idea.

Tuesday: Travel/rest.  Between work and driving to Portland afterwards, not much time for moving.  Packed healthy snacks.  Went to bed early.

Wednesday: CrossFit Excellence.  I was looking high and low in Portland for a good box to visit while Jared had his med school interview.  I was surprised to find that almost every box has a drop-in fee, even for first time out of town guests!  All the boxes I've visted previously offer the first class for free, or, better yet, offer free classes to any travelling CrossFitters.  Got a little spoiled at CrossFit Amped and Graham CrossFit, I suppose.  Posted on Facebook my plea for help, and some friends from MICF suggested CrossFit Excellence in Lake Oswego.

I emailed Jen at CrossFit Excellence, who got back to me right away and was really welcoming!  She asked what class I'd like to visit and made sure I knew that they didn't charge visitors.  I told her I'd be at the 9:30 class...I had to drop Jared off at the school at 8 and I didn't know what to expect from traffic (and my own lack of directional skills).

Well, even with getting a bit confused and arriving and then leaving and arriving again (parking is below the building - look for this door which I missed), I was there by about 8:15.

Jen was doing "Gwen" and the box was pretty much empty.  I apologized for being so early, but she was really flexible and said I was welcome to work out at 8:30 if I felt ready.

 

She asked whether I wanted to do my own thing or follow their programming.  I love to see how various boxes run things, so I asked to do their programming for the day.  She started me out with five minutes of mobility.  We focused on feet and calves (partner calf mobility hurts like heck but is soooo good for you).  I mentioned Kelly Starrett and she replied, "Everything he does is art."  I knew I liked this place!  Plus I got the class to myself - gotta love personal training.

After mobility, we went into the warmup, which was preset drill/skill work.

I was a level II, so I started with 5 minutes of work on my double-unders.  So thankful Jared bought me a rope for Christmas!  I brought it on the trip and whipped it out of my bag.  Then I did paralette L-sit (for a personal PR of 0:27!) along with bar dips (holy crap those are hard), false grip pullups, and some GHD work. 

I do kinda wish there had been more of a MICF type warmup before the skill work.  I have really tight shoulders/neck and it's tough to go into something challenging like L-sits and dips without doing something light like pass throughs first.

Then, we were on to the WOD!  It didn't look too hard until I realized it was 3 rounds long.  I thought it was a once-through for time!

I love situps and kettlebell swings, but running is always a challenge for me.  I told myself I was not gonna be a wimp and I was gonna RX in under the time cap of 30 minutes.

We did abmat situps, which are different than what we do at MICF, but Jen reviewed proper form with me.  She also translated pood for me so I knew which kettlebell to use (ladies was #36).

With Jen cheering me on, I finished my first round in 9:18.  I knew it would be tight to get it done in the cap since it's sometimes hard to keep your first round pace.  I was able to do the situps unbroked, but had to break the swings into sets of 10-20 reps.  Jen said my form was great on the kettlebell swings (shoutout to the great coaches at MICF!) which was encouraging.  I really made myself push it on the runs and tried distracting myself, since usually the mental part of running is the hardest.  You know, when you tell yourself, "This is so hard.  I suck at running anyway."  Instead I counted steps, thought about good form, tried to lengthen my strides, and recited Scripture in my head.  Oh, yeah, and watched out for a train when crossing the tracks.

My second round was actually faster than my first, which really movitated me.  It was a killer workout and I couldn't do more than wave at the gal who showed up early for the 9:30.  But I finished in 27:49, which means I had negative splits for my rounds!  If that is a CrossFit appropriate phrase.

By the time I caught my breath, there were about four ladies present and doing mobility for the 9:30 class.  They were really sweet and glad to have me visiting.

Overall, I would highly recommend a visit to CrossFit Excellence!  It reminded me a lot of Mercer Island CrossFit.  Not super fancy box, but well equipped.  Knowledgeable coaching (Jen just renewed her L1 cert - she's been coaching for over 5 years and has done additional certs including going through the CrossFit Endurance seminar twice) and friendly community.  You'll get a great workout and feel right at home.  Thanks to Jen for having me and to Chris and Heidi for recommending it!

Post WOD with Coach Jen

I also got in an hour of walking toodling around Portland and did 15 minutes of mobility after our long drive home.

Thursday: Rest Day.  Got in a good little walk home from the bus and 20 minutes of mobility.

Friday: CrossFit and Racquetball.

Skill work was the 2 Minute Challenge for February: Med Ball Cleans.  Coach Jared gave us a run down of good form...and bad form.  We got one "free" warning on our form but if he had to no rep us and make us slow down to do it correctly, he would.  A good mid-range number to shoot for was 40.  I got 39!

Debated scaling the WOD but decided to try to RX...later it turned out I should have scaled since my numbers were so low.  (The point of this type of workout is a high output of reps.)

 

Had to run to the bathroom at the last minute before we started the WOD, so I missed the first three movements in the first round, hence low score for round one.  Double-unders kicked my butt...could only do a few at a time.  Gotta keep working on form.

Love love love finishing my weeks with racquetball.  I played REALLY well this week and made a stellar comeback to (almost) win on one of the games.  My endurance and hand-eye coordination continue to improve.  Fun to see CrossFit paying off in other sports.

Saturday: Mobility/Wendler's Week 1 (Deadlifts).  Started doing mobility to get in the mood to workout since all I wanted to do was eat cookies.  Realized I really needed the mobility and took like 35 minutes on it.  Yikes.  Was gonna do deadlift and strict press but only had 20 minutes left so did deadlifts only.  Highest load for the day was one lift at #185.  Nice to see the months of working on dumbbell rows pay off in my deadlift form.


You tell me: Do you pursue any other sports besides CrossFit?  Try any great boxes lately?  Ever do any less glamorous lifts to help your fancy lifts?

Killer Abs in 15 Minutes Per Week...Kinda

Hello hello!

Everyone's getting ready for Thanksgiving - I love to see all the great recipes being posted on Twitter and basking in the glow of a husband who cooks.  He's baking a pie for our family gathering on Thursday.  I'm...planning to come hungry.

Last year's pie

 

Last year's plate.  YUM.

If you are like me, you get a little sick of the magazines that say, "here's how to get this celeb cover girl's gorgeous abs in 5 minutes a day after just two weeks!" 

When in fact, said celeb usually says in her interview, "Well, between filming all my movies with or dating Tom Cruise/Channing Tatum/Robert Downey Jr./Christian Bale/Zack Efron, I really don't get to work out as much as I'd like.  But yoga once a week REALLY keeps me sane and gives me this great figure.   And no, I don't believe in diets - I have SUCH a sweet tooth and eat a lot of ice cream but I try to shop at farmer's markets to be local and all that.  PS I WAS A SWIMSUIT MODEL BEFORE I GOT INTO ACTING.  AND MY MOM AND AUNTS AND GRANDMAS MODELLED, TOO."

And then you realize that even the Victoria's Secret types get airbrushed.

(No wonder I am slowly killing off my female health & fitness magazine subscriptions in favor of WODTalk and The Box.  Ugh.)

Here's MY "secret" to abs.  Yes, there's 15 minutes a week of official core work...at the bottom of the list.  Prepare to commit.

• Sleep.  I don't care that Thomas Edison only needed 4 hours a night.  You are not Edison.  Get 8 hours a night for a month and then try come tell me you don't feel better.  Your body cannot take care of itself if you always run it into the ground.
• De-stress.  I read yesterday that your body cannot distinguish between workout-type stress and life-type stress.  Cortisol is not your friend, however much you prize "running on adrenaline."  (See importance of sleep, above.)  When you are stressed, beside having less time to sleep, prep/eat good food, and workout, you body goes into extra credit fat-holding mode.  Which in turn is no good for your tummy.
• Hydrate and eat up.  Unless you are one of those model types who can scarf nachos, party it up every weekend, and still look gorgeous (in which case you would not be reading this), you HAVE to refuel and to prioritize your food.  I don't support any particular diet, but I think all experts would agree on more produce, more protein, and less processed foods.  Have food you like, by all means, but make sure you are getting enough veggies and protein, and then be uber-picky about your indulgences.  (If you are not into wine, have water with dinner and hold out for a great desserty cocktail.  If like me, you could care less about cake, pass on it but really enjoy that doughnut Saturday morning.)  Also, drink more water.  Duh.
• CrossFit.  Technically I could say "Lift heavy.  Do cardio."  But that is basically the same thing offering less guidance and requiring more of your time.  Girls seem weirdly hesitant to "build muscle" but we all wanna "burn fat."  Ladies, I have news for us.  Muscle and fat are kinda the two choices.  The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn at rest.  Plus if you do not build muscle, you will never achieve that "lean, toned" look.  You will still have fat...there will just be less of it.
• CrossFit.  Yes, I know I already said this.  But see exhibits A and B (Camille Le-Blanc Bazinet) below.  You can lift heavy, have killer abs, and STILL be feminine.  Find a box near you, do their ramp-up or intro series, and start going a minimum of twice a week.  Bump it up to three or more times a week as soon as your coach thinks you're ready.

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• Core work.  CrossFit includes the core in almost everything, because you have to engage your abs to have good form and stay safe on every single lift, not to mention stability in lunges, strength in kipping pullups, and of course, sit-ups and V-ups.  But we don't do a lot of plank work, which for me is a requirement to keep up my core strength for all the CrossFit work we do.  It's made a big difference for me in my performance at the Box.

I perform this 5 minute routine 3 days a week.  You can do it anywhere.  All you need is the ground and a running clock.

First: 2 minute forearm plank.

Second: 1 minute side forearm plank (pick a side).

Third: 1 minute side forearm plank (other side).

Finally: Finish out the remainder of the five minutes with 10-20 supermans.  (Start position for each rep is laid out flat on your face.)

You tell me:  Do you get annoyed with "wow I'm so busy but my body is magically perfect"?  What's your abs routine?  What are you making for Thanksgiving?

The Other CrossFit Girls

 Ever have one of those weeks?

You know, where your normal workout-fiend personality takes a hike and you want to skip the gym in favor of Gilmore Girls reruns and snacks?

Well, last week, that was me. 

Normally I am the kind of girl who annoys everyone else by bringing healthy food to work and blabbering on about how much I love CrossFit.  Last week started out with my typical zeal, but by Friday I was NOT feeling stoked for my after-work WOD.  I am all for rest days when you physically or emotionally just need one.  But I knew I didn't really need one.  This was just a: "well, I don't really feel like it for no particular reason so I wish I had an excuse to bail."

Rather than just skip class, I decided to get myself some serious motivation.  I texted one of my fave WOD buddies, Jess, to see if she was going to CrossFit.  She said she planned to go to the 5pm class, so I promised I'd be there.

And I was so glad I went!  Not counting Coach Jared, it was an all-girl class: Jess, Joan, Patti, and me.  We got a great workout in and I felt so much better afterwards!

Post-WOD with Jess B!

Coach Jared helped me scale some of the movements so I wouldn't aggravate my calf, which has been bothering me.  I did box step-ups instead of jumps, #35 kettlebell swings instead of the double-unders (which kinda made me sad since I want to keep working on them!), and pullups instead of the burpees.

The pullups were tough, since in the warmup I was doing kipping chest-to-bar pullups with a band, and then strict dead-hang pullups to work towards one of my end of year goals.  I was kinda toast from the dead-hang pullups - yikes, those are hard!

I really worked having good clean form on the V-ups.  They kill me, but they're SO good for your lower abs if you do them correctly!


Saturday morning I usually go to the Olympic lifting/Girl WOD class at 8...but I slept in until 8:30.  I was surprised that, yet again, I wanted to just skip working out.

I knew that I would be happy I went, but it was hard to get myself to the 9:30 team WOD - I'm not exactly a big team player - I like peace during my workouts, and the smaller the class, the better.  Team WOD days are usually PACKED, but I had hopes that I would get a great partner and end up having a good time.

Turns out Hopeful Meghan beat out Whiny Meghan for the win.  I got to partner with Joan for the workout, and it was SO motivating!  I'd forgotten how hard I work when I don't want to let one of my buddies down on our score!

I got to work on my form for the row and was proud to link all 5 reps of my handstand pushups each round I got.  Plus, Joan's not only a hard worker, but a great sport - so we sweated a ton and had a good time to boot!

People talk a lot about the great family at CrossFit, and I couldn't agree more!  So thankful for these women who have my back and help me kick my butt into shape!


Other weekend highlights:

Finally visiting the Doughnut Factory with Jared,

joining my mother-in-law in Seattle to watch a documentary for one of her classes,

and visiting my folks out in North Bend for an early birthday celebration.  Yum.

Salmon, artichokes, wine, and salad

Chocolate cake!

You tell me:  Who are your workout buddies?  How do you motivate yourself on the days when your interest in fitness flags?  Have you noticed an abundance of doughnut photos on this blog?