Workout Recap/Cretus Ex Duellum

 

They say to "bring your all" to the box...
maybe I am taking this too literally?

Monday: Rest Day.  Short on sleep the night before plus a busy day at work, so I decided to take it easy.  Got 4 servings of veggies and squeezed in 10 minutes of mobility.

Tuesday: Lift Day.  Shoulder stability, core stability, and mobility before warming up to lift.  Week 3 of my Wendler-inspired cycle.  Currently on dumbbell strict overhead press and dumbbell row.  Got up to 60 pounds (#30 each dumbbell) on the overhead press and 80 pounds (#40 each) on the row.  Also had a trainer ask who was training on me because he was so impressed with my form.  Bragged about Jared.  More mobility to finish out.

Wednesday: CrossFit Invictus!  Had the day off work and wanted to workout with Jared for once.  Came in to the open gym class for 40 minutes of mobility, then came back around 12:15 for the workout date.  Really tough - had to scale practically everything, but loved the format.  PRed my clean - new max of #115!

Thursday: Rest Day.  Triceps and shoulders tanked from Invictus.  Shoulder stability work, a little bit of walking, and 40 minutes of mobility.  Horrible horrible tension headache - apparently bad idea not to do post-WOD neck mobility if you're doing a ton of handstand pushups and split jerks.  Oops

Friday: CrossFit & Racquetball.  Jared had me start with some SERIOUS mobility for my traps.  Almost cried.  No wonder my head had hurt so bad the day before!  Didn't want to RX but when my girl Jess showed up I knew I had to!  Great partner WOD with some of my favorite ladies.  Worked on my chest to bar pullups after the workout.

 

 

Followed up class with more mobility and my weekly butt-kicking on the racquetball court.  New shoes rocked and helped me move better...even through Dad still won both games.  Love making progress in this sport!

 

 

Saturday: CrossFit.  Slept in and didn't make the Olympic Lifting class but had a great partner workout with the later group!

 

Sunday: Rest/Cheer Day.  Jared and I got to go and root for our buddy JP at the Cretus Ex Duellum competition up in Lynnwood!  Snagged some photos, a few videos, and a crap ton of motivation.  Next year we may have to sign up!  (More videos on my youtube page.)

JP in green on the left

Firebreathers (Women)

Firebreathers (Men)



 

 

 

 

Masters Women

 So cool to see all the different divisions - great event with great WODs and great athletes!  Totally inspired for my workout tonight.


You tell me: Ever catch any local competitions?  Thought about competing?  Blew Lynnwood out of the water this weekend?  I wanna know!

Christmas Week 2012

Merry Christmas!  What a whirlwind of a week!

Friday was my first trip back to the box after over a week off.  Brutal WOD to come back to...the 12 Days of Christmas!

I RX'ed (except the handstand pushups, which I did to 2 #15 plates) but man I thought I was gonna die.  I spent probably half the WOD standing around and breathing hard and sweating.  I got so mad during the wall balls (I kept missing reps) that I kicked the ball.  That'll show it.

Jess B. was my hero!  She was my WOD buddy and kept encouraging me to keep pushing when it got tough.  Love working out with this chick.

 

Yeah, 37:21.  Yikes.  Honestly, I could have done a lot better.  My mental game sucked on this one.  I kept telling myself I couldn't do it and that it was too hard...not helpful.  Also Jared said I need to work on the catch and release for my wall balls - it should help me if I can improve consistency.

Saturday morning I hit up the Olympic lifting class with my fave, Coach Jared.  Every time I go to this class I feel like I learn a TON!  It's usually a very small class and we get extra time to go over technique for our lifts.  So much fun.  For the WOD, my mental game was way better!  Every time I had to rest, I gave myself a count of 8 and got right back into it.  I was so proud of myself!

Sunday we did parking team at church, and then had Jared's sister and her husband over for lunch...and then saw the Hobbit with them!  So fun - although we were up front and my eyes hurt and that night I dreamed I was going blind.

Monday (Christmas Eve) Jared had to work at 6, so we got up at 4:30 like a typical Monday.  I went and did my Wendler W1 lifts.  I decided to do another cycle of dumbbell rows and dumbbell overhead presses.  They're not as glamorous as deadlifts and backsquats, but I've seen a lot of payoff in how they affect my pullups, lifts, and handstand pushups, so I decided to keep at it.

I was only planning to lift on Monday, but Sunday evening Jess texted me to ask if I was gonna WOD on Christmas Eve...so I said I'd hit the 9:45 class with her.  The perk of lifting at 6 is you can go home, do chores, and wrap presents before coming back for CrossFit!
 

 

The WOD was "Frandy" - a mix of Fran and Cindy. 

There were a ton of people at the class, my forearms were bugging me a little, and I didn't want to have to lose my cute hat to WOD...so I scooted into the court across the hall and subbed out the thrusters for wall balls (to work on my catch and release) and the pullups for handstand pushups to plates.  Jess and I both said we'd shoot for 10 rounds in the 20 minute time cap.

It was harder than I expected to do the regular pushups - Jared explained that it was because I was doing 3 pushing movements in a row.  But I finally got the kip on my handstand pushups!  I was so excited!  Plus I tied with Jess for 9 rounds and 7 reps.

Poor Jared ripped up his hand on his WOD...bar muscle-ups on a textured bar = no bueno.

But we were both still glad to have started out the day at the gym.  Go Team Matson!

We showered at home and loaded up the sleigh to head to Jared's mom's for Christmas Eve!  Jared and Michelle made some incredible food, including butternut squash soup and cherry vanilla rum bread pudding.

 

 

 

We opened presents, played games, and later had a gift exchange with some of the rest of the family.  It was a really fun and relaxing day!

Christmas was spent at my folks.  McDevitt Christmas requires a breakfast of sticky buns and pineapple.

 

 

 

After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed over to open presents.  My mom and dad got each other snowshoes!

My mom and I took a walk in the afternoon, and we all caught some of the Heat/Thunder game.  More good food was followed by a hilarious family screening of Despicable Me, complete with Jared's Tom and Jerry drinks.

Wednesday was goal time for me.  I only have a few days left to finish my "end of 2012 goals", so I needed to get in the box and get after it!  I had "open gym" all to myself, and after warming up and doing 15 minutes of mobility, I went to work on my full range of motion handstand pushup! 

I started with some box pushups to get warmed up, and then went for gold.  It didn't go so well.

I shook out, grabbed a #15 plate and did one to the plate.  It went great, so I figured I could try again.

Success!  I was SO proud and excited!  Not only will kipping help me go faster, but now I can start RXing more workouts - so many times I was RXing everything except the handstand pushups.  Watch out, WODs!

After one success I was ready to beat another goal: a sub-10 minute "Diane" with the handstand pushups to one #15 plate.

It was ugly.  The last two times I've done Diane, I used #135.  For some reason, I thought #135 was the RX weight, but apparently the girls RX weight is actually #155.  I was expecting to blow through the deadlifts and slow down on the handstand pushups, but that was not the case.  I linked the first 10 deadlifts but went to fewer and fewer reps at a time.  My form also wasn't good (my back is so sore today) and then the handstand pushups were killer.  By 9:59, I had done 21 deadlifts, 21 handstand pushups, and 14 deadlifts.  I was only about two thirds done with the WOD.

The good news is that even though I didn't reach that particular goal, I can tell I've REALLY improved.  I'm keeping this goal on my list for the next quarter.  And my folks got me the CrossFit Nanos for Christmas, so this coming year I know I'm really gonna tear it up at the box!


You tell me: How was your Christmas/Hanukkah/Etc.?  Any year-end goals you're squeezing in?  Eat anything really killer?

Advent Mobility: Day 22

Merry Christmas!

Peppermint Bark Progenex just in time for the holidays!

Only a couple of days left for our challenge.  Ready to squeeze in 15 minutes of mobility work today?  Me, too! 

Today let's get our hamstrings.  I don't know about you, but I've been sitting a little more than usual lately and my hamstrings are getting tight!

Mobility WOD has a video for us.  This should help with our rowing!

Want a little more than just mobility?  To crush some Christmas calories, check out my 12 Days of Christmas WOD!  You can do this with almost zero equipment...and it really works you hard!

Only 2 days left to win your copy of Supple Leopard!  Lorie's still in the lead but if you get your extra credit in and update me on how you're doing, you might still squeeze ahead!

Post your time to the comments.  Merry Christmas!

12 Days of Christmas WOD/24 Days of Togetherness

Merry Christmas from TheMeghaMix!

I am sporting Christmas-y workout gear at the office today, because tonight is the 12 Days of Christmas WOD at MICF!

As my Christmas present to you, I worked out a 12 Days of Christmas workout that you can do yourself at home.  You need a wall and a chair.  That's pretty much it!  I couldn't make it to the box on Wednesday night, so I did this workout in my living room.  It took me 22:33 and really kicked my butt!

Here's the WOD!  You do it like you sing the song: 1 rep of the first movement, then 2 reps of the second movement and 1 rep of the first movement...etc.

12 Days of Christmas Bodyweight WOD

 

1 Handstand Pushup

2 Alternating Pistol Squats (1 each leg)

3 Bridgeups

4 V-ups

5 Pushups

6 Air Squats

7 Burpees

8 Dips

9 Situps

10 Alternating Lunges (5 each leg)

11 Supermans

12 Mountain Climbers (left + right = 1 rep)

If you aren't up to handstand pushups yet, you can scale by doing pike pushups (from downward dog) or box pushups on the chair.  Be sure to bring your hands as close to the chair as you can and get your head all the way to the ground!

You can do the pistol squats without a target (I still need one) if you're really good, or if you need more help, do them to the chair instead of a medicine ball. 

For bridgeups you can scale to hip raises.

For v-ups, you can bend your knees, but make sure those shoulders get off the ground!

For pushups, you can do knees on the ground, but keep your core rock solid from shoulders to knees!

Most of the other moves are pretty straight forward.  Get some great music going and have fun!  Let me know how you did!


Jared and I are still having a great time with the #24DaysofTogetherness from Carrots 'N' Cake.  One of our things this week was "Buy each other a small gift."  I got him a magazine and took me to lunch and got me a really cute hat!  It was a cold day and the hat even went with my outfit - score!

 

Ponytail spot in the back!

 

 

I wore my workout clothes under the sweater to the office since I knew my motivation to workout at home would be low.  This way I was ready to roll when I walked in the door!  And I wore my cute hat during the workout.

Plus I got the latest issue of The Box Magazine in the mail - talk about motivation!

Well, I'll have a few scheduled posts for the final Advent Mobility days, but I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and I'll see you next week!!!

You tell me: Did you like the WOD?  Any suggestions for another at-home WOD?  What great presents have you gotten so far?

Confessions of a Teenage Meathead

 

Back Squat #170 - New 1 Rep Max

(More videos at http://www.youtube.com/themeghamix.)

 

 

• I lift at the gym either in the early morning with the old dudes or in the afternoon with the high school football players and wrestlers.
• I consume at least one protein shake per day.
• I have a favorite protein powder and can give you a run-down on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the protein world.
• I used to eat small meals or snacks every 2-3 hours.  Now I eat with at least the same frequency, but a WAY bigger appetite.
• I get special chances to give input on fitness products and supplements at work because everyone knows I take that stuff seriously.
• I almost got caught by a coworker flexing my biceps in the mirror at the office.
• I practice "fast elbows" for my cleans when I think no one is looking.
• I watch YouTube videos of people lifting heavy or busting out muscle-ups.
• I put way more effort and moolah into what I wear to the gym versus what I wear to work.
• I felt like a total pansy lifting dumbbells this week. 
• I have explain fitness equipment and movements to the less informed guys at my office.
• Last week I hurt my elbow trying to air-practice a lift in the bathroom stall.
• I need a ton of sleep each night or I get grouchy (here's hoping I'm in the midst of a growth spurt).
• I was kinda pissed that I missed a chance to PR my bench press last week cause the guy I asked to spot me actually didn't know squat about spotting.
• I have guys at the gym tell me they don't lift like I do because they don't wanna bulk up.
• I scoff at the wimps doing "pushups" who don't actually touch chest-to-floor on each rep.
• I scoff at the other wimps doing "pullups" who don't fully extend their arms on each rep.
• I care way more about the weight on my bar than the weight on my scale.
• I don't have time for yoga because it would cut into my lifting days.
• I do make time for mobility because K-Starr says it'll up my front squats.
• I'd rather go to the Olympic lifting and "Girl" WOD class than the team/partner WOD class.
• I'm saving money for my L1 CrossFit Cert since after that I can take the Striking course because I love to hit stuff.
• I want my husband to choose his med school based on CrossFit gyms and resources in the area (UCSD = Mike Burgener.)
• I can explain Wendler's method cause I use it regularly.
• I'm more stoked about compliments on my traps than my hair.

Oh yeah,

 

AND I'M FREAKED THAT TOMORROW I WILL WAKE UP WITH A CRACK IN MY VOICE AND HAIR ON MY FACE. 

 

Sincerely,

Former 20-Something Girly-Girl