Rest day today

I'll take a good brisk 45 minute walk later. My legs are beat up. I've decided to be smart and listen to my body...with a little help anyway!

Strength day plus Tabata

Front squats, 3x5 working sets
Deadlifts 1x5 working set
Farmers walk, 3 sets to failure carrying a pair of 70 lb dumbbells

Tabata sets (Eight rounds of 20 seconds work/10 seconds rest)
1st Jumping Jacks
2nd High Knees running in place

I've decided to add some sort of short metcon work the the tail end of my workouts on most strength days. This is part of my plan to increase my metcon capacity, and to also attack some of the fat I've gained.

Torturous Twenty-fives

I decided to do 20 minutes of metcon today or finish the Torturous Twenty-fives (Half of the Filthy Fifties), whichever came first. The plan:

25 Box jump, 24 inch box
25 Jumping pull-ups
25 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 25 steps
25 Knees to elbows
25 Push press, 45 pounds
25 Back extensions
25 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
25 Burpees
25 Double unders

I substituted a 14 pound ball for the 20 pound ball, because it was the heaviest the gym had. I was also going to do tuck jumps instead of Double unders, because I can't jump rope worth a damn. It wasn't necessary. I hit the 20 minute mark at my 20th burpee. When I stopped, I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest and run away.

I know that I've been putting a lot of effort into strength training as of late. I also think that the combination of the extra weight I'm carrying and the effect of some medication I'm taking is having an adverse effect on my metcon work. That being said, I'm going to come up with a handful of baseline metcon workouts that I can rotate through my workouts so that I can build some endurance and get myself back to a respectable spot with my metcon work. I wish I knew how much of what I've lost has to do with the medication. The weight? I'll see. I'm going to shed the fat portion of the excess weight I've gained, and I'll see what that does to my metcon. It's frustrating as all hell is all I can say...but I'm just going to keep moving forward in spite of what I see as a bit of a setback. I'll accept nothing less from myself.

Strength Day

Squat 3x5 Working sets
Weighted Overhead Squat 1x5
Bench press 3x5 Working sets
Chins-Kipping 3 sets to failure
Overhead Press 3x5 Working sets
Dips: 3 sets to failure 1st unweighted, 2nd 20 lb weighted and 3rd 25 lb weighted

Increased weight on the squats, bench, and overhead press. Did more reps on the chins than I have been doing.

Barefoot sprinting

I did some quarter mile runs on the track while barefoot. Then I did a bunch of 100 yard sprints in the grass.

Shit, have I gotten slow. Damn. I'm going to sprint more often to improve that. I need to.

Strength Day

Squat 3x5 Working sets
Weighted Overhead Squat 1x5
Bench press 3x5 Working sets
Pull-ups kipping 3 sets to failure
Dips: 3 sets to failure, weighted with an additional 30 lbs first set, 35 lbs second set, 40 pounds 3rd set

Overheads continue to prove challenging for me.

Metcon day

Today I rowed a 2500m, alternating one minute of sprints with one minute of moderate rowing. When I finished, I alternated one minute of inclined walking with one minute of inclined running, raising the incline every cycle. I finished with a 10mph sprint. The total time was about 22 minutes.

Good workout today!

Strength Day

Front squats, 3x5 working sets
Deadlifts 1x5 working set
Heavy Deadlifts 3x1 sets
Overhead Press 3x5 Working sets
Farmers walk, 3 sets to failure carrying a pair of 70 lb dumbbells

Failed Michael

For today's workout, I chose to do a Crossfit workout named Michael.

Three rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
50 Back Extensions
50 Sit-ups

My record time for Michael is 23:42. I was on about a 27:00 minute pace in my second round when I started getting some dizziness near the end of the back extensions. The dizziness continued while I was doing the sit ups, so I stopped at the point. I did run the last half mile, but I wasn't happy. Every once in a while, I have an issue with my inner ear that causes some dizziness like this. It usually occurs when I get some sinus congestion from a cold or hay fever, and do something like the back extensions. Anyway, I was quite displeased that i had to pull up and stop....and even more displeased that my pace was so far off my PR.

I know I've been more focused on strength training and that I've gained weight. The combination of those two things has adversely affected my runs. The strength training isn't going to change for now. I'm making gains and want that to continue. The weighht...that i need to work on. It's all in the diet. I need to stop saying I need to fix it, and just fix it already!

Strength Day

Squat 3x5 Working sets
Weighted Overhead Squat 1x5
Bench press 3x5 Working sets
Chins-Kipping 3 sets to failure
Dips: 3 sets to failure 1st unweighted, 2nd 20 lb weighted and 3rd 25 lb weighted

Strength day

Front squats, 3x5 working sets
Deadlifts 1x5 working set
Power clean 5x3 working sets
Knees to elbows 3 sets

I missed on one attempt of power clean. My wrist is a bit sore right now.

Hill running

Today I decided to do a bit of "hill" running on the treadmill. I worked intervals like this:

Minute 1: Walk 4 mph at a 2 degree incline
Minute 2: Run 7 mph at a 2 degree incline
Minute 3: Walk 4 mph at a 3 degree incline
Minute 4: Run 7 mph at a 3 degree incline
Minute 5: Walk 4 mph at a 4 degree incline
Minute 6: Run 7 mph at a 4 degree incline
Minute 7: Walk 4 mph at a 5 degree incline
Minute 8: Run 7 mph at a 5 degree incline
Minute 9: Walk 4 mph at a 6 degree incline
Minute 10: Run 7 mph at a 6 degree incline
Minute 11: Walk 4 mph at a 7 degree incline
Minute 12: Run 7 mph at a 7 degree incline
Minute 13: Walk 4 mph at a 8 degree incline
Minute 14: Run 7 mph at a 8 degree incline
Minute 15: Walk 4 mph at a 9 degree incline
Minute 16: Run 7 mph at a 9 degree incline
Minute 17: Walk 4 mph at a 10 degree incline
Minute 18: Run 7 mph at a 10 degree incline
Minute 19: Walk 4 mph at a 2 degree incline
Minute 20: Run 11 mph at a 2 degree incline
Minute 21: Walk 4 mph at a 2 degree incline
Minute 22: Run 11.5 mph at a 2 degree incline

I liked this workout. It reminds me of some progressive Crossfit workouts. My legs actually feel good after running the hills.

Strength Day

Squat 3x5 Working sets
Weighted Overhead Squat 1x5
Bench press 3x5 Working sets
Chins-Kipping 3 sets to failure
Overhead Press 3x5 Working sets
Dips: 3 sets to failure 1st 20lb weighted, snd and 3rd 25 lb weighted

I raised weight on the squats and overhead press today.

Run/squat torture

My workout today was supposed to be:

Four rounds for time

Run 400m
50 squats

I was running outside today for the first time in a while. My first run came in at a little bit under four minutes. What??? for 400m???

It turns out that this circuit in my neighborhood is actually closer to 800m, not 400m. My guess is that it falls between 750-800m. I'll call it 750. I haven't run it since sometime last year, so I remembered the distance quite incorrectly.

Anyway, my time was 25:21. Phew. Still like to improve on that, though.

Strength Day

Squat 3x5 Working sets
Weighted Overhead Squat 1x5
Bench press 3x5 Working sets
Pull-ups Strict 3 sets to failure
Dips: 3 sets to failure, weighted with an additional 30 lbs

I raised weight on the bench today, and felt more comfortable with the overhead squats.

Running day today

I ran a 5k in 26:20 today. It was a non-HIIT run.

I need a plan to improve my time. My time was for shit today.

Strength day Madness including WOD

I decided to combine/alter my Wednesday strength day workout with yesterday's WOD on the main CF site. The workout went like this:

Front Squats, 3x5 working sets
Overhead press, 5x1 working sets
Push Press 5x3 sets
Push Jerk 5x5 sets
Deadlift 1x5 working sets
Power Clean 5x3 working sets

I'm fried, especially my shoulders, traps and rhomboids. I'd never tried the push jerk before, so I used a moderate weight and concentrated on form. I earned my stripes today!

Metcon day

I rowed a 5k today in 20:45. I've done better, and I could have done worse. My legs are pretty sore after Saturday's workout, especially my calves. It was a good workout all in all.

Strength Day Thoughts

First-the workout:

Squat 3x5 Working sets
Weighted Overhead Squat 1x5
Bench press 3x5 Working sets
Chins-Kipping 4 sets to failure
Dips: 3 sets of 10, 1st with no weight, second with an extra 20lbs, third an extra 25lbs

I worked hard today. Good workout!

One of the things I love about Crossfit style workouts and exercises is that they expose your weaknesses. Not strong enough? Too little flexibility or mobility? Muscle imbalances? Not as metabolically fit as you'd like? All will be exposed.

I have wasted countless hours in gyms over the years working on exercises that have limited value to my overall strength, cardiovascular capacity, health and well being. I used to be really impressed with my ability to curl a barbell or do some nice heavy "(quarter or half) squats" or leg presses. Today, I don't worry about bicep or tricep work. They get more than enough work from the compound movements I perform. Normal gym routines and equipment give you what I like to call gym strength. Take the leg press for example. I've seen people do leg presses with fairly high weight in the gym. Load up a third of that weight on a barbell and stick them underneath it, and they would literally be crushed. What's the point? You create muscle imbalances and ignore all of the core structural muscles....and no...you're not going to take care of that balancing a tray on a bosu ball.

Take overhead squats as an example. I struggle with them. I sit at a desk all day long. I need more flexibility in my posterior chain. Sitting like that doesn't help my posture either. When you work the overheads, all of this is immediately apparent. Understanding your weaknesses is the first step to making them strengths. Thank you, Crossfit, for showing the way.

Tabata This

Tabata Intervals ( 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest repeated 8 times) for the following exercises:

Overhead Squat (with PVC Pipe)
Turkish getups with 35lb kettle bell
Sit-ups
Jumping pull-ups on rings
High knees running in place

Use a one minute rotation break between exercises.

I did not count reps, but probably should have. This probably wasn’t the best choice of exercises for a Tabata, but it was a good workout anyway.

Strength day

I figured that I'd be hurting after this one today. A night of drinking and too little sleep all week should have taken it's toll on me. To my surprise, I feel 100% better now that I've done my workout than I did before it. Go figure.

Squat 3x5 Working sets
Bench press 3x5 Working sets
Pullups (Strict form) 3 sets to failure
Overhead Press 3x5 Working sets
Dips: 3 sets with 30lbs of extra weight
1 set of 10 reverse pullups

Cardio day-running

I did a twenty minute HIIT run today, and walked for a couple minutes before and after. I had to pause for a breather once. Running is getting a bit better, but I'm nowhere near pacing close to my 5k PR. Oh well. I'll keep my sorry ass at it.

Strength day today

Strength Day today.

Warmup, then

Front Squats: 3x5 warmup sets, 3x5 working sets
Deadlifts: 2x5 warmup sets, 1x5 working set
Power Cleans: 5x3 working sets

And you can see proof of it being deadlift day in the picture!

It's time for action, dontcha think?

My weight this morning was 220 lbs. My last weigh in was 216.8. From that it seems like I'm going backwards. I do think that my 216.8 was not my peak weight, and I can visually see that the love handles appear to be a bit smaller than they were, so I'm not that upset about it.

All that being said, it it past time for me to get my food house in order. I need to plan my meals and start cooking and bringing food with me. Take out and ordering in is screwing me up on so many levels. Hopefully the scale today will be my wake up call.