No CrossFit for the Weekend, But Staying Busy.

…so the weekend has been a CrossFit free zone, but by design.

I have been playing in my first tennis tournament, and so far my doubles partner and I are 1-1.  We haven’t played our best, but we were in both matches.  I really wish we both would have brought our A game earlier today, because we are certainly strong enough to have won.  The first game we took down in straight sets last night at 8:30, and the second game earlier today we lost in straight sets at 12:30.  We play again tonight at 6:30, and I hope to at least go 2-1 on the tourney.

I will be back to CrossFit on Monday morning, and I will also be starting Premium CrossFit’s 30 day paleo challenge.  I have been eating probably 75% paleo or so for the past week, and it has made a huge difference in my energy, my recovery, and my weight loss.  I can’t wait to see how I feel after 30 days of strict paleo.  I will certainly be blogging daily or almost daily so that I can look back to see just how I felt from day to day.  I’m certainly feeling far better than I was before CrossFit already.  I’m down about 12 lbs at this point, and my first month hasn’t come to a close just yet.  My first month is up as of May 9th, and I’m hoping to be down around 15# or so.

My upcoming goals are going to be:

1. 315# 1-rep max backsquat
2. sub 1:45 500M row
3. 15 more lbs of weight loss over the course of the 30 day paleo challenge
4. under 250# which is now 16# away
5. 1 strict pull-up

I’m sure I will be adding to these in the near future, but this is a good starting list.

Tomorrow is going to be a mainly rest day, but I’m sure I will add in some walking with my wife and/or daughter.  If the weather clears up a bit and it’s dry I may be able to play some softball also.  I guess only time will tell.  Enjoy!

 

Third Week of CrossFit Classes

Here are the workouts from week 3:

April 22nd

• Warm Up:
• 1000M row
• Supermans, Pass throughs, Presses
• Strength:
• 3×5 Split Jerk
• WOD: 3 RFT
• 20 53lb KB Swings
• 10 Pull ups (scaled to rings)
• 7 95lb Jerks
• Finished in 8:35

April 23rd

• Tough workout, but felt really good!
•  Warm up: 10 minutes of double under practice
• strength: establish 5 rep max Deadlift (225lb)
• WOD: 15 min’s EMOM
• 3x 185lb back squat
• 5x 53lb KB swing
• 7x Double Unders (scaled to 14 single unders)
• Completed 7 rounds, and on 10th single of 8th round.
• Ended up continuing through the 15 minute mark –
• Finished 12 rounds and through KB swings.

April 24th

• Warm Up/skill:
• Pass throughs, light workup to snatch
• Strength:
• Power snatch 5×3 (115#)
• WOD:
• CI: 10 burpees
• 15-12-9
• air squats, push ups, ring rows
• CO: 10 burpees
• Time:  7:44

April 26th

• Today was brutal, but a great workout!
• Warm Up:
• Stretching for legs, hip flexors, back.
• Strength:
• 4×5 back squat (225,255,275,280)
• 3x ring rows, pendlay rows till failure
• WOD: 5x 400M rows with 1 minute rest
• time: 11:39 (times for 4×400 and 1×500 added together)

I’m starting to feel much stronger this week, and I’m down 7.5 lbs.  I’m wanting to get to the gym more than I ever have before!

In the face… In the face!!!

…so yesterday was my rest day, and other than shoveling the 2nd half of my driveway, I actually did rest.

Today started out with a few hours of pick up volleyball. There are some pretty decent athletes that show up on a weekly basis to play, and one of them decided to leave his mark on my face today. He is one of the local high school kids that plays for his varsity team, and he is a very solid hitter. I love getting in there and mixing it up, and when I get a block on him I tend to needle him a bit. It’s all in good fun, and the jawing goes back and forth. Today he was given a perfect set, and he split the blockers really well. I set up right in between the blockers for the dig, but he hit the ball right at my face instead. Being the agile beast that I am, I was barely able to turn my head to the side before the ball hit me squarely in the face. Good times, Good times! I would say I owe him one, but I like to mess with him quite a bit, so I probably just got what was coming to me. It’s all in good fun, and the only thing hurt was my pride.

Later today I need to get in a walk/run of about 20-30 minutes or so, and then tomorrow starts my next week of training. All in all, this week was very successful, training-wise. My diet is leaving plenty to be desired, and that is going to be my focus for the upcoming week. I’m not going to workout 5-6 hours per week plus only to sabotage myself at the kitchen table. I guess it’s time to download MyFitnessPal to my new phone.

I will also be adding some strength training to the mix this week, but only a day or 2 for probably 30-45 minutes. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself at this point. Here is my schedule for the week:

Sunday: Bike – 20 minutes (1 min hard, 2 min easy)
Monday: Weights (30-45 minutes total body)/ Swim – 20 minutes (1 min hard, 2 min easy)
Tuesday: Run – 30 minutes (1 min run, 3-4 min walk)
Wednesday: 20 minutes (1 min hard, 2 min easy)/ Swim – 20 minutes (1 min hard, 2 min easy)
Thursday: Run – 30 minutes (1 min run, 3-4 min walk)/ Weights (30-45 minutes total body)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Run – 45-60 minutes (mostly walking)

This is really just a guide for the first few weeks. If I’m really feeling it I may add to this, and if I’m not feeling it I will back off a bit. Over the course of the next few weeks I will be sticking to this much more closely, while adding some distance/time. I will also be playing tennis on Wednesday nights and Sundays as part of my USTA league, and playing volleyball on Saturday mornings for fun.

It seems like quite a bit of working out when I list it this way, but it’s really quite easy to get in. I can’t believe how much better I feel already just getting back into the swing of an actual schedule. Enjoy!

I’m going to make it official

…so I’m signing up for my first triathlon in 10 years.

Wood River Triathlon Bike

The RecPlex SPRING TRIATHLON: Sunday, June 16, 2013 will be my welcome back to the sport. This triathlon sets up as follows:

500-meter swim in the Rec-Plex’s Olympic-quality Natatorium
21-mile bicycle ride through flat farmlands*
5-mile run through shady, scenic and serene St. Peters parks

I couldn’t wait to get started with my training, so today I did 20 minutes on the track (just walking at this point, but that is going to be changing soon) and 2000 meters on the rower (in 9:08). One of the staff members at the Rec-Plex gave me a quick start guide to get my training in motion. This is going to be a bunch of work, but it’s going to be fun.

When I completed my last triathlon I was weighing in at about 220 lbs (in the picture above), but now I’m right at 275. I guess it’s time to start shedding the lbs once and for all. Here is a fairly current picture:

Recent – Before Pic

I will also be walking this afternoon with my daughter once she gets home from school, and I have tennis tonight in the Steel Shop Men’s 3.5/4.0 league. It’s a busy day, but an active day. I’m already feeling better!

School is starting on Monday!

I’m officially back to school on Monday, and I have a full course load.  I will be student teaching in the Spring, but for now I have to really hit the books to keep my GPA where I want it.  I will be looking to substitute teach, but if/when I’m off I will be hitting the workouts hard.

Monday I am recommitting to my diet, and I will be hitting the weights hard.  I will be doing a mix between Crossfit and P90X like I have been, with some triathlon training mixed in for cardio.  I have been stuck between 260 and 265 for a couple of weeks due to the lack of sticking to my diet, and that stops now.  I am ready to get under 250 for the first time in years, and it’s going to happen in September.

I will be having my usual weekend fun.  Won a double header yesterday for softball, played some volleyball this morning, and have tennis and softball tomorrow.  Busy, but fun.

Enjoy!

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks.

I have been really busy over the past 2 weeks, but I haven’t been losing any weight.  It all started with the trip to KC, MO with my wife (and then continued for a few days after).  My diet was all but forgotten for a few days, but I found my way back fairly quickly.  I then get back into the gym only to find that all of the Crossfit equipment had been removed (minus the rowers – can I get an Amen?).  It’s been tough going, but at least I’m not gaining any weight.  I’m still down 30 lbs, but I would have liked to have been down 40 at this point.  Setbacks are going to come, and this is just another test along the way.

I had a very active weekend with softball on Friday and Sunday, tennis on Saturday and Sunday, and volleyball on Saturday morning.  This week I am making sure my diet is dialed back in, and that my workouts are getting back to where they need to be.  I haven’t really been hitting the weights since the Crossfit equipment was removed, so it’s simply time to change up my weight training, rather than lose it.

I did hit a new PR on my 2K row this morning with a 7:50.2, and then rowed easy for another 3K to get a good solid workout in this morning.  Tomorrow I will be back on the weights as well.

Enjoy!

New distance, new PR!

…so I decided to get a best time in the 2K since I hadn’t rowed 2K for time before, and boy did I set the bar high for myself.  7:58 for the 2K distance, and it was tough.  I’m sure I will be able to better my time at some point, but this one will not be easy.  I did an easy 1K after this tough effort in 4:55 as a cool down.

I then did a couple of laps around the indoor track, and moved on to the weights.  I did 5 sets of 3 reps on the minute of power cleans with 135 lbs.  The weight really doesn’t matter, but it was significant in that this was the weight I was lifting in high school when I did power cleans.  The jumps are coming fast and furious, and it just felt good to get this weight up with “relative” ease.

I then did 4 super-sets of the following:

10 dips (with legs on a 12″ block), 25 air squats, 50 singles (jump rope), 1 lap cool down on the indoor track.

It was a pretty tough workout, and it felt great to get through it.  Tomorrow I will be heading to Kansas City with my wife for a couple of days, so I will have to be a bit more creative with my workouts.  I will watch the calories as closely as possible, and at a minimum do push ups, sit ups, and squats in the room.  I think there is a small-ish gym at the hotel, so I’ll figure something out.

I’m also in the 250’s!  I’m down to 258, and it’s the lowest I have been in 6-8 years or so.  200 is definitely going to happen, and it’s simply a matter of time.  …for now, that’s a total weight loss of 34 lbs.

Enjoy!

I do so love Fridays …and Crossfit!

…so I had every intention of getting in an easy 5K on the rower before my Crossfit workout for the day.  I then proceeded to set a new PR at 21:52.9!  I was really moving, and it just felt good so I went for it.

I was really feeling it around 10 minutes into my Crossfit workout though.  I took my workout today from Crossfit TNT in St Charles, MO:  http://www.crossfit-tnt.com/blog/

I think I am going to try to stick to their programming for a while so that I keep it varied, and get a solid base built up.  I am having to use their scaled workouts, but at the rate I’m going it’s only a matter of time before I’m doing the workouts as Rx.

Today’s workout was:

“JAYBIRD” WOD

RX
5 Rounds for time
3 Power snatches @70% body weight
5 HSPU
7 Box jumps(24/20)(games standard)

INT
5 Rounds for time
3 Power snatches @60% body weight
5 HSPU ab mat
7 Box jumps(24/20)(games standard)

SCALED
5 Rounds for time
3 Power snatches 50% body weight
10 Push ups
7 Box jumps use bumpers for 12/16’ height (games standard)

I did 5 rounds in just under 16 minutes with much lighter snatches, because I had never done them before.  I went to the Crossfit main site to get the form down as best I could, and I perfomed the lift with only 65 lbs today.  I will move up as I feel better.  I did one set with 115 lb, and it wasn’t too heavy, but my form is just not there, and I didn’t want to do any damage.  I did the 10 pushups per set, except the first set where I did 20, because I forgot what I was doing (hehe).  I did 10 box jumps per set on an 16-18″ box I think.  I didn’t realize the workout was for 7.  I guess next time I’ll print it up and bring it with me.

I was certainly done after this workout, but now I feel really accomplished.  I can’t wait to be able to get these workouts in as prescribed.  I know it will come as the weight goes down.

Have a great weekend.  Enjoy!

 

Another tough WOD.

I was a bit tired today after my 10K time trial yesterday, but I wanted to get in a good workout.  I did a shorter, but intense workout from the concept2 site.  My rowing workout today was 3x750m with a 1 minute recovery row between each set.  I ended up getting in 3300m in 15 minutes total.

After my rowing workout I did 4 sets of 5 reps of power cleans on the minute with 115 lbs followed by the following super-set:  10 burpee box jumps, 20 kettlebell swings (40 lb), and 100 reps of jump rope.  8 burpee box jumps, 15 kettlebell swings (40 lb), and 80 reps of jump rope.  6 burpee box jumps, 10 kettlebell swings (40 lb), and 60 reps of jump rope.  I followed that super-set with a few laps around the track with strides on the straight sections, and walking recovery around the turns.

It was a great workout to get the day going, and it has simply become part of my day.  I love the way I feel after a workout.

Enjoy!

Getting back at it is fun …PR’s go down almost daily.

I posted a new PR in the 5K distance on the concept 2 rower today at 22:40.  I then did 5 super-sets of:  5 reps power clean with 115 lbs and 10 decline pushups on a 12″ box.  I then did 3 super-sets of:  8 medicine ball push-ups (both hands on medicine balls), and 10 kettlebell swings with a 40 lb bell.  I also did a lap around the indoor track in between each set.  I was completely spent at the end of the workout.

Today my diet is back where it needs to be, and I feel awesome.  2 bowls of golden grahams this morning, and a salad for lunch with some grapes on the side.  My goal is to keep my calories pretty clean, and under 1800 per day.  As long as I keep things going in that direction, I should easily be able to lose 3.5 to 5 lbs per week.

Yesterday was a rest day, and I did nearly nothing.  I needed it, because I was definitely tired and I feel much better today.  I watched Olympic coverage all day, and today I feel fully recharged.  I guess rest days are necessary after all.

I am getting farther and farther away from my P90X program, but I’m keeping things moving.  I am lifting more consistently than I ever have, and I’m also getting in some cardio 5-6 days per week.

Enjoy!