July 31 - WOD

Today's WOD, featuring shoulder presses, was a nice change of pace from the high intensity we've faced the last few times out.

Today we were tasked with 5 sets of 5 reps each of strict shoulder presses. I managed the following:

Set 1: 65# * 5
Set 2: 67.5# * 5
Set 3: 70# * 5
Set 4: 75# * 5
Set 5: 80# * 1 + 77.5 * 3

As I say quite often, my shoulders are probably the weakest muscle group in my body. I was a bit rough on them in my younger years and they like to complain long and loud about it these days.

But even with that said, I am finally starting to see some strength and range of motion improvements in my shoulders. Doing this movement super strictly made sure that my shoulders were not getting help from any other muscle group. Often, I will resort to a slight dip in the knees to help me propel the weight up. But, of course, that doesn't push my shoulders to where they need to be.

I'm really glad we had this WOD today. Sure. I'll need Advil tonight, but at least I feel like I am pushing my body to where it needs to be.

We finished up with pistols (5 each, left and right) and 35 knees to elbows.

A good solid WOD. I'm happy.

July 29 - Isabel

Today's spin of the hopper landed on "Isabel." This is the first time this calendar year we've tried to do this WOD. Snatches are one of the more difficult exercises for me.

For those who have never seen a snatch, it looks like this when done right.

I know I don't look like that yet, but I am now able to get the bar from the floor to overhead without a pause (like the clean and jerk). I need to work more on getting under the bar for the press up. This has a lot of advantages, not the least of which is that you can use your legs to get the weight to full height and not have to rely on the smaller upper body muscles to do that part of the work.

I intend to keep working on it.

For today though, I managed my 30 snatches (with a 65# bar) in just under 5 minutes (4:46). And I'm good with that for now. I hope that, as my overhead squats get better, this exercise will improve as well.

We followed this up with a walk around our loop (X2). And despite the oppressive Texas summer evening, it was a nice way to wind down after the workout.

July 27 - Cindy

Last Monday's tabata workout really put us off our schedule, so instead of staying off schedule and following up yesterday's WOD with a run day, we opted to do another WOD today. So we spun the hopper and ended up with "Cindy."

With "Cindy," you do AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of the following:

5 - Pull Ups
10 - Push Ups
15 - Squats

When we last did this WOD (back in January) we couldn't last the prescribed 20 minutes, so we cut it to 10. Today we decided to push ourselves and our already aching bodies to do the full 20 minutes.

I'm awful proud (& terribly sore) to report that we DID last the full 20 minutes and managed to do a full 17 rounds in that time. I am, of course, still using the bands to assist my pull ups. I like that a whole lot more than doing negatives.

Going the full 20 minutes, the day after another taxing WOD, well ... let's just say I didn't have the gas left for anything else. No ab work, no pistols. But I am really pleased that we got out there and did this WOD. It was hard and there was a point, around the 15 minute mark when I thought, "I've already done more/better than last time, I can quit now." But I held on and finished the workout.

And if for no other reason, that makes me feel good today.

July 20 - Fran

Trying to build on our efforts from the last time we did Fran, today we bumped up the weight we were using on the thrusters and I went to smaller bands on my pull ups.

Officially, this is what we did today:

"Fran"

21 - Thrusters (90#)
21 - Pull Ups
15 - Thrusters (90#)
15 - Pull Ups
9 - Thrusters (90#)
9 - Pull Ups

My time was improved by around a minute (9:39.9 this time) and on the whole I was feeling pretty good about this. I thought I was sneaking up close to the prescribed women's weight of 95# on the thrusters.

Except ....

*sigh*

Except that 95# is NOT the prescribed weight for women. In fact, the prescribed weight is 65#! So once again, I have made a WOD even harder than it needs to be. *double sigh*

We're going to re-do this WOD in a few weeks. And for a change we are both going to both be using the prescribed weight.

Maybe then I won't have to sit in the corner with a dunce hat after the workout.

Oh, and we finished with 35 knees to elbows. I'm already feeling my abs ache. Along with most of the rest of my body.

July 17 - Nancy

Today's WOD is called "Nancy" and consists of 5 rounds of the following:

400 M Run
15 - Overhead Squat (45#)

The last time we did "Nancy" (back on May 6), I was psyched to report a finishing time of only 17 minutes and 51 seconds.

Today I am seriously proud to report a time of 24 minutes and 5 seconds (24:05.5). And while that may seem like a giant step backwards, it's not! Today, instead of the PVC pipe (which weighs not much more than a wet wash rag), I was able to do all 75 reps with the 45# bar! I could have done half that many reps and still been walking on air!

With that said, I'm again totally wiped out after this effort. So tired that we didn't do any pistols or knees to elbows, but both our legs and our core got plenty of use during the workout, so I'm not sweating that too much.

This is another one of those days when half of the battle was making it out to the garage. Wednesdays are my "meeting" day at work and as such it's one of the most draining days of the week. Got home and found a comfy spot on the couch and every part of my being was begging me to stay put, relax, and think about dinner. But instead, we tromped out to the garage, cleared the cars, and gave this WOD everything we had.

So I'm happy with our efforts. I'm thrilled to have graduated from the PVC pipe on the overhead squats. The run was enjoyable (for the first three rounds, anyway) due to the unseasonably cool weather (we had more rain!). Wonder Dad set a new best time for this WOD. And we didn't give in to the urge to stay put on the couch.

I'd say we did good today!

July 15 - WOD

Today's WOD called for 3 rounds for time of the following:

15 - Hanging Power Clean (75#)
15 - Burpees

This is yet another case where, in print, this WOD doesn't look like much. I mean, really, we just did 45 of the cleans and 45 burpees. But in reality that means we did FORTY FIVE cleans and FORTY FIVE burpees.

I submit that anything over 10 burpees is excessive (and arguments could be made for a threshold of 5 burpees).

This effort took me a total of 8 minutes and 11 seconds (8:11.4). And it completely sapped me of all energy. Even though today is noticeably cooler (thanks to a day of rain! whoop!), I was absolutely wiped out! I don't know how dinner is going to make it to the table because all I want to do is go lie down now.

Maybe I can find some moral victory in the fact that we did a tough workout on a Monday. That alone deserves some kudos, if you ask me.

July 13 - ORM day

Today's WOD was a pure strength workout. The goal today was to find our one rep max (ORM) on 3 different exercises: Back Squat, Shoulder Press, and Dead Lift.

I managed the following weights in each exercise:

Back Squat: 115 * 5, 165, 185, 205, 215 (ORM)

Shoulder Press: 65 * 5, 85, 90 (ORM)

Dead Lift: 185 * 5, 205, 235, 255, 265 (ORM)

I don't mind (regular) back squats. Once I learned how to do them (some 20+ years ago), they were one of my favorites. But oddly enough, we don't do a whole lot of them in these crossfit workouts. It had been a while since we did them and on the whole, I'm pretty happy with the weights I was able to correctly lift. I could probably have gone a little heavier, but I could feel my form slipping, so I figured that I had better stop and move on to the next exercise.

The shoulder presses were a pretty big disappointment, but I guess there is no real surprise there. I know that my shoulders are probably the weakest muscle group in my body. Luckily (I guess you can say that), a lot of crossfit workouts utilize the shoulders and I *am* getting stronger. I didn't realize how much I was using at least a little bit of a bounce in my knees to get the weight up though. These were done pretty strictly without the leg assist and I really struggled with them. I guess I just have to build from here.

Then there were the dead lifts. This is the one exercise that we do that I feel like my body was made to do. I am ... how do you say .... "vertically challenged." In other words, I'm short. And I have a nice, low center of gravity (it's one of the reasons I do fairly well in judo/jujitsu). So dead lifts, for me, are a guaranteed mood booster. Today's ORM was by far one of my best performances in the dead lift ever! Again, I probably could have pushed my body a bit further and lifted a slightly higher weight (I failed at 275, but I might have been able to do 270), but my form was starting to slip and I really didn't want to risk injury. There are a lot of ways you can get hurt with the dead lift. But I was still SUPER STOKED to knock out the 265# lift.

And sure, I'm going to be super sore tomorrow from all of this, but at least I have an emotional high to carry me through the pain.

We finished with 5 pistols on each side (band assisted) and 35 knees to elbows. When we can do 50 with ease it's time to start weighting these. And I guess we're going to have to try the toes to bar again soon. My hands are not looking forward to that though. They're torn up enough as it is.

July 10 - Diane

Today we did "Diane," which is:

21 - Dead Lifts (155#)
21 - Standing Shoulder Presses (65#)
15 - Dead Lifts (155#)
15 - Standing Shoulder Presses (65)
9 - Dead Lifts (155#)
9 - Standing Shoulder Presses (65#)

It took me 9:23 to finish. And I should have been finished quicker, but my shoulders just completely gave out on the last few reps.

Technically, you are supposed to do handstand push ups, but we are just not up to that yet, so we did the shoulder presses. We kept the range of motion really short - from the top of our head to full extension and back again - so that it would more closely resemble the hand stand push ups. I *really* felt the exercise this way. I even felt all of my core muscles trying to maintain the proper form. I never realized how much I was resting the bar on my chest for a regular shoulder press.

The dead lifts were a breeze. I'll up the weight next time even though this is about the right weight for women (it's 225# for men and women typically use about 70% of the weight prescribed for men). I was able to do each set unbroken. It's nice to know that there is at least ONE EXERCISE that works well for my odd body type!

We finished up with 35 knees to elbows and now I'm ready for a shower and a nap! This Texas heat is wiping me out!

July 08 - Front Squats

Today's WOD was one of those that was more focused on heavy weights and good form. We did 5 sets of 3 reps each for the front squat.

The more we do these, the more I am liking them. I no longer feel like the weight is going to slide right down my arms. With my awesome shoes, I feel like I am pushing through my heels better than ever. And I know that a good front squat is instrumental in having a good clean and jerk, so I feel like I'm making progress on that exercise as well.

Today I managed the following weights:

set 1: 95#
set 2: 115#
set 3: 125#
set 4: 135#
set 5: 145#

I set a new PR in sets 3, 4, & 5! Set 5 was the hardest by far. And not just because I had done those other sets. That was the first set where I felt like I had trouble keeping the bar up high on my chest/shoulders. So I feel like I pushed my body as hard as I could. Any heavier and I wouldn't have been able to control the weight.

I'm feeling it already. But it's one of those where I'm glad to be hurting just a little. I feel like I *did* something today.

And that's saying something as I have been very unmotivated when it comes time to start our workouts. I don't know if it's the heat or what, but I just haven't felt like working out. Days like this keep me plodding forward, even when I don't feel like it.

July 05 - Claudia

Today's WOD was called "Claudia." And despite the heat, I was pretty OK with this one. It was a TOUCH cooler. Maybe that's why I'm not completely wiped out (just mostly).

Today we did ...

5 rounds for time of:

20 - Kettlebell Swings (35#, 55#)
400M Run

This took just over 20 minutes (20:07) to finish. And while I don't want to do anything else today, I'm not worried that I will still be feeling it tomorrow. At least, not any more than usual. The run was, by far, the hardest part.

HOW much longer until fall?

Oh well ...

July 04 - WOD

Today we tried a WOD that was like a big count down. 10 reps of each exercise for round 1, 9 reps each for round 2 and so on and so forth all the way down to round 10 where you do just 1 rep of each exercise.

This is not a terrible WOD .... on paper ... or maybe even in practice, but doing it in the Texas summer is starting to seem rather masochistic. We made it though!

This is what we did today:

sets of 10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 for time of the following:

Chest to Bar Pull Ups
Box Jumps
Sit Ups

It took me just under 12 minutes to finish (11:45.9). And all I really wanted to do at the end was find a fan and some water.

But one good thing of note ... I'm feeling a lot more confident in my pull ups and plan to start using the smaller bands to assist me the next time we have a workout that features pull ups. That makes me smile.

July 01 - my personal mountain

Today's WOD featured the dreaded over head squat. Oh how I have struggled with this particular exercise. But it has become my own personal mountain to climb. And while I can't say I made it to the summit, I think I must have at least made it to the first pass. (Sorry for the mountain metaphors - I'm dreaming of cooler climates.)

Anyway ... today we did the following:

21 - Dead Lifts (155#)
21 - Overhead Squats (45#)
15 - Dead Lifts (155#)
15 - Overhead Squats (45#)
9 - Dead Lifts (155#)
9 - Overhead Squats (45#)
This took me almost 20 minutes to complete (19:23.7 to be exact). That's DOUBLE the amount of time it took for Wonder Dad to finish. But I am so proud of this, I am almost ready to BUST. PLEASE NOTE that I have an actual weight next to all of my OH squats! For the FIRST TIME, I did not have to resort to using the PVC pipe for this exercise! Can I get a "woo hoo!"?

I took my time - I could only do about 3 - 4 reps unbroken. That is why such a lousy time. But I didn't have to use the PVC pipe. And that is WORTH the added time (to me, anyway).

We followed this up with 30 knees to elbows.

I am already feeling SUPER sore! I think I am going to have to have a serving of Advil for desert tonight to make sure I'm able to sleep.

And one OTHER thing to note ... we got a very rare July "cool front." It was still 96F at workout time, but the humidity was super low and there was a breeze blowing. It truly almost felt cool! (Yes, this is what life is like in Texas in the summer - anything below triple digit temps is "cool.")

I know I'm going to be feeling this for a while, but hopefully this "cool spell" will last a few days at least!

June 29: Fran

Today we had a full schedule, complete with a quick run out of town for a family gathering. So, very out of character, we decided to get in a workout before we left for the day.

The good parts: it was MUCH cooler in the morning than our late evening WODs and it felt good to know we had gotten it all out of the way before heading out of town.

The bad parts: this WOD tore my hands up royally! UG! and even though it was cooler than our last few workouts, it was very sticky and humid. *sigh* I guess you can't expect much different in June in Texas.

"Fran"

21 - Thrusters (85#)
21 - Pull Ups
15 - Thrusters (85#)
15 - Pull Ups
9 - Thrusters (85#)
9 - Pull Ups

I managed to finish in 10:32. Which is not bad. For me anyway. And I managed 85# on the thrusters, which is slightly higher than the last time I did thrusters. So I am starting to sneak up on the actual prescribed weight (95# for women).

Not a bad way to kick off the weekend (imho).

June 26 - Fight Gone Bad

Today we braved some serious heat to knock out the following WOD.

It's called "Fight Gone Bad." It's the same length (pretty close) as an MMA match - 3 five minute rounds with 1 minute of rest in between. I think you get a full 2 minutes between rounds in a pro-MMA fight, but I guess it's not worth whining about. Not now anyway (since we've already completed it).

In this WOD, you change "stations" each minute during the 5 minute long round. There are 5 exercises (stations) and you do as many reps as possible during that minute. Then your score is the total of all reps during the 15 minutes.

Round 1:
Wall Ball - 12; Sumo Dead Lift High Pulls (75#) - 13; Box Jumps - 17; Push Press (75#) - 14; Jump Rope - 42
Round 2:
Wall Ball - 11; Sumo Dead Lift High Pulls (75#) - 15; Box Jumps - 12; Push Press (75#) - 18; Jump Rope - 54
Round 3:
Wall Ball - 10; Sumo Dead Lift High Pulls (75#) - 15; Box Jumps - 11; Push Press (75#) - 14; Jump Rope - 50
Total Reps: 292

We had a few hiccups getting started. The timer (& our assistant - Wonder Boy) weren't functioning QUITE like we had hoped. But by the end of the workout, we had things going pretty smoothly. Of course, I promptly collapsed afterward. But we did it. We completed the workout.

I don't have any desire to try this particular workout again any time soon (maybe in the fall after a few cool fronts come through). But like all of these, I am proud for giving it a try. I'll take that "moral victory" for now.

June 24 - WOD

Boy was I right about getting more sore after Friday's WOD! The weight may not have been very heavy, but when you add it up, we did 84 front squats! EIGHTY FOUR!

Then we got in a run yesterday hoping it would help to loosen us up a bit. But it did NOT. UG! In fact, I just felt MORE SORE afterward.

So we ditched the WOD we had planned for today and chose some exercises that would kill the OTHER parts of our bodies. Today we did this:

21 - Pull Ups
21 - Dips
15 - Pull Ups
15 - Dips
9 - Pull Ups
9 - Dips

I used the Rogue Monster Bands on both my pull ups and my dips. And I'm, again - as much as ever, impressed with how they are helping my workouts. I'm getting stronger on the pull ups. I can feel it with every pull. I'm not depending on the band to snap me back up. And I'm starting to get to the point where I can get a rhythm going on them. Feels good!

I added the band to the dips today too. I've been doing the regular dips (not the ring dips) without the bands. So yes, it's a bit of a blow to my pride to use them. But I realized I was not going through the full range of the exercise (which, I believe is why I am also struggling with the ring dips). So I set aside my pride and used the band. And, as I had hoped, it greatly improved my technique throughout the whole exercise. I'm going to keep using it for now and hopefully I can start weaning myself off of it soon.

Even with the bands, my muscles went to complete failure by the time I got to the last 2 repetitions. That's a good fail (imho).

This WOD took me just over 7 minutes to complete (7:06). I would have gotten under the 7 minute mark if I hadn't failed on those last 2 dips, but that's just the way it goes. Now I have a hard measure to shoot for the next time we try this one.

We also did 30 knees to elbows to finish things up.

This was a good, hard workout. My chest is already feeling the soreness setting in. Now my body is balanced - I hurt almost as much on the top as through my legs!

June 21 - WOD

Today's WOD was pretty straight forward:

21 - Front Squats (75#)
21 - Sit Ups
18 - Front Squats (75#)
18 - Sit Ups
15 - Front Squats (75#)
15 - Sit Ups
12 - Front Squats (75#)
12 - Sit Ups
9 - Front Squats (75#)
9 - Sit Ups
6 - Front Squats (75#)
6 - Sit Ups
3 - Front Squats (75#)
3 - Sit Ups

I managed to finish all of this in just under 9 minutes (8:53, to be exact).

I don't mind front squats. They're not my favorite, but I don't hate them (like burpees, for example). And I picked a weight that I thought would be OK. And it was.

But like the broken record that I always seem to me, this was one TOUGH workout! I'm already feeling sore and know it will only get worse. At least I felt good about my form today. And we finished in time to get Wonder Boy to his piano lessons.

June 17 - WOD

Today's WOD seemed simple enough. 3 rounds for time of the following:

1000M Run
20 - Pull Ups
30 - Box Jumps

One of these days I'm not going to underestimate these dang WODs. At least that way I can prepare mentally for the Herculean effort needed to complete them.

This fairly straight forward looking WOD took me almost 30 minutes to complete (29:54, to be exact). Thirty minutes of effort in this sweltering, oppressive June heat! Is it October yet?

It was really the run that hit me the hardest. Being out in the full sun where the heat index was above 100F just sapped all my energy for everything else. Since I'm still using my Rogue power bands to assist with the pull ups, they were not the killer part of the WOD (like they have been in the past). And the box jumps ... well ... I felt pretty good about them, even though my legs were tired before even the first jump (thanks to that sweat soaked run that came first).

I guess there is some pride in staying that active for 30 minutes in this heat and humidity. But I swear my body radiated for HOURS after this. Even after a cold shower. It's WODs like this that make me wish we had a pool.

June 15 - Hanging Power Snatch

Today's WOD featured the "hanging power snatch." If you've never seen this move, check out this short video. The snatch in general is not one of my strongest moves. I think that is because it is built upon the overhead squat. And I struggle SO MUCH with the overhead squat. With that said, I feel like I'm getting stronger and am working toward getting this move (and the OH squat) down right. I just need to keep working on it. And I need to put my pride aside & stick to low weights until I get the form down pat.

So today called for 5 sets of 3 reps each of the hanging power squat. I managed to do the following weights:

45#, 55#, 65#, 75#, 75# + 1 set of 3 reps @ 45# just to work on my form a bit more.

At the low weights, I can get the bar all the way overhead in one move, without pausing and having to press the weight the rest of the way up. But I am not getting underneath the weight like I should be. So I have a lot of work left to do on this move.

As usual, we finished up with 30 knees to elbows and 5 pistols (L & R).

I'm really glad this WOD didn't have a strong cardio component. It's really hot and humid out and all I really want to do is get back inside and get under the ceiling fans. Oh summer, you don't make it easy to work out.

June 13 - WOD

Today was our first WOD after returning from our little vacation. We knew this one would be tough just because we've been on a bit of a break. And we were right.

Today we did:

21 - Kettle Bell Snatch (L - 25#)
21 - Kettle Bell Snatch (R - 25#)
21 - Pull Ups
15 - Kettle Bell Snatch (L - 25#)
15 - Kettle Bell Snatch (R - 25#)
15 - Pull Ups
9 - Kettle Bell Snatch (L - 25#)
9 - Kettle Bell Snatch (R - 25#)
9 - Pull Ups

This took me 8 minutes and 51 seconds to complete. And I'll be honest, in this heat, I wanted to quit at the end of this. But we pushed on through and did 30 knees to elbows and 5 pistols (L & R) to finish out the effort.

I'm glad to be back working out, but I'm also really looking forward to our first cold front of the fall (late October, maybe?). This summer is going to be brutal. *sigh*

June 8 - Elizabeth

Today's WOD was "Elizabeth" and it looks like this:

21 - Cleans (95#)
21 - Ring Dips
15 - Cleans (95#)
15 - Ring Dips
9 - Cleans (95#)
9 - Ring Dips

We last did this WOD back in early May. Now that I have my Rogue Power Bands I don't have to do negatives on my ring dips. I really feel the difference now that I have these bands to help out. When doing the negatives, I felt it most in my triceps. But now with the bands helping me to do the full range of motion, I am able to feel the exercise in my chest as well. I know that this is key to building up the strength to do this exercise unassisted. I'm impatient and wish I could already do them properly, but I am trying to be happy with even small improvements.

I *am* pleased to say that I did the prescribed weight (for women) on the cleans though! WHOOP! It's taken me a while to work up to this. I mean, I could do a FEW at this weight, but not the full set. My time was not as good as the last time we did this WOD (10 minutes and 19.9 seconds today), but since I made 2 pretty big changes (doing the full weight for the cleans and using the bands to do the full range of motion on the dips) I am OK with that. I do hope that by the time we do this again that I can start to see some improvement in my times as well as the overall effort.

We followed all of this up with 30 knees to elbows and then 5 pistols (L & R).

This is our last full WOD before leaving for a little vacation tomorrow. The resort is supposed to have a small gym, so hopefully we can get in a little bit of jogging on the treadmill at least.