one on one: day thirty

So I am 30 sessions in and today was definitely an ass kicker! After being off for a week in sessions and gym time (due to my little shin accident), my body is feeling quite tired and sore. Made it back last night and learned to kip a little which was exciting but killed my hands. This morning I was practicing my hand grip on a little hand held device and that was a big mistake. Joon had me doing stuff on the barbell and my arms were basically done. So here is what I accomplished today:

Warm-up: Row 800m
Then,
15x OHS @ 65#
30-sec Sprint on SkiErg: 125m
15x Hang Clean @ 65#
30-sec Sprint on SkiErg: 124
15x Push Presses @ 65#
30-sec Sprint on SkiErg: 121
15x Front Squat @ 65#
30-sec Sprint on SkiErg: 120

Then,
Increased the weight to 75# and the reps down to 10x
30-sec Sprint on SkiErg: 121
30-sec Sprint on SkiErg: 122
30-sec Sprint on SkiErg: 116 <-- that was a tough one
30-sec Sprint on SkiErg: 123

My hands, arms, and shoulders were pretty much toast. But I still managed to go back this evening and that will be a different posting. I felt fairly good and I hope to only keep improving!

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

one on one: day seventeen

I went to bed last night feeling pretty sore and thinking that todays session would just plain suck. Then I woke up and logged in and saw that the WOD for the day was "Fight Gone Bad" which I did once before back in July 2013. I was a little bummed because I would miss this WOD since I have other plans for this evening and figured my session with Joon would entail something else. Will it did not, in fact, as soon as Joon learned I would not be back this evening he said that todays session would be "Fight Gone Bad" and I was both excited and scared. The last time I did this WOD my rep count was 137, mind you I had only been doing CrossFit for about a month and half and it was heavily modified. Today I did the WOD, and not only did I RX it but I PR'd it by 41% and got 193 reps. I can not express how unbelievably surprised and happy I am. Joon gave me a goal of 200 reps and though I was like "sure" in my heart I didn't think I'd get that high. I just wanted to beat my old record. So here is what "Fight Gone Bad" is:

Three Rounds of (1 Minute @ Each Station):
Wall Ball 14#
Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (SDHP) 45#
Box Jumps 20"
Push Presses 45#
Row (for calories)
Rest 1 Minute
(These weights are for women)

I surprised myself with getting 21 wall balls in the first round, I moved without stopping and even got low on my squats (yay!). Joon and I believed the SDHP and push presses would be where I would excel but I found them the hardest part of this WOD. I couldn't do more than 3-5 reps at a time, and I can easily blame it on being sore or tired but I am not exactly sure why it was so hard. This whole thing sucked! I was consistent with my rowing and have definitely gotten more efficient at that. And I didn't do one step-up on the box jumps, I jumped the entire time. I'd say overall I am pretty impressed with myself and glad that Joon had me do this WOD. I know next time I will do more than 200 reps!

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

one on one: day three

On the way over to CFST this afternoon a familiar ache began to grow in my stomach. This was not a good sign and I did NOT want to experience the same pain I had only a week ago. I knew I had taken my medicine that was prescribed earlier in the day, so I know that was not the reason for the pain. The last thing I ate was a Luna Bar, this has me wondering if it has anything to do with the stomach pains. Meanwhile, I decided to eat a banana in hopes that it would settle my stomach some. By the time I arrived at the gym there was no trace of discomfort, but I will have to do some research on those Luna Bars. 

My session with Joon today was as expected, brutal. I say this because he pushes me so far out of my comfort zone, the place where I baby past injuries or second guess my abilities. But with the brutal I must add fun because even though I was tired, out of breathe, sweating, and dealing with burning muscles, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This is what Joon had me do today:

Warm-up: 1000m row
Extended Warm-up:
     10 Shoulder Shrugs
     10 Hang Power
     10 OHS
     10 Push Press
     10 GHD Back Extensions (did not do full ROM)

4x: Back Squat 115# 4 reps
      20m Sled Push

2x3: Push Press Strip Set 80#/65#/35#

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1:
     Box Dips
     Ball Slam 15#
     Push-ups (Deficit)

The hardest part of all of these were the 2x3 Push Presses. I started off with 3 reps of 80#, and instead of placing the bar & weights back on the rack I had to keep holding it while Joon and David Mobley (another Stumptown CrossFitter) took some weight off. I than had to do 3 reps of 65# than Joon and David removed more weight, and than 3 reps of 35#. But it didn't end there, once I was done with the 35# Joon and David began adding the weight back on. I had to do two rounds of this and in both round I fatigued out on 1 rep of the 80# being added back. This was quite literally one of the hardest push presses I have ever done. 

Pushing the sled around was fun, something new for me. And the last segment of my session was challenging, worked hard on making sure I kept moving with little to no break. My shoulders were feeling pretty zapped which made me love the break during the ball slams, something I thought I'd never say. My experience with today's session was focusing on working past the tired and not giving up. I so badly want to get passed the point where I second guess my abilities. I know I am on the road to it...

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

personal record: push press

Tonight we had to work on our 1 rep max of shoulder to overhead, which can be a push press, or military (strict) press, or push jerk. I decided to work on my push press as my last PR was 80# and I knew I could do heavier. I used the rack tonight as I know my max clean is 95# and I wanted to work on a heavier push press. I ended up doing a 105# with more to spare. Ran out of time and didn't want to tire myself out before the WOD. I think I could've done 10# heavier. Next time!

The video captures me doing a 100# push press. 

experienced progression

Monday was my first day back to CrossFit after dealing with the Flu and though I finished the WOD in it's entirety, it wiped me out. I couldn't muster the energy or the will to go on Tuesday, so I rested instead. This morning I woke up feeling much better in my lungs and congestion is almost gone, think I am almost completely better. Besides some soreness in my hamstrings, I figured I could manage to do tonights WOD. Work up to a heavy shoulder press, and then AMRAP* in 15 min of 10 pull-ups, 10 ring dips, and 10 lunges.

First of all, I haven't done a shoulder press for a while and found that I kept wanting to do a push press. Our coach tonight was one of the coaches that usually teaches earlier in the day, Megan. She saw me struggling a bit and I told her how I kept wanting to do a push press. She gave me some valuable advice! Megan said to tighten my core, quads, and hamstrings, this way I wouldn't be tempted to dip down because I'd essentially be locked out. So I gave it a go. Voila! I was able to do my shoulder presses, and worked up to a new heavy at 65#. That is a 10# increase for me. Which also suggests that if I can do a 65# shoulder press, I should now be able to do a heavier push press… I better get to work on those!

During our warm-up this evening I attempted to do lunges to see if I could without any pain. If you have been keeping up with my blog, you know I have been dealing with some right knee pain. I've been working hard in staying vigilant with mobility work, doing squats correctly, and resting when needed. I was absolutely surprised that I had absolutely no indication that my knee had any issues. I lunged with no problems. At that moment I thought my body is really beginning to adapt and accept the movements and training I have been learning and doing at CrossFit all these months. So I assessed again what our WOD was and decided to move up to the next phase of the pull-up. I have never been able to do a strict pull-up. I've been working on it from time to time and notice very subtle changes but it's been slow going. But during a WOD, doing attempted strict pull-ups won't do a whole lot for you. When I first started CrossFit and tried to do a banded pull-up, it wasn't happening. I was 20 or so #'s heavier than I am now, and didn't have much arm, shoulder, or core strength. So I started from the VERY beginning, jumping pull-ups. Well tonight ladies and gentleman, I had decided it was time to move up. I tried using a band and after a couple of rounds of figuring out my movement and adding/changing bands, I am finally doing pull-ups! Oh. My. Word.

So tonight was a night of progression. My knee is on the mend and pain free. I learned how to focus on a shoulder press and did a heavier weight. And I am now on banded pull-ups. I am so in awe of the human body and how it changes and works. Things I never thought possible are now possible, or at the very least closer. Progress is such an amazing feeling.

*AMRAP = as many rounds as possible

This photo was taken from Pinterest.

whoa! these muscles are getting stronger...

Last night's WOD wasn't anything spectacular. We've certainly done harder and more intense WOD's before. But it was one of those nights where we'd get through it quickly and capable of doing the majority of it with minimal modifications. What was unexpected was how much I'd be able to notice how much I have improved. I would have never imagined the simplicity of this WOD would help me gauge where I am after 3+ months of grinding it out. So you understand what I mean, we had to do this: Strength first, Tuesday nights are dedicated to the Press. I am happy to announce that I was able to Press more #'s than last week! And then the WOD was AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 12 minutes of 12 T2B (toes to bar), 12 HRPU (hand release push-ups), and 12 Air Squats. That is all. It's something just about anyone can do.

I haven't got the core strength quite yet to do a true T2B, my modification is facing a wall and raising my feet as high as I can. I typically pick a spot (or hole) on the wall and aim my feet at that. I try to do this particular exercise at the same bar each time so that I can gauge how much higher I am getting than the previous time. Last night I was feeling a tad bit under the weather, and as I arrived to class I contemplated turning around and heading home instead. But I decided to grind it out, and my coach, Tony, said to just take it easy- so I intended to. The problem with CF WOD's are, no matter how much you try to just focus on yourself and do what you can do, you always look to your neighbor or someone else near by and want to stay pace or go faster then them. I don't know if this is necessarily true with everyone, but it is for me. Maybe it's my competitive nature. Anyway, I tried to keep pace with the girl next to me (which so happens she and I have a mutual friend outside of CF). When doing the T2B I found that the spot I kept hitting on the wall was about an inch higher than the last spot I hit the previous time we'd done T2B. You don't understand what a big deal this is for me. My feet are literally reaching above my waist, no longer parallel. I almost jumped off and did a victory lap over this! And to add to my excitement, I was able to do 6 or more at a time before stopping for a rest. Another feat!

Moving on to the HRPU, I found myself being one of the first people moving on to this move. Don't be fooled, I'm in no way stronger and faster then my CF companions. Having done a MOD for my T2B allowed me to move forward quicker. The rest soon caught up and either stayed paced or passed me. I am unable to do a proper push-up. It's something I have been working on for some time now and it's slow going. I do what they call "girl" push-ups, where instead of being on my toes, I am on my knees. Doing HRPU this way is still fairly hard though. To do a proper push-up you keep your back straight, not allowing any sway in your back or you butt to lift higher. I can do this without going all the way down to the floor, as I am still not strong enough to lift myself completely back up. But with HRPU, you are required to go all the way down to the floor, release your hands off the floor, and then lift yourself back up. Eek! Unfortunately for me, there is some slight sway back in my movement. I'm working on it.

And then on to the last movement, the lovely Air Squats. When I first started CF, my squats were extremely weak. A true squat would have your thighs going below parallel with the floor, I was doing above parallel. In CF you'll quickly learn that in many of the exercises you do, there is some form of squatting almost always. Seriously. In the beginning I hated this, my Quads were always sore and my knees constantly hurt. (Later I learned I need to stretch more afterwards, and now the Foam Roller and I have become best friends.) Anyway, I noticed my squats were improving when we worked on our Back Squats. And most recently when I did a 140# Back Squat and found that I went below parallel I was shocked (and wanted to do backflips... and if I knew how to, I would've). So last night, when it was time to grind out the Air Squats, I found that I busted out all 12 squats without stopping for a rest (like I had in previous WOD's) and I was doing them pretty quickly. When I was back to my T2B, I again was one of the first ones to be up there.

I find that I am beginning to keep pace with some of the stronger CrossFitters, even the ones that do the WOD's RX (prescription, opposed to MOD, which is modified). My movements are becoming more fluid and stronger. I feel stronger. And all this in a little over 3 months. :) So for those who are curious, I finished my WOD in 6 rounds + 5 T2B in 12 minutes. I had one round more than the average round! Now just to master the PU and T2B...

breaking PR's & rest days

Twice this week I broke a personal record, Deadlift and Push Press. I couldn't be more pumped over this! With the Deadlift I lifted 20# more than I had 3 weeks ago. That's a pretty large progress in such short time, I think anyway. But it makes me wonder if I was capable then to lift the extra 20#. Could I have progressed THAT much in 3 weeks? I'm not sure. This is a question to ask the coaches (I'll come back with an answer). As for the Push Press, I lifted 5# more than I had 10 days ago. Now that is progress I can comprehend. I'm amazed by how much weight I can move around in forms I had no idea I could do.

This photo was found on Pinterest.

So today I decided to take a rest day. Lately I have been hitting the box 5 times a week, typically Monday thru Friday. Yesterday, even though I managed to do 5# more in my Push Press, I noticed that I was not performing well. I don't know if it was because I was tired or sore, which my low back was from doing the Deadlifts the previous night. I gave the WOD last night my all, but I didn't feel like it was my all. Today I've been struggling with more soreness in my low back, possible shin splints, and heavy eyes. I'd say those are strong indicators that I take the night off and give my body the necessary break it needs. Remember, regardless of the activity you do, give your body a chance to recover and nourish it well.

"Continuous effort- not strength or intelligence- is the key to unlocking our potential"- Winston Churchill