Today's WOD

I've been a bad CrossFitter.  I couldn't even tell you the last time we went to CrossFit down in Findlay, and we've been bad about hitting the gym the past week.  H and I have been so busy with prepping him for the Army, job hunting, and all my Avon stuff (I've been recruiting new reps like crazy!) and we've really gotten out of the habit of the gym.  I hate it--I feel like I'm being a waste, and I feel more guilty than you can possibly imagine!  We've done a little bit of stuff around here, though.  We've done some weight circuits at the house, and H has been rucking to prep for the Army, so my weight hasn't been going up or anything...it just hasn't gone down either.  Putting on my bathing suit, though, you can clearly see that my love handles and muffin top are diminishing, and I'm leaning out!

H has to hit 22% body fat within the next week if he wants to get his special forces contract for the Army, so it's been strict Paleo around here.  I'm okay with that---I think I needed to refocus myself anyway.  I made homemade apple chips using our dehydrator the other day so I can have something to munch (thanks Sweets and Sneakers on the Go, which is written by a college friend of mine, for the idea!) and H made homemade beef jerky in the dehydrator so we can have some quick protein after the gym or on the road.  We've been eating a TON of eggs and steak lately, and I don't think our fridge has been without peppers in almost a month thanks to Berman Orchards in Port Clinton.  (They also have the most INCREDIBLE Georgia peaches, which we buy in large quantities since it's an hour drive for us to get there, but it's so worth it---if you're even remotely in the area, you need to make visiting Bergman's a top priority!) 

So we've been refocused on eating strict Paleo again to help H cut body fat, and man has it done wonders for him!!  He's leaning out like crazy and it's making me so jealous!  It's like he eats lean for 2 days and drops an inch off his waist; I eat lean for 2 weeks and I'm lucky if I drop an inch---soooOOOOooo unfair!  Stupid boys and their stupid ability to drop weight easy...  ::pout::

So I'm like 25 pounds from my goal weight, which makes me really happy because that means I've lost 20 pounds already.  I bought my wedding dress for our JoP wedding in November, and I'm hoping that they'll need to take it down a bit when I go in for my last fitting!  ::fingers crossed::  Today, though, H really kicked my butt at the gym.  Our CrossFit Findaly gym is currently being moved to a new location and won't reopen until August 8, so we did our own WOD at the local college rec center:

The Dirty Thirty (as named by H)
5 squat to hang clean to push presses with dumbells
5 push ups
5 overhead toss-and-catches with a medicine ball
5 burpees
5 flutter kicks

Do this circuit 6 times, resting 45 - 60 seconds between each set.

Oh.  My.  Gosh.  I didn't think it would end up being that bad.  It's only 5 of each exercise at a time, right?  This kicked my butt.  By the time I got done with my sixth set, I was pretty sure I was going to throw up.  My shoulders hurt, and I know that because of the squats I'll be hurting tomorrow for sure.  PS. Prior to our WOD, we ran and did hang-clean skill sets.  Ouch.  On the bright side, afterwards we jumped in the pool and relaxed for a bit---nothing feels better after a hot, sweaty workout than floating in a cool pool.

So now we're back on track.  I feel good great!  :)

xoxo, M

Pull-Ups Can Suck-It

Tonight was our last night of On-Ramp classes at Rugged Fitness - CrossFit Findlay and it was a tough one for sure.  We got there and there was a girl there doing her second On-Ramp class, so Jon worked with her and Scott worked with H, myself, and another girl who is only in her second week of CrossFit--so we were all pretty new and low-skill together.  We rowed for our warm-up (um, I totally want my own rowing machine!) and stretched, and then we worked on pull-ups as our skill...awesome.  Note:  last word is to be read sarcastically.  As sarcastic as possible.

Fact:  I hate pull-ups.
Fact:  I have basically no upperbody strength, a key component to pull-ups.
Fact:  Pull-ups are freaking hard to do (even with a band) and are the bane of my existance.

So Scott started us off using bands to do strict pull-ups. 

Even using the band, I could only do like 2 full extension ones and then only like 2 or 3 more partial ones.  H totally kicked butt with it (he's such a stud!) and the other girl (Tina) did pretty well with it--she's totally my hero right now!  They were really hard to do, and at one point I just wanted to cry (psht, this is becoming a normal feeling in my CrossFit workouts) but I'm not giving up.  I really need to improve my upperbody strength, and this is totally going to be the way to do it.  Also, it's building on my calluses, and you know how much I'm loving that!!  :)

We learned kipping pull-ups, too, but I absolutely suck at those.  We did those without the band, and I could barely do anything but swing--thankfully, that's what Scott wanted us to do.  But kipping pull-ups are no walk in the park, and are going to make me angry--I can tell already.  It doesn't help that I can't really pull my own body weight up right now, and that every time I tried I got a stabbing pain in my left shoulder.  Here's what a good kipping pull-up should look like:

Yeah.  I definitely can't do that.  I look like a fool even trying...I guess that just means I have room to grow.  (This is my attempt to stay positive at pull-ups and not get angry at the stupid pull-up bar every time I look at it)

The WOD today was a Tabata of kettlebell swings, sit-ups, and squats.  Tabata is when you do one activity for 20 seconds, then rest 10, then repeat that setup for 8 sets (so 4 minutes of that activity), then do it all over again for the other 2 activities.  This totals 12 minutes of work.  Sounds like it shouldn't be that hard, right?  WRONG.  Here's a guy doing the Tabata for squats only.  

 

 

 So go ahead, do that.  Then do it all over again for kettlebell swings.  And then again for sit-ups.  Ready to throw up yet?  Cause I was.  I told Scott that every time he leads the WOD I feel like I need to workout--he laughed and told me that's his goal!  But hey, a good workout is one that pushes you, and Scott definitely pushes me!  So after the Tabata was over, I had done 163 reps total--not bad for my first one!

Our On-Ramps are now over and we can officially become part of the CrossFit gym.  I wasn't sure at first, before going to the On-Ramps, if this was something I could do or would even want to do, but now that I'm into it, I'm seriously obsessed.  It's hard, and it's challenging, and it really does make me feel like throwing up/crying some days (okay, most days) but it's helping me do things I never thought I could do and the feeling I have after I leave is one of the best feelings around!  Plus, it's all scalable (meaning they start you at levels/weights that you can manage and increase as your ability increases) so it's completely doable!  I recommend if you're looking for a great way to get in shape and to really build muscle, look into CrossFit.  Most CrossFit gyms let you do a few beginner classes for free, too, so you can try it out and go from there.  But seriously, look into it.

It's intense (but not like camping, because H makes fun of me for using that pun too much)

xoxo, M

CrossFit: 6/21/11

I love CrossFit.

I know that probably sounds cheesy, like a shameless plug, but it's true.  It pushes me harder than anything I've done so far, it challenges me, it makes my muscles hurt in an oh-so-good way, and it is building muscles that I didn't even know existed.  No seriously---I'm finding muscles in my arms and abs that were like Sasquatch: I've heard the rumors and myths that they existed, but no physical proof had ever surfaced...until now! :)

I'm doing 2 workouts on CrossFit days:  one at the local gym in the morning (running, strength training, flirting with the old men...the usual) and then CrossFit stuff in the evening.  It's such a great feeling to get in 2 workouts in one day, but I know that the next morning I'm going to hurt when I need help putting my shirt on or pulling up my pants.  Totally worth it!

Today was great.  Ran 2 miles at the gym in the morning, then did chest presses, lat pulls, leg presses, triceps pull-downs, and worked on my dips.  The cute old man gave me some pointers on doing dips better and how to do other lifts that will build up my dips--he was so cute!  (Don't judge, I totally have a soft spot for cute old men)  Then I came home, munched down some leftover ribs from this weekend (with Dad's special dry rub--no BBQ sauce here!)  and some Brussel sprouts and cukes, plus my glucosamine pills.  Stupid dancer knees.  We had bakes fish, salad, and cukes for dinner, then it was off to CrossFit.

John pushed us tonight--we ran, did squats and kettlebell swings for a warm-up, then learned how to deadlift and do thrusters with the barbell, and then did our WOD:  AMRAPS (as many reps as possible) of 8 thrusters (35lb bar), 10 box jumps, and 5 burpees in 9 minutes.  I got through 4 full reps and then 4 more thrusters before the time was up, and I'm pretty dang proud! I set my goal at 4, and when there was only 45 seconds left and I had hit 4, I pushed myself to get in the last few thrusters just to go above my goal.  It felt so good!!  Granted, now I can't really lift my arms above my chest, and my legs feel all wobbly, but it feels so good to hurt like this.  Honestly, I feel like if I don't hurt some after a workout or the next day, then I didn't push myself hard enough.  Don't get me wrong, I don't mean "hurt to the point that I can't move and I cry a little inside every time I breathe" when I say hurt, but I want a little pain in my muscles the next day to know that yes, I'm pushing myself and yes this is going to be good for me.

I hurt.  But I hurt so good.  Kinda like...

Now, go dance around to this video like a fool :)

xoxo, M

CrossFit Day 2 and Adventures in Paleo!

Today was our second day of CrossFit On-Ramp.  I was seriously so anxious on the way there, because I thought "Okay, day 1 was our intro to CrossFit, so they probably went easy...and it was really freaking hard...so that means today is going to be even harder!"  I kept telling H on the way there about my nervous tummy, and he just kept reminding me that I could do it--he's so good and supportive!

We got there and got to meet Jonathan, who is the owner of Rugged Fitness.  He was a lot younger than I expected--kind of refreshing.  Another guy, James, came in to do his WOD while we On-Ramped.  It was just H and I again tonight, but that's kind of nice.  I really prefer one-on-one training (or as close to it as I can get--small group works too!) so it's nice to get that help and focus at RF. 

Tonight was definitely not as hard as Monday, which was kind of a relief.  Warm ups included using the rowing machine (love it!) and dynamic stretching.  Our skill set focused on presses and push presses, which we learned form with using PVC pipes--almost weightless!  It's nice to learn form before worrying about actual strength training on it.  Then we moved onto the WOD: counting down 10 to 1 wallballs and sit ups.  So much fun!!  Wallballs are great, and my abs feel awesomely sore after the sit ups!  Jonathan scaled it for me, so I only used a 6lb wallball and I only did my countdown from 8, but I know I could have done more.  I got through the workout and felt great!

...I think I'm loving CrossFit...even though I'm not good at it by any means.

I've been linking my blog to my Facebook, too, which is a first for me.  I didn't actually think people would want to read about my Paleo and CrossFit adventure, let alone ask me about it.  But the more I post, the more people I have messaging me, emailing me, and chatting with me about Paleo and CrossFit.  I'm glad to share information and help people find their healthiness and happiness through my own search!  Remember, though, that I'm also in the learning process, so some of this stuff is my own trial and error--just be warned :)  If you really want more info, check the "What is Paleo?" tab at the top.  There will be a "What is CrossFit" tab coming soon, too, so keep an eye out for that. 

Feel free to come along on the adventure, ask questions, post comments about your own adventures, and join in on the Paleo/CrossFit fun!

xoxo, M

Crossfit Day 1

H and I had our first CrossFit beginners class tonight (called an On-Ramp class) at CrossFit Findaly - Rugged Fitness and it was seriously intense.  It was just the 2 of us and the trainer, Scott, who definitely kicked our butts.  He explained what CrossFit is and took us through the gym's set-up and expectations.  He had us do the warm-up (300m run and stretching) then had us do the intro Workout of the Day (WOD) for time.  The WOD for us was a 450m run (on top of the 300m run we already did), then squats, kettlebell lifts, and box jumps in 3 rounds for 15 reps, then 12 reps, and finally 8 reps.  Doesn't sound like that much right?

WRONG.

It was seriously intense (like camping...hahaha I'm soooo punny!) to the point where I had to modify the box jumps to box steps and I had to walk part of the 450m run, and at one point I was trying to figure out which was closer if I needed to throw up: the trashcan or the parking lot, but I did it.  I did the whole thing.  And I finished in 11:25.  I honestly questioned if I could do it at one point, and I cried when it was all over, but I did the whole WOD, and I'm incredibly proud of myself!  I know I'm going to feel this tomorrow, but the pain is going to be completely worth it.

Before I went to CrossFit, I put a couple of chicken breasts in the crockpot with my tasty tomato sauce and some green olives and turned it on high (for about 3 hours) so when we came home, completely exhausted and starving for protein to fuel our workout, dinner was ready to go.

Add some fresh cut veggies and some ice cold water, and it was a perfect post-CrossFit dinner.

What am I doing to celebrate my CrossFit Day 1 victory?  Going to CrossFit Day 2 on Wednesday :)  Obsessed?  Probably.

xoxo, M