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