"George"

Birthday WOD for one of our members

SDHP 21-18-15-12-9-6-3
Burpee 3-6-9-12-15-18-21
Time: 23:10

I've decided that I'm going to just focus on WODs and throw in some CF Endurance WODs for the time being. In my opinion my biggest problem is that my engine (cardio/endurance) is too small for chasis (strength). Having a huge escalade type chasis is great, but not if it's being pushed by a four cylander. I'm pretty strong and obviously I want to keep getting stronger, but right now my focus is on being able to go faster and maintain a higher pace on workouts. Most crossfit types have the opposite problem, they've got amazing endurance but aren't very strong. And as much as I love lifting weights, I miss being able to run a 13 minute 2 mile, run up a flight of stairs without being completely winded, or being able to bend over to tie my shoes without having to suck in my stomach. Big and strong is great for some people, but not for me. I want to be strong and fast.

Push Press

Push Press
3-3-3-3-3-3-3
135-145-155-165-170-185 (15 lbs PR!)

Not bad for having done nothing the past three weeks.

When we hit these strength days and I hit a PR of over 5lbs I always wonder if I'm actually getting stronger or if I'm just realizing what I'm capable of, especially if it's been after a long lay-off. Then I wonder what my numbers would be if I actually kept to a steady training schedule....

My how time flies...

Wow, it's been 3 weeks since I've been to the gym. Really didn't mean to take all that time off but things got pretty busy. I was planning on starting back last week but I wound up getting sick all week. Though I did pick a good day to come back.

Hang Power Cleans
3-3-3-3-3-3-3
95-115-135-145-155(fail)-155-165

What should I do...

Should I go back to Crossfit? Should I 5/3/1? Should I tell you that I make mistakes? Should I quit trying to diet and just become a fat weightlifter? Should I eat an Egg McMuffin? *winks* hey Tamara. Should I tell that crossfit sucks? What should I do? WHAT SHOULD I DO?

As much as I hate Lebron for making this comercial (seriously Lebron, STFU). It does sum up how I feel right now in regards to training. I know in my last blog I said I was just going to go back to doing WODs and chill out, but somehow that just doesn't feel right to me.

I liked 5/3/1 and moving weight around, I never did finish a cycle so I can't tell if I've progressed in it. And I do love lifting. I miss kickboxing and would like to try BJJ but my schedule is far too full right now with school and work. Plus I can't really afford another gym membership. Crossfit has it's perks, but I've fallen out of trust with the mainpage programming. Especially when we did three different types of Fran within a 10 day period. And unfortunately, that's what my gym goes off of. Plus, I don't like the randomness of the programing, I like to have a plan before I go to the gym. I know the biggest thing I need to work on is endurance but I don't want to lose strength and i've fallen out of love with running despite comming up as a track athelete.

As far as goals are concerned, my primary goal is to lose weight. Not because I want 6 pack abs, but because I don't feel right at 230. I feel heavy and slow. I'd like to get down to around 200-205lbs. I think I'll feel much better at that weight. I'll still be strong but I'll also be faster with all bodyweight exercises. The last thing I want to do is sacrifice my strength as it's the one thing I'm good at.

So, what should I do?

Stepping back to move forward

There is a book that I have called "Thinking Body, Dancing Mind" by Jerry Lynch and Chungliang Al Huang. It talks about different aspects of Taoism and how it can be applied to sports. Over the past week I've been rereading it as it's been many years since I first read it. And it has reminded me of some lessons that I had forgotten.

Lately I've been so obseesed with getting better and stronger that I've thrown myself completely out of balance. All of my focus has been on crossfit and lifting that I've forgotten about the other things in life I enjoy. Such as music and writing. And that has only made it more difficult for me to really see any progress.

Some people can completely dedicate themselves to a single thing such as weight lifting or crossfit. I am not one of those people. I need to have a balance of interests in my life. From my music, to fitness, to writing, spending time with my girl, so on and so on. Sometimes I wish I could have that singular focus, but then I don't like the thought of being one dimensional. That isn't a knock on people who focus on one main thing, that's just not who I am.

I'm naturally pretty hard on myself,harder than most people. And when I become so focused on one thing, I become a mightmare to myself. I stop enjoying whatever it is I'm doing and in doing so, take away my reason for doing it. I joined a crossfit gym because I enjoy crossfit as well as the people that go to my gym. Of course I want to get stronger and faster in what I do, who doesn't want to progress? But I become so focused on progressing that I forget to have fun. Then I force myself into doing weights and rep schemes that are beyond my capacity and then beat myself up when I don't perform how I should. If I just relax and stick with the workouts with some additional conditioning work on the side, I will have progress. And in removing that pressure from myself, I will open myself up to more fun and more progress.

So for now on, I'm going to focus strictly on hitting the WODs. I might double up here or there to get some extra work in, but I'll play it by ear. For now, I just need to have some fun again. I still plan on going to the games next year, but I'll keep letting myself progress naturally. When I start hitting that wall, I look to start adding stuff again.

Snatch AMRAP

AMRAP in 20mins of
10 - 95 lbs Power snatches
10 - Dips w/ small band
10 - Knee's to elbows

5 rounds plus 1 power snatch.

Had a lot of trouble getting any sort of momentum with the snatches. My hands were still wrecked from the workouts earlier this week.

I'm feeling like my heads not been right for these workouts this week. I feel like I can push myself harder but for some reason I keep holding myself back. I work hard, but I don't feel like I attack the workouts like I should be. I'll just have to keep working at it.

KB Swings and Burpee's

Almost forgot to post about this, though it was a forgetable performance.

"Casper"
5 rounds of
15 KB Swings (55lbs)
15 Burpees
Time: 19:59

Fuck burpees! Seriously, fuck them!

Clean and Jerking Cindy

10 rounds for time and load of
1 Clean and Jerk
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats

Weight: 145lbs
Time: 19:59

I probably could have gone with 155 for a weight (80% of my 1rm) but my form felt fugly so I decided to go lighter and focus on the cindy rounds.

Squats

Warm-up
500m Row
4 rounds of 1 min on / 1 min off Jump rope alternating between single unders and double unders.

Squat 5/3/1
205 x 5
235 x 5
270 x 5

Resetting my lifts yet again. This month I WILL make it through a full cycle.

CF Endurance WOD
3 x 3 min Row with 3 minute rest.
Distance: 682m, 711m, 726m

The website called for Watts but I don't know the first thing about them so I went for distance.