Loving the New Life...

...Life of PRs. I like strength days. Well, now that I'm getting PRs again, I like them. The last two days, I was able to get PRs in exercises that I haven't worked on for almost a year.

Oh, OPT you kill me...no really...

Okay maybe not. CFR's WOD was an OPT chipper. I remember seeing this before and really wanted to do it but I probably had many excuses for not.

James 'OPT' Fitzgerald

Olympic Lifting at Unparalleled

I like Olympic lifting. I wish I were better at it. Great way to get better at it is to have actual Olympic lifters teach you.

Unparalleled in Moose Jaw

Oly Club

It's been a while since I've done any Olympic lifting. Seeing as my back is feeling better, I thought it was time. Paul signed us up for the 7:30 session with Leya. Also in attendance: Alana & Brad Fo Sho.

Workout:
1) 3 Power Cleans + 3 Front Squats + 3 Jerks - 65lbs x 3
2) Push Press - 65lbs 3x5
3) Clean Pulls - 95lbs 3x3
4) Snatch Deadlifts - 95lbs 3x3
5) Romanian Deadlifts - 35lbs 3x10

Thrusterific...No...Thrustorrific

I think I do prefer the second title KimFly came up with instead of the original.  We started out with the sets of 3-3-3-1-1-1 power cleans.  Since CFR is incorporating strength days into their program, I have avoided the olympic lifts because of my back.  I would opt for the alternative full metcon rather than strength and half metcon.  I had a change of heart for Monday's WOD...

Weekend!!

I had my usual weekend of no rest. On both days, it was just go, go, go. I might need a whole weekend of doing nothing...no, that would just be boring.

2010 CrossFit Games: Canadian Regionals

We went to watch the best in Canada compete in the 2010 Crossfit Games: Canadian Regionals in Okotoks, AB.

Pre and Post Saskatchewan CrossFit Challenge

So it's been a while since I've updated the blog.  The last post I had was about the two-a-day...

Update

Just updating my recent WODS...

Cleans

Cleans 3-3-3-1-1-1

Power Snatch, Power Cleans & Petranek Fitness Test

First couple days back at CFR...

Central Canada Sectional WOD #3

5 rounds for time:

• 5 Power Cleans - 85lbs
• 10 Burpees
• 200m Run

Cool Down Day 1

Sectionals are coming up this weekend in Edmonton. I wish I could've gone but I definitely am not ready to compete. Good luck to...

"Pieces of Grace"

5 rounds for time:

• 15 Deadlifts - 65lbs
• 12 Hang Power Cleans
• 9 Front Squats
• 6 Push Jerks

16:56 Good ol' dotcom WODs...suck. This was a good one though. Then I got some kick ass videos of strict muscle-ups.

• Nolan
• Paul
• Robin 1
• Robin 2

I attempted a kipping muscle-up...no dice.

Power Cleans, Met-con and L-Sits

Power Cleans 85% x 3x5

95lbs

Met-con:
AMRAP in 7 minutes of:

• 7 Front Squats - 65lbs
• 7 Ring Dips

5 rounds + 1 front squat

I almost didn't do the met-con. I wasn't feeling so great when I got there but Leya said something that convinced me. I don't even remember what she said. I was able to do all of my front squats unbroken. I'm enjoying doing these met-cons with lower weight. It gets me to work on my cardio, which is what I need to do.

90 seconds accumulated L-sit

I don't know if I've never done them properly but I sure did feel my abs during the L-sits. It felt good.

Swimming and Power Cleans

Christine, Tiff and I went swimming yesterday.

10 laps - Front, back stroke and breathing

I should have rested today but I still wanted to do something light:

• Day 5 of push-up challenge = 10
• Power Cleans 80% x 3x5 - 75lbs (not 80%)
• Did a couple of skin-the-cats as a demonstration
• Muscle-ups from 20" box
• Inverted Burpees - Yay, inverted burpees!!

I linked some videos to the above exercises. I also have some of Leah's power cleans and muscle-up.

Clean & Jerk and "OPT Chipper"

Clean & Jerk 85% x 1, 90% x 1, 95% x 1

90-95-100

The last lift felt really great. Front squat felt a little heavy but doable. The jerk felt awesome. Didn't feel any struggle at all. I see a potential C&J PR on Monday.

"OPT Chipper"

• 30 Wall Ball - 14lbs
• 80 Double-Unders
• 20 Bell Swings - 45lbs
• 30 Toes to Bar
• 50 Walking Lunges
• 50 Pull-ups
• 20 Burpees

24:10

Didn't take the star on this one. I went with a lighter weight for the bell swings. I attempted 55lbs and that was not happening this time. Wall ball felt great. I'm usually only able to do three or four in a row and lose the rhythm. I finally found the rhythm. Now I just need my strength and endurance to be with me. Double-unders weren't as bad as this time since I got to use the magic rope. I was able to string together five or six DU at times. I was still slow but I got them. Must be the rope.

Toes to bar need work. In the middle of the set, Shae tried to give me some advice but I couldn't comprehend what he was saying at the time. I need to try and get my pull-ups back. I was only ever able to do eleven in a row once and have not been able to repeat that since. I continually lose my grip, even with chalk, after six. Butterfly kipping pull-ups are another option but again because I haven't done them in a while, I lost those too. Lots and lots to work on.

I work this weekend so no CrossFit for me. My quad hasn't been the same since we did our sprints last Saturday. I may have strained it a little. So no kind of exercise this weekend. I want my body to be well rested for the Olympic Total on Monday.

Snatch & "54321"

Snatch 85% x 1, 90% x 1, 95% x 1

68-72-76F

Didn't have the final snatch in me. Traps are pretty sore from yesterday's WOD.

"54321" From Mid-Western Sectional

• 5 Minutes Rowing for Calories
• 4 Minutes of Box Jumps - 20"
• 3 Minutes of Hang Squat Snatch - 45lbs
• 2 Minutes of Wall Ball - 14lbs
• 1 Minute of Handstand Push-ups - 2 Purple Bands

65 cal + 42 box jumps + 10 Snatch + 12 WB + 3 HSPU = 132

Rowing felt good and consistent. After I tripped on the first box jump and regained composure, I was able to break them up into 5s. The snatches were definitely the most difficult part of the workout. I felt I lost my form. I don't know if it was because we didn't start from the bottom or if we just did heavy snatches before the met-con. I actually dropped the bar on my head on one rep. Wall ball felt alright. It's not one of my strong points. Another thing I have to work on. I did my three HSPUs then came down to rest. After that, I couldn't get back into a handstand.

I think I should really start my warm-ups with the exercises that I am weak in. The only way to improve is to practice.

Tomorrow is a rest day. Not looking forward to Friday...double-unders. :(

Need update more often...

After two much needed rest days and a swim day, I was ready for some CrossFit. I'll start off with my swim on Thursday. I'm not much of a swimmer. I only took lessons as an adult in January 2009, but it is something I want to get better at. I actually get pretty nervous about being in water ever since I went snorkeling in the Dominican last April.

Anyways, I joined Christine for a swim after work. I forgot my goggles and thought I would be fine but I was never able to swim one length of the pool because I was always nervous about swimming into something. After Christine lent me her goggles for some laps and I remembered to breathe out underwater, it made a huge difference. I was able to swim one and a half lengths of the pool. I tend to lose my breath on the way back. I am definitely going to try and go more often.

• 10 laps - front and back stroke

Friday, February 19:

• Snatch 58% x 3, 83% x 2, 85 x 1x5
  46-66-68
• Clean & Jerk 58% x 2, 78% x 1, 83% x 1x5
  61-82-87

Heavy Metcon:

5-4-3-2-1 reps of:

• 
  
  
  Power Cleans - 100lbs (80% BW)
• 
  
  
  Deadlifts - 188lbs (1.5 x BW)

6:05*

During the workout, I was getting pretty warm. Next time, take the pants off BEFORE the workout. Just stupid. I probably could've gotten sub 6 minutes. Those deadlifts sure were heavy!

70 double-unders *not consecutive

I added a video of me doing the last set of snatch skill work on youtube.com. The first one looks good. The rest look pretty sloppy.

Saturday, February 20:

CFR had a two a day workout planned for ComTeam. First WOD was at CFR:

• 
  
  
  4 minutes Tabata Rowing - 80m
• 
  
  
  4 minutes Tabata Push-ups - 5
• 
  
  
  4 minutes "The Bear" Complex @ 75lbs - 2
• 
  
  
  4 minutes "Fish Game" - 180/10 = 18

Total = 105

Tabata is 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. Of those 8 rounds, our score ended up being the lowest number. I stayed pretty consistent with the rowing. I stopped doing the push-up challenge for a couple weeks and my push-ups didn't feel as strong. I'll try to go back to that eventually. I was consistent with the push-ups until the last three rounds when I just had nothing else in me.

"The Bear" complex is a sequence of exercises. The actual workout is 7 sets of the sequence for 5 rounds. You are only allowed to let go of the bar between rounds not sets. We just had to do the complex. Power cleans and front squats were fine but as soon as the push press came, I had nothing left. It took me maybe five tries before I finally was able to jerk it up.

"Fish Game" is on the rower. Your fish is at the bottom of the screen and depending on how fast you row, determines the position of the fish on the screen. The point of the game is to eat the fish smaller than you and avoid being eaten by the big sharks. So the faster you row, your fish moves to the top of the screen. When you stop rowing, your fish slowly moves down the screen. There was a glitch on my rower. It was fine until the last two minutes of the game. I would do one pull on the rower and my fish would shoot straight to the top. I would stop rowing but my fish would not move down the screen. While people were getting a score of anything from 600 to 1200, I get a score of 180.

Second WOD was sprints at the fieldhouse. We weren't timing ourselves but this was our workout:

• 
  
  
  100m sprints @ 80% x 5
• 
  
  
  400m brisk run

Sunday, February 21:

It was my first time wall climbing at the Science Centre. I really liked it. I may have only gotten half way up, approximately 30 ft, but I still had fun. I actually got really nervous because I couldn't figure out the next way to go up.

Hero, Olympic Lifting and Resting

Monday was a busy day for me when it comes to exercise. Good thing it was a holiday. Started off the day with watching CFR doing the hero 'Stephen' WOD that Paul picked. It looked like it hurt but I enjoy workouts that involve the core and back muscle groups. I decided to do the workout with Paul and Shae after the 10 and 11 classes were done. What was I thinking? Going up with a couple of the elite CrossFitters of Regina.

"Stephen"
30-25-20-15-10-5 reps of:

• GHD Sit-ups
• Back Extensions
• Knees-To-Elbows(K2E)/Knee Raises
• Stiff-Leg Deadlift - 65lbs

37:33

Wow. That was really hard. The hardest part of this workout were the K2E. The first one would be a knee raise, then I would get enough momentum to get my elbows once or maybe twice. Oh well, something to work on.

Setting the GHD also took time. I just found out that the back extensions had to be a further distance than sit-ups. This is because if the front of the pad was not placed on the iliac crest for the back extensions, we end up doing hip extensions. We each had our own GHD. I took the old one and I had trouble setting and resetting the machine.

This sure made me nauseous after I was done. I'm not much of a amusement park ride person so all the up and down motion really got to me. Paul and I went to Safeway for lunch and I could barely eat. On my way home, I let out a huge burp and that seemed to make me feel a little better. :)

I decided to join Robin and Christine at the fieldhouse at 3:30 and watched them do their sprints. I almost wanted to join them but I don't think my stomach would've let me. I only went to join them in the hot tub after. The hot tub always feels great after a workout. Wish I had my own one day.

I went to Moose Jaw right after the hot tub to join Paul and Jaron for some Olympic lifting at Unparalled with Jamie Jamieson. I really enjoyed it there. Not only because I was the first woman to break into their new womens oly bar that they bought 5 months ago but because they gave us some tips that will help us with setting PRs.

Lots of work on the body but it was a great day. I haven't slept that well in a long time.

Tuesday was a much needed rest day. When I woke up, my throat was feeling a little scratchy. I drank some water and that seemed to help a little. On my way to work, I started coughing. I think I may have over done it on Monday. It sure didn't sound healthy. I really don't want to get sick. Woke up today and it didn't sound nor did I feel any better. I'd really like to do the ComTeam WOD but I think I'll see how I'm feeling later in the day.