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.

Back Squats

I haven't done back squats in almost two months so I was expecting these to be heavy.
Back Squats 5-5-5-3-3-3
65-95-115-120-125 - 130(1)

Metcon:
With a continuous clock:
Max calorie row for 3 minutes
Max Kettlebell Clean & Jerk 35lbs for 3 minutes
Max Speed Burpees for 3 minutes

37 calories + 12 C&J + 32 burpees = 81

The KB jerks were definitely heavy. I should do these more often.

Aah, Rowing...

How I dislike you. Not one of my favourites but it's a great way to get some cardio when there's snow and it's cold outside.

The Snow Is Here To Stay

Today was such a gloomy day. First full snow day and it looks like it's here to stay. Boo. Oh well, it is Saskatchewan, Canada. What is there to do to stay warm?

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

Press & Deadlift

So, I think I need to be more creative with my titles. Problem is, I'm not clever. I need to work on my cleverness. Anyways, on to the workout.

I wasn't really in the mood for a workout but I felt I should do something. CFR had strength and a mini-metcon. I just did the strength work. It was a slow day at work and I was already pretty tired. I didn't feel I had a PR in me.
Press 3-3-3-1-1-1
45-50-55-60-65-70

I've been stuck at 65 for almost a year. I'm happy to finally break that. I attempted 72 but like I said I was pretty tired.

Deadlifts 1x5 - 145lbs

I did a warmup with 115lbs and it didn't feel too great. Not that it was heavy but a slight pain. My working set felt fine. I considered going up a little more but didn't want to risk it since my warmup didn't feel good. CFR wanted us to DL 83-85% of our 1RM(Rep max), 187lbs. I probably could've but I'll save it for another day. :)

Overhead Squats and "No Name" (?) met-con

Overhead Squat

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with overhead squats. I love how they are a great exercise for your entire body. Your shoulders and core get such a great workout. This is how you get ripped. Hate them because I find it so hard on my dainty wrists (yeah, I said dainty). We were to do 3x5 and 3x3.

The 4 pm class was supposed to name the met-con but that didn't happen. I mentioned to Angdesj there was still no name. I think she wanted to call it "President's Choice" or the "No Name" brand at Superstore.

Night of PRs

After a crappy couple day of overloading on carbs, I thought it was time for a workout. Why not see if paleo/primal has helped my training?

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

GROKtober

GROKtober is done and I can live 80/20. It went pretty well compared to strict Paleo in January. Keeping the dairy must have helped. Not like we had a whole lot of dairy in the first place; cream in the coffee, occasional latte and yogurt when I was on nights.

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

"We Meet Again"

It got worse in the evening (Taken from LeaderPost.com)

Sure was an ugly day to go out. Today was the first snow fall of the season. It turned out to be a blizzard. I wasn't sure how many people were going to turn out for the WOD because of it. I shouldn't second guess CrossFitters. A little blizzard doesn't stop them from working out. :)

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...

This is for you Tyler!

It's been quite a while since I've blogged. I dropped Paul off at Tyler's for the usual UFC night (checkout the posts on here and Tyler said I should start blogging again because my blog was at the very bottom of his fitness blog. So here I am on my new iPhone 4, work computers blocked blogspot, with an update. I'll try to make it short. :)

My last post was in June. A lot sure has happened since then but the main reason I haven't been blogging is because I suffered from a back injury that has kept from the gym for many weeks. It was from a 95lbs clean. Things just haven't been the same but my last massage seemed to have helped...a lot!

I am doing exercises I couldn't do for a while after the injury. I did a deadlift/toes to bar WOD that gave me muscle soreness not pain. I'm happy things are starting to look up. I've attempted a couple 45lb cleans but the back just isn't ready...yet. It will be though!

As for diet, Paul and I went on Paleo for the month of October, GROKtober! It was more Primal because we incorporated dairy this time. I don't know if it's because we kept dairy in the diet but I didn't have the slump that I had when we did this in January. I felt like having some bread once and that was only a couple days ago. I didn't realize October is almost done. It is definitely easier the second time. I started with a weight of 123. I weighed myself the other day after a shower and I was surprised to see I was down to 119! Geez! It could very well be loss of muscle weight too. When Groktober started, I wad back at CFR about two to three times a week. I took it easy with a lot of the workouts but I'm coming back slowly. Feeling strong in some areas but definitely going to keep it slow.

I realized how much I missed exercise when my mood changed. I felt down a lot, felt weak and just couldn't sleep. Also with the combination of working shift work doesn't make you a happy person. I feel I need a little time off work to get my mind back on track. Get my priorities straight.

I can't see how long this post is. Hopefully I haven't lost anyone with all this babbling. :).

I will mention a few things that I have done in these past few months: I am now a CrossFit Level 1 certified trainer; I participated in the Saskatchewan CrossFir Games Challenge; I attended the Ido Portal workshop at Flux CrossFit (great workshop! He'll be back in January!); and I can't think of anything else right now. Give me a break, I've been up for over 20 hours.

I just want to give a shout out to Paul. I know I haven't been a pleasant person to be around lately but I want to thank you for bearing with me. You are so supportive and try so hard to cheer me up. It may seem like I don't appreciate it but I really do. I'm happy to have you in my life. You're the best! :D

Also a very quick shout out to everyone else. I'm not going to mention any names but you know who you are. You all have helped me out so much.

Yeah, I got a little girly there. I get that way. :)

That is all for now. Stay tuned for more.

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.

Starting Strength

Ultimate tends to take up part of my summer. So, trying to make it to CrossFit Regina (CFR) seems to be difficult at times. With my time management skills, right after work I was able to squeeze in a workout at CFR, make supper and chili for the next few work lunches, and then pick up a game of ultimate.

Misleading the youth and a 2K Row

We've had some beautiful days so far. It started on Saturday when I was finished nights. Thank goodness! And it just got nicer and nicer as the days went by. Saturday was a great day for my photo shoot with my sisters and Paul. Sunday was a gorgeous day for a run. Monday was almost like a perfect evening for an ultimate double header with Mislead Youth. How did we do?

Paleo and 1/2 "Michael"

Summer...it's a great time to have a BBQ and socialize with great friends. However, if you go to a BBQ at a friends who aren't paleo, it can be hard to stay paleo. Especially if the only paleo food is covered in sauce.

Fresh Start...

I have been slacking on my workouts lately. I went from going 3-5 times a week to once maybe twice a week. I don't know why I have been missing so much CrossFit lately. Could it be I have lost the drive to stay healthy and in shape? Have I lost my spirits? Am I really just that lazy?

X-Country Run, Snatch, Double-Unders and Burpees

Paul, Jaron and I decided we wanted to do all the individual workouts from Regionals.