CT-50 Workout CT02

Yesterday I only had a short, slow walk late in the day. It was only 1.09 miles in 27'38". A little exercise is better than none.

Today was CT02 from the CT-50 workout program by Tyler Bramlett. I started out with the level one warm up, which was pretty easy (as a warm up should be). It did get me loose and get my whole body warmed up for the work to come in just 6'41".

4 Rounds, 30 seconds per exercise with 20 second break between exercises

1. Kettlebell Swings
2. Crunch Tucks
3. Should Bridge Hip Lift
4. Sumo Squat

It was only 45°F out when I started, so I had on sweats over my shorts and t-shirt. By the end of the first round I had to discard my sweatshirt. I was hot and sweating. By the end of the workout I was sweating profusely. It only took 13'20" to complete the real workout but it smoked me pretty good. I still intend to walk at lunch time.

CT-50 CT01

Got a bit of a late start this morning. Didn't get up until 0630. I was close to postponing this CT-50 workout until the evening but I didn't! Go me! I looked at the requirements and saw it was only 10 minutes. Who doesn't have time to workout for 10 minutes?

3 Rounds with 10 minute time limit

1. 20 Touch Jumps
2. 10 Two Arm Presses
3. 5 One-Leg Shin Taps, left
4. 5 One-Leg Shin Taps, right
5. 10 Two Arm Rows
6. 20 Climber Toe Taps

I just barely squeaked in under the 10 minute mark finishing in 9 minutes and 55 seconds. The touch jumps were the thing that really got my heart racing and my lungs pumping like a bellows. In the second round my quads were burning something fierce.

I used a really light weight, a pair of 10 pound dumbbells, for the presses and rows. If I do this workout again, I'll use heavier weights. The shin taps, which are basically single leg deadlifts without weight,  were a bit of a balance challenge which surprised me because I normally have good balance.

The climber toe taps were a bit of a challenge. I need more flexibility in my whole pelvic region and legs. I think that was the main limiting factor in this exercise. I did have a bit of a breath challange but not too much.

Also, I just came back from walking 1.5 miles in 35 minutes and 8 seconds.

CT-50 CT10 Challenge

I had started doing Neila Rey's 30 Days of Change. It's a program focusing on bodyweight exercises and running. As it turned out, even level one was too much for my old, aching joints. So, I made an impulse buy of Tyler Bramlett's CT-50 program. It appears to be a well designed program of exercise progressions. If I can actually make it through this program it should prepare me for a return to Crossfit which is really what I want to do. Also, if I can take 20 pounds off with this program I should be able to run with much less pain.

The first thing to do with this program is do the CT10 Challenge to determine what level I should start on. I was pretty sure I should start on level one of five but I did the challenge to make sure. If I completed more than 400 reps I would need to do the level 2 challenge on my next workout and so on until I reached a challenge where I couldn't do more than 400 reps.

30 seconds per exercise, 4 rounds, 90 second break between rounds.

1. Bodyweight Row          9, 7, 9, 7 = 32
2. Down Dog to Up Dog  10, 8, 7, 6 = 31
3. Jumping Jacks 2            5, 26, 23, 22 = 96
4. Reverse Crunch           10, 10, 10, 8 = 38
5. Kneeling Pushups        10, 9, 9, 9 = 37
6. Face the Wall Squat      7, 8, 7, 8 = 30
7. Sumo Deadlift               5, 8, 7, 8 = 28

Total reps was 292. The numbers for the first round are kinda suspect. I tried to go through the entire round without writing down reps so those numbers are a guestimate. I used a 20 pound kettlebell for the Sumo Deadlifts. We'll see how it goes but I feel good right now. Monday I'll do CT01.

30 Days of Change Day 7

Day 7 of 30 Days of Change was a moderate intensity and ab focused workout.

3 Rounds 10 Reps Each Exercise

Half Jacks

High Knees

Side-to-side lunges

Air Bike Crunches

Leg Raises

Leg Pull-ins

The first three exercises were pretty easy. The ab exercises, the last three, were a bit more challenging. Abs have always been a challenge for me but I'm getting better. Exercised out of doors and got a little sunshine, but it was too cool for me to workout shirtless and barefoot.

30 Days of Change Day 6

30 Days of Change Day 6 was primarily an active recovery day. Nothing strenuous.

Part 1: Walk 20 minutes.

Part 2: 3 rounds of 5 reps each

Chest Expansions
Calf Raises

Pretty easy. My walk was through my father-in-law's very hilly neighborhood in Aiken, SC. My back was a little tight and my left hip was hurting, but otherwise no issues.

30 Days of Changed Day 5

I was sore and achy when I got to work yesterday after my morning run and workout. Turned out I had forgotten to take my morning Alleve. I did today's workout after getting an early morning oil change for my Toyota Sequoia. Exercised outside in the sunshine. It was a quick one, Day 5 of 30 Days of Change.

3 Rounds 10 Reps per exercise. 90 second break between rounds.

Mountain Climbers
Plank Jacks
Alt Arm/Leg Raises
Donkey Kicks
Plank Jump-ins

The tough thing about this was being in a plank or near plank for all 5 exercises. My shoulders were the limiting factor, even more than my conditioning. By the third round my entire shoulder girdle was on fire but I made it through.

30 Days of Change Day 4

Yesterday's workout wasn't too bad. Must admit I was a little achy after my two 30+ minute walks. I was not looking forward to running today as required by Day 4 of Neila Rey's 30 Days of Change, but I did it.

Part One:

Warm-up walk 2 minutes
Run 1 minute Walk 1 minute
Run 2 minutes Walk 2 minutes
Run 3 minutes Walk 3 minutes
Run 4 minutes Walk 4 minutes
Cool-down light jog 2 minutes

I accidently paused my interval timer at the beginning of the 4 minute run so I had to go a little guestimating. The total time for this should have been 24 minutes but it took me 27:22 due to that accident and also not knowing when would be a good time to turn around and head home.

Part Two:

3 Rounds

10 Squats
10 Push-ups

When I finished running I took a couple of minutes to drink some water and catch my breath. Then I moved on to Part 2. The first round was pretty easy even though my legs were beat. I took a 2 minute break. Next round was still pretty easy but I could feel the fatigue on the push-ups. I took a 90 second break. The last round was killer on the push-ups. I did 4 reps, brief pause at the bottom, 3 reps and another brief pause, then finished the final 3 reps. Total time 6:43.

My legs and hips are sore. My hip joints and lower back are aching in the joints. It will get better.

30 Days of Change Day 3

I was a little sore this morning but I did most of Day 3 of 30 Days of Change. Exercised outdoors. It was cool and cloudy, but not bad.

5 rounds

6 Lunges
6 Plank jump-ins
6 Shoulder taps

Rested two minutes after first round. Reduced to 1 minute for subsequent rounds. Total time 12 minutes. Once that was done I walked 1.4 miles in 31 minutes.

Today's routine calls for a total of 60 minutes of walking or some other aerobic activity.  After getting to the office and working for an hour I took a 10 minute walk around the floor I work on.

30 Days of Change Day 2

30 Days of Change Day 2 a day late. I only got in a 30 minute walk at lunch time yesterday. But I got it in today! This is a bodyweight exercise cardio day.

Part 1: 3 rounds with 2 minutes rest between rounds.

6 Jumping Jacks
6 High Knees
10 Jumping Jacks
10 High Knees
20 Jumping Jacks
20 High Knees
10 Jumping Jacks
10 High Knees
6 Jumping Jacks
6 High Knees

After the final 2 minute break I did the first round of Part 2:

Plank 30 seconds
Wall-sit 30 seconds

Once again, I could probably have done it with shorter breaks between rounds but I was blowing pretty hard by the third round anyway and my calves were on fire! I need to get two more rounds of Part 2 in during the course of the day. Thanks for the program Neila Rey!

Neila Rey's 30 Days of Change Day One

I've got to get myself in the daily habit of exercising and make some fitness improvements before I head back into Distinct Crossfit again. With that in mind, I started Neila Rey's 30 Days of Change program yesterday. I split Day One into a walking for 30 minutes at lunch followed by the bodyweight exercises in the evening.

3 rounds, 2 minutes rest between rounds.

6 Mountain Climbers
6 Lunges
6 Squats

I started off with level 1 and took maximum 2 minute rest between rounds. I probably could have done level 2 , which was 10 reps each for 5 rounds. However, I had done "Push Squat Repeat" the day before and was more than a little sore. Jogging at lunch was out of the question though as I didn't have workout clothes nor a place to shower.

Push-ups and Squats

I got this brief workout from Neila Rey, it is called "Push Squat Repeat." I good just barely get through it. I'm in bad shape after a long layoff and then getting sick again. I've felt well for about 10 days after being sick for 7 days. But as I worked out I could still feel the phlegm in my chest and sinuses. Bummer.

Three rounds:

4 Push-ups
4 Squats
10 Push-ups
10 Squats
4 Push-ups
4 Squats
10 Push-ups
10 Squats
Rest 2 minutes

I did hand release push-ups. Total time was 16 minutes. I feel good that I did it. Hope it doesn't kick the cold or sinus infection or whatever it is back into high gear.

Getting A Little Better

At least I wasn't sore after my last workout. But it was still hard. Did better today. Kept moving, not as much pausing. My max heart rate is 175. My pulse after the workout was 132, which is about 75% of the max. That's a good training rate.

2 Rounds:

1) Bodyweight Squat - 45 seconds, rest 15 seconds
2) Close-Grip Pushups or Kneeling Pushups - 30 seconds, no rest
3) Mountain Climbers - 30 seconds, no rest
4) Jumping Jacks - 45 seconds, rest 15 seconds
5) Total Body Extension - 20 seconds, rest 20 seconds, 20 more seconds

If I can get a workout in on Thursday and Saturday maybe I'll get my ass back in my Crossfit box, Distinct Crossfit next week.

Punishing Ten Minute Workout

I was so sore for two days after my last workout. It's amazing how quickly the body can decondition. I should have worked out before today but at least I got it in. Twice a week is better than none a week!

2 Rounds:

1) Bodyweight Squat - 45 seconds, rest 15 seconds
2) Close-Grip Pushups or Kneeling Pushups - 30 seconds, no rest
3) Mountain Climbers - 30 seconds, no rest
4) Jumping Jacks - 45 seconds, rest 15 seconds
5) Total Body Extension - 20 seconds, rest 20 seconds, 20 more seconds

I've got to push myself more. Forty-five or thirty seconds is nothing. I should be able to move continuously through all of these movements. I did this workout outdoors and barefoot. I'll do better on Monday.

Craig Ballantyne Four Minute No Excuses Workout

I haven't worked out since 20 August 2014. I've got to stop letting life events and laziness get in the way of my workouts. So today I got back on the wagon. I started out with a few minutes of working on my jump rope skills. The I used Craig Ballantyne's 4 Minute No Excuses Workout for Beginners. I bought some workouts from him some years ago and I'm still on his email list. When I first got the the 4MNEW email I thought for sure I would be able to do the advanced workout, but when I realized how long it had been since I worked out I opted for the beginner routine.

4-Minute NO Excuse Bodyweight Workout #2 - Beginner
1) Bodyweight Squat - 45 seconds, rest 15 seconds
2) Close-Grip Pushups or Kneeling Pushups - 30 seconds, no rest
3) Mountain Climbers - 30 seconds, no rest
4) Jumping Jacks - 45 seconds, rest 15 seconds
5) Total Body Extension - 20 seconds, rest 20 seconds, 20 more seconds
- If you have time, rest 1 minute at the end of the circuit and repeat 1 time.

I opted to do the second round so my total time was ten minutes. This workout is tougher than it looks, especially if you haven't worked out in 48 days, just one day shy of 7 weeks. I actually did hand release pushups but everything else was as prescribed. And in case you were wondering here is the Advanced Version.

4-Minute NO Excuse Bodyweight Workout #1 - Advanced
1) Total Body Extension or KB Swing - 1 minute
2) *Decline Pushups or Regular Pushups - 1 minute
3) Prisoner Walking Lunges - 1 minute
4) **Burpee - 20 seconds, rest 20 seconds, 20 more seconds
- Do not rest between exercises.
- If you have time, rest 1 minute at the end of the circuit and repeat 2 times.
* - If you can't do a full minute of pushups, hold the top of a pushup plank.
** - If you can't do burpees, do 1 minute of bodyweight squats.

Row Burpees Jumprope How Hard Can It Be

Barely made it to the box in time to change. No time for extra warm up before the start up.

Reps
Courtesy of the 5:30am-ers

Startup
AMRAP 6
5 situps
20m run

WOD
'The Ghost'
6 rds
1:00 row for cals
1:00 burpees
1:00 dubs
1:00 meditate (rest)

Finisher
Stretch & roll

So the start up was As Many Rounds As Possible in 6 minutes of 5 situps and 20M runs. I didn't keep track of my rounds. The last two rounds I know my abs were cramping up something fierce.

The WOD was "The Ghost". It looks easy but it was HARD. You're trying to get as many reps as possible of each exercise in a minute. What made it even worse is my woeful competency with the jump rope. I've just got to work on my jump rope skills outside of the gym. I only got 154 reps total. I should have take a picture of my tally that I wrote on the floor w/ chalk so I would know reps of each exercise. I finished up with my normal Prasara Yoga cool down since no specific stretches were prescribed.

I'm crazy sore from all of the push ups and pull ups yesterday. You've got no idea until you do that many reps of push ups and pull ups how much those moves involve your abs. So my entire upper body and core are just fried. I wanted to do the squats I missed Monday but Coach Derrick says tomorrow will be a tough leg day so I let it slide.

Push and Pull

No Intu-Flow just a little extra shoulder mobility with PVC pipe and lacrosse ball before the start up.

Start up
4 rounds
5 Inch Worms
Row or Air Dyne 10 calories

Strength
Strict press
Week 3
Pull your chart(see coach for loads)

Metcon
15-12-9 (7 min time cap)
Pull up
Push up

Rest 2 mins

12-9-6 (7 min time cap)
Chest to bar pull up
Hand release push up

Rest 2 mins

9-6-3 (7 min time cap)
Bar muscle up
Handstand push up

Or choose to do the following as a mod

18-12-6 (7 min time cap)
Box dips
Decline push up

Finisher
2 min plank hold
Stretch

It is pretty amazing that I'm still strong even though I haven't worked out with heavy weights until just a month ago. My sets on the strict press today were 5@120#, 3@135# and then 7@150#. A younger guy I was lifting with who has been training for months only got 6@155#.

Then the metcons. I did jumping pullups. I should probably start using the band next time we do pull ups. I finished both of the first two metcons in under 4 minutes. I don't recall the exact times, I'll have to look at the board in the box when I go back tomorrow. The push ups in the first metcon were crazy hard! For some reason the hand release push ups in the second metcon were easier.

I can't do muscle ups yet so I did the box dip/decline push up version of the third metcon. My arms were wasted. I did the box dips unbroken but I could only do 9-6-3 of the decline push ups. I couldn't hold the plank for two minutes straight but I got a total of about 2:30.

Filthy Fifty

Once again I barely got to the box in time to change let alone do my extra intu-flow warm up. I almost skipped today's workout. I knew it was going to be hard but I told myself I wouldn't skip WODs that hit my weaknesses. The really weak parts for me would be the burpees and double-unders at the end. Yesterday we did a total of 24 burpees in 3 rounds of 8 during the warmup and that was hard enough. I also talked to my daughter Gabrielle and she encouraged me not to skip. Also, I was supposed to be working out with Tyrone at the 1715 class but he didn't SHOW UP!

Start Up
2rds
50 Jax
10 Plyo
10 Pass Through
10 Halo ea. side

WOD
'Filthy Fifty'
50 Box Jumps 24/20
50 Jumping Pull-ups
50 Kettlebell Swings 35/20
50 Walking Lunges
50 Knee to Elbow
50 Push Press 45/35
50 Back Extension
50 Wall-balls 20/14
50 Burpees
50 Double-unders

Finisher
Stretch

The warm up warm up definitely got a light sweat going. Only problem was I could feel some little twinges in my left knee during the jumping jacks (jax) which is odd as it hasn't been bothering me. Anyway, I made it through the warm up.

I decided step-ups to the 20" box would be a better option for me today after trying a couple of jumps as we were setting up for the Filthy Fifty. I checked with Coach Ryan and he said that would be an acceptable scale. I got through the jumping pull-ups and kettlebell swings using the Rx 35# bell in sets of 10. Walking lunges were kinda hard. By this time I was breathing like an old steam locomotive. Plus my left knee still wasn't happy and my hip flexors have been tight for a week.

I couldn't quite do Knee to Elbow and had to do hanging knee ups bringing my knees above the waist. I did sets of ten to 40 when my abs started cramping up. I finished it with 3-3-4 to get to 50 reps. I was able to crank through the push press in sets of 10 reps. Back extensions sucked. I was trying to be careful of my "delicate" back. I haven't done these in ages. I was surprised by how much my hamstrings were involved. Perhaps I didn't have the machine adjusted properly. I didn't stick to a sane rep scheme, I just made it through anyway I could. By this time I was pouring sweat.

Wall balls I did in sets of 5. I really had to focus on squatting low which of course makes my left hip hurt. And finally the burpees. I was so tired and my shoulders were so beat down that I could only do 2 or 3 reps at a time. This really, really sucked but somehow I did 50 reps. I asked Coach Ryan if there was a time cap in the middle of them but he said just keep going. Finish it up. I was hoping he would cut me off before the jump rope.

I can't do single unders consistently let alone double unders. I kept trying and was occasionally able to string together 2 or 3 single unders in a row. I stopped at 50 but I had so many missed attempts that it was probably close to the called for 100 single-unders for those who can't do double-unders. I finished in a woeful 46:38. After a few minutes to recover, I did my Prasara Yoga cool down as the finisher called for stretching.

A WOD in My Wheelhouse

I was happy to see today's WOD when I looked at the Distinct Crossfit website this morning. It was centered around front squats and deadlifts! I prefer back squats, but any squat and deadlifts cater to my strengths. Plus the rep range was good for me. I didn't get to the box in time for my intu-flow but I did do a little extra hip and shoulder mobility prior to the startup.

Start up
On The Minute (OTM) for 6 Minutes
Even 2 Suicides
Odd 8 Burpees

Strength
OTM for 5 minutes
4 front squat 70% of 1rm

Metcon
9-7-5
Deadlift 245/155
Handstand push up
(Mod box, bar on rig or 2 abmat max)

at the 9:00 min mark

9-7-5
Front Squat 135/95
Toe to bar

Record time for each metcon

Finisher
Walking heel grab
Walking knee grab
Chest opener

The burpees in the start up were killers. I don't think I've ever done as many burpees as I've done in the last month. I think I'm getting a little better at them. I did the strength portion front squats with 145#. Four squats every minute for 5 minutes doesn't seem hard but it really is even with a comparatively light weight.

I did the first section of the Metcon with 185# for the deadlift. I was being overly conservative, 205# would have been better. I may even have been able to do it with the Rx 245#. I've never done Hand Stand Push Ups (HSPU) so I did push ups in a pike position with my feet on a 24 inch box. I finished 3:02.

I started the second metcon at the Rx weight of 135# but I struggled so I dropped down to 95# for the 2nd & 3rd rounds. I probably could have done 115# for all three rounds. Still can't do toes to bar so I did hanging knee-ups instead. Changing weight and fatigue caused my time for this section to go up to 4:22.

No yoga today. I just did the listed finisher.

A WOD Full of SUCK

That's how one of the other members of Distinct Crossfit described yesterday's workout, "A WOD Full of SUCK!" I got to the box late. I went home first to make sure my son had gotten home okay from his first day on his new job! Congrats Isaiah!

Anyway, people hard already begun the warm up when I got there so I only got in two rounds of it.

Start up
3rds
20 jax
10 PVC jerk
10 jump pull ups

Strength
Strict Press
Week 2
Pull chart for loads

Oly skill
5 pressing snatch balance after every round of strict press
45/35 or lighter

Metcon
800m run
then
21-15-9
S2OH 105/75
Pull ups

Finisher
Lacrosse ball shoulders/back
Lacrosse glute
1 min banded IT stretch per
1 min band hammy per side

There were a lot of people at the 1815 class yesterday. I ended up working in on the strict press with two younger guys who are not as strong as I am. This also threw me a bit behind the class because I had to increase the weights they were using after each of their sets. My strict press was 3@110#, 3@125# and 5@140#. Coach Derrick said he thought I had three more reps in me for that max set. I could feel my low back protesting a bit which is why I stopped. I need to get a weightlifting belt that fits my currently and temporarily big gut.

The snatch balance was quite hard, first off my shoulders were tired and my heels were coming off the floor and pitching me forward. I think it was due to lack of mobility in my hips and ankles. Got to to work on those areas.

The metcon was a KILLER! Running outdoors on pavement, in the heat and humidity, going up and down even slight hills is a lot different that running indoors on a treadmill with no change of incline set up. Sunday I was able to run 1600M w/o stopping or walking at all on the treadmill. Yesterday I had to walk a two or three times to complete the 800M. Once again I was the last one back from the run by a long stretch. Oh and those young guys that I'm stronger than? They are way, way better at running, metcons and bodyweight movements than I am.

Then we were on to 3 round of Shoulder Two Over Head supersetted with Pull Ups. First round reps were 21 of each movement, 2nd round 15 reps each, 3rd round 9 reps. Remembering how a workout partner, Tyrone aka Tynado had me scale down the weight on power cleans the day before, I scaled the S2OH weight down to 95#. I can't yet do good pull ups so I did jumping pullups. I had to break the 21 and 15 rep rounds down into smaller chunks.

I'm so used to doing strict movements that I did my first round of S2OH strictly before I noticed that everyone else was doing a "push press", dipping a bit at the knees and using their legs to help get the weight up. Believe you me, I did push presses the 2nd and 3rd rounds.  I almost went unbroken on the round of 9, I had to wipe my sweaty hands after 3 reps of pull ups but I got the final 6 unbroken and I did the 9 S2OH unbroken with Coach Derrick urging me on.

I finished in 15:25. It really was a KILLER! There was one guy, older than most but I don't think he's older than me, still doing banded pull ups when I finished. Banded pull ups are harder than jumping pull ups, so I had an advantage. Plus I'm pretty sure he used the Rx weight for the S2OH.

 I didn't do the prescribed finisher. I did use a foam roller on my back and hip flexors. I also did my Prasara Yoga cool down routine. This was my fourth day in a row working out. I was feeling really beat down. I took a "Contrast Shower", which I read about on Confessions of a Crossfit Coach, in order to help speed my recovery when I got home. I also iced my back and right shoulder. By the time I had finished dinner my left hip socket was hurting so bad I could barely walk.

My doctor says the cartilage is just all rough and worn in there and there is nothing to be done about it. I'm not yet a candidate for hip replacement and hope I'll never be. The more weight I lose the less it should bother me and the only way to lose the weight is to move more and eat better and moving more just makes it hurt. So I've just got to suck it up and keep moving. However, I will be taking today off to give these aching joints a chance to settle down.

Leg Day

How many squats can you do? There were about 200 squats hidden in todays WOD. See if you can find the hidden squats. Oh, I did get to the box and changed in time to do most of my Intu-flow warm up prior to the official start up.

3rds
5 med ball cleans
5 box jumps
10 jing jangs

Strength
Back Squat
Week 2
Refer to your chart

Metcon
5 rounds of:
20 squats
10 burpees
5  powerclean 155/95

Finisher
100 knee tap crunch
Stretch

The back squat strength work was 3x3x200#,230#,260#. The last set was supposed to be max reps but my back kinda cracked in a weird way so I stopped. My legs probably were up for several more reps but I decided to play it safe.

I had loaded up my bar with 135# for the Metcon and was contemplating doing the Rx 155# but Ty suggested I use 115#. Great suggestion, that was plenty heavy enough as I haven't been doing power cleans. I never would have made it through with the heavier weight.

I made it through the 100 knee tap crunches in sets of 10 with just a pause to catch my breath a little. No extended breaks. No major cramping of the abs this time. I didn't really stretch out. I just wanted to get home to a shower, food and ICE for my back. Oh, I also spent a little time on my inversion table, too.

Distinct Tri Two Days Late

The WOD at Distinct Crossfit on Friday was

Run 1600M
Bike 3200M
Row 800M

I missed it because I didn't leave work soon enough and I needed to take my sons to TKD. I kinda' had it in my mind to make it up yesterday but I did the Aces Wild WOD as prescribed instead. So, I went out to the Furman PAC and did the best analog of the workout I could.

At Distinct we run outside on the road. Today I ran on a treadmill. Also, at the box we use Airdyne bikes whereas at Furman I used a recumbent style bike without the arm action. I did have access to a Concept 2 rower so that was the same.

1600M in 15:23
3200M in 8:56
814M in 4:22

Total Time 28:41

I took 12 seconds off my mile time! I wonder how much of that is due to not having to do any hills? I did run the entire 1600M which is a vast improvement. Almost all running I've been doing has been running interspersed with short walks.

A Crossfit Card Game

Hooray! I went to Distinct Crossfit on a Saturday morning! Last weekend I was in Lexington, KY for a wedding. The previous weekend was the Greenville Games. I'm not sure why I didn't go on Saturday 19 July 2014. I started this Crossfit journey on 18 July 2014. Oh well.

After a start up of halos, pass throughs and good mornings with PVC pipe, we played a Crossfit Card Game.

So, the way it worked was as follows. For a total of thirty minutes every time someone drew a spade we had to do burpees equaling the number on the card. Drawing clubs meant wall balls, diamonds meant pull ups and hearts meant Ground To Over Head with a barbell plate. My weight for the latter was 45 pounds. I did the low reps pullups w/ a band and did jumping pullups for the high reps. If we drew a face card that meant doing 11 reps. Aces meant a 400M run, however Coach Lindsay suggested I do 200M.

So, we did a total of 45 burpees, 47 wall balls, 38 pull ups and 46 GTOH. Alyssa and I did an extra 11 GTOH as I drew the king of diamonds just before the 30 minute time cap came up. We ran three times, so I got 600M of running. Any time we drew a joker Coach Lindsay had to do what we wanted. And we drew both. Alyssa had Lindsay do 11 unbroken pull ups. I had her do 11 burpees. After sitting around a while I finished up with Prasara Yoga for about 16 minutes.

Worst WOD So Far

Didn't get to box in time to do my extra warm up.

Start up
2rds
Walking front kicks
Walking heel grab
Walking hip opener
20 PVC good morning
120m run

Strength
1. Emom 5
    4 Front squat @ 65% of 1rm
2. Emom 5
    4 tng dead lifts @ 65% of 1rm

W.O.D
4RFT
4 mutant makers 145/75 (hang squat clean to thruster)
25 hrpu
25 unbroken double unders(if you break or trip up before 25 you must start over) RX2-25 double unders, mod 2/1 scale unbroken.

Finisher
90 sec of L Hang or L sit
1 min overhead band distraction
30 sec parallel arm stretch per side
30 sec of mod y hold per side

The start up went okay. I need to work a little harder on the heel grabs and hip openers. My front kicks are kinda low. I guess I need to work on increasing my mobility and flexibility for all of those. The strength portion was good. I did the front squats w/ 135# which was 65% of my 205 max. My problem w/ the front squats is getting a good rack position, again should mobility. I did the deadlifts w/ 180#, 65% of my 275# max from last week.

The the WOD. This sucked. I gave up after two rounds. I never got 10 consecutive single unders let alone 50. Double unders are way, way in my future. I really felt dejected. I should have kept on with the mutant makers and the hand release push ups for the whole four rounds. I won't give up again. I did the finisher but had to break the L Hang into sets of 10 seconds for the total 90 seconds. I skipped my extra yoga cool down. I just wanted to get home.

WOD Hit My Every Weakness

Didn't get to Distinct Crossfit in time to do my Intu-Flow warm up. Actually I did but I stood around talking instead of doing extra warm up.

So after taking five days off (three to go to Lexington, KY for my brother's wedding, and two because I was so freaking tired from the trip and disorganized) I hit the gym and of course it's a running and core-centric day. ARG!

Start up
1 min per station
Airdyne
Row
Rope slam
Jing jang
Mountain climbers

W.O.D
800m run
80 bicycle crunches
400m farmers carry 60/40 DB/KB
40 reverse burpees
200m run
20 ghdsu

Goat work
10 mins
Rope climb work
Work on wrapping and getting up the rope

Finisher
Stretch and roll

This was hard as shit. My core and running are two of weakest areas for now. It will get better. I had never done reverse burpees before, they ain't no joke. I haven't climbed a rope since junior high school. I ran my 800M in 6:46, which is super SLOW, and finished the WOD in 28:20. Slowest in the box. Damn, I'm too competitive to keep being so slow.

I tell you one thing, it's a whole lot better to get in shape and stay in shape than to let everything go and try to get in shape again. I did do my Prasara Yoga cool down.

Deadlifts Equal Scraped Shins

Got to the box in time to change and do my Intu-Flow before the official start up. My daughter came along with me to try Crossfit and to ask questions of the trainers and gym owner about getting into the fitness business.

Start up
Otm 5
10 burpees

Strength
12 min to establish 1rm Front Squat
12 min to establish 1rm Deadlift

Metcon(10 min)
2RFT
20 toe to bar
20 thrusters 95/65

Finisher
Stretch

So, to me 50 burpees is a workout but that was just the warm up for today. I got the first 3 sets of 10 with 15-20 seconds left in the minute before starting the next set. Then my abs started cramping up. I got only 5 reps on the 4th set and only three on the 5th set. I spent the remaining time in that 5th set stretching out my abs.

I never did a whole lot of front squats. When I did it wasn't in the front rack position, you know the clean position of a clean and jerk. My position was poor. I need more mobility in my shoulders and wrists. That and not the weight was really the limiting factor. I only got 205 pounds.

Deadlifts...this is the movement that I was doing 15 or 16 years ago when I tore my right glute. That injury set off a whole series of back problems over the years. I was frankly kind of scared. On top of that the stupid weight belt I bought kept popping off during my front squats so I didn't even use it on the deadlifts. I worked up to 275 pounds. At least I used such good form that I scraped my shins with the bar. Got to remember to either chalk my shins or use some other protection on deadlift days.

I felt like I probably could have gotten at least 315 but I ran out of time and like I said, I was kinda scared. My back was kind of tingly but I remembered a story on NPR: Pain In The Back? Exercise May Help You Learn Not To Feel It. I think I saw a similar story on CBS or NBC but I can't find it right now. I will get better.

The metcon 2 rounds with a 20 minute time cap of 20 toes to bar and 20 thrusters. I can't do T2B yet, so I did hanging knee ups. I did the thrusters with the prescribed 95 pounds. I didn't do any of them unbroken. I did the abs in sets of 5 to 20. I did the first set of thrusters in 5s. The second one I did 4 sets of three then Coach Derrick came over and urged me to finish up unbroken, I got the final 8 reps straight. It was a real cardiovascular challenge. Thrusters are HARD! Despite the cool weather I was soaking wet and breathing hard.

I didn't really stretch afterwards. I just sat around and put away my weights. Good workout for the fourth day in a row. Now three days off for travel. Oh and hooray for no running!

Getting Better at Running

I looked at today's workout and it was basically the Helen W.O.D. with Hand Release Push Ups (HRPU) substituted for pull ups. I didn't want to go but I did. I got to Distinct Crossfit in time to do my normal Intu-Flow warm up.

I only did 2 rounds of the startup. I didn't notice the 3 rounds line and after my first round was dicking around looking at the leader board, then I noticed people were still going through the startup exercises. I jumped back in but didn't have enough time to complete the third round. But I was sufficiently warmed up for the W.O.D. thanks to the Intu-Flow.

Start up
3 rounds
10 cal ride Airdyne
10 PVC goodmorings
10 PVC Over head squats
5 Downward Dog to Upward Dog

W.O.D.
3 RFT
400m run
21 KBS (53/35)
12 HRPU

Goat work(8-10 mins)
Choose one
Pull ups/chest to bar/mu skill
Rope climb wrap
Pistols
Double unders

Finisher
50 leg ext to hip raise
Smash/roll sore muscles

I did the W.O.D. in 15:46. That was a huge slice of time off my first Helen, which was 23:40. Nearly 8 minutes better!  Shoot just one week ago it took me 15:35 just to run 1600M. Thanks to Lindsay Decken for coming out to run my final 400M with me. She was finished way ahead of me and could have just waited at the box, but she came back out. Having her along really helped though I did have to walk some on the uphill stretch headed back to the gym.

I worked on jumping rope again for my skill work. I should probably work on some other skill next time we have Goat work. and just work on my jump rope on my own time daily. The leg ext to hip raise was a killer. I got 10 reps to start, though my reps were probably poor compared to other folks. The I did sets of 5, thens sets of 2 and finished up w/ 3 sets of 3 to get 50 total reps. I thought I wasn't going to be able to get up and walk my abs were so tight. But I managed after lying on the mat a bit then doing some upward facing dog again to stretch my abs. I didn't have the energy for my normal prasara cool down plus it was almost 1930.

Three workouts in a row! Better running and 5 pounds heavier on my kettlebell swings! Hooray!

170 Pound Strict Free Standing Overhead Press

I was happy to see today's WOD on the Distinct Crossfit website! Until I noticed double unders, I can't jump rope worth shit! I've got to work on that skill. Everything else looked good...until I noticed an 800M run. We have run every single day I've been to the box. I think running of some sort has been programmed every day. I know I'll get better, I just need to keep doing it and lose weight.

Start up
20 PVC push press
20 halos per
20 band pull a parts
20 KBS

Strength
Strict press(20 min)
Work up to 1rm

Metcon
For time
2rds
20 double unders(du attempts)
20 hspu/mod strict press 65% of 1rm
20 box jump overs 30/24
RXers-Handstand pushups falling off the wall will be a no rep. Must lock out with control at the top while remaining on the wall.

Finisher
800m run
Stretch and roll

Before the start up, I did most of my normal Intu-Flow warm up routine, I just didn't get the last two movement which are for the knees and ankles. After the start up,  I worked up to 165 pounds on the press, then jumped up to 175 pounds. The third place record on the gym wall is 185 and I wanted that spot! I failed at 175. Coach Derrick suggested I drop back to 170 rather than having a second go at 175 and I got 170. It wasn't easy but I pushed through the sticking point and got it!

The metcon kinda sucked, like I said I can't do single unders reliably let alone double unders but I kept trying. I did the strict press instead of the Hand Stand Push Ups (hspu). I started out at 110 pounds but that was too heavy. I dropped down to 95 and was able to break the 20 into sets of 5. My box jump overs were done to a low box maybe 18 or 20 inches. I knew I wasn't ready for 30, I should have tried 24 though. My time was 15:40. I didn't monitor my time closely on the 800M run but it was about 7.5 to 8 minutes. I actually ran almost the whole 800M, but at about the halfway point there was a gentle upslope which reduced me to a walk. I did take the time to do my Prasara Yoga cool down routine once the run was over.

Squats Again I Love Squats

I barely got to the box in time to change clothes let alone in time to do my extra warm up before the workout started.

Start up
3rds
Walking heel grab
20 jax
200m run

Strength(20 mins)
Back Squat
Work up to 1rm

W.O.D
2RFT
20 squats(use med ball for depth)
20 chest to bar pull ups
200m run

Finisher
1 min couch stretch per side
1 min hip opener per side
1 min single,arm parallel per side
1 min max rep sit ups with anchor/partner

Observations from the start up. My legs and shoulders are really tight. I could barely grab my ankles, couldn't get the heel. I need to work on flexibility and suppleness. Running still sucks. The first 200M hurt my knee, the sharp stabbing pain again where I had surgery. I think I really need to do more warm up before running because it didn't hurt on the subsequent 200M runs.

Hooray for squats! We had 20 minutes to work up to a 1 rep maximum. I got 315 pounds! I haven't squatted weight since I lived in Chattanooga, TN 15+ years ago! And I did it without a belt. Those young whippersnappers in the gym better watch out! As long as I stay healthy I'm pretty sure I can catch them on squats and deadlifts.

The WOD was OK. Even after doing the max rep squat I was able to do the first set of 20 air squats down to a med ball unbroken. I had to do jumping chest to bar pullups I think I got through them in sets of 5. I made the it through the first 200M w/o walking! Yay! Second round I had to break my squats down into sets of 5, same for the chest2bar except I got stuck at 14 reps and had to do 3 then 3 more to get 20. I walked for about 20 or 30 steps in the middle of the second 200 but someone yelled "Come on Charles!" and I was able to rev up from my lumber to a real run for the last 75-80M!

The finisher was all good but for the 1 minute of situps. My core has always been a weak spot all the way back to my days of doing Kung Fu at Yale with Sifu Miles Brody. I only got 18 situps and my abs cramped up something fierce. No time for any extra cool down stuff today. It was closing time. I really need to get to the 0530 class or the 1715 class instead of 1815.

Late Evening WOD

After standing out in the heat yesterday afternoon and most of today watching some amazing athletes in The Greenville Games, I came home had some dinner, relaxed a bit then got my WOD on. I did the workout scheduled by the box I joined, Distinct Crossfit.

Start up
Warm up

W.O.D
4rds
200m run
15 sumo dead high pull 75/55 rx2 55/35
15 burpees

Finisher
Stretch and roll

For my warm up I did my normal Intu-flow plus extra shoulder, hip and leg mobility work. I was able to do the WOD with the men's rx2 weight, 55# for the high pulls. I went out to fast on my first 200M run and got sharp stabbing pains in my right knee, the one I had arthroscopic surgery on a few years ago. I walked the 2nd 200M but was able to do a slow, slow trot on the 3rd and 4th rounds.

The sumo deadlift high pulls were pretty easy. I might have been able to do rx but I figured better safe than sorry. Especially since I need to keep my right shoulder from blowing up. The burpees really sucked, which means the rx2 weight was probably a good choice. They were the worst looking, sloppiest deadlifts ever but I got through them SLOWLY!

I was so wet with sweat when I finished that it looked like I had been sprayed with a hose. I had shed my shirt after the first round. but my shorts were soaked. After catching my breath and drinking a little water I finished up with my Prasara Yoga recovery routine. I'm beat down.

Finally a WOD I Felt Good About

I was stiff and sore this morning. Every time I got up from my desk at work I had to loosen up. After lunch I went outside and stretched my hips by lying back on the wall in front of the building and allowing first one leg then the other to hang free. I could really tell the difference when I got up and walked around the parking lot. I got to Distinct Crossfit in time to do my normal Intu-Flow warm-up routine and a little extra shoulder mobility but not much.

Start up
1 min hamstring stretch per
1 min Calf stretch/smash per
Otm 6
5/10/15 suicide

W.O.D
Amrap 9
7 Med ball clean 20/14 (RX2 16/12)
7 Push press 105/65 (RX2 95/55)

Strength
Box squat(set box height to parallel)
5x2 climb

Finisher
2 rds
10 side plank punch through
10 scap push ups
10 cuff iso

So I was the slowest one on the suicides. I was also the oldest one in the class. I still averaged 20 seconds on each round. Not to shabby. Coach Derrick predicted I would be in the 20-25 second range, so yay me for doing it at the bottom end of his prediction!

The med ball cleans were hard. It wasn't so much the weight, especially since Derrick had me doing the 12# on the cleans and only 55# on the presses. It was the squatting for reps as my thighs were already sore. Even more was the cardiovascular fitness required. The push presses were just easy. I should have used more weight on both. I'll know better next time. I finished 6 rounds plus 7 reps of med ball cleans.

After a brief rest we were on to the 5x2 box squats, pyramiding up in weight. This was my zone when I was a younger man. I loved squats and deadlifts.

I wanted legs like Tom Platz when I was a teen ager. I didn't make it but damn I trained legs hard.

I think today was the first time I have squatted with weights since I tore my right glute and started having back problems way back in 1997 or 1998. I pretty much gave up lifting weights for years after that. I thought I would never be able to lift heavy again and just didn't want to do light stuff.

I wasn't super heavy today: 2 reps at 115, 2 reps at 165, 2 reps at 185, 2 reps at 235, 2 reps at 255! Just under my super fat body weight of 265. It just felt GOOD!

I only did one round of the Finisher. I didn't realize I was supposed to do two rounds. Plus it was late. I went to the 1815 class today instead of the 1715 class. I also had to leave to drive out to Furman to pick up my son Isaiah from lacrosse camp. That also meant I didn't do my usual Prasara Yoga cool down either. Oh well. I'll do more stretching and mobility work tomorrow to make up for it.
P.S. I got over 10K steps, too!

A Metric Mile and Man Makers

Once again I looked at the WOD for the day and almost chickened out. Plus my knee was still hurting some. But I sucked it up and went to Distinct Crossfit to get my third round of torture on.

Here is the Rx WOD

Time
Start up
20 swing kicks per side
20 hip rots per side
1 min samson stretch per side
400m Indian run

W.O.D
1600m run
20 manmakers 30/20
1 manmakers=push up, row, push up row, stand up, curl to shoulder press, hold db's over head and fwd lunge per side
 
Goat work
10:00 mins to work on a skill.
Choose something you really need to work on and seriously work on it.

Finisher
25 GHDSU
Stretch

I got there early and did my usual Intu-Flow warm up. Then I did the Start up as indicated. However the 4 other people in my group for the 400M were all younger and had been doing Crossfit far longer than me. The one sorta old guy in the group runs regularly. Anyway, I made it about 220M as indicated then I couldn't sprint back to the front. I let a couple of other people go, then I just dropped down to a walk for about 80M. Then I jogged in the last 100M.

The the WOD. I ran and walked the 1600M, it was hot and humid as HELL. I was the last one back, I made it in about 15:35 which sucks. But at least I made it. Derrick scaled the Man Makers back he had me start with a measley 16 pounds, 2 8lb dumbbells. I only made it through reps with those, then they had me drop those and just do bodyweight for 7 reps. That shit was hard. BTW, Derrick said afterwards that he had intended to scale my run down to 800M which is why he let me do just 10 MMs.

Then I spent my 10 minutes working on learning to jump rope again. I tried to begin with Carl Paoli's jump rope progression but I can't seem to get the rope twirling with my left hand. I need to keep working on that.

Next it took me a long time to get the GHD set up for my short self. In all I only did about 12 GHDSU before my right hip flexor started freaking out. After a little rest and water I did my normal Prasara Yoga cool down.

Recovering from Helen

I was very sore yesterday. I didn't get home until after 7PM and almost skipped doing any exercise. When I got home I thought I'll just do an Intu-Flow recovery routine and a Prasara Yoga recovery routine and skip walking. Then I thought I'll just do the Intu-Flow. But I had been watching The Crossfit Games in a side window all day. So I did Intu-Flow, walked and did Prasara.

Intu-Flow Recovery: 26 minutes
Walking: 44 minutes
Prasara Yoga Recovery: 22 minutes

Total Time: 92 minutes
Total Calories Burnt: 661

I was beat down tired when I got done. It was warm and very humid during my walk. My aches and pains during the walk were my left ankle and right knee. My knee was occasionally giving me sharp pains like before I got it scoped some years ago. Funny my left ankle was so tight as I haven't injured it in a long time. I got in 9514 steps yesterday.

Any way, I feel good today. My legs don't feel to sore, but my arms shoulders and back are still pretty sore. I'm looking forward to today's Crossfit workout at Distinct Crossfit.

That Mean Bitch Helen Kicked My Fat Ass

When I looked at the website of the Distinct Crossfit and saw that today's WOD was Helen I almost decided to skip today. I was like DAMN! My second Crossfit workout and it's Helen? DAMN! I went and did it though. I showed up early and did my Intu-flow warm up with extra shoulder work. I also practiced Squat Clean and Jerk with a length of PVC pipe. Here's the whole workout for today as RX.

Helen

Start up
3rds
10 pass through
10 jump pull ups
10 good mornings 45/35
40m run

WOD
Helen
3 rounds
400m
21 KB swing (53/35)
12 pullups

Strength
5x1
Squat clean and jerk, climbing (no thruster - 2 separate movements)
10 toe to bar after each set

Finisher
Stretch and roll
Hamstring/low back

So I did the start up just fine. The pull ups made it feel like a real workout though! As for the WOD I knew there was no way I could do the KB swings w/ 53lbs nor the pullups. I didn't even use the women's weight, 35 lbs., but a 30 lb kettlebell. The first round of pullups I did with bands, the last two I did jump pull ups. The 400m runs were so, so hard. I haven't been running AT ALL. I ran the whole first one, but I had to alternate running and walking for the final two rounds.

Then on to the strength portion. I've never really done any olympic lifting. I did just reps with the 45 bar to get used to the movement. Then I added on a couple of 10 lb plates. I couldn't do "toes to bar", my arms were beat. I couldn't even do hanging knee ups. I did abmat situps instead. I actually only did 1 and a half sets of those cause my abs knotted up like crazy.  I cooled down with some foam rolling and my normal Prasara Yoga recovery routine.

i am beat down. When I finished I was soaking wet with sweat head to toe. Unfortunately I had to drive out to Furman to pick up my son Miles from lacrosse camp. This meant lots of sitting around and waiting rather than heading home for a shower and ice.

But now I've finally had a shower, eaten dinner and iced down my right shoulder, right knee and lower back. I'm going to be so sore tomorrow it's not funny. I wonder if I can get up early enough to make the 0530 WOD? I wonder if I'll be able to move enough to workout or if I'll have to wait until Wednesday?

Active Recovery Day

After my first official full-on Crossfit WOD on Friday I thought I would get up and get another WOD in on Saturday morning. However, I had to work from 0000 through about 0400 Saturday morning. After the work, I didn't even go lie down on the couch until about 0500, I didn't want to go bumbling around in the bedroom and wake up my wife. So, I probably fell asleep somewhere between 0530 and 0600. There was no way I was going to get up in time for an 0900 WOD. I was also so tired during the day that I didn't do any exercise.

I figured I would make today and active recovery day as Distinct Crossfit is closed on Sunday. My plan was to do Intu-Flow and walk yesterday followed by walking and Prasara Yoga today. Since I didn't do anything yesterday I combined it all for today.

My right ankle, the one I tore up as an 18 year old that prevented me from going to the US Military Academy, was really tight today. My hips are pretty tight, too. That made for a slow walk.

Intu-Flow Recovery Routine: 24 minutes, 170 Calories Burned
Walking: 55 minutes, 2.25 miles, 307 Calories Burned
Prasara Recovery Routine: 13 minutes, 243 Calories Burned

Total Time: 92 minutes
Total Calories Burned: 720 Calories Burned

Good workout. My plan for the upcoming week is to do Crossfit Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. I'll do some kind of active recovery Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. If the rain stops I'll get some swimming in too. I've already got over 10K steps in! Go me!

24 Minutes of Hell

Yesterday I did my first official Crossfit workout at Distinct Crossfit. It was a cool rainy afternoon. The coolness was great, the humidity not so much. I listened to some rock music at high volume in my truck on the way to get pumped up. I got there so early prior to the 1715 class that I sat in the parking lot for a while and watched about half of the original Nasty Girls video, which was the first Crossfit video I remember seeing online. I got there early to sign any required papers.

Even with that I was still way early! I spent about 15-20 minutes warming up before the WOD started.

Intu-Flow Warm Up and extra shoulder and hip work: 16 minutes.

The WOD

Start up
1 min of each 30s per side on stretches
Couch stretch
Hamstring stretch
Hip opener

W.O.D
3 rds
40/20
Agility ladder
Ball jax
Rope slams
Box hop overs
Ball slams
Tire sledge
Cone runs/shuttle
Farmers carry

Rotate stations. Cycle through 3 times.

Finisher
Stretch and roll

Prasara Yoga Cool Down: 16 minutes

I'll leave it to the reader to look up the exercises in the WOD. We did three rounds of the eight exercises. We performed each exercise for 40 seconds and rested 20 seconds during which we moved to the next station. This doesn't look to hard but trust me it is. Midway through the second round I felt on the verge of throwing up. Luckily I recognized it and throttled back and kept myself just under that vomit level of intensity. This probably had more to do with my general lack of conditioning than anything else.

And guess what? The box owner and head trainer said that this was a "recovery-type" workout! Man, a full bore high intensity and/or heavy weight workout will be MURDER! Anyway, I did my normal Prasara Yoga cool down after it was done. I felt energized once it was all over and I had downed a good quantity of water.

Once I got home and had a shower the tiredness hit me. I wanted to just sleep but I had to go pick up my youngest son from TKD class. After that I had dinner and headed to the quiet living room for a nap before getting up to perform server maintenance starting at midnight for my job. I'm now in the middle of updating firmware on two HP Blades prior to upgrading VMware ESXi to 5.1U2 on those same two blades.

Basics Take Three Week One Day Two

Two workouts as planned. But I'm about to shake things up. Stay tuned!

Intu-Flow Warm Up & Extra Shoulder Mobility: 13:00

PLAN:

5 rounds with 120 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 3, 5, 4, 1 (Negative), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 3, 4, 2, 3, max (at least 4)
Air Squats 5, 5, 3, 5, max (at least 5)

ACTUAL:

5 rounds with 120 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 3, 5, 4, 1 (Negative), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 3, 5, 2, 3, 9
Air Squats 5, 5, 3, 5, 14

Time: 11:45

ABS:
Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

Total Time: 19:15

Prasara Yoga cool down: 15:20

Good workout. Not very much volume but at least I was moving right? I'm going to shelve this routine for a while and start working out at Distinct Crossfit on Thursday. Wish me luck!

A Week of Vacation and ...

A week of vacation and a week back at work. Nearly three weeks without working out, in fact 18 days. How does this happen?

On another note, I really want to do CrossFit but my body feels so fragile. Just walking around NYC for hours often had my hip and low back aching. Anyway, back to week 1 day 1 of my Chin-ups, Push-ups and Squats program.

Intu-Flow Warm Up Plus Extra Shoulder Mobility: 11.5 Minutes

PLAN

Assisted Chin Ups 5 x 3, 4, 3, 1 negative, 1 max hang & negative
Push Ups 5 x 2, 3, 2, 2, max (at least 3)
Squats 5 x 3, 4, 3, 3, max (at least 5)

ACTUAL

Assisted Chin Ups 5 x 3, 4, 3, 1, 1
Push Ups 5 x 2, 3, 2, 2, 7
Squats 5 x 3, 4, 3, 3, 10

Time 12:35

ABS:

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

Total Time:

Prasara Yoga cool down: 15:00

So, I got it in. Since I went almost three weeks w/o a workout I dropped back to week one level one day one of my program again. I've got to stop doing this. All in all a good workout.

I took two minutes rest between rounds of chin-ups, push-ups and squats. I took two minutes between the last round and the ab exercises and two minutes between ab exercises. It's hard to get warmed up with such low reps on push-ups and squats. I focused on form. Got a nice arm pump from chin-ups and push-ups.

Tomorrow I'll do some walking and Intu-flow. I'll try to make sure I get up and move regularly at work, too.

Back to Basics Week Three Day Two

Starting week three of my back to basics routine.

Intu-Flow Warm Up:

PLAN:

5 rounds with 90 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 6, 5 (Australian), 6, 5 (Australian), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 10, 12, 8, 8, max (at least 12)
Air Squats 13, 16, 11, 11, max (at least 16)

ACTUAL:

5 rounds with 90 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 6, 5 (AUS), 6, 5 (AUS), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 10, 12, 8, 8, 12
Air Squats 13,16, 11, 11, 16

Time: 17:00

ABS:

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

Total Time: 26:12

Prasara Yoga cool down: 15:00

Again, I goofed off for a long time after I got home from work. Also, I got home late from work. But now that I'm done I feel great.

Twenty-three reps of chin-ups versus twenty-one last time. Did a little better on my max-hang/negative rep. In my prior workout I did a total of 45 push-ups with a max set of 9 reps. Today I did 50 total push-ups with a max set of 12. Actually, I only got 8 full, regular push-ups then I cranked out 4 more reps on my knees. The increased volume in the first four rounds really wiped me out for the max set.

I had similar results on the air squats. Last time I had 62 reps leading up to a max set of 13 reps for a total of 60 reps. Today I had 51 reps leading up to a max set of 16 reps and a total of 67 reps. I may have been able to do a few more better figured discretion was the better part of valor.

Forgot to do my extra shoulder mobility movements prior to my Intu-flow warm ups. REst between rounds was two minutes. I kinda lost track of time between the last round of calisthenics and the ab work. May have been 3 minutes. I also think my rest between one of the main rounds was a little longer than normal, too.

Big calorie burn, 724 calories! I also did one round of Neila Rey's Unplugged Workout at the office today.

Back to Basics Week Three Day One

Starting week three of my back to basics routine.

Intu-Flow Warm Up:

PLAN:

5 rounds with 90 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 6, 4 (Australian), 5, 5 (Australian), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 10, 12, 7, 7, max (at least 9)
Air Squats 13, 16, 10, 10, max (at least 13)

ACTUAL:

5 rounds with 90 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 6, 4 (AUS),5, 5 (AUS), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 10, 12, 7, 7, 9
Air Squats 13,16, 10, 10, 13

Time: 13:30

ABS:

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

Total Time: 24:00

Prasara Yoga cool down: 15:00

It took me a long time to get started on this workout, but I got it in. Feeling stronger on the assisted chin-ups and Australian pull-ups. The air squats really had me sucking wind. Actually I was huffing and puffing after each set of push-ups which only increased by the time I finished the squats.

Last time I did 21 total reps of chin/pull-ups same as this time but with different rep pattern. In my prior workout I did a total of 34 push-ups with a max set of 12 reps. Today I did 45 total push-ups with a max set of 9 and I barely got those 9 reps. I did 9 more reps total leading up to that max set so the fewer reps are expected.

I had similar results on the air squats. Last time I had 42 reps leading up to a max set of 18 reps for a total of 60 reps. Today I had 49 reps leading up to a max set of 13 reps and a total of 62 reps. Not as much of an increase in the total but I was really sucking wind. Need better cardiovascular fitness, but it is coming.

I've forgotten to note that I've been doing extra shoulder mobility movements prior to my Intu-flow warm ups. The prasara cool down makes me feel relaxed and energized after the high intensity calisthenics. BTW, I was able to keep my rest between rounds to 90 seconds for the first two rounds but had to bump it up to 2 minutes between rounds for the final 3 rounds. I also took 2 minutes before, between and after the ab exercises.

Basics Workout Take 2 Week 2 Day 3

Finishing up week two of my back to basics routine.

Intu-Flow Warm Up: 8:15

PLAN:

5 rounds with 90 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 4, 5 (Australian), 6, 5 (Australian), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 5, 7, 5, 5, max (at least 8)
Air Squats 7, 11, 7, 7, max (at least 11)

ACTUAL:

5 rounds with 90 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 4, 5 (AUS), 6, 5 (AUS), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 5, 7, 5, 5, 12
Air Squats 7,11, 7, 7, 18

Time: 13:48

ABS:

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

Total Time: 20:50

Prasara Yoga cool down: 15:00

I focused on assisting myself as little as possible on the chin-ups. Worked my back and arms thoroughly. I also feel like I'm doing a little better on the max hang/negative chin up in the last set. I did take a couple of breaths after 10 reps of my max set of push-ups, then cranked out two more for a total of 12 which is more than last time. I also took some extra breaths a couple of times during my max set of squats and got two more than last time, 18 reps. I slowed down on the myotatic crunches but still need to hold a little longer at the top. CVEs just make my whole freaking ab region tight! I'm really happy with my progress and my shoulder is doing pretty good.

Basics Workout Take 2 Week 2 Day 2

Sticking to my simple formula. Joint mobility, calisthenics, and yoga.

Intu-Flow Warm Up: 8:15

PLAN:

5 rounds with 90 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 3, 5 (Australian), 3, 4 (Australian), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 5, 6, 4, 4, max (at least 7)
Air Squats 6, 8, 5, 5, max (at least 10)

ACTUAL:

5 rounds with 90 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 3, 5 (AUS), 3, 4 (AUS), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 5, 6, 4, 4, 10
Air Squats 6, 8, 5, 5, 16

Time: 13:08

ABS:

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

Total Time: 21:00

Prasara Yoga cool down: 15:30

Another good workout. I'm proud of myself for getting it in even though I got home from work late. I've got to keep focusing on assisting myself as little as possible on the chin-ups. Also, keep slowing down on the myotatic crunches and hold a little longer at the top. Squats and push-ups are coming along fine. The brief, 90 second, rest between rounds really had me huffing and puffing even with the relatively low volume of reps. Worked up a good sweat.

Basics Workout Take 2 Week 2 Day 1

Sticking to my simple formula. Joint mobility, calisthenics, and yoga.

Intu-Flow Warm Up: 8:00

PLAN:

5 rounds with 90 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 4, 2 (Australian), 5, 3 (Australian), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 4, 6, 4, 4, max (at least 6)
Air Squats 6, 8, 5, 5, max (at least 8)

ACTUAL:

5 rounds with 90 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 4, 2 (AUS), 5, 3 (AUS), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 4, 6, 5, 4, 9
Air Squats 6, 8, 5, 5, 14

Time: 13:05

ABS:

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

Total Time: 20:40

Prasara Yoga cool down: 15:00

I was working myself into a mental funk for reason I won't go into here prior to my workout. This workout helped me feel better both mentally and physically. Movement really is medicine. Additionally my shoulder does not hurt. It's a little uncomfortable but icing it should suffice.

I need to start adding in some cardio work and/or intervals to accelerate fat loss and for general aerobic fitness.

Did the Wrong Workout Last Time

I did the wrong workout last time. Well, I did the wrong pull-up section, I did day one of week 2 of the 7 Weeks to 50  Pull-Ups routine. No worries, I'll do the correct section today.

Intu-Flow Warm Up: 8:00

PLAN:

5 rounds with 90 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 4, 5, 5, 1 (Negative), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 4, 5, 4, 4, max (at least 5)
Air Squats 5, 6, 5, 5, max (at least 7)

ACTUAL:

5 rounds with 90 seconds rest between rounds.

Assisted Chin-Ups 4, 5, 5, 1 (Negative), 1 (Max Hang/Negative)
Push-Ups 4, 5, 4, 4, 7
Air Squats 5, 6, 5, 5, 12

Time: 12:19

ABS:

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

Total Time: 19:00

Prasara Yoga cool down: 16:00

Good workout. I need to make sure I'm not assisting myself too much on the chin-ups. Push-ups felt good even though my elbows are a bit creaky. My shoulder didn't bother me, but I'm icing it anyway. The squats were pretty easy.

I did 3 more reps on the crunches but I need to slow down more and hold a bit longer at the top. CVE's really have my whole abdominal region feeling tight. And to think I almost talked myself into postponing my workout until the morning. I'm glad I didn't.

Basics Workout a Day Late

I'm off from my planned every other day workouts by one day and I just started again! I got up too late Monday morning to workout before work. Then I worked late and got home just in time to take my son to his TKD class. Got to to better!

Intu-Flow Warm Up: 8:20 Minutes

PLAN

Assisted Chin Ups 5 x  4,  2 (Australian), 5, 3 (Australian), 1 max hang/negative
Push Ups 5 x 3, 4, 2, 3, max (at least 4)
Air Squats 5 x 5, 5, 3, 5, max (at least 5)

ACTUAL

Assisted Chin Ups 5 x 4, 2 (Australian), 5, 3 (Australian), 1
Push Ups 5 x 3, 4, 2, 3, 6
Air Squats 5 x 5, 5, 3, 5, 10

Time: 14:20

ABS

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 7
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

Total Time: 21:30

Prasara Yoga cool down: 15:00

I feel good about this workout. Didn't push too hard. My right shoulder doesn't hurt, it's just a little uncomfortable. So, I'm icing it down with my Elasto-Gel Shoulder Sleeve to try and keep it calmed down. I'm not happy with my chin ups but they will come. My hip has been bothering me but there is no icing it! I'm concentrating on good form in all my exercises. That should help with all my nagging injuries.

Long Shoulder Soreness Layoff

I haven't worked out regularly in nearly two months. Not only did I start a new job as noted in my last workout post, but I've been bothered by a nagging right shoulder injury. I've intentionally laid off upper body work in order to let my shoulder "cool off." I should have kept on doing lower body work, walking or running or something. Alas, I did not. Oh, I also adjusted the height of my chair at work and that seems to have helped the shoulder, too, as my right hand is my mouse hand.

Intu-Flow Warm Up: 9 Minutes

PLAN

Assisted Chin Ups 5 x 3, 4, 3, 1 negative, 1 max hang & negative
Push Ups 5 x 2, 3, 2, 2, max (at least 3)
Squats 5 x 3, 4, 3, 3, max (at least 5)

ACTUAL

Assisted Chin Ups 5 x 3, 4, 3, 1, 1
Push Ups 5 x 2, 3, 2, 2, 5
Squats 5 x 3, 4, 3, 3, 7

Time 11:47

Prasara Yoga cool down: 15:00

I forgot to do my Six Minute Abs routine. But that was actually a good thing because by the time I finished I barely had time to shower and get dressed for our day trip to Atlanta.

I started this post on Saturday 31 May 2014 but didn't finish it. In the interim I did have soreness in right shoulder. Amazingly yesterday, Sunday 1 June 2014, my thighs were a bit sore despite the extremely low volume of work. The same is true for my back. I'm still a little sore today but I won't let that stop me from getting my scaled down workout in today. And I won't forget my ab work!

Good Grief It Has Been a Long Time!

Wow, I haven't recorded a workout in nearly a month! I haven't been doing a lot of working out to report either. I started a new job on 03/31/2014. The last couple of weeks I've been taking 5 minute breaks throughout the day, ala The Pomodoro Technique. During those breaks I've been doing either 5 pushups, 5 Turkish Get Ups or 5 Shinbox Switches.

Today, we're visiting my father-in-law. We're going to watch as many NBA Playoff games as we can. I decided to do some exercise during each commercial break of the game. Here's how it went. This is what I tweeted during the game.

• My son, Miles, and I did push ups during first break. We alternated 1 pushup, then 2 pushups, all the way up to 6 each for 6 sets, 21 total reps.
• Second break we did squats again alternating all the way from 1 rep up to 7 reps for 7 sets, 28 total reps.
• 3rd break of #NBA game Turkish Get Ups 5 left & 5 right #Exercise Miles left 2 go 2 the store w/ mom & big brother. I'm working alone now
• 4th break of #NBA game shinbox switches 10 each way, then all fours to table switch 6 each way.
• Got lazy on 5th break of #NBA game, only 10 burpees.
• 6th break of #NBAPlayoffs game 5x5 pushups with 5-10 second pause between sets. #exercise #NBA
• 7th break of the #NBAPlayoffs game was short! 10 squats pause 3 breaths 9 squats and the game was back on! #exercise #nba 
• 8th break, during halftime of #NBAPlayoffs game 10 shinbox switches, 9 all fours to table each alternating sides #exercise #nba This was a really long commercial break. I had not yet recovered when the 9th break started which was equally long.@charleshb 
• 10th break, once again only 10 burpees. I'm huffing and puffing like a steam engine! #NBAPlayoffs #nba #exercise
• Skipped #exercise during 11th break. It came too quickly after the 10th break. #NBAPlayoffs #nba
• 12th break of the 1st #NBAPlayoffs game of the day pushups 5x5 with 3-5 breaths between sets. #exercise #nba 
• Guess I'm getting tired. 2 commercials of 13th break were over before I realized I should be exercising. I'll do squats next break.
• Squats 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 with 3 breaths Btween sets 4 a total of 55 reps during 14th break of #NBAPlayoffs #NBA #exercise
• 15th break of #NBAPlayoffs Turkish Get Ups 1x5 R, 1x5 L #exercise #NBA 
• Missed 16th break, 17th break 10 shinbox switches, 8 all 4s-2-table each side alternating #exercise #NBAPlayoffs #NBA
• Final round of #exercise 10 burpees! #Nets beat the #Raptors in game 1 of #NBAPlayoffs #NBA Got my #workout in!

I shouldn't say "only" ten burpees. Burpees are hard and I haven't done any since my brief stint of intro classes at Swamp Rabbit Crossfit some months ago. What I called "all-4s-2-table" is a variation of the Thoracic Bridge as demonstrated in this video. I went further than in the video an put my free hand down behind me and raised my hips fully.

I had read and heard the recommendation to do exercise during commercial breaks many times. It was even a recent Lifehacker article. I should actually do it more often. I need to get back to my basics routine of pull ups, push ups, and squats starting on Monday.

DevOps and Cloud Podcasts and Such

I have found these podcasts to be very informative.

• DevOps Cafe
• The Ship Show
• Arrested DevOps
• Food Fight
• Devops Mastery
• Ops All the Things
• The Cloudcast
• Saltstack Videos
• Puppet Labs Podcasts

More to come.

Back to Basics Progress Test Two

After two full days off it is time to check progress.

Intu-Flow warm up from BB4FL: 8.5 minutes

Max Chin-ups: 2.5

3 Minute rest

Max Push-ups: 20

3 Minute rest

Max Squats: 70

Time: 12 minutes

3 Minute rest

Then Six Minute Abs

Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10

CVE 1 x 10

Time: 20'30"

Prasara yoga cool down: 15'30"

OK, chin-ups still suck. I got 1.25 more reps than my previous test on Wednesday 26 February 2014. But it is progress nonetheless. I did a lot better on pushups. I'm pleased with that. I more than doubled my squats. Hooray! Progress! I'm going to add a weight, either 2.5 or 5 pounds, to my crunches. I feel refreshed after the yoga. I almost talked myself out of working out this evening. I'm glad I didn't procrastinate.

Essential DevOps References

Just a quick list of some books that I think are essential to putting your mind in the DevOps way of thinking. No particular order. I'll add some other references soon. Like podcasts, websites, etc.

• The Lean Startup
• The Year Without Pants
• Continuous Delivery
• The Phoenix Project
• Visible Ops Handbook
• The Goal
• Vagrant: Up and Running
• Kanban
• Web Operations
• Effective Monitoring and Alerting
• The Fifth Discipline
• Deming
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

If you force me to pick three to start with I would read: The Phoenix Project,  Lean Start Up and The Year Without Pants. In that order. They are not technology specific. However, they will change the way you think about IT work.

Basics Week 4 Day 3

Chin-ups: Week 3 Day 3
100 Push-ups: Repeating Week 2 Day 3
200 Squats: Week 4 Day 3

Intu-Flow warm up routine from the BB4FL 7 minutes.

Plan: 5 Rounds with 120 second rest between rounds

Assisted Chin-ups 7, Australian Pull-up 7, Assisted Chin-ups 6, Australian Pull up 6,  then 1 Max Hang & Negative Chin-up
Push-ups 12,13,10,10 max ( at least 15)
Squats 31,38,31,31 max ( at least 45 )

Actual: 5 Rounds with 120 second rest between rounds

Assisted Chin-ups 7, Australian Pull-up 7, Assisted Chin-ups 6, Australian Pull up 6,  then 1 Max Hang & Negative Chin-up
Push-ups 12,13,10,10 max => 6,5,4
Squats 31,38,31,31 max => 45

26 minutes, 4  minute break then

6 Minute Abs

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

36 minutes total.

Prasara yoga cool down: 15 minutes.

This was not one of my better workouts. I took 3 minute breaks between rounds 3 & 4 as well as in between 4 & 5. I took a 4 minute break between my last round of calisthenics and the ab work. That's only 4 extra minutes but the entire calisthenics and ab routine took 36 minutes which is 7 minutes longer than Saturday. That means I used 3 more minutes for which I cannot account. By the way rounds 4 and 5 were done outside as normal, however it was quite cold, misty and windy.

Saturday I did have a 5 hour energy about 30 minutes before I started my workout. But that really couldn't account for the difference. Furthermore, my previous calisthenic rounds were all under 20 minutes. I guess it was just a less than optimal day. Every workout can't be better than the last no matter how much we try.

I was disappointed with my max set of push-ups. I had to break it down in 3 segments. I actually started hitting the wall in the third round of push-ups but did better in the fourth. But I was shot in the last round. I did hang longer on the max hang/negative chin-up. I really feel good on the Australians.

I kept to my breakdown pattern for squats 10-9-8-4 for the sets of 31; 10-9-8-7-4 for the set of 38; and barely eked out 10-9-8-7-6-5 for the set of 45. Crazy hard, just crazy.

I need to refocus on slowing down the myotatic crunches. I was pretty slow, but I think I can go slower. I might be able to add a light weight after another week. Finished up with Prasara yoga cool down from BB4FL.

Basics Week 4 Day 2

Four days of slacking off. Time to get busy after a day of sitting out in the sun watching my son, Isaiah, play in a lacrosse tournament.

Chin-ups: Week 3 Day 2
Push-ups: Repeating Week 2 Day 2
Squats: Week 4 Day 2

Intu-Flow warm up routine from the BB4FL 7 minutes.

Plan: 5 Rounds with 120 second rest between rounds

Assisted Chin-ups 6, Australian Pull-up 5, Assisted Chin-ups 6, Australian Pull up 5,  then 1 Max Hang & Negative Chin-up
Push-ups 10,12,9,9 max ( at least 12)
Squats 27,34,27,27 max ( at least 38 )

Actual: 5 Rounds with 120 second rest between rounds

Assisted Chin-ups 6, Australian Pull-up 5, Assisted Chin-ups 6, Australian Pull up 5,  then 1 Max Hang & Negative Chin-up
Push-ups 10,12,9,9 max => 14

Squats 27,34,27,27 max => 46

20 minutes, 3  minute break then

6 Minute Abs

1. Myotatic Crunch 1 x 10
2. Cat Vomit Exercise 1 x 10

29 minutes total.

Prasara cool down: 15 minutes.

It's amazing how hard the primary part of this simple workout can be. I was barely getting my breath and heart rate down near normal during the two minute rest break between rounds. CRAZY I tell you CRAZY! By the time I finished all five rounds all I could do was collapse on the floor and gasp for breath for three minutes. 

Then I did the 6 minute ab routine. The total time for calisthenics and ab work was 29 minutes. The five rounds of calisthenics took 20 minutes. Get this I did 171 squats! That's CRAZY! I did far fewer chin-ups/autralians ( 23 ) and push-ups ( 54 ), but that's still a significant amount of upper body work. It's a significant amount of work in 20 minutes in my opinion.

When I got to the ab work my quads were so tight, so exhausted that I could barely keep my position on the bosu ball for the myotatic crunches. And my breathing and heart rate quickly soared even though there is really not a lot of movement to the exercise. A 1 minute breather then I was on to the stomach vacuum or CVE. The first couple of reps had me feeling light headed but I persevered. 

I collapsed again for a couple minutes once I completed the ab work. I moved on to the yoga. I'm glad I did as it stretched out my quivering muscles and helped me get my breathing and heart rate back under control. Now I'm doing my part of dinner prep, broiling wild salmon filets, and I can barely stand. I'm just exhausted. I don't even know if I can eat. I just want to drink some more water, take a shower and collapse into bed either with a book or a couple of episodes of some show on Netflix.