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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

Warm Sunny Walk

I started my workout today with the Intu-Flow recovery routine from the Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss. That took 22 minutes. It was almost 10AM and I needed to be showered and dressed by around 11AM to go to the Furman Men's Lacrosse game.

With that in mind I headed out on a pretty much straight line walk. I figured I would do a 30 minute out and back. I had on sweat pants and a sweatshirt over shorts and a short sleeved tshirt. As soon as I got outside I realized I was dressed too warmly and took off the sweatshirt.

I walked 0.75 miles in just over fifteen minutes at which point I turned for home. My total walking time was 31 minutes and total distance was 1.52 miles. Pretty good. I usually want to cover no less than 3 miles in an hour. No time for any post exercise yoga. I'll do some stretching later on tonight, probably Bretzel 1s and 2s and some shinbox switches.

Basics Week 3 Day 3

Chin-ups: Repeating Week 2 Day 3
Push-ups: Repeating Week 1 Day 3
Squats: Week 3 Day 3

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

Plan: 5 Rounds with 120 second rest between rounds

Assisted Chin-ups 4, Australian Pull-up 5, Assisted Chin-ups 6, Australian Pull up 5,  then 1 Max Hang & Negative Chin-up
Push-ups 8,10,7,7 max ( at least 10)
Squats 22,29,20,21 max ( at least 25 )

Actual: 5 Rounds with 120 second rest between rounds

Assisted Chin-ups 4, Australian Pull-up 5, Assisted Chin-ups 6, Australian Pull up 5,  then 1 Max Hang & Negative Chin-up
Push-ups 8,10,7,7 max => 13,2
Squats 22,29,20,21 max => 31

17'50"

6 Minute Abs

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

Total time 26'30"

I messed up and did the Prasara recovery routine instead of the cool down. : 13'29".

I felt good after this whole thing was over. I should have done it yesterday. I feel like I'm decreasing my "assistance" on the chins and really working my back and arms more. The Australians hit my lats hard! Maybe I should have been repeating Week 2 of push-ups on level 2. Oh well. I easily got the first 4 sets. The max set I did 13 reps then took 3 deep breaths before squeezing out two more reps.

Squats still have me huffing and puffing. I "laddered down" my squat reps. For example on the last set 10 reps - 3 deep breaths - 8 reps - 3 breaths - 6 reps - 3 breaths - 4 reps - 3 breaths - 2 reps - 3 breaths - 1 rep = 31 total reps. That was 1 rep less than last time. I just collapsed and caught my breath for two minutes before moving on to ab work.

I slowly did my crunches. My abs didn't cramp up as much as they did on Tuesday. But I was so beat down that I just stretched out on the floor on my side, sweating like a pig and heaving for breath. Finally I got to the CVEs and squeezed out 10 reps. Can you say exhaustion? 5 simple exercises beat me down. Finished up with some yoga.

Ice Cold Basics

Chin-ups: Repeating Week 2 Day 2
Push-ups: Repeating Week 1 Day 2
Squats: Week 3 Day 2

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

Plan: 5 Rounds with 120 second rest between rounds

Assisted Chin-ups 3, Australian Pull-up 5, Assisted Chin-ups 3, Australian Pull up 4,  then 1 Negative Chin-up
Push-ups 6,8,6,6 max ( at least 7)
Squats 19,25,19,19, max ( at least 25 )

Actual: 5 Rounds with 120 second rest between rounds

Assisted Chin-ups 3, Australian Pull-up 5, Assisted Chin-ups 3, Australian Pull up 4,  then 1 Max Hang & Negative Chin-up
Push-ups 6,8,6,6 max => 12
Squats 19,25,19,19, max => 32

19:16 minutes to complete the five rounds.

I postponed the ab work and yoga until later so I could make it to work on time.I did rounds 2 and 4 outside in the 33F air where I have a better set up for the Australians.

Later in the day: 6 Minute Abs

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

Actually finished abs in 7:12 Total time for calisthenics and abs 26 minutes. My abs were cramping like mad after the crunches.

Prasara Yoga cool down 14 minutes.

Was invigorated, loose and just feeling good after yoga. Want to feel better? Yoga is highly recommended.

Low Energy Workout

I procrastinated beginning my workout until late in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day. After the Piedmont Humanist meeting, I spent hours outside eating, reading and surfing the net. Then I finally got up and raked leaves for half an hour or so.

I sat down for a few minutes after my yard work. I watched a couple of exercise videos, mostly Crossfit videos, on YouTube to try and motivate myself. Then I got up and did the Intu-Flow recovery routine BB4FL in 23 minutes.

Even after that nice warm up, I didn't want to walk but I told myself I would just head out for 15 minutes and then turn around. I kept expecting to get warmed up and moving freely. I usually get into a good rhythm in about 10 minutes. Not today. I never got that light energetic feeling.

I ended up walking 41 minutes. However, it was slow, slow, slow. I only covered 1.65 miles. At least I got out there and did it. It's got my steps up around 8K right now. I could really just go to sleep right now.

Chilly Walk Dips and Yoga

I left the office at CUICAR where I work a couple of days a week at about 1545 in order to pick up my oldest son so I could take him to lacrosse practice. Instead of driving home, I decided to take a walk making a big loop around neighborhoods near the high school. 

I completed my planned route in about 50 minutes. Practice had another hour to go, so I walked down to the practice field from the parking lot. I sat in the bleachers and watched the remainder of practice occasionally getting up to do some dips on the bleacher rails. Walking to and from the practice field got me up to an hour of walking and 2.6 miles.

After practice it was time to head home. I was only at home briefly because then it was time to take my youngest son to Tae Kwon Do class. I didn't attempt any exercise at the TKD School but rather sat and read. However after we got home and ate dinner I did do the Prasara Yoga recovery routine from BB4FL. It only took 12 minutes and 40 seconds.

My body feels nice and stretched out and relaxed. And walking didn't hurt today. I was a little uncomfortable climbing the last long hill but otherwise I felt pretty good.

Sunny, Icy Walk

Went out for my walk. It was 23°F when I started. All the streets in my neighborhood have snow and ice, but with some bare, dry patches, too. I walked three miles in 70 minutes.

I really got tired during the third mile. I think part of that was due to being so aware of where I was walking and having to recover from several slips. I didn't fall though! I think I was also unconsciously gripping the ground with my feet via my Vibram Fivefingers.

Once I got home I did my Prasara Yoga Recovery routine from the BB4FL. I felt invigorated. Then I ate a big brunch of eggs scrambled with vegetables, bacon and grits. After which I felt sleepy, but I'm staying up and active.

Day 21 Cycle 5 Day 1 Walk and IntuFlow

It was 66°F today! On January 20th! That's why I live in South Carolina!

I did a a bunch of stuff around the house today. Didn't get out for my walk until nearly 4PM. I walked approximately three miles in one hour. I say approximately because some friends were drove by as I was walking and stopped to talk. I paused the app I use to track my walks, Noom Weight Loss Coach, and forgot to un-pause it for at least 10 minutes and half a mile. Bummer! Another app, Noom Walk, kept on track of my steps and I topped 10,000, in fact 10,814 as of this writing!

Once I got home I got some water. Then I did the Intu-Flow recovery routine from the Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss (BB4FL). Today was my 21st day of 28 days for Phase 1. It was a "no intensity" day which was a good thing. I was sore after yesterday's high intensity workout. Mainly in my midback, core, quads and hamstrings. Oh, I was also sore in my shoulders and triceps.

I have noticed that combination of using Intu-Flow as a warm up and Prasara Yoga as cool down on the moderate and high intensity days, as well as the planned no intensity ( Intu-Flow ) and low intensity ( Prasara ) recovery days seems to keep me from getting so sore I can't move. The BB4FL is a well structured program.

I slacked off for three days in total so far. So, I actually started this program twenty-four days ago. I also started weighing myself daily at that time. I've lost 5.6 pounds in 24 days. That's almost two pounds per week which is a healthy, sustainable rate. I haven't really dialed in my eating to either Slow-Carb or Low Carb Paleo style. I seem to eat clean about 50-60% of the time right now. Once I dial it in, I'm sure I'll lose weight more quickly.

Sunny Walk and Yoga

I didn't workout for two days. I don't know why I was so reluctant or too lazy to just do the Prasara Yoga recovery routine from the BB4FL. It only took 11.5 minutes. I also walked 2.15 miles in 46 minutes at the Eastside High School track while my son Isaiah was working out with his school lacrosse team during their conditioning session.

Short and sweet. It was cool and breezy, but bright and sunny. I feel very good now. Tomorrow will be a moderate intensity bodyweight routine.

Back in Flow

I've started another streak. Five days straight. Today was a no intensity day. That translates to Intu-Flow, joint mobility, routine from the Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss.

I intended to go for a walk as well, but I didn't get up early enough this morning to do so before work. And I left work too late to get my walk in this evening. It was full dark when I got home. I did do my Intu-Flow!

Cycle 4 Day 2 Low Intensity

Getting back on track after my day off on Thursday. It has been raining all morning. I took one of my sons, Isaiah, to Taekwondo. My plan was to walk around the area where the TKD school is located but it was raining. So, I drove down the road to Sam's Club and walked around inside at a fast pace like a mall walker. I walked for 42 minutes at which point it was time to pick up Isaiah.

The wife had a list of chores for us once we got home. Also, I needed to eat since it was midday and I had not eaten. After eating lunch and doing finishing up the "Honey Do" list I got in my Prasara Yoga recovery routine from the Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss. I was a bit sore in my core and upper back but now I feel nice, loose and energized.

Cycle 4 Day 1 No Intensity

I skipped my workout yesterday. I didn't sleep well the night before and didn't get up early enough to workout before driving down to the office. Once I got home I was just too tired to do anything but eat dinner, watch a little TV and go to sleep.

This morning I resumed my workout plan and did a 25 minute Intu-Flow recovery routine from the Bodyweight Blueprint for Fat Loss. I followed that with a short walk of 25 minutes and 1.23 miles. Had to cut it short so I would be available for  10AM virtual meeting via Google Hangouts.

Cool Misty Morning Walk and Yoga

Got up late this morning. However, after meditating and drinking my protein drink and coffee, I went for a walk anyway. I did 2.38 miles in 49:17 for an average of 2.9 mph. It was cool and misty when I started out. By the time I got home the mist had become a steady drizzle.

Once I got my wet outer clothes off, I did a Prasara Yoga recovery routine from the BB4FL. It was a short 11 minute workout. Feeling good! This makes six workout days in a row!

My Legs Finally Returned to Normal

Well, they returned to feeling like they do a day or so after a normal workout on Saturday which was the third day after I worked out on Wednesday. Thursday I didn't workout at all, just drove to ATL to Mom's place for Thanksgiving dinner and back. Friday I walked for about thirty minutes or so and did some stretching, primarily the Bretzel and Bretzel 2.0.

Sunday, I had good intentions to walk and stretch again but never got around to it. Today I had no plans to exercise but tomorrow will be another Crossfit Elements class at Swamp Rabbit Crossfit. I intend to get up early enough to make the 0600 class. I've packed a duffle with toiletries, towels and work clothes. I've also laid out my workout clothes. I'll need to leave the house sometime between 0515 and 0530.

I told my spaghetti legs/pressing means no legs story several times on Thanksgiving. I hope everyone realizes that even though I complained that it felt as if my quads were about to fall off my femurs, I really did enjoy the crossfit workouts. It was a lot of fun even if it was hard.

IntuFlow, C25K, Prasara Yoga

I don't seem to be able to post regularly even though I'm working out regularly. Two days ago I did my normal IntuFlow recovery routine. It was a nice twenty-four minute joint mobility program. It always makes me feel better and I hope it is really improving my mobility.

Yesterday I started my warm up at home with a brief IntuFlow routine. A bit later I continued warming up with FitSugar's active warmup for running outside Master Kim's while my son was in Tae Kwon Do class. I did some extra leg swings and toe raises on the curb, too. Then off to run Week Four Day One of the Couch to 5K running program.

miles/yards km/metres

Stage Distance Time Pace WU 408 metres 5:00 12:14 1 412 metres 3:00 7:16 1R 101 metres 1:30 14:47 2 682 metres 5:00 7:19 2R 204 metres 2:30 12:14 3 405 metres 3:00 7:23 3R 115 metres 1:30 12:56 4 657 metres 5:00 7:36 4R 203 metres 2:30 12:16 CD 376 metres 5:00 13:15 Total 2.78 km 24:00 8:36 inc WU/CD 3.57 km 34:00 9:30

Calories burned: 328

Calories burned (including warm up): 453

Even though this was a significant increase in interval lengths, overall distance and time my average pace was almost a minute per KM faster than last time! I'm quite proud of myself especially since I'm only running once every four days. The extra recovery time and recovery routines I've plugged into my program seem to be working. Once I got home I cooled down with eighteen minutes of Prasara Yoga.

Today was recovery only. I did a sixteen minute Prasara Yoga recovery routine. I can actually get fully into all but one of the postures in this routine as opposed to the cool down routine. I have trouble with at least three, maybe four of the postures in the cool down routine.

Yoga, Sprinting and Kettlebells

Yesterday, Sunday 20121007, was a recovery day. I did a brief, sixteen minute Prasara Yoga routine. I also went for a forty-one minute, 3.20KM walk. Total steps for the day 8443.

After a 14 minute warm up with an Intu-Flow routine combined with FitSugar's active warm up for running, today's workout had two main components: sprinting and kettlebell swings. Before getting started started with the sprints I walked between 500M and 600M. The temperature is about 50^°F so I felt the extra warm up was needed.

6 intervals 50M sprinting at 50% speed with 50M walking

6 intervals of 50M sprinting at 80-90% speed with 100M walking

I ran on the football field at Mauldin Middle School while my #1 son, Isaiah, was at his Tae Kwon Do class. By the time I finished running and walking back to my car it was time for me to drive around the corner and pick him up. The combined warmup walk, intervals and walk back to the car was 26 minutes and I covered 1.90KM. After picking up Isaiah, I then stopped to fill up the car's gas tank and drove on home.

When I got home I proceed to do kettlebell swings. First a quick warm up.

5 touch and go reps with 20 pounds at Point A

5 touch and go reps with 20 pounds at Point B

5 reps with 20 pounds full swings

Then on to the work sets.

3 sets of 25 reps with 20 pounds full swings 

Some explanation would probably be helpful. Point A is on the ground a few inches in front of and midway between the toes with feet at shoulder width. Point B is roughly inline with and midway between the heels again with feet at shoulder width. I've seen video of Crossfitters raising the kettlebell straight above their heads on swings but I stop around shoulder height as suggested by Tim Ferriss. Swings only took eight minutes for warm up and work sets. I cooled down with my normal Prasara Yoga routine. With holds of 40 seconds in each pose the yoga took about nineteen minutes. Tomorrow is an Intu-Flow recovery routine day and Wednesday will be Week Four Day One of Couch-to-5K.