Weekly Workouts & Phoenixville, Sushi, and the Phillies Game

It was another great week in the gym for me and I was flattered to be all over CFVF's social media!

M - 1.3 mi walk

T - CrossFit

• Gymnastics: Death by Strict Pull-Ups (min 1 - 1 pull up, min 2 - 2 pull ups, etc...) - I used the red band to assist me since I don't really have a strict pull up yet.  Apparently in April I got 5+5 and in June I got 6+6.  This time I got 7+4, yay for measured improvement!
• Metcon: 5 Rounds for Time
• 3 Wall Walks
• 9 Toes to Bar
• 15 Calorie Row

I love the rower.  I love the rower.  I love the rower... if I say it enough times will it start to be true????  The wall walks (start laying face down, put feet on the wall, walk up to a handstand) were fine.  The toes to bar went pretty well.  I was able to connect a bunch of them in a few rounds but towards the end I was too tired to get the timing right.  The rowing sucked.  I really tried to zone out in the 3rd and 4th rounds because it was just miserable.  There was a 15 minute cap, I got to the rower for my final round right before it hit but I knew I was just going to finish no matter what.  I was the last person working and everyone was cheering me on as I finished.  I really dug down deep and was pulling super hard.  I was getting 1 calorie per pull!  I finished at 15:49 and flopped off the rower knowing I gave that last row everything I had.

• After Party: Every Minute on the Minute (EMOM) for 5, 20 Sit Ups - These were exhausting, but not bad.  I did some double unders afterwards.

W - CrossFit

• Weightlifting: Power Clean + Hang Power Clean + Push Jerk (EMOM 8) - I got up to 120 lbs! These felt strong and I didn't have any wrist pain.

• Metcon: 5 x AMRAP 3
• 6 Wall Balls (20/14)
• 12 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)
• 24 Double Unders
• 1 Minute Rest in Between

I really like this format compared to the "every 3 minutes" since everyone works the whole time and you get that minute of guaranteed rest, as opposed to me just barely finishing each round while everyone else is resting.  All my double under work seemed to pay off because I was pretty consistent and I didn't hate them.  The kettlebell swings were definitely the hardest part.  The 35 lbs KB still feels super heavy but I do feel like I'm gaining more confidence with it and I have more control overhead.  The wall balls were actually my rest period!  My goal was to beat one of the top people in my gym (who is amazing at everything, but still struggles at dubs) who had done 8 rounds + 6.  When I was in the 4th time period I was starting to think it wasn't possible, but in the final 3 minutes I got to the jump rope in my 8th round and I realized I could do it if I pushed!  I got through the dubs and got through the wall balls quickly after.  I was gasping for breath and the last thing I wanted to do was pick up that kettlebell, but I busted out 10 reps before the clock ran out!  I got 8+16 and it felt so good!

How cute...

Th - Rest

F - CrossFit

• Hero WOD Friday: "Nutts"
• To honor Lieutenant Andrew Richard Nuttall, 30, from the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (1 PPCLI), based in Edmonton, Alberta, serving as a member of the 1 PPCLI Battle Group was killed by an improvised explosive device that detonated during a joint foot patrol near the village of Nakhonay in Panjwaii District, about 25 km southwest of Kandahar City on December 23, 2009.
• For Time (40 Minute Cap):
  • 10 HSPU - I didn't Rx these, used 1 ab mat, no plates though
  • 15 Deadlift 250/175 - I did 115#, I don't mess around with my back!
  • 25 Box Jump 30"/24"
  • 50 Pull Ups
  • 100 Wall Balls 20/14
  • 200 Double Unders
  • 400 m Run with Plate 45/25

Other than the 2 modifications I made at the beginning, I did the rest of this workout Rx!  The box jumps were 4" higher than usual, but they actually felt really good.  I thought the pull ups were going to be bad, but I just kept chipping away and they were fine.  The wall balls sucked!  My legs started hurting half way and I did them in sets of 7 and 8.  The double unders took me a while, but I kept at it and did ALL 200!  My "run" ended up being a weird trot that turned into a walk.  The plate was super awkward to carry and I was breathing really heavy, but when I was coming back, I saw a few people outside cheering for me and I finished strong with a slow jog!  The whole thing took me 32:38!

S - My legs are so sore!

S - Nada

Our weekend was pretty busy.  We went out in Phoenixville with some friends, worked a few hours from home (blah), did a lot of Folk Fest prep, enjoyed a sushi dinner at a friend's new house, and sweated our butts off at the Phillies game!

I always wish I took more pics, but oh well!  Since this week will be full of packing, cooking, and prepping for the Philadelphia Folk Festival and my calves still hurt from last week, I think I'm just going to take it easy and get back to the gym next week.  I'm sure I'll get my workout on Thursday when we're lugging all our stuff into the campgrounds!

Have a great week :)

Weekly Workouts (+ Cindy)

After feeling kind of blah about the gym last week, this week was completely different :)

M - 0.7 mi walk + CrossFit

• Strength:
• Shoulder Press (Build to a heavy single for the day) - I missed most of the cycle for this lift with wrist pain, so I can't really say I've seen any gains.  I got to 80# and failed on 85.
• Push Press (Build to a heavy single for the day) - The difference between these two lifts is you get a dip at the bottom in this one, the shoulder press is strict, just your arms.  That dip is huge for me because I got up to 125# and I could've done more.  These felt great, no wrist pain :)
• WOD: 4 Rounds for Time
• 10 Squat Clean (115/75)
• 10 Toes to Bar
• 10 Burpees over the Bar
• 16 Minute Time Cap

I was planning on Rxing but when my coach said we should be able to do the first 10 squat cleans unbroken, I thought maybe I should pull some weight off my bar.  I considered doing 65 lbs, but it seemed silly not to Rx over 10 lbs in one movement when I knew I could handle it.  I did the first 5 squat cleans connected and then went down to sets of 2.  I think in the third round I did most of them as singles, but when I got to the last round I found myself thinking about my goal to push through the suck and get faster and was able to do sets of 2 or 3.  I connected some of my toes to bar in sets of five, but did others as singles.  Finding that rhythm is still really awkward, but I'm improving.  My goal was to beat the cap and I finished at 15:04!

• I was so jazzed up after I finished the WOD that I decided to work on some pull ups and double unders on my own.

T - 0.8 mi walk + CrossFit 

• Strength: Back Squat 6 x 2 at 83%, 6-8 Push Ups in between Sets - I did my back squats at 160# and they felt pretty heavy, but they went well.  I only did 4 push ups between sets because I know I'm doing a ton of them on Friday and last time I did a bunch of strict push ups, I was sore for days!
• WOD: 10 Minute AMRAP
• 2 Power Snatch (115/75)
• 4 Wall Balls (20/14)
• 4 Power Snatch
• 8 Wall Balls
• 6 Power Snatch
• 12 Wall Balls
• 8 Power Snatch
• 16 Wall Balls
• 10 Power Snatch
• 20 Wall Balls...
• Score = Total Reps

I wasn't sure if I should Rx this, but my coach said my snatches looked great and I should go for it!  I got through the 10 snatches and then did 10 of the 20 wall balls for 80 total reps!  The snatches really felt great, I only started to struggle at the very end.  Wall balls aren't my fave but they felt strong as well.

• I worked on my dubs afterwards again and they were going pretty well.  I figure they can only get better and the extra cardio work can't hurt!

W - Rest

Th - Rest

F - CrossFit - Friday Night Lights Gymnastics WOD

• Benchmark WOD Cindy: 20 Minute AMRAP
• 5 Pull Ups
• 10 Push Ups
• 15 Air Squats

I seriously love our big Friday night workout events.  Tons of people come out and there's just an energy in the gym!  I didn't get there till a little bit later, so I was worried that everyone was going to be finished and I was going to be working out by myself, but there was a few people gearing up for the next heat.  The pull ups went really well.  I did most of them as singles, but connected a handful throughout.  I ripped my hand, but not until the very end so it wasn't too bad.  The push ups were the hardest part.  I did them all on my knees when I did Murph back in May, but I knew this was only 20 minutes and I wanted to Rx!  Muscle fatigue was really the limiting factor for this workout vs. cardio endurance.  The push ups were just so tough.  Soon enough 20 minutes was over and I made it through 12 rounds + 1 pull up!  (And then I drank some tequila at the gym... :D)

S - 3.1 mi hike at Valley Forge with Dave and the pups + painting!

S -  Painting (we're almost done!)

And the rest of our weekend was full of hanging with friends (and wanting to steal their super cute babies) but apparently we all forgot to take any photos... fail!  Hope you had a good week!