Loving the pain:starting CrossFit

[CliffA74]

I've recently started Crossfit. For full details, please see my bio in the Members Intro section. (I don't have time to retype all that stuff again. Or I'm lazy. Flip a coin)

So my wife hooked me up with a guy at the gym who was doing CrossFit, she thought it looked like something I would like, and she was right.

Here are my workouts for the past week:

Thursday 6/19/08
Seven rounds of:
75 pound Shoulder Press, 21 reps
21 Back extensions

Was pleasantly winded, pleasantly sore the next day.

Monday 6/23/08
Completed as many rounds in 15 minutes of:
65 pound Thruster, 10 reps
10 Pull-ups

Thought I was going to puke. Didn't. Wretchedly sore the next day.

Tuesday 6/24/08
5 circuits of:
10 Pull-ups
10 Parallel bar dips

Happily whooped afterwards. Pull-ups have been a real struggle for me. At best I can do 10 in a row, had to do jump/negative pullups for the other sets. Once again incredibly sore that night and into the next day. Kind of enjoyed it. I started drinking another protein shake each day to try and help with recovery.

Wednesday 6/25/08
Attempted to run a 5K, but a strong thunderstorm blew in and I had to run for cover instead of run for mileage.

Thursday and Friday, rest days.

OK, here are some barriers I have to work around.
1. I'm a Former Fat Boy. I've lost 70 pounds! (going from 260 to 190) This did not happen this week. It took a few years. But I can't really load up on a ton of calories to "bulk up," since I'll just get fat again.
2. I am on call at the hospital once a week. Typically I get around 2-3 hours of sleep that night, sometimes more, sometimes less. This can hamper training, and recovery. I have a rule: If I get less than 4 hours of sleep the night before, I don't train at all. And obviously If I'm cruising around on 4.5 hours of sleep, I don't go for a PR next workout.


My goals: Basically to get "super fit." I have some numbers goals to hit. And of course, I need to look like a greek god without my shirt. That would be nice. Maybe just Michelangelo's statue of David. I would settle for that.


Have fun,
Cliff

[CliffA74]

Saturday 06/28/08
Three rounds of:
Wall-ball, ~15 pound ball, 10 ft target, 15 repsx3 (broke a ceiling tile)
Sumo deadlift, 75 pounds, reps for 7,7,12
High-pull, 75 pounds, reps for 7,7,12
Box Jump, 20" box, reps 20x3
Push-press, 75 pounds reps 10,10,12
Run 1/4 mile

Then did two sets of hanging leg to elbows. I can do 3!!
Then we did situps where you throw the medicine ball at each other. I forget what that's called. even used one hand at a time for a set!

Have fun,
Cliff

[CliffA74]

Much less sore today than previous. Perhaps I'm improving.

Have fun,
Cliff

[JDR3]

Good to have another CF'er on board!

Welcome and look forward to reading your post.

[CliffA74]

Thanks JDR3!!
I am enjoying myself.
Though today, I really did feel a little nauseated, instead of just joking about it.

Monday 6/30/08
3 circuits of:
1/2 mile run
35# dumbell swing x21
95# thrusters x21
Pullups x21

To be strictly honest, we dropped down to 75#'s on the thrusters after the first circuit. Better to finish than be macho and hurt ourselves. Little to no rest in between circuits, though there was plenty of standing there gasping for breath from yours truly.
My heart rate monitor said I burned ~1000 calories during that workout. Not bad!

Tuesday 7/01/08
Where do they come up with these things?
Double unders x45
135# squat clean x45
Parallel bar dips x45
Box jumps x45

Again, for historical accuracy, I attempted numerous times to actually complete one or two double unders. Not yet able to do those. So I just jumped rope for a minute each time.
I had to break each exercise into segments, so it was kind of a lopsided, ugly superset/circuit/thing.
My anterior delts are already on fire, as are several deeper, smaller muscles in rotator cuff. In a good way though.

I must say, I am still enjoying myself.
I am thrilled that my abs are sore, without doing crunches. I generally hate standard ab workouts, doing 100's of crunches. Boring!

So far no joint pain, just muscle soreness. My back is doing well, it hurts worse from sitting wrong for twenty minutes once yesterday than the last two weeks of ballistic exercise.

Tomorrow is rest day. Also on call, so I pray for sleep.

Have fun,
Cliff

[JDR3]

Good job on the workouts!

Way to be smart and adjust the weights as needed.

[minime]

hey cliff, welcome to journalling! Always good to see another CF enthusiast on the board.

Workouts are looking great!

Hi Cliff and here's my belated Happy 34th Birthday greeting. I read on another post that you had a birthday yesterday.

That means you were born in 1974. I remember 1974. Gerald Ford was President and I was in the U.S. Army stationed in San Francisco but soon to be transferred to Korea. I owned a 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and had a 8-track stereo installed in my car (ask your Dad what an 8-track was - it was before cassettes). Disco was king, I was single into the night club scene and hickies were badges of honor. Polyester bell bottom pants with a cuff, platform shoes, and long-sleeved silk shirts. I never did the gold chain thing but leather trench coats when the weather was cooler. That was then and this is now.

You are a young pup so enjoy your youth and have a great 4th of July.

[CliffA74]

Thanks everybody!
I am starting a petition right now to have Pierini wear his old disco outfit in the next video he posts!
Every one sign up here:
x____________
x____________
x____________

Yesterday I paddled a canoe for over an hour. What incredible fun. Really, no sarcasm. I enjoyed it. Never tried it before.
The last 15 minutes the wind really kicked up and tossed me around quite a bit. I was one guy in a two person canoe, and the wind would catch the front like a sail. What finally worked was rowing backwards till I got spun again, and then forwards till the spin, then backwards, etc. I looked like an idiot, but it worked. THAT part wasn't fun. But the 50 or so minutes before were quite enjoyable.

So for me, that counts as a great workout. It was physical, enjoyable, a little challenging. I had quite the sweat worked up by the end, and not just from the heat. (though I'm sure that helped.)

Today is a rest day.

Tomorrow might be one too, or something easy. I'll get back to the real rat killin' Monday. And the diet will have to clean up too, some birthday related excesses have been reported.

Have fun,
Cliff

[CliffA74]

Monday 7/7/08
We had a wretched day at work. Lots of stuff going on in the hospital, which really screwed up our afternoon clinic. Had to cancel on my training partner. Got home really late, but still wanted to do something. Popped in the P90X Core Synergistics DVD.
Heresy!!
No really, it's a good workout, lots of weird pushups, lunges with overhead dumbbells and ab work without doing crunches. Find an illegal copy on the internet and enjoy!
(The above statement is offered in the spirit of sarcasm and it should not be construed that I advocate piracy in anyway. My mom-in-law paid for my copy off of ebay so it's totally legit. Calm down!)

Tuesday was an on call night, so no workout. Actually got ~5 hours of sleep! Very nice.

Wednesday work was awful again, ran even later than monday. I had to teach a bible study and had no time for training.
But rest days are really important, so I'm OK.

Thursday 7/10/08
I'm off work today, so I hit the gym early.
Shoulder press 125x1, 125x1, 135x1, 135x1, 135x1
Push press 135x3, 135x3, 145x3, 145x3, 145x3
Push Jerk 95x5, 95x5, 105x5, 115x5, 125x5
I cut the weight on the Push Jerk, because I am not really familiar with that lift. I could've done more, but why? I'm learning. Later I'll toss up a volkswagon or something similar, but for now, staying injury free is better. My ego can take it.
I still had some juice left, and I had to wait on my wife anyway, so I ran intervals on the treadmill for 20 minutes. Went as fast as 12, but only for 20 seconds on a 7% incline. Really pushed it. It was fun. Treadmill running is boring. But, taking a tip from pierini, if I run crazy fast and hard till I'm gasping for air, I ain't bored.

Have fun,
Cliff

Smart move on holding back on the push jerk. It requires more bravery and flexibility. Based on your numbers, 95 lbs. in probably a good training weight for working on technique. Lots of good stuff on youtube.

[CliffA74]

Thanks Pierini, I have started poking around youtube for lessons.

Last night I was still feeling good, and my wife and I are competing this week to see who can lose the most weight, so I took her water aerobics class.
It's fun, and she has gotten pretty tough.

That brought my calorie burn for yesterday to ~1700, according to my heart rate monitor. Don't worry, I ate plenty (yet clean).

In our weight loss competition, my wife and I lost the exact same amount of weight: 4.4 pounds.
It's recovery from the birthday celebrations last week.

On to today's workout:

Friday 07/11/08
A nice try
5 minutes of jumping jacks and running in place, then
3 dumbbell circuits of:
-Dead lift 135x12, 135x12, 135x12
-Hang Power Clean 95x12, 75x12, 95x12
-Front Squat 115x9, 95x9, 95x9
-Push Jerk 75x6, 75x6, 95x6
Performed in 36 minutes.
I couldn't make it to the gym today, so I used dumbbells outside in the sunshine! (and heat) So the weights listed here are the combined weight, not individual `bells.
The original WOD from the crossfit site would have had me do 5 rounds with the same weight, but I didn't have it in me.
PLUS, my main excuse is that those exercises might be tougher with dumbbells than with a bar. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

I'm still learning, I'll berate myself more next time if I don't improve.

Have fun,
Cliff

[CliffA74]

"Filthy Fifty" For Time:

• 50 Box jump, 24 inch box
• 50 Jumping pull-ups
• 50 Dumbbell swings (35#)
• Sprint for three minutes x5
• 50 Steam Engines
• 50 Push press (95#)
• 50 Back extensions
• 50 Wall ball shots (12#)
• 50 Burpees
• 50 Tuck Jumps

Completed in 1 hour, 7 minutes, ~1300 calories and a very large puddle of sweat.

I modified the workout somewhat, mainly no kettlebells at our gym. Steamengines for knee to elbows. Sprints instead of lunges. My wife's idea. Lunges bother her SI joint.
She joined me today, and fun was had by all! Especially the folks doing "normal" workouts who kept giving us weird looks.

Tomorrow is a rest day.

Have fun,
Cliff

[minime]

great job powering through that one cliff! The fifties are one of the most demanding of crossfit workouts, you did awesome! And 1300 calories, wow, you deserve a cheeseburger or somethin' lol!

[CliffA74]

Thanks Minime! I greatly appreciate the compliment.
Good to know that was considered tough. My new training partner (who introduced me to crossfit) has been redeployed to Afghanistan, so I'm on my own for the foreseeable. Thus I have lost my sense of what is considered "really tough" versus "you should be able to do this wimp."

Workouts for this week:

Monday 7/14/08

• Walking Lunge, 20 steps
• 15 Double Crunch
• 15 Hip Extensions
• 5 Pull-ups
• 5 Bar dips

11 rounds completed in 30 minutes. I think I can do better next time, cutting out some transitions from station to station. And I kept needing to drink water...

Tuesday 7/15/08
"Angie"

• 100 Pull-ups
• 100 Push-ups
• 100 Sit-ups
• 100 Squats

Completed in 16 minutes, 4 seconds! Again, I hope to do better later, but I was really happy about that time. But I kept having to stop to write down my reps so I could keep count!

Wednesday 7/16/08
Was supposed to run, but it was really hot, and I was low on time.
So I completed 45 minutes of the P90X Plyometrics DVD.
10 minute warmup,
30 minutes of hopping around making sweat puddles,
5 minutes stretching.

Thursday 7/17/08
On call at hospital, so today counts as a rest day. If I get enough sleep tonight, I'll try to exercise tomorrow. If not, Another rest day. Especially since I'm on call this whole weekend. Might get to do some pushups and stuff while stuck in hospital all weekend, but will probably be too busy.
We'll see.

Have fun,
Cliff