Intervals

Looooooove intervals!

20 sec on, 10 sec off for 8 sets of each exercise. Each exercise was completed before moving onto the next. No extra rest between exercises.

1. KB swings
2. Burpees
3. KB High pulls
4. Squats (10 second rest was in the squat position, NOT standing up)
5. Burpees

I averaged 9.5 burpees per set, so I did about 150. I was around 11 or 12 swings per set with the 16kg (waaaaaay too light!), about 12 per set of the high pulls, and 18 squats per set. I could've done better on the squats (deeper, not faster) if I could've stood up between sets...but it was still good.

Spring showers

Quick and fun workout today:

400 m run
Line drills
4x100 m sprints
3x200 m sprints
50 burpees
3x100 fwd + 3x100 bkwd JR with green rope

I wanted to do more JR, but ran out of time, because my schedule is a little tight today. It started raining pretty hard while I was doing my sprints, but there was no lightning, so I kept going...it actually was really fun. The rain felt so good.

I can't even tell you how unbelievable the wildflowers are right now. There are so many of them, and they are so bright and beautiful. There's all different kinds, all different colors, but the most amazing are the bluebonnets. I need to get out this weekend and take pictures. They are stunning. You guys really need to visit Texas sometime in late March/early April. Wow. Gotta run! Have a great day!

Two days of screwy workouts

Yesterday I went into the gym just to experiment and play. The gym is set up for Crossfit, so there's a lot of stuff to experiment with that we didn't do at the MBG. Here's some of the stuff I did:
-overhead squats with a bar (some high rep sets at 45lbs and some low rep sets at 75 lbs)
-bent over rows with the 16, 20, and 24kg
-down dogs off a 20" box and shoulder presses on the gravity machine to compare
-kb presses (used a 16kg and focused on pulling the weight down very slowing, trying to keep the traps working)
-jump rope
-122 situps
-10 PW alligator pushups
-PW curls
-hamstring curls on the gravity machine for comparison
-gravity machine pullups
-a bunch of different cable exercises on the gravity machine
-kb cleans - did 5 on each arm progressing from the 16 up to the 24, then attempted singles with the 32 (they were ugly)
-back extensions

My intention with the gravity machine was just to experiment with it, learn how to use it, see what it can do, and have a better idea of how to use it with clients. Since training at the MBG, I am pretty biased against machines in general, but I want to know how to use it anyway. I've been getting really good results with clients using the methods learned from Jon in the CNT course, so I intend to continue training people that way...but I'm all about learning what's out there and what other people are doing. Knowledge never hurts. :)

That brings me to today's workout...everyone in class had to throw out an exercise, which was listed on the board, and then we had to say random numbers, which were pretty randomly assigned to the exercises. So the workout ended up being as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
8 renegade rows
4 turkish get ups on each side
7 pullups
400 m run
3 burpees (3?!?)
10 wall ball
9 swings

I moved through everything pretty fast except for the turkish get ups. I was feeling pretty beat today, so I wasn't worried about going all-out anyway.

So I am training a friend of mine today and her four children...should be fun. I need to go make some homemade med balls before I train them...guess I should do that now. Have a great day!!!

New record for pushups

So I repeated the high volume pushup workout. Last time I did this, on Super Bowl Sunday, I did 300 pushups in 33:40. Today I did 300 in 29:19. Then I took a short break and did another 50, for a total of 35:52. I thought about trying to get up to 400, but I started failing after every two pushups on my last set and decided to call it quits. I'm still happy with my results for today.

Earlier this morning, I worked out with the Crossfit group. We did 21 DB snatches (on each arm), DB swings, 3 room lengths traveling burpees; 15 snatches, 15 swings, 3 lengths, 9 snatches, 9 swings, 3 lengths.

Then we ran 3x400m intervals. My times were 1:29, 1:24, and 1:15, which are OK, I guess. I want to get faster...need to do more intervals. :)

running fool

Well, with the weather being what it is (which is BEAUTIFUL) I've been working out outside. Yesterday was an easy ~5miles (from MBG to Sheraton and back), with 50 flights of stairs on the way out. Which made my butt sore today! During my stairs, I met a girl from Charlottesville and stopped to talk about the city and some of the running stuff they have there. The rest was much needed, and its great to hear about all the outdoor opportunites I'll have in VA!

Today I did a roadwork type run. I did variable intervals (anywhere from 3-7 min) stopping every so often to do some stationary exercises. Pushups, handstands, jumps onto picnic table benches, you get the picture. I even passed a playground and was able to get some pullups in. The whole thing took about 50 minutes, and was so much fun!

I'm going to be in trouble...

So its 78 degrees and sunny - absolutely beautiful out. The wild flowers are exploding all over the place. The bluebonnets are breath-taking. DH and I went outside for a short workout, and while its gorgeous out, its also comfortably warm. I'm in trouble, because this is just the start of spring. In a couple months, I'm going to be dying in the heat and the relentless sun again...so you guys will be enjoying a nice, pleasant summer, and I'll be roasting...great...

Anyway, I was tired again today...not as bad as yesterday, but I decided a short, intense workout was what I needed, so I did 150 burpees for time. DH did 100 for time. I did my 150 in 8:41.

Some workouts just make me mad

I felt like a big sandbag when I woke up this morning. I felt that way yesterday too, so I took yesterday off. I figured I would feel better once I started working out, but about 1/4 of the way into this workout, I was just ticked off.

Anyway, today's workout:

1 mile run
75 burpees
1 mile run
75 swings (24kg)

I felt better once it was over. I am thinking of doing a short 15/15 later of just pushups and situps, depending on how I feel. Have a great weekend!

Wicked Wednesday Workout

3 rounds for time:
800 m run
~75 walking lunges
30 pushups

After my first round, Adam told me to bring my hands in close and start doing my pushups that way. That made my triceps burn, and slowed me down a lot, but it was good.

Last week my little brother had knee reconstruction surgery. Last night he went back into the hospital, and somewhere around 10 p.m. they operated again, because he had developed a severe infection within the knee. The surgeon said it was really bad... Hopefully now he'll heal quickly. At times like this, I really hate living 1200 miles away, but his wife is there with him, so he's in good hands. :)

Cloudy, misty Tuesday

Saturday and Sunday - off. Sunday night - up until 2 a.m. dealing with SIL.

Monday - for time: 800 m run; 5 rounds of 21 wall ball (used 15kg) and 12 body rows on bar; 800 m run. I finished somewhere around 18:57 I think. Felt OK, in spite of only 3 hours of sleep.

Tuesday - trained a client in the morning, felt fine. Came home and crashed. My entire day got screwed up due to sleep deprivation catching up with me. Then, I changed my workout plans at least 5 times this morning. I finally did the timed version of the mile breakdown workout. 10 minute easy run to warm up. Walk 2 min. Run hard 10 min. Walk 4 min. Run hard 7.5 min. Walk 4 min. Run 5 min. Walk 4 min. Run 2.5 min. Walk home. Covered a little over 4 miles. Some of the walking was doubling back along my route. This totally kicked my butt today...

Uh, I think that's it. Sleep deprivation hitting hard today. I can't think. In other news, SIL completely moved out of her old apartment, and so her cat and her ferret are here. Her cat does NOT get along with our cats. We got a Feliway plug-in, and today, after enough hissing and growling, I drugged them all. I put catnip and valerian in their water and on their food, and I got this liquid herbal stuff called Pet Calm. I put it in treats, but the hissy one was so upset, she wouldn't eat, so I finally shoved a dropper full of it down her throat...so now they're all laying around without a care in the world... So, I guess this will be the way around here until SIL moves out...

Running, swimming, belly-dancing

Hey! So, still staying with mostly running and swimming, noticed how/when breathing seemed to tighten up and what was happening. I think it really is more vocal chord spasms than anything else. When I do the rescue breathing strategies, they help enough, but with swimming it was almost too much to be able to do them when I was actually swimming so I stopped short of a mile. I noticed that I have good actions with my breathing in the lower abs, but at my solar plexus there is still a lot of tightness, even when I'm really trying. So, my thought is to take a happier approach to all of it and take some bellydancing lessons. For me, dancing is always the best therapy!

No workout today, late class tonight, but I'll report back tomorrow morning on my workout.

burpee extravaganza!

Yesterday I did as many burpee variations as I could think of (20 of each):
wall pushout
reverse wall
donkey kick
lateral hop over cable
lateral position (to side-thinker instead of prone thinker @ bottom)
reverse burpee (similar to deck squats)
burpee to box jump
with pushup
with pullup
one arm
one leg

(many of these variations are shown at BodyWeightCulture)

Then I was tired, so I stopped!

I did do my daily PW curls, kneeling mountain and supine bridge. My hip flexors are still so tight! I need to fix them, but I'm not sure what I'm doing is working.

Ready for some green brews

I am NOT working out tomorrow. Well, that was the plan all week anyway, because we're going to a wedding tomorrow. I think it will take an hour or so to get there, and its in a castle...no kidding, a castle. I assume its formal, in which case it'll actually take me an hour or so to get ready, so there's no time for a workout tomorrow anyway.

ANYWAY, yesterday morning I went for a run. I did 1/2 mile intervals, with resting by walking in circles in between. I didn't want to cover any distance during my recoveries. I covered a bit under 3 miles.

Today was a GREAT workout. I chose heavier weights, and I was feeling a bit tired, so I was nervous...but it turned out perfect. Lighter weights would have been a total cop out.

I can't remember the order exactly, but it was something like this:

30 KB clean and press (15 on each arm - used 20 kg)
walking lunges - a lot of them
30 wall ball (used 15 lb)
30 swings (used 24kg...would've used 32kg but I didn't want to carry a third KB across the room...I need to start working out on the other side of the room)
30 situps
30 high pulls (to overhead - used the 24kg)
400 m run
30 underhand body rows on a bar
30 pushups
50 burpees

I finished it in a little under 25 minutes. It was a really good workout, but now that I've recovered, I do regret not using the 32kg for the swings. At least I did all 30 without stopping. With the 32, I probably would've broken it into 2 sets.

Have a great weekend and a happy St. Patrick's Day!!

A question for you...

So, I wasn't specific about the latest allergy related thing, but I need to ask about a symptom I have because I don't know what's normal anymore... I have GERD (gastro-esophogal-reflux-disease) which is often the case when people have asthma (which I also have, but it's very mild and only seems to flare with very bad allergies or a cold). Anyway, I've always thought of myself as having an iron stomach because I rarely get sick or nauseous (I'm touching wood) and now am starting to realize that I rarely have those symptoms because I basically don't feel anything in my stomach until I'm at the extreme point of that state: e.g., extremely hungry, extremely full, extremely nauseous. I attribute this to decades of treating my appetite and food like family members I don't like but can't get rid of. Now that I'm paying attention, I feel a burning sensation almost all the time. Maybe it's psychosomatic, but whatever. The sensation of nausea/reflux is very strong when I workout hard, regardless of how long ago I ate. I remember when I first started working out at the gym, and experiencing this, and wondering about it, and then just becoming used to it and also able to tolerate more intensity just because I was becoming more fit. Anyway, what I want to know is, does this happen to you? I'm wondering if I'm doing permanent harm to myself by working out like I like to... The information I've read in medicine and health basically say work out but not too hard in order to manage these symptoms... I have some breathing exercises I can do to relieve the sense of not being able to breath when the symptom comes on, but the nausea part is concerning to me because I don't want to develop something worse...

quick dirty workout

Today I got back into town just in time to go to the MBG for a workout. I did the posted WOD:

20/15/10/5 of each:
downdog/divebombers (I did both depending on reps)
body rows
tucks on a bar (knees to elbows)
broad jumps

Not too exciting, but ah well. The exciting part came after, when I cleaned the 90 pound Dball. I've never tried that before, and it was pretty easy. The 100# is too cumbersome though, as its larger. Jon wants us to try for a 'gold standard' challenge in Dball cleans. For men, its 30 reps in 60 seconds with 50% bodyweight. He wasn't sure what the women's standard would be, but hopefully less. Or I'd have to lose a bit of weight! He suggested 40% BW instead; perhaps I'll work at that.

Wednesday

Today I messed around without any particular number of sets or reps in mind. I did overhead squats, renegade rows, and deadlifts.

I started out with a 45 lb bar for the OHS, but moved up to 65 lb. I felt like I could probably go heavier, but I decided to work at 65 lbs today. Next week I think I will try them again and see how high I can go for a 5x5 maybe.

Renegade rows with the 16s, mostly. I did a set of 12, and a couple sets of 24. Then I tried the renegade rows with the 20s, which I could do, but had a hard time rowing the KB up high enough...so I went back to 16s.

Deadlifts...first I tried 2x32 lbs...I didn't feel like I could get the movement just right, so I loaded a bar and did them that way instead. With the bar I did a few sets at 135 lbs. I felt like I could've lifted more, but my energy was so-so and I wasn't going all out today...

That's it for now...be strong!

Sprints

Sprint workout this morning.

1/2 mile easy run to warm up. Line drills in the end zone of the soccer field.

Sprints:
2x100m
3x200m
2x100m

The 200m sprints were PAINFUL. I hate sprinting....hate it. I need to commit to doing it once a week.

Nutrition is decent today, except for the two glasses of bourbon tonight. Berry and whey protein smoothie for breakfast, huge spinach-veggie-tuna salad for lunch, protein bar, soy nuts, and walnuts for snacks, homemade beef fajitas for dinner (beef strips, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, super hot salsa, homemade corn-flax tortillas).

Spring!

Been working/traveling some and dealing with further allergy-related stuff, so have been working out and following good nutrition with a lot of intention for the last week and a half... Mostly, my workouts have involved running, just getting to where I can go for about 5 miles without stopping. I'm slow. But it feels good, especially now that it's not so cold. Yesterday, I did a simple workout. 10 sets of 5 reps (each side) one-armed kb cleans. I used a 20. Then I was going to shoot for 10 sets of 5 reps on push-ups, but I stopped at 8 sets. I haven't done push-ups for a while, and it was hard. I'm sore today, going to go for a bikeride.

Nutrition wise, I'm just trying to not eat anything too acidic, and to eat more frequently. I can't seem to permit myself a small meal in the afternoon between lunch and dinner. AS a result, I'm so hungry that when I get home I eat too much and/or too fast and it is creating problems for me, especially if I try to get a little exercise even two hours later. So, I'm working on slowing down in the afternoons, planning and preparing an afternoon snack to help. Then I'll see how things go...Also, still working on opening up my third chakra (located at the solar plexus). I'm finding kneeling mountain, to table, to prone mountain, to bridge, to ultra dome a helpful sequence. Namiste!

Fun Card Deck

I did a card deck today with burpees, pushups, box jumps (20" box), and v-ups. I finished it in 30:20. Felt pretty darn good too. I feel like I could do more, but I am going to save it for sprints tomorrow. :D

i'm a copycat

I'm home for a day, and so I wanted to take advantage of equipment I don't have in LaCrosse.

I did a workout very similar to K-smash's 'playing with kb's', except I was breathing too hard to feel like I was playing!
I did 4 sets of 5 reps of:
1. double cleans
2. single push press
3. double front squats
4. single snatches
5. double swings.

Swings were much easier with one 40k than 2-20's, so I have to admit I did them that way. I feel like my form suffers with 2 kb's, because I worry about banging my legs with them as I swing them through, and so I don't stand squarely on my feet.

Then I did a short run, 2 miles on the treadmill at my typical slow pace. So far, despite being busy with school and on call, I've managed to work out every day this week, and I'm very proud! Sometimes the hardest part is just starting the workout after a long day at work.

Fry-day indeed

This morning I decided to copy the ladder workout that Adam did for the afternoon Crossfit class for the morning class...which involved me doing the workout to lead it. Used a 16kg again. I ran through all the exercises once yesterday with a 20kg. I can do it, but it slows me way down to use the 20kg.

Then a couple hours later, I did a few heavy sets of KB stuff and pushups.
4 sets of 5 cleans with 2x20kg, 5 push presses on each arm with 20kg, 5 or 6 front squats with 2x20 kg (Totally had to break it up - could do 3 in a row, set it down, 2 more...etc...), swings (1 set of 5 swings 2x20 (couldn't get them up to shoulder height), 1 set of 5 swings 2x16, 3 sets of 10 swings 2x16kg, 1 set of 6 swings 2x16kg),
5 snatches with 20kg on each arm, 2 sets of 5 pushups with 25lbs on my back, 2 sets of 10 pushups with 25 lbs. Last, 60 situps. I think I'll call it a day. :)

Morning run

DH and I went for a 3 mile run this morning, at a pretty easy pace.
I was planning on doing sprints today, but I don't think that's going to work into my schedule. I guess I will save them for this weekend. I might try Burpees' burpees/jumprope workout later...

Ladder workout

Adam led a ladder workout today. I really liked it. The way it works is you end up doing as many rounds as different exercises. First round, one exercise. Second round, two exercises. Sixth round, six exercises. You add one more exercise on every time you go through it. You guys probably know this already, but it was new to me...
We did figure 8s (around shins), slingshots (around waist), squats, presses, bent over rows, swings (3 levels), and overhead high pulls. I used a 16kg. After that we ran 800m. I felt worked but energetic afterwards.

There was a local news channel at class tonight doing a story on Adam. I hate pictures and I hate being filmed even more...totally NOT my thing. Then I had to sit down and be interviewed after the workout. I think I sounded like a complete idiot. Of course, now that I've had time to think about the questions, I have much better answers, but too late now. Grrrrrr...I am the world's biggest dork.

DH did a nice little workout tonight. I discovered a clever way to get him to train a little more regularly. I write his assigned workout of the day on the bathroom mirror with a dry erase marker. If its there when he wakes up, or even the day before, then he knows there's no excuse. I'm keeping his workouts pretty short for now too, to keep him going. So tonight he did a 40's workout...40 reps each of pushups, situps, overhead high pulls, swings, and bent over rows. I had written body rows, but he did the bent over rows instead because his injured finger is still bothering him. I want to start giving him some 5x5 workouts with full pullups, but he says his finger hurts too much for him to do a pullup. I think I'm more frustrated over it than he is. Aside from the finger, he's doing great. This weekend I think we're going to do the 150 burpees for time workout together. :D

it took some work

but I did manage to get a workout in. Most of the work was getting off the bed after I threw myself down onto it. I didn't work all that hard today, but for some reason I'm exhausted. Its probably because I haven't actually done work in awhile.

Anyhow, workout today:
Down the mountain of burpees (15 to 1)
Up the mountain of JR (10-150 in increments of 10)
(these two exercises were paired, so as I decreased burpees, I increased JR)

It took me about 22 minutes.
Then I did 25/20/15/10/5 of PW pikes and curls. I need to strengthen my hammies and let my hip flexors relax, so I need to build in more supine bridge. Its affecting the way I stand, and my back starts to hurt when standing up all day. Which is not a good problem for a surgery intern!

Springtime in Texas

Before you get all ticked off at me, just remember, in July and August, you will be happy and enjoying wonderful, pleasant weather, and I will be trying to survive 100+ degree heat and intense, never ending sun.

The plan for today was to go for an easy jog with DH and then do sprints on my own. However, I woke up nice and sore, and DH was in a hurry to get to work, so I went for a medium pace 3 mile run on my own. It felt good...I think it was what I needed today.

Its in the mid-60s and sunny...definitely the beginning of spring. Trees and spring flowers are starting to blossom all over the place and everything is coming back to life. It was beautiful.

on the road again . . .

Not exactly, but I am in LaCrosse for March. Its the perfect time to make sure that I can keep on track on my own, without relying on the gym to keep me working out every day. And also to keep working out through sleep deprivation and other such badness.

Because K-smash remembered the 100 pushup challenge, and her post reminded me to do it, I also timed 100 pushups. I was fresh though, with no previous thruster workout (those just sound hard!) to make me tired. So I did 100 pushups in 4:18.

Then, inspired, I also did the remainder of my workout in 100's for time:
hindu squats in 2:04
situps in 3:16
90 degree chins in 3:56
burpees in 5:48

Burpees was saddest; I've never timed them since I set my personal record last summer. But I did it, and its almost 2 minutes slower, but I'll have to work back toward that breakneck pace I had at one time.

Yay for Monday

Today: 21-15-9 Thrusters (squat to press) and jumping pullups. Thrusters were with 65 lb barbell.

An hour later I tested myself on pushups. 100 as fast as possible, which ended up being 6:23. That did NOT make me happy...but I have a number to beat. :)

Then I did 5 sets alternating between 5 weighted pushups (30 lbs) and 30 situps. So...25 weighted pushups and 150 situps.

Friday through Saturday ended up being rest/play days. Friday I did do Egoscue for about an hour. Then I played with KBs on and off through the day. I've been practicing double snatches with the 12s and I kind have the simultaneous snatch and clean thing with the 12s. I've been playing with different kinds of pushups for the heck of it too. I'm still doing single underhand pullups, and feeling frustrating that I can't progress on those faster. I meant to actually do a serious workout over the weekend, but life just got in the way. So that brings me to some interesting news. SIL dumped the loser boyfriend and is in the process of moving back in with DH and I. Yup, life is going to get interesting now. :D

6X3

Today's WOD was a 6X3, designed to be heavy weights. I did:
down dog pushups off high box (one leg up in the air, to simulate real hs pushups)
rope climb
front squats with 16k's
deadlifts with 40k's

When I rack anything heavier than 16k's, I feel as though my weight is tipped forward, and I need to bail out forward with my weights. I'm not sure how to get back on my heels to keep the weight up. Its pretty frustrating, because I'm sure I can front squat more than 16k's, but when I try anything heavier, I fail.

Thursday

I felt pretty tired when I woke up this morning. I decided to go out for a run anyway...I think my ego wanted to go for a run much more than my body did. I need to think about planning more rest days.

Anyway, I covered about 4 miles, at a medium to medium-slow pace. That's probably it for today.