6.24.13- Jump around!

Today's workout (like more workouts) came in 2 parts. The first half of the session, we were tasked with five sets of three front loaded squats, each getting progressively heavier. I started at 135, the increased by ten pounds all the way to 175. Honestly, I felt I could have done more, but I wanted to save my legs a little for the second half of the workout, holy shit am I glad I did.

The second half was 3 rounds, for time, of a 500 meter row then 100 jumps with the jump rope. This was terrible for a number of reasons:

1) This was 2 activities, in quick succession, which would classify as "cardio." Big guys like me gain no competitive advantage from moving heavy weights and thus, the smaller amongst the group lap me by even more than usual.

2) I'm terrible at jump rope (for now.) I tripped up about every 10th jump. It is just difficult to get this kind of mass far enough off the ground for long enough that a cord can pass through.

3) It is hot outside. Like, hot, muggy and awful. Being that I am a sweaty dude in general, days like this make me feel like I should volunteer at a fire department. Not as one of those heroes that climb into buildings and save people, but as a fire hydrant. I feel like I could easily provide them with 10 gallons/second. Afterward, I thought about drinking some muscle milk, but then I remembered the sage advice of one of my idols:

In any case, despite losing enough liquid to jump start a dried up river, I finished the workout in 14:16. oooo, doggy.

Fitness Update: Week 28

Starting Stats (12/10/12)

Height- 5'8.5"

Weight- 336.6 lbs

Waist- 58.5"

Neck- 17.5"

Bodyfat- 46.9%

Current Stats (6/21/13)

Height- 5'8.5"

Weight- 304.4 lbs

Waist- 51.25"

Neck- 16.25"

Body fat- 40.99%

Change:

Weight: -32.2 lbs

Waist: -7.25"

Neck: -1.25"

Body fat: -5.91%

6.20.13- Sitting on the Bench

Today's workout was a little out of character for Crossfit. No snatch lifts, no handstand pushups, no throwing medicine balls into the air. Instead, it was plain old bench presses. For some reason, this feels almost too vanilla for the exotic crossfit method. At least the number of reps got a little crazy. Here is what I did:

-10 Reps at 115
-8 reps at 125
-5 reps at 135

After that, things got a little more in line with what I have come to expect from Crossfit. 6 rounds, starting every 2 minutes, in which I had to do 15 Russian Kettlebell swings, with a 20 Kg weight,  and an 80 meter run.

A relatively light day, which is nice, because my legs are still killing me.

6.18.13- Double up!

The workout yesterday revolved around back loaded squat thrusts and rowing. Our class was completely full up. I think there were like 14 of us, so instead of us getting our own stations we all had to double up. As it turned out, I was partnered with Marc, a good dude and a running mate for lifting. Honestly, he is much more in shape than me, so I have to thank him for being gracious and not giving me a sideways glance when I  topped out at 185 pounds for the squat thrusts.

Surely, a man able to grow as impressive and well groomed a beard as he is more of a man than I

In any case, both of us pulled off 5 sets of 5 back loaded squat thrusts at 185 pounds, and much rejoicing was done in out land. Then came the rowing part of the workout. We had to row 16 heats  (8 each) of 200 meter efforts, switching between partners with each run. It was like a relay from hell. Afterwards, I laid out on the grass for a couple of minutes, contemplating the lack of air in my lungs and the fictional stars before my eyes. It was rough.

That said, Marc and I were like the 2nd team in the class to finish, which meant we did alright. Of the 8 runs, my fastest time was 38.2 seconds, while my slowest time was 44.5 seconds. Not the best, but not the worst either. 

Now I am walking like a goddamn Frankenstein. I might take the day off... ughhhhhh. 

6.17.13- The Cindy

Today, we were given our choice of two hero workouts to attempt. We could choose "the Chelsea" (which is 1 round, every minute on the minute for 30 minutes, of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 air squats) or "The Cindy" (which is as many rounds as possible of the above workout in 20 minutes.) When faced with this choice, 20 something single guy bar logic started working it's course. Did I want to kill myself for the minuscule chance that I could bag the better option, or go for the second prize and lock up a sure thing. My mind was working like Russell Crowe's in that one movie:

You know, Master & Commander

In any case, I (of course) went with the Cindy. Now, even though this was the easier option, I still had to put the odds a little more in my favor. After all, this was a pure body weight loaded workout, and I have more body weight than anyone else in the class. I went with my trusty ring-rows and decided to ratchet down the difficulty of the push-ups by doing them on my knees. In the 20 minutes, I got through 12 complete cycles plus 5 ring rows and 10 push ups. Not the best in the class, but not the worst either. 

6.14.13- Rowing for Jerks

When I looked at the website to find out the workout of the day, I almost started crying. As I've said before, I despise running. I hate it so goddamn much. And today was supposed to be a heavy running day. Here was the workout most people did:

-Run 400 meters

- Do a maximum weight clean and jerk.

- Repeat, as much as possible, for 20 minutes. 

Yuck and yuck. 

Luckily, I'm a pretty smooth talker, so I was able to do rowing instead of running.* Instead of running for 400 meters, I'd have to row for 500, but that is a small price to pay to get out of moving this large mass of man around in the humidity. So, after a few minutes of rowing, I'd put 125 pounds above my head. I did that 7 times in the 20 minutes, which means I put up 875 pounds of weight and rowed 1.75 nautical miles. Boom!

*this was accomplished with the killer line "can I just row instead?" To which Rob said, "yeah, bro."

6.11.13- The Fran (take two)

On Tuesday* I did a hero workout called the Fran, which is as follows:

-21 Thrusters
-21 pull-ups
-15 thrusters
-15 pull-ups
-9 thrusters
-9 pull-ups

 This was not my first tangle with this particular beast of a workout, but it was my first time ever re-doing a hero workout to see how far I've come. I am still unable to do this workout as prescribed, the question at this point is just how should I scale it. I considered doing it with exactly the same scale (45 pounds on the thrusters and ring rows), to get a good idea of my improvement, but instead I decided to be a little feisty. I upped the weight on my bar to 65 lbs, and I went with an honest to god pull-up (with the help of some resistance bands.) My pull-up form wasn't pretty. I was basically jumping off the floor and getting an unnatural boost from super strong rubber bands stretched to their breaking point. To get a good idea, it looked kind of like that scene in Flubber where Robin Williams is bouncing all around the gym with no control. Still, I was proud to make the leap.

I ended up completing the workout in 9:02. This is a longer time than it took me the first time through, but I did something much harder, so I'm pretty happy.


*Sorry it took me so long to write about it.

6.10.13- Getting back into the swing of things

Today's workout was all about getting back in the swing after two very busy weeks in which I was only able to get 1 workout in.

The first part of the workout was an attempt to establish a new personal record for the dead lift. Despite my two week absence, I was able to beat my previous record by 30 pounds! This was mostly due to a new technical innovation. I switched up my grip and things got so much easier. I felt like I could have gone bigger, but the time was running low and I figured I would let myself get a new PR next time too.

After that came a bit of cardio. Most of the class was tasked with the chore of running 4 heats of 400 meters each, taking a one minute break between each heat. As previously established I loath running, so I decided to switch it up and do my 4 heats by rowing 500 meters. My times (1:57.9, 2:04.8, 2:14.0 and 2:06.7) were actually pretty good. That means I rowed a nautical mile in a little over 8 minutes. Not too shabby, maybe I'll get my sea legs after all.

the cycle of despair

well, folks, sorry I haven't updated in a while. This week has been incredibly busy. between work, weddings and the pestilence that has fallen upon me, I haven't been able to get too much done. I've only been able to get 1 workout in for the last 2 weeks and my eating has not been great (when I get sick, quiznos starts calling my name hard.)

My hope is to gain less than a pound in this cycle, so we'll see how that works out.