Goodbye 2009

The last workout of 2009 was a blast. Working as a four person team made it fun as did having two visitors from Australia. I don't remember their names, but they were a lot of fun. Happy new year!


WOD:

• 100 KBS (24/16kg)
• 200m Run
• 300 Push Press
• 400 Squats
• 400 Sit Ups
• 300 Push Ups
• 200m Run
• 100 KBS

Done in 4 person teams. Only 2 people can be working at a time.

A Lonely 6 AM

This morning there were just two of us for the 6 AM workout and only one of us did the "cookie". I'm guessing the numbers will pick back up when the holidays are over.

WOD: Bench press
Work up to a working weight and do three sets of 5.

The workout concluded with a "cookie":

• 7 chest-to-bar pull ups
• 7 weighted lunges

Do the cookie 5 times without rest. My time was 5:27.

Monday Morning

A handful of diehards showed up this morning for the 6am workout. After the warm up we worked up to a working weight for 3 sets of 5 dead lifts. When everyone was ready, we did the following.

WOD: 3 sets

• 400meter run for time
• 5 dead lifts (185lbs)  

After the run, we had 5 minutes to recover and complete 5 dead lifts. Then we did it all over again twice more. My 400meter run times: 1:25, 1:29, 1:24

CrossFit Disco

Shari brought us our work of the day this morning at 7 AM. After eating junk all day on Christmas we were greeted with "CrossFit Disco", from the CrossFit gym in Stockholm. I was dragging from the very beginning.

WOD: CrossFit Disco

• 70 double unders
• 60 kettlebell snatches (30 each arm)
• 50 box jumps
• 40 wall ball burpees
• 30 pull ups
• 20 clean and jerks (89lbs)
• 10 clap pushups

The two other people working out smoked me. I finished in 28:49.

12 Days of Christmas

Like the Thanksgiving workout, the Christmas eve workout put together by CrossFit Santa Cruz Central was a lot of fun.

WOD: “12 Days of Christmas ‘09″

1. Rope Climb
2. HSPU
3. Lunges (each leg)
4. DB Push Press (25#/35#)
5. DB Front Squat
6. DB HPC or Hang Split Clean
7. Pull Ups
8. Dips
9. Double Unders
10. Sit Ups
11. Calories on rower
12. Burpees

The workout is done the way the song of the same name is sung. Do 1 rope climb. Do 2 hand stand push ups (HSPU) followed by 1 rope climb. Do 3 lunges (each leg) followed by 2 HSPU and 1 rope climb. Etc. etc.

The workout is for time. I finished in 34:18.

12 Days of Christmas workout action shot at CrossFit Santa Cruz Central.

Sounded Easy

The workout on Monday sounded easy. It wasn't.

WOD:

• Cleans
• Ring dips

Do the above for 6 reps, 5 reps, then 4 reps then rest for three minutes. Do it three times for time.

My times:

• 2:31
• 2:48
• 2:30

Witness the Clean:

Another Awesome Workout

it was the morning after a late night Christmas party. Time to pay for the fun.

WOD (3 rounds of the following):

• 800 meter run
• bench press (10 reps)
• kettlebell swings (10 reps)
• chest to bar pull-ups (10 reps)

I finished in 23:19.

Kettlebell Swings:

I wanna be like Mike

Today we had two workouts. First was three sets of 5 shoulder presses.

WOD (1) Shoulder press:

• 3 sets of 5 (89lbs)

WOD (2) Mini-Mike:

• 200m run
• 10 sit ups
• 7 hip extensions

Do the above 5 times. I finished in 9:13

Mark Rippetoe on the press.

Fran Training

This morning's workout was geared towards getting better at Fran.

WOD (scaled down to my weak level of fitness):
5 rounds of the following:

• 7 thrusters (95lbs for 2.5 rounds / 70lbs for 2.5 rounds)
• 7 weighted pull ups (kipping pull ups 3 rounds / pull ups w/strap 2 rounds)

I finished in 11:09.

Overhead Squats

Today was a nice break after doing Fight Gone Bad yesterday. We worked on overhead squats. This was my first time doing them for real. Previously I learned them, using very light weight, during training.

WOD: Overhead Squats
Work up in weight as you go down in reps - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

My numbers were pretty low, but I jumped up in weight at the end as my form got better.

95lbsx5
117lbsx4
127lbsx3 (got one, then dumped it)
127lbsx2
135lbsx2

Mark Rippetoe: In the Gym with Coach Rip, Overhead Squats

Fight Gone Bad

Today was my first day back in the gym since being down sick for about a week. On the way to the gym (at the fine hour of 5 AM) I was hoping the workout would be semi-easy. I don't get breaks like that. As it turned out, the WOD was Fight Gone Bad. I had never done FGB, but I have seen some videos of it. It's a pretty intense workout.

WOD: Fight Gone Bad
One minute of each of the following exercises (no breaks in between). When you have finished all the exercises, rest one minute. Do three rounds.

• Row machine
• Wall ball (20lb)
• Sumo deadlift (75lb)
• box jumps
• Push press (75lb)

Check out this video on how this workout got it's name.

Exhaustion

I'm completely exhausted. CrossFit workouts for three days straight is hard on a n00b. I'm taking Thursday off to recover.

Tuesday was dedicated to practicing our snatch form. I really enjoyed it. Here is a video of a class later in the day doing snatches.



Today was all business.

WOD:
Do the following 4 times:

• 400m run
• 15 DB thrusters
• 12 ring dips
• 9 pull ups

"300" - This is Sparta

Word on the street is that Gerard Butler (King Leonidas) did this workout to get ripped for the movie 300. Gotta love CrossFit!

50 in the Clip

"50 in the clip" is a great title for a rap song. Not so great as a workout.

Warm up:

• one minute jump rope
• 45 seconds double-unders jump rope
• one minute jump rope
• one minute double-unders jump rope
• rest
• two minutes double-unders (count reps)
• rest
• two minutes double-unders (try to beat previous)
• rest

WOD: 50 in the Clip

• 50 Burpee Clean & Jerks @ 75lbs

Yeah. Do this 50 times.

Thanksgiving Workout Of The Day (WOD)

Completed my second CrossFit workout today. I think I'm going to feel this one in the morning.

Warm up (each item x10. Two rounds):

• shoulder press
• shoulder rolls
• situps
• pushups

Grab a medicine ball and do 10 squats. Run "alley loop" with the ball. 10 squats with the ball at the alley entrance. 10 at alley exit.

WOD:

There were a lot of us for the 8am Thanksgiving workout. We broke into three teams and did three rounds of the following:

• box jumps
• burpees
• double unders
• knees to elbows
• thrusters
• row machine

Everyone on the team started at a different station. One round was completed when everyone on the team had completed all stations. First round was 21 reps for each exercise. Second round was 15, and the third round was 9.

This was my second official CrossFit workout since completing the 1-on-1 training. I was completely destroyed and I loved it. It was fun to see people encouraging teammates to complete their station when they were exhausted and nice to meet new people. Everybody seems to have a great attitude.

Check out the photo of the 8am and 9am CrossFitters.

Example of "knees to elbows".

First Day of CrossFit Class

Today was my first CrossFit class after finishing the training. We mostly worked on deadlifts.

CrossFit Personal Training Complete

Today my work out buddy and I completed our initial CrossFit training. We join the general CrossFit population for workouts now. Can't wait for the awesomeness to begin.

During the last training session we worked on double-under jump roping and handstand pushups. I completely surprised myself by completing three handstand pushups. See the video below for how handstand pushups are done.

Beat Down

This morning our trainer, Gary, beat us down. We did three rounds, one minute for each exercise, of the following:

• rope climbs
• wall ball
• push press
• ball cleans
• ring dips

I almost lost my breakfast twice.

I Love Salsa!

Made my three block dinner tonight consisting of shrimp, salsa, avocado, and tortilla chips.

Sorry for the poor quality phone photo.

Thrusters at 6am

It was another cold, dark morning at 6am. Gary started us off with the "alley loop" and some warm up exercises. We went back over the mechanics of dead lifts, cleans, and shoulder presses. We worked on back squats and the split jerk. Then it was time for the morning workout.

Three rounds of 10 thrusters and 10 box jumps. The thrusters kicked my butt.

The Snatch

One of the things we worked on this morning was the snatch. This was my first time, but I really enjoyed it. Check out this example:

Beginning with less blocks

After speaking with my nutritionist about my problem consuming 18 blocks of food, she reduced my daily blocks to 16. I wasn't sure two blocks would make a difference, but it did. I've been able to eat everything today. I felt full all day, but the food got eaten. The goal is to eventually work back up to 18 blocks a day.

Here is my three block dinner.

My First Zone Meal

A couple of weeks ago I started CrossFit. To maximize the result of my workouts I've switched to the Zone diet. My 4 block dinner was way too much for me to consume (barely got half of it down).

Look at all that food!