12 Days of Christmas

Hit this one up with my CF KoP peeps while visiting husband's family. (Check the link for a hilarious picture of me doing DB snatches)

12 Days of Christmas at CrossFit KoP
1 Deadlift (185/275)
2 Wall Ascents (6ft/8ft)
3 Ring Dips
4 Box Jumps (21"/25")
5 Med Ball Clean (14/20)
6 Clean and Jerk (75/115)
7 Toes to Bar
8 Burpees
9 Sumo Deadlift High Pull (55/75)
10 Wall Balls (14/20) to (9ft/10ft)
11 Thrusters (75/115)
12 DB Snatch 12L/12R 25/40

Results: 70:28

Deadlifts, clean and jerk, burpees and thrusters were all scaled due to my continuing (nagging) back injury. Everything else was Rx'd.

Weird about the burpees, right? Something about the part where you jump your feet back aggravates my QL muscle, so for many of them I stepped my feet back. Once I was nice and warm, in the middle and later days, I did jump my feet back on some of them.

I felt like I got hit by a truck after this. My core was wrecked, I think from the wall climbs and toes to bar -- don't do either of those with any regularity.

Best part of the WOD - watching a CF KoP superstar female athlete scaling the 8 foot wall. BAD. ASS. And her nickname is "Grans" -- love it.

Up the rope...

Another workout that changed things up a bit today -- doing lots of different movements is good for me, I like it.

3 rounds:
5 Legless Rope Climbs
25 Sledge Strikes Right
25 Sledge Strikes Left
14 Single Arm Power Snatch Right (40/20)
14 Single Arm Power Snatch Left

Results:  30:02 -- regular rope climbs

What took me so long was the resting I did between rope climbs. I just had no confidence in that today, and honestly just didn't feel like doing it anymore after the first few trips up the rope. I was just standing at the bottom of the rope thinking to myself, "wow, I so don't want to do that at all... can I just skip this part?"

Sometimes I crack myself up with my mental dialogue. heh

In any case, even though it took me a while, I still did all my climbs. But damn if my foot didn't hurt from wrapping the rope around it and stomping down with the other one. I need to rethink my footwear choices on my next rope climb WOD -- something a bit more substantial is probably a good idea.

I am the bomb diggity with dumbbell snatches. My first CrossFit gym didn't use barbells at all, we did everything with kettlebells and dumbbells, so I first learned to snatch with one arm and a dumbbell. It was fun to just power snatch because that's sooooooo much easier. And my legs are *hurting* from back squats yesterday, so that made me happy.

Speaking of hurting, holy shit, my chest and upper back are so tight from that handstand walk thing yesterday that I can barely take a deep breath! Seriously! Seems like I should keep doing those on a regular basis, because they definitely worked me out in a new and interesting way! :)

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Looking for your input on improving squat technique. Do you have any personal experience about fixing your own squat? Have you been able to help others? Do you know of a great online resource that you could point me to?

At our box, there are tons of people with squat issues, myself included. I have the chance to program a week of workouts, and I want to use that time to focus on the squat and help people get started on improving it. Right now no one really wants to focus on that as a goal, despite the fact that it's so important. Achieving below parallel on the squat with good form is not the "sexiest" goal, but certainly one that will reap huge benefit once achieved.

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Pay Now Live Later: How I Ditched the Chemicals in my Bathroom Cabinet

This blog post really intrigued me, especially in light of my current Primal mindset. It was only after reading The Primal Blueprint and The Omnivore's Dilemna that I started thinking about pesticides and how it's important to know where our food comes from and how it's grown / raised. (plant & animal)

This article takes that next step and makes you think about all the health and beauty product you use, and how those might be manufactured in an unsafe way, the same way the food might be grown / raised in a manner than is less than optimal for health.

I don't think I'll give up my whitening toothpaste anytime soon, but I might try the soap and shampoo suggestions, just to give it a shot...

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To read:

F* Off Fit: So I was watching Fight Club

"We push societies limits on what is normal for women. We dont run and do pilates and eat air salads and aim to see our bones. We eat fats, and animal proteins, we celebrate our guns and love our strong legs. WE have calloused hands in which, when we are in normal groups of peoples, make them frown or look at us oddly."

Already Pretty: An Argument for Self-love

"Happiness is important, but serenity is vital. And it can feel impossible to achieve when you’re busily judging yourself. Because even when the more immediate worries clear out, self-loathing is still there, whirring busily in the background and keeping you agitated. Make it stop, and serenity is within reach. Learn to love yourself, and happiness follows close behind."

Healthy Girl: Has the Number on the Scale Ever Ruined Your Whole Day?

"No offense to your doctor, but for anyone who’s even slightly weird about food or their body, weighing themselves daily is a prescription for Crazy! I know why he or she advised you to do it—the National Weight Loss Registry, this big survey of people who have lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off—showed that many of them weight themselves often, even daily. But as people with disordered eating issues, we can’t just directly apply info like that to ourselves."
--> completely agree with everything in this article

PTP - dia dos

I did *not* feel like working out today... But, I did...

PTP Day 2:

• Deadlift: 5 reps @ 115# and 105#
• Press: 5 reps @ 55# and 50#
• Cash out: 16:02 

Cash out:

5 rounds
10 DB snatch, 5R/5L (30#)
10 1-arm KB swing, 5R/5L (16kg)
10 burpees

Wow, I was freaking sluggish on the cash out.  I seriously considered doing only 3 rounds, but forced myself to do all 5. My left shoulder still feels weird with some movements, and the left arm snatches did not feel very good for some of the reps. My elbows feel a bit "crunchy" too, today.

Tomorrow will be my 4th day on... this should be interesting...

Low-key Monday

Picked up a workout from CrossFit Champions for today. Husbeetle was off work, so we went to the Camp Swampy gym together.

Have I mentioned that I hate working out there? I feel like people are constantly staring at me, not to mention I can see them looking at me in the mirror. Plus, I hate the damn Gravitron.

And I can see myself in the mirror. My arms looked freaking huge. Ew. Back to my happy place tomorrow -- no mirrors, no staring, plus free-standing pullup bars. Excellent.

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WOD:

For time. Begin with jump rope, end with run, all the rest in any order.

300 Jump Rope (first)

30 Push Press (m:35s,f:25s)

30 Pull-ups

30 Sit-ups (ab-mat)

30 KB Swings (m:55lb,f:35lb)

30 Push-ups

30 1-Arm DB Snatch (m:30lb,f:20lb) (15 each arm)

Run 400 meters (last)

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Did not do this for time, just did it to get it done. Did 45lb push press, no small bars at the base gym. And 25lb db snatch.

For the run, we went to the track and ran a mile. I was feeling super-pukey after the workout (most likely due to the Chik-Fil-A waffle fries I ate at lunchtime, bad decision) and the run really helped me feel better. It was a good time for me, 8:27 according to my Nike+. My last lap was awesome.

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Wednesday I'll be getting a box with my 3 new resistance bands, plus two jump ropes for LT and I. Now we just need to get to work building our free-standing pullup bar so we can do more stuff at home. Once we have that, I'm definitely getting some rings.