Grinder, but not the yummy kind

In my opinion, anything over 25-30 minutes is automatically a "grinder" or a "grind-fest". I have such a hard time keeping up a steady intensity for long WODs, so I just try to get into a decent rhythm and let it roll.

Tonight was a grinder, and I probably could've finished a bit faster, but what the hell, I still did all the damn work so I'm OK. :-p

WOD:

7 rounds for time:
21 deadlifts (155#/115)
150m waiters walk (45#/25#)
9 knees to elbows

Results: 45:22 Rx

There was a 45 minutes cut-off, so I guess technically you could say I DNF'd, but 22 seconds over wasn't horrible so I think I'm OK. :-D

Deadlifts felt decent. I wish I had on long socks, because I didn't keep the bar in contact with my shins as much as I should have. Something sent me to this video yesterday (maybe Twitter?), and I used the really straightforward advice Rip gives on setup a lot today -- I think it really really helped me. It made me realize I roll the bar towards me alot when I get setup. Which is OK for cleans, but not cool for deads. It's good to recognize bad habits in myself, I like to find 'em and kill 'em.

Rip's deadlift setup:

1. With feet below hips, move feet under the bar so the bar cuts your foot in half. Your *whole* foot in half, not just the part in front of your ankle.
2. Grip the bar outside your knees -- but don't roll it toward you!
3. Bend your knees until your shins touch the bar
4. Raise your chest high while pressing the bar into your shins
5. Viola, you are ready to deadlift!

Major victory for today -- K2E's didn't make me want to cry, even though the WOD as a whole made me feel like I was going to hurl. Hollah!

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I am extremely aggravated that I wasn't given the chance to take the new exam at my Level I certification, because they just published some guidelines on testing requirements on the affiliate blog, and "take the exam only" spots at upcoming LI certs near me are already full. BRILLIANT, RIGHT?!?! Um... NOT.

Honestly, I am just going to let this one settle before I worry about it. I am not going to spend a ton of time and money driving somewhere far away to take this test. Two of the Level II trainers that taught at my cert run their own affiliates in the big town an hour south of here -- I feel certain that once there's enough of a system backlog they'll institute some kind of local testing, which those guys will be qualified to sponsor, and I will be able to pop down there on a Saturday, easy peasy.

So annoying that I couldn't get this taken care of just because my cert was 3-4 weeks too soon.... gah.

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Best quote from this article: Why We Like Olympic Lifts

"Oh come on, it’s not that weird to practice at home with a broomstick, you wear toe shoes for God’s sake."

In general a decent writeup on how C&J and snatch embody all 10 of the general physical skills that define fitness.

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Jen Sinkler tweeted the link to this video about Gwyneth Paltrow's workout routine and trainer. The trainer actually says "women shouldn't lift more than 3 pounds." OMG!

This reminds me that I need to finish the post I started writing in response to my friend Kate's post about chicks being afraid of lifting heavy weights.

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Britney's Unretouched Photos from Candie's Ads

What pissed me off most here was the second picture, where the completely removed her quad!! I love that Britney has muscles and an overall strong and athletic body for a "Hollywood starlet", so these retouches that eliminate those "real" elements just anger me.

Good for her for releasing the un-retouched photos, though. That I love. :)

Friday & Saturday

Short and sweet WOD on Friday morning, between coaching 0630 and 0830.

6 rounds for time:
5 handstand pushups
10 burpees
15 abmat situps
150m sprint

Results:  17:39

Biggest news here -- I finally kicked up into a handstand against the wall! I started out with my head on top of 3 abmats, and did a frogstand to a headstand, and then pressed up. A little bit of messing around with that, and I decided it was time to kick up. I took some video with the iPod, but that corner of the gym has a lightbulb out, so it turned out really dark. In any case, I did the WOD by kicking up into a handstand and lowering to 2 abmats. Not the most stellar attempt at HSPU, but still an improvement for me, so I'm happy.

Next I need to find out what's better -- continuing to practice full ROM with the harness, or doing negatives while in the wall-supported handstand.

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Saturday I coached the 0930 WOD -- we did the same group WOD I went through on the 2nd day of my certification seminar.

Here's the writeup we put on the website:

In 12 minutes your team of 5 will perform as many reps as possible of SDHPs, pushups and box jumps. The time it takes to complete one 50m waiter's walk will determine the rotation intervals for your team. There's a rest station, so go hard!

5 stations

1. Rest
2. Kettlebell Sumo deadlift high pull (24kg/16)
3. Pushups
4. Box jumps (20'')
5. 50m waiter's walk (45#/25 plate)

Final team score is total # of reps completed.

Basically the team members rotate from station to station. During the hand off, the person who was just performing the movement tells the person who is arriving to "relieve" them what the current rep count is for that movement. At the end you add them up for the total. The faster you do the waiter's walk (it was a sandbag carry at my cert) the faster your team members rotate through.

We only had 3 ladies come in this morning, so I did the WOD with them. We took out the SDHPs since we still didn't have 5. I had fun, and I think they did too. :)

Afterwards I took them through the core stabilization work that I did with Jenn at CrossFit Pittsburgh. With the 3 following exercises: round 1, 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off; round 2, 45 seconds on, 45 seconds off; round 3, 30 secs on and off.

• handstand holds
• plank
• wall sit

I was glad the group was small at this point, because none of my 3 chicas had ever done handstand holds before. I showed them how to "walk up the wall" while facing away from it to get into handstand position. They all did great! I just watched the handstands, but joined them on the other 2 movements.

All in all, a fun morning. :)

My sister just left yesterday, and my parents are arriving this afternoon for a visit, so I'm off to clean and put lots of bedding and towels through the wash. :)

And she smokes their asses!

I'm in a freaking awesome mood because I totally blew away all the times on the whiteboard at the gym tonight. And I think I really motivated the 3 other ladies in there, because they did awesome too.

Great night!

WOD:

7 rounds for time.

• 12 kettle swings (24k/16)
• 9 box jumps 24"
• 100m overhead waiters walk (45lb plate/25)

Results:  23 or 24 minutes-ish. Best time on the board prior was 27-28 range, with most in the mid-30's. Woot!

This WOD definitely played up to my strengths. I love box jumps (I have since I did plyometrics for high school track) and I love kettlebell swings. And my secret time-saving weapon on the waiters walk is to jog a little bit. It makes everybody else crazy when I do that, heh. :)

Are you being served?

We did "waiter's walk" as part of the WOD this morning, so I felt inspired to make up a fun title for this post. :)

WOD:

For time:

• 25 GHD sit ups
• 150m overhead waiters walk (45lb/25 plate)
• 25 wall ball shots (20lbs/14)
• 150m overhead waiters walk
• 25 box jumps (24")
• 150m overhead waiters walk
• 400m run

Results: 12:14

Totally could've smoked this one harder, though I did beat everybody else by at least 2 minutes. GHD situps are hard to do fast when all you've done to warm up is a 500 meter row. I really need to figure out my own warmup -- I think that's key for getting more out of the WODs, and getting faster times. I also took breaks in the wall balls where I could've pushed through. And I only jogged a little bit with the waiter's walks, though I could've done much more of that. This is one I could alter and then do at the base gym, though, so maybe I'll try it again with Husbeetle one of these days.

I was actually at the 6:30 class, and it was enjoyable. The gym owners' pastor comes in at that time, and an awesome outspoken running grandma too. They rock. There was a younger woman there this morning as well who I think has just started coming -- she seemed nice, though she did the iPod with headphones thing during the workout. Will have to get her name next time I see her. I overheard a conversation she had with the trainer about no kids, a husband and a dog, so it sounds like we have some things in common. :)