Posts tagged crossfit

Apparently Foundation CrossFit really spoiled me (in a good way!)… I’ve been having such a tough time finding a new home box in Manhattan. I went to CrossFit Hell’s Kitchen for a bit, Coach was great and the WODs were tough… but it’s just not the same.  Then I moved down near Wall St and just couldn’t find the motivation to make the 20-minute subway ride. So this year, I switched gears and went into target training with Anna from Rich Barretta Private Training (RBPT). A former Mr. America, Rich looks like he hasn’t aged at all since he won the title in 1987 (less bulky and scary, more tattoo). I want in on whatever it is that he’s doing and eating to look great after 25 years! He brings his dog to the gym sometimes, which reminds me of Foundation CrossFit!  And they have a super cozy seating area where I can munch on fresh apples and bananas from their fruit bowl.  

Anyhoo, I’ve been training with Anna for a month now and I love it!  Anna is great, tough and just full of energy without being over the top.  One thing I really miss (other than my CF buddies) is lifting weights.  These days, you can see me working a 5-lb max.  With target training, those 5-lb’s feel a lot heavier.  But I miss doing snatches and back squats and… and… and…  Well, I will return to you soon, CrossFit…  in the mean time, back to bosu ball, I go.  

Today’s WOD:

7 rounds for time 

18 35/25 pound Dumbbell hang squat clean —- did 7.5# instead (lame, I know)
18 Pull-ups —- band-assisted, black band
10 reps, 135/95# Power clean —- 55#
10 Handstand push-ups —- scaled down, off the box

I did 5.75 rounds in 37ish minutes (super scaled down, of course).  It was a lot harder than I expected.  I thought this was easily going to be under 30 minutes (btw, I have yet to come across an “easy” WOD). There was no red flag for me: The numbers don’t look as scary as some other WODs and there are no scary keywords (such as double unders, run x miles, double-digit burpees, etc).  

This is the second WOD that made me feel like puking and the first WOD where I couldn’t tell if it was sweat, tears or snot that I was wiping away from my face. HA, gross I know - I’m classy like that :)  Absolutely love this WOD.

Anyway, I wanted to know who Santiago was - apparently this is one of the celebrate-the-life-of-a-hero WOD. 

RIP Sgt. Santiago.  http://freedomremembered.com/index.php/sgt-anibal-santiago/

Barbara, you left me speechless! 

Warmup: 800m run -  to which I replied, “No way!” when I first thought it was running outdoor.  Oh wait, it is New York and we are 2 blocks away from Times Square, so we’re running indoor :)  It is 99 degrees and unbearable in the Big Apple today.

WOD: “Barbara”

20 push press (Rx is 55 lbs, I did 35 lbs)

30 push-ups

40 sit-ups

50 squats

5 rds (3-minute rest in between). My time: 5:20 for 1st rd, 5:50 for 2nd, and 7:20 for 3rd, then I did half of the 4th round and hit the time limit (when the next class starts).

When I saw this WOD, I knew I was likely not going to finish all 5 rounds.  But, I thought it was the push press that was gonna slow me down, but after the 2nd round, I was really starting to feel the sit-ups getting harder and harder thanks to my non-existent core muscles. The squats also affect me more than I thought they would.  My knees were shaking as I was walking up the stairs to my apartment… and did I say it’s 99 degrees outside?

WARM UP

Pass Throughs

Burgener Warm up

WOD

Snatch one rep every minute on the minute for 15 minutes

I did 20 lbs, now let me count the ways that I dislike this WOD:

• Snatch is a very tricky move for me.  I always feel like I’m either going to hit myself in the chin with the bar or I’m going to fall over backward (even though the arms can handle the weight just fine).
• … I feel like I can’t up the weight because then I’ll really fall over backward.
• It’s kind of awkward to be standing around, staring blankly at the wall or the person in front of you while waiting for the next minute.  I guess this is the part that you’re supposed to add/lessen the weight on your bar. 

I hate you snatch. Almost as much as I hate handstand push-ups. 

What an evil, evil WOD that sneaked up on me today… 

5 RDS 

400m run, 20 deadlift, 20 push-ups, 10 deadlift, 10 push-ups

Rx for deadlift was some unthinkable number like 140 lbs or something along that line, I did 55 lbs… probably could’ve done more but glad I didn’t.

Round 1, 2, 3 - felt fine… even ran a little faster.

Then… round 4 came around and it just hit me.  Arms are shot… can’t do another push-up.  I started “snaking it up” aka peeling myself off the floor in three slow moves as opposed to one quick, continuous lift.

Whenever I do WOD’s that involve push-ups, I’m always reminded of Mandy from FCF!  Crazy girl would do 100+ REAL push-ups without complaining, not the scaled-down version… *major envy* :-)  One day…

In the mean time, can someone do something about this 90-degree weather?  The walk home kills me…

Every Thursday is ladies night at my box… that is, we do ladies-of-crossfit WODs.  Today’s was Jackie.

1000m row

50 thrusters (Rx: 35# for ladies)

30 pull-ups (you know it, jumping pull-ups for moi)

50 thrusters

1000m row

Anthony is starting to know when I’m not pushing myself (darn!).  He insisted that I did the first 25 thrusters with the 35# bar and then switch to the 10# bar.  I cheated and did 20 thrusters with 35# bar then switched.  My time was 23:14.  Ah I could’ve probably done 35# for the first set of thrusters… lazy me :( 

I also went to the strength class earlier - today’s focus was strict press. Some of the ladies are insanely strong *major envy*

Warm-up: 3 rounds of

10 power cleans (pretty insignificant weight, I’m too embarrassed to note it)

10 burpees

10 pull-ups (jumping pull-ups for me)

WOD:  5-5-5-5-5 Log Cleans

I was trying to guess what log cleans meant before coming to the class.  Pretty sure I had never heard it before despite having been through the CrossFit Foundation/Essentials class recently, so the knowledge should still be fresh in my mind.  Logarithmic cleans?  WHAT! Stat and CrossFit?!  I am in LOVE, sign me up… but of course it’s not. 

Apparently it’s cleans with an actual log (enclosing a very low-resolution pic found on Google).  There are only two logs: 75# is Rx for the ladies and 90# for the men. The logs at my box look more rugged than the one pictured here.  It looks like Anthony, the box owner, just chopped off some tree in his backyard and drilled holes for the handles.  Who makes these things anyway?  I can’t imagine much demand for them (which leads me to believe that maybe they really are homemade).  I tried 5x each round (for gawd-knows-how-many-rounds), and couldn’t clean the damn thing.  Supposedly I came really close to it though (according to people who were being nice around me) :)  Definitely next time, Log, next time.

My current CrossFit actually posts their upcoming week’s WOD’s on their site, unlike FCF that hides their WOD’s and often made me feel like I should be bribing my fellow athletes to make sure that I didn’t show up on jump-roping days.  I was oddly SO giddy about doing today’s WOD.  It just sounded SO impossible that I wanted to go do it and see how far I can go.

Today’s warm-up was jump-roping for 3 minutes.

WOD: 50-40-30-20-10

• Wall ball (Rx: 14, I did: 8) 
• Box jump (Rx: 24”, I did: 12”… the lamest part is that I ended up scaling it down even further by stepping up on the box by the second round).
• KB swings (Rx: I don’t even know, 16?  I did 8, then I scaled it down to 4 at the third round).

Time: 27:14.

I finished the first round feeling like I should’ve gone with the heavier KB and the 20” box. By the end of the second round of wall balls, I was pretty nauseous and grateful that I was such an underachiever.  After taking a break, I knew I couldn’t jump the box if I wanted to ever finish the WOD.  The realization that there’s only so much you can push your body to do is depressing, since you always hear “the sky is the limit.”  I suppose adding “but there’s only so much you can do today” makes it sound less glamorous.

I think I did the KB swings somewhat wrong, the instructor kept pointing out that I shouldn’t swing the KB so low as it would put unnecessary strain on my back.  Although I got his point, it seems like my brain and my body just don’t connect.  Proud moment of the day: Did I just do 50 wall balls and 50 box jumps without stopping?  Damn that would’ve been impossible 3 months ago :)

I found a new CrossFit “home” (although it doesn’t feel as homey as FCF yet) :(  The people seem nice, but I swear I feel like the WODs are both more technical and more intensive, maybe it’s the hot humid weather?

Warm-up today was KB skills - I couldn’t find my beloved green KB that I used at FCF (I think that’s the lightest one), but I found a mini black one that looks like they’re made for crossfitting infants. 

WOD:

3 rounds of

12 Front Squats - 135 lbs for guys, 95 for the ladies (I just front-squatted the bar and was glad that I did by the third round… so that’s 35 lbs, yikes).

12 Burpee Pull-ups (well, jumping pull-ups for me). 

They didn’t really track time (there was a timer on the wall, so I guess you can record it yourself if you want).  My time was 8:40.

3 rounds of 12 reps sounded really easy to me, but I could barely breathe by the end of it. And then I had to walk back to my apartment (which is literally around the corner from CF), but was 0.1 mile of hell (see neighborhood map below).