Taking the pLUNGE

"Just so we get things straight here, you will not be able to walk tomorrow"

...such were the words of our trainer Sara as we contemplated today's creative, yet sadistic WOD:

400 meter Walking lunge

As I walked toward the Black Box this morning I saw the 6:15 class lunging their way down 6th Avenue and I knew I was in for some pain.  I was happy this past month when Kevin put some lunges into our warmup and I got through them without a problem, but this was another level entirely.  400 Meters.  A quarter mile!

3...2...1...Go! We got started and I gravitated toward the back of the pack, keeping a slow pace alongside Sam, a cool guy who does the level 2 (advanced) WODs, and had just completed the newest Games WOD.  Great...I'm pacing myself behind a guy who already finished a brutal workout...sounds about right ;)

I kept it slow & steady, and got to 1/4 of the way there when Sara dropped the bomb on me that would seal my fate for days to come - "Reis I think you should scale this one to 200 meters".  "OK" I said, knowing full well I simply had to RX this one now.  I was well behind the pack at this point and Sara told me she had to go inside with the rest of the class, so I wouldn't be able to know my time.  I was fine with that...at this point she didn't know I intended to finish the full 400, and finishing was now all I cared about.  I waved her off and away they all went, leaving me, myself and my lunges, getting occasional encouragement from random passers by as I lunged step after step in sheer agony.

Turning the corner with the last 100 meters to go, Richard (a friendly CF regular) came back to check on me and actually cranked out a few lunges next to me.  Then Sara came running down..."I told you to scale" she said.  "I'm not responsible if you get Rhabdo".  I smiled and said "yes, you are...you got me to this point".  She really did...thanks to Sara I've gained more confidence in pushing my limits, and while this might have flipped the equation into the danger category, I was ready to accept the pain.  I wasn't stopping now.  Lunge after painful lunge I kept at it...there was like 30 feet to go and with every step I had to wave away the easy option of quitting right then and there.  She broke up sets for me into about 10 feet at a time.  Of course for the last few steps my knee had to come down on hard metal...oh the advantages of Crossfitting on the streets on NYC...

I yelled with each final step, and embraced the pain as I finally completed the WOD, and hey...I got my time!

WOD TIME: 27:14

My legs are jelly...as I sit in my sedentary job atmosphere I feel the tightness rolling in like a fog over my legs.  I'm doubling the stretch/mobility sessions tonight.  If I don't get ahead of the recovery curve this one could take me out for days...

I love it :)

PWNing the Back Squat - A Tale of Whoa

This is what 375 looks like...i.e. that's me next time :)

I'd like to thank my Mom & Dad, my agent...my hamstrings and that whole posterior chain that's been so supportive all these years.  You all knew I could do it, even in my dreariest moments of doubt...

OK, so you have to allow me a moment of self-indulgent gloating.  I'm not that guy...I don't normally think this way...maybe I just rarely get put in the position to say things like this but here goes...

I fucking destroyed this WOD.  I killed it.  The bar gave me everything it had and the damn thing was coming back up like styrofoam every time.  For almost five months I've been bitch-slapped by the majority of workouts in Crossfit.  But today I slapped back...hard.

I PR'ed my back squat by 50 lbs and I left what seemed like an easy additional 50 lbs on the table.  335 lbs.  A highly-symbolic weight, as I started this journey tipping the scale right around that very mark.  I saw the WOD come up last night and I could taste this moment.  I've missed back squat singles several times since I started, and endured limiting shoulder pain, triples instead of singles, metcons with high reps but less weight...so many explorations of this exercise but never a chance at a max effort...until today.

We warmed up with three rounds of:

20 Walking Lunges
10 GHD situps
10 back extensions

I got my sweat on nicely and was ready to dig in...

BLACK BOX WOD (current skill: back squat):
back squat 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Seven rounds of singles.  I knew I could start light and warm up before the true WOD kicked in, so I paired up with CFNYC regulars Lucio and Jeff and we got to work.  Kevin went through the movement, the low bar position, and (as always) some helpful hints on getting the most out of this lift.  Kevin is the shit when it comes to Olympic lift coaching.

We started with the bar and I let the other guys set the pace on loads.  I was ready to stay for hours until I got into the heavy zone.  After a while I lost count and just kept adding plates.

Warmup (Sets of 1): 45 – 135 – 155 – 175 – 185

I was putting these singles up quickly...Kevin said to not count reps toward the WOD until we got close to our former PR.  Since mine was 285, we had plenty of sets to go.  I was happy to make 20 or 30 lb jumps until I felt it getting heavy.  Turns out that moment wouldn't come until I got well over 300 lbs.

WOD (Sets of 1): 205 – 225 – 245 – 275 – 295* – 315* – 335*
*1-Rep Max PR

Every time I came up I heard Kevin bust out laughing behind me...he said my heavier reps came up quicker than the warmups.  The other guys were getting a kick out of it too.  Lucio always ribs me that I make them look bad on back squat days, but frankly it's my only time to shine.  The minute we switch from strength to bodyweight stuff I get destroyed...so hey I'll soak up this moment no problem :).  I told them that when you carry this much weight around for that long, any leg-heavy work is going to be no problem.  Today was case in point.

I've been reading a lot of articles on Westside Barbell and their philosophy on lifts.  They talk a lot about prepping your nervous system to get it accustomed to certain ranges of weight.  I truly could have put up 350+, but as I was thinking it Kevin said it.  Stop here.  Let your body absorb this one.  It was the right call.  This was 50 lbs heavier than anything I've ever lifted.  No reason to push.  I was in uncharted waters.  best to right the ship and sail home triumphantly.

I play poker a lot and there's a term for those nights when you just can't lose.  It used to be that you "owned".  Nowadays people say that you PWNed (pronounced "poned").  I played heads up against the back squat and I PWNed.  I look forward to cashing in my winnings in the weeks to come. :)

DON'T THEY KNOW I'M JEWISH?!?!?

This one fucking leveled me.  Plain and simple.  I gave it everything I had...all while scaling five of the exercises.  Here's the WOD as RX'ed:

12 Days of Crossfit

One Handstand Pushup

Two Rocking Pistols, One Handstand Pushup

Three Ring Dips, Two Rocking Pistols, One Handstand Pushup

Four Walking Lunges, Three Ring Dips, Two Rocking Pistols, One Handstand Pushup

Five Medball Cleans, Four Walking Lunges, Three Ring Dips, Two Rocking Pistols, One Handstand Pushup

Six Box Jumps, Five Medball Cleans, Four Walking Lunges, Three Ring Dips, Two Rocking Pistols, One Handstand Pushup

Seven Knees to Elbows, Six Box Jumps, Five Medball Cleans, Four Walking Lunges, Three Ring Dips, Two Rocking Pistols, One Handstand Pushup

Eight GI Janes, Seven Knees to Elbows, Six Box Jumps, Five Medball Cleans, Four Walking Lunges, Three Ring Dips, Two Rocking Pistols, One Handstand Pushup

Nine Wallball Shots, Eight GI Janes, Seven Knees to Elbows, Six Box Jumps, Five Medball Cleans, Four Walking Lunges, Three Ring Dips, Two Rocking Pistols, One Handstand Pushup

Ten Sumo Deadlift High Pulls, Nine Wallball Shots, Eight GI Janes, Seven Knees to Elbows, Six Box Jumps, Five Medball Cleans, Four Walking Lunges, Three Ring Dips, Two Rocking Pistols, One Handstand Pushup

Eleven Barbell Thrusters, Ten Sumo Deadlift High Pulls, Nine Wallball Shots, Eight GI Janes, Seven Knees to Elbows, Six Box Jumps, Five Medball Cleans, Four Walking Lunges, Three Ring Dips, Two Rocking Pistols, One Handstand Pushup

Twelve Kettlebell Snatches, Eleven Barbell Thrusters, Ten Sumo Deadlift High Pulls, Nine Wallball Shots, Eight GI Janes, Seven Knees to Elbows, Six Box Jumps, Five Medball Cleans, Four Walking Lunges, Three Ring Dips, Two Rocking Pistols, One Handstand Pushup.

My Time:  48:54
Scaling (with some help from Sara):

Scaled HSPU to Pike Pushup
Scaled Ring Dips to Jumping Ring Dips
Scaled Pistols to "Ass on the box" or whatever you call it...
Scaled Box Jumps to step-ups
Scaled GI Janes to 4 burpees then 4 ring dips

This was absolutely sick...LOVED it!

Press Your Luck

I like when the main Crossfit site says "rest day" because it's always a "skill day" at the Black Box. We always focus on a particular exercise or a family of them, and really nail down the form so we can use them efficiently in future WODs.

Warmup:
10 PVC Shoulder dislocates
10 PVC shoulder rolls
20 walking lunges (with twisting to opp side)
10 GHD situps
10 hip extensions
10 pullups (sub ring rows)
2 mins double unders (sub singles)

Today's WOD was the shoulder press.  Five sets of five reps.  I've done a bunch of push press so far, but it's amazing how different an exercise the shoulder press is because you're not creating momentum from your hips to get the weight up.  You just get the bar above your head, lock out and repeat.  Check out this video of the shoulder press, push press, and push jerk observed side by side.

I started with a good test weight, since these were my first shoulder presses.  95 lbs. felt good, and I knew I could do a bit more.  Here are my stats:

Reps    Weight
5          95
5          115
3          125
5          105
5          115

We did a "cash out" of 30-20-10 double-unders and situps.  I'm still nowhere near getting a double under, so I did twice the RX'ed number of single-unders.  I counted up to 18 at a time that I'm able to do, which buries the max of two I was able to do just over a month ago.  Anyway I got through the cashout in 6:35...

Solid WOD to ease back into Crossfit after a much-needed weekend rest for my aching muscles.

Filthy Friday Crushes My Soul

OK...so here's the WOD as RX'ed:
http://crossfitnyc.com/2010/12/filthy-friday.html

For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

I scaled to "Dirty 30" (i.e. 30 reps of everything vs. 50). I had no intention of doing jumping pullups at all, but Sara had me on the box doing them in no time. I was excited to have a WOD with kettle bell swings, as we didn't even do these during Elements. Since my knee is still bruised and a little tender, I scaled to step-ups for the box jumps.

I cruised through the first three exercises like I actually had business being there. I was surprising myself with my pace. Wall balls WERE my favorite exercise, but today, with them smack in the middle of the WOD, they tore me down hard...by the time I got to the burpees I hit the wall. But rep by rep Sara was on me hard to finish. Somehow I found a way, and before I knew it I was done. 35:15!

This is truly an incredible experience. I am so psyched that I'm actually finishing these workouts. I cut a new hole in my belt yesterday, and I'm officially one shirt size smaller. It's the only way I'm measuring my progress. I still haven't stepped on a scale since I started. I just need to keep plugging away...

The knee shows signs of improvement...I'll still wear the brace next week, and I'll keep it to three WODs, or maybe see how I feel by next Friday...I don't want to push too hard, but this Crossfit experience is damn exciting.

word.