Getting Fed Through the Chipper

"Chipper"

You hear the word and it conjures up equal parts fear and excitement.  Two syllables and the average Crossfitter knows they're about to face an opportunity to blaze a new trail in their fitness.  It's the ultimate test of both the physical and the mental.  The chipper is in its own category of metcon...large amounts of reps, and an array of exercises that do not repeat...you just have to do a shit ton of each of them.  Some days you get fed through the chipper.  Other days the chipper feeds through you...

My first chipper was the Filthy Fifty.  I was happy to scale it to the "Dirty Thirty" at the time, but I know next time it comes around the days of scaling reps on something like that are done.  I've arrived, and instead of not even registering on the performance spectrum I feel like I've earned my place, regardless of how buried I am in the "novice" category.  Today's chipper was a beast, and I knew I'd have to bring my A+ game to make it through this one:

WOD
For time:
70 Burpees
60 Sit-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1.5 poods
40 Pull-ups
30 Handstand push-ups

I went to the store within an hour of seeing the WOD posted, as I had to find something to protect my knees.  The last time I did more than 50 burpees my knees were literally bleeding...something about the way I hit the deck scrapes away at the skin until the last 20 or so are excruciating.  I found some knee pads but they were too tight.  I ended up grabbing some big, flexible band aids that covered my knees...turns out they work like a charm.

I didn't know what to do for the warmup...I didn't want to waste an ounce of energy...so I did a modified version of Sara's gymnastics warmup day 1, which is:

Kick up to a handstand (3x)
5 ring pushups
frog stand (10 secs)
10 overhead squats (pvc)
10 kettle bell deadlifts (12 kg)

I usually do 5 handstand pushups for step 1 of the warmup, but I wanted to save every bit of those for the WOD.  So I just held the handstand for like 10 seconds and kicked back down.  We didn't do too many rounds of the warmup before it was go time.

3...2...1...Go!  You could feel everyone blazing out of the gate for this one...those initial bursts from a full class can be pretty powerful.  Once people settled into their pace everyone started getting a bit more methodical.  My approach, as always, was slow and steady.  I kept it going, the band-aids were holding out, and before I blinked I was halfway done with the burpees.  The last 20 or so were challenging, but I got some encouragement from some folks and kept at it. 

Soon enough I was on to the situps, realizing only then that I was a full round behind the pack...pretty standard (shrug). I asked Sara if I could do butterfly situps, and she was completely cool with it.  So I cranked through that set...my biggest problem with situps is keeping my mammoth legs together, so butterfly made it a lot easier for me.  Those probably took the least amount of time out of any of the exercises.  By far the kettle bell swings were my strongest exercise out of the lot, and I might have put the KB down 3-4 times during the set.  I love this exercise, and even though my form was messier than most other times, I was able to crank through this set without much trouble.  Pullups were just a matter of breaking up the reps so I was able to maintain explosive energy and momentum from the resistance bands.  The last 15 or so were tough, and a cool guy Matt who I've seen around the gym came over to help get me through them.  Sets of five became sets of four, became sets of 3.  Somehow I got there, and I was onto what became a WOD unto itself...the handstand pushups...

Matt is a fucking hero...I cranked out like 7 or 8 of them without much of a problem, but with 22 to go, and very little gas in the tank, we started with sets of three.  That quickly became sets of two as I fell out a couple of times.  I was breathing heavy, staring down the bumper plate that dictated my depth in this exercise.  With like 18 to go I was averaging two reps every 2-3 minutes, and I think while we were both determined, a distant cloud of doubt was floating into the room as to whether I was going to finish.  Very long story short, after what seemed like an eternity I got there.  HUGE props to Matt for sticking with me through that absolute mess.

WOD Time: 41:04

My reps weren't pretty, but I got full (scaled) depth and full extension.  I would say MOST of the WOD was challenging but very doable.  But that final hill of the handstand pushups was a vertical climb.  After launching into the chipper with strength and confidence, I got spit out the other end...shredded, in pain, but alive, well, and more fit than yesterday.

I like the chippers.  They don't quite like me yet...they'll warm up to me over time, I'm sure of it :).

Over and Over and Over the Bar...

I didn't even realize today was my fourth day at Crossfit this week.  I guess mostly that's because we started out the week with a skill day.  Those aren't too taxing on the body the way a metcon or heavy lifting day is, so I had no reservations about coming in and attempting this one:

WOD

Self-Portrait

With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... continuing as long as you are able. Use as many sets each minute as needed.

Fun stuff...I did four rounds of the warmup, which was day one of Sara's two gymnastics warmups:

Kick up to a handstand (x3)
Frog Stand (10 secs)
Tuck L Hang (10 secs)
10 Kettle Bell Swings (16 kg)

Since I've had little problem getting into the handstand, I've been doing 5 reps of handstand pushups instead of just kicking up into the handstand.  I haven't explored much depth, as I keep three abmats stacked on top of each other under my head so I only come down a couple of inches for each rep.  Over time I'll take out the pads progressively, but I'm in no rush...

3...2...1...Go!  We started with one pullup (I used my typical 1.5 thick bands) and, as I'm sure is typical, people were laughing and making light of the fact that there was a minute rest after that.  But the minutes went by quick and one became two, two became three, and before I knew it I was eight minutes in, hoping to get through the round of nine.  I was breaking up all post-5 minute rounds into the first 5, then whatever was left.  It was a decent strategy, but skill (or lack thereof) caught up with me and I found myself one pullup into the 10th round and I was cooked.

So we're watching and encouraging as some of the more impressive CF'ers got into rounds 12, 13, 14, and I think one of them got close to 15 but alas we were all done after that, when all of a sudden Sara says:

"OK...same thing, but Burpees..."

I joked that I could be there all day doing burpees, but I petered out just before the round of 9.  That was a great audible from Sara...I don't think the class before us did that extra workout, and it was cool to get in an extra sweat while we still had time left.

A fun, solid WOD, and happily my last one of the week.  Time for some much-needed rest and relaxation.  Looks like only one WOD next week before the next rest day, so let's hope I come back to something serious.  Either way I'll be there, and that's what counts most of all...

Peace...

Dude...Bro...What do you bench?

Today was the first time I've bench-pressed since I was 16.  I saw it come up on the WOD and I had to laugh.  I was loving the scheme of the WOD, even though it didn't quite turn out as RX'ed:

Complete as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
185 pound Bench press, 3 reps
225 pound Back squat, 5 reps

Because of limited hardware Sara decided that we should scrap the AMRAP and do seven rounds, not for time.  I was fine with that because I was much more into getting myself set on the back squats instead of rushing my way through them to try and get as many rounds as possible.  I settled on starting out at 135 on the bench and 185 on the back squat.  Since my quads were burning from yesterday's sprints I decided to low-bar the back squats, which uses glutes and hamstrings far more than quads.  This is what ultimately saved me.  If we had to high-bar like last week's back squat WOD I would have been in some serious trouble.

Here's what ended up happening:

Warmup: 25 pullups - 40 kettle bell swings (light - 16kg) - 3 tuck "L" hangs

Back Squats (5 reps)
185 (2 rounds)
205 (3 rounds)
225 (2 rounds)

Bench Press (3 reps)
135 (1 round)
155 (6 rounds)

I'm excited for the next skill day that focuses on the back squat.  I really feel like by the time we work on 1-rep max loads I'll be able to push into 300+ without a problem...I guess we'll wait and see, and depending on the day I might not be in a space to come close to that, but I'll definitely try.

The bench press sets were fine...pretty uneventful.  Knowing how infrequently this exercise comes up in WODs it was more of an experiment than anything.  I could have gone higher than 155 but I felt no reason to push it.

Fun WOD...more tomorrow!

16 Minutes of Glory

What an AMAZING feeling putting up a sub-20-minute time for a WOD where I RX'ed the weight (i.e. lifted using the prescribed men's weight...no scaling, for the lift anyway). I've never done it before, but I'm starting to feel like I'm going to start doing so more regularly. I think my consistency is really paying off in droves, and I'm confident in my ability to lift heavy with good form (in most cases...at least for the first 5 reps or so ;).

Warmup: 20 pullups, 30 kettlebell swings

WOD - Five rounds for time of:
135 pound Back squat, 20 reps
Handstand walk 20 yards

Sara went through the class one by one and asked what weight people maxed on their last back squat. I reminded her that she basically laughed at me after I put up 245 x3 and she felt like it looked like a warmup set. So she said to go for 135 and I was quick to get set up. We also discussed the handstand walk, which obviously I had to scale (seems most people do).  So we tried a "wall walk" where I started in pushup position with my feet against a pole, and I tried to walk backwards until I was flush with the pole, but I lost it each time I tried.  So she said since I've been dying to do handstand pushups in a WOD, she prescribed 7 of them per round after each set of back squats.

Something interesting about the back squats was that Sara prescribed a high-bar back squat.  This confused me because last week we went over how crucial the low-bar position was to back squatting, to emphasize the use of the posterior chain vs the quads.  She said high bar back squats might as well be front squats, as they use the same muscles.  But apparently because of the volume of back squats she still maintained it was best to do high-bar, as she said low-bar would shred our shoulders, which would destroy our ability to do the other parts of the WOD.  I was nobody to argue, as I needed every edge I could get to make this one happen.

3...2...1...Go!  I did the first set of back squats unbroken, and had little trouble doing the handstand pushups, especially because I placed three abmats on the floor under where my head comes down to minimize the depth (I'm still very green on this exercise and there's no reason to push it yet).  Each back squat set after that was broken up into mini-rounds of 10.  I did the last one as 11 & 9, a tip I picked up from one of the regulars, and what a difference it made in getting the second part of the set done.  I'll remember that for future WODs...something happens psychologically that gets you through the remaining reps so much quicker when you have a single digit of reps left...Before I knew it I was done.

WOD Time - 16:00

I turned around and two people weren't done yet.  I was so psyched to encourage other people for a change.  Sara made sure I absorbed the moment. "You did 100 back squats and 35 handstand pushups in 16 minutes...SIXTEEN MINUTES".  I froze as I contemplated what a milestone this was.  I'm really feeling like this past week has been a massive breakthrough for my fitness.  I'm wearing smaller pants yet again, I owned the back squats last Friday and today, did the unbroken runs on Tuesday...what an incredibly productive week!

I look forward to rest and stretching galore this weekend.  Other than that, you may see some diet-related posts.  Otherwise, see you after the next WOD 8-).

Peace...

Might as Well JUMP!

Chalk outlines are for the weak - I leave a sweat puddle

I watched the sample video of today's WOD last night and was psyched to get into what seemed to be a classic Crossfit workout.

WOD
"Wittman"
Seven rounds for time of:
1.5 pood Kettlebell swing, 15 reps
95 pound Power clean, 15 reps
15 Box jumps, 24" box

Sara was back and I chose one of her two standard warmups, which typically call for dead-hang pullups, L-hang from the bar, and Kettle Bell swings.  Since there were 105 KBS in the WOD I chose to just focus on pullups, and I got 20 of them (broken up into sets of 5) using two resistance bands.  Elliott commented about my improvement and said I looked like I knew what I was doing. I'm glad I at least have him fooled ;).  I mixed in some shoulder rolls and shoulder dislocates with the PVC, because I was still hurting pretty good from Monday's WOD.

I had one of those mornings where I woke up in serious pain (I was tellin people I felt like I had a pain vest on), but I hoped by the time I arrived and warmed up I'd be ready to go.  That's actually how it panned out, which was great because I needed every ounce of my energy to get this one done.

I scaled as follows:

35 lb Kettle Bell
65 lb Power Clean
20" Box Jumps

As is the case with any WOD involving box jumps, I promised myself I would at least do the first round of them before switching to step-ups.  I'm still trying to be conscious of my leg, but the only pain I felt was in my quads, which were pretty shredded from Monday.  Boy was I in for a surprise.

WOD Time: 32:11

I did EVERY FUCKING BOX JUMP.  EVERY ONE. Done.  ME.  I did ALL of them. EVERY! BOX! JUMP!

This is pretty damn huge.  Not only did I finish the WOD, but I've never even done a DOZEN box jumps.  Today I did 105!!  I think all these weeks of shredding my legs is starting to reap rewards.  I struggled through the last rounds a bit, but nothing like I have in the past.  Sara felt that my choices of weight for both KBS and Cleans were too light.  I really thought I was planning ahead for the final 2-3 rounds but I think she's right.  I could've gone 50 lbs on the KBS and 75-85 on the Cleans. 

Either way I was leveled after it was done, and every inch of my clothes was drenched.  Mission accomplished I say.  We'll tighten up the weight next time.  Sara even mentioned that we should explore RX'ing the weights and paring down the reps so I get more accustomed to RX'ed weight.  We'll work on it moving forward, but for now I'm psyched that I was able to hit this one hard and finish it.

Peace...

Deadlifting Oswego

Surprise!!  No snow this morning (at least by 4AM)! So I rolled into Crossfit unexpectedly for today's skill day.  I missed both deadlift days last week, which I was particularly bummed about, because it's been since December and I really wanted to get some weight on the bar and give it a shot.  Last time I "PR'ed" at 215, knowing it was far below my threshold, and when I saw deadlifts on WODs on both Saturday and Sunday of last week I figured I screwed myself until at least March or April (since I can't make it into the city on weekends).  Lo and behold today's skill day involved deadlifts for the warmup and Rack Pulls for the WOD.  But I was determined to focus strictly on deadlifts to really get into it and see where I'm at.

Warmup
20 Pullups (5x4 Double-Banded)
30 KB Swings (50 lb)

WOD
Deadlifts - 235 x3 - 275 x3 - 285 x3 - 295 x1 - 305 x1 - 305 x1 - 315 x1 (1 rep max PR)

I was dead set on getting over the 300 mark.  While I have no idea how much I weigh (last I weighed myself I was 330 lbs in the spring of 2010) I assume I hit close to my bodyweight today, which I'm pretty psyched about.  I was going to stop at 305 so I could say that I dealifted Miami (word to Scott in the 305), but I powered through and deadlifted 315, so I guess I'll have to settle for deadlifting Oswego, NY. I guess next time I'll try to pull for Roscoe, TX (325)...we'll see...

My quads are thumping from yesterday.  Not psyched to limp my way through the evening commute (in a blizzard). Pray for me...

Peace.

Snatched from the Jaws of Pain...

If I wake up very sore I've learned to just get my body moving and I'll be alright .  A couple of times the pain has cost me a day at Crossfit.  But I've learned that by the time I get to the Black Box it's almost three hours after I wake, and I'm likely favored to power through a workout without much trouble.  If a metcon was on the schedule today that would have been very questionable.  The only way I was getting through today was the fact that it was all skillwork...a nice chill day where we focus on the ill-named but ever-powerful "Snatch".

A nice visual breakdown of the Snatch

I was happy to get some weight on the bar and see where I stood with this exercise.  I don't remember doing a straight-up power snatch (from the floor)...several times we went over the muscle snatch (starting from the bar at mid-thigh) and we did snatch balances a couple of times in the past (or maybe once in NYC and once in Morristown). 

Warmup:
Pullup Attempt (got 1/2 way up with thickest band several times...this is HUGE for me)
30 Kettle Bell Swings (16 kg)
20 Ring Rows
10 GHD Situps
5 mins Double-Under practice

Snatch:
6-7 warmups with bar (45 lb)
65 lbs (x3)
85 lbs (x3)
105 lbs (x3)

I'm pretty sure the WOD called for seven rounds of one rep, but I really wanted to get comfortable with the exercise, and Sara was more concerned with that than adhering to the exact number.  She had a lot of helpful comments, and she mentioned that my snatch form was better than my cleans.  I felt good with the weight, and I feel like if I pushed heavier it would be borderline.  I didn't want to get so heavy that I compromised the form of the exercise (or bring myself any additional pain).  It gets meaningless when you do that, even though it's the most common thing I see in other types of gyms.

Either way another productive skill day in the books, and I'll have a solid reference point next time we revisit the snatch.  The soreness from yesterday's madness didn't slow me down at all, but you can bet there's some solid rest coming up this weekend before I attack next week's Crossfit schedule.

Peace...

Kicking Ass & Braving the Elements

Today's WOD felt GREAT!!!

It was snowing in NYC but that didn't stop most of us from running down to 6th Ave and back for the run portion...got a lot of support along the way and ended up a lot farther than I planned.  What a great end to a 4-WOD week.  Loving it...

WOD: "Rankel"
AMRAP in 20 minutes:
225 pound Deadlift, 6 reps (scaled to 135 lbs)
7 Burpee pull-ups (scale to 7 burpees then 7 jumping pullups)
10 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood (scale to 24 kg)
Run 200 meters

Final Tally: 3.8 rounds (one more run would have gotten me four but I ran out of time with two KBS to go)

You can't help but love the support of the Crossfit NYC crew.  Every time someone passed me on the runs (and they ALL passed me I can assure you) they all had words of encouragement...taking time out of an intense part of their workout to say "keep it up Reis" - "nice work Reis" - "get after it Reis".  It really works in such a big way.  And everyone is so approachable when I have questions about form, or just finding out about them as people and their own experiences with Crossfit.  It's getting tougher to stay away on rest days (but I know those are as necessary as the WODs, and frankly an extra hour of sleep is gold right now).

Excited for a weekend with my family.  I barely see my son during the week, so I'm taking him for pancakes in the morning (Dad gets his egg whites & black coffee :-).  End of the month I'm going on my first snowboard trip in over five years...I feel like CF/Paleo has been an intense training session for the endurance required for three days of solid boarding.  Can't WAIT!!!

I'm sure I'll have some more ramblings during the weekend...until then...peace...

I Did Fran!!!

That's right people...she's been playing hard to get for a while since I started Crossfit, but Fran just couldn't stay away any longer.  Yup...I did her, and there was barely anything left of me when I was finished...man she's tough!

Warmup:
I hung from the bar 3x, which by itself is super-tough for me at my current weight.  My hands get shredded so quickly.  But I tried to hang on long enough to start working on the back and forth that will help me eventually get to do kipping pullups.
Also several stretch exercises with the group (death stretch, wrist work, spinal twist)
5x ring rows (3 rounds)
10x kettle bell swings (16 kg - 2 rounds)

WOD:
"Fran"
3 Rounds for time:
Round 1 - 21
Round 2- 15
Round 3 - 9

Thrusters (RX'ed at 95, Scaled to 75)
Pullups (Scaled to ring rows)

Time: 8:08

Sara said she would stop us if we went over 10 minutes...the people in the 6:00 class were coming in anywhere from 4-8 minutes, so I don't feel like I lagged too far behind the pack.  I feel great that I at least have a reference point, and surprisingly I'm not fried from doing Fran today and the front squats yesterday.

Looks like I rest tomorrow...I'll likely be back on Friday though...it's tough to stay away!

Peace...

WOD 2010-12-16 "For Load and For Time"

So basically I view every pullup as a weighted pullup.  When you tip the scale at over 300 lbs that's just the way (weigh?) it is. So when I see "weighted pullups" on the WOD I just think "Pullups".  And when I think pullups I think ring rows, because I don't have pullups yet, even with the widest support band.  I'll get there, but I need to challenge myself more on the ring rows (lower to the floor, more reps at a time).  Today I took some steps in that direction, even if the result was a bit sloppier than normal.

Warmup - Three rounds of:
10 Kettle Bell Swings
10 Good Mornings


Today's WOD:
Three rounds of:
10 Weighted pull-ups
30 Back extensions

My time: 8:20

I'm happy that my time came in under 10 minutes, which Sara said was required.  I really got after it on the back extensions.  The last 15 or so were tough, but I was able to crank them out five at a time.

Already psyched for tomorrow...

Peace.

Jerk...ME ON!!

I've never attempted the Push Jerk before, so I was a bit apprehensive coming into today's WOD, especially because we did Shoulder Press on Monday.  Here's the WOD:

Shoulder press 1-1-1-1-1 reps
Push press 3-3-3-3-3 reps
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5 reps

We started with a warmup of two rounds of Samson Stretch, 5 "centipedes" (I think that's what Jeff called them...pushup then walk your legs up to your hands), then 10 kettle bell swings.  Then we partnered up and hit the racks.

Here are my weights:
Shoulder Press (x1) : 65 - 85 - 85 - 90 - 95
Push Press (x3) : 95 - 115 - 115 - 125 - 125
Push Jerk (x5) : 95 - 95 - 115 - 115 - 135

During the Push Jerk Sara observed my form and said it looked like it was way too easy for me, so I gained some confidence, tried more weight, and after it was done I feel like I left some weight on the table.  She says it looks like I can push jerk 165 no problem.  I guess I'll wait until next time to find out.  But I'm more than happy with where I got today, and I have to say especially for my first time I absolutely killed it on the Push Jerk sets.  I was able to tweak my form, and with some help from Jeff adjusted my grip position, and I got some really explosive reps in where I felt I was really able to get the weight up there. 

A side note on GHD situps...I was kind of bummed to miss yesterday, but I also didn't feel comfortable with going from zero GHD situps to a WOD with 90 of them.  Until today I didn't even attempt going past parallel.  So I did five of them to get the feel for the full motion.  Some guys helped me with form, and I was able to adjust and do 10 of them.  I paused after each one because the feeling was similar to what I felt when I did forward rolls a few weeks back...kind of dizzy.  The guys explained that its important to not tense the abdomen on the way back, so to bend the knees and relax on the way down, then explode up using your quads.  I look forward to throwing a handful of these into each of my morning warmups to get more comfortable with them. 

That's it for now...Peace...

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.

WOD 2010-11-19

Warmup:
10 Kettle Bell Swings
10 PVC Overhead Squats
10 25lb weighted situps
10 pullup (scaled to ring rows)
also practiced w the jump rope

WOD (amrap 15 mins):
5 Deadlifts (135 was good for me)
10 Wall Ball
15 Double Unders (I just did 30 singles)

4 rounds plus a set of wall ball in 15 mins...not horrific, but at least a reference point for next time.