5 rounds of FGB instead of 3. My score for all 5 rounds was 382. I went into this trying to hit my goal in the first three rounds, and then just cruise through the last 2 and treat them like extra practice. I really think my push press training has been helping, since I went over my target numbers there. I had thought SDHP was my best station, but it turns out the first station is my best station, and the last is my worst. It’s really all about the metcon, or lack of it, for me. So, that’s good to know.
Last year I got 212 on FGB (Class C). My goal for next Saturday was going to be 250, and tonight I hit 249 in the first three rounds. First of all, that’s 25 points better than my first practice FGB this year, which was 224 on August 8th. I’m glad I’ve been training! But my experience from last year is that the day of the actual event has so much energy that everyone scores pretty high. I have no idea what my goal should be now. I’ll be spending some quality time with my calculator between now and next Saturday. Because [see avatar].
I’m very pleased to announce that because of the practice FGB that has been scheduled for tomorrow, my husband (AKA Jim, and known to some - you know who you are - as “Jimmy”) signed up as the 75th member of Team Petranek Fitness and will be practicing FGB tomorrow and doing the fundraiser next week! I’m very excited this will be a family effort this year! Thanks to Burch for idea of scheduling the Saturday practice for people who couldn’t make it on Fridays.
Finally, while my abs hurt yesterday, they aren’t that sore today. They only hurt when I watch this completely-unrelated-to-CrossFit video because I laugh and laugh. Kitty funny.
Yeah, I’m not calling this Remedial CrossFit anymore because…because I don’t want to. Isn’t CrossFit kind of permanently remedial anyway?
warmup:
3x
1000m row
50 GH situps
50 back extensions
Yeah, I know, that’s a hell of a warmup. And if it looks suspicously like the Michael, that’s because it is, but I subbed 1000m rows for the 800m runs because I need the rowing practice. I really did this at a warmup pace, so I have no idea how long it took me, but it made for a pretty long friggin warmup. I’ve always wanted to do this workout, and I still may in the near future, but this time I just wanted to see what was involved. Last time I did 150 GH situps, I was sore for 10 days. Hopefully that won’t happen this time, because FGB is in 10 days. ohmygodfightgonebadisintendays **slap** OK, I’m back.
workout:
squats: 20lb x 5 x 2sets; 40lb x 5; 60lb x 5; 80lb x 5 x 4 sets
deadhang pullups: 1 (yay, first unassisted with that grip!)
deadhang chinups: 8 (uh, that would be 8 sets of 1 rep)
deadlift: warmup 65-105; workset: 130 x 5
7 intervals of 1:00 work / :30 rest: 35# push press: 20/15/10/12/12/12/11
Squat form is getting better. I’m hoping to be up to some heavier work sets soon. Haven’t deadlifted in a while, thought I’d do it in honor of the Diane everyone’s doing today. Really felt the 130lb after all the back extensions and rowing I did earlier. I did push presses for my intervals today because I really need to boost those numbers for FGB. I may do this a few more times before the big day. The funny thing is that when I first picked up the 35lb, it felt so light that I actually just pressed the first 7, before I remembered I was supposed to be push pressing. But my arms tire so quickly that the numbers just drop off a cliff pretty fast. But this was an effective way to bang out 92 push presses in a short time.
press: 5 warmup sets 15-30lb; worksets 50x5x1, 50x4x2
squat: worked on form 20-60lb, sets of 5
bench press: 5 warmups sets 20-40lb; worksets 60x4x1, 60x3x2
weighted situps: 5x 25lb; 40x 20lb.
Not feeling 100% today, so didn’t go crazy with anything. Failed the 4th or 5th rep of my work sets, even at the weight I did last Wed. I really think lifting on my 4th workout day isn’t conducive to PRs. Not quite sure how to time rest days better given FGB Fridays and other factors, but after FGB I can probably work it out.
Weighted situps were really good. I haven’t been getting sore from GH situps lately. I know, boo hoo. I’m hoping I get something out of the weighted situps. Other than a sore neck. I missed the weighted situps the other week but Jim did them. He has had a red spot on the back of his neck for the longest time, and we couldn’t figure out where it came from. Mystery solved, and now we have his-and-her red marks from weighted situps. Awwww.
warmup:
500m row
500m row legs only
400m row back only
300m row arms only
500m row for time: 2:02.6
Rowing with only your back is not my idea of a good time. I also didn’t beat my PR for 500m row, which is 1:55 (well, 154.9, if you must know). My legs just seized up about 200m into it and I could see the time getting slower and slower and I couldn’t find the gas pedal. Like watching a car crash in slow motion. Oh well, just not my day for this.
workout:
5x
AMRAP 3 min:
6 OHS (42#)
9 pullups (purple band)
12 wallball (10#)
1 min rest between rounds
From yesterday, I knew I couldn’t get 6 reps at 50#, but I also knew 35# would be too easy. So I split the difference. I only finished one round each time, so my score was 1/1/1/1/1, but I also kept track of the amount of the 2nd round I got:
1: through 7 pullups
2: through 3 pullups
3: through 6 OHS
4: through 6 OHS
5: through 4 OHS
I really just wanted to know how many OHS I was doing. This ended up being 9 rounds of 6 reps, and while it was challenging, I was able to do the sets unbroken (I just ran out of time on the last one), so I know I can go heavier in the future.
warmup:
2x:
500m row, 400m run (this worked really well for me—made the warmup run easier when I warmed up before it!)
3x:
10 OH squats w/ pvc pipe
10 pushups (about 6 from toes each round)
10 15lb windmills (5 ea side)
In full celebration of the absence of running in this workout, I decided to make it all about heavy OH squats. I did OH squats in a class about 3 weeks ago that ended up being 8 sets of 8 with 35lb. Today I went 15lb heavier and could only do sets of 3 and 4. My hands were shaking when I got home, which I always take as a good sign that I really threw my CNS for a loop. Good, good times.
The last thought I had before going to sleep last night was “What kind of variation are they going to do on FGB tomorrow? What’s left?” And then I realized heavy was left. I’m like, you know, psychic or something! I guess light is also left. REALLY looking forward to those 15lb push presses next week.
I was seriously fearing this workout all day. My goal, frankly, was to actually get my ass to the gym and to not hurt myself doing the workout. I really thought I’d get something like 130. But I got 185! My first baseline for class C was 187, so this is my baseline for when I do class B next year.
Partnered with Amy, and beneath that sweet little exterior lies a monster! She’s doing a triathlon tomorrow morning, but showed up for Fight Gone Heavy anyway—and her score went UP in the 2nd round. Inspiring work, girl!
press: warmup sets 15# - 30#; work sets 47.5# x 5 x 5
squat: all sets warmup/working on form – 2 sets of 5 reps at each weight: 20, 30, 40, 50, 60
db bench press: warmup sets 10# - 20#; work sets 30#db x 5 reps x 3 sets
10 1:00/:30 intervals rowing (in cals): 15/14/14/12/13/13/13/13/13/13
Usually today would have been deadlifts instead of presses, but FGB has given me a pressing need to press. BP’s kind of bug me, they seem so non-CrossFit, but just today on his forum Rippetoe told someone that bench presses help improve presses, and my presses need all the help they can get. The presses felt strong, so I did 5 sets instead of 3. Will definitely try for 50# next week. Very happy with this since on Monday I couldn’t even get 1 set at 47.5. That’s what a rest day will do for you.
Really trying to get the squat form so that the bar goes straight up and down, and not in a fancy little oval like I’ve been doing, so I went way down in weight and just worked on form.
On the upside, got my first real knees to elbows today, and more than one. My knees actually touched my elbows. Then it was back to knees to triceps and armpits. On the rowing was hoping to get 15 cals every minute, was disappointed I topped out at 13. I wonder if it’s because I left my weightlifting shoes on. Not making an excuse, just a note to try it again next week in my regular shoes to see if it makes a difference.
Since Becca mentioned in her log my getting on the board with a 1RM turkish get-up, I will share my tips with those of you who, like me, were voted Least Likely to Get on the Petranek Fitness Leader Board in high school.
1. Overestimate your PR. I looked at the board and saw 50# and thought, “I did 45# last year.” So I immediately went and did 50#. When I looked it up, I had missed 45# and my PR was 40#.
2. If you fail, try again often. Turns out to get on the board I had to beat 50#, not just tie it, so I tried 55#. I missed. But I tried again every few days until I got it. I knew this was an effective strategy from watching this video: http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_NicoleBWx15OHS.wmv. Pay attention to the dates.
3. Warm up. The day I finally got it, I had the bright idea of trying when I was really fresh, before I even warmed up. Maybe the 1200m warmup run was exhausting me. But 55# was harder than it had been before. Jonesy pointed out that I wasn’t warmed up, and said that the warmup is important, it gets your central nervous system ramped up (or something to that effect). So I ran the 1200m and did 75 GH situps and then tried it. And got it. Thanks, Jonesy!
I encourage all the PF women to try to beat my t-getup weight (except Janine and Becca, who already have). No one can take away the fact that I was on the board, because I took a picture of my name up there. It’s going on our Christmas card this year.
Because I want to eventually be able to do workouts at the rx weight, I decided I needed to build a better strength foundation. About 3 weeks ago, I started working on my own on the slow lifts, as described in Mark Rippetoe’s books Starting Strength and Practical Programming for Strength Training. I’m not _really_ following the program, because it would require about 2x as many calories as I’m eating to make the gains in strength that are possible with his program, and I read in Cosmo that the “linebacker” look isn’t in this fall, at least for women.
Warmup: mini Michael: 2x 600m run, 25 GH situps, 25 back extensions
Chinups/pullups are part of the SS program, so I’m working on those. One week into this, I got my first unassisted chinup (that’s the supinated grip, still can’t do them with the pronated grip). Today after some warmup with the green band, I did 4 unassisted chinups. This wasn’t a speed set, it was like 4 1-rep sets with about a minute in between. But considering last week I had to wait a couple of hours before I could do a 2nd one, I’ll take it. An unassisted chinup is really a max effort for me at this point. Then I did 2 sets of 5 reps each of jumping negative chinups and pullups. This is where I jump up to the bar and lower myself as slowly as possible. No bands. Then I did 2 sets of 5 reps of each grip with the black band. So altogether 44 pullups/chinups.
Every SS workout includes squats (back squats to you, CrossFitters), and my 1RM is 135 on that, so I started out with 90# work sets and worked my way up to 100#, but I had this funny feeling my knees were moving around too much, so I started videotaping my lifts and jesus christ my form is bad. I hate to think what that 1RM really looked like. So I’ve dropped down to work-on-my-form sets of 5 at 80#, which I do after some lighter warm-up sets. I did 4 of those today. Better form, but after 3 reps I still tip forward. That’s just a work in progress.
Then I did presses. After some warmup sets, I tried doing 50# work sets of 5 reps, but who am I kidding? When I did them at this weight last week, I was leaning so far back it was like a standing bench press. That’s not going to help me with my FGB push presses, so I went down to 47.5. Had to push press on the 5th rep, and it turns out that the little magnetic 1.25 weights fly off when you push press. Good times. These too, are a work in progress.
And here is where I’m really not following Rippetoe’s program: I finish these workouts with 10 intervals of 1 minute of work followed by 30 seconds of rest. Today I did 5 rounds of 10# wall ball and 5 rounds of double unders. Interval training is not great for pure strength training. I’m sure he explains why somewhere, I’m also sure he would strongly disapprove of my tinkering with this whole thing, which is why I say it’s more remedial CrossFit than Starting Strength. But I do think it’s working, as I’ve been able to use heavier weights in classes. And it’s fun. I heart lifting.
BTW, while I recommend his books, Rippetoe also has a Q & A forum on StrengthMill which makes for some mighty entertaining reading. He’s a very funny man.
Okay, I’m jumping into this whole logging thing, mostly because I’m always talking to people about their workout logs and they always say, “I don’t see you on the boards.” Or they just look at me blankly like “Who the hell are you?” Thanks to Zeb for the encouragement. Zeb is the only other PF member I’ve met who I can reference _any_ crossfit video and he knows what I’m talking about. Harry Potter geeks have wands, Star Wars geeks have light sabers, but CrossFit geeks can actually kick your ass. Now that’s functional.
Friday 9/5 5:30 Fight Gone Long - 235 Class C
My last two scores at Friday FGBs were 234 and 236. I had target numbers for this one, but I didn’t hit them either round on the push press or on the 2nd round of the box jumps. Went waaayyy over the target on both rounds of SDHP. So there’s my strengths and weaknesses. Looks like I have some pressing to do between now and the 27th, and I don’t mean Jim’s shirts.
Saturday 9/6 9:30 class w/ Becca
wu: 1200m run, 3x: 16 walking lunges, 10 pushups (knees), 10 situps
workout:
w/ 20# dbs
400m run
30 db cleans
800m run
30 OH walking lunges
800m run
80 db burpees
400m run
30 pullups (purple band)
35:36
When I asked Becca what weights women in the 8:30 class used, she innocently said “Oh, 15 or 20.” So I used 20. I came in dead last, but it turns out 20# was pretty heavy for women. And I ended up loving this workout. I hadn’t worked on cleans in a while, and the burpees included clean shrugging practice, like a Burgener warmup. Fun! Plus, I realized that doing a pushup from dumbbells is easier for me because it’s easier on my wrists.
One of my goals this year isn’t to be a faster runner or to love running, it’s just to stop bitching about running. However, I am free to celebrate the absence of running, and I did wholeheartedly today. I went heavy again, though I was surprised how hard the thrusters were. I did a workout a while ago w/ 52# bb thrusters that was relatively easy, and another one more recently w/ a 65#bb that was much harder, but I figured 50# wouldn’t feel so bad. It was as hard as the 65# bar. Maybe it’s because the grip is different? Or my right arm totally compensates for my left arm with the bar? OK, I just looked it up, and there were way fewer reps on the 52# thrusters. I guess fewer reps is easier! Who knew!
Anyway, I felt great going into—and after—this workout, a fact I completely attribute to the plate of Texas beef brisket I ate last night. I always have a great workout after a big meal of red meat. And to think I was vegan for 7 years. I also used to do yoga and Pilates, and now I’m raving about lifting heavy and eating red meat. Gun shows and monster trucks are right around the corner.
I guess light is also left. REALLY looking forward to those 15lb push presses next week.