Weekly Workout Recap – setting new PRs

Hello, hello!

Happy Saturday! Do you have Monday off? 🙂

So, I’m out of the boot and I’m not sick (although, I still have a little congestion hanging around and there’s a dry spot in my nose that gets very painful sometimes. ugh. tmi?) and I was really motivated to get some good workouts in this week. Time to get back in the saddle!

Monday

I started Monday morning off with a cycling class (we were on Spin bikes, I guess it wasn’t called Spin because….?) at the Y.

I didn’t take a picture of the room because I didn’t bring my phone in there. I wasn’t sure what protocol was and I didn’t want to do something wrong and get yelled at. 🙂

It’s been a couple of years since I took a spin class but it felt pretty nice to be back on the bike. I was really looking forward to a good workout!

Except, I didn’t really get one. I mean, I got an okay workout but it wasn’t as dynamic and fun as I had hoped. The Monday instructor is apparently ‘not a morning person’ (as stated by one of the other riders. I’m sorry, who teaches a 5:30AM spin class and isn’t a morning person? Isn’t it almost a requirement?!) and she most certainly wasn’t peppy. I guess she had started a learning series the week before and this Monday was working on climbs – mostly seated – and cadence. I was a little bored. It’s an hour long class – that’s a long time to be actively doing stuff and still be bored.

I’m going to check out a couple of the other instructors (on other days, of course) and see how they are.

6pm CrossFit

It has been quite some time since I’ve done the “Total” workout and I was really, really, REALLY looking forward to it. ESPECIALLY since I’m not in the boot! I know I’ve made strength gains and I wanted to see where I’m at.

Basically, in this workout, you warm up and then you get 3 attempts at your 1 Rep Max of that lift and then you move on to the next. It’s not “add weight on in the smallest increments possible, starting really low, and go until you can’t anymore.” You have to be aware (and this is why my Journal Menu Wod book is so helpful!) of what your previous weights were and start somewhere near there so you can build appropriately.

I HIT PRs in 2 of my lifts!!!!!

And, to be fair, I PRd my press last week so I wasn’t expecting to set a new one this week.  My previous PR at back squat was 125#. Whoop! A 20# PR!!! And, that’s legitimately my 1RM because I was halfway in the ‘up’ part of the squat and I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. I had to really push myself. I was so proud when I got it back up!!!

I wish I knew what my 1RM of deadlift used to be but I think it was around 180-185#. Honestly, it’s probably in one of these entries but I don’t have it written down and, yes, I’m too lazy to search. 🙂  But, I can tell you I have never lifted more than 200# until Monday and I hit 205#!!!

So, the reason why it’s called CrossFit Total is because your score is the total of all your weights. So, mine was 425. (I know that it looks like I’m the weakest link but these numbers are excellent for me. And, Lauren and Theresa are bad ass chicks, so there’s that.) Based on my weight class, I fall in between intermediate and advanced on the ranking chart.  I’ll take that!

Tuesday

6pm CrossFit

Yes, they called this workout “Helen”-ish. It should have been called “Hell-ish.” Oof.

Helen is a benchmark WOD and is 3 rounds, for time, of 400m run, 21 kb swings, and 12 pull-ups. I last did Helen in October (was in between boots and able to run!) and scored 13:13.

“Helen”-ish was designed to be an interval workout and was to be scaled, if necessary. Coach wanted each athlete to be able to complete at least 2 rounds and if your previous Helen time was not 12:00 or less, you had to scale.

I am not yet ready to run so I rowed and Coach scaled me down to 300m and do the rest as prescribed. I did all 21 KB swings at 35# but, when I got to the pull-ups, could only get 9 done. So, I made the decision to stick with 9 and go from there.

I completed 4 rounds and was on my 5th pull up in round 5 when my 4 minutes were up. So, my score was 4 rounds.

Man, all those swings and pull ups were so HARD after all the pulling on the rower!

Wednesday

My arms/shoulders needed a break so I took a rest day. I had planned on going to an AM spin class but we had an “ice storm” and I wasn’t sure what the roads were going to be like. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I could have gone but better safe than sorry, right?!

Anyway, instead of an evening CrossFit class, I took half a day off work and went and help unload equipment at a new CrossFit box. Where I’m going to start going. 🙂

That counts as a workout, right? 🙂

Thursday

6pm CrossFit

30 muscle ups.

Yeah, right.

I don’t even have 1 muscle up yet!

So, obviously, I scaled the workout.

I did option 3 because my hands were still pretty sore from Tuesday. Plus, ring rows help with the pulling aspect that helps in the muscle up transition from pulling to throwing yourself through the rings. I finished in 11:00.

The part I liked the best about this workout was we did muscle up practice and skill work before. So, I worked on my kip (swinging on the rings and trying to bring my hips up to touch the rings) and then I worked on the transition on a low set of rings. That’s seriously the hardest part!

Friday

Rest day!

I had the day off (YAY!) and had homework to do, housecleaning to get done, got my hair did, and went grocery shopping.

Phew!

Saturday

Back at the new box helping out. Pictures later! You can always follow me on Instagram if you want pictures faster than that! 🙂

Talk to me: How was your week of workouts? 🙂

– jennifer

Weekly workout recap – the one where I picked up heavy rocks

Hello!

I know this is coming to you a little later in the day but I had a small road trip to take.

I’m currently hanging out with my folks and my grandma. 🙂

There’s lots to do so I’ll get right to it.

This week of workouts was pretty awesome!

Monday

It was a holiday. And I didn’t have to work. And Thing 2 was getting her teeth extracted the next day. So,

I took a rest day and hung out with her and went out for Indian food.

Tuesday

AM Garage workout

Started my morning off with a 1 mile run. Yep, that’s right. A RUN!

I know I ran last week but this was my first morning run. It was blissful! And short. And my Garmin didn’t

record it, for some reason. But still, I ran!!

Then, I hopped on the elliptical for a 30 minute workout.

Thing 2 is getting her wisdom teeth out today and I’m definitely nervous for her.  I know it’ll be fine – people get their wisdom teeth taken out every day but still. She’s my baby – even if she’s not so little anymore.

No CrossFit today because I was making sure she had everything she needed.

Wednesday

6pm CrossFit

 Man, I don’t think I ate enough today! Or, maybe it’s because I hadn’t been at the box in 5 days.

Whatever it was, this workout kicked my booty!

Coach had us play a little game on the rower as a warm-up. We had to try to row exactly 100m. If you’ve

ever rowed before, you know that’s no easy task. I got close each time (102, 102, 101, 102) but no cigar.

There was mention of “punishment” (read: burpees) for however much you went over/under (my total

was +7) but thankfully, nothing came of it. Phew!

Then, we got down to business.

There aren’t enough rowers so we had to split up the class. I started with the rower group while the

others started on the double unders.

Man, this part really kicked my butt! By the time round 3 came along, I was giving serious consideration

to stepping over the rower rather than jumping it. My legs were like lead!! But, I still jumped. I finished a

full 3 rounds and was on the 5th burpee in the 4th round when time was called.

That 5 minute rest was the best thing ever!

Next up were the double unders.

Man, I haven’t jumped since before the boot and I didn’t have double unders then at all. Coach wanted

attempts but I quickly realized that it would take me all day. So, I did 60 singles instead.

Apparently, I need work on my singles – or – I was a little afraid to do too much jumping because I

missed a little more frequently than normal. It’s fine. I’ll get back there. #patiencegrasshopper

I squeaked out 4 complete rounds and was 4 toes-to-bar into the 5th

I was so glad when this workout was over!

Thursday

AM workout

2 MILE RUN!!!

It felt really good and the weather was just perfect! I even managed to zone out a little and didn’t see

the person walking her dog. Ooops!

Then, I was blessed to see this on my way to CrossFit.

I love where I live!!

6pm CrossFit

I love workouts that are just body-weight movements!

But, I didn’t really love this one.

Just kidding. Actually, it was kinda fun for as much as it sucked!

It was a 20 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of an ascending ladder of pull ups, sit ups, and

push ups – 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, …. etc

Basically, you do 3 pull ups, 3 sit ups, 3 push ups, then 6 pull ups, 6 sit ups, 6 push ups, 9 pull ups, 9 sit

ups, 9 push ups, etc until the 20 minutes is up. Your score is whatever number you actually completed. I

got through 21.

Barely.

I was seriously pushing out my last few push ups as the clock was counting down!

I kipped ALL the pull ups!

Which, if you’re interested, totaled 84.

Yep, 84 pull ups, 84 sit ups, and 84 push ups.

I did about a third of the push ups regular and the rest I did on my knees because I was seriously losing

form.

Hey, what can I say? I was working my muscles pretty hard!

Friday

6pm CrossFit

We did Atlas Stone skill work to start.

I’ve never worked with the Atlas Stones.

Basically, we’re just picking up heavy rocks. Haha!

The lighter stones didn’t have weights written on them but I think the one I worked with was about 50# or so.

I tried to pick up the one in between that one and the one that was marked 110# but I couldn’t even lift it off the ground.

Which, honestly, kinda boggled me. Because I can deadlift 200#. Why couldn’t I pick up that stupid stone?!?! lol

It was kinda fun, though. 🙂

Then, the WOD.

Holy. Rowing. Hell.

20 Minute EMOM (every minute on the minute) row for distance with a partner.

Basically, it was a sprint row.

Spring for 1 minute and switch. For 20 minutes.

I normally enjoy rowing but this sucked bad.

I reached the “I’m going to die” feeling right before coach yelled “10 seconds” each time. So Hard!!

My partner and I rowed 4514m.

Saturday

I had originally planned on sleeping in.

Because I was tired.

But, I got up and ran anyway.

2 miles.

The draw of the road was too much. 🙂

 Talk to me: How was your week? Do any new workouts?

– jennifer

Weekly workout recap – sore muscles FTW!

Hello, hello!

Well, this was quite a week of workouts! I’ve got all kinds of sore muscles!

Nope, not complaining. Makes me feel like I’ve worked hard. 🙂

 Monday

6pm CrossFit

Oh yeah, Monday’s are always tough.

I was actually pretty excited about this workout – at least the strength part of it, anyway. 🙂

We haven’t done front squats in a while (at least, since I was in the boot) and I was pretty positive my weight had increased.

Generally, when we do strength work, we work in teams of 3-4. I like working in the groups because it’s nice to get feedback from my fellow athletes and the rest time in between my spots is kinda nice. 🙂

We started off with a few reps just with the 35# to warm up and we got going.

We started off with 85# and went from there. I got up to 115# and might have actually been able to do 120# but we ran out of time. Either way, that’s a PR! Pretty sure I stopped at 105# the last time we did them before the boot.

Now, the WOD.

I decided to do handstand kick ups instead of handstand push ups with the bands because I need to get comfortable back on the wall. I was really cognizant of which foot I was coming down on – I only landed on my right foot once!

I made it through the first round okay but then, 25 air squats into the 2^nd round, my left knee decided it had enough.

I was so mad!

I just don’t understand it. My knee was FINE during the strength. Coach said my patella was probably swollen and he didn’t want me to do any more squats, just the sit ups and the handstand push ups.

I felt like such a slacker.

So, since we had a 25 minute time cap on the whole thing, I decided I would just do situps and handstand kick ups until time was called.

And then I went home and rested my knee.

Tuesday 

Tuesday ended up being a rest day – which my knee was thankful for! – because thing 2 had an appointment with an oral surgeon to discuss wisdom teeth removal and we needed to get new ID cards.

Um, yeah, her mouth is a money pit! But, they have to come out because she has no room for them and we already spent the big bucks on braces. Ah, the joys of parenthood. 🙂

Wednesday

Garage Workout

My knee was feeling pretty good today so I got up for a spin on my elliptical.

I bumped the incline up to 20% and did the Target Toning I workout.

Holy sweat fest!

6pm CrossFit

Omigosh, snatch balance skill work. So stinking hard!

But, so important!!

Of course, I can’t do more than 35# and Coach told me to work on overhead squats instead but I did one well! And promptly couldn’t do another. *sigh*

For the WOD, I grabbed a 15# bar and put 2 10# plates on it. Mentally, for me anyway, it’s better to work with a bar that has weight on it plus, with the weights, there’s no random “starting mid-shin” guesswork.

Coach wanted me to do power snatch instead of regular snatches and work on form. I did most of the WOD with the power snatch but I tried to throw in regular ones so I could work on them. Still working on my hip flexibility.

For the chest to bar pull ups, I used the blue band.

I think I’m close to getting them – I just have to work on pulling a little harder during the kip to get my chest up to the bar.

Thursday 

6pm CrossFit

I love deadlifts!

Even though they make me pee a little.

Oh, sorry. Too much?

But those ring push ups? With shenanigans at the bottom? Um……

After warm up, I set up my bar at 145# for the WOD.

Since it wasn’t for time, we didn’t have to rush through everything but Coach didn’t want us doing 1 deadlift at a time either so we had to pick a weight we could do 10 times in a row.

I’ll tell you what. Those ring push ups were something else.

I tried once with the really low rings and couldn’t support myself to stick my arms out so I went to the higher rings.

You might think that made it easier (and I guess it did A LITTLE) but nope, still really hard.

Especially down to those last ones. Ooof!

We basically did variation 3 in this video without rising between arm extensions.

Friday

Well, I had planned on getting in an elliptical workout this morning but, my alarm went off and my body said NO!

I thought about ignoring it and getting up anyway – sometimes, I can just be lazy – but I was pretty positive it wasn’t laziness screaming at me to reset my alarm.

And, when I got to CrossFit later, I was really, really glad I listened to my body in the morning. 🙂

6pm CrossFit

This workout.

There were only 9 people which, obviously, means someone didn’t have a partner.

That would be me.

Of course, I couldn’t do the sprint so Coach brought over a rower and I did 250m sprint row (took me about a minute each time) instead.

I grabbed 20 pound dumbbells for the cleans.

My first round took me about 3 minutes so Coach suggested I rest for 3 minutes (as if that’s how long my partner would take, too).

But, before the WOD, he suggested that if I felt like the rest was too long, I could go a little sooner.

Um, hello, challenge accepted!

Of course I’ll work harder than I need to!

(cuz I’m so smart)

I probably only rested about 2 minutes between the 1st and 2nd rounds and then, I slowly increased my rest time up to the 3 minutes because each round got harder….and harder….and harder.

My legs were burning, my shoulders were burning, everything was burning!

The best part was on my final row, I was pulling super hard trying to get it done and Shannon (girl who normally works the front desk at the box) walked behind me and said, “Wooo, look at those back muscles!!!”

Kinda made me grin. Even in my misery. #strongisbeautiful

Saturday

Um, rest day.

Obviously.

Holy. Tired. Muscles.

Talk to me: How was your week of workouts? Did you push limits? Did you rest when necessary?

– jennifer