Exercise

Weekly Workout Recap (4/29 – 5/5)

by Jessica on May 7, 2013

in Crossfit, Exercise, Uncategorized

In the absence of personal photos from the gym last week, I thought I’d link a great video I came across last week. If you’re unfamiliar with Barbell Shrugged, it’s a great video/podcast for not only CrossFitters, but athletes or the fitness-enthused altogether. Lots of great info and tips, and in this case, some ways to adjust the Paleo/Primal diet for active lifestyles.

For those who are training heavily or looking to increase load or overall training volume, some have found a strict Paleo diet is difficult to maintain without feeling like you’re eating all the time or just not getting enough. We’ve fallen in this category and have adapted our diet as necessary to include rice, oatmeal and some homemade sourdough bread just to feel satisfied and energetic enough for our volume. While it’s definitely not a reason not to engage a clean eating or Paleo/Primal lifestyle, realistically we’ve found it difficult to do without some accommodation.

I’m currently in LA for AdobeMax, so posting is a bit slow as I try to write entries for what I’ve been doing here, and just taking in the sheer amount of information to be found everywhere. I packed my conference scheduler with everything they’d allow me, so literally back to back sessions from 8:00-5:00 every day.

That being said, last week was a great week for programming and I am still really enjoying the OPT programming. I’m feeling stronger, and definitely more sore than I have in a long time. I can’t wait to see how I feel at the 6-week mark, and as we head into the summer and into a few competitions in the fall.

Neil’s hamstring is still sore, but as you can see below, he really didn’t let that stop him from doing whatever he could in the gym. Lots of upper body, with some light lower-body work. He messaged me today and said he managed a 145 lb squat and that he was only feeling a little sore, so I think he’s on the mend.

I’m excited to get home this week because we’re having another Friday Night Lights as well as a BBQ on Saturday. It’s crazy just how much I miss everyone!

Monday

Jessica

A1. Press; 12-15×5; rest 30 seconds (65 lb)
A2. Weighted chin up clusters @50×1 (1 set of as many as possible to tax), then 5×5; rest 15 seconds/rest 3 min

B1. Bench press 3×5; rest 10 seconds (75 lbs)
B2. Incline dumbell bench press 3×10; rest 10 seconds (2 20lb weights)
B3. Static headstand hold; amsap (as many seconds as possible) unbroken x3; rest 3 min (30 seconds each time)

C. Bent over supinated grip barbell rows @41×2 or 6-8×4; rest 2 min

Neil

Strength:
3×5 Squat – Air squats due to pulled hamstring
3×5 Strict Press @ 120lbs

WOD: 21-15-9
Horizontal ring pulls
Hand-release push ups

Tuesday

Jessica

A1. Front squat 3×5; rest 10 seconds (115 lb)
A2. Back squat; 3×10; rest 10 seconds (115 lb)
A3. Barbell walking lunges 3×24; rest 3 min (45 lb)
+
On the min for 20 min:
Odd- 30 seconds max double unders
Even- 30 seconds max goblet squats 1.5 pood (55 lb – managed 12 per round)

Neil

Rest Day

Wednesday

Neil

WOD: 3 Rounds Each For Time

250m Row
10 Roll-Outs
10 Abmat sit ups
10 Wood Choppers

Thursday

Jessica

A. HSPU eccentrics; accumulate 30 perfect reps with as slow of a tempo as possible (full range of motion)
+
7 TnG push jerk (75 lb)
Row sprint 20 seconds @100%
rest 3 min
x3
+
7 unbroken chest-to-bar chin ups (amrap if this above pr)
Row sprint 20 seconds @100%
rest 3 min
x3
+
Row sprint 30 seconds @100%
rest 3 min
x3

Neil

Strength:
3×5 Squat – Air squats due to pulled hamstring
3×5 Strict Press @ 120lbs

WOD: 21-15-9
20 inch box jump
Ring dip

Friday & Saturday

Travel days, no scheduled workouts

Have you had to adjust your diet to accommodate your fitness goals?

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Weekly Workout Recap (4/22-4/28)

by Jessica on April 28, 2013

in Crossfit, Exercise

It's crazy how motivating this little flower is... #vzwvoices #fit

Well, as you can see below, Neil had a rough week. After doing back squats (the athletes are in a strength cycle and building new PR numbers every week with certain movements), he pulled a hamstring doing a cycle of sprints. He’s doing better, but is on limited movement workouts until his hamstring heals. Our trainers have been great in helping him treat it, and he’s been more mobile than both he and I thought he’d be at this point. It’s a level 2 muscle pull, so it definitely could have been worse, and for that we’re pretty thankful.

I’m a week into my new programming and really enjoying it for the most part. I managed two PR’s last week in both my bench press (95 lb) and front squat (165 lb), and the workouts are definitely putting my strength endurance to the test. I’ve had to adapt several of the workouts to accommodate some concerns about my shoulders (high-rep snatches) and equipment we don’t have at the gym (Airdyne), but I think my adaptions maintained the intent of difficulty.

I will say that I’m definitely missing the social aspect working out with the rest of the class, especially Neil. This programming has returned me to solo workouts, and it’s kind of bumming me out. What I love about CrossFit is collectively slugging out workouts with other people, and with the exception of one day this past week, I’ve been completely alone. My trainer has indicated that the programming will merge more in the future, so I’m looking forward to that.

Monday

Neil

Strength:
3×5 Squat (Add 5lbs to Last Week) – 190 lbs
3×5 Press (Add 2.5lbs to Last Week) – 115 lbs

WOD: 5 Rounds
100m Sprint (11-12 seconds)
- Must not deviate +/- 2 Seconds From Original Time. Penalty is 30 Evil Wheels.

Jessica

Strength:
A. Build to 1 RM incline bench press (95 lbs – 25 lb PR)
B. Amrap ring dips in 5 minutes (begin the 5 min with 1 amrap unbroken set and record score) – Got to 27

WOD: 10 rounds for time:
10 toes to bar
10 hand release push ups
Finish: 10:40

Tuesday

Neil

Warm-up: Relay + Med ball

Strength: 5RM DL (Following the Last Few Weeks, Try to Add 5lbs To Your Working Sets) – 255 lbs

WOD: 10 Rounds For Time
7 Wood Choppers (Left and Right)
5 T2B
Finish: 8:19

Jessica

Warm-up: Relay + Med ball

Row 3 min for max cals/miles
Rest 10 min
x3
No pacing, all out efforts

Finish: Finished between 640 and 680m for all three rows. Cut the rest time to 5 minutes instead of 10.

Thursday

Neil

Warm-up:
Relay warm-up

WOD:
5×3 back squat – 195 lb
Sprints – pulled hamstring, could not continue workout

Jessica

Warm-up: PVC + relay

Strength:
PR’d my front squat today — 165 lbs! Second PR this week.
Establish 1RM Front Squat: It’s been forever since I established a 1 rep max front squat. My old PR (that I remember) was 125. I PR’d with a new max of 165 lb. I think the 175 is close, just need to tighten up a bit more on my form.

WOD:
Snatches:
25 at 45 lb
25 at 75 lb

Friday

Neil

Warm-up: Relay with oly tech

WOD: 12-9-6-3
Push Press (did strict press at 95 lb)
Ring dips

Jessica

Crazy amount of snatches in this workout, but I can definitely feel myself getting stronger and closer to my goal of an 85lb!
Warm-up: PVC and 25 snatches with a 45 lb bar.

WOD:

A. Power snatch; 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1; rest 3 min (at 65 lbs)
+
Airdyne 30 seconds @85%
Airdyne 30 seconds @50%
x6

The workout originally slated for 20 rounds, but time and concern for my shoulders made it 6 rounds for me. There was no prescribed weight accompanying this workout, so I chose 65 lb.

Sunday

Jessica

30 minute recovery run – covered about 3 miles with the dogs in a run/walk.

Do you prefer to workout solo, or with other people?

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Weekly Workout Recap (4/15-4/21)

by Jessica on April 23, 2013

in Crossfit, Exercise

DSC_1046

I’ve been toying with the idea of doing a weekly workout recap for a while, and some changes to my programming in the past week have finally convinced me it would be something fun and worthwhile to document. For the past few months, I’ve been doing extra strength work aside from my 4-5 WOD’s a week. It was pretty nondescript — extra strength sets, misc. max-lifts, etc. However, last week, my trainer instituted a new programming regimen for those looking to compete, and I’m thinking I’m game enough to give it a try.

A few things have kind of led me to want to try some new programming.* My strength has somewhat plateaued in the past few months. I’ve struggled to gain new PR’s or numbers and some days I even feel like I’ve lost ground. I’ve done the dance of trying extra mobility, more sleep, less workouts (more rest) and keener supplementation, but it really hasn’t made a difference.

In considering this new programming, I feel like I’m kind of at a crossroads with CrossFit — in the sense of where I want to be in it. Doing some competitions would be fun, but I don’t know if I want it to be a lifestyle. I already have a job (two in fact), and I want CrossFit to remain my escape and hobby. I also don’t want to fall solely into lifting, I love endurance as well. I like a good balance (which is why I chose CrossFit in the first place), so that’s what I’m going to start experimenting with. I love that there is no wrong answer, and I’m hoping the right programming or mix of workouts is out there for me.

I started OPT Big Dawgs yesterday. I gave the name a bit of a side-eye at first, but at-a-glance, I love the assessment and range of movements the programming incorporates. There are a variety of levels as well. I’ll be doing “She“, but I hope to sneak in a few “OPTathalon” endurance-focused workouts as well.

Neil is going to continue with regular programming. He’s bummed I’ll be doing separate workouts, as CrossFit has always been something we’ve done together, but I promised him we’d stil WOD together.

Anyhow, I promise these won’t all be so wordy — just needed to offload a little bit of where I currently am. Here are our workouts from the past week:

Monday

Warm-up: 400 m run
relay warm-up

Strength:
3×5 Back Squat (Jes – 85-105-115-125)
3×5 Strict Press (Jes – 65 lbs)

WOD: 6 Rounds For Reps (1 Min Rest Between Rounds)
Max Effort Plyo Push-Up**
20 Yard Shuttle Sprint

Finish: Jes – 55, Neil – 83

Wednesday

Wall ball warm-up

WOD: 4 Rounds For Time
5x Evil Wheels
5x Partner GH Raises
10x Deficit Push-Ups
20x Jumping Lunges
Rest While Partner Completes Task, then Switch.
Finish: 11:50

Thursday

Strength: 3×5 bench press (Jes – 75 lbs, Neil 175)
ME Ring hold

WOD: 5 Rounds
5 back squat (Jes – 105, Neil – 185)
5 box jumps

Friday:

Strength: 5×3 Power Cleans (Jes – 85 lbs, Neil – 165)

WOD: 1 Minute On/1 Minute Off
In the 1 Minute On, Perform 30 KB Swings (70/55). For every round you do not complete 30 KB Swings, count 1 Penalty (1 Penalty= 1k Row to follow the 10 Minute WOD).
I did 35 lbs, and Neil did 55 lb. Made it through all 5 rounds, no rowing!

*Forgive me for the major first-world problem whining.

**I will try to link as many of the movements as possible to videos with tips, tricks or just a general overview for those of you who are not familiar. I’ll always prioritize the movements that I think you might be a little less familiar with. I will also do a better job of documenting the warm-ups, as they are crucial to safe and effective workouts.

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Untitled.

April 16, 2013
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I wasn’t going to join the blogosphere in writing posts about the bombing at the Boston Marathon yesterday. I’m usually without anything profound to say when terrible events like this happen, and honestly, my immediate anger response is less than graceful and not very becoming of the person I aspire to be on a daily [...]

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CrossFit Open WOD 13.4

April 4, 2013
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They just announced the final CrossFit Open WOD, and here I am again writing about the last one. No biggie. It’s actually been nice to take a little extra time to reflect on this workout. And heal. I am still in awe that we are one WOD away from being done with our first Open, [...]

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3rd Annual Omaha Harvest Hustle 2012

November 12, 2012
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Hello from Nebraska! I’m traveling this week for work and decided to kick off my trip a little early with a slight detour to Omaha to visit my brother. Since my company is based in Lincoln, I typically try to swing through so I can see him. While looking for things for us to do, [...]

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Cohick Half-Marathon Recap

November 7, 2012
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I am so excited to say I have now completed TWO half-marathons. That means I’m serious about this running stuff right? Hardly, I know, but at least I feel like I’m now outside the “total newb” realm. Early Saturday morning we packed up the pups and headed to Springfield for the Cohick Half Marathon/Conservation Marathon [...]

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