I’ve been having the toughest time learning double broadsword. It takes a lot of coordination, and I feel incredibly awkward. But I think I’m finally getting there. I spent a little time on it Monday morning, in between watching Luke and helping teach class.
I’ll get it eventually.
I wanted to work some different muscles during this morning’s conditioning class. My abs are really sore today from yesterday’s situps. My upper body is fatigued, but not too terribly. So here’s what I came up with:
Jump rope 3 min
Race to 150:
50-40-30-20-10
Pushups
Squats
Jumping Jacks
for time — 25 min cutoff
My time was 10:06. I think I could have been faster, but Luke was with me this morning and I had to run over and help him a couple of times.
I planned to do some bagwork at the end, but we were running short on time, and in the morning, it’s not a good idea to run late. People have things to do!
I managed to avoid sweet crap all day, but I was craving chocolate so bad tonight that Andy ran out to Mandola’s and picked me up an eclair — delicious.
I left my Crossfit workout this morning feeling much more encouraged. Here’s the WOD:
50-40-30-20-10
Kettlebell swings (2 pood men, 1 pood women)
Situps
Chaser x 3:
20 pushups on med ball
20 swings with 6lb med ball
20 shoulder press with 6lb med ball
Sprint 50m
I did the first exercise in 14 minutes. On the 40 round, I had to move down from the 16kg kettlebell to 12kg. Once I was using the lower weight, my form was better and I was able to swing the kettlebell over my head (It was still really hard). I attacked the rest of the sets, and it was nice to hear my coaches shout encouragement after seeing how I was pushing it.
The chaser workout was not timed, but I did pretty well. My arms were really tired. The 6lb med ball isn’t a lot at first, but it sure feels heavy when your arms are already tired.
We were supposed to jump into planks at the end with our feet on the ball, but I was so weak with exhaustion, I could only keep one foot on the ball.
I left smiling — that was more like it. I performed much better. And even though my arms feel like lead now and my lower back is still sore, THAT”S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!
OK — so I’ve figured out my ideal workout diet.
Banana pre-workout
Hard-boiled egg right after workout
Oatmeal for breakfast
This morning I woke up at 5 and actually thought, “Why am I putting myself through this?”
I was at the gym at 5:25 a.m. and staring blankly at the WOD:
800m run
(4x for each of the next 4:)
25 pushups
25 deadlifts
25 double-unders (or 50 jump rope swings)
25 situps
800m run
Another day of suffering. I’m not much of a runner — the warmup 400m run is a lot for me. Still, I gritted my teeth. We rushed to pull the equipment out. I couldn’t tell whether I pulled out a 35lb bar out for the deadlifts. Zach wanted us to add weight to 115lb for the women.
I was straggling at the end of the first run, but jumped into the exercises. The deadlifts really hurt me. It was too heavy, and I had trouble powering through them at a decent pace. Finally, on my 3rd set, one of the coaches came over to give me tips on form and realized the weight was too heavy. We took off 20lbs and I jumped back in. I was able to move a little faster, even though the weight was still really heavy. I was just about to start the last run when time was called — 25 min cutoff.
I hate that I didn’t finish and that I struggled so much. It was really discouraging. But when I got home, Andy reminded me that I didn’t sign up for this because I was already good at it. I signed up because I want to be stronger and more athletic, and only through challenging my body will I get there. He said, “Cindy, you probably won’t finish any of the workouts for the next month, but you will get stronger.” I thought about how much I struggled when I first started going to the Kung Fu conditioning classes, and eventually it got better. I’m definitely stronger than I was in the beginning. Now I have a new set of goals. But hopefully, I won’t hurt so bad forever.
BTW — Free Xfit Women’s workout this Sunday March 22 at 9am — anyone want to go? The one I went to was much easier than what I do now.
I started learning double broadsword on Monday, and it was more difficult than I thought it was going to be. We started with the swings, and the one that gave me the most difficulty when standing still just happens to be the one that is used as a turning swing throughout the kata.
Hugh likened the kata to blue belt staff, which is just basic swings of a bo staff while walking.
I need to practice.
I could not participate in the Friday Kung Fu conditioning workout because my body was still healing from Thursday. But I still came up with the workout for the guys that showed up. Here’s what it was:
Warmup
Jump rope — 2:30
13 goblet squats
13 jumping squats
13 pushups
13 powerovers
13 lunge steps
13 bird leaps
(They did each set of 2, 5 times before moving on to the next set. Cut off time was 25 min, but almost everyone finished under 20 min)
Stretch
I did not workout on Wednesday — hence the lack of an entry — and it’s a good thing too. My legs were really sore from Tuesday’s workout and I desperately needed them to heal before this morning’s workout.
I’m not sure whether it helped. I struggled through the WOD. And I do mean struggled.
WOD:
21-15-9
Sumo deadlift high pulls — 65lbs on the bar
In and Outs
Pushups
Jumping squats
Wall balls
It was alike all of my worst exercises were rolled into one giant workout. I barely made it through before the cutoff — 19:17 was my time. I’m actually not quite sure if I did all the required sets, because my brain was so foggy I kept losing count. I hurt afterward — almost immediately.
I hope it gets better.
Nurtrition
(Note to self — Oatmeal is the best post workout breakfast for me. Next time, I’m eating oatmeal.)
Banana
Cheese omelet with asparagus, hardboiled egg for breakfast
Leftover broccoli stir fry with rice for lunch
Yogurt and berries with granola
Lentil soup
My eating wasn’t bad, but the timing was way off.
Today’s Crossfit workout kicked my butt, but it was good.
The WOD was:
Squats 100 / 80 / 60 / 40 / 20
Muscle ups 2 / 4 / 6 / 8
So it was kind of a pyramid thing. Trouble is, no one could do a muscle up. Instead, we did 4 pullups and 4 ring dips for each muscle up. That made it 8 / 16 / 24 / 32 / 40.
I managed to keep my squat form throughout, but I had to slow down in order to maintain. I did the ring dips with 2 feet on the floor and I did jumping pullups.
I made it through the 40 squats and was at 20 pullups and ring dips when time was called at 25 minutes. I’m not sure anyone finished the workout. I’m pretty happy with how I did. I worked hard and really put as much as I could into it. My legs feel weak, but not terribly sore, which goes to show how far I’ve come. We’ll see how I do tomorrow.
I paid particular attention to my diet today — PROTEIN is KEY.
Banana (Pre-workout)
Boiled egg (post-workout)
Breakfast — Oatmeal with banana, strawberries
Snack — Yogurt w/ berries
Lunch — Leftover white beans and greens on toast
Snack — boiled egg, apple with almond butter
Dinner — Spinach quesadilla with beans
I really felt lazy in Kung Fu this morning. Maybe it was because I was tired — I never sleep well when Luke gets in the bed with us. Maybe it was because I didn’t really get a rest day on Sunday. Maybe because it was dark this morning since the switch to daylight saving time. I don’t know, but I did not feel like working out. I heard myself whine when Hugh said we were doing kicks. And after that, I walked around and helped teach — not much working out there.
I feel pretty good about what I ate today:
Oatmeal with banana and 1 tsp of syrup for breakfast
Leftover sweet potato curry with bok choy (no starch this time) / strawberries / yogurt and berries with granola / 1 hardboiled egg
1 apple with 2 tbsp of almond butter
white beans with braised greens on toast
My workout today took place in my Saturday morning black belt class. We spent the first 30 minutes in the back parking lot with spears in hand. I worked with two other 1st degrees on our spear forms. I have all of the 4 required spear forms, but it’s been weeks since I worked on them, and the review was good.
Then we went inside and spent the next 45 minutes reviewing yellow tiger, blue bird and working on 1st black tiger. We spent the longest amount of time on black tiger. We stood in lines and MJ called out sections of the form to do — telling us to really command the form. He wanted us to feel like a tiger.
I did. I love the tiger forms. They are powerful and vicious, and they only work when you give them every ounce of energy. If you don’t, the moves have no power — no meaning.
But my arms are tired still, and I couldn’t give it my all. I’m pretty impressed I could hold up a spear at all. But sometimes, even though I knew what I was supposed to do — my body just couldn’t do it. I felt jumbled and weak.
This afternoon I did yard work. I raked and bagged leaves for over an hour. I’m tired.
Nutrition was pretty bad today:
Breakfast at Kerby Lane — Harvest omelet, black beans
Lunch — Grilled cheese sandwich with spinach
Dinner — Veggie burger, fries and rings at Hut’s
Very carb heavy tonight. EAT MORE VEGETABLES.