Tag Archives: max reps

Kicking Andy’s ass

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Since 4pm Sunday, Andy has been telling me how the workout I came up with was brutal and horrible and how it was one of the hardest workout’s he’s ever done.

Something I imagined caused that much pain?  Little ole’ me?

A little perspective: we worked out on Saturday at home, too.  And it was nothing to sneeze at.

Thruster
3-3-3-3-3

Results: 55-65-75-85-80

I got 2 reps at 85, but on the third, my wrists were hurting so much that I just couldn’t manage the load.  80# felt much better

For Time:
Run 800m
30 DB Snatch (25# DB — 15 on each side)
Run 400m
20 DB Snatch
Run 200m
10 DB Snatch

Time: 10:56 @ 25#

We went back and forth over whether to do this one.  It was lightning all around and we wanted to be done fast.  In the end, it never rained on us, and it was pretty fast after all/

On Sunday I wanted to squeeze in a workout before hanging out with some friends.

4 rounds (1 min/45 sec/30 sec/15 sec)
Max reps of:
Wall Ball (6# med ball)
Med ball clean
KB Swings (1 pood or 35#)
Squats
Shoulder Pres (45# bar)
Pushups
Rest

Results: IT WAS REALLY HARD (no reps recorded)

Andy timed me while playing with the kids in the sandbox.  He said it was painful to watch.  It was SOOOO hard.  I didn’t realize it was going to be that hard.  When it was Andy’s turn, he plowed through, but I think it gave him heat exhaustion.  He just lay on the ground — and later on the floor — for a really long time.  He said it was reminiscent of Fight Gone Bad.

Ooops.

Snatch test

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We finished out the last week of 2010 programming at Crossfit Central with a test Thursday: A kettlebell snatch test.

But I’ll get to that in a moment.

We actually had time to do the strength portion of the WOD; however, it’s one of my least favorite lifts.

5-5-3-3-1-1
Sumo deadlift high pull

Results: 65-65-75-75-75-75

I was being cautious on this one.  It’s really easy to hurt yourself on SDLHPs, and the heavier the weight got, the more difficult it was for me to keep form, so I didn’t advance the weight too much.

KB Snatch Test:
Max reps in 10 min
M 24kg / W 16kg

Results: 120 reps @ 12kg

I was hoping to go RX on this one, but I’m still working on that overhead strength.  Still, 12kg wasn’t exactly easy.  I switched arms every 5 arms.  If I could extend that, I could go faster.  And while 12kg got really heavy near the end, I think I could use the 1pood (16kg) KB the next time we do KB snatches in a WOD.  I started to feel pretty comfortable with the “swing-shrug-pull-punch” motion.

Challenge: Can you beat me?

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Here’s a great WOD to throw into your schedule:

3 rounds
400m run
Max-reps pull ups
50 squats
Max-reps knees-to-elbows

My time: 14:21

I used a band on the pull ups and had to scale the knees-to-elbows to knee raises (no abs — remember? :) ) I averages 10 pull ups and 10 knee raises before I had to stop to rest.

What about you?  Can you do it?

My return

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When I first started at Crossfit, I used to dread it.

Leading up to the time I woke up, this gnawing feeling tugged at my guts, making it hard to sit still or sleep.  It was the workout that worried me, but with time, I grew to look forward to my mornings with my classmates and coaches.

A few times yesterday, I felt that old, dreadful  feeling again as my return to class (this morning) approached.  It was kind of about the workout, but really it was also about logistics.  My sleep has been averaging 5-6 hours a night — interrupted — and I feel far from rested.  I knew I also needed to get up even earlier to be there on time, because I needed to feed Madeline before I left.

All in all, everything worked out.  Madeline was fed, I was dressed and mostly awake, and I felt pretty skinny in my Lulu pants, T-shirt and running jacket.  I felt like a woman who in no way looked like I had a baby a mere 6 weeks ago, and I felt proud of that.

I was even ready for the workout they threw at us.

2000m row
Max reps deadlift (M 275# / W 185#)

This was one of the WODs from sectionals.  For every deadlift, you subtract 5 sec from your row time.

I scaled the deadlifts to 135#, since 185# is really close to my max and it’s been ages since I’ve done a deadlift.  I only pulled off 3 before I had to pause at the bottom, which meant my effort was over.  Sucks.

Time: 10:27

True, it’s awesome that I’m back, and that I was able to handle the warm-up run without keeling over, but the WOD reminded me how far I have to go to regain endurance and gain strength.  Add yet another movement to my “needs improvement” list: deadlift.

Fight Gone Bad returns

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It’s the first week of the new month — time for a benchmark to see how we’re doing.

I figured out the schedule a long time ago, so I knew it would be Fight Gone Bad.  I love this WOD.

Fight Gone Bad
1 min Max Reps (2 rounds only in class)
Rowing (kcal)
Wall Ball (M 20# / W 14#)
Sumo Deadlift High Pull (W 55#)
Box Jumps
Push Press (W 55#)

I was really glad to be working out.  I’ve been feeling really stiff and achy lately — what happens to me when I don’t exercise significantly while I’m pregnant — and I knew a really hard workout would do this body good.

I also knew I would not be able to attack the WOD the way I might when I’m not pregnant.  I am off-balance enough now where I can’t do box jumps anymore.  I have to scale to step ups.  I set an 45# barbell to the side of push press just in case I needed it.  And I approached the workout a little different mentally.

Max reps would be nice, but I know it’s more important for me to focus on strength right now, rather than intensity.  So that’s how I went into it.  I didn’t try to do any of the exercises particularly fast.  But I did try to do as many Rx as possible and I tried like hell to make form count.

I’m very happy to report that the wall balls were some of the best I’ve ever thrown — higher on the wall, deeper squat to start.  I was able to do Rx the whole time on SDLHP, and my form felt strong.  I also felt stronger on push press.  I started with 55# and was doing pretty well… until I hit my chin with the bar pretty hard on the third rep of round 1.

Ouch.  After that, I decided it wasn’t worth it — I’m so clumsy!  So I dropped to 45# for the rest of the WOD.

I managed to get 67 reps on each round for a total of 134.

Last time my reps were 121.  Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to beat my reps, even though I knew dropping weight and stepping up would make me faster.

This Crossfit stuff appears to be paying off.  I’ve been wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans with a band — just wearing them without buttoning, and I haven’t needed to buy new jeans yet.  In fact, all of my old maternity clothes are too big for me.

Plus, another woman who happens to be pregnant told me in a shocked voice that my backside still looks amazing (after apologizing that she even noticed — haha).  Gotta love this stuff.

Building that muscle!

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I know I’ve SAID I have no food regrets, but I wish I had a little more self-control these days when it comes to sweets.  Once in a while is fine as far as I’m concerned.  But twice in one day?  A (CW) brownie and ice cream?

Oh my…

Oh well, at least my workouts have been good.  I know I’m building muscle because I can feel it this morning.

On Monday I showed up at Kung Fu, and the sifu had us do a little workout in between practicing katas.  It wasn’t much, compared to what I normally do — 2×20 fingertip pushups, crunches on both sides, knee bends.

I made the knee bends deep — more like squats — so they would actually give me some benefit.  I’m going to refrain from my usual criticism of the exercises and move on to how I finished my day.

3 rounds
50 lunges
30 squats
15 Romanian DB deadlifts (20#)

Ooooooo… those squats were hard after the lunges!  Great WOD, though.  Simple.  The deadlifts were supposed to be Good Mornings, but I don’t have a bar and I wanted to use heavier weight, so Andy showed me the deadlift form.

Time: 12:33

I knew I was going to pay for that workout Tuesday morning at Crossfit.

5 rounds
Max Reps Deadlifts (M 285# / F 205#)
Max Reps Handstand Push ups
Rest 3 minutes

We warmed up our shoulders by doing some crab walks, handstand walks and bear walks, which got us all laughing.  Some of us were better at things than others, but we were having a good time.

I teamed up with Barbara for the WOD, and we chose 155# for our deadlift weight.  It was extremely challenging, as I was only able to string together 5 on the first round.  The rest of the rounds I could only get 3 or 4 in a row.  We did handstand push ups on a box, and I think my shoulder strength is improving.  My depth was a lot lower.

Results: 19 Deadlift @ 155# / 57 handstand push ups on box

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Mornings are mine

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When I tell people what time my Crossfit class is, I usually get the same response.  Most people can’t understand waking up at 5am to go and work your ass off for 45 minutes.  But it’s mornings like this that are why I do it.

Sure, the workout was great, but it’s the time after that I relish.  The boys are still asleep — enjoying the spring break relax in our hectic schedule — and the house is quiet.  I’ve taken care of a few odds and ends.  The hardest part of my day is already over, and I can enjoy what’s to come.

And hard it was.

Max Reps:
2 min row (calories) / 1 min rest
2 min front squat (135# / 95#) / 1 min rest
2 min pull-ups / 1 min rest
2 min burpees / 1 min rest
2 min ring dips / 1 min rest

It looked daunting, but it turned out to be an awesome WOD.  I used 65# on the bar for front squats, and I have finally dropped down fully to the blue band on pull-ups.  I did ring dips supporting myself with one foot.  My reps came out like this:

24 / 29 / 32 / 24 / 20

One thing I noticed this morning was how tight my hamstrings are.  The punter kicks during the warmups were pure agony.  Fortunately, they didn’t slow me down during the WOD, but I know I need to roll them out today, because sitting at my desk all day will not help.

In the meantime, I’m looking for a good WOD to do at home tomorrow.  Gotta stay on top of it — I wanna be a hot mamma!

I can’t add

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It froze last night!  I was all bundled up for class this morning, and we were all grateful when the warmups began.  The WOD:

5 rounds of MAX REPS
1 min pullups
1 min burpees
1 min ground to overhead (M 135#/F 95#)
1 min rest

Zach forbid us from using gloves on the bar because someone could slip and get hurt.  That disappointed some of my friends, but I had planned on going bare-handed.  I used the green band, and I set up my bar with 65#.  We were instructed to do a clean and press or a clean and jerk to move the bar overhead, since the snatch would be pretty technical.

Here’s how it broke down for me:

 

 Round Pullups Burpees Clean & Jerk
1 17 12 3
2 20 12 4
3 15 12 3
4 12 11 3
5 17 11 4
Total 81 58 17

The burpees exhausted me, and I was toast by the time I got to my bar — hence the low number of clean & jerks. Still, my form was good — garnering a compliment from both Zach and Crystal, and that felt really good.

At the end, I totaled up my numbers wrong — apparently I can’t add in my head under pressure.  Haha! Oh well… I only gave myself 9 extra pullups, 10 extra burpees and one less clean & jerk.  (Argh!  Can’t believe I needed a calculator!)

Also, it’s time to move to the next lightest band — blue.  Green is too easy now.  I was doing chest to bar pullups at times this morning!

Wow… it’s amazing how far I’ve come and how much change has happened.  My classmates and my coaches commented on that this morning — but it’s something I’ve been feeling for a while.  Still, I have goals to reach, and this is no time to rest on my laurels!