Tag Archives: Max weight

Bedtime stories and a week of PRs

Posted on by
1

Some people think we’re weird, but we don’t watch TV at my house. We ditched the TV years ago. Instead, we read.

Luke has a chair he curls up in with a book, and Mads has started bringing me books to read to her. At bedtime, Andy and I have been trading off reading chapter books to them. They listen and gradually fall asleep.

Unfortunately, I’ve been falling asleep too. That means I’ve been getting a great night’s sleep. It’s a little annoying, because there’s tons of work to do after the kids go to bed, but it’s been awesome for my workouts this week. It’s amazing what a difference a little rest can make.

“Crossfit Total”
1-1-1
Back squat → 135-145-150
Shoulder Press → 65-70-70
Deadlift → 185-190-195

Crossfit Total was split over Tuesday and Thursday.  I had PRs on all of the Crossfit Total lifts this week. I worked hard for each of those PRs — especially that deadlift. I was fighting to lift that 190# bar. I wish I had been able to lift 195#, but it didn’t budge. It’s amazing what a difference 5 pounds made. I’m sure it was partly mental, too.

I like the sleep I’ve been getting, but I’m trying not to let myself fall asleep that early every night. If you know me, then you know I have a zillion side projects and chores to take care of. TV? I don’t have time to watch TV!

Finding focus

Posted on by
Reply

Have you ever been really concentrating on something and then been forced to interrupt your thought process so you could do something else? That’s been happening to me these last couple of weeks.

Work is intense. I’m a web designer/developer, and I’m in the middle of a particularly intense part of a website redesign. I basically sit down at my desk in the morning and concentrate on nothing else unless I have to. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I interrupt the process with my Olympic Lifting class. It’s tough shifting that focus.

But I don’t dare go to the gym with my mind on my job or family or anything other than what I’m about to do.  Not only is it bad for training, it’s dangerous. I need to focus on the bar, not be thinking about work, because someone could get hurt.

“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” Bruce Lee

I don’t have a trick for shifting my focus away from work. But I do have a couple of strategies that help. The right kind of music helps, and by “right kind” I mean something invigorating. That usually means I have to play a CD and not listen to my usual radio station – KUT. When I leave for Olympic Lifting, John Aielli is hosting, and his kind of music is… well… slow. Or classical. Or folksy.

Not exactly “pump-me-up-for-a-workout” music.

I usually let my mind wander for a bit in the car, but about halfway there, I force out work. It has no place in my brain. It can wait. It’s almost like meditation. I try to think about one thing, related to class — kind of like a mantra. By the time I get to the gym, work is driven from my head and I can focus on the task at hand.

Sometimes, usually near the end of class, my mind will start wandering back to work. I’ve managed to catch myself and force it out. Work can wait until my shoes are off and I’m headed for the car.

I had a great class on Wednesday — I hit a PR!

Front squat max 5-3-1-1-1 → 75/80/100/115/125/130
Hip Snatch + OHS 3+3 x 3 → 45/55/60
Hang Power Snatch w/ pause @ knee & hip → 55/60/60
Snatch Balance 4×4 → 35/35/45/45

Zach had me do 4 singles of the front squats, and he still thinks I have more in me. I’m getting stronger!

The drills of the hip snatch and hand power snatch are pretty much the same as we’ve been doing.  I’m starting to hear more “Good jobs.” And the weight is slowly moving up a little at a time here and there, because I’m more consistent at the lighter weights.

What’s making the difference? Practice, time and focus.

Back squat max day

Posted on by
Reply

Doing back squats every week has definitely paid off.  After months of struggling to reach my pre-pregnancy max, I FINALLY got to it again on Monday.

Back squat max 5-3-1-1-1 → 80/100/115/130/145
Hip Power Snatch + OHS 3+3 x 3 → 45/45/50
Hang Snatch w/ pause at hip 3×3, 2×3, 2×1, 1×2 → 50/50/55/60
Push Press 65%x4, 75%x4, 85%x4 →  55/65/70

I am very happy with 145#. It’s not a PR, and I did hit it once back in March. But ever since then I haven’t come close. I just hope this kind of progress continues.

I also really benefited from the hang snatch with the pause at the hip. It was so helpful to be able to see exactly where I was going wrong with the regular hang snatch. I was jumping too soon because my shoulders weren’t over the bar when it reached the hip. I was flinging my chest back, rather than straight up. That’s really hard to feel when you’re moving so fast.

Still much work to do, though.

Crossfit Total for September 2011

Posted on by
Reply

Cindy at the top of a 165# deadlift

I have gone back and forth over what to write about this month’s benchmark: Crossfit Total.

I considered being all cheery and focusing on the positive.  I considered writing nothing at all.  And I considered being real, and perhaps revealing a bit more than I would normally, since I’m an extremely private person when it comes to certain things.

I decided to be real. A very tough decision for me, since I know many of the people who read this personally, and it’s hard putting myself out there.

I came home from class Thursday morning and cried.

I cried because I feel like something is wrong with me that is bigger than sleep and training and nutrition. And I don’t know what it is.

Crossfit Total
Backsquat
1-1-1
Shoulder Press
1-1-1
Deadlift
1-1-1

Results:
Backsquat 125-135-135
Press: 65-70-70
Deadlift: 165-185-185

There’s nothing I feel like I can add to explain away those numbers. They are lower than previous max lifts. Here’s how I did in June.  Here’s how I did in March. I’m just not strong right now. I feel weaker.

I look back at the past 6-9 months, and there is a common thread. I have been suffering from chronic hives on my trunk, a condition I have been to numerous doctors to diagnose, explain and hopefully cure. It took a while to diagnose. I’ve just gone through a second round of lab tests, knowing that there is only a 30% chance they will figure out the cause. A cure is even less likely, according to the numbers.

I have taken topical medications, oral medications, tried this, tried that. Only this week I was thrilled to be told by yet another doctor that I could stop taking one medication at night, which is kind of like Benedryl. The next morning I felt like a million dollars. It was the first time I wasn’t dragging in weeks.  Too bad it didn’t lead to a better lift day.

Andy and I talk about this craziness a lot. I’ve gotten serious about my nutrition, water, and even sleep (although it’s still not ideal, but hey — I’ve got an infant). It’s taken 6 months for us to start wondering whether the hives have anything to do with how I feel in the gym. But it’s frustrating not to know for sure.

I don’t intend to give up. I’m going to get stronger. Days like I’ve had this week remind me I’ve got a long way to go, but they are just days.

I go home, hug Andy, take my shower and move on about my day. If anything, I have come to an obstacle I must scale to overcome. I’ve done it before.

I’ll do it again.

Crossfit Total — A mixed bag

Posted on by
2

It seems like everyone is getting PRs when we do Crossfit Total.  Everyone but me, that is.

It’s kind of frustrating.  I want to keep up with everyone and have my own success story to tell.  “Oh yeah!  I PR’d by 10 pounds!”  But that hasn’t happened in a while.

Part of my problem is the same ole same ole — lack of sleep.  Who knows about the rest.  Maybe I’ve hit a plateau.  I don’t know.  The point is, it was Total week, and I’m not all that pleased with how it went.

Back Squat
Shoulder Press
Deadlift
1-1-1

Back squat  — 115-125-145

Shoulder Press — 58-65-70

Deadlift — 165-175-185

On a positive note, I’m back up to 185# on my deadlift.  I haven’t been there in a year, and while it’s not a PR, it’s a good thing to be back at that level.  I’m annoyed my back squat is still stalled out at 125, which is well below the 145# I got to last year.  As for shoulder press, I’m annoyed I scratched at 70# when I was able to press that same weight just a few days before.

Grrrrr….

Handling failure

Posted on by
Reply

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill

How do you handle failure?

Be honest with yourself.  No one is listening.

How do you handle it?  Do you get mad at yourself?  Do you gloss over it and try to be positive?  Do you give up?  Or do you turn your failure into a success?

One of the things I have learned as part of being a parent is that feelings are OK.  Mine AND my child’s.  I don’t tell Luke or Mads not to cry.  I don’t tell them not to be angry.  Because that’s stupid. They’re upset.  They’re scared.  Feelings happen. What is important is to acknowledge their feelings.  Let them REALLY feel them.  Otherwise, how can they possible learn to handle them as adults?

It’s important not just to do that for children, but also ourselves.  It’s stupid to gloss over feelings of frustration when we fail just because some self-help book told us we have to stay positive.  Yes — positive attitudes count, but embracing our initial feelings is incredibly important so we CAN move on to being positive.

Where am I going with this ramble?  My perceived failure this morning on Part 2 of Crossfit Total.

Shoulder Press
Deadlift
1-1-1

Results:
Shoulder Press — 60-65-65
Deadlift — 155-175-195

I’m not happy with how I did.  My shoulder press goal was 80#.  My max is 70#.  And I couldn’t even lift 65#.  (Here’s how I did last time.)

I’m less disturbed by the deadlift.  I had further to go with that after pregnancy.  But my max last year was 185#.  I wanted to return there, and even beat it.  It’s true that I deadlifted more this time than last time, but it still feels like failure.

Here’s what’s going to happen.  I’m going to think about my lifts this morning — probably for the rest of the day.  There may be some pouting involved.  There may even be some excuse-making (“I was tired.”  “It was a bad day.”  “I did a tough workout Wednesday.”).  I’m going to embrace my feelings of failure.

And then, I’m going to let them go.

I will set new goals.  I will add more lifting into my workout schedule with Andy.  I will not shy away from my failure.  I will remember how it made me feel and I will turn it into success.

Feelings are fleeting.  Drive pushes us forward.  Accept what you feel, but don’t let that distract you from your path.

The bar didn’t budge

Posted on by
Reply

It’s very apparent I haven’t been doing heavy deadlifts.

Crossfit Total Part 2
1-1-1
Deadlift

Results:
145-165-185

As Andy didn’t hesitate to remind me this morning, there is a danger with returning to exercise/weight lifting and thinking you can go right back to where you were.

In June, I set a PR on deadlift (at 6 months pregnant).  In August, I had to step back because of my pregnancy.  Obviously, I’m still building back up to where I was.

The 185# on the bar… well… I couldn’t even lift it off the ground.  The bar wouldn’t budge.  Zach told me not to sweat it — I’ll get it next time.  And you know what?  I will.

Miss positive “Cindyanna” knows that I have come an incredibly long way in the past few months, and while I have my goals and wish I could be bad ass right now, I also need to take care to avoid injury and realize I don’t have as far to go as many other women who just had a baby.

I’m gonna get there.  I’m gonna get stronger.

Answer: All of the above?

Posted on by
1

The last of the Thanksgiving leftovers are right now going into a Turkey Curry recipe, the pumpkin cheesecake was polished off by our resident dessert expert, Luke, and the other leftovers disappeared days ago.

Now that T-Day is behind us, I can feel the pre-Christmas frenzy descending.  It seems like my to-do list grew by feet within just a matter of days.

With everything going on, it should come as no surprise that I’m not quite 100%.  The boys have been sick;  I may be fighting off a virus;  I haven’t taken time to sleep enough; and the weather has been oscillating between hot and cold.  Also I indulged in a piece of gluten-free but highly sugary spice cake on Friday and I’m only now feeling its effects leave my system.

Maybe that explains my off day for:

Crossfit Total (Part 1)
1-1-1
Back Squat
Shoulder Press

I felt really weak, and my numbers showed it.  Not only was I unable to PR, but I also couldn’t even lift the weight I know I can do.

Back squat: 115-125-145
Press: 60-65-65

Not my strongest lifts.  Not even close.  Andy’s first thought was the virus.  Then I suggested lack of sleep (Mads got me up in the middle of the night).  We kept naming possibilities when I finally said — maybe it’s everything.

Bottom line, every day is different.  Today wasn’t my strongest day.  On the other hand, I felt really fast during the warmup run.

At least I can look on the bright side.  Hopefully I don’t sound too much like a Pollyanna.

Day of the deadlift

Posted on by
4

Oh my.

As I wrote in my Facebook status several days ago – “Some days you got it.  Some days you don’t.”  (PS, thanks for all of the encouraging words!  The comments were really nice!)

This morning was Crossfit Total, Part 2.  It didn’t go exactly as I wanted.

1-1-1
Deadlift

I think I started a little low.  I really wanted to hit 195 – that’s 10# over my previous PR and a goal I set for the challenge.  I didn’t make it.

165-170-195-195

Zach and I were both so surprised by my failure that he allowed me to try it again.  The lift attempt was good in my opinion, and even Zach said I made a good attempt.  In telling (and crying over it – what was that about?) later to Andy, we analyzed my position, where I was driving from, my hand position.  Everything.

The simple fact of the matter is that I wasn’t ready.  Sigh.  And as Andy pointed out over breakfast, the Crossfit Challenge hasn’t really been about building strength for me.  It’s been conditioning.  My conditioning has improved drastically.  But my strength has not improved much, and sometimes I feel it’s decreased.

I finished shoulder press today, too.  In fact, I started over.  At least I didn’t scratch at 55#: 55-60-70.

I feel sad about my performance.  I’m frustrated that I feel like I’ve taken a step back in my training rather than stepping forward.  On one level, I feel like this week was my last chance to set some PRs for a very long time.  That probably explains why I started crying when recapping the deadlift to Andy when I got home.  And what’s really frustrating me is that I know why – physically and mentally – and there’s nothing I can do about it except adjust my thinking to my current state of being.

I know that I’m speaking cryptically here.  Please bear with me.  There is method to my madness.

On that note, I’m going to hold off revealing my body composition results until after the challenge.  I’m very happy with the results – they were actually a pleasant surprise this morning – but it’s not the time to discuss them.

Later, friends.  Later.

Body language

Posted on by
Reply

My body had a conversation with me this morning.  It went something like this:

Me: There goes the alarm.  Time to get up.
Body: Um, yeah, about that — the muscles are really tired.
Me: It’s Crossfit Total today.  I really don’t want to miss a benchmark workout.
Body: Yeeeaaahhhh… well, we can tag along, but don’t be expecting any PRs today.  We’re TIRED.
Me: Cool.  We better hurry.  We’re going to be late.

So yeah.  My body is really tired.  And even though my brain is awake and fresh, my muscles are sore and achy.  They aren’t moving as fast.  Hence the reason I had a poor Crossfit Total day.

1-1-1
Back squat
Shoulder press

My numbers:
135 – 150 – 150
55 – DNF

My back squat PR is 145.  I really tried to beat that, but sometimes the spirit is willing when the flesh is weak.  Next time.  And I didn’t have a chance to finish the shoulder press.  Warming up with the 45# bar told me I was even more tired in my upper body.  My PR is 65# and I scratched at 55#.  So I decided to put off the other two until Thursday.  Hopefully I’ll be rested by then.

My strategy was to finish all of the EPOC WODs early this week so I could rest Friday.  I ended up finishing today, so I can rest on Wednesday, too — YAY!

Andy wouldn’t let me wimp out on the WOD we planned for last night (Monday).

3 rounds
20 squats
20 burpees
400m run

The burpees were my weak point, and for the first time, Andy beat me!  Must have been REALLY tired.  I finished in 14:29.

This morning I had some time to take care of the endurance WOD, too.  I measured out the distance on the sidewalk in front of my house, grabbed my stopwatch, paper and water and did this:

15 100 yard sprints

I started out at 26 sec, but I was able to bring that down to 23 sec by the 6th sprint and that stayed pretty steady.  My best time was 22 sec, which I hit twice, including the final sprint.  Not too shabby.

Rest up ya’ll!  The challenge finale is this weekend!