Rabbit- have fun with the bands! I think they really are the best way to do assisted pull ups. I want to get a set for home also.
Last night's CF workout was again brutal- I don't like met cons with no heavy lifts! But it sure works. Clothes all feel looser, muscle definition is better.
Lydia- You've been getting a LOT of colds! Do you have allergies or maybe a lingering sinus infection? Time to see a doc? Hope you feel better soon.
Silver- What a story! Being in shape and LOTS of protein definitely helps in healing.
Midwife- Have a lovely time catching babies! Does that count as a workout? Probably for you and the mom!
Shannon- I meant to tell you a few days ago how gorgeous you looked in the reunion pictures! And way to go on being another handy chick and building your own paralettes!
Rabbit - I'm glad the bands worked! Which ones did you get again? Pallet bands?
Mel - how goes the closet repair?
Cheryl - on the 155#! Woo hoo!
Here are the parrallettes! I actually managed to get my feet off the floor yesterday in my quest towards an L-Sit... Didn't make it to L, looked more like a U - knees ended up towards my chest with my legs bent. Going to keep at it though - much harder than I thought!
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Shannon, WTG on the parallettes...they look great! I had to do the bent knees thing, too. Now, I can get the L-sit for a few seconds at a time, but when we do a longish time on them (like accumulate 2 mins at the end of a workout), then I usually have to resort to the bent knees to finish, just depending how fried my abs are.
Mel, how goes the remodel?
Lydia, hope you'll be feeling better, soon.
Midwife, how the heck do you schedule baby delivery? I thought they just showed up when they felt like it! (mine did!) Does the full moon affect births at all? I haven't checked the calendar to see if it is one now, but it was CRAZY at my gym today. The babies and little kids were all crying today, the adults were on edge or hyper, and it was like somebody cranked the volume to the max on the world. My trainer and I were just sitting there grinning and watching the show, (and contemplating the best escape route if it got too ugly). I told him I thought maybe he should call in sick, since it didn't seem like a good night to be a cop. Yeesh!
Rabbit, do keep us updated on how those pallet bands work out. I agree with Mel, it's a lot closer to the real deal than the gravitron/assisted pull-up machine, IMO, especially for conditioning your hands/grip.
Birch, ! Great story about the benefits of being in shape!
The CF Report follows, then I have to get out of here to pick up a dog. to all!
Today's WOD was
Push Jerk
3-3-3-3-3 (with the same weight)
I warmed up with sets of 3 at 45#-65-75-80, then did my 5 sets of 3 with 85#. I tried some regular Push Jerks, but just can't get under the bar fast or low enough with those (slow and uncooperative feet), so I went back to my usual, the split jerk. No reason not to split, I just thought I'd give it a try. My trainer said they all looked good, but tweaked my form a little on how the bar sits for the dip/drive. He says that if I make a rack with my shoulders in the front (almost like a clean), and rest the bar there, then that will help me with heavier weights. He says when you're just holding it with the arms in front, elbows low, then when you do the dip, the bar dips down, and doesn't get as high from the drive....if you rack it on the shoulders in front, then when you drive, you get the full power of the dip-drive transferred to the bar. After watching some others using that style (arms only), I could see the difference. So, I practiced racking the bar on my shoulders, and that worked well. It does put the bar farther under the chin, so I'll have to be extra diligent about moving my chin back out of the way. I don't want to knock my teeth loose with a barbell, like I tried to do last time we did push presses.
Strongman practice tomorrow...first one for me since... end of July?
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Everybody must be off having weekend fun!
Today at CF I got to play strongman again. woot!
First, I did the "yoke walk" which I'd never done before. (here's a vid of what that looks like...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=530VuojsUAY
Yeah, pretty dork looking, but it was fun to do. I started with the 150# yoke, then did one at 200 and one at 250. The 250 was a challenge to stand up with, but not too bad once I was walking with it. The hardest part was trying to keep my stomach tight...haven't quite figured out the breathing pattern yet. This was my first time wearing a weight belt, too. Yee-ouch! Felt like it was cutting me in two, but it distracted me from any other pains.
After that, I wanted to learn the "continental clean" with the fat barbell (aka axle). Since that bar is hard for me to grip, I figured I should learn the continental clean, so that when it's too heavy for me to grip and do a normal oly style clean, I can still get the bar up high enough to get under it for taking it overhead. (let me see if I can find a video of this move...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdAWueTWdQM
Okay, like that, but without the attitude, lol!
After a few practice ones with 53#, then I did a bunch more with 83#, which was heavy enough to make the clean difficult, without the push press being a big deal. By the time I was done crashing that barbell down on my sternum about a dozen times, I was glad we didn't have time for stones. Luckily this sport is fun to learn, because it sure leaves me feeling beaten up and bruised afterward.
Tomorrow is a stay-home day. Of course, that means catching up on laundry and all the housework I've been neglecting this past week.
Cheryl - I'm thinking the strongman stuff is cool to watch, but more than I could handle. More power to you!
This week has been weird for me. I took off last Fri, Sat & Sun from exercise because I was feeling a little worn. Monday I had a great strength training session, great kickboxing & cardio Tuesday, Wednesday I couldn't make myself finish my planned db workout for anything. Got is about 25 minutes, wandered around annoyed for a few minutes, switched to yoga. Good cardio session Thursday, 5k between treadmill & elliptical. Friday I was again unable to make myself do my db workout - set everything up, did some warmup squats, two half hearted L-sits for about five seconds each with my knees pulled up, made it through one set of db swings and quit. Put everything up, got it back out, wandered around aimlessly again, put everything up again. Felt somewhat stiff and pretty frustrated. Then yesterday I had what was likely my best run ever at the park - 8 miles, of which I ran 3.25 & 3.5 with walking .5 to start, .25 in the middle & .5 to cool down. I'm going to try some light db exercises today, might do an entire workout if it goes well. I typically do strength training M,W,F but can switch next week to T,Th,S if I need to. Might try to get to the park Monday on my Labor Day holiday.
Sorry that got rambly - I was hoping if I wrote it all out I would understand it better... Maybe I'm just still a little tired - I did overdo the kickboxing on Tuesday and was sore. Or it could be that I need something to work towards and the August pushup/pullup challenge is over!
Good weekend everyone! And good holiday to those in the US!
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Shannon, looking at that, I have 2 thoughts: ALL your workouts are long. Long cardio, long weight sessions, day after day. Second thought is, you're often doing every exercise you know for DBs, so that could get boring and/or intimidating pretty quick.
You might just be wearing yourself out with those long sessions every day. You might try mixing it up a bit. Maybe 2 long cardio sessions a week, 2 short/intense db circuit days (just 2 or 3 exercises, though, not all of them at once), 2 days where you just work on goals like a max lift, practicing a new lift, or working on gymnastics like pull-ups, L-sits or handstands. That would be my suggestion...mix it up a bit for duration, reps, exercises, and try to put some fun back into it!
Cheryl - that makes a lot of sense. I originally started the whole short DB circuit thing because I had built up to a crazy 1:00-1:15 min smoosh of everything under the sun. Went great with the shorter, more intense sessions about 4 weeks, then started added more stuff back in again, until I was back at almost an hour again... Easy to burn out like that.
Hey Cheryl, you noticed the same thing I did with Shannon's workouts. My thought was that you may be training more of your Type 1 muscle (endurance/running) more frequently than the Type 2 muscles (fast twitch responsible for efficient weight training) Just a thought...The same answer as Cheryl's make sure you are mixing it up a little more. It's a difficult balance for me too. This spring and summer I found myself focusing upon building strength (fast twitch type 2 muscle) When I began running again or attempting steady state cardio I found it to be much more challenging than it should have been
You also want to keep in mind that you want to stray away from a tendency to overtrain. When increasing volume or intensity do this slowly. Have a heavy day or a long day but not at the same time. Be sure to get those rest days in as well. Growth occurs only during repair and repair only occurs through proper nutrition and rest. Maybe a workout plan of three days on and one day off followed by two days on then one day off might help you with your recovery if you are not already doing this. Just a thought.
Isn't fitness wonderful. All these modifications and adjustments along the way.
Just popping in to let you all know that I'm still araound, but with a lot of stuff that I have to do. Looks like every time I look away life shoves something on my plate and another day has passed.
Here is the pallet band report sofar...I got 12 of them in my package from the dutch manufacturor. They are about 1 m long if you put them flat on the ground, and 25 mm wide (1 inch) and about 1 mm thick. I did not put up a proper bar yet, so I slung them around one of the steps on my open staircase. I checked ot the amount of assistance that i got with the scales for weighing luggage, and I easily got above 20 kgs with 2 bands.
I need 3 - 4 of them to give sufficient assistance with the pullup, but I note a tendency to swing forward in the bands, and a tendency to bounce up & down in them rather than the controlled movement that I envisaged before. Is it supposed to be like a bounce up & down thing?
And I noted that I cannot grip properly with the stairs, so I'll definitely have to put me up a bar. But what I was afaind off: that the bands would not give sufficient assistance and that it would be awkward to use multiple bands did not happen. That is not a problem at all. Of course this is for the dutch pallet bands that I bought. OTOH, the pallet bands that I googled (5 bands for $15 I believe, see the link in an earlier post) look entirely similar, so I would definitely suggest to give that a shot.
I also noticed that I can hook the giant rubber band to the staircase at a lower step, and use it to do chest stuff & back stuff. It's like the workout with the resistance bands, but you don't have to tie to fasten them. Definitely interesting.
For the rest of the weekend: Went for a run & swam on saturday, and biked to work today. Cheryl, Shannnon, Lydia - I want to be a like you girls when I grow up!!
Seriously, at 50 I have only 1 resolution left. My endurance and strenght is much better than at 45, but still below "normal". I want to be a tough old lady and work out till a ripe old age.
Yesterday, my husband and I went kayaking. Afterwards we went to the thrift store and then we cut through a commercial park area to go to a restaurant. As we were driving, I saw a sign for a crossfit place! I told him to turn around, I wanted to see. Unfortunately, they didn't have any windows as is it was in some type of rental garage type place. It is also way out of my way for a normal day so if I did choose one to go to, that probably wouldn't be the one.
Lydia - thanks for the thoughts on the exercise plan! I do tend to overtrain, lately I've been doing six days on with Sunday off, and six pretty long days. Putting that extra off day back in would probably help some. I do need to sit down this week and make a formal plan, that would likely keep me on track more. I also found myself doing 20-30 mins of reasonably intense cardio even on days I did strength training, so definitely a lot of focus on the Type 1 group. It is very complicated! Glad I have people here who can answer my questions!
Rabbit - the bands sound cool! I'm going to go back and find your link...
Nelie - there is a crossfit near me too, but just inconvenient enough that I haven't been able to justify it yet.
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Careful, ladies! You get the CF bug on you, you'll be assimilated, like me and Mel! I confess, I love it, and the results I've gotten are amazing, week after week.
Rabbit, thanks for the report on the bands. Nope, you don't want to be bouncing, but I know what you mean. If you're doing higher reps, it is very tempting to use that rubber band as a crutch, push down hard on it, and it bounces you right up, chin over the bar, lol. Cheater! Try using 1 less band or just slow down, to ditch the bounce. A bar would definitely be easier to grip over the edge of a stair, I'm sure!
Silver, back at you!
Lydia, are you feeling better now? I hope so!
The CF Report follows, feel free to skip:
So, today was Labor Day, a holiday, and I didn't even THINK of that when I innocently went into the gym this morning. Of course, in the CF tradition, they tried to kill us, as a form of celebration.
The WOD:
In teams of 2, complete the following:
Run 400 meters with a weight plate (if one or more guys on the team: 45#/ 2 women use 25# plate)
100 air (BW) squats with the plate
Run 400 with plate
100 offset push-ups (plate on floor, one hand on plate, push-up, switch hands, push-up, etc)
Run 400 with plate
50 burpees (miraculously, without the weight plate)
Run 400 with plate
I got paired with Alicia, so we got to use a 25# plate (score!), and she was just my speed for running and the exercises, so it worked out great. We each carried the plate 200 meters each run, and got about equal rest breaks, since we went about the same pace for the squats, push-ups and burpees. (only one team member could be working at a time, on everything but the runs, where we both ran, and just handed off the plate at the halfway mark) We did all our push-ups and burpees strict chest to floor on the toes, so it took us a little longer, but we were "all that" since we did it Rx'd! 26:18 was our time, not the fastest, but not the slowest, either. Thankfully, tomorrow will be heavy lifting or gymnastics practice, something nice like that.
Ugh...push up birthday challenge was not a success. Now I really feel old. This is the first time I've NOT achieved it in 8 years. Here's my excuse: yesterday's CF workout was a lot of push ups on a medicine ball and medicine ball clean-squat-wall balls and my shoulders and chest were already sore
Gonna wait a week and try it again.
Back to clean eating...sigh.... Lots of damage from the 3 day weekend and birthday!
on the 155#! Woo hoo!
! Great story about the benefits of being in shape!
woot!
I confess, I love it, and the results I've gotten are amazing, week after week. 
