Category: Crossfit WOD Type Workouts

Round 8 – The Shakeup

It’s time to address the changes.

I am going to move to a 5 day a week rotation with 1 RKC workout, 2 P90X and 2 Cardio workouts. If I need an additional day I will do FOY Yoga with Tony. The reason is coaching and bootcamp which I am going to count as one of my cardio days. If I follow this schedule I get Monday and Friday off which suits me fine, since I do like a light Friday! I may switch the Kettlebell day to Saturday, after my day off and go heavy, that way if I am off somewhere for the weekend I know the KB workout I take with me will be the scheduled day. We’ll see.

This is the beauty of these workouts and also a necessary part of self-coaching. You have to keep measuring your progress and adjusting what you do in order to stay fresh, engaged and to fit your fitness into your life in a symbiotic way. Your fitness regime shouldn’t prevent you from living your life, it’s supposed to make things better, not worse.

So here goes, the next 4 weeks or 20 workouts:

34543 C&P plus 5 TGU plus 123 C&P+Snatch
Chest, Shoulders & Tris, Ab Ripper X
Speed and Agility
Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Plyometric Cardio Circuit
34543 C&P plus 5 TGU plus 123 C&P+Snatch
Chest, Shoulders & Tris, Ab Ripper X
Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs
Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Vertical Plyo
55555 C&P
Chest, Shoulders & Tris, Ab Ripper X
Speed and Agility
Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Pure Cardio
34543 C&P plus 5 TGU plus 123 C&P+Snatch
Core Synergistics
Cardio Recovery
Core Synergistics
Cardio Core and Balance

R8D14-17 – Flirting With Overtraining and The Kenpo Apology

I’m feeling the wear and tear right now, but I know that in time there will be days I can’t help but miss. That’s why if I can work out I do, so that when I can’t I don’t have to feel guilty about it. My elbows are torn up from low plank work at gym on Friday, my back hurts from, well, everything and my but still aches from last Wednesday and then Kenpo yesterday.

Wait, what?

Yes, I said Kenpo. I have had a love / hate relationship with Kenpo over the years (and yes, it’s been years since I first met Tony in the summer of 2008) and for many reasons I think it was just a bit of frustration that the cardio wasn’t what I needed. It’s not that the workout isn’t entertaining or complex enough to be engaging, it’s just that once you have been through the program, you start to wish there was a cardio portion to the proceedings and the first 2 workouts to get the axe to make room are Yoga and Kenpo.

As a matter of fact, I love the Kenpo workout. In a word, it’s fun! It’s nice to be able to pretend violence or imagine yourself at an elevated skill level doing kicks that feel like they are head height even though you are struggling to make hip level. It’s an entertaining, fast paced and reasonably skill based workout that gets a bad rap by seasoned users for all the wrong reasons. I hope in P90X2 that there is something just as intricate and skilled to replace it however it seems as though we may be disappointed. I suppose I made my own point there, that there are other places to get your cardio workout, but Kenpo will be sadly missed and so I am sorry about all the mean things I said.

So what was it that I did the last few days? Well, it started on Thursday when I was actually pretty wiped out after a very intense Wednesday bootcamp class. Nicole and I took a long walk around the neighbourhood with the baby to pick out some tiles for her next craft project. It was a welcome active rest and did a lot to work through the pain in my legs.
Friday which was supposed to be an off day turned into an Insane Abs workout with 2 of my girls at gym. I had pared it down a little and probably shouldn’t have bothered since they got through it without much problem. I found the workout not too hard, and I didn’t even get much pain until 24 hours later when my hip flexors started screaming every time I moved. I found that it was a lot of shoulder work from the plank positions and a lot of hip flexor (which they need) but not a lot of actual core strength. I think I need to develop a better upper and lower ab workout for them.
Saturday I opted for a hybrid workout that would round out my bodyparts for the week so I planned the following, assuming I would be able to do something else afterwards:

5x
5 chin ups
10 ring dips
15 push ups

Since my ring dips started to fade quickly I adapted round 2:

5x
5 ring dips
10 chin ups
15 push ups

This exhausted me which led me to conclude I was on the verge of overtraining. However, in review I noted the following totals:

Chin ups: 75
Ring Dips: 75
Push Ups: 150

Which isn’t too bad for a 20 minute workout.

Sunday I knew I had to do something that would not push me over the edge of the overtraining cliff but would enable me to take Monday off while I coached gymnastics. It had to be cardio, but with my legs and back a little sore I shyed away from Shaun T and opted for Kenpo, and as noted above, I am  happy I did.

I feel much better today, and I also think it’s time for an RKC workout!

 

R8D12&13 – The Plateau Is Over.Bootcamp Day 2

I admit for the last 6 months I have been coasting weight wise. I got into a plateau and watched my weight creep slowly in the wrong direction. I was in the biggest loser at work, I won and was at 232 for the final weigh in. I stayed there for a few weeks, and then slowly crept back up to 240. Since I have been back coaching and now teaching the bootcamp at gym I have managed (0ver the last 3 weeks) to get my weight back down to 232. This is a major achievement for me, being able to recognize a plateau and ride it out. Very often, fitness and weightloss are games of patience and persistence not necessarily who can eat the least or exercise the most. I seem to have found a balance again which is enabling me to lose and I know at this point my body has recovered from the shock of the 60lb loss and is once again reset and ready to go. I am hopeful that this means I will hit my goal weight of 220 by year end, but first I have to hit 230 by October 1.

Baby steps, as always.

Monday I took the day off from exercise, and I think I will have to do that with Mondays and Fridays due to coaching. The great thing is that I am happy to join in with the conditioning they do, I think it motivates them a little also to see me working not just sitting around shouting! 🙂
Tuesday I decided to do Shoulders and Arms with Tony and had a pretty good workout outside on the deck in the sunshine. The rings are making for some sore triceps doing dips but the change is welcome. I find shoulders and arms a pretty good workout, it’s extremely scaleable and substitutions work fine. I have said before that the tricep work leaves a lot to be desired so having the rings and a dip station is key for me.

Wednesday was day 2 of the bootcamp class at gym and I scheduled the list below. The participants said that last time they were sore but they all came back. It seems that the work load was almost right the first time out. We had a new participant this week in addition to the 4 from last time. The room once again was very hot but I think we can get the warmup done and one set of exercises and get out by half way through so that the rest of the class out in the gym is OK. As you can see from the list, there was a lot of work and the last 3 rounds were done very quickly with little rest. That is exactly how I imagined it would go, so the crescendo is the final set. I think they are having fun, I know it is a challenge, I know it is filled with tough skills they may not imagine themselves doing but I think we are all going to see some amazing changes in the coming weeks.

You Vs. You week 2 – The Whole 9

Tony’s Warmup and Stretch Top to Bottom

Jog, knees, heels, jacks, run lunge
neck, shoulder burn, cross palm front, cross grip back, reachers
ham middle, ham side, runner, twist
pumps prep for hindu pushup

Cardio warmup

Tabata 4 minutes per move
jump rope, Jacks, squat kicks

Arms round 1 10×3

Military pushups
Shoulder pushups
Hindu Pushups

Abs 10×2

Superman banana
Attack in squat
Butt lifts to shoulder

Mobility 1 x3

5 x Pushup to table – side or through
5 per side x Turkish Get Ups
5 x Pancake burpees

Plyo 10×3
squat jumps 3 with tuck jump 1
Single leg squat to jump knee lift
Frog jumps

Legs 10×3
Air squats
Super skater elbow to knee
arms up lunge walk

Bonus (NOT COMPLETED)

plank elbows to hands hold 15 or plank hold 60
squat shoulder burn
hip flexor burners

R8D8to10 – Busy Week, Bootcamp Kickoff

Wednesday was the first day of the fitness bootcamp I am running at the gymnastics club. I have to say that I have a new respect for Tony and Shaun T because trying to communicate and work out at the same time makes your head and lungs explode. I took the new members through a variety of stuff, a little cardio, mostly bodyweight work and gave them a general feeling of what it will be like once the program starts. We were allowed to use part of the floor in the gym for the last half hour which was great because the yoga room where we started got hot in a hurry! I think it was a success, it wasn’t so hard they won’t come back but hard enough that they know it’s going to be a challenge.

For myself, I got a pretty amazing workout trying to demo, participate and talk at the same time. Being with people pushes you harder, leading people makes you push yourself like a maniac. Thursday I opted for Chest Shoulders and Arms using the rings again for dips and Friday I was off since I am coaching 3 nights a week again now. Today I managed a Plyometric Cardio Circuit workout and my strained calf didn’t bother me at all, neither did my hip flexor so I think I can close the book on both those injuries. The plan for tomorrow is probably a P90X workout, maybe back and biceps or legs and back or I might opt to bounce forward to an RKC workout since Monday may end up being a day off due to coaching. I have to try and sort out what I can do on Monday and Friday, I suppose I could mark them both as days off, that would give me 5 of 7 as workouts which is fine given the intensity.

I’m watching The Only Way Is Essex on my Patriot Box. All I can say is wow, sometimes I am so glad I left England when I did. It’s like Jersey Shore for Britain but somehow more painful and, if possible, less substantial…

R8D5&6 – Equipment and Improvisation

I decided that since a few of us needed some supplies that I would take a run to the fitness store with the best pricing, which around here at least is Fitness Avenue and pick up some stuff. For myself I decided on a rafter mount chin up bar for the laundry room so that during the bleak Canadian winter I can still crank out appropriate chin ups. Unfortunately, the door mounted bar isn’t cutting it any more. I also opted for a 55lb kettlebell at around 1.09 a lb and a set of gymnastics rings. I went for the rings primarily since I wanted to do 2 things, ring dips and muscle ups. I am not sure I will ever get to the point of being able to do muscle ups, I don’t think I have the flexibility in my shoulders and a little too much bulk. But at the very least I have an extra variety of pull ups and ring dip capability.

So this week was a real mix of stuff I hadn’t planned and things I made up on the spot. What with the crossfit trip, an injured calf, a strained hip flexor and ribfest in Aurora on Sunday the week was all over the place. However I am happy to report that I only skipped one day and that was very well earned. Friday was the off day, mostly to help recover my sore shoulders, on Saturday I did a 5K run/walk to try and test out my calf which went well. I have not done any cardio workouts since I strained my calf and I am really feeling it! Sunday I felt I had neglected my chest and triceps so I did a short workout with pushups and ring dips. It was 8 sets of each, with 4 kinds of pushups involved. I loved the ring dips, they are far more difficult than dips on my homemade dip station given that you need to squeeze the rings into your body as you dip. I am looking forward to getting back into some cardio this week, and getting back on track with the plan. I also have to try out my new larger kettlebell and see how much harder that is.

By the way, Ribs Royale in Aurora do a wicked full rack.

Round 7 – Conclusions

I found this round to be as entertaining as you can really make home fitness. There is a lot of variety, a great deal of flexibility and the ability to navigate away from certain workouts and exercises should you need to. However, since I scheduled on a day to day basis and was consistently unable to make Monday and Wednesday’s KB workouts I was a little frustrated. I have 2 options to combat this. I can set a total number of workouts for the round and just do each one on every available day, never skipping a workout. That way I can guarantee I will do every workout I have on the rotation. Second, I can schedule 5 workouts for a week and pick and choose which ones go where. This option is a little more flexible but also less likely to produce predictable results. The problem with choices is that everyone, myself included will go for the easy way out 9 times out of 10. At least having a set schedule but no set time I will guarantee that I know what I will be doing ahead of time.

I think for me that is key.

Also, I wanted to stop with the round numbers but I am not sure what else to do so for now, R8 it is!

Since I don’t need to take it slow for the first month, I can jump in with 34543 and 55555 on the RKC without a problem. The rest I think I am going to do on a daily basis rather than schedule them for week days.

So here is the plan for the first 28 workouts which I will try to execute within 35 days.
1-34543 C&P plus 5 TGU plus 123 C&P+Snatch
2-Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
3-55555 C&P
4-Plyometric Cardio Circuit
5-Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
6-Pure Cardio
7 FOY Yoga With Tony
8-34543 C&P plus 5 TGU plus 123 C&P+Snatch
9-Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
10-55555 C&P
11-Vertical Plyo
12-Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
13-Pure Cardio
14-FOY Yoga With Tony
15-34543 C&P plus 5 TGU plus 123 C&P+Snatch
16-Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
17-55555 C&P
18-Plyometric Cardio Circuit
19-Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
20-Pure Cardio
21-FOY Yoga With Tony
22-34543 C&P plus 5 TGU plus 123 C&P+Snatch
23-Core Synergistics
24-55555 C&P
25-Cardio Recovery
26-Core Synergistics
27-Core, Cardio and Balance
28-Yoga X

R7D89/91 – The Final Weekend

My encounter with Cindy last week left me extremely sore in the quads. I am not sure why it was so bad, but Friday and Saturday I was in agony most likely because I chose to do full squats for Cindy instead of only going to 90 degrees. I was severely compromised during my Olympic Lifting practice and due to the pain rather than doing any max weight, I chose to concentrate on form and get my mechanics back on track.

Olympic Lifts:

3 sets of 10 each, unloaded bar.

Deadlift
Clean
Power Clean
Clean and Press
Jerk
Clean and Jerk
Squat
Push Press

Saturday we attended a wedding, but that timing was good since by that time I was unable to walk without looking like I had a metal coat hanger for a spine and hips made from glass. For Sunday, the official last day of Round 7 I caved and did Yoga with the P90X gang. I admit I did skip some of the savasanas at the start but it was an hour of yoga that I was grateful for.

Monday rolled around and knowing that I am at the very least starting with the same round again I knew it was RKC time. I may change the format a little, but for the first week I knew it would be the same as last time.

R9D1 – My RKC mini workout:

Ladders of 3,4,5,4,3 with pullups

For those who are unfamiliar, a description of the ladder system is here.

I did 20 swings between each set (some head height, some overhead) and at the end decided to add something extra.

1 clean and press left
1 clean and press right
1 snatch right
1 snatch left
1 pullup
2 clean and press left
2 clean and press right
2 snatch right
2 snatch left
2 pullup
3 clean and press left
3 clean and press right
3 snatch right
3 snatch left
3 pullup

 

R7D86 – Test Week Day 2 – Fit Test and Fran *light*

Shaq and his strained calf…

I was scheduled to do P90X Fit Test, Insanity Fit Test and a round of Fran. Unfortunately as I was getting to the end of the P90X Fit Test my calf brought me to a screeching halt. It is not as bad as last week, but only, I fear, because I let up immediately. I had managed to get through the P90X Fit Test (results to come) and was still feeling like I could have done the Insanity one energy wise. However, the calf was so painful that I just couldn’t do it. It was also hurting to do the full 95lb thruster so I opted to use my 45lb kettlebell instead and did a light Fran in around 6:30. I am a mixture of angry and frustrated, I know it has only been 10 days since I hurt the calf but at the same time I should be able to do jumping jacks for 2 minutes without it pulling again.

Firstbeat Athlete was not terribly impressed with my workout, but you should see the size of the HR and EPOC spike when I started to do Fran. It was a great workout, very short but very brutal. I will post my actual results later tonight when I get my papers from the basement.

For now, damn you calf!

 

Results:

P90X Fit Tests

Third P90X Fit Test

Resting Heart Rate   65 (-5)
Pull-Ups   23 (+7)
Vertical Leap Inches   18 (+0)
Push-Ups   80 (+30)
Toe-Touch+2″ (+0″)
Wall Squat (Seconds)   70 (-20)
Bicep Curls (Reps | Wt )   15@95lbs
Total Poundage   1425 (-325) Bad decision to go with 95lb barbell
In & Outs   65 (+15)

Heart Rate Maximizer

Immediately After   147
After 1 Minute Rest   129
After 2 Minutes Rest 118
After 3 Minutes Rest 106
After 4 Minutes Rest 95

Second P90X Fit Test

Resting Heart Rate   70 (+0)
Pull-Ups   16 (+9)
Vertical Leap Inches   18 (+5)
Push-Ups   50 (I got bored after 50…again)
Toe-Touch+2″ (+3″)
Wall Squat (Seconds)   90 (+30)
Bicep Curls (Reps | Wt )   25@70lbs (2x35lb db)
Total Poundage   875 (+75) (1750 total)
In & Outs   50 (+0)

Heart Rate Maximizer

Immediately After   150
After 1 Minute Rest   141
After 2 Minutes Rest 125
After 3 Minutes Rest 116
After 4 Minutes Rest 95


 

R7D85 – Test Week Day 1 – Chest and Triceps

Day 1 of my test week was going to be a fun day, I knew it would have to be at gym with my girls so we all did this:

Push To Shove

10×3
Military Pushup
Superman Pushups
dips
dip with leg raise
shoulder touch
hip touch
clapping pushup
plyo pushup

Bonus:
plank side reach (5 per side)
plank side reach pushup (5 per side)
arm circles (60 seconds)

It was a quick but decent workout for me. For them it was tough but doable, we all finished in under 20 minutes.

I feel like my body has started to give up it’s stranglehold on this plateau. Today I feel better, lighter, and hopefully this means my stubborn weight which has been around the 235 mark for a couple of months now will start to decrease once again.

Feel Like Pushing It…

This week (rest week 3 of my hybrid) will remain as rest week but next week I have a fitting end to my schedule in store.

REST WEEK

Tricep Meltdown at Gym
Off Sick
Plyo Vertical Training
Cardio Core and Balance
Core Synergistics
Cardio Recovery
FOY Yoga with Tony

CHALLENGE WEEK

RKC Art Of Strength DVD
Olympic Lifts Initial Testing
RKC Art Of Strength DVD
1k run, Insanity Fit Test, P90X Fit Test, Fran.
Insanity Asylum Fit Test, Cindy.
Game Day and Overtime
Yoga X

I would also like to fit in Helen:

Helen - 3 rounds for time:

400-meter run
21 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
12 pull-ups

The Tricep meltdown looked something like this:

7-15-21

Tricep dips
Military pushups
Handstand Pushups (or inverted shoulder pushups)
Sphinx to plank
Side Tri Rise