Tag: chelsea

WOD, OLY and Bootcamp Bodyweight (Making Stuff Up)

Friday at the end of training we did a 20 round version of Chelsea, however since I have injured shoulders among my athletes there was some modification happening. I did chinups, pushups and squats but my girls (at least some) did VSnaps, handstands and squats. It was a 20 minute one per minute thing and I am happy to say we ALWAYS finish with at least 20 seconds to go. I remember the first few times I tried this and I would run out of time around about round 15 and never managed to get further than round 21. Now I would easily be able to make 30 in 30 although I have yet to try!

I went into work from midnight until 5am on Sunday morning after having rested all day Saturday in preparation. It didn’t really matter, I was still insanely tired on Sunday but I managed to crank out 100 deadlifts and 100 squats with 95lbs in around 20 minutes.

I am also trying to build a decent ab workout for bootcamp, I have some variations but nothing really bootcamp worthy.

So rather than rely on stuff I could find, I thought I would make some stuff up and see how they handled it.

Here’s the rundown, if you want to know what side rocker runners are, you will just have to email me and ask.

x2
10 full crunch
10 regular pushups
10 curl up to bar
10 pullups
10 side crunch

x2
20 leg up crunch
10 military pushups
10 mb situp double twist
10 pullups
10 hanging leg raise

x2
10 side plank leg raise / toe touch
10 spider each side
20 MB shelf stacker 10 per side
10 front lunge
40 side rocker runners each side

x2
40 running backs each arm
10 clap pushups
10 leg cross under hip touch floor each side
10 pullups alternate hands
20 wall sit mb side touch

x2
10 falling towers mb under butt
10 plyo pushup
30 second superman plank each
10 chest pullups
20 flutters low and middle only

10 pushup step out
10 clap pushup
10 plyo pushup
10 pushup side raise leg raise
5 Worlds slowest burpee with clap

 

R9D73/4 – RKC At Work And Chelsea 20 Double Time

For some reason, I have yet to complete a round of Chelsea, I always seem to get stuck around 20 minutes probably because I am thinking about Cindy. Since it’s not a good idea to be thinking about one woman when you are with another I need to get my head sorted out. They are both similar, with the differences outlined here:

Chelsea:
Each minute on the minute for 30 minutes

5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

Cindy:
AMRAP in 20 minutes:

5 pull-ups
10 Push Ups
15 Squats (Air Squats)

The thing is that apart from kettlebells, the pullup, pushup, squat workout is one of the best and simplest workouts you can do, that’s why I love it so much. So this time for a bit of a change I thought I would do this:

10 rounds of:

10 pullups
20 Pushups
30 Squats

It was much tougher than the others, getting to 10 pullups by the end was a chore but mostly doing 30 squats each time proved far more challenging than I had anticipated. However, I struggled through in about 25 minutes including a short warmup.

The previous workout had been RKC at work and it’s becoming a pretty standard workout now like this:

5 rounds of:

5 C&P each side
5 Snatch each side
20 Swings

It’s a good, quick workout and makes my heart rate go pretty wiggy so it’s definitely working!

 

R7D88 – P90X2 and Cindy (Kicking My Ass)

Its finally here for pre-order, P90X2, the much anticipated sequel 2 years in the making (make that actually 7 years waiting for those who got the P90X bug in 2004). You can check out the new glitzy looking P90X2 page here.

I’m bothered by a couple of things already.

First is the name, could they really not come up with a better name than P90X2? It reeks of laziness.

Second, the packaging makes me nervous that this is going to be just as gimmicky and redundant as Insanity:Asylum turned out to be. I can’t be the only one who thought that I:A was a waste of money, and I am still hoping that although you can get a package containing all the equipment you need, you don’t actually need it at all…

I know they need to make money, but charging $180 for a stability ball ($20 at Walmart), 2 8lb medicine balls ($16 each online), a foam roller ($15 anywhere) and a pair of push up stands ($20)  is excessive to say the least. Those prices are RETAIL for a total of around $70 which BB could sell for $40 and still make money.

I am not about to give up on Tony just yet. I think there is a lot of research and science in the BB products and I am willing to bet without the gimmicks, P90X2 will be just as popular as the original. Keep your bodyparts crossed everyone.

Back to reality. 

Last night, Cindy kicked my ass. I thought I had her for a good 25-30 rounds as I started but by the time I had counted 15 I knew defeat was only a matter of time.

It doesn’t sound like much:

AMRAP (As many rounds as possible) in 20 minutes

5 chin ups
10 push ups
15 air squats

but don’t let that fool you. The first time I did this I came up with 13 rounds but quit after only 15 minutes. I don’t think I have ever done a “real” Cindy which is AMRAP but I did try a Chelsea which is 30 rounds in 30 minutes, doing 1 at the start of every minute. That went better, a little, but I only managed to get to 21 rounds in 30 minutes. My final attempt at Chelsea turned up 20 rounds in 20 minutes but there is a significant issue here. If you are required to do one per minute, it seems different than if you are doing them in your own time. Mostly because you have a forced rest after each repetition. I don’t think it is because I am less fit now than I was, even though last time I claim to have done 20 with “air to spare”. Then again, claiming and doing are two separate animals.

Result: 21 rounds in 20 minutes out on the deck in 32 degree weather. Damn you Cindy.

I had planned to do the Insanity Fit Test also, but with my calf injury it wasn’t going to be possible. Not only that, I am not a fan of the Insanity Test really so I am not going to hold myself to it. The bigger problem is that my calf is going to hamper my attempt at a 1k run time and my completion of Game Time and Overtime. Test week may not survive as designed, but it is definitely something I will tag on the end of each round to finish with a bang.

 

R5D40/1 – I hate Chelsea. Not Just The Football Team…

Challenged myself to do the Chelsea workout again since last time I did Cindy I only managed 18 rounds from what I recall, and the last time I did Chelsea I gave up after 20 rounds. Since I only had 30 minutes to work out I assumed I would crash at 20 again and be done. Surprisingly, I didn’t struggle too much, and once I got to 20 rounds I stopped not because I had to but because I wanted to. I probably could have done another 10, my last round only took 35 seconds so my rest periods were still pretty long.

Chelsea:
Each minute on the minute for 30 minutes

5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

Result: 20 rounds in 20 minutes with air to spare…

Day 41 was a forced rest day due to time constraints imposed by very poor weather on the way home. In honour of having a day off I think next time for variety I am going to try to do the Art Of Strength Providence DVD. The layout is like this:

Round 1: 2-handed swing, one arm swing, hand-to-hand swing
Round 2: Cleans
Round 3: Chest presses
Round 4: Squats/sumo deadlifts
Round 5: One leg deadlift
Round 6: Windmills into an overhead squat
Round 7: clean and press
Round 8: Flip and squat
Round 9: Tactical lunges
Round 10: Triple crush
Round 11: Sling shot into a figure 8 with a static hold
Round 12: Seated press
Round 13: One arm row
Round 14: Pullovers, Russian twists, Sicilian crunch
Round 15: 3 minute snatch test

Thanks to fitprosarah.com for the outline.

We shall see how that goes, but I am itching to do something more with the KBs…


R4 D41 – Chelsea and iPhone Timers

I realized last night that Cindy and Chelsea are basically the same. I didn’t notice when I was writing up the list of WODs I have done but last night I elected to do my WOD in the garage with the chinup bar I mounted last year. That meant chin ups and push ups and squats. In other words, Cindy or Chelsea. Regardless of which I did, I still got to 21 and couldn’t continue. Doing the one a minute Chelsea version you would think it would be easier but the rest quickly drops from 30 seconds to 5 seconds after about 15 rounds. Eking out those last couple is pure hell. This time was especially difficult since the chin up bar in the garage is about 9 feet off the ground which means I have to jump to get on it, that also means no way I can reach the ground to assist. So full range pullups are the order. That said, I managed 20 rounds which is not great but not bad, especially considering it was about 5 degrees in the garage!

Chelsea:
Each minute on the minute for 30 minutes

5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

Result: 20 rounds.

I also downloaded an app for my iPhone to time my intervals. It is called RoundTimer and is pretty much useless for more than 5 rounds. Let’s be honest (although it is the free version) most Crossfit workouts have more than 5 rounds so this timer is useless. I will try to find another and report it’s usefulness. The point is that I need a timer, most things I do require a timed interval plus a rest period so it is critical.

..later…

I downloaded a very good iPhone App for $2 its called WOD Timer and it does indeed do everything I need. I will report more on the useability once I have used it a couple of times but it has all the features I was looking for.

WOD’s I Have Done

Here is a list which will be expanded as I do more. In addition, there is a great list of the descriptions of the “Nasty Girls” workouts here:

Nasty Girls

(Thanks to Colin McNulty for the hard work)

Fran:
21 Thrusters 95lbs
21 Pull Ups
15 Thrusters 95lbs
15 Pull Ups
9 Thrusters 95lbs
9 Pull Ups

Chelsea:
Each minute on the minute for 30 minutes

5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

Cindy:
AMRAP in 20 minutes:

5 pull-ups
10 Push Ups
15 Squats (Air Squats)

Fight Gone Bad:

  • Wall ball: 20 pound ball, 10 foot target. Each rep is scored as 1 point.
  • Sumo deadlift high pull: 75 pounds. Each rep is scored as 1 point.
  • Box Jump: 20″ box. Each rep is scored as 1 point.
  • Barbell push-press: 75 pounds. Each rep is scored as 1 point.
  • Row: Your butt off. Each calorie burned (according to the monitor) is scored as 1 point.

Barbara:
Five rounds, each for time of:
20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats

Elizabeth
21 – 15 – 9 Reps
135lb Clean
Ring Dips

Elizabeth:
21 – 15 – 9 Reps
135lb Clean
Ring Dips

Sally:

For time, x 5, 2 minute rest between sets
30 wide push ups + 10 wide pull ups
30 regular push ups + 10 reverse pull ups
30 military push ups + 10 narrow pull ups

Round 4 Day 24 – Chelsea

Day 20 – Rest

Day 21 – P90X  Chest and Back

Day 22 – Insanity Cardio Power and Conditioning

Day 23 – Today.

The plan is to do a 20 minute Chelsea. Chelsea is supposed to be 30 minutes but I don’t think I need the extra physical stress that the extra 10 minutes would inevitably bring. Of course, not having done Chelsea before I may not make it to 20…

Chelsea:

Each minute on the minute for 30 minutes

5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

Your score is the minute that you fail to complete the exercise. If you fail to do the 11th set on the 11th minute your score is 10. If you pass the 30 minutes, you can score Chelsea as Chelsea +3 if you managed to go to 33 minutes.

I will be wearing my new Vibram Five Fingers and I also wore them to do my insanity workout yesterday. So far so good.

.. The aftermath…

My official Chelsea score: 21.

The whole workout from music on to music off was under 30 minutes. It was a tough one, but very enjoyable. However it was a rude awakening that the first time I did the circuit it took me almost 45 seconds. It was then I realized that regardless of how little work it seemed, it was going to be tough. There was not a chance in hell that I was going to make 30 minutes though. Everything seemed to give out at once. I was suddenly struggling and dropping off the bar at 4 pull ups. I was still strong with the push ups but getting back up to do the squats was eating my seconds. Chelsea was good. I will try again for sure but the goal of 30 seems so so far away…