It's Max Week!

It's max week this week at the box. Instead of workouts, we stretch a little and then start to build up to our one rep max of the lift we're doing. We started the week with back squats. All of the guys love back squats; I like them too. I think they're a favorite because most people can back squat heavier than they can lift any of the other lifts. My previous PR (personal record) was 90 pounds. I squatted 120 and could have upped that another 10 pounds at least, but I was nervous about getting stuck at the bottom and having to bail which I've never done.

Lifting to a one rep max makes me really nervous. My coach says everyone gets nervous so I guess I'm not alone, but for some reason the thought of lifting to failure is scary. I feel a little about it like I
do about handstands, but not quite as panicky. When I told my coach I was hesitant about lifting to failure because I had never bailed on a lift before he said we would practice at the end of the class. There was another lady my age in the class who had never bailed either and was worried about it too. First the coach showed us how to let the bar go and jump forward. I practiced with a pvc pipe first and I'm glad I did because I dropped it on my lower back the first time I tried it. Then we practiced with 35 pounds and I think I got the hang of it--hopefully I won't be as nervous about it the next time we back squat. I do think it's an age thing though--none of 30 somethings in the box seemed to be worried about how to bail.

Wednesday we 1 rep maxed the clean and jerk. My max for the clean is probably about 80, and I just push jerked 75 last week, so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to lift much more than that. I PR'd at 85 pounds and was pretty proud of that number--even though I didn't lift to failure. One thing I noticed was that I would get light-headed and see stars after every clean and I would have to stand there and
wait until my world stopped spinning before I could complete the jerk. My coach says this is common because the bar hits your windpipe when you clean properly--I think that's part of it, but I also think I have a tendency to hold my breath which probably contributes to the light-headedness.

Thursday was a ROM WOD--aahh, I love yoga days. ROM stands for range of motion wods and I'm lucky to be at a box where we have recovery days like these. They really help with mobility and soreness.

Friday was hang squat cleans. This is one of my favorite lifts.

Since you're not lifting from the ground there's not as much to mess up, and being able to receive the bar in the squat position makes it easier to lift more weight. I PR'd at 90 pounds fairly easily and only stopped because we ran out of time.

So that was max week. It was really fun to see the gains from all of the hard work I've put in this past year.

Med Ball Cleans -- Another Great Inner Thigh and Booty Workout

Today we did a workout with medicine ball cleans:

I had never done them before, and thought they would be fairly easy, but I was wrong! As with everything in CrossFit, what looks so easy on paper ends up being a killer workout. We did these in conjunction with wall balls and omg--so hard! I think what made made them so difficult was that you basically are doing two squats for each rep. My thighs and quads were screaming at the end of this workout. I used a 10 pound med ball which added to the pain I think because it's much smaller then the 14 pounder and I had to squat lower to touch the ground with it. This ball is similar to the 10 pounders at my box:
                                                             

It's hard like a basketball, but a little smaller. The 14 and 20 pound balls are cushier and similar to the ball used in the video above.
                                                             
I'll post an update tomorrow and let you know how my legs feel. This is a simple, but seemingly very effective inner thigh and booty workout.

CrossFit Games and Mental Toughness

Have you been watching the 2016 CrossFit games this week?

They've been streaming the prelims on the CrossFit.com website and they are broadcasting the finals on ESPN this weekend. If you've never watched a CrossFit competition, you'll be surprised at how entertaining it is. The competitors range in age from teens to over 60 and they are pretty amazing to watch.

The athletes are all pretty fine physical specimens--muscular and very fit, so what separates the great from the good?--It's pretty obvious that it's mental toughness that puts the athletes on the podium.

Am I mentally tough? That's a big fat no--but I'm working on it, and CrossFit is helping. If you've ever run any distance, you know that your mind plays a huge part in running.  You're tired, your legs hurt and your mind is telling you to stop--you're not going to die if you keep running, lol, but somehow your mind convinces you that you will, and you stop--at least, I used to. No mental toughness at all, and I can't blame it on my age because I've never been mentally tough. But CrossFit is slowly changing that. When I'm in the middle of a killer word and completely out of breath and I see box mates pushing through their exhaustion it gives me the extra push I need to keep going, so I do.

I remember a particular workout consisting of running and front squats:

It was an extreme cardio workout and I was having a hard time catching my breath. I had come in from the run portion and cleaned my bar to begin the front squats. I was tired and just cleaning took an effort--I can't remember how many squats we had to do, but I was planning on splitting them up because I was so winded, but the problem with splitting the lifts up is that it takes a lot of effort to clean the weight from the floor. So I made the decision to not put the bar down and pushed through all of the front squats, resting with the bar on my shoulders when I needed to. I surprised myself and my box mates, but was pretty proud of myself afterwards for pushing through.

I was reading about one of the female competitors who has a chance to win it all in the Games this year, Sara Sigmundsdottir, and she said that to toughen her mind she will do 1000 burpees for time so when they show up in a wod, she knows she's done 1000 burpees so what's a few hundred? Lol. I've thought that I should try the same thing--maybe not 1000 burpees, but try to do 100 a day so when I have to do them in a workout, my mind will be prepared.

I've noticed that I use the mental toughness I've gained in CrossFit in my everyday life. When I'm tired and don't feel like cleaning, or folding, or going to the grocery store, ( first world problems, I know!) I recall my workout that morning where I lifted that extra weight or ran that extra lap and realize that my everyday chores really aren't that bad.

Just another positive that CrossFit has brought to my life--I hope you are encouraged to try it, and you can reap the benefits of CrossFit too.

Positive Changes from CrossFit

I have seen so many positive changes in myself this year from CrossFit.

As I've mentioned previously, I was 'skinny fat' before starting CrossFit. I was also very out of shape. I would get winded when walking the dog up the hill in our neighborhood. I was pretty weak too. I've told the story of my first day of foundations when I couldn't even push press...

...35 pounds above my head more than a few times. The weight felt so heavy--I really thought there was no way I would ever be able to lift that kind of weight, lol.

The first actual CrossFit class I went to involved goblet squats:

and ab mat:
                                                           

sit ups. If I recall correctly, we were supposed to alternate between 25 goblet squats and 50 sit ups for 2-3 rounds. Sounds pretty easy, right? Except I couldn't even make it through the sit ups. By the second round I was really struggling and probably only ended up doing about 25 in the second and third round. That was really a wake up call--I was weak and I was terribly out of shape cardiovascularly.

Everyday CrossFit Bumps and Bruises

While most people focus on the major injuries you can sustain from doing Crossfit (SLAP tear, ACL tear, back injuries, hamstring and quad pulls), it's the small injuries, bumps and bruises that are much more common. I was comparing elbow wounds with a young man I partnered with in a Wod where we had to crawl under each other. We both were bleeding on our elbows and knees when we were finished, and I had some ugly bruises pop up in the days following that workout. He was telling me that his wife gives him a hard time about always getting scraped up (poor guy). Before I started CrossFit I didn't realize just how scraped up I'd get on a regular basis.

Today we did a WOD with box jumps.

We did them so much at my old box that I really didn't think much about an AMRAP with 25-50 box jumps. We also practiced jumping higher than the 20 inch box so I felt pretty comfortable doing them. We don't do them as much at my new box and I've found myself doubting the jump. You're standing in front of a 20 inch box with tired legs and your mind is going 'nope-no way are you going to clear this". I have never fallen while doing one, but I've hit my toe a couple of times on the box which could have led to a spectacular fall if I hadn't caught myself. A box jump injury can be baaaad. Most people catch their shins on the edge of the box and scrape the heck out of them. Or they tumble head first over the box onto the floor. No bueno! Just google box jump injuries and you'll see what I'm talking about. So today, one of my box mates who is a woman about my age fell on a box jump. She hasn't done many jumps and was hesitant about trying. We had just done a lateral crouched shuffle and the legs were feeling very much like jell-o. There were several women using a 12 inch jump over, but it was an AMRAP and she didn't want to wait. She caught her shin and then slid down the edge so she had about a 5 inch gash on the front of her leg. She finished the WOD because she is fearless, but I know it really hurt. At the earlier class, another woman my age was trying to jump over the box--yes, she's a beast!--and her momentum took her over the box onto her face. Luckily she wasn't hurt, but it could have been bad.

The Best Inner Thigh Exercise in CrossFit

We did a lift the other day that I want to share--It's called the Sumo Deadlift:

It's similar to a regular deadlift, but you spread your legs a lot wider and you can generally lift more weight since you don't have to lift the barbell as far. It was fun to do since I hadn't done it before. At my old gym we would do the Sumo Deadlift High Pull which is a completely different lift that consists of deadlifting the bar and then pulling it all the way to your chest. It involved some glutes, but was also dependent on the pull.

The Sumo Deadlift is, in my humble opinion, the best inner thigh exercise I have ever done. Because the legs are spread widely you are forced to use your inner thighs, and when lifting considerable weight--I was able to do 105 lbs--it really does a number on your adductors-

I would imagine that most women in their 50's and beyond would agree that the inner thigh is a hard section of the body to exercise. Before I started CrossFit it was a part of my body that I was very dissatisfied with and a spot that seemed to put on weight easily. I'm sure you've seen the machines at the globo gyms that are supposed to target the adductors, but they never were very effective. I'm here to tell you that the Sumo Deadlift works those inner thighs. I was sore for at least 4 days after doing the lift and the soreness was mostly in my inner thighs and my glutes which is always a plus. I'm thinking of asking my coach if we can do the Sumo Deadlift at least once a week--it's just that good.

The Squat--The Perfect Anti-Aging Exercise

The Squat--what can't it do? One of the reasons I wanted to do CrossFit was to learn how to squat properly. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had a hard time learning to squat because my glute muscles (my rear-end) did not fire properly. This was because I hadn't used them for many years. Years of sedentary living--from chair to car to couch to bed, had given me dormant glutes. Even when I was running regularly, I didn't really have to fire my glute muscles very much.

I have done a lot of reading on lifts that help fitness and function as you age, and squats and deadlifts are always the top two. Heavy lifting can help increase bone density, and squatting helps increase joint function--specifically the knees and the hips which are two areas that older folks typically have trouble with. Many people think that lifting over a certain age is dangerous, and that it can hurt your joints, but I can attest to the fact that if done properly, weight lifting can free you to live a longer, healthier, and much more active life. Don't let the naysayers or the internet experts tell you otherwise--you can lift heavy weights as you age.

It has long been recognized that the 'third world squat' is a movement that comes naturally to humans, but after we age out of toddlerhood, we just don't do it anymore. I'm here to encourage you to try the squat for yourself and reap the benefits!

To Kip or not to Kip

Today was a shoulder day which kind of surprised me because of the snatch work we did yesterday, but when I did the workout I realized that we were working different parts of the shoulder today. Even so, my shoulders were feeling a little burny and a lot weak when I left. (To be honest, everything was sore and shaky when I left, lol).

As an older Crossfitter, I am very aware of how the movements, lifts and excercises we do affect my body. I am particularly aware of how my shoulders feel. I know several people who have either torn their rotator cuff or their labrum and I absolutely do not want it to happen to me. The whole reason I work out is to stay fit and healthy and shoulder surgery doesn't really align with that, lol. Having been at a box that didn't seem to care about preventing injury, I did a lot of reading up on the shoulder and how it relates to the exercises we do in CrossFit. Today, for the first time at my new box, we worked on kipping pull-ups. I have always been afraid to kip because I've read it is very hard on the shoulders. I have also read from many sources that you should not try a kipping pull-up until you can do at least one strict pull-up.

I am a tall thin person with very long skinny extremities, and I'm not even close to getting a strict pull-up--pull-ups are hard for women to master, but one of my goals is to be able to do at least one. I was happy that we practiced the kipping movement,but my coach and I both agreed that my goal should be to build the strength to get a strict pull-up and then we'll worry about kipping. It's nice to have a coach that is attuned to the older or inexperienced Crossfitter--he has been injured and is almost militant about preventing injury, and I really appreciate that.

Monday's workout (II)

When I got up this morning and pulled up the workout on my iPad, my stomach sank..it was snatch day--my least favorite lift, and the WOD had three 800 meter runs in it. Ugh. When I got to the box the 5:45am class (yes, those folks are awesome for getting up that early to workout), was in the middle of the WOD and they were red, sweaty and breathing hard which is never a good sign, lol. My stomach started to churn and I proceeded to get very nervous as I waited to start my workout. That's typical of CrossFit though, and I'm not the only one who feels that way. All of us who were getting ready to start the 6:45 class were already doing the mental preparation needed to get through the workout. One of the ladies in my class is about my age and we were commiserating over the workout we faced and discussing whether it's better to know in advance or not. I like to know, but I do worry more.

Monday's Workout

I really didn't feel like getting out of bed this morning at 6am to work out, but I summoned up some willpower, got up, put on my workout clothes, took a look at the WOD on my iPad, and headed out the door.  The workouts at my new box are posted at 5:30 in the morning each day. My former box always posted them the night before. I still haven't decided which is worse--knowing what the workout is and fretting about it all night, or not knowing and being blindsided by it in the morning, lol.  

Today didn't look bad on paper, but boy was it tough! That's one of the things about CrossFit; the WODs look innocent enough, but they're always a lot harder than they look. My box has a 5:45am and a 6:45am class so I usually get there as the first class is finishing up and I hate it when they all look like they're dying! It's the worst because I know I'm going to be feeling that way soon.

Warm up--jump rope for 2 minutes--I didn't attempt double unders because the warm up wasn't posted in the workout and I didn't prepare properly--getting old problems--I'll explain in another post!

PVC pipe warm up--This is where we take a PVC pipe that's about the length of a barbell and stretch with it. 

Work up to 3 reps of max overhead squat--The overhead squat is the most difficult lift for me to do. It requires a lot of mobility and strength, and is hard on the shoulders--I'm getting better though 
--I PR'd today and was able to overhead squat 45 pounds 3 times. I probably could have gone up to 50 pounds fairly easily, but I didn't want to risk irritating my shoulder (it's finally getting better after giving me trouble for a long time at my old box--all credit for its improvement goes to my awesome new coach). 

We had 18 minutes to work on our squats. I've learned to keep a close eye on the clock so I have a few minutes to use the ladies' room before we start the WOD which is important at my age, lol. The WOD was a doozy today:

burpees to box jump overs
wall balls
handstand push-ups (the modification for this was a dumbbell strict press--I used 15 lb dumbells).
pull-ups (modification was ring rows)
power cleans (I did 55 lbs)
assault bike

The assault bike is an even more exquisite form of torture than the burpee. Whoever invented it must have been a sadist. The first time I got on one I pedaled for about 10 seconds and then started feeling around for the knob to adjust the resistance--but guess what--there isn't one! The faster you try to pedal on this evil device, the harder it is. Put it this way--I rode it for 3 minutes this morning and only got 17 calories. It's ridiculous!
We had to do each movement for 3 minutes and then move directly to the next movement without stopping. We were supposed to count our reps to have a total number at the end of the workout, but as is often the case I lost count and didn't have a total at the end, lol, I was completely spent though. It felt good to have my workout over before 8am and I was done and ready to start my day.

How to Get Started In CrossFit

The best way to get started in CrossFit is to research boxes in the area. A good way to do this is to:

1. Check out the Facebook page and look at the ratings

2. Look the box up on Yelp and other business ranking sites

3. Visit the  website and see if you can get a feel for the box as well as cost and payment options
4. Visit the box and talk to the owner
5. Drop by at the time of day you think you'll be working out, see the demographics of the class and do a workout

Dispelling the CrossFit Myths

There are quite a few myths surrounding CrossFit, probably mostly disseminated by people who have never tried the sport. However, in order to be as accurate in my depiction as possible, I want to discuss my perception of the good, the bad and the ugly in CrossFit.

Myth #1
You have to be an athlete to do CrossFit
There are many ex athletes in CrossFit and I can understand why; many of them have competed most of their lives and are able to find the same kind of competition level in CrossFit. But one of the great things about the sport is that it can be scaled to meet any level. I never played competitive sports as a young person and I am not very athletic. CrossFit lets you start where you are and build on that. You aren't competing with the other athletes as much as you're trying to better your strength and skill. A good coach will work 
with you to master the movements before ever pushing you to lift heavier or move faster.

Basic CrossFit Jargon

Let's go over some of the jargon unique to the sport so you'll know what I'm talking about.

Box--what CrossFitters call their gyms (don't ask me why, lol--I still feel a little affected when I say it!)
WOD--Workout of the day
MetCon -- Metabolic Conditioning--it's the cardio portion of the workout, but it often includes lifting.
PR--Personal Record--your highest weight or time for a specific movement or workout.
Burpees-- An exquisite form of torture. Lol, not really. See image below to get an idea of this full body workout using only your body weight. Often used as punishment for being late or having a birthday.