journeyintoselfmatters

I like kettlebells. Here, I am doing kettlebell "wall bells", and I am in mid motion transitioning to catch the bell underneath in a squat. When we did these in warmups, the 1.5 pood felt good. When I got to them in the workout, the bell was flying all over the place! That is what I love about kettlebell training - it always seems to surprise me. Kettlebell training has also been essential in my development of a stronger core. While I haven't been powerlifting training (taking a hiatus for at the most a year), I can already sense that my core is a million times stronger than it was when all I was doing was the compound lifts of bench, squat & deadlift plus a few minor accessories.

As an update, since I have been gone so long, I still have been consistently crossfitting. I tend to go at least 4 times a week, with usually the goal being 5 if possible. My eating has "generally" cleaned up as well. I am a definite "gourmande" as they say in French - so it is difficult for me to eat clean all the time. So my goal is to eat clean at breakfast and lunch every day & then dinner at least 4 times a week. 80-20 rule for me here.

But back to Crossfit -- I have definitely drunk the Kool-Aid. I tend to tell everyone who talks to me about fitness, getting fit, working out, blah blah blah, about Crossfit. Tell them to come do a class with me on Saturday, talk to them about how much fun it is and how great of a community we have at Crossfit Omaha. Despite my constant gabbing, I have YET to get any of my friends/family to commit to doing Crossfit. I have had ONE friend come and do a Saturday workout with me. She loved it, but didn't commit due to various reasons. Hmmmm...maybe I need to adjust my approach?

Couldn't help but post this link ---- given my new chosen profession (or what will be in one year):

http://thedreamteacher.blogspot.com/2009/03/speaking-out-for-teaching.html

She nailed every reason why I want to become a teacher. Except one. I love my chosen subject. I am seriously passionate about languages. Hell, by the time I was 18 I had studied French, Spanish, German and Italian. Even went to night school at the local community college for my Spanish classes because I thought the Spanish classes in high school were too slow. Really. I was such a nerd about languages. Still am I guess.

This week at Crossfit Omaha has been Benchmark WOD week. I have to tell you, it has been one hell of a week. And it isn't over with yet! I really like doing these benchmarks because it is easy to go back later on and do them again to see if you have improved. I like to improve. But then again, who doesn't? If you go through life without feeling a desire to improve - you are just a zombie. And not the cool, hip zombies either. You are a lazy zombie. Blah.

So today I am having a helluva time lifting my arms. And tonight I'll be doing either Fran (21-15-9 Thrusters #65 and pullups) or Karen (150 Wall Balls for time). Haven't decided on which will be the least painful. The workout that caused the pain was brutal. He kicked my ass. But then again -- heroes' wods should kick your ass. They should remind you of the people who serve and die for your freedom. Here's to you DT.

04/16/09
DT
5 rounds for time of:
105 pound Dead-lift, 12 reps
105 pound Hang Power Clean, 9 reps
105 pound Push Jerk, 6 reps

Scaled this to 100 pounds. Time limit was 20 minutes. I was in the process of NOT locking out my last push jerk when time was called.

04/15/2009
Cindy
As many rounds in twenty minutes of:
5 Pull-ups - 10 Pushups - 15 Air Squats

Ended with 11 rounds + 10 pushups. This is a 1 + round improvement from the last time I did Cindy. AND I am sure that my pushups were legit this time. I think last time I even counted them if I fell to my knees. Not this time. LEGIT!

04/13/2009
JT
21-15-9 reps for time of:
Handstand Pushups
Ring Dips
Pushups

Had 1 ab mat under my head for the HSPU. Also used a blue band on the first 21 ring dips (was the only band open) and then a tan band for the rest of the rounds. I think that I could drop to a purple on ring dips next time. That was the first time I did ring dips. Ever. So I was pretty cautious. Finished in 23:37.

Saturday 04/11/2009 was a fun team workout. Was a great day outside - so included running with a 14# wall ball. Really -- we must have looked like idiots. But how's that for FUNCTIONAL fitness???

04/10/2009
Annie
50-40-30-20-10 rep rounds for time of:
Double Unders
Situps

This was embarrassing. 15:56. I suck at double unders. But I figured I won't get better at them if I keep subbing them out. I ended up getting NINE in a row the last 10. Maybe I am on my way to getting them down...

04/07/2009
Helen
3 rounds for time:
400 meter run
21 Kettle Bell Swings, 1.5/1 pood
12 Pull-ups (garage pull-up bars will be used for this workout)

15:22

Bring on more benchmarks! I am ready for ya!

Here at Crossfit Omaha we have some truly amazing coaches




Every single one of them knows not only how to teach - but how to coach.

Every single one of them expects me to go all out every day. No excuses.

I'm truly lucky to train under you guys




Thank you.


Workouts (I'm really behind, so I won't post all of them):
Monday 3/30/09:
3 rounds for time of:
Tabata Burpees, 4 roundsTabata Situps, 4 roundsTabata Wall Ball,
4 rounds
Rest 1 minute
Total: 261


Saturday 3/28/09:
Team Hanging Grace
50 reps for time:
75 pound Hang Squat Clean and Jerk
Teammate: Bryce
Time: 7:40


Friday 3/27/09:
21-15-9
Box jumps 20 in
Deadlift 140#
Clapping pushups (hopping the first 21 and then to "on knees" clapping)
Time: 9:10


Thursday 3/26/09:
GOT MY FIRST ROPE CLIMBS!


Wednesday 3/25/09:
30th BIRTHDAY!
and...
Push press --- ended up with 118 x 2 for last "set" of three. I think we ended up doing close to 9 sets that day.

I just had to share this. Found it on the Crossfit Affliates blog:

I would like to let you in on a little secret: A secret to CrossFit excellence. Your thoughts may now be drifting to the foundation of any elite fitness program -- nutrition. Okay, so now the gears in your head are turning and now switching to intense metabolic conditioning. I'm not denying that you are right because you are, in fact, correct. What are you thinking about now? Is it gymnastics perhaps, weightlifting, sports? Ah, so you know the theoretical hierarchy of developing an athlete. Big deal, right? Actually yes, it is quite a big deal and I trust that each of you fully understand it.
So, those are the essential ingredients for forging elite fitness but what happened to that secret that I mentioned? Now don't fret my contrarian brethren, I'm getting to that. As a CrossFit trainer, I strive to teach you every movement correctly so you can perform them safely. As you become consistent with the mechanics of the movement, only then will we ratchet up the intensity. Once the level of intensity seemingly cannot go any further, we must dig deep within ourselves to overcome the mental and physical exhaustion. Is this an easy task when tackling a WOD by ourselves? I would venture to guess that most of you probably answered a resounding "NO" to that question -- I know I did. Sometimes we need just a little more, that extra push that will compel us to fight through the discomfort. But where do we find that? Where does it come from? It comes from the little secret.
So, what is this secret already?! The secret of course is you, me, and every other member of the CrossFit family. And whittle that down even further to the members of your own affiliate box. Do they give up on you? Do they tell you that it's okay to quit when they know that you can continue? The dedication and loyalty that I've seen within my members is truly second to none. Just when you think you cannot go any further, you hear the screaming, the words of encouragement, the "Pick up the f*#*ing bar." And so you do. You pick up the bar and keep going.
The secret: There it is. We know this secret. We understand it and we embrace it for its marvelous meaning. Seeing the determination and willingness to push yourself further than you've ever imagined is something that I truly treasure. We are not wired to quit. We just aren't programmed like that. And because of that, we will not and cannot accept mediocrity. Our CrossFit family will take us to new levels of intensity that we've never experienced before. In turn, we will reach new levels of fitness that we never dreamed possible. I would like to offer a sincere "Thank you" to not only the members of CrossFit Ramstein, but to the members of every CrossFit affiliate around the world. Our support system will now and forever remain unmatched!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! This is definitely one of my favorite holidays. I think it must be because of my love of Guinness! I also have over 1/2 Irish heritage, with my mother being full-blood Irish-American and my dad having a percentage in him too. Its also one of those holidays were you get together with friends and family and just have fun. There are no dinners to make or presents to buy...it is just plain fun!

Crossfit has been great lately. On Friday the WOD posted was backsquats! 5x5s! Now that is my kinda workout. I really had to adjust my form to the crossfit-style back squat, which took some time. At the last set of 5's I think that I finally started to perfect that form thanks to Kylie and Joe's cueing. You see, the way that I squat when I am powerlifting is completely different than that of the crossfit style. I am much more upright, with a more "oly weightlifting" style squat (i.e. chest up, hands in tight to shoulders, elbows driving in front of my body) when I powerlift. I ended up doing 187# for the last set of 5's. It was really light though. I felt that I needed to just work through the change in the form, and concentrate less on trying to max out. Next time around, with my form perfected, I'll go for the max out.

Last night was a different kind of monster. WOD was:
6 rounds for time of
15 DB powercleans (from the floor) (25# DB)
15 Wall Balls (14#)
200M run

Finished around 20:20...there was a time limit of 20 minutes on this one, so not sure of my final time, but Kylie said I came in about 20 seconds after time was called. My lungs were shot. Physically, the wall balls and powercleans were not so bad. I know one of my weaknesses is my lung capacity (stupid smoking for 12 years will do that to you) and this one really pushed me there. I did make sure to work at my highest intensity, which I feel really good about. If this workout would have come up when I first started crossfit it would have killed me. So kudos in that I almost finshed it! Next time around...I'll kill it. ;-)