Just a tiny little post today. Pretty happy with myself. Managed my 3 rounds of 500m runs with each run followed by 10 95lb clean squats in under 15 minutes. Not sure I could have done just the run before in that much time....
Sweated like a pig, had to walk a few steps (not too many really), was out of breath and loved every minute of it. *smile*
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
the Evil of Burpies and the Missing Teammates
OK, so its Wednesday morning, my wife and daughter just left to go back to Nova Scotia, and actually tomorrow I will go there too for the holiday weekend.
Today's blog is about yesterdays workout which was in honour of Coach Mikes 34th Birthday (than goodness he is not 50 yet). The workout consisted of 34 reps of various exercises (8 i think) bookended by 100 skips and 100 flutter kicks. Overall a push through it workout that leaves you wanting to quit. Of course, no two exercises makes me want to quit more than push ups and burpies. The push ups just seem to be my nemesis. Stringing 10 together into a smooth fluid motion seems to be as easy as solving an NP complete problem in quadratic time (OK, that's a math joke, but give me at least one). So 34 push ups - well lets just say that no matter how many times I mutter "I can do it" or Amy yells "push through it" I am mentally defeated before starting this one. I did manage to push through it of course, but at this time in a timed event I am at least one full set of 34 exercises behind everyone else in timing.
After the push ups - you guessed it - 34 burpies. OK now don't get me wrong, but burpies are just push ups in disguise with an additional humiliating move added in (the jump up and clap after each push up). To me its not mental defeat on this exercise, but shear hatred. I see no point in them and this is probably the one exercise that would actually be successful in stopping me becoming a regular member of the Crossfit program. Like many exercise routines they also use this move as "punishment" for saying "I CAN'T" and the punishment factor when I am trying to better myself also does not work for my personality type. My current plan is to keep going with Crossfit after the contest ends next weekend, but burpies could change that.
Well I made it through the routine in about 22 minutes (I really wish I had all my numbers written down) and then went on to the rest of my day (covered in sweat I might add).
A big negative for me this week is missing my team. So far I have always managed to work out at 6pm with most of my team mates from K100 Green team (winning team) even though it was not the best time for me. Well this week, since my wife and daughter were here I went at 4pm instead so worked out with a few regular members instead (and a few K100 Silver team members). Now don't get me wrong, thees guys are great but compared to my regular team members they don't have the desire to see me succeed. On the green team we all want each of us to do our best and make sure we all let each other know. Hopefully next week a few sessions with them will get me re-motivated.
ps: SFL weigh in tomorrow and I'm not excited. I have a feeling after the "weekend of birthday celebrations, friends and family" in which I really struggled to get the right mix of foods into me (way down on vegetable consumption) I will ac tally be up a pound (or two).... sad
pps: this 46 inch waist fat guy (well 44 - 46 depending on cut) is wearing his new jeans today - 38 inch waist.
Today's blog is about yesterdays workout which was in honour of Coach Mikes 34th Birthday (than goodness he is not 50 yet). The workout consisted of 34 reps of various exercises (8 i think) bookended by 100 skips and 100 flutter kicks. Overall a push through it workout that leaves you wanting to quit. Of course, no two exercises makes me want to quit more than push ups and burpies. The push ups just seem to be my nemesis. Stringing 10 together into a smooth fluid motion seems to be as easy as solving an NP complete problem in quadratic time (OK, that's a math joke, but give me at least one). So 34 push ups - well lets just say that no matter how many times I mutter "I can do it" or Amy yells "push through it" I am mentally defeated before starting this one. I did manage to push through it of course, but at this time in a timed event I am at least one full set of 34 exercises behind everyone else in timing.
After the push ups - you guessed it - 34 burpies. OK now don't get me wrong, but burpies are just push ups in disguise with an additional humiliating move added in (the jump up and clap after each push up). To me its not mental defeat on this exercise, but shear hatred. I see no point in them and this is probably the one exercise that would actually be successful in stopping me becoming a regular member of the Crossfit program. Like many exercise routines they also use this move as "punishment" for saying "I CAN'T" and the punishment factor when I am trying to better myself also does not work for my personality type. My current plan is to keep going with Crossfit after the contest ends next weekend, but burpies could change that.
Well I made it through the routine in about 22 minutes (I really wish I had all my numbers written down) and then went on to the rest of my day (covered in sweat I might add).
A big negative for me this week is missing my team. So far I have always managed to work out at 6pm with most of my team mates from K100 Green team (winning team) even though it was not the best time for me. Well this week, since my wife and daughter were here I went at 4pm instead so worked out with a few regular members instead (and a few K100 Silver team members). Now don't get me wrong, thees guys are great but compared to my regular team members they don't have the desire to see me succeed. On the green team we all want each of us to do our best and make sure we all let each other know. Hopefully next week a few sessions with them will get me re-motivated.
ps: SFL weigh in tomorrow and I'm not excited. I have a feeling after the "weekend of birthday celebrations, friends and family" in which I really struggled to get the right mix of foods into me (way down on vegetable consumption) I will ac tally be up a pound (or two).... sad
pps: this 46 inch waist fat guy (well 44 - 46 depending on cut) is wearing his new jeans today - 38 inch waist.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday March 26th and Monday March 29th
So had a great weekend this "last" weekend of March. Turns out the Resolution Solution contest will have one more week and that the final testing day will be April the 10th (a Saturday). I encourage anyone following the blog or just following the contest to pop a head in crossfit and encourage the listeners to win win win.
Fridays work out was deceptive. Looked challenging at first as the description was "row 500m as fast as you can - 3 reps for average time: in between rows work on double unders". However I am learning to fear the easy sounding ones. Turns out it was row 500m as BLOODY fast as you can and then do 30 double unders and 20 knees to elbows while the rest of the people there do their rowing. As soon as you are up to row again you need to have your in between work done because you go again.
So 150 double unders, 60 knees to elbows and 1500m of rowing at full pace.
This one exhausted my tank big time. My wife and daughter are in town this weekend, so they showed up and I have to admit when I was really empty with 150m to go in rowing, Dela yelling "go daddy go... go daddy go..." did help. My first row was 1:50. then 1:57 and then 2:02 for an average time of 1:57 (at least it was under 2:00 but not quite the 1:42 mike hinted I could do.)
Saturday I planned on going to the gym for a 6th day in a row, but time did not help on this one.
So Monday I was back in the Gym for a new week and a nice hard pace workout. Between kettle bell swings, push ups, SDHP's farmers walks and pistols it was a challenge. I recognize that push ups are by far my weakest exercise. Even pull ups seem to be coming but mentally I can not get around this push up block. Maybe one day....
Fridays work out was deceptive. Looked challenging at first as the description was "row 500m as fast as you can - 3 reps for average time: in between rows work on double unders". However I am learning to fear the easy sounding ones. Turns out it was row 500m as BLOODY fast as you can and then do 30 double unders and 20 knees to elbows while the rest of the people there do their rowing. As soon as you are up to row again you need to have your in between work done because you go again.
So 150 double unders, 60 knees to elbows and 1500m of rowing at full pace.
This one exhausted my tank big time. My wife and daughter are in town this weekend, so they showed up and I have to admit when I was really empty with 150m to go in rowing, Dela yelling "go daddy go... go daddy go..." did help. My first row was 1:50. then 1:57 and then 2:02 for an average time of 1:57 (at least it was under 2:00 but not quite the 1:42 mike hinted I could do.)
Saturday I planned on going to the gym for a 6th day in a row, but time did not help on this one.
So Monday I was back in the Gym for a new week and a nice hard pace workout. Between kettle bell swings, push ups, SDHP's farmers walks and pistols it was a challenge. I recognize that push ups are by far my weakest exercise. Even pull ups seem to be coming but mentally I can not get around this push up block. Maybe one day....
Friday, March 26, 2010
Thursday March 25th - Deadlifts and Double Unders
So not only did I lose 4.7 pounds this week (by going to Crossfit 5 days out of 7 and following the SFL meal plan) but Crossfit today was great.
It was deadlift/double unders day. This is the type of day I really enjoy as we learn about technique more than just push push push (don't get me wrong, there was lots of push in this one). The deadlift is basically lift up using only your legs a dumbbell (no-- not my older brother). The weight prescribed as a little high for new people, but Mike felt 135 pounds was a manageable level for us....
ummm.... Mike... 135 is a large number... but OK then....
So do 10 lifts, then do 150 skips with a skipping rope (each double under - rope under your feet twice per jump - counts as 3 skips). The repeat this 5 times. So I was very happy with my results today. I managed the 135 with very few issues (really focusing on technique) and did make it through the 750 skips with about 15 double unders thrown in --- 1 at a time except twice I managed two in a row. Worked up a good sweat doing this (sweat is weakness leaving the body) and felt good enough afterwards to try a 165 set of deadlifts which were tough, but I did manage.
So loving the fact that I seem to not only be getting slimmer and slimmer but stronger and stronger. I no longer cringe at pull ups (I still cringe at push ups) and really look forward to going to Crossfit everyday they are open.
Size wise... I am shrinking for sure. The two teaching jackets I bought to "just fit" in September when I started back at UNB Saint John now swim on me and to quote some of my students "wear like a robe". I was 60 inches around at my gut before and now I'm about 44-45. My waist has dropped about 4 inches now to the point where very soon I will have to break down and buy some new pants or risk the "fall down" even with belts.... Overall not a bad problem to have.
On top of this, SFL and Crossfit have really mentally made me realize its not hard to be healthy. I just have to want it. AND I DO. So I will be keeping this up until i get from my original weight of 260 (now 212) to a healthy weight of around 165-175.
Bring it on.
It was deadlift/double unders day. This is the type of day I really enjoy as we learn about technique more than just push push push (don't get me wrong, there was lots of push in this one). The deadlift is basically lift up using only your legs a dumbbell (no-- not my older brother). The weight prescribed as a little high for new people, but Mike felt 135 pounds was a manageable level for us....
ummm.... Mike... 135 is a large number... but OK then....
So do 10 lifts, then do 150 skips with a skipping rope (each double under - rope under your feet twice per jump - counts as 3 skips). The repeat this 5 times. So I was very happy with my results today. I managed the 135 with very few issues (really focusing on technique) and did make it through the 750 skips with about 15 double unders thrown in --- 1 at a time except twice I managed two in a row. Worked up a good sweat doing this (sweat is weakness leaving the body) and felt good enough afterwards to try a 165 set of deadlifts which were tough, but I did manage.
So loving the fact that I seem to not only be getting slimmer and slimmer but stronger and stronger. I no longer cringe at pull ups (I still cringe at push ups) and really look forward to going to Crossfit everyday they are open.
Size wise... I am shrinking for sure. The two teaching jackets I bought to "just fit" in September when I started back at UNB Saint John now swim on me and to quote some of my students "wear like a robe". I was 60 inches around at my gut before and now I'm about 44-45. My waist has dropped about 4 inches now to the point where very soon I will have to break down and buy some new pants or risk the "fall down" even with belts.... Overall not a bad problem to have.
On top of this, SFL and Crossfit have really mentally made me realize its not hard to be healthy. I just have to want it. AND I DO. So I will be keeping this up until i get from my original weight of 260 (now 212) to a healthy weight of around 165-175.
Bring it on.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
2 Days of Crossfit and Simply for Life Results
OK, so with only a week to go in the Resolution Solution contest, I have been very busy lately (not to mention the end of the University terms is approaching fast).
On Tuesday I went to Crossfit and the workout was probably one of my most rewarding. No it did not leave me gasping, or sore, but it left me feeling great about my accomplishments. The workout was about strength so involved clean squats (or something to that name effect) which means take a barbell with weights and 5 times lift it from ground into a squat, pause then stand up bringing the weight to your neck line. So the week before, in a similar lesson I had managed to lift 75 pounds which made me real happy. I had tried 85 but struggled. This day I managed not only the 85 pounds, but also to do 5 reps of 95 pounds.
the next day was FGB - fight gone bad named and designed around how you should feel after you exert the energy you would in an ultimate fighting match. There are 5 exercises set up - wall balls, sumo high pulls (or something to that name), box jumps, push presses and rowing. This workout is exactly 17 minutes. As soon as the clock starts, you start exercise number 1 counting how many reps you manage. Then as soon as the next minute hits, your move to the next exercise (and your minute is already going down in time). After 5 minutes (i.e. one of each exercise) you get a minute rest. Then "rinse and repeat" until you have done three rounds in total. The score is the total number of reps done where rowing counts as calories burned (the rower tells you this number). I scored 165 which I really don't know if that's respectable or not, but except for lowering the wall ball medicine ball weight from 20 pounds to 16 pounds to 10 pounds, I managed to do both other weight lifting components at the prescribed 85 pounds and the box jumps at the prescribed 24 inches.
I was beat afterwards of course, but also ecstatic about my willingness to do the prescribed numbers (mostly).
then this morning (Thursday) I weighed in and had lost 4.7 more pounds bringing my 7 week total to over 19 pounds. WOOO HOOOO
On Tuesday I went to Crossfit and the workout was probably one of my most rewarding. No it did not leave me gasping, or sore, but it left me feeling great about my accomplishments. The workout was about strength so involved clean squats (or something to that name effect) which means take a barbell with weights and 5 times lift it from ground into a squat, pause then stand up bringing the weight to your neck line. So the week before, in a similar lesson I had managed to lift 75 pounds which made me real happy. I had tried 85 but struggled. This day I managed not only the 85 pounds, but also to do 5 reps of 95 pounds.
the next day was FGB - fight gone bad named and designed around how you should feel after you exert the energy you would in an ultimate fighting match. There are 5 exercises set up - wall balls, sumo high pulls (or something to that name), box jumps, push presses and rowing. This workout is exactly 17 minutes. As soon as the clock starts, you start exercise number 1 counting how many reps you manage. Then as soon as the next minute hits, your move to the next exercise (and your minute is already going down in time). After 5 minutes (i.e. one of each exercise) you get a minute rest. Then "rinse and repeat" until you have done three rounds in total. The score is the total number of reps done where rowing counts as calories burned (the rower tells you this number). I scored 165 which I really don't know if that's respectable or not, but except for lowering the wall ball medicine ball weight from 20 pounds to 16 pounds to 10 pounds, I managed to do both other weight lifting components at the prescribed 85 pounds and the box jumps at the prescribed 24 inches.
I was beat afterwards of course, but also ecstatic about my willingness to do the prescribed numbers (mostly).
then this morning (Thursday) I weighed in and had lost 4.7 more pounds bringing my 7 week total to over 19 pounds. WOOO HOOOO
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Widowmaker
OK, so sitting in your office, excited to go to Crossfit Saint john (www.crossfitsaintjohn.ca) and then seeing that the daily workout is called the WIDOWMAKER is not a great feeling.
The workout was in effect 300 reps of basic fundamentals. Overall a great idea but all in a row looked kinda tiring. then seeing people that normally blow my times out of the water post times like 44 minutes made me realize i might need a sleeping bag to finish this one before leaving the gym.
I have to admit a strong desire not to go to the gym once I saw what the workout entailed, but I really believe that the first "no go" is the hardest and then it get all too easy to keep it up. So despite some facebook humming and hawing, I went. three of the 5 Green team members did actually (and the other two wanted to go I am sure).
Thank Zeus (my new fav expression) that Mike was in a forgiving mood and only made us do one of two prescribed rounds (hence only 150 reps). I managed in 23ish minutes to do 10 handstand push ups, 20 box jumps, 30 pull ups, 40 sit ups, 50 double unders (OK, I substituted 150 single unders), 10 knees to elbows (in one hang), 20 dips, 30 burpies (OK, I subbed 30 50lb kettle bell swings due to an increasingly sore rib that keeps reoccurring for me), 40 sit ups (foot weighted) and 50 squats. Once again, thank the gods Mike agrees to only one round for us.
Well tonight's work out looks good too, so more tomorrow.
ps: had fun visiting steph at work on Saturday.. great t-shirt
Friday, March 19, 2010
5 Days in a row???? - Lots to blog about...
OK, so as the title says I managed 5 days in a row at Crossfit Saint John this week. And it was a hectic week. In my last blog I told you about the K100 sabotage/revenge. Well it was a great laugh for everyone involved actually. OK, lets go over what I have not told you about this week 9could be a long post)
Jay and Steph (and Deb - K100) asked me to be on the air Thursday and loving being the center of attention, of course I agree (this is probably not good for my out of control ego as I get my body and diet in check). This was actually asked on Tuesday when I was on the air with Nancy and on Wednesday morning when I delivered the cake Jay asked me to come up then for a bit (which I declined only because I had a bit of work to do before my 9:30 class that morning).
Cut to 12:30 , the Pizza.... still laughing about it
Cut to 4:00pm, I decided to go to the gym (3 days in a row that would make it) for a routine I knew was called Death by pull ups. I did okish at this workout but disappointed that I really believe i could have done better. You know 95% of this workout success is just frame of mind. Basically I managed minute by minute to increase my pull up ate to 8 pull ups in one minute. (1 in first, 2 more in second, 3 more in third.. get the drift). I failed epically on the 9th but did manage 9 after I was out in the 10th minute to prove to myself I could. The original sets 1 to 8 were on a 3 band but the overtime final 9 was on a 3+1 band. first time managing on just a 3 band at all.
Thursday morning I weighed in at SFL and had lost 4.3 pounds this week (I believe my best result yet) bringing my total SFL weight loss to 14.5 pounds and my total New Brunswick weight loss to 42.7 pounds.. WOWSERS
It was also at SFL that Bruce (my coach and the SFL owner/creator) scolded me for eating the Pizza. I said "well turn around is fair play and good sportsmanship said I must eat the pizza as the told me (and my class) that they ate some cake. THEY LIED. Turns out they did not eat a bite of cake (they will pay - but i have to admire their strategy) and instead gave it to Michelle for her Birthday (your welcome Michelle.... make them buy you something too for being re-gifters.. something EXPENSIVE)
So this did bother me quite a bit (its all good though) and drove me to go to the gym for 2 more sessions this week. THAT'S RIGHT 5 days in a row for Crossfit. Thursday was not that bad a workout (mentally i mean - physically challenging) but todays (Friday) had mentally beat before I even got there as it starts with 60 push ups which I hate. Well I made it through but I probably had the worst time in teh gym I often do) but I made it through. I even ran 2 laps today . On to next week
Jay and Steph (and Deb - K100) asked me to be on the air Thursday and loving being the center of attention, of course I agree (this is probably not good for my out of control ego as I get my body and diet in check). This was actually asked on Tuesday when I was on the air with Nancy and on Wednesday morning when I delivered the cake Jay asked me to come up then for a bit (which I declined only because I had a bit of work to do before my 9:30 class that morning).
Cut to 12:30 , the Pizza.... still laughing about it
Cut to 4:00pm, I decided to go to the gym (3 days in a row that would make it) for a routine I knew was called Death by pull ups. I did okish at this workout but disappointed that I really believe i could have done better. You know 95% of this workout success is just frame of mind. Basically I managed minute by minute to increase my pull up ate to 8 pull ups in one minute. (1 in first, 2 more in second, 3 more in third.. get the drift). I failed epically on the 9th but did manage 9 after I was out in the 10th minute to prove to myself I could. The original sets 1 to 8 were on a 3 band but the overtime final 9 was on a 3+1 band. first time managing on just a 3 band at all.
Thursday morning I weighed in at SFL and had lost 4.3 pounds this week (I believe my best result yet) bringing my total SFL weight loss to 14.5 pounds and my total New Brunswick weight loss to 42.7 pounds.. WOWSERS
It was also at SFL that Bruce (my coach and the SFL owner/creator) scolded me for eating the Pizza. I said "well turn around is fair play and good sportsmanship said I must eat the pizza as the told me (and my class) that they ate some cake. THEY LIED. Turns out they did not eat a bite of cake (they will pay - but i have to admire their strategy) and instead gave it to Michelle for her Birthday (your welcome Michelle.... make them buy you something too for being re-gifters.. something EXPENSIVE)
So this did bother me quite a bit (its all good though) and drove me to go to the gym for 2 more sessions this week. THAT'S RIGHT 5 days in a row for Crossfit. Thursday was not that bad a workout (mentally i mean - physically challenging) but todays (Friday) had mentally beat before I even got there as it starts with 60 push ups which I hate. Well I made it through but I probably had the worst time in teh gym I often do) but I made it through. I even ran 2 laps today . On to next week
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Crossfit and K100 sabotage (or Fair Play) - Wednesday 17th
So lets stat with crossfit from last night. A great workout I was happy to do (even though it was hard). After usual warm-up, I managed to do a one lap around the king square\union street block without stopping or walking any of it. Mike wanted 2, but with my leg/hip concern I was happy with one.
The workout was a numbers one. There were 4 exercises [ knees to elbows - dead hang on the pull up bar and lift knees up, dips on a tire, jumping 90 degree squats - jump out of each squat landing 90 degrees changed, and kettle bell swings]. Of these four, the first (knees) is extremely hard for me. I don't yet have the arm strength to do much to help lift my weight. The challenge of this exercise is to do 21 of each, then 18 of each, then 15 , 12, 9, and finally 6 of each for time. I think my time was around 18 minutes which is not half bad for a couch potato like me.
So now to fair play. Today is St. Pa tricks day and our "K100 Green Team" has decided its Green Team Day. So to celebrate we decided I would deliver a nice not-so-SFL-approved Ice Cream cake to Jay and Steph this morning for their radio show with the writing "Happy 'green team' day K100". I can't even type that without giggling. It felt so mischievous and fun...
Well Steph rebutted well on the air (since also this morning another team member won $100 on a pay song - go Lisa [I won mine earlier this week]) with a nice indication that they were going to eat it all and still lose more weight than us. Not to mention the 400 sit ups she did that non of us got close tooo......
Well we were all on facebook in a private group we have laughing it up after that. A good day indeed. In my 9:30 stats class I could not help but tell them all about it. In my 12:30 stats class......REVENGE
Steph, Jay and Deb all waiting outside my class with some piping hot delicious Pizza Hut pizza. Something I have not had in 6 weeks, nor should have (sorry bruce). Well sportsman ship is fair play. So I enjoyed a nice slice of cheese bites pizza as well as a delicious slice of apple desert pizza (my ultimate fav always). Thanks to K100 from my class though that loved it and enjoyed all the remainder of the pizza to much enjoyment.
I think now I have to go squeeze in a workout. see ya'll tomorrow after my weigh in.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Just a post workout note. Went with team mate Shirley to do todays' workout. It was all pull ups and I loved it as I need work on those. Did OK but think I could do better next time. The exercise was to start a clock going. Then in the first minute you must complete 1 pull up, second minute 2, third minute three etc until you fail. they must be completed before the minute ends of your done. I managed 8 rounds on a 3 band (first time trying just a 3 band) and did manage my 9 in a minute on a 3 + 1 band but not until after i failed in the 9th minute (but did the 9 in the 10th minute). Pretty good over all. I even ran a lap before for warm up (no stopping what so ever) and a lap at the end (walked 3rd quarter due to stitch). Getting better every day and thanks to the wonderful work of Amy I feel a lot better about my pull ups now and feel encouraged. Amy rocks... (and bella too)
The workout was a numbers one. There were 4 exercises [ knees to elbows - dead hang on the pull up bar and lift knees up, dips on a tire, jumping 90 degree squats - jump out of each squat landing 90 degrees changed, and kettle bell swings]. Of these four, the first (knees) is extremely hard for me. I don't yet have the arm strength to do much to help lift my weight. The challenge of this exercise is to do 21 of each, then 18 of each, then 15 , 12, 9, and finally 6 of each for time. I think my time was around 18 minutes which is not half bad for a couch potato like me.
So now to fair play. Today is St. Pa tricks day and our "K100 Green Team" has decided its Green Team Day. So to celebrate we decided I would deliver a nice not-so-SFL-approved Ice Cream cake to Jay and Steph this morning for their radio show with the writing "Happy 'green team' day K100". I can't even type that without giggling. It felt so mischievous and fun...
Well Steph rebutted well on the air (since also this morning another team member won $100 on a pay song - go Lisa [I won mine earlier this week]) with a nice indication that they were going to eat it all and still lose more weight than us. Not to mention the 400 sit ups she did that non of us got close tooo......
Well we were all on facebook in a private group we have laughing it up after that. A good day indeed. In my 9:30 stats class I could not help but tell them all about it. In my 12:30 stats class......REVENGE
Steph, Jay and Deb all waiting outside my class with some piping hot delicious Pizza Hut pizza. Something I have not had in 6 weeks, nor should have (sorry bruce). Well sportsman ship is fair play. So I enjoyed a nice slice of cheese bites pizza as well as a delicious slice of apple desert pizza (my ultimate fav always). Thanks to K100 from my class though that loved it and enjoyed all the remainder of the pizza to much enjoyment.
I think now I have to go squeeze in a workout. see ya'll tomorrow after my weigh in.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Just a post workout note. Went with team mate Shirley to do todays' workout. It was all pull ups and I loved it as I need work on those. Did OK but think I could do better next time. The exercise was to start a clock going. Then in the first minute you must complete 1 pull up, second minute 2, third minute three etc until you fail. they must be completed before the minute ends of your done. I managed 8 rounds on a 3 band (first time trying just a 3 band) and did manage my 9 in a minute on a 3 + 1 band but not until after i failed in the 9th minute (but did the 9 in the 10th minute). Pretty good over all. I even ran a lap before for warm up (no stopping what so ever) and a lap at the end (walked 3rd quarter due to stitch). Getting better every day and thanks to the wonderful work of Amy I feel a lot better about my pull ups now and feel encouraged. Amy rocks... (and bella too)
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
What a Day...
So today started great when as soon as I started my car I heard the K100 pay song, dialed in and Steph answered (first time I got an answer this year) with the how ya doing intro... I knew I was caller 10...Cha ching...$100.00
So when she asked who it was, I said "you'll never guess, its Jeff". She said Jeff McNally.. no way. Well a short conversation later about how I was on the ENEMY team (that's right, the winning team) they admitted I had won. I then really enjoyed asking Steph a question while on the air..."when on testing day you finish your Squats do you mind counting for me as I keep going". LOVED IT BABY (as did my team members). Well credit where credit is due... Mike from crossfit gave us that line to use the other day and said its time to start the mental games. So game on **********
Well day kept getting better with two roll up the rim wins (that makes it 7 wins in 15 cups now).
Eventually it was time for Crossfit and I was excited. The exercise (I thought) was 5 rounds of 5 burpies, 10 box jumps and 15 ball walls. Well I was actually excited about this (well maybe not the burpies, but 25 seemed a doable number for me). Then when I got there it was 10 rounds (I had read wrong.. maybe wishful thinking).
OK 5 to 10 is a major change in my attitude. Too many. I will never finish.. Holy crap...
Well I did manage to get through 9 rounds before I stopped after a jump that did not feel right in my hip (see previous posts on slight injury). To be honest though, a mosquito bite would probably have been enough excuse for me to quit. I found 10 rounds to be too much for me. I was fighting hard at 6, so had to stop at 9 (and it might have even been only 8 rounds as I struggled to keep the counting correct).
Well more tomorrow.. and am excited for this thursdays weigh in too
So when she asked who it was, I said "you'll never guess, its Jeff". She said Jeff McNally.. no way. Well a short conversation later about how I was on the ENEMY team (that's right, the winning team) they admitted I had won. I then really enjoyed asking Steph a question while on the air..."when on testing day you finish your Squats
Well day kept getting better with two roll up the rim wins (that makes it 7 wins in 15 cups now).
Eventually it was time for Crossfit and I was excited. The exercise (I thought) was 5 rounds of 5 burpies, 10 box jumps and 15 ball walls. Well I was actually excited about this (well maybe not the burpies, but 25 seemed a doable number for me). Then when I got there it was 10 rounds (I had read wrong.. maybe wishful thinking).
OK 5 to 10 is a major change in my attitude. Too many. I will never finish.. Holy crap...
Well I did manage to get through 9 rounds before I stopped after a jump that did not feel right in my hip (see previous posts on slight injury). To be honest though, a mosquito bite would probably have been enough excuse for me to quit. I found 10 rounds to be too much for me. I was fighting hard at 6, so had to stop at 9 (and it might have even been only 8 rounds as I struggled to keep the counting correct).
Well more tomorrow.. and am excited for this thursdays weigh in too
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Crossfit Weights and Crossfit Bowling
Bit slow on getting to my blogs lately, so this is a double quick blog. Friday we did the Crossfit workout and the whole team was there. This to me is the best part because as a team we each really strive to be our best and always exceed our expectations.
The Warm up was ggreat and we have notched it up a bit by removing the bozes from our pullups. I also think i'm going to add a medicine ball to my situps to get a bit stronger there and add 10 pushups into my warm up from now on.
Wow, me saying that ehhh. yeah yeah
Saturday we went crossfit bowling and I have been an avid bowler now for a few year. IT WAS AMAZING. I really hope Mike adds this as a monthly event (first saturday of each month perhaps). For each guttern ball any team member made in Strong 1, 10 burpee medicine ball pushups. HARD (especially when its 150ish of them, which I admit I only managed about 115 I think and did a few cheating ones instead). In the second String, it was 10 medicine ball situps per gutterball (120 of these - did all of them). This of course was ontop of an pre-determined exercise for each box for each pin you missed (actually, did very few of these over the 2 strngs actually). Well thats it for now, Crossfit tomorrow and the SFL plan continues.....
ps: time to up the game soon... you will see
The Warm up was ggreat and we have notched it up a bit by removing the bozes from our pullups. I also think i'm going to add a medicine ball to my situps to get a bit stronger there and add 10 pushups into my warm up from now on.
Wow, me saying that ehhh. yeah yeah
Saturday we went crossfit bowling and I have been an avid bowler now for a few year. IT WAS AMAZING. I really hope Mike adds this as a monthly event (first saturday of each month perhaps). For each guttern ball any team member made in Strong 1, 10 burpee medicine ball pushups. HARD (especially when its 150ish of them, which I admit I only managed about 115 I think and did a few cheating ones instead). In the second String, it was 10 medicine ball situps per gutterball (120 of these - did all of them). This of course was ontop of an pre-determined exercise for each box for each pin you missed (actually, did very few of these over the 2 strngs actually). Well thats it for now, Crossfit tomorrow and the SFL plan continues.....
ps: time to up the game soon... you will see
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Simply for Life... Bruce??????
You know, just because he is amazingly successful and just because Mexico is so inviting, does that really mean Bruce should pawn my SFL meeting this week on someone else.... oh yeah, that's right, its not all about me.
Well now more about me.
Weighed in today. I get lower weights at home, so its really time to stop looking at my home scales and start waiting for the SFL weigh ins as it annoys me when I weight at home [220.0] drive to SFL and weight [221.6]. Well I guess I did add 4 egg whites, 2 clementines and a large Tim's (winner #4 this week) to my body, but 1.6 difference? hmmmmm
Actually the weight today 221.6 is one I should be very happy about. It means 10.2 pound loss since starting SFL (no mum, i did not cut of my useless brain holding head!!!!!). Considering I was stagnant at 231 for almost 2 months before starting SFL while trying to lose weight it proves to me that the SFL way of life (not a diet for sure) really works. Lori (my loving wife back in Nova Scotia) has now lost 20 pounds on the SFL plan without incorporating any additional physical activities (missing out on a few normal ones too ...nudge nudge wink wink).
Big news today is the mid-contest Crossfit results. Keep in mind that its really about about personal gain and not about killing K100 Silver team (is killing too harsh a term...nahhhhhh). Well originally when we first tested, K100 Silver 9missing a member) had a lead of more than 100% our combined team score. AND BOY DID WE COMPLAIN ABOUT IT. We thought as a team (or at least a few of us did) that we could never ever catch up to them while both teams were improving. We requested a new scoring system and everything.
Boy were we whiners...
now I think we must revert to the original scoring system as SFL and crossfit have both proved to the listeners team that we can do it. The new results are at
http://crossfitsaintjohn.ca/?page_id=570
and our team improved our score by more than enough not only to catch up with the K100 Silver team, but also to now be beating them by 300+ (by my re-calculation due to a simple error on the table 700+) points. WOWSERS
SO ANYWAY, needless to say, we are all pumped and really can not wait to see what the next 4 weeks brings. For me, I want to work hard on my push ups and pull ups to get my numbers on those two categories into triple digits if I can.
wow.. never thought I would say that
Well now more about me.
Weighed in today. I get lower weights at home, so its really time to stop looking at my home scales and start waiting for the SFL weigh ins as it annoys me when I weight at home [220.0] drive to SFL and weight [221.6]. Well I guess I did add 4 egg whites, 2 clementines and a large Tim's (winner #4 this week) to my body, but 1.6 difference? hmmmmm
Actually the weight today 221.6 is one I should be very happy about. It means 10.2 pound loss since starting SFL (no mum, i did not cut of my useless brain holding head!!!!!). Considering I was stagnant at 231 for almost 2 months before starting SFL while trying to lose weight it proves to me that the SFL way of life (not a diet for sure) really works. Lori (my loving wife back in Nova Scotia) has now lost 20 pounds on the SFL plan without incorporating any additional physical activities (missing out on a few normal ones too ...nudge nudge wink wink).
Big news today is the mid-contest Crossfit results. Keep in mind that its really about about personal gain and not about killing K100 Silver team (is killing too harsh a term...nahhhhhh). Well originally when we first tested, K100 Silver 9missing a member) had a lead of more than 100% our combined team score. AND BOY DID WE COMPLAIN ABOUT IT. We thought as a team (or at least a few of us did) that we could never ever catch up to them while both teams were improving. We requested a new scoring system and everything.
Boy were we whiners...
now I think we must revert to the original scoring system as SFL and crossfit have both proved to the listeners team that we can do it. The new results are at
http://crossfitsaintjohn.ca/?page_id=570
and our team improved our score by more than enough not only to catch up with the K100 Silver team, but also to now be beating them by 300+ (by my re-calculation due to a simple error on the table 700+) points. WOWSERS
SO ANYWAY, needless to say, we are all pumped and really can not wait to see what the next 4 weeks brings. For me, I want to work hard on my push ups and pull ups to get my numbers on those two categories into triple digits if I can.
wow.. never thought I would say that
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Benchmarks Week 4ish - WOWSERS
OK, so its week 4 - 5 ish at Crossfit and that meas we are doing the 4 primary benchmark exercises (to exhaustion) to see how much we have improved. I just got off a 10 day "vacation" from exercise.....(OK, so i meant to do exercise---sue me).
My original results definitely did not impress me much (but at the time i was happy with them). They were 7 pulls up on band 4 [the bands help lift away some of your body weight and give some ease to the pull, I mean we can not be expected to just do them from scratch as beginners], 16 push ups on knees [I just felt then I could not do regular ones which are on your toes], 19 sit ups and 32 squats which totaled to 112 points.
You may recall my rant about the scoring system.. which i now formally recant as just not realizing that WE ALL CAN DO THESE THINGS. Negativity was so strong then with many of us, and now i see it was self-confidence that was the problem. But Mike knew we would get to the point of being able to do these things and do then often and well.
Well last night we pushed ourselves. I actually think I might have pushed the least of all the team, but I seem over sensitive about hurting my body right now due to the Meralgia Paresthetica I have developed. Even then, however, I was personally amazed at my results (and my team mates, but those are secret right now).
For the pull ups I used a 3 band with an addition 2 band which is probably a bit similar to the 4 I used before. the result was 23 pull ups which really blew away my previous results.
On push ups I decided to give it a go on my toes. I really wanted to not say that I needed to be on my knees. I was right. They might not have been pretty and fast, but I managed 21 of them before I could not get my arms to lift my weight up any more. 21 is more than I thought possible and hats off to Mike from Crossfit who made me do a few more at the end until even he saw I was done.
OK next was squats, and last time this was my greatest triumph - 31. Well this time the medicine balls were below us to make sure we were going low enough, and I can honesty say Holy Sh**. 200 times my ass hit that ball before i said thats it. A few minutes later I think I could have done another 50, but at that time I needed to stop. Next time I won't stop and will pace myself a little better.
Finally cam sit ups, which are, in my opinion, the exercise everyone knows about and hates. So many people see them as a real test of fitness for common everyday people. Well last time I astounded myself with 19 sit ups and was excited to have done that many (tried hard to get #20 but did not happen). Last night I managed to get 102. thats right one-hundred-and-two. WOW.
so that gives me a new score of 571 which is an increase of 409% or 409 points. If I can keep this momentum, K100 Silver team does not stand a chance.
Bring it on. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BAAABBBBYYYYYYYYYYY
My original results definitely did not impress me much (but at the time i was happy with them). They were 7 pulls up on band 4 [the bands help lift away some of your body weight and give some ease to the pull, I mean we can not be expected to just do them from scratch as beginners], 16 push ups on knees [I just felt then I could not do regular ones which are on your toes], 19 sit ups and 32 squats which totaled to 112 points.
You may recall my rant about the scoring system.. which i now formally recant as just not realizing that WE ALL CAN DO THESE THINGS. Negativity was so strong then with many of us, and now i see it was self-confidence that was the problem. But Mike knew we would get to the point of being able to do these things and do then often and well.
Well last night we pushed ourselves. I actually think I might have pushed the least of all the team, but I seem over sensitive about hurting my body right now due to the Meralgia Paresthetica I have developed. Even then, however, I was personally amazed at my results (and my team mates, but those are secret right now).
For the pull ups I used a 3 band with an addition 2 band which is probably a bit similar to the 4 I used before. the result was 23 pull ups which really blew away my previous results.
On push ups I decided to give it a go on my toes. I really wanted to not say that I needed to be on my knees. I was right. They might not have been pretty and fast, but I managed 21 of them before I could not get my arms to lift my weight up any more. 21 is more than I thought possible and hats off to Mike from Crossfit who made me do a few more at the end until even he saw I was done.
OK next was squats, and last time this was my greatest triumph - 31. Well this time the medicine balls were below us to make sure we were going low enough, and I can honesty say Holy Sh**. 200 times my ass hit that ball before i said thats it. A few minutes later I think I could have done another 50, but at that time I needed to stop. Next time I won't stop and will pace myself a little better.
Finally cam sit ups, which are, in my opinion, the exercise everyone knows about and hates. So many people see them as a real test of fitness for common everyday people. Well last time I astounded myself with 19 sit ups and was excited to have done that many (tried hard to get #20 but did not happen). Last night I managed to get 102. thats right one-hundred-and-two. WOW.
so that gives me a new score of 571 which is an increase of 409% or 409 points. If I can keep this momentum, K100 Silver team does not stand a chance.
Bring it on. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BAAABBBBYYYYYYYYYYY
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Back from Vacation and March 8th Crossfit
So I really enjoyed my 10 days home with my wife and daughter. My wife has now lost about 15 pounds on Simply for life (and I believe I am over the 10 pound loss mark now) so we are very excited. During the past week, now that we are on transitional menu (weight loss menu is my interpretation of that) the food is amazing. We are really enjoying our pitas [Cajun pitas rock] and even the dinners seem a lot more "normal" that I was expecting.
Actually, writing this, I realize I really am eating all my favorite foods, all the time, in large portions. It really makes me realize how pointless all the other programs that made me eat small amounts of "counted" foods that I did not enjoy at all were. Sure I lost weight on them, but I always gained back 150% of it. The simply for Life plan really is success for life. Sure we might once and a while eventually really splurge and have that double layer chocolate cake, or the fries and burger combos, but overall, we would probably keep eating lean foods with plenty of veg, and also make the effort to eat three meals a day with a couple of snacks in between and not revert to one large caloric/fat/sodium massive feast every night before bed...(wow, how did I ever let myself do that anyway).
On the food issue, I bought a desert based cookbook from SFL that uses some pretty interesting alternatives to make sweet deserts that are "healthy". Well we tried the Brazil nut\coconut\honey chocolate bars and MAN-O-MAN.... OK ....BETTER THAN *** IF YOU GET MY DRIFT. Seriously, this desert is to die for, and not that bad for my body. Ive brought some back to saint john with me (imagine that too, we actually chose not to eat them all... that's new) to share with the winning GREEN K100 team - too bad the other team hides from us and says its their busy schedules. (PS the bars are in the picture).
The week away was good. Stuck strongly to the SFL plan (a few bites of something bad every now and then and a few extras sfl approved snacks some days) and I think I'm starting to lose weight again (was stagnant for a week and a bit there). I even ate out 4 times on SFL menus at Irving (B+ - salad not very fresh), Smitty's (B - loved mine, but my wife did jot like hers) and Jungle Jim's (A++ - amazing meal, filling and delicious).
Crossfit... well.... I'm only human. I planned on doing all this exercise when I was away but will be honest and admit that between time with family, a new tooth crown, a trip to the doctor to learn I have meralgia paraesthetica in my right leg (which will affect my running for a while), a new tooth crown for my wife and marking lots of midterms and assignments I did not do more than a half hour of exercise all week. oopppppppsssssssssssssiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee
Well last night was Crossfit and except for not being willing to do the running (leg thing) I really had a great time. I definitely weakened a bit while away, but not much and expect to be back on track by Friday. Looking forward to this week and all the fun it will bring.
Actually, writing this, I realize I really am eating all my favorite foods, all the time, in large portions. It really makes me realize how pointless all the other programs that made me eat small amounts of "counted" foods that I did not enjoy at all were. Sure I lost weight on them, but I always gained back 150% of it. The simply for Life plan really is success for life. Sure we might once and a while eventually really splurge and have that double layer chocolate cake, or the fries and burger combos, but overall, we would probably keep eating lean foods with plenty of veg, and also make the effort to eat three meals a day with a couple of snacks in between and not revert to one large caloric/fat/sodium massive feast every night before bed...(wow, how did I ever let myself do that anyway).
On the food issue, I bought a desert based cookbook from SFL that uses some pretty interesting alternatives to make sweet deserts that are "healthy". Well we tried the Brazil nut\coconut\honey chocolate bars and MAN-O-MAN.... OK ....BETTER THAN *** IF YOU GET MY DRIFT. Seriously, this desert is to die for, and not that bad for my body. Ive brought some back to saint john with me (imagine that too, we actually chose not to eat them all... that's new) to share with the winning GREEN K100 team - too bad the other team hides from us and says its their busy schedules. (PS the bars are in the picture).
The week away was good. Stuck strongly to the SFL plan (a few bites of something bad every now and then and a few extras sfl approved snacks some days) and I think I'm starting to lose weight again (was stagnant for a week and a bit there). I even ate out 4 times on SFL menus at Irving (B+ - salad not very fresh), Smitty's (B - loved mine, but my wife did jot like hers) and Jungle Jim's (A++ - amazing meal, filling and delicious).
Crossfit... well.... I'm only human. I planned on doing all this exercise when I was away but will be honest and admit that between time with family, a new tooth crown, a trip to the doctor to learn I have meralgia paraesthetica in my right leg (which will affect my running for a while), a new tooth crown for my wife and marking lots of midterms and assignments I did not do more than a half hour of exercise all week. oopppppppsssssssssssssiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee
Well last night was Crossfit and except for not being willing to do the running (leg thing) I really had a great time. I definitely weakened a bit while away, but not much and expect to be back on track by Friday. Looking forward to this week and all the fun it will bring.
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