Crossfit just as emotional as it is physical

   One of the advantages of understanding how Crossfit programming works is that I can look at different work outs and determine which workouts are actually the same even though they may be set up very differently. This last Monday (the 11th) I was looking at the Crossfit Mayhem and the Crossfit.com work outs. Each would work the same capacities, but the Crossfit.com work out had a couple movements I have not done in a while and ones I knew I needed to work on getting more familiar with. The work out is below.

 

5 Round for time

-5 Overhead squats (95lbs)

-10 Toes to Bar

-15 Power cleans (115lbs)

-20 Double-Unders

   As I was warming up and thinking about the first two movements specifically I felt I could get the work out done in about 30 minutes. Six minutes a round should be more than enough time, considering the movements I am still new to are the first two with the least number of reps required. I knew it was going to be a longer work out, but I did not expect the emotional battle this work out was going to present to my mind and soul.

   I get through the first round relatively quickly.  I struggled a bit to find my groove with the Overhead squats and the toes to bar went better than I remember them going. The power cleans were more difficult than I anticipated, but breaking them up proved to keep a strong pace. Having just got double-unders down I was happy to burn through those. First round done, no worries. As always the second round was more difficult. My forearms were giving me some issues with the toes to bar and from all the sweat I was having a problem keeping my sweats on my waist during the double-unders. Little did I know that not only were the movements taking a toll on me, but also the heat. I looked at the clock and saw that I had been going about 27 minutes and only done with 2 rounds. There was no way I was finishing the work out in less than 30 minutes.

   The third round broke me. I finished all 5 reps unbroken of the overhead squats and powered through the toes to bar, but mentally the effort to do 15 power cleans felt so overwhelming. I wanted to just finish the third round and call it quits. I was frustrated that the movements I thought would be easier were actually harder and more intimidating. I was frustrated that the work out was taking me so long. At the rate I was going it would take me over an hour. That is usually how long hero work outs take me. I sat on the rower and just started crying.  I wanted to be done and help Kristen with the kid’s homework. I just felt overwhelmed with all I had to do in the house and this work out was not going to be as short as I anticipated. I was soaked in sweat from the afternoon Arizona heat which seemed more humid with the approaching storm expected later that evening.

   I then remembered all the videos and stories from other Crossfitters who had different emotional breakdowns for a variety of reasons. I gave myself a couple minutes, wiped my eyes, refilled my water, and took a couple deep breaths. If I am going to be a master’s competitor when I am 40 I have to be able to handle the roller-coaster of emotions that come with unexpected walls I needed to face down this WoD. Crossfit is about preparing for the unknown. During this work out I learned that the unknown can even be found in familiar movements. I did not expect to be broken from this work out, but from this work out I feel even more victorious for finishing all five rounds even though I finished it in 59:10.

Double Under Victory

   Any one who Crossfits knows the bane of double unders. For those not familiar with this movment it is just like jumping rope. However instead of the rope passing under you once for each jump, the rope must pass twice for each jump. The learning process for some is long and others not so long. For everyone there are many bruises and rope marks on the forearms and other places. A WOD that I did early in my Crossfit journey is Annie. See the workout below.


"Annie"
50-40-30-20-10 For Time
Double Unders
Sit-ups

   For those not able to double unders you substitute triple the amount of single under jump ropes. If you are still learning double unders the substitution works, but then you hit a threshold where you can not do single unders any faster. The last time I had done this work out I knew I was at that threshold. It took me 11:20 to complete the work out last time.

   Recently I have been able to become much more proficient with double unders. When I saw Annie was the work out of the day yesterday I was excited. This was my chance to see how much better my time would get. Here is a LINK to the video of me doing the Annie work out.

   Watching the video I can improve on my double unders on a couple things.
      1. My hands are still coming too far away from my body. I have a longer jump rope that is giving me some "forgiveness" with this, but to be really efficient this will need to change.
      2. Although it is not so obvious in the video I need to make sure that I am jumping up just before the rope comes to my feet. I found that it was much harder to string double unders when I was almost jumping down on the rope.
      3. Making sure I am jumping up instead of back. I have a tendency to move hence my "traveling" double under.

   Despite the improvements needing to be made I was able to still significantly beat my time! Instead of 11:20 I finished the work out in 8:44, improving my time by 2:36. :)

   On a side note I got first place at my work's mini triathlon. I had to Row 3k, Bike 3 miles, and Run 1 mile. Got it all done in 29:04! Also in the same month I got first place in a 5 minute bike sprint. The idea was to bike as far as you could in 5 min and I won going the distance of 1.88 miles. Needless to say I have been getting noticed more by those who participate in these random challenges each month. This month is max number of dips to failure. I will keep you posted to let you know where I finish and how many I do.

   Hope you enjoyed my post today and as always please let me know if there is anything you would like to see or know about. For those who have been reading, thank you, and I have not forgotten that I still owe you a tour of my garage gym. Also be sure to subscribe to my youtube channel. Just hit subscribe from the video link found in this post.

   As always thanks for reading!

---Chris Tucker---

Year has come and gone.

   This last July 15th, 2014 marked my one year anniversary of doing Crossfit. I did the work out I started this journey with again and improved upon my time. I actually shaved more than three minutes off the time from when I did this work out six months ago.(link to video Work out 1.2) I am looking forward to shaving off another couple minutes. 

   Looking at my last blog post I see two things. First it has been way too long since my last post. Sorry for that. Two I have not been videoing my workouts like I mentioned I would. My form I feel has gotten better, but I do not know that for sure. This next week I plan to start videoing at least one work out a week that I feel would be good for me take closer look at.

   Not only has my one year anniversary come and gone, but also I finally did my body fat test. Below are the results as compared to the test I did a little over 6 months ago. In parentheses I am showing the difference in the measurements from the last test on January 6th, 2014

June 18th, 2014
Weight at time of test: 228lbs (-1 lb)
Estimated bodyfat: 15.7% (-0.8%)
Fat Weight: 35.8lbs (-2lbs)
Lean Body Weight: (+1lb)

Circumference Measurement (relaxed)
Forearm: 12" (+1.25")
Bicep: 14" (+0.25")
Umbilicus: 40" (-1.0")
Waist: 35.25" (-3.75")
Chest: 45.5" (+1.25")
Hip: 44" (-0.25")
Thigh: 26" (0")

   Main results are the loss in inches around my waist. I am comfortably wearing a size 32 waist pair of pants and am interested to see if my body will par down to a 30 waist pant size. The last time I was a 30 waist was when I was a sophomore in high school. Only time will tell. I will continue to enjoy the occasional pizza and double cheeseburger with fries. :) I am still staying away from sweets and am to the point that I really do not miss them. In fact the smell of many sweets is almost sickening.

   Thanks for reading, as always be sure to subscribe to the blog, subscribe to my YouTube channel for videos I upload and leave any comments of anything you would like to read or see. I will begin with this posting to share my blog posts also on Facebook. There have been many people who have commented they would notice updates easier through that medium.

This is where the fun begins,

-Chris

Realigning 2014 Goals

Howdy everyone :)

These last couple days I have been sick so it has also given me more time to recover from some ailing injuries that I have sustained in my Crossfit journey. My poor wife has been not so verbal to me about the aches and stiffness I have been experiencing these last couple months as I have been working to up the difficulty in the workouts I do. Being sick provides time that I normally would not have to look back on things I am doing in my life. I have realized that my ego has been a large part of my Crossfit journey and that I have not solidified enough of a foundation to even consider reaching the goals I have for this year.

Something I have always told myself when I would be recovering from injuries is to keep a long term view. The problem is I did not implement this long term view in my training. I was so concerned with doing the work outs at the recommended weight I never considered if I should. As a result my focus for the remainder of the year will involve starting with the basics.

My history has been;
1. I had a failed handstand push up that kept me from training for about a month.
2. I have a tight right hamstring from a high school injury.
3. I have done some of the Olympic Lifts incorrectly which has caused minor pain.
4. Most reciently I found not keeping my head neutral during kipping pull ups has strained my right trap muscle.

Things that have been working against me (These are not my excuses just factors I am aware of);
1. Being self taught most of the time. Naturally without a certified crossfit trainer to guide me my risk for injury would be higher. Thankfully me experiencing these difficulties at least allows me to let others know about them as well.
2. I am not able watch myself during movements and course correct during a work out. I was wanting to lift the larger amounts of weight, but not make the sacrifice to get the conditioning and moment familiarity to earn that privilege.

Things working for me;
1. Crossfit is an open source community. Just about all the information I know has been from research and study from the community at large.
2. I have now a fully equipped Crossfit box with a rower. (that is for a later post with pictures).

Reviewing the information above I have come up with the following action plan;
1. Video every WoD/ strength training session I do for at least the next 3 months. I need to be able to see how i am doing movements and want to first make sure I am doing the movement correctly.
2. Focus on a solid warmup before each WoD. Muscle pulls and strains are usually a result of tight or not adequately warmed up muscles. Doing a through warm up before hitting the gas pedal.
3. Take time for mobility and flexibility everyday. I plan to spend at least a total of 15 minutes each day stretching and doing mobility to ensure that I am recovering as quickly as I can from each work out and that I have the range of motion to execute the movements.

Honestly all these things are pretty basic and fundamental for any work out routine. Maybe it was the years of weight training that made me think I did not have to worry as much about the execution of the exercises, or that I could just heal through whatever I do to my body. Either way I have learned both of those lines of thought are false and that I need to take a step back if I am going to have a chance at doing Crossfit long term. I will not make to next year let alone have a chance at competing in the 2019 Crossfit games as a Masters competitor.

With this new focus I will post a couple of my WoDs a week and give you my evaluation of myself. As always I know I am opening myself up to the internet and I do not mind receiving any thoughts on how my form is and any suggestions will be considered.

As always, thanks for reading and if there is anything you would like me to write about or comment on let me know.

This is where the fun begins,

-Chris

Catching up after a move

Hey everyone,

   Sorry for having such a long time between postings. The move to our new home took so much time. In fact the week before the move I only did the open workout because of the limited time. Lots of late nights and early mornings with work starting at 4am. Well enough of that on to the remaining open workouts!

   14.2 work out was,

From 0:00-3:00

   2 rounds of:

   10 overhead squats

   10 chest-to-bar pull-ups

Here is the video of me attempting 14.2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4qyP-7_gvA

   This one challenged me not with the overhead squats, but with the chest-to-bar pull-ups. For some reason I could not get that extra power to get my chest to touch the bar as you can see from the video. The thing about these open workouts is that your work out does not count unless you do the movement as prescribed, so that helps you face the weaknesses you have in your fitness. 

   14.3 was my favorite workout from this year's open. The movements were ones I was very familiar with and I knew I could do and move with some strong purpose. The workout consisted of the following.

Complete as many reps as possible in 8 minutes of:

135-lb. deadlifts, 10 reps
15 box jumps, 24-inch
185-lb. deadlifts, 15 reps
15 box jumps, 24-inch
225-lb. deadlifts, 20 reps
15 box jumps, 24-inch
275-lb. deadlifts, 25 reps
15 box jumps, 24-inch
315-lb. deadlifts, 30 reps
15 box jumps, 24-inch
365-lb. deadlifts, 35 reps
15 box jumps, 24-inch

   The video of me doing the workout can be found here: http://youtu.be/NS9ix3J0N78

   My only regret with the work out is that I did not get further in the 275 lb deadlift, however it really started feeling heavy after having done the reps already completed. I am also working on being able to do box jumps just by jumping down and then bouncing right back up. If I could have spent less time in the box jump portion of this work out I would have had more time to lift the weight.

14.4 consisted of;

Complete as many rounds and repetitions as possible in 14 minutes of:
60-calorie row
50 toes-to-bars
40 wall-ball shots, 20 lb. to 10-foot target
30 cleans, 135 lb.
20 muscle-ups

   The video of me doing this work out is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBftpDV1sZk

   14.4 was something that exposed a huge gap in my fitness. I thought I would be getting to the power cleans and really try to mentally prep myself for that part of the work out. As I went through the toes to bar (T2B) portion of the work out I realized that my core was still very far from being at all equal to this work out. As you can see from the video even when I tried to pace out the number of T2B I did it still did not work out.

   At the end of the work out I realized the weakness was two fold. One, moving through the movement efficiently. After the work out my judge let me know that the T2B movement is just a knees to elbow with a kick. Also my grip started going at the end making it difficult to really commit to the movement and feel confident. 

14.5 was a first for an open work out in the Crossfit community;

21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:

95-lb. thrusters

Burpees

   My Dad took the video for this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWbzuPsx6rU

   The thing about this work out that was a first is that it was for time. So everyone has to do the same amount of work, no matter how long it took them. My main weakness with this work out was my "tank". I would rest for a longer period of time and not get back on the bar or to the floor to do the next burpee. Measuring my rest and being aware of my rest is something I am going to manage better in my future workouts to make sure that I am not trying to get to a comfortable feeling. More of the focus in Crossfit is that you become comfortable in the uncomfortable feeling of fatigue

   Over all for my first open I had a great time. :) The point of the open is to give the average Crossfitter like me the chance to really see where my weaknesses are in my fitness and ability. From these five workouts I have many things to work on and am looking forward to next year making these weaknesses a strength.

   Thank you to everyone who read these posts. In the coming weeks I have a body fat test coming up and also I am going to take some pics of my "completed" home box.  I get a bonus from work and I am able to afford picking up some things so I can do any major Crossfit movement from the "comfort" of my own home. 

Open Workout 14.1

   This is my first open. In fact I am one of over 100,000 first time open registrants for this year's open. This first experience did not happen through without an obstacle or two.

   First the work out itself is going to be difficult because I have still not been able to do back to back double unders. So at least initially in the work out I am doing one double under at a time. By the third round I am getting a pace and that works out better for me.

   Second the box that I go to was closed today because of the Phoenix marathon. The street was blocked off in all directions. I parked a street away and walked to the box just to be sure it was closed, although I should have just checked the gym website and would have seen there that it would not be open.

   Third, doing the open work out at home with the kids. Kristen was my camera person and there were a couple times I had to be careful how I did a movement to make sure that I did not hit one of my kids. I guess this is what CrossFit means by constantly varied functional movement. :)

   Overall I was very happy with my performance just for the fact that I felt by the end of the work out I was getting a good pace with double unders. As I have mentioned in a previous post double unders are one of my new year's resolutions and being able to do 100 of them back to back by December 31st is a high priority. After things slow down a bit with the move I plan to use double unders as my warm up/ skill work movement and get real comfortable with them.

   Here is a link to the video of me doing the work out. (http://youtu.be/Q5sCsxOzotI) Look back this next week on friday as I take on 14.2. As always leave a comment/ subscribe and let me know if there is anything you would like me to discuss or if you see a CrossFit work out you would like me to try I am all for that as well.

-Chris Tucker

New Snatch PR

   With preping for a move and other things I have not been able to post something for awhile. Not to worry, I have been diligent to get at least four workouts in a week. I was reading more about the snatch and the approach to the form that made sence to me. The writer stated that you want to transfer as much momentum and power from your hips and shoulders to the bar. It is why in the snatch you try to keep your arms as straight as possible and bent them as you come down. If you bent your arms too early then you lose all that drive you create in the pull phase of the movement. My snatch PR has been 115 for the last month. After reading this I took some time and tried some heavier weight with exciting results. My new PR is 145lbs!

Here is the video link. http://youtu.be/FsyQiAkUR-w
I know I am not squatting as low as I should be. I have the mobility, but developing the speed is the next step in my snatch lift journey. 

   Another Crossfit experience I have had is the "Bring Sally Up" workout. The workout consists of putting 135lbs on my shoulders and then when the singer says down, you squat down. When the singer says up, you squat up. The song has a couple times where one is in the down position a couple times for about five to ten seconds. I was only five reps from finishing the song. If you want to try look for the song "Flower" by Moby. Next time I attempt this workout I will try to post a video.

   Thanks for reading and as always let me know if there is anything in particular to would like me to write about or comment on.

-Chris Tucker