Wins and Weaknesses Within the Same WOD

There are days when I see wins and weaknesses within the same WOD, such as this morning at the 5:45 AM class at CrossFit Central LI. I get there just in time for the warm-up and I'm a little tired. Had some trouble falling asleep last night. I get through 50 jumping jacks and then I get the 50 double-unders UNBROKEN. This has never happened before and the highest I've ever strung together before was 31, so this is a definite win.

We gathered for a group stretch and I could feel that I have been ignoring mobility work. We had a 3 minute AMRAP of wallballs and I got 50. These were not unbroken but I didn't drop the ball and I only no-repped once. Again, this is a definite win.

I was really psyched for the metcon at Central LI today because I really thought I could Rx it and then I had my hubris handed to me.

She's a Beast

Muscle does not weigh more than fat. It is denser than fat. Five pounds of muscle on one scale will weigh the same as five pounds of fat on another scale. If I hear one more person say that muscle is heavier than fat, I will beat them with a PVC pipe.

So last week a guy I went to college with sends me a Facebook message asking me if I were running a half marathon that upcoming weekend. I was not. I told him I had pretty much given up running in favor of CrossFit. He then tells me that he went to Brick with his business partner 2 weeks before, had a great time, and was still sore. Now we all know that I love a run down play by play, of people's workouts. I find it genuinely interesting. You can spend 15 minutes telling me why you chose not to put an additional 10 pounds on the bar and I will listen enthralled and might even ask clarifying questions. This guy I went to college with wasn't really able to articulate what they did that day but he knew it was hard.

Now I like this kid just fine. I wouldn't consider him to be a close friend or anything, but I've known him for many years and I think he is good stuff. So the transcript below of the next part of our conversation is not to be viewed as my opinion of him or an indication that I am mad at him or anyone else. I thought it was interesting that he chose the words he chose and the reaction that I had.

GUY: never been into lifting actually...always had lotta of natural muscle so more into cardio and sculpting

GUY: even tho my biz partner is adamant that lifting is still the best for cardio

ME: what the fuck is sculpting?

ME: lifting is the best cardio

GUY: haha

GUY: guess i was wrong

GUY: u know what sculpting is

GUY: u sculpt

GUY: ...u appear quite sculpted

ME: I do not sculpt. I lift

ME: I have a 100# clean and jerk

Preparing for Hurricane Irene

Today I fully intended to camp out on my couch, and then I received a text message inviting me to workout and then eat lunch at Piping. Well who am I to say no to a sweat sesh and lunch with a good friend? So I changed out of my Hurricane Chic attire and got ready to get my gym on.

Since I had finished my eighteen mile long run a mere fourteen hours earlier, I couldn't spend the entire time on cardio machines. I went through my collection of Oxygen magazines and decided upon a workout from the February 2011 issue. Now the article said to choose one muscle group and do the three sets of each exercise. I was feeling creative so I decided to do one set of each exercise in each muscle group.

After fifteen minutes on the treadmill of sprints and speedwalking at different inclines, I was sweaty enough to start lifting. I proceeded to do the following with 10 lbs weights:

15 reps stability ball bench press

15 reps stability ball chest flye

15 reps standing dumbbell press

15 reps stability ball bent-over flye

15 reps (each arm) one-arm overhead triceps extension

15 reps stability ball lying dumbbell extension

20 reps dumbbell front squat

12 reps (each leg) dumbbell lunge

20 reps dumbbell stiff-legged deadlift

Then I switched to 15 lbs weights:

15 reps dumbbell deadlift

15 reps bent over two-arm row

Before switching back to 10 lbs for:

15 reps seated hammer curl

15 reps standing reverse curl

I also did ten side-plank push ups, 20 of those things when you sit on your butt and raise your legs and twist with a medicine ball (12 lbs ball, twisting to each side counts as 1), and some good, old-fashioned weighted crunches.

I moved onto the abductor/adductor machine. I can still put 200 lbs on it and easily perform the abduction exercises, i.e. the outsides of my thighs are monsters. However, I went from being able to do 200 lbs for adduction to a measily 125 lbs. What this means is that I can no longer fully support my own weight while having sex standing up. This is an issue.

I did about 5 minutes on the bike before succumbing to intense boredom. This is when I pulled my shock and awe move and performed burpee push-ups with a BOSU with a nice little lift in between each rep. This attracts attention. It's also a good workout. Then I did cardio lunges off the BOSU for 1 minute. I finished up my light workout rolling around on the foam roller praying for mercy. I hate that thing but I know it's good for me.

After a shower, I enjoyed a delicious curry chicken salad and a pretty good Bloody Mary. Now I'm back in my Hurricane Chic awaiting the Storm of the Century.

In case something happens to me during Hurricane Irene,
I want to be found wearing this.

Barefoot Fitness

Last night I had a training session with my trainer Morgan. Morgan recently got his first pair of Vibrams, although I think they irritate his (mildly) webbed feet. I told him I was going to tell everyone I could about his foot condition, and what better way to do this than post it on the Internet? I've been hesitant to wear my Vibrams since I got my new tattoos, but they really do give you superior grip and stability while lifting. I showed up to the gym in a pair of Nike Lunar Glides, which Morgan promptly made me take of. I worked out in my socks.

I think Morgan has it in for me because we did squats, dead lifts, shoulder presses, and pull-ups (double-assisted, it's okay). It's difficult to remember to keep the shelf on your shoulder blades, draw your shoulders back, keep your abs tight, push your knees out, and keep your weight in your heels. Sometimes I miss the body bar...

I have another training session tonight and I packed my Vibrams. They were easier to fit in my bag than my sneakers. I just hope they don't mess with my tattoos.

Gaining Confidence to Workout Alone and March's Ultimate Arms Workout

I rarely hit the gym floor by myself. Sure, I'll hop on a cardio machine if I have some extra time before a class, or I might use the adductor/abductor hip machines (205 lbs baby, booyah!), but I used to actually show up and lift. It occured to me recently that I don't even know where most of the equipment is located at the 85th & 3rd Equinox location and I used to be there all the time. I subscribe to Oxygen magazine, which is the great women's fitness magazine, that is full of workout advice and exercises. My goal is to be able to perform these workouts on my own when I can't or don't want to attend a class.

A lot of classes are full-body workouts. You can't and shouldn't do a full-body workout every single day. This leads to overtraining, injuries, and late-night binge-eating. I've decided to focus on spin and yoga classes, and then do no more than one full-body workout class a week. I am going to do my own lifting. I tried Oxygen's March triceps and biceps workout yesterday and my arms are feeling it! I used 12.5 lb weights, and skipped the stability ball preacher curl (just couldn't be bothered to run around 3 floors looking for a stability ball when I had a class starting in 10 minutes.)

Triceps Exercises (2 sets of each)
1. Body weight bench dip (12 reps)
2. Lying triceps extension (12 reps)
3. One-arm triceps kickback (12 reps on each side)

Biceps Exercises (2 sets of each)
1. Alternating biceps curl (15 reps each arm)
2. Hammer biceps curl (12 reps)
3. Dumbbell preacher curl on stability ball (skipped but I would've done 12 each)

I chose to superset the triceps/biceps exercises during the first set, going from one triceps move right into the biceps move before resting and moving on to the next exercises. Oxygen recommended this to save time and increase caloric burn.

1 Dumbbell + 7 Moves = Oxygen's Total-Body Workout

Oxygen Magazine's March issue has a great total-body workout on p. 39 that I tried today. All you need is one dumbbell to complete all 7 moves.

Exercises

1. Dumbbell wood chop (low to high)
- This move works your legs, core, shoulders, back and chest.

2. Squat (dumbbell held at chest height)
- This moves works your quads, glutes, calves, and hamstrings.

3. Biceps curl (one arm at a time)
- This moves works your biceps and forearms.

4. Triceps overhead extension
- This moves works your triceps and forearms.

5. Chest press (one arm at a time)
- This moves works your chest, shoulders, triceps, cores.

6. Crunch (weight held on chest)
- This moves works your abdominals.

7. Shoulder press (one arm at a time)
- This moves works your front delts and lateral delts.

I used a 12.5 lb dumbbell. The magazine says to do each exercise for 15 reps, then rest before repeating the seven moves. Let me know how you liked this routine if you try it. (Let's get some posting going. I feel unloved!)