Monday, January 31

The Constant of 3,5, and 6

Now that is some hard work

I've gotten to know a lot of different people through my journey of losing weight and getting fitter. People who follow a lot of different programs, diets, routines, etc. Some with valid points, many with points that, well... points that provoke a monologue full of profanity in my mind. Though, this is a little bit off the track I want to be on, so let's get rolling.

Everyone has a set number of training days throughout the week. It looks different for us all. Some train six days a week and a different muscle group. This is typical of body building traditions (maybe not so much the 6 days, but you understand). Back and biceps one day, chest and triceps the next. Definitely something I do not prefer. Others, especially those who follow main site programming, do three on, one off, working up to six days in their week. Some, like myself, drop five straight and rest on the weekend (speaking of which, back to it tonight). Whatever it may be, there must always be a constant. Not just that you're doing work. If you workout, you are of course doing work. There must be a constant that runs through the full seven days of your week, without fail.

The aftermath; soreness. That feeling that slows you down at work, the one you forget about after a day of squats until you finally have to stand up from that desk chair to take a leak and a loud groan resonates from within you, the reminding ache that tells you, "You are becoming better."  It is a feeling that sometimes seems debilitating (or after you hit Angie for the first time ever after a WODless month, IS debilitating), that sometimes makes you wonder why you keep coming back for more.

Soreness is a must, no matter how many days you workout (unless it's one... in that case, man up). If ever you wake up the day after a WOD and there is little to no pain, you didn't work hard enough. In that case, hit it twice as hard the next day. Never lose the intensity, never lose the drive. Had a bad day? All the more reason to hammer it through even harder than usual. Make sure you have no more energy to be angry after it is all said and done. Let it cause you to lay prostrate on the floor (unless you're Mikko, of course).

Prostrate... or something like it.
Of course, it's difficult. As it should be. It always gets worse before it gets better. To build muscle you must break it down first. To build endurance, you have to push until you can no longer endure. Find your limits, destroy them, and they will return anew. The best athletes in the world don't have it easy in training. They work hard, they break themselves down, over and over and over again. They have become the best because they beat themselves down.

The constant is pain. Even on your rest days it must be present. Even now, my quads still feel some of the effects of the over 300 total squats I did combined last week, and I'm going back to it after two rest days. It sounds sadistic, sadomasochistic, and twisted. You must conquer the feelings, control your mind, and make strong your heart. The rest of your body will follow.

WODea 1/31/2011
For time:
Burpee broad jump 200m
30 Dead Lifts 225#/185#
20 Hang Power Cleans 135#/95#
15 Push Jerks 135#/95#
Row 500m

"We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey."

Post times, videos, and thoughts to comments.

Sunday, January 30

Eating good, could be better, but always improving.

 Paleo 

So far, I've been following Paleo to the best of my abilities. It can be hard with a house full of people who don't really care all that much. Though, my brother is getting on board with Paleo full steam, my mom just doesn't care. Which is tough to watch with her debilitating health and her not letting go of her old ways. Dad is never home, so he eats whatever he pleases out on the road.

From time to time I have my cheats, they do become less frequent as I find more of a groove in the Paleo world. Yesterday was a sushi day, with some boba tea, not to mention a cheese danish (I indulged a little more than usual), but today I've been right back on it. It's becoming much less difficult to bounce back from wild days in nutrition and get on track. Still, I have yet to go long enough to kick this "leaky gut" as Robb Wolf calls it. Fifteen days is a long time... or so it seems. So far, the record is fourteen days. I know, I know... "Why not just go a couple more days???" Don't ask, I'm weak.

Today, we are back on schedule with the Paleo Train. I'm still figuring out this thing as I go. For now, it's just paleo. Once I figure out everything, the workings of food, things of the sort, I'll move to Paleo-Zone and really get it all going.

Breakfast:
Six strips of bacon
One egg
Five Pineapple spears
One Kiwi

Could have definitely added veggies there.

Lunch:
One Bell Pepper, stuffed with:
Chicken breast seasoned with garlic powder, chili powder, and pepper
Chicken was wrapped in bacon strips
Baked this in the oven, then placed it on a bed of spinach and topped off with avocado.

Can you see I like bacon? Really, my brother just bought a ton of it, so I'm using it.

Dinner:
Tonight, I'm shooting for another Paleo pizza. Using the almond meal I have left, the rosemary, and olive oil. Going to top it with some chicken sausage link slices and maybe more bacon (stop laughing at me), and some spinach leaves and bell pepper, and whatever else my close to empty fridge decides to cough up (maybe some pineapple slices?).

My first experience with Paleo Pizza (Mmm...)

Let's call this day one of the beginning of another Paleo journey. They get longer every time I hit the reset button, maybe this time I'll make Robb proud. Working on it, guys. Working on it.

On another note, it's rest day for most of us who train at a box, unless you did the CF Endurance WOD today with some of the people from the box I train at (Crossfit East Sacramento), unless you follow the 3-1 on the main site, which, coincidentally, is also a rest day! For those of you resting a bit too much, take on something today. Go run 5k (for time, pick up the slack and don't be a loser. It's still considered a WOD, so go PR), or find a random WOD from another box's site and get down and dirty on it, at the very least, go hit up KStar and do the mobility WOD (that's good for you, like eating you meats). Go here in case you had a brain fart (or are just trying to avoid being a good boy/girl). I plan on trying to improve my double unders today and go hit that rope for thirty minutes (more like the rope hitting me... but you get it). Either way, don't just rest on rest day, be active. Do something like... CONQUERING THE WODEA!

WODea 1/30/2011
Clean and Jerk 135#/95#
Every minute, on the minute squat according to how many minutes you've been working (1 squat the first minute, 2 squats the second minute, etc) until you cannot finish the required amount of squats in one minute or cannot get at least one clean and jerk in before the minute is up.


Post reps to and minutes to comments. Also, feel free to post suggestions on my paleo journey. I could always use the help!

Saturday, January 29

What's the big idea?



Time's are moving along in life, and, to the best of my abilities, I am doing what I can to keep up. I've been wanting to document my progress via blog, but also be able to add a twist of my own to make it fun and more interactive. That's the big idea... er... WODea.

I'm a future games hopeful here to talk about my life, my training, my nutrition, my experience, and to throw out these crazy concoctions I come up with to see if anyone want to do them (or check if anyone is even listening).

Here's how this works! First, I talk about some space wasting useless junk like nutrition and WODs... and THEN I post a WOD I've thrown together from the G-14 Classified WOD File (or more than one). Where do you come in? Well, just like the main site (www.crossfit.com) you post time/scores/lifts to comments (videos along with  scores are greatly encouraged. Adventures are always so much more fun in groups. I will try to post WODeas as much as possible and you can cherry pick. Yes, I know, cherry pick... I said it. Take these WODs and supplement them to your programming that you are receiving from your box. Also, remember do not over train! Listen to your body! Some of this might be stupid programming, some of it might just not be good for you to do after or before whatever WOD you did already, so tread carefully. This isn't programming for any specific box, which is why you will never see me throw up a rest day. These are just idea WODs (hence, the cheesy coining of WODea). Also, I am not level 1 certified (yet) and am not using this to try to profit off of crossfit. In the end, I'm just blogging. Maybe, one day these things will get their own names and we can all come back to them and try again. Maybe you'll add them into your programming. Who knows? Also, feel free to track back to any other WODeas and try them and post. These don't have to be done in any order. They don't even really HAVE to be done. But, if you are willing to take the challenge... well... you know what to do.

Anyhow, before I babble on some more, you get the idea. Let's get going!

Let's start this adventure right. Why do we train? Ultimately, we train to be better. What we are better at is the variance between us all. We want to be stronger, faster, hotter, push harder, go longer, etc. Whatever it may be, we must dedicate ourselves to it. For some, it is for themselves. Years of being out of shape and fat lead one to draw the line and say no more. There is a yearning to live life better. To be able to spend hours in their garden or tool shed, doing the things they love the most. For others, it is for the ones they love. To be able to play with the children they love so dearly.

For some, it's to be better at what they do. Especially with athletes. "If I was just a little faster, I would have been in that end zone before the corner back caught me." "If I could jump higher, I would have gotten over that center." "If I was more agile, I would have been able to track that ball as it came back over the net."

Whatever our variance, the constant is betterment. To be a better you, whatever you are (unless you are a jabroni... just kidding). No matter what, attack the training. The WOD that feels like your enemy in the midst of the battle with it will later become your best friend. Conquer the mind, conquer the weight, conquer the WOD, conquer life. Everyday, approach with the same intensity, if not more, never less. If your day sucked, attack the WOD and embrace the suck it brings, then all the suck you felt before will fade. If your day was awesome, attack with the same intensity in which you attacked your day. Make it necessary to conquer and succeed. Always do it, for it is necessary.

"I will do today what you will not, so that I may do tomorrow what you cannot."

WODea 1/29/2011

AMRAP 20
Max reps thrusters 95#/65#
Every minute, on the minute, do 15 abmat sit-ups (if you have a GHD, use it).

Post number of thrusters done to comments. Post thoughts to comments.

Lastly, scale appropriately! Don't get rhabdo. Remember to listen to your body and know your abilities.