First of all, I'm launching my photo website:
www.jholroyd.com
Things are very much in their infancy. The selection of photos is limited (just some random stuff I grabbed off my hard drive), and not representative. Expect things to change as I get time to organize. Lightroom says I have almost 40,000 photos. I filled another hard drive. Half a terabyte here I come...
Yes, Joanne, I'm wading through the learning curve on Lightroom. Very cool stuff.
At some point, you'll be able to order prints of my work, but I have some figuring to do on how to turn that feature on and get it working properly.
Crossfit:
Crossfit Total.
Rode to gym on the commuter bike. It felt good, even though it was about 85 degrees with 99 percent humidity.
Push press: 130 pounds (new PR!) This was tough. I've been stuck at 125 forever, and I've tried 135 a few times but always stalled out. I wavered quite a bit, but managed to get the weight all the way up.
Back Squat: 305 pounds (tied with my PR.) It felt so easy that I went for 325 and failed. Should have gone for a 310 or 315. Oh well.
Deadlift: 415 pounds (tied old PR that I haven't hit in over a year, and with much better form.)
Overall, my total weight went from 835 on 20080709 to 850! Woohoo! I'f I'd been a bit smarter, I could have done 860, I think. It's nice to see all the hard work paying off. That number hasn't moved upwards in a long time. Feels good to be making gains again.
...and it looks like it's Helen tomorrow! Sweet! Running, dumbbell swings, and pullups. I've finished this one 4 or 5 times with the same time within seconds. Time to move the bar.
Showing posts with label crossfit fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crossfit fitness. Show all posts
Monday, July 28, 2008
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
2007-01-01
After the most sedate New Year's Eve I've ever had (it was wonderful- Owen went in his crib and went straight to sleep at 8pm, entirely due to my mad par3nt1ng 5k1llz!), It was good to get to the gym today.
Joanne met me there, and together we did the following workout:
"Helen"
Run 400m (1/4 mile)
55lb dumbbell swings x 21
12 pullups.
I managed in 12:04.98, 27 seconds faster than last time. However, the time is a little funky, as I wasted 2 minutes on a treadmill that took *forever* (over a minute) to get up to speed, and then quit suddenly after .05 of a mile.... GRR. So I had to switch treadmills. As I started the run, the watch was saying 2:04 into the second round, so I took 2 minutes off that round, and didn't take credit for the running I'd already done.
So I'm not sure how accurate that adjustment is- I probably got some rest while I was trying to get the first treadmill working and up to speed, and there's about a 10-second gap between the end of the last round and the start of running on the next one, so I may be overoptimistic in my adjustment.
I might have just done the same workout for the 4th time within 3 seconds. Hey, at least I'm consistent.
Joanne did well- she had less equipment trouble than me, and did assisted pullups instead of her usual pulldowns. I think she's ready to graduate from Buttercup to Puppy.
Day 2 of the Zone (not counting the carby overindulgence of yesterday evening- NA beer, oatmeal raisin cookies, and other things). I'm supposed to be at 23 blocks a day, and it's a nice amount of food. I don't feel deprived in the slightest. I don't think I was getting enough protein before- we'll see how it works out now that I'm on track to get 150+grams of protein a day. By all accounts, Crossfit + Zone = good things physiologically.
Near as I can tell, I was only getting 80-100 grams a day. Probably enough to support a sedentary lifestyle, but not Crossfit + running + whatever.
Joanne met me there, and together we did the following workout:
"Helen"
Run 400m (1/4 mile)
55lb dumbbell swings x 21
12 pullups.
I managed in 12:04.98, 27 seconds faster than last time. However, the time is a little funky, as I wasted 2 minutes on a treadmill that took *forever* (over a minute) to get up to speed, and then quit suddenly after .05 of a mile.... GRR. So I had to switch treadmills. As I started the run, the watch was saying 2:04 into the second round, so I took 2 minutes off that round, and didn't take credit for the running I'd already done.
So I'm not sure how accurate that adjustment is- I probably got some rest while I was trying to get the first treadmill working and up to speed, and there's about a 10-second gap between the end of the last round and the start of running on the next one, so I may be overoptimistic in my adjustment.
I might have just done the same workout for the 4th time within 3 seconds. Hey, at least I'm consistent.
Joanne did well- she had less equipment trouble than me, and did assisted pullups instead of her usual pulldowns. I think she's ready to graduate from Buttercup to Puppy.
Day 2 of the Zone (not counting the carby overindulgence of yesterday evening- NA beer, oatmeal raisin cookies, and other things). I'm supposed to be at 23 blocks a day, and it's a nice amount of food. I don't feel deprived in the slightest. I don't think I was getting enough protein before- we'll see how it works out now that I'm on track to get 150+grams of protein a day. By all accounts, Crossfit + Zone = good things physiologically.
Near as I can tell, I was only getting 80-100 grams a day. Probably enough to support a sedentary lifestyle, but not Crossfit + running + whatever.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
A year of Crossfit
I've been doing Crossfit for a little more than a year now. It's time to post my experiences.
I found the program in late 2005. I searched blogger for "fitness" and found a mention of the Crossfit site. I checked it out, and found some great pictures of pit bulls. I looked around to find more pictures of the dogs (Fudgie and Athena), and noted that everybody shown was incredibly fit, and able to do some really cool things like handstand pushups. The videos showed some truly amazing athletics. It piqued my interest.
My background up to that point had involved some strength training and a fair bit of (long, slow) running. I thought I was fit when I could run 20 miles and not be completely destroyed. I'd never managed to break the 10 minute pace on a marathon (though I did pull off a 1:52 half marathon as a total fluke once.) I just didn't seem to be able to get any faster.
In fall of 2005, we had a flag football tournament at work It was humbling. While our team won, I found myself in serious pain in all sorts of places that I didn't know I had muscles. My core, particularly the obliques, got so sore that I had trouble sleeping. Every time I rolled over, I woke up in pain due to the soreness.
So you could say I was well primed when I stumbled upon Crossfit for the first time. I'll leave the bulk of the explanation to the Crossfit site itself (just check out the FAQ and read the postings on the message board.) In short, the program is 3 days on, one day off, including holidays. It's free, it's posted to the site at night, and it changes every day. There is a variety that you don't find in any other fitness program. You never just go through the motions- everything is for time, number of reps, or some score. There is running, olympic weightlifting, gymnastics... you name it. The one thing you won't find is "go spend 40 minutes on a treadmill, pace doesn't matter, just make sure you're reading People magazine or talking on a cell phone." Every exercise is functional. There are no "isolate the third head of the medial so-and-so." There are also very few machines involved.
At first, just doing the workouts was incredibly difficult. I had to scale severely just to be able to complete things, and even then my time was ridiculously slow. One of the benchmark workouts (workouts that are repeated periodically so you can gauge your improvement) is called Cindy:
"Cindy"
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats
I first did this workout in December of 2005. I managed 6 rounds, and I had to use the assist machine with 28 pounds of assist to help me with the pullups. It wiped me out.
We kept doing "Cindy" every month or two, and my score gradually improved. I even managed to wean myself off the assisted pullups after about 8 months on the program. I finally stalled out at 12 rounds about 2 months ago. I hadn't improved much recently (10, 11, 11-1/2, 12), and was actually a little down on the whole thing. Crossfit teaches you to expect massive gains in a short amount of time. You just...well, you just do the workouts and the gains happen. It's hard, but it's rewarding.
Last night, I attacked "Cindy" for all I was worth. At the halfway point, I had finished 9-1/2 rounds, and I could tell I still had gas in my tank. On previous occasions, I'd done 8 rounds in the first 10 minutes, but completely blown up and been unable to go much further. This time felt different. I just kept going. "Could I reach 15? That would be great!" I thought to myself as I started on round eleven.
40 seconds later, as I'm catching my 5 between-rounds breaths, I think to myself... "well, I'm not done yet, and I've got time to get to 15 rounds by the 16 minute mark..."
It went on like that till the end, doing math in a severely winded state, trying to figure out how to keep pace. I launched into round 18 with a minute to go and finished with 10 seconds to spare.
That was 90 pullups, 180 pushups, and 270 squats in 20 minutes. A year ago, that would have taken me 20 hours, and I would have been sore for a week. I just made a 50 percent performance improvement in slightly less than 2 months.
I've dropped about 10 pounds in weight, but gained at least 10 in muscle. I'm closing in on being able to deadlift twice my bodyweight. I haven't been running outside Crossfit, but I'm about to kick off training for next year's Grandma's marathon. I'll post more about how that goes later.
There's a joke among the Crossfit following about "drinking the kool-aid." One affiliate sells a t-shirt that proclaims "it's not a cult, I swear." Crossfit has been condemned as dangerous, wrong, etc. The philosophy and approach of the program make total sense once you try things and see what they can do for you.
I'm hooked.
I found the program in late 2005. I searched blogger for "fitness" and found a mention of the Crossfit site. I checked it out, and found some great pictures of pit bulls. I looked around to find more pictures of the dogs (Fudgie and Athena), and noted that everybody shown was incredibly fit, and able to do some really cool things like handstand pushups. The videos showed some truly amazing athletics. It piqued my interest.
My background up to that point had involved some strength training and a fair bit of (long, slow) running. I thought I was fit when I could run 20 miles and not be completely destroyed. I'd never managed to break the 10 minute pace on a marathon (though I did pull off a 1:52 half marathon as a total fluke once.) I just didn't seem to be able to get any faster.
In fall of 2005, we had a flag football tournament at work It was humbling. While our team won, I found myself in serious pain in all sorts of places that I didn't know I had muscles. My core, particularly the obliques, got so sore that I had trouble sleeping. Every time I rolled over, I woke up in pain due to the soreness.
So you could say I was well primed when I stumbled upon Crossfit for the first time. I'll leave the bulk of the explanation to the Crossfit site itself (just check out the FAQ and read the postings on the message board.) In short, the program is 3 days on, one day off, including holidays. It's free, it's posted to the site at night, and it changes every day. There is a variety that you don't find in any other fitness program. You never just go through the motions- everything is for time, number of reps, or some score. There is running, olympic weightlifting, gymnastics... you name it. The one thing you won't find is "go spend 40 minutes on a treadmill, pace doesn't matter, just make sure you're reading People magazine or talking on a cell phone." Every exercise is functional. There are no "isolate the third head of the medial so-and-so." There are also very few machines involved.
At first, just doing the workouts was incredibly difficult. I had to scale severely just to be able to complete things, and even then my time was ridiculously slow. One of the benchmark workouts (workouts that are repeated periodically so you can gauge your improvement) is called Cindy:
"Cindy"
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats
I first did this workout in December of 2005. I managed 6 rounds, and I had to use the assist machine with 28 pounds of assist to help me with the pullups. It wiped me out.
We kept doing "Cindy" every month or two, and my score gradually improved. I even managed to wean myself off the assisted pullups after about 8 months on the program. I finally stalled out at 12 rounds about 2 months ago. I hadn't improved much recently (10, 11, 11-1/2, 12), and was actually a little down on the whole thing. Crossfit teaches you to expect massive gains in a short amount of time. You just...well, you just do the workouts and the gains happen. It's hard, but it's rewarding.
Last night, I attacked "Cindy" for all I was worth. At the halfway point, I had finished 9-1/2 rounds, and I could tell I still had gas in my tank. On previous occasions, I'd done 8 rounds in the first 10 minutes, but completely blown up and been unable to go much further. This time felt different. I just kept going. "Could I reach 15? That would be great!" I thought to myself as I started on round eleven.
40 seconds later, as I'm catching my 5 between-rounds breaths, I think to myself... "well, I'm not done yet, and I've got time to get to 15 rounds by the 16 minute mark..."
It went on like that till the end, doing math in a severely winded state, trying to figure out how to keep pace. I launched into round 18 with a minute to go and finished with 10 seconds to spare.
That was 90 pullups, 180 pushups, and 270 squats in 20 minutes. A year ago, that would have taken me 20 hours, and I would have been sore for a week. I just made a 50 percent performance improvement in slightly less than 2 months.
I've dropped about 10 pounds in weight, but gained at least 10 in muscle. I'm closing in on being able to deadlift twice my bodyweight. I haven't been running outside Crossfit, but I'm about to kick off training for next year's Grandma's marathon. I'll post more about how that goes later.
There's a joke among the Crossfit following about "drinking the kool-aid." One affiliate sells a t-shirt that proclaims "it's not a cult, I swear." Crossfit has been condemned as dangerous, wrong, etc. The philosophy and approach of the program make total sense once you try things and see what they can do for you.
I'm hooked.
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