kettlebellguy

Archive for March, 2009

Click for full size whiteboard 3-31-2009

Ron, Tom and Eric with Brian coaching.

Had a good nights sleep and feeling better this morning.

Still being a little upset about no weight loss in my weigh in yesterday I jumped on the scale just to see if it came out at 251 again. I still had the thought in the back of my head that maybe the scales are broken. I was really happy to see 249 pop up. That made me feel good and confirmed that what I am doing is working even though the results are slow and don’t reflect on the scale the day I think they should.

Worked on planks for our warm up and the Rings for our skill.

The WOD included bodyweight (as the Rx) deadlifts. I enjoy the deadlifts and do well with them. If it just requires picking up something heavy I can do it. I went with 255 lbs, Ron at 205 lbs, Eric at 170 lbs and Tom at 135 lbs.

A big issue with the deadlifts for me is a period of dizziness after I complete the deadlifts. Part of that could be a side effect of the Flomax I take. Anyway, to go directly from the deadlifts to the box jumps I have to take a few seconds to recover. If we were doing pushups right after the deadlifts that would work perfect. I could just fall down.

I did do actual box jumps for the first 5 sets, going to step ups on round 6. Still using the short box. Eric and Ron were going 26 inches and Tom about 18 inches.

What hurts today?—Cold almost gone. Ache in left arm is back after starting workouts up again. Also left shoulder. Knees and right shoulder OK.

Eating—Continues on track. Glad about the 2 lbs on the scale this morning. Just need to keep it up until next weigh in on Monday.

Click for full size whiteboard 3-30-2009

Eric, Kelly, David, Ron with Brian and Jerry coaching.

Still not recovered 100 percent from my cold but thought I would try a workout anyway and see what happened. I was able to get through the workout but it was hard. I had to push all the way and finally finished.

Did not feel good for the rest of the day. Upset stomach, headache and itchy eyes. Not sure if I will try a workout again in the morning. We will see how the night goes.

WEIGHT—WHAT IS GOING ON?—I was really disappointed with my weigh in. I really worked hard on my eating even with being sick most of the week. I came it at 251.0, exactly what I was last week. I even got on the scale twice and then had Brian get on to make sure the scale was not stuck at 251.0. I was desperate for an explanation of why no change. I know I am smaller, my pants show that and I can feel that my stomach has gone down. I am going to just keep going and see how next week goes.

2-27-2009 261
3-2-2009 256
3-9-2009 253.6
3-16-2009 251.6
3-23-2009 251.0
3-30-2009 251.0
Total 10.00

What hurts today—Other than a headache, stomach ache, itchy eyes and general feeling of being miserable I am doing OK. My left arm is still acting up and hurts again today after the workout. Knees and back ok.

Brian mentioned that we are going to try a CrossFit Total (CFT) this Saturday from 9A-11A.

The CrossFit Total is the sum of the best of three attempts at the squat, the press, and the deadlift, the three most effective lifts in existence for developing and testing functional strength.

Here is a link that explains the CFT in detail. My CFT on December 10th was 715 and my goal is to get it to 800 by July 1st.

It’s Sunday evening. I can’t believe that I still fell under the weather. Still have a headache and some congestion. Just a case of the blahs. I feel hungry but then I can come up with anything I want to eat. I have eaten some extra bananas and nuts. I did have a muffin yesterday afternoon as some “comfort” food.

I keep trying to move around and do some stuff but end up back on the couch watching TV. I just don’t have the energy to do much of anything.

I am going to try for a workout in the morning. I am going to go and just do what I can. If I feel like going all out then I will. If I feel like just piddling along, that’s what I will do.

Over the past 4 days my knees have not hurt. Still some tenderness in the left arm.

I feel like I have lost weight and I hope the scale shows that in the morning. Not sure how I will react if I have gained or stayed the same.

Thanks for the notes and messages while I have been ill. As I said before, it’s been so long since I have been sick I almost forgot how to do it.

Debbie got her early Birthday/Anniversary present last night. She is proud owner of a Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter Machine. No, this is not a new tool for the emotional cutter, it a thing that cuts letters and other things out of paper. A fancy pair of scissors. Maybe you have caught one of the late night infomercials that sell it.

We got it set up last night and it actually does seem to do what it says it does.

The Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter machine is the future of home crafting. Simply by touching a button, Cricut can cut beautiful designs and alphabets for card making, scrapbooking, and paper crafting.

I received a call from Rob (Shed4life) this week. It was nice to hear from him again. He is back on the weight loss journey.

It’s 8PM and I am headed for bed. Sick all day from the neck up. Massive head cold. Let’s hope for a better tomorrow. Missed Crossfit today and will miss tomorrow.

I have been looking for something like this. I sometimes use my tripod in the car but I am hopeful this will be a better idea. Putting it here for two reasons. Maybe you have been looking for something like this and this is the best way for me to remember where the instructions are.

Car Dash Camera Mount – More DIY How To Projects

Click for full size whiteboard 3-25-2009

Eric, Kelly, Tomas (back from a few days in Brazil), Terrie and Angie with Brian and Jerry coaching.

For our skill this morning we practiced our Double Unders (jump rope). I had to take my fivefingers off and put on my socks. When I try the Double Unders (and miss each time) it tears up my ankles as the rope cuts into the bare skin. I got a couple of double unders in but never twice in a row. It’s just a matter of practice.

I enjoyed this mornings workout. I used the 8 inch box for the box jumps and actually did box jumps rather than step ups. I am going to try that for awhile. I still need to try the 24 inch box jump but I have a bit of a fear factor going. I think that if I were 25 again I would just jump up and try the 24 inch but I have a real fear of getting injured doing the box jump. The reality is that I would be far better off always doing the 8 inch box and not getting injured and taken out of action than trying for the 24 inch and getting hurt.

Eating—Eating continues on track. Chicken on sale this week so needless to say, I am eating a lot of chicken.

What hurts today—Left arm is much better. Still some twinges but much improved. The aching in my right knee is also much reduced. My back has been pain free for several weeks now so, overall, I am doing well. Did not sleep much last night but not because of pain. Just could not sleep. I do have a bit of a sore throat and a little congestion that I hope will just go away. Started to notice it after class this morning.

Click for full size whiteboard 3-24-2009

Hoping for a better monring that yesterday. I was stiff and sore yesterday.

Today did go better, felt a bit more lose and not quite as sore.

I went somewhat lite going over head this morning because of my shoulders and left arm issues, starting out at 95 pounds. For the final round I did go up to 115 pounds.

Eric was working with the heaviest weight this moring.

Eating—A good eating day and I don’t see any problems for today.

What hurts today—Continuing issues wth left arm (sometimes feeling the same thing in right arm), usual shoulder pain. Right knee is much better today, just a minor ache.

Click for full size whiteboard 3-23-2009

I was feeling really stiff this morning. Going through the warm up was agony for my shoulders and I was clearly doing “little dippers” rather than squats this morning. Nothing was moving. I needed a complete spray down with WD40.

We tried something new for our workout this morning. With any luck we won’t do it again. You start with doing one or two movements in 1 minute. Then 2 in one minute and so on until you cannot complete the number required. Sounds easy for the first minute but but about 5 or 6 movements per minute it starts to pile up.

We did 1 Power Clean and 1 Front Squat (95 lbs). The first minute was OK. I only lasted through 7 minutes and my squats were terrible. My left arm was really acting up and causing me to be a bit unbalanced so I pulled the weight down to 65 lbs. I was becoming really frustrated and lost it in the seventh minute. Am I whining enough?

We finished up working on form and skill for a Clean and Squat. Backing down the weight helped me finally get down into a decent squat position.

Today was the 4 week weigh in. We missed you Ron. I was very disapointed. I had worked really hard and been really good, even for my dinner out last night and only lost .6. That brings me to 251, an exact 10 pound loss in 4 weeks. While over the 4 week period I did good I still wanted to get to the 12 pound mark. Next week I should see a bigger loss. I am going to continue on toward my goal of 225. My Doctor check up is May 8th so there is a chance I could make it by then.

2-27-2009 261
3-2-2009 256
3-9-2009 253.6
3-16-2009 251.6
3-23-2009 251.0
Total 10.00

Brian took my measurements for determining the body fat number and I should have that in a day or so. I should see a reduction in that number.

Eating—I did really well last night. Had a steak, plain baked potato and sauteed spinach and Ice Tea. No bread, no butter, no drinks. The restaurant was not busy, the service was good and the food delicious. No one in the party had any complaints.

Click for larger image

What hurts today?—Left arm…this is not going away the way I hoped it would. The aching continues. Minimal ache in right knee.

Tom and I rowing for safey. Click for larger image.

3-21-2009 Saturday class. I don't look very happy. Click for larger image.

Click for full size whiteboard 3-21-2009

We had a big crowd this morning.

Justin
Doug
Terry
Jason
Eric
Ron
Chris
Laura
Joel
Kris

Brian and Jerry coaching.

Large Saturday classes are always fun. Usually have some new people and people that you don’t see that often. Also, the more people the better able I am to blend into the woodwork.

The second I saw the 200 jump ropes go on the board I knew I was doomed. Tuesday’s workout had the same 200 jump ropes so I knew what was ahead of me. The rest of the workout was with a 20 lb med ball. Now you see where the workout name came from.

Although I ended up last (as I figured I would) I was not really that far behind the others. If you look at numbers the workout was 800 jump ropes and 240 movements with the 20 lb med ball (that means we each moved 4,800 pounds with the balls). If you look at the jump ropes as lifting your body weight off the floor and count that for me it comes to 250 Pounds X 800 jump ropes = 200,000 pounds. That is a a lot of work in 20 minutes.

Eating—Ron (not the one in the weigh competition) who had not seen me for about a month said he could tell I had lost some pounds. Your Crossfit friends do not say stuff like that unless it’s true so that made me feel good. I will have a challenge tomorrow evening. I am going to dinner with some people from work to a fancy steakhouse so I am really going to work on eating good. Hopefully I will be able to enjoy a nice steak, a plain baked potato and another side dish. Anxious for Monday’s weight in.

What hurt’s today?—Left arm was really hurting this morning and is still aching. This is starting to get old.

Click for full size whiteboard 3-20-2009

At Crossfit for the 6AM class. Eric, Kelly, David, Tomas and Angie with Brian and Jerry coaching. It’s Team Friday so the workout is sure to be a team activity.

We worked in pairs to accomplish the workout. As one team member completed the wall balls, cleans and push ups the other team member rested. David and I did well. I was struggling at the end but I did not stop, I just kept going.

What hurts today—Both left arm and right knee still aching but a bet better than they were.

Eating—Still on track. Anxious for Monday.