kettlebellguy

Archive for April, 2009

Click for full size whiteboard 4-29-2009

Eric, Kelly, Tomas, Doug, Jason and Steve with Brian and Jerry coaching. This was Steve’s first class. He just completed his foundation training with Brian on Monday.

This was a really hard workout. Rx’d weigh was 155. I started off with 115 and after the first set had to fall back to 65. The deadlifts were no problem but getting the 115 up overhead for so many reps was not going to happen today.

Eating—On track

What hurts today—Left shoulder. The daily pain is working up into the shoulder.

Picture from Monday when we were outside running.

Click for full size whiteboard 4-28-2009

Tomas, Stacia, Tom, Gretchen, Jason and Conner with Brian coaching.

Bad night sleeping. My left shoulder was causing me to wake up over and over.

Stiff as a board this morning. Nothing was moving except under severe force and if it did move, it hurt.

I worked slow and steady on this WOD. My objective was to actually do box jumps rather than step ups. I was successful with one box and two plates. I jumped up on each one and jumped down on the majority.

Eating—Doing good.

What hurts today—Very stiff today. Only big complaint is left arm/shoulder.

Click for full size whiteboard 4-27-2009

Tomas, David, Eric and Stacia with Brian and Jerry coaching. Welcome back Jerry.

Spent some time reviewing the events from Saturday’s workout. I now have a reason to live another year….to get to do that again.

It was in the mid 80′s yesterday, expecting the same today. We actually ran outside this morning, first time I have had a workout with running. The running reconfirmed that my body was not made for running. Jerry ran with me the last 200m, harassing me the entire way. Good times.

My biggest problem this morning was the overhead squats. Once my arms go overhead I simply can’t get down. I was doing baby dips. After the workout as we were stretching I was able to squat quite deep, with my arms in front of me.

Weigh In
The damage was not as bad as I thought it would be. Just a 2 pound gain over three weeks of really bad eating. I am back on my plan again so I am hoping for some good results next week.

Eating—Back on plan so looking for a good week ahead.

What hurts today—My back is doing good. Still the issue with the left arm.

Click for full size whiteboard 4-25-2009

I was excited to see what workout Brian came up with for the free Saturday morning class. I was hoping for “Respect Your Elders” and a lot of young crossfitters in class but had no way of being sure.

Once I got to the gym I saw that I was going to get to enjoy “Respect Your Elder”. Click on the whiteboard thumbnail.

The idea behind the workout is that you have a set number of reps to complete and everyone is able to subtract their age. So, for me, 85-56=29 reps. This is a time when having a few years under your belt really pays off. I wonder if this is a form of passive aggressiveness against youth. Could be.

Anyway, I sure had a good time, I hope everyone else did. I really appreciated and admired how all the young Crossfitters really worked so hard. This made my birthday really special.

Austin and Ray are only 12 so Coach took them down to 40 reps. Joel(18), Chris(23), Mo(20) and Alexis(15) all worked their collective Crossfit butts off doing the WOD as written. Since Ron has been away for awhile he did what he was able for this first time back.

It was great to see Ron back at the gym. He has been absent for over a month. I am hoping to see him more often. We both need to keep working on the weight issue.

Here is a picture Brian snapped from Thursday morning. Tomas and I were dying on the Turkish Get Ups while Tom was doing box jumps.

Click for full size whiteboard 4-24-2009

Another big class. Tomas, Ron, David, Connor, Eric, Jason, Kelly and Gretchen with Brian coaching.

It was another TEAM Friday. This time we were in two teams. The movements seem simple but were brutal. I really thought my results were bad but when I compare to the rest of the team I was not as far off as I thought. Tomas and I were right on track with each other. Ron and Kelly pulled our team through to victory. There is no way I can compete at Burpees or anything that includes a squat, like the thrusters.

Another contributor to our victory was Ron’s chalk warpaint that the three guys wore. Kelly did not seem to hot on the idea. I can’t imagine why she would not want to write on her face with chalk at 6 AM. It seemed like a great idea to Ron, Tomas and me.

Eating—Everybody has to.

What hurts today?—Was very stiff this morning. Only big issue is the continuing left arm aching.

Found another shot of someone wearing fivefingers from CrossFit LA.

Click for full size whiteboard 4-23-2009

Stacia, Gretchen, Tomas, Tom with Brian coaching.

Farmers, Waiters and Rack carries for warm up. Always enjoy those…because I can do them. They don’t call me mule for nothing.

WOD was fun this morning. Tomas and I started off together on the 1000M Row and ended up the entire WOD within seconds of each other. I was able to gain a little bit of time on the push press with the 45 lb bar and did all 20 in one shot. I have no problem just pushing something overhead. I did step ups while Tomas did box jumps. We both were struggling through the TGU’s. I was doing 5 on each side at a time and Tomas was doing 2.

Tom smoked everyone on the WOD. He had a really quick time on the row which carried through the entire workout.

Eating—Yeah, I’m am eating.

What hurts today—Had a good sleep last night. Usual shoulder pain. Still trouble with the left arm. It does not get better or worse….it just stays the same.

Important stuff

The Disappearing Male-CBC_512kb.mp4 – 44:18 – Nov 19, 2008

The Disappearing Male is a CBC documentary about one of the most important, and least publicized, issues facing the human species: the toxic threat to the male reproductive system. The last few decades have seen steady and dramatic increases in the incidence of boys and young men suffering from genital deformities, low sperm count, sperm abnormalities and testicular cancer. At the same time, boys are now far more at risk of suffering from ADHD, autism, Tourette’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, and dyslexia. The Disappearing Male takes a close and disturbing look at what many doctors and researchers now suspect are responsible for many of these problems: a class of common chemicals that are ubiquitous in our world. Found in everything from shampoo, sunglasses, meat and dairy products, carpet, cosmetics and baby bottles, they are called “hormone mimicking” or “endocrine disrupting” chemicals and they may be starting to damage the most basic building blocks of human development.

Click for full size whiteboard 4-22-2009

Eric, Kelly, Connor, Caryn, Tomas and Jason with Brian coaching.

This workout went pretty good for me. It was a short one with movements I could do without much of a problem. My knees to elbows have improved from knees to umbilicus to knees to upper belly. Slow but consistent progress.

Here is a video of the actual knees to elbow exercise. This is nothing like what I do.

Chris Lalanne, in the video below, is the Grand Nephew of Jack Lalanne.

What really saved me on this WOD was the jump ropes. I actually can do singles pretty fast and consistent. That helped me make up time.

Eating—Somewhat on plan (is that vague enough?)

What hurts today?—Just the normal aches an pains. The only continuing issue is the left forearm. I am still convinced it is not a joint issue but a muscle tissue issue.