Friday, March 25, 2011

Friday's Workout

Where was everyone today?

Jason, Bob and I were the only 5 a.m. nutjobs to straggle into the gym this morning. Back at the flower shop, we would’ve been jockeying for space, but today, the box seemed cavernous – especially in the pre-dawn darkness.

But we didn’t let it stop us from having our early-morning fun:

Max reps:
  • 5 minutes of overhead kettlebell swings (70/53)
  • 4 minutes of pull-ups
  • 3 minutes of push-ups
  • 2 minutes of Abmat sit-ups
  • 1 minute of barbell thrusters (45/35)

I can’t tell you how much I wanted to do the kettlebell swings with the RXed weight. But 70 pounds is fully half my bodyweight. After a quickly-aborted warm up with the 70-pound kettlebell (I struggled to heave it up over my head even once), I sighed in defeat and picked up the 53-pounder.

I made it through the first three dozen reps of overhead swings unbroken, but then had to chunk out the rest. Still, in retrospect, I could (and should) have gone with the new 62-pound KB. It would have been murder, but then again, it’s Friday – I have two days to recover. And I would’ve been closer to my goal of one day heaving the 70-pounder in a WOD.

The pull-ups went fine, despite the fact that I took a couple of long chalk breaks. (It’s a decent excuse; after all, four minutes of sweaty-handed pull-ups can start rubbing anyone the wrong way.)

Sadly, the push-ups didn’t go as smoothly today. It wasn't a surprise, though: My chest and shoulders have been wrecked since Wednesday’s HSPU/ring dip/push-up grinder. The silver lining? It was only three minutes, and then I got to lie down. (And do sit-ups.)

The thruster set at the end of the WOD was too short. By the time I picked myself off the floor, stumbled over to the bar and cleaned it up to my shoulders, there was less than 50 seconds left on the clock. And just as I started to get in the groove, time ran out.

Result: 77 swings + 53 pull-ups + 55 push-ups + 35 sit-ups + 18 thrusters = 238 total reps.

Our 5 a.m. class has long served as the guinea pigs for the other M/W/F classes at our box. (Ah, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune...) After collecting our feedback, Tim made a slight adjustment to the workout, swapping the order of the pull-ups and thrusters. So if you’re working out at CrossFit Palo Alto today and prefer thrusters to push-ups, I’ll gladly take credit for the change. But if you’re a push-up monster and wish I’d kept my big mouth shut, feel free to blame Tim.