Monday, December 12, 2011

Monday's Workout


I'm a little exhausted. Work has been crazy, and the holidays (and multiple birthdays in our family) have ratcheted up my stress levels. Vacation's still a week away, and my to-do list is as long as my arm. To top it off, M and I have been insanely busy cooking up some Nom Nom Paleo-related stuff. But I'm keeping my priorities straight: Come Monday morning, I'm at CrossFit Palo Alto.

Strength Skill:
  • Deadlifts (5-5-5-3-3)
My back's feeling fine, but given how I felt just a few weeks ago, I was much more tentative than usual. Rather than shooting aggressively for a new PR, I started light and stayed light, lifting just a fraction of my personal best. I'll eventually work my way back up, but for now, I'm going to play it safe, and settle for watching my classmates set new benchmarks. (Jake's new deadlift PR: 405 pounds!)

Metcon:
  • Row 500 meters
  • 50 air squats
  • 40 Games standard push-ups
  • 30 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
  • 20 pull-ups
  • 10 toes-to-bar
Despite my antipathy for the erg, the 500-meter row wasn't too bad. I quickly settled into a steady rhythm, and finished with enough pep in my step to get through the air squats unbroken. (High five!) The push-ups proved to be a bigger challenge; try as I might, I couldn't string together all 40 in a row. I had to break the last 15 or so into mini-sets of a few at a time.

The kettlebell swings weren't any easier, but I was determined to blaze through 'em. After 20 or so, I desperately wanted to drop the kettlebell, but didn't. I hit my goal of 30 swings in a row -- but as I grabbed the pull-up bar, fully intending to crank out the last two exercises, I realized that MY GRIP STRENGTH WAS GONE.


As a result, the pull-ups took a bit longer than usual, and so did the toes-to-bar. My forearms were on fire by the end of the WOD.

Result: 9:07 as RXed.

Later in the day, I popped into a local health center for a much-needed massage. My masseuse spent a good chunk of time on my forearms, kneading them with her (insanely strong) hands and knuckles.

"Your hands and wrists and forearms are all knotted up," she said. "You're spending too much time at the computer. Try doing some exercise -- it might help."

Haw, haw.