Friday, January 6, 2012

Friday's Workout: Feeling Chipper?

A long chipper today -- and I almost managed to complete it as RXed. But almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, and not CrossFit.

For time:
  • 100 air squats
  • 80 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
  • 60 walking lunges holding a bumper plate overhead (45lbs / 35lbs)
  • 40 toes to bar
  • 20 headless horsemen - a variation on kettlebell palm presses) (24kg / 16kg)

The air squats felt fantastic. I got through all of them unbroken, and quickly transitioned to the kettlebell swings.

The swings felt a little less awesome. Swinging the 24-kilogram kettlebell, I managed to only get through 25 reps before having to take a breather. After that, I didn't manage more than 15 swings in a row before having to set down the kettlebell and wheeze.

The walking lunges were exhausting. After the squats and swings, my legs were like jelly, and my brain turned to mush, too. I was keeping track of my lunges by counting backwards from 60, and with 12 left, Tim asked me which rep I was on. I tried to do the math in my head: 60 - 12 = ?

"51," I sputtered. "Uh, wait, no -- um, 48?"

The toes-to-bar weren't horrible, but then came the headless horsemen. I'd performed this movement in a WOD once before, back when I had a bad back. I didn't try the RXed weight of 24 kilograms that time, and I didn't think I could do so today -- especially after fifteen minutes of an ass-kicking chipper. On the other hand, all that stood between me and the completion of an RXed workout was 20 one-armed ground-to-overheads. How hard could that be?

Pretty hard, it turns out. I couldn't do it. After several attempts, I think I managed just one completed rep at 24 kilograms with my right arm, but I used my left hand to support the handle of the kettlebell. Clearly, the quest for RX today was going to be futile, so I traded in my kettlebell for a lighter one (I had a 16 kilogram kettlebell on standby) and finished the WOD. So close, and yet so far.

Result: 18:49.