Wednesday's Workout: Shoot Me Now

Pistols and Annie -- a lethal combination.

Strength Skill:

• Pistols (5-5-3-3-1)

Still working on my left leg. I think I'm going to start from scratch, and try to move through all the progressions from my left side until it can do everything my right can do.

Metcon:

"Annie" - for time:

• 50 double-unders
• 50 Abmat sit-ups
• 40 double-unders
• 40 Abmat sit-ups
• 30 double-unders
• 30 Abmat sit-ups
• 20 double-unders
• 20 Abmat sit-ups
• 10 double-unders
• 10 Abmat sit-ups

Just a few months ago, I finished Annie in 9:11, and it felt great. Today? Not so much.

I wish I could blame my crappy performance on my jump rope. Before the WOD began, I pulled my Buddy Lee rope out of my gym bag and saw a big crack in the middle of the plastic cable. M's Buddy Lee rope snapped in two last week, and it looked like mine was about to do the same. I quickly wrapped some athletic tape around it and got in position for the start of the workout, but realized that my rope wouldn't unwind. It was coiled around like a curly fry.

To be perfectly honest, though, my jump rope wasn't the problem. I know this because my first, third, and final sets of double-unders went entirely smoothly. With the exception of a hitch in my step early in my first set, I went unbroken on all of those rounds.

So ultimately, the rope wasn't to blame for my frustratingly awful second and fourth sets of double-unders. For whatever reason (mental? physical?), I couldn't rip out more than a few at a time, and kept snagging my right foot on the rope. The more I tripped, the more flustered I got, and the more flustered I got, the more I tripped.

Result: 10:20 as RXed. Yup -- I lost over a minute on my Annie time.

Ugh.

Wednesday's Workout: Rope-a-Dope

I don't know why I can't bring myself to hit the sheets. Last night, after putting the kids to bed and hanging out with M as she practiced her deadlifts in the garage, I spent a couple of hours fumbling around with Illustrator and Photoshop. Trial-and-error ain't the most time-efficient way to cobble together T-shirt designs for my enterprising wife's website -- but if all goes well, they'll look something like this and this.

Finally, at 11 p.m., my phone buzzed with a Twitter message from Tim: "Go to bed. Got a good one tomorrow."

Don't we always?

The 5 a.m. workout, after the jump.

Monday's Workout: Jerking & Jumping

Looks like word is getting out about the pre-dawn class at CrossFit Palo Alto. Even with a handful of regulars missing in action today, 11 of us showed up at the gym before sunrise to get our hustle on. We're blowing up, people! (But not blowing up people. Let's hear it for commas.)

Strength Skill:

• Jerks (3 sets of 3, 2 sets of 1)

I jerked my bodyweight today. (At least, it was my bodyweight the last time I checked. I haven't cared enough to step on a scale in a few months. If I've gotten super-chubby recently, thanks for not making fun of me to my face.) My form wasn't too crappy this time -- and I'm sure I could have gone heavier. Next week.

Then: The metcon. Read about it after the jump...

Friday's Workout

Strength Skill:

• Weighted Pull-Ups (3 sets of 5, 2 sets of 3)

For a long time, dead-hang pull-ups were a breeze, but I couldn't get into the rhythm of kipping pull-ups. Now that I've mastered the art of kipping, I've discovered that I've lost some dead-hang strength. I can't win.

Metcon:

AMRAP in 10 minutes:

• 6 Pistols
• 12 Overhead Kettlebell Swings (53 pounds)
• 24 Double-Unders

Result: When time ran out, was 12 double-unders away from completing 5 full rounds.

Not too shabby, but my pistols need work. I hadn't done 'em in class since June, and forgot that my left leg is significantly weaker than my right leg. I can crank out pistols on my right leg with no problem, but I can't make it through even half a rep on my left leg without collapsing to the floor. Just one more thing I need to work on, I guess.

One thing I do love about pistols, though: They work your glutes like nobody's business. My ass is crazy-sore.

Another item in the plus-column: My double-under technique continues to improve. Looking back, it's shocking to think that just a few months ago, I was barely able to jump rope at all, let alone crank out dozens of double-unders in a WOD. Thanks, Buddy Lee.

And I Thought Double-Unders Were Hard

Buddy Lee is incredible.



I have a copy of his book and a super-fast "Hyperformance" rope, but I have a feeling they're not going to help me approximate even 1/100th of what this guy can do.

I Don't Sweat -- I Mist.

The good folks at Re-Nest want you to know that there are lots of advantages to having a home gym that’s “both handsome and healthful,” such as: “[y]ou can watch television to make the time pass quickly during your 20-40 minute cardio” and “you are comfortable and completely at ease.”

YES! FINALLY! That’s EXACTLY what I want when I'm exercising: Complete comfort and ease! While watching TV to kill time!

Here’s Re-Nest’s recommended shopping list for starting your very own super-chill home gym on a budget:

• Hand weights – Savasa Hand Weight Set with Workout DVD. $14.99 - $24.99

• Body ball – Savasa Eco Body Ball. $14.95 - $24.00

• Exercise Mat – Natural Fitness Eco Yoga Mat. $29.99

• Gym storage – any bench, basket, chest, or cabinet: West Elm Nailhead Upholstered Bench. $349.00

• Free online exercise demos – sparkpeople.com. $0.00

• Free online fitness videos – Spark People's Youtube channel. $0.00

Total cost: Over $400.

That bench makes me want to put on some Coldplay and curl up in a Snuggie with a soothing cup of fucking chai latte. It does not, however, make me want to work out. I daresay that if you plan on using an upholstered ottoman in place of an exercise bench, you’re pretty much committing to either NOT sweating or investing in a Costco-sized pallet of Scotchgard.

And if you hate exercising so much that you need to stare at something on TV to distract you, just buy a Wii Fit. It won't get you in better shape, but at least it'll only set you back a hundred bucks or so.

Don't get me wrong. I’m not saying you have to accumulate a crapload of equipment to outfit your home gym. But if you have $400 burning a hole in your pocket, and you want to buy some stuff to enable you to ACTUALLY WORK OUT, consider these options instead:

Option A: P90X

What to buy:

• P90X DVDs. $139.80

• A door-frame pull-up bar. $38.00 (But feel free to upgrade.)

• A yoga mat. $13.95 - $19.95

• A bunch of resistance bands. $24.44

Total cost: Less than $225.

Option B: Insanity

What to buy:

• Insanity DVDs. $144.80

• A box of ShamWow towels to mop up your sweat. $15.61

Total cost: $160

Option 3: CrossFit Bodyweight Workouts

What to buy:

• Shane Skowron’s list of CrossFit Bodyweight Workouts. $0.00

• A pull-up bar. This time, let’s splurge on something nicer – let’s go for the StudBar. $139.45

• Olympic rings – prices on Amazon range from $39.95 (for rings by XFit Equipment) to $84.24 (for EXF Rings – I have a pair and love 'em)

• A kettlebell. Kettlebell King -- the cheapest KB seller I could find online -- sells them for about a buck per pound. For our purposes, let's start with a 35-pound kettlebell. $34.65

• Jump rope – I like Buddy Lee’s Aero Speed Hyperformance rope ($39.90) but you can get a basic speedrope (like Valeo's) for much cheaper ($7.74).

Total cost: $228 - $295

Option 4: Run (Barefoot or Close to It!)

What to buy:

• The Barefoot Running Book by Jason Robillard. $14.95

• OPTIONAL: A pair of Vibram FiveFingers. $75 - $100

Total cost: $15 - $115

Keep the change.

Friday's Workout

Strength Skill:

Handstand Push-Ups



These are incredibly (and surprisingly) fun -- even with all the blood rushing to my head and my eyes bulging from their sockets. I've been practicing handstands at home, so incorporating a push-up wasn't too difficult. I'm looking forward to the next couple of Fridays to see if I can (eventually) work my way up to more challenging variations, like doing HSPUs using parallettes or rings:



Metcon:

For time:

• 30 Kettlebell Swings (overhead, using a 53-pound kettlebell)
• 40 Abmat Situps
• 50 Double-Unders
• 40 Abmat Situps
• 30 Kettlebell Swings (as before)

Result: 7:15

The double-unders slowed me down, but I managed to pick up the pace with my situps and swings, and ended up with a fairly decent time. To improve, I'm going to have to spend more time jump-roping. I recently read Buddy Lee's book on jump-rope training, but still need to noodle over how to best incorporate his program into my workouts.

Double-Unders with Buddy Lee

Holy hell. I'm not looking forward to attempting double-unders during a CrossFit WOD.



Buddy Lee makes double-unders look like child's play. Sadly, I'm fall-down terrible at jump-roping. For some people, practice makes perfect. But for me, I'm just hoping a lot of practice will make me look somewhat less ridiculous.

Once I figure out how to jump-rope consistently, I'm definitely going to have to get Lee's book on jump-rope training and see if I can land a double-under or two.