Round 3 / Day 105: CrossFit WOD

Hotel gyms are such crap.

Take the one downstairs from our room. Like just about every other hotel fitness center I've seen, it's filled with treadmills and Stairclimbers and stationary bikes -- all with TV screens affixed to them. Pristine weight machines form a labyrinth in the room, but relatively few hotel guests use them. Mostly, people come in to tread hypnotically for 30 to 60 minutes at a time on a cardio machine while watching CNN. I used to be one of them, but not anymore.

My workout today consisted of a bunch of groove-greasing repetitions of dumbbell hang cleans, pistols, and tricep dips. Then, using my Blackberry, I pulled up the Workout of the Day -- the routine "prescribed" by CrossFit's central command and posted online each morning on crossfit.com -- and steeled myself for a good asskicking:

 15 rounds of the following (for time):

• 5 pull-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 15 squats

It took me exactly 14 minutes to complete all 15 rounds, and I was seriously lagging towards the end. There's a CrossFit workout named "Cindy" that's similar, but instead of timing how long it takes you to crank out 15 rounds, it requires that you do as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes. I don't think I could last 20 minutes without passing out (or at least taking a nap break).

Afterwards, I was spent. I wandered over to the pool to watch M and our 5-year-old play in the water. Our big boy's been taking swim lessons for months now, and he's fearless in the water (though, like me, he's not exactly earning style points in the pool). I can't wait until I get to the point when CrossFit WODs fail to strike terror into my heart.

But let's be honest: that's unlikely to ever happen.

Today's workout marked not only my very first attempt at an official CrossFit WOD, but also my last workout of Round 3. It's been a hell of a ride these last 105 days as I've continued to refine my approach to nutrition and fitness.

I'm working on a lengthy post summarizing my latest thoughts on eating and exercise, and I'll do my best to post it soon. [UPDATED: It's right over here.] But right now, I'm going to focus on vacationing with my family. I'm not going to post as regularly (and possibly not at all) over the next week due to travel and limited Internet access, but will be back to daily blogging no later than Monday, June 21st.

When I do, though, I won't be ticking off the days on a 90- (or 105-) day calendar anymore, so you won't be able to just click onto "Day 26" and check out what I'm doing. My plan's to make exercise a part of my everyday life from now until I keel over, so I no longer see the point in treating it like I'm in a jail cell, scratching little hash marks on the wall in a countdown to freedom. If you want to keep tabs on my workouts, just keep reading my daily posts, or check out the archives.

But until I get back from vacation, you can find me at a shitty fitness center, rolling my eyes and making a gagging sound while sticking a finger down my throat. And then working out like a crazy person.

Round 3 / Day 103: CrossFit - Fran

Got up at 4:30 a.m., threw on some clothes, ate some blueberries and yogurt, filled my water bottle, and headed out to the CrossFit gym. I was the last one to arrive for the 5 o'clock class.

After a fifteen-minute warmup, we worked on One-Legged Squats (a.k.a. Pistols) -- 3 sets of 5, followed by 3 sets of 3.



Then came "Fran."

Fran is the name of one of the many CrossFit workouts with feminine names, though there's nothing "girly" about them. Fran consists of 21 Barbell Thrusters, followed by 21 Kipping Pull-Ups. And then 15 Thrusters and 15 Pull-Ups. And then 9 Thrusters and 9 Pull-Ups. As fast as possible.



I scaled down the workout -- using a 75 pound bar instead of 95 pounds, and using a big rubber band to assist me with my second and third rounds of pull-ups. Still, it took me 8:36 to finish, which I'm not thrilled about. But for now, I'm too damn tired to move. Time for a break!

Round 3 / Day 99: P90X Core Synergistics

Thank God for Recovery Week. I'm beat.

Sadly, Core Syn's not exactly a cakewalk, and I wasn't looking forward to more push-ups today. But hey, at least I didn't have to go near the pull-up bar today.

Round 3 / Day 98: P90X X Stretch

Without X Stretch, I'm pretty sure my entire body would be as stiff as a rock. As it is, only my neck and traps are sore right now, which isn't bad considering how hard I've pushed myself this week. Next up: one final (recovery!) week of Round 3!

Round 3 / Day 97: 2K5 Turbulence Training Workout B + RKC Get-Ups + P90X+ Abs/Core Plus

I think I need heavier weights. I have a set of Bowflex Selecttech 552s, and while they've been handy and space-saving, they max out at 52.5 pounds each. With Turbulence Training, I'm supposed to use weights that force me to max out at 6-8 reps per set, but without something heavier to heave, I'm not getting as much out of my presses and rows as I should.

So now, I'm considering whether to buy a set of Selecttech 1090s, which go up to 90 pounds each -- but they're more expensive than I'd like, and heavier than I'll probably ever need. Maybe I should just duct-tape some weight plates or small children to my current set of 552s. Luckily, I happen to have both lying around.

Round 3 / Day 96: P90X+ Interval Plus

I just love that when Tony, Traci and Mark start doing Jockey Squats (a.k.a. "Morrow Monsters"), the clip-clop of fake-sounding hooves dominates Jason Scheff's P90X+ soundtrack.

Round 3 / Day 95: Power Yoga - Total Body Workout

For a change of pace today, I stuck in a Rodney Yee yoga DVD.



Strangely enough, I found it to be at once too easy and too hard. The flow of the moves was serene and not at all exhausting -- it was almost as low-key as the movements in P90X X Stretch. Yet at the same time, I struggled with my technique, and my balance and lunge poses were more wobblier than I like.

Still, all in all, I can't complain; it felt great to do yoga this morning instead of pounding my body and risking an overuse injury.

Round 3 / Day 94: 2K5 Turbulence Training Workout A + RKC Man Maker + P90X Ab Ripper X

For Memorial Day, I took a day off from watching any workout DVDs. Of course, I didn't get a break from actually working out, but I did get to watch regular TV while exercising. ("Hoarders" is horrifyingly compelling.)

I'm trying to gain a little more weight, so I'm trying to lift heavier and eat more. I'm super-sore from the former, but pretty happy about the latter. With the start of summer, I should have lots of opportunities to throw meat on the grill and dig in with gusto. Tonight, we cooked up some grass-fed beefalo rib-eye from Pampero Longhorn Ranch, and it was all kinds of awesome.

Round 3 / Day 93: P90X Plyometrics

Jesus. I mean, jeepers. This workout certainly isn't as hard as it used to be, but it still makes my legs burn.

It's been awhile since I broke out the Plyometrics DVD. Doing this session again is like encountering someone you used to really hate -- but now that you're back together, you kind of feel nostalgic and weirdly affectionate towards the person.

Round 3 / Day 92: P90X+ Total Body Plus + ChaLEAN Extreme Dynamic Flow Yoga

Total Body Plus offers a ton of variety, but -- true to form -- I've found a nit to pick: Many of the names Tony assigns to the exercises are totally non-descriptive, and he doesn't bother to give detailed instruction. If you've never encountered this workout before, chances are you have no idea what Tony's talking about when he tells you to crank out sets of "O-Crunch Push-Ups," "Chuck-Up Xs," "Bella Twists," and "Kid Plays." Even more confusingly, the "Plyo Push-Ups" in Total Body Plus are totally different from (and much easier than) the ones Tony does in P90X Chest, Shoulders & Triceps. Since I only dust off this workout once every month or so, I find myself frequently stopping just to watch the video to figure out how to actually perform a "Lara Lunge Crunch," and to ponder whether Tony's reaching too deep into his bag of tricks in an attempt to keep things interesting. Who's Bella? And Chuck? And Lara?

I don't need oddly-named exercise variations in order to stave off boredom. This evening, in the aftermath of a too-big barbecue dinner, I joined M as she did the Dynamic Flow Yoga routine that came in her ChaLEAN Extreme Deluxe Upgrade Package. We each strapped on a pair of hand weights and started doing Vinyasas and Warrior poses, and pretty soon, I was sweatier than Ed Asner in a sauna. It was a great change of pace -- and I appreciated the fact that Chalene Johnson didn't go out and name a bunch of moves after her mailman and her next-door-neighbor's ex-boyfriend.

Round 3 / Day 91: One-on-One with Tony Horton - Recovery 4 Results

Even though I feel kind of guilty for not pushing myself harder on recovery days, I know I need a break. Between work and kids and chores and everything else, I just don't have the energy to go balls-out to-the-wall seven days a week.

By the way, did you know that "balls out" has nothing to do with testicles (unless you're playing beer pong)? Because I didn't.

Round 3 / Day 90: 2K4 Turbulence Training Workout B + RKC Get-Ups + P90X Ab Ripper X

This morning, for the first time in a week, I really enjoyed working out. Part of it, I think, is that I wasn't sweating alone -- M was next to me, lifting weights in sync with her ChaLEAN Extreme Push Circuit One video. Even though we didn't say a word to each other, it was great having company.

Another reason I dug my morning workout: I didn't have to turn on the TV to do it.

Round 3 / Day 89: Insanity Max Interval Circuit

I admit it: I cheated today during Max Interval Circuit. Instead of repeating the circuits three times each, I only did 'em twice.

And yet the workout was still crazy-hard.

(Thankfully, this was the last "Max" Insanity session of Round 3; I'm not sure I could have handled many more.)

Round 3 / Day 88: One-on-One with Tony Horton - Fountain of Youth

Yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga. Yoga yoga. Yoga yoga yoga yoga; yoga yoga (yoga!) yoga yoga.

Yoga yoga yoga, yoga yoga -- yoga yoga yoga yoga. "Yoga," yoga yoga. "Yoga yoga yoga yoga, yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga."

Yoga?

Yoga.

Round 3 / Day 87: 2K4 Turbulence Training Workout A + RKC Man Maker + Insanity Cardio Abs

When the alarm went off this morning, I turned it off and fell back asleep. An hour passed before I groggily peered at the clock again, it was 6:40 a.m. -- only twenty minutes before the kids would pop out of bed. No time to fit in my entire scheduled workout.

Still, Man Maker training takes only 12 (interminable-seeming) minutes, so I knew I could squeeze in some kettlebell swings.

I'm glad I did, because after dinner tonight, when I finished the rest of my workout, I could feel the fatigue setting in. I'm not sure I would have had the energy to heave a kettleball around after lifting weights and doing Insanity-style core work.

Plus, I still had to take out the garbage. Garbage night is the bane of my existence.

Round 3 / Day 86: Insanity Pure Cardio

I kept telling myself: This video is only 37 minutes long.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help make this workout go by any quicker.

Round 3 / Day 85: One-on-One with Tony Horton - 30-15 Upper Body Massacre + Killer Abs

Arms. Too. Sore. To. Type.

Round 3 / Day 84: P90X X Stretch

This morning, I couldn't decide whether to stay in bed to catch up on some Zs or to get up and squeeze in a much-needed hour of stretching.

So I split the baby in half: I did X Stretch in my garage with the lights off, in my pajamas, and with my eyes closed.

Round 3 / Day 83: One-on-One with Tony Horton - Just Arms

No Turbulence Training for me today. My legs are beat, and I felt the need to rest 'em for a while. So this morning, I decided to try the "Just Arms" workout from Tony Horton's One-on-One series.

 It's just as advertised: Nothing but exercises for the arms. The session consists of 47 minutes of bicep, forearm and triceps exercises, broken up into three supersets and a bonus round.
  

None of the bicep or triceps moves are new to P90X grads, but for the first time in any of the workout videos I've seen from Tony Horton, he throws in a bunch of wrist and forearm exercises. (Good thing, too -- my forearms are puny.)

Without further ado, here's a list of the sleeve-busters Tony leads us through:

Superset One:

• Seated Bicep Curls
• Seated Forearm Curls
• Lying Triceps Extensions

Repeat the superset.
 

 Superset Two:

• Seated Incline Curls
• Reverse Forearm Curls
• Triceps Kickbacks

Repeat the superset.
 

Superset Three:

• Twenty-Ones (just like in P90X Back & Biceps)
• Three-Way Forearm Curls (rotations, standard curls and reverse curls)
• Side Tri Rises

 Repeat the superset.
    

Bonus Round:

• Crazy 8's (just like Static Arm Curls from P90X Shoulders & Arms, but you do 8 bicep curls before switching to the other arm, and each arm goes twice, for a total of 32 curls while the other arm is held at a 90-degree angle)
• Back Forearm Curls
• Hammer Curls
• Tricep Throws
• Crazy 8's (again)

And that's it.
  



Overall, this isn't a bad workout. It's standard, straightforward isolation weight training, pumping up your arms while still allowing the rest of your body to rest and recover.
   

But in the end, I felt a little unsatisfied in a way that I don't when I'm doing interval training or compound bodyweight exercises. Perhaps it's because I'm not looking to be a bodybuilder; working just one series of muscles in isolation doesn't hold much appeal for me.

     

But it's also because I feel totally inadequate watching Tony and coming to the realization that I can't lift nearly as heavy as he can. And he's in his 50s.
     

Round 3 / Day 82: Insanity Max Interval Plyo

I'm so, so tired. Looking back, I can't believe I used to do multiple Insanity "Max"-series workout each week -- especially given my current inability to finish one without feeling like I just got hit by a truck.