Hello, Delhi!

This morning, as I peered out my window overlooking the city, I knew this was going to be a good day. Know why?

Because I had plans to go break a sweat at CrossFit Himalaya after work. I'd reached out to Piyush Pandey, the head trainer at the box, and arranged for my visit. I'd printed out the address for my driver and asked him to be ready to ferry me through rush hour traffic. It's been five days since my last workout, and I was getting antsy.

And as luck would have it, my evening workout would, in fact, coincide with the 6 a.m. class at CrossFit Palo Alto half a world away -- the one I'd be attending if I weren't on another continent.

Despite my plans, I was thisclose to missing the class tonight. After leaving my office, I had quickly changed into my workout clothes and headed straight for the gym, but the chaotic jumble of cars and buses and pedestrians and bikes and three-wheeled taxis had already choked the  dusty roads. By the time we made it to Chatturpur Hills -- just a few miles away! -- it was dark.

And my driver was lost.



It took another half hour and a couple of phone calls for him (actually me) to locate CrossFit Himalaya. Located down a flight of stairs from a busy stretch of 100 Foot Road, the box is a true basement gym, with equipment that Piyush proudly described as being entirely sourced from right here in India.

I'm a big fan of all different kinds of CrossFit gyms, but those that strip everything down to the essentials are among my favorite. CrossFit Himalaya has a whiteboard, a clock, pull-up bars, barbells and weights, kettlebells and jump ropes -- nothing cutesy, nothing extraneous to the mission of improving fitness.

Today's workout was a doozy. After a quick warmup, and skills practice (double-unders and wall balls), it was time to jump right into the metcon:

For time:

• 100 wall ball shots (10kg / 5kg)
• 100 double-unders
• 50 plate overhead walking lunges (15kg / 5kg)

That's right: One hundred wall balls -- two thirds of Karen! -- was just the start of the workout. By the time I finished heaving that damned medicine ball up the wall, my legs were fried. With numb legs, I stumbled and tripped my way through the double-unders. It wouldn't be accurate to say that I couldn't feel my legs anymore, though, 'cause I sure felt 'em during the walking lunges.

Result: 15:36.

Okay -- so my less-than-blazing time isn't going set any records, but I had a blast anyway. Plus, my goal of sweating buckets was achieved in spades. Can you tell?

[For more about my time in India, check out this post on Nom Nom Paleo.]

Hallow-Bata 2: Revenge of the Screwed-Up Wrist

Perhaps if I'd dressed up as a superhero for our Halloween workout, I would've fared better.

At CrossFit Palo Alto, we were treated to (tricked with?) our second annual Hallow-Bata -- a Tabata-style workout that looks like this:

• 8 Tabata rounds of "green, slimy" grasshoppers
• Rest 30 seconds
• 8 Tabata rounds of "headless horsemen" (a variation on kettlebell palm presses) (24kg / 16kg)
• Rest 30 seconds
• 8 Tabata rounds of "cauldron jumps" (jump on/over a plyo box and onto the floor on the other side for each rep)
• Rest 30 seconds
• 8 Tabata rounds of "deadly" double-unders

Score = Total reps.

With a dozen of us in class, we split up into groups to start at different stations. I opted to hit the cauldron jumps first -- mostly because it was the least crowded station, but also because I knew I wanted to tackle the jumps while my legs were still fresh.

Cauldron jump results: 11 / 12 / 10 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 7 / 8

Next up: Double-unders. I got tripped up more than I'd care to admit, and with my swollen right wrist, I had trouble whipping the rope. Needless to say, I got nowhere close to my performance last year, when I managed to crank out 34 double-unders in 20 seconds. Argh.

Double-under results: 20 / 21 / 15 / 19 / 22 / 14 / 16 / 15

Then, it was grasshopper time. From my experience last year, I knew it was better to go at a steady clip rather than explode right out of the gate -- but even if I'd tried to hustle through the grasshoppers, my right wrist would've held me back. I can't flex it right now, so I did the grasshoppers while gripping dumbbells. Done this way, the grasshoppers felt fine at the beginning, but by the third set, my wrist felt like it was going to give out. You can see the drop-off in my reps:

Grasshopper results: 13 / 11 / 7 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 10

Last but not least: Headless horsemen. Tim and I agreed that I shouldn't do 'em with my right arm -- but that my left arm still works fine. I did all the kettlebell presses from my left side. Let's just say it was slow going.

Headless horsemen results: 5 / 5 / 5 / 6 / 5 / 5 / 5 / 6

Total: 326 (compared to 335 last year). My goal for next year (assuming I'm not injured): 350 or bust.

Wednesday's Workout

In the five days since my last workout, the pain in my right wrist has persisted. It's more than just sore, and I'm beginning to suspect that I may have mildly (or not-so-mildly) sprained it. I can't do push-ups with my right hand flat against the floor -- though I can do 'em fine with my hands balled into fists. It hurts to clean a barbell right now, and I can't throw or catch a medicine ball worth a damn. Still, I was itching to get in the gym and get sweaty, and figured there was other stuff I could do.

Like pull-ups. And renegade rows. And dumbbell snatches. And double-unders.

It turns out I could do all of today's movements (though I scaled down the weight of the dumbbells in the metcon). We did one set of 5 weighted pull-ups every three minutes, which was a great way to keep us moving and in the groove. And the metcon was nice and fast; I got through everything without pausing (except to disentangle myself from the jump rope a few times). 

Result: 8:09. Or 8:15. I think. Oh, hell. I think my brain's melting.

Monday's Workout

A cardio-heavy workout today:

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:

• 400-meter run
• 50 double-unders

This doesn't look like much, but believe me: It was plenty -- especially for cardio cowards like me.

Knowing I'm still hobbled by my left Achilles, Tim instructed me to substitute 500-meter rows in place of the running, and to do 150 single-unders instead of the double-unders. It's frustrating to have to do single-unders instead of double-unders, and I'm no fan of rowing, but ultimately, I'm glad I scaled today's workout. Running would've wrecked me. My goal was to keep a steady, sub-two-minute split pace while rowing, and to go unbroken during the rope-jumping. I tripped up a couple of time while jumping, though, and my final stint on the erg was painfully slow, but I got through this one without having to curl up on the floor afterwards.

I did sweat a lot, though.

Result: 5 rounds plus 400 meters on the erg.

Friday's Workout

My first 5 a.m. class in a week, and yet my Achilles is still acting up.

I didn't notice it at first. For the first half of class, we worked on strict, weighted pull-ups, and in between sets, Tim encouraged us to squeeze in some skills practice. I did a couple of wall walks and then decided to do some double-unders.

Bad idea. Although I managed to complete 50 in a row (a rare feat for me), I realized as soon as I stopped that my left Achilles was on fire.

Tim guided me through a bunch of mobility exercises to help ease some of the tightness in my ankle and calf, but the throbbing didn't go away completely. And unfortunately, today's metcon featured plenty of double-unders:

For time:

• 50 double-unders
• 25 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 40 double-unders
• 20 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 30 double-unders
• 15 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 20 double-unders
• 10 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 10 double-unders
• 5 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)

"Do single-unders instead," Tim instructed. "Sub three singles for each double." I complied. Although I did the workout with a 24 kilogram kettlebell, I made do with single-unders. It was a bummer -- this workout was right up my alley.

Halfway through the workout, I got to wondering: Would double-unders have been easier on my leg? If I'd done double-unders, I would've jumped 150 times, but by doing singles, I ended up jumping 450 times. Which was worse for my inflamed ankle? After the workout, as a group of us walked over to the coffeehouse, I asked Tim: "Should I have done doubles instead?"

"No," he replied.

Good enough for me.

Result: 7:31.

Wednesday's Workout

A good day at the gym.

Strength Skill:

• Front Squats (3-3-3-1-1)

For the life of me, I couldn't remember my max front squat. It wasn't until after I was done with my sets that I found my previous PR: 205 pounds. Today, I failed to squat even 185. Not good. It goes without saying, but I need to squat more.

Thankfully, the second half of this morning's class went a little better.

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

What's not to like about Annie -- especially given what a kick-ass athlete her namesake is?

My previous Annie times have ranged from 9:11 (October 10, 2011) to 12:30 (March 14, 2011), and the last time I did this workout, I took 10:20 to finish. I was determined to match or beat my previous time -- I didn't want to lose more ground today.

At the very beginning of the first round, I landed awkwardly on my left ankle and felt a twinge in my Achilles tendon. But aside from that (and a couple of rope snags), the double-unders gave me no trouble today. The sit-ups were another matter; I'm used to flying through them, but this morning, I felt unusually heavy and sluggish as I struggled to finish each set.

Despite my crappy sit-ups, I somehow managed to set a new PR on Annie today: 8:25 as RXed. I'm happy with my progress, though I suppose I should work on my sit-ups some more.

In fact, I'm eyeing my Abmat right now.

Wednesday's Workout

I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. More precisely: A monster truck named Murph.

Approximately 84.5 percent of me wanted to hurl my alarm clock against the wall and go back to sleep. But 12.5 percent of me recognized that my beloved iPhone was serving as my alarm clock, and stayed my hand. And the remaining 3 percent of me realized that today was my last chance to work out with the 5 a.m. crew until next Wednesday.

I staggered out of bed on legs that wouldn't bend, and pulled on my clothes with arms that refused to be raised more a few degrees. A slug of coffee later, I sprawled out on the floor of the hotel room, stretching and mobilizing as best I could. It was an unpleasant but necessary way to start the day.

After a creakier-than-usual warm-up at the gym, I paired up with Jay for some front squats. We got some decent weight on the bar, but both of us were feeling wrecked, and steered well clear of PR territory. I tried to focus on my form instead, working on leading with my elbows, pushing out my knees to generate torque, and keeping my gut tight.

Next -- the metcon:

• 5 rounds for time (with a 15-minute cap) of:

• 25 push-presses (75# / 55#)
• 50 double-unders

Surprisingly, my full-body soreness seemed to disappear once I got going. As soon as the clock started, my body somehow managed to crank out push-presses and double-unders without hesitation. (Well, for the first couple of rounds, anyway. After that, there was plenty of hesitation. I'm embarrassed to report that I took more than my fair share of mid-round rest breaks during the push-presses.)

Result: 14:48 as RXed. I snuck in under the wire by just 12 seconds.

And then I promptly went back to being sore.

Cardi-Oh-No

After five rousing sets of jerks this morning, I was feeling pretty good for someone who hasn't slept more than half a wink per night in a week. (I hate hotel beds. Also: I thought developing an app was tough, but that was a piece of cake compared to actually managing a product launch. Remind me to never, ever do this again. Ever.)

But then came the metcon:

3 rounds:

• In 4 minutes, row 400 meters and then max double-unders. 
• Rest 1 minute. 

Total score = the number of double-unders completed after three rounds.

That's right: ROWING. And DOUBLE-UNDERS. For a split second, I contemplated jumping into my car and speeding off.

On the plus side: During the first round, I managed a stretch of 51 consecutive double-unders. I'd like to think I could've kept going, but when I got over 50, I was so excited that I got myself tangled up in my rope. I'm nothing if not smooth.

When this one was over, I spent a good few minutes flat on my back. I think I hate cardio more than I hate hotel beds.

Result: 242 double-unders as RXed. Not super-shabby, though Mark beat me by a few reps. And by "a few," I mean over a hundred.

Monday's Workout

A good one today.

Strength Skill:

• Cleans (5-5-3-3-3)

I started with full squat cleans, but it turns out I wasn't extending my hips all the way, so Tim had me practice power cleans.

When I switched over, I could immediately feel the difference. I'd been starting the third pull before completing the second, and not generating as much power as I could and should have.

By the end of my fifth set, though, I felt pretty good. This was a good start to the cycle.

Metcon:

For time:

• 50 double-unders
• 24 flag push-ups
• 50 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 24 flag push-ups
• 50 double-unders

The first 50 double-unders were fine -- not exactly lightning-quick, but not horribly slow, either -- but the flag push-ups took a lot out of me. By the time I got to the kettlebell swings, I was winded. After the first 25 swings, I had to stop for a breath, and ended up taking a couple more breaks, too. My arms were jelly by the end of the second set of flag push-ups.

I didn't think I'd be able to string together any double-unders at the end of the workout. My shoulders were on fire, and after a few clumsy reps, I tripped on my rope. A few reps later, I stumbled again. This looked like it was going to take forever.

But then I strung together 22 in a row -- and then another 19. I have no idea how I had enough juice to fuel those double-unders. Maybe it was just dumb luck that I didn't get tangled in the rope. But just like that, I was done.

Result: 6:57 as RXed.

Friday's Workout

Gah -- 115-pound push-presses are on the menu for the Open WOD 12.3 at CrossFit Palo Alto tomorrow, along with a crapload of box jumps and toes-to-bar. That's a purdy heavy weight for me. I have a feeling that those eighteen minutes are going to be a punch in the face.

Good thing we had a chance to practice today.

Strength Skill:

• Push-Presses (5-5-3-3-3)

I paired up with the Terminator, who has a bum shoulder, and therefore at less than full cyborg strength. We did the presses from a rack, and finished with 115 pounds on our final set. Tomorrow, we have to do 'em from the floor. Twelve at a time. Between box jumps and toes-to-bar. For eighteen minutes straight.

Again: Gah. Guess who's going to be doing some jerks tomorrow?

Metcon:

At least we had a nice barn-burner of a metcon today.

2 rounds for time:

• 40 double-unders
• 30 kettlebell transfers (24kg / 16kg)
• 20 Abmat sit-ups
• 10 ring rows

I tripped up a few times with the jump rope, but otherwise, this one blazed by.

Result: 5:04 as RXed.

Wednesday's Workout

This morning, when I craned my neck from the pillow to peer at the alarm clock, the display read: 5:09 a.m.

Crap. I'd overslept by almost an hour, and the 5 a.m. class was already underway. I should've just gone back to sleep, but what the hell -- I was already awake, so I threw on some clothes and headed off to the gym.

The penalty for being 25 minutes late to class? Burpees and Shake Weight. The burpees were a decent way to warm up. The Shake Weight: Not so much. I think I would've preferred the Tug Toner:

I had enough just time to practice a set of pistols with the rest of the class before the metcon began.

3 rounds for time:

• 50 double-unders
• 21 overhead kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 12 pull-ups

My Buddy Lee rope has gone to jump rope heaven (it snapped in two, as did M's), so I grabbed one of the speed ropes at the gym. Unfortunately, the one I used today was fraying, and the jagged steel cable kept snagging on my shoelaces. After tugging it away from my laces a few times during the metcon, I ended up with an untied shoe -- which meant having to stop in the middle of the workout to bend down and tie my shoelaces.

After the first round of double-unders, I settled into a rhythm -- and although I had to put the kettlebell down a few times to catch my breath, I finished with a decent time.

Result: 10:14 as RXed. 

I was pretty out of it this morning, though. It felt like I'd been shot out of a cannon. Diving right into a metcon (albeit a quick one) less than a half-hour after waking was probably not among the smartest things I've ever done.

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.

Monday's Workout

It's good to be back in the gym -- even if it was at 5 a.m. the morning after Christmas. But don't look at me like I'm crazy; I wasn't the only nutjob at CrossFit Palo Alto before the crack of dawn despite not having to work today. Four others showed up for class (and for CoffeeWOD afterwards).

Okay, maybe we're all crazy.

Strength Skill:

• Deadlifts (3-3-3-1-1)

I had a shot at matching my previous PR today, but failed to hoist the bar off the ground. I could've given it another yank, but although my back's feeling fine these days, I thought better of it. Good thing, too -- I needed the gas in my tank for today's metcon.

Metcon:

3 rounds for time:

• 50 double-unders
• 30 air squats
• 15 pull-ups

This looked easy when Tim wrote it on the whiteboard, and for the first round, it was. Most of our metcon workouts are designed to be 10 to 15 minutes long, but after flying through the initial round set of double-unders, air squats and pull-ups in 2 minutes, I thought to myself: I have a shot at finishing sub-7.

But in the second round, I had to take breaks after every dozen double-unders or so, and my pull-ups weren't unbroken. It took 3 minutes to finish that round.

Still, it was the last set of double-unders that did me in. My forearms felt numb from the one-two punch of pull-ups and rope-flinging, and my feet began snagging on the slowing rope. It took a whopping FOUR minutes to complete the final round.

Result: 9:14 as RXed.

Monday's Workout: Cabo San Lucas

We're in Cabo San Lucas for the week, and we're planning on eating like rabid wolves this week, so to kick things off right, the entire family decided to work out on the balcony this morning (minus the three-year-old, who was wandering around somewhere, munching on a scrambled egg and playing with his LEGOs). 

 M got cranking on her double-unders... 

...and air squats... 

...while Big-O got his mobility on. 

I wish I could squat as comfortably as he can. 

I decided to dash off a quick home-brewed WOD: 

50 double-unders, and then 5 rounds for time of: 

5 handstand push-ups... 

 (Whoops -- nip slip.) 

10 pistols... 

...and 15 sit-ups. 

As you can see, Big-O decided to go rip off his shirt and join in the fun.

Result: 9:13. I cooled down with another 50 double-unders.

And then we proceeded to eat, swim, and do a whole lotta nothin'. (We did eat some worms, though. M'll do all the food-related play-by-play over at Nom Nom Paleo.)

Don't you love it when people bore you to death with their vacation photos?

Wednesday's Workout: Balls to the Wall

Medicine balls. Why'd it have to be medicine balls?

But first:

• Overhead Squats (5-5-5-3-3)

These felt great this morning. It's been a few months since we last practiced overhead squats, but I felt strong and stable through my midline. I kept it light and easy today, but I'm hoping to establish a new PR later in this cycle.

Metcon:

• 50 double unders
• 21 wallball shots
• 21 medicine ball cleans
• 21 medicine ball sit-ups
• 15 wallball shots
• 15 medicine ball cleans
• 15 medicine ball sit-ups
• 9 wallball shots
• 9 medicine ball cleans
• 9 medicine ball sit-ups
• 50 double unders

The first set of double-unders flew by. The final set? Not so much. And in between, the wallballs kicked the snot out of me. I wasn't bothered by the med ball sit-ups, but the cleans were tougher than I expected -- probably because I was still reeling from the wallballs.

It's a good reminder that something as simple as a stuffed ball can be a brutally effective training tool.

Result: 11:42 as RXed.

Monday's Workout

For a good ten minutes after I woke up yesterday morning, I lay snug under the covers, contemplating whether to play hooky. But after missing Friday's class, there was no way I was going to skip another workout -- especially now that the fog of the past couple of weeks is finally starting to lift from my head.

By the time I pulled into CrossFit Palo Alto's parking lot, I was ready to dive into whatever WOD awaited us. The bracing chill of the pre-dawn air made me want to move. After our warmup, Tim wrote the workout on the board.

AMRAP in 20 minutes:

• 15 wallballs (20lbs / 14lbs)
• 30 kettlebell snatches (24kg / 16kg)
• 60 double-unders

I can do these movements, and I can handle the RXed weights. So now that I've been injury-free for a few weeks, there's really no reason not to tackle this WOD with gusto, right?

Unfortunately, I hadn't considered:

1. How exhausting it might be to try to string all these gut-busting exercises together for 20 minutes straight;
2. How damned heavy a kettlebell can get after dozens and dozens of snatches; or
3. Whether my back might seize up in the middle of launching a big iron ball above my head.

It took me 10 minutes to get through the first two rounds, but they were decent. I felt fresh at the wallball station, and the double-unders didn't give me too much trouble. The kettlebell snatches were more challenging -- especially when I used my weaker left arm -- and they took forever, but I managed to slog through them. 

The third round, however, was hell. After a sluggish set of wallball shots, I picked up the kettlebell and pounded out more snatches. The reps came slowly, and by the end, I found myself struggling to crank out more than a couple at a time. With four left reps remaining in the set, I decided to push hard and finish them all at once. But as I snatched the kettlebell up and over my head for the last rep, I felt an all-too-familiar twinge in my lower back. 

Did I re-tear my back muscle? Or was it just fatigue?

I shook it off. The double-unders didn't bother me, so I kept going. I started my fourth round at the wallball station, and felt better. But as I finished my wallball reps, the twinge came back. Uh, oh.

Tim saw the concern on my face, and asked what was up. "My back again," I mumbled as I bent down to pick up the kettlebell. 

"Then don't be an idiot," Tim cautioned.

He was right. (Obviously.) After 90 kettlebell snatches, I was done. There was still a minute-and-a-half left on the clock, but I wasn't about to risk re-injuring my back just to post a few more reps, so I stopped. Raising a white flag can be an ego blow, but sometimes, it's the only reasonable thing to do.

Result: 3 rounds + 15 reps as RXed -- but I DNFed.

Today, I feel absolutely fine. My back is sore, but so is the rest of my body -- and there's none of the telltale pain that accompanied my previous injury. Normally, I'm not a big fan of quitting, but there's no doubt in my mind that it was the best thing I could have done for myself.

Wednesday's Workout

After a week of tossing and turning, I finally managed to get a decent night's sleep last night. I woke up at 4:20 a.m. feeling like  I could tackle the world -- but it turned out I couldn't even manage to tackle heavy front squats.

Strength Skill:

• Front Squats (5-3-3-1-1)

Try as I might to hit or exceed my PR, I failed to front squat even 10 pounds below my previous best. This is another groove that needs grease. (But then again, all my grooves could use some greasing.)

Metcon:

• 100 double-unders
• 1K row
• 800-meter run

I usually hate cardio-heavy metcons, but after Monday's grip-killer, I was relieved not to see any pull-ups or toes-to-bar on the menu. And to be honest, I'm starting to look forward to double-unders now that I can string 'em together with some consistency. This morning, I didn't get tripped up until after I'd cranked out over 40 double-unders, and the rest didn't take long to complete. Then, it was just a matter of doggedly slogging through the rowing and the running.

Result: 10:17 as RXed.

Monday's Workout: Fat Gripz & PTP

CrossFit Palo Alto's closed for Turkey Week, so for the first time in a long while, I got to play around in my garage with some of my toys. Some of them -- like my Fat Gripz -- have been sitting in a box for a month, waiting for me to get off my ass and try 'em out.

Now that my back's feeling better, I want to work on getting it stronger -- and so my plan is to start doing some low-rep sets of deadlifts and strict presses, mixed with some super-short metcons. Sound familiar?

Yep -- I'm revisiting the Power to the People protocol.

Dallas and Melissa of the Whole9 have a PTP template from their CrossFit 603 days, so I decided to jump right in with their programming for Day One. First up: the "Buy-In":

3 rounds:

• 20-second handstand hold
• 15 Russian kettlebell swings (24kg / 16kg)
• 10 box jumps (20″)

This was a fun way to kick off the morning and get the blood pumping rushing to my head. Once I was nice and toasty, I was ready for PTP.

Deadlift:

• Warm up: A few reps at a light weight
• Set 1: 60% of 1-rep max, 3-5 reps
• Set 2: 90% of Set 1 weight, 3-5 reps

Just to keep things interesting, I decided to wrap the Fat Gripz around my barbell -- I figured I might as well work on my grip strength, too. (Yes, I know that some folks say that increasing open-hand grip strength isn't necessarily going to help with support-grip moves like deadlifts or pull-ups, but I'm happy to settle for just generally increasing the strength of my hands.

I had trouble wrapping my thumbs around the width of the Fat Gripz -- my grip felt much more awkward than I expected -- but the starting weight was light, so I managed just fine. We'll see what happens as the weight on the bar starts creeping up.

Press:

• Warm up: A few reps at a light weight
• Set 1: 60% of 1-rep max, 3-5 reps
• Set 2: 90% of Set 1 weight, 3-5 reps

I used the Fat Gripz on the strict presses, too, though I don't think it made much of a difference. Presses don't rely much on finger strength, so I'll probably skip the Gripz for this movement next time.

Cash Out:

3 rounds for time:

• 30 double-unders
• 15 knees-to-elbows

This sounded easy, but the KTEs rocked my world. I cranked out the double-unders without much trouble, but they wiped me out enough to make the knees-to-elbows a royal pain in the butt. Also, to be consistent, I'd stuck the Fat Gripz on the pull-up bar, too -- and it didn't take me long to start regretting it. Getting a handle on the bar was much more challenging than I anticipated, and my hands kept slipping off. Ugh.

Result: 4:27 as RXed.

I need bigger hands. My teeny little baby hands aren't cutting it.

Monday's Workout: Hallow-Bata

To kick off Halloween in style, the 5 a.m. crew at CrossFit Palo Alto threw ourselves into a devilishly challenging Tabata-style workout.

"Hallow-Bata"

• 8 rounds of Tabata "green, slimy" grasshoppers
• Rest 30 seconds
• 8 rounds of Tabata "headless horsemen" (a variation on kettlebell palm presses) (24kg / 16kg)
• Rest 30 seconds
• 8 rounds of Tabata "cauldron jumps" (jump over a plyo box and land on the floor on the other side for each rep)
• Rest 30 seconds
• 8 rounds of Tabata "deadly" double-unders

Score = Total reps.

With a lucky 13 of us in class this morning, we had to begin at different stations. I decided to start with double-unders, figuring I'd save my favorite -- the box jumps -- for last. Besides, I knew I had a better chance of cranking out more double-unders early in the workout, before I ran out of gas.

I was right. In the first 20-second set of Tabata double-unders, I ripped out 34. In the second set, I managed 28. But by the time the third set was done, I'd managed only 18. It wasn't exactly a shocker that my drop-off in movement efficiency, energy, and number of reps was exponential. I was pleased, though, that I was able to bust out almost 2 double-unders per second -- albeit only for the first 20 seconds of the workout.

• Double-under results: 34 / 28 / 18 / 18 / 17 / 17 / 16 / 15

As soon as I saw grasshoppers pop up on a CrossFit.com workout last week, I had a feeling we'd see it at the gym one day. That day came sooner than expected. Grasshoppers look simple enough: You start in a push-up position, and then kick a leg forward until your shin hits your opposite arm. That's half a rep. Repeat with the other leg for a full rep. In practice, though, grasshoppers are anything but easy -- especially with a lower back injury. But while I'd like to blame it all on my boo-boo and current lack of flexibility, the truth is that these are just plain hard.

• Grasshopper results: 15 / 10 / 8 / 8 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 6 / 

Next up were the "headless horsemen" -- a modified kettlebell palm press. Starting with the kettlebell on the floor, we lifted it up with one arm, palmed it with the other hand at chest level, and then pressed the weight overhead. To keep from straining my recovering back, I didn't even attempt the RXed 24kg -- but let's be frank: Even if I was 100 percent, there's no way I would've been able to get through 8 Tabata rounds of these presses at that weight.

• Headless horsemen results: 5 / 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 / 5 / 4

Last but not least: "Cauldron jumps." "Get over the box whichever way you can," Tim had instructed. "You can jump all the way over the box, or do a regular box jump and then jump to the floor on the other side. You can do sideways box jumps. Or step up and over."

Before the workout, I had planned on hopping like crazy over the box, but I thought better of it after two things happened: (1) One of my 5 a.m. pals took a nasty tumble off his box soon after the WOD started, and whacked his elbow something fierce; and (2) the double-unders, grasshoppers and headless horsemen left me too tuckered out to go nuts. Plus, I reminded myself of my current goal: Recovery, not PRs. There would be no attempt to jump clear over the box.

I did, however, start with lateral box jumps, which saved me a bit of time. I didn't have to turn around to jump back the way I came; instead, I just hopped sideways to change directions. But after three rounds, my lower back gave me a warning twinge, and I knew I had to dial it down some more. For the remainder of the workout, I stepped up and over the box -- which, oddly enough, allowed me to rack up more reps than I would've completed had I kept jumping.

• Cauldron jump results: 10 / 8 / 7 / 9 / 8 / 6 / 6

Total: 335

Happy Halloween, boys and girls. And take it easy on the candy tonight.

Friday's Workout: Taking It Easy

I was thisclose to staying in bed this morning. I'm scheduled to attend Patton Gleason's Flow Running Seminar at CrossFit Palo Alto tomorrow afternoon, so for a brief moment, I contemplated playing hooky today. But I'd seen the doctor at the sports clinic again yesterday, and he'd encouraged me to keep mobile, so I pulled myself out of bed. I figured I'd join my fellow 5 a.m. nutjobs and see what I could do in the gym.

Strength Skill:

• Weighted Ring Dips (5-3-3-1-1)

To make sure I didn't aggravate my back, I didn't add any weight today, performing only bodyweight dips. And I didn't follow the rep scheme; I settled for just three solid sets of three. The slow reps felt good and clean, and I'm glad I resisted the urge to throw on some weight just to appease my ego.

Believe it or not, I'm doing my damnedest to focus on active recovery rather than the usual all-out RXed craziness.

Metcon:

For time:

• 22 kettlebell swings (32kg / 24kg)
• 500-meter row
• 22 burpees
• 100 double-unders
• 22 kettlebell swings (32kg / 24kg)

As soon as I saw the kettlebell swings, I knew I had to scale this one way, way down. In recent months, I've worked my way up to 32kg (70lb) overhead kettlebell swings in metcons, but I knew going anywhere near RXed today would result in a disaster of epic proportions. Heavy swings would surely exacerbate my back problem.

"What can I sub in place of the heavy swings?" I asked Tim.

"Light swings," he said. Right. Duh.

I picked up a 16kg kettlebell and cranked out a couple of practice swings. They felt light -- too light, I thought. But then again, maybe "too light" was exactly what I needed. It would get my back muscles moving without unduly straining them.

Even with a light weight, I wanted to be careful. "Am I going to wreck my back even more with the kettlebell swings?" I asked XFitMama.

"Don't go overhead. Stop at chest level," she advised. XFitMama is usually the first to go balls-out on WODs (remember when she did Kelly in her eighth month of pregnancy?), so when she suggests scaling down, I listen.

As a result, the kettlebell swings were easy and fast. I also rowed conservatively, bracing my core, making sure not to overdo the pull, and aiming for a slow 'n steady 2:00 time. The burpees and the double-unders were the movements I could do without worrying about my back, so I dove into those; I quickly learned, though, that burpees are no picnic after rowing, and the double-unders aren't easy after burpees. Nonetheless, I managed to consistently string together a couple dozen double-unders at a time, and got through the rope-jumping pretty quickly. And with a super-light kettlebell, the final set of swings were over in a flash.

Result: 8:14.

Admittedly, I felt a twinge of envy when I spotted Mark and the Terminator ripping out 70-pound kettlebell swings. But I didn't feel an ounce of regret.