Wednesday's Workout

Crap. Totally forgot to log yesterday's workout. I'm getting forgetful in my old age.

Strength Skill:

• Deadlifts (3-3-1-1-1)

"Get angry," Tim said as I failed to get the bar up past my knees on my final set. I was attempting a double-bodyweight deadlift, which would match my previous PR (set waaaay back in February of 2011), and I'd gassed out after barely getting the plates off the ground.

I put on my best Hulk scowl, got set, grabbed the barbell, and pulled the hell out of it. My legs shook as I struggled to clear my knees, and as I finally stood upright with the bar, my head started to swim. I dropped the bar and plopped my butt on the floor. But I was smiling. No new PR, but close!

Metcon:

For time:

• 240-meter farmer's walk with a pair of 53-pound kettlebells
• 45 wall ball shots (20-pound ball, 10-foot-high target)
• 240-meter farmer's walk with a pair of 53-pound kettlebells
• 45 burpees

I'm glad I was able to complete the first 240-meter course without once putting down the kettlebells, but I had less success with the rest of the WOD. Wall balls are not my forte, and I ended up repeatedly stopping for rest breaks during the second farmer's walk. Plus, the burpees completely kicked my ass, despite doing my best to stick to Carl Paoli's burpee pointers.

Result: 12:17 as RXed.

Still: It's good to be back.

Most Hotel Guests Prefer The Elliptical Trainer

Being forced out of our house and into a hotel for a couple of months means that Michelle can't lift weights in our garage before heading to her graveyard shift at the hospital. But you know what they say: When life gives you lemons, do some farmer's walks with a heavy kettlebell up and down the stairs.

Wednesday's Workout: CrossFit Austin

Sorry I've been M.I.A. -- we're down in Austin for the inaugural PaleoFX conference (a.k.a., the Gathering of the Paleos), and our schedules have been jam-packed. 

M and I are staying in a house filled with Paleo people, including Bill and Hayley (Primal Palate), Diane (Balanced Bites), Stacy (Paleo Parents), Liz and Spence (CaveGirlEats), Diana (Radiance Nutrition), Bobby (UltraGrassFed), and Laura (Ancestralize Me). And of course, you can't have large gatherings of Paleo folk without a visit to a CrossFit box.

Clad in Nom Nom Paleo socks, about most of our house's residents -- plus George of Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations -- visited CrossFit Austin today. The box is just five minutes from our house, so even though we got a late start to the day, we managed to hustle over there for the noon class.

I've been under the weather for a couple of days, so I wasn't feeling super-awesome as we pulled up to the gym. But I was hoping a good workout would knock the cold right out of me.

After a directed warm-up (very similar to what we do at CrossFit Palo Alto, down to the lunges and punter-kicks), we got down to business.

Skills Practice:

• Kipping Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups (3 sets of 10, with 45 seconds of rest in-between)
• Ring Push-ups (3 sets of 10, with 45 seconds of rest in-between)
• Lateral Step-ups (3 sets of 5 per leg, with 45 seconds of rest in-between)

These were fun. I enjoy the rhythmic motion of kipping pull-ups, and chest-to-bar pull-ups were a nice change of pace. The lateral step-ups and push-ups were a pleasant way to knock some rust off, too.

But then came the metcon workout.

Metcon:

2-3 Person Team Workout - 20 Minute AMRAP of:

• 500-meter row
• 200-meter farmer's walk (55lb / 35lb in each hand)
• Sumo Complex: 10 sumo deadlifts and 10 sumo back squats (135lb / 95lb)

In this workout, each person starts at a different station, and you can move onto the next station only after your teammate has finished that movement. I was on a team with George and Spence -- two incredibly strong guys -- so my only goal today was to avoid slowing them down...too much.

I started with the sumo complex, and had Spence on standby in case I couldn't hoist the 135-pound barbell over my head and onto my back. But I managed to get through all the squats, deadlifts, and the rowing without too much trouble.

The farmer's carry, on the other hand, was rough. We carried 55 pounds in each hand, and it felt like our wrists were going to explode. Here's Diane, expressing how all of us felt:

I managed to get two-thirds of the way through my third round. Spence and George got through three rounds each, so we ended with a score of 8 -- almost 9! -- full rounds as RXed.

We were pretty wiped by the end of the hour, but still had enough energy to pose for photos.

And one of us (*cough*Diane*cough*) had enough left in the tank to climb a rope using just her arms.

[Note: The crappy photos above are mine; the good ones are by Bobby Gill]

Getting a Grip

As soon as a phone book get dropped off at my doorstep (who even uses those anymore?), it goes straight into the recycling bin. It never occurs to me to tear it in half first. Same goes for our old frying pans -- I never think to bend and squish ‘em up them with my bare hands before tossing them.



The reason, of course, is that I can’t. I can offer a firm handshake, and I don’t have baby-hands like Kristen Wiig's Junice, but I don’t exactly have an arm wrestler’s grip, either.

Frankly, I never really thought to develop it. But a strong grip makes it easier to lift heavier. My lack of hand strength will eventually limit my overall ability to optimally perform everything from deadlifts to kettlebell swings to pull-ups. And that just won’t do.

More after the jump...

Wednesday's Workout

Strength Skill:

• Deadlifts

I tried to add just 10 pounds to last week's PR and lift 280 pounds (2X my bodyweight), but failed on both attempts. But on the plus side, I was happy to have a little left in the tank for today's pyramid metcon -- I definitely needed it.

Metcon:

For time:

• 200 meter farmer's walk (carrying a 53-pound kettlebell in each hand)
• 10 burpees
• 20 overhead kettlebell swings (using a 53-pound kettlebell)
• 30 Abmat sit-ups
• 40 air squats
• 50 double unders
• 40 air squats
• 30 Abmat sit-ups
• 20 overhead kettlebell swings (using a 53-pound kettlebell)
• 10 burpees
• 200 meter farmer's walk (carrying a 53-pound kettlebell in each hand)

Result: 15:13. I love bodyweight metcons, and blazed through the first half with unbroken sets. But right about the time I hit 12 double-unders, I had to stop for a quick breather. When I started up again, I found that I'd lost my groove; I struggled through the rest of the rope-jumping, and then had to piece together 4 strings of 10 air squats each. I caught my second wind with the final sets of Abmat sit-ups and kettlebell swings (both of which I love), but slowed again during my last few burpees. The farmer's walk at the end made my shoulders and wrists weep.

But I can't wait to do this one again.