The Audacity of Dope

I haven’t been posting up my CrossFit workouts for a while, mainly cause I do ’em so often, this blog would be nothing but workouts and wack lyrics.  Plus, it’s a little weird to keep strangers up to date with my personal workout log, but ehhh.  I felt like I did well on “Christine” tonight, so I figured I’d post.  Sue me.

Christine: 3 Rounds for Time

500m row
12 deadlifts (bodyweight)
24 box jumps

My dude Mikey suggested this one, and since we did a lot of arm stuff the day before and I’d never tried Christine, I was all for it.  The rowing felt great (one of my better exercises) and the box jumps were fairly easy (except for the final few when your legs are shot).  We used Mikey’s bodyweight, so I only had to lift 135lbs, 20 less than my own BW.  It’s still a decent lift and you feel it on the final round.  I finished in 12:32.  Blaow.

Try this one if you have a rowing machine at your gym.  Or if you’re in Seattle, you could always man (or woman) up and come to a free workout at Foundation CrossFit with us on Saturdays @ noon.  Or you could be lame and get fat during the winter.  Your call.

Alright, I’ve been slacking on my crossfit posts, but I swear I’ve been killing the workouts lately.  One of the best parts about crossfit is that it’s really easy to see your improvement and I’ve been increasing damn near all my scores lately.  Saturday’s “Rainstorm” over at Foundation CrossFit started with 200m walking lunges to get our legs nice and jelly-like before we got into “Tabata This.”  From the CrossFit FAQ:

“Tabata Intervals ( 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest repeated 8 times) is applied in turn to the Squat, Rower, Pullups, Sit-ups, and Push-ups with a one minute rotation break between exercises. Each exercise is scored by the weakest number of reps (calories on the rower) in each of the eight intervals. During the one minute rotation time allowed the clock is not stopped but kept running. The score is the total of the scores from the five stations.”

Relatively simple, right?  20 seconds on, 10 seconds off…for 8 times…at each of those 5 exercises…and count only your lowest round.  I got my PR of 47 with 6 pull ups, 12 sit ups, 6 calories on the row, 12 squats, and 11 push ups.  Seeing as how I was able to knock out 8 calories on my last round of row and 15 push ups on the final round there, I’m guessing I didn’t quite push myself as hard as possible.  Next time I’m shooting for (at least) 7, 13, 7, 14, and 13.  Let’s get it.

For time. Complete all reps of each exercise before moving to the next.

100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 air squats

Blew my PR out the water by 45 seconds and finished in 18:01.  “Yep yep” – Teddy.  In related crossfit news, I’m thoroughly obsessed with handstand push ups.  Shout to Foundation.

Even though it was a holiday, this was one of the busiest weekends I’ve had in a minute.  Thanks to the fine folks over at Foundation Crossfit, I was able to squeeze in two bad ass workouts.  First up, from Saturday:

Tabata bottom to bottom squats (8 rounds of 20 secs on, 10 off, hold for the ‘rest’)

then as far as you can go in 20 minutes, in order:
100m sprint
25 burpees
30 pull ups
40 sit ups
50 kettlebell swings
60 second L-sit
70 push ups
800m run
90 second active hang
100 box jumps

I got through 700m of the 800m run before time expired.  I love these kind of “checklist” workouts because you get a real sense of accomplishment as you’re flying through the exercises.  Next up, tonight’s workout was “Tabata Fight Gone Bad” (see the video above):

8 rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, with 1 minute rest in between exercises.  Take your lowest score in each round and that’s your score for the exercise:

Sumo Deadlift High Pull (75lbs)
Box Jumps
Push Press (75lbs)
Wall Ball
Row (count calories burned)

I finished with 38 (in order: 10, 8, 6, 9, 5).  Probably could have bumped that up by one or two, but this is a hard workout.  Very fun though.  Try it, or if you need some help getting started, hit up the Foundation fam!

This one doesn’t have a snazzy name, just the workout of the day posted on the official crossfit site.  For time:

30 handstand push ups
40 pull ups
50 kettlebell swings, 1.5 poods (~52 lbs)
60 sit ups
70 burpees

Aight, this one was a bit more than I could chew.  I’ve never done handstands in my life, so I just did 30 ten second stands against a wall to get used to being upside down.  I was able to knock out a few push ups like that too, but I’ll need to practice a LOT to be able to do that freestanding.  That would be bad ass though, so that’s the ultimate goal.

After the handstands, I did the last 4 exercises for time and subbed a 35 lbs dumbbell for the swings.  Pull ups, swings, sit ups = fairly easy.  70 burpees = a bitch.  Finished in 16:43.  Try this one.

Shout to Foundation.

As many rounds as possible in 25 minutes:

400m run
30 kettlebell swings
15 dive bomber pushups

I got 5 rounds even.  That was my first time doing dive bomber pushups, they’re no joke.  If you don’t have kettlebells handy at your gym, you can use dumbbells.  This is a good workout, it’ll drop you.  Shout to Dru and the Foundation Crossfit fam!

Seattle people remember, you can join us for these free workouts every Saturday at noon.  The details are on their site and it’s a great way to break into crossfit.

Well, I guess that would technically be at the same time.  Tried my first “Barbara” last night:

20 pull ups, 30 push ups, 40 sit ups, 50 squats

5 rounds for time

Finished in 25:33, though I think I can definitely shed a few minutes off that the next time I do it.  I kinda paced myself a bit too much in the early rounds, rather than going all out from the start.  I thought it would be easier than “Angie” (100 reps of each, straight through), but the advantage gained from splitting up the exercises goes out the window with the additional reps.

Today’s WOD on Crossfit.com turned out to be “Angie,” so I knocked that out again and finished in 18:49, three seconds slower than last time.  Until I start doing these on a bar where I can kip, I’m thinking I might be nearing my top time.  Hmm, we’ll see.  Foundation Crossfit RAINSTORM (free workout) at 100th & Lake City Way on Saturday at 12PM for all my Seattle people!  Be there.

Ever since I took up crossfit, I’ve had a new found respect for gymnastics.  Growing up, I always played every team sport out there and, quite frankly, made fun of those dudes jumping around in tights during the Olympics.  While I still think the men’s floor exercise is a biiiit strange (bad ass triple flip combo…followed by an effeminate prance and leap?  umm, ok), I’ve been in awe of the bar and rings routines at the Games.

Yesterday, Chen Yibing won gold on the rings, beating out his teammate Yang Wei by a slim margin.  Both their routines were incredible, but Chen’s was on another level.  He just looked effortless out there.  I highly suggest you watch it here (apologies if you’re outside of the States…NBC hates y’all).

My crossfit inspired goal is to be able to hold an iron cross for 5 seconds someday.  Dru, let’s get it.

For time. Complete all reps of each exercise before moving to the next.

100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 air squats

Broke my last time of 19:54 with a PR of 18:46.  Chyea.  All about improvement people!  Shout to Foundation.

5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats.  As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes.

Doesn’t get much simpler than that.  I finished with 18 full rounds + 5 pull ups + 10 push ups + 10 squats.  In other words, 5 squats short of 19.  Damn.  Shoulda pushed myself harder in the last minute.  I think that’s a decent performance though, since I’ve only done 10 minute versions of “Cindy” before.

If you want to start doing crossfit slowly, find a bar and do this workout for 10 minutes.  That’s what I did my first day.  Or come check out one of the free “Rainstorm” workouts over at Foundation Crossfit every Saturday at noon.  Y’all are talking a big game, but I’ve yet to see you come through…