To feel like a kid again...

9/18: rest day

9/19: rest day

WOD 9/20: apk wod margaret (cindy's ugly cousin!)

As many rounds in 20m of:

• L-pullups x 5
• divebomber pushups x 10
• jump air squats x 15

total rounds completed: 8

good god!!! this wod about killed me! i hadn't done a metcon like this in a long time. the catalyst metcons are similar, but they generally last ~10m. i hit a wall after the 5th round, and so the last 3 rounds were killer! i was literally crawling on the floor in a pool of sweat. i tried to pace myself from the get-go but it didn't work too well :)

the divebomber pushups are no joke! first time i've ever done them, and they slowed me down considerably. i see their direct application to parkour tho so i think they are great. what a gasser all around tho. that margaret...she is evil!!!

9/21: rest day

WOD 9/22: basketball and playing in the park

so liz and i decided that we wanted to do the wod outside today. we headed down to jacob's park in the north side. what a great park! it's ~5 acres so we were able to walk around it to warm up. they also have a pretty nice playground that is covered with canopies so that the children can play w/o dying of heat exhaustion. :)

we ended up playing basketball for ~45m or so. we were mainly shooting, doing layups, and running after the ball. it was fun and we got breathing pretty hard, especially out in the sun. we then played in the playground. i practiced two-handed vaults, jumps, etc. we also tried some dips and L-sits.

time: 1hr30m

9/23: rest day

WOD 9/24: parkour practice

i headed back down to jacob's park for some parkour practice. it was fun to workout in the park. gave me a different perspective.

i warmed up under the shade of a pine tree. it was sort of odd, as there were a couple homeless people on either side of me (~50m or so away). maybe i inspired them? lol. they prolly just thought i was some crazy white boy.

i did pullups, L-sits, dips, etc. i also practiced a lot of jumps off picnic tables, over benches, etc. i finished up with a few two-handed vaults. i also walked around the park a couple times. i basically jumped off anything i could see. :) there were a couple children playing on the swingset beside me as i did some L-sits on top of the monkey bars. it was so funny...they didn't say a word, as if i was just one of them. i expected them to point at me or what not, but they were in their own little world. i felt like a kid again. :)

time: 1hr30m

We create our realities - now do it!

9/16: rest day

WOD 9/17: apk wod

3 rounds (not for time, with 1:30 break btwn rounds) of:

• elevated pushups (60deg) x 5
  
• elevated clap pushups (60deg) x 5
  
• pistols x 10 (5 each leg)
• jumping air squats x 10
  
• L-pullups x 5
  
• clap pullups x 5

this was my first american parkour wod!

i decided to change things up and to start doing a different program.

catalyst had performed it's role well - it significantly increased my overall strength. it also helped to drill the olympic lifts home for me. i am now much more confident in all components of oly lifting.

oly lifting gives you a serious neurological beat down. however, the benefits of said beat down are well worth it. your coordination, agility, balance, full body awareness, etc increases to a level you didn't even know you could attain.

i am also a lot more powerful in general than i had been before i started catalyst. in other words, my power, or ability to transfer a ton of energy extremely effectively, accurately, and quickly onto a focused target has become greater on an exponential level.

but alas! i am glad that i switched my program up. liz and i decided that the climate and the stage in life we reside in has a huge bearing on what type of workout program we choose to do. i'm starting graduate school next semester, so i need a program that doesn't neurologically wipe me out as much as catalyst. i'm hoping that the american parkour wod can be a program that will continue to increase my neurological effectiveness. but we also feel that it will create a stronger sense of well being in both of us (as she is doing it now too! :)).

and, we will be getting out of the gym environment more. a lot of these can be done in a park or on a hiking trail. this will in turn give us a reason to explore the environment - and that in itself can bring benefits not found in the sweaty depths of a gym.

total reps: pushups x 30 + pistols x 30 + squats x 30 + pullups x 30 = 120 total reps

Kirsh = Lurch?

9/14: rest day

WOD 9/15: walking

i woke up on 9/14 completely knotted up. :(

i'm not sure if it was the workout on 9/13 that triggered it, or if it was how i slept. it was pretty bad.

so, i decided to take it easy and liz and i ended up walking around the track at udall park. we first walked around udall park itself. it's a pretty popular place. they have soccer, baseball, etc fields and there were a few different teams playing. there were a lot of ppl walking on the lit track as well. it was one of the most beautiful nights yet, in terms of weather - nice and cool with a slight breeze.

apparently every saturday some crossfitters meet at this park to do the WOD, so maybe if we can get up that early, we'll join them for some torture. :)

time = 1 hr

Gorilla can't get his catalyst in!

9/12: rest day

WOD 9/13:

• L-chinups x 12 reps x 1 set
• weighted incline situps (45deg,15lbs kb) x 15 reps x 3 sets
• L-chinups x 9 reps x 1 set
• kb swing 40lbs x 10 reps x 1 set
• kb swing 50lbs x 10 reps x 1 set - PR!!!
• push press 25lbs kb x 14 reps x 1 set (7 reps right arm, 7 reps left arm)
  
• clap pushups x 20 reps x 1 set
• L-chinups x 7 reps x 1 set
• clap pullups x 6 reps x 2 sets

i couldn't get my usual catalyst workout in, due to the pad being used the entire time i was there. it's ok tho, actually turned out to be a good workout, and it gave me some time with kb's. it also wrecked my core. :)

Spin the wheel of fortune...

9/9: rest day

WOD 9/10: spin class

i took liz's new spin class for the first time and it was fun.
def got my sweat on and lost some water weight...i weighed in at 167lbs this morning!

time: 1 hour

9/11: rest day

Core Values?

WOD 9/8: catalyst wod

• back squat 315lbs x 2 reps x 2 sets; 315lbs x 1 rep x 1 set
• weighted chinups 30lbs vest x 5 reps x 3 sets
  
• (alternated squat/chinup sets - squat,chinup,squat,chinup...)
• snatch pull 155lbs x 2 reps x 3 sets
• weighted incline situps (45deg,15lbs kb) x 15 reps x 3 sets
• (alternated snatch pull/situps as above)
• overhead press 115lbs x 4 reps x 4 sets
• russian twists 15lbs kb x 20 reps x 3 sets
• (alternated press/twists as above)

i patterned this workout like the one from a few days ago and it turned out great. i was depleted completely by the end of it. i also made sure to get the core/ab work in...this method makes it a lot easier, time wise, to do that.

Clean this!

9/5: rest day

WOD 9/6: catalyst wod

• snatch (full,squat) 125lbs x 1 rep x 1 set
• clean (full,squat) 170lbs x 2 reps x 1 set; 180lbs x 1 rep x 1 set; 185lbs x 1 rep x 1 set - PR!!!!!
• knees2elbows x 18 reps

set a PR on the clean!!! whoo, my first since moving to arizona! so stoked about that!

9/7: rest day

One on, One off...

WOD 9/3: catalyst wod

• front squat 195lbs x 3 reps x 5 sets
• snatch pull 150lbs x 3 reps x 3 sets
• snatch (full,squat) 95lbs x 1 rep x 3 sets
• push jerk + split jerk + push jerk + split jerk 115lbs x 3 sets

4 rounds for time:

• pullups x 5
• box jumps (hip-level) x 5
• weighted incline situps (45deg,20lbs kb) x 5 reps
  
• kb swing (40lbs) x 5 reps

time to complete: 4m27s
total reps: 80 + 39 = 119 total reps

9/4: rest day

Crossfit a Catalyst?

8/29: rest day

WOD 8/30: catalyst wod

• 3-position snatch - 105lbs x 3 sets
• snatch balance - 90lbs x 1 rep
  
• snatch balance 75lbs x 1 rep x 2 sets
• weighted pullups (48lbs vest) x 7 reps x 1 set; 5 reps x 1 set; 4 reps x 1 set
  
• incline situps (45deg) x 15 reps x 3 sets

good and effective short workout. the weighted vest is really cool. watch out for way more weighted pullups in the future. :)

8/31: rest day

WOD 9/1: catalyst wod

• back squat 305lbs x 2 reps x 2 sets
• weighted pullups (32lbs) x 5 reps
  
• back squat 305lbs x 2 reps x 1 set
• weighted pullups (32lbs) x 5 reps
• back squat 305lbs x 2 reps x 1 set
• weighted pullups (32lbs) x 5 reps
• back squat 305lbs x 2 reps x 1 set
• snatch deadlift 165lbs x 2 reps x 1 set
• weighted pullups (32lbs) x 5 reps
• snatch deadlift 165lbs x 2 reps x 2 sets
• weighted incline situps (45 deg w/15lbs kb held to chest) x 10 reps x 3 sets

ok...this was awesome. seriously. i wanted to condense these long sessions and so i got the idea (from the boards) to break the pullups up and insert them between strength sets. i wouldn't do this between sets of push presses or anything specifically involving upper body strength, but it worked like a charm between squat and deadlift sets!

it worked so well that i'm going to try it again. it was almost like i crossfitted a catalyst workout, if that even makes any sense. i still waited between sets (and after the pullup sets as well), so i wasn't being speedy about it. i think it still ended up condensing the time though and during it i felt great - completely in "the zone" and ready to rip something apart.

9/2: rest day