Humbling Effect

It's a day after another crossfit WOD at Crossfit Construct and I am humbled!  Going into the crossfit world, I was expecting to jump right in and be on top with the more skilled and in shape crossfitters.  Boy was I wrong! There are many maneuvers and skills that i need to improve on. And after yesterday's WOD , i realized that I also need to improve my conditioning big time!

Yesterday's WOD: "HELEN"

3 rounds for time of the following
400 meter run
21 KB Swings
12 Pull Ups

My time:  11:30

• I was expecting to do well in this WOD and was shooting for 9 minutes.  What I didn't expect was the burnout affect my body would feel after two rounds. I should have approached the WOD differently and not have started running at about 90-100%.  What I should have done was to pace the run at about 70%. 

• I am definitely humbled by this experience and realize the toughness and mind set that a person must have in order to excel at this sport.  This is definitely motivating though! It takes me back to my days of wrestling where I would have to fight everyday for a starting spot at 125lbs. 

Today,

My plan is to take it easy at the gym.  Nothing to intense but good cardio and light skill work with power snatches and hang power cleans.

Crossfit Construct Day 2 Follow Up

Wow!  A day after crossfit and I can’t stop thinking about my WOD.  In all, I feel that I did OK at best but was impressed with the intensity levels in class. Derek did a fantastic job motivating the group, and following up with everyone individually.  My form wasn’t very great when it came down to the Olympic style movements but I feel that in time, and through practice I will improve quickly. 

Here’s the WOD (workout of the day) that I did yesterday.

Split Squat
8-8-8

·         The split squat was a little challenging because I have never done a squat with a single leg.  Balancing was an issue in the first set but I improved throughout my sets.  First set I did with a 45 lb bar and the next two sets of 8 I did with an added 50lbs at 95lbs.

     

One round every 2 minutes for 20 minutes

2 Deadlifts
3 Hang Power Cleans
4 Chin Ups (strict)

·         This was FUN!  The deadlifts were not an issue due to my experience but the hang power cleans were brutal and good.  I had issues having the right form at first but I think that was because I started out with light weight.  Max weight on that set was 125lbs.  The chin ups were easy but fatigueless at the end of the WOD made the chin up a bit more difficult.

Post Workout
3 x 10 bent over barbell rows

·         I’ve done barbell rows so form was good. I still had some trouble due to fatigues but kep form and stayed well balanced.

Today, im keeping it easy and plan to hit my gym for about 30-45 minutes and work on cardio and abs. 

4 months, 23 lbs, and minus 4.8% body fat later

So far, my journey has been eye opening!  It was this past December that I decided to make a change in my everyday life by joining a new gym and hiring a personal trainer for myself and my wife.  This was the best idea/investment I made for myself in a very long time. 

Before I go any further though, I would like to give a quick explanation of who I am and where I've been.  I'm born and raised in Chicago.  Played sports my entire life, but focused on my passion, baseball.  Like every other kid, my dream was to become a professional baseball player!  Through my years in little league, I was always the smallest kid in the team but had enough heart and dedication to push myself harder than the rest of my peers.  This dedication was what pushed me through high school, and got me to play rookie ball for a season that was cut short due to an injury for the Montreal Expos. I was also a pretty good amateur wrestler at 125lbs in high school and college.

So, forward a decade and some change later (2011) and I’m 5'7", close to 180 lbs. and around 15% body fat.  I began to hit the gym more often than normal and was able to drop about 10 lbs.  It’s still not enough weight to loose for my height at 5’7” but a good start.  Fast forward into the fall, a move to the north side of Chicago, blocks away from a 24 hour gym- hired a personal trainer who has been absolutely great to work with.  I was given goals, was pushed hard during training sessions and have surpassed my goals that I set for myself.

I now weigh 153 lbs, under 10% body fat and haven’t felt this strong and youthful since my wrestling and baseball days.  So, instead of being content and taking a break I’ve made another promise to myself and not allow the overweight and out of shape person to resurface.  This is the reason why I am adding Crossfit into my life. 

Today, I will be going to Crossfit Contruct for the second time.  I went this past Saturday for an introductory session and was sucked in immediately.  The workout consisted of running 2 X 400 meters for time (1:37 first run and 1:30 second run). That was followed with 50 walls balls,100 single unders,40 wall balls, 100 single unders, 30 wall balls, 100 single unders, 20 wall balls, 100 single unders, 10 wall balls, and 100 singles unders for time(9:13). This workout was exhausting and difficult but the satisfaction that i felt after completing them made the visit well worth it.