Variety is the spice of life

This Saturday morning’s workout consisted of heading up into the beautiful countryside of Brigadoon to do some training outside on a 5 acre property at the “Outdoor Training Facility”.  This is a playground for all who like variety in the training and being out amongst nature.  When we rolled up we were greeted warmly by Dan who runs the session on his parents property.  Let’s not forget the greeting we got from the two beautiful springer spaniels and the pet kangaroo lounging about by the outdoor pool.  Although, I was quickly informed not to go near the kangaroo as she is a bit narky and is likely to bite.  To be honest her snarling and hissing kept me at bay anyway! Who ever thought kangaroos would hiss?!

Anyway, the session was all about 'rocks' today.  We were asked to find a suitable rock somewhere on the property that we could complete 10 difficult deadlifts with.  Then we were asked to find another rock we could lift to our shoulder 10 times with difficulty.  Finally we were asked to find one last rock that we could push press with 10 times with difficulty.

Then the workout was set.  It was to be an AMRAP for 10 mins carrying the rock 20 meters to a marker, then turnaround and come back again for 1 point as follows:

·         10 mins carrying the deadlift rock with arms locked out in front of you (the finish position of a deadlift with hips locked out).  If you dropped the rock or had to rest without arms being locked out, you had to complete 10 deadlifts where you dropped the rock before carrying on.

·         10 mins carrying the 2^nd rock in a front rack position.  Once again, if you dropped the rock or supported it with your body or held it in any other position other than the front rack position you had to complete 10 rock throws over the shoulder (being mindful not to throw the rock on anyone walking behind you).

·         10 mins carrying the 3^rd rock with arms locked out above your head.  If you dropped the rock or had to hold the rock in any position other than directly above your head you had to complete 10 push presses before continuing on. 

I guess I should add that each member had a set of cards they could hand to Dan to allocate more reps to another person or the whole group.  Ie: 10 X reps to the whole group.  That meant everyone had to stop where they were and complete 10 deadlifts/pushpress/over the shoulders before continuing on with their round

The number of rounds I completed were as follows:

·         Deadlift = 5 rounds

·         Front rack position = 5 rounds

·         Over the head = 0 rounds.  I was unable to complete one round as every member of the group handed in their cards for the group to complete 10 reps. Therefore, everyone had to complete 140 push presses before continuing on.

This was such a difficult exercise.   It made doing deadlifts and pushpresses MUCH more difficult as it added variables like, mud, dirt, sharp edges on the rock, awkwardly shaped rocks, thus making a normal simple exercise very difficult!

I will be heading back to the Outdoor Training Facility for further Saturday morning sessions. I should mention the workout consisted of a BBQ cooked bacon and egg breakfast.  Who can complain!

Muscle-up Mahem

This afternoon was a muscle-up test for me.  I haven’t attempted a muscle-up in months let alone consecutive muscle-ups.  In fact thinking back on it, I’m not sure I have attempted them more than twice before anyway.  But hey, why not give it a shot even if it takes me hours to get it done. 

I set off to complete the following workout for time:

12, 9, 6 of the following, ensuring all exercises are completed before moving down the ladder:

·         Muscle-ups

·         Squat cleans @ 40kg weight

Time = 19:30

After completing the workout I realised I struggled to complete more than 2 muscle-ups in a row before my false grip slipped into a regular grip.  Once my grip changed I was unable to perform a muscle-up.  I am now going to go back to the drawing board to work on completing muscle-ups with a neutral grip so that I can complete multiple muscle-ups no matter what my grip is.  This should also help with muscle-ups that I might have to jump up to the rings to begin.  

Jacob's Ladder

Today’s workout consisted partly of Jacob’s ladder.  For those of you not familiar with Jacob’s ladder in Perth it is a series of stairs that you are meant to run down and up for time.  From the top looking down, it doesn’t look all that bad and everyone tends to set off down the stairs with blistering pace (well as fast as you can without falling flat on your face anyway!).  Unfortunately though lactic acid kicks in on the way back up.  You are willing your feeble little legs to step up the stairs and keep climbing, but for some reason your legs have a mind of their own and you can barely lift your leg 30cm onto the next step.   You basically try everything in your power not to fall flat on your face.  It is one thing falling down stairs, but up stairs...really??!!!

So all in all, I finished with a time of 1:58, that would be 1minute 58 seconds (not 1 hour for those smart alecs out there).  A really short sharp workout, sure to burn the legs and chest.  I will definitely be making my way back to Jacob’s ladder again to do multiple sets to see if I can reduce my time even more and to get my chicken legs used to that awful feeling called burn!  Bring it!

Later on in the afternoon I also decided to brave my poor hands to some pull-ups.  I wasn’t really in the mood for tearing them open with too many so I set myself the following workout for time:

3 X the following:

·         15 clean and jerks @ 40kg weight

·         15 pullups

Time: 10:58

Move over Nimo, Tash is in the water

Today was an attempt at loosening the muscles a bit by enjoying a paddle in the water.  I jumped in the local outdoor 50m pool for some lap swimming.  Thankfully I was the only one in the pool at the time so it allowed me to pick and choose whether I wanted to be in the “fast lane” or not.  That mind you, was not what my pool exercise was all about.  

Today’s swimming exercise was more about loosening the muscles and getting them moving, focusing on technique and getting into the pool to do something different.  I might add, it took me at least 5-10 minutes to build up the courage to get into the pool in the first place.  I was like a 5 year old child standing at the school gates for the first day of school not wanting to go in. 

Warmup:         600m slow freestyle focusing on bilateral breathing and gliding

Workout:         10 X 50m freestyle at about 90%.  The 50m and recovery time was included in the 1min 15secs, then take off again.

                        300m slow freestyle with paddles and a buoy to really focus on the ‘pull’ aspect

Total: 1400m

I also worked on some tumble turns for good measure, as I figured I might need to use them during peak times in the pool. 

Cardio City

Today took me to a new Crossfit gym called SF Crossfit in Osborne Park.  Once again this gym is a fantastic facility with plenty of space for working out, hanging off bars and rings and running in the local area.  The 10am class was super friendly and had a great vibe to it.  Tracy (the coach) was very friendly , professional and technique driven but the workout she set upon us for the day was certainly not for the light hearted.

WOD: “Manion”

      7 rounds for time of the following: 

·         400m run

·         29 back squats @ 42.5kgs (recommended weight)

Time = 32:51

Yet again, wanting to ease myself back into this whole exercise with weights regime and thinking about the copious amounts of back squats I was about to embark upon I dropped the weight to 30kgs.

The 400m run started off easy but as soon as I got back to the gym to start the back squats I knew what the painful part of this exercise was going to be...squats!  The first few rounds were, how should I say it, hard but not life stopping. Once I hit about the 4^th round I was only doing the squats in sets of 5, 5, 5, 7 and 7.  My legs were burning like crazy and let’s not forget my attempts of running the 400 meters in between the sets of squats!  I looked more like part of the elderly population who kind of shuffle along rather than gliding freely like a cheetah.  Tracy’s workout also left me in a great deal of pain for at least 3-4 days afterwards with quads tender to touch. 

Sport is a funny thing, I love and hate the pain of it.  One might same I am psychotic for enjoying this pain, but...I know I’m not alone!

Isabel

After a brief stopover in Sydney and a quick trip to Melbourne to give mum and dad a cuddle before jumping on yet another plane, I finally found my way over to Perth to begin a new and exciting chapter in my life.  I have enrolled myself in a Personal Training Course for two months with the Australian Institute of Fitness due to commence on August 22, 2011, and before I get started back into full time study I wanted to try out a few different Crossfit gyms in the area and make use of my time during the day (along with finding a car, house and part time job). 

The first gym was Southern Crossfit in Willeton.  The gym is an enormous facility with a huge area designated for stretching, rolling out and flexibility (something which I need to do more of).  The coaches there are young and upbeat and geared towards success.  So after a warm up of light weights and mobility it came down to the workout.  This workout was called Isabel and she was not very kind to me!

WOD:  “Isabel” 

30 snatches at 42.5kgs for time

Time = 6:04 

After having quite some time away from weightlifting with my travels, I thought I had better ease up on the weights a bit and lighten the weight in order not to compromise my technique and/or cause myself an injury.  I took the weight down to 35kgs and that was certainly enough to get me breathing heavily and taking a number of breaks.

Calf & Quad Killer, Botanical Gardens, Sydney

The sun was shining yet again in Sydney so after my super breakfast of coffee, toast, avocado, tomato and terracotta cheese I was excited to get out and explore.   I set off to escape the concrete slabs and hustle and bustle of the city and ran my way to the Botanical Gardens.  Wild cockatoos, galahs, rosellas and other beautiful birds soared freely in the sky and chatted happily to each other from tree to tree.  The gardens really are quite an oasis, you wouldn’t know you were in the heart of Sydney if it weren’t for the breathtaking view over the water of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.  Quite spectacular really!

After my 10 minute warm up run I came across a set of stairs which must be a focus point here in Sydney as every other runner out there took to the stairs for some gruelling calf and quad burns!  Thus, this is where my workout begun....

WOD

5 sets of sprints up the stairs (102 steps), with a 30 second rest at the top, walk down and do it over again.  This is superb interval training as your heart rate soars for approximately 10 seconds and with just enough rest, it allows for maximum output by the time you hit the bottom to do it all over again.  After the 3^rd sprint my legs were jelly walking back down and my heart rate was out of this world. 

30, 25, 20, 15, 10 of the following, ensuring all exercises are completed before moving down the ladder:

·         Pushups (full range of movement with chest touching the ground every rep)

·         Bicycle crunches (with your fingers clasped together behind your neck, be mindful not to pull on your head (keep it in a neutral position) and use your obliques to rotate!)

·         Superman raises (lie on your stomach and raise both your arms and legs simultaneously as high as you can, then lower and repeat)

·         Walking lunges (front knee is not to pass over your toes and should be at 90 degrees with the ground)

Finished off with 3 more sets of the stair sprints.

I knew I was going to be sore after this workout so I spent about 20 minutes stretching out my quads and calves and walked home to reduce lactic acid build up.  I won’t lie, my legs were sore for a few days anyway. 

Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge inspiration

I survived my 15 hour flight from Vancouver to Sydney....bless the direct flights and even managed to get some sleep on the plane too.  I did however get off the plane stiff and sore so thought I would spend some time as a tourist in Sydney pottering about.  During my morning walk through the botanical gardens (beautiful I might ad!) I thought I would lap up the sunshine and join the herds of runners and walkers in their exercise regime. 

With the Sydney Opera House as my backdrop I set myself the following short sharp workout:

AMRAP in 20 mins (as many rounds as possible)

·         8 meter bear crawl down the hill forwards (on I’m guessing a 30% incline)

·         20 situps

·         Backward run up the hill

·         10 pushups

·         5 burpees

Total number of rounds = 10 complete rounds + a bear crawl, situps and backward run up the hill.

Goodbye and thanks to Crossfit BC

I just want to shout out to all the trainers and especially Troy Straith, for all the love and attention sent my way during the trials and tribulations of learning the never ending technical skills associated with crossfit during my time with Crossfit BC. 

It all started with a month of 6am classes to learn the crossfit fundamentals.  Not only did I despise the thought of getting up before the birds, but I had never touched a barbell in my life, barely ever lifted a dumbbell and my squat, wow my squat, if you can call it that, looked more like an attempt at downward dog or something as my heels were way off the ground and the chances of me sitting into my squat at the bottom and holding it, quite frankly didn’t exist!  I was tilted like the leaning tower of Pisa with my hands touching the ground!  Not a pretty site.  Nevertheless, with some work and encouragement from the trainers I now know what a snatch, clean & jerk, deadlift, clean etc is and not think of them along the Karma Sutra line which was previously thought. So a big thank you to all the trainers at Crossfit BC for helping me along the way and opening my eyes to a whole new world called ‘weights’.  Oh and my squat is looking much more like a squat these days too. Thank you!!

Troy’s final workout for me at the gym was as follows:

·         21 – toes to bar, Russian twists and then situps

·         15 - toes to bar, Russian twists and then situps

·         9 - toes to bar, Russian twists and then situps

Deadlift % of your max weight along the following lines (I started with 150lbs):

·         1 X 5 reps @ 75%

·         1 X 4 reps @ 80%

·         1 X 3 reps @ 85%

·         1 X 2 reps @ 90%

·         1 X 2 reps @ 95%

·         1 X 2 reps @ 90%

WOD:

3 x the following:

·         30 secs total handstand hold

·         20 pushups

·         50 airsquats

Time = 8:33

Thanks again Crossfit BC!  Gladys will be back hehe

2nd last workout with Crossfit BC, Vancouver, Canada

Back in Vancouver, Canada I dropped in on my Crossfit gym, Crossfit BC, to sweat it out for the second last time there.  I also couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do crazy abs with the lunch time crew one last time.  Thanks for the pain guys, I will continue the crazy abs tradition in Australia! 

Warmup = 400 m run

In teams of 2, the first person completes the exercise then rests whilst the second person goes:

 3 X the following:

·         5 ring dips

·         10 power cleans (65 lbs)

·         15 pullups

·         20 burpees

·         25 wall balls (14 lbs)

·         30 box jumps

Time = 34:28

Finish off with Tabata crazy abs (20 secs on: 10 secs rest - 8 x through)

·         Russian twists and hollow rocks

Thanks very much Crossfit BC!!