Fitness - Golden 21 - 8/31

My plan worked. I'm finally free of that bug I caught Thursday night. The plan of sleeping as much as possible, drinking a ton of water and resting has me feeling great today. Although I feel much better I'm sure there's still a little something there so I decided to go light today and give myself an un-timed WOD with relatively light weight.

WOD: Golden 21 - box jumps (24")/hang power snatch(95#)
3/18
6/15
9/12
12/9
15/6
18/3

Finisher: Tabata Burpees & core work
Lowest reps in any one round - 5

Calories burned (WOD, finisher, core work): 732

I felt good during this WOD. Since I was going light and it was un-timed I took my time but it was still a hell of a workout. Even my shins and calves were sweating after this one. I was spent for sure, but it felt nice after 3 days of rest to do work.

I mostly tried to focus on my form during the hang power snatches and some reps even mixed in a few regular snatches (include a full over-head squat squat after catching the bar over-head) for good measure. As I said, this one was pretty rough even though I was taking my time and not really pushing it.

The tabata burpees sucked but I pushed through those and I was getting 6 each round except for my last round I only could muster 5, so that ended up being my score.

For the core work I did a series of side planks, regular planks and raised (feet on an exercise ball) planks. My abs are still twitching after this routine. One I'll remember for sure.

All in all, a good day at the gym and a productive first day back after being ill the past few days.

Nutrition 8/31

8:30 am
3 links Inserio's extra lean chicken sausage (chpped and mixed with eggs)
Scrambled eggs - 3 eggs (2 yokes), 1/2 cup yellow onion, 1 Tbsp chives, garlic, pepper.
1/2 cup salsa (for topping on eggs)
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (for topping on eggs)
1 cup green grapes
4 dried apricots
1 carrot
1/4 cup walnuts

1:15 pm (post workout)
Protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 24 oz. water
5 oz. grilled lemon/herb chicken breast
salad - 2 cups spinach, 1 gold beet, 3/4 cup mushrooms, 1 cup yellow cherry toms, 1 lemon cucumber, 1 Tbsp pine nuts, chopped thyme and rosemary
2 Tbsp homemade lemon/herb vinaigrette
1 apple

4:00 pm
2 oz. grilled salmon
1 kiwi
2 celery stalks
7 almonds

7:00 pm
5 oz. grilled top sirloin
2 cups broccoli, 2 cups cauliflower - Stir fried with evoo, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes, rosemary, thyme, basil
1 peach

128 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Rest Day/Sick? - 8/28

If you read my nutrition post for today day you would know by now that I had a horrible night. In case you didn't read it yet (shame on you), I woke up in the middle of the night with a pounding headache, queasy/cramping stomach, neck/back aches and cold sweats. All of which persisted through the course of the night and made for a terrible night's rest.

So, needless to say when my alarm went off this morning at 6 am I was not going anywhere. I decided to sleep in as much as possible before going to work and skip CrossFit today and most likely the rest of the weekend in hopes of recovering from whatever bug has gotten into my system. Which is a bummer, today's WOD would have been a good one:

Today's WOD (that I missed):
Plyometrics circuit followed by 5 rounds for time of:
5 Thrusters - 135#
7 Burpees
9 Pull ups

And I always look forward to the Saturday WOD, it's usually pretty brutal. But I must fight my urge to CrossFit and focus on rest, recovery and kicking this thing.

I haven't been feeling any better throughout the day and my plan for the weekend is to get as much sleep as possible and drink my weight in water. Hopefully my appetite will come back as I've had to force myself to eat what little I've consumed today. But the thought of food right now is not making me smile.

Nutrition 8/28

Last night in the middle of the night I awoke with a gnarly headache, queasy/cramping stomach, neck/back aches and cold sweats. Something had definitely made a host out of my body.

This morning I didn't feel any better and the thought of eating is enough to turn my stomach. So, I've tried to consume a little here and there to get some fuel in the tank but It's been rough.

8:30 am
3 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
1 apple
1 Tbsp almond butter
1 carrot

1:30 pm
3 oz. grilled chicken
1 grapefruit
1/2 avocado

And that's it so far, seriously. A far cry from how I usually eat but I'm just not hungry and had to force myself to eat these meals. I might have a little food sometime before dinner or just wait and try to have a larger meal for dinner. Either way, food does not sound good.

100 oz. water on the day so far

Fitness - Back Squats - Farmers Walk - 8/27

This morning's WOD was the dreaded 20 rep squat day. The goal is to pick a weight that you can squat 10 reps of but that you wouldn't be able to get 11 reps. Then squat it for 20 reps. It's designed to massively break down walls in your strength, mentally and physically.

My hammies are still trashed from a couple days ago and my glutes as well. So I decided to not max out and go light on this 20 rep squat effort.

WOD: 1 set, 20 reps max effort squat
1x20 - 100Kg (220.5#)

Even though this is pretty light for my 20 reps max, I still felt the burn almost right away. Which was a sign of how tight/sore my hamstrings, glutes and quads were. So I'm glad I decided to tone it down. Reps 15-20 were still pretty tough though.

Last time we did the 20 rep squat max I used 120Kg (264.5#) which was probably one of the hardest things I've had to endure at CrossFit so far. I got to rep 11 and was done, I really don't know how I got the last 9 reps. I think I blacked out or repressed the memory of that day.

After the squats we did 3 short, really heavy farmer's walks. We stayed in the gym and walked from one end to the other and back. If I had to guess I'd say it was probably about 30 yards.

Finisher: Heavy farmer's walk
3x60 yards (down & back) - 128Kg (282.2#)

Calories burned (squats & farmer's walks): 314
Calories burned (bike to gym, squats & walks, bike to work): 976

This was a fun little finisher. I ended up holding two, 32Kg (70.5#) kettle bell's in each hand.

I'm glad I lightened the load today instead of pushing my body and next time we do 20 rep max squat hopefully I'll be fresh enough to improve on my 120kg PR.

Nutrition 8/27

8:00 am (post workout)
protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate in 24 oz. water

10:00 am
3 hard boiled eggs (2 yokes)
1 plum
4.5 oz. cauliflower
6 almonds

1:15 pm
5 oz. spicy ground turkey
salad - 3 cups spinach, 1 1/2 cup tomatoes, 1 cup mushrooms, 1/2 cup cucumber, 6 black olives, chopped basil & parsley
1 cup green grapes
1/8 cup pistachios

4:30 pm
2 oz. grilled salmon
1 donut peach
2.5 oz. broccoli
1/8 cup walnuts

7:30 pm
5 oz. top sirloin
2 carrots, 1/2 fennel bulb - caramelized with evoo, pepper, garlic and parsley
1 banana & 1/2 cup blueberries sprinkled with cinnamon



This is a fresh, simple desert that is so tasty. But then again, I love cinnamon.



10:00 pm
2 oz. grilled chicken breast
1/2 cantaloupe
5 hazelnuts

44 oz. water on the day so far.

Fitness - Ring Dips & WOD 8/26

It's been a super busy day. No time to elaborate so here's the down n' dirty. More on this WOD to come.

Focus: 3 sets of max rep ring dips
1x20
1x16
1x13

WOD: 12 rounds for a score of:
Max rep kettle bell swings for 30 seconds - 24Kg (53#)
Max rep push ups for 30 seconds
30 seconds rest

Score (total reps through 12 rounds added together): 382
Calories burned (focus and WOD only): 514
Calories burned (bike to gym, focus and WOD, bike to work): 1247

Nutrition 8/26

7:55 am (immediately post workout)
protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate in 24 oz. water

8:30 am (post workout meal)
scrambled eggs - 4 eggs (2 yokes), 1 Tspn cinnamon, 1/4 cup coconut milk.
3 cups strawberries - sliced for topping on eggs
1 Tbsp unsweetened organic cocoa powder
6 hazelnuts
3 oz. ground turkey

1:15 pm
taco salad - 5 oz. grilled top sirloin, 3 cups escarole, 1 1/2 cup tomatoes, 1/2 avocado, 4 sliced mushrooms, 1/3 cup cucumber, chopped basil
1/2 cup blueberries
1 nectarine
6 almonds

4:10 pm
2 oz. chicken breast
1 kiwi
2 celery stalks
1/8 cup walnuts

7:15 pm
5 oz. grilled salmon - rubbed with 1 Tbsp Tom Douglas Salmon Rub
1 leek, 1 purple bell pepper, 2 peppercini's - saute'ed with evoo, pepper & garlic
1 orange
1/2 cup mixed pistachios, walnuts, almonds



10:15 pm
2 oz. ground turkey
1 small apple
1 Tbsp almond butter (for apple dipping)

140 oz. water on the day

Fitness - WOD 8/25

My legs were pretty sore from yesterday's sprint workout. It's just an example of how a short and simple workout, such as a sprints can be so effective. Click here for a short bit on the ins and outs/benefits of sprinting.

Anyway, this morning's WOD was a done with partners and was right up my alley.

WOD: AMRAP in 12 minutes (alternating every 2 reps between partners = 1 round) of:
Weight on bar: 60Kg - (132.3#)

Dead lift
hang power clean
front squat push press
straight leg dead lift
bent-over row

Rounds: 14
Calories burned: 468

All of these movements are right in my wheel house so I decided to go on the heavy side. I felt really good during this one. My form held up the entire time and my partner and I were cranking out reps.

The way this brakes down is as follows: You dead lifted the bar off the ground, lower the bar back down to just above the knee and performed a hang power clean, after catching it on your shoulders perform a front squat, then a push press, and finally lowered the bar with straight legs (performing the first half of a straight leg dead lift) and pulled once for the bent over row, then ascended with straight legs pushing your hips forward (completing the second half of a straight leg dead lift).

That whole list equals one rep. After completing two reps of the above our partners would then do their two reps and that counted as one round. There was a little rest built in as you were waiting for your partner to finish. But not much, it wasn't taking long to crank out two reps.

All these movements didn't have to be performed as separates though. If you were comfortable enough you could link them together to make it more fluid. After the dead lifting the bar off the ground the hang power clean, front squat and push press could be done as one movement. Then we just had to control it down for the straight leg dead lift and bent-over row. This is my partner and I did and it was extremely efficient.

I was pretty spent after this WOD. My forearms, legs and shoulders were pretty much wrecked but my partner and I went non-stop for the entire 12 minutes. It was a good test of mental strength as well as physical.

Nutrition 8/26

8:30 am (post workout meal)
Protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate in 24 oz. water
scrambled eggs - 4 eggs (2 yokes), 1 Tsps cinnamon, 4 Tbsp coconut milk
1 banana - sliced for topping on eggs
1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder - for topping on eggs and banana
1 peach
1/8 cup pistachios
2 oz. top sirloin steak

1:30 pm
taco salad - 5.5 oz ground turkey breast, 3 cups spinach, 2 small tomatoes, 1/2 cup cucumber, 1/2 avocado, 1 Tbsp chopped basil.
1 cup green grapes
4 almonds

4:30 pm
2 oz. grilled chicken breast
1 plum
2 celery stalks
1/8 cup walnuts

7:30 pm
This is why I love having a fridge full of fresh organic produce. I ended up working late tonight and was really hungry by the time I got home and did not want to cook. So I threw this plate together. . .

5 oz. grilled chicken breast
1 cup cauliflower, 1 carrot, 1 cup red cabbage, 1 cup broccoli
1/4 cantaloupe
1 Tbsp raisins
3 dried apricots
4 hazelnuts
1 Tbsp sunflower seed butter



10:00 pm
2 oz. grilled salmon
1 cup blueberries
1 Tbsp almond butter

138 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Sprints 8/24

Today my hamstrings were still sore from Saturday's widowmaker of a WOD. I was happy to see that today there would be no heavy weight or intense workout. We started with a lot of stretching which I felt the benifits of right away.

We then moved into some running drills and walking stretches before heading outside for some 100m sprints.

WOD: 10, 100m sprints building up to 100%
2x50%
2x75%
4x100%
1x75%
1x50%

Calories burned (WOD only): 345
Calories burned (bike to gym, WOD, bike to work): 905

This was a comfortable one for me, I'm happy with the effort I put forth. I've always loved running and especial sprinting. I did track and field and was a sprinter all through junior high & high school so my form has always been pretty solid.

After we were done with our sprint workout we went back inside and did about 15 more minutes of stretching with bands. It felt awesome. I left feeling loose and ready to start the day.

Nutrition 8/24

8:00 am (post workout)
protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate in 24oz. water

10:00 am
3 hard boiled eggs (only 1 yoke)
3 oz. broccoli
1/2 cup blueberries
1/8 cup walnuts

1:30 pm
5 oz. grilled salmon
salad - 3 cups escarole, 1 1/2 cups chopped tomato, 4 sliced mushrooms, 6 black olives, 2 radishes, chopped parsley and basil.
9 almonds
1 apple

4:30 pm
2 oz. grilled chicken breast
2 celery stalks
1 cup strawberries
6 hazelnuts

7:30 pm
5 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
1 Tbsp organic homemade mustard (for topping on beef)
1 leek, 1 purple bell pepper, 2 peppercini's - saute'ed with evoo, garlic and pepper
1 orange
1 Tspn sesame seeds




10:00 pm
2 oz. ground turkey
1/2 cup grapes
6 pistachios

140 oz. water on the day

Fitness - WOD 8/22

I woke up groggy today and was hoping to start my weekend off with a light/short met-con style WOD. But, Sean had other plans as he proceeded to write the WOD on the white board. This one sucked the strength out of my legs for the rest of the weekend.

Focus: Front squats
There was no structure for today's focus. Meaning, no prescribed reps, sets or weight. We just trained on the movement to get more comfortable with the exercise and work on form.

WOD:
800m run
40 thrusters - 1/2 body weight - 42Kg (92.3#)
600m run
20 thrusters - 1/2 body weight - 42Kg (92.3#)
400m run
10 thrusters - 1/2 body weight - 42Kg (92.3#)

Time: 14:28
Calories burned (including focus & WOD): 465

Oh man, the combination of running and thrusters is so terrible. My legs felt like jello after the 800 meter run and 40 thrusters and there was still so much work to do. I'm not gonna lie, this one got to me mentally. I just could not push through the pain. I'm not that happy with my time, I know I could have finished this one much sooner, but I was defeated.

On the set of 40 I got through I think about 20 thrusters before having to drop the bar and I was already sucking wind. I got another 10 and then two sets of 5 but didn't drop the bar again, just rested it on my shoulders.

My 600m run was slow and on the set of 20, I ripped off 10 thrusters but then spent a lot of time with my hands on my knees breaking up the last 10 reps into 2 sets of 4 reps and a set of 2 reps. My 400m run was slow, but I finished the last set of thrusters unbroken.

This WOD was harsh and I was certainly not ready for it mentally. I guess the silver lining on this black cloud is that I was the only one that truly Rx'd it and used half my body weight and I was the first one to finish. I was on my back for about 5 minutes recovering from this one.

Fitness - Dead Lift Max - 1 Round of FGB - 8/21

This morning was a good one for me. I don't mind them, but I'm usually not stoked to see dead lifts on the white board. I believe I should be stronger at these than I am. But today it was our choice to go for a 1 rep max, or a 3 rep max. I wanted to see what I could put up one time so I decided to give it my all for 1 rep.

Our WOD for the day was one round of Fight Gone Bad, a little taste of what's to come in September. We'll get to that later though.

Focus: Dead lift, 1 rep max effort.
1x1 - 182Kg (401.2#)

WOD:
1 round of FGB

Score: 156
Calories burned (including focus and WOD): 476

I was actually pretty pleased with my dead lift effort. I was not expecting to get that much. I was even more stoked because once I got to a calculator, I learned that I had just put up over 400 pounds (barely, but still). I felt strong today for sure, yesterday's rest day paid off in full.

I was equally as pleased with my one round Fight Gone Bad performance. For anybody who doesn't know what Fight Gone Bad is, It's:

60 seconds at each station with a running clock throughout = 1 round, 3 rounds with one minute rest between rounds, for a score. Which is the combined total of all reps at each station plus the calories burned on the row machine.

Exercises are as follows:
Wall Balls - 20#/10ft mark
Sumo Dead Lift High Pulls - 75#
Box Jumps - 24"
Push Press - #75
Row - for calories

The first time I did FGB for real I was very new to CrossFit. Needless to say I got WORKED! My score was 289, which I was not happy with back then. And today, I consider that to be a terrible score for me. But, as I said, I was less than one month into CrossFit when I was subjected to this brutal WOD. So I can't feel too bad about it.

I was excited to hit it hard on this one round and see where I'd be in comparison. My goal in September is anything over 350 which I believe is totally do-able. I look forward to smashing my previous score regardless.

I felt really strong with every movement and for the most part went unbroken at each station. I think I rested the bar on my shoulders for one breath, twice, during the push presses. But if this is any sort of indication for Fight Gone Bad in September, I'll be reaching my goal, no matter what.

For more information on Fight Gone Bad, visit this link.

For a video on the brutality of Fight Gone Bad, click here.

Nutrition 8/21

7:55 am (post workout)
protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp unsweetened organic cocoa powder.

1:15 pm (fasted food until this meal)
5 oz. grilled chicken breast
Salad - 3 cups endives, 6 olives, 1 cup mushrooms, 1/2 cup cucumber, 3/4 cup chopped fennel
1 large apple
1/8 cup walnuts

4:30 pm
2 oz. grilled salmon
1 kiwi
4 oz. broccoli
6 almonds

7:00 pm
5 oz. ground turkey breast
12 asparagus spears
3 cups saute'ed mixed cauliflower, red cabbage, fennel & onion - tossed with evoo & pepper
1 nectarine
1/8 cup pistachios

10:00 pm
3 oz. grilled ginger/garlic ahi tuna
1/2 cup grapes
1 cup strawberries
1/4 cup cranberry craze trial mix

52 oz. water on the day (so far)

Fitness - Rest Day 8/20

I had planned on today being a rest day this week and when I woke up I knew it was the right decision. If they had voices, my muscles would have been yelling to at me to stay home, so I knew taking today off was the right choice. I felt generally sore all over.

It's the first time in a long time that i've gotten a full 8 hours of sleep and it felt fantastic. It's crazy how much of a difference that makes.

I also had plenty of time to putz around the kitchen and make myself a hot 5 block breakfast.

So far, a great morning and I'm sure it will carry over into the rest of the day. I look forward to feeling fresh and ready to rock tomorrow morning's WOD.

Nutrition 8/20

7:45 am
Scrambled eggs - 4 eggs (only 2 yoks), 3 oz. ground turkey, 1/2 cup green onion, 1 Tbsp cilantro, 1/2 avocado, pepper
2 cups strawberries
3 pistachios
3 dried apricots
1 Tbsp raisins

1:00 pm
5 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
salad - 1 cup kale, 1 cup swiss chard, 1 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, 1/2 cup cucumber, 1 cup mushrooms, 1 Tbsp parsley.
1 large pear
12 almonds

4:30 pm
3 oz. Ahi tuna steak
3.5 oz. broccoli
1 plum
4 hazelnuts

7:30 pm (d0 not feel like cooking so I threw a bunch of random stuff/leftovers on a plate)
5 oz. lamb leg steak rubbed with homemade dukkah
4 oz. carrots
1 cup graps
1/8 cup walnuts

10:30 pm
2 oz. grilled salmon
1 apple
1/2 Tbsp mixed pumpkin & de-hulled sunflower seeds

124 oz. of water on the day

Fitness - Back Squats & WOD 8/19

Today's WOD was a pretty light (which was just what the doctor ordered) and done as a team. Our focus on the other hand, was cross-sets of heavy back squats. I was looking forward to this one.

Focus: 5x3, cross-sets back squats:
1x3 - 120Kg (264.5#)
1x3 - 130Kg (286.6#)
3x3 - 140Kg (308.6#)

Team WOD: 4 rounds for time of:
150m row - time keeper
single arm kettle bell snatch - 24Kg (53#)
pull ups

Team time: 10:31
Calories burned (focus and WOD only): 586
Calories burned (bike to gym, focus & WOD, bike to work): 1336

I was really happy with my back squat effort. Last time we did sets of 3 it was max effort so only my last set was at 140Kg and I almost had to bail on it. This morning I got 3 sets at this weight and probably could have gone to 142 or 143Kg's. I can see gains in my fitness every week across the board, no matter what the exercise/WOD, I'm improving on it from the previous attempt. Awesome!

The WOD broke down as follows: A row station, KB snatch station and a pull up station were set up for each team of 3. The amount of time/reps completed on the pull up and KB snatch stations depended on how long it took the rower to complete 150m's. Once they got to 150m everybody rotated and hammered out as many reps as possible again until that rower finished. Then we rotated a final time so every member hit each station, that was one round.

This was a pretty lax WOD for me. I was on a team with two girls who were getting after it so although I was pumping out reps non-stop at the pull up and snatch station, it was not taking long for my teammates to row 150m and we were rotating pretty quickly.

It felt good, got my heart rate pounding for a good 10 minutes but it didn't feel like much work. I was getting around 5 or 6 kettle bell snatches each arm per round. I wasn't counting my pull ups but they went unbroken until round 4 when I lost my grip and had to reset for a moment.

Nutrition 8/19

8:00 am (immediately post workout)
protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate in 24 oz. water

8:35 (post workout meal)
Scrambled eggs - 4 eggs, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1 Tspn cinnamon
1 HUGE banana (sliced for topping on eggs) - Seriously, this banana was so big it accounted for all 5 carb blocks for breakfast.
1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder (topping for eggs/banana slices)

1:00 pm
Taco salad - 5 oz. ground turkey breast, 3 cups endives, 1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes, 5 olives, basil.
1/2 avocado & 1/2 cup homemade salsa mixed to make homemade guacamole (for topping on taco salad)
1 apple

4:30 pm
2.5 oz. chicken breast
6 almonds
2 celery stalks
1 cup blackberries

7:45 pm
5 oz. grilled salmon - marinated with lemon, pepper and basil
12 spears roasted asparagus - tossed with evoo & pepper
2 1/2 cups mixed roasted cauliflower, red cabbage, fennel & onion - tossed with evoo & pepper
1 nectarine



138 oz. water on the day

Fitness - WOD 8/18

I hate rowing. I don't know what it is but rowing is in my head and I can't kick it. I don't know if it's that hard plastic seat, the monotony of the exercise or the pain it inflicts (who am I kidding, it's the later). I could be fresh as a morning hen but a few pulls into the session my legs and back are on fire.

You may have been able to tell that rowing was part of our WOD today. First we did a strict military press focus.

Focus: 5x3 cross-sets, strict press:
1x3 - 70Kg (154.3#)
4x3 - 75Kg (165.3#)

WOD: 2 rounds (5 minutes rest between rounds) for time of:
500m row
12 dead lifts - 90Kg (198.4#)

Round 1 time: 1:59
5 minutes rest
Round 2 time: 2:20

Calories burned (focus and WOD only): 434
Calories burned (bike to gym, focus & WOD, bike to work): 1246

I felt good on the military press and am still wanting to hit up some push press or split jerks instead of a strict press. I think that the next time we do strict presses I'll substitute them for either push press or split jerks. 75Kg was pretty brutal. It took a lot out of me to get all three reps on those 4 sets. the last rep in each set was a fight to get it locked out.

Although I do hate rowing, I'm pleased with my first time. I was shooting to get round one in under two minutes and I barely squeaked it in. I finished the first 500m row in 1:35. The second round I started strong and tried to keep a smooth pace of long even strokes but I was hurting so bad towards the end that my strokes were really short and fast. My second 500m row was 1:46.

I wanted to keep my second round total within 10 seconds of the first but there was no way. When I got off the machine after my second 500m row my legs almost buckled because they felt like jello. I was fired up enough to bang through the dead lifts but this one kicked my ass.

Nutrition 8/18

7:55 am (post workout)
1 protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein in 24 oz. water
1 cup red grapes

10:00 am
2.5 oz. ground turkey breast
1/8 cup hazelnuts
4 oz. broccoli
1 small red plum
1 small donut peach

1:00 pm
2.5 oz. grilled chicken breast
2.5 oz. grilled top sirloin
salad - 1 cup kale, 1 cup swiss chard, 1 1/2 cup tomatoes, 1/2 cup mushrooms, 1/2 cup cucumbers, 10 black olives, chopped basil
9 almonds
1 cup red grapes

4:30 pm
3 hard boiled eggs (only 1 yoke)
1 kiwi
2 celery stalks
1/8 cup walnuts

7:40 pm
7 oz. ahi tuna steak - marinated with lime juice, cilantro, evoo, red pepper flakes, ginger, garlic
2 cups saute'ed carrots and cauliflower - evoo, turmeric, parsley, pistachios
1 Tspn sesame seeds (sprinkled over everything)
1 nectarine



10:15 pm
2 oz. lamp leg steak
1/8 cup mixed sunflower & pumpkin seeds
1 brazil nut
5 oz. strawberries

144 oz. water on the day

Fitness - WOD 8/17

I took Saturday & Sunday off as rest days and woke up this morning feeling awesome! Despite a pretty spotty weekend as far as nutrition goes, I felt fresh, fully recovered and ready to take on this morning's WOD. I guess Dave sensed the same voracity in me because he had me scale up today's WOD.

Rx WOD: 10 rounds for time of:
200m run
10 dumbbell push press
10 jumping pull ups (these are where you're standing on a box holding onto the bar and you jump/pull yourself up. It's a version of an assisted pull up).

My WOD - 10 rounds for time of:
200m run
5 unassisted handstand push ups
10 unassisted pull ups - chest to bar

Time: 16:25
Calories burned (WOD only) - 537

I totally burned this one up and am extremely pleased with my performance. Instead of pacing myself I took off hard and pushed as hard as I could through the entire WOD. My first 3 200's were blistering then the HSPU's and pull ups started taking their toll on my shoulders/back, which impeded my running a little bit. On the last few rounds my arms felt super heavy and the 200m runs were challenging.

I kept it going non-stop though, taking only one breath after the run before starting on the HSPU's. I never broke on the HSPU's either, getting all 5 at a time every round. They were extremely tough the last 4 rounds but I felt really strong and pushed through them. Same with the 10 pull ups, 10 unbroken every round.

A couple guys in the class before me had scaled up the WOD to HSPU's and regular pull ups as well, but had to use a band for assisted HSPU's after a few rounds. The next fasted time compared to mine was 20 minutes flat, 3.5 minutes slower then what I put up.

I will say this, although I crushed this one, today was the closest I've come to throwing up during a WOD since I've been at CrossFit Seattle. If I had something in my stomach, it most likely would have come up. I really pushed myself this morning & it was a great start to the week.

Nutrition 8/17

7:55 am (post workout)
Protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp unsweetened organic cocoa powder.

1:30 pm (mini-fast on food until this meal)
5 oz. grilled chicken breast - marinated with lime, basil, pepper, evoo
salad - 1 1/2 cups endives, 1 cup red cabbage, 1/2 cup mushrooms, 1 cup tomatoes, 1/2 cup cucumber, chopped basil and parsley.
1 nectarine
1/2 avocado

4:30 pm
2 hard boiled eggs
4.5 oz. carrots
6 oz. strawberries
6 almonds

7:30 pm
5 oz. lamb leg steak - rubbed with my sisters homemade dukkah
Celery/green apple/fennel salad - 1 celery stalk, 1/2 green apple, 1/3 fennel bulb (all cut into matchsticks), juice of 1 small lime, 1 Tbsp evoo, 1/4 cup toasted walnuts, fresh chopped mint and parsley to taste.
1 large banana and 1/2 cup of blueberries sprinkled with cinnamon

9:30 pm
2 oz. ground turkey breast
1/8 cup mixed hazelnuts & pistachios
1 plum
1/2 cup red grapes

130 oz. water on the day

Nutrition 8/14

8:15 am (post workout)
Scrambled eggs - 4 eggs (only 3 yokes), 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1/4 tspn cinnamon.
1 cup sliced strawberries (topping on eggs)
1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder (topping on eggs and strawberries)
3 oz. ahi tuna steak
4.5 oz. carrots
1 large banana
6 almonds

1:15 pm
5 oz. grilled chicken breast
Salad - 1 cup mixed baby greens, 1 cup chopped red cabage, 1 cup tomatoes, 1/2 cucumbers, 1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped basil and parsley.
1 donut peach
1 plout
1/4 cup walnuts

4:30 pm
2.5 oz. ground turkey breast
3 oz. broccoli
1 celery stalk
1/2 cup blueberries
6 hazelnuts

7:30 pm
6.5 oz. grilled ahi tuna steak - marinated with lime juice, fresh grated ginger, garlic, evoo, red pepper flakes.
2 cups copped onions, 4 oz. broccoli, 2 cups spinach - saute'ed with 2 Tbsp evoo, 3 cloves of garlic & pepper.
3 dried apricots
1 Tbsp dried raisins
1/4 orange flesh melon
1 Tbsp mixed raw pumpkin & raw de-hulled sunflower seeds.

144 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Press & Row WOD 8/14

Today's WOD was really quick, but super painfull. I felt really tired this morning. I was out until about 1am last night celebrating a good friend's birthday. I got very little sleep last night and my body was feeling it.

I got there early and spent a lot of time stretching out and trying to work through the stiffness. Our focus was on strict military press (still waiting for a push press workout) and then we hit up a short rowing WOD.

Focus: 21-15-9 (two minutes rest between sets) of
strict press - 45 Kg (99.2#)

WOD: 500m row for time, x2
1st 500m row - 1:32
3 minutes rest
2nd 500m row - 1:44

Calories burned (including press work and WOD): 319

I felt good about my strict press work today. I honestly could not have gotten any heavier. I got to rep 16 before I had to rest the bar on my shoulders and the last 3 reps I had to break into singles. On the second set I got to 12 reps before I had to complete the last three individually. On the last set I got through all 9 without stopping but it was a challenge. My entire body had the vibrations going.

I'm not that stoked on my row times. I forget exactly what my PR is but I know it's sub 1:30. Everything just felt extremely fatigued. It felt like there was lactic acid pumping through my legs and back instead of blood, I was pretty drained. I started off well on the second row but died with about 200m left to go. I tried to push through it but felt that each pull was getting weaker and weaker.

If I had gotten at least a descent amount of sleep last night, or felt somewhat fresh, I'm confident I could have gotten this under 1:30.

I still consider rowing to be one of my weeknesses. My form is solid and I do well to maximize my effort and get the most out of each pull. But my endurance on the row machine is what needs to improve. Certainly something to work on. My goal for the 500m row is 1:23.

Nutrition 8/13

8:30 am (post workout)
Scrambled eggs - 4 eggs (3 yokes), 2 oz. ground turkey, 1/2 cup coconut milk, pepper.
1/2 cup homemade salsa (as a topping)
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (as a topping)
3 dried apricots
4.5 oz. carrots
1 peach

1:30 pm
5 oz. top sirloin steak
salad - 1 cup mixed greens, 1/2 cup red cabbage, 1/4 cup chopped fennel, 1/3 cup cucumber, 5 kalamata olives, 1/3 cup mushrooms, 1/4 cup homemade sun dried tomatoes, chopped basil and parsley
1 kiwi
1 Tbsp raisins
9 almonds

4:30 pm
2 oz. chicken breast
1 red plum
1 plout
4.5 oz. celery
6 walnuts halves

7:45 pm
5 oz. ground turkey breast
3 leeks, 5 oz. of broccoli, 3 cups of spinach saute'ed with 2 Tbsp evoo, 1 shallot, pepper & garlic.
1/4 orange flesh melon
1 cup strawberries
1/4 cup cranberry craze

10:00 pm - 12:00 am (Cam's birthday bar crawl)
1 pint Spaten Optimator
1 pint Hogaarden

1:00 am
1 fuji apple
3 oz. swordfish steak
6 hazelnuts

128 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Thruster & Muscle Up Technuque 8/13

Today was exactly what I needed, a little active rest and a very light workout. We took a break this morning and didn't have a WOD, per say. All we did was work on thruster and muscle up technique.

Thrusters are one of those exercises that make me cringe a little when I see them on the white board. I'm strong enough to grind them out but they drain every ounce of energy I have. I was looking forward to see how I could maximize my effort with them in this morning's class.

My training with Dave has greatly improved every aspect of my fitness, especially in the area of technique. Today we broke down the progression of movements for thrusters and it proved to be extremely helpful. Overall Dave was happy with my form but pointed out that my timing was a little off. After a little work with light weight and low reps, I started to lock in the timing of each stage of the thruster and it made a dramatic difference when I started to put weight on. A huge difference, It was a crazy feeling.

Once I got everything firing at the right time it felt like nothing, like I could throw it through the ceiling on my ascent. I was cranking out reps with much less effort and they seemed way more fluid. It was a good feeling.

For the second part of the class we workd on muscle ups. I was the only one in the class who had them down so after a little warm up I stepped up and got on the rings. I cranked out 5 in a row without reseting my false grip. That's the most i've gotten in one take. My preveous record was 3. I did this set of 5 with a kip movement and have been wanting to try them from a dead hang. After a few pointers from Dave, I gave it a try and got two in a row. I was very pleased.

Controling it on the way down as to not get any swing was crucial for dead hang MU's(and quite a bit more taxing).

After this bit of work I set up my own little station with the rings and a bar for thrusters and just did (focusing on technique, un-timed) 3 rounds of:
5 thrusters - 115#
3 muscle ups

Calories burned (during entire class): 408

All in all, I was stoked when I left the gym today. It was a very productive day and we got some much needed rest.

Nutrition 8/12

Today is another fasting day so I'll only be drinking water until dinner. . . is it dinner time yet?

I'm attempting to fast for 2 out of every 8 days. Sometimes it may only be a mini fast of 16 hours (eating a light 2 block snack at around 10pm, then not eating again until lunch at 1:00pm the next day). But so far i've been pretty good at sticking to the whole 24 hours.

Intermittent fasting is a great way to get a peak performance because your body releases more (naturally occuring) HGH when you workout on an empty stomach, as apposed to eating carbs or healthy fat before a workout.

Also, If done properly, it's a solid way to decrease your calorie intake by 10-20% in a week. Fasting is not to be used or abused as a weight loss method though. You'r body needs food, put fuel in the tank.

7:00 pm (fasted food until this meal)
7 oz. swordfish fillet (TJ's, gotta love the exotic protein selection) - marinated in lemon juice, ginger, cilantro, mint, garlic, red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper & soy sauce.
1/2 Tspn sesame seeds (for topping on swordfish)
salad - 1 1/2 cups spinach, 3/4 cup mushrooms, chopped basil and mint, 1/2 cup tomatoes, 1/2 cup cucumber, 1/3 cup mushrooms.
1/4 orange flesh melon

10:00 pm
2 oz. grilled chicken breast
1 peach
1/4 cup blueberries
1/2 cup strawberries
6 almonds

120 oz. water on the day

Fitness - WOD "Cindy" 8/12

This morning's WOD was a quintessential, alpha CrossFit workout. "Cindy" is what CrossFit is all about, pushing it hard and fast and whatever you do, keep moving.

Focus: 5x5 max effort dead lift
1x5 - 70Kg
2x5 - 90Kg
2x5 - 110Kg

WOD: "Cindy" - AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
5 pull ups (chest to bar)
10 push ups
15 air squats

Score: 23 rounds
Calories burned (including focus and WOD): 513

I went light on the dead lifts today because my lower back and hamstrings just wouldn't loosen up. they remained pretty tight so I decided not to push it. Also, I wanted to reserve some energy for "Cindy". Today marked our first meeting.

I loved this WOD! It was right up my alley. Lately, we've been doing WOD's that center around exercises with heavy weights. Lots of heavy kettle bell work, squats, deads, cleans etc. I was excited to get after this one which was done with only your body weight. Pull ups, push ups and air squats. It can't more simple, yet excruciating then that.

I was really happy with my out put on this one. I was shooting for anything over 20. No matter what, I was determined to get 20 rounds. Which would only mean that I averaged 1 round per minute, but that's what I wanted. I went out as hard and fast as possible and was done with 6 rounds by the 4 minute mark. By 10 minutes I had completed 13 rounds. Then it got gritty and it was time to dig in.

The only thing that slowed me down was the push ups. I rocked through the 5 pull ups and was going as fast as possible on the squats almost every round. But the push ups started to break me down. I was having to break them up into 2 sets of 5. Then it became a set of five, a set of 3 and a set of 2. I was having to sit back onto my knees and shake it out every now and then to get some rest, or go into child's pose and try to stretch out my pecs.

I look forward to "Cindy" again. But I wouldn't mind it if we didn't see each other for a while.

Nutrition 8/11

8:00 am (post workout)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein in 24 oz. water.
3 hard boiled eggs (only 1 yoke)
2 oz. grilled top sirloin (left over from last night)
4.5 oz. carrots
1 nectarine
3 dried apricots
1/4 cup walnuts

1:30 pm
5 oz. grilled chicken - 1 Tbsp spice rub
salad - 1 1/2 cups spinach, 1/3 cup chopped fennel, 1 cup tomatoes, 10 kalamata olives, 1/3 cup cucumber, 1/4 cup chopped parsley.
1 cup blueberries
9 almonds

4:45 pm
2 oz. ground turkey breast - saute'ed with red onion, evoo, turmeric, coriander, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper, ground cloves, cilantro.
4.5 oz. celery
5 oz. strawberries (about 2 cups)
7 hazelnuts

6:45 pm1/2 cup cranberry craze
1 plout

9:30 pm (Ballard Market Binge)
3 pieces organic black licorice
2 organic yogurt covered pretzels
1 small sugar free (stevia)/organic chocolate covered almond cluster
1 small piece sugar free (stevia)/organic chocolate covered English toffee
1 organic raspberry filled whole wheat/fig bar (fig newton-esque)

10:00 pm
5 oz. ground turkey breast (cooked same as above)
4 small red cabbage leaves
1 banana sliced, sprinkled with 1/2 Tspn pumpkin pie spice

OK, I must explain myself about tonight's eating schedule. It was a little thrown off because I hung out with my sister and had some other errands to run right after work. After I left my sisters place one of the errands was to get limes for some salsa I'm making tomorrow night. I went to the Ballard Market to get some organic citrus and made the mistake of walking by the bulk food's isle. They have the most amazing selection of bulk, organic candy and chocolate. Right when I glanced down the isle I started salivating, literally. I was craving it pretty hardcore. So I went around and picked small pieces of what you see above out of their respective containers.

When I got home I felt full from the sweets even though I hadn't had much. But I wanted to get something in my stomach that was somewhat nutritious before bed, so I made a mini meal. Not a 5 block meal by any means and probably not even that balanced (carb-fat-protein ratio wise), but substantial enough.

Next time I'll do myself a favor and not step foot on that half of the store. It's way too tempting.

134 oz. water on the day (so far)

Fitness - WOD 8/11

This morning's WOD was supposed to be a long met-con with a lot of running. But due to the rain, Dave changed it up and we had a brutal one inside. I think I might have preferred that met-con to what we did today, it was gnarly.

WOD: 15 rounds (30 seconds to complete each station = 1 round) of:
5 single arm dumbbell split snatches (each arm) 45#
5 push ups
5 v-ups

Calories burned: 451

This WOD looked pretty easy on paper, but it killed me. I had to work so hard to keep up towards the end. Even my calves, shins and ankles were sweating. I don't think that's ever happened to me before.

A quick note on the split snatch, after you performed the movement and you're in the lunge position with the dumbbell locked out over head, the goal is to push back with your leading (or lunging) leg, not step forward with your trailing leg. And keep the lock out all the way until your legs are set for the next rep.

The first couple rounds I was able to finish all the snatches in the allotted 30 seconds, then on to the other stations where I'd crank out 5 reps no problem. In the beginning there was some built in rest. But by round 7 the snatches start taking about 45 seconds to complete then I had to hustle to finish the other two stations to get back the the snatch station in time. So pretty much by the last 4 rounds I was having to go non-stop. It was taking me the complete 1.5 minutes to work through all three stations.

I periodically glanced down to checked my heart rate (on my HR monitor/watch) and I never saw it below 160. I mean, 451 calories in under 20 minutes, are you kidding me? That's an intense workout and one I'll remember for sure. It's a good one to keep up my sleeve if for some reason I can't make it to CrossFit. This WOD can easily be done at any regular gym or at home.

Nutrition 8/10

8:10 am (post workout)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1 Tbsp unsweetened organic cocoa powder.
3.5 oz. chicken breast
1 hard boiled egg
4 oz. carrots
1 donut peach
1 red plum
3 dried apricots

1:30 pm
5 oz. grilled salmon
salad - 1/2 cup mixed baby greens, 1 cup tomatoes, 1/2 cup mushrooms, 1/3 cup cucumber, 10 kalamata olives, chopped parsley and basil.
1 cup orange flesh melon
1 Tbsp raisins
6 almonds

4:45 pm
2 hard boiled eggs
1 kiwi
2.5 oz. broccoli
6 hazelnuts

7:30 pm
5 oz. pan fried top sirloin steak - marinated with evoo, lime juice, cilantro, mint, red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper and garlic.
1 small onion - sliced and caramalized in same pan with beef
1 white ivory bell pepper - cooked in same pan with beef
2 Tbsp TJ's bbq suace

9:30 pm
2 oz. ground turkey breast - saute'ed with red onion, evoo, turmeric, coriander, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper, ground cloves, cilantro.
1 medium fuji apple
6 almonds

140 oz. water on the day

Fitness - WOD 8/10

Today's WOD looked pretty mellow on the white board, but we ended working for this one.

Our focus was on back squats but now a one set max effort. We did what are called cross sets. With a max effort of 5x5 you'd typically work up to a really heavy weight on your last set to see what the max you could do for 5 reps would be.

Cross sets are different in that the goal is to get to a wight where you can't get 6 reps in one set, then do that weight across all 5 sets of 5. Its was a much different feel than working up to a one set max effort.

Another added challenge was that we had to control the weight on the way down with at least a 2 second descent. This was an extreme test of one's core strength and the ability to stay pressurized. Holding your breath and engaging your stomach is key to heavy squats. One one set (I forget which) I accidentally relaxed my core for a second and let out a tiny bit or air, huge mistake. Everything went out of whack and I almost crumbled.

Focus:
Back squat, Cross set 5x5:
2x5 - 110 Kg (242.5#)
3x5 - 120 Kg (264.6#)

WOD:
100 2 arm Kb Swings - 24Kg (53#)

Time 2:42
Calories burned (including focus & WOD): 381

I felt really good on the first two sets of squats, thus the increase in weight. 110Kg was too light for this cross set workout. 120Kg was perfect. On sets 3, 4 and 5 I thought for sure I was going to have to bail on the bar. At rep 4 and 5 for these three sets I stalled halfway on my ascent but was able to push through it with some loud grunting and manly facial expressions.

The WOD was a nice finisher of 100, 2 arm kettle bell swings. I didn't know what to expect with this one. I jammed through the first 40 reps then a little heat began to creep into my legs. By rep 50 my shoulders were feeling it a tad, and by rep 70 my forearms, hamstrings, glutes and lower back muscles were feeling the full on burn. The last 30 reps was pure determination.

I was proud of myself for getting through all 100 reps without stopping. Not to mention how that affected me time. 2:42 was the fasted (and first sub 3 minute) time posted with the 24Kg kettle bell so far.

The main reason why I was so happy with my performance is because my kettle bell form has improved dramatically from where it was. I could tell because I was feeling the burn in all the right places. Kettle bell swings should be a hip movement where your hips shift back, then you drive them forward to generate momentum and maximize power from your hamstrings, glutes and lower back.

There should be very little work for your shoulders and at the top of the swing the kettle bell should feel almost weightless. If you let go momentarily at the top of the swing the KB should almost float there for a second.

For me, KB swings used to be more of a squatting motion, where instead of shifting my hips back, I would drop them down. Which would move my knees forward over my toes (bad) and I would waste way more energy trying to squat out of it and using more of shoulders than was necessary. Subsequently, my quads and shoulders would always get burned out, instead of my hammies and glutes.

I'm excited to move up from the 24Kg bell and incorporate the 32Kg bell into my WOD's more and more.

Fitness - WOD 8/8

Today's WOD was awesome! It was a longer met-con style workout that was done in teams.

WOD: Polar Explorer, 4 rounds for time (with a catch) of:
250m row
20 dead lifts - 24Kg Kettle Bell in each hand
10 Burpees
20 2 arm kettle bell swings - 24Kg
20 air squats

Team time: 29:21
Calories burned: 724

The WOD broke down as follows: We were split into teams of 5 and had to cycle through all the exercises once. Everybody started on the same movement every round through. The catch being that after each team member had done each exercise we had to carry all the equipment (row machine & all three kettle bells) 100m to the first corner of our 400m loop.

Then, each team member had to cycle through all exercises again, pick up all the equipment and run another 100m to the second corner of our 400m loop. Repeat all exercises again then pick up all the equipment and run 200m back to the gym and cycle through all the exercises again for the last time.

I don't know why but I was really into this WOD. My team was really supportive and we all encouraged and motivated each other. There was almost no down time waiting for the person in front of you to finish his exercises. We killed the next fastest time by almost 4 minutes.

Nutritional Yeast

I've gotten a few questions about this ingredient that keeps popping up on my blog.

Hmmm. . . where do I begin?

I was introduced to this delicious item by my sister, who is one of the best cooks I know (hi Rachele), honestly. When she said I had to try and that I'd be hooked once I did, she was not lying.

Nutritional yeast is popular among vegans. And because of it's strong nutty/cheesy/creamy/savory flavor, it is often used as an ingredient in recipes, cheese substitutes or simply as a condiment (which is my application of choice).

It is produced by culturing the yeast with a mixture of sugarcane and beet molasses, then harvesting, washing, drying and packaging the yeast. It is usually in the bulk food section of most natural food stores in the form of yellow flakes (as seen below).



On to the "nutritional" benefits. Nutritional Yeast is an excellent source of vitamins, especially the B-complex (B1-B12) vitamins. Which are necessary in order to: support and increase metabolism, maintain healthy skin and muscle tone, enhance immune and nervous system function, promote cell growth/division - including red blood cells (that help prevent anemia), support healthy liver function and reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer (only when consumed in food, not supplement form).

And if that isn't enough, Nutritional Yeast is naturally low in fat and sodium and is also a complete protein. Which means it contains an adequate proportion of all of the essential amino acids for the dietary needs of us humans. This does not only mean that it contains all the essential amino acids, but that it contains them in the optimal proportion for use by the human body.

A protein source may contain all essential amino acids, but contain one (or more) in lower proportion to the others, making it an incomplete protein. In order to be a complete protein, the source must contain all essential amino acids, and contain them in complete proportion.

The following list describes the ratio of the essential amino acids which comprises a complete protein.

Essential Amino Acid ---> mg/g of Protein
Tryptophan ---> 7
Threonine ---> 27
Isoleucine ---> 25
Leucine ---> 55
Lysine ---> 51
Methionine+Cystine ---> 25
Phenylalanine+Tyrosine ---> 47
Valine ---> 32
Histidine ---> 18

Nutritional yeast is now something I always keep in my kitchen. Often when I'm craving cheese and/or salt (since I've given up both due to Zone/Paleo) this nutritious gem comes in very handy. I'll just scoop a spoon full into my mouth and let it dissolve in a burst of flavor that attacks my taste buds. It is good on anything that would typically call for cheese, literally. Burgers, tacos, eggs (essential with eggs), soup etc. The possibilities are endless!

Nutrition 8/7

8:00 am (post workout)
Protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/4 cup coconut milk, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 24 oz. water.
3 hard boiled eggs (only 1 yoke)
2 oz. ground turkey breast
7 rainier cherries
3 dried apricots
1 Tbsp raisins

1:30 pm
5 oz. ground turkey breast
5 small red cabbage leaves (probably about 2 cups if chopped)
4 oz. carrots
1/2 grilled zucchini
1/2 cup grilled onion
1 pear
1 lime
9 almonds

4:45 pm
1 oz. grilled chicken
1 oz. New york strip steak
3 oz. broccoli
1/8 cup walnuts
1 nectarine

8:00 pm
6 oz. grilled ahi tuna steak - marinated in evoo, lime juice, cilantro, garlic and pepper
1/2 Tspn black sesame seeds (topping for tuna)
3 cups oriental cabbage salad
1/4 cup mixed almonds/hazelnuts/walnuts
2 plouts

130 oz. water on the day

Fitness - WOD "Elizabeth" 8/7

Today's WOD was absolutely brutal. I was excited to see we were doing a benchmark WOD, until I saw what it entailed: squat cleans (this is where you perform a clean starting with the bar on the ground and after you catch it on your shoulders, you continue that motion into a full front squat. Lower the bar back down to the ground and start that sequence all over again) and ring dips.

My glutes/hamstrings and quads all felt smoked this morning. "Elizabeth" was on the board and she looked like a harsh mistress!

WOD: Elizabeth, 21-15-9 for time of:
full squat cleans - 135#
ring dips

Time: 8:46
Calories burned (including warm up and WOD): 534

This was my first go at Elizabeth and although my I feel really good about my time, afterward It felt like she had knocked me on my ass and stood on my chest with a pair of stiletto's (picture the Captain Morgan pose, but with heels, and I was the barrel). Seriously, I was sucking wind and I had a pit in my chest that hurt like crazy. This was the first time I've had to lay on my back on the ground after a WOD.

I feel like I could not have pushed any harder on this one. I was shooting for a sub 8 minute time but that was too much to ask of my body today. I didn't miss my goal by much and as I said, I am truly pleased with my performance on this one. I know I spent too much time resting between the ring dips and getting back on the bar. But I hardly rested when I had to break during the sets of squat cleans and ring dips.

I forget how I broke up the sets, but instead of going all out I tried to set a nice even pace and get as deep into the set as I could before having to take a break. I'm glad I went with this approach instead of going as fast as possible. It definitely allowed me to do way more reps in a row on both exercises and especially later into the WOD. By midway into the second set, or start of the last set, other guys that tried the "AFAP" option, instead of pacing themselves, could only get one rep at a time before dropping the bar. Where as I was still ripping off 3 or 4 squat cleans and 4 or 5 ring dips at a time.

My goal for "Elizabeth" next time will be 8:15 or below. I don't think it's too lofty to shave 30 seconds off this one.

Nutrition 8/6

7:50 am (post workout)
protein shake - 2 scoops (50 g) why protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder (not to be confused with cocoa mix), 1/4 cup coconut milk, 24 oz. water.

7:00 pm (fasted until this meal)
5 oz. New york strip steak
1 Tbsp TJ's bbq sauce
salad - 1 1/2 cup mixed greens, 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, 1/3 cup cucumber, 1/2 cup mushrooms, 5 kalamata olives, chopped basil
4 oz. carrots
1 Tbsp raisins
3 dried apricots
1/4 cup mixed walnuts/almonds/hazelnuts
1 medium banana sliced with 1 Tspn cinnamon sprinkled on top

126 oz. water on the day

Fitness - WOD 8/6

I woke up this morning and my shoulders, legs, glutes and lower back muscles were extremely sore. It only made sense that today's focus was strict military press the WOD was all kettle bell work.

Focus:
5x3 max effort military press
1x3 - 60 Kg (132.3#)
3x3 - 70 Kg (154.3#)
1x3 - 73 Kg (161#)

WOD:
2 Arm kettle bell complex
15-12-9-6-3 for time of:
2 arm kettle bell sumo dead lift
2 arm kettle bell clean
2 arm kettle bell front squat
2 arm kettle bell push press

20 Kg - 15-12
24 Kg - 9-6-3

Time: 9:10
Calories Burned (including focus & WOD): 450

I felt really strong on my strict presses and ended at the perfect weight. It was a challenge lock out on those three reps but I got all three. I had the crazy body vibrations going.

This was an extremely taxing WOD. It was a lot of work just for one rep. You do the sumo dead lift, then go back down to start a kettle bell swing and do the clean, front squat and push press all as one fluid motion. That was one rep. Tough!

There were two ways of doing this WOD. Do the sets as they were written and take as much rest as you wanted/needed between sets. Or just think of it as onw set of 45 reps and try to hammer them out. I decided to do the sets as written and never took more than 15 seconds rest with my hands on my knees (this WOD really took it out of me). I think looking at it as one set of 45 would have been way too big of a mental barrier for me.

I had to use two different weights. For the sets of 15 and 12 I used the 20Kg bell, and for the sets of 9, 6 and 3 I went up to the 24Kg bell. I knew that if I tried to do the whole thing with the 24Kg bell my form would deteriorate. Since I need to get better with kettle bells I picked a more manageable weight to begin, then went up when I knew I'd be able to finish the smaller sets with the 24Kg bell.

My shoulders are absolutely annihilated!

Nutrition 8/5

8:00 am
Scrambled eggs - 4 eggs (only 2 yokes), 2 Tbsp coconut milk, 1/2 cup salsa, 1 Tspn hot sauce, cracked black pepper.
2 oz. ground turkey (mixed in with eggs) - Saute'ed with evoo, Walla Walla sweet onion, shallots, garlic, cumin, coriander, chili powder, oregano, paprika, red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper and chopped cilantro and green onion thrown in at the end.
1/2 Tbsp nutritional yeast (for topping on eggs)
7 cherries
1 medium banana
3 walnut halves

1:30 pm
Taco salad - 5 oz. ground turkey breast (cooked same as above), 1 1/2 cup mixed greens, 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, 1 Tbsp chopped cilantro & basil, 1/2 avocado.
1/2 cup salsa
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (as a topping)
1 Tbsp hot sauce
1 peach
3 dried apricots
1 Tbsp raisins

4:30 pm
2 oz. chicken breast
4.5 oz carrots
1 pear
6 almonds

7:00 pm (post workout)
protein shake (2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate in 24 oz. water)

8:00 pm
5 oz. Salmon with lemon & dill
salad - 1 cup spinach, 1/2 cup cucumber, 5 olives, 1/2 cup mushrooms, 1/4 large tomato, 1/3 cup diced fennel
3 oz. broccoli
1/4 cup mixed hazelnuts/walnuts/almonds
3 dried apricots
1 Tbsp raisins

116 oz. water on the day

Fitness - WOD 8/5

I was not even phased by my alarm going off this morning so I missed my usual 7 am CrossFit class. It must have been my body telling me, nay, commanding me to get more sleep. The extra hour sure did feel great!

Missing my morning class did have a positive effect on my morning though. It allowed me to cook an awesomely delicious 5 block breakfast (which can be found on my 8/5 nutrition post). Something I usually only have time for on the weekends.

I did bike to work today and the brisk commute mixed with a little light exercise felt awesome.

I plan to attend the 6pm class after work today so stay tuned for today's fitness entry. I will try to post it tonight after diner but I might have to post it as late as tomorrow morning.

Best regards,
Evan

_________________________________________________________

Ok, I made it to the 6 pm class. I really need to make sure i get to the morning classes, I just don't have the same energy or motivation after a full day of work. But I'm proud of myself for going.

Today we did some dead lifting then partnered up for some wall balls.

WOD: Max reps dead lift with body weight
28 reps - 90 Kg (198.4#)

150 Wall Balls -20#/10ft

Time: 11:20
Calories burned (Dead lift and wall balls only): 620
Calories burned (including bike to gym, deads and wall balls, bike home): 1231

The goal for the dead lifts was simply to rack on what you weigh, and crank out as many reps as possible with that weight. Right now I way 182 so 90Kg was 16 pounds over, but I didn't want to go any lighter than that. In fact, I had 100Kg on the bar but I went down to 90.

I felt pretty good about that performance, as I said I wanted to go heavier but thought it best to stick to the Rx. For some reason my hamstrings were extremely tight and never really felt "ready to go". Even after our stretching and warm up sets. My goal for next time will be anything above 35 reps.

For the wall balls we teamed up in pairs of two and each had to complete 150 wall balls but couldn't go at the same time, we had to alternate. My partner and I decided to do 5 sets of 30 (because that's how they do it at the CrossFit Games). I would do 30 and then rest while he did 30, until we got to 150.

I was happy with our time, I was pretty much going as fast as I could and didn't stop to rest until my 3rd and 4th set. Both times I split it up into 20 and 10. On the last set I was strong mentally and didn't break at all. I dug in, tried to ignore the pain, and cranked out 30 uninterrupted. That felt good.

After all that dead lifting and wall balling, lets just say the bike ride back home from the gym took about 4 times as long as it should have. My legs and shoulders were DONE!

Nutrition 8/4

6:20 am (pre workout)
1 medium banana
1/4 cup coconut milk

8:00 am (post workout)
protein shake (2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate in 24 oz. water)

10:15 am
2 oz. grilled chicken breast
1 nectarine
6 hazelnuts
4 oz. carrots

1:30 pm
5 oz. grilled chicken breast
salad - 1 1/2 cups spinach, 1 cup grape tomatoes, 1/2 cup cucumber, 10 olives, topped with chopped basil
2 small plouts (cross between a plum and an apricot)
6 almonds

4:30 pm
2 hard boiled eggs
2 oz. broccoli
1/8 cup walnuts
7 cherries

8:00 pm
5 oz. rib eye steak - rubbed with 1 Tbsp Tom Douglas Bengal Masala rub
1 cup roasted summer squash & onion with dill
1 roasted white ivory pepper (white bell pepper, sweeter than a green but not as sweet as a red or yellow)

11:00 pm
1.4 oz. rib eye steak
1/2 Tbsp sunflower seed butter
3 dried apricots
1 Tbsp raisins

130 oz. water on the day

Fitness - WOD 8/4

This morning's WOD was a good one for me. Not in terms of performance, but in that I really need to step up my jump rope game, a lot! And today's WOD gave me a chance to work on it. The WOD was pretty deceptive, it was only double unders and v-ups but it got pretty tough. Then we did a finisher of 2 sets of max rep pull ups.

After about ten minutes of playing around with the jump rope and warming up. I got a little advice from a guy who's a stud at double unders. He could break them off forward and backward no problem. He was stringing together 30 or 40 in a row before he lost it.

Well, after the first minute or so of our WOD I gave up on the DU's. I had to scale it down other wise I would probably still be there trying to bang them out. If you couldn't do DU's you could substitute 3 single jumps for one double under. So for me, instead of 50-40-30-20-10 with doubles. It became 150-120-90-60-30 with singles. I would do 150 single jumps, then 50 v-ups, 120 single jumps, 40 v-ups, 90 single jumps, 30 v-ups etc.

I started with v-ups and when those broke down, I scaled down to lying knees to chest. And when those broke down I went to regular sit ups.

WOD:50-40-30-20-10
double under's, 150-120-90-60-30
V-ups, knees-to-chest, sit ups, 50-40-30-20-10

Time: 10:55
Calories Burned (WOD & finisher): 418

Finisher:
max rep pull ups, x2
Set 1 - 26 kipping
3 minutes rest
Set 2 - 23 kipping

Of course I'm not too stoked on my time, it was terrible. I can't do double unders to save my life. I'm super fast at singles but it's not the same. I really need to be working on those outside of CrossFit (Loren, this is where you come in). The guy that was giving me advice was done probably a good 4 minutes before me, he crushed it. Good DU's are a must have and something I need to add to my arsenal.

I felt good on my pull ups though. My grip always fails before my back does. I'm not sure how to rectify this but I'm sure the forearm strength/endurance will come with time, just like any other muscle.

Nutrition 8/3

8:00 am
1/4 cantaloupe
1/8 cup mixed almonds & walnuts

10:30 am
2 hard boiled eggs
4 oz. celery
6 almonds
1 peach

2:00 pm
Taco salad - 5 oz. ground turkey breast (saute'ed with shallots, garlic, green onion, cilantro, evoo, pepper, red pepper flakes, paprika, chili powder and cumin), 1 1/2 mixed greens, 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, 1 Tbsp chopped cilantro, 1/2 avocado.
1/2 cup salsa
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (as a topping)
3 walnuts halves
1 red plum

5:00 pm
4 oz. carrots
1 pear
1/8 cup mixed almonds & walnuts

8:00 pm
5 oz. grilled chicken breast - 2 Tbsp Tom Douglas rub
grilled veggies - 1 poblano pepper, 1 banana sweet pepper, 1/2 onion and 1/2 star burst zucchini (all brushed with evoo and pepper)
1 sliced banana with a sprinkle of cinnamon

10:45
1.7 oz. chicken breast
3 dried apricots
1 Tbsp rasins
6 hazelnuts

126 oz. water on the day

Fitness - WOD(s) 8/3

I got home really late from a wedding last night so I had no time to prepare or get ready for the day. Thus, I had to skip CrossFit this morning. So, I decided to hit the gym (24 Hour Fitness) on my lunch break and get in a WOD of my own, by myself.

I really wanted to work hard today just get a good start to the week, and also to feel like I had worked off at least some of the cheating I did on my diet this weekend (and believe me, there was a lot. Birthday's and weddings = lots of eating and lots of drinking).

These are both WOD's that I had seen on my friend Loren's blog that he had done at Kirkland CrossFit. They were both short and intense and I was only going to do one, but I felt so good after "Golden 21" that after a few minutes of rest, I went for the second one.

WOD #1: Golden 21
box jumps - 24"
clean & jerk - 115#
3/18
6/15
9/12
12/9
15/6
18/3

Time: 10:02
Rested about 7 minutes before starting WOD #2

WOD #2:
2 minutes, max rep box jumps - 68
2 minutes rest
2 minutes, max rep push ups - 62
2 minutes rest
2 minutes, max rep burpees - 25
2 minutes rest
2 minutes, max rep air squats - 88
2 minutes rest
2 minutes, max row - 602m

Calories burned (including WOD 1 & 2): 638

I modified both of these WOD's slightly. For WOD #1 the original called for push presses, not clean & jerks. But I love cleans so much I added that in. For the second WOD, the last exercise is supposed to be double under's, but I didn't have a jump rope so I just substituted the DU's for rowing. Also, on the second WOD, the original calls for 3 minutes of rest between movements, but I was short on time so I had to make it 2 minutes.

I felt good during both WOD's. My muscles felt recovered but my body felt slow and groggy from a weekend of poor nutrition. My "golden 21" time can certainly improve. It was weird doing these WOD's by myself at a regular old gym. I'm sure that if I was at CrossFit in the heat of the moment, I would not have rested as much as I did. I'm confidant that had I done this WOD in the atmosphere of my CrissFit gym, my time could easily come down more than a minute into the sub-9 region.