Fitness - Rest Day - 10/30

I took a much needed rest day today. I'm looking forward to giving my legs and shoulders a day off. So far, they are really happy with my decision.

When I got to work I hit up somebody who goes to the class before mine and boy was I glad I missed today.

Today's WOD: 5 rounds for time of
1 KB Clean & Jerk - each arm
1 Ankles to bar
2 KB C&J's - each arm
2 Ankles to bar
3 KB C&J's - each arm
3 Ankles to bar
4 KB C&J's - each arm
4 Ankles to bar
5 KB C&J's - each arm
5 Ankles to bar

Basically, 5 rounds of 30 KB C&J's (15 each arm) and 15 ankles to bar. 5 rounds, yikes. I laughed out loud when she told me. Even more shoulder work was on the menu today.

The focus today was trying to find your one rep max on back squats. I'm a little upset I missed that, it would have been fun to find that out. It's something I'm curious about so maybe one of these next weeks I'll stay after at the gym and work up to it and try to find it on my own.

Oh well, it wouldn't have been my best effort today and I'm going to be thanking myself tomorrow and benefiting from the rest when I get after the Level 2 class.

Nutrition - 10/30

8:20 am
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate in 24 oz. water.
3 hard boiled eggs
3 large celery stalks
1/4 cup almonds

1:00 pm
5.5 oz. top sirloin steak
Salad - 2 cups spinach, 1 cup red cabbage, 2/3 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup cucumber, 3 sliced mushrooms, 1/4 cup shopped basil.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing
1/4 cup walnuts

4:00 pm
3 links insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 cups broccoli

7:15 pm
5 oz. chicken breast with 1/2 cup salsa
2 carrots
1 orange bell pepper
7 brazil nuts

10:00 pm
2 glasses red wine
1/2 cup candy corn

84 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Strict Press - Thruster/Row WOD - 10/29

I woke up this morning with really sore shoulders and mildly sore legs. Yesterday, I said I'd had enough shoulder work to last a while, but I guess the coaches thought differently. I was shocked when I walked in the gym this morning and saw that heavy military/strict press was our focus for the day. But, I fought through the soreness and was able to pull out 5 really good sets.

Focus: 5x3 Strict press
2x3 - 70 Kg (154.3#)
3x3 - 80 Kg (176.4#)

I felt really strong with these today, next time I'm going to up the weight for sure. I'm still making gains in this area which is nice, no time to let up.

WOD: Team WOD, 3 rounds for time of
300m row
dumbbell thrusters - 40# dumbbells

Team score: 14:58
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 409

It broke down as follows. There were 4 people in a group split into 2 teams of 2. In team 1, one person would do thrusters until the rower was done, then they would switch. Then team 2 would do the same and both go through the each exercise once. Each team of two once through each exercise was one round

The combo of thrusters and going to straight to rowing or visa versa was not fun. It took our team an average of 5 minutes to go through one round so there was about 2.5 minutes of rest from the time my team of 2 ended to when we were back on the rower or thrusters.

Ok really, no more shoulder work for a while. Mine are totally burned out from the past three days.

Nutrition - 10/29

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 24 oz. water.

1:00 pm (fasted food until this meal)
5 oz. top sirloin beef - marinated in tamari, evoo, red pepper flakes, garlic, grated ginger, black pepper.
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 2/3 cup mushrooms, 2/3 cup cucumber, 1/4 cup chopped basil, 1/2 avocado.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

4:00 pm
2.5 oz. chicken breast with 1/4 cup saute'ed onion and peppers
1 medium orange bell pepper, raw

7:15 pm
5 oz. baked chicken breast
10 asparagus spears
2 cup red cabbage
1/2 cup walnuts

Fitness - Windmill's - Over Head Squats - KB Swings - 10/28

My shoulders were rocking this morning when I woke up and gave a little stretch. The dumbbell snatches took their tole for sure. I was shocked when I saw more shoulder work on the white board today.

We started with kettle bell windmill's to get the shoulders warmed up and to stretch the hamstrings. I worked up in weight to a 32 Kg bell (70.5#). It felt good to warm up this way and get some active stretching with some heavy resistance.

Our Focus today was over head squats, which also takes an enormous amount of shoulder and lat engagement. The goal was to work up to a max weight, low reps.

Focus: Over Head Squats
1x8 - 40 Kg (88.2#)
1x6 - 60 Kg (132.3#)
1x4 - 80 Kg (176.4#)
1x2 - 85 Kg (187.4#)
1x2 - 90 Kg (198.4#)
1xfail - 92Kg (202.8#)

I'm pretty happy with this effort. It's the heaviest I've ever gone with OHS's and I need a lot of work on these, mainly with stability and/or balance. My depth and flexibility was great. It was weird, 85 Kg felt pretty light and it felt like I could have gotten about 8-10 reps. But just the 5 Kg increase was my ceiling. My shoulders, lats and wrists just couldn't support any more than 2 reps.

I tried 92 Kg but it was too much. I had a good lock out but coming out of the bottom of the squat my lock out collapsed.

We spent a majority of today's class time with the squats and with a few minutes left in the class we hit a short burner of kettle bell swings.

WOD: 150 American Kettle Bell swings for time
1x150 - Kettle Bell swings - 24 Kg (53#)

Time: 3:57
Calories burned (warm up, focus & WOD): 476

This was a pretty brutal 4 minutes. I was going to go with the 32 Kg bell but my shoulders and legs were already pretty wrecked, so I went down to the 24 and i'm glad I did so. My grip and forearms were on fire for the last 20-30 reps or so. I was holding on just by my fingertips.

I was pretty stoked on my time/effort because I got all 150 reps unbroken. Not one breath of rest. I didn't set the bell down once, and I didn't stop swinging until I hit 150. I was also the first to post a sub 4 minute time.

We've had enough shoulder work in the past 2 days to last a while. I'd be happy to not see any shoulder/press work until next week and let my shoulders recover.

Nutrition - 10/28

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 24 oz. water.

9:30 am
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
1 hard boiled egg
3 large celery stalks
2 Tbsp almond butter

1:00 pm
5 oz. baked chicken breast - marinated in lemon juice, evoo, garlic, grated ginger, rosemary, thyme, red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper.
salad - 2 cups spinach, 1 cup arugula, 3 radishes, 4 mushrooms, 1/2 cup cucumber, 2/3 cup cherry tomatoes
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing
1/4 cup walnuts

4:15 pm
2 oz. top sirloin steak - suate'ed with white onion, orange bell peppers, garlic, evoo, grated ginger, red pepper flakes, black pepper.
2 cups broccoli

7:30 pm
5 oz. baked sirloin steak - marinated in Tamari, evoo, garlic, grated ginger, red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper.
1 Tbsp homemade hot mustard (topping on steak)
3 large boc choy leaves
1 cup cauliflower
1/4 cup hazelnuts

90 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Ring Dips - Dumbbell Snatch WOD - 10/27

My glutes and hamstrings were incredibly tight this morning. All those weighted lunges rocked me yesterday. I was glad to get some dip work in today though. It felt good to give the old legs a rest.

Focus: Dips/Ring dips, 4x8-10
1x10 - ring dips
3x8 - weighted ring dips - 16 Kg (35#)

This was a battle and it felt good to heavy on this skill. I focused on going super deep at the bottom and locking out to the extreme at the top of the dip. I really tried to exaggerated the range of motion. On the last set I had to break it up into 2 sets of 4.

WOD: Dumbbell snatch,
1xAs many reps as possible in 15 minutes - 40# dumbbell

Score: 302
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 492

I don't know what happened but I really wanted to get after this one. I felt really jacked up as soon as the countdown started. I wanted to get 300 reps, which broke down into 20 reps per minute. I was determined to be the first to post a score over 300.

I shot out of the gate and did 10 reps each arm for only 2 rounds. I knew that i wouldn't be able to keep that up for the entire time but I wanted to get out to a quick start. After that I took it down and switched arms after every 5 reps. I had a non-stop pace going for a while. I took my first break with about 6 minutes left. Then another short break with about 2 minutes left, then gave it a final push.

Overall, I'm really happy with my effort. A good bit of work put in at the gym today for sure.

Nutrition - 10/27

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate in 24 oz. water.

9:00 am
3 hard boiled eggs (only 2 yokes)
2 medium carrots
1/4 cup almonds

1:10 pm
5 oz. top sirloin steak - marinated in ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, tamari, lime juice.
salad - 2 cups spinach, 1 cup arugula, 2/3 cup cucumber, 4 sliced mushrooms, 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, 3 sliced radishes, 1/4 cup chopped basil.
2 Tbsp paleo dressing (evoo, balsamic, dijon mustard, lemon juice, grated ginger, minced garlic, minced red onion, rosemary, thyme, pepper, sea salt)
1/4 cup walnuts

4:30 pm
3 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
1 cup cauliflower
2 celery stalks

7:45 pm
6 oz. chicken breast - saute'ed with evoo, garlic, white onion, orange bell pepper, grated ginger, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, cracked black pepper
1/2 avocado
1/4 cup salsa
10 asparagus spears
2 cups chopped red cabbage


94 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Met Con - 10/26

My body did not feel so great this morning after a weekend of poor nutrition. I felt sluggish and it took me a while to get going.

We did not have a focus today because we were hitting a long, heavy met-con. Usually when we've done longer met-cons we do exercises that only use our body weight. But today's WOD was heavy, and I'm already feeling it.

WOD: 30 seconds at each station (running clock), 1 minute rest between rounds, 10 rounds (once through each station and rest is one round)

Pull ups
Dumbbell Push press - 50# dumbbells
V-ups
dumbbell lunges (in place, alternating legs) - 50# dumbbells
Kettle bell dead lift - 32 Kg bells

Calories burned (WOD only): 682

It seemed like this one would never end, 35 minutes of work (with 10 of it being rest). I was already tired as hell after round three, it was a grind from then on. I kept track of my reps in my head and tried to match it each round and actually did a decent job.

I'm happy with my effort, after I got a rhythm going I settled into it started to get after it. But again, that didn't happen until about round 4. My glutes and hamstrings should be pretty well wrecked tomorrow, which is always nice.

I hope to get back on the right track with my eating starting today with a 24 hour fast. The two straight days of eating whatever/whenever has taken it's toll. I feel a few pounds heavier, but it was so worth it. And I look forward to pushing myself pretty hard in the gym this week.

Nutrition - 10/26

7:00 pm (fasted food until this meal)
5 oz. chicken breast - saute'ed with lemon, rosemary, thyme, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, onion, red bell pepper, red pepper flakes, black pepper.
salad - 2 cups chopped boc choy, 2 cups shredded red cabbage
2 medium carrots
1/4 cup walnuts

10:00 pm
2 hard boiled eggs
1 cup broccoli
15 almonds

90 oz. water on the day

The Weekend

Wow, I don't know if it's possible to have a more amazing weekend than the one I just had. The fall colors were in full effect and the house we rented was right on the beach on the Puget Sound, unbelievable.

We went to Larabee State park and Chauckanut Dr. to check out the fall colors. Walked along the beach in front of our house, the penninsula, and just enjoyed life with the woman I love.

I ate on no schedule and ate whatever I wanted, I did keep note of what and when though. It felt good to cheat on paleo for a weekend, and I made sure I did it right. I pretty much went off the deep end.

I usually never blog about what I eat on the weekend but I thought it would be fun to put it all down. So, here it is:


Friday Night - Out with friends visiting Seattle

10:00pm - 12:30am
3 slices pizza from Via Tribunali
red wine - 1 glass
whiskey neat - 2


SATURDAY 10/24 (The start of my weekend away)

9:00 am
Scrambled eggs - 3 eggs, 1 large chicken sausage link, 1 Tbsp salsa
1 apple, sliced
1 Tbsp almond butter

11:00 am
1 mocha
1 large peanut butter cookie

4:30 - 6:30pm (Watching the sunset from our beach house deck)
2 white russians

7:30pm Dinner at Semiahmoo
Appetizer
Crab fondue - An amazing cheese/crab fondue that came with crab claw meat, great toast, tortellini, and apple slices to dip in the fondue.
Entree`
6 large scallops with jalapeno and shallot demi-glaze
orzo & herb mac and cheese
steamed seasonal veggies (yellow squash, zucchini, red bell peppers)
3 glasses white wine with dinner

10:30pm
2 homemade butterscotch (my favorite) chip and pecan brownies
2 cups 2% milk



SUNDAY 10/25

10:00am (breakfast of champions)
2 homemade butterscotch/pecan brownies
2 cups 2% milk

1:30pm Lunch at Boundary Bay Brewery
1 cheese burger with all the trimmings
a few french fries
1 boundary bay scotch ale
1 boundary bay amber
a couple bites of my girlfriends mac and cheese

5:00pm
1 apple
1 butterscotch/pecan brownie

8:00pm
5 oz. top sirloin steak - saute'ed with onion, green bell pepper, garlic, evoo, ginger, lime juice
4 celery stalks
2 cups red cabbage
2 butterscotch/pecan brownie
2 cups organic whole milk
1/2 cup butterscotch chips (left over from making the brownies)

Fitness - Pull Ups - Muscle Ups - WOD - 10/23

My legs are super stiff today and because of yesterday's squat and running work. But I got to the gym ready go get some work in and then relax all weekend.

It's me and my girlfriend's 3 year anniversary this weekend so we're going away to a little bed and breakfast in Bellingham. I'm really looking forward to the recovery time and cheating on paleo/indulging in some good food, good wine/drinks and some sweet treats.

Focus:
1xMax rep pull ups - 34
2x4 muscle ups

This is the same exact number I got a few weeks ago when we did one set of max reps. I still haven't been able to get back to 38 reps, which is my pr. I'm still striving to hit the 40 rep mark. Hopefully in a few months when I'm done with my weighted vest experiment, I'll fly right by 40 reps.

I'm trying to remove the kip from my muscle ups and just go from a dead hang and pull all the way up and through. Buttery and silky smooth is what I'm aiming for. I was talking with a few of the coaches on how to achieve that and they said negatives, work on controlling your negatives slowly on the way back down. So, that's what I did. 2 sets of 4 really concentrating on going as slowly as possible on the negative.

WOD: 10 rounds for time of,
10 Medicine ball clean & jerks - 20# med ball
10 push ups

Score: 9:22
Calories burned (focus and WOD): 506
weighted vest: 4 pounds

Another one of those grind-em' out WOD's. Just taking it rep by rep and focusing on form. I shot out of the gate on this one and got 4 rounds in just over 3 minutes. I started to die out pretty fast so I started to pace myself a little more. I know i could have got this one around the 8 minute mark. I took way to many breaks and they were way too long. I just couldn't get my mind past this one.

Oh well, I'm ready for some much needed rest and relaxation this weekend. I'll be back on the blog Monday getting my diet back on track and posting the WOD.

Nutrition - 10/23

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 24 oz. water.

8:30 am
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 hard boiled eggs
3 celery stalks
1 medium apple
7 brazil nuts

1:10 pm
5 oz. Grilled tops sirloin steak - marinated with tamari, garlic, lime juice, grated ginger, black pepper, red pepper flakes.
Salad - 3 cups mixed greens (kale, swiss shard, beet greens, arugula) 1 cup sungold tomatoes, 4 sliced mushrooms, 2 Tbsp chopped basil
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing
1/4 cup walnuts

4:00 pm
2 oz. chicken breast with 1/4 cup caramelized onion and red bell pepper
2 cups cauliflower

7:15 pm
???

Fitness - Front Squats - WOD - 10/22

I got a lot of sleep last night which felt great. But, I woke up with sort of a stuffy nose and some chest congestion. I hope this isn't the start of a cold, I hate getting a cold almost as much as I hate rowing.

Today's focus was back squats but in my quest to up my clean max I did front squats instead.

Focus: Front squats, 5x5 cross sets
2x5 - 100 Kg (220.5#)
3x5 - 110 Kg (242.5#)

I felt relatively strong with these today. Although I still need a lot of work and there's a ton of room to build strength on this lift, I'm slowly but surely getting more comfortable with front squats.

WOD: 1 round AFAP (as fast as possible) of,
800m run
100 air squats
400m run
50 air squats
200m run

Score: 9:10
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 477

This was brutal. After the heavy front squat effort, It felt like I was running with an extra 100 pounds on my back. My legs felt super heavy and weren't willing to push hard. I grinded this one out for sure.

The air squats took their tole right away. I could only get to about 30 before having to take a break. I somehow got to 100 and took off out of the gym for the 400 meter run and my legs almost gave out. I was having a hard time with this one, even my breath was done. I couldn't control my breathing and my lungs felt heavy.

The set of 50 air squats was pain full but It was nice knowing I only had to do 200 meters then I was done.

I think my breathing issues were mainly due to the congestion I woke up with, it certainly didn't help, that's for sure. I'm not surprised about the fatigue in my legs though. It's towards the end of the week so my legs are already feeling burned out. On top of that we did heavy squats right before this WOD. And it just so happened this workout was all legs, and mine were/are hating me.

Nutrition - 10/22

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate in 24 oz. water.

12:30 pm (fasted food until this meal)
5 oz. grilled lemon & herb chicken breast
Salad - 3 cups mixed greens (kale, swiss chard, spinach arugula), 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1 cup sliced mushrooms, 2 Tbsp chopped basil.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing
1 tspn sunflower seeds
1 tspn pumpkin seeds
3/4 cup raspberries

5:40 pm
5 oz. grilled lemon & herb chicken
2 cups homemade fennel & mushroom ragu - 1 fennel bulb, 8 oz. chanterelle mushrooms, onion, garlic, red wine, cracked black pepper, Trader Joe's low sodium no sugar added marinara sauce.
2 carrots
1/4 cup pecans

10:00 pm
2 oz. top sirloin steak
15 almonds
1 cup broccoli

98 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Strict Press - WOD - 10/21

At about 10 pm last night I noticed my chest and the front of my shoulders were already sore and stiffening up from the ring push ups. It's crazy, 4 minutes of hard work can get results. I used to spend an hour in the gym bench pressing, sets of ten or a pyramid style workout and not even feel it the next day. Gotta love CrossFit.

Focus: Strict press, 21-15-9 at 55Kg (121.2#)

I felt really strong with my presses today. Last time we did a 21-15-9 of presses I used only 45Kg. This is a pretty big jump. The goal is to work up to a weight and use that weight for all three sets.

I flew through the first 18 on my set of 21 and slowed a bit for the last three reps. My set of 15 was the same, I jammed through the first 13 no problem and only got slowed down for the last 2. My set of 9 was a little different, I got to 5 then hit the wall. Each one after that was a battle, I got all 9 though.

I'm thinking next time we do this I'll go a little heavier than I think I should. I'll pick a weight that will be tough for 15 or 16 reps and try to get 21-15-9 at that weight.

WOD: 3 rounds for time of,
300m row
21 American kettle bell swings - 32Kg
12 pull ups (chest-to-bar)

Round 1 - 1:56
4 minutes rest
Round 2 - 2:02
4 minutes rest
Round 3 - 2:07

Calories burned (focus & WOD): 487

Yuck, that's how I felt during this one. I really do not like rowing, we haven't done it in a while and i was not stoked to see it on the white board today. I have good form and get the most out of my pulls, but I just die out so fast.

Anyway, this was a brutal combo. Rowing, straight to heavy KB swings, then pull ups. Every part of my legs were burning, my back and shoulders were barking at me, and my arms started to get fatigued and it became really hard to grip both the kettle bell and the pull up bar.

I could only get chest-to-bar pull ups on the first round. The other two my pull ups were only chin over bar. I'd be happy not to see rowing again for a while. But seeing as how the rainy season has begun in Seattle and we won't be doing much running, it's sure to pop up more often than ever.

Nutrition - 10/21

8:00 am (post WOD)
Protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate in 24 oz. water

9:30 am
2 hard boiled eggs
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 medium carrots
1 cup red grapes
1/4 cup almonds

1:00 pm
3 oz. Alaskan salmon
2 oz. Halibut
Salad - 3 cups mixed greens (kale, rainbow chard, beet greens, arugula, spinach), 1 cup sungold tomatoes, 4 sliced mushrooms, 1/2 avocado.
2 Tbsp homemade dressing (evoo, balsamic, dijon mustard, lemon zest, minced red onion, minced garlic, fresh grated ginger, rosemary, cracked black pepper, sea salt)

4:00 pm
2 oz. top sirloin steak with caramelized onion and red belle peppers
2 cups broccoli

7:00 pm
1 Bowl left over homemade turkey chili
salad - 3 huge boc choy leaves, 1 small red bell pepper
1/4 cup walnuts
1 glass merlot
2 homemade pumpkin/spice cookies with frosting

92 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Kettle Bell Windmill's - Tabata Tuesday - 10/20

I woke up this morning pretty groggy and still a little sore from Saturday's Level 2 class (so insane). I was happy to see another static movement with the kettle bell that is a great way to stretch out and warm up the entire body. I'm talking of course, about windmill's. We did one rep per side starting light and working up gradually after a few reps at each weight.

Focus: Kettle bell windmills, work up in weight to as heavy as possible
Windmill's - 32 Kg bell

This felt GREAT! I felt really loose and ready to rock after this warm up.

WOD: Tabata Tuesday
Tabata Box Jumps - 24"
Tabata Ring Push Ups
Tabata Dumbbell Front Squats - 50# dumbbells
Tabata Wall Ball Sit Ups - 20# med ball

Score: 42
Calories burned (Focus and WOD): 535

The score was the lowest amount reps of any round on each exercise added together. I feel good about my effort today, although it was a really hard combination. We did full Tabata's (eight rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, for a total of 4 minutes of work) on each exercise before moving on to the next.

The wall ball sit up was done by performing a sit up holding the med ball over head, sitting with your feet butted up to a wall. You sit up, throw the ball against the wall, catch it, then go back down. We had to touch the ball to the ground over our head for the rep to count.

I decided to step it up on the box jumps and the push ups. The Rx on box jumps was 20 inches and the workout called for regular push ups but I stepped it up to the ring push ups. I was going to use the vest on this one but decided against it. Tabata's are hard enough as it is and I just didn't want to make it any harder on myself. Hopefully tomorrow's WOD will give me an opportunity to use the weighted vest.

Nutrition 10/20

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 2 scoops (25g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/4 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk.

12:30 pm
5 oz. chicken breast - saute'ed with red bell peppers, red peperoncinis, white onion, evoo, garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper, lemon juice
salad - 3 cups mixed greens (red cabbage, spinach, kale, rainbow chard, beet greens, arugula), 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 4 mushrooms, 1/2 avocado
1/4 cup raspberries

4:00 pm
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
1 hard boiled egg
1 cup red cabbage
1 cup broccoli
1/4 cup walnuts

7:40 pm
5 oz. top sirloin steak
1 Tbsp homemade spicy mustard (topping on steak)
1 cup cauliflower
2 large celery stalks
1 Tbsp almond butter (for celery stalks)

88 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Turkish get ups - WOD - Strength Work - 10/19

My legs and back are still killing me from Saturday's Level 2 class so I was glad to see that our focus wasn't on squats or dead lifts or any sort of leg intensive movement. Our focus today was Turkish Get-Ups with a kettle bell. The goal was to work up in weight until you can't go any heavier.

Focus: Turkish Get-Ups
Worked up in weight to a 32Kg kettle bell.

These are really fun and take a lot of engagement from almost every muscle group in the body. I'm always happy to see these on the white board.

WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes of
3 squat cleans - 60Kg
3 ring dips

Score: 17 rounds
Calories burned (including focus, WOD, strength work): 915

Today's WOD was done with partners. One partner would go through the cleans and the dips, then rest while the the other partner would do both movements. It was nice to have a little built in rest as you waited for your partner. One time through by each person equalled one round.

60Kg's on the squat cleans was really light for me and I never really got slowed down by them. Same with the ring dips. 3 reps is so little that I didn't really start feeling this one until the very end. So, I really tried to make sure my form was absolutely perfect, both on the the clean and the front squat. Same with the ring dips, I tried to make sure I went super deep and got full extension at the top.

I don't have to go into work today so I stayed after and did some strength work on my own with this little routine.

4 rounds un-timed of:
5 over head squats - 60Kg
10 rind dips
5 power snatches (ground to over head) - 60Kg
10 pull ups

A productive day at the gym for sure. The extra work at the end really felt good.

Nutrition 10/19

8:45 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate in 24 oz. water

9:30 am
1 nectarine
1/4 cup almonds
4 oz. top sirloin steak

12:30 pm
3 eggs over easy, fried in 1 Tbsp coconut butter - topped with 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, 2 Tbsp chopped basil, 1 Tbsp salsa, 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
2 oz. halibut
1/4 cup walnuts

4:00 pm
2 oz. chicken breast
1 cup mixed red and green grapes
1/8 cup hazelnutes

7:30 pm
5 oz. chicken breast - marinated with lemon juice, pepper, garlic, grated ginger, evoo
2 cups homemade mushroom and fennel ragu
1 red bell pepper, raw
2 medium carrots, raw

82 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Level 2 Class - Hardest WOD To Date - 10/17

During last week's level 2 class one of the other coaches (Scott) told me that if I come to the Level 2 class this next Saturday that I should, "eat my Wheaties." So I knew going into this one that it wasn't going to be our typical class. We didn't do any strength work on the rings or otherwise, no balance or flexibility drills, front or back levers or anything really.

All we did was warm up and stretch and do a WOD. A WOD from the 2009 CrossFit Games Regional Qualifier. It was also the hardest WOD I've ever done at CrossFit to date, seriously.

WOD: 5 rounds for time of
3 muscle ups
30 wall balls - 20'/10#
6 SDLHP - 60Kg

Score: 11:42
Calories burned (warm up and WOD): 490

A pic of me at the top of a muscle up during the WOD. Courtesy of Jason Peacock, thanks for snapping this one man.

There was a 20 minute time limit on this WOD (just like at the qualifier) and I was told afterwards that 75% of the participants that attempted this WOD at the qualifier last year didn't/couldn't finish. So I felt really proud of my time on this one. I think I even surprised a few of the coaches. They told me that with my level of fitness, my strength on lifts and my time on this WOD, I would have been right around 5th or 6th. Man, I can't wait to compete in the games this Summer.

Out of 5 of us that were at the Level 2 class today, 1 stopped after three rounds, the other couldn't finish within 20 minutes, one guy finished in 18 minutes, the other finished in 14 minutes, and i finished in just under 12.

I thought for sure my false grip and my muscle ups would fail and I would have to perform them one at a time, but that wasn't the case. I was able to rip off 3 in a row all 5 rounds. The real killer in this WOD was the SDHP's. 60Kg is so heavy for this exercise, it zaps so much energy. The wall balls were typical wall balls and from round 3 on, I was breaking them up in sets of 10 or 5.

After I finished I collapsed and stayed there on my back for a good 3 minutes trying to slow my breathing. I had a huge pit in my chest from sucking wind so hard. I couldn't walk the rest of the day because my legs kept on giving out underneath me. My legs and back were sore as hell on Sunday, and even more sore today (Monday).

I'm hoping for a little bit more of a mellow Level 2 class this Saturday, but it was fun having muscle ups in the WOD.

Fitness - Dead lifts & WOD (w/vest) - 10/16

I slept much better last night but woke up still feeling sore. Less sore than yesterday morning, but still feeling it.

Focus: 5x5 dead lifts, cross sets
1x5 - 150 Kg (330.7#)
2x5 - 155 Kg (341.7#)

I had to stop the dead lifts early because I started feeling some pressure in my lower back. 155 is on the lighter side and I hadn't really planned on going past that anyway. But it would have been nice to get 5 sets in. My lower back, glutes and hammies are still super sore from that kettle bell complex on Wednesday.

I took the rest of my dead lift time working out the lower back muscles with a foam roller and seriously stretching out my hamstrings. After the stretch session I felt much better.

WOD: Score = amount of reps for each exercise (jump ropes not included) added up
30 seconds air squats
30 seconds jump rope (singles)
30 seconds rest

30 seconds push ups
30 seconds jump rope (singles)
30 seconds rest

30 seconds box jumps
30 seconds jump rope (singles)
30 seconds rest

30 seconds burpees
30 seconds jump rope (singles)
30 seconds rest

30 seconds dumbbell push press - 50# dumbbells
30 seconds jump rope (singles)
30 seconds rest

30 seconds pull ups
30 seconds jump rope (singles)
30 seconds rest

Score: 145
Calories burned (focus, stretching & WOD): 368
Weighted vest: 4 pounds

This was a nice, short little met-con. I really enjoy workouts like this, short bursts, high intensity, mostly body weight used. I incorporated the vest on this one. Even though this is only my second time working with the vest, I've really enjoyed this added dimension to my workouts. I look forward to increasing the weight after the next time or two I use it.

After the WOD there was just enough time left to have a little competition. Sean (the coach) took the 4 people with the highest scores and we had a max rep box jumps in 30 seconds competition. I barely won it with 36, the amount to beat was 35.

Overall, a nice semi-light WOD this morning really felt good. I'm excited for tomorrow's level 2 class, I hear it's going to be intense.

Nutrition 10/16

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder.

9:00 am
2 hard boiled eggs
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
1 medium apple. sliced
1 Tbsp almond butter (for apple slices
12 asparagus spears, raw

1:00 pm
5 oz. wild caught Alaskan salmon - broiled with lemon, pepper, rosemary, thyme
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup cucumber, 4 sliced mushrooms, 1/2 avocado.

4:10 pm
2 oz. chicken breast
2 large celery stalks

7:25 pm
5 oz. grilled chicken - marinated with rosemary, thyme, lemon, red pepper flakes, black pepper.
2 cups mushroom & shallot marinara sauce - 1 Tbsp butter, garlic, 1 caramelized shallot, caramelized chanterelle mushrooms, TJ's marinara, splash of red wine, black pepper, oregano. All simmered together.
1/4 cup walnuts

Fitness - Rest Day - 10/15

I don't know what happened last night but I was not tired at all. I laid in bed awake with Dylan on in the background until almost 2 am. I woke up feeling like I had slept 8 hours though. It was weird, i popped right out of bed and I don't think I even yawned.

Anyway, I am feeling this weeks workouts like crazy this morning so I decided to give my body some much needed rest. My hammies and glutes are barking at me from the kettle bell work we did yesterday and my quads are sore from the squats. My shoulders and back are sore from just about everything else.

I look forward to getting back in there tomorrow feeling refreshed and a little more recovered. Stay tuned.

Nutrition 10/15

8:50 am
3 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 hard boiled eggs
1 cup strawberries
2 cups broccoli
7 brazil nuts

1:00 pm
5 oz. chicken breast - saute'ed with shallots, red onion, yellow bell peppers, garlic, evoo, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, black pepper
salad - 3 cups mixed greens (kale, rainbow chard, arugula, beet greens), 1 cup sungold tomatoes, 3/4 cup cucumber, 2/3 cup mushrooms.
1/4 cup pecans

4:20 pm
2.5 oz. ground beef (organic locally grown, grass fed)
3 giant celery stalks

7:30 pm
5 oz. grilled top sirloin steak - marinated in tamari, lime juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper.
1 Tbsp homemade mustard (topping for steak)
1 red bell pepper, raw
2 carrots

118 oz water on the day.

Fitness - Back Squats & Kettle Bell WOD - 10/14

Focus: Back squats, 5x3, working up to a max weight for 3 reps
1x3 - 140 Kg (308.6#)
1x3 - 145 Kg (319.7#)
1x3 - 150 Kg (330.7#)
1x3 - 155 Kg (341.7#)
1x3 - 160 Kg (352.7#)

It felt good to get under some heavy weight this morning. I originally was going to do front squats in place of back squats because I really want to improve my clean. But I felt a little twinge in my wrist this morning as I was warming up and it didn't feel right with the weight racked on my shoulders and my wrists bent back. It didn't bother me the rest of the WOD though, weird. I still plan on only front squatting for a while in order to get more comfortable with the lift and increase my clean max.

WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes of,
3 kettle bell dead lifts - 24 Kg bell in each hand
3 kettle bell SDLHP's - 24 Kg bell in each hand
3 kettle bell cleans - 24 Kg bell in each hand

Score: 23 full rounds
calories burned: 622

Today's WOD was done with a partner. I went through the entire kettle bell complex while my partner rested, then I rested while she performed the complex. When both have gone through it once, that equals one round.

I'm really happy with today's effort, this WOD was a ton of work and required a lot of grinding out reps. My partner this morning was Laura, she's one of the top women at Level 4 CrossFit Seattle. She's even spent a little time as an Olympic lifter. I've learned a great deal just from watching and talking with her. Needless to say we were both looking forward to pushing each other. We shot out of the gate at a blistering pace. We were getting one round (that's both of us through the complex) about every 30-35 seconds.

We kept that pace for a long time and only started to slow down with 5 minutes remaining. Our pace was extremely consistent throughout the WOD, the time it took per round slowed down by only about 10 seconds in those last 5 minutes.

My upper back, legs and arms were burning from this one. It became extremely hard to grip the bell because my forearms were getting so fatigued. We finished strong with a final push and got in 2 rounds with just over 1 minute left on the clock.

I feel great after the work put in at the gym today.

Nutrition 10/14

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate, 1/4 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder.

9:00 am
3 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 hard boiled eggs
2 medium carrots
1/4 cantaloupe
1/4 cup almonds

1:00 pm
5 oz. top sirloin steak - saute'ed with shallots, red onion, orange bell pepper, garlic, evoo, grated ginger, red pepper flakes, black pepper.
Salad - 3 1/2 cups spinach, 1 cup sungold tomatoes, 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms, 1/2 avocado, 1/3 cup salsa.

4:15 pm
2.5 oz. chicken breast
2 oz. saute'ed onion and yellow bell peppers
1 1/2 cups cauliflower

7:30 pm
5 oz. halibut fillet - broiled with lemon & pepper
8 asparagus spears
2 cups roasted white eggplant - roasted with evoo, garlic, rosemary & thyme, sea salt & pepper
1/4 cup mixed macadamia nuts & pistachios

42 oz. water on the day so far

Fitness - Strict Press & WOD (w/ vest) - 10/13

Woke up feeling pretty tired and hungry this morning, not a good combo. I'm definitely feeling it after yesterday's effort. I was not too excited to see the strict press as our focus. My lats and shoulders are pretty spent due yesterday's over head squats. It takes a ton of lat and shoulder engagement and everything gets jammed up trying to keep a solid lockout over head.

Focus: Strict press, 5x5 cross sets, max reps on last set
1x5 - 60 Kg
2x5 - 75 Kg
1x3 (push press last 2 reps) - 75 Kg
1x4 (max rep set, push press last rep) - 75 Kg

I didn't feel terribly strong with my presses today. There was a lot of clicking in my shoulders during the warm up sets and a lot of soreness as well. This isn't the heaviest I've gone with strict press and sets of 5. I've done 80 Kg before but today it was not going to happen. 75 was the perfect weight for this morning.

WOD: "Izzo" - 3 rounds for time of,
21 Medicine ball clean - wall ball - burpee (one of each is one rep, done as a sequence) - 20# med ball/10 ft. mark for wall balls
21 v-ups
400m run

Time: 15:20
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 537
Weighted vest: 4 lbs.

I mentioned the other week that I wanted to start working in the weighted vest with WOD's where it would apply. Today was my first experience with that. 4 pounds doesn't seem like much but I started feeling it right away.

Yikes! This one was not fun. It is the brain child of a 16 year old girl who was at CrossFit Seattle when Dave first started it. I guess she complained one day that the WOD the day before didn't include enough "work".

The medicine ball clean/wall ball/burpees were torture. Perform a med ball clean and while coming up from the squat after the clean, perform a wall ball. After catching the ball and going into deep squat, set the ball down, do a burpee, pick the ball up in a deep squat and start all over again with the clean. Rinse and repeat 21 times. Ouch!

It was really hard to get a rhythm with the clean/wall ball/burpee sequence. I spent too much of my time taking breathers. I demolished the v-ups and felt good on the 400m runs as well. After returning to the gym from the run and knowing you have to go back to that burpee sequence was not a good feeling.

Nutrition 10/13

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

9:00 am
3 hard boiled eggs
1 small apple, sliced
1 Tbsp almond butter
2 large celery stalks

1:00 pm
5.5 oz. ground turkey breast
salad - 4 cups spinach, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 3/4 cup cucumber.
1/4 cup walnuts

4:00 pm
2.5 oz. ground beef
2 cups broccoli

7:00 pm
5 oz. chicken breast - saute'ed with evoo, ginger, lime juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, red onion, red bell peppers.
2 heads baby bok choy
1 cup roasted white eggplant
1/4 cup pecans

48 oz. water on the day so far

Fitness - Over-Head Squats & WOD - 10/12

I'm still sore from Saturday's level 2 class but quickly had to shake it off for today. I went in a little early and got a real good stretch session in before we started.

Focus: Over head squats, 5x5
1x5 - 60 Kg (132.3#)
1x5 - 70 Kg (154.3#)
1x5 - 75 Kg (165.3#)
2x5 - 80 Kg (176.4#)

This morning I noticed a huge difference in shoulder and lat strength and being able to hold a solid lockout. Last time we did over heads my shoulders and elbows would start to buckle at the bottom of my later reps. This is the heaviest I've gone with over heads and I got them up easily. I should have spent a little less time warming up to a weight and gone heavier, but my shoulders took a long time to loosen up. Next time I plan on trying my body weight and going from there. Maybe even a little more than that.

WOD: 4 rounds for time of,
10 squat jumps
10 dumbbell push press - 50# dumbbell each arm
10 2 hand kettle bell swings - 32Kg (70.5#)

Time: 3:40
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 481

Just as I was finishing my first round Dave issued me a challenge, sort of. He came over to where I was working and mentioned that nobody had posted a sub 4 minute time yet. The closest time was posted by one of the other trainers who had completed the WOD in 4:06. Dave had just happened to mention it to me loud enough that the entire class could hear. I took this as a challenge.

I put my head down and burned through the 3 rounds I had left. I finished the WOD virtually unbroken. Taking zero time to rest between exercises and only taking one, 5 second break on my last set of squat jumps because I thought my legs were going to buckle. I quickly recovered, finished out my final round and collapsed. My legs and shoulders were burning like crazy and I couldn't even walk to the drinking fountain. When I yelled, "time!" All Dave did was laugh and yell, "That's what I'm talking about!"

It took several minutes to catch my breath, slow my heart rate down and get the feeling back in my legs. It's just a testament to what your body can do. It's capable of so much more than you think, you just have to push through your comfort zone.

Nutrition 10/12

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 20 oz. water.

1:15 pm (fasted food until this meal)
5.5 oz. chicken breast
salad - 3 cups mixed greens (kale, rainbow chard, arugula, beet greens), 1 cup sungold tomatoes, 1/2 cup mushrooms, 1 cup cucumber, 1/4 Italian parsley.
1/4 cup walnuts

4:00 pm
2.5 oz. organic grass fed ground beef browned with onion, bell peppers, red pepper flakes, pepper, chili powder.
2 cups broccoli
1/8 cup hazelnuts

7:00 pm
3 oz. yellow fin tuna steak
3 eggs - sunny side up cooked with 1/2 Tbsp ghee
2 Tbsp salsa
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (for topping on eggs)
1 cup cauliflower
2 medium carrots
1 small red bell pepper

10:15 pm
2 oz. chicken breast
1 small apple
1/8 cup almonds

110 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Level 2 class & WOD - 10/10

I recently have tested into the level 2 class at CrossFit Seattle. It's only on Saturday, this is my third week doing it and it has been unbelievable. It is taught by Dave and is way more gymnastics based. A ton of ring work, front levers, back levers, planges etc. Lots of shoulder and handstand work and static holds on the pommel horse.

Right now we're working on developing press to handstand in free space (not against a wall). As well as a ton of core, balance, hip and flexibility work. Such as L-sits, candlesticks and other drills to promote this type of strength.

It's a completely different type of strength than I've ever trained in and I've really been enjoying the challenge. I'm learning how to do things that I've always wanted to learn. So whenever you see a fitness post on a Saturday, it's from the Level 2 class.

Here is a PDF of the skills chart from Level 4 CrossFit Seattle of what it takes to test into each level. I'm really close to getting Level 3. There are still a few things holding me back though.

Anyway, today we worked on a lot on core and handstand work. Including hand stand holds against a wall and while keeping your upper and lower back pinned against the wall and straddling your legs, rotate your hips off the wall, lowering your legs to 90 degrees, then raise them back up to the wall. Sets of three of that.

Then we did 5 rounds of L-sits, 15 seconds on 60 seconds rest. After that we did candlesticks, 4 sets of 3. Which was crazy hard after the L-sits. Then tabata handstand holds.

We finished with a pretty gnarly WOD: AMRAP in 7 minutes of,
7 figure 8's (once around each leg was one rep) - 16 Kg kettle bell
7 push ups
7 pull ups

Score: 8 full rounds
Calories burned (throughout entire class): 621

I've attached a YouTube video of how a kettle bell figure 8's are done. I chose this one because it really shows the explosiveness of how this movement should be done. We did it a little differently though. We kept our arms straight and stopped the bell with our other hand out in front of us, not pulling it in close to the chest.

This is a brutal exercise. You're supposed to really load up the leg when the kettle bell is on that side and get a good whip and pop your hips. Just like American swings, there should be very little shoulder work with these. It's mostly a core twist and a hip drive.

I'm proud of my 8 rounds, it was the most out of the other level 2'ers. I was spent after this weeks class and went home and took a nap, something I rarely do. Can't wait to see what's in store for next week.

Fitness - Weighted sit ups & Clean max - 10/09

Today we started with weighted sit ups using kettle bells. Holding one in each hand lying on your back while your partner held your feet. Complete sets of sit ups with your elbows locked out the entire time keeping the kettle bells pressed above your head.

Focus: Weighted sit ups
I didn't really keep track of reps or sets. I worked up in weight to 24Kg kettle bells and that was plenty. I wasn't doing more than 5 or 6 reps each set.

We did not have a WOD today, it was a technique day and the exercise was barbell cleans. One of my favorites and one of my best areas. We spent a lot of time warming up the legs and shoulders etc. Then we worked up in weight to find a weight that was manageable for 3 reps at a time. I, on the other hand, wanted to find my 1 rep max. So I worked up to it as follows.

Barbell Cleans:
1x115 Kg (253.5#)
1x120 Kg (264.5#)
1x125 Kg (275.6#) - Failed this attempt (due to sketchy footing)
1x125 Kg (275.6#) - GOT IT!
1x132 Kg (291#) - Failed this attempt

I'm happy about this effort and at the same time I'm pretty upset with myself. I went in with 275 as my goal but I know I'm able to clean more than that. After I got 275# I made a huge/stupid mistake. I don't know what I was thinking but I was pretty jacked up and on an adrenaline high and I decided to go straight from 275 to 291#. A 16 pound jump in weight. Needless to say I didn't get it.

Had I just added another 2.5 Kg's (5 pounds) I know I would have been able to get up 280. The way I threw up 275, I even impressed myself. I felt really strong coming out of the front squat with 275 racked on my shoulders. My core was solid and I had a smooth ascent to complete the rep.

The problem with my attempt at 291 wasn't the explosion off the ground, popping my hips, or dropping under the bar to get a good rack on my shoulders, it was at the bottom of the front squat that I fell apart. My hips kept pitching forward rolling the weight over my toes instead of keeping it back on my heels.

I got what I wanted going into it, 275#. But at the same time, I've never cleaned more than that. It was my 1 rep max in high school as well and I'm so much stronger now than I was back then. I should have gotten more, I just can't seem to push past the 275 mark. I wish I would have been a little more realistic and tried 280 instead of what I did. I mean, you never know but I'm pretty sure I would have been able to control a 5 pound increase in weight much better than a 16 pound increase.

Anyway, I'm beating myself up over it which is dumb. I got 275 which is a great accomplishment at one and a half times my body weight (I weigh between 180 and 185 on any given day). I plan on working on my front squats and getting a lot more comfortable with them for the next month or so and trying to clean more than 275 again in mid November. This time I'll be more realistic about it and shoot for 280.

Nutrition 10/09

8:00 am (post WOD)
Protein shake - 2 scoops (50g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/4 cup organic unsweetened full fat coconut milk.

1:00 pm (fasted food until this meal)
6.5 oz. yellow fin tuna steak - seared
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1 cup red cabbage, 1 cup cherry toms, 3/4 cup cucumber, 4 sliced mushrooms, 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley.
1/8 cup macadamia nuts
1/8 pistachios

4:00 pm
2.5 oz. chicken breast
2 cups broccoli
1 cup strawberries
1/4 cup walnuts

7:00 pm
6 oz. ground turkey breast - saute`ed with onion, garlic, paprika, red pepper flakes, black pepper, green onion, Italian parsley.
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (as topping for turkey)
15 asparagus spears
15 almonds

116 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Pull ups & WOD (400m's) - 10/08

Yesterday's rest sure did do me well. I felt spry and ready to attack this morning's WOD. Then I saw what the WOD was and I wished I had taken today off, instead of yesterday.

Focus: 5x5 weighted dead hang pull ups
1x5 - 16 Kg (35#)
1x5 - 18 Kg (39.7#)
3x5 - 20 Kg (44.1#)

I felt strong on my pull ups, having a day of rest for my back and shoulders to recover felt nice. I tried to remain as explosive as possible with no kip and get my chest to the bar. On sets 1 & 2 I was able to achieve this from a dead hang. The last 2 sets were a grind, I was only able to get my chin barely above the bar. It was a good challenge though, I didn't have to use a kip.

After our focus we did some running drills and a little more light stretching before today's WOD.

WOD: 5 rounds of
400m run
2 minute rest

400m #1 - un-timed
400m #2 - 1:12
400m #3 - 1:17
400m #4 - 1:22
400m #5 - 1:17

Calories burned (focus, drills & WOD): 565

Our first one was just a warm up, we were told not to sprint this one, bot not to jog it either. Just a brisk once around the block at about 60% effort.

The goal for the other 4 was to sprint all out, each time, but try to keep your times as consistent as possible. Which sounds weird, obviously the times are going to get slower and slower, but you still have to try to sprint. There was to be no "sand bagging" in this one.

My initial goal was to keep all my times under 1:20. I just missed it on the 4th 400. I was pissed, I thought for sure I'd be able to stay under 1:20. So, on the last one I decided I wouldn't let me last 400m run be my slowest. I wanted to kick it in and post a faster time. It hurt pretty bad but I did get my time back under 1:20. It felt good, I was the only one that posted a faster time on their last 400.

To be honest, I was surprised at how slow my first timed one was. I know around a track I can run a sub 60 second 400 and I was hoping to have my first timed 400 this morning around 65-68 seconds. However, we were running on a sidewalk around 90 degree corners, which required some slowing down and negotiating. Not to mention it was garbage day so we were also dodging garbage cans. It must have looked funny to those dog walkers and people reading their morning paper.

Nutrition 10/08

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

9:30 am
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 hard boiled eggs
1 carrot
1/4 honeydew melon
15 almonds

1:20 pm
5 oz. grilled chicken - marinated in evoo, rosemary, thyme, lime juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper.
Salad - 3 cups mixed greens (beet greens, kale, swiss chard, red cabbage, bok choy, spinach), 1 cup cherry toms, 3/4 cup cucumber, 4 mushrooms.
1/4 cup walnuts

4:30 pm
3 oz. yellow fin tuna steak - seared in evoo, tamari, lime juice, red pepper flakes, grated ginger, black pepper.
2 cups cauliflower
15 hazelnuts

7:30 pm
5 oz. top sirloin steak
Salad - 3 diced celery stalks, 1 diced small yellow bell pepper, 2 heads baby bok choy
7 brazil nuts

Fitness - Rest Day - 10/07

Wowie! I'm sore today. My shoulders, traps, lats, delts, lower back and quads are all wrecked. My hammies are tight and even my forearms are sore. Which is weird, I'm pretty sure it's from gripping the kettle bell for so many reps in yesterday's WOD.

I needed a rest day today. I slept in an extra hour and it felt amazing. There's nothing like waking up in a fog, then realizing you have another hour and a half to stay in a warm bed.

I'm looking forward to waking up recovered and refreshed tomorrow and getting back into the gym to get after it.

Nutrition 10/07

1:00 pm (fasted food until this meal)
5.5 oz. ground beef - cooked with yellow bell pepper, onion, paprika, black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic, evoo.
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 cup mushrooms, 3 olives, 1/4 cup salsa.

4:00 pm
3 oz. chicken breast - grilled with lemon juice, rosemary, thyme, pepper, red pepper & garlic
1/4 cup caramelized red onion, garlic, red pepper
2 cups broccoli
1/4 cup walnuts

7:00 pm (dinner at a family friend's house)
6 oz. king salmon
1 ear yellow corn
1/4 cup brown rice
2 cups cesar salad
1/2 cup raspberries, 1 TJ's meringue cookie, 1/2 cup devonshire cream - all mashed/mixed up in a bowl.

122 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Back Squats & WOD - 10/06

I got a lot of sleep last night and again felt the benefits this morning. I'm constantly trying to improve my sleeping habits. Basically all I need to do is get more of it and I'll be set. Sounds easy enough.

Anyway, another back squat day and I can feel myself still getting stronger. Especially coming up from the bottom and being able to keep a pressurized core.

Focus: 5x5, back squats
1x5 140 Kg (308.6#)
3x5 150 Kg (330.7#)

I could only get in 4 sets due to time constraints but this amount of work felt great. The last 2 reps in each set at 150 were the perfect challenge, and I prevailed.

WOD: as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
Single arm kettle Bell clean & jerk - 24 Kg (53#)

Score: 136
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 460

This was a pretty tough test. When you start getting tired, It's really easy to get sloppy with your form when using kettle bells. This WOD forced me to focus on keeping my form in check for 2 reasons. 1) When done correctly, kettle bell clean & jerks are a pretty fluid movement and can be done without a lot of upper body work. This allows for way more reps to be completed. 2) When you start to get tired and begin loosing control of the bell, it's really easy to get hurt.

It didn't matter how you split it up between each arm, every time you got the bell overhead counted as one rep. Another note, It's important to remember to jump when doing the clean AND the jerk part of this exercise. You really loose a lot of power without the jump.

My shoulders are already starting to tighten up so hopefully we'll lay off the shoulder work tomorrow. But knowing CrossFit, that's most likely a pipe dream.

Nutrition 10/06

9:00 am (post WOD)
2 hard boiled eggs
2.5 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 medium carrots
1 cup strawberries
1/4 cup walnuts

1:15 pm
5 oz. saute'ed chicken breast - saute'ed with evoo, red pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic, grated ginger, red onion, red bell pepper, green onion, paprika, lime juice, tamari.
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 4 sliced mushrooms, 6 olives, 1/2 avocado, 1/4 cup salsa.
1 tspn pumpkin seeds
1 tspn hulled sunflower seeds

4:25 pm
2 leftover turkey meatballs (approx. 3 oz. ground turkey)
3 celery stalks
15 almonds

7:15 pm
5 oz. top sirloin steak - marinated in garlic, evoo, red pepper flakes, grated ginger, lime juice, cilantro, tamari.
3 cups chanterelle mushrooms (wild picked) with red wine reduction - chanterelle mushrooms, fennel, shallots, butter, garlic, red wine - all reduced down, so good.
1/4 cup mixed macadamia nuts & pistachios

10:00 pm
2 oz. wild caught yellow fin tuna steak
1 cup red cabbage
1 Tbsp nut butter.

120 oz. water on the day

Fitness 10/05

I had a pretty poor weekend nutrition wise but wasn't feeling the effects too bad this morning. Today was a long burner of only calisthenic exercises. Calisthenics are simple movements that increase strength and tone and use only one's body weight (Dips, sit ups, pull ups, push ups etc.)

Today's WOD was done in teams of 5. It didn't matter how we split it up or who was on which movement, we all worked together to achieve the required amount of reps for each exercise. I wrote the amount that each person was responsible for below, but we helped each other out where needed. For example, I'm good at pull ups and push ups so I took on a lot more of those to help out a woman on our team who was not as good. Stuff like that. She in turn did more sit ups and air squats, things that were easier for her.

WOD:
600 air squats (120 each)
500 sit ups (100 each)
400 push ups (80 each)
300 pull ups (60 each)
200 burpees (40 each)

Time: 25:52
Calories burned (WOD only): 449

This was a fun one, just put your head down and crank out reps. Once I got burned out on one exercise, switch to a different one. We just had to keep moving and keep the reps coming.

It got pretty hard super fast. Towards the end I could only get 10 pull ups at a time, 10 push ups at a time, a few burpees etc. Your endurance on calisthenics starts to decline surprisingly fast. It was nice to have a variety of exercises though, that way we could rest one group of muscles while still working on another.

Nutrition 10/05

9:00 pm (Post WOD)
2 hard boiled eggs
2 oz. lamb leg steak - rubbed with homemade dukkah
2 cups broccoli
1/4 orange honeydew melon
1/4 cup almonds

1:00 pm
5 oz. Coho salmon - broiled with lemon, pepper, rosemary, thyme
salad - 3 cups mixed salad greens (kale, spinach, rainbow chard, beet greens), 1 cup cherry toms, 4 sliced mushrooms, 1/2 cup cucumber.
1/4 cup hazelnuts

4:15 pm
3 oz. chicken breast
2 cups cauliflower
7 brazil nuts

7:00 pm
Not sure yet

118 oz. water on the day so far.

Fitness 10/03

WOD: 5 round for time of:
20 SDLHP - 32Kg kettle bell
400m run

Time: 14:42
Calories burned (warm up & WOD): 415

Fitness - Dead lifts & WOD - 10/02

Yesterday's light WOD certainly did me well. I woke up not feeling that sore or fatigued at all, which was a nice change. Today's workout scheme was a lot like what we did yesterday, just different exercises.

Focus: 5x3, dead lifts
1x3 - 145 Kg
1x3 - 150 Kg
3x3 - 160 Kg

I didn't feel as strong on these as I had hoped. My lower back started to tighten up on me and I had to work with a hard foam roller to get the knot out.

WOD: AMRAP in 14 minutes of:
7 hang cleans - 50 Kg
14 Knees to elbows
21 air squats

Score: 8 full rounds, 7 hang cleans, 14 knees to elbows, 7 air squats.
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 471

Just a few more air squats away from 9 full rounds, dang!

Today's WOD was done in teams of three (each starting on a different exercise) rotating through each exercise. 50 Kg was super light for me on the hang cleans but we were supposed to pick a weight that everybody could use so I had to lighten it up for the other two on the team. Which was fine, because after the first few rounds, these started to ware on me. The "end of the week" fatigue started to set in. The knees to elbows and air squats were pretty easy to push through the pain and bang them out.

I like working in teams sometimes, the other guys in our group were great and kept an awesome pace. Very motivational when you're trying not to slow down your teammates who are on your heels waiting to get on the next exercise.

Nutrition 10/02

9:15 am (post WOD)
scrambled eggs - 1 Tbsp ghee, 3 eggs, 3 oz. top sirloin steak, 1/2 yellow peppers, 1 shallot, 1/4 cup green onion, garlic, pepper.
1 cup strawberries
4 prunes
1 cup mixed pecans, walnuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, brazil nuts
2 celery stalks

1:00 pm
5 oz. chicken breast
Salad - 2 cups spinach, 1 cup arugula, 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/4 cup salsa, 1/2 avocado, 3 mushrooms
3 oz. broccoli
1/4 cup almonds

4:00 pm
1 link Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 oz. ground turkey breast
1 cup cauliflower
1 carrot
1 tspn de-hulled sunflower seeds
1 tspn pumpkin seeds

7:00 pm
5 oz. Top sirloin steak - marinated in ginger, garlic, lime juice, evoo, cilantro, red pepper flakes, black pepper
1 Tbsp homemade hot mustard
2 cups roasted eggplant
12 asparagus spears
1/4 cup mango
1/4 cup walnuts

112 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Strict military press & WOD - 10/1

Today's WOD was pretty light which was a nice treat. It's getting to the end of the week and my body is fatigued and I can feel it slowing down a bit. Before we hit the WOD our focus was on strict (military) presses.

Focus: 5x5, strict press
1x5 - 70 Kg (154.3#)
3x5 - 75 Kg (165.3#)
1x5 - 80 Kg (176.4#)

I'm happy with this progression. I wish I had tried 2 or three sets at 80 Kg but oh well. It was a struggle but I got all 5 reps. Last time we did strict presses I remember getting only 72 Kg so I'm pretty happy with the weight increase, it's the most I've ever been able to strict press

WOD: 21-15-9-6-3 for time of:
Wall Ball - 20#/10'
V-ups
Box jumps - 24"

Time: 8:13
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 461

Today's WOD was done in teams of three (each starting on a different exercise) rotating through each exercise. It was kind of nice because the other two guys on my team were a little slow so It gave me a lot of built in rest, which I didn't mind at all.

I've decided to start working some of these types of WOD's with the weight vest on. I talked to Dave about it and we sort of worked out a plan of action. I'm going to start with just 4 or 5 additional pounds in the vest and every two weeks add another 4 or 5 (or fewer) pounds until I get up to around 20 additional pounds.

It's best to work up this way for a number of reasons. 1) By jumping straight to 20 additional pounds in the vest it puts an enormous strain on your joints and there's a good possibility you might blow one out. 2) Working up gradually lets your body acclimate to the extra poundage and trains your nervous system, muscles, and joints to deal with the added weight and get stronger. 3) Removing the vest after a few months and doing a WOD without it will seem like a cake walk.

Just imagine if for 2 or 3 months you work with a weighted vest while doing pull ups, box jumps, push ups, wall balls, air squats and things of that nature. Then all of the sudden you stop using the vest and go back to just body weight. Pull ups and push ups and all those types of movements will see huge gains in the amount of reps you're able to do (or verticle jumping ability in the case of box jumps).

Stay tuned, I plan on starting this routine next week and hope to work the vest in whenever it's applicable (I suppose this largely depends on what the WOD is). I'm hoping that's at least 3 days a week.

Nutrition 10/1

8:45 am (post WOD)
3 Hard boiled eggs (only 2 yokes)
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
1/2 cup raspberries
1/2 cup blueberries
2/3 cup mixed walnuts & macadamia nuts
4.5 oz. carrot

1:00 pm
Taco salad - 5 oz. ground turkey (browned with yellow onion, red bell pepper, garlic, evoo, red pepper flakes, chili powder, paprika, black pepper), 3 cup spinach, 1/2 avocado, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/3 cup salsa, 4 mushrooms sliced).
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (as a topping)

4:30 pm
2 oz. chicken breast
5 oz. cauliflower
1/4 cup mixed almonds & pistachios
1 cup strawberries

7:30 pm
5 oz Top sirloin steak - marinated in lime juice, ginger, garlic, pepper, cilantro, red pepper flakes, black pepper.
1 Tbsp homemade hot mustard (as a topping for steak)
2 cups red cabbage
2 cups broccoli
1 radish
1/4 cup pecans
3 brazil nuts

116 oz. water on the day