Fitness - Windmill's, Back Squats & WOD - 1/29

We warmed up with a lot of shoulder mobility drills and stretching of the legs, especially hamstrings. Which included some windmill's, which felt great.

Focus: Back squats, 5x5 cross sets
1x3 - 140 Kg (308.6#)
3x3 - 160 Kg (352.7#)

WOD: 3 rounds, individually timed, 2 minutes rest between rounds
250m row
25 wall balls

Score/Time(s): R1-1:33, R2-1:32, R3-1:38
Calories burned (including warm up, focus & WOD): 712

Nutrition - 1/29

8:00 am (post WOD)
"Reload" recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 24 oz. water

8:40 am
4.5 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
2 cups broccoli
1/4 cup almonds

12:40 pm
6 oz. chicken breast
Salad - 2 cups arugula, 1 cup spinach, 1 cup cherry toms, 1/2 cup cucumber, 4 sliced mushrooms, 4 radishes.
3 Tbsp paleo dressing

4:25 pm
3 hard boiled eggs (2 yokes)
4 large celery stalks

7:40 pm
6 oz. garlic/lime/sesame seared tuna steak
3 cups roasted brussle sprouts
1/4 cup brazil nuts
4 oz. 85% dark chocolate

110 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Two-A-Days , "California Crippler" WOD #2 - 1/28

This one comes courtesy of CrossFit San Francisco. I guess it's somewhat of a staple WOD at their box.

WOD: The California Crippler is one round AFAP for time of
30 back squats - 100 Kg (220.5#)
1000m row

Score/Time: 5:21
Calories burned (WOD only): 314

I will get this sub 5 minutes!

Fitness - Two-A-Days, Power Jerk Technique & HEAVY Farmer's Walk/Thruster WOD # 1 - 1/28

Focus: Jerk technique, working with light weight, 5 sets of a few reps. I think the heaviest I went was 60 Kg. Mainly focused on the dip drop and footwork.

WOD: One round AFAP
200m farmers walk - 100 Kg, 220.5# (50kg, 110.2# in each hand)
10 kettle bell thrusters - 24 Kg kettle bell (53#) in each hand
100m farmers walk - 100 Kg
20 kettle bell thrusters - 24 Kg
50m farmers walk - 100 Kg
30 kettle bell thrusters - 24 Kg

Score/Time: 13:11
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 635

100 Kg, that's more than 20# over my body weight that I was carrying. Over 100# in each hand, and it wore me down. I spent a lot of time trying to get my hands back into the kettle bells (a 32Kg and 18Kg bell on each side) after I had set them down to rest my grip. It was really awkward and it started to crush my wrists and knuckles. Dead lifting 4 kettle bells off the concrete sucked too. My traps, and all the muscles in the middle of my back were rocking.

The thrusters were alright, my grip started to get pretty suspect early on, which made holding onto the bells pretty tough. 24 kilo's felt heavy, it's so much easier when using the bar because you can rest it in the rack position. When using kettle or dumbbells, your shoulders are always engaged trying to stabilize the weight.

I only did 10 thrusters at a time all the way through. So, the first set was unbroken, second was two sets of ten, and the final set of 30 was three sets of ten.

I've got another workout tonight, hopefully it won't involve my grip.

Nutrition - 1/28

8:00 am (post WOD)
"Reload" recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water.

8:45 am
4.5 oz. grilled chicken breast
4 large celery stalks
1/4 cup walnuts

12:30 pm
6 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
Salad - 3 cups arugula, 4 radishes, 1/2 cup cucumber, 1 large heirloom tomato, 1/4 cup chopped basil, 1/2 small avocado
2 Tbsp paleo dressing.

4:20 pm
2 cups homemade (with love) turkey chili
1 large carrot
1 cup cauliflower

7:45 pm
5.5 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with evoo, garlic, red bell pepper, sweet onion, sea salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes
1 cup broccoli
2 red cabbage leaves (used as wraps)
2 Tbsp salsa
1/2 small avocado

100 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Handstand Practice & WOD - 1/27

Focus: Handstand practice in space, press to handstand work, handstand push ups

WOD: Interval training, 3 rounds for total reps (cals on the rower)
1 min. max push ups
1 min. max full crossfit KB swings - 32 Kg (70#)
1 min. max jumping lunges
1 min. rowing for calories
1 min. rest

Score/Time: 375
calories burned (focus & WOD): 548

Nutrition - 1/27

8:00 am (post WOD)
"Reload" recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/3 organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water.

8:45 am
3 hard boiled eggs (only 2 yokes)
2 cups broccoli
1/4 cup brazil nuts

12:30 pm
5.8 oz. chicken breast
Salad - 1.5 cups arugula, 1.5 cups spinach, 1 cup cherry toms, 1/2 cup cucumber, 4 sliced mushrooms, 1/2 large avocado.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

4:15 pm
4 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
4 celery stalks

8:00 pm
6 oz. chili/lime baked red snapper
Salad - 2 cups chopped red cabbage, 1 small yellow bell pepper, 1/2 large avocado, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, juice of 1/2 lemon.
1/4 cup almonds

110 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Two-A-Day, Tabata Tuesday - 1/26

WOD: Tabata work
Push press - 115#
Hanging knees to elbows
Push ups
Full crossfit KB swings

Lowest round scores: PP - 12, K2E - 13, PU - 10, Swings - 14
Calories burned (WOD only): 533

Fitness - Two-A-Day, Weighted Dips/Weighted Pull Ups & WOD - 1/26

Focus: Weighted dips & weighted dead hang pull ups - working up to heavy sets of 3
3x3 weighted pull ups - 28 Kg added
3x3 weighted ring dips - 36 Kg added

WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes of
15 full squat cleans (from the ground each rep) - 64 Kg (141#)
400m run

Score/Time: 4 full rounds, 3 cleans
Calories burned (including focus & WOD): 726

Nutrition - 1/26

8:00 am (post WOD)
"Reload" recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic coconut milk, 20 oz. water.

1:00 pm (fasted food until this meal)
6 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with onion, orange bell pepper, TJ's taco seasoning.
2 large carrots
1 cup cucumber slices

6:30 pm (dinner at Dad's place)
3 cups tofu curry - tofu, with carrots, celery, sweet potato, mushrooms
1 cup brown rice
1 piece naan bread

11:00 pm
4 oz. chicken breast
2 Tbsp salsa
1/4 cup walnuts

120 oz. water

Fitness - Snatch Technique With Scott Then Off To San Fran For The Weekend - 1/22

After my heart rate settled down and I cooled off for a bit, Scott and I began our training. And just after 10 minutes, I was leaps and bounds ahead of where where I was on this movement.

It was incredible what he could see just from watching me for a couple reps. I've gotten into a pattern with snatching that is super inefficient, so I'm having to re-train myself and get get the correct pattern locked in. Breaking the old and setting in new muscle memory.

We worked every little aspect of the lift. From the grip, to the pull off the ground, to the press overhead in the squat and everything in between. My hips were pretty wrecked after all this work. It might take weeks or it might take months, but I'll get it cleaned up with Scott's help then I'll be looking to set some new PR's with my olympic lifts.

Calories burned (snatch work with Scott): 554

I'm taking off for the weekend and heading down to San Francisco until Monday afternoon. Looking forward to exploring, having lots of fun, experimenting with foods and enjoying the company. It's me, my girlfriend (Nikki), my girlfriends sister (Kelsi) and her fiance` (Jesse). We're all heading down there to celebrate Kelsi's birthday. Happy birthday Kelsi!!!

The good news is that even though we're staying in a little boutique hotel, they do have a fitness center. So i plan on getting in a few workouts it. Depending on what they have I'm sure the workouts will mostly contain body weight movements. I.e. push ups, sit ups, air squats, hand stand push ups, burpees, lunges, jumping etc.

I've got a few ideas bouncing around in my head as far as programming for my workouts. And who knows, they might have a pull up bar, or dumbbells for thrusters or even an olympic bar and some weights.

I most likely will not have access to a computer, nor do I want to spend time during my little vacay in front of a computer getting it all on the blog. So I'm just going to write it down on paper and enter it all in when I get back on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

Fitness - Two-A-Days - WOD #2 - 1/22

This is one that I cooked up myself and one I really enjoyed. It was long and it was heavy, one to keep in the memory banks for sure. It was fun to mix low reps at heavy weight, with some movements with slightly higher reps at lower weight.

WOD: 5 rounds for time
5 dead lifts - 143 Kg (315#)
12 ring dips
5 full squat clean & jerks (from the ground each rep) - 84 Kg (185#)
12 CrossFit kettle bell swings (full extension overhead) - 32 Kg (70#) bell

Score/Time: 15:32
Calories burned (WOD only): 914

Holy hell! Man, this was an awesome workout. It had my heart rate going nuts the whole time. I kept an even pace throughout and didn't really try to race through it. I was working by myself so I was in my own little world for that 15 minutes. I flipped that same mental switch from the presses earlier in the morning and got after this one tough. I was on a mission, it was pretty bad ass.

At that time my average time per round was just over 3 minutes.

After this workout I Scott had set aside some time to work with me on my oly lift technique, specifically the snatch. I was super excited to work with and learn from him. he's got a wealth of knowledge and is a great coach.

Fitness - Two-A-Days - Strict Press - WOD #1 - 1/22

Felt great after a day of rest yesterday. Got to the gym ready to get after it.

Focus: Heavy strict press, 3x3
2x3 - 86 Kg (189.6#)
1x3 - 90 Kg (198.4#)

New PR! 90 Kg is just so happened to be my body weight today. I was stoked to get three reps at my body weight. It certainly felt heavy but I was able to flip the switch mentally and crush it. 90 Kilo's had no chance today!

WOD: 2 rounds for time of
30 pull ups
30 renegade rows - 40# dumbbells
800m run

Score/Time: 15:11
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 668

Man, this looked way easier on the white board. The 30 pull ups was no problem, I got through them unbroken with a butterfly kip. Then got to the renegade rows and had to really dig in. A renegade row is when you're in a push up position with your legs spread, and have a dumbbell in each hand. You do a push up then stay at the top of push up position and row with your right then row with your left arm (that is one rep). When you pull the dumbbell up for the row it should come right to your rib cage.

Anyway, so the renegade rows took a long time, 30 reps was a lot of work. In retrospect I probably should have gone lighter but oh well. The 800m run was interesting. After all that back and shoulder work it was impossible to pump and move my upper body. My legs were fine, but my shoulder and back would not cooperate. Which made the 800m runs really long grinders. the last 800m run was brutal.

Oh well, still on a high from my press effort today. WOD #2 in one hour.

Nutrition - 1/22

8:00 am (post WOD #1)
"Reload" recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 1 Tbsp organic cocoa powder, 20 oz. water

11:30 am (post WOD #2 and oly work)
6 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
2 cups roasted brussel sprouts
2 carrots
1/2 cup mixed brazil nuts, almonds and walnuts

3:30 pm
6 oz. grilled chicken breast
Salad - 3 cups arugula, 1 large hot house tomato, 1/2 cup cucumber, 4 large mushrooms, 1/4 cup chopped basil, 1/2 large avocado.
3 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing
1 homemade paleo power bar (coconut, ground coffee beans, flax seeds, almonds, honey)

7:45 pm
6 oz. organic grass fed ground beef
4 large red cabbage leaves (as taco wraps)
4 Tbsp salsa
1/2 large avocado
lots of chopped cilantro
a few dashes of hot sauce on each wrap
1 homemade paleo power bar (coconut, ground coffee beans, flax seeds, almonds, honey)

86 oz. water on the day

Fitnes - Rest Day - 1/21

I'm pretty destroyed after yesterday's two-a-day. I had to rest today, working out would have done me absolutely no good.

I got an extra hour of sleep and made myself a hot breakfast (which rarely happens during the week).

I made the right decision, today's workout was a focus of heavy back squats (5x3) and the WOD was a gnarly staple WOD, "Christine". Which is 3 rounds of: 500m row, 12 BW dead lifts (196# for me), 21 box jumps (24").

As much as I hate missing a staple WOD, this is a super leg intensive WOD, I would not have survived this one. "Christine" might be my least favorite benchmark WOD, it's horrible in my opinion. My best time is 9:48. This was the first and only time I've had the pleasure of meeting her.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting after it tomorrow. I've got the day off work so I'm hitting up a two-a-day and spending some time with our olympic lifting guru, Scott. He's going to help me improve my efficiency with power lifts and drop some serious knowledge on me. I'm really excited to learn from him.

Nutrition - 1/21

8:45 pm
2 hard boiled eggs
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 cups broccoli
1/4 cup almonds

12:30 pm
6 oz. grilled chicken breast
Salad - 2 cups arugula, 2 cups spinach, 1 heirloom tomato, 1/2 cup cucumber, 4 large mushrooms, 1/4 cup chopped basil.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

4:15 pm
4.5 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with orange bell pepper, garlic, white onion, paprika, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, sea salt, red pepper flakes.
2 medium carrots
2 large celery stalks

7:30 pm
5.5 oz. chicken breast
3 cups roasted brussel sprouts
1/8 cup mixed sunflower, flax and pumpkin seeds.
3 oz. of extra dark (85% cocoa) chocolate bar (From TJ's)

110 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Two-A-Days - OHS/Sprint Couplet WOD #2 - 1/21

Got to the gym for me second WOD and spent some time talking with Dave about nutrition and our next hard cycle.

WOD: 8 rounds for time
8 over head squats - 62 Kg (136.7#)
200m sprint

Score/Time: 11:26
Calories burned (including longish warm up & WOD): 628

I feel really good about my time. A little redemption from this morning's performance. I got all the sets of over head squats unbroken, which was my main focus. I knew that if I had to drop the bar during a round, that snatching back up would take too much energy. It was a fight in the second half of the WOD, but saved a lot of time I'm sure.

My legs started to feel pretty heavy early on. The last 2 or 3 200m sprints were more of a run/jog, which is fine. I was able to keep my legs and lungs and sprint hard until then.

Where I was having the most trouble was pressing through with my shoulders/upper back and holding a solid lock out. And my core was getting super tired as well. Both of these I attribute to this morning's workout. The SDLHP's wrecked my upper back and the v-ups worked my core pretty good.

But as I said, despite that stuff I was able to bear down and get through each set unbroken. I'm for sure taking tomorrow as a rest day. I need some rest.

Fitness - Two-A-Day - Plyometrics & WOD #1 (The Pillars of CrossFit) - 1/20

I got a lot of sleep last night (9 solid hours) but woke up moving slow. Yawning all the way to the gym. My hamstrings are super tight from yesterday's straight leg dead lifts.

Focus: Plyometrics

We started out the day with some jump training. Several drills and various patterns, heights. Forward, backward, side to side and combinations of all that. We used plyo boxes, med balls, a plyo ladder.

WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes of
20 SDLHP's - 43 Kg (95#)
15 V-ups
10 push ups

Score/Time: 8 full rounds + 20 SDLHP's, 1 V-up
Calories burned (including focus, WOD & finisher): 754

Finisher:
Max l-sit on rings - :24
1 minute rest
Max l-sit on dip stand - :14

This one was dubbed by the trainer this morning, "The Pillars of CrossFit", and it beat me down this morning. It's the basics (just like our wall ball/burpee WOD on Monday). Simple, yet brutal. I felt tired and fatigued and sore.

I thought this was a poor showing for me. I expected at least 10 full rounds but fell short. The SDLHP's are just so damn hard. They zapped so much energy from me today, I just couldn't stay focused and rested way too much. My body hurt after this one.

The bar kept hitting the same spot on my shins almost every rep, by the time it was over, my shins were all bloody. It was streaming down my leg and onto the floor (I workout barefoot). Which I felt bad about so after i cleaned my shins up, I stayed and sanitized the floor.

Anyway, it started to affect my form. Because it hurt so bad to keep hitting the same spot, the bar got farther and farther away from my body to make sure I didn't clip my shins. It was all I could think about, it wore me down and got in my head for sure.

The l-sit finisher was tough. I wasn't expecting a long hold. My core was worked from the v-ups and my upper back was wrecked from the high pulls. I had a really hard time posting up through my upper back and shoulders. And of course holding a pike was not happening because of my core and really tight hamstrings.

I look forward to redeeming myself this afternoon in WOD #2, whatever Dave thinks up.

Nutrition - 1/20

8:00 am (post WOD)
"Reload" recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup unsweetened organic coconut milk, 1 Tbsp unsweetened organic cocoa powder.

8:45 am
4.5 oz. grilled chicken breast
1 orange bell pepper, raw
1/3 cup walnuts

12:30 pm
6 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
Salad - 2 cups arugula, 2 cups spinach, 1 large heirloom tomato, 1/2 cup cucumber, 3 large mushrooms.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

4:00 pm
3.5 oz. ground turkey breast
2 cups broccoli

7:30 pm
6 oz. chili/lime baked red snapper - rubbed with chili powder, pepper, sea salt, lime juice, grated ginger, minced garlic.
Salad - 2 cups red cabbage, 1/2 large avocado, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro.
1 large carrot
1 large celery stalk
4 oz. of extra dark (85% cocoa) chocolate bar (From TJ's)

94 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Straight Leg Dead Lifts & WOD - 1/19

Focus: Straight leg dead lift, light-ish weight, many reps
4x12 - 80 Kg (176.4#)

WOD: 3 rounds with a partner of
5 Dumbbell snatches
5 Dumbbell clean & jerks
5 Dumbbell thrusters
X amount of mountain climbers

Score/Time 9:23
Calories burned (including focus, WOD & finisher): 747

Finisher:
Max reps in a minute of seated (on the floor) shoulder press. Then 25 ball slams with 12# med ball.

Today's WOD was done with a partner. Partner 1 would go through the entire dumbbell complex with one arm, then switch and go through it with the other arm. So, 5 snatches right, 5 c&j's right, 5 thrusters right. Then 5 snatches left, 5 c&j's left, 5 thrusters left.

in the meantime partner 2 is doing mountain climbers until partner 1 has gone through the dumbbell complex with both arms. Then you switch and partner 2 goes through the complex with both arms while partner one does mountain climbers. One round is when both partners have done the complex (with both sides) and mountain climbers.

Nutrition - 1/19

8:00 am (post WOD)
"Reload" recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic coconut milk, 20 oz. water.

8:45 am
2 hard boiled eggs
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 cups cauliflower
1/4 cup brazil nuts

12:30 pm
Taco salad - 6 oz. ground turkey (with TJ's taco seasoning), 2 cups arugula, 1 cups spinach, 1/2 large avocado, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1/2 cup sungold tomatoes, 2 Tbsp salsa, 1 Tspn hot sauce.

4:20 pm
3.5 oz. salmon
3 large celery stalks

7:40 pm
5.5 oz. top sirloin steak
2 large carrots
2 cups broccoli
1/4 cup almonds

110 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Weighted Pull Ups/Dips & WOD - 1/18

Focus: Weighted dead hang pull ups/weighted ring dips, alternating sets of three, as heavy as possible.
5x3 Dead hang pull ups - 27.5 Kg added (60.6#)
5x3 Ring dips - 32 Kg added (70.5#)

WOD: 5 rounds for time of
20 wall balls - 20#/10"
20 burpees

Score/Time: 10:26
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 729

Fitness - Level 2 Classes - 1/16

Had a good friend of mine join in the level 2 classes with me today. It was great to workout with Loren again. You can find him at lorenwinter.blogspot.com. He just posted some before and during photos of his transformation through CrossFit. I encourage you to check em' out, it's pretty incredible.

Level 2 skills class:
We worked on handstands and press to handstands on the parallettes. We also worked on pistol technique which was great. I've had little experience/coaching on pistols so it was very beneficial.

After an hour it was on to the met con class. It was done with a partner I-go you-go format. The numbers in front mean 5 of each excercise down the list, then 4 of each, then 3 of each etc.

Level 2 Met-Con class:
-Run 800 meters (together)
-5,4,3,2,1 of Snatch Grip High Pulls, Hang Power Snatch, Thrusters (with bar behind head), Good Mornings, then Bent Over Rows.
-4,3,2,1 of Snatch Grip High Pulls, Hang Power Snatch, Thrusters (with bar behind head), Good Mornings, then Bent Over Rows.
-3,2,1 of Snatch Grip High Pulls, Hang Power Snatch, Thrusters (with bar behind head), Good Mornings, then Bent Over Rows.
-2,1 of Snatch Grip High Pulls, Hang Power Snatch, Thrusters (with bar behind head), Good Mornings, then Bent Over Rows.
-1 of Snatch Grip High Pulls, Hang Power Snatch, Thrusters (with bar behind head), Good Mornings, then Bent Over Rows.
-Run 400 meters (together)

Time: 25:29
Calories burned (including both level 2 skills and met-con class): 1521

I was pretty burned out during this one, even though there was a lot of built in rest. Loren was my partner and was super motivational. He killed this WOD and tore through it with a lot of power.

It was great to workout with you again L-dog. Come back soon!

Fitness - Dead Lift PR & Heavy WOD - 1/15

Went to bed pretty early last night but must have woken up about 5 different times through the night. For whatever reason I had a pretty restless night. I ended up getting some energy but it just took me a while to wake up.

Focus: Dead Lift, 5x3, working up to a few heavy sets.
1x5 - 110 KG (242.5#)
1x5 - 140 Kg (308.6#)
1x5 - 170 Kg (374.8#)
1x5 - 191 Kg (421.1#)
1x5 - 182 Kg (401.2#)

Very happy with this effort. A couple weeks ago 190 Kg was my 1 rep max, so 3 with 191 felt sick. Heavy, but still sick. Deads have been a weak spot in my fitness for a while so It's great to finally see the weight creep up. I have a feeling my low back will be a bit sore tomorrow though.

After our focus it was time for a heavy WOD. I was still jacked about the dead lifts so I was ready to get after it.

WOD: 10 rounds for time of
3 full squat cleans - 86 Kg (190#)
3 ankles to bar

Score/Time:
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 623

This got heavy fast but I powered through it. When I got back to the cleans to start each round I just had to keep telling myself, "It's only 3 reps". Taking each rep from the ground (as opposed to hang cleans) you want to make sure you go lower with a flat back/neutral spine. It's just as important to control it on the way down as it is on the way up.

I was ripping off all three reps in a row without having to drop the bar until round 8. My grip just failed on me. I'd get two, drop the bar, reset and complete the last rep. On my 10th round I dropped the bar to reset after each rep.

The ankles to bar wrecked my grip. And it was pretty tough just because today was the third day in a row we've had intense ab work mixed in the WOD. My core was fatigued for sure.

I plan on getting lots of rest tonight and getting after the level 2 skills and level 2 met-con classes tomorrow. I'm excited because a good friend (he's also the man responsible for getting me into CrossFit) of mine is joining me for the carnage/punishment. I'll post the workouts tomorrow.

Nutrition - 1/15

8:00 am (post WOD)
"Reload" recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 20 oz. water.

8:50 am
3 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 large carrots
1/4 cup brazil nuts

12:40 pm
6 oz. baked coho salmon
3 cups roasted brussel sprouts
1/3 cup walnuts

4:25 pm
1.5 Olson Farms organic/grass fed beef summer sausage (about 3.5 oz)
1 raw red bell pepper

7:45 pm
5.5 oz. chicken breast with 2 Tbsp salsa
Salad - 2 cups spinach, 1 small avocado, 1/2 cup cucumber, 1 celery stalk, 1 cup broccoli florets, pumpkin & sunflower seeds.
1 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

118 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Strict/Military press & WOD - 1/14

Another night with plenty of sleep and felt great getting to the gym this morning. Started off with some standing military/strict press and got after an AMRAP WOD.

Focus: Strict/military press, 5x5
1x5 - 40 Kg (88.2#)
1x5 - 65 Kg (143.3#)
3x5 - 80 Kg (176.4#)

Felt really strong. 3 sets of 5 at 80 Kg is a new PR. Last time I we did sets of 5 (late December) I maxed out at 3 sets with 76 Kg. Pretty stoked on this gain. My strength and conditioning continues to improve every month. I attribute it all to the paleo diet. It's the first thing I say when people ask me how I keep getting stronger and faster.

WOD: As many rounds as possible (AMRAP) in 15 minutes of:
5 inverted row on rings - feet elevated on 20" box
10 V-ups
15 CrossFit (full extension) kettle bell swings - 32 Kg (70#) Bell

Score/Time: 13 full rounds, 5 inverted rows, 10 v-ups, 2 swings
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 629

Got after this AMRAP pretty hard, a few swings short of 14 full rounds. I was spent for sure. I continue to get more and more comfortable with overhead extension on the swings. Learning how to use my hips and save my shoulders as much as possible.

The inverted rows were done with feet elevated on a box or stack of weights with the rings lowered. Lay below the rings and grab them, place your heels on top of the box and hang with your body in a straight line (rigid plank). Hanging with straight arms, you should be just below parallel. You then pull up with the rings next to your rib cage. You should finish with your angle just above parallel.

The v-ups were fine but my abs were a little sore from all the sit ups yesterday. I'm stoked for this Saturday's level 2 classes.

Nutrition - 1/14

8:00 am (post WOD)
"Reload" recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 24 oz. water

8:45 am
4 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
4 large celery stalks
1/3 cup walnuts

12:40 pm
6 oz. organic grass fed ground beef
Salad - 3 cups chopped red cabbage, 1 roma tomato, 1 small avocado, 2 Tbsp salsa, 1/4 cup cilantro, 1 tspn hot sauce, juice of 1/2 lime

4:20 pm
3 hard boiled eggs (2 yokes)
2 cups broccoli

7:50 pm
A LOT of left-over homemade green curry - green curry paste, organic unsweetened coconut milk, cauliflower, chicken breast, shrimp, red bell pepper, red cabbage, carrots, almond slivers, onion, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, fish sauce, sea salt, black pepper.

Fitness - SDLHP's & WOD - 1/13

I felt a little beat up this morning from the Curtis P. reps yesterday. Got to the gym early and had a great warm up which included some kettle bell windmill's, a 500m row (at a very slow pace), and some jumping of the old rope.

Focus: Mostly technique on the sumo dead lift high pull (SDLHP).

Ever since this level 2 class (which is still one of the hardest WOD I've ever done) that included SDLHP's, I have not enjoyed them.

Today we went over some technique and did a couple sets. I went up to 60 Kg to try to remember how it felt and It was pretty easy. My form has gotten much better also just my overall strength and capacity to do SDLHP's has jumped way up. So I went after a solo 21-15-9 (un-timed) of SDLHP's and ring dips. a pretty good amount of work and moved through it quickly. After that we got into the class WOD.

WOD: once through for time AFAP of:
10 air squats, 50 sit ups
20 air squats, 40 sit ups
30 air squats, 30 sit ups
40 air squats, 20 sit ups
50 air squats, 10 sit ups

Score/Time: 6:04
Calories burned (focus, solo WOD & class WOD, finisher): 728

I was hoping for a sub 6 but my legs were a little worked from the SDLHP's from a few minutes earlier. Still happy with the time though, I rocked through the whole thing unbroken. My abs started to cramp up a bit which slowed me down.

Workouts like this are great for when you can't make it to class one day, or are on vacation but have no equipment and want a workout. Short little blast of body weight work does a body great!

Finisher: 3 rounds
1x20' rope climb - no feet support
30 seconds rest

Nutrition - 1/13

7:50 am (post WOD)
"Reload" recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 organic unsweetened coconut milk, 24 oz. water

8:45 am
3 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
2 large carrots
1/4 cup almonds

12:45 pm
6 oz. grilled chicken breast
Salad - 2 cups spinach, 1 cup green kale, 1 cup cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup cucumber, 2/3 cup mushrooms.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

4:15 pm
1 large Olson Farms organic/grass fed all beef summer sausage (3 oz.)
1 Tbsp grainy dijon mustard
1 red bell pepper

7:40 pm
5 oz. bakes salmon with lemon, black pepper, sea salt
3 cups roasted
1/3 cup walnuts

94 oz. water on the day

Fitness - L-Sits/Skinning The Cat & Curtis P./Pull Up WOD - 1/12

I accomplished my mission. I got about 9 hours of solid sleep last night and finally feel caught up on my rest. It made a huge difference in the way I felt at the gym today versus yesterday.

Focus: L-sits and skinning the cat.
All types of L-sit variations. Posted up on rings, hanging from rings, hanging from a pull up bar, posted up on the dip rack, hanging from the dip rack etc.

Did great to warm up my lats and core and I wanted to stretch the shoulders out too. So I did some skinning of the cat, first from the rack then on the rings. Holding as tight a pike position as possible and moving as slow as possible. Really trying to control the movement.

WOD: 3 times through Curtis P. Complex (once through is: 1 clean, 1 front squat, 1 lunge right leg, 1 lunge left leg, 1 push press) with 24 Kg bells in each hand. 5 I go-you go rounds (1 round is 3 reps of complex by each partner) then 20 pull ups. All times 2.

3xCurtis P.
5x through with a partner
then 20 pull ups
Then do it all over again

Score/Time: 13:44
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 582

Ok, this is kind of hard to explain. I think I made it make sense though.

Anyway, this was pretty tough, 24 Kg was heavy for this workout. Heaviest anybody used and my partner and I got the top time by over a minute. Pretty sick effort, we pushed each other well and went through it pretty much non-stop.

Rocked the first set of pull ups chest-to-bar unbroken with the butterfly kip. On the second set of pull ups (after we had done everything again) I still got them unbroken and chest-to-bar but halfway through had to use the regular kip.

My shoulders were rocking from holding the the bells in the rack position, which toward the end, made the push press at the end of every Curtis P. rep pretty dang hard. Felt like I pushed hard all the way through it though.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store.

Nutrition - 1/12

8:00 am (post WOD)
"Reload" Recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water.

8:45 am
3 hard boiled eggs (only 2 yokes)
4 large celery stalks
1/3 cup walnuts

12:30 pm
6 oz. top sirloin steak
Salad - 2 cups kale, 1 cup spinach, 1 cup cherry toms, 4 radishes, 1/2 cup cucumber, 4 sliced mushrooms
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

4:15 pm
3.5 oz. grilled chicken
2 cups broccoli

7:45 pm
5.5 oz. organic grass fed ground beef (Scooped into cabbage leaves)- saute'ed with red bell peppers, garlic, jalapenos, onion, red pepper flakes, sea salt, black pepper.
3 large red cabbage leaves
1 Avocado
3 Tbsp salsa

108 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Front Squats & WOD - 1/11

Super tired this morning. I did not get enough rest over the weekend. A long night of partying, too much whiskey and karaoke on Saturday night coupled with very little/awkward sleep schedule made for a rough morning WOD.

Got to bed at around 4 am Saturday night (aka Sunday morning). Woke up late on Sunday was up for a while, took a nap, watched some NFL, took another nap then woke up and ate some dinner. Because of sleeping in and two mid day naps, I couldn't fall asleep for to save my life on Sunday night. I was up until almost 2 a.m., then woke up at 6:30 for a workout. Just trying to keep my eyes open for the rest of the day and I'm hitting the hay has soon as possible tonight.

Focus: Front squats, working up to heavy set of 5
1x5 - 80 Kg (176.7#)
1x5 - 100 Kg (220.5#)
1x5 - 120 Kg (265.5#)
1x5 - 136 Kg (299.8#)

This was not a max effort but it sure felt like It was going to fold me in half. The weekend of partying and lack of sleep took it's toll on me today. I was in no shape to go for broke this morning. Luckily the WOD was mostly body weight stuff, and nothing too intense.

WOD: 4 rounds, running clock of
1 min. push up jacks
1 min. box jumps - 30"
1 min. straight leg dead lift/bent over row - 70 Kg (154.3#)

Score/Time: N/A - The class went for explosiveness today, not reps. because everybody was instructed to scale up, reps were not counted.
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 562

As I said I took this one on carefully, this 12 minutes of work was plenty for me today. I took the height up on the box jumps to get more of an explosive movement rather than going for max reps at a lower height.

Push up jacks are where stack some weights (a stack on the left and a stack on the right, just wider then shoulder width apart) on the ground and start with your hands on them. You then do a push up (getting deep range of motion at the bottom, because you're hands are elevated) then you push up with an explosive move, jumping your hands down (and in a little to directly under your shoulders). Then you push up from the floor with an explosive movement and jump your hands back up to the plates. It's a really hard variation on the push up and builds incredible strength.

The straight leg dead lift/bent over row complex was pretty awesome. It helped loosen my legs up a ton. My hamstrings and were still really tight from the Javorek (especially the good mornings) complex on Saturday.

If you don't know this progression it's where you lower the weight with a flat back and almost locked out knees to just above mid-shin, then perform a row. Pulling the bar up and back towards your belly button, then ascend from the dead lift to open your hips. The weight should never touch the ground after you pick it up for the first time.

I'm ready for a massive sleep session tonight.

Nutrition - 1/11

8:00 am (post WOD)
"Reload" recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 20 oz. water.

5:30 pm (fasted food until this meal)
1 large Olson Farms grass fed/organic beef summer sausage (one is about 3 oz.)
1/4 cup almonds
1 cup broccoli

8:00 pm
Homemade green curry - green curry paste, organic unsweetened coconut milk, cauliflower, chicken breast, shrimp, red bell pepper, red cabbage, carrots, almond slivers, onion, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, fish sauce, sea salt, black pepper.
1 cup broccoli

114 oz water on the day.

Fitness - Two-A-Days, Javorek Complex WOD #1 and "Filthy-Fifty" WOD #2 - 1/9

A ton of work at the gym today. I actually feel great after so much this week, and amazingly almost fully recovered. I went to bed super early last night and I'm sure the rest played a big part.

Started off with the level 2 skills class which ended up being pretty gnarly. we went after a strength couplet. Rather than the gymnastics stuff we usually work on.

WOD #1: Javorek complex with 80 Kg (176.4#) on the bar, 10 rounds of:
3 dead lifts
3 hang cleans
3 front squats
3 push jerks
3 good mornings

Score/Time: un-timed
Calories burned (WOD only): 662

Only three in class (including me) so it worked out pretty perfect as this one is supposed to have about a 1:2 work to rest ratio. We got after this one pretty hard, each with our own bar at different weight. It was a hard hitting blast of work, i'll have to keep this in the back of my mind for future workouts.

Complexes like this are great for developing strength as well as speed. It was light enough where each movement could be done crisp and fast, but just heavy enough to be almost undoable.

Stayed around and stretched for a good long time. Then it was ready for the level 2 met-con class. When i heard we were doing a benchmark WOD by the name of "Filthy-Fifty", i was stoked. I've wanted to have a go at it for quite some time.

WOD #2 (60 minutes later): "Filthy-Fifty" is 1 round AFAP for time of:
50 box jumps - 24" box
50 jumping pull-ups
50 crossfit (full extension) kb swings - 16 kg bell
50 walking lunges
50 knees to elbows
50 push press - 20 Kg (45#)
50 ghd back extensions
50 wall balls - 20#/10ft
50 burpees
50 double unders

Score/Time: 18:06
Calories burned (WOD only): 682

Extremely, extremely happy with my time. I could not be happier actually. Anything sub 25 minutes is a great time for this WOD, so I was pumped to get sub 20. Spealler does it in under 15 minutes but you should never really compare anything to Spealler, that guy is a specimen.

It being the end of the week and my second WOD in as many hours, I powered through it. Had the first three movements done in 3 minutes and from then on I didn't look at the clock. I just put my head down and went to work. I feel like this output was a huge mental victory. It feels good to push through the pain in longer type workouts.

Weak points were the lunges and of course, double unders. The burpees were tough too but that's because they're burpees, and they were the next to last exercise. Strong points were the push press, I almost got them unbroken, cranked out 42 then rested for a second and finished them out, I got all the push presses in under a minute. Which saved a lot of time in the middle. Another strength was the wall balls. It's always been an exercise I can fight through.

Super jacked up about today's effort, but right now what I really need is a nap.

Fitness - Weighted Dips/Weighted Pull Ups/Muscle Ups & WOD - 1/8

My quads are absolutely smoked today. Yesterday's "Jackie" put the hurt on me today. Just trying to drink lots of water and I've been doubling my EPA/DHA intake which has helped a great deal in recovery.

I went into the gym today just looking to do some light work and get the blood flowing a bit. Nothing too crazy though, I am/was in no shape to really get after one this morning.

Focus: Weighted pull ups/weighted dips/muscle up super-set. 5x3 of (three reps of each movement down the list is one set, 5 sets):
Muscle ups
Dips - 48 Kg added
Dead dead hang pull ups - 24 Kg added

I moved from one right to the other, it ended up being pretty brutal because muscle ups are both pull ups and dips. It was a nice little super-set. I was tired and sweating afterward. It was almost like it's own WOD.

WOD: 10 seconds between each minute to get set, 5 rounds of:
1 minute elevated ring push ups - feet 8" off the ground, rings at about 12" the ground
1 minute box jumps - 32"

Score/Time: N/A - didn't keep track
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 632

The regular WOD was 1 minute max regular push ups and 1 minute max box jumps (24") for max reps over the 10 minutes of work. I knew I wasn't going hard for reps in this one so I decided to scale up on both and go nice and easy, but with more explosiveness.

On the box jumps, I took my time but really focused on an explosive movement. I was probably averaging 10 or so a minute.

Same with the push ups. Elevated ring push ups are gnarly, and got hard pretty fast but I tried to make every rep count. I went as deep as possible at the bottom and extended/pushed all the way out through the shoulders and mid back at the top of the movement. Probably around 12 per minute.

It ended up being a pretty solid bit of work. Just enough to make it feel like I did some work today.

Another two-a-day tomorrow with the Level 2 classes. Stay tuned.

Nutrition - 1/8

8:00 am (post wOD)
"Reload" recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 24 oz. water

8:45 am
4 oz. ground beef
1 raw orange bell pepper
1/4 cup almonds

12:45 pm
5.5 oz. grilled chicken breast
Salad - 1 cup purple kale, 2 cups spinach, 1 roma tomato, 1/2 cup cucumber, 4 sliced mushrooms, 4 radishes.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

4:15 pm
3.5 oz. smoked salmon
2 cups broccoli

8:00 pm
5 oz. grilled top sirloin steak with 2 Tbsp grain dijon mustard.
1 avocado
2 cups roasted brussel sprouts
2 medium carrots

110 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Handstand Work & "Jackie" - 1/7

I got much more sleep last night which felt great. I fell right to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Not sure what happened the other night when was rolling around wide awake. But I'm glad it didn't happen last night.

I did wake up super sore this morning though. I was nervous to take on "Jackie" this morning.

Focus: Handstand Work
We started out with a long warm up and some handstand work. Since we only have 5 row machines, the class went in waves. The people that weren't going through Jackie were supposed to be doing handstand work to keep warm.

WOD: "Jackie"
1000m row
50 thrusters - men's bar, 20 Kg (45#)
30 pull ups - chest to bar

Score/Time: 6:26
Calories burned (Focus & WOD): 572

Uhhh, this was absolutely brutal. I got my goal (which was sub 6:30) but I'm capable of faster. I got off the rower at 3:28, finished the thrusters unbroken at 5:10, I took them slow and steady, but got them unbroken. I had a chance a sub 6 time and hopped on he pull up bar. I started out with butterfly kips and rocked through 12 or 13 of them, then I lost my pull. I had to switch to regular kipping pull ups and could only get 3 or 4 at a time.

I'm really stoked on my time. I was spent afterwards though, felt like I was going to vom for a solid 7 minutes and my heart rate took a while to settle down. Having just done a two-a-day the day before, and it being so late in the week, i feel like I can bring my time down on a fresh set of legs early in the week.

I loved Jackie and I am proud of my time, but I will be happy not to see her again on the white board any time soon.

Nutrition - 1/7

7:50 am (post WOD)
Reload recovery drink
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk.

8:45 am
3 hard boiled eggs (2 yokes)
2 cups broccoli
1/3 cup walnuts

12:45 pm
5.5 oz. top sirloin steak
salad - 3 cups purple kale, 4 sliced mushrooms, 1/2 cup cucumber, 4 radishes.
3 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

4:15 pm
3 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
4 celery stalks

8:00 pm
5.5 oz. grilled chicken breast
3 Tbsp salsa
2 cup roasted brussel sprouts

106 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Two-A-Day, Jerk/Split Jerk Work & WOD #2 - 1/6

Got back to the gym today for the second WOD of the day and I was looking forward to getting after it. Dave and I worked on my power and split jerk footwork and right away i felt a huge difference in my technique, which translated into more confidence as well. When you're dropping under and pressing out hundreds of pounds over your head, you don't want to be wavering.

Focus: Jerk/Split Jerks, worked up to heavy set of 3
2x3 - 80 Kg
2x3 - 100 Kg
2x3 - 120 Kg

The lessons that Dave taught me paid off right away. My form was sick, and I stuck every rep. A few weeks ago I barely got one rep at 130 and it was UGLY.

WOD: 3 rounds for time of
30 split jerks - 60 Kg
400m run

Score/Time: 13:36
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 606

This was a good bit of work. It was hard to pump my arms during the run because the shoulder and back work during the jerks, but my running held up alright. My lungs and legs help up which was nice.

Super excited for "Jackie" tomorrow, I feel a little beat up though.

Fitness - Two-A-Days, Weighted Step Ups & WOD #1 - 1/6

Still super sore this morning but I'll be golden by tomorrow. I was extremely tired last night and went to bed really early (9:40-ish), expecting to get over 8 hours of sleep. That ended up not being the case at all.

Although I was extremely tired, I just laid in bed awake and couldn't fall asleep until almost 11:30. I wish I would have gotten more sleep. I'll hopefully be able to fall asleep easier tonight.

Focus: Weighted step ups (holding kettle bells), working up to heavy sets of 5
2x5 (each leg) - 16 Kg bells
3x5 (each leg) - 24 Kg bells

This is in continuation of the glute/hammy work Dave has been implementing. There's two ways to do step ups, and they both target different muscle groups.

1) The quad-centric version is to keep your torso upright and just stand up. This version mainly fires the quads. The one thing to watch out for is your knee (the knee of which ever leg is on the box) tracking to far out over your toes, which is never really good. It disengages a lot of stabilizer muscles. You'll do this as a way to compensate and balance. If you find it happening, just move your foot a little farther away from you on the box.

2) To get the glutes and hamstrings fired up you set which ever foot on the box, stick your butt out (keeping a flat back), sort of lean over your front foot, then step up. It's a great way to target the back of the leg and butt cheeks. such a small change in body position has an effect in which muscles are worked.

WOD: I go-you go style with a partner, 5 rounds for time of:
1 Dumbbell split snatch (each side) - 50# dumbbell
1 Burpee
2 Dumbbell split snatches (each side) - 50# dumbbell
2 Burpees
3 Dumbbell split snatches (each side) - 50# dumbbell
3 Burpees

Score/Time: 8:19
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 551

One round consisted of both partners having gone through the complex. One partner rested while one did work, then we switched. A lot of built in rest during this WOD, pretty much a 1:1 work to rest ratio.

Didn't have much trouble with this at all. My partner and I moved right through it and never really broke our pace. It was a quick, light-ish WOD. Which I had no complaints with.

On top of WOD #2 tonight, I think Dave wanted to work with me on my jerk technique, which I need. Another reason I was glad this morning was on the easy side was I heard the benchmark WOD "Jackie" is on the menu for tomorrow, and I want to give it as much as I can. It'll be my first go with her and I've got butterflies already.

Nutrition - 1/6

8:00 am (post WOD #1)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 24 oz. water.

9:10 am
4.5 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
1 Tbsp organic grain mustard
3 medium carrots
1/4 almonds

12:45 pm
5.5 oz baked salmon
Salad - 3 cups purple kale, 1 roma tomato, 1/2 cup cucumber, 2/3 cup mushrooms, 3 radishes.
2 Tbsp homemade paleo dressing

4:00 pm
4 oz. grilled chicken
2 cups cauliflower

7:45 pm (post Wod #2)
"Reload" recovery drink
5 oz. organic grass fed ground beef - saute'ed with garlic, evoo, onion, black pepper, sea salt, diced jalapeno, paprika, red pepper flakes.
Salad - 1 cup cabbage, 2 cups spinach, 1 chopped medium orange bell pepper, 1 small avocado, 1 tsp hot sauce

120 oz. water on the day.

Fitness - Weighted Sit Ups/Dead Lift & WOD - 1/5

Damn, I haven't felt soreness like this in my quads & glutes for quite some time. The squat cleans and wall balls from yesterday crushed them. My shoulders and back is pretty sore as well.

When I got to the gym this morning and saw that we had a good amount of hip work again today, I knew I better be good and warm before getting into it.

Focus: Cross sets, 5x5 of dead lifts with weighted sit ups between sets.
2x5 - 172 Kg (379.2#)
3x5 - 176 Kg (388#)

This is pretty heavy for me for sets of 5 so I'm pumped I went this high. We were supposed to be doing some active rest between sets so i chose to do weighted sit ups, holding 40 Kg (25 and 15 kg plates) over head. It was a good little combo of heavy deads and weighted sit ups.

As I said the other day, it would be fun to find out my CrossFit total. All three lifts (squats, presses and deads) have shot up a lot.

WOD: AFAP
100 CrossFit (full extension overhead) kettle bell swings - 32 Kg (70#) bell

Score/Time: 4:24
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 478

I decided I'm going to work this in as a finisher at least once a week. It was pretty harsh but this kind of work is extremely beneficial. A straight up heavy blast of hip work in a really short amount of time.

I was planning on using a 24 kilo bell but Dave had other plans. He said the point was to go heavy. Today was the first time I've used the 32 kilo bell while doing full CrossFit swings, and now I don't think Dave will let me use anything lighter.

It takes so much more hip drive to go full extension, it's almost impossible to sandbag it. Because if you do and you try to use your shoulders to swing it up overhead, you'll loose it and it'll come straight down on your head.

I got 33 in a row before my first break. I should have kept going and tried to get as many in a row as possible because after I set the bell down to rest for a breath or two, it broke me. I found it hard to get back into a rhythm and I set it down often. Getting 10-12 reps then setting it down again for 5-10 deep breaths.

As I said, I look forward to throwing this in once a week and really improving my endurance. My hips were shot after this bit of work.

Nutrition - 1/5

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 24 oz. water.

8:50 am
4.5 oz. grilled chicken breast
4 large celery stalks
1/3 cup walnuts

12:30 pm
5.5 oz. organic grass fed ground beef
Salad - 2 cup red cabbage, 1 cup green cabbage, 1 small avocado, 1 roma tomato, cilantro, juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup almonds

4:00 pm
4 oz. organic/grass fed all natural (no fillers) summer sausage
1 Tbsp TJ's dijon mustard
2 cups broccoli

7:30 pm
5 oz. grilled chicken breast
Salad - 3 cups spinach, 1/2 cup cucumber, 4 mushrooms, 3 radishes.
tossed in evoo, sea salt, black pepper.

120 oz. water on the day

Fitness - Two-A-Days, Squat Cleans & WOD #2 - 1/4

Focus: Power cleans (full squat), 5x3 cross sets
2x3 - 100 Kg (220#)
3x3 - 109 Kg (240#)

I was surprised and pleased that Dave had me do some more strength work this afternoon. Usually when I come in for WOD #2 on a two-a-day it's just a second WOD. It felt good to get in some heavy cleans.

WOD: AFAP
21 hang squat cleans - 62 Kg (136.6#)
15 HSPU's
15 hang squat cleans - 62 Kg (136.6#)
12 HSPU's
9 hang squat cleans - 62 Kg (136.6#)
9 HSPU's

Score/Time: 11:24
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 581

Man, this was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. After all the shoulder work in the morning, this took it's toll early on. The wall balls from this morning also made their presence known.

I got through the first round of cleans unbroken and powered through the first set of hspu's as well. It was a battle after that. I hit a pretty filthy wall. My shoulders, legs and upper back did not want to go anymore.

I broke up the work into manageable sets from then on. 5 (or so) cleans at a time and I was able to hold at 3 hspu's at a time through the rest of the WOD. Still pretty stoked on my time though. Even though I rested more than I would have liked, When I did rest it wasn't for long.

A lot of work put in at the gym today.

Fitness - Two-A-Days, Strict Press PR & Wall Ball/Pull Up Couplet WOD #1 - 1/4

Felt great after two days of rest and relaxation. My nutrition was on point over the weekend which was also a good feeling. Woke up not feeling gross or slow or anything and got to the gym early to stretch, then punish the white board. Two-a-day today.

Focus: Strict press, working up to heavy set of 3
1x5 - 60 Kg (132.3#)
1x5 - 70 Kg (154.3#)
1x3 - 80 Kg (176.4#)
1x3 - 87 Kg (191.8#)

New PR for a set of 3, my old PR was 83 Kg so this is a pretty big jump. My 1RM for strict press is 91 Kg and I'm thinking I could blow this away too. I'll try for a new 1RM soon, I also want to figure out what my CrossFit total is.

WOD: AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
5 pull ups (chest to bar)
10 wall balls - 20#/10'

Score/Time: 23 full rounds + 3 pull ups
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 711

Top score in the gym by 2+ rounds so I'm feeling pretty good about that. The chest to bar reps killed me towards the end. Dave was watching me close and called out when I had to re-do a rep. Which started to suck pretty bad towards the end.

When I didn't get all the way chest to bar and had to re-do a rep, it screwed up my rhythm and was just hard overall. Having to pull that much more to get chest to bar when you've already done about 100 pull ups was not fun.

The wall balls were typical wall balls. Just stay in there and grind them out. It was only 10 at a time so it wasn't too bad. Started sucking wind at the very end though.

My legs, shoulders and lats are smoked. In total, 118 pull ups (only counting chest to bar reps) and 230 wall balls. It's crazy what the body is capable of when you push yourself.

Nutrition - 1/4

8:00 am (post WOD)
protein shake - 1 scoop (25g) whey protein isolate, 1/3 cup organic unsweetened coconut milk, 1 Tbsp organic unsweetened cocoa powder, 20 oz. water.

9:10 am
5 oz. grilled top sirloin steak
2 cups broccoli
1/4 cup almonds

1:30 pm
6 oz. grilled chicken breast
salad - 3 cups mixed red & green kale, 1/2 cup cherry toms, 3 radishes, 2/3 cup mushrooms, 1/2 cup cucumber.
2 Tbsp dressing

5:00 pm
2 hard boiled eggs
2 links Insernio's extra lean chicken sausage
4 large celery stalks

8:00 pm
6 oz. baked salmon
3 cups roasted brussel sprouts
1 small avocado

114 oz. water on the day