Workout Pics

Pic from late April '09 from 1st week of CrossFit - Goblet Squats


















Early May running.


















Early June Deadlift


















Early July Push Press

Deadlift = 325 lbs. (only 315 & 265 lbs. in pics.)

New Baseline PFT & Diet Results

Saturday saw 40 mph winds in T-Town, of course, because this was my new baseline Physical Fitness Test (PFT) for the FBI self-assessment. At least it was warm and sunny.

We (a few brave souls came with me; one was an ATF agent) did the test at a local high school track.

Results:

Sit ups: 31 = poor. Actually went down in number from my March test, but I think I had an off day in general due to wind and poor sleep during the week. Not an excuse, just a qualifier for comparisson to the next test in a month.

300 m sprint: 1 minute 16 seconds. This is the same time I had in March, but this time I finished running hard. This will be a challenge for me to get a passing score.

Push ups: 25 = improved. This is a 5 rep. improvement from last time and in truth, in the last two weeks, I have seen my strength grow in this. I believe I can grow by 10 reps per month and really rack up the points in this event to offset poor running numbers.

1.5 mile run: 18 minutes, 26 seconds. Again, for 1/2 the track, we were running into heavy winds, so I am unsure as to how accurate this is. Given it's 6 minute split from where I need to be to pass, I'm not sure no wind at all would have helped that much. Again, the biggest improvement here for me was that I finished the run, and finished hard. Whereas in March, I died about 1 lap in after the other events. So, finishing this run and the test as a whole is a marked improvement.

Overall, this was somewhat frustrating to finish and see the work that remains before I am able to pass and move ahead in the FBI hiring process. I am buoyed by the progress after 2 weeks in CrossFit and continuously remind myself to have patience.

On another note, the Zone Diet seems to be pairing nicely with CrossFit and I am please with the results of my progress since my initial weigh-in two weeks ago. I have lost 5 pounds overall, reduced my abdomen, chest and shoulder measurements by 2 inches, and decreased my body fat % by about 2.5%. If my math is correct (and I'd liek to think it is), I've lost 9 lbs. of fat and gained about 6 lbs. of muscle.

At this rate, I should be able to pass the PFT by the end of August at the very latest. This is a conservative estimate, but I thin it best to not get too hopeful at this point. I have a long way to go, but am relived to note such progress in such relatively little time.

Deadlift

Friday, I lifted more weight than I have since highschool.

315 lbs. for my deadlift.

It's a nice personal best for me to start from. Especially considering how humbling everything else has been.

Easier Said than Done

Today is an off day. If it stops raining, I'll help coach some pre-schoolers in soccer.

Monday and Wednesday were both tough workouts. My biceps have been killing me all week.

I feel better, but I also feel very impatient about seeing results. I've added 5 push-ups to my total count in the last two weeks. I hope to add 5 per week. This will help maximize points and make up ground for slow runs in the PFT...which by the way will be the WOD for Saturday.

I'm a bit nervous about it to be honest. I hope to have made some progress since March, but since it's only two weeks into CrossFit, it's really going to be my new baseline.

Still feel like I am not in a groove with the Zone Diet. I talked to a few of the other guys who assured me when that kicks in, weight loss will drastically accellerate. Let's hope so.

I'm doing everythign I can think of, but I think it's just a waiting game while I build muscle and fitness and lose some fat. I'm really trying to stop obsessing about seeing progress and just do it.

Like everything else, easier said than done.

Words to Live By

From CrossFit HQ - World-Class Fitness in 100 Words:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.

You are not a unique snowflake.

I've quoted Mark Twight before because he's a brutally harsh mirror to hold up to yourself. So, in honor of the humility my new endeavor into CrossFit has shown and the work I am dedicating myself to, here's some more of Twight's ranting:

"If you weren't given the gift you can't get the gift so the best you can do – if your goal is important – is work as hard as you possibly can, pay attention every hour of every day and then maybe, maybe if you've done enough and been smart enough you'll emerge from the muck of mediocrity to shine a bit brighter than you shone before. Then, upon reflection you might decide your goal is a bit more important so you'll start paying attention every minute of every hour of every day. You'll find people who are better than you and you'll take an empty cup when you meet them. Their example will destroy or inspire you and if it's the latter you may stay and learn. You might imitate, doing as they do because you've already accepted that you do not know best – if you did you'd be leading the group they were trying to join. Perhaps being exposed to their superior ability will drive you to work harder than you thought possible, or necessary. Maybe you'll overcome your self-imposed (or worse, society-imposed) limitations and shine even more brightly.

Wow, you're getting it: positive reinforcement for hard work and suffering. So maybe you give your goal even more significance and you begin cutting away the ideas and the expectations and the people who you believe prevent you from achieving it. Now you become a real selfish prick, and you begin paying attention every second of every minute of every hour of every day, and you sustain your awareness for weeks and months at a time. You no longer think yourself a unique snowflake, you're a steel-edged blade shaped like a snowflake and you're spinning at warp speed. You're the biggest fish in the pond. You're a badass. Now you have options.

1) If you think you haven't yet done enough, and you could do more, you might begin to understand that, the more capable you become, the higher the mountain rises ahead of you. At that moment you may recognize the existence of a legitimately serious group, ahead of you, above you, somewhere you're not. They are silent, implacable, constantly improving and evolving and because they are truly capable they are accessible to those who are genuine. Among them there's no defensiveness, no posturing or pretending, and they aren't interested in anyone else's. Selection for such a group isn't based on physical performance alone. Issues of character and commitment, and discipline and persistence balance physical talent. Because you clawed your way out of the muck, were “up all night, dedicated” and maintained interest for long enough to differentiate yourself from the short-attention-span sporting dilettantes who commonly brush up against this group they might accept you as an apprentice. If you empty your cup your chances are better. If you redouble your efforts your odds improve again.

2) If however, you think you've done enough or you decide you have “arrived” then you'll stay in the small pond and stagnate. And when the rot is complete you'll be just a little bit better than those around you – your initial example will have driven them to reach higher levels of performance – and there you'll sit, an intellectually bloated, pontificating fuck who once had the juice to work hard but having done so feels entitled to coast on past success all the way to the grave. That's when you'll start offering opinions based on the certainty of your own short-lived, amateur experience.

3) And if that limited practice has convinced you that anyone better than you is so because of drugs or because they won the genetic lottery or they have better equipment, you may be right. But it's a lot more likely they are better than you precisely because of your cop-out opinion, because you are lazy, or confused about the meaning of hard work and diet control. Maybe you think self-discipline means drinking two beers instead of six. Maybe you think (OTC) supplements can end-run a bad diet and inadequate recovery."

"Perhaps, an honest self-assessment would reveal all of your pretense and blind obedience to a particular ideal. Maybe you need self-destruction to lead to self-creation, or reinvention."

"How many of you know where you want to go? And where you are now? And how to get from here to there? How many will start on the path, but fail? How many will settle for less? The answer to these questions, based on “your own experiences (and common sense)” is that very few know, and very many will settle for less.

Are you even curious?

Stroke...Stroke...Stroke...Stroke...Stroke...

The gods of pain and fitness compromised yesterday with a recovery workout. Lots of rowing!

500 m. warm-up

Worked on cleans for the technical skill workout. I barely used any weight as I am STILL trying to get my form right. Squat..shrug..jump..clean..head up..arms up! It'll come.

Finished the day with 2,000 m on the rower.

Being men, someone threw down the gauntlet to race another 500 m afterward, so we went the extra 1/4 mile yesterday.

Since, I am hoping to offset my sluggish running, I also knocked out 3 sets of 20 push ups scattered throughout the workout. Already feeling stronger doing them.

Today, I'll rest and teach 3 yr. olds to play soccer.

Full Workouts - Week 2

Monday was my first full workout and it kicked my ass. Not to be too repetitive, but it did.

Warm up was:

• 100 reps. jumping rope
• walking lunges for the length of the gym x2 (maybe 20 yards, so 40 total)

These suck. Two days later and my thighs are still really sore!

• 20 push ups
• 10 pull ups
• another 100 reps. jumping rope

Then on to the skill work:

• Front squat - 5 sets of 3 reps.

Form is key here and my back was killing me, so I am sorry to say the trainer pulled the plug on me at the 4th set.

Finally, the workout was timed, but you just worked at your own pace until you finished:

• 20 kettle ball squats
• 20 kettle ball swings
• 20 push ups
• 100 reps. jumping rope

This was supposed to be 4 sets, but the trainer held me to 3. The limitation is a taste of humility, but was a good move considering my soreness and my struggle to complete even 3 full sets.

I was really beat! What bothered me the most was that mentally, I was pushing myself, but my body just is not there yet. I was mainly just pissed at how weak and out of shape I have become. As a former athlete, it is really frustrating, but very good motivational fuel. I didn't even want my time on the board with those of everyone else.

Today is a new day.

Pics are posted on the CrossFit Toledo website. I'm the fat one with the sweat soaked t-shirt.

CrossFit - Week 1: WOW!

This week was my first in beginning my pursuit of intense fitness training through the CrossFit community. I started Monday @ Rogue Fitness-Toledo in my Elements class (beginners' class teaching technique and testing the waters of the program). After some basic instruction on CrossFit, some techniques for lifting and the gym in general, I had about a 6 minute workout that kicked my ass.

I was sold.

It was my introduction to Tabatas. i.e. intense 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for multiple rounds. I did 20 sec. of max body weight squats, 10 sec. rest, 20 sec. max kettle ball swings, 10 sec. rest, and 20 sec. of max pushups followed by 10 sec. rest before starting over. 3 rounds (sets) and I was sweating, panting and loving the challenge.

I also was pissed that I let myself get soooo out of shape, and please that I think this new traiing regiment will whip me into shape fast. An ATF agent that I met before leaving seemed pretty sure about the training being the best thing to help me meat my goal.

Tuesday I was a bit sore.

Wednesday was Elements class #2 at 7 am. I "Warmed up" with 20 body weight squats, 20 kettle ball swings, and 20 pushups with no rest. Instructions on proper deadlift form became a workout in itself. Then we talked about proper rowing form, and I had a lesson in humility as I learned how uncoordinated I have become sitting in an office all day as I was taught to do proper cleans.

Then the actual workout began. This was a 10 minute workout with as much work as I could do in that time period. I was to do intervals of rowing 250 meters, followed by 7 deadlifts and finally 10 "wall balls" (this was a new form of torture for me :) that is basically throwing a 16 lb. medicine ball 10 feet in the air like you're shooting a basketball as you come up from a squat). No rest between unless you chose to use your limited time to suck wind. I kept a good pace rowing (about 2:30 sec. per 500 m) and knocked out 4 sets before my time was up. Another good workout. It was a little early, but I felt great afterward.

Again, a little sore on Thurs.

Today was the final Elements class at 7am again. This morning's warm up was run 400 m (1/4 mi.), then 20 squats, 20 kettle ball swings and 20 pushups. Maybe it's in my head, but I felt a little stronger doing these excersies already. (?) Anyway, then we moved on to the push press/jerk instruction, where I was again skilled in proper form and poorly coordinated movement. I got the hang of it, but it will be a few more workouts before my clean and jerk movements are right. Again, this instruction was a workout in its own right. I was sweating pretty good when we finished. The workout today was timed, but there was no limit. I had to run 400 m, do 7 push preses, then 10 burpees; 3 sets.

Burpees are a new kind of hell. I have always hated squat-thrusts. Well, burpees are a squat thrust with a push up at the bottom and a jump at the end. They suck. Great workout. I felt really good afterwards again, but during I wondered if I could finish. I had to walk-jog a bit on the last 2 runs to catch my breath. (Remember, no rest between work!) I psuhed through and I am ready for my first group class.

Maybe I'll go in tomorrow.