CF Open 17.2

Out of the four Open workouts we have completed, 17.2 was my least favorite.

I groaned when I saw we once again had 35 lb dumbbells in our workout. -_- 

I can't do a single muscle up, but decided to go for RX and see if I could get even one in.

Let me tell you, when I heaved those dumbbells onto my shoulders for the lunges I wobbled, and it was all I could do not to fall over! They were too heavy for me to hold off my shoulders, and I spent more time trying to get them somewhere less uncomfortable than I did lunging. By the end of the TTB on the first round my grip was SMOKED! By the second round I was doing sets of 2 and shaking my hands out. I could barely hold onto the bar, and it took everything in me to hold on for that last rep.

I got to be THAT person on the lunges, growling (for lack of a better word) during every rep, and not so gracefully dumping the weights off my shoulders at the 25' mark. On my very last lunge I came down and pushed and pushed before my legs decided to work and I came back up again. Haha. I was so slow that as I wobbled my way back to the bar I had only about a minute left on the clock to try to get a muscle up. I tried and tried and tried, but my kip wasn't powerful enough, and I could feel myself sliiiiiiiiding off the bar.

When we finished I felt like Popeye. At some point I had torn a callous on my hand and my hands were shaking so bad I couldn't open my band aid.Actually, trying to hold anything felt almost impossible.

It seemed pretty short, although still painful, but honestly I thought it was kind of boring! lunges and TTB..... If I had been able to do muscle ups it probably would have been more fun, but I couldn't, so this workout was kind of "Meh", in my humble opinion.

I still had a good time cheering others on, taking pictures and hanging out, but I'm glad that one is done.

Ughhhh....those dumbbells.....

I Joined A Planet Fitness {and my thoughts on joining}

I let out a chuckle as I drove through town one day and spied the big purple and yellow sign.

"Planet Fitness coming soon!"

I hadn't heard much good about the place, and had only seen the jokes about them serving pizza.

Now, I like pizza. I think pizza has a place in everyone's life, and often make it fit in my macros. But to serve it a gym where people are often struggling to eat well, and workout? I don't agree with it.

Anyway.....

They moved in quickly, and pretty soon I had friends joining, and telling their friends. I didn't want anything to do with it after I heard you couldn't do deadlifts, or press a barbell overhead.

I'll stick to training at home, thanks.

Then my mom joined, and chose the option to bring a guest. She invited me to go with her, and kind of walk her through her workout, and I didn't turn her down.

I sat in my car Wednesday evening, looking at the front of the gym with it's big "Judgment Free Zone" , plastered across the front wondering what I was doing here, hoping I didn't see anyone I knew.

I was hoping for at least a squat rack and was sad when all I saw were Smith machines. :(

We signed in, and I took a better look around. It was pretty busy since people were getting off work, but overall it had a clean and relatively pleasant atmosphere.

I helped my mom through her workout, and was eager to get going with mine. I was starting day 1 of Triple Threat (still not running much at the moment) and was starting off with squats.

I made a huge mistake and completely forgot to warm up before diving in. I put 70lbs on the bar, and dove into my timed squats. When I finished those 5 sets my legs felt like jello. Then came walking lunges. Then leg extensions, and  more jello. The gym only has two leg press machines, and both were taken so I swapped that out for something else.

There's a little section with Kettlebells, battle ropes (which I thought were kind of cheesy), bands, an adjustable box jump,  and whatnot. 

My mom had gone to run errands, so I had some time to kill. I grabbed the 30lb KB and did three rounds of 10 KB swings, and 10 burpees as a finisher. I was sweating like a pig, and could literally barely walk. I hadn't had a workout quite this intense or heavy in quite a while!

I don't normally do cardio on strength days, but I still had some time so I hopped on the treadmill fully intending to just go easy as a cool down. I got on there and promptly started bumping the incline as far as it would go , and sped it up. The gal next to me looked like I was insane as I stood there, my machine beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beeping. I lasted all of two minutes before the shaking in my legs got so bad, so I called it quits and went to change.

The next day I was so sore. I was supposed to do conditioning, but I could barley walk or sit. My glutes, hamstrings and quads were hating me at work. Or maybe I was hating them?

I lay in bed last night debating whether or not to get a membership. It was cheap.....but no squat rack????? Back and forth, back and forth....

Then today I did a thing. A thing I said I would never do. I got a planet fitness membership.

Why?

Because I was in a training funk. I would groan as I bundled up in the cold to train with my weights and barbell, and I've been running the same road for three years. Once I got going I was okay, and enjoyed myself, but I needed a different atmosphere.

Would I rather join a Crossfit gym? Absolutely. Can I afford it? Nope. Do I wish they had a real squat rack? Duh.

I've heard people say "You can't get fit at a Planet Fitness, But I'm going to let you in on a little secret.....

You can get fit at home using just your body. You can get fit with a barbell and a few weights. You can get fit with machines. You can get fit at a Planet Fitness.

If you are eating smart and training hard, (and correctly), you can reach your goals. It's as simple as that.

I don't just love PF, but I'm looking forward to getting out of my rut and crushing my new training plan. I will still have days were I train at home and get in my deadlifts, front squats and (my favorite), push presses, but a change of scenery is very muchly needed right now.

So to all the PF haters, (speaking partially to myself), yes, there lot's of newbies who you'll see performing "Bro Reps", and whatnot, but you'll also find more experienced people who ignore everyone else, go in, get work done, and leave. They're not just there to socialize, and flaunt their muscles. 

Plus, it's only $10 . Even I can afford that.

WOD 12-7-16

The last couple weeks I've taken a break from my original training plan due to some pain in my calves/ankles/shins. I was incorporating more running into my week since that's one of my biggest weaknesses, and after only a mile I would get shooting pain in my legs, and the bottoms of my feet. Really hard to train when you can't run, and OCR is primarily a running sport. -_- Grrr.....

I have been seeing my chiropractor about it, and see a trainer next week, so hopefully we get this taken care of, and I'll be back to normal.

Between that and the cold, cold weather I have been having a bit of a tougher time getting my training sessions in. I work on the weekends, and come home cold, tired and hungry so for the moment those are my rest days, and I train Mon-Fri. Not ideal, but it works.

Right now I'm primarily strength training with very little cardio except in small bursts, and doing whatever sounds fun for the day, making sure to hit all the muscle groups in a week. The last couple sessions have been workouts from Jen Jewel's 6 week program, and it was not only fun, it hurt! :)

I modified it a bit here and there for myself, and only did 3 sets instead of four, just because of time. Okay, and maybe because  was also feeling a tad lazy...... ;) So, because I know everyone loves a good leg day, I thought I'd share. :) 

(I'm assuming you have been lifting for a while now, and are familiar with the moves and lingo. If you have question as to what anything means, let me know.)

Superset #1

DB jump squat x 12 (I used a 30# DB)

DB Rear lunges x 16 (8 per leg, and go heavy!)

Rest for 1 minute and repeat for a total of 3-4 times

SS #2

BB Deadlift x10

30 seconds jump rope

Rest 1 minute and repeat for a total of 3-4 rounds

SS#3

DB Curtsy lunge x 16 (8 per leg)

burpees x 15

Rest 1 minute and repeat for a total of 3-4 rounds

SS #4 

Glute kickback with resistance band x 10 per leg

Jump squat x 15

Rest 30-60 seconds and repeat for a total of 3-4 rounds

And there you have it! that was today's fun. Use heavy weights for this, but make sure your form is correct throughout. Don't get sloppy! Stronger legs = better runner.