My 2011 *New Year* Challenge

[musculargirl]

what exactly is cross fit? It kind of sounds a little like boot camp?? Maybe?

Sounds like a nice workout whatever it is and your enjoying it so that's what counts.

[scottgaran]

[quote="Boss Man"]People have developed worse teeth become fatter and shorter, since hunter gatherer days and how would these so-called experts know, as no pictures of Neanderthals or Cro-magnons exist except old cave drawings which can hardly be caleld Kodak quality evidence.

Well bossman just go to the museum. They always have mock ups of the cro-magnon dwellings. You can see exactly what they looked like. OK, that was a joke. A bad one, but still a joke!

Scott

[Athene]

what exactly is cross fit? It kind of sounds a little like boot camp?? Maybe?

Sounds like a nice workout whatever it is and your enjoying it so that's what counts.

Sorry for not mentioning that - here's the Wikipedia entry and a video, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzD9BkXGJ1M
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrossFit

The first day we learned proper form for push-ups, sit-ups, olympic ring pull-ups, tabatta squats, and the rowing machine. The thing I'm most excited about is chin-ups! They have a whiteboard with a section called 'Chicks that do Chins' and I want to be on there : )

Nutrition
Meal 1 - whey isolate, 1 raw apple, 10 almonds, 1 espresso.
Meal 2 - 1 chicken breast, 2 cups peppers/mushrooms/broccoli.
Meal 3 - whey isolate, 1 raw apple, 250 ml black coffee.
Meal 4 - 2 eggs, 1/2 a green pepper, 1 tbsp ketchup, white tea.

Could definitely feel the energy dip today without whole-grain carbs. I really felt the need for more caffeine, but it's still only two and a half for the whole day, which I don't think is too bad. I didn't think I would ever get used to drinking espresso or coffee black, but it only took two days to acquire a taste for it, and now I don't think I'll ever go back. Also, I don't think ketchup is allowed on the Crossfit nutrition plan I'm supposed to follow right now, but I couldn't face those eggs without it yesterday.

Workout
Recovery Day

[Athene]

Nutrition
Meal 1 - 2 eggs, a sprinkle of Mrs. Dash, 1 raw apple, 300 ml black coffee.
Meal 2 - 4 cups green salad with a sprinkle of sunflower seeds and chick peas, 1 apple, 12 almonds.
Meal 3 - 2 cups lettuce, 3 stalks celery, 1 tin sardines (I know!)
Meal 4 - 1 baked potato, 1 whey shake.

Crossfit trainer suggested I eat sweet potatoes, even though the literature says to avoid starchy veg. I'm happy about this, I was REALLY cranky yesterday!

Workout
1 hour Crossfit training - used/learned kettle bells, double-jumps with an unweighted skipping rope, olympic bar form for deadlifts, and used free weights for shoulder press.

Was really fast with the timed kettle bell and free weight drill, but the weights were low. Feeling good all around. Next week we do chin-ups and box-jumps. Need to work on keeping my weight on my heels and my back vertical, as I have a tendency to lean forward for squats and those types of things.

[fitoverforty]

okay I'm a little behind in your journal, I've been out of town for a few days.
I must say I am so freakin' excited about this workout series for you!! Crossfit looks amazing! I'm so jealous. I wish we had something like this around here. I'm going to check around and see if it is offered at any of our local gyms. This is the kind of stuff that really inspires & motivates me. Its really challenging but also fun and certainly not routine or boring. Awesome!!
You go girl. I can't wait to see and read about your results!

fitoverforty wrote:
Athene wrote: I can't do flip-turns (!),
Keep working on them.....I taught myself, and it may not even be the "official" way to flip and turn, but as I'm approaching the wall, about 3 or 4 feet out, I take a big breath, dive under, do a summersault and push off the wall and twist my body upright to glide back up to the surface, already in freestyle form. It can really help cut off precious seconds in a race because it is basically all one movement from the summersault to the pushoff, to the twist & glide. And, for me anyway..., it made me feel powerful and fast (and maybe just a little "bada$$" )
Great job on beating your previous time! You are doing fantastic!!


I get so much water up my nose, I even tried using a nose plug and it still doesn't really work for me. Flipturns are SO badass, and so are you for doing them! lol I will try, I found some videos on YouTube to check out.

What I do is as I go into the flip & turn, I blow all my air out through my nose, push off the wall and power up for a big breath. You just have to time it right so you don't run out of air to blow out while you are still in the turn. I know you can do it, with a little practice (you're pretty bada$$ yerself).

[Boss Man]

Cross-fit involves a lot of fast repetitions and bits of plyometrics thrown in from what I know.

It's good but it does carry risk, because sometimes you might be using movements, that are using a faster cadence or a more reps less weight action, or combining plyo and static stuff together, so you need to make sure you get the form right, as it can sometimes increase the risk of issues particularly in the lower back area.

Good enough, but you might want to check you tube for examples of what it entails.

[Athene]

okay I'm a little behind in your journal, I've been out of town for a few days.
I must say I am so freakin' excited about this workout series for you!! Crossfit looks amazing! I'm so jealous. I wish we had something like this around here. I'm going to check around and see if it is offered at any of our local gyms. This is the kind of stuff that really inspires & motivates me. Its really challenging but also fun and certainly not routine or boring. Awesome!!
You go girl. I can't wait to see and read about your results!

This made my day! And thanks for the tips on the flip-turns. I'll try it out tomorrow morning and let you know how it goes.

Okay, this stuff looks like so much fun that I'm jealous. I just looked up Cross-Fit in the area, and, miracle of miracles, there's actually a gym in my town! I live 30 minutes between two bigger cities (so each one is 30 minutes away), and most nice gyms and classes and stuff are in those. I seriously can't believe it's in this town.

Anyway, is it all functional training? There's no MMA-type combat involved, is there? I bruise like a peach and have sworn it off after some bad experiences.

Yaaaaaaa! I'm so glad you want to try it. There is no fighting element at all, it's all you and the equipment.

There's a documentary about the Crossfit games in California called 'Every Second Counts' that is really inspiring. Here's the link if anyone would like to check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFW6F2sb ... re=related

Speaking of motivation, I've recently been inspired by the whole 'Livestrong' movement - not because of Lance Armstrong's personal experience specifically,but because I really appreciate the message in general. Whether it's cancer, stroke, heart disease, mental illness, diabetes, arthritis, or a perfectly healthy existence without physical limitations, I think that living strong - that is living well, with purpose, is really important. That's my sappy bit for the week. I'm just feeling lucky that I'm healthy, and that I have a lot of choices regarding the way I live my life because of the body I was born into. It inspires me to help people and to appreciate the efforts of those people who don't have the same choices. Being healthy is a privileged position to be in, and I want to respect that more.

[Athene]

Nutrition
Meal 1 - 2 eggs, sprinkle of Mrs. Dash, 1 apple, 300 ml black coffee.
Meal 2 - 1 tin smoked oysters, 1 cup fresh blueberries.
Meal 3 - 4 egg whites, 1 cup green pepper, 3 oz turkey breast, 1 tsp dijon mustard.
Snacks - 10 almonds, 1/4 cup blueberries.

Workout
Recovery.

I'm noticing needing a day to recover from Crossfit workouts is a trend. It's nice to have the spare time/sleep! I don't mind that one bit. I bought some new workout clothes this weekend and I was surprised by how much I liked what I saw in the mirror.... normally change-rooms are the site of my personal meltdowns regarding my body image, but not today. Today the mirror on the change-room door just made me smile : )

[Athene]

I only buy new clothes when I'm celebrating a specific milestone or I really deserve it. I'm pretty pumped for you, Karrie!

Thanks, man : ) I only buy clothes for special occasions too. I think between my new job and improved body-mind relationship I'm feeling really optimistic. The workout clothes are really comfortable, the best part is the new bottoms - black Under Armor capris. I've been hating 2 of the 3 pairs of shorts I rotate between for a while now, so it's nice to have something new.

[Athene]

I asked him about pull-ups, and he showed me the bands. Those things rock! It's great because I can do the full pull-up movement, which I can't do on an assist machine, but I still get a bit of a boost. It gives me a little more confidence too...almost like I can do a real one.

Yeah! Those resistance bands are a fantastic invention. The confidence it gave me with push-ups was incredible... it's a bit misplaced, since I definitely cannot do a real push-up by myself right now, but it's nice to know my body has a memory of it somewhere!

I'm going to give it a try the rest of the week (since it's free), then see how it goes. He does two pricing plans...$100 unlimited per month or $75 for 10 sessions, whenever you want. I was going to just do the 10 sessions and come once a week, but if it's as much fun as I think it's going to be, I might reconsider just dropping my regular gym membership and going for this one.

It's expensive compared with other places, isn't it? My Muay Thai gym was $170 for 3 months unlimited, and a regular gym membership at a City-run facility is $102 for 3 months unlimited.... Crossfit is $149 per month to train 3x per week with a 12 month contract. It's a big deal to me, being a student and stuff, but I don't have debt and I just started a job that allows me to afford it, so I'm going to give it a real try too. I know we're both just getting exposed to these types of workouts, but something tells me we won't need our other memberships. Everything else seems boring to me now ; )

[Athene]

Nutrition
Breakfast - 2 eggs, 1 apple, 200 ml black coffee.
Lunch - 1 can tuna, 1 cup cucumber, 1 cup strawberries.
Dinner - 3 oz lean beef, 1 cup salad greens, 1/2 cup roasted veg, 300 ml black tea.
Snacks - 12 almonds, 1 cup grapes.

Workout
1000 m swim freestyle, moderate effort.

[Athene]

Nutrition
Breakfast - 2 eggs, 3 strips bacon, 300 ml black tea.
Lunch - 3 strips bacon, 1 apple (weirdest lunch ever, I cooked 6 strips but didn't eat them all in the morning)
Dinner - 3 oz lean beef, 1 cup green peppers, 1/4 cup black olives.
Snacks - Not hungry today, didn't workout because it's a provincial holiday (Louis Riél Day, here in Manitoba), and ate so much bacon I felt satiated all day. Good times.

Workout
No Crossfit class this morning due to holiday, spent the day at home with my husband, relaxing and stretching my hamstrings. I can't believe how stiff they are from the rowing machine.

[Athene]

Sorry to hijack your thread again. Thanks for turning me on to Cross Fit! I don't know if it's going to be enough for me since I'm used to longer workouts, but I'm going to give this week a solid try and see how it goes. I also need to figure out my diet...always a work in progress.

You didn't hijack it, don't worry, this is what I'm interested in!

It's a big mental shift to understand that longer workouts do not necessarily equal better results or higher fitness levels than HIIT - I guess if anything the opposite is true. So we can count on getting more from each workout, which I know for me will equal less hours spent per week working out, and more time to dedicate to other things. Like going for a leisurely walk, or sleeping in ; )

[Athene]

Holy crud, lady. I am so sore I can hardly believe it.

I was doing some research on CrossFit, and the major complain is that people get hurt striving for faster times while losing proper form. I guess it's something to keep in mind.

Me too! I am destroyed. I had the slowest time out of everyone in my group today, going at 100% effort, but the instructor took me aside and told me I was the only person doing the full range of movement with each exercise, so I should just compete with my own time. This secretly made me really happy.

I think compromising form for a better time is common in a lot of sports, and it's really important to remember how easy it is to injure oneself that way. If I can't maintain good form, I have to stop or I know something bad will happen.

[Athene]

Nutrition
Meal 1 - 4 strips bacon, 2 eggs, 1 cup melon/grapes/strawberries, 400 ml black coffee.
Meal 2 - 3 cups roasted zucchini/redpepper/onion, 1 chicken breast.
Meal 3 - 6 oz salmon, 1 cup parsnips/carrots/sweet potato, 1 cup salad greens.

Workout
Active rest day - Moved a heavy and cumbersomely-shaped couch up 3 flights of stairs, across a street, and into another building. My arms were dead, I was red and sweating the whole time. It was probably only about 12 minutes, but I was completely done afterward, so I'm counting it!