Just Easing the Tension Baby

1/27 

For Time
50 Squats, 75lbs
15 Pull Ups
40 Squats
12 Pull Ups
30 Squats
9 Pull Ups
20 Squats
6 Pull Ups
10 Squats
3 Pull Ups

10:43.... Subbed the pull ups for rope climb.  Did butterfly pull ups to imitate the rope climb movements since every effort my brother and I tried with towels, sweatshirts etc. failed miserably.

1/28

Sarah
21-15-9
225lb Deadlift
Ring Dips

6:03.... I did a little combination of Diane and Elizabeth and decided to call it Sarah.  I don't think there's one named officially for this workout on the main site.  I've done this one before, see here, and this was a PR.  Love me some deadlifts and rings.

1/29

Clean and Jerk
7x1
185-190-195-200-205-215 PR-220 (failed the jerk)

Not my best lift but definitely my favorite.

1/30

Tyler
5 Rounds For Time:
7 Ring Pulls
7 Ring Dips
21 Sumo Deadlift High Pull

16:59.... Love them rings.  Always a good way to start the day.

The Mill:  Yesterday doing the clean and jerk I had to "mark my territory" since the weight room was packed.  Others were doing the same by grabbing weights and bars and bringing them to their home away from the middle of the room.  Well, I couldn't escape the decline bench crew.  I set up shop right next to it to clean and jerk.  So there was a bar, some weight, and a little room left behind me so I didn't kick anybody or anything.  Just to put it in to perspective, I usually like to workout with minimal people around.  I was about to go bat shit crazy with the amount of people.  I'm not complaining about the number of people, I think it's awesome, just have to plan a little better.  However, one of the decliners did crawl off the bench onto the floor and laid right in the middle of the room, almost lifeless.  He was just resting so no worries.  The intensity of  the clean and jerk 1 rep max was through the roof.  A workout that kicked my ass.

He's got a baseball on his butt. 

Most of the movements that I've done in the last week or so have mainly involved strong and fast hip movements.  I told one of our guys at camp this week that hitting, squatting, cleaning, golfing are all the same.  It's all in the hips - Chubbs Peterson.

I had an unusual song in my head this morning that helped me forget about the banging of the bar for a few minutes.  It's a song that found it's way onto every Bradford Area High School boys basketball warm up "tape" since at least 1993.  The teams that I played on from 2000-2004 had it on for at least for the first minute for so. Mother by Danzig was a staple on any and all warm up "tapes".  It found it's way on somehow, someway.  But what's with the chicken in the video?  Not the doggy in the window.

Shout out to my man JH and his lifting shirts...

Finders Keepers

1/26

8 Rounds for time:
Run 400 Meters
Rest 90 Seconds

21:10 (breaks included)....fastest was 1.25 and slowest was 1.38....I'll take it.  Run run run as fast as you can.... No treadmill this time.  Ran it on the track.

My man found his thumb.  Not too shabby.

Zero Fun Sir

1/22

7 Rounds
7 Deadlifts, 225lbs.
7 L-Sit Pull Ups

12:56....I'm almost certain I did 8 rounds, but since I was bouncing around after each set of deadlifts to find an open pull up bar I lost count somewhere in the middle.

1/23

10x2 Resting 60 seconds in between sets
Shoulder Press - 135lbs.

Strength + endurance WOD....I love these ones now that I know what they are used for.  Back in September  when I was doing the deadlift version of this I loaded the bar after each set.  I read a few different ideas on this one, but I like the one where you difficult weight but doable.  This is 80% of my max for the shoulder press which means no help from the legs or hips.  Straight shoulders.

1/24

7 Rounds
7 Front Squats, 135lbs.
7 Chest-2-Bar Pull Ups

12:56......(not a typo) Chose to use 135lbs instead of the rx'd 165lbs.  My front squats have always been a little unpolished if you know what I'm saying.  I used to do them like the Big "E" did them in high school.  This was the same person who we would take bets on to see when he would go out of practice with some kind of injury.  It was bound to happen.  You know the front squat that I'm talking about with the bar loaded across your shoulders and your arms folded on top of it.  I thought that was the only way I could do it.  I used the excuse "my wrists don't bend like that" too much.  So, just like the handstand push ups, muscle ups the front squats needed a lot of work.  Squat cleans became a warm up routine to allow my wrists to become more flexible and to get more comfortable with the movement.  This was the first time I used the proper form in a met-con WOD and I could feel it for sure.   Now I love me some front squats.

The Mill:  The other day I was talking to a woman about children growing up, and the fact that they don't realize what it means to be a "grown up".  Mind you I'm 26 years old and we just had out first child about a month ago.  We cheer every time he farts, and he farts a lot.  Hell, I cheer every time I fart.  Growing up?  Her point was that her kids didn't understand the difference between growing up and having fun.  She said that they're on different levels and shouldn't be mixed too often.  I was perplexed.  But it got me going that's for sure.  I'm fun right?  Or am I a grown up in the sense that she thinks we should be?  Why can't you have fun and "grow up" at the same time?  I'm taller, hairier, and can spell.  Does that make me a grown up?  I can't wait until the little man is a little older so we can go dive in some mud puddle's  and catch crayfish in the stream (goin' crickin' around these parts).  Maybe, hopefully, we can play some baseball and crossfit together.  That will be crazy fun.  Age is just number my friend.  That reminds me of the time I went to the Dr.'s office so he could give the scars a look and tell me nothing's wrong.  I had pulled a muscle performing a deadlift early on in my Crossfit days.  He asked what I did, and I proudly said, "I pulled it, but I got a PR".  Which he replied, "You're not 18 anymore".  To which I replied, "I know, I'm 24".  I know what he meant by it, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of agreeing with him.  It was just bad form not the amount of weight.  Age is still just a number not an excuse.  

My dad coached me all the way from little league through high school and he always said before each game, "Have some fun and get it done".

Prince Fielder

Thud Butt

Sometimes The Title Is The Hardest Part

1/18


Jerk Press
7x1
155-165-175-185-195-205-220 PR

Split Snatch
7x1
95-105-115-135-145-155 PR

Used the jerk almost as a warm up for the split snatch.  First time with the split snatch, and to be honest I was scared shitless.  It's a snatch but instead of catching it overhead in a squat you can it in a lunge position.  Come to find out I feel much more comfortable with the split.  Very little room plus not much time equals an extremely rushed max WOD.  I had to claim my area as soon as I walked in the weight room.  Kind of like how a dog marks his spot except for the fact that I didn't piss on the squat rack.  That was my squat rack for the next half hour.  Nobody seemed to mind or at least nobody said anything.

1/19

Elizabeth (nasty girl)
21-15-9
135 lb Clean
Ring Dips

7:49.....Enjoyed the bloody shins halfway through the first round.  I don't have a workout partner very often, but it's always a good time to workout with my brother.  Finally got to do "Elizabeth" with rings and not regular dips which made a huge difference.


1/20

For Time:
Run 1000 Meters
50 Thrusters, 45lbs
30 Pull Ups
Row 1000 Meters

50 Thrusters, 45lbs
30 Pull Ups
Run 600 Meters/Row 400 Meters

50 Thrusters, 45lbs
30 Pull Ups

36:23.... Had a hard time with the rowing machine.  Subbed the run and come to find out running sucks just as much.  I also found out today that mu nose is bigger than I originally thought since I knocked the bar off of it on the thrusters.  Had to keep going though.  Knocked some of those early morning frozen boogers loose.

The Mill:  Late January begins the baseball train for me.  I get all amped up for the season start.  Not that I play anymore.  My body; physical and mental, were programmed during the college days that we start competing for a championship, and it begins in the rubber gym right now.  I guess I haven't been able to shake that feeling/competitiveness.  I still want something that doesn't mind that you fail.  All-Star baseball hitters succeed 3 out of 10 times.  That means that they fail 70% of the time.  I wanted something like baseball that keeps you coming back failure after failure.  It's the failure and mistakes that keep you coming back, and those 3 times that you're successful make all the failures worth it.  The missed rep reminds me of a swing and miss.  That pitcher has to throw 2 more by you, and a missed rep means that you'll land the next one.  Failure is an opportunity to succeed.  So, Crossfit has become my new baseball over the last few years.  It has consumed a mediocre hitter and turned him into a mediocre Crossfitter.  Mediocre just means that there's a lot more room for improvement not that there's a lack of effort.  I've replaced tee work with handstand push ups and muscle ups, long toss with warm up overhead squats, and catcher's gear with homemade shirts and Chuck Taylor's.

Crossfit has helped fuel that competitive fire.  Instead of beating up on some rich kids with warm ups I get to compete against myself, the barbell, the uneven ground, bloody shins, ripped hands, and the thought of just stopping.  Who stops, who quits?  Challenge yourself.   Take it to the max physically and mentally.    It can be difficult to wake up every day and decide that you're going to challenge yourself.  Whether it be in the weight room, classroom, office, kitchen, intellectually or anything else out there.  Embrace the challenge and see it as an opportunity to improve.  Continue to move forward.  

Crossfit has given me an outlet to compete, think freely, and to do something challenging everyday.  Instead of trying to hit a curveball.  

Early start to the baseball season.

Make Something Happen

1/17
Run 5K

23:14.... A little slower than the high school days.  That was 30lbs ago and before alcoholic refreshments.  "I'm hungover and my knees are killing me"  -Jake Taylor.  I used to run Cross Country with a couple of other guys in high school.  We were simply asked to help fill out the roster so they would be able to compete.  We just had to show up to the meets on time.  Never went to practice.  Not once.  That's only because we were in our off-season for basketball and had team workouts everyday.  We were allowed to continue the basketball workouts as long as we showed up to the meets on time and finished our 5k.  The XC team was comprised of us 3 and about 4 serious runners.  The dynamics of 3 were runner, runner (Shane Hvizdzak), and rabbit.  The rabbit, JH, had (has) a good time with anything you throw his way.  He would bust out of the gates in a 100 yard sprint to draw out their best runners.  XC apparently dislikes vulgarity on their starting line.  As we lined up, myself right next to JH, he yelled, "let's kick some f@#$%&* ass".  Just like that our rabbit was disqualified.  Yep DQ'd in an XC meet.  I think I laughed the entire race.

1/16

5 Rounds for time of:
12 Thrusters, 20lb DB's
12 Toes-2-Bar

9:35... The t2b sucked worse than I remember.  The thrusters were a sub for wall ball shots, and went off without a hitch.  The gym I was at frowns upon balls being thrown at the wall.

1/14

"Tabata This!"

Tabata Row, 7
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Squat, 11
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Pull-up, 7
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Push-up, 10
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Sit-up, 11

The Tabata interval is 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 intervals.
Tabata score is the least number of reps performed in any of the eight intervals. Unit for the row is "calories".

46...total

The Mill:  Well in celebration of MLK day I found one documentary about the Civil Rights hero.  The rest of the day was filled with a Pawn Stars marathon on the History Channel.  That really grinds my gears.  The History Channel of all channels I thought would have had more on than what they did.  Anyways, take a listen to MLK's "I have a dream speech".

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

On Monday, there was a gentleman working out pretty hard, all over the weight room, grunting, screaming, and above all wearing some nut huggers.  To steal a line from Bad News Bears, it looked like he was smuggling grapes.  Very distracting for my wife (just playing).  It was a sight for the eyes.  He would "hike" them up, as if they weren't tight/short enough all ready, pelvic thrust in the mirror, and then grunt pretty much after each lift.  His shorts were as tight as my underwear if that helps out the visual at all.

Fear of Failure Is An Opportunity To Succeed

1/9


Ten Rounds for Time of:
135lb. Deadlift, 15 reps
15 Push Ups

18:06....150 deadlifts and push ups.  I don't care what the weight is of the deadlifts that's still a crazy WOD.  Shins bled through my socks and khakis at work later on in the day.  I just had to be careful with the light weight to still use good form.  It would have been easy to not bend all the way, and bend at my back too much.  Needed to concentrate on each movement.

1/10

Nate
AMRAP 20 Minutes
2 Muscle Ups   Subbed 6&6
6 Ring Pulls
6 Ring Dips
4 Handstand Push Ups
8 DB Swings, 75 lbs

9 Rounds....Took a low intensity day with the workout.  Still worked hard through each set, but didn't move quite as fast from station to station.  The muscle ups are the horse turd of 2012.  Improve each day.

I bet Captain America could do some muscle ups.

The rings my wife and Santa bought/made me this year.  They're awesome.  A top gift, right next to the 1994 Phantom action figure.  His eyes lit up and his arms moved when you squeezed his legs.  Awesome toy.  Still have it, actually.  Don't pay any attention to Captain America in the background I just needed someone to the take the picture for me. Personally, I feel that Captain America is an extremely under played super hero all considering.  He single handily saved America from the Axis Powers of WWII.  A global sensation. Could Spiderman do that?  I don't think so.  Just cut his webbing with a cheap pair of scissors.  He-Man, maybe, but all I'm saying is that Captain America needs a little more respect/play in the super hero world.  Hence, the shirt.  At 26 years old, I went out looking for a Captain America shirt and finally found it.  But then again, age is just a number folks.

The Mill:  See the opportunity to succeed rather than the possibility of failure.  I know it's minuscule, but I need to see the opportunity to succeed at performing consecutive muscle ups.  It's going to take some time, though.  Lets see how long I can be patient with this one.  I learned my lesson about being patient and improving a skill back in high school.  I had the Quick Swing, and I tried it right it away.  Took a swing from each spot and moved my way on up.  At it's quickest, the tubing has to be perpendicular to the ground.  Well, I immediately went to that point.  I failed time and time again.  My dad told me to move it back a notch and work from there.  Master one and then move on.  Teenager taking directions from his parents?  Doubtful.  The point of this is, that I couldn't quite catch up to the professional setting.  And by "quite" I mean I missed every single one of them.  Build up to it.  Practice it, but continue to build the strengths needed.  That's the same with these muscle ups.  Hopefully I will be able to do at least one within the next few months.

"I feel my first sale coming on real soon." -Tommy Boy

Stay confident and consistent.  Don't allow the fear of failing hold you back.  Go get it.      

Serenity Now....Insanity Later

1/6 

 

Kelly

5 Rounds for Time:

Run 400 meters

30 Box jumps

30 Thrusters, 20lb. DB

32:26....Well without being too critical of myself, my run sucked and I didn't push myself as hard as I should have this morning.  The run was a little longer than 400 meters which maybe added on 30-40secs for each run. Overall, not totally pissed about the performance but definitely always room for improvement.

1/4

Cindy, AMRAP 20 minutes

5 Pull Ups

10 Push Ups

15 Squats

21 rounds +pull ups and push ups and 5 squats...PR

The Mill: This WOD took a lot out of me, and left me gasping for air after the second round.  I know I haven't been getting enough sleep, and trying to shake the sugar monster from the diet has been a tough little road, but that's just white noise and not an excuse.  I completely lost concentration during the last run today, and it seemed like I was moving with cement blocks (probably a legit CF WOD in there).    I was my biggest challenge during this WOD.  Still left me dragging. 

I was amped to start Cindy.  I knew I could improve from the last one with better form on all 3 movements.  Squats were deeper, push ups were chest to deck, and pull ups were full extension.  They all need much more improvement, though.  All in due time.  Be patient.  

I would like to add "go get it" to this list.  That pretty much sums up all the answers.  Just thought it was interesting.  And I can't remember where I found it so I apologize to the source of the picture.  

Over the holiday break I was lifting at the YMCA and ran into a fellow Crossfitter who was home on break.  He WOD's in the 'Burgh and brought to my attention the Zach Miller Story.  It's incredible to see how many lives one man can touch.  I don't know Zach personally, but stay strong my man.  The story is so incredibly inspiring and passionate.  Thoughts and prayers.    

Let Yourself Go Get It

1/3
5x3 Overhead Squat
135-145-155-165-170


1/2
Fran
7:44.....Fran always blows


12/31
Ricky
AMRAP 20 mins.
10 Pull Ups
75lb. DB Deadlift, 5 reps
135lb. Push Press

8 rounds + 10 pull ups and 4 deadlifts

12/30


Hidalgo
For time:
Run 2 miles
Rest 2 minutes
135lb. Squat Clean, 20 reps
20 Box Jumps
20 Walking Lunge steps with 45lb plate held overhead

20 Box Jumps
135lb. Squat Clean, 20 reps
Rest 2 minutes
Run 2 miles

59:56...goal was under an hour.  Even if it's only four seconds.  First 2 miles were done in 14 minutes and the last 2 took me about 19.  Also, ran into a fellow xfitter at the gym.  He lifts in groups and I lift alone, and it was noticeable.  Nice to meet someone in the mix though.  The box jumps, lunges, and squat cleans were easy compared to that second 2 mile run.  Pukie was hiding around the corner for sure.


12/28
Five rounds for time of:
135 pound Deadlift, 9 reps
135 pound Power Clean, 6 reps
135 pound Overhead squat, 3 reps
15:25....


12/27
Front squat 2-2-2-2-2-2 reps
155-165-185-195-200-205


12/24
30 Pull Ups
30 Dips
75lb. Push Press, 100 reps
Row 1000 meters
17:19....managed to take one break during the pull ups and dips.  The push presses took a shade under a decade.


12/23
Run 1000 meters
100 push ups, chest-2-deck
115lb. snatch, 10 reps
20:44....the push ups landed me struggling to catch my breath and unable to lift my arms.  


No PR's but a lot of crazy ass WOD's.  


The Mill:  Not much to report from the hiatus.  My family and I had a great vacation.  Ate way too much, and I paid for it in all the body weight lifts or whenever I had to get out of bed.  Maybe I should start a diet in 2012?  Give up all the cookies?  New Years resolution's have never really been my style.  I have made some in the past with family members, and most of them happened.  I was sure that they would happen.  The ones that fell through were not that far fetched, but rather depended on someone else to come through in the clutch.  They were out my control.  Last year I decided to take small steps, and that horse turd is being polished as we speak.  I am able to handstand push ups for the WOD.  A lot of practice and frustration were a daily in occurrence in each handstand I attempted for the longest time.  But that was something I could control.  Making a resolution that depended on voting was crazy, instead it should have been what can be done to make myself better.  I can control me and my goals and how I will reach them.  Be a professional go-getter, and go get it!


Shout out to the left handed entrepreneur Shane Hvizdzak, and an early thanks for all your help.  Click on the link and see what he's about, http://www.shanehvizdzak.com/ .  Ladies, he has recently added a picture of himself to the site.  Tempted?