Crossfit (Was Tabata squats)

[Jakob]

I may join Crossfit next month, for a month or two, to get my fitness back, but this looks like it's worth incorporating in my home workout*.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/CHiBwljBtKo&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/CHiBwljBtKo&rel=1</a>

Although I've started with the 'standing rest' version.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/b4e-dp97Jfc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/b4e-dp97Jfc&rel=1</a>

(I needed my legs today, so I only did 2 sets yesterday and I can still feel it today!)

Anyone else got experience with Crossfit?.


*which currently consists of stretching only

[Chris S]

 

Ow!

[andygates]

I occasionally dabble with the Workout of the Day when I'm feeling subbie and want a big scary man to tell me what to hurt.  Shoveling, oh, baby, shoveling.

Intervally, intense, mixed-up stuff: yes. 

Effective for regular crossfitters: undoubtedly.

Everyone's cup of tea: nope.

(And I've finally seen what a tabata squat looks like!)

[Jakob]

Everyone's cup of tea: nope.

This winter has been terrible. Excessive workload and then a fractured rib from snowboarding has seen me pile on the pounds and only the weekly session of table tennis has kept me remotely fit.
Next job takes me next to the 'nicest' (ie least scary) Crossfit gym and I figured a month or two in there would either kill me or make me fit again.

It is not really my cup of tea, but as one of my friends (who used to go there) said: "It's great for getting fit fast!",

[andygates]

Go for it! 

[Gandalf]

That second video looks like a recipe for knee trouble to me, way too bouncy.

[Jakob]

So, I had my first session at Crossfit today and man, it's brutal, but in an entirely self-enforced manner.
The workout is deceptively simple...but the repetitions is the killer.
I'm just about the oldest there and certainly the most unfit, but there's a great group spirit.
Now I just wait for the pain to hit me tomorrow....

[andygates]

How're you feeling?

[Jakob]

I am so sore.

5x(modified) pull-ups, 5x push-ups and 10 air-squats.
Sounds easy, eh?...repeat as many times as you can in 20 minutes.
Oh and then 75 sit-ups to finish it off.

Just about the only part of my body that isn't hurting, is my lower legs. The rest is screaming at me, the moment I think about moving.

So..I decided to sign up for 2x week 

[simonp]

I was made to do Tabata intervals at Wing Chun training - a few days before  the Elenith.

In this case IIRC it was 20s punching pads, 10s rest, repeat 8x.

Arms were still shaking 5h later and I discovered the next day I'd injured both shoulders.  It was particularly bad sleeping in a cold tent the night before the ride, but fortunately it transpired it was only raising my arm above shoulder level that bothered me, and riding a 300 was fine.

However, this kind of high intensity thing should be eased into, I think.

[andygates]

It says exactly that on all the bumf, most of the internets and in the 'chat'. 

But us boys, eh?   

[Jakob]

Today was an 'elements class', where half the class is focused around techniques. Today was 'push jerk', the last element in weightlifting.
Work out was 5 x burpees,10 x deadhangs and 20 x box jumps. 7 sets for time. (max limit 15 minutes).
I did  5 sets and was probably last (And the only guy in the class too).

Still sore from Sunday, so it'll be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow!.

What I really like about it, is that everyone is working and pushing themselves. Doesn't matter how hard/heavy/fast you are, but only that you are trying your hardest.

I'm also trying to cut down on the processed carbs (and increasing protein) and are looking at the the 'zone diet', which could, with a few modifications, be workable for my lifestyle. (Lots of work, not a lot of prep time available).

[Jakob]

Oh man.

So this morning was another 'elements' class, focusing on the mechanics of the Crossfit squat, which I actually handled reasonably well..and then we moved on to the work out, which was...tabata!
Not just the squats, as shown in the video above, but:
Pushups
Knee-to-elbows (hanging from a bar)..(And modified to 'knees as high as you can' for the more mortal of us)
Situps.
And...squats.

All of it, bar the squat, sucked. Kendo/cycling/tabletennis means I got strong legs/glutes, but with the rest I was a quivering mess after 3 rounds.

Granted, doing all this stuff in 7 days may not have helped as my arms/abs are still sore, but even so, I could feel the difference already in yesterdays kendo practice.
Yeah, I may run out steam quickly (not much left in the reserve tank), but the explosiveness has already gone up, as I'm using my core better already.
I regret not starting this a year ago.

[Jakob]

Wednesdays Element class was the press. (Lifting weight from chest to straight overhead, with no leg movement).
One of the goals of Crossfit is to be able to lift your own body weight...so my 32kgs is not even half way there!.
The workout wasn't as had as the other ones, which I'm sure they'll make up for tomorrow
(Note that this is also the 'elements' class, which isn't the full workout)

300 skips
60 lunges
30 v-sits
30 push-ups
300 skips.
For time.

[Jakob]

Saturdays was front squats.
After warm-up and an introduction to basics, we got put into groups. (I was with the two other guys).
It was clear from the get-go, that I would struggle with holding the bar comfortably on my shoulder and it proved to be the case, but still managed to get up to 62kgs on the last set.
The workout itself, we paired up and as a team we had to complete:
100 box jumps
150 sits-ups
75 pull ups.
My partner probably did 65% of the work. For the pull-ups, the majority are still using huge elastic bands for assist.
It helps, but my arms still started screaming after 10 reps.

It's working though. Core & upper-body are definitely coming alive again and I'm down 1kg in 2 weeks, with only a moderate reduction in carb intake.

[andygates]

Front squats are a bugger for highlighting all the flexibility problems cyclists have! 

Elbows high!

[Jakob]

Yes.
I've worked a lot on shoulder flexibility (A necessity in kendo ), so that's ok, but my wrists/fingers simply can't bend backwards enough.

Today was Overhead Squats. Probably the toughest exercise yet.
I wanted to start with the 15kg bar, but she made me use the mens one (25kg) and added another 5kgs after the first set. You can have the strongest legs and arms in the world, but if you don't have a strong core, you wont get anywhere. I also see it as an exercise where you could easily overdo it, though.

Workout was: (Again not the full workout)
20 box jumps
8 ring rows,
100 meter run
AMRAP in 15 mins. (I managed 5).
I cannot run to save my life, but got relaxed enough on the last round to actually almost feel comfortable doing so. Just wish that they would incorporate some cycling, so my ego could gain a bit of pride back .

Oh and just for reference:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/XHC6JOB0Ne0&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/XHC6JOB0Ne0&rel=1</a>

(I was doing half the weight of what she's doing!)

[Jakob]

Medicine ball cleans today, but after Birthday dinner last night, it was always going to be tough day and I was struggling even with the warm-up!
We did the basics with 10lbs medicine balls and then I got swapped to a 20lbs one. (The other guys only got 15lbs, wah!)
I think the idea of the MB cleans is that it's basic core exercise, with relatively low weights, which will prepare you for doing proper cleans (weight lifting style) and eliminate bad habits.
Anyway:
WOD:
100 meter run,
10 MB cleans
20 box jumps
10 burpees

x 5 for time.
(23:45 for me, slowest of the lot)

I was done by the second round, but somehow still got through it. Toughest one for me to get through so far, although I think some of that was due to me feeling less than optimal.

[Jakob]

Last week was deadlifts and it forces, even with very low weights, a re-occurence of my old back problem.
I was a little surprised, as none of the other lifts & exercises has caused any problems. (In fact, it's been very quiet for 2 years +). However, it's completely fine once warmed up and gave no trouble during table tennis yesterday (which involves a fair amount of twisting of back/hips) or during the workout today.

Today we returned to push-jerks and rather than going for weights, it got incorporated into the WOD (after some technical instructions).
We got teamed up in pairs and had to do the following:
75 push-jerks with 15kg bar.
75 pull-ups
750m rowing
75 situps.

I sucked at pull-ups and situps, but luckily the girl I was paired with didn't and I could pull far more in the rowing and and zoom through the push-jerks, so it worked out reasonably well.
We lost count on the sit-ups and may have done 100+ instead!.

After that, our evil instructor had us do another set of exercises (most working the abs and my abs really sucks) and combined it was probably the hardest workout since I started.

[andygates]

Evilicious. Can I just do the deadlifts bit?  I like the deadlifts bit. 

[Flying_Monkey]

I read an amazing piece about Crossfit in Explore (the Canadian outdoors mag). I had the sudden urge to start throwing logs about and dragging tires a la Rocky 3... but seriously, I am going to start to follow a modified version of the daily program (I say modified because I am not stupid enough to think that I have ever been the level of athlete who could cope with the full version straight off the bat).

[Manotea]

Oh and just for reference:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/XHC6JOB0Ne0&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/XHC6JOB0Ne0&rel=1</a>

(I was doing half the weight of what she's doing!)

What she is doing is so far off the scale its.... truly scary.

I've never even been able to press/clean my bodyweight, even when I was, erm, much young(er), thin(er) and strong(er).

[andygates]

Nice form.

[Flying_Monkey]

Nice form.

Just what I was thinking... 

[Jakob]

Nice form.

I think she's one of the senior coaches at Cross Fit HQ and often shows up in the demos.
There's also a surprising high ratio of females in CF, probably more so at the one I go to. (It's owned by a woman, which probably helps too).

Deadlifts really messed up my back muscles and reminded me that my back problems are still not completely gone and I need to get the technique perfect before putting much more than 40lbs on the bar.
Interestingly, the medicine ball cleans are not a problem at all, even if the technique occasionally goes out of the window.
Hopefully this will be the last key in the possible to get my back completely sorted out.

I also now got the necessary wrist/finger flexibility to do proper squats and look forward to do that again.

@Flying Monkey: For me, one of the key components with CF has been the group mentality. It's much easier to complete the workout, when you have others suffering with you.