CrossFit journal [Archive] - MacRumors Forums

ravenvii

Oct 3, 2005, 10:03 PM

CrossFit is a type of functional fitness program. Check it out here: www.crossfit.com

A little background: I haven't exercised in any real extent for over a year now. I'm 21, and weigh 125 lbs at 5'10". I can't do even one pull-up.

I aim to change that. I figured I'd keep a little journal here to look at my progress, and maybe some of you would join in and try CrossFit out.

I started doing the program yesterday, but today I did my first real WOD (Workout of the Day).

Today's WOD is:
Rounds of 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5 reps of:
virtual shovels
pushups

The Rx is 45 lb. plates, but I used 10 lbs. I'm just beginning.

Wow, what a workout. I edged near puking at a few times. But I did it! Man I'm proud of myself. I bought a stopwatch today, but forgot to get AAA batteries, so I relied on the gym clock for time. I clocked in about 40 minutes, give or take a minute. I'm happily surprised because I see many others who did this in about 35 minutes. I paused frequently to wait for Mr. Pukie to retreat, and frequent breaks. But turns out I'm not all that much behind the herd. A few weeks, and I should be with the herd, and I will then start putting on the weight until I can do the Rx'd weights. My current goal is to be able to do all the WODs as Rx'd. By then, I'll be in an amazing shape.

If any of you object to me keeping a journal here, I'll stop, but I hoped this would be inspirational to some of you to give CrossFit a try for yourself and maybe discuss your progress here as well.

Xtremehkr

Oct 3, 2005, 10:09 PM

$25 a year is not bad at all, I like it.

macbaseball

Oct 3, 2005, 10:10 PM

ravenvii

Oct 6, 2005, 01:36 AM

Today's WOD involves the famous muscle-up and dumbbell thrusters. Unfortunately my back is sore as hell from the virtual shovelling I did on Monday, so I'm taking an extra rest day :(

I think I'll have to tone back the exercises and ease my body into it.

ravenvii

Oct 10, 2005, 11:57 PM

Oh man, what a dish of humility. I totally killed myself with last week's workout. So I decided to scale WAY back, and use a beginner's routine that leads up to the WOD's. It's a 12-week program progressing from very easy to pretty hard, and is designed to condition the body, easing it into a rigorous workout regimen.

And so I begun the program today. Just a fast warmup (5 situps, 5 back extensions, 1 pullup, and one (feeble) attempt at dipping), 5 overhead squats, and 15 seconds of samson stretch, all for three rounds as fast as I can. Basically those numbers are 1/3 of my max (except the dip, which I threw in for practice). I also practiced at handstanding (stood with my back to the wall, and climbed my feet up the wall while holding myself up with my hands. Went as high as I can without feeling insecure, and held for a few seconds). Attempted a straight handstand last Friday, my arms aren't strong enough to hold me up, so I basically dropped directly on my head. Ouch.

Ok that was the warmup, so I don't have to describe it again :D... Today's workout? 15-12-9 reps of deadlifts. My max for those reps are 20 lbs, so that's what I used. The program aims to add 5 lbs per week. I hate deadlifts, gotta work on my form and technique. I was taxing my lower back instead of my quads. If anyone has any advice on how to improve my form, I'd love to hear it.

Well that's it for today. Tomorrow? Just a 400m run. I'll post my time tomorrow. That's all for now!

eva01

Oct 11, 2005, 12:00 AM

i am starting to try and be healthy as well, go running every day, joining a gym soon, trying to find a new girlfriend (that must like anime, anyone want to apply?) and eating healthy

wdlove

Oct 11, 2005, 12:31 PM

i am starting to try and be healthy as well, go running every day, joining a gym soon, trying to find a new girlfriend (that must like anime, anyone want to apply?) and eating healthy

I agree and join you with eating healthy. It's something that takes work. Can't help with the girlfriend, but willing to chat.

ravenvii

Oct 11, 2005, 10:00 PM

400 m run today. Warmup was same as above. Ran 400 m in 1:59. What do you think? I actually can't run the whole 400 m, had to pause and walk for a few seconds about 3/4 of the way. Tomorrow is push press day.

ravenvii

Oct 12, 2005, 09:13 PM

Come on! Join the fun! I'll even give you the beginner's routine for you to start with!

Push presses today. Same warmup, then 15-12-9 reps of push presses. No weight added to a 25 lb barbell. Yup I'm a weak SOB.

One interesting thing did happen today. In the warmup, I basically do 1/3 of my max reps, right? And for situps that happens to be 5 reps. On Monday, I can do the 5 reps easy. Yesterday, it was a bit of a struggle, but not bad. But today, I actually struggled. On the second round, I can't even finish it, only doing 4. Anyone know what's going on? Any ideas on how I can pick up my performance?

Thanks!

ravenvii

Oct 17, 2005, 08:49 PM

Last week, I skipped Thursday because it was pouring outside, AND Friday because of life. So I'm making it up today and tomorrow. Today I did a 400m run, and 18-15-12 reps of deadlifts. Same warmup as above. The run time was 1.43, an great improvement from last week! Deadlifts were with 10 lbs (added to a 45 lb barbell... Not sure if you include the bar in the weight or not).

Tomorrow is 400m run again, and squats (to make up for last Friday).

ravenvii

Oct 20, 2005, 09:18 PM

Oh man, just kicked my ass today. As punishment for skipping last Thursday, Friday, this Tuesday AND this Wednesday. Oh man I have to watch myself.

Did the warmup. No changes. Did Friday's squats, Tuesday's run and Wednesday's push press. The squats (15-12-9 reps) was very easy. Tomorrow's 18-15-12 squats shouldn't be a problem. Did push presses at 30 lbs, 18-15-12, oh man that was killer. But a surprising performance - just last week I can only do 15-12-9 with no weights (25 lb barbell), now I can do it with 5 lbs added. I answered my question from the previous journal - you DO include the weight of the barbell in your total weight, so from now on I'll be giving the total weight instead of the type of barbell I used. Finally, I did Tuesday's 400m run. I did it in 2:01. Which is understandable, since I was already wore out from the previous exercises.

All in all, a great exercise. I better watch myself in the upcoming weeks, because the exercises will get more and more tough, and I won't be able to combine them for much longer. For tomorrow, I will do today's run, and tomorrow's squats. Then I will be all caught up.

scem0

Oct 21, 2005, 01:37 AM

It's great that you're doing this, it will definitely pay off and you'll see improvement quickly if you maintain this kind of dedication.

I, too, am trying to put on a little muscle weight. I don't have any weight issues currently, I'm about 175 lbs of mostly muscle :) at 5'11". I'm fit, I have a long history in acrobatics, so I have a very capable body, but I'm not attracted to skinny bodies so I'm trying to bulk up just a little. Right now my workouts either consist of dancing, jogging, handstand pushups, crunches, regular pushups, and combos of these exercises. I usually dance 3 nights a week, do crunches and pushups 2 nights, and then do handstand pushups and go jogging once. I'm trying to eat as much protein as I can, but it's tough given my student-sized food budget.

_Emerson

mad jew

Oct 21, 2005, 01:42 AM

It's sounding good Raven VII. :)

Are you sure you're running 400m though? Two minutes doesn't sound right. :o

I suppose it's irrelevant though, so long as you run the same distance each time.

ravenvii

Oct 21, 2005, 08:21 PM

Ahh, damn. The gym is closed today, and it's nasty outside. Run, squats and deadlifts for next Monday :( Stupid Homecoming... :D Oh well, PARTY TIME! :D

mad jew, it is 400m... I run on a outside track, and one lap is 400m. You can't mistake that.

Thanks for the comments guys!

ravenvii

Oct 23, 2005, 04:38 PM

I went and did Thursday and Friday's workouts today. I thought I'd be too hung over to do it today (homecoming weekend). But turns out I didn't drink much last night, so I'm fine today.

Warmup was same as always. I did my first full pullup today! And did 18-15-12 squats. A bit more challenging than last time's 15-12-9, but still not that hard. I then went to do the 400m run. Did it in 1:45, not bad.

I'm now all caught up.

ravenvii

Oct 24, 2005, 09:04 PM

Deadlift day today. Same warmup as always - I was able to do one pull-up each of the three rounds! Cool! On to two pullups we go!

Then deadlifts, 60 lbs, 15-12-9 reps. Boring. Next week the routine will be switched up a bit, I'm watching towards to that. Tomorrow is something new as well - I'll do two 400m runs, with rest time that equals the length of the previous run (for example, if I run my first 400m in 2 minutes, then my rest before the next 400m is 2 minutes, and so on). One more 400m run will be added every two weeks.

Well that's all for today.

ravenvii

Oct 25, 2005, 10:26 PM

Run day today. Even though the weather was miserable, I went ahead and did it. Warmup was same, with some changes: added one more req to everything (6 situps, 6 overhead squats, 6 back extensions) except pullups and dips. I can do one rep of pullups now, and up to three pullups with bad form :) For dips, I still can't do one full rep yet.

Anyway, as for the run, as I mentioned above, it's now 400m x2 this week and the next. This means I run one 400m lap, then rest for how long it took for me to complete the previous 400m, then run another until I complete the exercise. This circle is only x2. The first run I did great - broke my PR (personal record) with a nice 1:41! The second, however, I started out strong... then BAM! the dreaded side cramps came, and I can only walk most of the way, and came in with a pathetic 2:39 :mad:

Hope the side cramps don't show it's face on Thursday!

ravenvii

Oct 26, 2005, 09:22 PM

Today is push press day. Same warmup as yesterday. Did 15-12-9 push presses at 35 lbs. The second and third sets are broken. Seems I'm stuck on this weight for now.

Experimented a bit more with pullups. Seems if I arch my back a bit, I can do a pullup from a deadhang. Kipping also helps. I have to learn how to kip because I will use it a lot in the WOD's once I am done with the beginner's routine. But I'd like to keep to strict pullups for warmups, so I can improve on it.

Well that's all for today. Run day tomorrow.

ravenvii

Oct 27, 2005, 09:08 PM

Today's exercise... same warmup as above... played around a bit more with pullups... I think I'm addicted... Gotta buy a pair of those weightlifting gloves first, I'm blistering up like crazy. Then today's run, 400m x2... 1:37 (!!! new PR!) and then 2:19... I really spent myself on the first run, couldn't run the second one all the way. The side cramp didn't show it's face today however... thankfully.

iGary

Oct 27, 2005, 09:11 PM

Littleodie914

Oct 27, 2005, 10:12 PM

Hey man, congrats on the new workout program. Even after just a few weeks (I haven't counted your posts so it might have already been that long) you'll start feeling so much better. I run cross country and track as HS sports, it's cross season right now. I can definitely relate to the puking feeling... I'm not sure what it is with my body, but whenever I push myself in hot weather my stomach gets all queasy, so I'm pretty glad it's cooling down.

We're getting close to the end of our season, with out regional meet this Saturday. I don't remember what we did exactly... But I think Monday we played soccer, (coach wasn't there so we came up with something on our own, I had a ball in the trunk of my car), Tuesday was 6 miles easy (took about an hour), Wednesday was a quick 4 miles, today was just a mile on the track (under 8 minutes) and 10 100m striders. I think the hardest workout I've ever done in cross are the ladders... We have to do 200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, and then back down, running the 800 twice. We run them for speed, so the 200's about 30 seconds, the 400's about 1:25, 600's around 2:30, and 800's at about 3:20. (These are times for me, I'm the 8th guy on the team I think. We've got crazy kids that can run the 800 in about 2:30.)

In track I actually sprint, so I don't know why I run cross. Just to stay in shape I guess. Our hardest track workout is probably 200m repeats... We run about 10 them at about 27-28 seconds a piece and have to run extra if they're over 30 :eek: I usually run the 100, 200, 400 relay and 800 relay, but coach put me in the mile relay once just for fun and I was so scared I ran my leg in 58 seconds :eek: I felt proud of myself until the guy at our track regional ran it in 48 :o

Well, again great job with the workout man, it's an awesome idea that you sure won't regret. Maybe the above will give you some workout ideas or goals to set for yourself. We don't do a lot of weight room so I'm not really experienced in that field. We are up to 65 pushups, 85 situps and 30 jump squats though, that's about as close as we get to a non-running workout :rolleyes:

ravenvii

Oct 29, 2005, 12:58 AM

Squat day today. Same warmup as always, then 21-18-15 squats. It's actually a bit of a challenge now. That ends week 3. 1/4 of the way through the routine! Next week, the routine starts to get interesting... More details next Monday.

ravenvii

Nov 7, 2005, 09:42 PM

Whoo, back to working out today. Took last week off because I caught a bug.

Same warmup. Today's workout is different than the previous weeks. I did 12 reps of deadlifts, then 400m run, then another 12 reps of deadlifts, in succession. The entire exercise is timed. I did deadlifts at 65 lbs. The time is about 6:15 (I forgot to turn off the timer after I finished my last rep!).

This exercise really kicked my ass today. Tomorrow is the same ol' 400m run times 2.

CanadaRAM

Nov 7, 2005, 10:08 PM

A little background: I haven't exercised in any real extent for over a year now. I'm 21, and weigh 125 lbs at 5'10". I can't do even one pull-up.
Yah, look at your picure on the left. Your arms are like sticks, man.

Good tongue though...

;)

Congrats on your routine -- just worried about you doubling up to 'catch up' - that's not the way the body is made, be really careful of overstraining yourself. Tendonitis or back damage int any fun at all.

On rainy days and gym closed days, if you can find an apartment or office building, or a parkade, you can do stairs, those are a great substitute for a run, aerobic as #=!!

I've lost 20 lb of belly and butt (back down to a 38 pant from a snug 42, 210 down to 190 lbs, on the way to a target of 175) now it's time for me to pick up the cardio and weights again.

ravenvii

Nov 9, 2005, 12:36 AM

Run day today. Same warmup as always. Run time was 1:51 for the first run, then unknown for the second (I messed up setting the stupid stopwatch).

Push press tomorrow. Love the pump I get from those! :D

ravenvii

Nov 10, 2005, 01:21 AM

Push press day today. Did 12x push presses, 400m run, then another 12x of push presses. Push presses was at 35 lbs. Time was 4:41. 35 lbs was definitely doable, and not that bad. Next week I will increase the poundage to 40 lbs.

(Yes, I did the warmup, but I'm going to stop mentioning it unless I made changes).

mjstew33

Nov 10, 2005, 08:02 AM

Wow. I belong to this gym. CrossFit Rockford (crossfitrockford.com). Small, but no intimidation - at all. I <3 it there. I've lost 50lbs so far :D

And since I go there... I get the subscription thingy, too :)

gwuMACaddict

Nov 10, 2005, 08:47 AM

I <3 it there. I've lost 50lbs so far :D

thats quite a bit of weight, how long did it take you?:confused:

stromie952

Nov 10, 2005, 09:23 AM

For your reference regarding weight lifting, here is a great site that shows form on just about every exersize you can think of.

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/

Also, for more information, I would suggest browsing

http://www.johnstonefitness.com

There is a ton of helpful people there and even more information to look through.

Good luck!

mjstew33

Nov 10, 2005, 01:36 PM

thats quite a bit of weight, how long did it take you?:confused:
2 months. -:o... The girls <3 me. :D

ravenvii

Nov 10, 2005, 09:28 PM

lilstewart92, great to see another CrossFitter around those parts!

It's run day today. 1:41 the first round, then 2:08 the second. Not too shabby considering my left calve got really tight towards the end.

ravenvii

Nov 13, 2005, 05:18 PM

Squat day today. I didn't do it on Friday, so I'm doing it today. 18x squats, then 400m run, then another 18x squats. My legs were FLAMING as I was squeezing out the last squats. I did it somewhere between 3 to 4 minutes. Messed up setting the stupid stopwatch again. Sheesh.

ravenvii

Nov 15, 2005, 12:38 AM

Deadlifts!!! 12x deadlifts, then 400m run, then 12x deaflifts. Deaflifts was with 70 lbs. Did it in 5:18.

ravenvii

Nov 15, 2005, 07:47 PM

Run day.

Did the warmup. Added one more rep to everything - 7 situps, overhead squats and back extensions, and 2 pullups and dips.

Today was 400m x 3. The times are 1:43, 2:04 and 1:54.

jadekitty24

Nov 15, 2005, 07:53 PM

Your doing a great job! Keep it up!! You're inspiring me to get healthy and in shape. I need it.

ravenvii

Nov 17, 2005, 08:49 PM

Push press today. Didn't do it yesterday because there was some kind of event or something, and the gym's crowded for some weird reason.

Did 12x push presses, 400m run, then 12x push presses. Push presses was at 40 lbs. Not bad.

ravenvii

Nov 21, 2005, 09:31 PM

Running, running, running... 400m x3... 1:54, 1:56, 2:01.

Yeah I'm behind. But hey, I figure, it's turkey week, so I'm bound to get behind anyway. I'll do squats tomorrow, then take the rest of the week off, and start Week 6 next Monday.

gwuMACaddict

Nov 21, 2005, 09:43 PM

2 months. -:o... The girls <3 me. :D

doesn't sound like a healthy ammount to lose in that ammount of time... be careful to make sure you're getting all the nutrients and vitamins that you need

ravenvii

Nov 29, 2005, 01:34 AM

Bah... Squat day from week 5... Didn't do it last Tuesday, and was too hungover on Sunday to do it, so Monday it is.

21x squats, 400m run, then 21x squats again. Did it in 3:12.

Tomorrow, week 6! 12x deadlifts, 400m run, 12x deaflifts, another 400m run, then one more 12x deaflifts! Things are getting hard now! Bring it on!

ravenvii

Nov 29, 2005, 07:51 PM

Deadlifts today... 12x, 400m run, 12x, 400m run, then a final 12x. At 75 lbs. Time was 12:07, but you can take about a minute off that, someone put away the barbell and weights as I was running the second 400m, so I had to put it back together to get my final 12x done. It wasn't as intense as it could've been since I got a 1 minute "rest" :rolleyes:

Tomorrow is run day.

iGary

Nov 29, 2005, 08:01 PM

I wish I could do this program.

I can't do any bending excercises cause of the back, which really limits my options for strength training.

Blah.

Way to stick with it, Raven. :)

mjstew33

Nov 29, 2005, 08:48 PM

Ah, iGary, you'll get there. ;)

iGary

Nov 29, 2005, 08:53 PM

Ah, iGary, you'll get there. ;)

One of these days. :)

ravenvii

Nov 30, 2005, 08:50 PM

Run... 400m x3... 1:54, 1:52 and 1:59. Tomorrow is PUMP DAY! :D

ravenvii

Dec 2, 2005, 01:35 AM

Push Presses! The same 12, 400, 12, 400, 12 routine. This routine will continue right to the end of the workout routine (which is 12 weeks in total), so when I say I'm doing deadlifts, push presses or squats from now on, it's always 12x-400m run-12x-400m run-12x.

Anyway, the weight is still 40 lbs, the time was 10:07, not bad! 45 lbs next week! That means I can ditch the 25 lbs barbell and move to a 45 lb one.

ravenvii

Dec 4, 2005, 01:57 PM

Run 400m x3... yep, took the day off on Friday. Girls ya know. :p

1:47, 2:10, 2:36. My calves got REALLY cramped up during the second and third run, can barely walk. Ouch.

iGary

Dec 4, 2005, 02:03 PM

So are you feeling/looking better?

ravenvii

Dec 4, 2005, 07:59 PM

So are you feeling/looking better?

I'm definitely much stronger than I was a month ago. The journal's evidence of that. I'm also much more muscular than I was before, but only if I 'flex', you know? :D I dunno if I feel any better, but I noticed I'm much less stressed out, and after a bad day, the exercise is the cure.

But I still weigh 125 lbs. So I hasn't gotten any bigger. I'm just a bit more muscle now. I don't want to know my body fat percentage (last year, I did a body fat percentage test, and it said I have 4% body fat!).

ravenvii

Dec 5, 2005, 09:42 PM

Man, my legs are fried.

The warmup today sucked. For some reason I felt very "off" today, and kept falling backwards on my overhead squats, and even hit my knee jumping on the hyperextension thingy. Luckily the "off" feeling went away as I started the actual exercise...

Squat day today. Did 21x squats, "400m run", 21x squats, "400m run", and a final 21x squats.

I put quote marks around 400m run because I didn't actually run 400m today, it's snowing outside. What I did was, I found a flight of stairs, and timed myself at 1:50 (which is around the average for my 400m run when I was at peak energy), and ran up and down the stairs for as many times as I can within that time limit. Ended up to be 7 rounds (one round is one run up and one run down the stairs). I then did the next "run" for 7 rounds.

The time for this exercise is around 6:56.

This ends week 6 of the routine. I'm halfway there!

ravenvii

Dec 6, 2005, 07:50 PM

OMG, my hamstrings are shot.

Warmup upgraded +1 to everything but pullups. My pullups seemed to have hit a plateau. :( Any tips on how to improve my pullups? It's stuck at 2 "arms slightly crooked" pullups and 1 "complete deadhang" pullup. Well, at least I can take solace in the fact that just last month I can't even do one deadhang pullup.

Well, the actual exercise was 12x deadlifts, 7 rounds of stairs, 12x deadlifts, 7 rounds of stairs, and a final 12x deadlifts. Deaflifts at 80 lbs. Time was 8:18.