Moving to 4x a week

Second official workout at pinup, and my first ever friday afternoon workout. Apparently I didn't get the memo that people actually don't workout on friday, because only 5 of us showed up compared to about 15 on wednesday. I've been loving the 3x a week, but I made the decision today to move to 4x a week (the pricing is a lot more favorable for 3 and 4 times a week compared to 2 times). So now my new schedule will be M/T/TH/F and hopefully saturdays will be used for various sports and recreation. My end goal is to be in tip top shape for my buddy's wedding (well I'm good friends with the bride as well) on Sept 17th, giving me roughly 3.5 more months to get after it. I figure 4x a week plus eating right, with the possible addition of creatine (I've been talking to the coaches about it. Andrew in particular, takes some creatine after his workouts) will be the key for me to be looking my best (okay enough with the vanity).

I was talking to one of the girls in the class who had a high school reunion coming up and how she was struggling to lose weight. I basically told her about what I was doing and how I'd already dropped 15 lbs (plus whatever muscle gains I've made) and she basically used the excuse of "oh you're a guy". I'm not sure about the validity of that argument, I haven't researched much, while I bet it is easier for guys to lose weight because they can put on muscle faster, I still don't think girls should get into the line of thinking. I then asked her about her diet (at crossfit, no fitness topics are "off limits") and told her how I was really sticking to paleo and her response:

"oh I could careless about paleo, I like milk too much and can't give up grains" (or excessive booze). She basically confirmed my previous theory about the 80 / 20 rule. Of course she couldn't lose weight, she was trying the "exercise only" angle. For all you gents and ladies out there thinking about starting, while your waiting (which you shouldn't, that's another story) start with your diet. If you wanna lose weight its 80% diet 15% exercise 5% prayer (or genetics, whatever you wanna call it).

I found out that there will be some free workouts on sunday for people that want to come and experience it, but I can almost guarantee I won't be in attendance. Somewhere along the line I need to let my body rest up, I mean I lead such and exciting non-stop fast paced life that I'm not sure if I can find any other time (hint: I'm blogging on a friday night, yes you can feel free to enjoy a laugh at my expense).

Today's workout had 2 parts, one was a "skill" portion and then the regular WOD. The nice thing about pinup, is that everyone is relatively new to crossfit, so some classes will be spent on learning new lifts and practice rather than just throwing us to the wolves. Today's skill was learning the "Snatch Balance", which I had no idea what it was before hand. The snatch balance involves a weight (think squat bar) on your back (just like you're going to squat) then doing a slight dip and press (like a push press), only while pressing up you slide underneath the bar and catch it in an overhead squat, then squat it up. If it sounded complicated, I assure you its even harder to do in real life. Needless to say I was humbled (again), and Andrew just had me work on my OHS 3 sets of 5. I used 45 lbs and knocked it out fairly easily, Andrew even told me that I've gotten noticeably stronger in just a few short weeks. Looks like I'm moving up in weight next time we OHS.

WARMUP:

Run 200m

20 Squats

15 pushups

10 KB swings (53 lbs)

WOD:

AMRAP 7 minutes

3 Handstand Pushups

6 burpees

9 Ring Rows

Rest 3 Minutes

3 Pullups

6 Burpees

9 Box Dips

As usual AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) workouts are absolute killer, as they should be because you can always go faster and harder, so even as you progress you're just doing more work. Naturally I scaled the handstand pushups with a box, which is right now my biggest short coming in crossfit. I just haven't made the effort to get in and practice them before class. The burpees just zap all your energy (assuming you had any energy to begin with), and ring rows are one of the most underrated exercises in my opinion. If you're someone who is looking for a great back workout but can't do very many pullups, body weight ring rows is your answer. By the second set my back was on fire and I had to start scaling (which means changing your angle, for a full ring row, your body should be parallel to the ground, to scale just use your feet and walk yourself up a little to change the angle).

All in all managed 5 rounds + 14

The second AMRAP involved pullups (I love pullups in workouts because I've gotten so much better at them, once you go from barely doing any on the band to no assistance you really do feel like the king of the world) more burpees (whats up with all the burpees this week???) and the surprisingly effective box dips. I started out strong, but the burpees always win out and get to me. Not only do they take your energy, but they bruise up your knees, shins, elbows and soul and just wear on your mind the more and more you do. The box dips while easier than ring dips, gave me a great burn and tired me out.

Final Tally: 6 Rounds + 9

One thing I failed to mention and will mention now, both of those scores were tops in the class. This isn't me bragging (okay it is a little) because I scaled on the handstand pushups, but the real thing I'm trying to convey is how all fitness levels come together in our class. Pinup is clearly where the newbies are, whereas Bayou City had a bunch of crossfit champions (I was almost always in last place at Bayou City).

The scary thing about being near the top, is that I'm now expected to be a leader (this wasn't told to me, but it's just implied). This means I have to raise my intensity and set the tone for those that want to slack off. Not to say I'm the best by any means, in fact there were plenty of guys better than me at the wednesday class, but by raising my intensity I can push them at the same time, really its a win win for everyone.