I've vowed a billion times to be more consistent. Also to exaggerate less... So maybe not a billion times, but certainly many times.
My gym just started the "Consistency Club". They are basically just calling you out when you are consistent in your gym going. Which is AWESOME! I even tried to start a movement like that myself and bought a Crossfit t-shirt for whoever got there the most. I thought I'd get myself a t-shirt, but several people made it to the gym far more than I did! I happily forked over the money for someone elses t-shirt!
The club started the first of March. And the rules are simple. Come to the gym 20+ times in the month. They will give you a t-shirt after a number of months and a shout out on social media (which I dig), plus a chance to get a free membership tryout for a friend (I've been trying to coerce some friends into joining me and this might be how I get it done!).
I was all in to start the month. However, I was training for a Weightlifting meet at the beginning of the month and my coach spelled out the days and the workouts that I should do (factoring in the Open). I wasn't there 5 days a week. But... I thought I could make it up after the meet. I really like winning contests. During the 3rd week, life happened. I was able to schedule around a band concert, but not around a work dinner, or the loosy goosy schedule (we'll be there some time between 2:00 and 6:00) of the carpet cleaners that I desperately needed to have at my house. I don't tend to go on Saturdays, but I should plan on a few if I'm going to win this bish. In short, even being there every day this week, I'll be short by 2 days.
I'm disappointed far more than I should be. I made it to the gym more often than I normally do, so that is something to say. And I've got my sights set on showing April what I've got!
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Monday, March 19, 2018
UPDATED: Crossfit Open
There are 5 weeks in the Crossfit Open, which is open for every athlete to participate in. They give you a choice to participate as an Rx athlete or a scaled athlete. You can choose week by week which way you want to go. You get a better ranking if you participate Rx, of course, but you're still on the board as a scaled athlete.
Four weeks have passed already. I have Rx'd two of the four, and scaled the other two. I don't think I've ever Rx'd more than one Open WOD per year before.
18.1 was Toes to bar, dumbell clean and jerk and a row. I scaled that one, so instead of toes to bar, I did knee raises. I didn't do them well. I have some work to do there.
18.2 was dumbbell squats and bar facing burpees. I was able to Rx this one. I was sort of surprised at how far I got. I do burpees, kind of ... messy. I hurl myself at the floor and climb back up. The standard to Rx was to jump your feet out and then back in, rather than stepping up. I totally did it. Slow, but I did it!
18.3 was a LOT of double unders, Overhead squats, more jumping rope (dubs), ring muscle ups, dubs, dumbbell snatch, dubs, then bar muscle ups. That is the Rx. Scaled was single unders, less weight on the OH squat, singles, chest to bar pull ups, etc... I scaled this one first, because I haven't done a chest to bar pull up before and I figured if I'm going to get it soon, this would be when. I wasn't even close, but I spent 10 minutes in the WOD trying my best. I redid this one Rx. I'd be stuck at the same place, because I can easily squat the 90 pound bar, and can chip through dubs. I'm glad I did. I scored in the top half of the gym!
18.4 was a heavy deadlift, and handstand pushups. The WOD was a benchmark WOD called Diane, followed by a Heavy Diane. If you got through the first set, you got to do it again, heavier and instead of HSPU, you got to walk on your hands. Scaled had lighter deadlifts and hand release pushups. Instead of handstand walks it was a bear crawl. I didn't Rx this one because I haven't ever got a strict hand release push up before. I did 26 of them in this workout! Not speedy, but I've never done it before so it's pretty cool.
There is one more WOD left. I'll try to remember to update this to fill in that blank next week. It is announced on Thursday night. No one has any idea what is in store this week. History tells us that it should be thrusters and be a task priority WOD (no time cap), but the Open is very different this year and that could just be out the window.
So far, I'm damn proud of what I've done. I'm feeling good and I'm setting goals again. It feels good to feel good. (I also did a weightlifiting competition this weekend. It was a learning experience. I'll write about it a little later).
UPDATE: 18.5 was a repeat from 2011. Scaled was 3 thrusters at 45# then 3 jumping chin over bar pullups. Then 6 of each, then 9, 12, 15, etc. for 7 minutes. I scaled (RX was 65# - which I have - and chest to bar pull ups - which I've already proven I can't get during this Open, so I scaled). I got 5 reps into the round of 15. Which is further than I expected! I didn't hate this WOD. I'd do it again, happily.
UPDATE: 18.5 was a repeat from 2011. Scaled was 3 thrusters at 45# then 3 jumping chin over bar pullups. Then 6 of each, then 9, 12, 15, etc. for 7 minutes. I scaled (RX was 65# - which I have - and chest to bar pull ups - which I've already proven I can't get during this Open, so I scaled). I got 5 reps into the round of 15. Which is further than I expected! I didn't hate this WOD. I'd do it again, happily.
Monday, March 5, 2018
Hashtag, I'm in the Open
I'm in the Open. I went back and forth about whether to do it this year, or let it go by. I was leaning to "let it go by". Then I got recruited. I'll explain.
My gym is awesome. Crossfit is awesome. The Open is awesome. But there are a lot of people from our gym, and across the world it seems (I've gleaned from social media comments), who don't want to give Crossfit corporate $20 to be measured against athletes around the world. I totally get that. I'm no where near the kind of fitness that will get me even to Regionals. And I stack up pretty low (lower every year, because the Open gets bigger every year, not because my fitness is declining). $20 to do the same WOD. It seems like a bit of a waste to some people.
Our coaches saw that and answered. We do a Friday Night Lights event every Friday of The Open. Anyone who has signed up is drafted to a team, or after the draft stragglers are recruited. Teams get points for having the top scorers from the gym and for spirit. It's a lot of fun. This year they aren't requiring participants to sign up for the official Open. Instead, you can donate your $20 directly to the gym and they will use the funds for something new and fun for the gym. I'd say that about half of the participants went that route.
I was going to skip the whole thing. I didn't sign up for the draft. I've been weight training and not doing Crossfit for a few months and before that coming out of a period of the blues where I didn't get enough Crossfit in anyway. I wasn't feeling up to it. But, one of the teams asked me to join and though I explained my situation, she said they wanted me anyway. I didn't say no. I signed up for the Open (if I'm doing it, I might as well make it 4 years in a row).
And so far, I'm SUPER happy with myself. I scaled the 18.1 because I can't do toes to bar yet. I found out that I don't hang from the bar enough anymore. It was super difficult to do knee raises, as my grip kept giving way because I'm so heavy and out of practice. But I liked where I ended up scoring. I Rx'd 18.2. I can do all the movements, even if I do them slowly. Honestly, I don't think I was very much slower doing the burpees RX than I would have been had I scaled them. Other than a few seconds slower from jumping over the bar rather than stepping over, I think my burpee time would have been similar. The squat time could have been faster with lighter weight. I had trouble keeping one of the dumbbells on my shoulder for some reason. I should have planned a better way to hold them up there. In any case, I'm really happy with that score as well.
I'm not scoring top points for my team, but I'm giving it my all and getting the participation points necessary. And I'm a pretty great cheerleader for our athletes. My team is the "Swole Hammies". So go Pig or Go Home. ;)
My gym is awesome. Crossfit is awesome. The Open is awesome. But there are a lot of people from our gym, and across the world it seems (I've gleaned from social media comments), who don't want to give Crossfit corporate $20 to be measured against athletes around the world. I totally get that. I'm no where near the kind of fitness that will get me even to Regionals. And I stack up pretty low (lower every year, because the Open gets bigger every year, not because my fitness is declining). $20 to do the same WOD. It seems like a bit of a waste to some people.
Our coaches saw that and answered. We do a Friday Night Lights event every Friday of The Open. Anyone who has signed up is drafted to a team, or after the draft stragglers are recruited. Teams get points for having the top scorers from the gym and for spirit. It's a lot of fun. This year they aren't requiring participants to sign up for the official Open. Instead, you can donate your $20 directly to the gym and they will use the funds for something new and fun for the gym. I'd say that about half of the participants went that route.
I was going to skip the whole thing. I didn't sign up for the draft. I've been weight training and not doing Crossfit for a few months and before that coming out of a period of the blues where I didn't get enough Crossfit in anyway. I wasn't feeling up to it. But, one of the teams asked me to join and though I explained my situation, she said they wanted me anyway. I didn't say no. I signed up for the Open (if I'm doing it, I might as well make it 4 years in a row).
And so far, I'm SUPER happy with myself. I scaled the 18.1 because I can't do toes to bar yet. I found out that I don't hang from the bar enough anymore. It was super difficult to do knee raises, as my grip kept giving way because I'm so heavy and out of practice. But I liked where I ended up scoring. I Rx'd 18.2. I can do all the movements, even if I do them slowly. Honestly, I don't think I was very much slower doing the burpees RX than I would have been had I scaled them. Other than a few seconds slower from jumping over the bar rather than stepping over, I think my burpee time would have been similar. The squat time could have been faster with lighter weight. I had trouble keeping one of the dumbbells on my shoulder for some reason. I should have planned a better way to hold them up there. In any case, I'm really happy with that score as well.
I'm not scoring top points for my team, but I'm giving it my all and getting the participation points necessary. And I'm a pretty great cheerleader for our athletes. My team is the "Swole Hammies". So go Pig or Go Home. ;)
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