WOD March 24 2009 – Lynne

So today was Lynne. Seems like an easy workout on paper. In truth, it wasn’t anywhere near one of the harder ones. That is probably an indication that I could have done better. Roy and I worked together 1 on 1 today as most people don’t come to Tuesday and Thursday at 7AM. 1 on 1′s are good, but I like group better. That will be the topic of my next commentary blog.

Lynne
5 rounds of Max Reps Bench Press (Body Weight)/Pullups (With Blue Band)
Round 1:
Bench Press (260lbs) – 10 Reps
Pullups – 11
Round 2:
Bench Press(225lbs) – 12 Reps
Pullups – 13
Round 3:
Bench Press (225lbs) – 5 Reps – Doubt Started to creep into my head as I got tired
Pullups – 8 – Same Thing
Round 4:
Bench Press(225lbs) – 6 Reps
Pullups – 10 – Got back into the pullups this round
Round 5:
Bench Press (225lbs) – 5 Reps
Pullups – 7 just got tired

87 total reps.

The warmup was 50 box jumps (small box) and 50 1pood Kettlebell Swings. Did this almost without stopping. Was pretty happy about this. Overall I know I could have done much better. I can’t wait to do this workout about 40lbs lighter. Pullups will be easier and bench will be lighter. I was pretty happy with the fact that I could do my body weight on the bench 10 times. Back in the day I could do 315 8 times, weighing 225, but I don’t train like that anymore. At some point I expect that I will probably be able to do that again, but if I can’t I don’t really care. I used to have a pretty big obsession with the bench, but where do you lay down on the bench and push a bar anywhere outside of the gym? Box jumps, pullups, tire flips, sprints, dips, squats all emulate real life things we do.

Can’t wait until I can do Lynne like this guy. Amazing…

WOD March 23 2009 – Deck of Cards, and then some

So your workout is our warmup was never truer than today. We started of with parking lot sprints. First with a 50% sprint, then 60, 75, 90 then 100%. Then 100% backwards. Then 100% two times down and back. Was kind of gassed after that. Done with the warmup. Now into the actual workout.

The deck of cards is a good workout, because it requires no equiptment and therefore can be done while travelling. It is also very dynamic because it is never really the same workout twice. You can also swap out the function of each card and so forth. This is also a good workout for those interested in CrossFit but don’t have Kettlebells or a pullup bar, etc.  Today’s variation was the following:

Red Card = Pushups for the value of the card 2-10
Black Card = Air Squats for the value of the card 2-10
Jack = 30 jumping jacks
Queen = 10 Alternating Jumping Lunges
King = 15 Situps
Ace = 10 Burpees
Joker – Bear Crawl Length of the gym down and back

I started off hating life. The squats were hard, the burpees tough as well. Pushups, Jumping Jacks and situps might as well have been a rest. Alterating Lunges were not fun. After the sprints my legs were burning. Ahhh and the Bear Crawl. At 258 pounds this is an enemy of mine. The first one was. The last one we had to do came with 3 cards left and I attacked it. Easy. It proves right there that 90% of a good workout is mental. Your body can do what your mind pushes it to do. Your ability to chase away doubt and forget about pain has a lot to do with your CrossFit success.

To finish off, we did 500 jump ropes. I did them outside. The weather is great out, so while taxing it was still pretty cool. Until tomorrow!

Eating Cheap on the Zone Diet

This post has been moved to:

http://www.inthecrosszone.com/blogs/victor/index.php/2009/10/06/eating-cheap-on-the-zone-diet/

Food Log March 20, 2009

7:30 – Post Workout Meal – 4 blocks
2 Hardboiled Eggs
1 apple
1 can of green beans (no salt added)
12 almonds
2 ounces of turkey breast

11:30 – Snack – 4 blocks

1 can of Tuna
2 cans of Green Beans
12 almonds

1:30 – Lunch – Blocks Unknown

2 chicken Breasts
Serving of Black Beans
Side Salad, Lettuce w/a Few Tomatoes
Olive Oil/Vinegar Dressing
Meal served by the fine people of Blancos in West Tampa

5:45 PM – Dinner – 4 Blocks

4.5 Oz Chicken Breast
1 Apple
1 Can Green Beans
12 Almonds

9:00 PM – Post Softball Snack
1 Clif Builder Bar – Chocolate

9:30 PM – Post Softball Real Food
4oz Chicken Breast
1 Apple
12 Almonds

Just a few weeks before I started CrossFit

I have the official before pictures, which I’m not ready to share yet. Let’s put it this way, when looking at the pictures several months later, my trainer said, look at your back, and look at your….no wait a minute you have a “bass.” I’ll post my official before pictures once I have a six pack. I’m estimating that will take another 4-6 months. Anyhow, here is a picture from about 3.5 weeks before I started CrossFit. I also attached a picture of me from this past Christmas to show you what a few months later looked like. Quite an amazing difference in just a few short months. I also re-posted the picture of me in December 2007 to show what I looked like in the Christmas picture 1 year before.

This was me just a few weeks before starting CrossFit around 302 pounds

This was me about 4 months later in December 2008 at around 275

Me four years later in December 2007 at around 312 pounds

WOD March 20 2009 – Freaky 400

From what I understand this is a classic in CrossFit. It is one of the first workouts I can remember doing. It’s pretty much 400 reps of 8 different exercises for time. Roy’s time was a little over 21:00 which was the benchmark that everyone was shooting for. Eric managed to finish in under 20, no one else did under 29. My time was 36:15. Here is the breakdown of the workout:

50 Jumping Squats
50 Around the World’s with a Light Keg (Total, 25 each side)
50 135lb Inclined Bench Presses
50 Alternating Jumping Lunges (each leg)
50 55lb Twisters (each side)
50 70lb Straight Bar Curls
50 70lb Tri Bench Tricep Extensions
50 Pullups (I used the Green Rubber Band)

Pullups were hard, and so were the Tri Extensions. I needed more water intake prior to the workout (only drank a water bottle full), and better sleep the night before (only got 4-5 hours). Also only woke up about 15 minutes before getting up to the gym. This was one of my first 6:00 AM classes since my wife and I are unable to both go to the 7AM now. It was a great workout. Heck the warmup was even good. 2 rounds of 100 jump ropes and 10 jumping squats. Had soreness in my quads from Wednesday which was gone after the warmup. Looking forward to playing some softball tonight and having a great day at the office. Now it’s time to recharge with a good breakfast. Had some heartburn because my eating habits haven’t been on track lately.

How CrossFit has cut fat, built muscle and changed my life

In July 2008, after having our second child and several months of trying different things to get back into my pre-marriage condition, I decided to join a local gym that was near my office and home. After deciding to start my own business earlier in the year, I had ballooned up over 300 pounds for the first time in my life. When I met my wife I was in the best shape of my life at around the 220. Here is a before and after:

Me in December 2003 right after I met my future wife at around 220 pounds

Me four years later in December 2007 at around 312 pounds

So one day after looking at a couple of different options and touring a few gyms, my friend Marco and I decided to head down to Body Construction in Tampa, FL. Now I had trained for years, and thought I was pretty good at it. So even though I was fat and out of shape, I was going to train Marco since he really hadn’t spent too much time in the gym during his 26 years. So we started with deadlifts. While a simple movement, and something I had always considered fairly easy, this exercise is actually somewhat complex to execute correctly.  Roy Taylor, owner and personal trainer, noticed Marco’s form on the deadlift. He came over and offered a tutorial. Marco still didn’t really get it. It was my mistake for trying to get Marco to do an advanced excercise with his limited experience. Roy gave us somewhat of a lecture and we started to talk to him about possibly bartering. We are one of a few high end custom Tampa website design and development companies in the area, and Roy was looking to build something better than what he had. We decided to help each other out and in late July we started down a journey that neither of us expected.

When you hear about CrossFit, and even when you watch a CrossFit workout, you truly can’t appreciate what it’s like. When you do a CrossFit workout at 302 pounds, you begin to pray for an early death. The intensity is something that is hard if not impossible to put into words. I came from a heavy sports background, and have always considered myself to be fairly gifted in athletics despite my battles with a yo-yoing weight problem. My strength had always been very above average, but nothing I had ever done would prepare me for my first CrossFit workout.

Since then I have been busting my tail with Roy and Shayne, and have lost between 60-70 pounds of fat and put on around 20 or so pounds of muscle. I’m in the 250′s for the first time since my first year of marriage, and have lost 13 inches from my waist. This journey is a lifelong journey, and I still have a little ways to go to complete my short term goal, so this blog will serve as a daily log of what it takes to get in shape and stay in shape. For four years as I have watched my weight sky rocket, I tried everything that used to work for me in the past and nothing worked. I said to my wife on numerous occasions that if I could find something that works as a Husband, Father and extremely busy business owner, then I will be set. During the time that I have been doing CrossFit and eating the Zone Diet, I have encountered some of the most stressful situations of my life. Potential legal issues, hiring and firing employees, not taking a paycheck for a few months at a time, partnership issues, a bad economy, family health issues, you name it. If not for my faith in Jesus, my wife and the physical and mental toughness I have gained through the CrossFit workouts, I don’t know where I would be right now.

Please join me as I keep you posted about my daily thoughts in regards to CrossFit. Whether you are trying to lose weight, put on muscle, or if you are just interested in learning more about CrossFit, this blog is an interesting look at the application of this workout program. Join me as I try to go from Fat to Flat.

Here I am just a few weeks ago, thrusting (squat with overhead press) 210 pounds