This first workout was a 60m run and chest-to-overhead lift, every minute, on the minute, for 8 minutes. Each successful lift was 1 point, and the goal was max points in 8 minutes. The head poking in from the right was my score keeper, and also a huge source of encouragement. He was loud, and in my face, and it was exactly what I needed.
The prescribed weight for this workout is 100lbs, but I scaled it down to 35lbs. I know the bar looks big, but I promise you guys that ALL OF YOU could lift that weight above your head, at least once. If you have arms and legs, and if those arms and legs work, and if 35lbs is less than 1/3rd of your body weight, you could lift it. I did so on my very first day at the gym.
Me jumping the bar up.
I have no idea if the bar is going up or coming down in this picture, but at least I got my face out of the way. That's important.
After I jumped the bar up, I caught it in a 2-inch squat. It's called a Push Jerk. And it helps to get the bar all the way overhead, especially when you're tired. Which I was.
Second workout of the day: 3 attempts to get my 5-rep max of deadlift. My former 5-rep max was 95lbs. I was looking to beat that by at least 10lbs.
I love this picture of me, and I'm not really sure why. I think it's because of my form. Form is SO IMPORTANT when weightlifting. You want to take your time and make sure that each little thing is just right. This prevents injury, and promotes proper strength-building.
Check out the grip. It's called the neutral grip. When that weight gets really heavy, this helps to keep the bar from slipping out of your hands.
I am literally yelling in this picture. This is the heaviest deadlift I've ever done. 115lbs. That's more than my body weight. So I set a major personal record, and I'm really proud of myself.
Last workout of the day: 4 stations, 1 minute at each station, and 1 minute of rest in between each round. 3 rounds. A total of 12 minutes of work. Which isn't long, but this workout is meant to max you out, and then some. It's called Fight Gone Bad, and for good reason.
That thing I'm holding is a kettlebell, and the lift I was doing is a high pull. Basically, you violently jerk the weight up from the floor to your chin. The power should come from the hips. I was very tired at this point, and high pulls just killed me. I hated them.
This is called wall balls. It's a weighted medicine ball, and you have to squat with it, and toss it up 9 feet to a target that's on the wall. Again, the power is generated from the hips as you jump up from the squat. Tossing 10lbs that high in the air sucks. Having it hit you in the face on the way down also sucks.
Row machine. We had to row for calories. Again, for this workout, each rep was 1 point (or in this case, each calorie was 1 point). We were going for max points. The only picture I don't have is one of me doing box jumps, which was also part of this workout.
Here are my numbers:
1st Workout: I got 77 points, which means I lifted 35lbs over my head 77 times in 8 minutes. Knowing that rocks my world.
2nd Workout: 115lbs, lifted from the floor, 5 times.
3rd Workout: 181 points, which means I did 181 reps of various things in 12 minutes.
This is me, an hour or so after it was all said and done. I felt amazing. A few days later my muscles were killing me, but it was so worth it.
Can I ask one thing of you guys? Can I ask you not to say "I could never do that"? You never know what you are capable of doing until you try. I had no idea I was capable of doing all that in one day. I've also built up to it. I couldn't have done all that on my first day there. But when I did the competition, I had been there less than two months. I'm not doing the impossible.
We have grandmas and grandpas working out there. We've got kids who CrossFit. Pregnant moms. People of all ages, from all walks of life. And every workout is scaled to where ever they are at. Plus, there is so much encouragement from our coaches, and from all the people working out. It makes everyone want to do more than they think they can. And then we surprise ourselves, because we really did it!
And you can too. Okay, enough lecturing from me. I hope you enjoyed all the pictures lately! It's been too long...
