Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Oh man, remember how happy I was to discover that if I put some sort of Icy Hot or Tiger Balm on my back BEFORE I workout then I'm more likely to avoid back pain?

Welllllll . . . my back just let me know what it thinks about that plan this morning.

I am stiff and sore. Kats just posted on my Facebook page and agreed saying his "back was fried."

I'm thinking that if you do 100 kettlebell swings in one WOD then you're back is going to get sore, no matter what you rub on it. Damn.

Yeah yeah yeah, I'll explain.

So yesterday's workout was five rounds of 10 pull-ups, 20 kettlebell swings and 30 double-unders.

Before that we were going for our one rep max on power cleans. I got up to 205, but then FAILED at 225.

I don't know what it is, but I'm freaked out about getting under that weight. It feels like when you're on a wave and about to go over but pull back at the last second.

Fear kills.

But the 205 was a personal best for me so I was happy about that at least. As soon as I figure out how not to be scared I'll kick 225's ass all over the gym.

Anyway, then came the WOD.

I had Alex rub that Biofuel stuff on my back this time. I'm slowly making my way around the gym and asking different people to put this stuff on my back each time because it sucks to have this crap on your fingers.

So yeah, I'll be asking YOU soon. Count on it.

Anyway, I'm feeling good about the workout. I figure (1) my pull-ups are solid (2) the Biofuel will protect my back from the KB swings and (3) my DU's are better with my duct-taped shoes and Jun's jump rope.

I'm even thinking I might be able to beat Marcus.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. "Foolish foolish foolish creature . . ."

Anyway, we start the WOD. I crank out the pull-ups and jump off before Marcus. Then I crank the KB's and end before Marcus. Then I start doing the DU's and . . . I'm doing a good job but Marcus rips past me and then jumps on the pull-up bars.

I get there not too long afterwards but it's tough to catch up. The KB swings are getting tougher and it takes me slightly longer to finish. The DU's get easier though so that helps.

But somewhere along the WOD the forearms start getting TIRED. Because I'm using them to grip the bar, grip the KB handles and spin my jump rope really fast so I can do DU's.

In fact my forearms are so shot I couldn't even type my blog last night, which is why I had to wait until today to do it. And right now my forearms are still sore.

The only difference is my back is shot too.

Oh man. Crossfit. It's never what you expect.

Ouch.

Later,

Rod

Bob's Advice

You guys know Bob right? My cousin's husband who I brought into the RFM world way back and now he can't live without it.

Well Bob was at the 4 p.m. workout and had some sage advice for me as I got ready for the 5 p.m. class.

"It's all about the 800 today, just go for it."

He's a smart man and that's exactly what I did.

But I digress, let me explain.

Today's workout was a lot of running. Run 800 meters, come back and do 40 lunges, then drop and do 20 sit-ups. Then run 400 meters, do 30 lunges and 15 sit-ups, finally run the 200 meter, do 20 lunges and 10 sit-ups.

Bob was right. You gotta do well at the 800 because that's the only run that you have before the lunges. After that your legs are kinda toast.

To prep for this Bump in his wisdom decides we need to run before we run. So we hold some sprint races and I get paired with Bruce's 20 something year old son that is a lean mean Crossfitting machine. This kid is born to do this stuff.

But then we do this one race where we sit down, cross-legged and have to get up and turn around then take off running.

I knew I had the advantage because, well, I'm half filipino. You can't beat a filipino at squatting and then taking off real fast. We all learn from grandpa at the chicken fights. You're all squatting down betting and watching the fights then the cops come and raid the place and you gotta take off. Grandpa's gotta carry his $1000 fighting rooster and the cash so he's got no room for you.

Anyway, you get the idea. I've got genetics on my side as well as early childhood skills training.

So Bump says go and lo and behold I uncross my legs, get up and turn around faster than my young partner.

This buys me about a second and a half. He then zips past me like Hussein Bolt zips past a parked car.

Ah well, I beat him on the get up. At 39 you take your victories where you can.

So that was the warm up, then for strength we're doing deload back squats and Ikaika says something wonderful.

"Let's just do the greens the yellows and the blues today."

Meaning let's just use the 25, 35 and 45 lbs plates. No more, no less. I'm thrilled. Bruce of course does not think this is appropriate for real men and has to go 20 lbs heavier than everyone else. I'm not drinking the Kool Aid, sorry.

Then it's time for the WOD. I try to stay in the front but I fall behind quickly. Still I'm running faster than I usually would, I'm pushing pretty hard and getting winded.

Then it's back to the gym for 40 lunges. Tough, leg-burning lunges. These hurt and I'm glad to lie down and do sit-ups.

After that it just gets easier. Except for the end when someone's 13-year-old kid blows past me during the last 200 meter run. What's up with the kids kicking the old man's ass today? I try but can't catch up with him but I hit the last ten sit-ups hard and finish before he does.

Yeah. That's right. I beat some kid that can't even shave yet. Take that.

Goals. You gotta have 'em.

Oh yes, Icy Hot before the workout. Key. Can't even tell you how this saved my back from stiffening up during the run today. I'm gonna buy a vat of this stuff. Soon.

By the way, I'd like to say sorry to all of my faithful readers, meaning my fellow RFMer's and maybe Freddy and Chyna in Cali and DMeyer in Oregon, because Blogger is EFFING UP MY COMMENTS PAGE.

People have been complaining that they've been trying to leave comments and can't do it. All I can say is trying using Google Chrome as your browser, that seems to help.

 Dude, it's free. Not much I  can do to complain about this. I'll try to search  for some answers though.

In the meantime, peace out,

Rod

Conquering DU's: Duct tape, Jun's rope and My Hattori's

So if you've been reading this blog with any sort of regularity you know that double unders and I have a love/hate relationship.

Actually it's more like a one-night stand. DU's show up, get me all excited, then they don't come back until they want to.

Well that's about to change. I think.

First off, big ups to my man Jun who donated one of his jump ropes to the I Hate Cardio cause. He knows I can only do the DU's with a certain type of rope and lo and behold one of them shows up hanging in the gym one day with my name taped to it.

You da man.

Quite possibly Jun was influenced by his wife Shauna who totally rips at double-unders. I think she told him "Jun please give Rod a good jump rope so that he stops these angry stares when I'm doing DU's. It's like he's jealous or something."

If I looked jealous that's because I was jealous. But not anymore.

So now I have this cool rope and my very light, very awesome Saucony Hattori shoes that everybody made fun when I first bought them but damn, they work.

The only catch is they're so light that there's not much protection when you miss a DU and the rope snaps against my feet. My toes feel like they're going to break or start bleeding.

Seriously. It's enough to screw with me mentally so that I can't get the timing right on the DU's.

Then on Saturday I discovered that we have duct tape in the RFM office.

It looks stupid but it FRIGGIN WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jun's jump rope, plus my Hattori's plus the duct tape for protection equals ROD RIPPING AT DU'S!!!!

Well, ripping for me anyway. For some stupid reason I kept getting stuck at my 22nd rep, every single freakin time.

I've never been so happy that I went to a Saturday workout. This one was complex: AMRAP for 5 minutes 30 DU's and 20 sit-ups, rest 3 minutes then AMRAP for 5 minutes again 10 shoulder to ceiling with heavy dumbbells and 10 box jumps, then rest 3 minutes again and the last AMRAP was 10 pull-ups and 10 burpees.

The DU's were cake. Usually 30 DU's would take forever but not this time.

As for the rest of the workout, the box jumps were tough and so were the shoulder to ceiling, especially with 50 lbs dumbbells. Pull-ups were easy but of course, burpees will always suck.

A good workout and a good discovery. And yes the tape is still on my shoes and it's going to stay there.

PEACE!!! Enjoy your Sunday people,

Rod

Elizabeth !@#$* Me Today

There are some workouts that scare me.

There are some that worry me.

There are others that make me do the Sign of the Cross.

Today was the first one that I said to myself, "Nope, ain't gonna do it."

Elizabeth: 21, 15, 9 reps of cleans AND ring dips.

Yeah, I know what you're saying. "But Rod, you've gotten those power cleans down right?"

No no no no. That was my first mistake. These aren't power cleans, these are just CLEANS.

As in clean it then squat down to the bottom. All the way down then come back up.

Did I say the RX was 135 lbs? What the hell man.

Ok, first thing's first. For strength it was presses. Oh joy. At least I could claim some manhood with those.

Ended up doing 155 six times. Yessir, the delts are gettin stronger every year. Next year I'll do 185 six  times.

Yes I'm bragging. I have to. Because what comes next is downright pitiful.

We start the WOD and I do five cleans. They take forever and my legs are tired already.

So I say screw it and start doing power cleans. They're still tough mind you but not nearly as stupidly tough as regular cleans.

I haven't done ring dips for a while but I manage to crank them out with some speed. For the first 10 I think. After that I'm doing two and three at a time.

Then more cleans. I try about 4 regular cleans on the second set. Yeah right. Back to power cleans.

Dips hurt harder this time but I'm glad not to be doing cleans.

Back to the last 9 cleans. I try two. Screw it. I do power cleans and then almost forget to do the ring dips.

Yeah, not even failure. Just plain old "no I don't want to do that."

Nope. No thank you. See you later.

And Elizabeth? I'll call you next time, okay?

Peace,

Rod

Farmer's Forearm Failure Fo real

Having a hard time clenching my fists right now and you know why.

Farmer's Walk, 200 meters.

The rest of the WOD was cake. In fact this is the second WOD  that was two parts cake and one part big fat hairy bitch.

Not sure what Bump's doing, I think it might be some sort of psych-out mentally and physically.

It's working because I'm psyched out. My body is confused. Not sure of what to expect.

That's the point right?

So the WOD is 10 box jumps, 10 sit-ups and a 200 meter farmer's carry using the heaviest weight you can handle. AMRAP in 15 minutes.

So I grab some 40's and so does Ikaika. Bruce goes for the 60's like the beast he is and I think Kats grabbed the 44's by default. Sorry man.

The WOD starts and sure enough, everybody kinda cruises through the box jumps and sit-ups and in no time we're all grabbing our weights to go walk.

I make it to the fence and turn around but I have to put my weights down. Ikaika does too and looks at me and says, "Brah, this is just the first round."

We all make it back, crank out the second set of box jumps and sit-ups and again hit the weights. Ikaika is ahead of me this time and on his way back he says, "I cannot feel my forearms anymore."

I know brah, I know. My grip is toast and I don't even know if we hit the halfway mark yet.

I manage to crank out four sets and a few more box jumps and the 15 minutes is done. I'm not lying down and rolling around on the floor like I'm used  to doing. We're all just standing around with limp arms, not feeling anything below the elbows.

Okay, I know this is a short blog but I have to stop typing right now. It's hard to move my fingers.

Later,

Rod

Before I Forget

As a former journalist I have two favorite TV news programs which do a fantastic job gathering and presenting the facts. One is Frontline and the other is 60 Minutes.

That's why when 60 Minutes said they had a story about new research on sugar, I made sure I watched.

You guys should too. New research is showing that beyond weight gain, sugar can take a serious toll on your health, worsening conditions ranging from heart disease to cancer.

Watch it now or later but watch it. Promise me guys. Here's the link: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403942n

Watch it? Good, now you can read my blog.

Been trying to be more careful eating, and also kicking it up a notch while training.

What's cool is I'm not super strict Paleo right now and still trimming down. It's good because this is a more reasonable way to eat, and easier to maintain. I've stayed away from ice cream, cakes and pies but sometimes I'll eat a piece of an apple from an apple pie. Just a little bit to get some sweetness and then walk away.

Not easy. But easier after I watched that 60 Minutes report. (Watch it yet? Just checking.)

As a result my workouts have been getting better. It's weird how that happens. You workout harder to improve your results and as a result you improve your workout. Hahahahaha. I'm a literary geek, sorry.

Today I was hoping to shred this workout: four rounds of 10 handstand push-ups, 10 pull-ups and 40 double unders.

I know I know. Frickin double unders. They're sooooooooooooooooo frustrating. Sometimes you have 'em and sometimes you don't.

BUT . . . I've got the pull-ups now. Cranking out 10 faster than the HSPU's even. Damn it.

Because it made it all the more frustrating.  The fact that my HSPU's and pull-ups were getting done in less than two minutes but I WAS TAKING 3 MINUTES TO DO DOUBLE UNDERS. ARGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I managed to finally get them going for rounds 3 and 4, sort of. But then the HSPU's started failing. C'mon man, seriously?

Plus I got even more frustrated because some of our members like SHAUNA are frickin going off on DU's. She was going so fast today I thought she was going to hit 88 miles per hour and go back in time. MENTAL speed. Think she got a good score? Yeah.

I don't know what my time was. Not that I was that disgusted but I just had to leave right away. I'll look tomorrow.

Oh and one more thing, ever since Kehau left the music at the box has changed. More rock. Heard some AC/DC and Motley Crue today. Good stuff. We still miss you girl but it's nice to get some man music going now.

Shoots people, I'm out.

Later,

Rod

Crossfit, Bruce Lee and Why Hawaiian Telcom Hates Me

I've been away from the blog for a while but not by choice.

For some reason Hawaiian Telcom has seen fit to deny me internet access at home. Bastards.

Yeah I know, I could write on my phone but I HATE that. My fingers were made for the keyboard.

Anyway, so yesterday a friend from Honolulu was in town and I took him to lunch. While we were waiting for the food he asked me, "So what is Crossfit anyway?"

I tried to explain, talked about how each gym is different but how we follow the same sort of sort of model.

Like a lot of people who haven't done the workouts he's confused. I'm not helping because it's a harder question to answer than I thought.

Then this morning I got up to get some water and I realize why it's hard. Crossfit isn't a workout, it's an IDEA. It's the theory, a philosophy. Much like how Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do wasn't a style of martial arts.

That's when I couldn't go back to sleep. I've often thought how cool it would be to go back in time and to be a part of Bruce Lee's classes from the start and here I am, participating in this fitness movement that is definitely a nationwide phenomenon but still getting established.

Okay maybe it's already established but you get my point. It's just cool to be part of something new that I think will one day be recognized in history. Fitness history anyway. Found a quote from this guy from the Pacific Institute of Sports Medicine in British Columbia who said that  "Used safely and sensibly, I believe CrossFit has potential not just to change people’s lives, but also to change the fitness industry for the better."

Ya think? Anyway, sorry to get all serious on you there. The things I think of early in the morning.

Back to the workouts.

Been some challenging workouts this week. Tuesday was FIVE ROUNDS of 10 power cleans, 20 sit ups and 30 double unders. Actually the only hard part was the DU's. Fricking 18 minutes to do that workout. SUCKED.

By the way, I've learned that Icy Hot is my best friend. Found a tube of it in the gym (Thank you Bruce) and had Kristi rub some on my lower back (sorry Bump but she was closest, heh) and I had NO problems during the workout. Power cleans usually destroy my back, especially high rep.

Oh yes and props to Ken for doing the workout in LESS THAN 9 MINUTES . . . WTF? Is he on roids? A cyborg? Sacrifice animals? How the hell . . ?

Then I realized that he has double unders and probably wasn't spending 2 minutes trying to do 30 reps. Yah, that makes a small kine difference.

So if you read my last workout that means we did thrusters and power cleans back to back on Monday and Tuesday. So thankfully Bump had mercy and threw this on the board: 3 rounds of AMRAP of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 air squats.

Good workout. Did 11 rounds and kept a pretty good pace. Of course guys like Marcus and Ikaika were doing 15 and 18 rounds but hey, I'm still feelin pretty good about this week.

Overall I think I've been improving and it's been a really simple change. Concentrate on speed and screw the  weights. I'm still throwing on the plates during the strength workout so I'm not getting weaker at all.

Been a good year so far. Me likey 2012.

Shoots, later gang,

Rod