This Saturday we held the "Fight Gone Bad" workout at the gym. It was part get together, part fundraiser and part competition all rolled up into one. Lahaina Crossfit was there, Upcountry Crossfit and that other Crossfit in Kahului, I forget what it's called though.
So we all cram into the gym and they do the workout in four heats. The first two are scaled down versions of the workout which goes like this: wall balls, rowing machine, push presses, box jumps and power cleans for a minute each. Three rounds total.
This was actually one of my first workouts at RFM last year. I remember doing the scaled down version and sucking wind.
This time I got to do the regular version. It wasn't until later that I realized this. I'm actually happy about that now. On Saturday I was not.
Going last also sucked but I was in good company. It was Lori, Frank and Jun in my heat along with the Crossfitters from other gyms. We ran two people per station and there was a guy named Adam next to me, getting ready to row. He was a lean dude and looked like he was in good shape so I was sorta worried that he might blow past me.
Thankfully I was prepared to row via a crash course from Kehau. We had done those hard core one minute rows before I went to Vegas and so I had the technique down. I didn't eat anything except breakfast that day because I was afraid I was going to puke up lunch if I ate later.
In other words, I was ready. Or thought so anyway.
And then it started.
I kept on trying to look over to see how many calories Adam was burning but the display was too small. I figured as long as I hit double digits I'd be okay.
From there I went to push presses which was the place that I knew I'd get most of my reps. I had hoped to do 30 per round but I think I might have done 20 to 25 instead. I just couldn't crank out more.
Box jumps sucked of course. I wish I could jump up and down at light speed like Derek. Jun is a stud at this too, guy has serious hops.
Power cleans were actually pretty hard. I thought I'd be repping them out like I did the push presses but I had a hard time making it past 10 reps.
The wall balls just plain sucked. I hate those things almost as much as I do thrusters. Come to think of it, it's the same damn motion as thrusters, we just use a medicine ball instead of weights. Ending the round with wall balls was nothing short of evil. I looked over at that guy Adam and he was blown out too. And that was just the first round.
At some point during the second round all the men in my heat took off our shirts. I needed to breathe better no matter what and I didn't care if anyone got a good look at my flab at that point.
By round three I stopped trying to keep up with Adam. He was ahead of me but I had no idea by how much. I did know that he was kicking my ass in box jumps and power cleans though. I was trying to make up for it with more push presses but my shoulders could only do so much.
When the third round was over I went to the ground. Frank was there already and it made me feel good. Fight Gone Bad had even taken him down.
And then I realized it. I just did the same workout as Frank. Same weights, same rounds, same time. He probably had reps in the 700 range of course while I had 215 but it still made me feel good.
In fact, I think this year's Fight Gone Bad might be the best indicator of how far I've progressed since last year. Sure I've got back problems and squat less than anyone in the gym besides Rocky the dog but otherwise I think I've come a long way.
The best part about it was I had gone home, showered and then went to Whole Foods to get some grub and I saw that guy Adam again. He actually thanked me. He said he kept on pushing himself because I was right there on his ass. I was almost stunned. I asked him was his rep count was and he said 258.
That's only 43 reps more than what I did. Even as I write this I still have a hard time believing it.
So thanks for pushing me too Adam. See you again next year.
Now, on to another matter.
I wanted to do some profiles for our gym members that Bump and Kristi would post on their RFM site. As I write for a living I figured it'd be a piece of cake.
I started with Rikki but had a hard time. I couldn't figure out what was wrong but then I realized, for all my years of writing for news and campaigns and public relations I never wrote anything for friends.
And Rikki was so honest and opened up to her personal reasons for joining RFM that I'm sort of handling her info like it's a fragile piece of glass. I want to do her story justice and I'm afraid that I won't.
I know what you're thinking. "Rod you write a fitness blog that is read by 8 people. Maybe. Why worry about it?"
Yeah well the point is that I still want to do a good job. Plus it's not going on my blog it's going on the RFM blog which actually gets some web traffic. Don't worry, I'll take another crack at it this week.
I've also got some cool pics of Fight Gone Bad but it's on my new phone and for some reason I'm having difficulty downloading. I'll figure it out.
Later gang,
Rod
So we all cram into the gym and they do the workout in four heats. The first two are scaled down versions of the workout which goes like this: wall balls, rowing machine, push presses, box jumps and power cleans for a minute each. Three rounds total.
This was actually one of my first workouts at RFM last year. I remember doing the scaled down version and sucking wind.
This time I got to do the regular version. It wasn't until later that I realized this. I'm actually happy about that now. On Saturday I was not.
Going last also sucked but I was in good company. It was Lori, Frank and Jun in my heat along with the Crossfitters from other gyms. We ran two people per station and there was a guy named Adam next to me, getting ready to row. He was a lean dude and looked like he was in good shape so I was sorta worried that he might blow past me.
Thankfully I was prepared to row via a crash course from Kehau. We had done those hard core one minute rows before I went to Vegas and so I had the technique down. I didn't eat anything except breakfast that day because I was afraid I was going to puke up lunch if I ate later.
In other words, I was ready. Or thought so anyway.
And then it started.
I kept on trying to look over to see how many calories Adam was burning but the display was too small. I figured as long as I hit double digits I'd be okay.
From there I went to push presses which was the place that I knew I'd get most of my reps. I had hoped to do 30 per round but I think I might have done 20 to 25 instead. I just couldn't crank out more.
Box jumps sucked of course. I wish I could jump up and down at light speed like Derek. Jun is a stud at this too, guy has serious hops.
Power cleans were actually pretty hard. I thought I'd be repping them out like I did the push presses but I had a hard time making it past 10 reps.
The wall balls just plain sucked. I hate those things almost as much as I do thrusters. Come to think of it, it's the same damn motion as thrusters, we just use a medicine ball instead of weights. Ending the round with wall balls was nothing short of evil. I looked over at that guy Adam and he was blown out too. And that was just the first round.
At some point during the second round all the men in my heat took off our shirts. I needed to breathe better no matter what and I didn't care if anyone got a good look at my flab at that point.
By round three I stopped trying to keep up with Adam. He was ahead of me but I had no idea by how much. I did know that he was kicking my ass in box jumps and power cleans though. I was trying to make up for it with more push presses but my shoulders could only do so much.
When the third round was over I went to the ground. Frank was there already and it made me feel good. Fight Gone Bad had even taken him down.
And then I realized it. I just did the same workout as Frank. Same weights, same rounds, same time. He probably had reps in the 700 range of course while I had 215 but it still made me feel good.
In fact, I think this year's Fight Gone Bad might be the best indicator of how far I've progressed since last year. Sure I've got back problems and squat less than anyone in the gym besides Rocky the dog but otherwise I think I've come a long way.
The best part about it was I had gone home, showered and then went to Whole Foods to get some grub and I saw that guy Adam again. He actually thanked me. He said he kept on pushing himself because I was right there on his ass. I was almost stunned. I asked him was his rep count was and he said 258.
That's only 43 reps more than what I did. Even as I write this I still have a hard time believing it.
So thanks for pushing me too Adam. See you again next year.
Now, on to another matter.
I wanted to do some profiles for our gym members that Bump and Kristi would post on their RFM site. As I write for a living I figured it'd be a piece of cake.
I started with Rikki but had a hard time. I couldn't figure out what was wrong but then I realized, for all my years of writing for news and campaigns and public relations I never wrote anything for friends.
And Rikki was so honest and opened up to her personal reasons for joining RFM that I'm sort of handling her info like it's a fragile piece of glass. I want to do her story justice and I'm afraid that I won't.
I know what you're thinking. "Rod you write a fitness blog that is read by 8 people. Maybe. Why worry about it?"
Yeah well the point is that I still want to do a good job. Plus it's not going on my blog it's going on the RFM blog which actually gets some web traffic. Don't worry, I'll take another crack at it this week.
I've also got some cool pics of Fight Gone Bad but it's on my new phone and for some reason I'm having difficulty downloading. I'll figure it out.
Later gang,
Rod
