I have met the enemy and his name is "stairs"

So, I was sitting here contemplating what today's blog should be about. We just did a WOD consisting of five rounds of a 400 meter run and 15 overhead squats and I was thinking, "You know that kinda sucked but I don't feel too bad right now."

Then I tried to stand up.

HOLY GOD PLEASE MAKE THE PAIN STOP!!!

The above thought flashed through my mind as my quads seized with stabbing pain. Then I tried walking up the stairs to the kitchen and of course the pain was worse.

And as many of you know, the second and third days are worse after a workout. I'm not looking forward to getting out of bed tomorrow.

Squats suck. That's all I gotta say.

Prior to this I was looking over Ikaika's shoulder in order to read the events of the Maui Strong Man competition. Didn't look too bad at first but then I took a closer look to what was posted online when I got home. The competition includes:

- a 50 meter car push, a Hyundai sedan for women and a Honda Ridgeline for men. On a flat surface? Can do.
- a three inch barbell hold, 225 pounds for men. What's a barbell hold? I looked it up online and you hold a weighted bar. I'm not sure how long I could just hold 225. A minute? Thirty seconds? Maybe I'll try tomorrow.
- a Farmer's Walk consisting of carrying 500 pounds for 50 meters. WTH? Five hundred pounds? What are they supposed be carrying? A Volkswagon Beetle?
- A Sandbag Sprint for 100 meters. Guys carry a really awkward looking 200 pound sandbag (I watched the video online) back and forth. Kinda looked like it sucked.
- A one armed barbell lift of 135 pounds. That looked really tricky. Gonna have try that at the gym for sure.
- The stone lift, consisting of lifting a rock weighing around 40 to 600 pounds. Small kine big range for the weight yeah?

As you can tell, I'm interested. I wonder . . .

Gotta think about this, later gang,

Rod

No workout for one week leaves one weak

A long time ago (as in back in high school) while reading a Muscle and Fitness magazine I read this one line about what it means to skip a workout:

"Think about it like picking up a bag of beans. Missing a workout means you spill all those beans and have to start picking them up all over again."

For years that saying would bounce back and forth in my head over and over again. I thought it was a stupid metaphor to use but it stuck with me for some reason.

Then I started Crossfit and that stupid metaphor made sense. Because now when I miss a RFM workout it feels like I really really effed up somehow. Nevermind that I had to go to Oahu for work. (And no I didn't have time to go to Hard Ass Fitness. And when I say I had no time I meant I was busy sleeping in the hotel room.)

Anyway, today sucked as you can tell. It was my first day back since the Fight Gone Bad workout and eating like crap for two weeks. Here are the highlights:

(1) I did so badly at back squats that Kehau coined a new phrase to describe my lack of intensity which she coined "cardio bogging." She said I had a lot more reps in me even though I was breathing hard and that I should have kept going. Maybe after I get another week under my belt.

(2) Ikaika and I pondered throwing on 115 instead of 105 for the WOD, which was 8 minutes of AMRAP of 4 deadlifts, 3 front squats, 2 push presses and 1 six point burpee. The front squats killed and I thanked the RFM gods above that I kept those extra 10 pounds off.

(3) My hands hurt. My hands never hurt. One of my fingers feels like someone hit it with a hammer. Ow.

On another note, I got Rikki's profile done! I'll send it over to Bump and Kristi and hopefully they can give it the okay and post it. Who wants to be next?

Actually I'll post my own bio here so that you folks can see the format. Plus I think if you see that I'm mostly harmless you'll all start to send me your info, right? Here goes:

Name: Rod “No Squats” Antone

Occupation: I write sometimes

Hails From: Paia, Maui then Boulder, Colorado then Honolulu, Oahu then Yakima, Washington then Albuquerque, New Mexico then Budapest, Hungary (six weeks) then back to sweet old Paia, Maui 20 years later.

Likes To: Spend time with his son Rylen, now aged 6, when he is here visiting from the mainland. Also a Netflix addict and professional Oakland Raiders fan.

Favorite Workout: Anything that does not involve the lower body.

Unfavorite Workout: Thrusters and burpees and wall balls. Oh my.

 Started at RFM: July 2010 then quit for a month then rejoined in September.

Rod started working out at age 15 when he realized that girls liked muscles. At age 25 he realized weights weren’t enough because it didn’t burn off all the beer he was drinking. He ignored the problem until age 38 when he met Bumper at their class reunion and realized it was now or never.

RFM changed my life. It’s changed my body and my mindset. I’ve drank the Kool-aid and I want more.

Seriously though, I’m not sure where I would be if I had not joined. It’s also forced me to  take a look at my diet all of the crap I’ve been digesting over the years. Nowadays I experience bliss just by working out at RFM, taking a shower, then driving back into town with the window down and letting the air cool me off. There’s nothing like it.

Later,

Rod