Over the weekend the Crossfit RFM crew headed down to Lahaina to compete in a workout against other gyms. I kinda wanted to go but had two concerns: money and work.
I had zero cash and didn't feel like mooching off my gym buddies. That and I was afraid to go anywhere because I knew I was probably going to get a call from the media about weather clean-up.
Sure enough, I did. So I had to go into the office anyway on Saturday.
Both of these problems should clear up towards the end of the month when I finally (1) get paid and (2) get my county Blackberry. That way I can access work email finally and write stuff from wherever.
And it's not like the County is having payroll problems. It's just the way government jobs work or so I'm told .You take a whole month to get processed or something like that.
Whatever. Back to the competition. I promise, here and now, that I will enter the next Crossfit workout competition. I was feelin the power cleans finally last week and saw that it was on the competition list and was wondering how I would have done.
Okay, next time. I'm hittin it. Yea.
Anyway, we had our MLK Day workout which wasn't bad. First some bench presses, 145, 185 and 215 cranked out bam bam bam. I could have done more than 5 reps for the last set (of 215) but my back gets tweeked when I do that funky four points of contact thing on the bench. I wonder if Bumper will let me just lay my back down flat. I think it'll work better or at least hurt less. Either that or I'm just making excuses because bench still freaks me out. We'll see I guess.
Then our main workout, 6 upside down pushups, 10 pistol squats and a 200 yard run, as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes. I did 5 rounds and 6 reps. I was doing well at first and ahead of the pack but of course Derek and Bob start rippin it on the run at about round 3. Damn it again, I've got to figure out this back thing because it just tightens up and screws me on every workout. Ah.
And freaking pistol squats are a problem too. My legs need to get stronger. Period.
But hey, I'm getting the hang of ring dips, conquered kipping pullups and am less afraid of power cleans so . . . this shouldn't be a problem either, right?
Yeah, 2011 is already a great year.
Now if I could only get paid, that would make it even better.
Rod
Monday, January 17, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Shoutout to Iraq, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Greece
First off, sorry for the delay. Work has been crazy and it's getting harder to keep this blog up. But I guess that just means I'll have to make this post a good one.
That said I just took a look at Google Analytics which helps track data for my website and surprisingly I've had hits from the countries of Iraq, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Greece (as mentioned above). Don't know what they're doing here but "Hi!" Next time post a comment, I love visitors.
I've also had four visitors from Canada and 124 from the United States. We're making progress here.
So let's go over the last couple of days. Wednesday we did shoulder presses. Good stuff. It's about that time where I start putting some pounds on my overhead press. Maybe 145.
I remember once when I was lifting in my college days I saw a guy shoulder press 315 lbs. Yeah, that's right. 3-1-5. That's three 45 lbs plates (sorry to you foreigners who use the metric system) on each side.
I'm not saying that's my goal, but I'm thinking 175 lbs by the end of the year is possible.
Then we did 3 rounds of double-unders, 10 walking lunges and as many push ups as possible in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. We were judged by the total number of push ups we did. I did around 70 something. Pitiful. I should be cranking out at least a hundred of those bad boys by now. Gotta work on that too.
Then on Friday we deadlifted, and I hit a personal best of about 275 I believe. Only did six reps though and I really should be able to do more before I go any heavier.
But after the weights came a weird little workout, 3 power cleans, 6 ring dips and 9 toes to the nose lifts. The reps were low but that's because these were high degree of difficulty exercises (for me at least).
That and I hate power cleans.
HOWEVER . . . I might have to revise that statement.
I threw on 35 pound plates on each side of the bar bringing it to a total of 115 pounds to power clean. Usually I wouldn't do that but I figured three reps should be okay. I might go higher next time because they were actually kind of easy. Bumper was watching and said my form was good, or at least better than usual. Progress is good.
That and I actually managed to crank out some ring dips. Finally right? My time on the bar dips will be limited I'm sure. Kehau better watch out, I'll be taking that strongest woman title from her soon.
Speaking of Kehau, she's been ripping on me for being on my cell phone at the gym. Well girl, tell all your CO-WORKERS IN THE NEWSROOM TO STOP CALLING ME WHILE I'M AT CROSSFIT. Damn media.
Actually I'm waiting for the day that a Maui News reporter or Wendy Osher from Pacific Group Radio come and find me at Raw Fitness Maui. I'm going to allow them to quote me only if they do three rounds of 7 burpees and 7 thrusters first. Ha.
Alright gang, I've got a ton of work to do and Saturday errands to run and a Paleo diet to stick to so . . . I'll talk to you later.
And seriously, say hello on my comments page if you drop by. I used to think I wasn't getting many comments because I wasn't having many readers but now I know you're out there.
So say hi already!
Rod
That said I just took a look at Google Analytics which helps track data for my website and surprisingly I've had hits from the countries of Iraq, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Greece (as mentioned above). Don't know what they're doing here but "Hi!" Next time post a comment, I love visitors.
I've also had four visitors from Canada and 124 from the United States. We're making progress here.
So let's go over the last couple of days. Wednesday we did shoulder presses. Good stuff. It's about that time where I start putting some pounds on my overhead press. Maybe 145.
I remember once when I was lifting in my college days I saw a guy shoulder press 315 lbs. Yeah, that's right. 3-1-5. That's three 45 lbs plates (sorry to you foreigners who use the metric system) on each side.
I'm not saying that's my goal, but I'm thinking 175 lbs by the end of the year is possible.
Then we did 3 rounds of double-unders, 10 walking lunges and as many push ups as possible in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. We were judged by the total number of push ups we did. I did around 70 something. Pitiful. I should be cranking out at least a hundred of those bad boys by now. Gotta work on that too.
Then on Friday we deadlifted, and I hit a personal best of about 275 I believe. Only did six reps though and I really should be able to do more before I go any heavier.
But after the weights came a weird little workout, 3 power cleans, 6 ring dips and 9 toes to the nose lifts. The reps were low but that's because these were high degree of difficulty exercises (for me at least).
That and I hate power cleans.
HOWEVER . . . I might have to revise that statement.
I threw on 35 pound plates on each side of the bar bringing it to a total of 115 pounds to power clean. Usually I wouldn't do that but I figured three reps should be okay. I might go higher next time because they were actually kind of easy. Bumper was watching and said my form was good, or at least better than usual. Progress is good.
That and I actually managed to crank out some ring dips. Finally right? My time on the bar dips will be limited I'm sure. Kehau better watch out, I'll be taking that strongest woman title from her soon.
Speaking of Kehau, she's been ripping on me for being on my cell phone at the gym. Well girl, tell all your CO-WORKERS IN THE NEWSROOM TO STOP CALLING ME WHILE I'M AT CROSSFIT. Damn media.
Actually I'm waiting for the day that a Maui News reporter or Wendy Osher from Pacific Group Radio come and find me at Raw Fitness Maui. I'm going to allow them to quote me only if they do three rounds of 7 burpees and 7 thrusters first. Ha.
Alright gang, I've got a ton of work to do and Saturday errands to run and a Paleo diet to stick to so . . . I'll talk to you later.
And seriously, say hello on my comments page if you drop by. I used to think I wasn't getting many comments because I wasn't having many readers but now I know you're out there.
So say hi already!
Rod
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
I'm beat, and it's not from Crossfit
So this week was my first week trying to juggle two jobs. One at Maui County and the other at Maui College.
Today is only the second day but it feels like the fourth. Thank God for Crossfit.
I couldn't work out on Monday because . . . okay, scratch that. I DIDN'T workout because I wanted to watch the national championship game which I correctly predicted Auburn would beat Oregon.
But on Tuesday I was ready, and it was a great day to go. An 800 meter run, followed by sets of 12, 9, and 6 hang snatches and hanging pull-ups.
The hang snatches weren't bad at all, and the pull-ups were tough but I wasn't the only one having a hard time. By the time I got done with my last set of pull-ups I felt good to go on the run. I don't even think I was breathing too hard at the end.
And after the workout I took off my shirt and took some "before" pictures. We're doing a contest at Raw Fitness Maui which involves the Paleo diet. I jumped on a scale today for the first time and saw that I'm about 10 pounds lighter than I was when I started.
So here's hoping I stay the course and train hard. Because it's going to suck if my "after" pics look exactly the same.
Yeah yeah, and I'll post them up here at some point. Sheesh.
Today is only the second day but it feels like the fourth. Thank God for Crossfit.
I couldn't work out on Monday because . . . okay, scratch that. I DIDN'T workout because I wanted to watch the national championship game which I correctly predicted Auburn would beat Oregon.
But on Tuesday I was ready, and it was a great day to go. An 800 meter run, followed by sets of 12, 9, and 6 hang snatches and hanging pull-ups.
The hang snatches weren't bad at all, and the pull-ups were tough but I wasn't the only one having a hard time. By the time I got done with my last set of pull-ups I felt good to go on the run. I don't even think I was breathing too hard at the end.
And after the workout I took off my shirt and took some "before" pictures. We're doing a contest at Raw Fitness Maui which involves the Paleo diet. I jumped on a scale today for the first time and saw that I'm about 10 pounds lighter than I was when I started.
So here's hoping I stay the course and train hard. Because it's going to suck if my "after" pics look exactly the same.
Yeah yeah, and I'll post them up here at some point. Sheesh.
Friday, January 7, 2011
I miss my chest muscle
Today I am writing my blog from my blackberry for the first time. Why? Because I'm beat and lying down as I type.
My chest is aching where my pec tear happened. Between that and my lower back it feels good to lie down.
We were doing pushups then benching then dips. That's a lot of chest.
And my poor right side is working hard even though it's not whole. It's literally half a chest now.
Sometimes I feel bad for it, my chest that is. Making it work so hard after it was my fault that I tore it in the first place.
He's a trooper though, and we still manage to bench a decent amount, 205 today.
I wonder sometimes if it's worth it to go through surgery and reconnect my muscles.
But then I'd have months of rehab and it would be like starting Crossfit all over again.
Nah. Besides, I've still got to bench 225 20 times this year.
It's good to have goals, keeps you on track.
Say goodnight. Rod and his sore bodyparts are going to sleep.
My chest is aching where my pec tear happened. Between that and my lower back it feels good to lie down.
We were doing pushups then benching then dips. That's a lot of chest.
And my poor right side is working hard even though it's not whole. It's literally half a chest now.
Sometimes I feel bad for it, my chest that is. Making it work so hard after it was my fault that I tore it in the first place.
He's a trooper though, and we still manage to bench a decent amount, 205 today.
I wonder sometimes if it's worth it to go through surgery and reconnect my muscles.
But then I'd have months of rehab and it would be like starting Crossfit all over again.
Nah. Besides, I've still got to bench 225 20 times this year.
It's good to have goals, keeps you on track.
Say goodnight. Rod and his sore bodyparts are going to sleep.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Total. Effing. Failure.
Wow. Just wow.
Today I just couldn't do it. Today I couldn't finish the workout.
Hell I couldn't even finish the second set.
I've never given up before, not even in the beginning. But this, this was me waving the white flag.
This was my back not just giving up but giving in.
Guess I should explain.
Today the workout was four rounds of 10 overhead squats, 15 kettlebell swings and a 200 meter run.
Not bad right? I've written about worse workouts for sure.
But when I hit the run on the first round I felt my back tighten up like someone was twisting screws into the muscles around my lower spine..
Maybe it was because I got to the gym late and didn't properly warm up. Maybe it was the deadlifts beforehand. Maybe because I started my new job today and sat around more than usual. (Not that I was very active when I worked from home, I still sat around all day). Or maybe because I took a week off from the gym while my son was here last week.
Whatever the reason, when I started doing overhead squats for the second round I found that my back wouldn't bend anymore.
See, when you do overhead squats you have to put a little curve in your back in order to hold the weight up above your head right. But I couldn't bend my back at all, which meant the bar was a little more forward than it's supposed to be, meaning I was off balance, meaning there was no way to get the weight up and down without falling forward.
Damn it.
The thing is this isn't the first time I've felt this way. A while back when my brother was living with me on Oahu (like in the late 90's) we decided we were going to surf every weekend. Neither of us were "surfers" but we could go to Waikiki and longboard at least. We just wanted an excuse to take our shirts off and walk around and carry the boards like we were real surfers. (Hey, I was skinnier back then).
Anyway, it was a great idea and we were having fun, getting a workout and getting more tan. That was until my back started feeling tighter and tighter and after 2 hours of surfing I tried to stand up to catch a wave and couldn't pop up any more. You know, that "pop up" you do from the lying down position to stand up and surf. Yeah, my back like just gave out and instead of popping up I just fell forward into the water. I tried catching waves like six times after that and just couldn't do it.
Well tonight was exactly like that afternoon surfing, except it didn't take two hours for my back to give in. It only took a couple of minutes to do that first round.
Damn it damn it damn it.
I don't know what to say except I'll be back on Friday. And if my back messes with me again I will kick its ass.
Which would be weird because my back's ass is my ass. But you know what I mean.
Right?
Today I just couldn't do it. Today I couldn't finish the workout.
Hell I couldn't even finish the second set.
I've never given up before, not even in the beginning. But this, this was me waving the white flag.
This was my back not just giving up but giving in.
Guess I should explain.
Today the workout was four rounds of 10 overhead squats, 15 kettlebell swings and a 200 meter run.
Not bad right? I've written about worse workouts for sure.
But when I hit the run on the first round I felt my back tighten up like someone was twisting screws into the muscles around my lower spine..
Maybe it was because I got to the gym late and didn't properly warm up. Maybe it was the deadlifts beforehand. Maybe because I started my new job today and sat around more than usual. (Not that I was very active when I worked from home, I still sat around all day). Or maybe because I took a week off from the gym while my son was here last week.
Whatever the reason, when I started doing overhead squats for the second round I found that my back wouldn't bend anymore.
See, when you do overhead squats you have to put a little curve in your back in order to hold the weight up above your head right. But I couldn't bend my back at all, which meant the bar was a little more forward than it's supposed to be, meaning I was off balance, meaning there was no way to get the weight up and down without falling forward.
Damn it.
The thing is this isn't the first time I've felt this way. A while back when my brother was living with me on Oahu (like in the late 90's) we decided we were going to surf every weekend. Neither of us were "surfers" but we could go to Waikiki and longboard at least. We just wanted an excuse to take our shirts off and walk around and carry the boards like we were real surfers. (Hey, I was skinnier back then).
Anyway, it was a great idea and we were having fun, getting a workout and getting more tan. That was until my back started feeling tighter and tighter and after 2 hours of surfing I tried to stand up to catch a wave and couldn't pop up any more. You know, that "pop up" you do from the lying down position to stand up and surf. Yeah, my back like just gave out and instead of popping up I just fell forward into the water. I tried catching waves like six times after that and just couldn't do it.
Well tonight was exactly like that afternoon surfing, except it didn't take two hours for my back to give in. It only took a couple of minutes to do that first round.
Damn it damn it damn it.
I don't know what to say except I'll be back on Friday. And if my back messes with me again I will kick its ass.
Which would be weird because my back's ass is my ass. But you know what I mean.
Right?
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
It's been a while
About a week actually since I worked out and updated this blog.
That doesn't seem like much but missing a Crossfit workout is like aging in dog years. You gotta multiply by seven.
So since I missed 7 days it felt like I missed 49 workouts. Mainly because my favorite friends, power cleans and burpees, were on today's menu.
That and I got off the plane from Sacramento and literally just went straight to the workout. Wow. It sucked but I needed to move around after sitting in a plane for 10 hours yesterday and today.
And I definitely got to workout today. We did descending sets of power cleans while doing ascending sets of burpees. So we started out with 10 power cleans and one burpee and ended with 1 power clean and 10 burpees. Yes it did suck and I think I had a heart attack in the middle of the workout.
But I'm back baby. This year, 2011, is going to be a great year all around. I feel and look better physically already.
Now if only my hair would start growing back that would be great. Can't have everything I guess.
That doesn't seem like much but missing a Crossfit workout is like aging in dog years. You gotta multiply by seven.
So since I missed 7 days it felt like I missed 49 workouts. Mainly because my favorite friends, power cleans and burpees, were on today's menu.
That and I got off the plane from Sacramento and literally just went straight to the workout. Wow. It sucked but I needed to move around after sitting in a plane for 10 hours yesterday and today.
And I definitely got to workout today. We did descending sets of power cleans while doing ascending sets of burpees. So we started out with 10 power cleans and one burpee and ended with 1 power clean and 10 burpees. Yes it did suck and I think I had a heart attack in the middle of the workout.
But I'm back baby. This year, 2011, is going to be a great year all around. I feel and look better physically already.
Now if only my hair would start growing back that would be great. Can't have everything I guess.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Jumping muscle ups and young kids
This week my son is visiting for Christmas break and my brother is here visiting as well so I wanted to make sure I had enough time today to do stuff and hit the 6 a.m. class at RFM for the first time.
I half expected it to be totally empty but man, there were like six people there not including Kristi the trainer. Guess everyone felt as gross as I did after eating a bunch of crap during the holidays.
Strength today was bench, which has been scary since the pec tear last year. Everytime I want to go heavy and push it I end up freaking out and racking the weight if I feel even the slighest bit of strain on my right side. Push-ups for me thanks, but I do want to reach that goal of 20 reps of 225 so I've got to keep trying.
Then it was time for the workout, as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of: 2 muscles ups, 4 upsidedown pushups, 8 kettleball swings and a 200 meter run. For those who don't know, the muscle ups are dips on those gymnastic rings. They are hard as hell, mainly because you have to stablize yourself while dipping. Your arms shake and it's a bitch. Plus just pulling yourself up to get in position is more than half the battle. That's why I did "jumping" muscle ups today. I tried pulling myself up from a standing position but there was no freaking way. As they say, leave your ego at the door and just do what you can do. So jumping muscle ups here I come.
To add another twist to things there were two new guys at the gym this morning, a couple of young fellas who of course went out drinking last night. Still, they were in good shape, especially one of them that looked like a local surfer. They said this was their first Crossfit workout but they were in good shape to begin with and of course I was thinking that I need to at least keep up with them.
This was not the case however, the younger surfer guy was ripping through the workout and his friend was right behind him. I did well with the first three and didn't even break a sweat until the 200 meter run. Even that wasn't bad. In fact I think I need to really increase my freaking speed on that thing. I could have easily rested while doing muscle ups and USDPU and kswings. Ahhhhhh damn it.
It's going to be one of those weeks where I hit Crossfit everyday. Hopefully for the Saturday workout too. And someone please please please give me incentive to do Paleo again. I really need it.
I half expected it to be totally empty but man, there were like six people there not including Kristi the trainer. Guess everyone felt as gross as I did after eating a bunch of crap during the holidays.
Strength today was bench, which has been scary since the pec tear last year. Everytime I want to go heavy and push it I end up freaking out and racking the weight if I feel even the slighest bit of strain on my right side. Push-ups for me thanks, but I do want to reach that goal of 20 reps of 225 so I've got to keep trying.
Then it was time for the workout, as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of: 2 muscles ups, 4 upsidedown pushups, 8 kettleball swings and a 200 meter run. For those who don't know, the muscle ups are dips on those gymnastic rings. They are hard as hell, mainly because you have to stablize yourself while dipping. Your arms shake and it's a bitch. Plus just pulling yourself up to get in position is more than half the battle. That's why I did "jumping" muscle ups today. I tried pulling myself up from a standing position but there was no freaking way. As they say, leave your ego at the door and just do what you can do. So jumping muscle ups here I come.
To add another twist to things there were two new guys at the gym this morning, a couple of young fellas who of course went out drinking last night. Still, they were in good shape, especially one of them that looked like a local surfer. They said this was their first Crossfit workout but they were in good shape to begin with and of course I was thinking that I need to at least keep up with them.
This was not the case however, the younger surfer guy was ripping through the workout and his friend was right behind him. I did well with the first three and didn't even break a sweat until the 200 meter run. Even that wasn't bad. In fact I think I need to really increase my freaking speed on that thing. I could have easily rested while doing muscle ups and USDPU and kswings. Ahhhhhh damn it.
It's going to be one of those weeks where I hit Crossfit everyday. Hopefully for the Saturday workout too. And someone please please please give me incentive to do Paleo again. I really need it.
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