Lots of Thoroughly Exhausting Workouts

Pardon the delay in updates; it was purely because I couldn't remember the workouts off the top of my head. But today I made a point to bring my notebook from the gym bag to the computer. Before we hit all of them, and there are many, it's time for the requisite update. After a celebratory week or two of being bad, I've actually managed to lose another pound, which I'm not exactly happy about, but not too worried either. Also, I lost my blood-donation virginity last week. I had a fun time with that and felt fine during the whole thing. Of note, I went to the gym over lunch that day instead of after donating. I also drank around 60 fl. oz. of water before donating throughout the day. It was nice to feel no ill effects except for getting really really winded doing little things like crawling around on the floor with the dog. How's about some workouts? Before I start, there could be a lot of new exercises in here, if you want a video demo, head to Crossfit - Exercise Demos and find it on there.

Filthy Fifty

50 reps of the following:

1. Box Jumps, 24"
2. Jumping Pullups
3. Kettlebell Swings, 35 lbs.
4. Walking Lunge
5. Knee-to-elbows
6. Back Extensions
7. Wallball shots, 20 lbs.
8. Burpee
9. Double-Unders - jumping rope, passing the rope under you twice per jump

Complete each exercise before moving to the next one.

Our first workout is the official version from Crossfit. Thanks to my lingering achilles issue, some of it had to be adjusted. In addition, we had a bit of a time constraint that evening, so we halved the workout. Achilles corrections were: box steps instead of box jumps, pullups instead of jumping pullups, and I skipped the double-unders entirely. My time for this one was 27:52 and it was a real struggle. The nice part of this workout is that you can be certain there is no more working out you can do after it. My wife joined me in this routine, but she insists on not recording times. Suffice it to say that we were both destroyed by this workout. It was great.

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

1. Row 250m
2. 25 - Pushup

I thought this was going to be simple, I admit. What's a few pushups and rowing? Man, was that ever stupid to think. Actually, the rowing was nothing compared to the pushups. I managed a meager 5 rounds through this one before time expired. My only defense is on the pushups I was going all the way down, chest on the floor, picking my hands up off the floor and putting them back down, then pushing back up. Try pushups that way before you jump to any conclusions on my pushup skills. Hint: they're evil.

For time, using a bare 45 lb. bar where appropriate.

1. 10 - Pullup
2. 20 - Burpee
3. 30 - Push Press
4. Row 400m
5. 50 - Snatch
6. 60 - Situp
7. 35 - Clean and Jerk
8. Run 800m

Well hello there, grip-killer. Seriously, I had to take breaks in this one because my forearms were just dead. Also, Achilles is still injured so the run was replaced with more rowing. In fact, someone was using the rowing machine the first time it came up, so I ended up doing 1200m at the end of the workout, skipping ahead to the snatch. I couldn't hardly hold on to the handle while rowing. It was even suggested I just stop. But I wasn't about to stop during the last exercise! 27:14 was my time on this one. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment to finish this one and rolling off the rowing machine onto the floor in exhaustion was my reward. I highly recommend this one.

7 rounds for time of:

1. 3 reps - Power Clean, 115 lbs.
2. 4 reps - Handstand pushup

This one was actually easy. Too easy in fact. I finished it in 8:04 and was kind of disappointed by it. Next time I'll increase the weight on the power clean substantially.

3 rounds, 15 reps per exercise, for time of:

1. Right-arm Dumbbell Snatch, 35 lbs.
2. Situp
3. Left-arm Dumbbell Snatch, 35 lbs.
4. Toes-to-bar

This one started easy enough. The one-armed snatch was interesting to do since it was my first time. Situps were blah, just like normal. But then the evil of Toes-to-bar struck. I'd done these a bit, just playing around to see if I could, but this was my first time with them in a workout. They are hard, but you do get to feel a bit like a circus performer or gymnast while doing them. This was the workout I did before donating blood. Since it was done during the same time of day as usual, maybe that contributed to my poor time. Still, 25:44 seemed decent for this one. I liked it.

Erin (modified)

5 rounds for time of:

1. 15 reps - Dumbbell Split Clean, 35 lb. dumbbells
2. 12 reps - Pullup

This was my first real workout after the donation and my goodness did it suck. I had to sit a fair amount to avoid blacking out. Also, I am not a fan of the dumbbell clean. It just didn't feel as powerful as a standard clean. The split landing was causing me some issues too, largely because I never practice it. I'm getting better at pullups, though. I managed a streak of 10 on my 4 round. Encouraged by that, my final round consisted of streaks of 2, 2, 1, 3, 2, and 2. Still, 60 pullups plus all those cleans in 37:02. It was a disappointing time for sure, but I'm pleased with myself for finishing because of the issues I was having.

Aside from the one workout up there, these were all great, thoroughly exhausting, and sometimes fun to watch. One note, man do my hands hurt after most of these. Blisters and callouses are nothing new, but I've had to start shaving down the callouses to keep them from getting pulled off by the pullup bar. Fun? This concludes the massive workouts update. See y'all next time!

Victory!

Yesterday started much like any other day: woke up, got mostly ready, took the dog out, ate breakfast, took the dog out again, finished getting ready, forgot to put on a belt, didn't notice until about 3 hours later. The finish to the day wasn't foreshadowed in the slightest. In fact, with having two separate Thanksgiving celebrations, I completely expected to have a setback. After work, and working out, I hit the scale, got it balanced and literally, aloud, asked it, "Really?!" I hopped off, reset it, tried again. Really. Really, really. At the start of week 48, I finally achieved my goal weight. The one I set back in January.

Thanks to the injured Achilles, the wet floor in the locker room, and the workout -- which I'm teasing again and will describe a bit later -- I did not get to jump for joy. Instead, I went to find Trainer Dean to tell him the good news, but alas he was nowhere to be found. So I headed home wondering what the next step is. First and foremost, I need to add some more calories to my diet to make sure I don't lose any more weight. After that, I'm going to talk to a nutritionist to get help with making a maintenance diet. Ok, enough with the bragging, how about that workout?

1. Deadlift, 225 lbs - Rep scheme 21, 15, 9
2. Wall-walkers - Rep scheme 9, 6, 3

Of note, that's not a tutorial video, but does contain two people demonstrating the concept.

For me, yesterday was a heavy day. For those that have been at it, they probably would have finished that workout in under 5 minutes. I, however, am not very good at deadlifts and 225 lbs is a heavy weight for me. The wall walkers were kinda fun. I just knew I looked like a ninja doing them. 43 minutes 19 seconds later, I could barely stand, my back and abs were completely dead, and I was done. That was a great heavy day. Maybe over 75% of my max deadlift wasn't good for such a long workout, but how else will I get stronger? Really, I probably should have gone with 60% of my max for that.

My rosy feelings toward that could be related to the victory mentioned above. Summary time. 48 weeks, 34 pounds lost, using the tried-and-true techniques of exercise and eating less. Hit up the blog archives to see the actual diet I used and many more workouts that I used along the way.