Why do you eat the way you eat?
Did your trainer tell you that's the best way?
Did you read the latest blog post by some internet guru and they seem to know their shit?
Did your friends convince you through their impassioned arguments?
Did your doctor hand you a pamphlet and display concern for your health numbers?
Usually the diet we choose fits into one or more of the categories above. We follow the advice of some influence in our life, do it for a little while, fail and give up. I've been through that cycle a lot. Hell, I've been through the "try a diet, succeed, burn out, give up" cycle a million times, too.
What I often see are people who try the same diet over and over and over again. They'll note that "it worked for me last time" as they resolve to just resolve harder.
But if it really worked for you last time, why was there a last time and why are you having to do it all over again?
There isn't a one size fits all for everybody, especially when you get down to the nitty gritty details that so many diets push on people. Things like "eat 300g of carbs before bed" and "don't have more than 40g of protein in a sitting" or "if you eat breakfast before 10am you thighs will explode." That may or may not be true for you.
Not only that, but you need to be real about what your mentality and your lifestyle will allow. If your diet is saying you need to eat 6 times a day, but you have a work schedule that has you running around to meetings and clients all day, it's not going to stick. If you have a diet that says you can only eat X at a set time, but you're in a relationship that makes it hard to do, it's not going to stick.
There are a few rules that I think everyone can and should follow: eat real food, scale your carbs to your activity level, and make it fit into your non-food oriented lifestyle.
From there, you'll have to experiment with what works for you. If that's eating right upon waking because otherwise you're going to be grumpy with your kids, so be it. Don't beat yourself up. Figure out what foods in the morning won't lead to cravings later and cause a food meltdown.
Next post I'll talk about my experiments and how I chose to eat in each phase of my athletic career to this point.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Doing a Deload: Diet Style
This is gonna be short.
Most people who train regularly, especially those who compete, understand the importance of a deload week. You push push push, then you back off and are able to come back stronger. Most people who train hard also eat for performance, and I'm going to argue that sometimes you need a diet deload, too.
When most people "fall off the wagon" they really go off and their dinner plate looks like this:
And thats often because because you waited too long to "deload" from a strict eating regiment. It's akin to getting burned out from training, and then not stepping foot in a gym for a month.
So just as a training deload doesn't mean that you stop going to the gym for a week, a diet deload doesn't mean you go nuts on the empty calories. It just means that you allow yourself a mindful selection of food, and maybe dessert, that
you often avoid.
For me, that often means eating something with rice or noodles, because I love things like pad thai and bim bim bap. If some dessert looks really delectable, maybe I'll share it with ManFriend Matt but keep my main course inline with normal "performance eating".
Why would someone do this? Isn't this "cheating" and just a sign of being weak??
No. We push hard. Even steel bent enough times is going to break. And just as your body occassionally needs some extra time to recover, your mentality towards food could use the same thing. And it's super beneficial to occasionally experience the "normal" eating that you probably see everyone around you do.
I like to take a full week of mindful off-diet eating. I usually find that I do that every 2 months or so and I generally do it after a competition where I've been pushing really hard in both training and strict in diet to make weight and recover my best.
Then, as with training, it's back to the grind stone with a little better mindset.
Most people who train regularly, especially those who compete, understand the importance of a deload week. You push push push, then you back off and are able to come back stronger. Most people who train hard also eat for performance, and I'm going to argue that sometimes you need a diet deload, too.
When most people "fall off the wagon" they really go off and their dinner plate looks like this:
 |
| Dessert coming up next... |
And thats often because because you waited too long to "deload" from a strict eating regiment. It's akin to getting burned out from training, and then not stepping foot in a gym for a month.
So just as a training deload doesn't mean that you stop going to the gym for a week, a diet deload doesn't mean you go nuts on the empty calories. It just means that you allow yourself a mindful selection of food, and maybe dessert, that
you often avoid.
For me, that often means eating something with rice or noodles, because I love things like pad thai and bim bim bap. If some dessert looks really delectable, maybe I'll share it with ManFriend Matt but keep my main course inline with normal "performance eating".
Why would someone do this? Isn't this "cheating" and just a sign of being weak??
No. We push hard. Even steel bent enough times is going to break. And just as your body occassionally needs some extra time to recover, your mentality towards food could use the same thing. And it's super beneficial to occasionally experience the "normal" eating that you probably see everyone around you do.
I like to take a full week of mindful off-diet eating. I usually find that I do that every 2 months or so and I generally do it after a competition where I've been pushing really hard in both training and strict in diet to make weight and recover my best.
Then, as with training, it's back to the grind stone with a little better mindset.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Power Athlete Team Series RECAP
This has been a long time coming, I realize that. Thing is, ManFriend Matt and I have moved to Oakland, and most free time is spent moving the last dredges of our lives over to the new place and then trying to find our clothes in the many many boxes.
Last weekend was the Power Athlete Team Series run by the creators of CrossFit Football. What is CrossFit Football? Have I not talked enough about it? CFFB takes CF principals and applies them in a way that would be beneficial for power athletes, such as football players, rugby players, strongmen, etc. The WODs are shorter, the weights are heavier, you're not going to see high rep of almost anything except perhaps kettlebell swings.
After the power lifting portion, we were in 4th place. Here are the links to my team's lift videos:
James - Power cleans
Colleen - Squats
Trent - Bench press
Me - Deadlifts
So we knew we not only had to be consistent but also pull ourselves up a place if we wanted a shot at the prowler. In a way, we did just that. Looking at only the scores of the metcon, we can in third. However, if you add the combined Wilke's scores of the lifts and the scores we got from the metcon, we were in fourth.
So our team, Buns n' Guns, did great. Unfortunately, our doing great only put us in fourth place after the metcon portion of the day. By 0.32 points in a scoring system that had us in the mid-800's.
When that was announced, how close it was, our immediate reaction was... buy a beer and scowl a lot.
But really, we had a great time and can't wait to do it again next year. It was a totally different kind of competition experience for me, and I plan on continuing the conditioning in my program. Next year we'll only be stronger and faster, and we'll perhaps take it a little more seriously, from training to weigh-ins to lift attempts.
This week, I've totally given my body a break. I haven't lifted a single weight nor given a single fuck about it. Next week, it's back to the grind stone, as I have four more competitions of some sort before the end of the year.
Last weekend was the Power Athlete Team Series run by the creators of CrossFit Football. What is CrossFit Football? Have I not talked enough about it? CFFB takes CF principals and applies them in a way that would be beneficial for power athletes, such as football players, rugby players, strongmen, etc. The WODs are shorter, the weights are heavier, you're not going to see high rep of almost anything except perhaps kettlebell swings.
After the power lifting portion, we were in 4th place. Here are the links to my team's lift videos:
James - Power cleans
Colleen - Squats
Trent - Bench press
Me - Deadlifts
So we knew we not only had to be consistent but also pull ourselves up a place if we wanted a shot at the prowler. In a way, we did just that. Looking at only the scores of the metcon, we can in third. However, if you add the combined Wilke's scores of the lifts and the scores we got from the metcon, we were in fourth.
So our team, Buns n' Guns, did great. Unfortunately, our doing great only put us in fourth place after the metcon portion of the day. By 0.32 points in a scoring system that had us in the mid-800's.
When that was announced, how close it was, our immediate reaction was... buy a beer and scowl a lot.
But really, we had a great time and can't wait to do it again next year. It was a totally different kind of competition experience for me, and I plan on continuing the conditioning in my program. Next year we'll only be stronger and faster, and we'll perhaps take it a little more seriously, from training to weigh-ins to lift attempts.
This week, I've totally given my body a break. I haven't lifted a single weight nor given a single fuck about it. Next week, it's back to the grind stone, as I have four more competitions of some sort before the end of the year.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Current Program: Two Week Cycle
I've been doing pretty well on my current program. I've had severalpeople ask me who is programming for me. I am.
I don't necessarily recommend many people go about it that way. But I've been training for something in some capacity since judo in college. So... over 10 years. I've been doing weightlifting for over 5 years now. I have a lot of data on how my body responds to different protocols. Places where I make progress and where I don't, and what works also for my mindset.
One thing I've learned is I can't take a lot of both intensity AND volume. I break down too fast and burn out. I'm also interested in pursuing goals other than simply clean and jerking and snatching the most I can. I want to compete in powerlifting. I'm signed up for a CrossFit Football competition. I want a general baseline of conditioning, more than "5 reps is cardio" too.
So here is the two week cycle I'm doing:
*CFFB = CrossFit Football WOD
*Cardio Abs = a WOD-like exercise focusing on trunk stability
*AMAP = As Many As Possible
*Trapeze = Damn straight I do my freaking double-classes of static trapeze class EVERY WEEK! Circus freaks! What's up!
I don't necessarily recommend many people go about it that way. But I've been training for something in some capacity since judo in college. So... over 10 years. I've been doing weightlifting for over 5 years now. I have a lot of data on how my body responds to different protocols. Places where I make progress and where I don't, and what works also for my mindset.
One thing I've learned is I can't take a lot of both intensity AND volume. I break down too fast and burn out. I'm also interested in pursuing goals other than simply clean and jerking and snatching the most I can. I want to compete in powerlifting. I'm signed up for a CrossFit Football competition. I want a general baseline of conditioning, more than "5 reps is cardio" too.
So here is the two week cycle I'm doing:
*Cardio Abs = a WOD-like exercise focusing on trunk stability
*AMAP = As Many As Possible
*Trapeze = Damn straight I do my freaking double-classes of static trapeze class EVERY WEEK! Circus freaks! What's up!
Friday, August 30, 2013
In Defense of Lululemon
I've been reading a lot of bad press about Lululemon. Articles saying they shun larger sizes and are therefore sexist. They are a cult. They were run by a weirdo and there for those associated with the brand must be weird.
Internet bashing and psuedo-intellectual/ egalitarian outrage is so hot right now. So on trend.
Size snobbery
I am a competitive powerlifter and weightlifter. My idea of cardiovascular conditioning is pushing a 200-plus pound sled along a street for sprint intervals. As such, I'm not built like your average lady. As such, most stores do not carry clothes that cater to my shape. In all my attempts at finding jeans, I have found one cut from one brand that works most of the time. Not all of the time, just most.
I could cry and moan about how the fashion-industrial complex is kowtowing to patriarchal standards of how women should look and be shaped. How, through clothing, society is trying to tell me that being strong, and athlete shaped is wrong. Blah blah blah. I realize I'm part of a population minority. And I don't expect most places to cater to me. I'll never be able to buy pants or jackets at H&M or any locally fashioned clothing store.
But guess what? Lululemon fits me better than Adidas. Better than Nike. Better than Reebok. Athleta fits well, but Lululemon still fits better.
Instead of bitching about my physique being discriminated against, I just spend my money at places that do fit.
Sexism
This I honestly don't know about. My boyfriend loves the shirts he finds there. The CEO at his company only wears Lulu shirts at work. Many of the guys I work with wear the board shorts. Doesn't seem like they're getting turned away.
Cult Employees
This claim comes from news that Lululemon encourages and pays for their employess to take the Landmark courses. Landmark is considered to be culty. I have some understanding of this because I took some similar "culty" classes myself a year ago, and have friends and acquaintances who have done Landmark.
Landmark is a form of Large Group Awareness Training. What they set out to do is through group activities, one on one interactions, and follow up discussions, help you understand how your reactions to events and interactions shape the way you move through your life and within relationships.
The reason it seems culty to most is that (1) the members are encouraged to enroll their friends and family into the courses. When friends and family come to the "graduation" they are given a sort of hard sell about it. This puts off a LOT of people.
That plus (2) they can't really let you in on the specifics of the training and what goes on. The exercises and interactions are all meant to be fresh to the participants. You will behave differently with no prior warning than if you have time to contemplate the "correct" way to approach a situation. Key discoveries lie in the newness of the experience. However, from the outside, the secrecy seems weird.
Many people have some real big realizations in how they react to these exercises is how they react to situations in life. It gives them the awareness to make better decisions, or at least have more options, in how they approach people, relationships, and situations.
They are run by weird Chip Wilson
He's actually not at the helm anymore. Either he stepped out or was forcibly replaced by Christine McCormick Day.
From what I've read, his "weirdness" is all about his obsession with Ayn Rand and "Atlas Shrugged". So much so that they apparently had some "Who is John Galt?" stuff on their shopping bags and website. When the world of yoga tends to lean liberal, you have to imagine that blatant libertarianism or conservatism is going to have a backlash.
But for me, I just can't get politically worked up by yoga clothes that actually fit me, and don't make me stink to high holy hell. Speaking of....
Ridiculously Expensive
Yes, a pair of Wunderunder tights could run $90. It helps that I get a discount for being a trainer/ coach. But here is the thing, these days I almost only wear Lululemon, Reebok, and Athleta. Why? They treat their fabric with anti-microbial silver ions. And it fucking works.
I'm in these clothes all day. And it's not just during my workout that I get sweaty, I'm working as I teach and run around and whatnot. Also, I tend to split my own training sessions into parts throughout the day, and I don't want to carry three outfits with me. When I was all "I'm not paying over $70 for tights" and just wore Nike, Adidas, and Champion, I always smelled like a dumpster diver by the end of the day. I bit the bullet, switched to these more expensive pieces, and wow, no smell! Also, better fit.
So I get that some people are gonna get riled up about a few or all of the above topics. But I'll still be voting for Lulu with my dollars.
Internet bashing and psuedo-intellectual/ egalitarian outrage is so hot right now. So on trend.
Size snobbery
I am a competitive powerlifter and weightlifter. My idea of cardiovascular conditioning is pushing a 200-plus pound sled along a street for sprint intervals. As such, I'm not built like your average lady. As such, most stores do not carry clothes that cater to my shape. In all my attempts at finding jeans, I have found one cut from one brand that works most of the time. Not all of the time, just most.
I could cry and moan about how the fashion-industrial complex is kowtowing to patriarchal standards of how women should look and be shaped. How, through clothing, society is trying to tell me that being strong, and athlete shaped is wrong. Blah blah blah. I realize I'm part of a population minority. And I don't expect most places to cater to me. I'll never be able to buy pants or jackets at H&M or any locally fashioned clothing store.
But guess what? Lululemon fits me better than Adidas. Better than Nike. Better than Reebok. Athleta fits well, but Lululemon still fits better.
Instead of bitching about my physique being discriminated against, I just spend my money at places that do fit.
Sexism
This I honestly don't know about. My boyfriend loves the shirts he finds there. The CEO at his company only wears Lulu shirts at work. Many of the guys I work with wear the board shorts. Doesn't seem like they're getting turned away.
Cult Employees
This claim comes from news that Lululemon encourages and pays for their employess to take the Landmark courses. Landmark is considered to be culty. I have some understanding of this because I took some similar "culty" classes myself a year ago, and have friends and acquaintances who have done Landmark.
Landmark is a form of Large Group Awareness Training. What they set out to do is through group activities, one on one interactions, and follow up discussions, help you understand how your reactions to events and interactions shape the way you move through your life and within relationships.
The reason it seems culty to most is that (1) the members are encouraged to enroll their friends and family into the courses. When friends and family come to the "graduation" they are given a sort of hard sell about it. This puts off a LOT of people.
That plus (2) they can't really let you in on the specifics of the training and what goes on. The exercises and interactions are all meant to be fresh to the participants. You will behave differently with no prior warning than if you have time to contemplate the "correct" way to approach a situation. Key discoveries lie in the newness of the experience. However, from the outside, the secrecy seems weird.
Many people have some real big realizations in how they react to these exercises is how they react to situations in life. It gives them the awareness to make better decisions, or at least have more options, in how they approach people, relationships, and situations.
They are run by weird Chip Wilson
He's actually not at the helm anymore. Either he stepped out or was forcibly replaced by Christine McCormick Day.
From what I've read, his "weirdness" is all about his obsession with Ayn Rand and "Atlas Shrugged". So much so that they apparently had some "Who is John Galt?" stuff on their shopping bags and website. When the world of yoga tends to lean liberal, you have to imagine that blatant libertarianism or conservatism is going to have a backlash.
But for me, I just can't get politically worked up by yoga clothes that actually fit me, and don't make me stink to high holy hell. Speaking of....
Ridiculously Expensive
Yes, a pair of Wunderunder tights could run $90. It helps that I get a discount for being a trainer/ coach. But here is the thing, these days I almost only wear Lululemon, Reebok, and Athleta. Why? They treat their fabric with anti-microbial silver ions. And it fucking works.
I'm in these clothes all day. And it's not just during my workout that I get sweaty, I'm working as I teach and run around and whatnot. Also, I tend to split my own training sessions into parts throughout the day, and I don't want to carry three outfits with me. When I was all "I'm not paying over $70 for tights" and just wore Nike, Adidas, and Champion, I always smelled like a dumpster diver by the end of the day. I bit the bullet, switched to these more expensive pieces, and wow, no smell! Also, better fit.
So I get that some people are gonna get riled up about a few or all of the above topics. But I'll still be voting for Lulu with my dollars.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Training Log Stardate 201308024: Week Post Competition
The previous Saturday was the Tommy Kono VIII. This past week I realized I misremembered what the super heavyweight qualifying total was. Turns out I did 3 kg more than I needed to. Those 3kg put me in first though. From a first meet, only goal was to qualify perspective, that was pretty stupid. It was risky, especially with that 95kg clean miss. But luckily, it all turned out in the end.
By the way, here is a compilation of my lifts from the Kono, compliments of Hannah Kang, lifter and fellow FuBarbell Panda:
Back to the grind!
Monday
Luckily my normal programming has me just doing upper body things off the bat. Nice to give the legs a break post-competition. Snatch grip push presses for fives at 143lbs and normal push presses for threes at 148lbs. Followed up with a CrossFit Football workout of
6 rounds:
Three 153lb hang power cleans
20 m short shuttle sprint (5-10-5)
= 4:46
Tuesday
Front squats. Feeling strong, seeing as I TOTALLY GORGED myself on things like brownies, pancackes, ice cream, horchada, wine, and chocolate on Sunday after the meet. Four sets of three and one final set of five at 255lbs. Important number, equals 116kg. Saying goes, if you can front squat it for three, you can clean it. I've cleaned 116kg in my "hey day", some day I'll test my clean and see how close I get these days.
Wednesday
Testing my overhead squat. It felt great a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't have time, nor the inclination, to really push it. This time I took it up to 93lbs. Yeah, baby weight, I know. It's less than 30% of my back squat. I would walk out of the rack and my back and legs would feel like, "hey, light weights!" then I pop it overhead and my shoulders were all, "HEAVY! WTF?!?!"
Clean-front squat-jerk combo after. Worked up to 98kg and stopped. That's one kilo over what I did at the Kono, plus the 4:30 class was starting at UB, so it was time to call it quits for the day. I then took the squishy foam roller and fell asleep behind the desk for about 30 mins.
Thursday
Back squat max effort day! Worked up to 305 for 4, tried 315 but only got 2. Oh well, 315 was a weight that was perpetually out of my grasp only a year ago. Drop set at 245lbs and speed sets at 155lbs.
Cardio abs day! We missed out on Tuesday due to car issues on my end. 25-20-15-10-5 reps in rounds of kettlebell swings at 1.5 poods and PVC pipe sit ups. I got to introduce DFu to those. I'm pretty sure she loved them. I finished up with my volume bench presses, four sets of 3 and one set of 5 at 130lbs.
I hate how quickly my legs get strong, and yet I have to fight tooth and nail for arm strength. Even at 10 lbs lighter than I was about a month ago, pull ups are stuck at four. Ugh.
Friday
Deadlifts! I changed around what I normal do this week since I missed deadlifts due to the Kono last week. It takes me a couple of days to recover from heavy deads, so I won't do them the week of a competition. I worked up to a triple at 375lbs (though my third was shy from lockout by an inch), drop set at 290lbs, and speed sets at 225lbs.
Unfortunately, it didn't turn into a PROWLER FRIDAY! James was using the prowler for his OPT training, and Trent had a client when it was free. I did a CFFB workout on my own instead.
4 rounds:
- Row 250
- 5 DB snatches Rt, 50#
- 5 DB snatches Lt, 50#
- 5 burpee pull ups
= 12:50
I'm pretty sure I don't push as hard when I do things on my own as compared to when I join class or get in on the bro sessions. I probably could have not spent as much time on the burpee pull ups as I did (I missed my first one in dramatic fashion) and I could have upped the dampener on the rower for more leg drive. OH WELL!!
Saturday
Helene, our trapeze instructor, is out of town. So after I taught the powerlifting class I stayed behind and tested out my snatches.
I SNATCHED AND IT DIDN'T HURT!!!
I mean. Last time I tried honest-to-god snatches, I stopped at 38kg (~84lbs) because they hurt in a sketchy sort of way. NO SKETCHY SENSATIONS AT ALL!!! The only "hurt" that I felt was from muscle strain since my shoulders are so much weaker than they used to be, and my ego from missing lifts at less than what I currently power (curtsy) snatch.
Seeing as this is the first time I've actually fully snatched since the 2012 American Open 8 months ago, things are a little rusty. A few that are super obvious:
- My hips shoot up faster than my shoulders. My hamstrings and back were feeling the previous day's deadlifts, but still. I need to keep my chest up better.
- I don't always finish my second pull with as much aggression as I need. If I strike the bar with my shoulders up rather than behind the bar, it's going to loop further out and I lose it forward. You can see that happen a couple times at 58 kg.
- My footwork is whack. If you notice on my Kono lifts video, I don't move my feet for the power snatches. It's so high I don't have to, there is no risk of my having to squat it down. It's been 8 months of no footwork and my feet are slow to move and don't always hit the mark of where they should be.
- I don't get under the bar quick. Dropping under the bar and footwork are two things that I never had to think about previously. As long as I finished my hip extension, everything else would fall into place. Now I find myself catching high and riding down and I'm sure this has a lot to do with fearing and expecting the sketchy pain to rear it's ugly head.
I was so psyched to not feel shoulder pain that I went to Lululemon and treated myself to some sales rack stuff. The sales rack prices are better than my R&D trainer discount. Bright pink tights and neon orange sports bra FTW!
By the way, here is a compilation of my lifts from the Kono, compliments of Hannah Kang, lifter and fellow FuBarbell Panda:
Back to the grind!
Monday
Luckily my normal programming has me just doing upper body things off the bat. Nice to give the legs a break post-competition. Snatch grip push presses for fives at 143lbs and normal push presses for threes at 148lbs. Followed up with a CrossFit Football workout of
6 rounds:
Three 153lb hang power cleans
20 m short shuttle sprint (5-10-5)
= 4:46
Tuesday
Front squats. Feeling strong, seeing as I TOTALLY GORGED myself on things like brownies, pancackes, ice cream, horchada, wine, and chocolate on Sunday after the meet. Four sets of three and one final set of five at 255lbs. Important number, equals 116kg. Saying goes, if you can front squat it for three, you can clean it. I've cleaned 116kg in my "hey day", some day I'll test my clean and see how close I get these days.
Wednesday
Testing my overhead squat. It felt great a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't have time, nor the inclination, to really push it. This time I took it up to 93lbs. Yeah, baby weight, I know. It's less than 30% of my back squat. I would walk out of the rack and my back and legs would feel like, "hey, light weights!" then I pop it overhead and my shoulders were all, "HEAVY! WTF?!?!"
Clean-front squat-jerk combo after. Worked up to 98kg and stopped. That's one kilo over what I did at the Kono, plus the 4:30 class was starting at UB, so it was time to call it quits for the day. I then took the squishy foam roller and fell asleep behind the desk for about 30 mins.
Thursday
Back squat max effort day! Worked up to 305 for 4, tried 315 but only got 2. Oh well, 315 was a weight that was perpetually out of my grasp only a year ago. Drop set at 245lbs and speed sets at 155lbs.
Cardio abs day! We missed out on Tuesday due to car issues on my end. 25-20-15-10-5 reps in rounds of kettlebell swings at 1.5 poods and PVC pipe sit ups. I got to introduce DFu to those. I'm pretty sure she loved them. I finished up with my volume bench presses, four sets of 3 and one set of 5 at 130lbs.
I hate how quickly my legs get strong, and yet I have to fight tooth and nail for arm strength. Even at 10 lbs lighter than I was about a month ago, pull ups are stuck at four. Ugh.
Friday
Deadlifts! I changed around what I normal do this week since I missed deadlifts due to the Kono last week. It takes me a couple of days to recover from heavy deads, so I won't do them the week of a competition. I worked up to a triple at 375lbs (though my third was shy from lockout by an inch), drop set at 290lbs, and speed sets at 225lbs.
Unfortunately, it didn't turn into a PROWLER FRIDAY! James was using the prowler for his OPT training, and Trent had a client when it was free. I did a CFFB workout on my own instead.
4 rounds:
- Row 250
- 5 DB snatches Rt, 50#
- 5 DB snatches Lt, 50#
- 5 burpee pull ups
= 12:50
I'm pretty sure I don't push as hard when I do things on my own as compared to when I join class or get in on the bro sessions. I probably could have not spent as much time on the burpee pull ups as I did (I missed my first one in dramatic fashion) and I could have upped the dampener on the rower for more leg drive. OH WELL!!
Saturday
Helene, our trapeze instructor, is out of town. So after I taught the powerlifting class I stayed behind and tested out my snatches.
I SNATCHED AND IT DIDN'T HURT!!!
I mean. Last time I tried honest-to-god snatches, I stopped at 38kg (~84lbs) because they hurt in a sketchy sort of way. NO SKETCHY SENSATIONS AT ALL!!! The only "hurt" that I felt was from muscle strain since my shoulders are so much weaker than they used to be, and my ego from missing lifts at less than what I currently power (curtsy) snatch.
Seeing as this is the first time I've actually fully snatched since the 2012 American Open 8 months ago, things are a little rusty. A few that are super obvious:
- My hips shoot up faster than my shoulders. My hamstrings and back were feeling the previous day's deadlifts, but still. I need to keep my chest up better.
- I don't always finish my second pull with as much aggression as I need. If I strike the bar with my shoulders up rather than behind the bar, it's going to loop further out and I lose it forward. You can see that happen a couple times at 58 kg.
- My footwork is whack. If you notice on my Kono lifts video, I don't move my feet for the power snatches. It's so high I don't have to, there is no risk of my having to squat it down. It's been 8 months of no footwork and my feet are slow to move and don't always hit the mark of where they should be.
- I don't get under the bar quick. Dropping under the bar and footwork are two things that I never had to think about previously. As long as I finished my hip extension, everything else would fall into place. Now I find myself catching high and riding down and I'm sure this has a lot to do with fearing and expecting the sketchy pain to rear it's ugly head.
I was so psyched to not feel shoulder pain that I went to Lululemon and treated myself to some sales rack stuff. The sales rack prices are better than my R&D trainer discount. Bright pink tights and neon orange sports bra FTW!
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Trying Something New: Swim Class
I'm not that comfortable in water. In fact, I'm more comfortable with heights than I am in water. I sink. I'm slow. I always get water in my mouth, nose, and ears. I don't mind splashing around in a river where I can touch the ground, or I'll go rafting and kayaking. But I'm just not going to find SWIMMING to be a fun endeavor.
So when the owners of San Francisco CrossFit arranged a swimming lesson for the coaches, I knew I had to do it. Maybe it will decrease my weirdness a little.
I was definitely anxious going into it. I'm athletic, but my anxiety around water will certainly keep me from seeming that way.
We started out by just talking about body positioning while underwater versus on top of the water, what to do with the legs, and the feel we should have during movement. Here is something that no one ever told me before: when on the surface of the water, you swim "on your side." You are actually supposed to roll from side to side.
Why did no one ever teach me this? Because I don't "do" water. I guess that's why. When would I have ever learned? Their explanation was, when you're under water, you want to stay long and square with the ground to be aerodynamic. But when you're at the surface, you want to minimize your interaction with surface tension. You do that by being on your side for most of the time.
You know, if someone had taught me that ONE thing before my SCUBA certification swim test, I would have gotten through it in probably 2/3 the time it took me with my freestyle flailing.
Water is an asshole.
So when the owners of San Francisco CrossFit arranged a swimming lesson for the coaches, I knew I had to do it. Maybe it will decrease my weirdness a little.
I was definitely anxious going into it. I'm athletic, but my anxiety around water will certainly keep me from seeming that way.
We started out by just talking about body positioning while underwater versus on top of the water, what to do with the legs, and the feel we should have during movement. Here is something that no one ever told me before: when on the surface of the water, you swim "on your side." You are actually supposed to roll from side to side.
 |
| This is how I always looked, head down, shoulders squared, but with more flailing and bubbles. |
 |
| Up on her side, reaching arm out of the water. |
Water is an asshole.
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