Sat Feb 23

 

I would like to give a shout out to all the new Crossfitters at Catalyst Fitness. They were working HARD today, a rest day, and I friggin loved it.  I'm looking forward to working out with them soon!! Welcome aboard mates!

 

Friday Feb 22

Five rounds for max reps of:
Body weight bench press
Pull-ups

 

I had a goal coming into this one because Chris had made someone do it already and they posted a total of 32 reps.  In the spirit of competition I was pumped up to crush that record.  I was a  little worried though because I have not benched in a while and I wasn't sure I was going to manage my new body weight # of 190 lbs. I was also determined to use real chin ups for this to evaluate my progress in this department. My first set I blasted outed the starting gate with 12 bench presses and 7 pull ups.  I was impressed. Then I dropped a bit did 10 bench 6 pulls. When I was done I blasted out 56 total reps between bench and pull ups! 36 bench press and 20 pull ups. Still, I do want those pull ups to get up there but I'm finding I'm putting on mass on my legs and trying to pull 190 lbs up there is a tough task!

 

Thursday Feb 21

Four rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
50 Squats

 

It was so nice and sunny out today, it was perfect timing for an outdoor running day. For the 400 m run I used google maps pedometer to estimate 400 m.  It was a shame I didn't have Mike's yaktraks to wear on my shoes cause it was slick out there.  I've never worked so hard in the cold before and the chest was burning! My legs were swelled out after the first round and it felt like I was running with permanant lactic acid. 15 mins later I was gased and loving it.  I felt so good that I pushed myself to do this exercise outdoors.  I can only imagine how fast I'm going to be come the summer time and dry roads! 

- couldn't double up after today....

 

 

Wednesday Feb 20

3-3-3-3-3-3-3 Hang clean and squat

 

Well we're getting back on track. I started with Wednesdays WOD 7 sets of 3 on the hanging clean and front squat.  I was surprised at how strong I felt after 3 days of food coming out of my mouth rather than going in.  I used 145 lb for all 7 sets. Feeling good afterwards I would choose to double up on one of the WOD I missed so I called out "Annie"  50 40 30 20 10 double unders and sit ups.  I was flying through this gal with more energy than the first workout and posted 12 min 23 sec.

 

Catalyst Fitness Inc.
498 Queen St. East, 2nd Floor
Sault Ste. Marie
(705)253-0011
www.gocatalyst.ca
www.catalystfitness.ca

Feb 18 2008

Well I'm behind 3 days due to some weird stomach flu.  I'll be surprised if I finish this blog without running to the bathroom.  The past few mornings I woke up and checked the WOD and was feeling envy towards those that were going to be able to push themselves today.  Because I've only eaten a couple pieces of fruit in the last 3 days maybe I'll be able to crush out a full set of pullups when I feel up to it!
I'll also be looking forward to doubling up for a couple days to get back on track.

 

Catalyst Fitness Inc.
498 Queen St. East, 2nd Floor
Sault Ste. Marie
(705)253-0011
www.gocatalyst.ca
www.catalystfitness.ca

February 13 th
75 lb snatch for 75

Lucky number 13 brings me an intense workout.  75 lb snatch, for, wait for it...... 75 reps.  I knew I needed a game plan and wouldn't be able to live through this workout without one.  I broke it up into 5 sets of 11 and 2 sets of 10.  I tried to keep the breaks short, anywhere between 20 - 40 seconds. 6 min 5 seconds and it was all over.  By far the most intense 6 mins I've put myself through!

February 14th
95 lb thruster and pullups for 21 15 9

Happy Valentine's Day! I could into how I feel about this day but this isn't the right blog for that. I was excited about the pullups because i thought maybe, just maybe I'd be able to do a set of real ones.  Well not yet.  I don't know if it was the forearm breakdown from yesterday or what but I had to resort to body weight rows again.  The workout took me 7 min 26 sec, another short yet intense workout which is proving that workouts don't have to take an hour and a half. I just know there's going to be a long  workout peeking around the corner.  My question to crossfit; When is the yogo/massage workout day?

 

Catalyst Fitness Inc.
498 Queen St. East, 2nd Floor
Sault Ste. Marie
(705)253-0011
www.gocatalyst.ca
www.catalystfitness.ca

Feb 12 2008
 
2 muscle ups
4 Hand stand pushups
8 Db swings w 65lb
 
As many sets in 20 mins.
 
God I loved chalking it up, literally.  After every completion, I swiped the floor with my sweaty hands dipped in chalk across the floor.  By the time i was done there was 15 swipes and I felt each set taking it's toll on me.  I modified the muscle ups by adding a little jump to help.  The hand stand pushups, a lot harder than I even thought. I used the wall to hold me upright and it's all I could do to keep my face from becoming part of the floor.  I don't want to look like I ran a 100 m race in a 90 m gym.  I'm starting to feel bad during rest days now. Yesterday I joined the boys in a little deadlift action. Why the hell not!! There's no traffic on the extra mile! Can't wait for tomorrow now!

---

Feb 10 2008
7 max effort sets of Deadlift

Big pull day today and I made the effort to come in today even though the City shut down again.  I was lifting alone today, no one else was in the gym.  No Mike to yell at me for complaining about the workouts or Christ to throw out a Yeah Buddy during the workout.  For the Max Effort day I wish I would have had someone else there to push me a little bit.  My first pull I started at 325, then 375, then 395 for 2, then 400. My personal best is 430 and I couldn't get 410 off the floor today.  So I finished up with 2 more 400 pulls and called it a day. 

 

Catalyst Fitness Inc.
498 Queen St. East, 2nd Floor
Sault Ste. Marie
(705)253-0011
www.gocatalyst.ca
www.catalystfitness.ca

Feb 9

Run OR Row 5 k

You know running with your thoughts is a lot easier than rowing with them because there's no scenery.  But after the row I had a nice long stretch and I feel really loose and relaxed. It took me 22:08 min, a little slower than I was shooting for which was to keep a pace of 4 min per 1000 m but it's something to improve on.   
Thank you crossfit for the option today.  And thank you Catalyst for having a row machine. 

 

Catalyst Fitness Inc.
498 Queen St. East, 2nd Floor
Sault Ste. Marie
(705)253-0011
www.gocatalyst.ca
www.catalystfitness.ca

Feb 8

Feb 8 2008
I finally topped hurting when I woke up this morning and I am starting to feel stronger already.  I'm noticing fat loss and size in my upper body from the million and 1 rows and pull ups.  Todays workout can best be described like this: "It's like someone took a notebook full of exercises, loaded it into a gun and pulled the trigger."  I was like a bee trying to find nectar, running around the gym to do each workout.  Looking at all these exercises people ask me what the hardest one was.  Shockingly, the sit ups were tough because i've never done situps with a heart rate so dangerously high before.  But the hardest one for sure was the substitute rope climb exercise.  Apparently,  1 rope climb is worth 15 towel pull ups.  Wow, grip work.  If you're looking for a pair of vice grips, you can find them on the end of my arms.

For time: My time 22:41
25 Walking lunge steps
20 Pull-ups
50 Box jumps, 30 inch box
20 Double-unders
25 Ring dips
20 Knees to elbows
30 Kettlebell swings, 65 lbs
30 Sit-ups
20 Hang squat cleans, 35 pound dumbells
25 Back extensions
30 Wall ball shots, 12 pound ball
3 Rope climb ascents aka 45 towel pull ups

 

Catalyst Fitness Inc.
498 Queen St. East, 2nd Floor
Sault Ste. Marie
(705)253-0011
www.gocatalyst.ca
www.catalystfitness.ca