brikis98's crossfit journal

[EvilYoda]

I haven't had a tear from pullups in a while...but then again, I haven't done anything super intensive recently. I did tabata pullups the other day, after a baseline workout...that was like 75 in total, but broken up into chunks.

*knocks on wood*

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
I haven't had a tear from pullups in a while...but then again, I haven't done anything super intensive recently. I did tabata pullups the other day, after a baseline workout...that was like 75 in total, but broken up into chunks.

*knocks on wood*

Hm, thanks for the good idea. Needed to do cardio today and I think Tabata This/That (can't remember which) is gonna be my workout.

 

[brikis98]

Friday, September 18

Rest day.

 

[KingGheedora]

Has everyone with the torn hands tried the method of sanding callouses away? I read that somewhere, may have been on this board. There was a site where a guy has pictures and describes how he sands away the built up pads of skin on his hands from weightlifting, using a pumice bar. He claims that prevents tears. Haven't tried it myself though since I don't do high enough volume on any exercises to have this problem.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: KingGheedora
Has everyone with the torn hands tried the method of sanding callouses away? I read that somewhere, may have been on this board. There was a site where a guy has pictures and describes how he sands away the built up pads of skin on his hands from weightlifting, using a pumice bar. He claims that prevents tears. Haven't tried it myself though since I don't do high enough volume on any exercises to have this problem.

Yup. I followed the beastskills callous tutorial and it worked quite well for a while. It's not full proof, as you can tell from my last few weeks, but then again, it can't prevent tears in places you don't take care of (ie, a new blister spot on your hands due to a thicker pull-up bar).

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: KingGheedora
Has everyone with the torn hands tried the method of sanding callouses away? I read that somewhere, may have been on this board. There was a site where a guy has pictures and describes how he sands away the built up pads of skin on his hands from weightlifting, using a pumice bar. He claims that prevents tears. Haven't tried it myself though since I don't do high enough volume on any exercises to have this problem.

It didn't work for me, but it helped with any pain that I had from callouses while deadlifting.

 

[brikis98]

Saturday, September 19

Strength/Power

Squat: 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x1, 335x2xstopped
OH Press: 95x3, 135x3, 155x1, 185x1, 185x1, 185x1, 185x1

Crappy squatting day today. Even 275 felt heavy and on 335, my form totally broke down, which resulted in a miserably slow and unsafe second rep. I decided not to risk it and just racked it after that. Kind of disappointing after breezing through 330x5 last week, but I guess crappy days are to be expected from time to time. Fortunately, OH press went very well. I'm still working on singles and the first set of 185 was the best bar speed I've ever had with that weight. It shot up in a hurry, which makes me hopeful about setting a new PR next week. Of course, the last 3 sets were all slower, but still promising.

Metcon

Four rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
50 Squats

Ran outside in the parking lot next to the CF gym where each lap is about ~410m instead of 400m.

Time: 13:55 (PR)

I beat my old time on this workout by over a minute, even with the extra 10m of running per lap. I think it helped to break the squats up into sets of 10 with just a few seconds rest between sets. It was just enough time to let the blood circulate and allow my legs to recover quickly for another quick set of 10. Of course, my time still sucks on the workout overall, but I always love seeing improvement.

 

[brikis98]

Sunday, September 20

Strength/Power

Deadlift: 135x5, 225x3, 315x3, 365x1, 400x3, 315x5

Deadlift felt pretty good today with solid form and good bar speed. Only oddity was that it felt like my knees were caving in a little bit on the last couple of reps. I wonder if that means I need to use a more narrow stance or if I just need to consciously keep them out. I tried various stance widths with 315 at the end of the workout, but at that weight, it didn't make much of a difference, so I'm still not sure.

Metcon

For time:
Row 500 meters
Body weight Bench press, 30 reps
Row 1000 meters
Body weight Bench press, 20 reps
Row 2000 meters
Body weight Bench press, 10 reps

Did bench press with 185lbs.

Time: 25:34

This workout combines two things I suck at: high rep bench press and rowing. The former always leaves me sore for days and the latter I just need a lot more practice at to really get my stroke down.

 

[KingGheedora]

man that metcon workout sounds ridiculous. Was this a WOD? Was it recommended that it bench press be done at BW for this?

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: KingGheedora
man that metcon workout sounds ridiculous. Was this a WOD? Was it recommended that it bench press be done at BW for this?

Yup, it's this mainsite WoD. I think my chest/triceps/shoulders are going to be insanely sore tomorrow. My legs already are.

 

[brikis98]

Monday, September 21

Rest day. Really freaking sore.

 

[brikis98]

Tuesday, September 22

Strength/Power

Power snatch: 95x3, 115x2, 135x2, 155x1, 155x1, 155x1, 155x1

My snatch technique has gone to pieces. I decided to work on the power snatch today to try to smooth out the issues with the second pull and it did not go well. My form felt off the entire time and none of the reps with 155 were particularly clean, so I didn't bother increasing the weight. I don't know why my technique has deterioated so badly, but it's pretty discouraging. I think I need to take some time to re-read all the snatch tutorials and re-watch all the instructional videos to see if I can pick up on something I'm missing.

Metcon

21-15-9 reps for time of:
Calorie row
Push Press 115#
Pull-ups

Time: 7:15

Another CF Sunnyvale workout and this one was pretty quick. I think I'm finally starting to get used to rowing.

 

[brikis98]

Wednesday, September 23

Strength/Power

Squat: 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 275x20 (PR)

My back stamina has definitely improved so the 20 rep squats have become slightly less of a nightmare now. In fact, it's my lungs that are being challenged, and at the end of the set I feel like I had been running hard for 10 minutes. Still, I'm pretty happy to get all 20 at ~1.5xbodyweight and am dreading 280 next week.

Skill/Gymnastics

Practice 3 static holds: handstand, front lever, back lever. 3 rounds of your best effort for each hold.

Joined the CF Sunnyvale folks for their "gymnastics day" which started with this skill portion. I showed up a bit late because I had been doing 20 rep squats, so I didn't have time for handstands. However, I was able to hold a very solid back lever for ~10 seconds. I also did a one legged front lever for ~5 with each leg, but I think my hips might have been sagging.

Metcon

12-10-8-6-4-2 reps for time:
L pull-ups
Psuedo planche push-ups
Lunging Split Jumps (aka Matt Nasties)

Time: 6:45

The next part of the gymnastics day was this quick metcon. I've gotten slightly better at L pull-ups, but I should definitely work more on my L-sit so my legs don't start drooping as the workout goes on.

 

[brikis98]

Thursday, September 24

Strength/Power

Cleans: 135x3, 185x2, 225x2, 245x1, 255x1, 265xF

My legs were very sore from yesterday's 20 rep squats, so the front squats during these cleans were a nightmare. I managed to get under 265, but my legs were too tired to hold out and the weight just rode me down to the ground and I had to dump it.

Metcon

6 rounds, for total calories:
Row 1 minute on/1 minute off

Round 1: 25
Round 2: 22
Round 3: 21
Round 4: 20
Round 5: 19
Round 6: 20
Total: 127

By the second round my legs felt totally burned out, which made it hard to get a powerful stroke. Would love to re-try this workout fresh.

Diet Update

Since the move to CA, my diet has undergone some changes. The biggest is that I am no longer using whey protein, which means the only supplement left in my diet is fish oil. I've been just been eating a normal meal after workouts and will see how that turns out. Another change is that there are a couple farmer's markets open on the weekends near us and we've been trying to get all of our fresh produce there. Finally, we've been experimenting with various whole grains that we get at the Whole Foods bulk bins. We've tried out cous cous, bulgar and quinoa, with the latter being the hands down favorite. It's really easy to cook and just seems to mix extremely well with almost any veggie, meat, or sauce.

The only negative thing has been the odd emergence of hunger cravings at night. My schedule is practically identical to what it was back in MA, but lately I've found myself getting very hungry around 11:00pm and am not sure what the cause is. Maybe it's because I'm not having the protein shakes right after my workout, but on the other hand, I've deliberately been eating more for dinner to compensate. Hopefully it'll pass, as I hate eating right before bed (messes with my dreams) and I hate going to bed hungry (hard to fall asleep).

 

[conorvansmack]

Do you rinse the quinoa before you cook it? I've done it once and a lot of the small pieces fall through my mesh strainer.

 

[katank]

Any reason in particular that you cut out whey?

I'm currently in the boat of just whey and fish oil.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: conorvansmack
Do you rinse the quinoa before you cook it? I've done it once and a lot of the small pieces fall through my mesh strainer.

I soak the quinoa in a bowl of water for 15-30 minutes before cooking. The holes in my strainer are also too big for it, so I just drain it straight out of the bowl using my hand as a strainer.

Originally posted by: katank
Any reason in particular that you cut out whey?

I'm currently in the boat of just whey and fish oil.

Nothing wrong with whey in particular, but I'm just trying to cut out processed foods from my diet. I'm guessing it takes a lot of processing to produce ultra filtered whey protein isolate and most protein powders have random ingredients added (artificial flavors, sucralose, acesulfame K, etc). If I can adjust my diet to get enough protein without the shakes, than I'll probably be healthier for it in the end. It's still something I'm getting used to - shakes offer the undeniable convenience of being able to down some fast absorbing protein within minutes of a workout - but hopefully I can make it work.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Any reason you're completely against this whole processing thing? I understand a lot of people are taking a stand against it, like socially challenged, but the logic behind it in many cases is flawed at best and idiotic at worst. The whole "processed, refined sugar is terrible" argument I can kinda understand, since the logic is that pure sugar is just empty calories, and consuming it with other foods will slow its absorption to the bloodstream. But a lot of people take this ideology to the extreme, and it seems like they feel that even a little bit of "processed food" is the devil.

I understand not wanting to do it, but I see nothing wrong with it in moderation. Sorry for the OT.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: uclaLabrat
Any reason you're completely against this whole processing thing? I understand a lot of people are taking a stand against it, like socially challenged, but the logic behind it in many cases is flawed at best and idiotic at worst. The whole "processed, refined sugar is terrible" argument I can kinda understand, since the logic is that pure sugar is just empty calories, and consuming it with other foods will slow its absorption to the bloodstream. But a lot of people take this ideology to the extreme, and it seems like they feel that even a little bit of "processed food" is the devil.

I understand not wanting to do it, but I see nothing wrong with it in moderation. Sorry for the OT.

I wrote a bit about it in the first post of my old diet experiment thread. The biggest influence was Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. The book is well worth reading and I couldn't do it any justice with my summary, but the gist is this:

* Humans have lived quite healthily (with respect to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc) for a very long time on a wide range of diets - from purely vegetarian, to almost completely carnivorous, and everything in between.

* The one big exception, however, is the "western diet". Time and again, when this diet has been introduced to primitive cultures, there is a dramatic increase in the incidence of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and numerous other problems.

* There are many theories why this happens - the fat hypothesis, the carbohydrate hypothesis, and countless others - but food science is absurdly complicated, so we don't have a conclusive explanation of why.

* The solution, however, is simple: move away from the western diet.

* A key point, of course, is defining what "the western diet" really is, and Pollan devotes quite a few pages to this. The general gist is that it includes all sorts of highly processed food products, lots of added fats, sugars, unnatural compounds and relatively few fruits, veggies and other raw/natural items.

* Exactly how far away to move from the western diet is also a good question. Some people go to the extreme and follow the "paleo diet", eschewing any foods not available before the advent of agriculture, including pretty much all dairy products, legumes, grains, sugars, and certainly anything even remotely processed. Pollan's approach (and what I've been doing) is more moderate, largely advising people to eat "real" food (again, he talks at length about what that really means). The general idea is to focus the diet on items that are as close to their natural/raw state as is practical, which roughly translates to the avoidance of highly processed items. For example, real bread - made primarily out of whole grain flour, water, salt and yeast - is ok. Wonder bread, which is loaded with HFCS, dough conditioners, and a dozen other weird ingredients is not. Yogurt is fine, "go-gurt" is not. Milk is great, whey protein less so.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: uclaLabrat
Any reason you're completely against this whole processing thing? I understand a lot of people are taking a stand against it, like socially challenged, but the logic behind it in many cases is flawed at best and idiotic at worst. The whole "processed, refined sugar is terrible" argument I can kinda understand, since the logic is that pure sugar is just empty calories, and consuming it with other foods will slow its absorption to the bloodstream. But a lot of people take this ideology to the extreme, and it seems like they feel that even a little bit of "processed food" is the devil.

I understand not wanting to do it, but I see nothing wrong with it in moderation. Sorry for the OT.

Lol. When you've read so many research studies on what each and every little ingredient can do and does in the body, you realize that you would undoubtedly be better off without any of the processed junk. A ton of stuff becomes bioactive, while some stuff passes on through. As I said, I have moved more toward the Paleolithic style diet because it has a lot of benefits and cuts out all processed foods. Man survived well enough (or even better) in the days of raw, natural foods. Why would I go and change that?

However, you seem to have misinterpreted that I'm against all processed things. I drink pasteurized milk. I eat yogurt occasionally. I have some whole grain bread once in a while. I'm against the things that aren't even close to their natural state. I'm alright with corn, but clearly against corn syrup. There are too many additives in even the simplest of things nowadays. As a general rule, I avoid most processed things because they often times contain a lot of stuff I don't want in my body. I feel better without these things in my life and I continue to live without them. It's easy.

 

[presidentender]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Lol. When you've read so many research studies on what each and every little ingredient can do and does in the body, you realize that you would undoubtedly be better off without any of the processed junk. A ton of stuff becomes bioactive, while some stuff passes on through. As I said, I have moved more toward the Paleolithic style diet because it has a lot of benefits and cuts out all processed foods. Man survived well enough (or even better) in the days of raw, natural foods. Why would I go and change that?

A similar argument can be made in favor of wild, uncultivated food: our fruits are much sugarier than their ancestors due to selective breeding, for instance. Of course, that's much harder to get.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: presidentender

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Lol. When you've read so many research studies on what each and every little ingredient can do and does in the body, you realize that you would undoubtedly be better off without any of the processed junk. A ton of stuff becomes bioactive, while some stuff passes on through. As I said, I have moved more toward the Paleolithic style diet because it has a lot of benefits and cuts out all processed foods. Man survived well enough (or even better) in the days of raw, natural foods. Why would I go and change that?

A similar argument can be made in favor of wild, uncultivated food: our fruits are much sugarier than their ancestors due to selective breeding, for instance. Of course, that's much harder to get.

Sorry, was editing my original post. There's more above now.

Fruits have moreso been selected for size and longevity than sugar content. I've never heard of any breeding as such. If you'd like to link me, I'd be glad to read. However, I still buy fruits at farmer's markets and such and they're pretty tiny. I also always eat my fruits with a fat. It's just something I do for sweet/savory. It slows digestion down as well so I really don't have to worry too much about that.

 

[brikis98]

Friday, September 25

Strength/Power

Deadlift: 135x5, 225x5, 315x3, 365x1, 405x3, 335x3

My legs felt strong on the 3 reps of 405 and the bar speed was decent, but my back was rounding a bit more than I'd like it to. Not sure if I should go up to 410 next week or re-try. I also did a set with 335 at the end just test my double overhand grip: to my surprise, I had no trouble with it, so I guess my grip strength is improving. I'll try 345 next week and see if I can hold on to that.

Metcon

Five rounds for time of:
30 Glute-ham sit-ups
25 Back extensions

Scaled down to 3 rounds.

Time: 12:01

This is my first time doing GHD sit-ups on a real GHD as part of a workout, so I decided to do 3 of the 5 rounds. I think this was a good decision as getting through 90 of these was freaking hard and I'm sure I'll be absurdly sore the next few days. I was definitely getting a bit dizzy from having my head swing around so much, but hopefully I'll get used to that as I do more of these sit-ups.

 

[brikis98]

Saturday, September 26

Rest day.

Forgot to mention that yesterday was actually supposed to be my rest day, but today my gf and I are celebrating our 4 year anniversary, so the rest day got moved to today. Of course, I'm not doing much resting - we just played a game of tennis and in an hour will be heading up to Muir Woods to do some hiking amongst the redwoods - but a fun day nonetheless.

 

[conorvansmack]

Congrats on the anniversary. Did you find a car yet?