Last workout!

May 27, 2010, originally uploaded by CrossfitCatamount.

Today was my last workout at CrossFit Catamount. The WOD was as follows:

20 hang power cleans (135lbs)
100 situps
20 hang power cleans. (135lbs)

For time!

As you can see, my time was 3:27. I did it a second time right after and got 3:50.

I enjoyed my time thoroughly at Catamount as it was my first introduction to CrossFit. Not only did CrossFit change the way I view working out, it's changed the way I live my life. Thank you Catamount for the memories!

On to the next one....

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Dumbell "Fran" and new gym!

Before yesterday's lunging WOD, I went up to CrossFit Utility to complete "Fran" with dumbells. I used 30lbs instead of 35lbs due to my shoulder tweaking. I completed the dumbell "Fran" in 3:08. I know I can get sub 3 minute!

In other news, today will be my last day at CrossFit Catamount. I'm switching over to Utility full time as it jives with my fitness goals much more. Doug Price is the owner and is more into strength and power and is a serious competitor that I strive to be in next year's Games. He took 14th overall in the Sectionals and was supposed to be in the Regionals but couldn't due to injury.

On to new pastures!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Half mile of lunges

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All The Way In, originally uploaded by CrossfitCatamount.

In this video, you’ll see the final push of lunges by me. It was a partner WOD and I did it with Moody, another great CFer. The WOD was as follows:

50 Squat thrusts
50 Box Jumps
800m lunges (45lb plate)

For time!

The key here was that the weight plate could NOT be dropped. If you let it touch the ground, it was a 20 squat thrust penalty. Our time was 28 minutes. We didn’t do as well as the others and it’s probably because we had no one else pushing us. But it was a fun workout and my legs are very sore!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Squat cleans and burpees

Since my shoulder is still acting up a bit, I decided to some leg exercising - this killer WOD helped. It called for kettlebell swings instead of squat cleans, but I can't go overhead just yet w/o some pain. Waiting for the inflammation to go down. It's as follows:

In reps of:
21-18-15-12-9-6-3

Squat cleans
Burpees

I used 115lbs for the squat cleans. This workout killed me! I got 17 minutes flat.  I rested WAY too much but I had to. Squats destroy me, esp squat clean! Enjoy!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "Angie" round 2

The last time I did "Angie" my time was 17:55. Angie is one of these WODs where the muscles just don't seem to function as they wear out mid-work. Anyway, it's as follows:

100 Pullups
100 Pushups
100 Situps
100 Squats

For time!

Now, I've seen Chris Spealler do this in 10:11. It's crazy as he can do a 100 straight pullups. My time this round was 17:38. I improved slightly but I know I can do better. We'll see next time! ;-)

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "Griff"

Today I decided to do a simple workout that involved no equipment -- my wife also did the workout as well as she is getting back into shape post-baby... Anyway, "Griff" is a hero workout and is as follows:

Run 800m
Run 400m backwards
Run 800m
Run 400m backwards

For time!

My time was 10:58. My wife got 17:59. A fun one for sure - took a toll on the legs the last 200m or so. Our road in front of our house is about 600m from the foot of the driveway to the end of the street and back so we actually ran more than needed, but any extra is not going to hurt us, only help.

I need to work on my long distance times so this was perfect.

See this page for a list of benchmarks and hero WODs.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "Fran" round 3

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Good old "Fran." Today was the 3rd time I did her and I keep on improving. I'm quite pleased with my efforts and I hope I can keep getting better. I think I can get the sub-3 minute next time ;-) "Fran" is as follows:

In reps of 21-15-9

Thrusters
Pullups

My time was 3:34. The first time was 12:34 and the second was 4:27. 1 minute improvement at lower times like that is huge to me.

Best,
Tyler

Resuming blog posts

I've been on a blogging hiatus for a week or so to let things calm down a bit. As you know, I changed the address of my blog and blocked search engines from finding it to make it more private - so if you're viewing this, yay for you as you are one of the few that know the new address. I'll post tweets about new posts as well so if you're here from Twitter, that is fine too. This is for the best as I want to keep it a 'private' journal of sorts for my times and weights, as well as some nutritional information.

Today starts the regularly schedule WOD postings! Hope you like.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Thruster skills

Today we worked on thrusters, one of my toughest exercises. It was a good practice for when I do "Fran" again. :)

Skill:

Thrusters in reps of 10-1-20-1-10
145-185-115-205-145 lbs

WOD:

3 dead-hang pullups
6 pushups
9 kb swings (2 pood)

AMRAP in 8  minutes.

I did 9 rounds with the 2 pood kb. Good met-con for sure.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Dumbells instead of barbells

On Saturday morning, I headed up to CrossFit Utility once again to work out with Doug and crew. We performed the following:

Skill:

Front Squat 5x3 reps:
135-155-185-205-225

WOD:

6 dumbell squat clean & press (60 lb dbs)
16 box jumps (24")

x 6 rounds!

My time was 10:14. This one was brutal as db squat cleans are MUCH tougher than barbell in my opinion. Great to vary it up.

Best,
Tyler

I didn't know until today!

Check out this link. I promise it's nothing dangerous or scary. I think you'll really enjoy it though.Crazy! I may have to move now!

Getting CrossFit certified...

I've been given the opportunity to get my CrossFit Level 1 Certification in July and I'm going to take advantage of it! So in July, I'm heading to Pittsburgh to get my level 1 cert. I've wanted to do this for a while, but with the pending baby in the early part of the year and some uncertainty of some other things going on in my schedule, I couldn't take advantage of it.

Why am I getting certified? To improve myself and maybe help others along the way. I'm always wanting to be better than I was yesterday in some form and this provides me with the skill and knowledge to push myself further in my fitness journey. I'm also willing to help others out if called upon. A level one is just the beginning and I'm not going back to regular lifting ever again. The foundation this cert will provide will help me in all aspects of fitness, even if I did choose to go back to regular lifting. It's a win-win and I'm lucky to have a supportive wife. Thanks baby!

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: "RJ"

The owner of local affiliate (Cuyahoga Falls) had a brother who passed away and asked Becky and Jess to do a WOD in his honor today. It was a challenge again, like usual. But I'm still not right in the abs and could not do some of the exercises the way I normally do. "RJ" was as follows:

400m run
25 pullups
400m run
25 clean & jerks (155 lbs)
400m run
25 box jumps (24")
400m run
25 wallballs (20 lb)
400m run
25 burpees

For time!

My time was 19:47 I think. Again I'm happy I did overscale, but not happy with my performance on some of the exercises. You don't realize the impact your abs have in everything you do until they are not well. So until my abs get better, I'm not concerned with my times.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Pyramid it up...

[caption id="attachment_419" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Harder with the 1.5 pood. "][/caption]

Today was a sort of pyramid of exercises that involved the following:

25 KB Swings (2 pood)
50 Pushups
75 Squats (1.5 pood)
100 DUs
75 Squats (1.5 pood)
50 Pushups
25 KB Swings (2 pood)

My time was 15:44.  My abs are still not right and I didn't feel well doing this WOD. But I completed it above scale and will continue to push my body above and beyond the prescribed... Until then, time to heal up.

Best,
Tyler

Sore...

I'm still sore (abs and legs) and a little banged up (shoulder) from Sunday's workout with Doug at Utility. So instead of today's WOD, I rowed 2,000m and did heavy hang cleans of 3x7.  Another buddy also rigged up a spare tire and rope to his backpack and we took turns sprinting. A good conditioning workout to help rid of the lactic acid buildup. Didn't want to push my body too much today and I'm glad I didn't.

Best,
Tyler

CrossFit WOD: Drop-in on a nearby CrossFit gym

A little bit of history - while doing my first CrossFit workout ever, I met a guy named Doug Price. He was a super guy and we got to talking about CrossFit and other stuff after the workout was finished. He said he competed in the Sectionals in years past and I asked him a ton of questions about it. Came to find out later on that he was blowing the water out of workouts, like the coveted Fran. He did Fran in 2:19 I believe. This made me look up to the guy. He knew what he was doing and was doing it right.

After our initial workout, I didn't see him much due to him having a baby. In the meantime, he was preparing himself to start up his own box called CrossFit Utility, which started up on February 1st of 2010.

We kept in contact and talked a bit at the Arnold Classic CrossFit Sectional back in early March. I heard about his gym and told him we have to workout sometime. So I contacted him on Friday of this week because I knew I wasn't going to be able to make our Saturday workout at my home gym. He was open Sunday and I told him I'd stop by.

The workout was amazing. We warmed up with 1 minute of double-unders and completed a 5x3 of snatch balances and OH squats. The WOD was as follows:

100 ft lunges (45 lb dumbbells in each hand)
25 GHD sit-ups
25 GHD back extensions

x 4 rounds for time.

My time was 14:04. I was surprised with that time. This workout DESTROYED my legs. It was way harder than I thought - the lunges destroyed my legs so bad, I could barely do GHD situps. Doing the GHD sit-ups was also super challenging. I've never done as many or as fast before, nor in a WOD. Loved it.

After this, I completed my 200 pushups while he coached another person on the CrossFit Total WOD, which we just did as well at my box.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, I did following Sunday workout from the mainsite with Doug:

In reps of 21-15-9
Squat snatch (95 lbs)
Chest-to-bar pullups

for time!

My time was 8:30. I am so exhausted, but I thank Doug for pushing me and helping me. A great guy with a great gym. I hope he does well!

Best,
Tyler