edibart’s BodyBlog

I would like your inputs on a certain matter that is really messing with my head.  I normally wear my Chuck Taylors to the gym, especially when I’m doing lifts like cleans, snatches, squats and deads.  They just provide me more stable footing and feel great.  Before each of my workouts I like to practice certain other movements like handstand pushups and jump rope double unders.  For some reason when I am wearing my Chucks I am lucky to string together 3-5 double unders in a row, but when I wear my running shoes I crank out 40-50 with relative ease….Anyone else have these types of hurdles in the gym?  Be it a certain bench you prefer, or maybe a certain thickness pull up bar that if not available throws you off mentally?  I am really interested in hearing your story.

For the last 2 weeks I’ve been doing 2 a day workouts.  Being in this deployed environment I have a lot of time on my hads where I can either sit on my ass in my room, go to the little bar here and drink or go to the gym and improve myself.  It really wasnt a difficult decision..So basically I have been doing 1 workout in the morning, and another in the late afternoon.  The first week was the hardest because it was a big shock to my body to be doing 2 CrossFit workouts a day…1 is hard enough, but 2 was really rough!  I think I have adapted to it though because I have more energy and have been feeling really great after each workout.  I realize that once I get home and back into my normal routine I wont be able to do 2 a days but for the next 31+ days it’s what I plan to do.

I’ve been deployed now for about two months.  It took me about a week to get settled in and get into any sort of routine.  Once I began my normal daily routine things seemed to just fall into place.  There are two gyms here both with their own unique equipment, for example one gym has row machines while the other has more free weights.  I started doing my CrossFit WOD’s daily, by myself of course because nobody here was familiar with it.  It was just a matter of days before one by one people would approach me after and start asking me about it.  Now we have 14 people that are doing the workouts.  Not as regular as I’d like, but hey not everyone is ready to jump into this with both feet right away.  So my workouts were going great, but there was a problem….My diet.  There are several bars on this NATO base so I was hitting them pretty much every night, with good intentions of course (I’ll just go and have one, then switch to water) well that didnt work out and I found myself drinking every night.  Also, the chow hall (sorry, dining facility) was serving very high fat/carb foods and my option was either eat that or dont eat.  So I decided to put in a comment card asking them to start serving grilled chicken in addition to the normal meals.  Much to my surprise the facility manager called me the very next day and told me that while it wasnt within their budget to serve grilled chicken in bulk, he would make sure that I had two grilled chicken breasts every day at lunch and dinner!  So for the last two weeks I have been getting my own special chicken cooked just for me everyday, twice a day (I know I’m spoiled).  I also stay away from the bars now, with the exception of Friday/Saturday, with Sat being my main drinking/partying night.  So it seems my routine is pretty solid and I hope to continue down this path for the remainder of my time here.

OK, I know this a BB website but I’m sure there are plenty of people out there like me that are doing CrossFit and might like the opportunity to be able to log their WOD’s on here.  I’ve been getting better at writing them down in my journal but I still miss days here and there.  If I were able to log them in here I would probably be more consistent.  The problem is, unless I do BB Bench press or incline press or cable flyes…You get the point right?  Maybe it should allow us to enter our own exercise on a blank form or something…..Thoughts?  Am I missing something??

Whether it’s in the gym or at work, do you try to constantly challenge yourself, or do you stick to what’s comfortable?  Do you go outside the box or stay within the area you feel safest?  I used to tend to stick to my comfort zone, never really trying to challenge myself.  Mainely I believe like most people I was afraid to fail.  I was happy being the big fish in a little pond.  Then I found CrossFit.  In order to be successful with CrossFit you have to dig deep, find new ways to tackle the challenges head on.  I remember when I did my first full clean and almost fell over backwards I was pretty embarrassed.  I thought “there’s no way I’m going to get this move down!!” But I just decided that I was going to keep working at it until I got it right.  I wasn’t concerned with adding weight I was only concerned with doing it right.  The same thing happened when I started doing pull-ups.  I grabbed the bar and pulled myself up 4 times then thought my arms were going to fall off.  Was it embarrassing?  You bet your ass it was!! Then I thought about it….I’ve been coming to this gym for 2 years now and never see ANYONE attempting pull-ups so why should I be embarrassed?? I kept plugging away and now I can crank out 25 dead hang pull ups and upwards of 40 kipping pull ups.  Then I was introduced the muscle up…..It was a movement that just looked impossible to me!  I watched as my buddy demonstrated it for me then asked me to try it.  It was a laughable attempt!  I barely could raise myself up high enough to transition to the dip!  What the hell?? !!  I can do all these pull ups and dips but I can’t do ONE muscle up!!??  Well yes, that was the case.  So I kept at it and kept practicing and finally about a week ago I set up the rings with the intention of doing 5 but ended up surprising myself and getting 10!  A few days later I went back and knocked out 17!  Today I am doing a WOD that I created to help me work on two of my trouble areas, muscle ups and double unders.  It’s going to be As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes of 5 muscle ups/20 double unders.  I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.  The point I am trying to make here is no matter what your routine is, always look for new ways of challenging yourself.  If you’re weak at Dead Lifting, then add it to your next routine and learn the movement.  If Squats are your kryptonite then grab a bar (no smith machine) and start squatting!!  Remember, leave your ego at the door, attack a new challenge and you’ll see the progress, I guarantee it!!

I’ve been doing CrossFit since Jan 28th 2008.  I remember the exact date because when you do these types of workouts they have a tendancy to kick your ass so thoroughly that you just dont forget them.  The first WOD I did was "Cindy" as many rounds in 20 minutes of 5 Pull ups, 10 Push ups (chest to floor) 15 air squats.  I got 11 rounds that day.  May not sound tough but believe me unless you’ve done this WOD keep quite.  Anyway, no matter what the WOD may be, it could be Cindy, or maybe Elizabeth (21-15-9 Reps of 135lb clean, Ring Dips), could be Fran (21-15-9 Reps of 98lb thruster, pull-ups).  It doesnt matter what the WOD is we get the same WTF looks from the Globo Gym people doing their ab crunches on the machine and triceps pressdown at the cable station.  I still love watching people squating 315 or more on the Smith Machine, not going into a full squat at the bottom, then look around the gym like their a badass.  Take that same weight and put it on a BB with no machine, no pussy pad and squat it, I mean hips slightly below parallel….Then we can talk, until then spare us.  Anyway, I just love the looks we get when we kick up into a handstand pushup or go from sprinting a 1/4 right into pull ups, or box jumps, or 20lb wall ball shots.  My answer to your question that you dont ask is this:  What we’re doing in 15-20 minutes is more than you will get done in the hour you’re using these machines or laying on a bench.  What we’re doing is functional movements that will better prepare us for the physical demands of everyday life.  So the next time you see someone at your gym running around like a chicken with their head cut off banging out countless reps don’t be shy….Come talk to us….(After we finish our WOD….NEVER EVER EVER interrupt a WOD) then get in on the action..3-2-1 GO!! 

Do you or someone you know take steroids?  I’ve known a lot of people over the years that have gone from 5′10 165-170 to 210-220 in a couple years and it’s because of ‘roids.  Can anyone really take credit for anything they accomplish while they are taking?  I had a buddy once bragg to me that his bench went from barely 185 to now he’s benching 315 for reps.  I simply looked him in the eyes and told him that it wasnt him benching all that weight but rather the drugs doing it for him….He didnt appreciate my response very much.  What’s your oppinion on this?  With all the talk lately about steroids in professional sports it’s really a hot topic right now.  I look at all the great physiques on this site and I can only hope that you are all doing it the right way…If not you’re just doing yourself an injustice.

Well I’ve been on the Zone Diet for about 7 months now, if you don’t know what it is go to Zonediet.com and read about it.  I dont really consider it a diet as much as a lifestyle. Anyway I usually allow myself one cheat day per month where I basically eat whatever I want.  That day was this past Monday, I made my own chocolate chip cookies, I had Hooters wings fries the whole nine yards.  Well tonight I was running short on time because I had to get home get my workout in then scoop up my daughter and bring back to base for a school dance, grab my other daughter from the BX and by that time I was freaken starving and just didnt have the drive to come back home and prepare a healthy meal.  So what did I do?  I took my daughter to Popeyes and got some fried chicken, mashed taters and a biscuit!  That shtuff was fantastically greasy!  I feal like crap now of course because I ate way too much but hey I guess I’ll just have to take away my scheduled rest day tomorrow and kick my arse a little bit.

Last night’s WOD was pretty brutal.  It name was "Mr. Joshua" after a Navy SEAL who died in Afghanistan.  The workout consisted of the following: 

5 Rounds for time of

Run 400m (1/4 mile)     30 GHD Sit ups     15 250lb Deadlift

This was only my second time doing it, the last time was Nov 26th when I finished in 29:47.  Last night I got it done in 26:10!  I’m pretty happy with showing, but next time I’m getting it done in under 25! 

I often hear people talk about getting in shape and being physically fit but what does that mean?  Does it mean having big muscles and and being able to bench 315 or squat 400+ or is it more than that?  I like to think there’s more to it than just going to the gym and putting in your time on the bench or squat rack. You might be ripped to the bone without an once of fat on you, but if you had to could you pick me up throw me over your shoulder and run 1/4 mile out of a hostile environment?  More often than not I think most people would run out of steam almost immediately.  I would challenge you to ask yourself what your "fitness" goals are?  Is it just to be able to see your abs again?  Do you want huge biceps?  Lats that you could use to glide to the ground if you ever fell off the Eifel tower?  Or do you want to be overall functionally fit? WTF is this guy talking about some of you might ask and that’s OK but my challenge to you is simply this:  think of the once excerise you fear the most be it burpees, squats, deadlifts, whatever and make it part of your next workout session.  Challenge your body and mind, don’t just settle for your comfort zone put yourself in an uncomfortable position and power through!  I promise you will be glad you did, I know I was!