Monday morning meant it was time to weigh in and I was much less enthused about stepping on the scale after the disappointment of last week. I tried to stay true to eating better during the third week, but there was one afternoon where I hit up Chipotle for lunch. There was a happy hour where I drank mostly red wine (healthy booze, right?), but had one beer. And on Saturday, we were invited to a friend's house for dinner which included dessert (two spoonfuls of ice cream). So I wasn't as strict as last week when the best I could do was lose less than one pound. How would this week go?
Original weigh-in: 213.2 pounds
Last week's weigh-in: 213.0 pounds
This week's weigh-in: 213.2 pounds
Three weeks of cutting out almost all my favorite foods and my weight is exactly the same as it was when I ate all that stuff. I got off the scale, took a shower, got dressed, and drove to Chick-Fil-A for a chicken biscuit. Yes, I was mad. No, I was not giving up on trying to lose weight. I simply felt that I had earned a chicken biscuit after sacrificing the last three weeks. If the scale says 227 pounds next week, at least you'll know where it all went wrong.
It was another BAC on Monday night. (BAC is a Crossfit acronym for "big ass class") 15 of us showed up for all the fitness that Coach Aimee could provide. The Monday WOD was a 3 round chipper, so with a class that big, there was going to be lots of mayhem as we ran around from one station to the next. Here is what the 15 of us would be scrambling around doing:
Monday's WOD:
3 rounds:
500 meter row
10 sumo deadlift high pulls (115/75)
15 ring dips
20 GHD sit-ups
Aimee had a lot to walk us through before we began, including all of the scaling options that were available to us. Everyone could row, so that wasn't going to be a problem. The sumo deadlift high pulls were meant to be moderately heavy, but it was simple enough to scale down the weight on these if one felt uncomfortable with the movement. At the rings, we could do kipping ring dips, we could do banded ring dips, or we could grab a pair of paralettes and perform dips with those. Finally, we had the option of doing sit-ups on the GHD machine or by grabbing an abmat and doing them on the floor.
There were still some capacity issues that needed to be addressed. There were only 8 sets of rings. It was worse when it came to the GHD machines as we only had 5 of those. Not all 15 of us would be using the rings and GHD machines, and even if we were, we weren't going to get there all at the same time. Still, it sucks when you're in the middle of a workout and have to wait on someone else (someone like me). Aimee suggested that we partner up with someone and flip-flop on the last two movements: one partner would do dips then the GHD, the other would use the GHD before heading to the rings. This could also help in setting up the GHD machines. If you got a partner that was about the same height as you and set up a machine to that height, then two people would feel comfortable each time they went to do their sit-ups. Assuming that machine wasn't already being used by someone else. (Spoiler: It was always in use!)
Chris D had been following me around during the warmup outside and continued his stalking ways by choosing the rower right next to me. We had to be partners for the rings and GHD. Except when I asked Chris right before we started if he wanted to do the rings or the GHD first, he told me he was using an abmat for the sit-ups instead. Weak! I was officially partnerless. If we weren't going to be partners, then we were going to be rivals. My goal for the workout was to beat Chris.
As far as my scaling options were concerned, I went with 95 pounds for the sumo deadlift high pulls and a band for the ring dips. I've used 115 pounds for sets of sumo deadlift high pulls before, most notably at the Festivus Games earlier in the year. I thought I could handle the three sets of 10 reps that this workout called for, but with 45 dips also awaiting me, I was concerned about how tired my arms might get. (This was a very legitimate concern as you shall see.) The band was a no-brainer because I can't do 45 kipping dips. Still hate the whole "tie one side to a ring" setup, but that's the norm these days.
Aimee got the BAC ready to go and got us started on our first row. Most times for this workout were in the 16-19 minute range, so I was in no hurry during the initial 500 meters. If I could keep it under two minutes, that would be great. Early in the row, my pace was closer to 1:45 but it gradually made its way towards two minutes. I finished in around 1:55, which was a popular pace. As I got off my rower, a handful of others did as well.
The sumo deadlift high pull is an awkward movement for me, but on this night, it somehow turned into my specialty. I saw other guys break up their set of 10, but I was determined to string all 10 reps. After the 10th rep, I dropped my barbell and headed over to the rings on a mission. I was out in the lead and if I could keep it together on the rings, then there was a chance I could be the first one done with the entire round.
I didn't waste much time jumping up into the band and I managed 9 reps before needing a break. When I got back in the band again, I held on through 6 more reps. I marched over to the GHD machines. Three of the five machines were being used by people who were doing the sit-ups before the dips, so I just got to work on one that was open. It was set up for someone who was clearly shorter than me, but I made the best of it. I did 12 reps, took a break, then did the remaining 8. As I headed back to my rower, I noticed I was the second person done with the first round. The first one done? Chris, of course. I called him a bastard and then sat down on my rower to begin round two.
My pace in round one was pretty quick as only five minutes had elapsed. I didn't think 15 minutes was a realistic time, but if I could finish in about 17 minutes, I'd be pleased. The second row was about 20 seconds slower than my first row. Didn't matter to me. I knew I needed to save my strength for the sumo deadlift high pulls. As I did my set, I started to notice that some others were doing fast singles. This was another chance to make up time. I made it to rep 7 or 8 before it got painful, but I wasn't dropping at that point. There was definitely some grunting needed to get through that set, but I got all 10 done before dropping the barbell.
Somehow I magically got good at sumo deadlift high pulls
I needed a breather before starting on the ring dips. When I was ready to continue, I got into my band and didn't come out of it until I had completed 8 reps. More than I was expecting to be honest. Maybe I could wrap this up in 2 sets again. Or 3 sets would be good. My second set was very painful and I could only hold on for 4 reps. That made me a little worried that I wouldn't get the three remaining reps in one set, but I had enough left to squeeze out three more dips.
As I walked towards the GHD machines, JP came up and started patting me on the back, encouraging me along since he was moving on to his second round of sit-ups as well. He jumped on one machine and I climbed on to the one next to him. In round one, the machine I chose was set up for someone smaller than me. My second selection was set up for someone larger than me. (Note: If given a choice between these options, you want the smaller setup. The larger setup leaves you extending even further than normal to reach the floor.) My pace was definitely slowing and it took me some time to get used to how far I needed to extend to reach the floor. Four sets of 5 felt reasonable to me, even though I knew the extra sets (and extra breaks) were putting me further behind my classmates. I got off the GHD and saw about 11 minutes on the clock. 17 minutes probably wasn't happening, but I could still make it under 18 minutes with a solid final round.
There were at least 5 or 6 people on the rower already when I started this round. My third row would be 15 seconds slower than it had been in round two. My focus was still on the sumo deadlift high pulls and the ring dips. It looked like most of the class was resorting to fast singles in round three of the sumo deadlift high pulls. I was going for all 10 again. The grunting started around rep #4 and the stance became more and more uncomfortable, but I held on for the entire set for the third time in a row. I had jumped ahead of several people who got to their barbell before me. 18 minutes could still happen as long as I didn't take long breaks on the ring dips or the GHD sit-ups.
That was a nice dream. When I got to the rings, I told myself that all I needed was three sets of 5. I could handle that. I had just told myself that I could handle all of the sumo deadlift high pulls and that went as planned. Why wouldn't that work here? Unfortunately, there is only so much that you can will your body to do. In the first set, I pushed through the pain and got 6 reps. Excellent! I could do 5 and 4 reps in the next two sets and get to the GHD machine. But the end was much closer than I realized. When I got on my band again, I did rep #7, rep #8, and half of rep #9. My arms just gave out. No sweat. Little bump in the road. Shake your arms out and do two reps at a time. Only 7 reps left! If only it was that easy. I remained stuck at 8 reps for the better part of the next 2 minutes. My arms were so dead that I couldn't get myself back into the band. At one point I tried to jump into the band to no avail. My classmates were finished or passing me on the rings. Some of them began to cheer me on, but I felt helpless at that point. After a bunch of tries, I managed to get back in the band, but failed on the ring dip. I had officially redlined. I needed to stop for a bit if there was any hope of completing the last 7 ring dips. Eventually I would get a single rep and three sets of two, but by the time I was done with the dips, I was the only person in class still working. That was a lousy feeling.
Not the lord of the rings
The good news from spending so much time on the rings was that I was remarkably fresh for my 20 GHD sit-ups. I had once again chosen a GHD set up for a larger person than myself, but I didn't care at this point. I angrily did 13 reps before needing a break. Then I did the last 7 reps. Final time: 21:43. That really blew up at the end. There wasn't much I could do at that point of the workout. As I sat on a bench after the workout, I was amazed at how much my triceps were burning.
Chris and I were hanging out chatting, both threatening to do some extra work at Open Strength, but we hadn't moved from the area with the benches in nearly 30 minutes. Finally he convinced me to bench press with him. Chris was intent on doing 2 sets of 9 reps at 165 pounds. I used the same weights as him as he was warming up, but my triceps let me know they weren't interested in bench pressing 165 pounds nine times. The best I could manage was a couple rounds of 5 reps using 135 pounds. Because he's a psycho, Chris wanted to do some shoulder press as well. He didn't struggle at all, but I was limited to sets of 5 reps at 45 pounds, 75 pounds, and 95 pounds. That was it. Time to go home and lay on the couch like a rag doll.
Tuesday preview: An odd strength WOD where we need to do 50 back squats in 20 minutes with as heavy a weight as we think we can handle. There is also a cash out that was not meant for sweaty people like myself.
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