You may remember that week 4 of my "journey to weigh less than I did on Labor Day" began with a chicken biscuit. I was feeling highly discouraged about weighing exactly the same amount as I did three weeks ago when I started cutting out all of my favorite comfort foods. If I wasn't being rewarded for my efforts on the scale, then I was simply going to have to reward myself with a trip to Chick-Fil-A for three weeks of sacrifice. Plus, it's called comfort food because you eat it at times like this.
While I indulged in some fried poultry goodness on Monday morning, I didn't scrap my diet entirely. I was very good the rest of the week until I got to Friday night. I was going to the Mets-Phillies game and meeting up with some friends for a tailgate. I had a few beers and a small bag of Doritos while we hung out in the parking lot. That was until the pizzas arrived. Inside the ballpark, I tagged along on a trip to procure soft serve ice cream. Mine would be a vanilla-chocolate twist in a waffle cone, covered in rainbow sprinkles. I had barely finished consuming that when one of the guys came back from a trip to Federal Donuts and insisted I have one. I did. Devoted blog reader Rich was sitting next to me and asked "aren't you on a diet?" Apparently I wasn't on Friday night.
One of my best friends visited from Albany over the weekend along with his wife. When they visit, we like to go to the store, load up on food, and then enjoy being lazy for the rest of the weekend. While we were at the store, he grabbed a small bucket of cookies that he had to have. Later that night, he told me I had to help him out with them. So I had a few cookies. And at breakfast the next morning, I had an English muffin.
Out of the four weeks that I have spent trying to lose weight, this was clearly the week where I fell off the wagon. I woke up Monday morning dreading getting on the scale. This past week had been eerily similar to my first week when I gained 0.6 pounds. Only I had indulged quite a bit more this week than I had during that one. Time to face the consequences:
Original weigh-in: 213.2 pounds
Last week's weigh-in: 213.2 pounds
This week's weigh-in: 209.8 pounds
I officially have no idea how nutrition works. Now I know what you must be thinking. As a superstitious gambler, I must have hopped off that scale and got week 5 started right by scarfing down a chicken biscuit. I did not (although if my weight goes up next week, I may reconsider). I'm going to continue to try and cut out my comfort foods while pushing myself at the gym. I tend to think that (and not Federal Donuts) is what will help me move closer to my goal weight of 190.
Let's move on to something that I do understand: overhead squats! Both the WOD and the cash out had overhead squats in it, so you knew I was psyched to hit the gym on Monday night. Here's what was programmed to start off the week:
Monday's WOD:
5RM overhead squat
Cash out:
7 minute AMRAP
7 overhead squats (50% of 5RM weight)
7 chest-to-bar pull-ups
7 burpees over the barbell
Guess who else was excited about all of those overhead squats? EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF OUR GYM! Okay, that's a slight exaggeration, but this class would be the biggest one that I think I've been a part of since I started at KOP (not counting special events like Friends and Family WODs). 21 people showed up for this workout and that would have an effect on how I did. And while I may not have performed as well as I would have liked, there were a lot of positive takeaways.
Aimee typically coaches the Monday 6:30 and she was there for the beginning of the workout, but Giulz would take the reins for the majority of the WOD. She got us situated and then we worked through some overhead squat progressions. We had to form three separate lines for the warmup just to ensure everyone had enough room. Then when we went over to do progressions for chest-to-bar pull-ups, we had to divide ourselves into two groups. I often describe classes with 15 people in them as overcrowded, but this was taking things to another level. We were simply going to have to make the best of it during this WOD, even if space was lacking.
The overhead squats were meant to be taken from the rack as we were working towards finding a 5RM. Congestion alert: there were only 8 racks along the pull-up rig. Add in two more portable racks that we have and you still only had 10 available for 21 athletes. That meant putting 2-3 people at a rack. I ended up joining Matt B and Ryan A at one of the portable rigs to do my overheads. My goal was 185 pounds, although there was some guesswork involved in getting to that number. My 10RM was 165. I had done 14 reps at 155 while trying to establish a 15RM earlier in the year. 185 felt like a weight I should be able to do 5 reps of, but it's been five months since I've done large sets of overhead squats. My preliminary sets would give me a better idea of whether 185 was feasible.
The three of us began with some preliminary sets at 45 (empty barbell) and 95 pounds. We were supposed to do 5 working sets and my plan was to go 115-135-155-175-185. I asked Matt what he was planning on using and he thought he might get to the 155-165 range. His estimate was formulated the same way mine was, as he had gotten 14 reps at 135 during a 15RM attempt. He was using that as his springboard to a 5RM number. As for Ryan, he told us that his 3RM was 235, so he was hoping to get 245 for his 5RM. It took a second, but then it hit me that he wanted to do more for his 5RM tonight than he had done for three reps ever. How could that be? "I did that like a year ago", Ryan explained. Ahhh...now I got it.
Matt and I did our first set at 115. I went first and the weight didn't feel troublesome at this stage. Matt was having a little difficulty breaking parallel, something that Giulz pointed out to him when she watched his set. He was rocking forward a bit as he squatted, causing him to come up on to his toes. His speed down was good, but as he began tilting, he would throw on the brakes, preventing him from breaking parallel. Ryan and I would give him feedback on his depth on his remaining sets.
To get to 245, Ryan was going to have to make bigger jumps in weight than Matt and I were making, so he bumped it up to 155 for his next set. It still looked like Ryan was using the PVC pipe we had used during the warmup. Easy looking reps to say the least.
Matt and I moved up to 135 for our next set. I remained steady through my five reps, giving me some confidence that I might get up to 185. Matt continued to struggle with depth, although he was much closer to hitting parallel on this set than he had been at 115. Matt decided to work on his form the rest of the way rather than increasing the weight, as he wanted to get a set done where he was below parallel. Ryan went up to 185 and continued to appear unfazed by how much weight he had over his head. He completed three reps and dropped the barbell to the floor when he was done.
I moved up to 155 for my third set and I had a bit of a hiccup here. When doing larger sets of overhead squats, the most important aspect is balance. If you start getting shaky or lose your balance, you can lose the barbell even though you didn't feel like you were in trouble in terms of how heavy the weight was. At 155, the weight was starting to become noticeably heavier, but once I had it jerked overhead, it was just a matter of moving through the reps fluidly. I did that during the first 3 reps, but as I went to stand up from rep #4, I felt my body leaning forward. I stood up, then took a step forward. It's never ideal to take a break while holding 155 pounds overhead, but I needed to get my balance reset before I could try the last rep. Once I felt comfortable, I did the 5th rep before placing the barbell back on the rack. Confidence can be fleeting and that was certainly the case at this point as I had gone from feeling good about getting 185 to growing concerned that I might not get 175.
Matt used 135 again for his next set, but he continued to have depth issues. After this set, he decided that he was done with this portion of the workout and would wait for the cash out. Ryan moved up to 215. He jerked the weight overhead and did two reps. It was right at this moment that Giulz was passing by and she said "looking good Ryan" as he got ready for his 3rd rep. He went down into that 3rd rep, stood up, then unexpectedly dumped the barbell. I immediately gave Giulz crap for messing Ryan up (obviously she didn't). Ryan didn't look like he was having any trouble, but as I said before, a set of overheads can fall apart in an instant.
It was my turn again and I moved up to 175. There was definitely some anxiety as I approached the barbell. I took it off the rack and got ready to jerk it overhead. I hadn't had any problems with the jerk so far, but I was approaching the territory where a lackadaisical jerk could result in my barbell on the floor. For some reason, my form with jerks has been very good recently and I had no trouble getting 175 over my head. I made sure my feet were where I wanted them and that I felt steady before trying to move through my squats. I got through all five reps without a mistake like I had in the previous set. Confidence was back. I was excited to see how 185 would go.
Sadly, I would never find out. Ryan was getting ready to do 215 again when Giulz announced there was 1 minute left in this part of the workout and that we should be completing our last set. There was not going to be time for me to attempt 185. While I was a bit bummed about that, 175 was officially a new 5RM PR for me, so I couldn't be down about how I did. It was time to root on Ryan. He removed 215 from the rack and jerked it overhead. Then he took a few more seconds than he did last time around before starting his squats. I was watching his squat depth more than anything else and I noticed on the first squat that his knees were a little shaky. He stood up, then returned to the bottom of his squat a second time. I noticed the shakiness again. He completed the second rep, then as he had done in his previous set, he dropped the barbell without warning. I wasn't looking at his wrists during the two reps that he did, but my suspicion was that he might have lost control of the barbell in his wrists. When this happens, your wrists start shaking and then the rest of your body begins to follow suit. Ryan confirmed that was the case and that he probably should have worn his wrist wraps. I wish there was a brand of wrist wraps that allowed me to overhead squat as much as Ryan, but they must still be in development.
It was time to get ready for the cash out. Since I felt like I could have gotten more than the 175 I did during the 5RM portion of the WOD, I used 90 pounds as my 50% figure for the cash out. Giulz went through the gym and told groups of us which portion of the cash out we would begin on. She was staggering the start in an attempt to prevent congestion, especially at the pull-up rig. That may have worked at the beginning, but eventually there was no helping the fact that 21 people were running around trying to sprint through a cash out.
I was part of the group starting on the burpees and I moved through them pretty quickly. When doing a burpee over the barbell, you don't have to jump up and clap to complete the rep. That means you don't have to extend all the way up, so you can stay low and bunny hop over the barbell, leaving you close to the ground for the next rep. I did 7 of those, then moved on to the overhead squats. That first set felt very easy and I moved on to the pull-up rig. Not wanting to take up too much room, I tried to do my chest-to-bar pull-ups on the high bar. I made it through 4 reps before failing on #5. There was no point in being stuck on the high bar. I moved down to an open low bar where I finished my last 3 reps, only kicking one person in the process.
The burpees were slower for my second round, but I still got through them okay. The overhead squats were definitely trickier the second time around as my wild kips on the chest-to-bar pull-ups hit my core and the burpees had an effect on my legs. Those 7 reps were more painful, but it wasn't like I had to break up the set or anything. It was time to return to the pull-up rig. There were high bars available, but vacancies on the low bars were limited. One opened up and I jumped on it, getting a few reps in. That was when Danielle came over. I was using her bar and I could see she was kinda looking around to see if others were open. I waved her over and told her to take her bar back. I would find another one.
A couple spots further down the gym, another bar was open. I did a rep there before someone got on the bar right in front of me. With my exaggerated kip, I was concerned that I would kick them. I still had my lifters on and I'm sure receiving a kick from me wouldn't feel so good. As I attempted my next chest-to-bar, I tried to spread my legs so that when I kicked my feet, they would hopefully flail out to the sides of the person in front of me. No such luck. After kicking a second person, I came off the bar and went to find a new spot to finish off my remaining reps. I traveled towards the front of the gym, where another spot opened up. I quickly got on the bar and did two reps. With one to go, I had someone get on the bar in front of me. I completed my last rep. And I kicked a third person. Maybe I could kick all 20 of my classmates before 7 minutes was up!
I sped over to my barbell to do the burpees and then I got into my overhead squats. Time was winding down as I had spent a lot of it during my nomadic round of assault on the pull-up rig. The overheads were painful again, but I knew this was my last round with them, so I gritted my teeth and kept moving through them until all 7 were complete. I searched for a low bar, found one, and did my first chest-to-bar. As I got ready to do the second rep, a fourth victim lined up in front of me. Sure enough, I did my kip, hit another classmate with my foot, and missed hitting my chest to the bar. This was pointless. There were about 30 seconds remaining in the cash out when I decided to stop. Final score: 2+15. There was not enough room for the entire class to do the cash out at the same time. Oh, and my chest-to-bar pull-up form is terrible. See below:
A picture is worth a thousand words
Samson took this photo during the workout. While I think it is hilarious, it is also highly enlightening. Here are the many things that ran through my head after seeing this photo:
- That guy in the blue is TJ. TJ is using proper form. That is the way you are supposed to do a chest-to-bar pull-up. His chest is hitting the bar.
- That guy in the red is me. I am not using proper form. While TJ is vertical, I am horizontal. TJ's form allows him to press away from the bar at the top, giving him the opportunity to string reps. My form ensures that I will be one and done. Also, this is a chest-to-bar pull-up. Unless I failed anatomy, that is not my chest hitting the bar.
- Congestion isn't solely to blame for the fact that I was kicking classmates. Look how close my feet are to the next bar. Now imagine someone swinging on that bar trying to do pull-ups. I am effectively taking up two spots on my own due to my wild kip.
- While this is atrocious chest-to-bar form, this photo does give me hope when it comes to bar muscle-ups. Rachel was trying to get me to raise my hips to the bar by using a band. I'm not using a band here, but my hips are pretty close to touching the bar nonetheless.
- There are two bar muscle-up adjustments that I clearly need to make. First, I need to push away more on my swing. My lower ribs are hitting the bar rather than my hips. Your body can't pivot at the ribs. It can pivot at the hips. If I hit the middle of my body, it will be possible to fold my body over the top of it. I can't fold over the top third of my body. Also, my arms are bent prematurely. I need to be more patient before bending them. Attempting to get a bar muscle-up with my current form is the equivalent of a T-rex trying to do a somersault.
I stuck around after class to work on my double unders. For a long time, I've been focusing on making my jump more efficient. I've decided to change course and focus on really whipping the rope with a lot of speed. Fast, but controlled. It's something that I need to stay focused on during a set because it is easy to get lazy and let your rope speed slow down without noticing it. That's when the rope hits you and you have to start all over again.
It's been a while since I've gotten a huge set and I really wanted at least one before I took off for the night. My first set was 9 reps long so that wasn't going to do it for me. However, my second set qualified. I rattled off 58 in a row before running out of steam. That was a bit of a miracle because I felt myself tiring at about 40, but somehow I held on until the rope hit me while I attempting the 59th rep. I took a break before trying some additional sets, but I couldn't put together another set like that one. I might not reach my goal of 100 consecutive double unders by the end of the year, but I feel like 75 in a row may be possible.
Tuesday preview: Lots of work on the assault bike followed by box jumps. I can only imagine how many times I'm going to crash into my box.
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