While at the Taphouse last month, Bryan, Samson, and I began talking about movies and TV shows that we liked. Bryan brought up Silicon Valley, a comedy on HBO that I began watching when it debuted, but for some reason ended up ditching for other TV shows. (I blame our constantly clogged Tivo.) I didn't think it was a bad show, so when Bryan enthusiastically endorsed it, I decided to go back and give it another try. This time I got hooked. I've since caught up on all of the episodes (season 4 just began). Why am I bringing this up? The main character, Richard, has an oddball doctor that he visits frequently. Without fail, the doctor manages to say a variety of inappropriate things while Richard sits on his examination table. I began seeing a new doctor in September and I believe he may have been the inspiration for the character on the show. I won't share the gems he's laid on me during my last two visits as they are of a personal nature and likely would gross you out as much as they would make you laugh. But suffice it to say, the guy holds nothing back.
This doctor of mine is big on weight loss, so when I've come in to see him, he's hammered home how much I need to drop some pounds. 20-25 pounds is what he's looking for. At my most recent appointment, he implored me to begin doing cardio for longer amounts of time, whether that be running or rowing longer distances. I decided to begin my Wednesday by following doctor's orders. I have a rower at home and when I first got it, I thought I'd be on it all the time like I was a long-lost Underwood on House of Cards (another good show to watch!). However, the rower has gone the way of most people's home exercise equipment, sitting in a room mostly unused. On Wednesday morning, I dusted it off for a 5,000 meter row. I think I've only rowed that distance once before and my time was 21:53 (at least that's what my spreadsheet tells me). I wanted to row something closer to 20 minutes this time around. A 2:00 pace per 500 meters is kind of a standard benchmark and if I could hold that pace for 5,000 meters, it would work out to 20 minutes. Did I think I could do that? Not really. I've broken 8 minutes for 2,000 meters, but that has required a solid push at the end. My goal was to maintain that 2:00 pace per 500 meters for as long as I could during this row.
Since there is very little to recap on a long row, I'll simply give you my splits at various points in the row:
- 1,000 meters - 3:53 (7 seconds under goal pace)
- 2,500 meters - 10:04 (4 seconds over goal pace, 6:11 for last 1,500 meters)
- 4,000 meters - 16:16 (16 seconds over goal pace, 6:12 for last 1,500 meters)
- 5,000 meters - 20:13.1 (13 seconds over goal pace, 3:57 for last 1,000 meters)
There were several moments during the middle of that row where my pace began to deteriorate and I had to push myself to get the per 500 meter time on the monitor back down to the 2:00-2:05 range. I was tired and sweaty when I got to the last 1,000 meters, but I wasn't exhausted. I was able to finish fairly strong with a final 1,000 meters that rivaled my first 1,000 meters. I'll be tossing more longer distance rows into my workout routine over the next few months. Hopefully I'll lose a few pounds and my doctor will have less material to wisecrack about.
He'd be happy to know that I did a workout in the morning and a workout in the evening. I headed to the 7:30 class for a workout that had a very familiar feel to it. In January and April, we've had a workout where we spent the first part of class finding a 5RM back squat. That was followed by two cash-outs, the first of which called on us to do as many back squats as we could in a minute using a percentage of our 5RM. Along with trying to put up as high of a score as possible, we were told to try our best not to put the barbell back on the rack until the minute was up. The Wednesday WOD was the front squat version of this workout. We'd start by establishing a 2RM for our front squat. Then we'd be doing 1 minute of front squats with 60% of the 2RM we found. Keeping with the spirit of the back squat workout, there was a second cash-out after that. We'd be doing 50 GHD sit-ups, although we could do them at any pace we wanted since it wasn't for time.
I arrived about 5 minutes early for class and Coach Jenna had two messages for me from Neil, who had gone to the 5:30 class. First, he was upset that I wasn't there to push him during his front squat attempts. (He got 2 reps at 285, so it appears he was plenty motivated on his own!) Second, he had put my "little finger thingies" on one of the shelves behind the GHD machines. It took me a second, but then I realized that he must have been referring to the grips I wear during pull-up workouts. I had worn them at Dudes After Dark, but I must have forgotten to put them in my bag before I left.
After retrieving my grips and putting them in my bag, I joined Bryan and Julie Foucher for the beginning of the 7:30 class. We went out for a run to start, but when we came back, we were treated to one of my favorite warmups: Crossfit basketball. We were given a light medicine ball, Jenna flipped over one of the boxes we use for box jumps, and we were tasked with making a shot or facing a penalty of some sort. I didn't really care about the penalties. I was playing this game the way I used to play when Chris D was at our gym. Every shot would be some ridiculously high-arcing shot that would look cool if it went in. Except none of my shots went in. Julie made a bunch of hers and Bryan made some as well, but I was shut out. That just tells me that Crossfit basketball needs to be played more at our gym as I was clearly out of practice.
With our hoops game concluded, it was time to front squat. The board said we should do six working sets, so I figured out what I wanted my progression to be. My 2RM for the front squat was 265 pounds and that led me to come up with a progression of 185-205-225-245-260-275. I could make reasonable jumps from one set to the next and it allowed me to take a shot at a new PR at the end if everything went well. There were two cash-outs following these lifts, so I didn't want to spend a lot of time with warmup sets. I did my usual set at 135 pounds to begin before getting into my working sets.
Because each set was only two reps long, there isn't too much to say about how the sets went. From 185 to 205 to 225 to 245, the story was the same. I grabbed the barbell from the rack, confidently performed the first rep, took a moment to make sure my form was good when I came up from that initial rep, then confidently performed the second rep. The barbell didn't really begin to feel heavy until that set at 245, but I wasn't too concerned about getting the next set at 260. The last set at 275 might be another matter.
I had moved fast enough through my sets that I had some extra time to watch Bryan and Julie. Bryan sounded like he had some doubts about how successful he would be as he added more weight to his barbell after each set, but he didn't look like he was having much trouble from what I could see. He never got stuck at the bottom of any of his reps and the only time I saw him grimace was at the very end of his sets. He wound up getting a new PR of 175 pounds.
The second cash-out was 50 GHD sit-ups (not for time). Jenna let us know that if we were feeling competitive, she could run the timer for us. (I'm not sure why we looked so competitive to Jenna, but she kept giving us the "if you're feeling competitive" option.) None of us were, so the clock remained off. Julie couldn't do the GHD sit-ups, so we made a deal where she would do a plank whenever Bryan and I were working on the GHD. The two of us did sets of 10 at a time. Bryan stopped after the 3rd set, so for my 4th set, I did all of my remaining 20 sit-ups. Form on the sets of 10: very good. Form on the set of 20: kinda sloppy. I wasn't worried about maintaining my good form because I had definitely reached the point in the night where I just wanted to go home.
Thursday preview: One of the most aggravating workouts that I've ever done at KOP. Too many athletes, not enough space, and at least one person in class who couldn't give a damn whether she was in my way or not. Poor Matt B probably thought I was a crazy person by the end of it.
I arrived about 5 minutes early for class and Coach Jenna had two messages for me from Neil, who had gone to the 5:30 class. First, he was upset that I wasn't there to push him during his front squat attempts. (He got 2 reps at 285, so it appears he was plenty motivated on his own!) Second, he had put my "little finger thingies" on one of the shelves behind the GHD machines. It took me a second, but then I realized that he must have been referring to the grips I wear during pull-up workouts. I had worn them at Dudes After Dark, but I must have forgotten to put them in my bag before I left.
After retrieving my grips and putting them in my bag, I joined Bryan and Julie Foucher for the beginning of the 7:30 class. We went out for a run to start, but when we came back, we were treated to one of my favorite warmups: Crossfit basketball. We were given a light medicine ball, Jenna flipped over one of the boxes we use for box jumps, and we were tasked with making a shot or facing a penalty of some sort. I didn't really care about the penalties. I was playing this game the way I used to play when Chris D was at our gym. Every shot would be some ridiculously high-arcing shot that would look cool if it went in. Except none of my shots went in. Julie made a bunch of hers and Bryan made some as well, but I was shut out. That just tells me that Crossfit basketball needs to be played more at our gym as I was clearly out of practice.
With our hoops game concluded, it was time to front squat. The board said we should do six working sets, so I figured out what I wanted my progression to be. My 2RM for the front squat was 265 pounds and that led me to come up with a progression of 185-205-225-245-260-275. I could make reasonable jumps from one set to the next and it allowed me to take a shot at a new PR at the end if everything went well. There were two cash-outs following these lifts, so I didn't want to spend a lot of time with warmup sets. I did my usual set at 135 pounds to begin before getting into my working sets.
Because each set was only two reps long, there isn't too much to say about how the sets went. From 185 to 205 to 225 to 245, the story was the same. I grabbed the barbell from the rack, confidently performed the first rep, took a moment to make sure my form was good when I came up from that initial rep, then confidently performed the second rep. The barbell didn't really begin to feel heavy until that set at 245, but I wasn't too concerned about getting the next set at 260. The last set at 275 might be another matter.
I had moved fast enough through my sets that I had some extra time to watch Bryan and Julie. Bryan sounded like he had some doubts about how successful he would be as he added more weight to his barbell after each set, but he didn't look like he was having much trouble from what I could see. He never got stuck at the bottom of any of his reps and the only time I saw him grimace was at the very end of his sets. He wound up getting a new PR of 175 pounds.
Smile, Bryan! The tough part is over.
Have I mentioned that Julie is 8 months pregnant and continues to crush workout after workout? It's been fascinating to watch. I'm probably making too much of the fact that she is with child. After all, it's not like she wasn't a great athlete before she became pregnant. She's been kicking my butt at 7:30 classes for well over 8 months. Still, I find myself watching her now, thinking how if I was in her shoes, I'd use being pregnant as an excuse not to exercise. Not Julie. She seems legitimately bummed right now that she can't do rope climbs and handstand push-ups. Here's a picture of her doing a set at 155 pounds as her male counterparts look on in awe:
How is she doing that?
As for me, I moved on to the set at 260 pounds and was told that it looked "easy". It certainly didn't feel that way, but I didn't get stuck on either rep, so I guess it looked better than it felt. With no issues up to this point, I was feeling pretty good about my chances at 275 pounds. The first rep at 275 was difficult, but my elbows didn't drop as I stood up with it. That was usually the giveaway that I was going to fail on a set, so I was relieved it didn't happen here. There was no chance I was getting through the entire strength session without a struggle, so it was no surprise that I got stuck on the second rep. It was only a brief hiccup though and I was able to stand up the weight to complete my set. 275 would be my new 2RM for the front squat.
Elbows up, below parallel, goofy ass face
It was time for the first cash-out While Bryan and I were killing time between sets earlier, we started talking to Faby about how it was going to be a lot tougher to hold on for a full minute of front squats than it was when we did the back squat version of this cash-out. Faby pointed out that it might be easier to complete the cash-out by holding the barbell with your hands crossed up near your neck. (What does that look like? Imagine someone trying to convey that they are choking. Or picture someone mid-Macarena.) This technique would take a lot of the pressure off of your arms and it would keep your elbows high. You just had to make sure that you didn't start tilting forward. It was solid advice. Did I remember to use it when we did the first cash-out? Or course not.
Jenna told us that the best score of the day was 23 reps if we were feeling competitive. I was not, but once we got going, I started to change my mind. I was moving through my front squats with 165 pounds very quickly. When Jenna called out that 30 seconds had elapsed, I had 13 reps already. The top score of the day was in my grasp! What was slowly falling from my grasp was my barbell. I began to have a really had time keeping my elbows up and the barbell began to slide off of the front of my body during each rep. I had to re-grip at the top of each rep, which slowed me down a lot. I was desperately hoping for time to be up, but when I looked at the clock, there was still 10 seconds to go. I attempted front squat #18 and was barely able to keep the barbell pinned to my body. I couldn't do any more. With 5 seconds left, I walked towards my rack. Then it hit me. I wasn't allowed to put the barbell down early. That might have been the longest 5 seconds I've experienced at the gym. Arms shaking, trying to hold on to the barbell, unable to use the rack just inches in front of me. Jenna called time and I immediately dumped the barbell on to the rack. I was glad that grip strength wasn't necessary in the second cash-out or I would have been completely screwed.
The second cash-out was 50 GHD sit-ups (not for time). Jenna let us know that if we were feeling competitive, she could run the timer for us. (I'm not sure why we looked so competitive to Jenna, but she kept giving us the "if you're feeling competitive" option.) None of us were, so the clock remained off. Julie couldn't do the GHD sit-ups, so we made a deal where she would do a plank whenever Bryan and I were working on the GHD. The two of us did sets of 10 at a time. Bryan stopped after the 3rd set, so for my 4th set, I did all of my remaining 20 sit-ups. Form on the sets of 10: very good. Form on the set of 20: kinda sloppy. I wasn't worried about maintaining my good form because I had definitely reached the point in the night where I just wanted to go home.
Thursday preview: One of the most aggravating workouts that I've ever done at KOP. Too many athletes, not enough space, and at least one person in class who couldn't give a damn whether she was in my way or not. Poor Matt B probably thought I was a crazy person by the end of it.
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