Fun of a different kind!

[Catrin]

I bet your balance isn't as bad as mine!
Although it's definitely improved from these classes.
Yesterday we had a totally different kind of class. The only tools were a set of heavier and medium weights. Basically, it was 5 sets of eight minutes each. Each set was 2 minutes cardio, 2 min. strength X 2. Every set was different, some not so bad, some horribly hard! I could barely move yesterday, although I think it was more the cumulative effects of step class, my body conditioning DVD, and Nordic skiing.

That's one heck of a combination of activities Crankin, sounds like fun

I honestly had no idea how bad my balance was, it was embarrassing yesterday I can, however, see that my problem with step ups and box jumping above a certain height is at least as much about balance as anything else. Thankfully the one-legged drills he had me do today are things I can pretty much do anywhere so I've no excuse about not being able to practice!

[indysteel]

Catrin,

I've been practicing yoga for 7 years and work on a lot of balance poses. Some days, my balance is good. Some days, not so much. It takes a lot of practice for me to have consistently spot-on balance. So, don't feel bad.

Ack. The territorial woman in my total fit class is just awful. I set up in a spot yesterday that I was pretty sure wasn't "hers," but I asked just to be sure. In response she said, "No, it's not mine, but it's likely somebody elses. Our regulars can be pretty territorial." To which, I responded "You know; I'm trying to be mindful of that, but to be honest, you're the only one who's made a point of telling me that."

I did talk to a lovely woman after class who invited me to a group run on Saturday mornings. I doubt I'll do that any time soon, but it was nice to be asked. You take the good with the bad, right?

Class was very much like what Crankin described. We did step and BOSU intervals mixed with body bar intervals. Then we finished with some core exercises. Tonight is yoga--a class I've missed the last two weeks because of weather. My Tuesday night yoga class is always really humbling. No matter how strong I feel in my other classes, this particular yoga class really kicks my butt, and I can't figure out why it's so much harder. It's kind of bumming me out because when I finish my Sunday night class, I feel awesome and after Tuesday's class, I just feel spent.

[Catrin]

Thursday is normally a rest day for me, but I went in this morning to do one thing. Just one thing My gym is having a "Hover" challenge - just another name for a plank on elbows. Top three times for the month wins an impressive list of prizes, especially that top time. I was a contender...until someone managed to hold the position for 12 minutes! Now THAT is impressive, if heartbreaking. I was still number 2 at 5:01, and there is no way I can break that 12 minute mark (or even match it). We can re-do as often as we like during the month so I decided to try it again. My time this morning was 6:01 - which isn't a bad improvement! Still in solid #2 position, but I will take it.

My trainer has started introducing me to other plank-type challenges that are dynamic - THOSE are what I need to focus on. Fun that I was able to beat my own time by a full minute though

[Veronica]

Do they care about form for this challenge? I've watched some people do plank with their butts up in the air rather than being flat.

Veronica

[Catrin]

Do they care about form for this challenge? I've watched some people do plank with their butts up in the air rather than being flat.

Veronica

Oh yes, they focus more on form than I have ever seen - normally when I am tested on this I've a dowel rod right down the middle of my back and I must keep it there. I didn't have the rod this morning, but Thomas told me that my back/hips never budged out of correct form. Those taking the challenge must be witnessed and timed by one of a couple trainers. I could barely stand up after 6 minutes, for a few seconds. I can't imagine 12 minutes! We have professional athletes as members, I can't help but wonder if it was one of them.

[Catrin]

Today we played games dog sled pulling, carrying our partners on our backs, hopping over each other, all kinds of fun. For the first time I've been able to get an unweighted 45 pound Olympic bar over my head onto my shoulders unassisted - so that is sign of shoulder/strength improvement - that may not sound like much but it is the first real sign of strength gain for my arms. Yayyyy! I also managed to get 55 pounds in a fairly decent front-squat position - also a good sign AND a first!

I've NEVER done a partner carry before - and my partner out-weighs me by about 15-20 pounds - it really wasn't a problem. Granted, that is a different thing than a narrow bar across our backs, but I was cruising with her I think she weighs about what I've been back-squatting recently. After the workout I played on the leg press machine for a bit, got it up to 450 pounds (3 reps).

[Crankin]

And, how do you carry someone on your back? I can't imagine it!

[Catrin]

And, how do you carry someone on your back? I can't imagine it!

Remember when we were kids and we rode on someone's back? Arms around the neck and legs around the waist or hips. Dawn is taller than I, so the first time she was crooked and I didn't move too quickly, after that it worked much better

[Crankin]

The thought of that hurts.

[Crankin]

The thought of 60 burpees leaves me speechless.
Today, in the middle and near the end of my class, she had us run outside, around the little cul-de-sac twice and back in the opposite door. At first, I was up with the big girls and then one of them sprinted. Oh boy. During the second set, though I was able to pass a couple of younger women who I know do tris. Hard for 6 AM. We did a lot of core and weight work, too.

[Catrin]

It sounds like you did great! Frankly, I would rather do most anything than run & that includes bear crawls.

Burpees aren't my favorite though I didn't do the pushup part because of my shoulder, especially after all of the earlier pushups + TRX rows. He modified the burpee also to have my hands come down on a dynamax ball rather than the floor. I think the regular way might have been easier but I did get the 60 done The last 20 were rather slow...

[Irulan]

We did all sliders on Tuesday. Lunges, gators, hamstring curls, mountain climbers, push-up taps....you name it.
The coolest one, also one of the hardest, was how we did shoulder flyes. On your knees, sliders under hands, hands wide stance out past shoulders to the sides, and then slide in, to under the breast bone.

[Catrin]

We did all sliders on Tuesday. Lunges, gators, hamstring curls, mountain climbers, push-up taps....you name it.
The coolest one, also one of the hardest, was how we did shoulder flyes. On your knees, sliders under hands, hands wide stance out past shoulders to the sides, and then slide in, to under the breast bone.

Hmmm, this sounds like fun - I am going to have to try it out tomorrow! I am planning on dragging a sled around the track tomorrow with an assortment of weights for one mile, and a slider-based warmup sounds like a good idea

Tuesday I had my final solo session with my trainer. He used it as a kind of 'graduation' and put me through a combination of every kind of squat you there is, mixed with a different core exercises. It was good to see the areas where I've improved, and while we needed to modify two things on the menu, only two things had to be modified

[Catrin]

I did not have much time today so decided in advance to do a sled mile. I warmed up a bit and put on the harness for the sled. This exercise has me dragging the sled behind me, the sled itself is just a small platform that only weighs 5-6 pounds..

The idea was to start w/25 lbs, then go up 25 each lap until I hit 100 lbs, then reverse the process back to 25 pounds. 200 meters per lap. I did fine for the 1st half but when I dropped from 100 lbs back to 75 lbs I noted my old quad injury complaining a bit & decided to make that my last lap with weight. It was a great workout regardless & the first time I've done it without a coach. I wound up short two laps (with weight, I walked 3 laps cooling down), but I think that was a wise idea. This is a whole body exercise that targets the quads and to have come out of it with a re-injury would sort have defeated my purpose Perhaps I am finally learning...

This is a pretty quick way of combining cardio and lower-body strength all at the same time It also makes little kids look at you really oddly - we had an elementary school field trip going on at the same time!

[Catrin]

I NEED to get better at broad jumping! This morning we did a series of exercises, but the number we were asked to do was different for each one of us. After we warmed up, we broad-jumped 50 meters and we had to count how many times it took us to broad jump that distance, no steps in-between each jump.

This was the heart of the workout - our starting reps for each round was the number of times it took us to broad jump that distance, for me that was 45. Thankfully he had mercy on us as he thought most of us would have smaller numbers - we didn't- so we cut the number in half. My goal was 24 rounds - so my first round of the following was 24 of each. The goal was to work down from our starting number all the way down to one. I didn't make it...but then again, none of us did in the 30 minutes we had to complete the work. Our homework is to finish during the coming week. I've 19 rounds to go - some of us got more than 5 rounds done, but not many.

Burpees
Valslide Jacknives
Goblet Squats (30-72 pounds)
Release Pushups
TRX Racked Rows

We've an endurance event coming Memorial Day weekend, the Memorial Day Murph. The Murph is a Crossfit workout named for a fallen soldier who used this as his own training - and while it has become traditional to do this on Memorial Day weekend, this year it is being used as a military charity fundraiser. Many from my training group are participating, including our trainer. There is a reason why he is giving us these types of workouts.