Daily Archives: July 14, 2013

I’ve been switching up my fitness, so I thought I’d pop in on Sundays and share what my workouts have looked like each week. I’m on a mission to find a balance of things I love, that make me healthier, and that overall just feel right.

Here’s what happened last week:

Sunday

I did my first Bikram Yoga class in years and what an experience. About a decade ago it was my main form of exercise, but after doing it for years I got a little bored (I think that’s what happens when you do the same 26 poses over and over.) I wasn’t sure if I’d like it/hate it, or if the heat would kill me, but it ended up being like a nice visit from an old friend. In some ways, it was so much easier than I remembered (all those summer CrossFit workouts have prepared me for a 100+ degree room. NBD.) but in other ways I felt like I had some work to do. I left the class feeling great and also challenged, and determined to try something else new this week.

Monday

Rough day back at work after 4 days off and I didn’t have the energy to go to CrossFit so I hit up a Bikram Power Hour class. It was 60 minutes instead of the traditional 90 minutes and I remember thinking to myself at the end of class “If I give myself 1 day a week to sit in a hot room and be present and breathe — even if I suck at everything else — that will be a gift.”

And it was.

Tuesday

By today I was jonesing for CrossFit and the skill was practicing Handstand Pushups for 10 minutes. I’m in a weird place with handstand pushups because I’m just fine with holding a handstand (I can go about 3 minutes on the wall or about 15 seconds with no wall) but doing pushups with the bands elude me these days. A year ago I was doing that progression. A year ago I had shoulders I was proud of. These days, weeeeeeeeell, I’m a little softer. The goal is to get back there. It’ll happen.

The metcon was medium length (about 18 minutes)

5 rounds for time:
20 Back squats (95lbs – no rack)
10 HSPU (I scaled with my knees on a box)
5 KB swings (53lbs)

Generally I find 53 lbs a fairly heavy KB weight to swing, but today that was definitely the “recovery” portion of the workout. It felt light and easy, so that just goes to show how hard the rest of it felt! 100 squats! WHEW!

Wednesday

Back to CrossFit for sure, since the lift was finding your 1 Rep Max on Deadlifts and I LOVE deadlifts. Also, the metcon was very short! I was happy to PR at 285lbs, but I will tell you what — 300lbs, YOU ARE IN MY SIGHTS, DAMNIT!

The metcon was “Gwen” which is 21-15-9 Clean and Jerks, but you must do them at a weight where you can get through the sets without breaking them up (or else you have to start over.) WOMP WOMP. Because all reps just touch and go, you have to be smart about it. I was worried about grip strength after deadlifts (my grip strength is awful) so at first I was going to try my hand at 75lbs, but I ended up just playing it safe with 65lbs. I finished in 3:51. Short. Sweet. Intense. Rich Froning gave me a thumbs up at the end. He was proud, obviously. 🙂

Thursday

Thursday was a MAJOR day at work, and I gladly took a rest day. My workout was made up of Sitting in a Lounge Chair for time. 🙂

It was a nice day to do so.

Friday

Friday was a wild card. I wasn’t sure if I was going to hit up a yoga class, drop in at the spin studio by my house or go to CrossFit, but the wod didn’t look too bad (famous last words) so I couldn’t resist.

The lift was one of my favorites – Every Minute on the Minute for 12 minutes:

2 Power Snatch + 1 Overhead Squat — increasing weight every 4 minutes (I started at 65lbs, 75lbs, then 85 lbs)

The metcon was some more leg work (because clearly we hadn’t had enough yet this week, ha!) Three rounds for time:

20 walking lunges w/ 25 lb bumper plate overhead
200m run carrying the 25lb bumper plate
15 Goblet squats with plate
10 “See-the-Light” situps with plate

I run like a sloth holding on to a 25lb bumper plate. 🙂 This workout took me about 14 minutes and it was rough. But I enjoyed it. It was a nice way to start off a Friday night.

Saturday

I had intended to hit up yoga or stop by the barbell class at the gym and work on my clean and jerks, but I actually slept like the dead on Friday night (Long LONG week at work, let me tell you) and so I didn’t wake up in time. Embarrassing but true! So instead I ran a ton of errands and then took Buster for a walk as it cooled down Saturday night. We had a late dinner on Saturday night and we ate out on the patio, as usual for the weekend, but this weekend was a little different because our neighbors were getting married so our meal had a side of DJ and dancing. It was the most fun! all in all I’d say this was a rest day. And a good one at that!

*The chicken we ate was a riff on this recipe. YUM!

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I’ve got some Sunday yoga in store, but I’ll tell you about that next week! Any good workouts for you this week? Set any PRs? Try anything new? Do tell….