Cross Fit Entry #10 Still Goin' Strong

I know I haven't written about cross fit in a couple weeks but I've still been going faithfully. Two weeks ago I went 5 days and last week I went 3 days. I want to go every single day but balance is an important thing! I've only improved each day I go. I can now do several knees to elbows and can also do several box jumps. (I couldn't do either when I first started in May) I can do more push-ups in a row than I've ever been able to do in my life and I'm getting closer to being able to do that darn pull-up! I've also seen my running improve immensely, which is awesome. I have better form and more strength in my runs and the other day I was able to do two laps of the Clover Creek trail easily whereas before it was difficult for me to do one. Plus, pushing my junky baby jogger is a breeze now! It used to be such a struggle to get that darn thing to go straight, especially while trying to hold on to Baxter's leash as well. But I didn't even notice it on my last run. Also, my Mom started Cross fit this month!!! Way to go Mom! Here she is learning the dead lift.I'm so proud of her for doing it because it's not easy for a 27 year old, let alone a woman of her...maturity;)! She is kicking butt and getting stronger each week. I can already see her confidence growing.

Here's a few pics from the last couple weeks of WODS.

Working out some Thrusters below. I'm in the front left, purple shirt gray pants. Squats, pull ups, push ups...lots of em. Pretty obvious which one is me in this pic.This was a really tough one, dumb bell split cleans and pull ups. I'm on the left getting ready to pull up.

We do special WODs on members birthdays. This week it was KT's day. So we did the following. My butt hurt for days!

This was a new one. Called Turkish Get Ups. You can kind of see the progression if you look at all the people in the different positions. Basically just holding up a kettle bell from lying down to standing up. Plank
Overhead KettleBell Walking lunges. This is why my booty hurt!! :)

Soooo....good stuff! I love it! Can't get enough. I'm heading to bed early tonight so I can hit up the 6am WOD tomorrow morn.

Cross Fit Entry #9 Killer Arms

I title this entry "Killer Arms" because my arms are going to kill me tomorrow! I hit up the 5:30 class tonight and we did 5 rounds of 15 Dumb Bell Split cleans and 21 pull-ups. (you can see the guys in the pic at the top of the split clean movement. You start with your feet hip width apart and the weights down by your shins then you end up in a sort of lunge with the weights by your shoulders). I did jumping pull ups since I'm still unable to do a real one. But if I keep doing stuff like this I should be pull up ready in no time! You can see me in the pic below on the far left. I'm resting between pull ups because it freakin HURT! Yay cross fit!!!!

Tomorrow my Mom starts cross fit!! I am so pumped. I'm going to do Tuesday nights with her in her Fundamentals class. I can't wait to see how she likes it! Cuz I know she's gonna like it!

And for those of you who are interested as well and have questions, feel free to check out their website for all the answers! http://www.crossfitredding.com/. Or come to Saturday's WOD at 9am to try it out for FREE!!!

Cross Fit Entry #8 Sluggish

Friday was a busy day seeing as it was Bobby's birthday (Happy Birthday, Love!) and I threw him a little BBQ. Plus I had to put some finishing touches on a cake that I made and then deliver it to a family out in Cottonwood. I didn't think I'd be able to get a WOD in. But at 10:55am, Bobby walked through the front door early from work. I handed Caeden over to him and quickly got dressed and bolted my butt down to CFR for the 11am WOD! Of course I was late but I got there while they were still warming up. After a little 400m jog warm up myself, we started the WOD. The night before we went to a BBQ where I ate lots and lots of refined carbs. And MAN! Did I feel the effects of that! I was so sluggish it was rediculous. I knew right away that it was a result of what I ate. I had no extra "umph" whatsoever and I finished last after everybody else. Not that it's a race or anything but I was just not on it. I was thankful that I got to go at least and the workout kicked my butt. So now I know not to eat like that in the future...oh wait, I went to two BBQs in the two days that followed and ate almost exactly the same way. Oops! Well, we'll see how long it will take me to learn my lesson! Here's some pics from the workout. I'm in the middle of the long line of "sit-up-ers". And that's me in the back left corner of the other pic, jumping rope. Question of the Day: Who's gonna come start working out with me???

Cross Fit Entry #7 Yay!

(this picture is NOT of me! I just wanted a good picture of someone doing Knees to Elbows)

I woke up this morning with just a little back pain remaining. But now it feels 100% better! I was even able to do today's WOD! I was pretty pumped about that since yesterday I was unsure how long it would be until I was able to fully jump back in. Today we did a 500 Meter row and then

21-15-9

Sumo Dead Lift High Pulls (with kettle bell)

Knees to elbows

Burpees

So basically each of those things 21 times, 15 times and then 9 times. By the end I was red faced and felt like I might pass out! It was awesome! I love this hard core, high intensity stuff. It makes me feel so tough and accomplished. So different from jumping on a machine and forcing myself to exercise for 30-45 minutes. I love having the trainers right there with me and I love having other people to do the exercises with. Today it was an older dude named Alex. He is a firefighter with a moustache and bomb-A work ethic! Couldn't ask for a better person to work out with! ;) Except for maybe my husband or my Mom. And by the way, my Mom has officially decided to join Cross Fit! She starts June 2nd in the next fundamentals class. And with her starting up, that means we can do a family membership, giving Bobby the ability to start too! I'm very excited to share this new part of my life with my family. It will be fun to work our tails off side by side!!

Cross Fit Entry #6 OUCHIE!

Last week at La Cabana the Cross Fit guys told me that it would be totally okay if I brought Caeden with me to a WOD. I was a little reluctant seeing as he is a rambunctious little almost 2 year old, but today I gave it a shot. I brought Caeden along with a whole slew of food and things to keep him busy. He sat in his stroller the whole time and wanted to get out the whole time. He stayed relatively quiet save for signing "all done" with his hands and saying the words over and over to let me know he'd rather be running around. But he did good! We warmed up with a 400 Meter jog and the Cross Fit Redding warm up which, in itself isn't too shabby. The CF joke is that "our warm-up is your work-out". It consists of

A few different types of shoulder passes

10 push ups

10 pull-ups (I have to do jumping pull ups since I can't do a pull up YET)

10 ring dips (which I cannot do. I couldn't even support myself on the rings)

15 situps

15 back extensions

20 walking lunges

25 squats

15 burpees (I think it's 15. May be more)

I think I'm missing some stuff but you get the idea.

After the warm ups I was ready for the WOD. Today it was however many rounds of the following that you could do in 10 minutes;

2 Deadlifts

4 Chest to Bar Pull ups

8 Kettle Bell swings

We ran through some dead lifts to make sure our mechanics were on and to find out what weight would be best. I decided on 95 lbs and did a couple run throughs. On one of those run throughs I was on the return and a felt a sharp tweak in my lower back. Dang it!! I tried to ignore it and shake it off but I got to my second round of kettle bells swings in the WOD when it totally went out on me. Argghh!!! Now please know that this occurance was not a result of any lack of attention on the part of the trainers or even because the workouts are too intense to handle. It's simply because I have a history of lower back problems. Honestly, since starting CF, my lower back problems have decreased significantly. Actually, a lot of my daily ailments (few as they may be at my young age) have decreased significantly and I even seen a lot of positive new developments such as increased energy, better posture, improved metabolism, and even more stable emotions and sharper senses (which I'm guessing is coming from hormone changes). Cross Fit has only done me good so far. This back pain is just my body working out the kinks!! My hope is that in two to three months I will have such a strong midline that my lower back will no longer give me problems. Until then I just need to keep moving and keep at it!

Cross Fit Entry #5

First "real" WOD today! Apparently I couldn't wait more than 12 hours to go back after finishing fundamentals! It was one of the member's 40th birthday so in her honor we did;

40 Yard Sprint
40 Yard walking lunges
40 Dumb Bell Push presses (20 each arm)
40 Yard Dumb Bell Carry (Right arm)
40 Yard Dumb Bell Carry (Left arm)
40 Dumb Bell Swings
40 Knee to Elbow (while hanging from gymnastic rings)
40 Plyo Push-ups (clapping your hands on the up)
40 Double Unders (jump rope) I can't do double unders so I had to do 200 singles
40 Yard Sprint

INTENSE!! And very very very fun. While sweaty and panting for breath, Kevin high fived me and welcomed me to the real classes!

Afterwards the trainers invited us to La Cabana for a post WOD meal. I had the BEST carne asada tacos I've ever had in my life!

Cross Fit Pics

Here's some pics the Cross Fit guys posted on their website of our last class. They kept all our scores on the board from the entire course and took a pic of that too. Pretty cool. You'll see on one of the workouts that there's a smiley face next to my name. That's the night I felt some pain in my abs and had to stop. That sucked and was a little embarassing but the smiley face made me feel a little better.

From left to right: Jordan (Trainer), Paul, his son Brian, and wife Michelle (the mighty pregnant one!), Me, Sunny, Jerry, Mic, Bryan (Trainer), Cubby (Trainer).