stinkynathan's training journal

[stinkynathan]

First, a little about me:

When I was in high school I was the starting center at about 195# and wrestled 160# during the winter (weight usually got down to around 157 by state tournament). I graduated in 2001 and spent 7.5 agonizing years in college (don't ask). Let's just say that I drank a huge amount of booze, ate way too much, and did pretty poorly the first few years. I didn't drink as much my last 3.5 years, but still ate horribly. I think my weight probably topped out some place around 240 at my heaviest. At my lightest, a couple summers ago I got myself down to 199 through a ton of cardio and some (probably) pretty hard dieting (wrestling leftovers, I guess). I lifted in high school quite a bit when not wrestling, and throughout my whole college career I probably lifted about seven months out of the year.

So I'm now 25 and finally graduated with my degree in music education. I got a gig for the rest of the year filling in for a friendnull that is getting deployed with the Air Force for six months. With my newly minted kollidj edjumakashon I've realized that I always quit working out because I don't see the progress I'm making or get bored with a pretty static routine.

Enter Crossfit.....

I saw brikis98's log and started reading up on CF. Sounds pretty interesting, "random", intense, and a good community to boot. I started scaled workouts on the first (no, not as a "resolution"). I've had a lot of fun with the three workouts I've done so far, even though I've really had to scale them back. They've forced me to dust off the cobwebs on all of my compound lifts that I haven't done in a while and I've been REALLY sore. No, "really sore" doesn't fully explain it. It's not so much that I'm sore, it's that I'm sore in places that I didn't even know I had muscles in.

I've cut out a bunch of trash that used to be in my diet. I live in a town of 500 people now, so no fast food. I cut out pop before Christmas. I ate a lot on the days surrounding Christmas but reduced the intake quite a bit again after that. In the past two weeks I've started eating a lot more fruits and vegetables and made less trash for lunch and supper. I just discovered and started keeping track of everything on FitDay.

I think I'm at about 230 right now. I had been down to 222 on 12 Dec, but I'm going to guess that hasn't lasted. I haven't weighed myself since then. Unfortunately I won't have my scale until Wednesday. I'd been lifting a bit and running/biking/rowing most of last semester at a gym where I was student-teaching. Now, it's time to kick things up a notch.

So...

Goals:
Down to 200# by my birthday (4/20) - will be getting another tattoo when I get there.
Down to 185# by 6/15
10 Unassisted dips
10 Unassisted pull-ups

I'm not sure what my maxes are in any of my lifts because I haven't maxed out in a LONG time. I suppose this is as good a time as ever to find out.

What are other people supplementing their CF workouts with? I feel like since I'm scaling back quite a bit that I could still be doing more at the end of the workout. I guess maybe that means I should be pushing myself more.... Though, in the case of "Murph" I was scaled well enough that I couldn't really do any more of those exercises, but I felt like I could have done other things. I've read in CF forums, though, that their workout is enough. I suppose as I get stronger overall and scale up more things will take longer.

Let the journaling begin.....

I will get some pictures when I wake up tomorrow morning and add them to this post.

FitDay Public Link

Pictures of my progress (20090209)


Numbers
Body Weight - 219# (20090130)
Neck - 18.25" (20090110)
Waist - 39.75 (20090110)

Lifts and WODs
Deadlift - 385# (20090317)
Squat - 365# (20090203)
Overhead Squat - 95# (20090116)
Hang Power Clean - 155# (20090126)
Press - 145# (20090203)
Crossfit Total -0 875# 365/145/365 Smith squat/press/deadlift
Murph - ~22m
Mr. Joshua (pack) - 30:49
Barbara Lite - 31:15

 

[stinkynathan]

20090101

"Fight Gone Bad"

Three rounds of:
Wall-ball, 20 pound ball, 10 ft target (Reps)
Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75 pounds (Reps)
Box Jump, 20" box (Reps)
Push-press, 75 pounds (Reps)
Row (Calories)

I did three rounds of:
Thrusters with 20# dumbells
SDHP 75#
Box Jump - Pretty sure it's not a 20" box
Push-pressed 75# -
Row - Did bent over rows with the 20# dumbells

The SDHP and push-press didn't turn out too bad, despite not scaling back the weight. I do wish the school had lighter than 25# bumper weights, though. Thrusters with that kind of weight was a big bitch for me. No idea what I scored as I didn't keep track. I just wanted to hop in on the workout and see how it would go.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090102

"Murph"

For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you've got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.

I tried to scale everything back to the BrandX "pups" workout:
1/2 mile run - did 3 mins on elliptical with elevation and resistance at about 60%.
35 pull-ups - can't do unassisted pull-ups at my weight, so I did jumping pull-ups
70 push-ups
119 squats - 7x17
1/2 mile run - 3 minutes on the elliptical with the same settings as before.

So for some reason my math was off and I thought that 3 minutes of elliptical would be the same as each of the 1/2 mile runs. I should have done 5 minutes at the front and back of the workout. I partitioned the pull-ups, push-ups and squats to 5/10/17. At my weight, I can't do pull-ups yet, so I did jumping pull-ups, trying to help myself as little as possible. I wish I would have done the "Pack" workout instead of the "Pups" version. I was sore the next day, but not enough.

Time was about 22 minutes. I didn't realize my Ipod had a stopwatch until I got halfway through the workout. Obviously lengthening the elliptical time would add four minutes to the workout.

This was a fun one.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090103

"Death by Clean and Jerk"

With a continuously running clock do one 135 pound Clean and Jerk the first minute, two 135 pound Clean and Jerks the second minute, three 135 pound Clean and Jerks the third minute? continuing as long as you are able.

Use as many sets each minute as needed.

Did push jerks.

Warmed up and cooled down with 5m on the elliptical. I can't wait for the snow to disappear so I can get to running outside again!

This was tougher than I thought it would be. It starts off really easy gets pretty damn hard pretty damn quick. I scaled back to 75# on these. I got all the way through minute five and did five more during the sixth minute. Kind of wish that I would have done 65# to get a few more reps in, but whatever.

Again, I'm really wishing the school had lighter bumper plates.

 

[brikis98]

Congrats on starting CF!

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
I started scaled workouts on the first (no, not as a "resolution"). I've had a lot of fun with the three workouts I've done so far, even though I've really had to scale them back.

Scaling is definitely a good idea when you start out. Not only is it useful when you encounter a weight that is too heavy for you or an exercise you can't do, but it's also crucial in controlling the intensity early on. It's really the intensity of CF workouts that makes them so radically different than just about anything else. And while this intensity is one of the main reason's for CF's effectiveness, it can also make it somewhat dangerous for newbies, so definitely start by scaling and then slowly ramp it up.

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
They've forced me to dust off the cobwebs on all of my compound lifts that I haven't done in a while and I've been REALLY sore. No, "really sore" doesn't fully explain it. It's not so much that I'm sore, it's that I'm sore in places that I didn't even know I had muscles in.

It's worth mentioning that soreness isn't really an indicator of progress. Just because you're sore doesn't mean the workout was effective, and just because you aren't sore, doesn't mean the workout was ineffective. In fact, soreness is typically counterproductive, since it doesn't necessarily mean anything good happened, but it usually does interfere with the next workout. Instead of focusing on how much your body hurts, try to judge your progress by seeing if your numbers (weight lifted, reps, times, etc) are improving.

Having said that, for someone new to CF, tons of soreness is definitely to be expected for a WHILE (on the order of a few months). However, as you continue to progress, you should strive to minimize soreness as much as possible. Stretching after a workout, massages, and including proper amounts of rest will go a long way with this. The standard CF schedule is 3 on, 1 off, but you may even want to scale that down in the beginning (to something like 2 on, 1 off) to give your body plenty of recovery time.

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
What are other people supplementing their CF workouts with? I feel like since I'm scaling back quite a bit that I could still be doing more at the end of the workout. I guess maybe that means I should be pushing myself more.... Though, in the case of "Murph" I was scaled well enough that I couldn't really do any more of those exercises, but I felt like I could have done other things. I've read in CF forums, though, that their workout is enough. I suppose as I get stronger overall and scale up more things will take longer.

Your primary goal right now should be to work your way up to the point where you can do CF workouts unscaled (note: this may take a long time). You should also, obviously, be trying to improve on your numbers (time, rounds, weight, as appropriate) any time you repeat workouts. Accomplishing these two tasks is definitely as much workout as the average person needs for a while and the results from it will be astounding.

If there is some specific sport or activity you are training for, the general suggestion is to start by doing a CF workout and then move on to skill work for the specific activity. Another option is to tweak your CF training to emphasize some specific parts of your fitness. For example, some people do MEBB style (max effort black box) programs to emphasize strength. One I've seen is a 3 on, 1 off schedule of CF, SS, CF (SS = Starting Strength routine). Other people more interested in endurance, such as marathon runners and bikers, do Crossfit Endurance.


EDIT --> figured I'd toss this in as well: I wrote two blog posts that may be relevant to what you're trying to accomplish: How I lost 43lbs and A Tribute to Crossfit.

 

[stinkynathan]

[/quote]

Originally posted by: brikis98
Congrats on starting CF!

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
I started scaled workouts on the first (no, not as a "resolution"). I've had a lot of fun with the three workouts I've done so far, even though I've really had to scale them back.

Scaling is definitely a good idea when you start out. Not only is it useful when you encounter a weight that is too heavy for you or an exercise you can't do, but it's also crucial in controlling the intensity early on. It's really the intensity of CF workouts that makes them so radically different than just about anything else. And while this intensity is one of the main reason's for CF's effectiveness, it can also make it somewhat dangerous for newbies, so definitely start by scaling and then slowly ramp it up.

In the first three workouts my problem has been that I think, "Hey, that easy. I can do that." As a result, I'm lifting too much weight, using bad form, anad failing too early. I guess I should just trust that the "Pup" workout is adequate for me at this time. Maybe in a month or so I can bump up to the "Pack" level.

Originally posted by: brikis98

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
They've forced me to dust off the cobwebs on all of my compound lifts that I haven't done in a while and I've been REALLY sore. No, "really sore" doesn't fully explain it. It's not so much that I'm sore, it's that I'm sore in places that I didn't even know I had muscles in.

It's worth mentioning that soreness isn't really an indicator of progress. Just because you're sore doesn't mean the workout was effective, and just because you aren't sore, doesn't mean the workout was ineffective. In fact, soreness is typically counterproductive, since it doesn't necessarily mean anything good happened, but it usually does interfere with the next workout. Instead of focusing on how much your body hurts, try to judge your progress by seeing if your numbers (weight lifted, reps, times, etc) are improving.

Having said that, for someone new to CF, tons of soreness is definitely to be expected for a WHILE (on the order of a few months). However, as you continue to progress, you should strive to minimize soreness as much as possible. Stretching after a workout, massages, and including proper amounts of rest will go a long way with this. The standard CF schedule is 3 on, 1 off, but you may even want to scale that down in the beginning (to something like 2 on, 1 off) to give your body plenty of recovery time.

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
What are other people supplementing their CF workouts with? I feel like since I'm scaling back quite a bit that I could still be doing more at the end of the workout. I guess maybe that means I should be pushing myself more.... Though, in the case of "Murph" I was scaled well enough that I couldn't really do any more of those exercises, but I felt like I could have done other things. I've read in CF forums, though, that their workout is enough. I suppose as I get stronger overall and scale up more things will take longer.

Your primary goal right now should be to work your way up to the point where you can do CF workouts unscaled (note: this may take a long time). You should also, obviously, be trying to improve on your numbers (time, rounds, weight, as appropriate) any time you repeat workouts. Accomplishing these two tasks is definitely as much workout as the average person needs for a while and the results from it will be astounding.

If there is some specific sport or activity you are training for, the general suggestion is to start by doing a CF workout and then move on to skill work for the specific activity. Another option is to tweak your CF training to emphasize some specific parts of your fitness. For example, some people do MEBB style (max effort black box) programs to emphasize strength. One I've seen is a 3 on, 1 off schedule of CF, SS, CF (SS = Starting Strength routine). Other people more interested in endurance, such as marathon runners and bikers, do Crossfit Endurance.

My problem is just that I always bite off more than I can chew. In the past when I've started running after a long break I've gone out on a 2 mile run in cold weather and just hated myself the whole run. Patience will be my key here. I've got nothing but time, really. I teach until 4:00 every day, then have the rest of the night to work out and plan for the next day. When I leave this place to go back to my regular apartment full time I'll get a membership at a gym again and continue working there.

Originally posted by: brikis98

EDIT --> figured I'd toss this in as well: I wrote two blog posts that may be relevant to what you're trying to accomplish: How I lost 43lbs and A Tribute to Crossfit.

Trust me, I read these already After I saw your CF journal I spent about three nights at my parents place reading about it and your blog. Good stuff! Hopefully my situation works out the same way yours has.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
In the first three workouts my problem has been that I think, "Hey, that easy. I can do that." As a result, I'm lifting too much weight, using bad form, anad failing too early. I guess I should just trust that the "Pup" workout is adequate for me at this time. Maybe in a month or so I can bump up to the "Pack" level.

Almost every Crossfit workout has the tendency to look easy on paper but turn out absolutely killer in real life. I've been burned by this plenty of times myself and can say that it's definitely worth scaling in the beginning. If you bust your butt every workout, even with reduced weight/reps/sets/time/whatever, you'll still see great results.

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
My problem is just that I always bite off more than I can chew. In the past when I've started running after a long break I've gone out on a 2 mile run in cold weather and just hated myself the whole run. Patience will be my key here. I've got nothing but time, really. I teach until 4:00 every day, then have the rest of the night to work out and plan for the next day. When I leave this place to go back to my regular apartment full time I'll get a membership at a gym again and continue working there.

Out of curiosity, how many days per week are you doing CF?

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
Trust me, I read these already After I saw your CF journal I spent about three nights at my parents place reading about it and your blog. Good stuff! Hopefully my situation works out the same way yours has.

Heh, good to hear. Good luck!

 

[stinkynathan]

Originally posted by: brikis98

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
My problem is just that I always bite off more than I can chew. In the past when I've started running after a long break I've gone out on a 2 mile run in cold weather and just hated myself the whole run. Patience will be my key here. I've got nothing but time, really. I teach until 4:00 every day, then have the rest of the night to work out and plan for the next day. When I leave this place to go back to my regular apartment full time I'll get a membership at a gym again and continue working there.

Out of curiosity, how many days per week are you doing CF?

I'm going with 3 on 1 off, scaled, and a day behind the current WOD.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
I'm going with 3 on 1 off, scaled, and a day behind the current WOD.

Gotcha. Just keep an eye open for overtraining symptoms. When I jumped into CF 5 days per week, these symptoms (specifically trouble falling asleep and constant tiredness) really snuck up on me from the huge jump in volume/intensity on my CNS. The solution was simple - just rest a bit more - so if that happens to you, consider taking some extra rest every few weeks or start with a lighter (2 on, 1 off) schedule and switch to 3 on, 1 off once your body is more adapted.

Good luck. CF is awesome.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090104

Rest Day

Did some stretching and was moving around all day prepping for my first day of class. Nothing exciting or strenuous.

Dead lifts tomorrow. Should be interesting.....

 

[stinkynathan]

20090105

Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3 reps

45x3
95x3
135x3
185x3
225x3
245x3
275x3
285x3
295x3
305x3
315x2
325x1
335x1 (PR)
345 (fail)
340 (fail)

I was pretty pumped to do these but was worried about being rested enough. I slept too late Sunday so I didn't get to sleep fully until after 2 and was up by 6:45 this morning.

I haven't deadlifted anything heavy in a long, long time....I think since 2001, so I started off nice and slow. I know the workout was 3-3-3-3-3, but I wanted to get a max beyond that, especially considering I didn't really know where to start. Things felt pretty good throughout. My principal was leaving between the 335 and 345 sets and I stopped for a few minutes too long to talk to him. Pretty sure I could have made that lift without as much break. Next time......

I'm sure they're not good numbers for my weight, but I'm happy with them. I had no clue what I would be able to pull. I'd probably do a bit better with a full night of sleep and fewer "warmup" sets.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090106

Hang Power Clean 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

45x5
95x2
115x1
125x1
135x1
145x1
155F
145x1
155F
135x1
145x1

Felt more rested today but I wasn't really feeling as pumped about these lifts as I was yesterday. I need to work on the form of these a lot. I felt pretty weak...like I should have been able to do more.

Tomorrow should be interesting...I'll have to do subbing for every exercise.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090107

Rest

This wasn't supposed to be a rest day, but the 40m drive and meeting that was scheduled for 6:30 tonight was moved up to 6:00 so I didn't have time to work out. ....AND shortened lunch break because some things came up, leaving me 10 minutes to eat the lunch that I had left at home in the freezer.....great. So, I only got about 1000 calories today. Loaded up on salmon, chicken, and cottage cheese at the supper meeting to try to compensate, but apparently I didn't get enough.

People look funny at a bigger guy like me that comes back from an all-you-can-eat buffet with one plate of food and proceeds to pick the fried garbage off the chicken.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090108

400m, HSPU, Rope climb

Complete four rounds for time:
Run 400 meters
15 Handstand Push-ups
15 ft Rope Climb, 2 ascents

Good workout, but I had to sub everything. Did 1.5/1.5/1.5/2.0 minute sprints on a stationary bike, "HSPUs" with my feet on equipment, and towel pulls. My shoulders are still cached.

Time: 12:25

Did some dips, pullups, and 10 minutes on the elliptical afterward. Feeling pretty good. Feels like my pullups have already gotten better....I feel like I'm jumping less than previously. I'm sure it's just in my head though; I can't be building muscle that fast.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090109

Front Squats
5-5-5-5-5

135x5
205x5
275x5
295x5

I couldn't do front squats because I didn't feel safe moving that kind of weight around without a rack. I did normal squats....and again, we don't have a rack so I had to use a Smith Machine. Hated it. Didn't know where to start on these so I started at 135. Either I'm really not flexible or it's a narrow bar in that machine because by the fifth set it was too painful to try to cram my shoulders inside the bar once I was set.

Did 4 jumping pull-ups with negatives between sets of squats. 10 minutes on the elliptical, 8 on the stationary bike cranked up and some ab work. Also jumped rope for a while and worked on double-unders.

Found a 6kg medicine ball in the room today too. Not sure how I missed that before.

Finally got my scale back last night. 224 when I woke up this morning.

 

[HN]

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
20090109

Front Squats
5-5-5-5-5

what happened to the pull-up variation workout? i thought that was next up for you (one day behind main site).

 

[stinkynathan]

Originally posted by: HN

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
20090109

Front Squats
5-5-5-5-5

what happened to the pull-up variation workout? i thought that was next up for you (one day behind main site).

Yeah, I forgot to mention that.

Honestly, I half forgot about the pull-ups and half decided to skip them. Yesterday I had nearly decided that I would skip that one for various reasons....then I saw the squats up and thought, "Yeah baby!"

I did about the equivalent of that workout in beginner pull-ups and negatives between squat sets today, so I'm not too worried about it.

....and holy shit, the next WOD is "Run 5K." That is guaranteed to not be a good time. Wait, no....it's going to be horrible.

Tomorrow and Sunday are busy, but I'll try to get that done tomorrow night.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090110

Did a bunch of random stability and core strengths exercises with a friend. Nothing too heavy, but interesting nonetheless.

Got the neck and gut taped.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090111

Rest day

Had a bunch of stuff to do at school so I didn't work out.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090112

AM weight: 226

Run 5K

It was fucking cold out there today and winds were gusting to 60mph so I hopped on the elliptical machine for 40 minutes. Warmed up with the jump rope and practiced my double-unders. After the elliptical I did 3x10 of dips and pull-ups and some sit-ups on the GHD. Felt really good today.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090113

AM weight: 224

For time 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, and 5 rep rounds of:
Virtual shoveling
Pull-ups

I scaled this back to 20, 15, 10, 5, and 5. Jumping push-ups with as little jump as possible.

Time: 8:15

Good thing I did all those pull-ups last night. Was feeling it a lot. Abs are pretty sore from the GHD, too.

Felt guilty about not doing 25, 20, 15, 10, so I added the extra five on the end.

Feeling great. Wish the pounds would melt off faster.

Tomorrow should be interesting....Power Clean and dips.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090114

AM weight: 223

For time:
155 pound Power clean 15 reps
30 Ring dips
155 pound Power clean 12 reps
24 Ring dips
155 pound Power clean 9 reps
18 Ring dips
155 pound Power clean 6 reps
12 Ring dips
155 pound Power clean 3 reps
6 Ring dips

Scaled back to 95# PCs and did bar dips with a little jump at the bottom.

Time: 23:00

Forgot to stop the timer when I got done. 23:00 is when I went back to the timer after jumping rope for a while. oops. Time was probably ~20:00

What a killer workout. I was pretty much toast by the end of the first set of PCs and I don't think I could have done one more dip, even assisted, by the time I got done. I'm fried.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: stinkynathan
20090114

For time:
155 pound Power clean 15 reps
30 Ring dips
155 pound Power clean 12 reps
24 Ring dips
155 pound Power clean 9 reps
18 Ring dips
155 pound Power clean 6 reps
12 Ring dips
155 pound Power clean 3 reps
6 Ring dips

Scaled back to 95# PCs and did bar dips with a little jump at the bottom.

Time: 23:00

Forgot to stop the timer when I got done. 23:00 is when I went back to the timer after jumping rope for a while. oops. Time was probably ~20:00

What a killer workout. I was pretty much toast by the end of the first set of PCs and I don't think I could have done one more dip, even assisted, by the time I got done. I'm fried.

Oh man, I was thinking about doing this workout with 135 pounds and lower reps (10-8-6-4-2 for PC). I wasn't feeling very well due to lack of sleep though so it seems I'll be trying it Friday. I haven't trained my power clean much lately, but my hang clean is still relatively solid. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Good job though, man.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090115

AM weight: 224

Rest Day (thankfully)

Holy shit did I need this rest. Had a basketball game tonight and I'm still sore from the GHD work I did on Tuesday. That thing is killer. I love it. ...oh yeah....and the two days of heavy dips.

Overhead squats tomorrow. Only done those a couple times. Should be interesting.

...and check out the main WOD for tomorrow. Holy. Shit.

I got off schedule last weekend. I'll be out of town during the long weekend, so I'll probably try to get back on schedule so I'm at least doing the groups of 3 WODs together. Might have to take an extra rest day or something.

 

[stinkynathan]

20090116

AM weight: 222

Overhead squat 3-3-3-3-3

45x10 WU
65x5
85x5
85x5
95x5
95 miss
45x10

Soooooo....I thought this was 5x5 and did that when I got there. It's been almost 10 years since I OHSed and I only did it a few times then, so this was a bit rough. I should have just stuck with 45 for the whole workout. These are tough. Did more ab work on the GHD and some beginner overhead push ups afterward.

Will go hit some cardio tomorrow morning for 45 minutes, then I'm breaking until Monday. My body hurts.