Week in Training

Welcome back from the weekend rest...

HAPPY HUMP DAY! Sorry we haven't gotten a chance to blog. Here is a mid-week in-review.

MONDAY

Monday's are NEVER easy to get out of bed, are they? But, somebody's gotta do it! So, we did!

WOD

5 rounds of...

500m row

30 sit ups

I was really surprised that my stomach didn't hurt from all of the sit ups we did last Thursday and leg lifts I did on Friday, but that is a good thing! Well, maybe it isn't. I used to think being sore sucked and hated that pain, now if a few workouts go by and I am not sore, I get worried... you know why? Because that means I am probably not working or pushing myself hard enough. Good, solid, soreness (that is not an injury) is great, well at least I think so, it means your body is changing; getting stronger!

Night Weight Lifting Practice

Our Trainer couldn't make it so we did a little evening improv. training on our own. We practiced about 30 some minutes of Power Cleans. We started with a progression with PVC piping, then moved on to the olympic barbells and then added weight. I really liked breaking down the movements so that I could feel what exactly I should be doing at that moment and what part of my body. I struggle with getting UNDER the bar and I tend to use my arms too much on lifts like "the dead lift", "power clean", "snatch", etc. I will never be able to progress with the weight without hurting myself if I continue this way, so it's back to basics. 

Then.... Kingston started getting a little antsy in his stroller so we had to let him out. The person who wasn't doing their reps was blocking him off from the person who was so that he wouldn't get smashed.  But I guess you just do what you gotta do!

Tuesday

WOD

For Time

30 burpees

50 thrusters

500m row

Since our 1 rower is broken we had to start in different spots so we didn't overlap. George 1 started in the above order and I started on the rower. I mean that damn rower gets me every time. I will say that my 500m row was a LOT better than Monday's, which made me feel good. I pulled 500m in 1:57 (my old max was 1:59), but that definitely put me over the edge. Had to take 20 seconds to catch my breath before I started my burpees. Burpees stink but you just figure out a way to keep on going (I just count by 10's, that always helps me) and then the thrusters (front squat with the barbell and as you come up out of squat "thrust" the bar overhead into a push press and immediately back down into a front squat position so that your reps were fluid and consecutive). It was tough for me to do more than 10 in a row, so I basically ended up doing 5 rounds of 10.

Wednesday

WOD

20 minutes of

Every minute on the minute.

Evens: Goat 1

Odds: Goat 2

Goat = Weakness

OMG, I so loved the thought process behind this workout! I truly felt like I got to work on my problem areas! And ironically enough George 1 and I chose the same Goats so we just switched on and off. We chose Muscle Ups (progression for me since I can't do a muscle up.. YET) and snatches (used a lighter weight). I chose 10 reps which pretty much got me through the minute with a 10 second rep between each switch.

So it went like this....

10 muscle ups took me 50 seconds, my rest was moving over to the snatch station, setting up, breathing, placing hands on bar and go to 10 snatches, which took me about 50 seconds and my rest was 10 seconds, etc. etc. 

Then afterward we practiced breaking down each part of the muscle up, which I really liked doing it. I feel like I got the movement finally.

Today was tough for me, even though I liked the WOD, I did NOT feel well- nauseous and gag type of throw up after the WOD- NO I am NOT with child. I don't think it's anything, but just made today a little tougher

And definitely a little soreness going on in my hamstrings and hip flexers

Tomorrow we have an AM WOD and an evening lifting session, so until then!

- George 2

Black Friday Beat Down

No waiting in line over night to shop the sales for us, that is for sure! Instead George 1 chose a round of 18-holes with his father and brother and I chose a low-key morning with Little George, my mother in-law, and grandmother in-law. When it came time for my WOD, my mother in-law was nice enough to take care of Little George so I had my 100% attention on my workout, which was really nice. 

Today's WOD

12 rounds of.....

10 burpees

10 leg lifts

Status: Complete 13 minutes even 

I chose my WOD by googling "CrossFit travel workouts" and looked through a few different box's guidelines or suggestions for travel WOD's. A lot of them involve sit ups, squats, running, and push ups... all of which we did a lot of yesterday! I really wanted to do hand stand push ups, but wanted to give my shoulder a little break. That is how I chose the WOD above. I took a little extra time warming up and got right into it.

I chose to take my WOD out to the barn again today. I pulled the mat out onto the driveway, set up SONGZA on my iPhone, and began my WOD as my audience cheered me on. Well audience being a huge Rottweiler and not-so-small herself Corgi. I did have to pause about 1/3 of the way through and run them back to the house as they were starting to take their bickering with one another a little close to me on that mat when I was face-up on those leg lifts, ha!

On the burpees today I really tried to keep my form on my arms in order to not irritate my shoulders with all the reps (120 for you math lovers). I also really tried to drive my hips and legs up as I came up out of the burpee so I wasn't lifting my whole body, putting strain on my arms, instead I was trying to gain momentum for my "6-inch jump". My last round, yes I waited until the last round to think of it, but I really tried to connect my burpees. So after I jumped up and my feet landed I shot them straight back into plank position and myself to the floor. It really did help the continuity and was a heck of a lot harder!

On the leg lifts (yes I had to google them to make sure the exercise was what I was picturing) I kept my hands behind my head so I couldn't use them to cheat. I really tried to keep my thighs and feet together and my legs straight. Keeping my legs straight was definitely a challenge for me. It obviously was a lot harder and more work on my abdominals! But I tried my best! 

After my I laid on the ground for a few minutes recovering, I took the time to practice my hand stand push ups. I finished off my session with 5 minutes of jumping rope and a good stretch. I am so back and forth with my double unders it's extremely frustrating. So, I am hoping I can commit to 3-5 minutes of just solid jumping rope, then leading into double unders a few times a week to have the motion become second nature... especially when I become tired and my arm muscles are fatigued, but I still have to get the rope around and around. 

- George 2

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! 

We hope everyone is enjoying their day, we certainly our. We started it off with a pretty intense WOD, followed by showering, breakfast, and then getting the Turkey show on the road! Guests piled in early around 10am, so we needed to be ready!

Why is it that the CF world needs to try and KILL us on Thanksgiving? Is it the know and fear that we will be "stuffing" our faces all day and not worrying about it and guzzling it down with ice cold brews and fine wine?

Today's WOD

Our own little variation of Murph.... we had to work with what we had...

Run 1-mile

100 push ups

200 sit ups

300 squats

Run 1-mile

George 2:
For me the WOD started out with an up hill battle, literally! Running up the vertical incline was a doozy, but I tried to dig in and keep up with My Better Half. And it was CHILLY let me tell you! Frost still on the ground kinda chilly! I really tried to focus on my breathing as in the cold I have been cramping a lot more.

We chose to do our WOD in 10 rounds:
10 push ups, 20 sit ups, 30 squats. We pulled a mat out by the Barn and did it in the driveway, by round 5 I stripped down to my tank, hat, pants, and arm compressions, pretty bad a** if you ask me, haha! After my first round of push ups I went to my knees to ensure that I was getting my chest all the way to the ground and the depth that I needed! Sit ups, banged those puppies out :), and as for squats I tried to keep my elbows up and hands on shoulders in a "front squat" position so I could practice my form.

If I am going to get anywhere with my olympic lifting, I really need to make these movements (elbows up, depth in my squat, dropping under the bar, wrist position) second nature!

And back to the present, enjoying a nice fire to my left and a glass of wine to my right!

Enjoy your day with family and until tomorrow's torture!!

Funny CF Spoof Link

There are CrossFit spoof videos all over youtube. 

I came across this new onw this  morning: 

Reebok Commercial Pitch by Fitness Lonnie 

Here are some of my other fav spoof videos.....

 

Sh*t CrossFit Girls Say 

Sh*t CrossFitters Say 

- George 2

Today's WOD

Skill:  

Bench Press

3x: specific weight

3x: heavier weight

3+: heavier weight

30 side-to-side jumps over parallette bar

25 toes-to-bar

20 burpees

15 pull ups

10 push ups 

and then back up the ladder.....

15 pull ups

20 burpees

25 toes-to-bar

30 side-to-side jumps over parallette bar

 Status: Complete!

Who We Are

Our intentions of creating this blog page were to allow us to document our experience and progression with our "CrossFit" life.

Both of us will be writing, so the post styles and topics may vary. It will be a collection of our workouts, what we are learning,  different articles or blogs that we read that we think are interesting and worth sharing, products we may like, and maybe some cool a** pictures of people training!

We were introduced to CrossFit a little over a year ago and began a moderate program. We transformed our garage into a box (aka gym....CrossFit lingo to come) and began acquiring supplies and weights over time. Most of what we have: pull up rig, squat racks, weight racks, boxes were all hand built). Last Winter is when we really started to pick up our intensity and love for the program and lifestyle. I say lifestyle, because it truly is a lifestyle. Anything in CrossFit can modified and I believe that is true for the type of lifestyle that you want. Some like to go all out: eat, breathe, live, train, compete, talk, dream CF and that is great for those whom it work! Some like to go 2-3 times a week and get a good WOD (aka workout.... yes more CrossFit lingo) in!

For us, we chose the in between lifestyle. We train 5x/week and chose Monday through Friday mornings as our main days. This fits our work hard during the week and rest/play hard attitude on the weekend! We wanted to dedicate the weekends to each other,  our son, our extended family, and friends! From an exercise point of view: we decided to keep Saturday and Sunday's open to rest or do an alternate type of exercise if we want, then it is strictly for fun, to stay lose, get out of the house, etc.

A little bit about us.....
George 1: College Athlete. Professional Baseball Player. Trainer. CrossFit Level 1 Certified Trainer. Firebreather. Student. Mr. Mom. Son. Husband. Dad. True Friend to those who are lucky. Hard Working. Dedicated. Athletically gifted. Not funny, but thinks he is. Man of little, but meaningful words. Eager to learn new things.

George 2: College Athlete. Daughter. Sister. Wife. Mom. Friend. Volunteer. Good-hearted. Competitive. All over the place. Talks to Talk. Did I mention Competitive?


Blog Name: 
We named the blog "The George Project", because even though we have always been healthy people who engaged in fitness, we really want to take that to the next level with each other. Instead of it being one more thing to do when the alarm goes off at 5:20am, have it be something we look forward to (most days) doing together! To have it be our time before the sun and our son interrupts our WOD's to tell us the day has begun let's get going people! In hopes that this will bring on a positive attitude in our box!

Last year we entered the 2012 Open Games for "fun" even though we had only just begun our CF journey months before. We competed live in the First Annual Panama Garage Games in Republic of Panama in April 2012. George 1 was a top competitor and finished 10th (I believe to a toes-to-bar technicality) and George 2 tied for 3rd! After this competition we really decided to take our training to the next level. That is when George 2 really began taking her lifting and weight training more seriously and actually began to enjoy it more. We have seen a lot of improvement over the past year and want to really train the right way for this year's games so we can track our improvement. Because remember it's really about "You vs. You".

We have signed up (some of us more reluctantly more than other...aheemmmmm George 2) for a local competition in January after the holidays and then The Open begins in February. We really want to try and be true competitors amongst our peers, but also be able to be proud of ourselves at the end of each of these competitions. We have labeled our different weaknesses and are committed to working on them over the next 8-12 weeks! We have sought out help from an Olympic weight lifter to come and critique and help us improve our form for our lifts. This will help prevent injuries and allow us to progress forward with our weights.

It's not just about what happens in The Box, but what happens outside too. We eat and live healthy lifestyles but if we are to increase our output, we must increase the quality of our input as well.

Thanks for reading and stay classy!
 Team George