Gizmo

From Friday (8/30) So much rowing! Warm up: 500m row (avg split I think was 2:09) Handstand hold 40sx2 Alternating pistol squats 12x2 Max Effort L-sit holds x2 (I'm REALLY bad at these) Lift: Complex of 1 snatch DL + 1 snatch high pull + 1 snatch 50%x2, 60%x3, 70%x2, 80%x4 I forget what weight I used. I think my 80% was 53lbs? Snatches are hard... In other news, I got my first thumb blister from the bar!! I feel like I just went through some rite of passage! Yay!! Is that a weird thing to be excited about? Eh, whatever. WOD: 4 rounds: 250m row, 10 backsquat @ 65% splits: 2:08/2:07/2:02/2:02 (Did 68lbs for my backsquat. Which isn't 65% of my one rep max, but I'm bad at doing math in my head at the gym...) I really enjoyed this workout. I love squats, and even though I hate erging since I spent the better part of the winter of my freshman year on an erg, I'm decent at it, and watching my split drop as the work out went on was very fulfilling.

Warm up: Row 500m Dynamic Stretches 1-6 Box jumps 2x10 Hand Stand pushups 2x10 (kipping) Double Unders (50) (can't do these, so I did 150 singles. bleh) Lift: Front Squats: 6x50%, 5x60%, 4x70%, 2x3x80% Since I'm still pretty new, I don't math this yet. So I did 53, 63, 73, 83. It felt pretty light, but this WOD looked like a biiiiiitch (and it was), so I didn't feel too bad about taking it east. Snatch push press 4x5 I did 2 sets at 48 and 2 sets at 53. Pretty much the same deal. Didn't want to die on the WOD. Didn't really push it in the lift. WOD: 3 rounds for time 50m burpee broadjumps (fml) 25 pullups (FML) (with the second thickest band in the gym. And still didn't make it all the way over the bar for all of these. So...fml) 10x 1-arm Kettlebells time: 20:25. I would say I was disappointed, but that workout suuuuuucked. I'm glad it went as well as it did. Funny little post workout story. So for whatever reason, I REALLY don't like the trainer who was running the class today. I love everything about this gym, and have not had a bad experience, but this ONE GUY just REALLY rubs me the wrong way. He coaches like a fortune cookie, is really not good at dealing with beginners, blah blah. The first time I went to one of his classes I was so frustrated and so unable to understand what he was trying to explain to me, I almost broke down. Personality wise, he just really brings about the worst in me. Anyway, after class today, I texted my friend about how this guy is a giant douchenozzle. Almost IMMEDIATELY after this, I'm unlocking my car door, and totally hit myself in the fucking eye. Like an idiot. Talk about instant karma. Or should I say CAR-ma?? Hahahaha, that'll teach me to say mean things about people. Thankfully I didn't get hit in the actual eyeball and it only just broke the skin. I still feel pretty stupid hahaha. Stupid sadface and a well deserved shiner. So winning... :/

Disclaimer: I swear a lot. Since I'm sure it's frowned upon in a forum setting like this, I'll tone it down the best I can, but if I get real excited about a workout or something, I make no promises for clean-cut lady-like language. Ye have been warned. Brief anecdote: I hate running. I understand the benefits as an excercise and I even run to clear my head, so I like the idea of running, but the actual event? Hoo boy. So awful. Back when I was in college with the crew team (only for a year and even that, only as the coxswain. Speaking of repetitive exercises that are miserable...) we would do these cross training workouts sometimes at butt-ass early in the morning (in typical crew-team fashion. Apparently everything they do has to happen at the buttcrack of dawn) and they often involved running. I've never been a very skilled runner, so for me, this was always kind of stressful. There was a lot of pressure to pass the PRT, yadda yadda. So on these runs, especially since unlike my teammates I was never an athlete in high school, I STRUGGLED. I would lag behind, fall out of the group, give up. My confidence was super low, and I needed some motivation. On these early morning runs, just in the effort to keep running and not get completely left behind, I developed this mantra. As I stared at the back of the person's head in front of me, I chanted over and over in my head "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you." And I never did well, but I kept going. To an extent, it worked. Now, however, as I embark on my new fitness journey of levelling up, I say "Fuck that!" It's time to be more than a person who just survives. It's time for me to kick it into gear, and outrun that stupid bear. Because I can, dammit! So is this a running log? Nope. I've grown to appreciate running, but I hate doing it for time. Too stressful. I like doing charity runs. Maybe one day I'll do a half marathon or something, but not for time. Just for me. Here instead is the chronicles of my journey to become a BEAST. Just overall better, harder, faster stronger. Like this bear here. Rawr! Where I'm starting: [here is where I will post my measurements] Height: 5'2" Weight: [what else goes here? I don't knooooow] One rep max's (all in lbs. Because 'murica.) Back squat: 133 Clean and Jerk: 85 Dead lift: 138 Shoulder press: 58 Snatch: 70 Thanks for tuning in!

Good Morning Nerd Fitness! It's like 3:15am and I'm at work. Let's get weird. I'm Jess, or Gizmo (I answer to that too), and it is very nice to meet all of you fine people! I'm a long time email reader, but I figured I might as well jump into the community. Yay!! Haven't been involved in a forum like this since they shut down the Misc. board on WC3 (*nerd cred!*), so I'm pretty stoked. A little bit about me Fitness wise: Nothing too exciting. I've never been under- or overweight, and while I've never considered myself "athletic," I've pretty much always participated in some level of physical activity. Post-college I noticed I started to gain some fluff and stuff, this probably had something to do with the beer drinking and not needing to run an ~8:00 mile to stay in school (I went to a military-themed baccalaureate institution). So I always knew that I could be better, harder, faster, stronger, but in one way or another, I'd find ways to put up obstacles for myself. My bestie at work had been trying to convice me to try crossfit. In one of those 20 second bouts of courage, I agreed to go. I was SUPER intimidated by the whole thing. (Have you seen hardcore crossfitters? Ridiculous!) I had never actually lifted before, and the word "Snatch" just reminded me of a really great Guy Ritchie film. So terrified little me goes to the crossfit gym, and what's the first thing I see? Darth. Effing. Vader. That was almost 3 months ago. It's taken a little while, since I used to make fun of these crossfit-cult-weirdos, but I'm finally starting to drink the Kool-aid. I'm still pretty intimidated, and feel like I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time, but at a gym full of Star Wars nerds (they played the Imperial March when the team came out at Crossfit Regionals), I think I'll be alright. Where I'm at now - Stats (one rep max): Snatch: 70 Clean and Jerk: 85 Back squat: 133 (I loooooooove squats. Love them. So much.) Shoulder press: 58 Deadlift: 138 *high five* to all my heavy lifting sistas! Goals: 1. I'm doing the SoCal Run For Your Life in September, I'd like to "survive". 2. Do an effing unassisted pull-up. Like, for realsies.