SeanOfKelley

I honestly don't know what my benchpress is anymore. I don't think I've done a benchpress since September 2011. I will say- I always work with a spotter (even on floor press) but being able to just toss the bar behind me if it gets too heavy certainly does help with my confidence in going heavy.

Wednesday Night 8/1: Floor Press 2 rep max- I worked up to 225! My old 1 RM was 220 so this was awesome! Handstand work- we did skill work for handstands. Always fun. "Angie Deconstructed" we did 5 minutes each of- Pull ups, Push Ups, Sit ups, and Air Squats. I had 417 reps total. I was aiming for 400, so the 17 extra reps were just frosting. Delicious, delicious frosting.

Yup. Crossfit Defined in Chicago.

I just saw this. I am in Chicago.

I really love it. I like the workouts, I like the focus on functional strength/movements (lots of Olympic Lifting and Powerlifting), I like the community alot. Plus, it's something my wife and I do together, and I think it's really helped to strengthen our relationship.

Monday: 3 RM Deadlift- 315 Lbs- I have actually hit 325 for 3 on deadlifts before, but my coach made me stop at 315. I asked him if my form looked bad (was my back bending?) and he said, no it looked great, but he was cutting me off for the day. Oh well, no PR's here. 3 RM Front Squat- 210 Lbs- Now HERE'S a PR. 210 was my 1 rep max for the front squat a few weeks ago, so it felt good to hit it for 3. I also made sure to get really deep into the bottom of the squat. WOD: 6 Rounds, 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, Lunges followed by one armed kettlebell push press- so basically, you would do a lunge, and then immediately do a push press with one arm with a kettlebell, and do that as many times as you could in 30 seconds. Tuesday: Cleans- Skill work- worked on tall cleans. Felt good. Hang Cleans- 3 RM- 165- matched my previous 3 rep max. WOD: 3 rds for time: 15 Hang Power Cleans 15 Burpees I finished in 6:55 In other news, I just finished 30 days of paleo. I did it with my wife, as kind of a show of solidarity. She wanted to do it. I...didn't. But it was actually pretty great. I lost 4 lbs, but I didn't lose any strength, so I assume by that and my abs that all/most of that weight was fat. And while I feel like I'm probably about 50% sweet potato at this point, it ended up being a pretty good experience. We're celebrating tonight by going out for a beer.

A few years ago, I managed to put on 20 lbs, and I will echo what others have said here, and let you know that it is really all about nutrition. 1 gram of protein per pound is a pretty good rule of thumb, but I would say calories may actually be more important. Try to take an inventory of what you eat on an average day- use a nutrition info web site (like this one: http://nutritiondata.self.com/) and figure out how many calories, grams of protein, and carbs you are getting in an average day, and then up that number. So if you find you are eating 1800 calories a day, try to eat 2500 instead. And of course, workout with strength building exercises. If you get bored easily, there are lots of places online where you can find different workouts (crossfit.com, bodybuilding.com, this web site).

Random side note- currently watching Captain America on Netflix while I write this. I love the stuff about how only a small man can appreciate strength- really hits home. I have three Workouts to record: Friday night WOD: "Helton" Oh geez, a hero WOD. These things are always awful, and this one was no exception. When I got to the Box, I noticed from the whiteboard that only about half the number of people who normally come into the gym made it today. I assumed they saw the WOD posted on the web site and decided to stay home. THE WOD: 3 rds Run 800 M 30 Dumbbell or Kettlebell Cleans (RX was 55 lbs- that's two 55 lb dumbbells or Kettlebells FYI, I did two 25s) 30 burpees I finished in 35:10 and felt like I was going to die afterwards. Saturday: Team WOD: 3 Rds, row 500 M recording your lowest time. My times were- 1:47, 1:52, and 1:53. I SUCK at rowing. Hard. Rowing, running, and double unders are my worst things. Part 2- Find your 1 rep max shoulder press I hit 140 which is my old PR. I tried for 145 and failed. Part 3: 9-15-21 Kettlebell Swings and burpees. This was a team challenge, and we got 14:09 between the three of us. Oly Class (also Saturday- Yes I did this right after the team WOD) Clean positions- we just worked on positions and form. This has been great for me. Very helpful. Clean 1 Rep Max- I hit 185 on my clean! A PR! A big PR, actually. Cleans- 80% of 1 RM 3 sets of 1 Power Cleans 75% of 1 RM 3 sets of 2 Front Squats- Find your 1 rep max- I hit 215- a five lb PR! Considering the hero WOD last night and the team WOD immediately prior, I was NOT expecting to PR on ANYTHING in Oly class today. So the two PRs felt wicked awesome.

That's awesome. It always drove me crazy that the the free weights areas of most commercial gyms are so bro-dominated. Don't let them intimidate you. You have every right to be there.

(doing my best to limit to 3) Books: -Storm of Swords by George RR Martin (this should really just be A Song of Ice and Fire) -The Things they Carried by Tim O'Brien -The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Movies: -The Lord of the Rings Trilogy -The Incredibles -Once Upon a Time in the West

Thursday Oly Class: Snatch Positions- we went through the motions of the snatch as kind of a ... warm up/actual exercise. Hang Muscle Snatch- Spent ten minutes working up to 105 lbs. I don't know why, but I really struggled with this one last night. Snatch grip push press- 4 sets of 5 at about 70% of our snatch 1 RM- This felt weird. I generally feel awkward with any kind of behind the neck press, and it felt even more awkward with the wide snatch grip. Power Snatch- 4 set of 1 rep at 80% of our snatch 1 RM- I am an idiot, and did the first rep with an uneven amount of weight on each side of the bar. The rep felt super awkward, and still being relatively new to Oly lifts, I thought "Oh, my form on this must be awful" before realizing that I had in fact, put five pounds more on one side of the bar than on the other. Overhead Squats- 4 sets of 2 at 95 lbs- I LOVE overhead squats. Love them. This was basically the only exercise I did all night that I felt kind of awesome on. Pull ups- 3 sets of max reps- I did 15, 10, and 8- unassisted, strict form pull-ups I wanted to note that my wife and I are on day 26 of a 30 day paleo challenge through our Box. I was skeptical going in, but I've lost about 4 lbs, and it's pretty much all fat. I haven't been as lean as I am now since I was 19, and I haven't lost any strength. I'm hoping that between August (when I will be...slightly less paleo) and next spring, I can put on some muscle weight to really improve my lifts.

This is going to be a really crummy week for me and getting to the gym. We're have a sales conference at work, and my performance schedule is stacked, and so I'm probably only going to be able to get to gym 3 days (Last night, Friday, and Saturday)- I will probably try to do two workouts on Saturday. I may also go on Sunday which is normally my rest day. To be honest, the last two months been busy. I've still been making it to the Box 5 times a week, and I'm kind of lucky that this is the first week over that time that my schedule has been so fubar'd. Anyway. I did work out yesterday: Muscle snatches- worked up to a one rep of 125 before moving onto... Snatch Balances- This was a tough one. I got up to 115 lbs, and then promptly lost my balance on 3 straight attempts for 1 rep. Fortunately, my coach helped me out. He fixed my elbows (they were pointing backwards and not down), and then had me practice pressing the bar up over my head with a snatch grip, and then doing an overhead squat. I did that a few times, fixed my elbows, and was able to hit 115. The WOD was a Tabata split (8 rounds for each exercise, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, as many reps as possible counting only the lowest round) of: Rows for Calories- Lowest Round- 5 calories (this was actually the first round. It took me too long to get myself situated on the rower) Overhead Squats- 5 reps Box Jumps- 10 reps

Two workouts for the price of one! Friday night: Deadlifts- Gradually worked up to a three rep max, taking a very slow, deliberate pace on the reps. I've done 325x3 before, but at this pace, I capped out at 300x3 "Burping Annie" It's just like regular Annie, but with Burpees! 25 Burpees 50 Double Unders 50 Abmat situps 40 Double Unders 40 Abmat situps 30 Double Unders 30 Abmat Situps 20 Double Unders 20 Abmat situps 10 double unders 10 abmat situps 25 Burpees I can't really string DUs together so I did 3 singles for every 1 double instead. I finished in 11:13, but I know I could shave like two minutes off of this if I get my doubles down. Something to work on. Saturday: Olympic Lifting class: Push press- worked up to 80% of my one rep max for 3 reps- this ended up being 145- then did 3 sets of 3 at that weight. Clean skill- worked on clean extension, clean deadlifts, and then straight out cleans. I kept it light to work on skill. Once again, I struggle with Oly lifts which is why I come to these classes. Back Squats- four sets of 2 at 80% of my one rep max- this was about 220 lbs following each set with 3 broad jumps for distance.

I don't really feel like expressing my opinions on gun control here, but my heart broke when I read this story this morning. All I could think about was how horrified the people in the theater must have been, and how the world is now diminished because of the loss of life that took place. I will say, that I am not looking forward to some of the conversations that will inevitably take place once more information comes out about the shooter. You know that in trying to understand what causes someone to do something like this, people will over-analyze the shooter's taste in music, movies, video games, clothing, politics, etc. and then, in some cases, blame whole swathes of the population because they also like those things. This guy was a lone psycho. A human parasite. I think the best thing we can do for the victims in the coming days (besides donating blood, money, etc.) is to focus on the lives of the victims- both the tragedy of their deaths, and the triumph of their lives.

Yes- it's a power snatch. I have form issues with both the snatch, and the clean. Specifically, I have problems getting to full extension before I pull the weight up. I get...impatient. I guess. When I try to do a full snatch I know I'm not getting the power that I need to- even though the power is there if that makes sense. So muscle snatches tend to come to me a little easier than power snatches. I'm sure I can get more weight up in my regular snatch. But I have form issues that I'm working on. I'll get there. We practice skill (squat lifts, etc.) alot (ALOT).