I haven't posted an update in a while but I have been keeping up with the workouts. Before I post what I have been doing I just wanted to share one of my first few critiques of the Crossfit program. After the first few weeks I am starting to realize that it is not a great balanced program.
I really have enjoyed all of the exercise selections so far. They are basic, compound movements that most people should learn how to do. One thing I realized is there has been no horizontal pulling exercises. I guess you could argue that a kipping pulling can be a horizontal pull, but not really.
Most people in general need a ton of this motion in there exercise program to help with their poor posture, but this hasn't involved any. It is not ok just to do vertical pulling like pull ups. When we look at what most people do in the gym, we see mainly horizontal pushing (bench press), vertical pushing (shoulder press), and vertical pulling (pull up). This puts tremendous strain on the shoulder joint and the rotator cuff muscles. It is crucial that we pick exercises that strengthen the external rotators, mid/lower traps, and rhomboids.
To add more balance to my program I have included some form of horizontal row to the beginning of my workouts like inverted rows or bent over rows.
Another complaint had to do with the exercise selection again. I made it through the Filthy Fifty Workout recently. I actually really liked this workout, but one complaint was the fact that we did 50 Push Press and then 50 Wall Ball. I know they are not the same exercise but pretty similar movements. And I actually remembered the workout wrong and did Thrusters instead of push press which was my mistake. Then the next workout called for more Thrusters. It just seemed like a lot of the same stuff over and over.
For the Filthy Fifty I made it in around 30 minutes. I forgot to write down my exact time. The next workout which was:
75lb Thruster 30 reps
3 rope climbs
75lb Thruster 20 reps
2 rope climbers
75lb Thruster 10 reps
1 rope climb
I had to modify with DB Thrusters and towel slides but made it through this workout in 10 minutes (again do not remember the exact time).
Then the next workout was:
Shoulder press 1-1-1-1-1 reps 115,125,135,145,145
Push press 3-3-3-3-3 reps 135,140,145,150,155
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5 reps 115,120,125,130,135
Again after the Filthy Fifty, The Thruster workout, and then list, it was a tremendous amount of vertical pushing.
My next workout was pretty rough. Tabata Something Else. I have done a few tabata workouts before but not this many exercises and with no rest between exercise. He we did 8 intervals of 20 seconds work 10 seconds rest of 4 exercises back to back. The nice thing is each exercise takes 4 minutes so the whole workout is only 16 minutes. The exercises were Pull Ups (had to do modified pull ups), Push Ups, Sit Ups, and Squats. The pull ups and push ups were rough but the sit ups and squats really weren't bad.
And finally my last workout was 15 rounds of power snatch followed by 5 overhead squats. I have to admit I was straight up scared of this workout. I just thought I was going to hurt myself, since I am just such a poor overhead squatter. I've been getting better, but still have a long way to go. I ended up only making it 10 rounds. I was running short on time but really I couldn't increase the weight any more. I had a few close calls with falling or dropping the weight and when you are not using bumper weights that is an issue. My last set was 100lbs. I know that is not very impressive but as I get better at the overhead squat this number will shoot up.
I really have enjoyed all of the exercise selections so far. They are basic, compound movements that most people should learn how to do. One thing I realized is there has been no horizontal pulling exercises. I guess you could argue that a kipping pulling can be a horizontal pull, but not really.
Most people in general need a ton of this motion in there exercise program to help with their poor posture, but this hasn't involved any. It is not ok just to do vertical pulling like pull ups. When we look at what most people do in the gym, we see mainly horizontal pushing (bench press), vertical pushing (shoulder press), and vertical pulling (pull up). This puts tremendous strain on the shoulder joint and the rotator cuff muscles. It is crucial that we pick exercises that strengthen the external rotators, mid/lower traps, and rhomboids.
To add more balance to my program I have included some form of horizontal row to the beginning of my workouts like inverted rows or bent over rows.
Another complaint had to do with the exercise selection again. I made it through the Filthy Fifty Workout recently. I actually really liked this workout, but one complaint was the fact that we did 50 Push Press and then 50 Wall Ball. I know they are not the same exercise but pretty similar movements. And I actually remembered the workout wrong and did Thrusters instead of push press which was my mistake. Then the next workout called for more Thrusters. It just seemed like a lot of the same stuff over and over.
For the Filthy Fifty I made it in around 30 minutes. I forgot to write down my exact time. The next workout which was:
75lb Thruster 30 reps
3 rope climbs
75lb Thruster 20 reps
2 rope climbers
75lb Thruster 10 reps
1 rope climb
I had to modify with DB Thrusters and towel slides but made it through this workout in 10 minutes (again do not remember the exact time).
Then the next workout was:
Shoulder press 1-1-1-1-1 reps 115,125,135,145,145
Push press 3-3-3-3-3 reps 135,140,145,150,155
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5 reps 115,120,125,130,135
Again after the Filthy Fifty, The Thruster workout, and then list, it was a tremendous amount of vertical pushing.
My next workout was pretty rough. Tabata Something Else. I have done a few tabata workouts before but not this many exercises and with no rest between exercise. He we did 8 intervals of 20 seconds work 10 seconds rest of 4 exercises back to back. The nice thing is each exercise takes 4 minutes so the whole workout is only 16 minutes. The exercises were Pull Ups (had to do modified pull ups), Push Ups, Sit Ups, and Squats. The pull ups and push ups were rough but the sit ups and squats really weren't bad.
And finally my last workout was 15 rounds of power snatch followed by 5 overhead squats. I have to admit I was straight up scared of this workout. I just thought I was going to hurt myself, since I am just such a poor overhead squatter. I've been getting better, but still have a long way to go. I ended up only making it 10 rounds. I was running short on time but really I couldn't increase the weight any more. I had a few close calls with falling or dropping the weight and when you are not using bumper weights that is an issue. My last set was 100lbs. I know that is not very impressive but as I get better at the overhead squat this number will shoot up.
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