Posts by awestendorf

That's awesome, metabolicmom!  Yowza!

Crossfit Saturday & this morning.  

Saturday: dynamic warm-up, mobility, foam roll

I think we did some strength, but I can't remember.  Cleans, perhaps? And high box jumps.

WOD for time:

• 30 high box jumps (over the box if you could, or up and over if not)
• 30 clean and press, 65 lbs
• 1000m row
• 30 deadlifts, 65 lbs
• 30 push-ups
• 800m run
• 30 front squats, 65 lbs
• 30 burpees

Finished in about 28 brutal minutes.  My forearms were toast by the end!

Monday: foam roll/row/mobility 10 mins

dynamic warm-up: power cleans 3 sets of 5 reps (65 lbs), 3 sets of 3 reps (85 lbs), 8 sets of 1 rep (105 lbs)

strength: 4 sets of 6 reps of front squats (85 lbs), 4 sets of 6 reps (3 per side) of dumbbell clean & press (25-30 lbs)

WOD, for time: 21-15-9 of wall balls (14 lbs) and pull-ups (assisted).  Finished in 6:08, pretty happy with that.

Took yesterday off due to needing sleep and a rest day (tweaked my neck slightly on Tuesday and wanted to wait for my massage last night).  This morning was 5:30 crossfit...I think it's close to becoming a habit.

row/stretch/mobility 10 minutes

Strength: hang cleans working up to 3 rep max.  I got up to 115, which is awesome.  Almost had 125 but not quite.

WOD: 5 rounds of:

• 100' sandbag carry (100 lbs)
• 20 push-ups
• 4 ball over shoulder (80 lbs)

for time (16:32)

handstand practice about 5 minutes

Nearly every day I realize how much stronger I am than when I started.  Just a month ago, I could carry the 100 lb sandbag, but could barely pick it up (seriously...it took a good 30 seconds, or toward the end of a workout the coach had to hand it to me).  Now I can consistently pick it up (usually quickly), and I can practically run with it!  This gives me hope for pull-ups :D

Update: I made top 8 at the gym for crossfit totals!  (hopefully that link works!)

Crossfit this morning (for which I woke up before 5am WITHOUT AN ALARM, whaaaat):

Row/Mobility 10 mins

Dynamic Warm-up x 10 mins
Odd: 1 full clean, 1 front squat (75 lbs)
Even: 20 double unders (ha, more like 4 but I'm working on them)

Strength x 10 mins
Odd: 5 barbell rows (75 lbs)
Even: 5 HSPU (I am doing better at these!)

WOD for time: (8:30)
600m Row
50 Air Squats
40 Sit-ups
30 KB SDHP (53 lbs)
20 Burpees

handstand practice only a couple minutes this morning because class ran long

Crossfit this morning:

row/mobility/stretch 10 mins

strength: crossfit totals (1 rep max on strict press, squat, and deadlift).  Got to 85 on press, 175 on squat (huge PR for me), and 225 on deadlift (another big PR).  So, total of 485.  I will be excited to see that number go up in the future!

WOD: grace (30 clean & press; 65 lbs) - finished in 2:47, shaving nearly 20 seconds off my previous time 

More handstand practice - managed a solid 8 or 10 foot walk on my hands!!!

Crossfit this morning (yes, I got my butt up and to a 5:30 am class!).

Strength: front squat 5x5 (75 lbs - could probably have gone to 85 but was swapping with a partner).  Then, partner carry and drag (over the shoulders for the carry, and upright standing for the drag) - that was fun!  145-ish lbs partner.

WOD: 500m row x 4 rounds, with 2 minutes rest in between.  Not sure exactly how long it took, but a little over 8 minutes total for the rowing, plus rest time, so about 14-15 minutes.  I can't remember who recommended the rowing videos a while back (OGR?), but my form has definitely improved.  I still hate rowing, but at least I'm better at it.

And then, of course, handstand practice :P

Original Post by oldguysrule:

DW is facing the wall after she is upside down. It seems very easy for her to walk her feet up there. When her feet are really high, she uses the point of her toes against the wall, instead of the ball of the foot. I got the idea for this method from boonpickens who is here on CC and also learning handstands.

This is my method at present, with calves against a bar. DW is 10" shorter than me though, so her feet slip under that bar if she arches too much. I can take a picture of her against a wall, if anyone is interested.

Meanwhile, I'd like to see a pic/movie of awestendorf doing some walking on her hands! (hint, hint).

Well, I had a nice long reply typed up and then the page died on me :(

Handstands are definitely getting better - getting into position much more consistently and have managed several instances of walking a few feet on my hands.  My handstand push-ups have also improved from struggling to even do negatives, to being able to do 3-4 kipping push-ups with my feet against the wall (in crossfit, we do them with our backs against the wall - you kick up like you would a regular handstand).

I typed up my workouts from the last two days, but I don't want to re-type.  They were hard, but good, and I feel like my recovery has improved a lot since cleaning up my eating (I'm probably 80% paleo at this point).  Also I got a rumble roller (blue) for my birthday and it is f'ing awesome.

Original Post by meganr:

Original Post by awestendorf:

I actually hadn't realized that!  I started out doing them against a wall (just heels against the wall) - that's how we start doing handstand push-ups at crossfit.  I'm currently working on the unassisted/free handstands.  I can get several seconds at a time before falling back over, so it's not necessarily strength (maybe some core strength), more of the balance and just lots and lots of practice needed :)  We can have a handstand-off!  

I think it's more shoulder strength than you think - you've probably got plenty and maybe never had shoulder issues?  And a lot of core strength too, so you don't "banana" out.  The funny thing is I can do harder things (according to my yoga teacher), like L pose which is an obvious strength thing, but the going up and over really gets me.  Too many falls/horse wrecks in my past.

Nevertheless, I will do handstands and I don't care how long it takes me to get there.

Oh yeah, I just meant for me specifically, it doesn't seem to be shoulder strength that is the limiting factor, just skill :P

Erica, so sorry to hear about your toe!  (and the pic on facebook looked painful!)  I hope you'll be able to run your anniversary 5K without pain, and hope the toe heals quickly!

Crossfit last night (gym was closed Saturday-Monday):

mobility work 10 mins

dynamic warm-up: 10 minutes alternating work on the minute: 3 power snatches (75 lbs), 20 seconds attempting double unders.  I can now get one double under at a  time and then have to do a few regular singles before I can get another one.  But, that's huge progress!

strength: 10 minutes overhead squat from floor (worked up to 65 lbs).  My flexibility/mobility really limits me here, must continue to work on that.  Another 5 minutes working on front squats (105 lbs).  

Metcon: 5 rounds for time of 3 ball over shoulder (70 lbs - slightly light), 5 ball on shoulder squats (70 lbs - SO HARD), and 7 KB swings (45 lbs).  Rx was 100 lbs for the ball movements and 53 for KB swings O.o

At the end, I worked on handstands for a few minutes.  One of our coaches can walk around on her hands and I really want to learn.  I managed to hold several good ones last night.

Yeah, my thighs were burning like crazy during & after that workout! LOL those KB swings are killer!

Erica - way to go! Sometimes you just need the right motivation, huh? ;)  And I totally would have elbowed that person after the 2nd time.  Wth?

No real workout this weekend, but I lugged weights around for about 5 hours on Saturday at the strongman competition.  It was so fun to watch, and I really hope to compete at a future event!