WOD

10, 12, 15, 20, 25 Reps of the following:

Push-ups
Sit-ups
Leg lifts

Though this workout seemed a little light, I felt very sick after doing it. I guess that's what I get for taking a week off to eat things like duck and cookies. My mother-in-law takes great joy in seeing me get side tracked.

Mendonza is a Wicked Show-off

My good friend and climbing buddy, Matt Mendonza, shows off his skillz at Again Faster.

3 hours climbing

5.6 x 2, L, warm-up
5.9 x 2, L, 2 & 1 hang
5.9, L, 2 hangs
5.9, L, RP

Attempted 5.9 (Kiseido) but bailed at the second clip.

WOD
3 Sets
Time: 33:30

.25 walk/jog warm-up
Pull-ups (20, 15, 10)
Dips (20, 15, 10)
Push-ups (20, 15, 10)

Finish with a .25 mile cool down

Weight: 172 lbs

2.5 Hours Climbing
Best day of climbing yet. Many bold, confident leads with sure footed reaches on exposed moves; even a near-dyno. The 15 foot lead fall I took last week did wonders for my lead head.

I took a really bad fall three years ago at Rumney (Masterpiece, 5.10a, Bonsai Cliff) and haven't taken a significant fall since. I always knew it screwed with my head, but it honestly feels like I had a spike removed from my temple. I'm still a bit tentative when I get pumped out. I need to relearn self-control to get through those moves.

I should be back to my best red points by summer.

5.6 x 2, L, warm-up
5.9, L, 1 hang
5.9, TR
5.9, L, RP
5.9, L, 1 hang (good stemming)
5.9, L, RP (same climb)
5.8, L, 1 hang (aggressively overhanging)

WOD
.25 mile warm up
3 x 5 Bench (110, 95, 95)
3 x 5 Incline (110, 95, 95)
4 x 10 Curls (15, 20, 25, 20)
3 x 15 Reverse Wrist Curls (8)
3 x 10 Door Knobs (8)

The Atkins Diet?

My climbing partner revealed that she's on the Atkins diet. Quoi? You mean the fad diet that shortened its founder's life? I tried hard to stifle a laugh. Now, I'm no Taoist but it seems that any diet, or exercise regime for that matter, that encourages unbalanced input to gain a magic bullet output immediately cocks my head sideways.

She's smart, works out often, and very in-tune with her body, so I really don't understand where she's going with this. She talks about maintaining weight a lot, and probing further, she admitted that one of the benefits of Atkins is that you lose weight quickly in the first week. I don't like the sound of that.

I've mentioned Crossfit to her, and she occasionally asks for advice on lifting, but nothing more. I don't push her about it either. There's nothing worse than an evangelizer.

Update:
She quit less than a week later. "That diet sucked," was all she offered.

Calories: 2421
Weight: 174 lbs (WTF?)

2 hours climbing
5.6 x 2 Lead, warm-up
5.8, Lead, RP
5.9, Lead, 1 hang
5.8, Lead, 1 hang

WOD
2 x 10 shoulder flies (10, 15)

Sets: 3
Reps: (10, 15, 15)

Back extensions
Dumb bell Thrusters (15, 20, 15)
Crunches
V-ups
Medicine Ball drops (8 lbs)

New England Ice is Coming

100_2646
Originally uploaded by Choizilla.

Here's a picture from Avalon in the last ice climb of the season. Hoping against hope, we drove up to Crawford Notch in late March. Through most of the drive the outside temperature read between 40 - 50 degrees. As we had hoped, once we hit the unpredictable Franconia Notch, it was 30 and snowing.

Hiking up to gain altitude, we were surprised to hit deep snow and fat ice. What a first season! In an unusually warm year I got eight ice days last year. I'll get a lot fewer this year down in DC though. But... I get three weeks on each end of winter.

There are clear limitations to metrics like BMI (Body Mass Index). In my case, I'm 5'4" but weigh 172 lbs. That gives me a hefty 29.5 score, deep into the "overweight," and, just shy of "obese." Now, I'm far from optimal shape, but when I was in the best shape of my life I was around 160-165 lbs with about 5.6% body fat. To hit the top side of "normal" I'd have to weigh in at a scant 145 lbs. The last time I weighed that, I was a starving intern. Before that, I was 14.

I come from a family of two body types. Tall and skinny, or short and muscular. Or, if you're my father, tall and muscular. Freak...

I once arranged for sea kayaks by phone in Maine. The guide was skeptical about my body description, and he was sure I'd never get into the thing, and worse--he thought my Grimace-esque physique would tip the kayak in a sudden swell, and I'd die because he'd never get me to shore safely. He had a let-down speech all prepared.

I guess this is my long-winded way of saying that BMI is not a good metric for me, and two, does anyone know what is?

* * *

Allow me to explain the discrepancy between my weight goal (155 lbs) and my description of best shape weight above. First, I was a high school gymnast at the time. I'll never be that strong, fit, or cut again, especially in that ratio. And secondly, I'm a rock climber now, and the extra weight is hindering my progress and I can't work beyond a difficulty ceiling I've hit. Worse, the extra weight is stressing tendons and ligaments in my arms from overuse. And three, it really wouldn't kill me to eat better and increase my cardio ability.

Calories: 1884
Weight: 170

REST

Calories: 3699

Yowza! Dinner parties can be a killer! Lay off the desserts!

1.75 hours of throwing:

Warm up throws
Long toss
Fly ball to infield
30 pitches

5 x 10 Push-ups

Calories: 2888

REST

More Kettlebell

I've given some serious thought to getting a 1 pood kettlebell. My crazy Crossfit friends from Boston continue to rave about what an excellent training tool the kettlebell is. I just need to put hand to wallet to make this happen.

Dragon Door offers kettlebells and information on how to use them to get wrecked.

Calories: 2691
I guess it was a cheat day today. I had a Pizze di Mare at Pizzeria Paradiso in Dupont Circle. Soda is also a major killer.

WOD
1 x 15 push-ups
4 x 10 push-ups

WOD Thu

Calories: 2098

WOD: Michael (cut in half)
3 Sets
.05 + .25 mile (~3:30 ave)
25 sit-ups
25 back extensions (yoga style)

+

.05 + .25 (end with a run)

Time: 26 min

2.5 hrs Climbing

5.6 L warm up
5.6 L warm up
5.9 L, 1 hang
5.8 L, 1 hang, 15' lead fall

Laps on lead
5.7, 5.7, 5.8+, 5.7 (1 hang)

Calories: 2245

REST

No throwing today. Andy, my throwing partner, is moving back to Texas. That really throws a kink in my plans for world pitching domination. It's difficult to find a person who has pitching knowledge, is willing to throw for 2 hours, and isn't a complete arrogant prick.

I had this beautiful plan to incorporating sprint training after throwing. Anyone else out there need a throwing a partner?

Calories: 2098

WOD
3 x 10 Thrusters (15, 20, 20)
3 x 10 Pull-ups

4 x 10 Shoulder Flies (10, 10, 15, 10)
3 x 15 Reverse Wrist Curls (8)
4 x 10 V-ups (8)
2 x 10 Abdomen bounce (8)

Time (for above): :40

2 hours climbing
5.6 L, Warm up
5.6 L, Warm up
5.9 L, O Jogo Bonito, RP
5.8 L, To the Floor, 1 hang
5.9 L, Plucky, 2 hangs
5.8+ L, Powerpoint, RP
5.10b TR, 3 hangs

Calories: 2737

REST

Too early in the process for a cheat day. I definitely need to keep a lid on this. One thing I discovered that's very satisfying (for a while) is to have a huge salad in the middle of the day. By "huge," I mean one that fits in large mixing bowl. Luckily for me, I'm not a big dressing guy. 2 Tbs is all I need.

What killed me today: 2 packages of ramen and 4 chocolate chip cookies (852 calories!). On the latter, I didn't even like dessert until I met my wife. Now it's my kryptonite.

Calories: 2574
Walked 1 mile

Oldie but Goldie: Urban Ninja

Do you do these sports?

* Crossfit
* Rock & Ice Climbing
* Baseball (Throw, Hit) - Mens League
* Gymnastics - Adult

Contact me if you're looking for a training parter.

Acronyms & Terms Used on This Site

More Crossfit FAQs.

BW - Bodyweight (e.g. 165 lbs)
CF - Crossfit
DB - Dumbbell
HSPU - Handstand push-up
KB - Kettlebell
Kettlebell - Basically a cannonball with a handle.
OHS - Overhead squat
Pood - Russian unit of measurement. 1 pood = 16.38 kg or 36.11 lbs.
PU - Pull-up
Rx - Workout as prescribed by Crossfit or the instructor
Tabata - 8 rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 sec rest
WOD - Workout of the day

WOD - Regular Schedule

Optional WOD Additions:

100-250 Push-ups
100-250 Squats
100-250 Sit-ups
100 Pull-ups or Dip ladders (1-2-3...10...3-2-1)

See Below:
Sprints
Sprint Ladders
Quad Busters
Pull-up Madness

- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sunday: Cindy
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats
As many as possible in 20 min

Baseball workout (see below)

Monday: Active Rest
100 - 150 Push-ups, Squats, Sit-ups
Increase each week by one set up to 200 total

Tuesday: Fran
100 - 150 Push-ups, Squats, Sit-ups
Dumbbell thrusters 25#
Pull-ups
(21, 15, 9 reps for time)

+ Optional (above)

Wednesday: Throwing
100 - 150 Push-ups, Squats, Sit-ups
Sprint ladders (see below)
Warm up
Long Toss
Pitches

Thursday: Mary
100 - 150 Push-ups, Squats, Sit-ups
5 handstand push-ups
5 1-legged squats (each leg)
15 pull-ups
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes

+ Optional (above)

Friday: Active Rest
100 - 150 Push-ups, Squats, Sit-ups
Optional WOD

Saturday: REST

- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sprint Speed: Once a week
3 x 30M
3 x 40M
3 x 50M
(lots of rest in between sets)

Sprint Endurance: 1-2 a week
Sprint ladder
100M-200-300-400-500-400-300-200-100
(1 min for every 100M run)

Quad Busters
3 Rounds for time
111 Tuck Jump
111 Squats
111 Walking lunges
+1 Squat or burpee to make 1000 reps

Pull-up Madness
Do a pull-up ladder resting for the remainder of one minute.

• Min 1: 1 pull-up, rest for remainder of that minute (approx 58 sec)
• Min 2: 2 pull-ups, rest for remainder of that minute (approx 55 sec)

Continue until you cannot finish the prescribed number inside 60 seconds.


- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Baseball
10-12 rounds in the cages (slow, med, fast) -- 120-144 at balls
Toss and pitch for 30 minutes
Face live BP

Personal Records

Cindy
12 -- 1/14/07
17 (+) --

Fran:
7:30 (chin-ups) -- 1/23/07
13:30 -- 1/16/07
23:45 (25# thrusters) -- 1/9/07

Mary
6 + 1 -- 1/18/07
4 + 15 -- 1/11

Quad Busters

Pull-up Madness
15 -- 2/13/07

FAQ

Based on search terms used to find this site:

What's a push-up ladder? (Dip ladder, Pull-up ladder)
A ladder is doing a prescribed number of exercises or movements, first ascending in number, then returning to the start number. For example, a push-up ladder would be 1 push-up, rest, then 2 push-ups, rest, then 3 all the way up to, say 10, then back down to 1. Similarly, a sprint ladder would be something like 100 meters - 150 - 200 - 250 - 300 - 250 - 200- 100, with plenty of rest in between.

How do I train for handstand push-ups?
By doing them. Plain and simple. It's an awkward and strenuous exercise to be sure. Do them against the wall or assisted by a partner hold your feet.

You can also start by doing decline push-ups or assisted handstand push-ups by putting your feet higher (like on a couch arm), bending your butt so that the top half of your body is inverted and vertical. You can also do them against a wall with your hands on top of books so your head can sink slightly lower.

Be sure to watch your wrists, which can get quite sore if you're not used to this motion. I've been using a sturdy set of push-up bars, or you can make parallettes. Be sure the push-up bars can support your weight. Nothing will ruin your day like smashing your face into the floor.