I’m at that stage in any exercise program where my body is seriously under stress from the exercise and doesn’t really like it, it has to be said.
Last Monday was fun,
21-18-15-12-9-6- and 3 rep rounds of:
1 1/2 pood Kettlebell swing
Pull-ups
Even though I didn’t have a kettlebell, I was more than happy with the dumbbell. My pull ups were weak but I justified it with having been away at the weekend. But as the weekend continued I just felt increasingly lethargic. For the first time since I’d started, I was dreading the workout ahead - feeling like I wasn’t up to it. My shoulders felt heavy and my enthusiasm wasn’t there. Strangely enough, I had the feeling that I was no longer pushing myself and selling myself short.
Tuesday:
Push press 3-3-3-3-3-3-3 reps
It took me one set longer than I wanted to to reach heavy effort, but I did: 35Kg, 45Kg, 50Kg, 55Kg, 57.5Kg, 60Kg, 62.5Kg. Although at the time I thought the bar was 20Kg (turns out it’s 15Kg) so learning this post workout bummed me out a little. I was happy after round 4 that I was pushing myself. But there’s a funny thing about max lifts for me. You recover quickly enough, even though at the time you can barely budge the weight.
Wednesday was when things got really tough. I could barely lift the weight for the deadlift, even after the scaling I needed to drop the weight. And along with dropping the weight came the guilt that I wasn’t really trying. I was just going for a light exercise that would work up a sweat. Had I reached the point where I expected to breeze through the workouts and only have a light sweat at the end of it? Was I pussying out and reverting back to hang around the gym mentality? I completed the workout of the day in 15:30.7 which made me feel like I was - but my form with the deadlift, particularly on the descent, was putting a lot of strain on my back. Add one more thing I need to work on.
Thank God Thursday was a rest day, I was really feeling the strain when I was coaching and sparring Wednesday. I’d have moments of power (even managed to lift Adam off the ground for a brief second) but it would only last long enough to start a move, not to complete it! Strangely enough on Thursday, even though my timing was off completely, I still held the same anxious desire to get back into it Friday.
Friday didn’t help me much either, a severe lack of sleep and a hangover meant I sweated buckets for what seemed like very little effort.
Complete as many rounds in twenty minutes as you can of:
65 pound barbell Thruster, 15 reps
21 Jumping pull-ups
I decided to do 10 regular pull ups but even asking this was a lot. A pathetic 7 rounds, but really it should have been higher, I know it should have.
On Saturday, I was called to do:
Power Snatch 3-3-3-3-3-3-3 reps
Another toughie for me, and once again it highlighted massive flaws in my lifting technique. I don’t employ my hips enough and so the bar decelerates from the knees instead of getting quicker. My weights were: 40Kg, 50Kg (fail - arms bent, then re-extended), 45Kg, 47.5Kg, 47.5Kg, 50Kg, 50Kg. I’m a long way off snatching 100Kg! Afterwards I went for 30 laps (600m) - 15 front/15 breast. The rest of the day was spent in a slumber. I couldn’t even go out Saturday night.
Sunday came, and I was still feeling tired. Drained to pieces. But as much as I felt knackered, I didn’t want to fall into exusitus. It’s too easy for me, and I didn’t want to do that again. Sunday, the God’s of Crossfit had decided, was a chance to redeem myself for Friday:
Complete as many rounds as you can in twenty minutes of:
135 pound barbell Thruster, 7 reps
Weighted pull-up, 50 lbs, 7 reps
Ouch! This one hurt all over. I was just unable to lift the bar and do 7 thrusters. BTW, I’d dropped the weight to 50Kg on the bar, and started with 18Kg on the weighted PUs, but quickly dropped to 14Kg. Even then I was counting anytime I got my arms to 90 degrees as a success, getting my chin over the bar was just not happening!
Sweating buckets, I did 5 rounds, 7 thrusters, 3 PUs. I slept the rest of Sunday, exhausted.
Even though this week sucked, and to a degree I let my diet slip and felt like I let myself down to a degree, on Monday I went for a relaxing run, just to keep the engine ticking over.
Today Crossfit prescribed a 10K run. Despite my best efforts, this was just not happening. I’m going to go for a 5K now. If I manage 30 minutes, I’ll be happy.