300 - Days 32 & 33

I missed my run yesterday due to rain. I might try to make this up sometime this upcoming week as a morning workout, followed by an easier workout during the day.

I did finish my box today though and was able to do my box jump and KB workout. I kinda skipped my regular warm-up and just did 10 box jumps to warm-up.

Afterward, I completed the following:

50 box jumps, no rest
50 KB Snatch, 25 w/ each hand
25 two hand swings
25 right hand swings
25 left hand swings
5 second static KB hold to the front (shoulder height) each hand
20 second static KB hold to front, both hands
15 Military Press (each hand)

This workout worked up a sweat and I can feel it in my lower back, thighs and shoulders.

Day 31 - Dead Lifts 5,5,5,5,5

I started with 135# and worked up in intervals of 50 and 40 pounds alternating:

135
185 (~bodyweight)
225
275 (~1.5bodyweight)
315

This just made things easier - add 2x25#, remove - add 2x45#. I think I'll work with heavier deadlifts more often - like bodyweight and 1.5x bodyweight. Since Linda required 1.5x bodyweight as rx'd (prescsribed) - and I had trouble with the 315 - I only got 3 reps in. In fact, it took me 3 attempts to get it off the ground originally - I ended up having to change my grip up using 1 overhand 1 underhand. I had to switch which hand did which after 2 reps and couldn't get 4 in.

After my failure to complete 5 reps of 315, I backed it down to 275 and again did 5 reps of that. Total 28 reps - 6420# total. I currently weight in at 182 - so I'll consider 180 to be BW and 270 to be 1.5xBW.

300 - Day 29 & 30

Schedule for this week:

Day 29 - Rest
Day 30 - Rest
Day 31 - Dead lifts - 5,5,5,5,5 - increasing weight
Day 32 - 1600m Run Time trial + 2X800m
Day 33 - KB, Box Jumps, at home bodyweight
Day 34 - Floor Wipers (50), Burpees (50), Hanging Leg Raises (50), Push-Ups (50)
Day 35 - "Jackie" - 1000m Row, 50 45# Thrusters, 30 Pull-Ups - timed

On my rest days, I have worked on the frog stance - accomplishing first a 23 second hold, then a 34 second hold. 34 seconds is my current record. Also attempted without the dumbbells - only 8 seconds - I'll have to work on that.

Oh - strike that - I just tried another frog stance, inspired by the fact that I was blogging about it and beat my record. 43 seconds. Followed by a 44 second ab cramp. Ow.

I had originally planned on the Dead Lifts for today - but my legs are still sore from the 270 bodyweight squats. I'm still quite surprised at how effective 20 minutes of bodyweight exercises can be. Shoulders, traps, pecs and legs are still sore.

Anyway - I'll post the results tomorrow and try to get my next week or two up.

300 - Day 28 - Fun with Cindy

I met Cindy in the gym today - and she gave me a workout. Judging by the aftermath, I think day 1 of week 5 will be a rest day.

As a reminder, Cindy consists of 20 minutes of:
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats (bodyweight)

As many cycles as you can get through in the 20 minute limit.

I started the workout with an abbreviated warm-up - 800m run, 10 push-ups, 15 sit-ups 10 dips with some light stretching afterward.

I had set a goal of 14 cycles. Unfortunately I think I left my report card at work - I had recorded the times I had finished several cycles at. Either way - up until cycle 13 I had finished all of my cycles ahead of the corresponding minute.

I ended up completing 18 cycles, plus an additional 5 pull-ups and 8 push-ups in the 20 minutes.

My totals - 95 pull-ups, 188 push-ups and 270 squats in 20 minutes.

I was happy with the results. I had read that the goal should be to be able to do 1 per minute for the 20 minutes - and I was pretty close on my first try. I was pretty surprised as well - I expected the squats to slow me down as they are a relatively slow movement - but at around set 10, I figure out how to do these a little quicker - granted, at that point I was too tired to move at full speed - but it might be advantageous in the future.

The squats are what winded me. Granted, I was getting tired toward the end of both the 5 pull-ups and 10 push-ups after about set 12 or 13 - but the squats were increasing my heart rate enough that I physically needed to slow down. I was not ever unable to finish the required reps for a given exercise without stopping - good sign. It was just being winded and tired that made me rest for longer than I should have needed to between sets.

Anyway, lessons learned for next time.

300 - Day 27 - 5000m Row

I didn't complete this workout for time. Even if I had been planning it, my legs were still too sore today from the last few days to try and break any records. Even my calves are sore today (must be from the pistol squats?).

So anyway, warm-up:
800m Run (4:51)
34 seconds of Frog Stance (only 3 reps! - with one 15 second rep)
20 sit-ups - explosive up and slow down
20 push-ups - Arms in the planche position near the hips
20 squats
10 dead-hang pull-ups
Some light stetching

I rowed my 5000m in 21:53.9. I'm pretty sure I can do better when I'm fresh - but I'll save that test for another day. Tomorrow is Cindy - complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

I'm going to set a goal for 14 rounds, but certainly do my best to blow by it. Goals should be attainable but challenging - hopefully this one is both, but as I have never attempted Cindy before, its hard to say. I know I can knock out 24 pull-ups at a time.. so spread out a little I can hopefully hit 70 total over the course of 20 minutes, 5 at a time. I'll let you know tomorrow.

300 - Day 26 - Hello, Froggy.

Today was certainly not a traditional workout routine. I spent most of my time developing the frog stance. I started this out earlier in the day after cleaning the shed, outside on the lawn. I didn't do my usual warm-up routine before this, as I was already sweating rather profusely (it was a big mess and I built a new bench/shelf to help straighten it out.)

So I got right into it. Actually, I started out with some 1 legged pistol squats - first 3 on each leg with body weight and then with my 30# kettlebell. I realized I have to develop my balance a little bit doing these.

I then went into the frog stance. I managed to do a total of 60 seconds worth of frog stance after only 14 repetitions. My longest stance was 8 seconds - which means the other 13 averaged 4 seconds a piece. I clearly had to work on it. However, I had been reading a bit out of Pavel's "The Naked Warrior" to expand my understanding of the types of exercises I would be doing - and his philosophy is based on doing a low amount of reps, doing it right, but also doing it while fresh. I had also read somewhere about working on this particular exercise for a total of 60 seconds (until you get to the point where you can hold it for 60 seconds).

So, after several hours of rest (and dinner) I worked on this yet again. This time I decided to give myself a bit of an advantage and use my 20# dumbbells as grips, instead of placing my hands on the ground. This did make it easier - I did attain a 17 second stance and finished my 60 seconds in only 9 repetitions - and actually reached 65 seconds - 3 different repetitions of 10 seconds or more. I think I will work up to my 60 seconds using the weights and then progress to hands on the ground.

Also during my day routine, I did some push-up variations that are more aimed toward development of muscles involved in the planche - with my hand much closer to my hips, as opposed to out to the side as I usually do. This was a lot of extra work for me - I could feel it in my shoulders. I also did sat in the planche position with my feet braced against a wall and did a few wall planche push-ups - also very tough.

I may start incorporating 15-30 seconds of frog stance into my warm-up - and probably 60 seconds into my home workouts.

300 - Day 25

I ran today. It's the first time I've run any type of distance since I began the new program. I only ran 3.5 miles - but it was really a lot harder than I thought it should have been. It may have been the heat and humidity; or it could have been the fact that I haven't run anything over 1 mile in about a month; but most likely it was because my thighs were still burning from previous day's workout.

I'm actually a little surprised at how sore 30 squats and 30 thrusters made me. Not to mention my abdominals are sore too - and my shoulders. Surprising because I thought I had planned a less than maximally effective workout when it was over. It wasn't easy, I guess - the movements themselves were largely difficult - but at the end of it, I didn't really feel like I accomplished too much.

But I could tell differently today about 1 mile out on the run. I really wanted to walk about 2 miles in - but I ended up going 3.5.

I started out warming up by running to the bike trail near my house. This is about .6 miles or about 1 kilometer. There is a small playground right near the beginning of the the bike trail, so I used the support bars for the slide to do pull-ups, and a bench to do my "box jumps". The warm-up:

1km Run
10 Pull-ups
10 box-jumps
20 push-ups
15 seconds Samson Stretch for each leg

Followed by a 3.5 mile run in the beating heat, which I didn't time. It wasn't really fast, because as I said, my thighs were burning - but it was a good run. A nice easy day, despite that it made my thighs burn more than they already had.

Of course, my run was followed with another 1km cool-down back home after about a half mile walk. All in all with the warm-up and cool-down, the run was close to 5 miles total. I don't see any reason not to work one of these in every 2-3 weeks, instead of just doing short distance - probably not the day after a workout that ends up busting my legs up though.

300 - Days 22, 23 and 24

My schedule for the week of Day 22:

Day 22 - REST
Day 23 - REST
Day 24 - Core Emphasis - Overhead Squats, Hanging Leg Raises, Barbell Thrusters, L-Sits and Exercise-Ball Back Extensions
Day 25 - AM Run
Day 26 - Either Crossfit321 or gymnastic style strength conditioning - work on obtaining moves such as the planche, l-sits, hand-stand push-ups, etc. - moves such as the frog stance, wall planche, modified push-ups, uni-lateral bodyweight training, etc.
Day 27 - 5000m Row
Day 28 - Cindy

I did my day 24 workout today.

I started with my warm-up routine:
800m Row - 3:18.1
20 push-ups
20 sit-ups
10 pull-ups
20 bodyweight squats
15 seconds of Samson Stretches, each leg

I then did the following exercises:

Overhead Squats - 95#, 95#, 115# - 10 reps each
Hanging Leg Raises - 3x10
Barbell Thrusters 95# 3x10
L-sits - 3x 15 seconds (this is tough, by the way!)
Exercise-Ball Back Extensions - 10, 12, 10 reps

My other goals for the weekend are to:
1) Finish my jumping box (almost done)
2) Weeks 5 and 6 workout schedule

I'll post back tomorrow.

300 - Day 21

Almost finished with my box. Just need to cut out and screw down the top and bottom surfaces, then I'm good to go. It's going to end up being about 24.5 inches (unless I cut the legs down a bit... which I don't think I will) because I measured the legs at 24 inches and didn't think about the plywood on top and bottom. Either way, it won't hurt to practice with an extra half inch or so.

So I started today's workout with the new warm-up routine:

800m run (maybe closer to 1000)
20 squats
30 push-ups
25 sit-ups

I then went into my kettleball routine (no box jumps).

I repeated the following twice with my 30lb Kettlebell:

10x per side Windmill
25x 2 arm swing
10x 2 arm snatch
10x 1 arm press
15x 2 arm military press

I would have liked to have done more, but it was already getting quite late. Speaking of which, I need to get home and finish building my box. I haven't finalized my 3 week schedule yet for weeks 4-6, but Day 22 (today) will be a rest day. I'll try to get something posted after daylight fades and I have to head inside.

300 - Day 19 & 20

I substituted my fartleks on day 19 for 2 days at the beach. However, I didn't skimp out - I did go running on the beach sand - which still gives a good workout.

Either way, anything I may not have accomplished on Sunday was made up for during my rowing workout on Monday.

I decided after leaving the Crossfit321 gym on Saturday that it really is a good idea to do a well rounded and full warm-up prior to every workout - so the General Crossfit Workout is now going to be worked into my daily routine. This will consist of the following:

1000m Row OR 800m run
20-30 Push-Ups
20-30 Sit-Ups
10-15 Pullups or 15-20 Dips
20 Back Extensions
20 Box Jumps - 20-24"
Samson Stretch - 15-20 seconds per leg

This will vary from day to day, depending on the workout and equipment available. If I am doing my workout at home or at the gym at work, I will have to do swiss ball back extensions, or substitute with good mornings. If I am doing a pull-up centric workout, I will do the dips for the warm-up instead of the pull-ups. If I am doing a lot of chest focused exercises, I will do less push-ups, etc - on days that I row, I'll run for a warm-up, etc.

That being said, here was my workout for Day 20:

Warm-Up:
800m run (4:34)
20 push-ups
20 sit-ups
15 pull-ups
Samson stretch 15 seconds/leg

I then completed my 6x500 meter rows. I came out of the gate way too fast, as made evident by my times:

1. 1:36.2
2. 1:51.8
3. 1:57.1
4. 1:54.1
5. 1:52.7
6. 1:49.3

Had I not been so over-zealous on the first one, I might have been able to average closer to 1:45 to 1:48 or so - since after a brief rest (less intense intervals), I was able to finish my last one in 1:49.

I think in future workouts for this, I will have to set a goal of 1:45 +/- 5 seconds. This way I won't go out too fast, since the Concept II shows you your pace. Once I can maintain a 1:45 pace for 6 intervals, I can increase the intervals or the intensity.

I'd also like to get some actual benchmark times for the 500m, 1000m, 2000m and 5000m. Perhaps I can work these into my workout over the next 3 weeks (which is actually due for tomorrow!). I better go get to planning.

300 - Day 18

Crossfit321 beat me into the ground. It was good.

We started out with a warm-up that borders on a workout in itself:
1000m row
20 bodyweight squats
20 second Samson stretch, each leg
20 sit-ups
25 push-ups
15 pull-ups
20 back-extensions

After this, Shawn (the owner) asked me what experience I had, if any with the Dead Lift and Snatch. I told him that I incorporated them into my workout, but that I had never been taught proper form. So we spent probably 20 minutes or so going over proper form for the dead lift and snatch.

After that, Shawn introduced me to Linda. I had a lot of fun with Linda - I was worn out by the end of it. Linda consists of the following:

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Repetitions of
1.5x Bodyweight Deadlift
Bodyweight BenchPress
3/4 Bodyweight Clean

Total 55 repetitions for each exercise.

We ended up modifying this workout for those that did it. I used:

Bodyweight Deadlift (185)
Bodyweight Benchpress (185)
about 50% bodyweight Clean (95)

It took me about 43 minutes - I might have finished earlier, but there was some chit-chatting and stuff mixed in.

Today though, I am sore. Real sore. Certainly toward the end of the workout I was having a little bit of trouble with the benchpress making my reps - but my forearms were killing me. On my set of 5, I had to drop my deadlift at set 3, because I physically could not hang on.

This workout is a challenge, even modified. I don't think I would have been able to complete it with the specified weights (This would have been about a 275 Deadlift, 185 Benchpress and 140 clean) because my forearms would have given out for sure.

Today, my forearms, shoulders, lower back and the part of my pecs connecting my arms to my body are sore. I would say it is one of the more effective crossfit workouts I have done to date. I'll definitely be going back to get a membership of some sort - even if I can only make it in once a week, the expertise among the members and trainers there will greatly improve my technique for exercises across the board, making my exercises more effective and less dangerous.

I learned a lot just about the dead lift. The reason I didn't do dead lifts for a while was because I hurt my back doing them - because when I looked the exercise up online, I found the straight leg variation - and my lower back was weak at the time.

I fixed this by finding a new variation that someone described as a squat with the bar hanging down in front, instead of on your shoulders. This was less dangerous and never resulted in injury - but apparently was still bad form. By the end of yesterday, I had good form for the dead-lift - and I was "getting" the clean - which consists of a partial dead-lift.

So I'm certainly happy with the experience and would suggest the Crossfit321 to anyone interested in CrossFit training - or anyone looking to dramatically increase their fitness level.

300 - Day 17

I'll have to adjust my 400m run time to 1:15 +/- 5 seconds. The goal was +/- 5 on 1:20, which I did for all but 1 split. Here are the times:

Split 1 - 1:13
Split 2 - 1:16.75
Split 3 - 1:17.50
Split 4 - 1:19.50
Split 5 - 1:17.50
Split 6 - 1:18

1st mile time at 5:06.75
Last 800m at 2:35.50

All under 1:20 - only 1 within 1 second of the goal time. It felt pretty good too. Next 400m repeat workout I'll do 8 with 1:15 +/- 7 for the goal time.

Now its time to take a shower and go to bed - I have to get up early in time to make it crossfit321 by 7.

300 - Change of Plan

My plan for this week (week 3) was as follows:

Day 15 - Kettleball workout with box jumps (need to get that box built!)
Day 16 - 6X 400m run repeats for time. The plan is 1:20 for 400m +/- 5 seconds.
Day 17 - Floor Wipers; Dead Lifts; Dumbbell Shoulder Press/Push-Press; Walking Lunges; Pull-Ups - I'll do more resting between sets than I did for day 8's workouts, but I will do these workouts sequentially.
Day 18 - Stretch/Rest
Day 19 - 2-3 mile Fartlek Run
Day 20 - 6x500m Rows
Day 21 - Stretch/Rest

Now, I missed day 15 because I hadn't built my jumping box yet (still haven't), so I decided to swap this out with the rest day on Day 18. I also ended up skipping Day 16, because we decided on steak for dinner - I was going to do my interval runs after work (I get home at 6:30) - and usually if I have a run to do after dinner, I eat only a small portion first - workout after a couple hours of letting the food settle and then finish dinner. Well, with steak for dinner, I couldn't let it get cold to be reheated - so I ended up taking another day off. I think this is a good thing, as much of my soreness is gone. However, today's workout (Day 17) I now also want to miss, because I've decided to do something different tomorrow.

In the town I live, Brunswick, ME there is a crossfit gym that has just recently opened up, called Crossfit321. I stopped in one day to see what they are all about and it happens that for new people, they have a free demo day on Saturday mornings. My plan is to go check them out tomorrow and see what they can offer. I don't want to do this the day after a workout that is likely to leave me pretty sore, as I want to be fresh, in case they have something particularly gruelling planned for the newbies. Besides, if they are willing to teach some olympic style lifts on day 1 - I want to be fresh enough to get these right.

So I think today I am going to make up my 400m repeats, as we are probably only having chicken for dinner - and that I don't mind re-heating at all. I will then drop today's workout in swap for tomorrow and move my kettleball workout to Day 21 - which gives me the weekend to get my box built. I think this works out pretty well.

The re-arranged schedule is as follows:

Day 15 - Stretch/Rest
Day 16 - Stretch/Rest
Day 17 - 6X 400m run repeats for time. The plan is 1:20 for 400m +/- 5 seconds.
Day 18 - At the mercy of Crossfit 321
Day 19 - 2-3 mile Fartlek Run
Day 20 - 6x500m Rows
Day 21 - Kettleball workout with box jumps (need to get that box built!)

If all goes well with CrossFit321, I may start going there once a week or so. They allow you to drop in for a single visit pass for $12. The also have 10-pass punch cards, and monthly memberships - each of which I believe comes with a military discount where applicable. The 10-day pass will probably be best for me, as I have a free gym at work and can run, bike and do kettlebells currently at home (soon to have a jumping box - still no plan yet for the pull-up bar). The 10-visits might last me 2 months - and I gain the advantage of their expertise - the credentials on the owner/founder are as follows:

ACSM Certified Health and Fitness Specialist
NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Certified CrossFit Coach Level 1
TPI Certified Golf Fitness Instructor
ISSN Certified Sports Nutritionist
B.S. in Exercise Science

So all in all, pretty knowledgable. I may also change my weekly routines so that my two rest days are always together - kind of like the feeling of being rested up.

300 - Background

So this is me on May 7, 2008 - just a little over a year ago. I weighed in at about 198 lbs at 5'8".











And from the side:
















And of course, here is me flexing:


When I took these pictures, I decided that I wanted to start working out more often than I had been to see where it got me.

Let's go back a bit further. When I was in middle school I was a soccer player - pretty good too. However, when I got to high school, I weighed in at about 125-130lbs. I was way too small to want to play against some of the people that were on the team at the time, so instead I got in to running track. I did that the first year of high school. The next year, I was at school after school one day and my track coach (who also coached cross-country) asked me why I wasn't out for the cross country team. I didn't have a reason - so the next day, I joined the team.

By the end of my high school career, I could run 1 mile in under 5 minutes (okay - so 4:59 was my fastest time), 800m (1/2 mile) in 2:04, and 400m (1/4 mile) in 52 seconds. Immediately after high school, I joined the Army Reserves. I was the only person in my platoon to pass our first PT test.

At the end of Basic Training I was in what was probably the best shape of my life. For those of you that don't know how the Army APFT works, here is the breakdown:

2 minutes for maximum push-ups
10 minute rest
2 minutes for maximum sit-ups
10 minute rest
2 mile run for time

Depending on you age, your raw score for each event is translated into an event score - for my current age, 75 Push-ups is MAX (100 points) with 40 being MIN for passing (60 points). Sit-ups is 80 MAX and 50 MIN. The run is 13:00 MAX and 16:36 MIN.

Sit-ups have always been my weak event - but by the last APFT in basic, I had managed to MAX it. My 2 mile time when I joined the Army was 11:17. However, since my running training was no longer as intense as it had been during track season, my final APFT was around 12:00. My push-up raw score was 78 PUs and I barely maxed the sit-ups with 78 (max at that age) for a total score on the extended scale of 309.

Since that PT test, my run had gotten progressively slower, along with my sit-ups. My push-ups also got pretty bad for a while. So it got to a point at one time that my 2 mile run was only about 2 minutes slower than my high-school 3 mile run time. I knew I had to do something.

Since then I have done biking, running and gone to the gym, like most people trying to get back in shape.

Here is what I have accomplished:

That's a picture of me the day I started this blog. No flexing.












Here's me flexing:


As of my last PT test, I completed 90 Push-ups (only utilized 1:10), 67 sit-ups and 14:06 for the 2 mile.

I'm doing much better - but I'm still not at the point where I would like to be. I want to be able to max my PT test again.

So I had heard of CrossFit and had heard a little bit about Kettle Bells. This year I was down at my 2 week AT - I was staying 2 miles from the gym with no transportation - so my daily routine consisted of running 2 miles there, working out and running back. At the gym, they had an upstairs which was a CrossFit area. I decided to check it out.

I spent about 1 hour doing mostly swings, mixed in with box jumps, medicine balls, rope climbs, dead-lifts, and pull-ups - included weighted pull-ups, hanging a 35 lb KB off each foot. I noticed that my heart rate stayed up much higher than it would during a regular gym workout - but I felt pretty good, so afterward I did captain's chairs along with resisted sit-ups.

When I went to run back to my lodging I started to notice that I could barely hold myself up at the waist. I only ran about 200 meters before I had to walk. I took turns walking/jogging the 2 miles back. The next day I was sore - but good enough to run 4 miles. However, the next day after that I couldn't bend at the waist. For 3 days, I couldn't bend over at the waist.

Now, I usually avoid lower back exercises, because when I was doing the whole Gym workout thing, I looked up dead-lifts online and stumbled across the straight-leg variation. Doing this, ended up needing to take about a week off, because I hurt my lower back doing these dead-lifts. I took about 1 week off completely, but was unable to do anything like squats, or anything that requires the lower back for close to a month. I was basically limited to isolation exercises.

Now, with the kettleball swings, I suffered no actual back injury, but I could tell by the feeling that I worked every muscle in my back harder than I ever had before.

I realized that CrossFit was the way to go. I still need to learn a lot of the basics, but I like the concepts - I read and learn a lot about fitness and the concepts are right in line with the most effective exercising methods. So I decided to try to see how I would fare against the 300 challenge - now here I am. I am willing to bet that by the time I am ready to complete the 300, I will be able to max the PT test - and it just so happens I will have a PT test within 3 weeks or so after my 3 months are up.

I started this blog at 183 lbs - so I want to see where I'm at toward the end.
Stick around to see!

300 - Day 14

So week 2 is over - or at least, I have finished my exercises for week 2. 79 days, or 11 weeks and 2 days to go.

Todays workout was good - about 45 minutes long, including getting changed and showered - but I still feel its at least as effective as some of the exercises I was doing before. Here's the run down for today:

Squat (135#) - 20
Dumbbell Shoulder Press (35#/arm) - 15
Walking Lunge (35#/arm) - 24 Lunges (12/leg)
Pull-Ups (neutral) - 20

Squat (225#) - 12
Dumbbell Shoulder Press (40#/arm) - 12
Walking Lunge (35#/arm) - 24 Lunges (12/leg)
Pull-Ups (neutral) - 15

Squat (225#) - 8
Dumbbell Shoulder Press (40#/arm) - 10
Walking Lunge (35#/arm) - 24 Lunges (12/leg)
Pull-Ups (neutral) - 15

I felt this one in the legs, which is good.
Looking at my workout for tomorrow, I'm supposed to be doing kettlebells with box jumps - and I still don't have my box built. I was really hoping that actually putting it on the scheduled would give me motivation to get it done on time. Of course, having reserve drill over the last weekend and working 10 hour days this week didn't help at all - but we'll see, maybe I can get these made when I get home - otherwise I might have to move some things around. I notice that I have a couple rest days right next to eachother - I might move that up to tomorrow (especially depending on the weather) so I can take time off tomorrow to build my box.

If I do that, I can put up my story about how this all got started.

I'll keep you posted.

300 - Day 13

I ran my 1-mile time trial - so I'll wait another 2 weeks before doing this again.
I made pretty good time, coming in at 6:02. Just over 2 minutes. That's pretty exciting, since I haven't done that in a long while - it would be nice to be under 6 minutes for a mile again. Of course, my real goal is to get my 2 mile time back under 13 minutes so I can get 100% on my APFT run.

Of course, for that to really matter, I also need to get my sit-ups up to like 82 in 2 minutes.

That said, I did sit-ups after my run - just one set of 50 in a little over 60 seconds. Now my back is all covered in grass - so time for a shower.

300 - Day 12

I skipped the Day 11 workout that I was going to make up today. I had originally planned on taking a PT test instead of doing this workout - which would have consisted of 2 minutes of push-ups, 2 minutes of sit-ups and a 2 mile run - but I ended up not doing this. However, I realized that my goal for the 1 mile run time-trial was really only once every 2 weeks - not once weekly. So instead, I moved my Kettleball workout up to the current day (where its supposed to be anyway) and I'll make up for running tomorrow.

I ended up doing about 60 minutes of various kettlebell work, along with pull-ups.
Exercises included:

Double Arm Swing
Single Arm Swing
Each of the above with catch and release
Also the above with a KB flip (I was working on being able to catch this with both hands).
Also swings with hand switches
KB Squat
One arm KB ericeps extension
Two arm KB triceps extension
Overhead press (single and double arm)
Clean and Press

As well as some more exercises that I have to find a name for - one included a behind-the-leg pass from one hand to the other, into an uppercut movement, catching with the opposite hand. Another included side-ways swings from one hand to the other, to work my abdominal/trunk muscles.

For this workout I used my new 30lb KB. I still need to get a 1 pood (36lb/15kg) KB before I can do my 300 challenge again.

I also did 4 sets of various pull-ups, ranging from wide-arm where I pulled until my chest (about nipple level) touched the bar (9 of these), a set where I pulled the bar to my upper back (this focuses more on the shoulders/upper-back and trapz) (6 of these), underhand grip pull-ups (13) and a set of regular chins (7).

This was a good workout - I can certainly feel it in my lowerback.

300 - Day 11

So today I made up Day 10's workout, since I took that day off. I didn't have my plan with me, but I knew I had planned for Barbell Thrusters and Dead Lifts.

I learned that, at least for now, I probably ought to do my Barbell Thrusters (BT) with less weight than I used for the Dead Lifts (DL). I alternated sets of BTs and DLs using the same weight - 135#. I was working informally without really recording anything (I didn't even count the BTs - I was just working on getting my form right) - but I did complete 25 repetitions for my first 2 sets of DLs - getting me half way to my goal of all 50 in one set.

All in all, I did approximately the following:

BT - 10
DL - 25
BT - 8
DL - 25
BT - 4
DL - 18

I have to admit, I didn't put as much into this one as I usually do - in fact, its quite possible that I may have done this exercise during an intermission between a couple of movies while hanging out after drill - after already having a couple brewskys in me. Just a couple though. I'll make up for it.

300 - Day 10

I ended up taking the day off on Friday - after work I needed to drive a couple hours for Reserve duty for the weekend. I hadn't had a rest day in a while and my shoulder had some pain in it - so I took a day off.

300 - Day 9

Here are the results from today's workout:

Warm-Up - 1/2mi (800m) jog - 5:04

Main Event:

500m Row - 1:41.5
Pull-Ups - 8
500m Row - 1:51
Pull-Ups - 6
500m Row - 1:52
Pull-Ups - 5
500m Row - 1:57.2
Pull-Ups - 3

Cool-down - 1/4mi (400m) - 3:23

I finished the entire event in 15:15, which included unbuckling my feet from the Concept 2 rower, moving between events, etc. My split (half way) came in at between 5-6 minutes.

The row totals at 7:21.7, so between Pull-Ups and resting in between, there's 7:38.3. This included drinking water (I wish I'd done more throughout the day prior to starting!) and recording my scores for the events. I don't think I can account for much more than 2 minutes with my pull-ups - which gives me at least 5 and a half minutes of rest time for this workout. A lot more than I had hoped for - but I guess that means it was a good workout.

300 - Day 8

Here's the workout I completed for Day 8 (yesterday):

For the Dumbbell Clean and Press, I used 2 35# Dumbbells.
For the Floor Wipers, I used a 135# Barbell.
Dips I did with bodyweight.
For the Captain's chair, I held a 15# weight with my feet.

600m Row for warm-up - 2:34

Clean and Press - 13 Reps
Floor Wipers - 20 Reps
Dips - 19 reps
Captain's Chair - 14 reps
Rest - 1 minute

Clean and Press - 7 Reps
Floor Wipers - 12 Reps
Dips - 12 reps
Captain's Chair - 10 reps
Rest - 1 minute

Clean and Press - 6 Reps
Floor Wipers - 12 Reps
Dips - 10 reps
Captain's Chair - 8 reps

800m Row Cool Down - 3:47

This was pretty hellacious. I was definitely sweating like a pig by the end of this one (I realize pigs cool themselves with mud and don't have functional sweat glands - where did that saying come from anyway?)

To determine what weights to use for the clean and press, I looked at my workout archive and came up with a number I felt was low enough to allow high repetitions, but high enough to still be affective. Honestly, I think I should have gone 5# lighter, as for the first round, it was one of my two lower rep movements - the other being the movement on the tail end of my set. This low number was acheived when I was still fresh. I would like to have used a weight that would have allowed me to get about 20 reps in like I did with 2 of the other 3 exercises.

I also think that next time I do something similar to this, I would have done the Captain's chair without weight. Now that I think about it, it really makes sense to let the second two events be bodyweight only events so that you get a partial recovery during those.

I clearly still need some work on the Floor Wipers, so I'm going to include those a bit in my workout plan.

To help with my pushing endurance in my shoulders, I think I will do a workout that consists of dumbbell presses - but when I start to go to failure on the 2nd and subsequent sets, I will transition to a push-press (legs allowed to get the weight moving).

Good news is that despite that I am doing fewer sets with mostly lower weights than I have been using in my standard weight-lifting routines prior to starting this new philosophy, I can certainly feel that my muscles are more sore the day after a workout - which at least means that I am using my muscles in ways that they have not yet adapted to. CrossFit banks on muscle confusion to keep from plateauing - that seems to be working. I'll explain more about this on a rest day article.

At night last night, I did dumbbell forearm curls of different variations - so I'm feeling that today too. Afterwards, I did a good amount of stretching. All in all a good day.

My Week 3 workout plan is below:

Day 15 - Kettleball workout with box jumps (need to get that box built!)
Day 16 - 6X 400m run repeats for time. The plan is 1:20 for 400m +/- 5 seconds.
Day 17 - Floor Wipers; Dead Lifts; Dumbbell Shoulder Press/Push-Press; Walking Lunges; Pull-Ups - I'll do more resting between sets than I did for day 8's workouts, but I will do these workouts sequentially.
Day 18 - Stretch/Rest
Day 19 - 2-3 mile Fartlek Run
Day 20 - 6x500m Rows
Day 21 - Stretch/Rest

This is obviously a basic conditioning week for stamina and endurance.

Now off to the gym for Day 9.

300 - Day 7

My workout today:

I started out with a 600m row for a warm-up, which was a short workout - lasting only about 3 minutes.

I then moved into my alternate incline dumbbell press/pull-ups for max reps.

I set my bench at about a 30% incline. The goal of working on an incline is to move the primary muscle up your torso. The higher the incline, the higher the muscle focus - so for instance, at 90 degrees (vertical) you isolate the shoulders. At 180 (or 0) degrees, you isolate the pectoral muscles pretty near spot on.

At 45 degrees, there is a large focus on the shoulders - so I didn't want to go quite that high. To isolate the upper chest, you want to ideally work between 20 and 35 degrees. I worked right about 30%.

For my pull-ups, I wanted to get in a variety, which is what I would do if I was trying to achieve e.g. 100 repetitions with as few sets as possible. To do this, I started with a wide-arm over-hand grip, then moved to a neutral grip and finally to an underhand grip.

Here's what I accomplished, with no more than 30 seconds rest between events:

55# Dumbbell press (110# total) - 20 repetitions
Pull-ups (Wide Arm) - 12 repetitions
55# Dumbbell press - 11 repetitions
Pull-ups (neutral) - 10 repetitions
55# Dumbbell press - 6 repetitions
Pull-Ups (underhand) - 9 repetitions

I was originally going to add an additional event in there, but they were closing the locker room at 3 to paint and I got down to the gym and started changing at about 20 past 2. I wanted to make sure I got a shower in, so I made it a quick day.

I haven't made up my schedule for week 3 yet - but I have made the decision that I am going to try to work on some flexibility exercises somewhat regularly - as flexibility is one of the focuses of CrossFit - and I have poor flexibility.

300 - Day 6

What happened to days 2-5?

Well, I came down with a cold and ended up taking days 3-5 off. I didn't post on Day 2, despite that I did work out, just because I didn't manage to find the time. I probably should have skipped out on my workout for Day 2 as well, as I was already feeling under the weather - but I wanted to get started. I took the next 3 days off because the way I see it, its better to have a couple days of rest and be able to get back to work at 100% than it is to get those 3 days in, only being able to get in a 70% workout and perhaps delaying my 100% recovery.

Good news is, during my time off I did manage to get to the store and get a kettle bell!

So anyway, alibi accounted for - what did I come up with?

Here is a recap of what I would like to get in for workouts:
Bi-weekly 1 mile run time trial
Weekly Row workout
Forearms three times weekly
Dead Lifts weekly

I also decided that once every three weeks I will try to complete one of "the girls". The Girls are the challenges popular in Cross Fit named with girl names.

The first challenge I will attempt is called Chelsea which consists of the following:
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats
Complete the above every minute on the minute for 20 minutes or until you fail to complete a set.

I chose this as the first workout, simply because you can't fail to complete. Your score is simply based on the number of successfully complete sets.

My workout plan for weeks 1 and 2 was as follows:

Day 1 - Rest
Day 2 - 20 minute row
Day 3 - 135 # Dead lift + Shrug + Calf Raise
3 sets of Burpees, 1 minute/1 minute rest
3 sets of pull-ups alternating 3 sets of dips max reps
(Forearms at night)
Day 4 - 1 mile run time-trial
3 sets max push-ups
3 sets of 20 bodyweight squats
(Forearms at night)
Day 5 - Rest
Day 6 - Dumbbell Bench Press (incline) 55 # each hand
Pull-ups
Alternate the above 2 events X 5 for max reps
Day 7 - Dumbbell Clean and Press
Floor Wipers
Weighted Captains Chair
Dips
Each of the above in sequence for max reps; 1 minute rest; 3 sets
(Forearms at night)

Day 8 - Rest
Day 9 - 500m Row
Max Pull-Ups
Alternate above X4; timed
Day 10 - 10x Barbell Thruster
135# Dead lift, 3 Sets of Max Reps; 1 minute rest
Day 11 - 1 mile Run time-trial
Forearms
Day 12 - Kettlebell Workout
Day 13 - Rest
Day 14 - Squats
Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Walking Lunge
Pull-ups
3 Sets of the above in sequence

I completed Day 2s workout. I rowed for 20 minutes and rowed a total of 4756 meters. At that pace I was about on course for a 21 minute 5000m. Looks like a 20 minute 5000m will be a good goal for week 4.

I missed days 3, 4 and 5 - of course, as you can see day 5 is a rest day - so I didn't miss out on too much - only 2 workouts which I may be able to make up.

Today, I made up the workout for Day 4. I completed my 1600m (1 mile) run in 6:16.
I also completed the following:
60 Push-Ups
20 Bodyweight squats
35 Push-ups
20 Bodyweight squats
25 Push-ups
20 Bodyweight squats

Total: 120 Push-ups and 60 Bodyweight squats.
Not too bad for a start, still feeling only at about 90%.

Tomorrow (Day 7) I will pick up at Day 6 and complete Day 7's workout on Day 8 which was scheduled as a rest day. This leaves me only 1 workout behind.

That's the plan for now. I'll try to come up with a workout plan for week 3 and post that with the results from tomorrow's workout.