kettlebellguy

6AM Crossfit. Tom, Eric and myself. Trainers Brian and Jerry.

Well, the cyst is still here. It was not my imagination. Got a wonderful idea on how to get rid of it from Davie at CrossfitCS (Crossfit Central Scotland) in Motherwell, Scotland.

“There is the Scottish way of treating a ganglion
Get a bottle of whiskey
Take a drink
Hit ganglion REALLY hard with bottle
Take another drink
Done.”

Works for me.

We worked on bar bell snatch as our skill this morning and incorporated that into the WOD. I did well with form on this and actually felt that I understood how to do it. Not to say I did it right.

WOD
7 Snatches
10 Air squats
AMRAP for 3 minutes/1 minute rest/5 rounds

Terry 11 sets
Eric 10 sets
Tom 9 sets

I was using 105 lbs (I think). Eric was using more, not sure the exact amount. He is way ahead of me in adding weight to these lifts. That is how I was able to get one more out than him. Tom did great as our newbie with the practice bar.

The snatches were a real drain on my back. I think I could do just a few at a heavier weight but my back will not hold up for more than a few reps at a time. I am fine once I stop but my back is screaming while I am doing the snatches.

Here is a little picture video from the last few days at Crossfitlegacy

Woke up to several inches of snow. Streets were covered and plows and salt trucks were out. Made it to Crossfit without trouble. There are two hills that I have to get up on the way that always cause me concern but they were no problem today.

Ron, Tom and myself for class this morning.

We practiced Dead lifts and over head squats.

WOD
7 Dead Lift (95 lbs, up 30 pounds from last time)
14 Over Head Squat
21 Weighted Set Up

5 rounds for time

Ron (mutant)
Terry (about 14:00)
Tom (newbie)

Once Brian updates the website I can grab the exact times and update this post. It was right around 14 minutes.

After the WOD we played around with the slosh pipe and I mentioned a video I saw using a slosh pipe while doing a Turkish Get Up. We all tried it an it actually worked on the first try. The pipe in this video is 55 lbs. Not sure of the exact weight of the slosh pipe we were using. When making your own slosh pipe you can control the weigh by the amount of water you fill it with.

It looks easy but remember that the pipe has 55 lbs of water sloshing back and forth with every movement you make. A gallon of water weights 8.34 pounds so there is between 6 and 7 gallons in this pipe.

Slosh pipes are fun. Just a PVC pipe with water inside and capped at the ends. Want to make one for yourself? Here’s how.

Part of each mornings warm up is 1 minute of jump rope. It seemed so easy as a kid, why is it so hard 50 years later? This is an easy to understand overview of getting started with rope jumping. If rope jumping is not part of your routines consider making is one as you watch this video.

The letter from the gym came today to renew my annual membership. This would be my third year. This forced me into really looking at what I wanted to do. The fact of the matter is that I really like the Crossfit class environment. I am enjoying that so much that my solo Kettlebell workouts are becoming harder and harder for me to do with any type of enthusiasm or commitment. I can’t push myself the way I get pushed at Crossfit.

The guidance and motivation that Dave gave me over the past two years is what kept me going on my own for so long but if I drop my membership at the JCC I really will not be in a position to continue those types of workouts on my own. I hated telling him that I was going to Crossfit full time but he understood, as I knew he would.

Having done the Crossfit for almost 4 months and still enjoying it tells me that is the area to focus my attention for now.

Working from home as I do I can go the entire week without any face to face human interaction (other than Debbie or the cashier at the grocery or the gas station). With Crossfit I get to talk to and interact with a group of positive and energized people the first thing everyday. Although I do have friends and people that I talk with at the JCC on a regular basis they don’t have the drive and commitment that the Crossfit folks do. They are not cheering me on as I do my Kettlebell workouts on my own.

The JCC is rated one of the best gym’s in the city and it is nice and convenient to home. Maybe if they offered some classes that I would be interested in it might be another story but when Dave left the gym they just gave up on any type of strength training classes. Spinning does not appeal to me. The only new thing they have added is a Zumba class. I would love to do that and would be really good at it, but let’s face it, doing Zumba with a room full of woman would not help my rep much. There is nothing there for me at this point other than a nice place to stop off and take a shower on the way home from my Crossfit workout.

Here is what I am paying on my current setup

$64.00 month JCC Membership, paid a year in advance (includes towel and locker service)
$49.00 month Dave
$90.00 month Crossfit for 4 weeks, 2 classes a week.
___________________________________
$203.00 Total per month currently ($2436.00 annually)

New Setup

Changing that to $125.00 for 4-5 classes per week, per month. ($1,500.00 annually)

Savings = $78.00 a month ($936.00 annually)

So, once I get everything changed I will be saving about a thousand dollars a year. In today’s world that may come in handy somewhere along the line.

Kettlebellguy will continue to live on with a focus on Crossfit.

10 Renegade Rows (each arm)
15 KB Swings
20 Setups
15 Squats
10 Shoulder Press (each arm)

AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 20 minutes.

Results

Eric–6 rounds
Kelly–5
Terry–4
Tom–4 (15 MIN)
Ron–7

Terry

Eric, Terry, Kelly

Ron (front), Tom (rear)

Crossfit at 6AM. It was me and Tom, a new guy. This was only his second class.

I performed well this morning.

WOD
10 Pull Ups
20 Push Ups
30 Squats

AMRAP (as many reps as possible) in 5 minutes, 2 minute rest and repeat for a total of 3 sets.

Our skill today was bar snatches. I made some progress with my form. Just used a 45lb bar, no additional weight

I noticed on the squats today, halfway into the workout, that I was actually hitting the ball with my butt again. That’s a good thing. Not sure what was different but I was not near as stiff as I have been for several weeks. I have started popping a couple of Advils with my banana in the morming about 1 hour before my workout. That was the Doc’s suggestion. That may be helping.

Still having to do “girly” push ups. I can do a few “good” pushups, however, for 20 at a time, right after pull ups I am not able to get past the shoulder pain from my “weak right posterior shoulder capsule”. It’s been a year since I was in therapy for the shoulder. I am still doing the exercises and it has done well all this time but on occasion it will flare up and I just need to keep going easy on it until it decides to settle down.

Working out with Tom, who must be in his early 20’s, cause me to think about potential. If Tom sticks with this for awhile he will be able to make impressive progress in a short time. He has potential. While I do continue to get better all the time my potential for improvement is not as great simply because of my age. It’s just the way it is.

I am having so much fun in the classes that I think it’s impacting my solo KB workouts. They are not as much fun as they use to be. As much as I enjoy being alone I thrive on the competition and social interaction of the Crossfit class. I end up working much harder than I do on my own.

I will do a KB workout in the morning and there is a free Crossfit class at 8AM on Saturday morning.

Taking tomorrow as a vacation day. I will still have to work some but I hope I can get the last of the leaves under control during the day. The leaf pickup starts on Saturday so the leaf pickup truck will be coming anytime now.

At the gym at 6AM for my KB workout. Today I attempted:

Core Circuit – same as workout 1
2-Hand KB Swings 32kg – 15 reps
Bulgarian Split Squat (rear foot up on bench)
28 kg – 6 reps each leg
Assisted Wide Grip Pullups #15 - 8 reps each side

I did 4 sets in 20 minutes.

Did not really enjoy myself.

Started to wonder if I am tired of KB’s and maybe I should go to all Crossfit.

I need to make a decision.

We will see.

A picture that Brian grabbed after Saturday’s workout. I met my goal, I was still alive after it was over. Click on the picture for more information about that workout.

Had a nice workout at Crossfit on Saturday morning, 9AM.

4 guys in class. Ron, Chris, Dan and myself.

300 meter row machine
20 Burpees (I am doing a modification. I use a 24 inch box for my hands rather than going all the way down to the floor and come up with a jump. This worked well and allowed me to keep pace with the rest of the people in class. )
20 Pull Ups (I used a box to jump up)
24′ Box Jump I did step ups)

We did this three times for time. My team came in at 18:00 minutes and were actually the winners. My team mate was Dan who just got back from 12 months in Iraq. That was a real motiviation for me to keep going as fast as I could.

Dark and dreary today. Leaves are about 75 percent down. I think all the leaves will be down by next week.

Had my 6 month checkup with the Doc this morning.

Total Cholesterol=189 (Total cholesterol levels alone have no predictive value)

LDL=111
HDL=39
Triglycerides=195

As I predicted my numbers were not quite as good as my last checkup in May. Not big changes, just small changes measured in a couple of points, going the wrong way. I need to stay on top of that and get things going the other way.

BP was very good at 116/80. Forgot to ask my heart rate.

My weight was down 1 pound, coming in at 254. I seem really stuck at 250-255. That is too much and I am working again to get it back down to 225 although the Doc does not have a big issue with the number, based upon my other good numbers. It’s raining in Ohio tonight which reminds me of a common saying in Ohio, “Well, it could be snow”. I guess that applies to my weight…..”It could have been 300″.

We talked about my hip or lower back pain and not much to say other than it is what it is. This type of thing happens as we get older. The one suggestion he had was to try Advil or something similar prior to my workout. I don’t know why I did not think of that myself. I will try that and see what happens.

Changing my medications for my “going” problem. Although I do have nights where I don’t have to get up I have just as many nights that I get up once. Having to get up multiple times is rare any more.

He is reducing the dosage of Flomax and adding VESIcare.

We are hoping that lowering the Flomax will help with my dizziness during workouts. Deadlifts are an example of something I can do but after a set I have to take a few seconds to regain my stability. It’s not a huge problem but it does impact my ability to keep moving fast. He is interested in coming up with a drug therapy that comes close to eliminating the “going” issue with the least side effects.

No workout this morning. Going to a free Crossfit class in the morning.

Tired tonight, was up at 2A reviewing youTube “Survivor Fitness Challenge” videos as the guest judge and met with the other judges at 3A. Done with that about 4A. It was an interesting experience. I took it very seriously and judged each video on its merit, according to the scorecard. I got the impression that a couple of my scorings suprised the other judges but for the most part we were in close agreement. I think I brought a new fresh look at the scoring. Anyway, I did my best and was glad I had that opportunity.

Took another vacation day today. I need to get the rest of my vacation scheduled. I think I will just take long weekends and not take a big hunk of time at Christmas as I have often done in the past.

Here is a little video from footage I took yesterday morning at Horseshoe Pond in Boston Township, Ohio. Notice the heron in the center of the frame. Hopefully the quality is good enough for you to see him. Played in high quality off of youTube the heron is very clear. I filmed for a long time hoping to catch him catch a fish. I was impress by his patience when the loud ducks passed by. He was so focused on getting his breakfast that they made no impression on him. I wish I could be that focused sometimes.

A good workout today. My back was aching during the workout but that went away afterwards.

The circuit took 22 minutes to complete 4 sets.

Kettlebell Figure 8’s 16 kg – 12 each side
Kettlebell Cleans 20 kg – 12 each
Kettlebell Slingshots 20 kg – 15 each