Fiddleman

hmmm, yeah. It is pretty normal when doing a lot of exercises on a bar, even when using chalk. Boy my hands are ugly!! Lol.

Got a pair of holes today and the workout was not even that bad. These are from snatches and toe-to-bars today after 75 pull-ups and 6000 m rowing workout yesterday. I like working out to the tune of pulling exercises with my hands, but could do without the holes. Ouchie!!

Sorry for the bad formatting in my posts. The new iPad bariatric pal app has a terrible time with formatting. Any tricks to work around it?

Also - I have been making good progress towards my November challenge goals of being able to do kipping pull-ups, double unders and handstand push-ups. I can now do kipping pull-ups unassisted. My unbroken is at 20. Good form too. Today's a WOD has us doing 75 in between row events. We had a workout that required 300 the other day Working towards that for end of month goal I can now do double unders. Figured them out by doing 2 single and then 1 double. Really focusing on good technique and total relaxation. It is tension in the shoulders and arms that messes these up. I can do 50 unbroken, but we had a workout the other day that had 150. Working towards that for end of month goal. I am not able to properly do headstand push-ups on the wall yet, but have graduated from box knee to box toes. Sort of a military push-up with only your toes on the box and your body arched up high in a v shape, hands on ground. I am going to try and get these head stand push-ups before end of month, even if only 1. My goal was to do 50 I think, but even doing 3-5 would be ok for me. Need to get my shoulder and arm strength jacked up before that is going to happen.

I took 4 days off from training (did some work training instead on a business trip) and actually felt much better yesterday before starting the workout. I could have worked out at the hotel or even paid 20 for individual cross fit sessions at a box. However, I did neither. The break from constant pushing of my body over last several months felt good. I was getting a little discouraged from the constant daily aches in my body and constant concern about overtraining, especially since Mid October. Yesterday, I came back strong after arriving home from airport, felt rested, juiced up and ready to go feed my cross addiction (not entirely kidding on that one): Back Squat 5 @ 70-75% 3 @ 80-85% 1 @ 90-95% 1 @ 90-95% 1 @ 90-95% then For Time: 1 Mile Run - 5:45 1 Minute Rest 50 Thrusters 95#/65# - crap, these were hard after the fast run 1 Minute Rest 1 Mile Run - 6:20 Ran the 1st mile @ 5:45 and the 2nd mile @ 6:20. Not my fastest times, but will say this: the first mile felt great and hardly felt like work, the 2nd mile was OK but my breathing was really labored on the last 600 m. I ended up on the mat huffing and puffing when I finished and it took a good 10 m for my hr to drop (banging in my chest hard). Weird thing is the back of my head really was throbbing hard, like I was going to stroke out or something. Lol. Then I was sneezing all the way home like I was fighting off some immunity thing. I guess my body got a little shock treatment after taking 4 days off. Today is going to be a lot of fast rowing. We shall see how it works out!

um, that is a stretch. proof?

Tabata day!! 20 seconds balls-to-the-wall of sit ups, pushups and jumping lunges over 8 rounds of each exercise. 10 seconds between each set. Let's see, that is 24 sets over 8 minuted of work. It goes by fast. Sit-ups I do not mind and can do them all day. I got 98 over the 8 sets. Pushups start giving me grief around 60. On my final 2 sets in the pushup round, I think I got 4-5 in 20 seconds. Kind of sad. Anyone know how to break through the wall during a round of 8 sets of pushups? I literally felt on empty in my upper body at set 6. Nada. Same with jumping lunges, but my endurance held out a little longer. I got 254 reps total which I think is OK... wish I had more stamina for the pushups and jumping lunges. Also did power cleans and front squats, getting PR max weight on both. Coach today said my technique is much improved. It is good that we are able to do some kind of Olympic lift every day for practice.

Finally - a real confession!

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My NUT has always recommended getting on the scale once a week, at the same time, wearing similar or same clothes, etc. Your body will naturally cycle through Water retention and water release, as it sees fit. It is out of your control. This makes your weight bounce day to day. This is your body converting fat into glycogen to support your muscles. More on that later. You may be lucky in 1 st month and every day is a loss, but that is highly unlikely. During the first 2 months, I did tend to look once a day and was dropping like crazy, 5 here, 7 there, 2 here and 3 there. However, stalls happen and it is quite natural to not lose any weight for weeks at a time. Again, a stall is little more than your body converting stored fat into glycogen. Glycogen requires a lot of water to support it in the muscles. Once your muscles use up the glycogen, so goes the water and so drops the scale weight. It is very much a stair case pattern. You do not have much control over this natural process. Best advice is to understand this fat to glycogen energy process and know that it is going to play with the downward trend on the scale day to day. It will help keep your mind at ease.

I too struggle with inflammation at 16 months out. I am by no means dismissing the advice of others on this thread; rather, I would like you to consider a deficiency in nutrition that might be leading to abnormal levels on inflammation. While I am a younger guy ( 38 ), I think many of the same remedies may help you. Consider adding 1 tsp of high quality fish oil to your diet and also to target foods in your diet that are anti-inflammatory in nature. If I forget to take the fish oil, everything from my shoulders to hip will start aching. Some of this aching may have to do with the fact I am in Cross fit, but again, fish oil really does help. The more pure it is, the better. Make sure it is molecularly distilled and has high concentrations of EPA and DHA per 1 tsp. The brand I use is called stronger, faster, healthier and has 3100 mg per 5 g of liquid (5 g in a tsp). I take 5 g when I get up and 5 g when I go to bed if really bad. Normally, I just take 1 tsp a day to keep on top or ahead of inflammation. As for anti-inflammatory foods, consider the following resource: http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20705881,00.html Notice fatty fish is #1 in the list. I make it a point of eating these foods in my paleo diet plan, especially fish, dark leafy greens, beets, garlic, onions and coffee. I do not eat low fat dairy or the fruit suggestions as they are not part of my nutrition plan. For when inflammation gets particularly bad, I have my choices of meds from proxicam to voltaren gel. However, I do try and address inflammation with diet first before turning to the meds. Hope this helps.

I froze my first winter (about 6 months post op) and wore snow gloves everywhere (in the grocery store - lol). The body temperature started to regulate properly around month 10. Today, at month 16, I feel comfortable in most air temperatures. This is nice to not freeze and shiver as I did post op nor overheat and sweat like pre sleeve.

Wtg!! That is an excellent achievement.

Thanks, you are onto something about alternating jump types. My coach told me a few days ago to try 2 regular, 1 double, repeat. This seems to be working and I am really starting to recognize the level of tension in the body that inhibits effortless double unders. A good straight posture is also key as I am finding out. The key is not to change the basic rhythm of jumping or posture when switching from regular to double under. I now take my rope with me every day and practice them for about 10 minutes after everything else (despite just doing a WOD ). I got 8 in a row yesterday. I feel my mind and body are starting to "get it" as a team. More practice, practice, practice....

CGJ picks them well. The nectar sweets are very good and mix well. They were my primary shakes for first 6 months. If you like nectar double cookie, you might also like Matrix Oreo. It is made by the same company, but is a different formula and designed to be extended release. The Matrix protein matrix will hold you for 4-5 hours instead of 2-3 as Nectar does and costs about 10 dollars more. I just recently discovered Costco premier protein drinks because my wife likes to drink them. I am not sure why I avoided these for so long, but they are tasty and actually satisfy as a meal (very surprised). I like to drink one right when I get up in the morning. If you like muscle milk lite,you might enjoy cake batter flavor. It is hard ( ok impossible) to find in a retail store so I order it off Amazon. It is so delicious. If you are looking for an evening or bed time shake, might I recommend Optimal Nutrition double chocolate casein. It will really help your muscles repair and aid in weight loss while you sleep.

I am going to be a killjoy for a moment and succinctly state that this thread is enabling people to cheat by reinforcing said behavior with praise and congratulatory remarks. Positive reinforcement is a powerful motivator. I do not think this is helpful for those who are struggling or on the fence about their eating patterns, especially those that struggle with food related addictions. That being said, everyone here should be an adult and can make their own decisions. Just know that there will be good, bad, short term and long term consequences to your decisions and prose. Being successful at WLS does require a person to put aside a certain degree of desire and comfort in order to achieve success. Now if a person is not interested in optimizing their post op experience, then by all means, continue down this path, but do keep in mind your actions do impact others who are not strong in their convictions both directly and indirectly. That is all.

The purpose of this thread is to capture your daily workouts to share with others over time. It is not meant to be a challenge thread;rather, it will become a valuable resource to others over time to find workouts that will work for them based on many different dimensions of compatibility (gee, sounds like e harmony. Lol). I hope the thread lives for a long time. In order for others to gauge what is possible and how it might apply to the, please include the following information: Starting weight: your initial weight, before surgery. Current Weight: your current weight Height: your height WLS status: how far out are you? Are you in loss phase or maintenance phase? Type: the type of exercise. For example - running, biking, swimming, walking, cross fit, weight lifting, spinning, aerobics, DVD, etc. Description: include whatever information you want to describe the workout Pre workout meal: what did you set before the workout Post workout meal: what did you eat after the workout Notes: personal opinions, rants, questions, etc Water: how much Water are you drinking? Supplementation: a what additional supplements are you taking to help with work out Diet type: the type of diet you are on. For example - post op, zone, paleo, 5:2 Protein: how much Protein are you taking daily? Carbs: how many carbs are you taking? Calories: how many calories are you eating? Sleep: how many hours of sleep? How is the quality of sleep? Here is an example for me today. Starting weight : 360 lb Current Weight: 180 lb Height: 5'11" WLS status: 16 months. Maintaining. Type: Crossfit Description: "Fight Gone Bad" 3 rounds, 1 min per station, of: Wall Ball, 20#/14# Sumo Deadlift High Pull 75# Box Jump 20" Push Press 75# Row (calories) Rest 1 min Rotate immediately to the next station every 1 min, the clock does not stop or reset between stations. Notes: This is my first "fight gone bad" workout. I want to try and hit 300 reps. Some say it is one of the hardest crossfit WOD. We shall see about that. Pre workout meal: 1/2 cup cooked steel oats with 2 scoop of Protein powder (50 g). Might reduce to 1 scoop. Post workout meal: 1 AMRAP bar (300 cal, 17 G protein, 14 carbs). Made of paleo friendly ingredients. For example, uses honey to sweeten. Water: 230 oz Supplementation: 5 g beta-alanine, 5 g creatine, 300 mg caffiene and 14 g bcaa Diet type: paleo Protein: 175 g Carbs: 85 g Calories: 2100 Sleep: 7 hours. Good.

From what I have been told, the 30 g (for women) is per meal or per 2-3 hours. It would be counter productive to have much more than that at a meal as the excess will either be urinated out or stored as fat.

Another approach you might try that will increase the perceived effort on the bike is to consider HIIT or Tabata style training. For HIIT, go 80% intensity for 2 minutes, then 60% intensity for 2 minutes and repeat for 20 minutes. For Tabata, go all out (100%) for 20 seconds, rest 20 seconds and repeat for 8 minutes. Both of these approaches will give you a great work out on the bike in a fraction of the time. You could incorporate this type of workout 1-2 x a week into your fitness plan.

Take some protein after every workout. That is the ideal time for protein synthesis. I have read a while back that 30 g is optimal for women and 40 g is optimal for men. The premier protein drink from Costco might suit you very well as it gives you 30 g per serving. Most days I have a combination of an AMRAP bar (17 g) and a protein shake (25-30 g) after every workout.

Was I an athlete before? A big fat no! I am a computer guy that writes code all day for the financial industry. My weight has been obese or worse for most of my life (a few short periods when I dropped and then packed it back on again). I did a short stint with cross country running when I was in 8th grade (after my first successful weight loss), but always came in last place. I skipped out on PE most of high school and did orchestra instead. See a pattern? Lol. I only started on my athletic chops after VSG. It has been a lot of work. However, now I have hope that I can be an athletic guy, a computer guy and a musician.

I am not sure about guiding, but I can be anecdotal about it and tell you about how the progression from surgery to crossfit worked for me. Before surgery, I did the typical cardio type exercises. You know - an hour on the ellyptical perhaps a few times a week. It was not helping me very much because my eating habits were so out of control. I did zero lifting mainly because it frustrated me and I would stop trying to figure it out. After surgery, here is the progression: Month 1-2 : built up from 5 min walks to 3 hour walks 2-3 x a day. Month 3-4: inconsistent use of ellyptical. 2 x a week if lucky. Still walked a lot, but not as much. Month 5-7: started running. First run was surprisingly a 28 minute 5 k. I thought this was really cool that I could run. I started out running 5 k for 3 x a week. I worked up to running 3 x a week, but different types of running: for time, HIIT and distance. My running distance averaged around 10 k in about 55 minutes. I did a few really long runs of 10-15 miles, but that is not as appealing to me as running fast. I hit goal at this point, but lost so much muscle. That is when I decided to make a change from running to something else. Month 8-14: I started cross fit as a brand new guy. Never really even heard of it before, but I wanted to build muscle and become more athletic. I worked with a trainer 2x a week during these 6 months, learning about the different exercises and different techniques. I also started getting into some Olympic lifting, but most of the sessions were based on metabolic conditioning. On 3 other days during the week, I did body weight workouts using a program called " you are your own gym". I thoroughly enjoyed doing this program. Month 15-16: I could no longer really afford the personal training so switched to open gym format. I go to the box 5 x a week and try and RX the workout every day. I can do almost every exercise with the exception of double unders, muscle ups and hand stand push ups. I am still working on these for skill and when they show up in a workout, I need to modify and do something like singles, box hand stand pushups and floor muscle ups. During these last couple months of open gym 5 days a week I have gotten really good at certain exercises and Olympic lifts: Running: 4:45 minute mile (first in 3 mile set) Push ups: 50 unbroken Pull ups: 15 unbroken Burpees: 50 unbroken T2B: 25 unbroken Box jumps (holding 20# ball) Dead lifts: 350 lb max Bench press: 295 lb max Man makers: 30 unbroken with 25 # Etc I really like burpees. Not a lot of people like them. I still cannot do an overhead squat or s n a t c h with weight ( use a PVC pipe). It is on my 6 month plan. I will get it eventually, once my lats and scapula learn how to operate properly. I am currently in physical therapy working on my lat muscles. They are way to tight, even in neutral position. There is always something to improve athletically every single day. Keep in mind you are a work in progress. You look at all the really good cross fitters and it is a little frustrating to see how in the world you can do what they are doing. It is a bid chasm to cross. My suggestion is to think of cross fit as a progression. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of dedication to get it to the point where you can do a prescribed workout and not question yourself afterwards because of the difficulty, pain, soreness, etc. It gets better over time. Always remember to do the following every day: 1. 4-5 g fish oil 2. 8-9 hours of sleep (I struggled with this until recently) 3. 90 oz Water or more 4. Take 2 rest days a week (not doing this will break you eventually) 5. Journal and keep track of your daily progress( I used a site called beyond the whiteboard) 6. Try and eat paleo. Your workouts will be easier if you put good food into your body. 7. Consider some caffeine, creatine and beta-alanine before your workout to improve endurance. Beta-alanine takes a month to load, but will protect you from fatigue both during lifts and metabolic conditioning. 8. Always eat a post op bar or shake. 9. Consider a recovery shake that has BCAA in it. Glutamine is important. 10. Be consistent. Do not cherry pick your workouts. You want to get as wide exposure as you can so only stay home if it is a rest day or you are sick. Good luck. Hopefully you got something out of my rambling.

Oh - I looked up my stripper name yesterday: Randy Lays My wife loves it!! That is from my real name, not my VST name.