Back in baby's arms...

So excited that I got back to my CrossFit box this week. On Thursday my coach had me do 5 x 500 row, with a minute rest between each; then we followed that with 50 sit ups and 50 squats, mostly to see how I would handle it. (The regular WoD included bench presses; not there yet.)

Instead of waiting until Saturday to come back I went back in last night (Friday.) Saturdays at our gym-especially the first Saturday of the month- are usually workouts like Murph. But last night was Helen: 3x 400 m run, 21 kettle ball swings, 12 pull-ups.

My heavy mod was 3x 500 row, 21 kettle ball swings (light weight), 12 ring rows. And I finished it in just under 15 minutes, LOL. (The elite athletes were clocking in around 7.) BUT I finished, and I kept my slow pace steady. Today I have that little bit of residual soreness but I feel good. Okay, my legs are reminding me that I haven't done a real squat in 6 weeks, and I feel my abs again…but nothing is killing me.

I'm so happy to be back. I'm sorry for a post full of CF jargon, but there are few people IRL that I can share the excitement with.

Cheers! Good for you. Sounds like you are sliding right back into it. Impressed you did a Helen now. Murph is tough. I would hold off on that one for a while. Maybe hit the days where there is a Cindy or perhaps Tabata style. Those will be a little easier while you are getting your elite on.

Pfft, it was seriously, seriously modified and I set a snail's pace. But either way…it can only get better. I'm so glad there are others in the cult who understand. They're doing Filthy today and I am staying far, far away. I'll see them at the holiday party tonight.

Yup - be careful on the filthy. I would agree not to do it unless you cut reps to 10 or less and modify wall ball portion, OH portion and back extension portion to be non weight bearing. Maybe air squats instead of wall balls, PVC pipe on OH and back extensions. For burpees, perhaps hold plank. Not sure about modding that. For double unders, maybe do singles. For jumping pull-ups and box jumps, maybe do pistons while stabilizing with one hand and stepping, respectively. I think there are also kb swings. Not sure how to mod that. Perhaps use a PVC pipe following same arc motion of swing. My advice may be bunk as I have only been cross fitting for about 8 months and am making suggestions based on what I know(which is still not that extensive). Filthy is my new favorite WOD because it is so diverse (10 different exercises right?) and really pushes stamina (50 reps for each exercise). I got 23 min on it last week Rx which I think is pretty decent. Tough one.

Edited December 7, 201312 yr by Fiddleman

For kb swings, I am just using the 15 pound right now. I made it through 3 sets of 21 with that yesterday and don't feel too sore. A little, but not bad. I was prepared to grab a 5 or 10 pound weight if it got too tough yesterday but the two coaches were paying attention so they would have stopped me if my form had fallen apart. They're good about that.

But I don't expect I'll be up to something like Filthy Fifty for another 5-6 weeks or so, even with all of those mods.

How have the wods been this past week? How do you feel?

It's going. I only made it twice last week due to scheduling and I'm weak. Thursday I made it through 3.5 rounds of a 5 round beast and the warmup. I fell on my face (and totally cracked up) doing a push-up...

Overall it is going about how I expected it would. Trying for 3 days this week. Our box only has three class times per day and the morning one is staffed by the least experienced guy, so I'm staying away until I feel more secure about form.

How's your back?

It's going. I only made it twice last week due to scheduling and I'm weak. Thursday I made it through 3.5 rounds of a 5 round beast and the warmup. I fell on my face (and totally cracked up) doing a push-up... Overall it is going about how I expected it would. Trying for 3 days this week. Our box only has three class times per day and the morning one is staffed by the least experienced guy, so I'm staying away until I feel more secure about form. How's your back?

the apex regions of my spine (mid back and neck) are still a daily ache and burn sensation. However, one PT exercise I do seems to help a lot and is improving my workouts: I lay on a foam roller so it is vertical along the t-spine and lift 5-10 lb hand weights from waist to above head while mentally keeping my entire back against the roller and relaxed. One of the major issues I have had over the year has been tensing up muscles too much in my back due to the spine issues. This PT exercise is forcing the right lifting muscles to engage and the wrong lifting muscles to relax while keeping my spine in a stabilized and organized position.

Kelley Starrett would be proud. I am a big fan of his mobility site (mobilityWOD) and his book (supple leopard). The book was above me in my understanding when I first got it 6 months ago, but since I have starting learning about proper movements to protect my back in PT, the book content has really started to click. It makes so much sense and is very practical in becoming a better athlete and avoiding injury.

Keep up the exercise as well as you are able to. It may be hard and unrealistic now to WOD as much as you would like, but will be much easier and enjoyable by month 5 or 6 after you have lost a good deal of weight ( I dropped 130 lb by beginning of month 5 and 180 by month 7 to reach goal). Starting in month 5 was the beginning of my running. Starting in month 7 was the beginning of my cross fit with the lead trainer at my box. I spent 8 months with her until switching to open gym in September 2013. Now I WOD 5 days a week, sometimes 6. I kill the WOD as much as I am able to while keeping good form and also not compromising myself. More then 3 days of WOD in a row puts my immune system at risk and generally starts to break me. No mor 5 days in a row. Sometimes I do 4 in a row, but general rule for me is 3 on, 1 off, 2 in, 1 off so that I can do partner WOD on Saturday. Today I am going to break my rule and do a Tabata workout at home because, well, I have my mind set on it.

Neither running or cross fit would have been possible if I was fighting too much body weight. Once I started running, there was no turning back. It was like I was born to run. 5k and 10k in 20 min and 50 min became common as I honed the skill. As you know, I do not run for endurance any longer by choice, but there were a couple months where I was running 20-25 miles a week. Before month 5, my exercise was mostly walking and some elliptical. Nothing to write home about. A few times a week on the elliptical. I did keep up my daily walks with my dog.

Here is what really helped before month 5: I followed the low carb, high Protein, high Water to the best of my ability, not compromising. Not once. Be as single minded as you can be to not lose focus on losing weight so you can get into the exercise in the way you really want to by month 5 or 6. And then you just rocket from there. Nothing can stop you.

Edited December 15, 201312 yr by Fiddleman

This is great advice. Starting at a lower BMI as I did, I am all sorts of aware that the goal is not an arbitrary number. (I mean, if it was, my goal weight would be 125 or 135, with no regard to muscle strength/endurance.) One of our best trainers is a beast lifter, and right around my height, and weighs 160. I don't know if I want to take it that far, but it is really good to know.

I'm so fortunate in my coaches. They had me working on a deadlift the other day, with 35 pounds. It was all form, and part of the "beast" workout (5 reps of 12 deadlift, followed by pull-ups, push-ups, box jumps, and we used our box philosophy of MTS liberally…modify that shit….) I can already see a difference in jump rope. I can't do a double under yet but the pounding at 39 fewer pounds is much more doable.

Our coach has said repeatedly, it is 80% nutrition. I wonder if I had been able to sustain a high-Protein, lower-calorie diet, if I would have been approaching all of this differently. I will say that now that there is no room for it, getting rid of the junk has been easy enough. I would love to be in a place that I had to increase calories but I'm not in there enough yet to justify it.

So appreciate your wisdom. What is the saying I remember? It's not that you accomplished it, it's that you had the courage to start. Without the surgery I would have probably become a very strong fat girl. With the surgery I might have a chance of becoming a very strong fit girl. I am just so impressed with your accomplishments and your attitude. Now that I'm approaching the area where I was in my more normal (but still obese) weight, I need to wage the war of attitude every day.