Burpees and Heat: Deadly Combo

Okay, maybe not deadly, but definitely excruciating!

According to the The Weather Channel, it felt like 101°F around the time I was doing crossfit. 


I knew it was going to be bad, but it was, as always, worst than I thought. Here is what we had to do :


Strength: shoulder press 4×4 (35lb, 45lb, 40lb, 40lb)
Conditioning: 15 mins AMREP
5 burpees
7 tricep dips
9 push press (10lb dbs)


Luckily we spent most of the time inside. The only time I was out was when I was doing the 2 lap warm up jog. But it was still super hot, since it is an open warehouse and no a/c, only fans. 


I had drank lots of water, so I was fine in that department. It were my arms that suffered the most. My biceps, triceps, shoulders and back were a bit achy from Monday, and today we had to work on them again, so they were not happy. 


During the strengthening, I decided to start with a 15lb bar with 10lb plates on each side. My first round was fine. Then I added additional 5lb plates on each side, for a total of 45lbs. That made the second round much more difficult, where I had to bend my knees a little to get it up (which I know I'm not supposed to do). Then as I was doing the 3rd round and really struggling, the instructor told me it was too much for me and switched it to 2.5lb. So I did the remaining 3rd and 4th rounds with 40lbs and it was extremely difficult, but I did them. My arms however, were burning and very weak. 


So when I went into the conditioning, they were already tired from the strengthening. I had to stop several times, not only because my arms were feeling extremely weak, but because the heat was too much. It;s like I was breathing with no air. I wasn't counting my reps but I think I did about 6 or 7. 


So yeah, I didn't die, but felt like I was going to! 

Anniversary Burpees

Wednesday was my wedding anniversary and I kept wondering if I should go work out or just stay home and relax before going out to dinner with my hubby. I ended up deciding to go work out, as well as clean the apartment in the morning and organize my closet all afternoon, hence staying on my feet all day. Go figure! Here is what we had to do at the box:

Strength: shoulder press 4×5 (15lb + 45lb + 35lb + 35lb)
Conditioning: 10 rounds
10 lunges
10 burpees
20 jumprope singles (10 du)

LOL - I'm one of them ;)

For the first time in my Crossfit life (which hasn't been that long), I had to severely scale down the work out by my own decision and not the instructor's, and that feeling really sucks. I officially hate burpees! For the life of me, I can NOT do it quickly enough or more than 5 without falling to the ground losing strenght on my arms and legs. I read somewhere that Crossfit athletes can do 10 -15 burpees every 30 seconds. Seriously? If I can do 5 burpees in 30 seconds, I'm lucky.

So, now that I have very well described my relationship with burpees, you will understand why after the fourth round, I was only doing 5 burpees instead of 10. Even then I was the last one to finish. Took me about 26 minutes. I had been able to do 10 rounds of 10 burpees before, but they were combined with only one other exercise. Plus I have been sore and I even comptemplated not going to crossfit that day, because I hadn't had a rest day since Saturday, and I definitely felt it on my body. But I went anyway and I'm very happy I did. You never great the things you did. You only regret the things you didn't do. :)

The good news is, I did great with my jumprope singles! I think it's just about finding the right kind of rope and the right size. Instead of waiting until the last minute to grab a rope for the exercise, I went to look for one before the workout and made sure I measured them around my neck and tried them. The result was great performance! :)

The lunges were alright...difficult but not impossible. I may have skipped one or two in some rounds, but they sure kicked my butt. I have some bruises on my knees, which I'm sure came from them.
It was a good week overall. I pushed myself to work out four days in a row, which might not have been the greatest decision since I'm still sore to this day and have bruises on my knees, but I'm sure in the long run it will only do me good. That is another reason why I didn't go running this evening. My knees were still sore and so were my legs, so I decided to take two days of rest instead of just one. Plus it is raining.
I am hoping to go running tomorrow night though. My first 20 minutes!!! I just hope I can do it :)

Bottom line is, I am happy I went to the box on Wednesday, and after taking a nice shower afterwards and getting all dressed up, I enjoyed a very nice anniversary dinner with my husband, having two glasses of delicious wine and great italian food, guilt free!

Meeting Tabata + Confidence Restored

Today was a great day for me. I was feeling energetic, positive and also learned I am back down to 155lbs and 25% fat, so I'm back on track. Plus I'm starting to notice a little difference with my body, although not much.

It was also a great day at the box. I was feeling so strong and motivated. I noticed I was able to run a bit faster for the warm up, as well as was able to do all the exercises and stretches we do during the group stretch with much more ease than my first couple of weeks.

The WOD was definitely NOT an easy one, but I felt amazing afterwards. We did a Tabata, which was my first! Here is what we had to do:

Strength: shoulder press 4×5 (35lbs)
Conditioning: Tabata (8 x 20s / 10s rest)
Jumping pull-ups
Bicycle Situps
Row
Airsquats
Weighted shuttle runs


I think it was also my first shoulder press. It's so much harder than the push press. When I did the push press last time, 35lbs felt like nothing, but this time, they felt way heavier, and kept getting heavy each time. I definitely felt it on my arms. 


Then came Tabata. The most difficult exercises for me were the Airsquats and the Bicycle Situps. The Airsquats themselves weren't hard. What was hard was that we had to hold it for 10 seconds during each rest. My thighs were on fire!! I was literally about to cry. I will definitely feel it on my things tomorrow. 


Overall, it was amazing work out. I was dripping sweat towards the end, and when I finished I felt so refreshed and relaxed. It was a weird feeling. I just LOVED it! :)