Not being able to make the gym was an obvious eventuality of having a busy family and work life. Poor eating never comes into the equation as it takes just as long to cook something healthy as it does something unhealthy - it takes 5 minutes to deep fry a Mars bar and it takes 5 minutes to deep fry some broccoli... Jokes obviously. My diet never falters, even in a muscle gaining phase (I hate the term "bulking" *shudders*) I eat the same foods as when I'm in a calorie deficit, just more of them. Anyway, off on a tangent again there. Ah yes not being able to make the gym.... I couldn't make the gym.
Not being able to make the gym.
Did I say I've been unable to frequent the gym? The world hasn't ended and I have not had to throw all my clothes away and start shopping at Top Man (I'm using Top Man because I think as a rule it's for skinny students, and if you can fit into their clothes comfortably you may be malnourished!)... I did however have some issues where I was convinced I was shrinking by the day ha ha. Lucky it was all in my head and I'm still massive... another joke, do I need to keep explaining my jokes?
"How did he maintain his awesome physique while not lifting heavy things?" I hear you ask. The answer is simple; I lifted a not so heavy thing lots of times, I used what my mama gave me... Me.
I have a pull-up bar at home which has served me well. I had one on my door when I was in the army and did ten pull-ups every time I left or entered the room - needless to say I became pretty good at them. Equally push-ups have played their part in building my chest. We used to do push-ups as part of the military fitness tests; I like to get the top scores so I practised them regularly, with a burgan (ruck sack) on my back. Knowing all this I started to put together little routines I could do of an evening, but to be honest it became very tedious very quickly.
I had a look through the Internet for body weight routines and came across a few YouTube videos with body weight exercises involved, but these guy and girls where shredded and big with it... I had stumbled upon CrossFit !
Now, I had heard of CrossFit prior to this, but I hadn't realised how many of the WOD's (workouts of the day) just involved body weight movements... I'd struck gold! As I've said, CrossFit wasn't a totally new concept to me, but I didn't fully understand what it was all about - the tagline I kept seeing over and over again when I was searching the internet for more information was this: "CrossFit is a constantly varied, high intensity functional movement" (1) with the stated goal of improving fitness (and therefore general physical preparedness), which is defined as "work capacity across broad time and modal domains" (2)... You had me at FUNCTIONAL! The workouts seemed short and on paper looked relatively easy... maaaan was I wrong. My first CrossFit experience was "Angie" (all the WOD's are named after girls). Angie consists of 100 pull ups, 100 press ups, 100 sit ups and 100 squats - I completed it in 24mins and I was done in! I found it hard working with a raised heart rate which made me more away of my fitness levels. After two weeks of doing other CrossFit workouts I managed the same WOD in 17 mins... Progress. Seeing this result just confirmed that I'd found something special; I haven't lost any muscle mass from not being able to make the gym and I have been enjoying this style of training. I like the idea of keeping score and tracking progress - if you're not improving in a certain area then whatever you're doing needs to be changed. As well as body weight workouts, there are many other weighted as well as Gymnastic WOD's in the Crossfit arsenal. Some of these involve Olympic lifting, which I have written about before and is something I love to do. I think it's becoming clear why CrossFit has struck a chord with me, and after reading up on what it's all about, I believe it's only going to get bigger here in the UK.
With that in mind, you may wish to familiarise yourself with some of the lingo:
- AMRAP: As Many Rounds (or Reps) as Possible
- BS: Back squat
- BTWB: Beyond the Whiteboard. A website for tracking your WOD's.
- BW (or BWT): Body weight
- CFT: CrossFit Total (A best of three attempts at a 1RM of (Press/DL/BS)
- CF: CrossFit
- CFHQ: CrossFit Headquarters
- CFWU:CrossFit Warm-up
- CLN: Clean
- C&J: Clean and jerk
- C2: Concept II rowing machine
- DFL: Dead F'ing Last
- DL: Deadlift
- DNF: Did Not Finish
- EMOM: Every Minute on the Minute
- FS: Front squat
- GHD: Glute hamstring developer. A device that allows for posterior chain exercise, such as a hip extension, sit-up or a back extension.
- GPP: General physical preparedness, aka "fitness."
- HC: Hang Clean
- HSPU: Hand stand push up. Kick up into a handstand (use wall for balance, if needed) bend arms until nose touches floor and push back up.
- HSC: Hang squat clean. Start with bar "at the hang," about knee height. Initiate pull. As the bar rises drop into a full squat and catch the bar in the racked position. From there, rise to a standing position
- IF: Intermittent Fasting
- KB: Kettlebell
- KTE: Knees to elbows. Similar to TTBs described below.
- MetCon: Metabolic Conditioning workout
- MU: Muscle ups. Hanging from rings you do a combination pull-up and dip so you end in an upright support.
- OHS: Overhead squat. Full-depth squat performed while arms are locked out in a wide grip press position above the head and in line or slightly behind the ears.
- PC: Power clean
- Pd: Pood, weight measure for kettlebells
- PR: Personal record
- PP: Push press
- PJ: Push Jerk
- PSN: Power snatch
- PU: Pull-ups, possibly push ups depending on the context
- Rep: Repetition. One performance of an exercise.
- Rx'd; as Rx'd: As prescribed; as written. WOD done without any adjustments.
- RM: Repetition maximum. Your 1RM is your max lift for one rep. Your 10 RM is the most you can lift 10 times. (Commonly found in WOD's as 1RM/3RM/5RM etc.)
- SC: Squat Clean
- SDHP: Sumo Deadlift High Pull
- Set: A number of repetitions. e.g., 3 sets of 10 reps, often seen as 3x10, means do 10 reps, rest, repeat, rest, repeat.
- SPP: Specific physical preparedness, aka skill training.
- SN: Snatch
- SQ: Squat
- Subbed: Substituted. The CORRECT use of "subbed," as in "substituted," is, "I subbed an exercise I can do for one I can't," For example,if you can't do a HSPU, you subbed regular push-ups.
- TTB: Toes to bar. Hang from bar. Bending only at waist raise your toes to touch the bar, slowly lower them and repeat.
- WO, sometimes W/O: Workout
- WOD: Workout of the day
- # : Symbol for Lbs. or Pounds
- " : Symbol for Inches
The "Girls" : A series of benchmark workouts created by CFHQ that are universally known among the CF community.
The "Heroes" : A Hero workout is a tribute workout in honor of a fallen CrossFitter (either Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, Firefighter, Police officer) that died in the line of duty. They are tough and among the most difficult of WOD's. There are sadly too many of them. Read here for a great explanation of them.
Tabata Interval: A workout of 8 intervals alternating 20 seconds of max rep work with 10 seconds of rest. Total is 4 minutes per exercise. Score the lowest interval rep count.
Paleo and Zone: Types of diet and nutrition protocol commonly found in the CF lifestyle. (3)
The aforementioned girls:
The Benchmark Girls
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Angie
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§ 100 Pull-ups
§ 100 Push-ups
§ 100 Sit-ups
§ 100 Squats
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For Time
Complete all reps of each exercise before moving to the next. |
Barbara
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§ 20 Pull-ups
§ 30 Push-ups
§ 40 Sit-ups
§ 50 Squats
Rest precisely three minutes
between each round.
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5 rounds, time each round
|
Chelsea
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§ 5 Pull-ups
§ 10 Push-ups
§ 15 Squats
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Each min on the min for 30 min
|
Cindy
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§ 5 Pull-ups
§ 10 Push-ups
§ 15 Squats
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As many rounds as possible in 20
min
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Diane
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§ Deadlift 225 lbs
§ Handstand push-ups
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21-15-9 reps, for time
|
Elizabeth
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§ Clean 135 lbs
§ Ring Dips
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21-15-9 reps, for time
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Fran
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§ Thruster 95 lbs
§ Pull-ups
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21-15-9 reps, for time
|
Grace
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§ Clean and Jerk 135 lbs
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30 reps for time
|
Helen
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§ 400 meter run
§ 1.5 pood Kettlebell swing x 21
§ Pull-ups 12 reps
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3 rounds for time
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Isabel
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§ Snatch 135 pounds
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30 reps for time
|
Jackie
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§ 1000 meter row
§ Thruster 45 lbs (50 reps)
§ Pull-ups (30 reps)
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For time
|
Karen
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§ Wall-ball 150 shots
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For time
|
Linda
(aka "3 bars of death") |
§ Deadlift 1 1/2 BW
§ Bench BW
§ Clean 3/4 BW
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10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1 rep
rounds for time |
Mary
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§ 5 Handstand push-ups
§ 10 1-legged squats
§ 15 Pull-ups
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As many rounds as possible in 20
min
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Nancy
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§ 400 meter run
§ Overhead squat 95 lbs x 15
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5 rounds for time
|
The New Girls
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Annie
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§ Double-unders
§ Sit-ups
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50-40-30-20 and 10 rep rounds; for
time
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Eva
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§ Run 800 meters
§ 2 pood KB swing, 30 reps
§ 30 pullups
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5 rounds for time.
|
Kelly
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§ Run 400 meters
§ 30 box jump, 24 inch box
§ 30 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
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Five rounds for time
|
Lynne
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§ Bodyweight bench press (e.g., same
amount on bar as you weigh)
§ pullups
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5 rounds for max reps. There is NOtime component to this WOD, although some versions Rx the movements as
a couplet.
|
Nicole
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§ Run 400 meters
§ Max rep Pull-ups
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As many rounds as possible in 20
minutes.
Note number of pull-ups completed for each round. |
Amanda
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9, 7 and 5 reps of:
§ Muscle-ups
§ Snatches (135/95 lb.)
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For Time
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(1) Glassman, Greg. "Understanding CrossFit". The CrossFit Journaly.
(2) CrossFit. "What is CrossFit?". CrossFit.
(3) http://www.snoridgecrossfit.com/snoridge_crossfit_forging/crossfit-lingo.html
I hope this post has been useful, I'm sure there will be a point in your life where you can't make the gym - no need to fret, just remember what your uncle Barbell Benny said ....CROSSFIT !
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ReplyDeleteThanks and have a great day!