03 Oct 14 – Rest Day…..kind of

So today is a rest day and so we spent 30 mins this morning just doing stretches and yoga movements. It was certainly needed and was lovely to perform out on the flight deck in the morning sun.

I had then intended to take it easy for the rest of the day.

But.

There was a Tug O’ War Competition on and obviously I had to get involved!! I won’t go over the embarrassing scoreline but it was an intense blowout in itself and really got me fired up (we lost a few) so I headed down to the gym to work it off. The barbells were all being used with some of the worst deadlift and squat form I have ever seen (and no, I didn’t step in as military folk tend to hate being given pointers) so I went straight to today’s CF Outlaw WOD. Scaling from 24kg KB to a 20kg KB:

3 RFT:

20 x Single Arm KB Overhead Lunges (Left Arm)

20 x KB Swing

20 x Single Arm KB Overhead Lunges (Right Arm)

25 Lateral Jumps over KB.

Time: 10:53

I love those kind of WODs for the way they make me feel at the end. However, I took too much time and breath between the lunges and the KB swings, wasting time that I could have been working. Always I hear that voice in my head now, pushing me on; it used to be a voice trying to get me to stop but now it pushes me on and on. Clearly, something has changed and for the better.

With a 10min session of stretches, I left it there and headed out. I have spent the last few moments looking for a CF Box in our next destination. There are 3 to choose from and now I just need to find which one is closest to our port location but I can do that on arrival…..whenever that is.

15 Sept 14 – I’m told it’s a Sunday. 3 RFT Lateral Jumps, Sumo Deadlift High Pulls, Pull Ups and Dips

Apparently, it’s a weekend and a Sunday at that. The days continue to roll in to each other.

After 2 days off from CrossFit, I feel quite refreshed and was looking forward to really going 100% this morning. As always seems to be the case, however, that wasn’t to be the fume-filled, green-light lit gym this morning certainly didn’t get either Matt or I in to the correct frame of mind. That said, it’s fair to say we both gave at least 85-90% throughout and in the conditions was about acceptable. This afternoon I intend making up for it with big lifts.

3 RFT:

30 x Lateral Jumps over Bench

20 x Sumo Deadlift High Pull @ 32kg

15 x Pull Ups

15 x Dips (using Bench)

Time: 10:03

Matt: 10:16

The Lateral Jumps gave us something different to think about today. In a confined space, we really had to concentrate on footfall and not landing on other bits of equipment. With that in mind, it required quite a bit of concentration and we managed to get a good rhythm going with volleys of 20 or so unbroken, on the bounce. The SDHP hasn’t been visited in a while and had to be broken in to a 10 and 2 x 5 each time. The thighs and hips certainly took the strain, purposefully so, in order to free up the arms for the pull ups and dips. I should remind everyone (and myself for future read back) that the bar we use for pull-ups is a scaffolding pole, covered in tape, hanging from a roof support; it hangs down on ¾” threaded metal dowels and is completely unstable on both ends. The bar has considerable sway (about 6”) that makes for a very difficult platform to perform pull-ups. I am hoping that the ‘rough’ nature of this bar will have a direct benefit when it comes to performing them on a nice, sanitary construction back at home. The dips were done as reverse dips on a bench with only about 9” drop; this allowed for an approx 90 degree movement in the arm but was not especially challenging and should have been increased to take in to account the progressive nature of the equipment used.

Despite taking pauses that were too long, I recall telling myself throughout that I need to be breathing fire and then forcing myself back on to the bar / lift. Still, it wasn’t good enough this morning and I’ll rectify that later.

Breakfast was 4 x boiled eggs (massively under cooked!!!) and 3 rashers of lean bacon, a small glass of OJ, a small glass of milk, followed by a black coffee with Cadbury’s Options Hot Chocolate in it.

As always, 2100mg of EPA/DHA (Fish Oil Omega 3) too.

Back in to the Routine

Bank Holiday Monday (yesterday) saw me at Britannia CrossFit in Farlington, Portsmouth. They’re a good bunch who’ve been established for quite a while. A very good friend of mine recently joined there so I followed her down for a Bank Holiday session; 5 WODs in 2.5hrs. Starting with an 8min AMRAP of Burpees and Tuck Jumps, there were others that included hundreds of Toes To Bar, Planks, Wall Walks, variations on Cindy and ‘equipment carries’ over a mile. It was a great experience and motivating to be around other people in a competitive environment again; I need that!

After a 4 hours drive back to Plymouth late last night, I was expecting to wake up this morning, hit the alarm clock and go back to sleep. Not so; I was up at 0600 and heading to the gym for some Outlaw CF programming. After breaking the 3.5mm audio jack inside my iPod Nano Gen 5, I was left in silence to complete 4 rounds of 5 Back Squats (variable percentages of 1RM) and then 4 rounds of 5 Front Squats (again, variations of 1RM). I’m really getting in to this squat programme now and hope to see real gains in this area.

Following the lifting was a MetCon that I had to change slightly. It was a 15min AMRAP but instead of :

200m Overhead Plate Carry (20kg)

10 x Pull Ups

5 x Wall Walks

10 x Lateral Plate Jumps (20kg plate)

I subbed the 200m OH Plate Carry for 10m Handstand Walking as I don’t yet have a 200m route mapped out. Still, I achieved 4 complete rounds and made it to a single Wall Walk. The Handstand Walking slowed me right down in rounds 3 and 4, as you might expect after Wall Walks and Pull Ups. I felt good though, controlling breathing throughout and trying to get my heartrate right down at every opportunity.

Diet today wasn’t too bad:

Handful of mixed nuts and dried fruit before WOD

50g Protein after WOD

Missed Breakfast!!!!

2 Egg Omelette with salad for Lunch

50g Protein after Lunch

Cajun Chicken Breast, single potato, mashed carrots (when I get down to dinner).

Throughout the day I’ve had 2 mugs of coffee and a lot of water. I am feeling tired right now but I think this might actually be because I’ve been working all day and not from the WODs.

I have tomorrow morning to look forward to but will not be working out on Thursday as I have another 8mile Combat Fitness Test to look forward to with the Squadron.