Back2Back

Holy heart rate Batman! Today was gross. 2nd WOD in two days and today’s Metcon was gnarly for me. My partner and I completed it in 28:35 with scaled pull-ups and I scaled my first round of push ups to conserve a bit of energy for the reverse Baseline which worked out as I did them strict that time. Burned nearly 700 calories in there tonight so I would aayvinhaf a successful training session. 

I am definitely enjoying this adventure. Everyone is cool so far and I can expect to see a lot of more of them on a regular basis. The biggest part for me is checking my ego at the door. That was a lot easier for me when I trained solo because I didn’t feel like dying under a barbell. It’s important to me that everyone knows I’m there to work my ass off (and have fun) and enjoy healthy competition. But man…. The bug of competition is just as bad as ego competition. Luckily there are some strong guys and gals who have depth, strength and technique I’m way behind on…but not for long. Now I have targets and to me those are more motivating than goals. Targets can be hit, people can be beaten and you can both help each other and grow from it in a unique way. A lot like the Jay Cutler-Phil Heath scenario. 

Forced into a rest day tomorrow due to work but will be back at it Thursday!

Until next time…

Iron Built. Iron Born. 

Humble Pie a la WOD

Here we are. My first full-fledged WOD completed this evening. And maaaaaan did learn a few things. First…burpees aren’t THAT bad. But they do still suck something major. And double-unders….yeah I’ll be scaling those for a while while I work on that skill. My results for today were:

Clean Pull (6×1+1): 3×95#, 3×105#

Bent Over Rows (5×5): 2×95#, 3×135#

12min AMRAP (10 burpees x 25 DU’s scaled to 50 singles): 5R+10

Quite honestly, I recovered quickly afterward which was nice. So far so good and looking forward toward Tuesday and Thursday. Sorry for the short update but off to sleep to recover for more!

Until next time…

Iron Built. Iron Born.

Graduation

Well last Thursday I completed my Crossfit Foundations (intro classes) and even had the pleasure of laying down my very own first “Sweat Angel” complete with chalk hands! My capstone class WOD was the infamous Fran. Needless to say, it was a scaled attempt and now I now have a starting point of 9:35 to improve on and I can’t wait. Tomorrow (Monday) will be my first opportunity to attend a full, regularly scheduled WOD. This fills me with excitement and anxiety. The athlete in me says “Finally putting this fatass to work!” while the egocentric lifter in me is worried about how I’ll measure up as the newbie in the class. That experience I will certainly share with you tomorrow evening.

Beyond my first class, I’m excited to start getting back into the big lifts and Olympic lifts (Olys). Setting PR’s has never been a goal of mine. Of course pushing more weight is always great but, as someone who trained bodybuilding style for years, annihilating the target muscle was the goal, not setting PR’s. Being undisciplined, it is easy to slack off and get distracted training by yourself. The same applies in the opposite direction like not knowing when you stop your set or back off the weight leading to injuries, aches and pains. That’s me, just out of control with nothing to show for it.

Enter: Crossfit. Maybe you’re asking yourself, as many of us do early on, “What is Crossfit?” You might be asking, “Why?” You might think Crossfit is stupid or juvenile, lacking goals or structure and I would have to disagree. I used to knock CF but it was based on the goofy Crossfit Fail videos you can find on YouTube with participants flailing about, dropping weights off bars because they forgot their collars, and trying to clean and press with an over-under deadlift grip. I thought it was ridiculous, thinking “Where the hell are the coaches? Did anyone even try to teach them anything?” all the while still respecting that their concept of General Physical Preparedness was at the heart of actual training and the benefits of that philosophy. Even once I realized some great benefits, I still wasn’t convinced I wanted in, I wasn’t convinced it was for me and my goals when in real life, what I was doing was only taking me further from what I wanted. Well, clearly to obtain something you never had (or had long ago) you need to do things you’ve never done. For me that is Crossfit….with a great coach, in a great box that can help me scale WODs around my existing injuries and weakness while working to function like an athlete again putting up solid CFT and PR’s and I. CAN’T. WAIT!

If you aren’t familiar with the terms, several things I just said in the above paragraph you may not understand. If you curious about what the lingo and jargon for Crossfit is, you can brush up things here and here.

Until next time…

Iron Built. Iron Born.

Stay Tuned…

Bear with me as I gather content to drop here. I’m excited as this is my first attempt at blogging and I’m starting some new chapters in my world that could lead to some great experiences.

“The Journey”

One of my favorite reads. The Journey follows the mind of Frank “Wrath” McGrath of AnimalPak and his prep for a show. The writing is raw, the message hits home. Give it a read! The company, Universal Nutrition/Animal, is awesome. Real, raw and authentic.

We Pay the Iron Price

But not in the way we saw in GoT. Sure we may think we’re going to die under the load some days, but the definition we’ll employ here, while still involving brandishing heaps of iron about, and still about death….is about self-improvement.

You may be asking, “Still about death…what the what?”. Well thank you for asking but you can calm down. This death is metaphorical at best. Death in this case is brought upon our old selves, our struggles, our demons through the war we wage in the weight room. Barbells and Dumbbells. These are our weapons and tools used to forge ourselves anew. Every time you load up that barbell or grab hold of a dumbbell, the war has begun and each rep you squeeze out is an enemy felled.

Then again, sometimes it’s just therapy, “paying rent” as my friend of mine and others put it. Not worrying about war, or gains, no PR…no sometimes we’re just here to do what we have to do, for the familiarity of the weights, of the sweat drenching us, of controlled breathing and focused aggression. Yeah…those are the things that can take your day from shitty to satiated.

Hello World!

Well hello there! Chances are if you found this page a couple truths may apply to you: you know me or you’re like me! I intend to use this medium to express my thoughts and experiences regarding:

• Fitness and Training (multiple disciplines welcome)
• Nutrition (as I learn or read interesting material I will share. I am no expert!)
• Un-Nutrition (WHY IS BAD FOOD SOOO GOOD!?)
• My Life and Journey (my training, my lady Meaghan and our dog, Kaia)
• General Randomness

I hope you’ll tag along and contribute. Community and Camaraderie are things I love to see and encourage. I’m not here to, nor do I condone trashing this or that; him or her. I do however condone healthy, informative discussion.

Let’s train, share, grow and improve. If your favorite feelings include iron in the palm of your hand, a burning pump in your muscles and the satisfaction of hot pizza hitting your tongue… you are among family, Iron Price family. Welcome to Iron Price Athletics Crew.