Workouts!

Finally back to working out and it feels good. At least it does now, tomorrow morning could be a different story.

I have been following Mark Rippetoe's Rehab program (www.strengthmill.net) for a while and now feel I can push my body again.

So tonight was the Crossfit WOD "Nicole"
Run 400 meters (6 Rounds completed - 2400m)
Max rep Pull-ups (22-20-15-15-15-20 Total 107)
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes. Note number of pull-ups completed for each round.

Working hard on those pull ups -I like the new gymnastics kip I learnt this weekend

I felt shattered at the end but man did the endorphins feel good :-)

Donna cranked out another Starting Strength workout. Work sets (3 x 5) Squat 145# Bench Press 102#

SNOW! In October WTF!!!!!!!!!!!

No the little white dots are not stars, it is the first snow of the winter :-(

Gymnastics Cert

The gymnastics cert we went to this weekend was a great experience, it was well worth the time and effort.

As well as the movements we learnt on Saturday, on Sunday we added Handstands, Handstand Pushups, L-Sits, V-Sits and finally the Iron Cross.

Donna skins the cat, spotted by Gillian Mounsey, yes the same one who came third at the CrossFit Games this year.

Donna and James work on their gymnastics kip.

Matt all balled up and upside down!

Donna trying out the band supported Handstand Pushup on Paralettes!

Coach Jeff Tucker, Donna, Gillian and Matt

Thanks again to James for letting us crash at his place and Neal, John and EC from CF Boston for putting up with us for yet another cert.

Jeff's place is GSX Athletics in Texas http://gsxcrossfit.blogspot.com/

Great Gymnastics Cert - Thanks Tucker!

Matt and Donna hitting back levers on Saturday.

More details tomorrow :-)

Gymnastics Cert

The cert is going well. Jeff Tucker the head coach this weekend from GSX Athletics http://www.gsxathletics.com/crossfit.asp is a funny guy.

We have covered the gymnastics kip, skin the cat, back lever, muscle up and a heap of other stuff.

Off to dinner now, more details tomorrow.

My introduction to American Halloween traditions

Thanks to Donna, Jason and Trish for helping me to understand the unique American traditions surrounding Halloween ;-)

Pumpkin carving!

The resulting pumpkins!

Cider donuts on a string!

Bobbing for apples, with Kiwi's assistance.

Then it was time to roast the pumpkin seeds and watch a scary movie "Strangers". It was a fun night.

Donna and I are off to Boston this weekend to attend the CrossFit Gymnastics Certification so watch this space for pictures of that.

Damn its getting cold

Donna telling Ginger she has to wait her turn to Bench Press

A quiet couple of days. I am holding off from working out until after the Gymnastics Cert this weekend. But I did teach a couple of classes yesterday and one today. Donna worked out tonight (Squats 140# 3 x 5, Bench Press 102# 3 x 5 and Deadlift 160# 3 x 5) and made good use of her new fractional plates. She also got an A for her practical massage test today. Have I mentioned recently that she has to practice on me. Its such a hardship, NOT.

Ride, Hike, Mow, Grill, Rest

Another fall view, this one from Kennedy Park
A rest day today, so Donna rode with Ruth, while Jason and I hiked the girls in Kennedy Park. Then it was home to mow the lawn and throw some steaks on the grill.
The girls ready to go home after an hour on the trails.

Now it is time for a rest, so we are planning to sit back and watch "The Amazing Race" this episode was filmed in New Zealand :-)

Here's egg in your face, Donna eating Zone!

Wedding Video

Thanks to everyone for the cards, the lunches, the dinners and generally being happy for and celerating with us. Matt and Donna

Peak Leaf Peeping Season...or so they say

Oct 12th
Oct 18th

No I don't know why they call it leaf peeping here in Massachusetts either. But we headed back to Beartown to hike the girls again. Lots more leaves down and a significant colour change.

Another rest day for me as my back continues to improve. Donna hit her strength program again with a additional 5 pound increase on her Squat. Her fractional plates arrived today so now she can move up in 1/2 pound increments. Much better than only having the option of an increase of 5 pounds.

http://www.ironwoodyfitness.com/fractionals.php

Latest addition

Checkout the latest arrival. Following our rowing cert today in Connecticut, we brought our new baby home. Should make for some good workouts over winter when the snow comes.

Thanks to the guys at Concept 2 and our instructor Bruce for running the cert following the confusion over our earlier cert in Boston. Big thanks also to CrossFit Power Barn http://crossfitpowerbarn.blogspot.com/ and CrossFit Watertown http://www.crossfitwatertown.com/for hosting and providing the rowers for the cert.

Recovery is slow...

I seem to have done a little bit of damage to myself with those big lifts on Monday. Lots of ice and a few pills and it is slowly coming right, but I think it will be a least a week before I am back to full speed.


I have managed to do some web surfing, check out:
http://joshsgarage.typepad.com/articles/
He has an intersting take on all those celebrity diet and exercise interviews.
http://weightliftingexchange.com/
Good oly lifting info
http://mbword.mountainbike.com/2008/10/red-bull-rampag.html
The Red Bull Rampage in Utah! The pic is Paul Basagoitia.

Just for Trish. Thomas Vanderhams 60 foot gap jump No Hander. http://video.bicycling.com/video/Red-Bull-Rampage-Vanderham-3rd

Some days you win, others.............

So yesterdays Catalyst workout had the following note attached:

"If your best snatch is limited greatly by technique and the deadlift is consequently very light, up the weight appropriately, but remember, the snatch deadlift must be pulled exactly like the snatch - if you're leading with the hips, rounding the back, or similar, you need to drop the weight. There's no point in doing strength work in the wrong position."

So I should have followed that advice, but I failed to take into account the fatigue from the Max Lift Day on Saturday.

The workout was:

Back squat - 83% x 3 x 5
Snatch deadlift - 110% (of snatch) x 3 x 3
Push press - 80% x 5 x 5
Pull-ups - 3 x max
Weighted GHD sit-ups - 3 x 10
GHD russian twists - 3 x 30

I made it as far as the Snatch Deadlift. After what seemed a very heavy set of Back Squats, my quads were on fire. The 1st set went well, but by the 3rd rep of the 2nd set I was in trouble. I rounded my lowerback and when you do that with 205# on the bar it is bad, bad news.

So now after some ibuprofen and ice I am feeling a little better. Lessons learnt; make sure you recover fully, lower the weight following big lift days and stretch!

Kiwi making sure she stretches her tongue post workout!

Rest Day - Walk in the woods

So as this is my first New England Fall, we decided to checkout the colours up at Beartown. Here are some pictures from todays hike.

Kiwi log jumping!

Max Lift Day - Took 2 hours but well worth it!

My Catalyst workout was a max lift day. We were in the gym (http://www.bizfittraining.com/) for quite a while but I got personal records on all 3 lifts :-) I also added 100# to my overall total.


Snatch - Max 145# (20# PR)
Clean & jerk - max 200# (25# PR)
Front squat - max 300# (55# PR)

Donna continued with her strength program. Her work sets (3sets of 5 reps) were:

Squat: 135#, Bench Press: 95#, Deadlift: 175# x 1 set and 165# x 2 sets

James and Brandon worked out too. With James hitting some PR's as well. Brandon showed some class with some great Deadlifts after rowing for 30 minutes, oh to be young and strong!

Checkout James setting a new 190# Snatch PR.

The girls were there as well, but Ginger got a little chilly.

Hanging Out at the Gym

I had a rest day so I taught the 6pm class last night at CrossFit Great Barrington http://www.bizfittraining.com/ The workout was Push Jerk 3-3-3-3-3. Donna came to workout, managing a PR of 100# and the girls came to hang out.

Kiwi took a liking to Trish's bag and a little later stole her water bottle as well. She loves you Trish!

Cool at night, but nice warm days

The girls needed an extra blanket. So thanks to Paige for keeping the girls warm with one from Sacramento Community College
The girls took the opportunity to sunbathe!

My Catalyst workout:

Muscle snatch + 2 OHS - light-med x 3 sets 115#
Snatch - 70% x 1 x 4 95#
Clean & jerk - 70% x 1 x 4 135#

Then a Crossfit "Hero" WOD from yesterday.

"Ryan"
Five rounds for time of:

7 Muscle-ups

21 Burpees - Each burpee terminates with a jump one foot above max standing reach.

Time: 24:54

WOD was named in honor of Maplewood, Missouri Firefighter, Ryan Hummert, 22, was killed by sniper fire July 21st 2008 when he stepped off his fire truck responding to a call. He is survived by his parents Andrew and Jackie Hummert.

http://www.honoringhummert.com/index.cfm?Section=1

Donna is continuing with her starting strength program, weights are going up and form is looking good.

Beautiful Fall Day

Great day, a frost overnight but a lovely sunny day to follow.

The Fall colours here are really becoming dramatic. The only problem with that is all the "Leaf Peeper" Tourists who inhabit the roads at the moment.

Anyway today's workout:

Muscle snatch - 145# heavy single

Snatch - 105# x 1 x 2

Clean & jerk - 150# x 1 x 2

Pull-ups - 3 x max 12/9/8

Turkish Get Up sit-ups - 3 x 8 1 Pood (16kg) Kettle Bell

Monday WOD

After teaching two great classes at CrossFit Great Barrington (www.bizfittraining.com) I hammered out the Catalyst workout. Thanks to Jason for cheering me on.

Met Con first: 10:24
3 rounds for time of:
500 m row (1:40/1:42/1:45) btw I suck at rowing.
30 sit-ups But I couldn't read my own writing so I did 50 sit ups each round. Bugger!

Snatch - 80% x 1 x 3 105# Then added some to do 115#-125#-125#
Clean & jerk - 80% x 1 x 3 145#
Front squat - 90% x 2 x 2 225#

Apple Picking

Kiwi checking out some apples

Fall colours!

Matt and the girls

Mmmmmmmmmmmm warm cider donuts.

Glute Ham Developer Situps to work off the donuts :-)

Programs and more biking video

So I started playing with my video software last night. George Lucas I am not but at least I can edit stuff now.


As far as workout programs go, I am starting on week 8 of the Catalyst program http://www.performancemenu.com. Donna has decided to start on some of the basic barbell strength programming we learnt last weekend (this link is to Mark Rippitoes forum on strengthmill.com http://www.strengthmill.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=36 ).

Basically Donna's program looks like this :
Day 1
Squat
Bench Press
Deadlift or Power Clean
Day 2
Squat
Press
Chin Ups or Back Extension
Each exercise uses 2 warm up sets of 5 reps then a further 3 warm up sets before doing 3 sets of 5 using a working weight. There are some slight variations for Deadlifts and Power Cleans but that is the general outline.

My Friday workout
Power snatch - 80% x 1 x 3 125#
Power clean & jerk - 80% x 1 x 3 155#
Metcon, 3 rounds for time of: 9:11
400 m row
10 box jumps - mid-thigh+ 34"
20 AbMat sit-ups

Matt, 2 Bitches and a Tough Girl!

Today was Trish and Donna's Birthdays so to celebrate we headed to the hills for a mountainbike ride. To explain the title check out the photo above. The sox were from "Team Bitch" a 24 Hours of Adrenalin race team the ladies were in a couple of years ago.

Ruth (Old Bitch), Donna (Tough Girl), Matt (Donna's Bitch), Trish (Skinny Bitch)

Nice day for a ride, we started at Olivia's Overlook and headed up Broken Thumb. Afterwards we went to Jonathan's Cafe at the Lenox Shops, great food as usual. I got adventurous and tried a gluten free beer from Belgium, a little fizzy to start with but tasted great. We also tried a bread pudding, the twist being that it was made out of glazed donuts OMG it tasted so good. As you may have guessed this is a Zone free weekend.

Donna on Broken Thumb, Trish on backing vocals!

WOD Catch Up!

So to catch up on workouts in the last few days. Monday was a write off, the weekend was harder than we both thought. I think I was suffering mainly from the deadlift but so many muscles were sore it was hard to tell.

That said:
Tuesday
Muscle snatch - 85% x 2 x 2 120#
Snatch - 80% x 1 x 3 100#
Clean & jerk - 80% x 1 x 3 140#
Ab wheel - 3 x 15

Wednesday
Rest Day

Thursday
Clean & jerk - 100% x 1 Skipped due to time
Snatch - 90% x 1 x 2 115#
Back squat - 90% x 2 x 2 275#
Metcon (done first - bad move)
20-15-10 reps for time of: 9:30 Snatch's were slow!
DB muscle snatch (2-arms) - 15% BW each 25#
Kipping pull-ups

More Weekend Pics!

The girls dressed for success!

The happy couple and Trish the supermodel

Champagne!

and Cake!

Jason and the Happy Couple plus the bottle of champagne courtesy of Napa

325# is too heavy for a set of 5!

Great set up for Donna's deadlift.