CrossFit Low Oxygen

Yesterday I did CrossFit with my friends Melissa and Carl.  Now this wasn't just any CrossFit......this was CrossFit Low Oxygen.  It's located in Frisco, Colorado that is at an elevation of 9,042 feet.  Denver's elevation is 5,280 feet.

The Saturday morning class is full with about 30 folks of all different fitness levels.  Brothers Dave and Brent, both ridiculous fit, lead us through an intense workout that involved 100 reps per exercise, 200 meter runs in between exercises, and unexpected burpee breaks.  Oh how I hate burpees!  When the music went off the signal the burpee break, you could hear the collective UGH! from everyone in the class.

We worked out in groups of three so I did mine with Melissa and Carl.  The 100 reps of each exercise was split up between the teams, how ever you wanted to get to 100.  All three members of group had to do each run....which had a twist.  These were weighted 200 meter runs with medicine balls and sand bags.

We had a few minutes to come up with our game plan of how to get through the W.O.D or Workout of the Day.

We decided to start with pull ups to get the hardest one out of the way first.  Instead of each getting a third of the 100 done in one fail swoop we rotated doing reps of 10 or less.

I really love that on the wall behind the pull up bar is the word, "Breathe."  That's a challenge in and of itself working out at over 9,000 feet!

I used a band to assist me in pull ups.  With some shoulder issues I don't do a lot of pull ups.

Then off on the 200 meter run carrying a medicine ball. Yes, not fun!  We alternated carrying medicine balls and a sandbag during the runs in between each exercise.

For the Medicine Ball Walking Lunges, you had to hold the medicine ball overhead as you lunged.  I went first and decided to go ahead and knock out 34 so I was done.  Melissa and Carl alternated until we hit 100.

We did switch the abs and box steps.  For the Medicine Ball Sit Ups, two people had to do these together.  Sitting on ground with feet touching, both go back to lay on ground with arms overhead, one person has the ball, who then sits up and tosses it over to the other person.  Carl and I started.  I did 20 then Melissa jumped in.  When Carl hit 30, I jumped back in and all three of us alternated from there to hit 100.

For the Sandbag Box Step Ups, with a sandbag on your shoulders, you had to step up on a box then down.  We alternated doing 10-15 reps until we hit 100.

Next was the D-ball Slams.  You start with medicine ball overhead, slam it to the ground, and pick it up a couple of inches from ground when you are in the bottom of the squat.  We alternated doing 10 reps until hitting 100.

For the Sandbag Push Presses, you start in a mini squat, elbows out in front of you, holding sandbag at shoulder level then press up to full extension.  We alternated doing 10 reps each until we hit 100.

Finishing the last run was a fabulous way to complete a tough Saturday morning workout.

Post-workout Pic at CrossFit Low Oxygen

Of course I was exercising and filming. So here are some clips from the CrossFit Low Oxygen W.O.D. on Saturday, June 23, 2012.

Walking Course To CrossFit

Saturday turned into a little bit of an all morning workout.  I started out with two friends walking the course at Oak Hills Country Club.  We got out there about 7:15am to beat the golfers.  It was a beautiful cool morning in San Antonio.  With the peacefulness and serenity of the course, it was definitely a great way to start the weekend.  We walked about 3 miles.

Then I headed over to meet my friend Christy.  We power walked for 1.5-2 miles since we had about 20-25 minutes to kill before heading over to our first CrossFit class.  She'd signed up for it and since I was in town I tagged along.  There were a few others from her office participating in this intro class at River City CrossFit as part of their corporate membership program.  Eric and Erica were our coaches.

Here's the breakdown of our CrossFit class:

Warm up:
Frog jumps up and back
Shoulder rotations with PVC pipe
Lateral shuffle
Karaoke shuffle then sprint 2X


High Hang Cleans - I did my first round with just the 45 lbs bar, second round at 50 lbs, ad third round at 55mph.  These are starting in jump position hold bar at waist, jump up while simultaneously bring bar up to collar bone height to rest with elbows out front as you land back in in a squat then stand up. Lower bar and repeat. We did 3 at each weight.

Next some cardio.  Our series was 400 meter run, 25 squats, 25 burpees.  I completed in time of 4 minutes 47 seconds.  We had 9 minutes to fix series.

The we went in to Tabata style intervals.  These are 4 minute workouts that consist of 20 seconds of going as hard as you can then 10 rest, repeat for the 4 minute duration or 8 cycles.  


First 8 cycles of exercise were abs on the domed ab mat.  We started laying on floor back on mat, feet close to butt, and arms extend out over head. You sit up bring arms overhead and reaching beyond toes on floor.  I did a total of 89 of these sit ups.


Next cycle was squats.  These were butt below knee level squats then back up.  If you hit a number in a round then that was your number or less for the remaining rounds.  I hit 16 squats in first round, 15 in second, 14 in third, then held at 13 squats for each of the last 5 rounds.


After that I rolled a little on the foam roller and called it an awesome workout morning!