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!

Modified Tabata Combos

Yesterday was my usual Wednesday Mad Abs and Dirty 30 classes at Pura Vida Club.  They are 30 minute classes that absolutely kick your butt.  When walking out of Dirty 30, two guys behind me walking down the stairs comment on how tough the class is and how much it pushed them.

One of the class participants yesterday that made me work harder was a guy on his first day back from having a collapsed lung.  We were doing the triceps round and he was sitting it out.  Just thinking he was tired I said come on you've got this.  That's when he showed me scar and told me it was his first day back.  Let me just tell you that watching him do the up and overs on the step, you'd never know he was recovering from collapsed lung.  I told myself if he can go that fast then I have to go faster and work harder.

So here's the workout that is modified Tabata and we did two rounds.  You do first exercise for 20 seconds, got straight into second exercise for 20 seconds, then rest for 20 seconds.  Equipment you need: Bosu ball, step on high risers (we had stacks of four on each side), and either a 10-pound or 25-pound plate.

You do 4 rounds of each combo for a total of four minutes at each station.  Then repeat for a second time.

Combo 1 with Bosu ball:
Bosu burpees with push up (flat side of Bosu faces up, ball side down)
               
Deck squats (ball side up, lay on ball, roll up to low squat then stand up, then back down to start position)

Combo 2 with weight plate:
Plate squat press (squat with plate then press plate straight overhead as you stand up then back down)

One arm row (1st & 3rd round with right arm, 2nd & 4th round with left arm)

Combo 3 on step:
Tricep dips (legs fully extended)
Up and overs (going up and over steps - not length-wise - as fast as you can)

Get through all three combos twice and you are done!

Modified Tabata - Get It Done In Under 30

Today I booked it over to make the noon Mad Abs and 12:30pm Dirty 30 classes I usually take on Wednesdays at Pura Vida Club.  


In Mad Abs, Cyndie had us use a Bosa ball and medicine ball for today's class.  We used the Bosa for almost the entire class including doing some lower back strengthening doing Superman lifts on them.  Mountain climbers, walking planks, slide crunches on Bosa with both legs off floor were all part of the abs fun today.


For Dirty 30, Tim had us do modified Tabata, which is four minutes of intense interval or circuit training. We had three stations today.  Here's the breakdown:


Cross over lunges then extended lunge for 20 seconds - cross your right foot in front of and outside your left foot so you are in a curtsy position lunge, then push off that right foot, and taking it out to the right to land in a 90 degree lunge with right leg while left leg straightens in a side lunge position.
Repeat with left leg as lead for 20 seconds.
Rest 20 seconds.
Repeat 3 more rounds.


Handle medicine ball kettlebell swing for 20 seconds - squat then swing handle medicine ball up to shoulder and repeat  using the power of the squat and hips to help with lift of the ball.
Shoulder press for 20 seconds - elbow even with shoulder and press ball up. Free hand is down by your side, not on hip.
Rest 20 seconds.
Repeat two moves again on each arm.


Body bar row for 20 seconds - make figure 8s as you paddle with the body bar using straight arms. Hips should stay square, abs in, and be in an athletic stance with knees bent slightly.
Mountain climbers for 20 seconds - in plank position with feet on gliders bring knees forward to elbows as fast as you can.
Rest 20 seconds.
Repeat 3 more rounds.


Then do another round of all exercises. Have fun!

Partner Mad Abs & Weighted Dirty 30

I know when I walk into the room for Mad Abs and Dirty 30 at Pura Vida Club that I'm in for an intense workout hour.  Today's workout was a killer as usual.  For Mad Abs, it was a new instructor for me.  Cyndie had us partner up so I got to partner with my friend Amanda, who's a Pilates instructor at the club.

We started sitting next to each other in a V-sit (feet on floor or off) and taking a medicine ball to the outside, tap it on floor then toss over to your partner to do the same thing for 30 seconds.  Then you spin around on the floor and do the same thing for another 30 seconds to work the other side.  Then we sat on the floor facing each other with toes touching, one person takes ball, lays down on floor then crunches up to seated position and toss ball to partner who does the same thing.  We did this for 30 seconds.  Next is the leg push down.  You lay on the floor, legs extended straight in the air, and grabbing on to partner's ankles.  The partner standing up pushes your feet/legs toward the ground. You do that for 30 seconds.  Then you extend one leg hovering above the ground, the other leg extended and do single leg push downs for 15 seconds then switch to other leg.  Then you switch positions with your partner.  Do that series a second time....and that's just the first series we did in Mad Abs.  Other series included tossing the ball, crunching up to do punches, mountain climbers, and moving planks.

Next on to Dirty 30 with Tim.  He did Tabata style today.  We did each exercise for 20 seconds then moved on to next exercise or rested for 10 seconds.  We also did each exercise with some sort of weight.  Here's the series:

With body bar (I used 12 lbs one):
   Row Lunges - start and stay in a lunge and row body bar with straight arms alternating sides
   Squats - Wide grip on body bar and power squat
   Rest
   Repeat but lunge with other leg for 2nd round
   Repeat a 3rd and 4th time alternating lunge positions
   Rest after 4th round is active rest as you move to next exercise station

With weighted tube:
   Bazooka lunges - gripping tube, lunge forward and bring tube up to shoulder as if you were holding a bazooka. Bring tube down as you step back then lunge other side taking tube up to other shoulder. You want a quick pace on these.
   Speed skate - move side to side in a speed skate motion, extending tube out side to side and not up.  Again you want quick pace.
   Rest
   Repeat 3 more times
   Rest after 4th round is active rest as you move to next exercise station

With weighted handle ball (I used 14 lbs one)
   Kettlebell Swing - squat then swing kettlebell up to shoulder height as you stand up.  You should feel this in glutes not shoulders.
   Lean Over Row - lean over and stand on one leg with other leg extended (you look like a T), with ball or free weight in hand of side of your standing leg, row elbow up then down
   Rest
   Repeat but do lean over row on other side
   Repeat 3rd and 4th time alternating lean over row sides
   Rest after 4th round is active rest as you move to next exercise station

Repeat entire series again.
 

Tabata Intervals Are Tough

Today I did Mad Abs and Dirty 30 at Pura Vida Club.  Both classes have awesome instructors - Jamie teaches the Mad Abs and Tim teaches the Dirty 30.

I'm not sure how, but somehow, Jamie makes the 30 minute Mad Abs class go by fast.  I love that she does so much more than crunches.  Today we used a body bar, Bosu, and ball for the class.  I love that she gave us two challenges to end the class.  Here are the two moves used an exercise ball and Bosu.

Plank with hands on Bosu (ball side up) and legs on the exercise ball.  If you can do that then try bringing knees in keeping feet on ball.  If you can do the knee roll in, then try bringing feet in as you extend up in a pike position.

Turn Bosu ball over so the flat part is up.  Hold on to the sides and place legs on ball.  Trust me this plank is challenging enough but if you want to go one more level then alternate bringing knees to elbows.

Those were the two exercises to end Mad Abs then it was on to Dirty 30 with Tim.

Today he did 6 exercises in Tabata style which is doing exercise for 20 seconds then resting 10 seconds and going right in to next one.  Here are the exercises for 1 cycle:

Burpees - I so have a love-hate relationship with these.  I hate doing them but love the results of doing these.

Cross Over Lunges

Push Ups - yes I did all cycles on toes military style

Squat Curl Press - squat with weights in hands, as you start to come up do bicep curls, the press weights overhead.

Deck Squat - with step long ways start laying down with arms extended beyond head.  Sit up then stand up, then squat back down and go back to starting position.  I actually had problems with this one. Tim noticed and said it's because I'm short-waisted.  So he suggested holding one of my 5 pound weights in my hands while doing the move.  That worked!

Mountain Climbers - like burpees I have a love-hate relationship with these.

Now do that cycle 8 times doing each exercise for 20 seconds then rest 10 seconds and right into the next one.  There is no extra rest in between cycles!