Saturday 25 June 2011

Challenge number 3: Rock climbing

I decided that this summer would be a summer of self improvement. I would try lots of new sports and see what things suited me so I could becomes a super active person with lots of hobbies. Weights and crossfit were my first experiments and now I have started another new challenge: Rock Climbing

Rock climbing, like crossfit, has a lot of elements that I think are very important. Taking part in rock climbing will improve your overall fitness.strength, balance, co-ordination, flexibility, strength but most of all mental focus. I am ever so slightly afraid of heights. Nothing dramatic but its something that I want to push through. I want to be fearless and the best all round athlete that I can be. 

My course consists of 3 days of 2 hour teaching sessions on inside walls.
Today I learnt about the harness



How to tie in (rabbit goes around the tree and down the hole!)



And how to belay. 



Everybody got the concepts pretty quickly and our teacher was awesome at explaining so at the end we got to climb our first wall and then belay for our partner. I was pushed to the front of the class when everybody decided I should go first.... In case I fall to my death? Well with a deep breath, I made a rough note of some good handholds and ascended the wall. My heart was pounding so hard and all I could think about was how high I was. At this point, our instructor told me to lean back, trust my partner and let go... LET GO?!?
As good as his word, I stayed swaying where I was. No falling to my death!
I quickly scaled the rest of it and grinned down and my partner. DONE! Time to sail back down. Now thats fun. I am really going to enjoy the next 2 sessions of my course and I can feel that I am going to be addicted very very soon :P

"Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top -- it is the willpower that is the most important. This willpower you cannot buy with money or be given by others -- it rises from your heart."
Junko Tabei  after becoming the first woman to climb Everest in 1975 

Friday 24 June 2011

Baptism of Fire

My training partner decided yesterday was the day he would brave his first visit to Crossfit Britannia and my goodness, what a day to arrive.
The crossfit main site declared a "rest day" meaning only one thing.... they could be as evil as they wanted and make us do anything they wanted!


5 rounds of:
50 Jump - touch 18" above tip toe reach
40 Squats
30 Sit ups
20 Press ups
10 Pull ups.


At first Rob thought it as just one round. Oh no, you will learn quickly that this is not how this works around here :P


In the end me and rob both managed 35min doing a scaled version of
4 rounds of:
35 Jump - touch
30 Squat
25 Sit ups
15 Push ups
10 Pull ups with the green band


Quotes of the day include:


Michelle: So Rob, do you mind pain?
Rob: No?
Jenni + Me: WRONG ANSWER!!!


Cycling downhill out of Port Purbrook, looking at the stunning view.
Rob: Do you know, I feel like I have just gotten out of prison. Freedom!


And yet Rob has said he will be returning with me on my next trip :)


I am definitely in DOMS hell today. My calves are on fire, my ribs feel like they have been pulled apart and my abs hurt when I laugh. It was obviously one hell of a good WOD... yes I am insane :P

Monday 20 June 2011

Silence!



I am in total heaven. As a member of a student gym, there are certain times of the day/year that are busier than others and today... was empty.
Abandoned
Quiet
Deserted....
I managed to get my whole set done in good time and without any hassle. There were no curl bros, no grunting men, no whiny women... It was silent. Well apart from the overly chirpy dance music in the background!

I have changed my routine lately, switching to 5x5 to see if I can improve my overall strength, and I have surprised myself.
I did my first real pull up a couple of weeks back but now all of a sudden its 2! Where did that come from!? Now that first pullup is... well... easy! I always wondered how my partner made them look that easy but now I understand. If all of his feel like my 1 then thats why. Things are starting to make more sense to me as I see more improvements in my workout.
For example, I shocked myself by being able to squat 60kg for 5 reps. Something I thought was waaaaaaaaay off in the distance for me. But not just that. The more weight I add, the more I realise how important my form is in preventing injury, keeping my balance and working my muscles to the max.

After so short a space of time, I have come so far. I have achieved half of my original goals

- Squat half my body weight (35kg)
- Bench half my body weight (35kg)
- One un-assisted pull up
- Run 1.5 miles in under 14 min
- 10 real push ups
- Took the big brave jump and joined a crossfit gym
- Started thinking about nutrition, especially paleo
- I found my bicep too ;)

But I am so close to completing the rest. I only need another 10kg and I will be able to squat my own bodyweight. And that will be a very very proud day. But when I reach that point, all this work will not be over. It will be time to think of new goals and work towards them. 

"It is never too late to be who you might have been." 
 ~George Eliot

Saturday 18 June 2011

Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right....

I was watching a gentleman introduce his friend into the world of squats today. His advice was sound in parts but he wasnt really teaching his friend in a way that he understood. Hence why his form was shot to peices. This gentleman then precedes to start his friend on 15kg and wonders why he is leaning forward on his toes, trying to compensate for this sudden jump in weight. He tries to bang out 7 reps very quickly and wobbles his way through it. I smile and tell him to slow down a little before he hurts himself. He retaliates with:
" He's just warming up"
.... Ok....
 I was truly concerned that this guys was about to do himself a mischeif when low and behold it happens before my eyes. Having the bar too far up his neck with poor form and all his weight on his toes, the guy overbalances so that all the weight is on his neck and he falls to his knees. He almost broke his neck. And his friend simply laughed. When he told him to get up and do it again, I am afraid I lost it. I have been telling myself that it was nothing to do with me and to mind my own business but that was just too much for me. I offered to swap places with him so he could use the power rack and make it less risky with the safety bars in. Apparently he was fine where he was...
"Ok well how about you slow down with a lower weight and work on that form a little more?"
I was smiling while I said this to try and show I wasn't being a busy body. His curt responce of
"His form is fine" made me laugh. "Im afraid I disagree."

What is it with men's ego? When they have never even picked up a barbell before they are convinced that they can lift massive weights and SCREW form. As long as you are lifting as much as possible, thats all that matters. Hell injuries are just there to prove you are working hard, right?! I can bet you if I had been 6ft and ripped he would have listened to me, but HELL what do I know? I am only a woman right?
And the women are just as bad but the reverse. They lack all of the ego, all of that self belief. Instead they pick up the lightest weight, afraid to reach that scary point of near failure. Women need to learn to trust themselves and realise that they can lift a hell of a lot more than they think. But women shouldn't be doing weights anyway, get back to the treadmill for a few more hours.

"Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle with you"
Thank goodness I train with like minded people or I would be drinking a bottle of whisky right now...
Rage over.

Monday 6 June 2011

Frustration

Due to time constraints and injury, today was my second time to Crossfit Britannia.
Today we focused on the Snatch Balance and the moves needed to complete it... Oh. dear. My mind to body co-ordination is shocking, resulting in much frustration, cussing and failed attempts to complete the move successfully. I simply cannot get underneath that bar properly.
I started of with the PVC pipe and moved onto the training bar. Disaster, totally. Hey ho, I just need to keep at at it until SOMEHOW it clicks.

Todays WOD for me was AMRAP in 10min of:

  • 5 Pull ups (green resistance band)
  • 7 Box jumps (second one up from small?)
I completed 7 rounds. And now I am totally trashed. Time to go to bed and recover me thinks.