Workout for Tuesday, Sept. 1

I can't believe it is already September!!! 2009 is flying by!

Sit Ups

2 times of:
1 minute of maximum number of sit ups
1 minute rest

2 times of:
45 sec. max sit ups
1 min. rest

2 times of:
30 sec. max sit ups
1 min rest

Additionally, do 50 walking lunges and 50 good mornings, not necessarily for time.

Post total sit up reps to comments

Workout For Monday, August 31

Push ups

2 times of:
1 minute of maximum number of push ups
1 minute rest

2 times of:
45 sec. max push ups
1 min. rest

2 times of:
30 sec. max push ups
1 min rest

Additionally, do 100 squats, not necessarily for time.

Post total push up reps to comments.

Why Weight? (Part 2)

Be sure to read this ENTIRE, short article--and watch the videos and look at the pictures that go along with it. I think you will see why I so whole heartedly believe in heavy (but FUNCTIONAL) lifting for women.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/strength-training-women/

Please comment with your thoughts...

Oh--and thanks to Maddie from CrossFit OKC for the article!

Workout for Saturday, August 29

50-40-30-20-10

Dumbbell thrusters
Sit ups

Workout for Friday, August 28

1 mile time trial

Run or walk/run as fast as you can for a mile. Be sure to record your time.

And/Or:

20-15-10-5

Push ups
Mountain climbers (count after both legs have gone)
Good mornings

Workout for Wednesday, August 26

Today at church we did the following:

Snatch practice, PVC and 15# bar

21-15-9

Deadlift
Seated dumbbell shoulder press

Deadlift was either 75 or 78 lb, dumbbells were 10, 15, or 20#


Great job tonight!

Workout for Tuesday, August 25

Walk or run for 2 minutes
Do 20 push ups
Walk or run for 2 minutes
Do 30 lunges
Walk or run for 2 minutes
Do 40 squats
Walk or run for 2 minutes
Do 50 jumping jacks

Record total time

Workout for Monday, August 24

50 standing broad jumps, for time.

Watch the video, linked below. Jump as FAR as you can each jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vfR0FeEse4


Rest 5 minutes or so, then:

Tabata push ups

All Things Fitness

Check out my friend Christy's website. She has lots of smoothie recipes that look delicious up right now, and if you look a few days back, you'll find some other drink recipes.

http://allthingsfitness-christy.blogspot.com/

Workout for Friday, August 21

For Time:

21-15-9

Dumbbell thrusters
Burpees

Try to use at least 10 lb. dumbbells in each hand. Check out videos for thrusters and burpees.

Rest 5 minutes, then:

Front planks--5 x 1 minute (rest about 1 minute in between)

Workout for Wednesday, August 19

For time:

10 Push ups
20 Medicine ball cleans
30 DB walking lunge
40 Wall ball shots
50 Box jumps
60 Dumbbell swings
70 Sit ups
80 Squats
90 Jumping jacks
100 yard dash

Workout for Tuesday, August 18

Back-to-School Workout

(Well, I will just call it that since my son is now back-to-school!)

3 rounds for time:

400m Backpack carry--run or walk (load backpack with about 10 lbs of books)
15 Locker Loaders--pick the backpack off the floor and get it overhead like you are going to put it on a high shelf
25 Good Morning Teachers (squat, then stand up and do good morning--kind of like sitting in a desk and standing up to tell the teacher good morning)

Workout for Monday, August 17

400m walking lunge, for time

Yes, lunge for about 1/4 mile. For me, this is approximately 400 lunges. With each step, I like to think about how my butt is working it's way back up where it should be and not where gravity and inactivity placed it for many years. Afterward, be sure to mentally prepare yourself for the soreness to come...because it will!

Workout for Saturday, August 15

3 rounds for time:

25 push ups
25 sit ups
50 jump ropes (or jumping jacks)

Last time we did this--June 22

Workout for Friday, August 14

Deck of Cards

Hearts--squats
Spades-push ups
Diamonds--sit ups
Clubs--walking lunge
Jokers--burpees

Values are as follows:
Numbered cards=their number
Face cards=10
Aces=11
Jokers=20

Shuffle the cards, start working through the deck and the exercises until completed!

Workout for Wednesday, August 12

Deadlift--1RM

Team workout--don't move to the next exercise until all are finished:

20 Sumo Deadlift High Pull (45#)
20 Push Press (45#)
20 Sit Ups
20 Burpees

Workout for Tuesday, August 11

3 rounds for time:

Run or walk 400m (1/4 mile)
30 dumbbell thrusters (5-10 lbs each hand)
20 push ups

If for some reason you can't do the run, jump rope or do jumping jacks for about 2 1/2 minutes. Distance for the run/walk can be approximate.

Workout for Monday, August 10

MAX OUT!

You have 1 minute for each exercise. Do as many as you possibly can within that minute. Rest adequately before you go to the next exercise. Record how many you could do of each one.

Push Ups
Squats

Rest 5 minutes, then:

For time:
100 jumping jacks
10 sit ups
80 jumping jacks
20 sit ups
60 jumping jacks
30 sit ups
40 jumping jacks
40 sit ups
20 jumping jacks
50 sit ups

Use an Abmat or pillow for lower back support on the sit ups. Have someone hold your feet and get after it!

Workout For Saturday, August 8

As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes:

5 tuck jumps (see video)
10 mountain climbers (10 each leg)
15 squats

Rest a bit, then...

100 sit ups for time

Workout for Friday, August 7

Favorite/Least Favorite Tabata Mash up

Pick your least favorite and favorite of the following exercises:

Sit Ups
Push Ups
Burpees
Squats
Lunges
Box Jumps
Mountain Climbers
Tuck Jumps
Double Unders
Jumping Jacks
Good Mornings

The normal Tabata is 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest for 8 intervals. The Mash Up is to alternate favorite and least favorite exercises for a total of 16 intervals (8 minutes total). If you choose Burpees and Sit Ups--you would do burpees for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, sit ups for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, burpees for 20 seconds, and so on. Your "score" is the lowest number you do in any 20 second period of each exercise (you will have two scores.)

What Is So Functional About Learning the Snatch?

This was the question posed to me on “O-Lifting Saturday” at CrossFit OKC by Kim S. I hate answering that question with “because it’s good for you,” so I did a little research. CrossFit is all about functional fitness. This made me think about defining functional fitness. Is it different for each person? I don’t really think so. I think if you were to ask 10, 20 or even 1000 people what qualities they see in a “fit” person, the same adjectives would come up over and over. Words like “strong, healthy, coordinated, fast, lean” etc. CrossFit makes the case that a “fit” person is a person who is able to perform a wide variety of physical tasks and do these tasks quickly. An athletes’ training involves taking everyday “functional” movements and perfecting them, in a wide variety of ways, making the individual stronger and faster in the process. So, specialization is not really evident at a CrossFit gym. I think what is evident is people working hard to achieve a broader type of fitness…a fitness that will help them in their outside-of-the-gym activities, whether sport or just life in general.

So, this brings me back to the functionality of the snatch. Other lifts are easy to see the function in:

Deadlift—Mark Rippetoe says “The deadlift teaches function, because there is no more functional a movement than picking up something heavy.” I can’t argue with logic like that! Some of you guys may be deadlifting just to see how heavy you can get, but for me, deadlift is all about picking up something heavy. I want to be that 70 year old woman who can pick up a 40 lb. bag of dog food from the bottom grocery shelf and move it over to my grocery cart without having to look around for some strong person to do it for me. Now that is functional! Clean (and jerk)—again, what could be more functional? There are so many times we need to pick something up off the ground and put it someplace over our heads. Shoulder press, push press, push jerk—all build strength in getting something overhead. Overhead squat and squat? While I don’t really expect to hold something above my head or on my back and squat down and then back up again with it, I can definitely see the use of balance and core strength necessary to pull off these movements, not to mention the strengthening of the legs, and I can see the functional carryover there.

So, that leaves the snatch. What a completely odd feeling movement! But, when performed correctly, the snatch has a beauty to it unmatched by other lifts. My husband is a golfer. I can watch him hit 100 golf balls on the range and it all looks the same to me, but to him—when he hits one just right, and it makes that “sound” when he hits it in just the right spot…he has this moment of satisfaction, a moment he strives to repeat. I think those who have good, solid technique on the snatch feel this same thing.

Okay, so it is beautiful, takes lots of practice and technique, but is it functional? Yes. The snatch uses almost every major muscle in your body. The snatch is a ballistic lift, it pushes and pulls your muscles in multiple ways. Ballistic training forces the body to recruit and trigger fast twitch muscle fibers, developing explosiveness. This type of training requires the central nervous system to coordinate and produce the greatest amount of force in the shortest time possible. The power and speed you can develop translates into almost any other activity.

The snatch is one of two Olympic lifts. From the CrossFit Journal:

Olympic weightlifters have been found to have higher vertical leaps and quicker 25-meter sprint times than any other athletes, including Olympic high-jumpers and sprinters. The technical explanation for this is that the weightlifters have better “speed strength” than any other athletes. Speed-strength is defined as a combination of starting strength (ability to fire many muscle units instantaneously) and explosive strength (ability to keep these motor units firing once turned on). The more useful explanation as to why they can out sprint and out leap all others is, quite simply, because they weightlift.

The snatch develops explosiveness and makes use of the overhead squat, about which Greg Glassman (founder of CrossFit) says, “the overhead squat is the ultimate core exercise, the heart of the snatch, and peerless in developing effective athletic movement. This functional gem trains for efficient transfer of energy from large to small body parts – the essence of sport movement. For this reason it is an indispensable tool for developing speed and power.”

But explosiveness, or muscle power (force over time), has benefits that go beyond building strength, size, and athletic ability. A 2000 study published in the Journals of Gerontology states that the main cause of declining functional capacities, such as climbing stairs and lifting objects, is the loss of muscle power, not muscle strength. The most effective way to reverse the decline is through power training. Furthermore, in a study comparing strength gains in inactive elderly women and inactive young women found that while the older women gained strength at about the same percentage as the younger women, power increases were significantly less (10% vs. 50%). Muscle power is more important than muscle strength in the prevention of falls.”Power is more important than strength for recovery from loss of balance or walking ability,” says Dain LaRoche, assistant professor of exercise science at UNH and lead author of the study, published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise. 40% of elderly people will fall, and 20-30% of those will suffer injuries that reduce mobility, independence and longevity.

While I may feel completely awkward and uncoordinated doing the snatch, I have to admit it has functional value. It is also important to note that we need to get started on building muscle power NOW, not later, because our bodies have greater ability to do so at a younger age. Who knows, maybe one day I will become proficient enough at the snatch to have that moment of satisfaction that comes from doing it well. In the meantime, however, I just need to work on it…because it’s good for me.

Workout for Wednesday, August 5

Learn the snatch with PVC

Turkish Get Up

Dumbbell Push Press Ladder

Workout for Tuesday, August 4

Complete as much as you can IN ORDER in 10 minutes:

50 squats
50 sit ups
50 walking lunges
50 push ups
50 tuck jumps
50 burpees

If you get this far--I guess just quit! Record how far you get in the list.

Workout for Monday, August 3

5 rounds for time:

5 burpees
15 broomstick thrusters
25 good mornings