Packer Game Day Workout January 18th, 2015

Today's workout consists of some of the best exercises you can do without any equipment. Cross fit is a very intense work out program, but the workout below can be easily modified so that anyone can do it. I will explain.

By the way, today the Packers are playing for the NFC Championship in Seattle and I plan on this guy having a big part in the Packers victory today. GO PACK!!

 

 

Today's exercises are Burpees, Pushups, Air Squats and Pull Up's if you have a pull up bar. If not, we're just going to do Burpees. Below is a modified version of the workout along with the recommended version. Give the modified program a shot and keep working at it until  you can move up to the recommended version.

WARMUP

Do some jumping jacks, light jogging, walking on treadmill, etc. Just something to get your muscles warm. Then do a couple of minutes of stretching just to get loose.

MODIFIED VERSION

5:00 minutes of Modified Burpees - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3-zTtJFpAw

2:00 minute rest

3:00 minutes of 6 Pushups/6 Air Squats alternating between the two. Do 6 pushups and then 6 air squats and keep going for 3:00 minutes - The modification is doing pushups from your knees. Example of an air squat - http://gymnasticswod.com/content/squat

2:00 minute rest

30 seconds of burpees followed by 30 seconds of pull ups. If you do not have a pull up bar, do burpees for the full minute.

Keep a running count of how many total reps you do for all exercises.

FULL VERSON WORKOUT OF THE DAY

5:00 minutes of burpees - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Dq_NCzj8M

2:00 minute rest

3:00 minutes of 6 Pushups/6 Air Squats alternating between the two. Do 6 Pushups and then 6 Air Squats for the full 3:00 minutes. Air Squats - http://gymnasticswod.com/content/squat

2:00 rest

30 seconds of burpees followed by 30 seconds of pull ups.

COOLDOWN

3 sets of 10 Air Squats resting 1:00 minute between rounds

HOW I DID

65 burpees in 5:00 minutes
42 Pushups and 40 Air Squats in 3:00 minutes
11 Burpees and 13 Pullups in 1:00

Total Reps = 171

COMMENTS

As I said, this workout can be easily modified because you are using your own body weight as resistance, really no equipment necessary. And it also includes some of the best exercises that you can do for yourself, Burpees, Pushup, Squats. Those three exercises are a great foundation for any program.

Workout for January 17th, 2015 (and kitten playing with yarn)

I was out with some friends last night and I asked what would attract more people to this blog. One of the suggestions that came up was a picture of a kitten playing with yarn. So....

Ok, enough of the foolishness, on to today's workout.

The warm up for today was supposed to be a 4 cone drill where you put 4 cones in a square about 10 feet apart from one another. You sprint from one cone, side step to the next cone, back peddle to the next cone and then side step to your starting point again. I don't have that space in by basement so instead I did a quick jog on my treadmill and worked on flexibility and stretching. My body felt pretty loose after this and I was ready to get to today's main workout.


Warm-up

I did a quick jog on my treadmill and then worked on flexibility and stretching

Workout of the Day (WOD)

10 rounds for time of:

3 Power Cleans - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCUmi2oqlvA
7 Burpees - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Dq_NCzj8M

You rest for exactly 1 minute in between rounds
Do 20 burpees in the last round to finish the workout

Cool down

5 sets of 3 reps of power cleans using just the bar
I also did some stretching out of my hamstrings and lower back

How I did

I finished all 10 rounds in 14:33. I used 95 pounds for the power cleans

Comments

This workout seemed a little easier than the last couple of days. The only time I really feel somewhat tired was on the last round of 20 burpees.

Crossfit workout for January 15th

Another day, another awesome workout. Today's workout again featured a Skills section and a Workout of the Day section along with the normal warm-up and cool down periods. I just want to mention that you should always warm up a little before doing any exercise and you should ALWAYS do some sort of cool down. A cool down brings your breathing back to normal and in most cases, stretches out those muscles that you just worked out so hard. Your muscles are nice and warm after working out which makes them easier to stretch which will prevent soreness and injury.

Todays workout:

Warm-up


10 Pipe Pass throughs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SjunOgLHOE
10 alternating Quad Stretches
5 Pushups
10 Pipe Pass throughs
20 jumping lunges - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zLTDUFjbXA
5 Pushups
10 Pipe Pass throughs
10 Air Squats

Skills

5 sets of 3 reps of Overhead Presses with 2 minute rest in between sets. Add weight after each set so that on the 5th set, you are doing your max for the 3 reps

WOD

4 rounds for time of:

15 Front Squats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-R-_123Zz8
15 Narrow Push ups - http://gymnasticswod.com/content/narrow-push
15 Knee Tuck Jumps - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDA3DERQKFk

Cooldown

Tabata Plank - If you never heard of Tabata before, it's any exercise that you pick where you do the exercise for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, 20 seconds exercise, rest 10 seconds, etc for 4 minutes total. So for this one, you hold a plank for 20 seconds, rest 10, etc

How did I do

For the Overhead Presses I used 50 for set 1, 60 for set 2, 70 for set 3, 80 for set 4 and 90 for set 5

For the WOD, I used 65 pounds for the front squats. I finished all 4 rounds in 11:00 minutes even

Comments

The WOD part of the workout wore me out. My legs were on fire after 2 rounds of doing the squats and the Tuck Jumps. The cool down didn't really seem like a cool down either. It seemed like another workout to me.

Tomorrow is a rest day so I will see you all on Saturday!

Crossfit workout for January 14th, 2015

Today's workout was a little different from the last two. It still consisted of the standard warm-up and the Workout Of the Day (WOD), but they added another category called the Skill workout that you also performed today.

Here is the total workout:

Warmup

10 alternating Knee Hugs
10 Quad Stretches
10 Frankenstein kicks
10 Air Squats
10 meter Duck Walk
10 Arm Circles - forward and back
5 Downward Dog Pushups

Skill Workout

5-3-1-1-1 Hang Squat Cleans - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5oH-_vOCEU

What you are going to do here is perform 5 sets of hang squat cleans working up to the heaviest one that you can do. The first set will have 5 cleans, the second will have 3 and the last 3 sets will only have 1 rep each. Continue adding weight in between sets. The last set should be close to the heaviest clean you can do for 1 rep. Rest 3 minutes in between sets.

WOD

2 rounds of 6:00 minutes each - As Many Reps As Possible with a 3:00 minute rest in between rounds. You perform the 3 exercises listed below in order for 6 minutes, take a 3 minute break and then continue where you left off for 6 more minutes. Record how many rounds you completed.

5 Pullups
10 Thrusters - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfIc4DUeapo
15 Kettlebell (or Dumbell) Swings - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBIWpPfc6NY

Cooldown

3 Sets hanging off the pull up bar for as long as you can with a 1 minute rest in between sets. (I was really surprised how well this stretched out my upper body). It felt really good.

How did I do

For the Skill workout I did 5 reps at 50 pounds, 3 reps at 70, 1 rep at 100, 1 rep at 110 and last rep at 120.

For the WOD, I ended up doing 6 total rounds + 9 Thrusters. I used 35 pounds for the Thrusters and a 35 pound kettlebell for the swings.

Comments

Not much really to say here except that after only 3 days of doing this program, I can already feel my core getting stronger. The last 2 days especially have been pretty core intensive. I don't mind though. I want to have a strong core, and so should you. It helps in all aspects of daily activities and should be something to strive for. See you tomorrow!

The 12 Days of Christmas Workout of the Day

I realized today that I was a day off on my workout schedule that I'm following on the website. As I stated in yesterday's post, Crossfit consists of a 3 day on, 1 day off, 3 day on schedule. Yesterday was supposed to be an off day, so in reality, today was my first day. We'll just consider yesterday's workout a warm-up.

On to today's workout. They named this workout the 12 days of Christmas, but trust me, this was nothing at all like Christmas. There were 12 total exercises. After performing the first movement, you went back to number 1 and then added the next movement each round. For example, the exercises start with 1 Power Snatch, then round 2 is 1 Power Snatch + 2 Overhead Squats, then round 3 is 1 Power Snatch + 2 Overhead Squats + 3 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls, etc..  The workout is over when the 12 Hang Squat Cleans are completed.  BRUTAL!!

Warmup

10 alternating Knee Hugs
10 alternating Quad Stretches
10 Air Squats
10 Duck Walks
10 Sec Butt Kicks
10 Sec High Knees
10 Sec Butt Kicks
10 Sec High Knees
10 Sec Butt Kicks
10 Sec High Knees

Workout

The exercises were:

1 Power Snatch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhF0cbRjxRo
2 Overhead Squats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3VMBdEBB7c
3 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yElE1E_Mco
4 Push Presses - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0gEsMc1JZ4
5 Burpees - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Dq_NCzj8M
6 V sit ups - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlw2Cyon-Ks
7 Push ups
8 Pull ups
9 Abmat Situps - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um44AMM2JgE (You can use a towel behind your back)
10 Thrusters - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfIc4DUeapo
11 Deadlifts - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op9kVnSso6Q
12 Hang Power Clean - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzQJB9XHd5c

I performed the recommended starting weight of 35 pounds on the bar for all exercises requiring weight.

Cooldown

I did some stretching of my shoulders and core

How did I do

I finished the workout in 29:55

Comments

I learned today why a lot of people don't like Cross fit. When you're doing so many exercises, and mostly ones that you have never done before, your form is terrible which might cause injuries. I found myself slowing down a lot just to keep my form in check. I found overall that if I took my time, it was an excellent overall workout. I also was able to complete all the pull ups today without leaving the bar, unlike yesterday. I also should've realized when I looked at this workout how core intensive it is. My core is going to be screaming tomorrow.

That's it for today. We'll see what tomorrow's workout throws at me.

My Crossfit journey begins

Today, January 12th, 2015, I start a new fitness journey. I have completed several rounds of P90X, Insanity and Body Beast and have at least started P90X2 and P90X3 which I really didn't care for. I have also started T25, which I believe is a good program, but not what I'm after right now.

So today, I decided to join the thousands of others out there who have jumped on the Crossfit bandwagon. For those of you who haven't heard of Crossfit, its defined as this:

With constantly varied, high-intensity functional movements, CrossFit is a training philosophy that coaches people of all shapes and sizes to improve their physical well-being and cardiovascular fitness in a hardcore yet accepting and encouraging environment.

What it pretty much comes down to, and I'm sure there will be people that complain about my simplicity of it, is you are given a Workout Of the Day and you perform it to the best of your ability. Some days it's based on strength training, other days cardio and still others, a combination of the two. It can also be based on time or quantity. For instance, they may give you 5 exercises and you perform them in order and see how many rounds you can complete in 20 minutes. Or, something like perform 75 squats and write down how long it took you to complete. Crossfit is three days on, one day off, and then three more days on for a total of 6 days per week.

There are several websites out there that promote Crossfit. The big one of course is Crossfit.com. I looked at that, and honestly, it intimidated me. So I found another site that better suited my workout style. Look around the internet. There are plenty of websites out there that have Crossfit workouts.

I plan on written an entry in this blog after every workout to help track my progress and hopefully motivate some people to at least take a peek at Crossfit and see if it maybe for them.

With that being said, I present to you, today's Workout of The Day (WOD). I have included links to websites that demonstrate the exercises.

Warmup

Karoke - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOze-7t_-J0
Frankenstein Kicks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJRArItvXE4
Bear Walk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmFZaK8VfS4
Crab Walk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9RDjHth_aY
10 Pushups
Inch Worm - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFJG4GW5JJk
10 Air Squats - http://gymnasticswod.com/content/squat

Workout

As many rounds as possible in 12:00 minutes of:

10 Air Squats - http://gymnasticswod.com/content/squat
10 Pullups -
10 Jump Squats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gijGpRSA9FI
10 Pullups
10 Burpees - http://gymnasticswod.com/content/burpee

Cooldown

3 rounds of 5 very slow air squats

How did I do

I ended up doing 3 complete rounds and making through the 10 Jump Squats of the 4th round before my time was up

Comments

The pullups really slowed me down. I have always struggled with pullups and adding them in between other exercises in a timed fashion burned me out. I had to come off the bar several times in the second and third rounds before finishing the sets. I think this will be one of the benefits to Crossfit though. My body will get used to doing exercises such as this and I will get into very good physical condition.


That's it for my 1st day of Crossfit training! I will continue to write each day with the workout and how I did. If you start to follow these workouts, please be sure to comment on your times and if you have any questions.

Thanks

Mark

Why work out?

If I asked a group of people in a gym why they were working out I would get a variety of answers that all focus on looking better. Statements such as, I want bigger arms, I want smaller legs, or I want a six pack. Not to many people would say they want to lower their cholesterol or they want to lessen their chances of getting diabetes.

In today's society, we are all so focused on looks. We see athletes, actors, and models in magazines and on television and believe we will never look like that, so why try? The truth is, it's hard work to look like that. But the truth also is that they are paid to be in that kind of shape and they have time to work out 3-4 hours a day, unlike the normal person.

Even though we may never have that six pack or those 21 inch biceps, exercise does help us to be healthy in ways other than looking good. With 20-30 minutes a day of light to moderate exercise, we can:

• Lower our risk of heart disease
• Lower our cholesterol
• Lower our chance of diabetes
• Improve our flexibility
• Lower the risk of some forms of cancer
• Increase weight loss
• Improve our mood
• Boost our energy
• Promote better sleep
• Lower high blood pressure

Sure, 20-30 minutes a day of exercise will not give you the body of a Greek God, but it will increase your chances of living longer and will increase your quality of life. So get going! What are you waiting for? Go for a walk or a bike ride. Go play catch with your kid in the yard. Get up off the couch, away from the television and get moving!