NO LOVE HANDLES ALLOWED!

'It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.' Theodore Roosevelt 23 April 1910

Wednesday, 2 March 2011

CrossFit

My eldest lad (aged 17) has been attending CrossFit sessions for the last few weeks and has been massively enthusiastic about it. So much so that last night I took the plunge and went with him. After a verbal induction I was then given practical demonstrations of the various exercises. It was then into a group warm up before the WOD (that's 'Workout of the Day' apparently). Last night's session was upper body which is something triathletes and cyclists are probably pretty rubbish at; I know I am! A variety of pull-ups, burpees with press-up and jump and an 800m run. Repeat. Then repeat again. It's a very high intensity workout and I completed my version (the one with amended exercises because I'm not strong enough to do the 'full-on' version!) in approx 22 mins and by heck do I feel it today. However, I really enjoyed it and plan on doing this 2 or 3 times per week. This fits in very nicely with the primal blueprint and means most of my other sessions can be done 'very easy'. I will need to be careful when it comes to my strength phase that I don't overdo it but I'm sure I can accommodate both with a bit of thought.

I see the Phase 1 redundancy fields have been announced. After looking at the financial aspects I was seriously considering it, but my rank and branch are not included so I will have to see what Phase 2 brings.

Train smart folks.

10 comments:

Cavegirl said...

Yep, nice fit with PB and lots of the PB guys are into Crossfit and PX90 (?), all round strength (ie increased muscle mass) is a must as we get older to keep the metabolism ticking over nicely. And enjoyment factor is really important, anything that's enjoyable (even in the masochistic sense!) is much more motivating than hauling your butt out to a freezing cold garage to cycle like 'Johnny no friends'!

Might I be right in thinking there are a number of female fitties who attend that won't do the motivation any harm either ... LOL!

Turbo Man said...

A couple! LOL! Although the TeamGorilla site is good for that!!!

Cavegirl said...

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/paleo-diet-meet-caveman-dieters/story?id=13030483 nice little bit with Art De Vany and Robb Wolf and a lot of Crossfit action!

Team Gorilla are awesome, I'm some way off that but give me time LOL!

Sags said...

Whilst all this enjoyment is good, what about the specificity required for tri? is Turbo man venturing too much into non-beneficial training?

Just though that I would throw that in 8-)

Cavegirl said...

Go to a crossfit session and then tell me there isn't specificity for tri. Strong swimming requires good upper body strength and a great core, cycling requires good core strength for efficient power transmission and running especially requires a strong core to avoid injury issues.

I would add yoga in there too now. I can't believe how shortened some of my tri (specifically bike) muscles have become, and they are dragging my pelvis and hips out of line - that will lead ultimately to injury.

And, most important, you mustn't under-estimate the stress relief involved with working out with CrossFit females - eye candy goes a looooooong way to aiding a healthy athletic performance eh Turbo - LOL!

Turbo Man said...

Yoga? Is that how the posh people say yoghurt? As in '...and even if I did have that there's no way I would put yoga on it!'?

Cavegirl said...

LOL! Yoga might prove to be JC's less than secret weapon on the road to a fast IM!

Mark "Frank" Whittle said...

"Yoga might prove to be JC's less than secret weapon on the road to a fast IM!"

Or even the 20+ hour training weeks could be the key!!! :-)

Turbo Man said...

LOL! Frank - that was what I was thinking!

Cavegirl said...

Only if he can stay injury/illness free which will be a feat in itself with 20 hours a week at his age with his other commitments! As I say yoga could be the key!