Workout Of The Day - 31st May 2009

Headed to a friend's gym for a workout, that was stocked with lots of weights and a barbell - pleasant surprise!

Did a workout with them, introduced Barbell Thrusters [.mov][.wmv] & Push Presses [.wmv] to them. Going overhead is definitely not easy! After the workout I tried out some Overhead Squats, slowly getting better despite the acute pain in my shoulders since I bumped the weights of the barbell at home from 20kg to 30kg.


Everyone else in the gym was either running slowly on the threadmill or on the stationary bike, while watching TV. Going overhead (while standing in between all of them) surely invited curious stares.



If my shoulders are feeling right, I'll be hitting out some Barbell Thrusters tomorrow evening. Possibly 3 rounds with 30-20-10 reps (if I can take it). If not I'll modify it to Push Presses.

Music is helpful, but don't blast your ears away, hearing cells do hurt.

On a sidenote - music can make a difference in your workouts, and remember to choose wisely! Slow, sappy songs do not work for WOD's. Go fast and hard. I get some Weezer and Simple Plan on my iPod or laptop blasters to get me going furious.

And oh shit, I have this crazy urge to workout now (!) but I think it'd be better laying off the shoulders for the day/night.


First day at work tomorrow. Like how Eat & Train mentioned - its very importatnt to start the first days of work right - and we mean that I should come home to do some Cross Fit workouts after work. And indeed I will, plus from tomorrow onwards I will have pre-cooked and frozen chicken fillets in the freezer, all for post workouts.

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Workout Of The Day - 30th May 2009

Had my weekly dose of Touch Rugby with the Turducken Greens today - had another Try, but later in the game had a few more attempts that failed short of the Try line.

I haven't tried Thrusters with my (35kg / 77pound) barbell yet, especially since Push Presses are bad enough. But by 2-3 weeks time I'm expecting to be able to crank it out decently so that I can do a modified Fran WOD - I might substitute the Pull Ups for 4 times the amount of push ups or burpees.

Tomorrow is a workout with a long-time friend - its going to be fun!

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Workout Of The Day - 29th May 2009

Its amazing how peer pressure can make you do 100 pullups, 150 pushups, 200 situps and 250 squats in less than an hour.

Did the Cross Fit "Barbara" WOD today with Reworking Fitness - bumped into a friend who was coach for Henderson Secondary School's Track team, in the middle of the workout! And we spoke for a few minutes so today's timing is a little 'off'



WOD : Barbara
5 rounds for time:

• 20 pullups
• 30 pushups
• 40 situps
• 50 squats
  

Time: 39min 2sec (29th May 2009)

Blazing hot day, but luckily the WOD area was sheltered by trees.

Ikea's meatballs - beef and pork - 10 is not enough.

Headed to Ikea (since it was in the vicinity) for lunch. Had meatballs for myself, helped finish some of the fish & chips, and a chicken wing. I'm hungry again now, 3 hours after lunch.


Decided to scale down and re-visit the basics of Overhead Squats - just the bar, without the weights. I'm glad now to be able to find my arm position, which allows me to drive down lower without a nagging discomfort I used to experience.

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Workout Of The Day - 28th May 2009

Went heavier today in my workouts, all for time again. I repeated the "Two's Magnificent" WOD followed by a run to the park for a repetition of last night's workout.

WOD #1: Two's Magnificient (#65 barbell)
21-15-9 for time:

• Push Press
• Deadlift

Time: 10min 14sec (28th May 2009)
Time: 13min 29.7sec (26th May 2009)


WOD #2:
30-20-10 for time:

• Pull ups
• Parallel Bar Dips

Time taken: 11min 46sec (28th May 2009)
Time taken: 10min 27sec (27th May 2009)



Slowly, steadily, I will get faster, better, and lift heavier. WOD's 5x a week with 13-hour working days?

Bring it on.

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Workout Of The Day - 27th May 2009

"Drop Ten" WOD

Found the "Drop Ten" WOD at one of the Cross Fit blog affliates - something suitable if you've got no gear with you - pure body weight.

NUS running track. The floor was cool till midway through the WOD when it got hot.

It sure feels good to workout barefooted.

"Drop 10"
For time:
Each round, drop 10 reps from each exercise, until there is nothing left.
50 Squats
40 Lunges
30 Sit-Ups
20 Push-Ups
10 Burpees

**Second - 40 Squats, 30 Lunges, 20 Sit-Ups, 10 Push-Ups. Third round - 30 Squats, 20 Lunges, 10 Sit-Ups. Fourth round - 20 Squats, 10 Lunges. Fifth round - 10 Squats.

Finished it in 12min 08sec. Pretty fun when done in a group I must say. Headed to Techno Edge again for lunch - not exactly Zone Diet, but better than noodles with some bits of meat/fishball.

Pasta, grilled chicken, potato salad & cucumber slices.

I'll miss NUS for its food and its Sports & Recreation Centre.



Later that night I stopped by the park for another workout. Figuring my extremely bad Fran WOD timing, I decided to work on my chin ups.

30-20-10 for time:

• Pull ups
• Parallel Bar Dips

Time taken: 10min 27 sec.

I seriously need to eat again now (second supper).

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Workout Of The Day - 26th May 2009

Today's the first workout with the new (approx.) 65 pound barbell - which is the equivalent for the female's Cross Fit WOD (like in Fran) - am I'm struggling.

The first set felt bad, the second felt worst, but surprisingly the third one felt good - Getting better in the MetCon? I hope so. This will be the first of many more to come. And pleasantly enough I realized midway through the workout that the rubberized 5kg's kept the bar pretty much noiseless, as compared to without it - give its a somewhat 'solid' feel to it.

Due to lack of proper 'amenities', I'm modifying and creating my own Workout Of The Day (WOD) - this one, I call it Two's Magnificient - only two moves (still getting used to the heavier weight)

Shiny and black

WOD: Two's Magnificient (#65 barbell)
21-15-9 for time:

• Push Press
• Deadlift

Time: 13min 29.7sec

And they weren't doused in oil in the cooking.

Pre-workout meal:
Had a double-egg in addition to lunch to boost the protein count. Nice.

Post-workout meal:
Oatmeal & milk with peanut butter, banana and apple.

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Why Interval Training

Interval training is highly under-rated while endurance running, on the other hand, is highly over-rated peculiarly in Singapore. Another mistake I keep seeing in the (globo) gyms is that a large majority of males don't squat because they believe that running will be enough to 'keep their legs strong'.

Makes you wonder where all that 'science' came from - the Army? Or the schools?

Anyway this post is meant to share Cross Fit's reason for interval training: the primary energy system that is utilized, namely, 1) Phophagen (sprint) 2) Glycolytic (mid-distance) 3) Oxidative (distance)

Metabolic Conditioning, or “Cardio”
Biking, running, swimming, rowing, speed skating, and cross-country skiing are collectively known as “metabolic conditioning.” In the common vernacular they are referred to as “cardio.” CrossFit’s third fitness standard, the one that deals with metabolic pathways, contains the seeds of the CrossFit “cardio” prescription. To understand the CrossFit approach to “cardio” we need first to briefly cover the nature and interaction of the
three major pathways.
Of the three metabolic pathways the first two, the phosphagen and the glycolytic, are “anaerobic” and the third, the oxidative, is “aerobic.” We needn’t belabor the biochemical significance of aerobic and anaerobic systems; suffice it to say that the nature and interaction of anaerobic exercise and aerobic exercise is vital to understanding
conditioning. Just remember that efforts at moderate to high power and
lasting less than several minutes are anaerobic and efforts at low power and lasting in excess of several minutes are aerobic. As an example the sprints at 100, 200, 400, and 800 meters are largely anaerobic and events like 1,500 meters, the mile, 2,000 meters, and 3,000 meters are largely aerobic.
Aerobic training benefits cardiovascular function and decreases body fat – all good.
Aerobic conditioning allows us to engage in low power extended efforts efficiently (cardio/respiratory endurance and stamina). This is critical to many sports. Athletes engaged in sports or training where a preponderance of the training load is spent in aerobic efforts witness decreases in muscle mass, strength, speed, and power. It is not uncommon to find marathoners with a vertical leap of only several inches! Furthermore, aerobic activity has a pronounced tendency to decrease anaerobic capacity.
This does not bode well for most athletes or those interested in elite fitness.
Anaerobic activity also benefits cardiovascular function and decreases body
fat! In fact, anaerobic exercise is superior to aerobic exercise for fat loss! (http://www.cbass.com/FATBURN.HTM) Anaerobic activity is, however, unique in its capacity to dramatically improve power, speed, strength, and muscle mass. Anaerobic conditioning allows us to exert tremendous forces over brief time intervals. One aspect of anaerobic conditioning that bears great consideration is that anaerobic conditioning will not adversely affect aerobic capacity. In fact, properly structured, anaerobic activity can be used to develop a very high level of aerobic fitness without the muscle wasting consistent with high volumes of aerobic exercise!! The method
by which we use anaerobic efforts to develop aerobic conditioning is “interval training.”
Basketball, football, gymnastics, boxing, track events under one mile, soccer, swimming events under 400 meters, volleyball, wrestling, and weightlifting are all sports that require the vast majority of training time spent in anaerobic activity. Long distance and ultra endurance running, cross country skiing, and 1500+ meter swimming are all sports that require aerobic training at levels that produce results unacceptable to other athletes or the individual concerned with total conditioning and optimal health.
We strongly recommend that you attend a track meet of nationally or internationally competitive athletes. Pay close attention to the physiques of the athletes competing at 100, 200, 400, 800 meters, and the milers. The difference you’re sure to notice is a
direct result of training at those distances.



Interval Training
The key to developing the cardiovascular system without an unacceptable loss of strength, speed, and power is interval training. Interval training mixes bouts of work and rest in timed intervals. Figure 3 (pg. 5) gives guidelines for interval training. We can control the dominant metabolic pathway conditioned by varying the duration of the work and rest interval and number of repetitions. Note that the phosphagen pathway is the dominant pathway in intervals of 10-30 seconds of work followed by rest of 30-90 seconds (load:recovery 1:3) repeated 25-30 times. The glycolytic pathway is the dominant pathway in intervals of 30-120 seconds
work followed by rest of 60-240 seconds (load: recovery 1:2) repeated 10-20 times. And finally, the oxidative pathway is the dominant pathway
in intervals of 120-300 seconds work followed by rest of 120-300 seconds (load:recovery 1:1). The bulk of metabolic training should be interval
training.
Interval training need not be so structured or formal. One example would be to sprint between one set of telephone poles and jog between the
next set alternating in this manner for the duration of a run.

Read it all in the free Cross Fit Journal

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Ordered More Weight Plates For My Barbell

2 x 5kg from Jiezfitt.

Finally found and ordered some weight plates for my barbell - upping each side from 10kg to 15kg - combining everything with the bar to give nearly (35 kg) 70 pounds. Its still far from the 95 pounds for the Fran WOD though. Hoping to up everything by another 10 kg's in a month or two (more time needed, factoring that I'm embarking on my career soon)

Bumping up my Aibi barbell.

They don't have an official website yet, but they list their goods over at ebay.com.sg - make a search for 'dumbbells' and you'll find their listing. Somethings I particularly like about them:

• S$3.50 / kg - I doubt you can go cheaper than this.
• Free delivery for purchases over S$30.00 - 2 x 5kg already gives $35.00. Otherwise delivery is at S$5.00. And dispatched usually in 2 working days. I got mine in less than 24 hours from time of confirmation of order to time of delivery.
• The weights are rubberized, which cost more than non-rubberized weight plates.
• The packaging is quite cool. (Ripped apart by me)

The packaging is quite cool actually. It looked like a personal pizza-sized box.

Left: 10kg Aibi. Right: 5kg Jiezfitt.

70 pounds in total. 95 pounds in future.

Did one deadlift with the new weights for fun. Tomorrow will be another WOD. I'm figuring some Push Presses, Back Squats & Deadlifts. Exciting.


[What's a firebreather?]

The first time I really started to realize what breathing fire felt like, was a few months after that first Fran. We were doing Cindy (5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 bw squats AMRAP in 20 min.), & I was closing in on my first time doing 20 rounds. If you’ve never done Cindy, that would mean I did 100 pullups, 200 pushups, & 300 bw squats in 20 minutes. As i neared the last few minutes, I felt like I was going to puke & pass out at the same time. It was actually the closest I’ve ever been to puking during a workout - to this day. I remember Christy yelling at me to “not stop - no matter what”.
Source - Cross Fit Alexandra

[Paleo In A Nutshell]

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Workout Of The Day - 25th May 2009

Headed down to NUS for a HIIT session followed by Engine Canteen's Nasi Padang for lunch. The sweltering heat reminds me of the heat in Bangkok - its so hot that you can see sweat stains on everyone's shirt.

This session is not timed:

3 rounds of:

• 100m sprints
• 20m broad jumps
• 40 air squats
• 4x20m shuttle sprints
• 40 box jumps

Grilled Chicken Chop & Fish Fillet @ Techno Edge, NUS

Had Grilled Chicken Chop & Fish Fillet for lunch, I need more meat and milk. Its pretty hard to find decent 'proper' food at the hawkers with all the noodles and rice - this is probably the best I can get in school. But then, I'm done with school - new phase of life starting in a week's time.

Goodbye NUS Sports & Recreation Centre!

A working life doesn't mean you should stop your workouts. At least for me. Don't stop moving!

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The 100th Post - Is Dedicated To Feng

This is the 100th blog post here, chronicling everything from my very first workouts, my discovery of Cross Fit's wonderfully torturous workouts, fell in love with HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), took up new sports (Ultimate Frisbee, Touch Rugby), re-ignited old sports (Basketball, Volleyball), fought hard for my IPPT, found some like-minded local blogs (Eat & Train and Reworking Fitness)learnt more moves with Cross Fit (Overhead Squat & Hand Stands- Thanks Coach Kevin!) as I dropped by into Cross Fit Singapore and fell into a Fran Workout.

Feng came in 2nd in her Regional Qualifiers.

So I'd like to make use of this 100th post to make a mention of one of Singapore's under-rated athletes: Cross Fitter Feng, who is currently placed 2nd in her Regional Qualifiers and will be competing in the upcoming Cross Fit Games 2009. Her blistering pace in the Qualifiers has made quite a mark in the Cross Fit community.

Top 6 Women:
Sarah Dunsmore CrossFit Durham
Feng Yi Chew
Caroline Attmore CrossFit NC
Dawn Hutchison CrossFit Wilmington
Michelle Benedict CrossFit Fort Bragg
Chastity Slone Practice CrossFit
Cross Fit Games: Midwest Final Results

Watch the Regional Qualifier Video [wmv][mov]

Feng does a triumphant fist-in-the-air 19 seconds into the video

Feng is a Spectacular athlete who took 2nd at the mid-west qualifers this weekend. PCF will b cheerin for u also in Cali. Feng is an athlete to watch, and demonstrate serious composure all around.
Practice Cross Fit

My New Balance 383

My brand new shoes crumbled in less than 3 months of usage. Note to self: Its no point buying a spare pair shoes and keeping them - use them all regularly. I'm not the only one who has made this observation. Now I've got a new pair of New Balance 383's.

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Kate - My Follower

Am setting this hot, humid Sunday as my Rest Day (maybe not, might do a Pullup & Parallel bar, and since I'm at it, I'm making a mention of my very first 'official' follower - Kate.

Hi Kate! Keep going at Cross Fit!

If I'm not mistaken she's been following since early April, just that I didn't put up a 'Followers' widget yet.

Check out her Attempt At The Zone Diet and her Attempt at Cross Fit blogs

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Workout Of The Day - 23rd May 2009

Today I finally had a try (that's a score in Touch Rugby terms) - managed to break through the opposing team's defensive line. But I think I only did so because the sun was too hot and everyone was fatigued. I still cant side-step like how the other ruggers and younger players can. But running along instead of against the defensive line can mess up the opposing team's defence. Plus, it opens up gaps in the defensive line and its easier to spot chances - I should do it more often.

Saturdays with the Turducken Greens Touch Rugby Group.

Slowly getting better at the game, though I'm pretty much still one of the worst there. And noticeably lesser mistakes when handling the ball today, I can only attribute it to the recent volleyball and basketball sessions I've been having. [Read: less retarded psycho-motor skills]

Post workout meal: 1/2 a spring chicken with Mozzarella cheese - Grok and Paleo-diet friendly.

Today's game took away the sores in my legs. And after waking from a short nap, I'm feeling totally ready to rock again at 9pm on a Saturday night.

I've have a feeling I'll be doing Barbell Thrusters and Overhead Squats - in anticipation to more weight plates (or bumper plates) that will be arriving at my place after my purchase goes through.

Crossfit Barbell Thrusters [wmv][mov]

Crossfit Overhead Squat Basics [wmv]

Sweet Saturday!

Update: Looks like my soreness is still getting in the way, so I toned down the workout to:

30-20-10:

• Parallel Dips
• Back Squat with 45 lbs barbell

This just in: Two 5kg barbell weight plates to be delivered to my home on Monday

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Milk It

Food science, dodgy science, nutritionists, health-fix gimmicks, fad diets - the lines that separate these are now no longer as distinct as they used to be. The flux of information over the various media has made nutrition for the average person, let alone an athlete, a complete web of confusion.

At Mark's Daily Apple - they subscribe to the Primal Eating Plan - a diet that revolves around the caveman (Grok the Caveman, to be exact):

In fact, most popular daily diets look at overall calories as the main factor in weight loss and weight gain. The age-old conservation of energy Conventional Wisdom says that “a calorie is a calorie.”
.. ..
I start with these four basic principles to guide my Primal Blueprint eating style:

1) 80% of your body composition will be determined by your diet. Yes, exercise is also important to health and to speed up fat-burning and muscle-building, but most of your results will come from how you eat. I’ll write more on this later, so just trust me on this one for now. Suffice to say, people who weigh a ton and exercise a ton, but eat a ton, still tend to weigh a ton. I think I’ll have that made into a t-shirt…

2) Lean Body Mass (LBM) is the key to life. I’ve said it many times on this site: lean mass (muscle and all the rest of you that is not fat) is directly correlated with longevity and excellent health. Rather than strive to “lose weight”, most people would be better off striving to lose only fat and to build or maintain muscle. Since other organs tend to function at a level that correlates to muscle mass, the more muscle you maintain throughout life, the more “organ reserve” you’ll have (i.e. the better the rest of you will work). Refer back to rule #1 and eat to build or maintain muscle.

3) Excess body fat is bad. Most human studies show that being significantly overweight increases your risk of nearly every disease (except osteoporosis - because ironically it responds to weight-bearing activities). Fat just doesn’t look that great either. See rule #1 and eat to keep body fat relatively low.

4) Excess insulin is bad. We’ve written about it here a lot. Chronic excess insulin may be even worse than excess sugar (and we know how bad that is). All animals produce insulin, but within any species, those that produce less insulin live longer than those who produce a lot. Eat to keep insulin low.

Read it all here.

Not exactly Primal by Grok's standards - but Milk will do fine.

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Workout Of The Day - 21st May 2009

Sentosa - It lacks proper food.

Today was a day out to Sentosa again, didn't have Touch Rugby though as the sand was too hot - had over 8 whole volleyball game sets. Lovely.

Aching (madly) from yesterday's Fran WOD - I still cant believe the Olympic bars alone are already nearly 40 pounds. That's about as heavy as my barbell in its entirety. One day I'll get my barbell up to 95 pounds - bit by bit, step by step - everyone starts from somewhere I suppose.

Like what Coach Kevin said: 'Its just the tip of the iceberg!'

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Fran Workout at Cross Fit Singapore

Rings - Muscle Ups - One day I'll get them right.

Today I headed down to Cross Fit Singapore with the original intention to just take a look, since I missed the grand openings and sneak peeks.

Bumper plates galore!

But instead:

• Coach Kevin gave me pointers in my Overhead Squats (active shoulders & maintaining the lumbar curve),
• I tried out some Ring Dips,
  
• failed terribly at Muscle Ups,
• Got assisted by Coach in the Hand Stand (I finally did it but I got stuck in that position!),
• I did a Fran WOD as Coach timed me and pushed me on (11min 33sec - I need to brush up)
  

And I got a complimentary Cross Fit tee - Thanks Coach Kevin and Ree!

Cross Fit SG Tee - Thanks guys!

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Workout Of The Day - 20th May 2009

Had a basketball game at NUS today - it was roasting hot.

Finished off the session with:

• 20 overhand pullups
• 10 underhand pullups
• 5 overhand pullups
• 5 underhand pullups

I'm feeling like toast.

And nothing worthy at the Adidas Moving Out Sale, somehow.

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Adidas Moving Out Sale 18th - 22nd May

[Enlarge]

I think I will go check it out someday.

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Workout Of The Day - 18th May 2009

The rain made the tracks slippery and thus difficult to sprint all out in today's HIIT session.

This session is not timed:

3 rounds of

• 100m sprint
• 20m lunges
• 4x20m shuttle run
• 40 box jumps
• 20 bench dips

Followed by

• 2 of 100m sprint (lying starts)
• 20 air squats
• 15 burpees
• 30 box jumps

NUS Engineering Canteen's Nasi Padang - Chicken Chop & Fish Fillet With An Egg

Breakfast & Supper: Oatmeal + Peanut Butter + Banana. Nice.

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Workout Of The Day - 17th May 2009

Avoided the legs today due to a slight injury in the quads, but should be fine by tomorrow so I should be doing a timed run or HIIT.

Parallel bars remind me of the Standard Obstacle Course in the Armed Forces.

Try this: Mount the 1st rung, do a chinup, move to the next and repeat till you get to the other end, turn around and return to start point.

This session is not timed:

• 50 deadlifts
• 4 rounds of
• 10 overhand pullups
• 10 underhand pullups
• 20 parallel bar dips

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Congrats To Our Local Cross Fitter

Midwest Results

A brilliant way to wake up this Sunday morning: our local overseas Cross Fitter has made it through the Midwest Cross Fit Games Qualifier, standing at an amazing 2nd place!


See results over at Midwest Regional Qualifiers and at the Cross Fit Games

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