Workout Of The Day - 21st June 2009

Had a sprint/HIIT session today, but had to cut it short due to the overwhelming heat. The whole stadium was practically empty apart from us and the SAFSA soccer team waiting for training to begin at the grandstands - which is a good thing as it's distracting to be doing sprints when its crowded.

WOD:
2 rounds of

• 100m sprints
• 30 air squats
• 25 pullups
• 25 bar dips
• 30 lunges

And I had a good dinner at Harbourfront's Food Junction - 1 beef patty, 1 teppanyaki beef, and sunny-side-up!

Tomorrow I'm off to anchorage & sea-trial for a long period of time (thankfully I don't have to deal with "insecurity" anymore). Lots of good quality protein - lots of roast beef, chicken, fish (poached salmon) and eggs. Lots of greens too, especially the smashing platter of fruits. And there is a gym onboard which I haven't checked out yet, but I heard there's a pullup bar, and a barbell.


And again, why you should Crossfit:

Angela told me yesterday that she went with a bunch of her friends who were runners to get their body fat % tested. All of her friends appear to be thin, yet Angela's body fat was 10% lower than all of her running amigos. She said they were all pretty upset about it. I would be pissed too if I was running my ass off with no change in BF%, while one of my buddies was getting lean and ripped by cranking out 15 minute WODs 3x per week. This should not be surprising to you by now. Long slow distance exercise burns muscle which lowers your metabolism, so you get fatter. Skinny fat is the term that describes someone who looks thin but has high BF%. The loss of muscle caused by "cardio" is detrimental to your fitness and your metabolism. The answer is to build muscle with constantly varied functional movements executed at high intensity. There is no need to do traditional cardio and very little, if any benefit from doing so. Great job Angela, way to show those "cardio queens" what's up. My money is on you that you would beat them all in a 10k run also.
Cross Fit East Sacramento

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Workout Of The Day - 20th June 2009

Had a rest day on the 19th, and had work today so I had a relatively 'toned down' (read: repeated workout) today - just pullups and bar dips again, fully bodyweight.

WOD:30-20-10 for time:

• Pull ups
• Parallel Bar Dips

Time taken: 6min 48sec (20th June 2009)
Time taken: 7min 28sec (16th June 2009)
Time taken: 9min 54sec (11th June 2009)
Time taken: 9min 26sec (7th June 2009)
Time taken: 12min 26sec (5th June 2009)

I love how I'm progressing. And I know I really should start doing weighted pullups and dips but I was feeling lazy after work so I just did the bare minimum.

Tomorrow's another sprint session. Hoping for some sun on the skin! Will post up pictures.

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Workout Of The Day - 18th June 2009

Did sprint interval training today - it's comfy to dress down into my PT kit and shoes to just sprint and sweat it out. But I'm getting fairer at work, and that sucks.

WOD:

• 1km run - 4min 24sec
• 2 of 100m sprints
• 5 of 4x20m shuttle sprints

Not the best snack but still better than chips.

Men's Fitness Guinea Pig of Crossfit - This guy sounds a tad cocky. Intentional?

Why Do You Crossfit? - Folks I talk to about CrossFit think I’m crazy at first, but then begin to understand my “whys” and then they think it’s sort of cool. When they think it’s cool, I begin to think it’s cool again.

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Rest Day - 17th June 2009

Today is rest day - I can feel my shoulder joints (rotor cuffs?) swelling. I think its the barbell thrusters & the push presses.

I realized I got quite a few good friends who started work on the 15th of June - and still, obviously a bit 'bored' at work. Remember to work out guys/gals! It keeps you all less lethargic at the workplace.

Muscle Up Progression Training - I'll be needing this someday!

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Workout Of The Day - 15th & 16th June 2009

15th June 2009:
Felt the after effects of swim sprints I had the day before, so I did a simpler workout - barbell thrusters & deadlifts. Was not a good workout, so took abit longer than the usual.

WOD:21-15-9 for time:

• Barbell thrusters
• Deadlifts
  

Time taken: 11min 42sec with 77# (15th June 2009)
Time taken: 9min 54sec with 77# (11th June 2009)
Time taken: 9min 26sec with 77# (7th June 2009)
Time taken: 12min 26sec with 77# (5th June 2009)



16th June 2009:
I'm thinking of using the Army's SBO for weighted pullups + dips but its packed and stored away, so I did away with it today. Went as fast as I could, but got interrupted by some kids at the park. A weighted session will definitely do good for the speed and strength.


WOD:30-20-10 for time:

• Pull ups
• Parallel Bar Dips

Time taken: 7min 28sec with 77# (16th June 2009)
Time taken: 9min 54sec with 77# (11th June 2009)
Time taken: 9min 26sec with 77# (7th June 2009)
Time taken: 12min 26sec with 77# (5th June 2009)

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Workout Of The Day - 14thJune 2009

Did swim sprints/intervals for around 45 minutes - thrashed the water as hard as I could from one end to other, paused for a quick breather, and thrashed back. Repeat as long as your heart and quads burn.


Just like running versus sprints/intervals - you can mimic the same methodology in the pool to work on your MetCon and your 2 other metabolic pathways.

Had a post workout snack consisting of 2 chicken wings and a thick milkshake - that's the best you can get in the mall I suppose, without blowing a hole in your pocket.

My 5kg plates don't fit in my old waterbag - I'm hoping to get hold onto the Army's Section Commander's bag (filled with a 5kg plate) to simulate a weighted vest for my chinups, parallel bar dips.

And I've currently bumped up my oatmeal with peanut butter, bananas, oranges, and raisins! Hoping to find some walnuts someday.

Cross Fit Burpees - SAF has mixed up burpees with squat thrusts. Burpees is horrendously tiring!

Starting Strength - Many women are afraid that if they put down the pink dumbbells and so much as touch a barbell that they will turn into hulking she-males. These same women might also assume that women train one way and men another.

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Workout Of The Day - 13thJune 2009

Did a HIIT session today after a (long) nap, only to have it cut early because of the rain.

This session is not timed:

• 1km run (90% effort)
• 3 of 100m sprints
  
• 2 of 4x20m shuttle sprints

Its quite a shitty HIIT session but at least I had a good dinner (read: huge servings of meat & fish with 3 types of vegetables and brown, unpolished rice!).


Had another workout later in the day to quell my dissatisfaction:
WOD:
30-20-10 for time:

• Pull ups
• Parallel Bar Dips

Time taken: 7min 44sec (13th June 2009)
Time taken: 7min 17sec (4th June 2009)
Time taken: 7min 51sec (2nd June 2009)
Time taken: 11min 46sec (28th May 2009)
Time taken: 10min 27sec (27th May 2009)


Lululemon - great workout attire, and notably nothing worth yelling for the male apparel.


Cross Fit Glory Box Video - Cross Fit ladies are hot!

Good mood can run a long time after workout - Daily exercise can improve your mood and mitigate some of the stressors of your day


What Cross Fit and the Zone does to you - More reason to abandon your traditional bodybuilding.

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NUS Legs & Paddles 2009

Its happening on the 23rd of August so you might want to check it out over at Legs & Paddles 2009

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Workout Of The Day - 12thJune 2009

In the past few days I noticed that quite a handful of ladies in my estate actually run around the field beneath my home near 6am in the mornings. Slow, long endurance runs in fact.

While its better than lazing on the couch, it really isn't worth the time and effort to jog at slow (relative) speeds. But it keeps them in shape so probably there's no reason (from their point of view) to deviate from the regime that they've been doing. But I'd still rather do my workouts which go fast and hard, and I'll be done in less than 20 minutes.

While I must admit that I've been a huge ardent fan of long distance runs in the past few years, but it took its toll on my body - I lost all the bulk I built up in National Service and just kept getting thinner and thinner. Thankfully for Cross Fit now I'm reversing the years of damage.

WOD:
21-15-9 for time:

• Push Press
  
• Burpees

Time taken: 12min 46sec with 77# (12th June 2009)

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Workout Of The Day - 11thJune 2009

Had a failed Tabata session yesterday due to a wrongly-set Timer, got lazy, and then headed to shower - which leaves me fresh for today's workout with the 77# barbell.

WOD:
21-15-9 for time:

• Barbell thrusters
• Deadlifts
  

Time taken: 9min 54sec with 77# (11th June 2009)
Time taken: 9min 26sec with 77# (7th June 2009)
Time taken: 12min 26sec with 77# (5th June 2009)

"Cindy" - a WOD that you can do at the park.

Overhead Squats - remember your 'active' shoulders and don't let your knees impinge.

Conventional Wisdom & The Primal Lifestyle - How to Tell Friends About the Primal Lifestyle

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Rest Day - 8thJune 2009

Today's my rest day - got help from Feng to plan and revise my workout regime, starting with Tabata tomorrow.

If you are not already in shape, then you are not ready.

An often implemented component of the crossfit system is Tabata Protocol. Simply put, this consists of 20 seconds of your most intense possible work output followed by 10 seconds of rest. Repeat for a total of 4 minutes (8 rounds). Your score is the least number of reps performed during any round (so it doesn’t help you to go easy at first and finish hard).
Cross Fit Tabata Protocol

Keep track of your total repetitions in each set fairly consistent throughout the workout - and I'll be using this Timer! (its cool!)

Tomorrow's WOD: Tabata with 1. regular air squats 2. pushups 3. situps 4. barbell thrusters 5. burpees

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Workout Of The Day - 8thJune 2009

Its back to overhead squats today - used 10kg-a-side and worked on my form.



WOD:
10-9-8-7-6-5 repetitions per round of Overhead Squats

Time taken: 8min 01sec (8th June 2009)

And I had the same post workout meal again - chicken breast fillets.

I realized I just saw a someone whom I'd described as a 'dirty tan' - burnt reddish to the point of browning - gross.

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Workout Of The Day - 7thJune 2009

Did a workout at home - another reason why I love Cross Fit's methodology is that its not a long draggy affair, but with blistering results. A workout usually takes less than 20 minutes. And it conditions 2 (out of the 3) metabolic pathways (see here) which is neglected in our 'typical' Singaporean sport - endurace running, cycling or swimming.

WOD:
21-15-9 for time:

• Barbell thrusters
• Deadlifts
  

Time taken: 9min 26sec with 77# (7th June 2009)
Time taken: 12min 26sec with 77# (5th June 2009)



Had pan fried chicken breast fillets again as a post-workout meal.

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Cross Fit Singapore - Complimentary Classes

Cross Fit Singapore is holding complimentary classes on the coming Saturday, 13th June:

EVENT 13th June 2009 . 9AM

For those of you who have yet to make your way down to our premises, we invite you for a complimentary introductory class.

This class will be your first installment to the 9 fundamental movements of CrossFit.

So bring your friends along! Its a perfect opportunity to get yourself started – right from the basics and fundamentals.

Remember to register!

I think I'm going to get some Rogue Rings with my 1st paycheck:


Just strap them onto the rungs of a monkey bar and you can perform a muscle up [.wmv][.mov]!


In the meantime I'm going to start carrying my fieldpack to the park to do chinups and parallel bar dips. The only thing shitty is that the park which I do these do not have a high bench for box jumps, leaving only maybe a 600m run in between sets.

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AustCham Singapore Dragon Boat Team

I found this while surfing at Saffyz's: a Dragon Boat team which you can join as a member.

The AustCham Singapore Dragon Boating team (otherwise simply known as the Aussie Team) is an active dragon boating team, based in Singapore. Whilst officially representing the Australian business contingent in Singapore, anyone is welcome to join in. The current team comprises people from Australia, Singapore, Britain, Germany, New Zealand, America, and Malaysia amongst others. New members are always welcome, so come on down to any of our regular practice sessions, meet some people, have a drink and join in the fun!

(this website is added under "Local Sports & Recreation Clubs")

But I don't always have my Saturday's off so is out for me. Does anyone know where I can play/learn Dragon Boating, beach volleyball, Touch Rugby, Rugby on Sundays?

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Workout Of The Day - 6thJune 2009

Did the "Barbara" WOD today again - probably one of the better Bodyweight Cross Fit WOD's available.


WOD : Barbara
5 rounds for time:

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

Time: 34min 20sec (6th June 2009)
Time: 39min 2sec (29th May 2009)

Quite happy with the improved timing - I remember the first session on the 29th May to be more grueling than today's session.


Two teams were playing serious soccer against one another (got referee too) and on the topic of sports (via Cross Fit Journal):

Sport plays a wonderful role in fitness. Sport is the application of fitness in a fantastic atmosphere of competition and mastery. Training efforts typically include relatively predictable repetitive movements and provide limited opportunity for the essential combination of our ten general physical skills. It is, after all, the combined expression, or application, of the ten general skills that is our motivation for their development in the first place. Sports and games like soccer, martial arts, baseball, and basketball in contrast to our training workouts have more varied and less predictable movements. But, where sports develop and require all ten general skills simultaneously, they do so slowly compared to our strength and conditioning regimen. Sport is better, in our view, at expression and testing of skills than it is at developing these same skills. Both expression and development are crucial to our fitness.
Sport in many respects more closely mimics the demands of nature than does our training. We encourage and expect our athletes to engage in regular sports efforts in addition to all of their strength and conditioning work.

Considering the amount of chinups I've been doing, I'm still pretty amazed that the skin beneath the base of my fingers haven't ruptured yet. But its highly likely due to the fact that I'm not doing kipping pullups so I don't brush my palm against the bar as much.

I've done a total of 270 pullups for the whole of this week, not including tomorrow. Its quite amazing how the skin can constantly adapt to the volume of abrasion and form thicker layers of skin.

Tomorrow is a day with barbells and possibly HIIT!

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First Week Of Work

The first week of work is over - I think I'm managing to the hours well because every night when I get home I feel awfully restless and as a result I've done 4 CrossFit-like workouts and 1 HIIT session over the past 5 days.

Its the weekend now - more workouts on the way. No beach volleyball this weekend though, pity. So I'm going to go heavy with the workouts this weekend and get a nap on Sunday so that I'm ready for work. Going to go hard and heavy next week, as I've been taking it easy in the first week.

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Workout Of The Day - 5thJune 2009

Okay I felt too restless and did a workout with the 77# barbells - thrusters and deadlifts.


WOD:
21-15-9 for time:

• Barbell thrusters
• Deadlifts
  

Time taken: 12min 26sec (5th June 2009)

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Rest Day - 5th June 2009

I'm trying to keep this as a Rest Day, but its still early in the night, so there's no saying if I'm going to change my mind about it later. No soreness, no DOMS, and my shoulder feels a whole lot better. 77 lbs barbell thrusters later? Possibly. Coupling it with the fact that I'm reading Cross Fit Hardcore now makes it one huge step closer to reality. But going heavy on Friday might mean I can't go as heavy as I want on the weekends (which is what I plan to) - but I should just fug it and go heavy right? I think I should deadlift too - it has banished my lower back aches that I had prior to doing deadlifts seriously.


But whether workout or rest day, I'm having cake and enjoying it.

Feng at the Midwest Qualifiers!!!

Okay I'm out of chicken breast fillets. One less reason to go heavy somehow. I really want to go for beach volleyball again sometime soon.

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Workout Of The Day - 4thJune 2009

Okay, ignore the last post - I succumbed to temptation and took a walk down to the park to do pullups and bar dips again.


WOD:
30-20-10 for time:

• Pull ups
• Parallel Bar Dips

Time taken: 7min 17sec (4th June 2009)
Time taken: 7min 51sec (2nd June 2009)
Time taken: 11min 46sec (28th May 2009)
Time taken: 10min 27sec (27th May 2009)


Post workout meal is chicken breast fillets, around palm size taken with my leftover coffee from before the workout.



Does anyone happen to know any gym (Clubfitt or Safra or anything) near Central SG that has decent barbells? I'm only off on Sundays (though not guaranteed) and with the limited time I've got outside it'd be good to be able to do some overhead squats + barbell thrusters + pullups before heading out.


Thruster's full lock overhead A full lock overhead requires that the ear is visible in front of a fully locked arm.

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Rest Day - 4th June 2009

Today is I (unwillingly) declared it a rest day because I know I'm itching to go overhead and all with Cross Fit but the slight pain in the shoulder made me think twice.

Tomorrow I might get back to overhead squats, barbell thrusters, and if I'm feeling good enough, a trip down to the pull up bars.

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Workout Of The Day - 3rd June 2009

Did a HIIT & bodyweight session today after work - good stuff to unwind to at a day's end.

This session is not timed:

• 1km run (90% effort)
• 6 of 100m sprints
  
• 50 pullups

Today's session was highly spirited and charged. The 1km run was fast and all out, with a greatly diminished perception of effort. The 100m sprints was alot faster than my usual, somehow. And the pullups were quick and I stopped due to the improper bar grip, more than due to fatigue.

The foreign worker next to me was 'cheering' me on at the chinup bar after he noticed I just kept going at pullups - the bar's too thick though (my fingers can barely meet when gripping the bar - who designs this?), and so I kept slipping down.

Which led to me realize - I see lots of foreign workers working out every night at the park, but I don't see much locals. After a hard day of labour, they look refreshed still. Which makes me wonder if what I've always thought is true - working out after a day at work increases your capacity to do work, hence feeling less lethargic and sleepy during work. It sure works for me.






Feng's Cross Fit Games Profile That's putting Singapore on the map! Go, go Feng!

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Workout Of The Day - 2nd June 2009

I'll be scaling down the loading in my workout for this week or two due to the nagging pain in my shoulders.

Did the same workout as yesterday with the same loading:

WOD #1: Modified Fran (10kg a side)
21-15-9 reps for time:

• Barbell Thrusters

• Pushups

Time taken: 5min 15sec (2nd June 2009)
Time taken: 5min 6sec (1st June 2009)

I'm taking my breakfast (oatmeal & peanutbutter & fruit) before work at home, so that means I'm able to control both breakfast & dinner. Lunch leaves me not much choice at work. At least I'm getting 2 out of 3 meals proper. And pretty much leaves me spending less than ten bucks a day on food and transport - which means more money for my sporting goods.

Can't wait for my own Adidas Polo Tees (bright red only!) with my paycheck!



Did another workout at the park later again that night - avoiding push presses due to the bad shoulder - elated intrigued by the sudden improvement (close to a 4 min reduction) and the smaller perception of effort.



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

• Pull ups
• Parallel Bar Dips

Time taken: 7min 51sec (2nd June 2009)
Time taken: 11min 46sec (28th May 2009)
Time taken: 10min 27sec (27th May 2009)



Post workout meal - chicken breast fillets and milk.


How do you reward yourself for your workouts? I have decided to "reward" myself for maintaining and possibly growing the tummy; by getting this nice running attire from the Nike Factory Outlet. Only S$22.40 each.

Cross Fit - Rope Climbing & Pullups The kind of “lifting” involved in body-pulling movements such as rope climbing and pull-ups complements the hip- and trapezius-oriented pulling movements we do in the deadlift and Olympic lifts.

Cross Fit Malaysia's 100 Day Pull Up Challenge: Do 63 Pull Ups Do one more everyday, for 100 days till you hit 100 Pull Ups.

Cross Fit Games Last Chance Qualifier Update Cross Fit Qualifiers, utilizing the medium of information technology for further outreach

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Workout Of The Day - 1st June 2009

My shoulder joints are hurting so I toned down the weights on the barbell back to 10kg a side, for a highly-modified "Fran" workout


WOD: Modified Fran
21-15-9 reps for time:

• Barbell Thrusters
• Pushups

Time taken: 5min 6sec



Had a pre-prepared post workout meal - bland, but that's clean chicken breast fillets.

I must not break away from my knock-off workouts - its Day #1.



Cross Fitting Your Hips

Cross Fit Abbreviations Ever wondered what AMRAP means?

Cross Fit - What if I can't use the recommended weight Assume the "generic" male crossfitter weighs 175 and the prescribed weight is 95 lbs. Thus, you'd pick a weight that's approximately 55% of your bodyweight. 95 lbs is nearly 75% of my body weight - no wonder I'm struggling!

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