Take care of yourself

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Got a PT test coming in two months (or maybe sooner, depending on certain circumstances) so I'm back working out again, trying to improve my pushups. Anybody have some specific exercises they'd recommend to help me out? Obviously I want to work on lower body, abs, etc. since I have to do situps and we run somewhere between 10-15 miles/week, so cardio's taken care of. Any advice y'all can give would be appreciated.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Mostly, do pushups. Bench presses and all sorts of triceps work (pushdowns, skull crushers, etc.) are helpful.

If you go to StewSmith.com, there is a lot of good advice for passing these kind of tests.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Today, about time I get back into working out more than three-plus weeks after that sinus surgery.

Warmup; row 500 meters in 1:54

Clean & jerk, 7 x 1 = 95, 105, 115, 120, 125 (poor form), miss 130, 115, 115.

Back squat, 5 x 3 = 135, 145, 155, 165 x 2, 150.

Day 13 of the 100-pullup challenge: 4 (almost 5), 3, 2-1, 2-1. Even after not working out for most of four weeks, weighing seven or eight pounds less than I did before surgery does wonders for my pullup ability.

Joe

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Yesterday ... 7.7 mile bike ride. Short, but with a hella degree of difficulty thanks to a nasty hill to ride up. Decided to ride some new roads. As I was descending for a good 10 minutes, in the back of my mind I realized I was going to pay for it at some point.

Also, an old CrossFit I've done a few times before but love ... 185-pound bench x 3; 225-pound squat x 5, AMRAP in 12 minutes. Finished 12 rounds. Had to use the Smith machine for the squats since both squat racks were in use.

Today, power cleans 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 ... 135-145-155-165-155-155-155.

Really would love to do power cleans at some point with rubber plates, or even just bumper plates. Hard to challenge yourself when you know you can't bail and drop it if it gets too heavy, and it's easier to do more weight if you can drop it to the floor at the top rather than easing it back down to your legs. That's not good on the back, either.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Good week of exercise ... how'd everybody else do?

This week featured an old CrossFit trio of AMRAP 20 minutes hell. All three routines looked reasonable until you did them.

Monday -- 15-mile bike ride
Tuesday -- CrossFit Cindy (AMRAP 20 minutes of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats -- 11 rounds + 5 pullups); 1 1/2 hours of pickup hoops
Wednesday -- AMRAP 20 minutes of 95# (all three exercises) thrusters x 5, hang power cleans x 7, sumo deadlift high pulls x 10. Six rounds. Nearly met my friend pukie at the end.
Thursday -- 15-mile bike ride
Today -- CrossFit Nate: AMRAP 20 minutes of 2 muscle ups (subbed 2 pullups/2 dips for each muscle up), 4 handstand pushups, 8 kettlebell swings 2 pood (subbed 50 pounds, heaviest at gym). 10 rounds. Definitely nearly met pukie.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I wish I was free to have some decent exercise as well. I normally just do office exercises like hand and arm exercises and a lot of stretching. At least that way I know that no blood will become clotted on any part of my body. Are there anymore exercises you can suggest by chance?

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Running-jogging question: Why does it seem easier for me to be able to jog/run more consistently and easily on a treadmill than on asphalt or sidewalks in my neighborhood?

I went today and did about 20 minutes on the treadmill. At least 10 of those were nonstop running between 5 and 5.5 mph. If I tried to hoof it that fast on my neighborhood route, I'd blow out a ventricle. But it didn't seem to bother me on the treadmill.

Thanks.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Sometimes, CrossFit is just pure evil.

Yesterday's WOD was Angie, which is 100 each of (in order) pullups, pushups, situps and squats. So you go into today's WOD with already a hell of a base of sore lats from cranking out 100 pullups.

Today's WOD? 21-15-9 of 225-pound deadlifts and 135-pound overhead squats. I wasn't kidding myself on the OHS. I can't do 135 with anything resembling good form, so I scaled to 95, and even that was just pure hell on lats that were already blasted from yesterday. So very sore right now.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I set a PR on the bench of 250 yesterday. I had missed on 245 several times in the last few months. For some reason, 245 was easy yesterday. When I did 250, it was a grind, but I made it.
I have a meet in two weeks. The squat has been a struggle for me lately but bench and deadlift have been going well.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Congrats. My upper body is something I really need to work on. I might be able to bench half that.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Thanks. A lot of it is technique. A powerlifting bench press is quite a bit different than what most people do. It's not really a chest exercise. You really have to use your whole body, legs and lats in particular. It took me a long time to learn to do it right.