CrossFit and the Zombie Apocalypse

I've recently started reading Inside the Box: How CrossFit® Shredded the Rules, Stripped Down the Gym, and Rebuilt My Body and love how the author says Greg Glassman (founder of CrossFit) wanted a more scientific approach to exercise. In doing so, he first thought of giving fitness a definition. I like this. After all how you can think of a solution without knowing what you're trying to achieve? Problem-solving. I'm an Engineer at heart, and on paper. Are you bored? Because studying engineering in college is a little boring. Good night.

Back to the man - Greg Glassman. His definition of fitness is a measure of how well a person can respond to an unforeseen event - the unknown and the unknowable. Firemen and police officers deal with the unforeseen on a daily basis and need to be fit in order to tackle the unknown. Let's consider Zombies an unknown. If you are unfit in terms of Glassman's definition, it is highly unlikely you will survive the Zombie apocalypse. You won't be this guy.

Or maybe you don't want to be that guy. He's zombie bait. But at least he's not one of them! Going along with fitness and the zombie apocalypse, let's talk about Zombieland - Rule #1 Cardio. I don't think Glassman and CrossFit agree with just needing cardio. This should be changed to GPP - General Physical Preparedness which includes the following -

Endurance
Stamina
Stength
Flexibility
Coordination
Balance 
Agility
Accuracy
Power
Speed

You are as fit as you are competent in all of these skills. Zombies can't do box jumps. Another rule I think applies (and I'm not going to go through all of the Zombieland rules because that movie was pretty damn awesome and who am I to mess with that). Anyways, another rule that applies is "Don't stick to a Routine". Ahh so very CrossFit-esque. Routine will get you killed. Think of Hershil's farm on The Walking Dead (don't watch that show? Well you should). As soon as everyone got stuck in a routine, zombies (or walkers in this case) took over. If they had a plan to go back to the farm or drive the zombies away, they could have continued living there. Alas, they got stuck in a routine and lost some of their people. Not acceptable.

Back to reality, I'm going to CrossFit tonight. The WOD is 3 rounds for time - 15 push press (95/65), 20 over the box jumps and 25 wall balls. I too was confused when I read over the box jumps and apparently, they are not clearing the entire box. Thank God. Over the box jumps are jumping on the box and then jumping off to the other side. Still nuts. I'll let you know how that goes. Wish me luck!

Do you ever wonder why some movies depict zombies as slow moving and generally dumb (they can't open doors, etc) but other movies depict them as marathon zombies. These zombies are fast and pretty smart, some of them even jump over things! Now imagine this - CrossFit zombies. I don't even want to think about it. A bunch of fit zombies running after me. The CrossFit Zombie apocalypse would be a bitch. That's one battle I don't think any of us could fight.

Discourage Me Not

Things have been extremely low key at our house lately. Little Beast was sick last weekend and is still recovering with a horrible cough. Hubby got sick and has pretty much recovered. And though I didn't get a fever, I did get the cough Little Beast has. Since we have asthma, our coughs are horrible and I have been using my inhaler almost every day. That said, I haven't been able to work out since last Wednesday, well I did do a quick WOD at home yesterday. Hubby and I couldn't go to Rugged Maniac Saturday. I feel bad that we didn't go but there was no way either of us was in good enough shape to attend. And though I'm disappointed, I'm okay with my decision. You need to know when you're capable of doing something and when you're not.

With all those days of not working out and not eating clean (3 days), I felt awful and started getting discouraged. It's amazing how not working out for 5 days completely turned around my thinking. I started looking at my body and wondering why I didn't see more change. I wondered whether I would ever see change and how long it would take before I could have a flat stomach. Yesterday I had enough of my discouraging behavior and did a quick workout at home - 3 sets of 20 KB swings (20lb), 20 push ups, 20 goblet squats (20lb) and 20 butterfly sit ups. I felt good after my workout and am happy to say am back to my usual positive thinking. I'm working out to feel good without analyzing the results. If I get a hot body on the way to being healthy and fit, so be it. If it doesn't happen, I'm healthy and fit and that's what matters most. Sometimes you have to make a conscious decision to change your thinking.

So maybe my breakthrough is just around the corner. It makes sense. After eating crap for a couple days, I wrote a note to myself detailing how bad I felt so that I remember the next time I decide to eat 5 slices of Dominos. Don't judge me. Everyone has slip ups. Next week is my last session with Trainer so I'm joining CrossFit with Hubby this week. I hope to go at the end of the week and then go at least twice every week. With CrossFit and eating clean, I am sure my breakthrough is on it's way. And if it isn't, I'm going to continue doing what I do because it makes me feel good!

I'm making a decision not to give up. I'm going to work my ass off to attain my health and fitness goals. At times I may fall off the wagon but getting back on it is what counts.

I Squat Therefore I Am

Okay so I stole the title from Rene Descartes. Sue me. Well I guess he can't because he's dead. Still he came up with "I think therefore I am" and that's pretty damn deep. But unlike him (or maybe like him, I have no idea), I squat, therefore I am.

So what spawned this sudden squat excitement? Well..I PR'd again! I have 3 sessions left with Trainer and last night I told her I wanted to focus on squats. So we did. And I PR'd. 125 lbs baby! And guess what? That's not my 1 rep max! For some odd strange reason, I would add weight, squat shallow and then do a second squat that was much deeper. I did 3 sets of 2 at 125 so I'm pretty confident that my 1 rep max is more than 125! 

In I Lift You Lift We Lift, I posted this link - Big Lifts Relative to Body Weight and I mentioned I am going to use the beginner Class IV as a basis for comparison. So if you look at the link, for a Class IV women's squat at 123 pounds, the weight is 130 lbs. I'm pretty damn close! I haven't dead lifted in a while or worked on my other lifts so I don't have updates there. But I'm happy to be almost on the chart for squats. 

I have two sessions left with Trainer and I'm hoping to work on my 1 rep max with her again during my last session. I will also officially join my CrossFit box this week! I'm planning on going to CrossFit a couple times a week (at least 2, hopefully 3) and then doing Renita WODs (yes that's why I call my own workouts) at home and going for a run. 

This weekend, I will be doing my first mud run with Hubby - Rugged Maniac. I am nervous, excited, thrilled and terrified all in one. But if I can get through a CrossFit class, I'm sure I can finish a mud fun..oops I mean run. Seriously that was a typo, I'm not that much of a dork. Well maybe I am.

2013 is over halfway through and I am just amazed at all the changes I've made this year. I've gone from hating working out to loving it, from making excuses to considering exercise a part of my day and from eating a lot of processed foods to eating cleaner. I've run 3 5Ks, will be running a mud 5K this weekend and another 5K later this month. I never knew this could be me but boy am I happy it is! 

She's not Fat, She's Healthy

I am Indian American or first generation American to Indian immigrants. I hate calling my parents immigrants since they have lived in America for 40 years now. Anywho, Indian parents who call you Healthy are really calling you Fat. Yes you read that correctly. You have no idea how many times I have heard someone say, "She's not fat, she's just healthy" and then they stretch their arms out and puff up their face to show just how healthy the person is! It's true. But that's exactly the opposite of what this post is about.

Americans have become scale obsessed. We all have scales in our bathrooms and weigh ourselves daily or weekly. Why? Does losing a pound or two really matter? On days our weight is less, we're happy and on days we're we weigh more, we question why or think we ate too much the previous day. In other countries, it's uncommon to have scales in the bathroom and they seem less concerned with an "ideal weight" as well. I'm 125 pounds and I used to walk around saying that my ideal weight was 120. However I am a lot stronger now at 125 than I ever was at 120 and my body isn't too much different. That whole logic that at 5 feet, you should weigh 100 pounds and add 5 pounds for every inch above that, is bullshit. Muscle weighs more than fat.

I mentioned before I'm reading The Paleo Coach. If you haven't read this book and want to eat cleaner, you really should consider reading it. I'm not saying go 100% paleo but the author makes several really good points throughout the book. One of them is "...the number of the scale will go down if you have a lot of weight to lose. The problem is the scale will not tell you if it is no longer serving your goal, and in reality it is never entirely accurate. Nobody loses all her fat before she begins gaining muscle." If you're trying to lose a lot of weight, the scale will be a good indicator but what comes next? You'll eventually plateau or maybe put on a few pounds of muscle and get discouraged because your goal is your weight. I have to admit I weigh myself often but I don't get upset about how much I weigh. I look in the mirror and if I like what I see, some muscle in my arms and definition in my legs, then I'm doing okay. If the scale shows I'm a couple pounds more, so be it. I'm stronger and happier. There's a picture in the book that brings it home. Both pictures depict a woman that is 155 pounds - the same woman. In one she's carrying a lot of extra weight in her stomach and hips and the other, she's fitter, has a flat stomach and much more muscle. Guess what? She still weighs 155 pounds. So saying you have an ideal weight is crap. Forget the scale, workout like a beast and eat clean. You'll never need to weigh yourself again! I'm happy I don't let the scale get me down anymore. The next step is to get rid of it.

Sadly, the last time I worked out was 4th of July. Little Beast was sick over the weekend and I wasn't feeling that great myself. I did however get a crazy workout in on the 4th. Hubby and I went to CrossFit together and this was the WOD:

400m run
50 box jumps
50 KB swings (I used 26 lb)
50 butterfly sit ups
50 pushups
50 wall balls (I used a 10 lb ball)

From what Hubby tells me, I turned purple halfway through. It was really tough! I had to overcome my box jump fear quick since there was 50 of them. I did surprisingly well however since I had no time to think! Since it was only my second time doing wall balls, my form was way off. The closer you stand to the wall, the easier it is. I'll figure it out. Practice makes perfect. Here's a picture of wall ball torture if you are unfamiliar.

It's tough being Paleo and I've had meals where I am 100% paleo and meals when I'm not. I try for the most part to stick to being at least 80% paleo. Paleo Coach suggests picturing a scale in your head and weighing what you want to eat vs meeting your health and fitness goals. It works for the most part but the other night when I imagined a canoli on one side of the scale and my health and fitness goals on the other...well the canoli won. I'm human afterall.

Because of my sweet tooth, I decided to bake something that I could have when fruit doesn't cut it so I baked a Paleo Banana Bread. It's a little dry (think I need to use extra ripe bananas next time) but it tastes wonderful. Hubby is enjoying it just as much as I am!

My Paleo Banana Bread

Guest Post: This is How I Roll

After CrossFit last Saturday, my hammies have been extremely sore. I have stretched. I have rolled. I have rolled some more. And yet I am still sore. This prompted me to ask Hubby about proper foam rolling and he so graciously offered to write a guest post on it. For those who don't know, Michael Cuccia, aka Hubby, is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer. Here's what he has to say on foam rolling.

Self-Myofascial Release (SMR), better known as the act of “Foam Rolling”, is technique that involves pressure on a muscle to stimulate the Golgi Tendon Organ (GTO) creating Autogenic Inhibition which will in turn relax the muscle.  Sounds complicated, right?  Let’s break that sentence down.  The GTO is located where muscles and tendons meet (tendons connect muscles to bones). GTOs are designed to sense changes in muscle tension and will relax the muscle to prevent it from being put under excessive stress which may cause injury.  Autogenic Inhibition is the act of the muscle contracting providing an inhibitory effect on muscle spindles.

Still confused?  Just think of Foam Rolling as nothing more than a way to loosen up your tight muscles.  

The National Academy of Sports Medicine recommends following their Integrated Flexibility Continuum as a way to progress through traditional “stretching” to dynamic warm-ups before conducting activity.  For all three phases, Corrective, Active, and Functional, the first means of preparing the muscles for activity is SMR.   For Corrective Flexibility (beginners) SMR is followed by Static Stretching, or holding a stretched muscle for a period of 20-30 seconds.  Most people are very familiar with static stretching.  For Active Flexibility (more progressed beginners) SMR is followed by Active-Isolated stretching.  Active-Isolated Stretching is a little harder to explain.  But a good example is lying on your back and holding your leg straight in the air.  This stretch uses the hip flexor and quadriceps to hold the leg up while the hamstring is being stretched.  And finally Functional Flexibility (advanced) SMR is followed by Dynamic Stretching, which looks a lot like jumping, skipping, squatting and lunging, to prepare the muscles for activity. 

A good deal of foam rolling is performed on the legs.  However, you can foam roll your back as well.  For the legs, you can target all the major muscle groups.  You can roll your Calf Muscles (Gastrocnemius, Soleus), Hamstrings, Piriformis (butt), Quadriceps, Tensor Fascia Latae (TFL) (the “outside” of the upper thigh), and the Adductors (“inside” of inner thigh).  I have Runner’s Knee, so I spend a lot of time foam rolling my TFL before and after I run. 

There are many different sizes and types of foam rollers.  6” x 36” Round is the most typically used size and I recommended most people starting with this size.  Next is hardness.  I also recommend not using the high-density foam rollers first.  The 1 softer foam (usually white) is much easier and even though it will begin to warp with repeated use, it will still do the trick.  After a few months, or by the time your foam roller starts looking like a bow, switch to the 2 high-density roller (usually black).  Beyond that there are “studded” rollers like the 3 trigger point or 4 rumble roller.  I have a high-density rumble roller (they also offer a version with the softer foam) and I can tell you it’s brutally painful to use but sometimes you need to go hardcore.  Days following a heavy squatting I’ll use the rumble roller on my hamstrings, piriformis, and adductors to help relax all those tender muscles.

1. Body Sport Foam Rollers
2. Black High Density Foam Rollers - Extra Firm - 6" x 36" Round
3. Trigger Point Performance The Grid Revolutionary Foam Roller, Black
4. Rumbleroller Deep-Tissue Massage Roller

Many thanks to Michael for writing this post! He's even taught Little Beast how to foam roll. 

If you are interested in learning more about Michael, please see his blog - Rocckk Adventures.

Do you have any questions for Michael?

I Choose Not to Accept

Three months after I had Little Beast, I went outlet shopping with Bestie. My size was obviously bigger but I needed clothes on account of going back to work. I bought some things all the while complaining on how big I had become. Mind you, I was a size 2 before Little Beast and I was buying an 8. About a month after that, I told myself I was a mother and that I should accept that I would never go back to my usual size. Bull shit. This type of acceptance is just an excuse to be complacent. After I "accepted" my size, I continued to eat whatever I wanted and not exercise. And guess what? I still wasn't happy. In fact, acceptance didnt't last long because I didn't like the way I felt. I finally chose not to accept when Little Beast was around 7 months and here we are.

I've been reading The Paleo Coach and came across this quote "Acceptance is a step in the right direction, and certainly better than self loathing, but it falls short of happiness because it is basically apathy induced by defeat.'' I couldn't agree with this more. While we should all love ourselves, we shouldn't use that love as an excuse to become complacent. For example, I love myself at size 8 while working out and exercising is one thing but loving myself at size 8 while continuing to be unhealthy is another, it an excuse to be lazy. Because of my decision to not accept, I am back at my pre-pregnancy size and stronger than I have ever been. It's a win win.

Acceptance means staying within your comfort zone. Once you venture out, you start feeling happier, getting stronger and feeling a sense of pride. Running was me venturing out of my comfort zone. Once I did and became comfortable, I ventured out of my running comfort zone and started lifting. That was two months ago. Consistently venturing out of your comfort zone makes you feel like you can accomplish anything. 

Speaking of consistent, let's talk stats. I have been working out consistently for two months now,  May and June. In May, I worked out 21 out of 31 days. And in June, I worked out 14/30 days. I didn't run nearly as much in June as I did in May and my workout days suffered because of that. I also went from meeting with Trainer 3 times a week to twice a week. This month, my goal is to work out at least 20 days.

Now on to kettle bells. Random I know, but that's part of my charm. So last night, Trainer had me do the workout from kettle bell hell. 

3 sets (using a 20 lb Kettlebell):

20 KB swings

20 goblet squats

20 KB swings

20 single-leg deadlifts

20 KB swings

20 single-leg lunges on bench

Do the math. 3 sets of all those KB swings totaled 180 kettle bell swings! For those unfamiliar with Kettle bell swings, here's a picture. I specifically chose this picture so you can see the thrust necessary to get the weight up. When I first did a KB swing, I thought it was all arms but actually it's the thrust that's key.

Needless to say after that insane workout, my legs felt like butter and my arse was on fire. Thank you Trainer! Because of you, I will have buns of steel.

When did you venture out of your comfort zone and choose not to accept?

And I'm back!

I was away on vacation last week and on account of wanting to suck up as much of Little Beast's air as possible, I didn't get on the computer much and didn't post. But I did work out. For the first time ever, I worked out on vacation. Woohoo! Hubby and I took our kettle bells down the shore with us (nerds maybe but it's part of our lifestyle) and did the following workout, created by yours truly -

Warmup:
60 second mountain climbers
5 burpees

Renita's WOD:
3 sets of - 
20 goblet squats (I used a 20 lb kettlebell)
20 pushups
10 single -arm overhead KB press
60 second plank

Not too shabby. We were pouring sweat when we were done and then jumped right in the pool. Ew, no way. A rinsey (yes this is actually the way we say rinse in my house) followed by a lot of relaxation and pool time. We got back from the shore on Wednesday and then I spent the rest of the week with Little Beast.

Little Beast and Me down the shore

My world

My Firecracker

On Thursday, I took Little Beast out in the jogging stroller for our first ever jogging stroller 5K! It was a virtual 5K for Parkison's and with the temperature at a steamy 90 degrees and it being a while since I ran 3 miles, it was tough! I ended up finishing in 32:13. I felt dizzy and overall pukey afterwards but hey I finished!

Saturday Hubby and I went to CrossFit. We did some strength and skill work on power cleans. The 35 lb bar was heavy for me so I didn't add additional weight. Then we partnered up (yes Hubby and I were partners) and we did AMRAP (as many reps as possible) in 8 minute of 20 box jumps, 20 wall balls and 20 pushups. Dude, wall balls are tough. I told Hubby that if he sees me stalling on a box jump to just yell JUMP JUMP (the Mac Dad will make you Jump Jump and he did!) I jumped. It was a good box jump day. We completed 4 sets and ended up doing the most! Yea! After that we had AMRAP in 2 minutes of 30 kettle bell swings (we each did 5 and alternated) and 30 butterfly sit ups. We only managed 3 sets of the second workout but we were absolutely beat after. CrossFit seriously kicks your ass.

After CrossFit, we went to a Wine and Wings festival. These are a few of my favorite things..la la la.

It's nice to be back. Well back to blog land of course, not back to work!