Nachi's Log

Discussion in 'Training Logs' started by Nachi, Apr 23, 2015.

  1. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Monday 22.5.17:

    18:45-20:00 - Karate:
    I came late only to find people still lazing about. Sensei, who was sort of supposed to come, didn't, but my friend was prepared for anything and taught the class. There were only 5 of us. We did some warm-up and Junbi Undo, than for the most class the teaching sempai talked about and let us practise how to be a good semete (attacker) in any kind of partner exercises (don't finish the strikes way before the partner, but actually try to hit him, let him prepare, etc.)
     
  2. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Tuesday: I felt like not travelling to the dojo and gave myself a day off (shame on me).

    Wednesday 24.5.17:

    Starting my new 10-classes membership in CrossFit, so onto my 14th class! :)

    16:00-17:00 - CrossFit:

    - There was supposedly a lot of things to do today, so we did a shorter warm-up - only 6 rounds around the gym.
    - Stretching
    - EMOM (do a fixed number of exercises in a minute, rest till the minute is over when you're done). 15 minutes: Alternating 10-12 push-ups, 15-25 squats, 8-15 burpees (5 rounds of each). I started with 12 push-ups, only did 10 for the rest of the rounds. As for squats, I started with 22, I think, then only did 18 and 9, then 8 burpees for the last 4 rounds. Coach watching over us, commenting on our form. He again reminded me to jump also on the heels in the burpee when going from the push-ups position. I tried then... most of the time. As for push-ups, I was reminded a few times to hold my back and butt, not lower them. I know that is generally also my problem and I kept it in mind from the beginning, but as I was getting tired, it was getting harder and harder. I was also advised to rest in between or do less reps. But since I think I do this in general, I still have a generally good feeling that I improved this quite a bit since around the time I started CrossFit.
    - A minute rest

    - EMOM number 2: 12 minutes of: 7 burpees + box jump overs (nooooo!), 14 thrusters and the third minute was rest. We were advised to start with even an empty bar for the thrusters if we're not sure, then we can add. I did that and prepared the 2,5 weights, but never put them on. I hate the burpees so much and was more and more out of breath, so the thrusters were difficult and coach was always watching and telling me what to do better etc. I was happy I was still able to move, though :D For the third round, I was too slow to finish and only did 10 thrusters, thought that was the end as I forgot there was one more round o_O. I finished the burpees just on time, but had to catch a breath and only managed 7 thrusters :/ Coach was till checking on form, reminding me not to lean forward and keep the elbws up. He then came to me, told me to squat don and held my elbows as high as they should be. I thought that I would choke myself with the bar doing it like this, especially when my main focus was to get as my air in as I could with each breath XD

    - One more EMOM (I thought this was the end of me): 10 minutes (that sounded nice, but no rest minutes) of alternating: 10 overhead squats and 10 toes to bar (I only did knees to chest). I didn't even bother to think about adding weights to my bar. Coach told me to try three to check on my form. He said I shouldn't have any problems and for once didn't force me to add weight (maybe I really looked too exhausted :D). Well, as there were no burpees and I figured both exercises were fairly quick (I finished the first round in under 20 seconds, I think), there was still plenty of time to rest and there weren't any burpees or other ugly things, so this EMOM was by far the easiest and I got to rest. I probably would have managed a heavier bar as the empty was no problem, but I didn't feel like taking the iniciative to willingly go and add some. I still didn't know how I'd fare the upcoming rounds.

    The last workout was quite nice for a change, but just thinking about the first two.... this was (as usual) a pretty exhausting training.
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2017
  3. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Thursday 25.5.17:

    Again, a friend told me today that sensei won't be coming today. Unfortunately I had work to do and couldn't come help him with the kids classes. In the mean time I warned a bleck belt who was coming for the adult class that sensei said he'll try to make it, but we didn't really believe he would as he's busy and injured it seems. :( The black belt then agreed to teach the adult class and I think it was a very nice training today :)

    19:00-21:00 - Karate:

    - Warm-up with a running a jumping game-of tag like thing
    - Hojo Undo:
    - Kongoken - I started here and wanted to see if lifting stuff at crossfit would make me better. I only tried kongoken once since then, but at that time it was after 15-20 minutes of exercising arms, so I was tired anyway. For the first exercise - lift kongoken from shoulders up while going down into shiko-dachi, I already do 20, while taking a short break by resting the kongoken on my shoulders at 10 and 15. Today, however! I managed whole 30, with breaks at 20 and 25! Which I count as a huge improvement. I've been stuck at 20 for fairly long and I inproved so much after a few CrossFit classes? :) Nice! However, it tired me out, so I did the usual 20 steering wheels as I call it and tried push-ups, but was way to tired, so I somehow did 10, but just shallow ones, with not a good form probably and a few breaks in between. I was by this time much more tired than usual.... so the improvement probably wasn't that great.
    - Miyagi's garden - bring 9 stones from one corner of the dojo to another, one by one, only moving in shiko dachi. I haven't done this for a while and my thighs were on fire! :D
    - Chi-ishi - The usual combination (3 exercises x 10 per side) + started one more exercise just toward the end.
    - Wall-bars- belly exercising: 50 crunches, probably 100 "half" sit-ups with leg raised, 30 legs from one side to another, not putting them down, around 20? (not sure how many I had the time to do) of stretched legs up and down.
    - Makiwara - alternating tsuki, shotei tsuki, shuto-uchi, ko-uke and haito-uchi by 10 per side, around 3 rounds)
    - 7,5 kg kettlebell - I started with 20 goblet squats, but I was feeling some pinching pain in one knee, so I transferred to the usual sumo squats, after a 100 I again triet goblet squats, it was better now so I did 30 and went onto 15 sumo squats just before the end.

    - After that we did some Kote Kitae (Iron body conditioning). There were three pairs and a fixed person from each pair was always moving to the other. I therefore had a rather small girl, who is getting stronger and can visibly take and hit much more than before, but I still wouldn't dare to go all out, a boy who pulled his hits and tried to avoid it as much as he could and the teaching black belt, who is slightly smaller, but wants to train, so I had no option, but go all out at least with her.

    - Before we knew it, 90 minutes were over, but the training was prolonged and we were practising techniques - each person added one and we practised the whole combination ten times for each side, then we made pairs and made the combination into a partner drill, making up the defender's side, who was finished after a take-down. The repeating was nice for sweating a bit.

    Anyway, although sensei didn't come today, either, and the black belt doesn't love teaching too much, I really enjoyed today's class :)
     
  4. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Friday 26.5.17

    16:00-17:00 - CrossFit:

    A coach I haven't seen, yet... no, I saw him, but never had a training with him.

    - First thing I did was to go to check the board with today's program (and I wasn't the only one) if today's warm-up was a run again, since it's Friday. And sure enough.... again, about 1 km run to a children's playground and back.
    - New type of short stretching - with a rubber band

    - Main program: Deadlift. I have only done it once before and as a part of work-out where we weren't going for and big weight, so this was my first time trying "seriously". The goal was to find max weight to do 5 reps with (without break in between), starting with an empty bar. I asked to coach to check on my form. He was going around, checking everyone, but I wanted him to know I only tried once before. I went:
    5x 15 kg (empty bar)
    5x 25 kg
    5x 35 kg
    5x 45 kg
    5x 55 kg
    5x 65 kg
    5x 70 kg


    - Another task was to row 500 meters as fast as we can. I started fast, but wasn't able to keep the pace and ended with 2:07, which was rather slow compared to most others. Adn I felt like I am spent enough to go home now :D

    - WoD:
    3 rounds (or 15 minutes, as I found out later) of:
    10 pull-ups
    15 hanging power (?) cleans
    20 box jumps


    As for pull-ups, we were allowed the rubber band. I took the second thickest - a black one, but it was no use, I still couldn't do them properly even with that one. Towards the end, my effort only led to my arms bending to 90° :(
    For the cleans, the RX was 25, I stood pondering over the bar and chose a compromise of 20 kg, just as the other girls.
    The coach commented on my box jumps to jump almost on the straight legs, as I started jumping into a squat and had to stand up then, which is probably more difficult, but I was used to do that when jumping over the box, where it is ok.
    This work-out was a killer for me, again. I finished last, but to my surprise, I was still able to finish within the time limit. I thought it ran out already, but with my shortsightedness... I finished at 13:49.



    A few days ago, Facebook offered me an advertising for iron kettlebells in sale for a good price. I bought a cheap 10 kg some time ago, but not of such a good quality and is huge in size. These were precisely the nice kettlebells they have in the CF gym. I was thinking it over for a few days, being severely tempted to buy a 16 kg one to practise all the stuff we do there. And I enjoy working with the kettlebells actually :) In the end I decided to get one and ordered it yesterday late in the evening. To my surprise, today, when I came for training, a man I haven't seen or particularly noticed before, who was lifting by himself stopped me: "Hey, didn't you order a kettlebell yesterday?" It took me a while before I realised he may be talking about it. "I have it here for you!" What a surprise (how did he know?) :D He told me to take it and bring the money when I can, but since I live so close and wouldn't want to owe them, I went to get it just after class. What a coincidence :D And even with a free shipping in the end :D
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2017
  5. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Friday 26.5. later:

    19:45-21:45 - Kobudo:

    Sensei came at 20:00, before that we were reviewing sai hojo undo.
    There was one student, who couldn't make it for the past few classes, so instead of doing what we learned last time, sensei taught us all Sai renzoku kumite. Last time I was only taught the first five techniques. There are a total of 16, practised as bo against sai, so we drilled this the whole training, learning both sides. I am afraid I will forget very soon, though I'll try to note it down. The combination is very nice and enjoyable to practise and I am sure would look great when learned well :) According to sensei, this is a grading material, specifically for a blue belt, though.
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2017
  6. Fish Of Doom

    Fish Of Doom Will : Mind : Motion Supporter

    "The coach commented on my box jumps to jump almost on the straight legs"

    You mean landing on the box with less bent legs? If so, that coach knows his stuff :D (You can "cheat" and jump to higher places by picking up your feet more and landing more in a squat, without actually having jumped higher, per se; that is, without your center of mass actually moving any higher, so trying to avoid landing in a super deep squatting posture forces you to actually jump higher for real to get on a box of any given height)
     
  7. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Yes, exactly. :)
    That's precisely the kind of cheating I was trying to do :D Though he explained to me that I am actually making things more difficult for myself, because as I land in a squat, I always have to get up from that squat anyway. I did it his way, then, which seemed more difficult in the beginning, but for the number of jumps we had to do probably overall easier, since this way didn't require 60 squats that we didn't have to do. :) ...or that was the way he put it, at the least. Maybe to make me thing this is actually good for myself :D
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2017
  8. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Saturday

    I tried really hard, but I just couldn't get much sleep, although I was very tired. I just couldn't sleep and woke up feeling pretty tired still and with fairly sore lower back from the deadlifting. I still went to the karate class in the morning, though.

    9:00-12:00 - Karate - practising for grading:
    Sensei wanted us to go through everything we will need for the grading. However, even the three hours were not enough. We started with some basic techniques for the first hour, then we did some kihon ido, San Dan Gi and Renzoku kumite and the last hour spend practicing kata and bunkai. I didn't practise bunkai for a while and I felt pretty rusty. Generally we broke quite a bit of sweat...

    After the lunch I went to to our cottage with my dad and I brought with me some weapons and the new kettlebell. We went for a walk in the evening. Unfortunately now my back soreness is even worse. It actually hurts even while walking so there's a chance I won't try my new kettlebell tomorrow, either. :(
     
  9. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Sunday 28.5.17:

    My back still hurt, so I didn't try the kettlebell, just as I worried. I took my nunchaku for a while to review the Nunchaku kata, but realised I am not sure in some places - I just forgot :( I didn't have time to look at the video, though, other things came up. Till the evening, by moving around, the soreness from my back finally disappeared.

    Monday 29.5. 17:

    16:00-17:00 - CrossFit:
    - Warm-up: 5 mins of: 10 air squats, 5 push-ups and 20 single unders. I didn't hurry too much, or was slowing down becasue there was no need to die after the warm-up, but this kind of warm-up is in my comfort zone and I was, speed-wise among the first. I was worried today's warm-up will be running again, which would be terrible, becasue it's quite hot outside, today. Even after this warm-ups, we were all very sweaty.

    - Stretching

    - EMOM (Every minute on the minute): Jerks. First we tried to add weight until we were comfortable for this EMOM which was: three jerks in one minute, rest for the rest and repeat for 6 minutes. There was just not enough racks, I was last, but I met the woman I shared a rack with last time and she waved at me, inviting me to share hers. Which was my plan as soon as I realised there's none free :Angel: She picked a lighter weight for this work-out, so we used most of the minute by her doing three jerks, adding my 5 kg, me doing 3 jerks, taking the 5 kg down again. But it was fine, we managed. :) I used a 30 kg barbell. I wasn't sure what was the ideal weight for this, now, for next time, I probably shouldn't be too worried to add a bit more to challenge myself.
    Before we started the work-out, just practised and searched for the right weight, I tried a few times and when jerking the bar up, I hit my chin with it XD Luckily in a good place that didn't click my teeth together and didn't hurt and I even got sort of "praised" by instructor that I don't lift the bar in an ark, but obviously as straight up as can be :D
    The only thing the instructor pointed out to me was that I do push jerks instead of.... whatever kind of jerks we were supposed to do, as I end on straight legs, while I should squat down just a tiny bit - basically use the legs more.

    - Toes to bar practise - 1 minute to do as many as we can (thise like me who usually don't do toes to bar can do knees to elbows (oh, I thought it was supposed to be knees to chests?). I tried to lift the knees as high as I could, but of course, couldn't keep that for all the reps. After the minute we had one minute to rest and try again - we had three minutes to try. I did 25, then 20, then 19 reps. Only the highest one was counted.
    The racks are just under the horizontal bars used for the exercise - at least those that are a bit lower. My partner was kind enough that she would share with me somehow, but I was sure one guy or another would move from the lower bar over the rack to the higher ones that I probably can't even jump up on. And sure enough... :)

    WoD:
    4 rounds or 20 minutes of:
    - 12 box jumps
    - 12 (forgot the name, but basically:) push the bar from shoulders to overhead (same as the jerks we practised, btu without a rack)
    - 12 back squats
    - 12 burpees

    - Phew, box jumps AND burpees... :(
    - As for the box jumps I kept last week's instructor's advise and jumped on legs only slightly bent.
    - The RX for the barbell was 30 kg for women, scaled version 20. I wasn't sure, but chose 20 kg. It was then less of a struggle and I didn't need to take breaks between the sets. I did take breaks to catch some breath in between the set of jerks ans squats, though, beginning with 2nd round.
    - As always, burpees were absolutely the worst! :D
    - I was ready to lie down or run away just after the second round, but just before the third, I caught a second breath, though I have no idea where it came from :D
    Surprisingly, maybe because my barbell wasn't that heavy, I seemed to have kept a good pace - don't get me wrong, I was getting my usual breaks between rounds, between jumps and lying down for a few seconds during burpees :D I had all the other people behind me, but when I looked to check, I seemed to be a step ahead of most people! Sure enough, that wasn't my goal, it just made me happy I can take it easier and don't have to hurry the damn burpees too much. Some people finished earlier, but I am not sure how many, and I probably didn't do too bad. :) My finish time doesn't sound great - 18:02, but I think it was comparable to others. :)

    - As a side note, the coach came to give me high five, when she saw me slide down along my box, ready to dissolve, she commented it must be close to suffering in my outfit. Unlike everyone else, I am not wearing thighs, but karate-like thick cotton black pants, that were already quite wet, sticking onto me, obnstructing me in squatting down, jumping up etc. I am starting to get why the thighs are so popular there and maybe the summer will force me to go out of my comfort zone too, soon :/
    Sweat was pouring out of me today.

    The woman I shared a rack with and I talked a bit in the changing room after the training. She used to do CrossFit at another gym and said that while she was feeling like she improved and got more fit and isn't among the beginners anymore, the trainings here bring her back, sort of. Apparently her previous gym was signifincantly more relaxed, there was time spent talking and resting, while here, which is true, we go from one exercise to another, with the only time to rest generally being the time before we are finished preparing the barbells, boxes etc.
    I find the trainings here quite challenging and I would be surprised if someone from a different gym would find these trainings slow-paced. I hope I'll get used to it once...
     
  10. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Tuesday 30.5.17:

    18:30-20:00 - Advanced karate class:
    Sensei who was recovering from an injury finally made an appearance! :) (ehm, she was there last week, too, but I wasn't, so...... I can celebrate now! :D)

    - Warm-up - various types of game of tag, we got a lot of laugh today :)
    - Stretching
    - Sensei asked us if there was something we wanted to do and we all agreed San Dan Gi and especially bunkai would be a good choice. We started with San Dan Gi Ichi, Ni, San, Shi and Go solo and in pairs, then we all did all the bunkai we'll need for the next grading and that was about it actually :>
    - Usual belly work-out
    - And someone said something about push-ups, so sensei fullfilled that wish... we were told to do as many as we'd like. I was thinking about trying to go for 80 as that is the number for my next grading.... but did 40 and though a half was good for now :D Somehow they were hard (not just) today :Angel:

    - It was uite a warm day with short downpours and storms sounding... meaning it was really hot and humid, so we sweated just by standing in the dojo. Other than that, I love these almost summer rains :)
     
  11. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Wednesday 31.5.17:

    16:00-17:00 - CrossFit:

    - Warm-up: 2 rounds running around the gym, 20 air squats, 15 squats with a 10 kg disc touching the floor and going overhead - repeat twice
    - Stretching

    - EMOM (Every minute on the minute) - 12 mins:
    - 50 double unders or simple skipping for 45 secs
    - 15-25 push-ups
    - 10-20 (I did 14) lunges with a 10 kg disc overhead


    - EMOM - 12 mins:
    - 12 box jumps (different coach, same reminding us of jumping onto legs as little bent as possible)
    - 10 cleans (I took a 25 kg barbell - we were supposed to take 40-50 % of our weight if possible, so I thought about 30, but that math.... :Angel:)
    - rest

    - EMOM - 12 mins:
    - 13 muscle-ups (haha! :D) .... or 13 pull-ups (haha! :D) ... or 13 pull-ups with a band or from a box
    - 16x overhed sqats - I asked how much weight - was told 25-35 kg, perhaps, I thought I was going for the compromise with 30, but actually still had the 25 and I was still struggling. Maybe the weight was a part of it, but for the first two rounds, I just couldn't get my left shoulder in a good position - as a result of my scoliosis when I ws young I was told I tend to hold this shoulder higher than the other, and maybe a bit to the front. I just couldn't get it into the same position as the right one today and maybe also because of it, I was losing balance a little. For the last two rounds, I felt some pressure or pinching in my right wrist, though alighned right and not wure what it was. I always only managed 4-8 squats. It wasn't my day for it today... and I feel rather bad about it. I would have taken some weight off, but there wasn't time once we started.
    - 30 s lying on the floor, legs up, upper back up, arms held over the head (easier version with arms pointing towards legs). The harder variety was hard, I couldn't hold my balance like that and fell on my back while my legs raised up :Anglel:. I went for a compromise with arms pointing upward towards the ceiling... at least for the first half. Coach came and asked me to try and do the harder variety. I tried.... going with the arms up as far as I could, each round actually getting better and better. :)
     
  12. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Thursday: Sensei showed up today, and I planned to go, but I was not sleeping too much the past few days and during the afternoon, I felt it was too much, so with my eyelids falling down, I decided to take a rest day, though today's training might have been nice :/

    Friday 2.6.17:

    16:00-17:00 - CrossFit:

    - First thing done I checked it there was running written for a warm-up :D There wasn't (thought the group after us had a different instructor who chased them out and I only heard comments like the passerbies thought they must have been sick when they started squatting in front of a cafe :D

    Ehm, anyway, my training:

    - Warm-up: 5 mins of: 30 single-unders, 5 fall back down and up (or whatever? - lie down on back and stand back up without using hands, and probably without feet crossed), 10 air squats.
    - Short stretching

    - Something that was called a sprint practise. That was all I saw on the board without my glasses and I was pondering how on earth are we going to practise sprints, since I also saw numbers like 15 and 10. It turned out it wasn't a running sprint, but doing as many rounds of given exercises in 4 minutes. It already sounded terrible :D We were to do and repeat 15 squats, 10 sit-ups and 5 burpees. Without stopping and going as fast as we could. I started a little slower than other, worrying I'll burn out all my energy too soon. In the end I wasn't last, but there were guys up to a round faster. I did 3 rounds up to the first burpee. So 3+26.

    - EMOM: 12 minutes - each minute alternating between 6-10 pistol squats and 7 pull-ups. For pull-ups we were allowed a rubber band or a box and for pistols we could help ourselves by gently holding a bar or taking a kettlebell. I think everyone except maybe for one person used the bar for pistols. I took the 4 kg kettlebell to practise like this. I think it was around after the 3rd round that I shifted to the easier bar variation. I had just about enough and the bar then seemed quite a bit easier. :)

    - WoD: 9 minutes of as many rounds as we can do of:
    - 10 kettlebell snatches
    - 10 burpees + box jump over

    - There was no RX weight today, we were told to get not the heaviest weight, but soething we won't struggle with and can finish with a good form. Instructor checked everyone's snatches before we started. Last time I was told to get 12 for snatches and it was nice. I was thinking if I should take 8 kg or 12. Was almost about to take 12, when there was a guy who took it, so I thought I wouldn't play a hero and took 8 kg. It was rather easy, though and I caught myself compromising the form a little when I was tired, so I focused more on doing it properly.
    - As soon as I saw this exercise, ti was very obvious that the snatches will be finished in a few seconds and it will basically be an endless struggle with the burpees for me and it was exactly that :D Before I comment on how terrible they were further, please notice the previous exercises we did: air squats, standing up from falling down, air squats, burpees and pistol squats => my legs were done... and now! they want me to jump on the damn box? :O I took a few seconds before my first jump as I was sure I can't possibly have enough srenght left to jump on it, will kick it instead and fall headfirst over it. Ok, I didn't, but all those jumps were just terrible! And I a sure the sides of the calves will again give me trouble after today. We also had a coach who wouldn't let us rest, lie down in the burpee for a bit and trying to motivate us even with things like: "Come on, last minute! Only a minute more and then you have the whole weekend! Go, go, go! :D". Uff, I did try to hurry the last 5 burpees, feeling like this will be the end of me... but still, no matter, I fell one box jump short of finishing the 4th round :'( I was probably the last. I think I was fairly quick when it came to snatches (that is, if I had enough air to breath, but the burpees...).
    After today, I just fell on the box, from the box on the floor and noticed there are other people lying like dead all around the gym :D I could feel the heat, that could possible make the water boil radiating off me and really wished I could lie there for the rest of today :D I am really curious what my legs will be like tommorrow :D
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2017
  13. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Saturday:

    Only a short bike ride in the vicinity of the dojo: 19,24 km in 1:27, with stops for food.

    Sunday 4.6.17:

    9:45 (10:00)-12:05 - Kobudo:

    - Sensei arrived late from his night shift, so we started early by trying to remember the Sai Renzoku kumite (if that's the right name) we learned last time. When sensei arrived at 10:00, we started other things.
    - Sensei unfortunately can't go to Croatia on a karate trip this year (which is at the end of the net week), but as soon as he heard the two of us were planning on bringing the weapons with us, he started supplying us with a LOT of material to study. There will also be karate and kobudo sensei from Slovakia that does slightly different style of kobudo (our sensei used to do), so he also prepared us for the differences. From what we practised today, we weould have enough material (especialy the things we need a partner to practise) to practise every day, I am worried if we'll manage, though. However, sensei will probably want us to grade in a few months, to a grade we'll manage to learn all the things for and there will probably not be a lot of kobudo classes in the next week, so we should practise indeed.
    - We reviewed a lot of things, some parts of which I had forgotten. However, sensei let us take a video of most things so we can use it as a reference when he's not here.

    - Today we practised:
    Sai Renzoku Kumite
    Sai Kumite
    Sai Hojo Undo

    and learned three of four parts of Nicho Sai or Sai Dai Ichi = first sai kata.
    Bo Hojo Undo Ichi
    Kumibo Ichi
    Bo Hojo Undo Ni

    Oyo? Kumibo Ni - soething I am quite certain I never did before, though sensei insisted I must have. I actually only took a video of the other two, no time to practise to the detail and teach it to me, I suppose... we'll have to learn this well by ourselves
    Bo Kihon Kata
    Nunchaku Kihon Kata
     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2017
  14. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Monday 5.6.17:

    CrossFit:

    - Warm-up: Running (oh, not again XD) - around 1 km, this time with 15 push-ups at the final destination and 15 squats back in front of the gym (the push-ups sounded bad, but it was actually a nice break) :D
    - Short stretching (I am getting the feeling that it's getting shorter and shorter, I didn't even have time to catch my breath after the running and we were already moving to another practise)
    - Clean & Jerk practise: 15 minutes to go to max weight. For us, who are not sure about technique, we were supposed to focus more on technique ratehr than weight. The empty bar was quite light and I could feel like I could focus ont he technique more if I added some. So I did 25 kg, listening to instructions, worried not to go against what the coach wanted us to do, so I asked if I should still add. Coach said I looked like I had an easy time and it was ok, so I continued with 35, 40 and 45 kg. Coach said it still looked rather easy. Well, to my surpirse, I found the jerk easier than the clean. Coach advised how to do the clean better, while I also felt like I am lifting the bar too far from the body. I added weights until I felt like I can still safely do this thing. But not anymore before I figure the technique out better. Though I feel like this movement is generally getting more natural. Though I think like this was also my first time doing these exercises not in a work-out, but as a practise with adding to max weight.
    - Toes-to-bar practise - for those who can do it - 5 minute challenge to finish 50 TTB as quickly as possible. For the rest of us who either can't do this or have never really tried, we were to practise. I shared a horizontal bar with my friend who claims to have a rather hard time adapting coming from a different CF gym. I wasn't sure how to go about it, but when I tried, swung myself and just focused on getting the toes to the bar, it was actually rather easy! :) I mean for the 1 rep, though, I then lost my momentum or how to say it and my grip was getting weaker (though I didn't fall off on my back as I feared XD). Then coach came, telling me how to do the kipping motion. I don't know why, but when focusing on these tip how to do it, I couldn't until I tried again and just swung and forced the toes up. Coach was surprised what was I trying before when I can do it... Well, I said I still just did it with my stomach, which rendered her laughing, what muscles do I think this was for? But I meant it that instead of doing it with the proper kipping... never mind. I tried a few times, one TTB at a time.

    - WoD: AMRAP ("As many rounds as possible" - I guess - I am not sure it I feel weird of cool with all these strange shortcuts etc :D) for 11 minutes:
    - 15 kettlebell swings (RX for women was 16 kg)
    - 10 front squats (RX for women 30, I did 25 kg)
    - 5 Handstand push-ups (or push-ups with lying down, lifting hands and them pushing up - I still can't remember the name)

    - This work-out didn't seem all that bad (if I count doing the push-ups not standing on hands) for various reasons: No box jumps. No wall-balls. And NO burpees! Wow, I actually didn't do a single burpee today! What a moment in history! :D Even no pull-ups!
    - For the kettlebell swings I decided to go with the RX - 16 kg. For the front-squats, I took 25, because (just as expected), someone stole my 2,5 kg discs while we were away practising other stuff and I didn't see any significant reason to go look for new ones :D
    - As expected, the push-ups were the easiest thing. The swings always started to get harder at around 10, but I pushed myself to finish them without break, because I was too lazy to stop and start swinging the kettlebell anew :D Same for the squats. In the 11 minutes, I did 5 rounds + 24 (15 swings and 9 squats). Which was a nice average, I think, with people having results between something over 3 rounds to something over 6 rounds. So I am satisfied :)
    I also tended to lean forward in the front squats, coach always reminding me to push in the heels and keep elbows up. It's hard to do, because the bar then presses onto my throat and I can breath even worse :D But, I coach said to keep the had and neck back. Such an easy solution... I felt kind of stupid I didn't figure that out :D :Angel:
     
  15. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Teusday - in the end, I skipped today's karate because I needed to get some things prepared for Friday's trip to Croatia.

    Wednesday:

    Not much time, either, but I'll be away next week and I would be sad to be missing from CrossFit for two weeks, so I went.

    CrossFit:
    Today we had a coach that I only met once for training. He used to do weightlifting, so he had explained everything about form in the exercises we were doing.

    - Warm-up: 4 minutes of: 20 jumping jacks, 10 ground to overhead (with a 10 kg disc), 10 lunges
    - Stretching
    - Back lunge practise - starting with an empty bar and when we reach a good weight, do 5 rounds of 6 reps with it. It sounded like a lot, so I did it with 25 kg, which seemed heavy enough at first, but I got used to it and finished the rounds with less effort than I'd wish to feel like I am working out properly. So, note to self: Take 30 next time!

    - Handstand push-ups practise. My second time. Surprisingly, no-one said tehy can do it, so we divided into two groups - one who will practise the kipping motion and me and a friend, who's goal is to do the handstand (against the wall). Coach helped me for the first couple of times and then I tried myself a few more. When I thought I should try to go lower and just get the feeling of the next position, time was over.

    - WoD: AMRAP (as many reps/rounds? as possible) in 8 minutes of:
    - 10 overhead squats (RX for women 20 kg)
    - 25 double unders (or 75 single unders)

    - I took the RX weight. It was surprisingly not that much. I also took a jumping rope that was quite long, so I thought it would be nice. But... and I swear it much have been the rope's thought! Something happend like every 8 jumps and the wire-like rope hit me and I had to start again. No matter if I jump fast or slowlier, jump only a little or 10 cm from the floor... It kept hitting me. Not sure if the end of the handles wasn't turning properly, but it irritated me as this work-out seemed quite ok with me, but I took too much time finishing the 75 jumps :mad:. So in the next rounds, I, ehm, yeah, I admit it, somewhat tried to rush the squats, which wasn't the best form-wise, but the weight wasn't too heavy (stupid excuse, I know). I did similar reps as others, though, even slightly more than the two people I heard. 4 rounds, 10 squats and 30 jumps. According to the board, people generally finished over 3 to over 6 rounds, so from that point of view, it wasn't that great. I would most of the time not care about the reps, but this work-out was not about lifting heavy weights or feeling like I'd die during burpees and I felt like I should have tried more for speed.

    After the class, me and the friend chatted a bit with a coach, who didn't teach the next class. About food generally (I hear many CrossFit places promote the paleo thing, but this was mostly about eating healthy and not a word about paleo). I should probably care more... it order to lose the weight I should lose. We also got a spoon and tasted three flavors of some nut or chocolate butter. Quite good, but it felt like glue in the mouth. It was something they are going to sell, probably, but no doubt a stuff like that is going to be pricey for sure.
    But. I got even bigger probably since starting CF. I undrstand it is not strange to gain weight doing crossfit at first, but I probably gained weight, but didn't lose an ounce of fat.... I'm at 75 kg now and I should really try to do something about it. Not nice :(
     
  16. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Thursday:

    19:00 - 20:40 - Karate:

    Busy day today, but I in the end decided to come to class, since I haven't been this week and I am not coming so ofter lately, also partly because sensei, who is busy with life and unfortunately isn't showing up either, seems to be there, today (also partly why I skipped Tuesday's class in order to have time for today's).
    In the end, however, sensei started the first 15 minutes with us, then suddenly said to me and another brownbelt: "So you will manage the rest, right?"
    .... "What?!" :eek:
    Ok, I understand sensei has reasons to be busy and we are friends there to help, but his attitude of not showing up and taking for granted that one of the higher belts will take care of the classes when it is not convinient for him and because not many people are showing up anyway bothers me a bit. He is hardly seen in the dojo and not always for training. :/ I really hope it will get better starting next season.

    So, today, when sensei left just like that, luckily, the other friend was told that just before training and since he's teaching most of the classes anyway, he took the iniciative today as well. That is, until he had to leave for less than half an hour and I was the only other brown belt.... Teaching today wouldn't be too much of a problem, since there were only a few people we could practise anything with. But there was also one beginner from the faculty today, making up for her attendance. I had no idea what to do, since there were only advanced students and her, so I went through San Dan Gi Ichi and Ni, step by step, solo and in pairs. We then moved onto San and Shi, with partners rotating and she always only did Ichi and Ni. Then we also practised Renzoku kumite, while the friend who just returned thought of some combination the beginner and her partner at a time could practise instead.
    Other than that we did some bodyweight exercises and kihon.
    Before sensei left, he had us review all our kata once (GKI to Shisochin for me + Sanchin).

    To be honest, I didn't feel too well about today's training, at least the part I had to teach. It was quite sudden and I had no idea what to do as there was no time to prepare, and I wasn't teaching regularly this year, so it is not like I have exercises prepared in my mind and it is out of my comfort zone. :(
    There should be opportunities to talk to sensei next week, so I hope I will be able to explain some of my worries to him.
    Quite honestly, though, if I knew sensei wouldn't be there today, and even that I would also have to teach (even if only for a while), I wouldn't bother to postpone my other work and keep myself busy until late at night just in order to make it to class on the other end of the city. It was a bit disappointing :(

    Ugh, what a rant today...
     
  17. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    KARATE TRAINING CAMP IN CROATIA (10.-17.6. 2017)

    Saturday 10.6.

    We arrived just before lunch time. If I remember correctly, I had a short nap after the 13 or 14 hour bus drive and visited the beach. No particular activity I can think of today.

    Sunday 11.6.


    Together with my dad, who already successfully managed to infiltrate my group of karate friends and went with us third year in a row, I got up at 5.30 to go visit a nearby bird reserve, Velo Blato. It was a long walk, around 10 km. Not only walking, also stopping to watch birds. Half of the walk was on the road, another half on trails or across rock, fences and so on. With the increasing heat, I returned pretty tired.
    We used this day as there was no karate training in the morning.
    In the evening our whole group went on a walk by the beach. Someone came with a game we played along, which reminded sensei of his favourite game - "Do 10". If you say that to someone, you enter the game. The person told has to do 10 push-ups right then and there. And then he can return the favour anytime or another person can command you when they enter the game. Basically, after doing push-ups on a wall (where I had to climb thanks to the first game), we returned, I showered. There were six people sharing our appartment - two women including me and 4 men. And several visitors quite often. Just when I took my clothes off and entered the shower, I heard from the other side of the door: Do 10! ... yeah, wet, naked, on the slippery floor. What an "awesome" game :mad: After I finished I realised I forgot to bring a clean top, so I had my used dirty T-shirt just held across my chest by my arms to cross the 2 metre distance to our bedroom, when, of course, sensei remembered he could command me to do the 10. And since our appartment had frequent guests, there were even more people there. I thought I would be able to escape somehow, but no, with the shirt held across my chest, I had to do the push-ups, laughing, with elbows held thoroughly close to my body... I thought I absolutely need to get a revenge for that.
    It was very interesting that there weren't many instances when the game ran. I think my mybe only other time during the whole week when I had to do the 10 was when I went to the shower quickly, yet again, crossing to my bedroom only wrapped in towel. And sensei just arrived....

    Monday 12.6.


    First morning training on the beach - 8:00 - 9:30:
    We started with chi-ishi work-out with the 6 chi-ishis sensei brought from our dojo. Two very small, three normal and one big. We rotated, so everyone work with each. The spot for the biggest one was where sensei originally was - facing everyone, also deciding when the round would end. Sensei told me which exercise to do. I somehow managed to do 10 for each side with holding the chi-ishi by the end. It was tough on the left side towards the end, though. After that we practised Sanchin, 3 times at most I think. Then we focused on Gekisai Dai Ichi and the kihon techniques used there, practising them with fist-sized stones we found for ourselves.

    Afternoon pad training - 16:00-16:40:
    With big and small pads and vests, practising several combinations.

    Evening training in the sea - 17:00 - 18:00?:
    San Dan Gi Ichi, Ni, San
    Renzoku kumite Gekisai Dai Ichi
    Gekisai Dai Ichi in line
    Gekisai Dai Ichi bunkai - normal and variations with open hands


    Tuesday 13.6.

    Morning training, again cca 8:00 - 9:30:
    Junbi Undo, 10 Neko Undo (which was a little painful on the rocky beach). Work-out with chi-ishi again and 1 stone, which wasn't too small. Then Sanchin practise, Kote Kitae (Iron body conditioning). For the conditioning we turned partners. Our dojo's two other girls ended up trying hard to avoid me. One tends to be a bit cheeky, so I well... didn't go much lighter when she slowed down. Which resulted in her stoping and moaning load for basically the whole beach to hear :D Somehow, it was a bit fulfilling, after she always hits me when she feels like it :cool: Then tried with a men from Slovakia (there were two Slovakian guests - this one with first dan, the other beginner. Also, a Slovakian sensei was supposed to come, but he had to cancel because of work). It was fun with him, we went at it, it was fast and nice, only I was worried when I'll get my face hit as his fists approached closer and closer. After that we did Renzoku kumite for Gekisai Dai Ichi and Ni. For Ni I again partnered with the Slovakian black belt. They apparently don't practise Renzoku as often and he didn't know Ni (which only has small differences), so sensei let me be his partner for the whole time, to teach him. Gakisai Dai Ni kata.

    For this week we planned a trip, but it was a bit pricy, so only a few people wanted to come and it was cancelled in the end. We somehow thought of an alternative. Asking at the info centre if it is possible to borrow scooters for water or land. It turned the nearest rental is in a city around 10 km away. We decided to go. For this whole Croatian trip, there were only around 10 adults or karateka and mostly students form sensei's school, who are all around 18, some with fresh driving licence, some without. Nevertheless, sensei made this option available to them as well and we borrowed 8 scooters for 15 people to drive them. Some others didn't come as they didn't bring their licence with them. I had mine. In the Czech Republic, when you receive a driving licence for a car, you automatically get one for the smallest scooter, too. Nowadays, you can drive even the 125 ccm one, but only in the Czech Republic as it isn't written in the driving licence. I never rode any, but had my licence, so I went and rode after a short instruction about how to operate it. Only to find out a few days after that I unfortunately got my licence in the few years when they made a change and the scooter was either not automatically given or was not written in the lacence. I am glad no police stopped us :D No driving licence, no left mirror on our borrowed scooter.... I wouldn't want to explain that :D I shared my scooter with an experienced rider so it was nice and we closed our convoy. It was so much fun! And a great view. The 50 ccm scooter were old, with parts missing, one scooter dying just a few km from home, many missing a mirror or making weird sounds and so on. Still, our scooter was able to reach 85 km/hour with two people on board. Maybe more, but I had to make it clear to my partner that he should keep himself in check for I can clearly see the tachometer and I am indeed watching it carefully! :)

    No sea training today.
     
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  18. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    CROATIA part II

    Wednesday 14.6.

    Morning training - 8:00 - 9:30:
    Sanchin - both versions (normal and turning Sanchin), Junbi Undo, Gekisai Dai Ichi and Ni kata, Saifa and bunkai. Saifa Renzoku kumite, Seiyunchin kata once.

    Most of the scooters were returned, but we kept a few. Sensei with his family and in the end one student two decided to go on a trip. We weren't really asked to tag along and we had some other plans, too, so me and my partner took our remaining scooter to go on a late afternoon trip before planned barbecue. We decided to go in opposite direction to yesterday. I was the driver first. Out gas control was telling us we had no gas from the very beginning. Which was a lie as we knew and checked. But still, I planned to stop at the first gas station we meet. Problem was, there wasn't any.... Nor google knew any nearby. When we went on smaller roads and then were about to go to even smaller ones near our destination - a small church on a beach on a tip of a small peninsula supposedly without people, we decided we should probably find a gas station first. It was, after all, about an our since the start of the trip. I asked an older lady (the advantage is that Croatian is fairly similar to Czech, so we can sort of comunicate with each other without the need to use English). She sent us 3-4 km in the direction of Nin, the nearest city. No gas station anywhere. We asked again and were told it is situated 1 km from Nin. We reached Nin. No gas anywhere. Asked again. Were sent 1 km in the direction of Zadar, the next city. Turned around and.... end of the journey. No gas left. Well, the scooter is small, so we walked with it and asked along the was. "Yeah, 1 km to the left." "Sure, turn left ond walk about 1 km." Yeah, it's 1 km from here to the left." And so on. I mean, we walked and walked and whoever we asked told us it was 1 km from there.... so we walked a few km before we finally found the gas station. Phew. Unfortunately by then it was too late to go visit the church, so we just turned back. We never planned to reach Nin originally. We switched places, I sat in the back. And after a few km, the scooter madea weird sound and... died. Great. We called sensei for contact for the place we borrowed the scooter from. We directed them to our place... they already had to come to pick one dead scooter yesterday. They weren't happy when they heard how far we actually were, trying to tell us how these scooters aren't sort of in a condition to go too far... Anyway, it turned us it was only a candle and we had the scooter repaired, without the need to use another one they brought for us. It was around 19:45, with sunset approaching. With the lights an the state they were in, we certainly didn't want to ride into the night, so the journey back was a bit fast paced. My partner got the bike to drive even faster when it started raining and we were riding into a nasty dark cloud. In the end we made it just in time :) I think I fell in love with these scooters, though!

    Missed sea training.

    Thursday 15.6.:

    Morning training - 8:00-9:30:
    Sanchin, Junbi Undo, footwork + practise for San Dan Gi San and Shi and then trying the whole thing. Seiyunchin kata and bunkai. At least for the three of us highest grades.

    Sea training - 16:30-17:30?:
    Focusing on kicks and basic techniques as several of the no-karate students joined us.

    Friday 16.6.:

    Morning training 8:00-9:00?:
    We repeated all we did the days before, including chi-ishi, excluding kote kitae, and didn't get to Shisochin as was originally planned.

    Yoga 9:00-10:30:
    There was a women, our friend and mom of two of our dojo's kid students, who practised yoga every morning with three other people (my dad included) joining her. It looked nice and I wanted to try, so I asked if she would be willing to do a lesson for us at a different time. Most other karatekas were interested, too, so she taught us for an hour and half. She said she does yoga her way and is particular about good posture, using good muscles and generally practises by herself, occassionally seeking instruction from two teachers she picked for their knowledge to gain more experience. I really enjoyed this and she offered she could do a yoga class for us in the dojo maybe once a month. Which would be awesome :) I don't have time to pick another sport/art/or classes of whatever to do regularly, but once a month sounds just alright. Today we did around 6 asanas - a tree, frog, cobra, two for back and one I can't remmebr anymore.

    I skipped evening training as I wanted to continue with my tradition to find a nice spot for plainair well... not painting, only drawing this year, but from the same yoga instructor I got a whole body massage on the beach as she offered to massage us and it was nice and got me in a mood to not draw basically. Nontheless I was massaged during the training so I didn't join them anyway.

    We also brought our kobudo weapons with us to practise all the things sensei told us to. But... well... we didn't even unpack them in teh end :oops:
    ...and after Saturday's journey back, I was told we probably left our and one of sensei's worse bo staffs in the bus :eek:


    The whole Croatian trip was very nice. It was our last chance to have sensei check on us before the grading next weekend. He said we were prepared, though, as a matter of fact, so I will prey things will go well...
     
  19. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Sunday 18.6.:

    Sensei was asked to do a karate demo at a japanese-cultire oriented event. It turned out it was an anime con, particularly Hokage Con. We were asked to help if we can. We had an hour on the stage and so it basically turned into a nice training for us. As usual, we didn't practise in advance, only discussed what we'll do 10 minutes before the start. Our sensei commented it, sensei from another dojo sort of led the training of the rest of us trainees. There were two lower grades - children, three blue or brown belted teenagers, us two adult brown belts and two senseis. Not everyone did everything, for example the hojo undo was only for adults, then not everyone knows all the kata, we also did Saifa Renzoku, which event the guest sensei doesn't know etc. We tried to go all out when told, so we got sweaty pretty quickly and got a nice training actually :)

    Hojo Undo (taking of the upper part of the gi):
    - Chi-ishi (copying sensei, even some exercises I didn't know until then), Nigiri Game - short kata, Kongoken - each of us did one of two exercises, I started with the lifting kongoken up. Managed to lift it 20x in one go, which made me a bit happy O:)
    - Iron body conditioning (I was with one of the teenagers. She was really good considering her age, but I still didn't go all out there).
    - Kihon and San Dan Gi Ichi, Ni, San, Shi slow and fast
    - Renzoku kumite Gekisai Dai Ichi and as for Ni and Saifa this was done only by our pair, which was a little stressful and as I am not too skilled in it, we preactised a couple of times before the start of the demonstration.
    - Gakisai Dai Ichi and Ni kata - done by everyone slow and fast. As for bunkai and Saifa, we stood sideways. Then Seiyunchin kata and bunkai done by the two of us and sensei. Then our sensei stopped commenting and performed Sesan kata with the other sensei (both being 5th dans), which looked very nice. And the bunkai done very nicely.
    - I think then there was only Sanchin kata, again without the upper part of the gi with the two of us adults standing in the front and sensei giving shime to the other. I was in a nice training mood by now and really enjoyed this kata. I found me a nice spot in the distance to watch and focus on the kata.

    The demo was quite long. Today generally, there weren't as many people at the con as yesterday, but still, those who came to watch us didn't leave as I worried and we got a very positive feedback from at least three organizators, also claiming people liked it a lot as well. There was also a "Czech samurai", who had demo of tameshigiri and other japanese weapons and stuff, who came to sensei to personally thank him por our "show" saying we renewed his faith in karate. I really didn't expect such kind words from people in general and I feel really happy. We then had a workshop of sorts - bringing the hojo undo stuff to ne spot for volunteers to try. Only a few came, but still, better then none.



    In the evening I finally found myself a bit of time to go in-line skating. I tried the trail behind my house. I went all its lenght and back, which should be 5,8 km altogether. Tried an application to measure time and distance but the distance didn't work. Anyway, based on maps and the time, I should have done the 5,8 km in around 17 minutes, meaning my average speed was a bit over 20 km/h, which I am satisfied with. I tried to go rather faster then slower, but it was my first time this year and the shows kind of tend to prevent the blood to come to my feet, so the almost half an hour (counting the time to go to the trail as well) was enough for me today :D
     
  20. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Monday 19.6.17

    After an eating spree in Croatia (I shared a room with a friend, who is a great cook and... yeah) I decided starting today I am going to eat healthy and lose some weight. Lets see how many days I can keep at it :D
    My starting weight before Croatia is 75 kg, not sure if I gained any, but I would like to get to 68 kg at least. I am not sure if I will be able to do it as I never even seriously tried losing weight, but I am quite determined now.

    I started the week with CrossFit. No matter how weird it may sound, I actually missed the torture there and was looking forward to the next class :) All the more with my mind set on getting slimmer :D

    CrossFit (1 hour):
    I met my friend there at the door. It was really hot outside (30°C) and I shared my worry if we were going to run for a warm up. She said no way, it's too hot and there was no running last week. Before I put my shoes on, she checked the board and returned to the changing room: "We are seriously going to run! You brought it upon us!" :D She dislikes running no less than I do :D

    - Warm-up: Run to the playground, do 20 push-ups and back and do 20 squats (running distance around 1 km). We were told not to overdo it and just jog lightly. When we returned and were doing the squats, the coach told us to keep drinking a lot, especially in this heat. But the second we finished the squats, we were send for the PVC sticks without any opportunity to catch our breath and drink. I did drink first, though, as most others, too.
    - Stretching: Short as usual, but with one more exercise many seemed to have trouble with, when the coach made it clear that we need to stretch more.
    - Today's main practise (around 8 mins): Double-unders (over the jumping rope). I was really happy as I was waiting for an opportunity to try and learn this. There's no time to try it during the WODs. Last time I tried just after the training and managed one. Today I started and immediately did 3, but with a stop after each. I then tried doing more in a row. My record was 5, which I did only once and probably could do more at that one time if the rope didn't get caught or didn't changed direction because of my hair... I just got it cut, though, so I am not really sure how it could happen and twice at that.... Out of around 6 people, nobody could do them fluently at the beginning and some struggled more, some less. I think actually most of the people said they managed 5 at most and on only one occasion just as me. Most of the time, I could only do one and a half... When the coach saw us, she seemed to decide to do some double-under challenge for us in the near future...

    - Today's WOD was one of the named ones, "Cindy": Meaning do as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
    - 5 pull-ups
    - 10 push-ups with hand release (meaning: lie down, lift hands, go up, which is to make sure we go all the way down, though I find them somewhat easier)
    - 15 air squats
    - I used a box to jump up from into the pull-ups - using this easier variety, but still trying to use my arms to make them stringer in the pull-up motion. This work-out wasn't technically difficult. I can't do the full pull-ups, but other than that, same as others, the most difficult were the push-ups, they took the majority of time. Somewhere near the middle I caught a second breath, especially for the squats and paced them up a little. When the coach said something about one more minute, I hurried up as fast as I could to finish the 12th round. When I did and saw there were still around 20 or so seconds left, I heard properly that there was actually one more minute after that! Noooooo. I was finished already :D Nonetheless, I gathered the remaining drop of energy and decided to give it my all to at least finish the pull and push ups. Did the last 3 in the last 5 seconds, but I made it! And them just prostrated myself on the floor, since I was already so close :D My result today was 12 round and 15 reps. Compared to others, on the board, most people had something over 11 rounds, I think, some over 12 like me, then there wasn't too many in between us and several other people with over 16 rounds (crazy!). I asked the coach how many rounds do the competing or good athletes have since she mentioned them before. She said she wasn't sure, but it would definitely be around or over 20...... HOW? o_O

    After that, coach said that if we didn't have enought, there was an option, or a small challenge to do 100 sit-ups. We exercised arms and legs today, but no belly, so I decided to give it a go. Sit-ups didn't sound too bad and most people were of the same mind. I thought, though, the sooner I start and if I go without breaks it would be for the best, so I finished first. I wish we did more sit-ups and less pull-ups! :D Or not... I need to get out of my comfort zone after all...
     

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