Nachi's Log

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

  1. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Wednesday 30.8.17:

    CrossFit time!

    - Warm-up: 4 mins of: 4 burpees (without the jump), 6 ground-to-overhead with a 10 kg disc, 8 lunges
    - Stretching

    - Strenght practise - Front rack lunges - find your max weight for 4 reps (2x on left, 2x on the right leg). I managed 50 kg, tried 53, but the last, fourth lunge didn't work. I put my knee steadily on the floor which was bad for getting back up. The instructor just checked on me for the first time and immediately helped me up (maybe I would have tried to go up myself, though that ship has probably sailed...). Still, I was very unsatisfied as I did 3 reps and was sure I can actually make it! :mad: We had time for one last try, though most people had already started to prepare for the next thing. I took a short break and tried again, instructor instructing me on posture, breathing and whatnot, and I did it! I knew I could :D:p So 53 kg being my personal record (a first try, so, yeah...)

    - Technical practise: Double-unders. Ok, I can move the wire rope fast enough even without any single unders before, but I can't synchronize the jumps and the rope. Meaning I always stopped at 1,5 double-under. The most I did in row were 3. Instructor helped and said what I did wrong, which is no doubt true, but I still couldn't do any better. Ended up with my butt full of narrow and long red marks XD

    - WoD:
    15-min AMRAP (as many rounds as you can):

    - 5 power cleans (40! kg for women - I changed to 35)
    - 10 toes to bar (I only went for knees to chests)
    - 15 wallballs (with a 6 kg ball, I only used 4,5 kg)

    This work-out didn't sound too bad, but it actually didn't fit me today at all. I was more than surprised at the 40 kg weight for the cleans... Hm, I wonder which instructor tought of that? I would have some suspicions... We were told to try the right weight for us. I tried 35 and then also 40. That was when the instructor came to me to check the technique. This is the weightlifter instructor who tells me every single time the same things I do wrong, but... I try, I swear! But it is not as easy. I was thinking maybe I should take less weight and practise, but there was no time to change it as we already started. But... I was really hard and I would be really slow, so I only took 35 kg beginning in the middle of the second rounds. I still have torn skin on the calluses so I took my new gloves for the knees-to-chests. Skin is fine then, however, it puts another layers in my already weak hands. I slipped from the bar after every other knee-to-bar. I tried the gloves on and off and having them on at least hurt less. So it the end I jumped down after every-single-damn-rep. That or my fingers slipped despite my efforts to hold. So the feared wallballs were actually maybe the easiest exercise today, which is really strange. I finished 5 rounds and 3 more cleans. Sweated a lot. I hope next time I do better. My performance in today's WoD was far from good.
     
  2. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    The last few days after work, something always came in and I didn't have any time to work out left :(

    Two of those days were "because" I spent the evening visiting my boyfriend who is back from the hospital, but still in no shape to move around too much. But today! I had plans to make time for everything. Since he lives near the dojo - meaning on the other side of Prague, around 19 km by bike trails, I took my footbike for a trip to visit him :D - I had several reasons why take footbike, not bike - 1. it is a long enough trip for a footbike, slightly shorter for a bike, 2. in the center where there's a bit where the trail leads you among the heavy traffic, I can go among the heavy pedestrian traffic on a footbike (I hope, and if technically I can't, it is easier to argue about it) :D, 3. when I am too lazy to exercise on the way back around midnight, footbike is lighter and easily transported in a public transport. 4. it is a harder exercise :) So, footbike it was! Including the bits on the way back, I covered a distance of 20,8 km in 1:42 - average speed 12,1 km/h. Quite slow, but it was becasue of the pedestrians in the center where I had to go really slow and because I walked up the final hill.
     
  3. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Monday 4.9.17:

    Monday is a CrossFit day for me lately, however, since yesterday's footbiking I've had a sore neck for some reason, which was a probable cause for my headache today. I didn't want to do, nor had a mood for anything difficult, but at least went for a walk in the evening, which helped muchly. 9,2 km in 1:30, average speed: 6 km/h.
     
  4. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Tuesday 5.9.17:

    Yesterday I didn't feel like going to CrossFit, so unusually, I went today.

    CrossFit:
    There was a brand new instructor today, so I didn't know what to expect. The warm up was slightly unusual - we made pairs. One person did 10 V-ups, while the other held in a plank. The first person, after finishing ran to the other and they switched places. We did three rounds of V-ups and planks (surprisingly I had the V-ups probably best and fastest at least from our group of three - I need to be happy about the smaller things when I am not among the good crossfitters there :D) and three rounds of 20 walking lunges and holding in a lunge (though the instructor stopped it at 2,5 rounds)

    - Stretching

    - Practising for a snatch and EMOM - 10 minutes - 2 snatches a minute, trying to increase weight slowly, starting from an empty bar. Us girls took all the small discs, including the half a kg ones that I never used before, so we can always add something :D The round before the last, insstrustor encouraged us to try to increase the weight more - if we fail, we still have one more round to try. I finished the last round with 34 kg - my personal record for a snatch I suppose, as I don't remember ever trying increasing weight as much as I can. I felt my technique was quite bad in the last round. I muscled the bar up instead of going for a powersnatch. Only slightly, though. Instructor apparently watched me and only nodded his head. I wished he hadn't seen that :D

    -Practising handstand push-ups. If we can't do them, we were encouraged to do the much easier variety with feet on a box and practising the whole movement in the shoulders, instead of trying to hold in a handstand and only move part of the way. A very whort part in my case :D This was short, though, I finished only around 18 push-ups (truth be told, I started late, because I didn't know we started already...).

    WoD:
    - Quite a nice one today, and a quite a good fit for myself. Not perfect, but better than last time. Which doesn't mean I was super quick, I finished among the last...
    - Time cap: 10 minutes.
    - 3 rounds of:
    3 laps around the gym
    15 kettlebell swings (16 kg for girls, which I kept)
    30 double-unders (or like for me this time only 60 single-unders)
    10 pistol squats


    During the skipping my rope didn't get caught too much today, as it usually does. It was because of my hard focus, because I took a fairly long rope and I also decided to hold the handles at their very end.
    For the pistor squats we were allowed to use the rings to help pull ourselves up or do jumping squats instead. I used the rings. I lost balance a few times on one foot, meaning I lifted my heel. I can't keep the other leg stratched in front of me... and as time went on, I realised I am helping myself by the pulling a bit more and more. Running didn't feel as terrible today, though, or maybe, just maybe, I am getting slightly better. Though only a slightly. But I had enough courage to overtake a friend in the last round (which means I had an unusual amount of energy :D). Finished at 8:59.


    I then went to the changing room with two more experienced girls on one probably new. I used the opportunity to ask in I can go to the weightlifting classes on my crossfit credit. They agreed I surely can. There are two such classes a week with our instructor who is a good weightlifter and always has a lot to say about my technique in during the WoDs, where I try, but can hardly improve it. So I was thinking it could only help to go to his weightlifting class to learn the technique better. Up until here the girls agreed that those classes are probably really for that purpose, not only for the macho guys. But when I asked them who's coming with me, they seemed to suddenly become deaf. None of my persuasive techniques worked :D I have to try on my other friend there, whom I didn't meet today.
     
  5. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Wednesday - did nothing, went to sit and chat with friends.

    Thursday 7.9.17

    This evening a cleaning the dojo day was announced - to make it look pretty before the season. I didn't go to CrossFit because of it, but needed a car that was with my parents so I at least made a walk to their house - 2,9 or 3 km in a bit over 28 minutes, average pace: 6,1 km/h.

    And to exercise during the day, I put my 16 kg kettlebell on the way to my kitchen so that I have to work out a tiny bit a few times a day. I forced myself to do 4 sets of 30 swings and 30 goblet squats.

    Also, a bit since Tuesday and especially since yesterday I feel my jeans fit me nicely again - like they don't seem to explode when I put them on. I was happy I finally managed to lose my weight. I have now gone stricter on myself, trying to east around those 1200 kcal a day (or more when I exercise - so I do at least walks or so :D). I felt really motivated and when at my parents' house I stepped on a weighing machine after a few days, expecting I had to lose at least half a kg, as I lost also around a cm in my weist and the legs of course. But... apparently I again gained some 300 g or so :mad:o_O HOW CAN THAT BE??? I mean, it is important to lose space-wise especially, but still, such a gain would suggest I gained muscle. But from what? I have been doing CF for a while now, but still going only 1-2 days a week. And don't try to tell me I gained by my walks. Really a mistery. Anyway, I'll try to keep at it and maybe, eventually, I could get under 70 kg.
     
  6. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Friday 8.9.17:

    I want to keep going to CrossFit twice a week and since there wasn't much time until today...

    CrossFit:

    Only me and one other guy present.

    - Warm-up: 5 mins of: rowing 250 m, 10 push-ups, 10 air squats (I finished two and started a third round)

    - First practise was about split jerks. I've never done split jerks before, but since there were only two of us, I got quite a detailed instructions and the instructor was watching over me, pointing out all the problems. I put all the details together, so I was told to add some weight until 33 kg. I could probably do more, but time for practise was up by then. One of the biggest problems for me was as usual about heels. The split jerk looks just like zenkutsu dachi, but my body can't understand that the hind heel shouldn't be on the floor. Can't understand why, it seems more stable to me...

    - Second practise was about GHD (I think). I was wandering what it was, it turned out to be a machine to work the core I have also never tried before. Wasn't that hard and a nice exercise. Instructor recommended using that when we have a bit of time to do a few series.

    - WoD:
    13 min AMPRAP:
    10
    hand squat cleans (25 kg for women)
    15
    toes-to-bar (knees-to-chests for the likes of me :D)
    30 double-unders (or 90 single-unders)

    Got some instructions how to improve the squat cleans, couldn't hang on the horizontal bar. That bar is slowly becoming my nemesis. With gloves, I slide down after every single rep and without them, I slide down after ever other, but after about ten reps, I start tearing my skin. I haaaate it! Or rather my inability to get a strong grip. :mad:
    After about the first round, the other guy got a round ahead of me. I finished 3 rounds, did the 10 cleans and about 4 knees-to-chest wannabes.
     
  7. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    I had quite a busy weekend - working on a picture for a usual yearly project of a dragon calendar, and I didn't find any time for any training, not even a walk :( On saturday, I at least did a few exercises randomly during the day: 30 down-ups (I was going to burpees but somehow forgot to do the push-up :D), 4 min Tabata with various exercises (using YouTube as a reference) and another Tabata, doing only squats, 16 squats each round.

    I think my diet (I started to go on a stricter regime) is working out! I can suddenly see the difference and have gotten under 72 kg! Keeping my food under check, but Saturday evening sensei invited us to his house and they had some snacks... and cakes.... but... I am not that strict :p

    Nothing done on Sunday.
     
  8. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Monday 11.9.17:

    CrossFit time!
    The new instructor today and only two guys and me.

    - Warm-up: 3 rounds: 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups with an ab mat, 10 overhead squats (with only a plactic stick, trying slowly down, each round differing a little). Teacher explained varieties of push-ups and advised me to put my feet together - I forgot if it is better or just lets me work more :D As a girl, I was allowed to be on my knees, but unless in a crisis, I don't like doing that.

    - Stretching

    - Warm-up II: In pairs (if possible) row 2 km. We were switching after 300 or 350 m (I probably rowed the smaller portion). Instructor advised me to not lose focus on my breathing, which helped.

    - Practise: Back squats: Do 5 rounds with 20 reps, increasing weight. Teacher said in the morning the girls went up to 40 kg at most, so I followed that plan: 15, 25, 30, 35 and 40 kg. After class, on the board I saw the girls did 25, 30 and 50 respectively, so I am not very sure where he'd gotten the 40 kg :D

    - Practise of cleans and jerks

    - WoD:
    5 rounds of:
    - 10 burpee pull-ups (I had to laugh to myself as soon as I saw that :D, I was allowed to only do burpee and jump to touch the higher bar with both my hands, or rather, fingers)
    - 5 clean and jerks - 60 kg for guys, 40 for girls (seemed too much, but since it was supposed to be heavy, I took 35 kg, but still usually only did one at a time and a short break)

    In the middle I asked what the time cap was since I didn't hear of any. The instructor smiled mischievously that there isn't any (he probably saw through my intention to know how many rounds I actually have to do before the time is up) :D But, after I finished at 14:30, he stopped it at 15:00. The heck?!
    The guy next to me I was talking to commended me for my tempo. It actually included breaks so I didn't think it was too good and told him, that of course, I had it much easier since I didn't do the pull-ups, just jumping. Interestingly, he seemed sure he saw me doing pull-ups. Must have been hallucinations from the fatigue :D
     
  9. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    I forgot about a 5 laps around the gym for the very first warm-up! On the longer sides normal run, on the shorter ones running backward with high knees. Changing the styles actually helped me keep running, so I was even leading. That or now being lighter by that 1 kg or so makes a big difference! :p
     
  10. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Tuesday 12.9.17:

    This week, a new karate season began, with regular trainings and all that! However sad it is, though, several things came at once this week and I am busy and sleep deprived :p So I decided to skip the first training today :( It would take 3-4 hours and I have a lot to do in that time. But still wanted to wake myself up in the middle of desk work in the evening, so went for a quick in-line skating. Only second time this year, even though I have a wonderful trail behind the house, and all I need to do is put the in-lines on and go. Even with the way onto the trail I covered 6,7 km in 22 mins, meaning an average pace of 17,8 km/h or so the app says. It is a bit dissapointing as I was aiming for 20 km/h, but I must have also lost something on the uneven way to the trail. Still, need to go faster next time! :)
     
  11. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Wednesday 13.9.17:

    CrossFit:

    - Warm-up: 4 minutes of: 20 jumping jacks, 15 lunges, 10 push-ups. I had time for 3 rounds and the jumping jacks of the fourth.
    - Stretching

    - Skill practise: Snatch complex: Power snatch + overhead squat + hand squat snatch - practised with easy weight, getting up to a comfortable one to practise with for some time. I didn't want to overdo it just as everyone else it seemed and practised with 25 kg. The biggest struggle was the squat snatch. I had a tendency to put more weight on one leg and generally keep balance in that. Need to work on technique more, though this may have easily been the first time I tried this type on snatch.

    - Skill practise: Kipping pull-ups. My grip wasn't too tired today. We were to try the kipping first without an actual pull-up. I actually think I got that motion down (well, I am not sure about the details, but I felt quite comfortable doing it), but wen trying for the pull-up, my strenght got me just about the half way and my grip slipped as usual. After a few tries, the uppe layer of skin was tearing down, so I took my gloves and only tried one at a time. ot that I did the full pull-up, but peactised the motion, at least. I could have taken the band, but the kipping thing is actually much harder with it, I think.

    - WoD:
    5 rounds of:
    10 power cleans (like on Monday: Rx: 60/40 kg)
    2 laps "sprint" 'round the gym

    time cap: 10 mins.

    The same weight for cleans as on Monday - 40 kg for women. On Monday we only had to do 5 cleans and 35 kg was a bit of a struggle for me, so I took only 30 today. On Monday I may have been a bit tired or the burpees in between tired me out more, so the 30 kg didn't feel as bad. I ended with what was about an average time: 7:40. One guy I later talked a bit with didn't finish in the 10 mins just by a few meters run and just as I guessed, he took the full weight 60 kg. Which seems crazy to me. Not sure if there were people who did, too, but considering some finished a round earlier than me, they would have been really good. My respect goes to this guy. Maybe I should have pushed myself more as well. 40 would be too much, but 35... maybe next time :)
     
  12. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Thursday 14.9.17:

    New karate season and Thursday is the day of me teaching the kids class. The biggest one with kids both beginners and advanced (the highest grade there is an orange belt).

    Children class:

    I arrived slightly late, but sensei was inside and helped me today. From next week onward, there will be a friend who will be helping me with this class. I explained the usual etiquette at the beginning for the newcomers and had them introduce themselves. They played a game of tag for a warm up, then Junbi Undo. Senssei helped me then with practising footwork, tsuki and some combinations of basic techniques with some bodyweight exercises in between. I don't have nearly as much authority as sensei, but I saw he was much stricter with them and told to be as well. I can try.

    Adult class (2 hours):

    Not many people there today. Only two teenagers who newly came to the adult class and me. Then one had two leave, but two other people arrived. Sensei didn't take any nice and slow start to the season. He started with randori. We changed all the available partners for everything, me always starting with sensei, so I had the most painful thing behind me quickly :D After that we did a small sparring session standing on the spot facing each other, only using hands to strike and block, without moving the feet if possible. After we finished the round, one person raised their arms and was playing a punching bag for the other. Sensei was really funny though and I had trouble not to laugh. It would hurt too much if I did, though... :D
    After stretching, we put on the padded vests and did a combination from Renzoku kumite - starting with mae geri and four hand techniques, while the other person blocks and strikes once. This did hurt. Trying that hand block against sensei's front kick when he does want to kick me is pretty hard, so I was kicked multiple times and once did the block wrong and hurt my wrist a little. While my kicks were all blocked by a proper slapping to the ankle, giving me a small blue mark... I got stricken in the solar plexus, but the ring rang and sensei went to open the door, so I had a bit of time to get over it. Keeping the vests we did another, simple combination, again trying to hit each other. Of course, sensei was much more successful than me. The combination ended with one person elbow striking the other's belly. I wasn't sure how hard to go on sensei, but he said to go hard, and after that asked me if it was all I got. I said it wasn't, so I went all out and at that time he seemed to have started enjoying it properly :D
    The last 20 or 30 minutes were a kata practise. We were to pick one kata (I picked Seiyunchin), try once and then in front of everyone else, sensei pointing out the weak parts. I was fairly rusty and could tell myself it wasn't too good. Generally I felt I was progresing like a robot, one technique at a time. Sensei also commented there was not much difference between the hard and soft parts, which was obvious even to me. Need to practise more. The rest of the time we practised the same kata by ourselves, sensei stopping at one person at a time.

    I honestly didn't expect the traiing to start that rough. The other day I woke up with forearms full of red and blue marks, one mark on the upper arm and a small, painful spot on th ribs. Nothing serious, but well, it is still very well visible at the end of the weekend.


    The weekend

    ...was busy, but not really sport-wise. Me and three other people also from other dojos had a course to get a training licence B. The theoretical general part was this weekend, and the next one. There is going to be a tet then and writing some essay or something like that before we can get the licence and become official trainers at our respective dojos. We learned many interesting things, though at least one talk wasn't very informative, which is a pity. Most of it was great, though and as I had to attend a conference at least one evening as a guest and for other things, I again didn't get much sleep and after I finish some of the work today, I will probably not have any energy for anything, so no exercise today, either.
     
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  13. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Monday 18.9.17:

    CrossFit:

    The new coach that is there every Monday and Tuesday is funny and has a bit different approach to warm-ups and stretching, so thus far, I really enjoy his classes.

    - Warm-up + stretching: 2 rounds of:
    a) Squats which name I forgot - feet apart and squatting down on one leg, going up and on the next one, keeping the foot planted (or I did, not sure if required). It is similar to our karate stretching so no trouble there. 4x for each leg.
    b) Walking sideways with a rubberband folded in half wrapped around slightly bent knees - working butt and hips. Supposedly. I didn't really feel anything much, until I tried going faster, than the butt was obvious
    c) Practise for pistol squats - one foot on a 60 cm box, lean forward on it and slowly get up, then slowly go down, 4x for each leg.
    d) Wrap the rubber band in the same way around your ankles, keep it pulled at all times and walk sideways like a duck.

    - Skill practise: Cleans.
    - 5x reps with an empty bar from high hanging position, then 3 reps of each with 25 kg from the floor:
    - Only the pulling up motion with elbows going sideways and high
    - Muscle clean
    - Power clean
    - Deep power clean
    - Squat clean - my biggest struggle

    - Squat clean: In 15 mins, find your 1 rep max
    I was not rushing with the weight, at first practised with 30 kg. Instructor giving instructions, but I still couldn't get the hang of it. I knew I was not going to try to go too heavy, but I did add some weighs, maybe it'll help with the technique? Like it will force me to use the legs which I obviously wasn't doing as botht he instructor and my friend noticed. But I just couldn't figure how or the motion seemed too strange and uncomfortable. So tried up to 45 kg 3x (wanted only 40, but I lended the last small discs to someone else). Still I could feel my technique wasn't good enough. And as I focused on everything else, I put pressure on my back at one try... I need to learn this :(

    - WoD:
    13 mins AMRAP:

    - 10 burpee box jumps (they are much easier since I was told I don't need to squat :D I can actually do them more of less continuously and definitely faster :D)
    - 12 pull-ups (I took the thick, black rubber band to help me)
    - 15x deadlift - RX 45 kg for women (70 for men)

    - Managed 3 rounds and 6 burpees. The small, but muscled guy next to me did over 6... :mad: but... he had the highest number of rounds from the three groups of today. And luckily I had no time to watch him. But since he said he was faster, because I always got stuck with the pull-ups (yes, indeed, even with the think band), he did 2 rounds for my every one... :mad: Since he's like that I offered that next time, I can hug him and make a sufficient weight for him, while he can do the pull-ups for the both of us :D :cool:
    Damn pull-ups. I am sooo bad with them! I mean... is it possible to get worse and worse at something? Even I felt like and idiot struggling to finish the 12 reps with the band and although I didn't wear my glasses, I am almost sure I saw the instructor's smile when he saw me XD Damn...
     
  14. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Tuesday 19.7.17:

    There was a plumber at my place today, which delayed me and since I had a few more things to take care off, I skipped today's karate, too :(
    One of the things I used the time for was going to the post office - not the nearest one - where I had a letter. I took the opportunity to do a bit of a sport and went by foot and also stopped by one shop. Not sure what went into me, but after a while I decided to jog a bit, too. So I ran, though slowly, about half a way there. I had to carry what I got back, so I didn't try to run much on the way back, especially not after I've visited the shop, too. Anyway, a walk, partially running: 7,3 km in 1:00 hour exactly. Another app says only 6,8 km, but still claims the average speed to be 7,1, so the first one may be more accurate? Not sure. I also walked up 8 floors after that. Did that a second time today.
     
  15. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Wednesday 20.9.17:

    CrossFit:

    Went in and saw our today's instructor sitting shirt-less with electrodes stuck to his shoulders, pumping electricity so his deltoids were moving. I couldn't help, but laugh a bit asking whether he's trying to grow his muscles. Supposedly it is to recover the muscles so they can grow later or something. Never seen that before :D
    Ehm, anyway...

    - Warm-up: 4 mins of 30 single-unders, 5 sit-ups, 10 ground to overhead (GTO) with 10 kg disc, 15 air squats.
    - Stretching

    - Barbell conditioning: EMOM - every minute do:
    power clean - front squat - jerk
    and every minute change the rep numbers:
    1-1-1
    2-1-1
    2-2-1
    2-2-2
    3-2-2
    3-3-2
    3-3-3
    4-3-3
    4-4
    -3 - this is where I finished. Specifically just before the 3 jerks. Couldn't bring myself to even try worrying I'd drop the weight on my head :D
    The RX for men was 60 kg, for women 40. After thinking for a while, I challenged myself and did take 40 kg. I didn't realise, though, that as the numbers grow, there will be hardly and time to rest. I had around 8 seconds before the last round and since I tended to do the jerks using arms to push the weight up, it would be clear I'd have trouble there sooner or later. In the last round, involuntarily though, I started making weird sounds like those guys in the gym. Couldn't help it, though. So my result was 8 (rounds) + 8 (reps).
    On the other hand, after checking the board with around 20 people written down so far, my result wasn't too bad. There were people who did less, only a few girls overall, some did around 11 rounds, but with a weight of 20 kg or so... So, I am quite satisfied, but I still feel the need to work on ym technique as usual.

    - WoD - when I first read it, I didn't relise there was a couple of people near me and bursted out laughing a little. But, the person who heard me luckily felt the same :D
    - AMRAP (as many rounds as possible in) - 13 mins.
    - 60 double-unders (or 180 single-unders)
    - 40 wall-balls (There was no weight written anywhere, so I took 10lbs - the lightest one, as usual)
    - 20 toes-to-bars (knees-to-chests were more than enough for me)

    - There were 4 people in our group and all of us went for single-unders, so nobody finished the jumping rope too fast. Actually, though my rope got caught a few times, I finished first and kept the advantage till the end (yes, me! crazy, isn't it? :D). In the second round of jumping, I did maybe close to 100 jumps without it getting caught on my feet. I actually found a good rhytm and notices that if I also move my forearms, it helps with the pace and timing. The third round was a catastrophe, though, we were basically racing with time to see who can do most jumps before the time is up. My rope got caught like all the time!!! So I lost part of my time advantage and was irritated, because I could go on physically for a while more, but probably the general muscle tiredness prevented me from jumping smoothly :(
    The wall-balls were slightly less terrible than normally. Took a break after every 10, which was even advised. It would be impossible otherwise. For me at least. But them being less terrible, I think I might be improving slighly :)
    Knees-to-chests were a tragedy. I could do around three in one go at the beginnign before my gloved hands slipped, but the later half of the second round, I had to jump down after every single one. But kept jumping back on the bar and actually may not have lost much time compared to doing more in one go, but taking longer rests.
    My result was 2 rounds and 144 single-unders. Which was in the better half of the people on the board, though I did single-unders (that take longer, though) and only knees-to-chests. Only one person out of the around 20 finished 3 rounds.


    Also I am trying to be stricter with myself on my diet. I use an app to log in what I eat and what I burn (well, at least what they say I burn by the activity I say I do). I am trying to go with what the app advises me: calories eaten - calories burnt < 1200 kcal. So I tend to exercise most of the days when I have at least a bit of time. Because without exercise it is really tough to eat so little unless I want to go hungry for a while. Or maybe it's just that I'm always hungry :D Maybe this is what actually works. I may be able to lose more than 1 kg a month like so far. I stood on the weighing machine in the gym and had 71,3, which is 0,4 less than on Sunday. If I can lose between 0,5 and 1 kg a week, I'd be super happy :) My current goal is to reach at least 68.
     
  16. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Thursday 21.9.17:

    Kids class (1 hour):
    I needed to come early for the kids' class that is my responsibility. The dojo is open, however, as a friend teaches the smallest kids before. I knew the traffic would be bad, but I didn't expect leaving 50 minutes in advance (giving myseld like 25 minutes for the traffic), wouldn't suffice. I arrived 10 minutes late, but heard one of our sensei's voice from outside. She came for to participate in the adult class after and decided to help wiht the kids (she couldn't have picked a better day! ^^). I asked if she and the mentioned friend wanted me to help, but as there was a lot of both advanced and beginner kids, I was asked to help after we separated them into two groups. Sensei took the advanced, the two of us taught tsuki and hiza geri to the beginners with some exercises in between, pads and some hitting us. At the end the advanced group and sensei demonstrated their kata.

    Karate (2 hours):
    - Main sensei arrived slightly late. I needed to take care of something so I joined after the warm-up. We practised a few techniques - tsuki and blocks on the spot so sensei can later put them into combinations we can practise in pairs with some bodyweight exercises (the more challenging ones) in between.
    - We practised those combination, starting with San Dan Gi Ni on the spot in pairs.
    - After we were told to pick a bunkai or make our own fast combination (block + strike) as a defence against chudan tsuki. We practised it fast on the spot, then took turns in standing in fron t of the class, the rest of the people coming one after another, attacking with that tsuki, trying out technique under pressure. Then the same, but a technique against two chudan tsuki. I picked the fifth bunkai of Gekisai Dai Ichi and then 9th bunkai of Seiyunchin.
    - Then we practised Saifa kata a bit together, also in front of the others.
    - Final work-out.


    Yet again, the weekend was spent on the trainers' course, learning about mostly interesting stuff, some of which we can and should use in our dojo.
    And managed to come to the first birthday party of our CrossFit gym. Which was quite a lot of fun :)
     
  17. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Monday: Busy, had a plumber at home, had to tidy things up. No CrossFit :(

    Tuesday 26.9.17:

    Karate - 2 hours:

    My first Tuesday class this year! :) It is led by a different sensei than on Thursday, so I had the pleasure.

    - Warm-up:
    - 3 rounds of pair practise - one person does a technique, the other copies as quickly as possible, after a while, we change roles, then change partners twice. I just tried ashi barai - a sweep - once and wow, though I have trouble pulling it off, my, though thinner, partner nearly fell and sent me an ugly look! :)
    - 3 rounds of the sport kumite type of jumping on the spot. Again, one person leads - switches stances, the other copies fast. The second round added tsugi ashi = yose ashi (fast movement forwad or backward) and the last one also gyaku tsuki to the mix
    - Individual stretching

    - Main focus today was on practising kicks: Hiza, Mae and Mawashi geri. First on the spot in the air, slow, then fast, for hiza and mae geri some combinations added. Then in pairs kick the pads - for each leg 10x slow, 10x full power. For Hiza geri it was 2x10x a combination of four kicks. After we finished with mawashi, sensei asked who want to try jodan mawashi. Well, I was looking forward to it. Almost half the people (3) raised hands, one of them my partner. We took the smaller pads into head height and did again 10x for precision, 10x full power. Fromt he front leg this time. Sensei advised me to go or a quicker start. My partner wasn't extremely flexible, but he surprised me how stong his kicks were and moreover how quickly he finished them! I tended to lose balance and time more. But' Kicking head-height was no problem and maybe it is that I didn't train for a long time of maybe because of CrossFit, I felt my jodan kicks were significantly faster and stronger! I remember having trouble using them as it took time for the leg to go up so much, but I felt I could do much better today, which, of course made me happy and also a bit reluctant to go really full power to the small pads, that aren't as easy to hold. ^^ But seeing my partner, I need to work on the speed of transitions between the kicks!

    - A little bit of kihon ido combinations: Mae + Mawashi geri; Mae + Mawashi geri + gyaku tsuki
    - Kata practise before the end: Gekisai Dai Ichi, Gekisai Dai Ni, Saifa: Slowly of count, slowly without count, faster, "full power". Or maybe some more versions for some kata. unfortunately there was no time left for Seiyunchin.
    - Final short belly work-out

    There was a newcomer and a former karate-ka who came for the first time today, after finishing two semesters of our karate at the faculty. Nice, new guy!
    We sweated quite a bit, some T-shirts having been completely wet, but for some reason (maybe the kicking?) I really enjoyed today's training. I didn't really feel tired, but rather warmed-up to do some more and in a great mood :)
     
    Travess likes this.
  18. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Wednesday 27.9.17:

    CrossFit:
    Only 3 people in this class today. Instructor seems to finally remember my name (or he checked who's in the class), probably letting me know by calling it when he wanted to tell me something :D Anyway, that always feels nice.

    - Warm-up: 4 minutes of: run 2 laps around the gym, 10 air squats, 10 ground-to-overheads with 10 kg disc. Nearly 3 rounds.
    - Short stretching

    - Skill practise: Front squat - find 1 rep max. We started with an empty bar. I warned the teacher I am not very good with front squats (I've never tried going for max), but mostly because of keeping my balance. He gave me a few advises then. I went up to 55 kg, he said we had last three minutes, so I skipped 60 and tried for 65 right away. Could probably do a bit more, when we had the last chance to try something, I squatted 68 kg. But could feel I bent my back badly, the technique for this last try was bad. I could probably do 70 if I focused on that, so maybe next time. Need to be sure with the technique first.

    - Skill II: Double-unders. Right off the bat I did 4 in a row. Which was the most I did today at the same time.... Hit myself hard in the butt and in the, or rather... in a forearm, jumped around "ouch-ouch-ouch-ouch". But the first and a few others tried were nice! Better than last time! Instructor tried to advise us to not be too stiff, but... how to do that?

    WoD:
    5 rounds(!) of:
    10 box jump-overs
    12x shoulder to overhead with 30 kg
    (50 kg for guys) - pick your way, just get it up!
    10 burpees with lateral jump over bar(bell)
    12 deadlifts (again, 50/30 kg - the same barbell)
    Time cap: 20 mins.

    Sooo, first of all, there are no exercises that I can't do (finally, no horizontal bar!), so... I thought this a nice work-out! Before I noticed we are to do 5 rounds.... 5 rounds wouldn't be too bad if I didn't have to raise 30 kg barbell over my head 60x! (Has someone gone crazy?) I was afraid I'd get stuck witht he burpees and jumps, but it looks like I don't struggle with them as much as I used to :) There was me, one other woman and one man. We all did the RX - weight and exercises as prescribed. And, though I have no idea how it happened, after the first round, I was in the lead! And kept it by around 7 exercises till about the middle of the 5th round! That was when I could feel I was running out of breath and just couldn't hold the barbell and continue with a good focus and breath. I motioned to the instructor and ran to the changing room to get my inhalator. I inhaled twice on the way back and litterally gotten a second breath :) So I sped up significantly, though I had lost my lead. The last were the deadlifts, which was the best exercise as 30 kg wasn't much there and I always did them in one quick go. Instructor called to keep it up and go quickly, I can always breathe later! :D In the end I finished 18:52, in a second place, nearly half a minute after the man. I have no idea how some people, according to the board, could possible finished in under 11 minutes! Incredible.
    Instructor asked if what I had was Ventolin. He said it would be counted as a dopping if he used it. Not sure if because the test would show he was healthy, probably, or in general. Who cares, I could breathe! :D I, as usual, had to cough out a few times, but was better.
    Yeeeah, and I am not entirely sure, but it is very likely this was the first time I did a WoD with "Rx" written with my name - meaning doing all the exercises properly with the given weight. I was not perfect, by far, but at least didn't need to use any help or scale down in any way. :)

    I have to say I again enjoyed today's class. All the exercises were my fit and though I am exhaused, I feel well, too. But, right after I entered the changing room, my arms... no, not only hands, arms... have started shaking right from the shoulders. Strange feeling had begun to spread through them and my fine motorics has gone on a holiday. Too bad I still need to do quite a bit of drawing today... :/ But it makes me apreciate people whose hands are shaking all the time. I don't like this! Not one bit! I had a hard time picking coins from my purse :mad::confused:
     
    axelb likes this.
  19. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    Thursday 28.9.17:

    Today's karate classes were cancelled due to national holiday. Neither of our senseis planned to arrive. I originally thought I might come, but there was a chance I'd be the only one, so I chose to go to a CrossFit instead, maybe, since I skipped Monday. However, yesterday's CrossFit made me feel like crap afterward. Feeling like I had a cold coming onto me, being generally very tired so I even went to bad and watch TV (I hardly ever have time or need to go lie and don't do anything). It turned out I actually did have a cold trying to get me, I have a runny nose. I am not sure about the causality, though, if CrossFit worsened my state or I had trouble breathing because I wasn't perfectly healthy. Except for a tinily runny nose, I felt just fine yesterday. I am not happy today since there is a weekend karate seminar beginning yesterday :/

    Anyway, no karate and no CrossFit today, either.

    I at least tried to get up from my chair (I worked today so I can take a day off tommorrow instead) to do a few exercises. Decided to walk in walking lunges and throughout the day did: 30 (air) squats, 30 goblet squats (16 kg), 120 walking lunges and 50 calf-raises. It is maybe not even worth mentioning, but it was more about getting up and moving some. I am a little bt sore from yesterday.
    In the evening I needed to visit my parents, so I walked on my way there. Without any particular effort, I walked faster than usual, keeping an average speed at around 6,6 km/h. Distance covered: around 3,75 km in 33,5 minutes.


    Another thing worth mentioning is about the sporttester I made a new thread about not too long ago. In the weekned trainer's course, they mentioned them, making me want one even more! It also motivated my boyfriend to find his with a broken band. And I looked through them again and I am going to order one! Can't wait :)
    My dad gave me one they got in his workplace he never used (and I had no idea he had it - why didn't he say anything?) to try. However that is merely a pedometer without any way to measure heart rate, so though I am going to try, I am quite sure it is not what I will be satisfied with (picky, I know ^^).
     
  20. Nachi

    Nachi Valued Member Supporter

    And I forgot to mention one more thing! I had a gluttonous last weekend (burger, crisps, vine and Prosecco at the CrossFit celebration and a new (half-fermented?) wine from our local vineyard eaten with quite a bit of cheese and a sausage. Because of that I was, just a little bit scared to step on the weighing machine at my parents house, but! I actually had a bit less yet again! 71 kg precisely this time! :) Which made me really happy. I also picked my karate-themed shirt that I had trouble to fit in in the chest area and around shoulders for the past couple of years that I had it and now it fits easily! ^^
     
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