Alex's Weakling Workout Log (Help greatly appreciated!)

[Alex Cunningham]

INTRODUCTION
Recently I decided to take up CrossFit training. So far, it sucks but it's enjoyable - if that makes any sense. I mean, the workouts are hard but I'm glad to be doing workouts to get in shape.

ABOUT ME
Four things you need to know about me:
1. I'm 18, 5'7", 145 lbs. My BMI is around 23-24, which, while high-normal, is pretty lousy considering my fat content, but let's not go there.
2. I did 3 years of swimming and a year of tennis, so I can at least handle exercise. However...
3. I am absolutely pathetic. You guys are going to laugh at how easy these workouts are and my pitiful results on them, but keep in mind I'm trying to build up over time. Even worse is that I have no excuse (as long as "wasn't born with athletic genes" doesn't count). Nope, no freak diseases, no life-threatening injuries... I'm just... pathetic.
4. I don't take many eating precautions. Okay, I get it, I'm defeating the purpose. Please, don't mention my eating habits. I eat pretty healthy to start anyway, so I'm not changing my eating habits for CrossFit.

WHY CROSSFIT?
Previously my workouts were uncoordinated and heavily relying on one or two exercises with minimal reps of something else in between. (My family used to belong to a gym. Key word is "used".) I discovered CrossFit by watching the 2011 CrossFit Games on ESPN2 and I was hooked. Even though I can't do 90% of what they do in the Games, I'm inspired by their awesome feats of athleticism.

ABOUT THE WODS
I hand-design my WODs in advance, mainly because I can't do/don't have the equipment for the website's WODs. Generally, I will write a week's worth of WODs each weekend. I try to evenly spread out work on my legs and my arms, with an added "Cardio" element combining the two and shooting for endurance. Each week ends with a mile run on Sunday.
I usually don't post my workouts in advance, since often times the WODs will change midway through if I find them to be too long, short, easy, or difficult. For instance, my 6/2/12 WOD only took me around 4 minutes, so I kept repeating the exercises on the fly. Another example occured on 5/30/12 when I planned 30 box jumps, 30 burpees, and descending ladder style before I realized there was no way I was doing 30 box jumps. See the end result of that workout below.
I do not plan rest days in advance; I schedule an extra workout just in case. Some days, I am too busy or ill to dedicate time to my WOD, which becomes my rest day.

MY EQUIPMENT
*Exercise wheel - Like this, but much cheaper.
*Stepper - I rarely, but have in the past, incorporate an elliptical machine (also known as a "stepper" as it mimics the act of climbing stairs) into my workout.
*Jump rope - Because I can't do a double under
*Box jumps - Haven't measured it, but it's around 24-30 inches IIRC
*Dumbbells - I'm currently using 10 lb weights plus the bar - I think that brings it up to 15 pounds per dumbbell.
*Knee-to-chest - Done from a pull-up bar, since toe-to-bar is beyond my capability.

And now, here are my first nine WODs.


Monday, May 28
20 minutes AMRAP:
200 steps on stepper
50 jump ropes
25 exercise wheels
RESULTS: 1,405 reps (5 full rounds + 30 steps)
NOTES: I felt good after this workout; in retrospect, I should do it more often.

Tuesday, May 29
15 minutes AMRAP:
3 dumbbell snatches per hand (alternating)
3 push ups
6 dumbbell snatches per hand (alternating)
6 push ups
9 dumbbell snatches per hand (alternating)
9 push ups
Repeat in intervals of 3 (12, 15, 18, etc.) until time cap expires
RESULTS: 213 reps (6 full rounds + 12 dumbbell snatches per hand)
NOTES: First "tough" workout; I definitely never wanted to do push-ups again.

Wednesday, May 30
5 rounds for time:
110 yd run
10 burpees
5 box jumps
RESULTS: 12:15
NOTES: This was supposed to be 30 box jumps, followed by 30 burpees, and descending down by 5, but after 14 box jumps I realized that wasn't happening. Those 14 box jumps at the beginning made this way harder than it needed to be.

Thursday, May 31
Rest Day
NOTES: I was extremely busy on Thursday and ill on Friday.

Friday, June 1 (Made up on Saturday morning)
"Suicide Squeeze" (long story behind the name)
5 rounds for time:
15 air squats
15 box jumps
15 jump ropes
15 push ups
RESULTS: 21:40
NOTES: Easily the worst workout I've ever done. This was just absolutely brutal in every sense of the word. Luckily I did this in the morning so I had enough time to recuperate for the evening.

Saturday, June 2
12 minutes for time:
EVERY ROUND: 10 push ups
EVERY OTHER ROUND: 5 dumbbell curls (odd), 5 dumbbell snatches (even)
EVERY THIRD ROUND: 5 knees to chest (1st et al), 5 chin ups (2nd et al), 5 exercise wheels (3rd et al)
RESULTS: 125 reps (6 full rounds + 5 push ups)
NOTES: This workout lasted four minutes or so at first, so I improvised the rules to make it go longer. I like how it turned out!

Sunday, June 3
1 mile run for time
RESULTS: 9:03.3
NOTES: First mile run in a year and a half - my last attempt was 8:30 on what I believe was a shorter track, so I'm contempt. Sadly, it hurt to walk for the next two days.

Monday, June 4
13 minutes AMRAP:
1 knee to chest
2 push ups
3 dumbbell snatches per hand
4 push ups
5 chin ups
6 push ups
7 exercise wheels
8 push ups
9 dumbbell curls
10 push ups
RESULTS: 145 reps (3.4 rounds)
NOTES: I don't know where 13 came from. It seemed like a good shooting point.

Tuesday, June 5
"Dirty Thirty" (instead of Filthy 50, see what I did there?)
30 sit ups
30 burpees
30 exercise wheels
30 dumbbell snatches per hand
30 dumbbell curls
30 jump ropes
RESULTS: 15:14
NOTES: The dumbbells were brutal.

Wednesday, June 6
"The Maniacal Farmer"
6 minutes AMRAP:
55 ft Farmer's Carry
110 ft jog
2 minutes rest
On the minute, 8 burpees per minute until failure
RESULTS: 22 rounds (14 1st half + 8 2nd half)
NOTES: This was supposed to be a legs workout. Instead, it's hurting to lift my arms several hours later. Oops.

Please, give me some tips/ideas! Thanks in advance!

[Alex Cunningham]

Update:

Rested yesterday, I was too busy.

Today's workout was a complete disaster. The idea was to run 400 meters in the fastest time. After the run, I would take the full seconds it took me to run the 400m and do 1/6 * time in box jumps and 5/6 * time in jump ropes. Unfortunately, my timer never went off for the 400m run, I broke the box I do box jumps on, and no-repped 4 times out of 9 on the jump rope. So, yeah.

I really need some new ideas for WODs. Mine simply aren't doing the trick.

[Nik Nichols]

http://crossfitallegiance.wordpress....tion-workouts/ (WFS) try this. All though you need to lift weights atleast a few times a week. These light body weight workouts will make you faster, and some stronger, but lifting is just ans important, maybe more.

[Alex Cunningham]

Thanks Nik! I'll rework some muscle exercises into my workouts.

[Alex Cunningham]

So today I thought I'd mix things up a little bit. I did a Fight Gone Bad (3 rounds, 1 minute per exercise with 1 minute rest), but to make it interesting, I did Tabata scoring (only the lowest number of reps counts). The exercises were:

Push ups
Air squats
Dumbbell snatches
Dumbbell curls
Exercise wheels

I managed to score 126. 20 push ups, 36 air squats, 20 dumbbell snatches, 30 dumbbell curls, and 20 exercise wheels. I actually stayed pretty consistent except with the squats - I did 40 each of my first two rounds but my legs were shot in the last ten seconds of the third round. Oddly, the curls were the hardest - they made me feel nauseated after a while.

This SUCKED, by the way. I honestly thought I was going to throw up after this - it's a miracle I didn't - and seriously had trouble moving for the next hour or two. It was a rough workout but definitely taught me a lot about my body.

Mile run tomorrow - hopefully I'll break 9 minutes.

[Alex Cunningham]

Well the CrossFit Games inspired me to do my first workout in over a month. I decided to stay short and simple - 100 weighted air squats (I filled a small backpack with a 5-pound sand ball and two 6-pound dumbbells, 17lb total). I managed to finish in 5:56. I started off on a great pace (25 reps in 45 seconds) but my knees were shot after that. I thought I was going to be able to keep that pace but I was unable to - this is where inexperience catches up to me. Amazingly, I was able to do a few weighted chin-ups beforehand!

[Alex Cunningham]

For the 0 of you that read this,

I injured my thighs in my last workout and they are just back up to par today. I will resume my training tomorrow.

[Alex Cunningham]

100 jump ropes
then, 3 rounds of:
10 dumbbell bench presses
10 dumbbell knees to overhead (both dumbbells at once)
then, 3 rounds of:
10 sit ups
100 steps on stepper

Results: 11:21. I'd say the second and third portions took about five minutes each. I really need to work on my jump ropes, as I broke about five or six times during the workout. The dumbbells were tough but I powered through each set unbroken. I had a bit of technical difficulty on the stepper since it was unplugged and kept unplugging so I had to count manually.

[Alex Cunningham]

Decided on a quick workout today:
5 minutes AMRAP jump ropes
1 minute rest
3 minutes AMRAP dumbbell curls

Wound up with 238 jump ropes (did I mention I suck at jump ropes? seriously had 20+ no reps) and 70 dumbbell curls. I think I need these shorter workouts to keep me motivated and then beef up on the weekends.

[Alex Cunningham]

Did a 2.7 mile run/walk/jump/etc yesterday, untimed. I'm starting to shy away from the conventional CrossFit workouts (aiming for reps/time) and more so headed for "just get some exercise in" which might be best for me right now.