Guest Post – David and his CrossFit Journey!

Hi all, 

I was thinking about asking people if they could do a guest post while I was on holiday and I began to think who I could ask. I then realised who I wanted to be my first guest poster – David (my husband)!

I know I talk about him all the time so I thought it would be great for you to get to know him a bit more – I hope you enjoy his post, I certainly enjoyed reading it!

J x 

Hello!

Jen asked me to do a guest post to get my perspective on something that I thought might be useful and interesting for her readers. She gave me free reign to pick any subject I wanted… so, of course, I picked CrossFit! I thought it would be interesting to give you guys a look at my journey so far with CrossFit, and the thing I’ve found the most challenging – my own head!

First of all, thought I would give you a quick background on me as I am obviously not a blogger! I work as a GIS consultant for an engineering firm. GIS involves working with, analysing and presenting data to show how it fits into the world around you. This could be rivers, roads, buildings, pollution, crime patterns… I could go on. The list is pretty much endless and I love it for that! As Jen also mentioned a few posts ago I love taking pictures and have kept a daily photo journal for the past 3 years. (LINK) I am also a total NFL nut, go Falcons!

So, getting back to the post, I’ve gone through milestones in my CrossFit journey so far. These normally relate to a mind-set I had at the time that affected how my performance in some way. I’ll break them down below, maybe you can identify with one or more with them!

1)    Stop! I want to get off!

Problem – This was when I first started CrossFit. I thought I was a fairly fit person until that first day in the box and then I realised that I really wasn’t ‘functionally fit’. Yes, I could use a machine at the gym which isolated one muscle but try and use many muscles together for what I now consider a simple move, like an air squat, and I found it so difficult! It hurt, it was hard and I sucked at it! So I instinctively had that voice in my head saying “you should probably stop this!”

Solution – The only way to get past this was to just keep going. Keep going during the WOD and keep going back to the box each time, don’t quit! Through practice your technique gets better and things become automatic. I don’t really have to think about a squat anymore, my muscles just react and do it! I just needed to allow my body to adjust to these new things. Don’t give up because things are hard otherwise you will never get that amazing sense of achievement when you finally conquer them! #BestFeelingEver

2)    I am going to hurt myself

Problem – When doing so many new things I was worried I would hurt myself. Bizarrely this was not as much with a massive barbell above my head but the gymnastic moves, especially handstands. Not to be sexist or anything but, generally, when me and my buddies were growing up we didn’t do a lot of handstands so at 28 years old this was a totally new experience to me!

Solution – Trust. Trust in yourself, your body and also your coach. I know our coach would NEVER do anything that could get us hurt. He often mentions “Safety first, safety second”. Once I had learnt this I just had to trust my body could do these things, getting comfortable being uncomfortable. It is a gradual process and might involve short bursts, the picture above is my first attempt at a scaled handstand push up and I was so afraid of falling off after a few seconds! Now I’ll happily fling myself against the wall and do a proper handstand for up to a minute, then the blood all goes to my head and I feel a bit squiffy! Still working on getting the full handstand push up though, but that is a strength issue not a confidence one now!

3)    I just can’t go any heavier

Problem – Once I’d started to get my technique dialled in and slowly upping the weights I hit a wall whereby my brain had decided that “Nope, anything over 30kg (about 65lbs) is waaaay to much to clean and over 45kg (about 100lbs) is way too much to squat”. I got totally stuck at these weights for the longest time because I had already decided I couldn’t lift it before I had even tried!

Solution – Fail. No really, to get better you must first fail in my opinion. I found this by finding what my 1 rep max really was. It was always so much higher than I expected but because there was no pressure I could just try the ‘crazy high’ weights as I saw them and failing was ok, as long as you knew why – poor technique or really too heavy?  This proved to me that if you force yourself to go beyond your comfort zone you’ll be amazed what you can actually achieve! A perfect example of this for me was for the Open 14.2 where the prescription was for 43kg overhead squats. I had never gone over 20kg before and that was really uncomfortable, how the heck was I going to go to over twice that amount??! Well, you know what, I tried it and I did it, 3 times! High fives all round!

4)    If I stare at the bar long enough it will magically levitate

Problem – This is my current situation. Now I am comfortable (is that even possible in CrossFit?) using higher weights it obviously wears you out more quickly during a WOD. I have developed a nasty habit of resting far too long between reps. I think it is maybe only a few seconds, in reality it might be 20-30 seconds, that is a lot of time lost during a 7 minute AMRAP! This is something I am working on, mainly to stop our coach getting in my face shouting “pick the flipping (self-censoring!) bar up David!”

Solution – Pick the flipping bar up! No seriously! Jen has a good tactic where she actually counts down from 5 then carries on. This will give me a set, short, amount of time to recover then carry on. I will also look at the WOD on the board and work out some tactics in advance; when I could break up the reps? Maybe use the transition between two moves as a break (e.g. walking from a box jump to do wall balls might be just enough time). Are there any elements which I find easier which I should attempt to do unbroken? Just little things that might just help me!

It is easy to get bogged down in the mental side of things and kick yourself for not doing something better, faster or heavier but just remember CrossFit is supposed to be FUN! By just going back and trying again you are showing the barbell/pull up bar/wall ball who is boss and it can’t defeat you!

I hope my list helps you if you have any similar issues. One of the most amazing things I’ve discovered from CrossFit is how to apply these battles in other everyday tasks. I might be smashing barbells down, jumping on pull up rigs and bouncing wall balls at our 6.30am WOD but at work I am pretty calm guy even when things get a bit crazy with deadlines and demands, my boss has even commented on this!  I am now much more comfortable trying new things in my job, trying to create new ideas or push the boundaries (in a good way!) rather than just sticking with the same old same. Ah, the wonders of CrossFit!

Phew, survived my first post, I hope you enjoyed it – time for a cup of coffee me thinks, cheers!

 

CrossFit – All roads lead to gains!

Hi all,

Yay it’s Friday! Bring on 2 days of chilled out fun!

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Depending on when you read this, I will probably be some point within my road trip – listening to some cool tunes/ pod casts with my hubby! Hopefully not in traffic or with bad weather and fingers crossed the London smog has lifted when we arrive! (Anyone see that in the news?).

Anyway, time for a re-cap of yesterdays CrossFit. If you missed my post on Wednesday, check it out here for more info on what we are doing at our box at the moment – athletic testing.

So the session went really well actually, some good bits and some weaknesses noted. It didn’t help that it was absolutely chucking it down with rain the entire time though – and when you see below what we were tested on (a lot of running) you will see why that wasn’t fun at all!

However, there were 2 major gains for me though…

1)      I actually did a box jump! I have this strange thing in my head about jumping up, I never think I am going to be able to do it and I freeze. Previously I have either done step ups (a combo of this and because of my knee) or I have done jumps at 16 inches, but that took so much courage and practice beforehand to get in that zone. But today, 20 inches was there in front of me, I knew I needed to do it to reach yellow and there was no physical reason whatsoever which meant I couldn’t do it, just my head. So I walked up to the box and did it!
I was so shocked on my first one that I wobbled off the box and it didn’t count, but then I did another one and boom! Take that crazy head!

2)      My other gain was in overhead squats. I needed to do 5 reps of 15kg to get into yellow. I had only ever done a max of 10kg and that was difficult. But I went for it, stayed locked out, gave it my all, kept my breathing in check and nailed it!

Below is a list of what we were tested on – once again, what is required for yellow is in brackets afterwards.

800m block run – 5.22 minutes (4.15 minutes)

Box Jump Height – 20 inches (achieved!)

Back Squat – Yellow 40kg x 5 – attempted but no rep. My 1RM is 35kg!

Overhead Squat – 15kg x 5 (achieved!)

Deadlift – 50kg x 5 (achieved!)

‘Helen’

3 rounds for time

400m run

21 kettle bell swings

9 pull ups

Yellow for Helen – 12kg kettle bell and jumping pull ups are the scale. To be completed within 11 minutes.

I was 100m into my last round when I hut 11 minutes. We continued but the time finished wasn’t recorded. I also used a 10kg kettle bell as I’m not quite at the 12kg stage yet! But pleased with my performance in this met con, especially with having to run in the rain too! I managed it faster than I have done Helen before and without stopping – always good!

As you can imagine from doing all of this we were shattered! Although I didn’t meet the mark for running, I know I am still quite new to that and with more practice I will only get faster. That same principal applies to the rest – more practice will equal gains!

CrossFit – Athletic Testing

Hi all,

Hope you are well and feeling fine this hump day. I am so pleased it is Wednesday, that means only one more day until HOLIDAY!!!! WOOP WOOP!

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Anyway, back to work! Today’s post is a 2 in 1 CrossFit post from Monday and Tuesday morning. Different to usual…

So our box is introducing athletic testing. Many boxes around the world do this and it is where we are all tested on a variety of CrossFit disciplines to see where our levels lie. Depending on which level we sit at will then result on what level we do a WOD at in the future – yellow, green or red.  You will then be tested every 8 weeks, if required, to see if you can move on to the next bracket.

You have to pass a certain amount of disciplines in each section in order to move up to the next bracket. All make sense!?

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‘Cant I just eat more spinach like Popeye!?’

I can understand why we are doing this – not only can we test our own progress but it helps us build on our weaknesses- a major asset in being an all round great athlete.

It excites and scares me at the same time. First of all I know I will be in the yellow bracket – actually for most things I’m not even hitting the yellow bracket, sometimes not even close! On the negative side of things all this does is show me how far away I am from everyone else. I know I am weaker than most (I did begin CrossFit being simply skin and bone though!) and during a normal WOD I am fine with that and just get on with pushing myself. However having the testing means I can see clearly how different I am, and that’s not nice.

However, on the positive side of things, doing the athletic testing means I can push myself even further, I can see my progress and I can track my goals. I now have a list of goals to aim for and this will make me a better and stronger athlete. And I like that!

So my focus will be on the positive. Forward is the way to go!

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Here is what we were tested on over the two sessions (my result and then the required level for yellow).

Monday

200m Sprint – 0.57 seconds (0.46 seconds)

Double Unders unbroken in 5 minutes – 0 (5)

Shoulder Press – 20kg for 5 reps (achieved!)

Front Squat – 35kg for 2 reps (35kg for 5 reps)

Air Squats in 2 minutes – 55 (70)

Burpees in 1 minute – 12 (18)

Pull Ups (strict) – 0 (1)

Push Ups (CrossFit standard) – 2 (6)

Tuesday

400m Sprint – 2.18 minutes (1.55 minutes)

500m row – 2.05.8 minutes (achieved!)

Hang Snatch – 15kg (achieved!)

Hang Clean and Jerk – 15kg (30kg)

Wall Walks – 0 (2)

Knees to Chest – 12 (achieved!)

Continuous Pull Ups – 0 (n/a for yellow)

More testing this week for our session on Thursday – pop on over on Friday to see how I get on!

 

CrossFit – Open 14.5!

Hi all,

Welcome to the wonder that is Friday! Big cheer for the week just gone and the weekend ahead!

Hope you all have something fun planned. Our CrossFit box has a party on Saturday that David and I are going to – celebrating the boxes 1^st birthday and also the end of the Open!

And without further ado I present my last post on the CrossFit Open – WOD 14.5

Yep, it was, as I predicted and so many others, thrusters and bar facing burpees. Oh the joys!

Many were prepared for this, but we weren’t prepared for the breakdown of the workout, this was going to be one heck of a challenge.

Thrusters and Burpees – 21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3 (for time- with no time cap!)

Ok so I thought it might be like a Fran ladder (21,15,9) but I wasn’t expecting this! The worst part was that it was for time with no time cap. So you either carried on and on until you finished or you stopped and inserted a score of 0 for this workout. Not fair and not cool. Don’t understand why there couldn’t be a time cap, of say 40 mins, and then if you didn’t complete the WOD by then you simply entered your reps. But then again, it’s the Open and this year has been so incredibly tough, it was always going to end with a killer WOD.

(Here is a video of the ‘greats’ doing the WOD when it was announced last night in the states – insane! Main tip from watching them – they all pace themselves – key!)

We warmed up with a block run, some stretches and practiced some squats, thrusters and burpees.

As I am not signed up for the open, I was able to do the WOD scaled. Looking at my previous thrusters weights, I went for 10kg. Light, yes, but it meant I could do the workout as intended, at high intensity.

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Tough was not even the word! I managed to keep going with minimal rests and barely any breaks between my thrusters (breaking them down into sets when it got tough). But I think the real killer for this workout was in the mind. You really had to mentally persevere with this workout – you were using every part of your body, every muscle eventually ached and it seemed to last a lifetime. The amount of times when I was lying chest face down, doing a burpee, and I didn’t want to move was endless!

But I completed the WOD in 21 minutes 55 seconds. The word ‘workout’ doesn’t even cover it.

David went for the WOD as prescribed. He was so nervous beforehand as his 1RM for a thruster was 30kg. During practice he did a thruster at 43.5kg (the prescribed weight for the WOD) and gained a new 1RM. 84 of them though….?

I am super proud of my David. In 40 minutes he managed 21 reps of thrusters, 21 burpees and did another 16 thrusters – all at 43.5kg. Beast mode indeed! Both David and Coach called it a day for him at 40 minutes which I was glad about as any more than that would have made it unsafe. But he went so far beyond the boundary of what he thought he could achieve. To do this he had to have both his body and mind in check – and he reached for the stars.

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(Because we all would…!)

The past few weeks during the Open have been fantastic. The community spirit of CrossFit all over the world has been insane – everyone getting excited, speculating, discussing, sharing stories etc. That is what makes CrossFit so great, the community.

My personal highlights…

•  RX’ing my first WOD during 14.3 and getting 12 reps at 61kg!

• Becoming a judge and seeing another side of CrossFit – learning more about the sport and more of the technicalities – to which I can apply to my own moves!
• David and the Overhead Squats in 14.2 – managing 3 reps at 43kg when his 1RM was 20kg!!

• And last but not least – just having so much fun with everyone at my box and seeing us all make incredible achievements.

CrossFit – Practice!

Hi all,

Time for Tuesday’s 2 in 1 CrossFit recap!

Monday Morning (24^th)

It was so cold this morning! I mean below freezing –so a block run as a warm up was not fun! But hey, it made us run faster, never a bad thing!

We then continued our warm up with 3 rounds of 10 jumping jacks, 10 mountain climbers and 10 tuck jumps. Jeez, these seemingly innocent warm ups are such killers! Especially when they involve tuck jumps…!

The first part of the workout today was focussing on more gymnastic moves on the bar. Something I know that coach wants us to improve on and make our strengths. To be fair, he is right, I don’t really enjoy working on the bar, however is this just because I haven’t gained any strengths on it? We tend to only like what we are good at (a general observation of society) but we can only become great at something through practice! So I intend to give my all, and hopefully, due to this, will see gains in the future.

The workout was

5 pull ups

5 dips

5 wide grip pull ups

5 dips

5 narrow grip pull ups

5 dips

5 reverse grip pull ups

5 dips

5 mountain climber pull ups

5 dips

5 mountain climber pull ups (the other way)

5 dips

I did my dips using 2 kettle bells either side. Definite progress with this one as a few months back I couldn’t even manage one dip. The pull ups were to be strict and as I am not able to do that yet (not many of us could) you either worked on doing negative pull ups (jumping up and slowly lowering down) or  15 jumping pull ups (jumping from a raised box and trying to slow on the way down – going from full extension). I definitely see small increased with these – coming down I am a lot slower, not much but still something. Also I am jumping higher to get my chin over the bar. I surprisingly found the narrow grip pull ups to work best… odd but interesting!

The final part of the WOD

17 minute AMRAP

6 shoulder to overhead

9 toes to bar (high leg raises scaled)

12 burpees

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I went with a 20kg weight, which I was pleased about as my 1 RM for push jerk is 20kg!

My arms and shoulders were killing me after the work on the bar but I managed 3 rounds plus 7 burpees in the 17 minutes. Then wanted to crawl into a corner and sleep!

Tuesday Morning (25^th)

Still pretty sore from yesterday but I woke up with a smile and ready to rock!

We began with a block run and then some much needed foam rolling. It definitely felt good to get the rumble roller into my back and shoulders. #StrangeThingsCrossfittersSay

Then we spent 15 minutes working on our 1 RM for Hang Power Snatch. This is such a new move for me and one that is difficult for a lot to master. The technique (and the feel of using the technique as power) is so hard achieve, never mind perfect. We broke down the move into stages before looking at weight. I find the speed the hardest part to master so Coach wanted me to go down to a lower weight and work on that before trying to gain a 1RM.

(Great video on how to do a hang power snatch)

I definitely feel more confident on the move now than I did before and have learned so much. Just need to practice and it will come. Speed and locking out fully overhead in one move is my issue but I will continue to try my best to succeed. Oh I finished on a weight of 12.5kg, not heavy but I definitely feel I gained much needed knowledge from this session.

The main WOD was a recap of one we had done 3 months ago. We were to revisit it to see our gains!

Dead Bear Overhead

(Ok that bear is definitely alive but who wants to see a dead bear!?)

6 rounds for time

6 deadlifts

5 bear complexes (power snatch – front squat – overhead – back squat – overhead)

4 overhead squats

Last time I did this at a weight of 7.5kg – very light for deadlifts and the complexes but it’s those pesky overhead squats!

So I upped my weight to 10kg – still not heavy but the max I could do for overhead squats for this many rounds. I decided to challenge myself with the other aspects by focusing on getting technique spot on and really powering through the WOD. I made sure every squat was below parallel (something I know it wasn’t last time I did it – especially for the overheads) and tried to perfect the overhead squat – taking my time with them but getting it right.

I finished in 17 minutes 20 seconds and was really pleased with my result. I upped my weight by 25% from last time and used my mental as well as physical strength to power through the WOD. As for the overhead squats – I definitely have gotten ‘comfortable feeling uncomfortable’ with them!

Oh and just to mention David’s progress with this WOD – he increased his weight by 71%! Crazy! For him it was nailing those overhead squats by working on them for 14.2 that led to the increased ability. Well done! Proving that practice really does equal gains!

Last Open WOD on Friday – totally predicting thrusters and burpees, leaving the ‘best’ until last…urgh!

Spill it Sunday…On Monday – Carbohydrates!

Hi all,

Hope you are well and had a fantastic weekend!

David and I followed my own advice and actually rested! Yep, we didn’t go in the car, didn’t plan, organise, sort out, tidy up – just rested our bodies, including a Saturday afternoon nap! Woop woop! We cooked our favourite foods, drank some wine, watched our favourite TV shows and just relaxed together – it was brilliant!

Next few weekends will be a little more crazy…!

Anyway, on to today’s post – the final post in Arman’s three part Spill it Sunday. We had fats, then protein and now carbohydrates!

Spill it Sunday…on Monday – Carbohydrates

Carb-y Selfie…

 

1.What is your all time favourite carbohydrate based food/dish?

I LOVE sweet potato hash! You can have it with anything and everything as a side dish or make it into a main dish! I follow Nom Nom Paleo’s recipe which you can find HERE. Favourite way to have it? With a smoked kipper and a sunny side up egg! Fantastic!

2. What is your favourite fruit?

The fruit I use most often is bananas and I do love them! I love the fact that you can have them with eggs for breakfast and whip them up into a soft serve for a snack – can you do that with anything else? Also bananas and almond butter – absolute heaven.

However my favourite fruit would probably be either ripe, juicy mango or cherries. And not just any cherries, English cherries when they are in season (around June). Nothing beats it, rich in colour, full of flavour.

3. What is your favourite grain?

As a Paleo peep, I don’t eat grains. However, I am quite lucky that I can tolerate a small amount of white rice and my body copes quite well at digesting it. So every couple of weeks or so, I will treat myself to some proper sushi! It doesn’t fill me up very much or give me a lot of energy but I really enjoy it! Favourite roll – avocado and prawn! Yum!

4. What is your favourite starchy vegetable?

(they are in there, honest! along with carrots!)

I think it would have to be the parsnip! I was going to say sweet potato and to be fair I have them quite a lot. But if you told me I could only have a portion of one starchy veg it would be roasted (to a crisp, in coconut oil) parsnips. Nothing fancy but so sweet and unique!

Oh and I also have to mention here the wonder of beets! Beets and guacamole = winning combo!

5. Which carb receives unfair flack? Which carb is most overrated?

Most flack, has to be the Brussels sprout! Hello, does nobody else realise how amazing these little cabbages are? Most people in the UK can’t stand them and only have them on Christmas Day because ‘they feel they have to’. I actually fear for the Brussels season being over, I can’t imagine a week without them, especially in my Brussels, bacon and cranberry omelette!

Overrated? Refined carbohydrates (processed foods). Is that one moment of taste really worth it?

6. Link up a favourite carb embracing recipe (it can be your own or another bloggers!)

One from me this time – I love my version of Huevos Rancheros – Paleo style!

7. What is YOUR perception of this macronutrient?

Carbohydrates = energy. Energy = strength. All part of the fuel I NEED!

8. What benefits do CARBS play in YOUR personal eating habits?

I am a CrossFit athlete and I need carbohydrates for energy. Along with protein and fats they are a necessity in my diet (Paleo does not equal low carb!). It’s all about choice and choosing the best/right energy sources for your body. For me, as someone who follows the Paleo lifestyle, these come in the form of fruit and (mostly) vegetables. And I love it!

Thanks for the link up Arman, and for getting us all talking!

CrossFit – The Open 14.4!

Hi all!

Hope you had a super happy Thursday (see yesterdays post) and are in the midst of a brilliant Friday!

Lots of Friday fun so far with this morning being the CrossFit Open WOD 14.4!

I say fun, it is a toughie! Known as a ‘chipper’ in the land of CrossFit, it is a selection of disciplines that you work your way down. The ‘wonderful’ Dave Castro selected the following for 14.4:

14 minute AMRAP

60 calorie row

50 toes to bar

40 wall balls

30 cleans

20 ring muscle ups

Eeek!

Many of these disciplines we predicted would come up (well them all really, except no one actually wanted to see ring muscle ups, they are so difficult to master and require so much strength!). In fact I kept on saying to David all week – wall balls and toes to bar!

(An excellent video showing how to do toes to bar by kick ass CrossFitter Jason Khalipa)

We arrived and got the equipment sorted out. It was going to require strict timing and a lot of team work as we only have 1 rowing machine at our box so everything needed to be staggered.

I went first, with not being registered and not needing to be judged, therefore giving the others a little more time to practice specific moves.

(How I feel when I do wall balls…! Source)

The row was fine. I did 60 calories, not in my best time (so rusty with my rowing, it was ‘my thing’ when I was a gym bunny), however I also know that before I started CrossFit, my rowing technique was so wrong therefore I wanted to focus on rowing correctly – rather than using my arms to power every row.

I finished the row and moved on to the bar. I cannot do toes to bar yet so went with knee ups (getting my knees to my chest as best I could). 50 was tough and both my arms and legs were straining (especially my legs after the row) but I got through it and on to wall balls.

Pretty pleased with my wall balls, a much better performance than when I did them on Monday and my 14 minutes were up 2 seconds after my 40^th wall ball. Pretty pleased to have done 150 reps, even if they were scaled.

(Muscle Ups from the first athletes to do the WOD after the announcement –source)

The others did fab! David managed to get as far as 11 toes to bar and his strength with them has come on leaps and bounds. I don’t even think he thought he would get as far as 11. A few got on to cleans, I think the max was 5 cleans. But no one got on to the muscle ups. I think maybe 2 or 3 people from our box may get as far as that if they are lucky.

(A very strong member of our box getting as far as cleans)

These moves on their own are fine, but combined are really tough! I know my arms after the bar and wall balls could never have done one clean, never mind 30 of them! I truly am in awe of those who get as far as the muscle ups and then have the strength to do them. I don’t think anyone could say that the 2014 Open was easy!

Hope you all have a good weekend and best of luck to those doing 14.4 over the next few days!

International Happiness Day!

Hi all,

Today I want to bring your attention to the fact that it is International Happiness Day!

Brief background on the day itself – A day that is to be celebrated throughout the world on March 20^th, it was created in 2012 by the United Nations. To quote the UN resolution (66/281) the day ‘…invites Member States to pursue the elaboration of additional measures that better capture the importance of the pursuit of happiness and well-being … conscious that the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal… recognizing the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world ‘. Wow!

So in honour of this, I thought I would dedicate this post to the things in life that make me truly happy, after all it really is what life is about – the pursuit of happiness!

• Glasgow

I love the city I live in! It’s so exciting, interesting, historic yet modern and full of the friendliest people. It has such a buzz to it and I feel like a part of the community here. Just look at some of our pictures to see why Glasgow makes David and I so happy!

• David

( can you tell I love this pic of him!)

My husband makes me the happiest person on the planet! He knows how to bring a smile to my face when I am down and his hugs cure everything – honestly, everything! Happiness is waking up with him every morning and having him in my life. I found true happiness when I found David.

• CrossFit

Doing CrossFit makes me happy! And I know you all knew it was going to make the list! I write twice a week about how much happiness I gain from CrossFit so I don’t feel like I need to elaborate too much. Kick ass workout that is making me physically and mentally stronger with an awesome community full of great people that we now call friends.

• Travelling

Both David and I love to travel. In recent years we have been to America, Paris, Italy, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman. I love being fully immersed in a countries culture, people and spirit. Oman is truly the most incredible place I have been to. The people are incredible, the whole place is stunningly beautiful and they have such a good attitude towards life.

But we don’t need to stem far from home to enjoy new experiences. We live in Scotland; such a beautiful country that I know many people would love to visit. I have lived here all my life and have still so much to see and do! Our next holiday is a 6 hour drive away – London! Such a beautiful city that I never ever get tired of visiting. 2 weeks on Friday we head down there for the London Coffee Festival! So excited!

And don’t forget the little things in life…

• Cooking – whether it be following a recipe, creating something new or making an old favourite, I love to cook with simple, healthy ingredients. I especially love spending time in the kitchen with David and love it when we can sit down afterwards and savour a dish we have both created. Nothing more satisfying.

• Having a dance – Give me a good tune with a fab beat and I will dance around like a loony! And I don’t care who is watching! It makes me smile!
• Receiving a letter or parcel in the post – nope not a bill but a proper handwritten letter! I do love receiving emails too – communication rocks!
• A glass of wine or a crisp G&T on a summers evening – bliss!
• Breakfast every morning – hands up the best meal of the day.

• Meeting up with friends and family and having them in my life.
• The sunshine (and warmth!).

• CHRISTMAS!

• Poochie Cuddles 🙂
• The thought of the future and what it may entail – so many opportunities out there, which ones will we grab!?

Doesn’t listing what makes you happy put you in such wonderful spirits?! Why not try doing the same, write down what makes you happy in life and whenever you need a boost, go and read your list! Oh and don’t forget to let me know a few of them below!

Enjoy life, enjoy International Happiness Day!

CrossFit – A girl and a boy!

Hi all,

Hope you are well and full of fun and happiness this Tuesday!

Time for a 2 in 1 CrossFit post – these past two mornings have been beasts! Three cheers for a couple of rest days coming up – or mobility days as they should be called!

Monday Morning (17^th)

So the WOD was called  – ‘Where’s your head at?’ – In cloud cuckoo land at 6.30am on a Monday morning to be honest!

We began with a warm up of 5 rounds of 1 minute jumping jacks, 1 minute squat holds. Sound easy? Fun even? Nope, it was the secret killer! Our quads were burning afterwards!

Then we moved on to some handstand hold tekkers. For my level I was to work on handstand walk holds – doing a handstand walk and then holding in that position for 30 seconds x 5. I know it will just take more practice with these, building up my strength but mostly learning to trust myself! I have to realise that I won’t fall down if I move my hands closer to the wall! And I also need to work on being upside down – I hate it! My mind goes all wonky! Practice, practice, practice!

Then came the main WOD, another girl WOD… womp womp womp…..

‘Kelly’

5 rounds for time

1 block run

30 box jumps

30 wall balls

And Coach wanted me to do box jumps at 16 inches, eeek! I did some practice with David and it took me a few tries to get over my fear of jumping. Holding his hands while jumping helped and then slowly I was able to do it on my own! Result!

The block runs wore us out. The box jumps ended up being my source of relief! (Go figure!). And the wall balls were tough as always. I joked to David that Coach was going to do Karen soon (150 wall balls for time) and I kept on saying it and saying it. So what ended up happening, we got Karen with extras!

I did it in 37 minutes 55 seconds and felt like shouting, crying and slowly dying in a corner afterwards. David was buzzing afterwards! Freak…! (Just joking hunny!).

Tuesday Morning (18^th)

We arrived, it was chucking with rain, so what happened? Block run of joy!

When we came back in we moved on to a tabata of plank holds, skipping and squat holds. 4 rounds, 30 seconds of each. Certainly got us pumping!

We moved on to some tekkers of the WOD today – working on hang pull cleans and then jerks. We used the PVC pipes to stretch and then work on our technique. I like when we do this and it brings everything back before tackling the WOD.

Today’s WOD, a hero WOD.

‘DT’

5 rounds for time

12 deadlifts

9 hang pull cleans

6 push jerks

The weight level for me during this WOD was 30kg, but seen as I have only ever cleaned 20kg, I tried 25kg. Deadlifting, not a problem, cleaning – no go. Then I went down to 20kg but it just wasn’t happening either, I couldn’t whip my elbows round the bar quick enough. So in order to be able to clean and then push jerk, I went with 15kg.

I managed the WOD in 12 minutes 34 seconds. I am disappointed about the weight I lifted, I know I could have done 20kg or at least 17.5kg but today it just wasn’t happening. And above all I wanted to stay safe, and it just wouldn’t have been safe for my back which would have taken the strain. But the main focus should be that I was there. I was there and I did the WOD to the best of my ability and I put my all into it – if I wasn’t able to take the weight then I was going to make sure that my reps were unbroken and I went at full speed. Cleans and mobility just need to be worked on and as long as I am putting in that work then that’s all that matters. I will succeed!

CrossFit – Open 14.3!

Hi all!

Woop woop it’s Friday! And what a fantastic Friday it has been so far…

As you all know, Friday’s mean a new CrossFit Open workout was released! Due to my Mum being with us, that meant we did CrossFit Monday, Thursday, Friday this week – and therefore normally today would be a 2 in 1 post. But I want to focus on the open post so, suffice to say, yesterdays CrossFit was awesome as always and great fun but now on to the Open 14.3!

We arrived at the box and as it was one of our groups birthdays, we had to do birthday burpees! 35, one for each of her years! Fun as always….

Then we had to do a double block run, which I didn’t mind too much as it was good to get the heart pumping (not that it wasn’t after burpees mind you) and also to chat through 14.3 with David and to get his thoughts on it. First thought – oh great, deadlifts, we did 150 of those yesterday! Think coach must be a psychic (last week the Thursday WOD was overhead squats, and what came up on 14.2…?!).

Open WOD 14.3

(source)

MEN 
Complete as many reps as possible in 8 minutes of:
61kg deadlifts, 10 reps
15 box jumps, 24-inch
84kg deadlifts, 15 reps
15 box jumps, 24-inch
102kg deadlifts, 20 reps
15 box jumps, 24-inch
125kg deadlifts, 25 reps
15 box jumps, 24-inch
143kg deadlifts, 30 reps
15 box jumps, 24-inch
166kg deadlifts, 35 reps
15 box jumps, 24-inch

WOMEN 

Complete as many reps as possible in 8 minutes of:
43kg deadlifts, 10 reps
15 box jumps, 20-inch
61kg deadlifts, 15 reps
15 box jumps, 20-inch
70 deadlifts, 20 reps
15 box jumps, 20-inch
84kg deadlifts, 25 reps
15 box jumps, 20-inch
93kg deadlifts, 30 reps
15 box jumps, 20-inch
102kg deadlifts, 35 reps
15 box jumps, 20-inch

 
We all worked together as a group to set up bars with each of the various weights required on them, in order to practice our lifts and abilities – i.e. how far we thought we could lift to.  I just presumed I would be practicing something else, my 1RM is 45kg! But no.

Coach asked me to go to the first bar station and lift 5 reps of 43kg. I managed it, it was tough but I did them unbroken. Then he asked me to go to 61kg – was he insane!? So I tried to lift the bar – first attempt, nope. He told me to try again, so I just kept my technique in mind and went for it. I lifted it! Fantastic, a new 1RM for me!

BEAST MODE REQUIRED!!

(source)

We all took turns in going as far as we could and then stripped the bars. You needed to change and up the weights yourself during the WOD.

I went in the first wave. I was nervous but determined to get as far as I could. Step ups were also allowed as part of the movement standards and then it suddenly dawned on me, I was doing my first workout AS PRESCRIBED (RX)!!!!! Never done that before! That gave me a boost!

And away I went. I did the first 10 deadlifts at 43kg unbroken! Awesome! Then I did my step ups. After they were completed I upped my weights to the next level 61kg. So I knew I had done 1, and I knew I could do at least 1 more. So… I went and did 12 of them!!!!! 12!!!!

I was beaming afterwards! Before today I had a 1RM of 45kg and I had just completed 12 reps of 61kg – jeez I wonder what my 1RM would be now!? Coach thinks it might be in the eighties! Hope I get the chance to try it soon!

So I beamed through the rest of our time at the box while judging 2 others (still loving being a judge!) and am still beaming now (although very stiff and achy, but so worth it!).

It’s the power of the open, it really does make you find the strength to do things that you only hoped that ‘one day’ you would do! #theopenmademedoit

Have a fantastic weekend everyone! And good luck to those taking on 14.3!