Elements 11 & 12

Wednesday was Power & Hanging Clean, Friday was Snatch.
Friday's workout was shoulder intensive.  I talked to my coach first on how to loosen it up since it was seeming tight.  He showed me a few things I could do pre-workout, and a few things for home.  I had no issues really after the workout.
I'm officially done with onramp now.  I'll be able to start going more often now (or when this semester of school is over).

I've been reading The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf.  There is some interesting stuff in there.  I have a Rheumatoid Arthritis condition that could/should be addressed by paleo.  I'm starting to think about taking it more seriously (cutting back on more than just grains).  That will be a bit hard, so I'm trying to convince the wife to go along with it first.  Robb Wolf's approach is to just have you try it for 30 days, and see how you feel.  Once I convince her, we'll go through that trial.

Element 10 - Thrusters

I hadn't considered that I had a massage on Saturday.  I do wonder to what extent that relieved my issue.  The pain wasn't gone immediately after the massage, but at some point Sunday I realized that my shoulder was feeling perfect.
Thrusters went well enough during Monday's wod.  Basically like going straight from a front squat to a push-press.  Though some very mild shoulder pain occured.  I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it, except that I've been paying close attention the last couple weeks.
I'm not certain the massage caused the relief, but due to that coincidence I'm going to talk to one of the coaches today about some stretching I can do to help prevent this.

Element 9 - Jerk

A little late on this post.  We did Jerk on Friday.  Basically dropping body down below the bar, while extending arms, then standing straight up.  Supposed to allow for more weight than with Shoulder Press & Push Press.
My shoulder was not quite perfect when the workout started, and wasn't I lucky we got to do 30 of them.  They suggest shoulder press weight + 30% for push press and an additional 30% for Jerk.
At this point we still haven't pushed ourselves to find our max (focusing on doing it right, rather than trying our hardest).  That being the case, I stuck with the minimum I could (65 lbs).  In my opinion it was too light for a decent workout, but I'm glad I did that.  Shoulder felt weak and painful in certain positions all day Saturday.  At some point on Sunday I noticed that it felt completely fine, no residuals at all.
I'll be heading out shortly for today's wod.  We'll be working on Thrusters.

Element 8 - Push Press

Push press on Wednesday.  it was same as shoulder press, but we were allowed to put our bodies into it.

This was the first workout that where my shoulder felt funny during the workout.  It usually snuck up on me later.  It was by far the most taxing upper body workout I've done since starting.  My arms were so beat that I had difficulty taking off my stretch fit undershirt.

My shoulder was very tight yesterday and muscles were sore, but not painful in the joints at all.  There is part of me wondering if my issue is that I am too flexible and possibly have pain caused when joints get into positions they weren't meant to be in.

Today, still have the stiff/tight/sore feeling on shoulders & triceps.  It probably would have been a good idea to run yesterday; that really seems to aid my muscle recovery.

Going back for more tonight.  It's the push jerk, so my shoulders won't be getting a rest.

Element 7 - Shoulder press

Looks like I identified the cause of my shoulder problems.  My shoulder hurt after the workout today (not during) just like last week.  One of the machines I used last week was the Shoulder Press.  I think I am doing it with elbows too wide.  Next time that's on the agenda, I'm going to talk to the coach and see what I can do.  At the very least, I'm thinking I can do the press with elbows forward like a clean & jerk, I had been doing it with them wider than that.

Pullups were part of the workout again, and I got 24 in 2 minutes using 2 green bands.  That's my best by far.  I do think it has more to do with technique than strenght, but I'm hoping it means that next time I see 20 of those on a workout it won't destroy me.

Element 6 - medicine ball clean

My shoulder felt a bit better today, and that's with the toughest wod i've had since day 1.  Coach usually scales us back on both difficulty (weights, box height, elastics for pullup assistance etc) as well as reps.  Today, we scaled only on difficulty and had a hell of a workout as a result.
Now, a few hours later my shoulder feels almost back to normal.

Oh, and Medicine Ball clean was a bit complicated, as it requires a quick movement to get underneath it in a squat.

I think i've also decided to go ahead with paleo, or some version of it.  I'm going to avoid rice/rains/gluten and try to have a low carb, high protein diet.  I'll also try and limit (but not completely avoid) dairy and beans.  I just don't think I have it in me to completely avoid cheese or beans.

Element 5 - Sumo Deadlift High Pull

probably the worst workout I could have had with a tweaked shoulder.
SDHP had me pulling a bar (unweighted thankfully) to my shoulders.
Add to that kettlebell clean & press & mountain climbers (tougher on shoulder than you might think).  Also a bit of sit ups and box jumps but those weren't a bother on me.

My shoulder was not very happy afterward, but now (about 1 day later) I'm doing slightly better.  My shoulder still gets some pain when I lift my elbow above my shoulder.
I'm skipping tomorrow and taking going on Saturday for the next workout.  Hopefully the extra day will let things settle a bit.

Element 4 - dead lift

I'll try and focus less on the workout, and more on what was the skill, and how I felt.
I'm trying to write this to give an idea to less than fit people on what I experienced going through crossfit.

Element 4 was Monday, the dead lift.  This was basically just about lifting a bar from floor to hanging position.  I somehow was expecting more than that since it was basically already covered as part of front squat step.  Not sure if it's just an oddity in order of lessons, or if maybe my coach and I weren't on the same page.  I lean toward oddity in order of lessons.
The WOD involved toe to bars, chest to bars cleans, jerks (yes separate), HSPUs.  My lower back started hurting not long after the workout.  Definitely mild, and not a 'sharp' pain at all.  I do have ankylosing spondolitus (sp?) which is basically inflammation & fusion of the vertebrate bones.  Mine is mild and if there is fusion, it's not really noticeable.  I wonder if I just happened to bend somewhere that I haven't bent in a while.  That could be a good thing, since making sure to keep the joints moving is the best way to put off progression of the fusion.

I did a mild workout on my own (at old gym) on Tuesday.  35 min run (about 2.7 miles), followed by just a few machines. It was definitely not planned, and was mostly just to kill time.  Now my shoulder feels a bit tweaked (but I don't noticed my back as much :).  I did forget to stretch, and proceeded to use the shoulder press machine, and the back rotation machine (can't remember what it's called but it works the lats while the upper body spins/corkscrews, it usually feels great on my back).
I wasn't at all concerned about my back, as I've had much worse pain there.  My shoulder does have me a bit concerned as the pain is sharper, but I'm still planning on my WOD tomorrow.  We'll see how it goes.

Element 3 - overhead squats

On Friday, we worked on doing over-head squats for our skills portion of the class. I think this sort of thing will help me with my back.  I have awful posture, and the S curve in my back is not quite as straight as it should be.
They gave us all some exercises that will help work on that posture.  Basically it consists of doing a squat and keeping hands stretched out overhead.  For my back I need to make sure I'm focusing on opening my hips and shoulders.
Workout was actually pretty easy.  30 reps of clean & jerk.  135 Rx.  I had no idea what weight I could do 30 reps of.  Tested out 85, and it was too high.  I went with 65, and finished in 4:40.  I did take a few breaks, so I'm not sure if that means I should have gone lower (to get it all in 1 set) or higher (to make it a bigger challenge).
After that was tire flips.  That was fun.  Had trouble with getting a powerful body position to lift it, but once I figured that out I did pretty good.  Flipped a 275 lb tire 9 times.
I actually find myself excited to go workout, and am a little disappointed that while in 'onramp' I am restricted to just 3x per week.
I can see why people say this gets addictive.

Recovery getting better - Onramp - Diet

Recovery
I feel like I'm already recovering quicker from the workout.  Both were a bit focused on legs, so I expect I'll see as much difficulty again when we start on arms.  I have a few bruises on my shoulders from the bar for front squats, and some nefarious looking bruises on my knees, but I promise they are from walking lunges on concrete.  Next time I'm making sure to use the mat for those.

Onramp
I don't think I mentioned the onramp program.  Crossfit has a beginners training that they call 'onramp'.  People at my box use 'elements' interchangeably with 'onramp'.
The program is 4 weeks, Monday, Wednesday & Friday.  We learn 12 different movements.  First two were Air Squats (normal squat) & Front Squats (the same, but with a bar held in 'rack' position).
I'll try and log about what each workout was like, and how it affects me.

Diet
I felt I should mention diet, even though I'm not doing it.  Crossfit recomends Paleo or Zone diet.
I am considering trying it out, but haven't committed myself yet.  A coworker told me that going full Paleo made him feel very 'under the weather' for a few weeks while the simple sugars were leaving his system.  I have know idea if it's accurate, but I agree that it makes sense to take it slow.
I have started experimenting with Paleo though.  I am trying to see what kind of meals I can make that fit the diet.  I try to do chicken salads at fast food places.  At home I recently made some spaghetti & meat sauce, but used spaghettis squash instead of pasta...but there was cheese on that dish.
Dairy is the hard thing for me to give up.  Also, my mother is from Brasil, and I know I can't fully give up rice & beans.  It's just not an option.
I also tend to do protein shakes for breakfast, but I was doing that before I started this endeavor. 

WODhopper

My gym (I'm still getting used calling it a box) uses WODHopper to schedule WODs.
They were only aware of an iOS app (Apple), and a browser based app.  I wasn't sure how a browser app would work from my android device, so I googled a bit and found that WODHopper does have an android app in beta.

http://dev.wodhopper.com/android/beta.html

Element 2

Had second workout yesterday.  My legs weres till sore all day from workout 1.  They didn't loosen up until I was warming up and started jumping rope.  Thinking about mixing in some short runs on off days to help keep loose.
Element 2 was supposed to be front squats, though I don't think we covered that.
We reviewed air squat position, as it was necessary for Bent Over Rows which were part of today's WOD.
The absolute worst part was the Box Jumps & the Walking Lunges.  I didn't think I'd ever finish a set of 40 of those.  Next time I'm going to make sure I do Walking Lunges on a mat though.  Cement was brutal on my knees.
Regulars did this x2, newbs just 1x.
10 Head Stand Push Ups (knees on a box for newbs)
20 Toe to Hands (Sit Ups for newbs)
30 Bent Over Rows
40 Box jumps
50 Double Under Jump ropes (single under for newbs)
40 Walking lunges
30 Pistols (newbs used a pole to assist)
20 Sumo deadlift (Air Squats for newbs)
10 Burpees

Edit--Must have had a brain fart.  We did learn Front Squats before the WOD.  They start off similar to Olympic Lift, but after the clean (lifting from floor to neck/shoulders) you hold the bar pretty much against your neck with elbows up.  Then you do a squat from that position.  They had newb guys do 4 sets of 5 at 55 lbs.  I thought that would be way to heavy, but it wasn't bad.

First day post workout

I made a conscious effort to not curl my legs while sleeping. I think it helped. I have a bit of strain when sitting, but I am not in pain like I have experienced with other workouts....well, only painful while sitting down & standing up.
A bit more details about yesterday.
The WOD was a lift, followed by one of the mentioned exercises until the start of the next minute. Rotating through all 5 of them twice.
Our trainer did limit us to 10 of each exercise precisely to make sure that us newbies weren't dieing the next day.

Element 1- air squats

Started off just learning technique for squats and clean and press (Olympic lift).
WOD was a 10 min mix of Olympic lifts, wall balls, rings dips, burpees, air squats, sit ups
All that followed by a duck walk. No weights for us beginners.
All in all, it wasn't so bad. Legs are rough though. Hams are so tired that sitting is difficult.
Worried about what tomorrow will be like, but I definitely plan to continue to the next step on Wednesday. I think element 2 was air press.

Play it safe

I will have my first workout on 3/4. Last night I heard about some injury risk associated with crossfit. Had me a little nervous. Did some research online and it sounds like you have to pay attention to yourself, your form, and try not to get caught up in the competition and time hype.
Sounds like the gyms are a bit competitive and motivational, and I will need to balance pushing myself to the next level with caution to avoid overdoing it.

Square one

I've finally decided I'm going to do something about the shape I'm in (round).
I'm about 6'1" and 30 yrs old.
I've been a fat guy just about my whole life.  With one brief exception.  I had been around 280 since highschool, but in 2007 decided to make a change.  Started working out and doing Weight Watchers.  By 2009, I got down to 185.  I got to the point that I could run a half marathon, and do a few pullups.  Pretty decent shape and held it for about 2 years.
Now I've creeped back up to 242, couldn't do a pull up if my life depended on it.
I'm still fat guy at heart (I love eating too much bad food, and it doesn't take much to convince me to skip a workout), but I've been to the other side and prefer it.

Decided to make a change.  I've started contacting a crossfit gym and will try and journal the experience from square one.