Redemption

10 years ago I was a First Class (Senior) Cadet at the United States Air Force Academy.  While there were many requirements placed on us as cadets, one of these requirements I didn't take seriously enough was physical fitness. 

Sure, I met all the minimum standards, but I didn't take advantage of the vast resources around me as a cadet and actually get in great shape.  I was more concerned with sneaking out and riding my Harley I wasn't allowed to own or ride.

When the time came to take the PFT every semester, I kinda got through it.  I didn't do great, sometimes I did really poorly.  I just never excelled.

With my 10 year reunion coming up next fall, I have a goal.

I want to score above 450 (out of 500) on the Air Force Academy PFT when I'm at my reunion next fall.  As a cadet, I never scored higher than 355. 

The test consists of the following:

1. Pull Ups
2. Standing Long Jump
3. Sit Ups
4. Push Ups
5. 600 yard run

Each event starts every 3 minutes.  So the entire test takes less than 15 minutes.

If I stay committed and keep working with CrossFit, that in a year's time this test will become rather simple.  But scoring a 450 will be tough.  I have a spreadsheet here that details everything, and it won't be simple.  Here's a basic table of min/max numbers.  To get 100 points per stage need to max that exercise.

WOD: 11-03-2011

Today's WOD:

Warm Up:

Basic Stretch on own.

WOD:

20 Minute AMRAP

10x Push Press @ 75 lbs. (Rx was 95 lbs but I knew I needed to lower the weight for 20 minutes)

20x Sit Up

30x Jump Rope Singles

I managed to finish 10 rounds exactly.  My first few round were about a minute and 45 seconds or so.  My reps started to slow down a bit after that.  I finished my 9th round at around exactly 18 minutes on the clock so I picked it up and made sure to knock out my last round in the final 2 minutes.  Finished the last round with 5 seconds to spare but not enough time to get set up on the bar for more push presses.

Overall a great WOD.  Definitely was sweating like a pig at the end of that one.  One note, my jump ropes are getting better. Got my own speed rope last week and have been practicing a bit.  I'm not able to string together Double-Unders yet, but I can do a  Single, single, double, single, single, double pattern for a few reps.  It's a good improvement in the jump rope arena and I'll be stringing doubles together in no time.

Will be going back tomorrow for Friday's WOD giving me 3 workouts in a row for this week.

Been Feeling "Reckless" lately

So, this is a big switch for me.  I've done P90X a few times, gone through good phases and bad phases.  Starts, stops, burnouts and the like.  For some time, its been a whole lot of nothing going on in my fitness routine. 

Late this summer I was driving to work and out of the corner of my eye I saw a sign in a strip mall.  "Reckless CrossFit." 

Now I've heard about CrossFit, and know several friends and acquaintances that have had amazing results from CrossFit.  I've done the hole P90X vs CrossFit discussion online. I never was one to argue for or against.  I've just seen some people get very "into" the discussion.

So, I found the gym's website, and I found the owner on facebook.  She chatted with me and I set up a time for my first workout.

Now, having sat on my ass for 6 months not working out, doing my first CrossFit workout was a challenge.  Yes, I puked. 

But I came back and did the Seven "Foundations" classes and leanred the basics of the CrossFit movements.  I have to say, I've been loving it.  Before starting in late September my weight was about 221 lbs.  (That's even higher than I was before starting P90X and this blog a few years ago...yikes!)

Today, I'm down to 214-215 lbs.  So I'm losing about a pound a week with CrossFit.  The one thing I love is the community aspect of the workouts.  When I go to the gym, I see the same faces.  They cheer me on, I cheer them on, and we hang out and talk about how we're doing.  It's definitely a great environment.

Yesterday was a really amazing day in my CrossFit journey. I did something I never had tried before.  I found my one rep max in a Sumo Dead lift.  We started easy, 3 reps at 135, then 3 reps at 155 and so on and so on.  Eventually we worked up to 1 rep sets.  I did 255x1, 275x1 and finally my last rep was 305lbs.  I've never even tried to lift anything that heavy before.  My coach thought that I probably could have gotten at least 10-20 more lbs up since I didn't struggle all that much.  But dropping that weight, and looking back at that much weight on the bar was impressive for me.  It surely was a good moment...but I'll get even better.

So, this is a new chapter in my fitness journey.  I will be a CrossFitter for the near future and who knows where it will take me.

--John