September 21, Piotr doing a 140 kg bar complex Lowlands Throwdown Qualifier @ CrossFit Antwerpen

On September 21 the Lowlands Throwdown Qualifier took place in CrossFit Antwerpen. 8 members of CrossFit Leuven took a shot at qualifying themselves to go to Apeldoorn on October 4 and 5. 

In WOD #2 every athlete had 6 minutes to find his/her max weight for the following bar complex: 1 hang clean - 1 front squat - 1 shoulder to overhead.

One of the athletes of CrossFit Leuven excelled and finished 1st on WOD #2. Piotr did the bar complex with 140 kgs (310  lbs).

It is definitely impressing to watch!

 

(more photos of the qualifier will be posted soon!)

September 12, Body weight challenge

If you would ask me about the exercises I like the least, I would definitely say the majority of body weight exercises. I am still working on my one pull-up, I failed doing 65 sit-ups in 2 minutes (63, aargh) and for some reason I can't do burpees or V-ups very fast (yet!)

So when today's workout was announced, I felt a shudder.

AMRAP in 3 min of:
20 Burpees
? Pull-ups
-1 min rest-
AMRAP in 3 min of:
30 Wallball shots (20/14)
? Pull-up
-1 min rest-
AMRAP in 3 min of:
40 V-ups
? Pull-ups

Score = number of pull-ups

Worst nightmare and definitely a body weight challenge! I scaled the pull-ups to ring rows

The first round I did 13 ring rows, the second 11 and the third 17. A total score of 41 ring rows. Next time I will try to do 45 ring rows!

September 11, from 1RM to WOD weight

Today's workout was most definitely a milestone in my crossfit career. One year ago September 10, 2013 my 1RM sumo deadlift was 105 lbs and today it was my workout weight. Three months ago I did my first wall climb that was close enough to the wall to be considered a wall climb. Today I did 18 wall climbs in the workout!

In the strength part we did some sumo deadlifts (36 in total) and a lot of kettle bell swings (100 consecutive!)

The workout was:

3 rounds for time of:
12 Sumo deadlifts (225/155)
24 Kettlebell swings (53/35)
6 Handstand push-ups

I scaled the sumo deadlifts to 105 lbs and the handstand push-ups to wall climbs but I did do the kbs with 35 lbs! I finished in 14:57 and I was sooo happy! I managed to do all the wall climbs without falling on my face although I still have to work on coming down! Two big bruises on my knees!

September 8, mental block

I went to a party on Saturday so I didn't go to the box on Sunday although I wasn't hungover or so. I just went to bed late and wanted to give my body some rest.

I went on monday and this was the WOD:

21-15-9 reps for time of:
Russian Kettlebell swings (70/53)
Burpees
Toes to bar

7 power clean (135/95) after each round

The strength part consisted out of 1 RM power clean and 2 rounds of 10 man height jumps alternated with 10 double kettlebell cleans.  I thought my 1 RM was 85, but it actually already was 105 lbs. When I reached that point I started thinking that my 1 RM power clean couldn't be higher than my 1 RM front squat.... and I blocked. I could definitely pull the 115 lbs high enough but I couldn't bring myself to jump underneath it. Mental block !!

I did the WOD with a 53 lbs kettlebell (heavy!!!) and scaled the toes to bar to knee raises on the rings. I did the power cleans with 70 lbs. Unfortunately, I forgot my time, whoops, and I can't decipher the whiteboard picture but I definitely finished within 15 minutes and it felt great!

September 4, two days in a row

Normally I planned to go to the box on Friday but my mom asked me to drive her somewhere. So, instead of going Friday I went on Thursday, still a little bit sore of Wednesday's WOD.

The strength part was 'kettlebell fun' and it was definitely lots of fun but also pretty intense. The kettlebell fun was followed by turkish get-ups (aren't they also with kettle bells? what is the difference? no fun? :) ).

The WOD was an AMRAP:

AMRAP in 12 minutes of
- 3 wall climbs
- 9 box jumps
- 15 kbs (53/35 lbs)

I scaled the box jumps to step ups. I'm still not comfortable jumping on a box during a WOD. Considering that I did my first wall climb (halfway the last tile) in July this was definitely a challenging workout for me.

I did 4 rounds and 3 wall climbs and I am really happy about that!!!

After the WOD I did 10 box jumps under full control, proving to myself that I could still do them!

September 3, 3 rounds for time

Today's warm-up and strength part were intense! Every time we do skull crushers at the box I seem to be missing those particular muscles needed to do this exercise. I definitely have to work more actively and more frequently with those muscles! I did the military presses with 45 lbs. I've done them with more weight but apparently I lock my shoulder joint, so I tried to do them without locking and that limited my press weight.

The workout went ok but not great. I did the push presses with 55 lbs and did ring rows instead of pull-ups. The V-ups went way slower than I expected them to go and I finished in 13:49.

September 1, new beginning: first WOD

Today's workout started with a general warm-up and continued with 10 x 2 front squats (75% 1RM). I did them with 85. Recently, I've become more focussed on my hip movement and my core. I try really hard to avoid standing up from a squat whilst moving my hips first. And... it's working, I'm getting better at squatting straight up but my lifting weight has come down. But that's ok. First work on technique and then on strength.

After the front squats we did some stiff legged deadlifts. Those are pretty easy for me since I am flexible enough to touch the ground with the bar maintaining straight legs (and a straight back!)

The workout was an AMRAP in 15 minutes of:

24 double unders (scaled to tuck jumps since I can only do double unders one at a time)
8 front squats (135/95)  (scaled to 65)
6 burpees

I did 4 rounds and 7 front squats. I wasn't happy with my performance but it can only be better next time!)

September 2, good resolutions in September

There is no better day than the first day of school to start with some new resolutions (I'm a teacher).

What are my new resolutions and how will I make them work?

1/ Eat better (eg healthier) and more regularly (easy with the fixed breaks at school). I will go to the farm market weekly and I will put those veggies that are about to spoil in the freezer or in a fresh homemade soup!

2/ Work out more regularly. I will start with working out on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. So, more or less every other day. If that goes well (no setbacks or injuries), I will add some more workouts and an endurance and/or yoga training.

3/ Lose weight but most importantly get a strong healthy body. I will work on my short and long term goals. These are:

- short term goals (before the end of 2014):

• 1 pull-up without a band
• consecutive double unders 
• front squat and back squat with bodyweight 

- long term goals:

• consecutive pull-ups
• 1 toe to bar -> consecutive toes to bar
• row 500 m under 1:50
• be faster

September 1, I fell off the wagon...

I must admit something.. I fell off the wagon... (but now I'm back on it!)

When my girlfriends and I were in Malta I did visit two CrossFit boxes (more about them later on) and had a great time but I also drank too much (mostly too often) and was not careful enough about what I was eating. After we got back I really started slacking, my 29th birthday was approaching and I felt ill. To me that meant: no time to work out but time for comfort food (read: junk food). I ended up feeling like I didn't want to move or work out ever again.

The first of September was also approaching so I made some resolutions, start working out again and eat healthy again. You have to realize that my disinterest in sports was so big that I really had to force myself to go to the box yesterday (August 31st). My head kept saying, it is not September 1st, you don't have to go yet. I have no idea where this negative feeling came from and I have never felt like this before. Luckily, my boyfriend pushed me yesterday to go and do a workout and I went. It took me over 40 minutes into the class before I started to enjoy it. The first forty minutes I felt like: "What am I doing here? I want to go home and sleep a little bit.".

It was strange for me to feel so negative about sports but after working out yesterday that feeling has faded and I feel like I'm ready to kick some ass tonight!