Okay, last post was a bit lame in that my goals are not very firm. Read an excellent article about goals here.
So, I’m going to set some quality short term goals. They are:
5 strict pull ups
10 dips
Body weight of 90kg
All of the above by the end of May. Currently my best is 2 pull ups and 5 dips.
So, I’ve obviously not kept up the food and exercise log. Tracking everything you eat is much harder than it seems.
Okay, so what’s been going on? Food wise I think it’s been much the same as before. I have lowered the amount of dairy I’ve been consuming however it’s still there. Scale weight hasn’t changed actually. Measured in at 93.1kg today which is exactly the same as a month ago. It’s fluctuated a kilo or so in the last month but it pretty much looks the same. I’ve been going to Crossfit apart from this last week, which I’ve had off, for two reasons :- We had quests stay with us and I was up late entertaining, had a bit to drink a couple of night too. The second is that the wife and I had our first child four weeks ago and I’m just not getting enough sleep. Crossfit five days a week is tough without enough sleep. I really needed a break and I’m glad I took the week off. Enough of the excuses, here’s the plan:
I’ve been thinking a lot about what my goals are. I think some clear goals as to what I’m working towards might be beneficial.
Long term.
Do the Crossfit WODs as rx’d.
Advanced level on the Athletic Skills Levels.
Competence at the basic gymnastic skills. Stuff like planche, walking handstand, basic rings.
Medium term.
Hmm, not sure what to put in here. I’m thinking that once I reach my short term goals I will start mostly strength gymnastics training. I think that gymnastics strength training will be the core of my training once I reach my short term goals.
Short term.
First thing I think I need to do is lose my excess body fat. Most of the athletic stuff that I suck at is body weight stuff – pull ups being a prime example. It’s hard to know what my ideal weight would be but I think that 85kg should be a starting point for me. I think at this weight I will be able to asses what my body fat percentage is. At 85kg I will be reasonably lean. That’s 8kg I need to lose.
Basic strength exercises such as – pull ups, dips, handstand push ups.
So, how will I go about this?
In regards to the weight loss I will do the following: Remove dairy from my diet. Add in a few more vegetables, that I’ve been omitting lately and think about keeping a slight calorie deficit. My weight has been stable and I have been eating a lot of fat! I think a slight calorie deficit is required to lean out. I’m also going to start doing a lot more NEPA. I’ve really been neglecting that the last few months. I will stand at work and take walks at lunch time and in the evening with my family.
With the exercise I will keep going to Crossfit 5 days a week. I think this will help me work up to my short term goal of being proficient at the basic body weight exercises. What does that mean? Not 100% sure about that… lets put down: 10 strict pull ups, 20 kipping. 20 dips, 10 handstand push ups. I’m also going to put up the chin up bar at home and practice pull ups at home. I’ve ordered some rings too!
I’m going to set myself four months to complete my short term goals. That’s 2kg a month and 2.5 pull ups a month too! Let’s do it!
Before Crossfit this morning did:
Medicine Ball Cleans x 10. I did all 10. Interestingly Coach commented that I shouldn’t be doing them. He reckons it doesn’t really help to learn the clean and can actually stuff up my technique with the bar. Interesting. I can’t say I really think the exercise to be that valuable but did want to tick it off the skills test list. I like working with the bar.
Pull ups. I did 1!!! It was strict and got far enough over the bar that I’m happy to count it as 1.
L-Sits. Worked on these a bit too. Up to 7 sec.
Before Crossfit started this morning I managed a couple more skill tests. Also got my deadlift and press numbers off the board.
Deadlift 3/4 x bodyweight. My PR is 105kg which is 113% of my current bodyweight 93kg. I think I was actually 92kg when I lifted that, no matter.
Press 1/4 x bodyweight. My PR is 55kg which is 59% of my currenct bodyweight 93kg. As above I think I was 92kg when I lifted that.
Static hang 30sec. Did this okay, hanging from the chinup bar. Not sure what you’re supposed to be hanging from?
500m row. 1:54min. Time to beat is 1:55.
L-sit 10sec. I only managed 5sec. Need to work on this obviously. I remember when I started Crossfit 6 weeks ago I couldn’t actually do it at all!
Spoke with my coach about not being able to do any pullups. Asked him if I could / should do something extra. He said that I should keep training and not worry about it. I’m worried.
I’m also going to keep track of my Crossfit progress. I found this document which was linked from Robb Wolf’s website. I think it’s a really good way to gauge where I’m at, so as I can work on weaknesses, and also, more importantly, have clear goals for moving forward. I feel having clear performance goals to work towards will really help me.
I meet nearly all the criteria for Level 1 ‘well rounded beginner’. Some areas I exceed at however I know that some I can’t do. Off the top of my head is the 3 pull ups. Other criteria such as the running I’m not sure about, it will be interesting to see how I go.
I will set myself the goal of testing myself in all the criteria this week. I just went outside and did some, so here’s a start:
50 free squats. Not a problem, could have knocked out another 20 maybe?
10 push ups. Not a problem, maybe could have done 20. Chest to the ground each one. Would like to work up to 50.
30 sit ups. Easy, could probably do 60 or 70. Still sore from Thursdays workout which had 110 knees to elbows.
10 sitting knees to chest. Easy, could probably have done 20 or 30.
400 meter run: 1:28 minutes (time to beat 2:04)..
800 meter run: 3:19 minutes (time to beat 4:20).
3 dips. 3 is okay. Could do 4, maybe 5.
3 pull ups. Barely manage one. I suck. Chin not above bar. This is a strict pull up, still learning the kipp. Big weakness, need to work on this.
I’ve been eating Paleo about 4 months now. Going to Crossfit for 6 weeks. I lost about 8kg on Paleo before I started Crossfit. Since starting Crossfit I’ve not lost any weight, in fact I’ve put on about 0.5-1kg. I realise that this is probably an addition of muscle that has caused this. I’ve also added back dairy, cream and cheese, into my diet in the last 3-4 weeks. While I feel fine adding these foods back in to my diet I feel that they may be a culprit in the weight lose plateau that I’m currently experiencing.
I’ve decided to cut out dairy and go back to my strict Paleo diet. I’m also going to log my stats and keep a better track of my progress.
Stats:
Body Weight: 93.1kg
Waist Measurement : 100cm
