I say “triumphant” because 1. I showed up and 2. I didn’t die. I somehow made it to Crossfit at 7am yesterday morning. I used my BuyWithMe voucher for 5 Crossfit Essentials classes at Stoneway Crossfit. I hadn’t really worked out for almost a year, so I thought it would be good to start with something introductory, rather than hopping right into a WOD. I ended up being the only one in my class so it was more like a personal training session.
I warmed up on the rowing machine, just 250m. I was still freezing afterwards since it took very little effort.
Then some stretches. Crossfit Essentials is designed to teach you all the basic exercises properly so that you don’t hurt yourself. Thanks to over a decade of off-ice training and my (very short-lived) prior experience with Crossfit, there wasn’t much for me to learn/correct. But it was excellent review. Too bad all the reps I did of all the exercises didn’t count for my workout.
The actual workout was a challenge because I have little upper body strength… I’m all legs. It was a tabata workout – 20sec on, 10 sec rest for 8 cycles (4 minutes) per exercise. But because I mentioned I had weak arms, pushups were added to my workout and I did 6 cycles per exercise instead.
1. Squats
2. Dead lifts (45lbs)
3. Shoulder press (25lbs)
4. Pushups
5. Pull ups (band assisted, as if I could do one all by myself…ha)
If you do the math, I’m only actually moving for 2 minutes per exercise. So this 15 minute workout is really only 10 minutes with 5 minutes of rest. High intensity in a short period of time is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Oh and triumphant because 3. I finished the workout and didn’t quit. The trainer told me I did great and that I’m actually in pretty good shape. Ha…hahaha…haaaaaaa…no. I have a long ways to go before I feel super fit. But considering that I NEVER work out and spend the majority of my days at rest (despite a lot of active hobbies), I’m surprised at what I was able to accomplish. I also got the post-workout endorphin high! I actually really missed that!
I think eating paleo really did have an impact on my performance yesterday. I had plenty of energy to last me through the workout and cardio wasn’t an issue, the challenge was mainly from my muscles giving out. I didn’t feel sluggish and super out of shape like before. The other difference is in the speed of my recovery. I couldn’t feel my arms after the workout, but I felt better and better as the day went on. Today I’m a little sore, but in a good way that doesn’t affect my mobility at all. In fact, I think I might go climbing tonight, that’s how great I feel.
So I had a positive experience going back to Crossfit and I hope I keep it up this time!
This is what I ate the night before:
Grass-fed rib eye steak w/broccolettes, mushrooms, and zucchini
Pesticide-free, local cherries for dessert
After my workout:
“Stuffed” Bell Pepper w/grass-fed ground beef, onion, garlic, mushroom, tomato, sea salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
Organic bell peppers tend to be smaller. Not much space to stuff them with all the meat I want to eat. So I cut it in half and just piled stuff on it.
As I mention often, I’m obsessed with coconut water. I can’t say enough about how amazing it really is. I feel sorry for people who drink their Gatorade, Powerade, Vitamin Water, etc. full of artificial color and sweeteners when nature gave us the perfect sports drink. I usually buy the packaged kind. My favorite is the Naked brand, but right now I have boxes of Vitacoco from Costco. Those are good too. But the other day, I got a real Thai coconut from Whole Foods. Brought back memories of my short trip to Thailand! It was a little sweeter and tasted fresher than the packaged kind, but the taste was similar enough for me to feel ok about not buying fresh coconuts all the time.
Paleo Adventure 