Gil's Fitness Blog

Fitness musings from a dedicated CrossFitter. Check out my homepage and my clothing company WodUp Apparel.

[fitgil]

Hello Fran, a new PR: 39 seconds faster in 30 days

A little over a month ago I challenged myself to improve my Fran time as much as possible in only 30 days. As the legend goes, Fran is the original CrossFit workout. It's also the most notorious. A cardiovascular onslaught secretly masked as a strength routine. The type of workout that makes grown men cry:

Fran 21-15-9 Thrusters @ 95 lbs Pullups Complete 21 thrusters (a front squat into a push press) followed by 21 pullups, then 15 of each, then 9 of each...as fast as possible.

I started the Challenge with a Fran time of 5:09. My goal was to improve my time by 30 seconds in 30 days. I created a comprehensive workout plan for myself that included some strength work along with heaps of interval training. Many times I worked out twice in one day, but on the weekends I completely rested. I had hoped to not miss a workout, but a couple weeks in I realized that I was overtraining and needed to back off a bit. That being said, I still feel like I put everything I had into my training, and I don't feel like I slacked off at all.

The equipment and supplements helped. During my initial benchmark I only wore a pair of gloves. Once my training began I decided to wear sleeves to protect my knees, and I took a steady supply of Extreme Endurance to minimize lactic acid buildup and day-after muscle soreness. Eventually I found that the high training volume was making it difficult to sleep well at night, so I started taking ZMA right before bed.

In the third week I PRed all of my lifts, and I was glad to see my strength improve. Plus, frequent running interval workouts drastically improved my ability to work harder, longer, while my cardio system is in overdrive. Unfortunately, I got sloppy with the form during one of my last running intervals, leading to a pulled gracilis muscle in my thigh which is causing some lingering knee pain.

I spent most of my fourth week resting, recovering, and mentally preparing for what was about to come. On the day of my final Fran test it was super hot and super humid, making it difficult to breathe. Still, I felt strong, although I was still too nervous to begin the workout. I have learned that it's very difficult for me to start the clock before a Fran workout. It's much better if someone does it for me, otherwise I'll procrastinate for a really long time. It's hard to subject yourself to that much imminent pain. Luckily someone started a clock for me, and when it beeped 3-2-1 I gripped the bar, cleaned it up, and got to work. This time I had Ryne, one of my coaches, cheering me on. His yelling really helped me push through at the very end when I got stuck on pullups. 

30 Days of Fran - Final Benchmark from Gil Hildebrand on Vimeo.

I ended up doing the second set of 15 thrusters unbroken, which was a huge mental block for me. That set is just so fatiguing, and I was stoked that I was able to complete it without dropping the bar. Unfortunately I wasn't able to do the subsequent pullups unbroken, saying goodbye to my goal of completing the whole workout unbroken. I still have a ways to go. 

All in all I completed Fran in 4:30, which is a 39 second PR, or 13% faster. I'm absolutely thrilled with my progress, as I really felt that I gave everything I could give to this Challenge. My thrusters improved considerably, with less knee buckling and more explosion into the push press. My pullup form still looks yucky, and despite practice I didn't feel confident enough in my butterfly pullup technique to use it.

You'll notice that the video is over 7 minutes long: that's because I decided not to edit out the few minutes immediately following Fran. If there's anything I've learned about this workout, it's that the real pain doesn't begin until the workout is done, and that it takes several times as long to recover as it does to complete it. After I stopped the video I sat down for a few more minutes. Then I stood up and got that watery feeling in the back of my throat. A telltale sign that something bad was imminent. I strolled outside and kneeled in the grass. Moments later it all came bubbling up, and the excessive amount of water I drank after completing Fran was vomitted into the grass. Yes, that's right, I threw up after doing Fran. It's not something I'm proud of, nor advocate, but it did leave me with the sense that I gave it my all.

What's next?

After the Challenge I took a solid week off. I love doing intensive Challenges like this, but I need some time to recover before I set a new goal. Until then I'm enjoying my box's normal class WODs, and I'm hoping to maintain all of the incredible cardio endurance I developed. I'm ending the summer feeling accomplished and contented.

Stay posted for my next Challenge...

[fitgil]

30 Days of Fran - Day 23

Just one week left in my 30 day Fran challenge. My cardiovascular endurance has improved a great deal, and I feel much more grounded on the thrusters, but I'm still totally unsure whether I'll be able to complete Fran unbroken. If I do have to break up the workout, I know it'll impact my time significantly.

Last week demanded a lot of heavy strength work, as it was the end of my OMOB strength cycle. I decided to skip a couple of my cardio workouts to make sure I was retaining as much strength as possible.

This week is all about lighter weight, more volume, more aerobic threshold training, and more mental preparation for the final day of Fran, when I put this whole month of training to the test. At this point I'm feeling like thrusters and pullups definitely get easier, but together there's just no way to make the workout feel easy.

[fitgil]

PR City

30 Days of Fran - Day 15

By the end of the second week of my 30 Days of Fran challenge, I was  exhausted. High volume running, burpees, and thrusters took a toll on me.

Every Friday I perform a different variation of Fran, and last Friday was to be 5 rounds of 9 thrusters and 9 pullups. It’s the same number of reps as traditional Fran, but with a stronger focus on unbroken sets.

During warmup I just felt incredibly weak. I rowed a couple times and still didn’t feel powered up. Did a bar warmup, still not much energy. The next thing I knew, someone had started a clock for me, and I was on my way through the WOD. I remember the pullups—something I’m traditionally pretty good at—feeling like such a struggle. I completed the 4th set at 4:04, but I was exhausted and knew the last round was going to take me way longer than a minute to complete.

At that point I knew without a certainty that I was overtrained, and I called it quits instead of completing that last set. It wasn’t a complete surprise, given that after posting my Challenge here I received feedback from 3 different people who said the program demanded too much volume.

Going into it I knew I had the mental willpower to work that hard, the time to do it, and all the available equipment and supplements to help me recover as quickly as possible. But it turns out I still couldn’t completely keep up physically.

So I backed way off over the weekend. Saturday was a hardcore rest day, and it wasn’t until Sunday evening that I even attempted anything physical. A 10 min slow recovery Airdyne plus a few KB swings—not enough to break a sweat.

On Monday morning I did 15 minutes of Airdyne intervals at a tempo of 10 seconds on / 50 seconds off. I’ve done this same interval drill for months, but on Monday it felt so much easier. I still ended the workout breathing hard and drenched in sweat, but I felt like I could have easily kept going into a more intense workout. That’s the first time I’ve ever felt that way on the Airdyne.

Monday evening I suited up for heavy front squat singles. It’s by far my weakest lift, and just before the Challenge began I tested at a one-rep max of 195 lbs. I warmed up, then hit a single at that weight and still felt pretty strong, so I added 5 lbs and got that too. At that point I started wondering whether it was just the knee sleeves (which I hadn’t used previously) giving me a little more power. I took them off, added another 5 lbs (up to 205) and went again. Boom. My chest rolled forward slightly on the way back up, but I stood it up anyway. I made one last attempt at 210, and completed it with no problem!

At that point I called it quits. I didn’t want to fail a rep, and besides—a new 15 lb personal record is more than enough to celebrate. I’ve been struggling to improve my squat strength for a long time, and now I wonder if I’ve been doing it wrong. The frequent wallballs and moderate weight thrusters I’m doing are clearly helping. The next time I do a squat strength cycle I’ll be sure to program this in.

After resting for a while, I completed 3 rounds of 21 wallballs, 15 toes to bar, and 9 ring rows. I’ve done this WOD twice before, and both times left me gasping for air. This time around I completed each set unbroken, with minimal transition time. Best of all, my endurance felt way stronger than it ever has been. 

Needless to say, I am stoked. I’m going to take my training schedule day by day, and if I’m feeling too sore or exhausted for a particular workout I’ll just skip it.

I’m half way through my Fran challenge and feeling great. I’m still nervous about how I’ll perform on final test day, and I’ll be very disappointed if I only improve by a few seconds. But if I can step into the gym on that final day feeling as good as I do now, I know I’ll do better than that. Can I complete Fran at my target improvements of 30 seconds faster? Only 15 more days until we find out.

[fitgil]

Frantasy Land with Rich Froning and James Hobart

[fitgil]

30 Days of Fran - Day 11

Biked to the park for some 400m running intervals to work on my endurance. Calves are crazy tight, but otherwise feeling strong. 

[fitgil]

30 Days of Fran - Day 5

Did a heavy Fran variation today: 12-9-6 @ 135. 1pm it was nearing 95 degrees but I still kicked its ass. Surprisingly not too sore after 4 days of brutal workouts thanks to my @xendurance! 

[fitgil]

30 Days of Fran

"What three CrossFit workouts are you most proud of?" asked a CrossFit student.

"Fran, Fran, and Fran...I hate that thing," said Greg Glassman, creator of CrossFit.

Because it's the middle of summer, because I always need a purpose for my training, and because the best things in my life I've achieved when I go outside my comfort zone, I am dedicating the next 30 days of my life to improving at the notorious CrossFit workout known as Fran.

Why Fran

As the legend goes, Fran is the original CrossFit workout. It's also one of the most brutal: a 10-minute-or-less beast that demands both maximum anaerobic and aerobic capacity. The best in the world complete Fran in 2-3 minutes, while newcomers often take 9 or 10 minutes (if they don't give up first). 

To do Fran, complete the following as quickly as possible:

21 Thrusters (front squat ending in a push press) 21 Pullups 15 Thrusters 15 Pullups 9 Thrusters 9 Pullups

Here's Rich Froning completing Fran at the CrossFit Games in 2012:

Every major muscle group in the body is loaded in this workout. Clean the bar from the floor and you're engaging the core, lower back, glutes, forearms, traps, and delts. Initiate the front squat to engage the core, lower back, glutes, hamstrings, and quads, while the push press activates the core, delts, triceps, and calves. Finally, head to the pullup bar to engage the core, lats, biceps, and forearms. Did I miss anything?

The way it's broken up into two distinct compound movements that engage different muscles means that there's just no excuse to pause between movements. Except that you're sucking wind from the lactic acid buildup and cardiovascular onslaught. 

So why did I choose to get better at Fran specifically? Because it's the one workout where you can't hide behind a single measure of fitness. You have to have mastery of it all in order to dominate Fran: endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy. 

Benchmark

I'm an intermidiate level CrossFitter. I've been doing it off and on for several years, however in the past year I've become way more consistent and focused, exercising 4-5 days most weeks. 

I'm explosive and body aware from years of martial arts, but my physical strength is below average.  My front squat 1 rep max is 195, push press is 195, and I max out at 11 strict pullups. Only in the past few months have I started working on endurance, and my fastest mile is 7:45.

I benchmarked Fran last week, completing it in 5:09:

30 Days of Fran - Initial Benchmark from Gil Hildebrand on Vimeo.

21 Thrusters (unbroken) 21 Pullups (unbroken)

15 Thrusters (8-7) 15 Pullups (8-7)

9 Thrusters (3-3-3) 9 Pullups (3-3-3)

My thrusters are slow: I often pause at the top to avoid redlining by going too fast. My transition time is minimal, but I lose 67 seconds by breaking up my sets. Each set of thrusters takes longer than the last, while my pullup sets get shorter. 

In total the thrusters take over twice as long as the pullups, so it's clear where I need to spend the bulk of my training. 

While relatively fast, my pullup form sucks really bad. Especially the way I strain my neck to get my chin over the bar. I'm confident I can fix that, and I'll also focus on transitioning to the butterfly kip.

Goals

To spend 30 days focused on this one goal.

To not miss a workout.

To complete Fran unbroken.

To shave off 30-60 seconds from my Fran time.

The Program

The three things I need to do are:

1) Increase my strength on the thruster, especially overhead.

2) Improve my aerobic threshold.

3) Fix my pullup form and/or switch to butterfly kipping pullups.

Most of all, I need a training program that's going to bring me as often as possible to that dark place where you question why you're doing this workout and whether anyone will notice if you just quit right now. You know what I mean.

Find the complete program by following this link, but here is a basic rundown:

Each morning I'll start with either an interval workout on the Airdyne to improve my aerobic threshold or a ride on my bicycle for some active recovery.

Three days per week I'll head to a local park mid day for some interval running. Again, to improve the aerobic threshold.

I've had a lot of success with a strength program called One Man One Barbell (OMOB), a CrossFit-friendly program where you pick one movement per day and do a few heavy sets followed by an Every Minute on the Minute (EMOM) workout. I'll use OMOB for the first three weeks to increase my front squat, strict press, and bent row strength.

I'll end most weekdays with a WOD using thrusters and pullups or movements complimentary to them (wall balls, ring rows, toes to bar, etc). Every Friday I'll do a different variation of Fran, leading to a final retest exactly 30 days after I start.

Equipment & Recovery

I don't care about measuring how one variable affects my Fran time.  

I want to see what happens when I throw the kitchen sink at it, doing everything within reason I know of to improve my time in only one month. 

Since high rep pullup workouts usually rip up my hands, the only equipment I used in the initial benchmark was a pair of gloves.

But beginning on my first day of training I'm experimenting with Tommy Kono knee sleeves. While I don't currently have any knee issues, I figure knee sleeves will offer at least some protection during what will be a grueling month of knee-flexing workouts. I'm also planning to use them in the final benchmark.

I'm using Extreme Endurance to cope with the lactic acid buildup and general soreness generated by the grueling daily workouts in my program. Originally marketed to marathon runners, Extreme Endurance claims to reduce lactic acid levels, improve aerobic capacity, and reduce muscle soreness. While there are not yet any independent studies to back up the claims made in their own self-funded studies, I've taken it as prescribed during several cycles and have found it helpful in improving my ability to breath effectively (more slowly and deeply) during my workouts. It also seems to have some effect on reducing DOMS (that next-day muscle soreness).

I'm also taking creatine pre workout and After Shock (which includes carbs, protein, BCAAs, creatine, and glucosamine) plus vitamin D and fish oil post workout.

Finally, the best way to combat muscle soreness is to remain lightly active, so I'll be doing as much standing, walking, and cycling as I can.

Conclusion

Am I scared? Yes, but not because Fran itself is painful. 

I'm frightened that I'll post a slower time at the end of the month, or that my time will only improve marginially by a few seconds. I'm scared that I will have wasted my time and put myself through unnecessary pain. But that's a risk I'm willing to take. And if I can master the mental willpower, then I can definitely master Fran.

Here I go.

[fitgil]

The Myth of the Ab Machine

“If you compare all the various gadgets to the traditional crunch, the crunch outperforms the majority of the exercise in terms of muscle activation”

[fitgil]

Why I CrossFit

I was a scrawny 15 year old kid. I wanted to bulk up some so I hired a personal trainer who happened to be a professional bodybuilder. He was huge, I figured he'd get me into shape. He taught me the basics of lifting weights, and I continued lifting on my own throughout high school and beyond into my 20s. But my diet wasn't right, and I never stayed consistent with the workout program for more than 4 or 5 months at a time. I followed the routines of professional bodybuilders as posted in magazines like Muscle & Fitness, because that's what I knew. I rarely used a barbell, favoring machines that offered isolated movements. I did big sets and optimized for hypertrophy. I skipped leg day. My shoulders and arms were getting bigger, but my legs were still puny.

Then one day I happened to peer into the window of a CrossFit gym as I walked by. The setup--the medicine balls and towering rigs and the barbells--what was this place? I signed up for a class and wondered how hard could it be? I thought I was in shape because my muscles looked pretty big. I thought I'd rock it.

Wrong. I learned that first day that I had been wasting my time. I was ignoring nutrition. I was training for aesthetics when I could be training for performance at the same time. And even though I got my ass kicked, I got high from the feeling after such an exhausting workout. I enjoyed the class setting as opposed to averting awkward eye contact through the mirrors while in between sets at the regular gym. With repeated practice I got better, I  developed a visible butt, and eventually my back problems disappeared. My confidence improved and I made new friends. That was the day I went CrossFit and never went back.

[fitgil]

How I survived my first CrossFit competition

After CrossFitting on and off for years, I finally stuck with it long enough in the past year to make enough strength and endurance gains to feel comfortable in a competition. And since I'm now going to competitions anyway as a vendor for my CrossFit clothing line, I figured why not. On top of all that, the event I attended, the Deep South Shootout, is organized by my home box CrossFit NOLA. I had a lot of questions going into it, and I'll try to summarize my thoughts into a Q&A format.

How did you know it was time to compete?

On a regular basis my WOD scores were often within the top 3 in my class. This doesn't include the really serious athletes, who either do a separate Competitors class or follow their own program.

Also, I had the time to train 4-5 days a week for 2 months leading up to the competition.

Finally, the movements and weights to be used in the competition were posted in advance (but NOT the workouts themselves), and I chose the Scaled division since I knew I could handle those weights with no problems (95 lb overhead squats, 185 lb deadlift, etc). While I'm technical enough to handle the movements in the RX division, there's no way I could maintain the weights (165 lb squat snatches, 285 lb deadlifts) for multiple reps. 

How did you train?

I had two months to train. I reasoned that endurance can be built much more quickly than strength, and started focusing primarily on WODs instead of power/olympic lifting.

3-4 days per week I would wake up, drink a large glass of water, and do a quick home workout. 3 sets of KB swings and either situps or pushups. Then a quick 1.25 mile run around my neighborhood. A quick 20 minutes.

Regular WOD classes 4-5 evenings per week. Sometimes if I were feeling beat up I would attend a powerlifting class instead of a WOD. I made sure to hit both squat and deadlift at least once a week because those are my biggest weaknesses. 

Wallballs were another weakness. The competition weight was 14 pounds, but I trained with 20lbs. I did Karen (150 wallballs for time) several times. I got to the point where I could do the first 50 without stopping. 

A few times I made up my own WODs based on the movements posted in advance. One was 21-15-9 overhead squats, russian KB swings, and hand release pushups. After each round of overhead squats there was also a long sandbag carry. That was a pretty brutal workout and I chose not to repeat it!

A week before the competition they posted the workouts themselves. Unfortunately I was on vacation and was only able to try one of them before the competition. Since I could only pick one, I went for the one I was most intimidated by. This way I could develop a strategy for completing it.

What was it like once you got there?

The event was in an a very large sheltered barn-like building. There was an early morning athlete meeting at 7:30am to go over the workouts and standards. The event was an hour away, meaning I had to leave home about 6:15am in order to make it there on time. There were four different spaces used for staging the five workouts. 

I wasn't sure what my competitors would be like given that I signed up for the Scaled division. It turns out some of the competitors were actually much bigger than me. That made me slightly concerned, but I knew there wasn't anything I could do about it then.

I expected the first workout to be my most challenging, and sure enough I bombed it by finishing 21st out of 30. The other four workouts were much easier for me, and I finished consistently between 8th and 10th.

What were the workouts?

The workouts for the Scaled division I participated in are listed here.

What did you eat and how did you maintain energy?

Typically the smaller events I've been to (several hundred competitors) don't have a lot of food options. There's usually a concession area selling nachos and other unhealthy fare, but not much else. If I were going to make it through five workouts, I had to plan ahead. I posted on reddit and got some feedback that was mainly along the lines of "don't do anything unusual for you" and "eat stuff that metabolizes quickly." 

I wound up packing a small ice cooler with 3 bottles of water, 2 electrolyte drinks, and 1 energy drink. I also packed a tupperware with mashed sweet potatoes and grilled brussel sprouts. I brought my normal bag of protein powder too. 

The electrolyte drink (pictured below, right) and BCAA/caffeine energy drink (below, left) are definitely unusual for me. I rarely consume sugar, and these things are loaded with it. Was definitely a gamble, however I figured I might need all that fast-metabolizing sugar in order to stay energetic throughout the day.

I drank 1/2 of the sports drink immediately after each workout. Beginning with the second workout I drank 1/4 of the red energy drink about 30 minutes prior to the next workout. This drink has plenty of aminos and a little caffeine. Drinking that little bit gives you a little pep, but I never felt jittery at all (I imagine I would if I drank it all at once, which the bottle clearly says not to). Also, Progenix was there giving out free samples of a recovery drink, and I sampled one of those after a particularly exhausting workout.

I ate my sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts at noon. It gave me a bit of a stomach ache, but by the time my next workout started an hour later I did not feel bad.  

Throughout the day my energy levels were consistent, and I felt relatively good except for lots and lots of muscle tightness immediately after each workout (which was to be expected, obviously).

Is there anything else you wish you would have brought?

I brought my own jump rope because it's such an essential piece of equipment to have customized. I also brought an extra t-shirt so I could change after I got crazy sweaty. In the morning it looked like it might rain during our running WOD, and I started to wish I had brought an extra pair of shorts in case I got wet. Also, I wish I would have brought a hoodie to stay warm.

Were you nervous?

Surprisingly not. I get very nervous in anticipation of speaking in front of large groups, but managed to resist that feeling while walking up to perform my workouts. I figured I would be more nervous. I give the credit to the fact that I spent a few hours (spaced over a week) meditating about the competition. I mentally walked through each workout several times, imagining where I would pause for a break, imagining what the burn would feel like and how I would deal with it. The mind is a very powerful thing. If you're interested in reading more about how to use mental pictures to improve performance, check out the book Psycho Cybernetics.

How did you do?

I finished 9th overall out of 30 athletes. I'm happy with that considering it's my first competition. Plus, there were no unpleasant surprises in that I knew exactly what my weak points were and I didn't discover any new ones. To improve my placement in future competitions all I need to do is just work on those couple of weaknesses.

If there is one thing I wish I would have been more mindful of during the competition, it's that every last rep counts. I discovered only after the competition was over that there was at least one workout where if I had completed just 3 more reps I could have moved up to 7th place in the overall rankings. I felt like I gave it my all, but perhaps if I had someone yell "3 more reps damnit" I would have gotten those too.

I talked with the athletes in my division many times throughout the day, and they were all very friendly and willing to share tips. It was competitive but friendly, and I loved that. 

What's next?

Now that the competition is over, I'm going to ramp down the cardio and begin focusing on strength again. My goal is to add 50 pounds to my squat and deadlift in the next 5 months, so I have plenty of work to do. If I can meet this goal then I'll have much more success in competitions. Wish me luck!

[fitgil]

Average American Male's Body Looks Like THIS

This is the average American male in his 30s.

This is just confirming something we all know. Americans, on average, are fat. With all the emphasis on fast food and "just 8 minutes a day" workouts, there's no doubt it's a combination of poor diet and lack of exercise.

Another insight is that fat people are more likely to have fat friends.

The good news is that healthy food can also taste really good (just look at my photo post for examples). Exercising can also be fun and rewarding, especially in a group setting. In my city there are kickball leagues, bike runs, frequent mini marathons, and of course CrossFit. 

So how do you stack up to the average? 

[fitgil]

How to get Double Unders in CrossFit

For an entire month in high school our PE class required us to participate in a jump rope skill session. There were 20 different variations--from front to backward to alternating backward criss-cross--that we had to master in order to graduate. During the final test, our coach would call out different variations randomly, and we had to transition from one to the next without getting caught up in the rope. 

I didn't learn what a double under was until I started CrossFit, but because of the intense class in high school I suppose I picked up on it a little more quickly than most. Even so, I'm not going to lie--if I'm on the 4th set of an intense WOD and my shoulders are on fire, I sometimes still suck pretty bad.

The good news is that for beginners there are some very simple tips that make doubleunders easier:

DON'T pick up your knees, you will get tired quick.Keep your knees almost entirely straight. 95% of your jump should come from your calves.

DON'T swing with your elbows either. Flick the rope with your wrists.

Practice both of those with single unders until you feel the difference.

Invest in a nice wire rope so you don't have to use the ratty beat up ones at the gym, and never beat yours up on concrete.

Practice, practice, practice. When trying to acquire a new skill, show up to the gym 5 minutes early to each class and practice your jump rope. In a month you'll have double unders, guaranteed. 

Here's a great video that shows all these tips in action:

[fitgil]

Versa Gripps for CrossFit

I'd been searching for some kind of a fix for my pullup problem. What's my pullup problem? Well, it's two- fold: Fingers slipping. First, I'm great at explosive strength, which makes kipping pullups a breeze. as long as I can hold on to...

There weren't a whole lot of CrossFit-specific reviews of Versa Gripps, so after ordering some I decided to review it myself.

[fitgil]

My newest venture: a CrossFit clothing company named WodUp Apparel. This has been a dream of mine for years, but I never had the right foundation to make it happen. Recently I found the right partner, and we got right to work.

The name is a play on "WOD", an acronym for Workout of the Day. Our emphasis is on form fitting, high quality fabrics, and our designs are aspirational, not elitist (less "look at me, I'm a badass" and more "fitness is cool".  Our first T-shirts are on sale now, and we'll offer other gear such as shorts, hoodies, socks, and more in the future. 

[fitgil]

Surviving and Thriving the Whole Life Challenge

Eight short weeks ago the Challenge began. What started as a way to detox after the gluttony of Mardi Gras eventually became so much more. Mid way through, once I nailed the diet, a spark ignited. I shifted gears and ramped up the frequency and intensity of my workouts. I got excited about overcoming the speed bumps in performance that usually seem like physical limitations.

If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.

-Bruce Lee

Enough with the philosophy, what did I really accomplish? Based on my Starting Point, I:

Completed another 16 reps in the benchmark workout (all the other activities, plus 64 pushups before time ran out)

Dropped 4 pounds of fat and gained 6 lbs of lean muscle (total 2 lb weight gain)

2.5% body fat decrease (now 8.2%)

Lost 1 inch in waist size (enough to need a belt)

Felt healthier, had more energy, and maintained a steady rhythm

Sure, I lost some weight and felt healthier, but did I actually become healthier? According to my post-Challenge blood test, I:

Lowered my LDL (bad) cholesterol by 13 mg/dL. Still not optimal, but much closer to where I need to be.

Increased my Vitamin D levels. Again, not in the optimum range, but much closer. With warm weather fast approaching, I expect to continue improving on this one.

Drastically reduced my C-Reactive Protein levels. These proteins are a measure of inflammation in the body, so reducing this was a huge win.

Got a handle on my glucose levels. If there's anything I learned during the Challenge, it's that sugar and simple carbs can be horribly toxic. Stay away from the stuff!

Closing Thoughts

For the first few weeks of the Challenge, I was really pumped. I followed the diet religiously and avoided cheating on the weekends. This was made easier by having a few close friends doing the Challenge with me.

Yet somewhere along the way I lost the willpower to be extremely strict on the diet. The last couple weeks I cheated about 30% of the time. However, I ramped up my workouts considerably, and the diet is what got me into such a high energy, high growth mode. So I'm perfectly happy with the first month being dedicated to getting my diet back in line, and the second month dedicated to ramping up my workouts. I'm stronger than ever, and according to my blood work, I'm also healthier than I've been in a while. By those standards, the Challenge was well worth the sacrifice.

What's next? I'm experimenting with a different diet strategy for powerlifters called carb backloading. More on that soon...

[fitgil]

No surprise here...

[fitgil]

Setback, or Restback?

Since the Challenge began I've been exercising pretty hard. CrossFit four days a week, plus active recovery (at least 10 minutes of movement or exercise per day) on the off days. Some old injuries started flaring up. Last week, a foot injury came back and I was limping around the gym and modifying all my workouts. I started a joint supplement.

Last weekend I attended a music festival and ate and drank way more than I should have. I was out late. It caught up to me on Sunday, and I got physically sick with some kind of infection. I was delirious most of Sunday and Monday with flu-like symptoms, and Tuesday I started getting slightly better. The whole time I'm barely eating, and thinking that this is just ruining my Challenge. I thought I was done.

Yet today was a good day. I was dragged back to the gym, and after a bit of hesitation I felt stronger than ever. Was my body progressively shutting down more and more because I refused to listen to its pleas for rest? In any case, just a friendly reminder to take a break now and then.

Now I'm back.