Actually, I can...

Fil-Am in Malaysia, Fitness, Focus & Food fan!

[icanvince2-blog]

Squat Snatch & Front Squats at 60 kgs 

Today, I did Squat Snatch at 52 kg to train my 80%. This is a good workout to train up on my Snatches. For the WOD I was going to do only 52 kgs but then decided I needed to try closer to the RX weight of 70 kg. So, I did 60 kg and was quite proud of doing that because I normally don't train with that weight. Even though I didn't finish the rounds at least I did 3 freakin rounds! Heck ya! Feeling great but need to continue training this weight or higher for future trainings.

[icanvince2-blog]

What I learned from today’s workout...

I will need to work on increasing my snatch weight for WODs and trying to finish the workout in the time cap given.  Keep striving high!

[icanvince2-blog]

“Santiago”

Santiago Challenges - Power Cleans at 60 kgs - Dumbell Hang Squat Clean 

Santiago Strength - Pull Ups - Handstand Push Ups 

Reflection... I was happy and not happy today. I did the prescribed weights and a Hero WOD so this is one of the few times I've attempted RX weights. Woohoo! But the part I need to improve is my Power Clean to USE MORE LEGS and DO MULTIPLE REPS all at once and not reset all the time as my coach tells me. I have a bad habit to reset and use up time resting too much.  I plan to come in the mornings to train strength and skills. They say I've got the strength now and I just need to refine my skills. 

 Rest, massage and protein shake and good sleep are what’s on my mind!

[icanvince2-blog]

Thrusters! 

Yes, these were always a challenge for me but today I realized 2 things that helped make these Thrusters doable: 

*refer to my stick figure drawings 

1) As you come down from the overhead into the squat you should contact the bar on your shoulders as you go down. 

2) Squeeze the butt up like a push press so that your legs help to bring the bar up. I'm working toward my goal of making 60 kg Thrusters an "easy" weight for me to do, just as 40 kg is "easy" (relatively speaking) to do a thruster. 

Oh, don't forget to eat clean, because if not you will cramp earlier and not feel as strong during the WOD.  

[icanvince2-blog]

Push Press and “Helen”

Push Press and Helen PR'd on Push Press 1 RM at 72.5 kg

Did “Helen” but not so heavy with the Kettle Ball swing, which makes my score void. Womp womp. I practiced my Cleans because they are giving me trouble. Two of my buddies helped me to try to use my legs more and extend. I did some jumping exercises to help me practice and used an empty bar to feel the weightlessness. One of them mentioned that I should practice some drills and come morning to practice more on these.  I shall do!

 ...I then did 5 bar muscle ups and so I know I can still do them. I wasn’t sure if I could still remember how to do them because its been a while since I last practiced.  But, I still CAN!  Yes!!

[icanvince2-blog]

CrossFit Total: Deadlift Attempt 1 

Rule: You must bring bar down slowly and cannot just drop the bar. 

I like deadlifts, but I have a tendency to round my back which is very unsafe. So, I really need to start off by dropping down and it should not be like the start for clean or snatch.  What I mean to say is that you just bring yourself down to the bar, set up and then immediately pull up. The lifting is the most difficult part and as you bring it down I found it to be okay.  As you continue multiple reps of the deadlift, I should do it in a “touch and go” way.  This means that as the bar drops, you immedately use the momentum and raise it back up.  Repeat.   

I need to remember to embrace my core and feel the tightness in my body as I come up. I recorded the first 2 but ran out of space on memory for the PR weight haha. Perfect timing to runout of space! Attempt 1: 140 kg Attempt 2: 150 kg Attempt 4: 160 kg PR

[icanvince2-blog]

CrossFit Total at CrossFit 5833!

CrossFit Total Today we started CrossFit Total and I'm super excited because I wanna see my progress at the end of the month. 

What is CrossFit Total? Essentially it is a month long strength training program that focuses on 3 movements: Back squats, Strict presses and Deadlifts.  You can see my initial scores from the beginning of the month.  We then will have lots of strength training for these movements for the month and then cycle back to hopefully have strengthened our movements.  

This gives me a focus during our strength training and builds up to heavier lift for each of them.  Today, I PR'd on my Back Squats at 110kg and a Strict Press of 55kg. Looking forward to the gainz after the end of the month!

[icanvince2-blog]

Butterfly Pull Ups 101

I learned the Butterfly pull up today at Pushmore CrossFit. I was quite excited because it looks so smooth when others do it and I have always wanted to progress to it. The structure that I was coached to try was this: 

Hollow 

Superman 

Hollow (knee up and let the arms go fully down) 

Into a Superman again Repeat 

I was able to string together 2 in a row, which makes it a PR for me in this respect. I'm looking to practice this again so that I can do this as though its a walk in the park hehe. The challenge is getting the rhythm right. The tempo is sort of like getting the Double Unders. You have to find the right tempo in order to get it correct. I learned this while at 5833 and Tony mentioned I'm rushing to pull myself up but I have to be patient and drop first before so I can get into a Superman. Thankful for the tips!

[icanvince2-blog]

Backsquat PR!

Today was a PR for me with a Backsquat of 80kg for 5 consecutive reps. My last recording of this was 65 kg back in November of 2015. I also did quite well for my Metcon doing 7 rounds +++ for 25 DU's, 12 Burpees and 9 Pull Ups. Feeling good and strong. Spoke with coach and he complimented me on the size of my arms. That's a good sign! And he recommended that I eat one more mean a day for tea time like almonds or steamed veggies to reach my goal of 65 Kg. He also recommended that I do GHD but facing down to work on my back instead of the other way. I'll need to give all a try!

[icanvince2-blog]

Know your weights & movements...

...because if you don’t, then it could be a recipe for injury.  I thought my max weight for shoulder press would be around 60 kg, but in reality it was 45 kg.  This is important as I set up my strength training to my capabilities. 

...because if you don’t, you may be doing the wrong type of movement...and get some awkward stares from everyone. This is what happened to me! hehe 

I relearned the 4 types of presses.  Look at the bottom right of the photo at my stick figure drawings, which helps me to remember the 4 types of “Presses.” 

Shoulder press (aka strict press)

Push Press

Push Jerk

Split Jerk

[icanvince2-blog]

Qualified for X45 Challenge Team 2016

Well, we made it past the qualifiers! I’m pretty excited that we made it through given that I had not trained for 2 weeks straight and I had a muscle strain the day of the workout. I’ve never felt the nerves and pain all in one WOD but I learned to persevere through it. We are just waiting now to see if my teammate can join and I hope she does because would love to train for this and compete with the big guys. We placed in top 20 which is awesome considering the level of competition. I know that if we do go, I will need to train harder, smarter and often. Some things I already know are my weakness:

Clean and Jerk 

Snatch

Overhead press

Anything with an overhead press and squat combined

I will need to keep on my nutrition and eat more carbs and protein.

[icanvince2-blog]

Hang Cleans x 3 (my max 60 kg x 2)

Today the challenge was Hang Cleans x 3 which means you do them 3 times in a row for 8 sets. As you can see my weights are listed and 60kg was max 2 set rep. This was actually quite difficult for me because of the time limit and amount of weight. But this is a good training for the Cleans especially in a WOD. Again, technique is so important so that under the pressure you can still execute a smooth movement.