My fitness journey: one week into CrossFit

I finished a week of CrossFit, which I started after a summer that was primarily strength training and making the move over August.  This week included a session in a CrossFit box (gym) that was hosting a #22toomany fundraiser for prevention of Veteran suicides, a week starting the StreetParking Workout of the Day's, and finally, a HeroWOD as my BirthdayWOD.  For anyone my age, where we are in fitness is a state in a long running journey.

I started running recreationally in college. After college I lived in the Washington DC area, and I started running consistently.  Over my DC years, I built up my running to the point that 5K and 10K runs were nothing special. I was not very fast, but I could put up miles.

Chicago Marathon support crew

Running and biking were constants in grad school.  I often commuted by bike.  I also did more hiking and backpacking.  After a weekend backpacking, I realized that the hours I put in were more than the time it took to run a marathon.  So I spent the rest of that year building up to the Chicago marathon.  Over the years, I've run 6 marathons (Chicago three times, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Bagram) and numerous half marathons.  During this period, I could run a 2 hour half marathon without training specifically for it. I also did the Rachel Carson Challenge three time (32 miles, dawn to dusk over hills and terrain).

Rock and Roll Marathon - Bagram Air Base (Afghanistan)

Rachel Carson Challenge

Hills on the Rachel Carson Challeng

So the big interruption was kids.  I no longer justified multiple hour training runs on my weekend mornings.  And actually driving to work meant that it was harder to get time for regular runs on workdays.  So that started to stagnate.  The next milestone was when my son started taekwondo.  Once we figured out that this was going to stick, I started TKD myself.  (I said, half-jokingly, that my real purpose was so I can get a good look at the kids who would become my son's instructors once they became teenagers).  This turned out to be very good.  TKD forms were essentially skill work (which I appreciate in all of its forms). The bodyweight exercises were the beginnings of strength training, and sparring and bagwork provided good conditioning training.  And I still ran enough that my general conditioning was good enough to keep up with the teens who shared class with the adults.

Self-defense technique testing at ATA TKD

A few years of TKD and I was approaching my black belt.  So I started looking to see how I could supplement that (as a blackbelt is no longer considered a beginner). Last year I started looking at strength training.  I had already been using Stack 52 bodyweight exercise cards with my son, so I started with their cards for dumbbells (I had an old set) and resistance bands.  I also started buying additional plates.  I got a bit more serious in Winter, getting a book on strength training (Push, pull, swing by Wyatt Murphy) which gave me principles on starting a workout.  I settled into a routine where twice a week I would have a workout that focused on strength, with deadlifts, squats, and bench presses getting primacy, then other exercises, finishing with conditioning (high rep swings and compound movements).  By the beginning of the summer, I had to buy additional plates.  Over my vacation in June I found the hotel weight room, and I continued my 5 day a week of workouts including 2 days a week of strength.  By this point I was using 45 lb dumbbells for my deadlifts, squats and bench presses,  30 lb dumbbells for swings and related exercises.

When I got home, I realized that I was at a point that getting some instruction would be useful so I bought a set of 5 personal trainer sessions at the YMCA.  While I did achieve my goal of improving form on deadlifts, squats, and bench presses, I realized that what I really got out of it was a range of other workouts.  Also I realized that I really was not interested in the machines (they had only one power rack, two benches, and one smith machine as well as one deadlift platform, so not all that much room for free weights compared to the rows of machines).  Third, I also realized that I wanted my non-TKD workouts to provide both strength and conditioning.  And while I was good at pushing strength (I had been on the linear curve for 8 months by then), good conditioning workouts require outside intervention.  And, while I liked my trainer, $40 per session (and that is factoring in the free intro) was more than I wanted to pay, because at some point, he was more of a programmer and cheerleader than an instructor.

So, what did I want?  I was looking for programming, that provided strength and conditioning, that was reasonably fast (1/2~1 hour in a session), and I could do at home (mats on floor for bodyweight, dumbbells, suspension straps, medicine ball, punching bags.)  And I had no intention of buying a barbell and rack (because then I would have to figure out where to put them)

Given that my goal was strength and conditioning, I started looking at CrossFit. A CrossFit gym membership was looking expensive, especially considering this would be my second fitness cost (I am continuing TKD).  So I was looking at the online only programs.  Problem I found here is that most online programs were aimed at people who were competitive, e.g. who had a goal of doing well in competitive fitness such as the CrossFit Open (and highlighted their athletes who qualified for regional and national level competitions.)  Strength based training all had as a starting point a barbell and a powerrack as basic equipment (actually, they all had an attitude that being able to work with a barbell and power rack counted as minimalism) StreetParking stood out in that they scaled (had variations of workouts using either lower weight or easier movements for people who could not do the prescribed workout) and they guaranteed that one of the three main variations on the WOD would be for people who only had dumbbells and a jump rope, which was a unique variation on minimalism that counted me in.

In August I started doing a few sample workouts they had posted on their YouTube channel, as well as some workouts being done by other people who were posting sample workouts as reviews on the programming. These were hard, but I could do them with scaling.  And I was pretty wiped out when I was done.  This was a good combination of characteristics, so I signed up.

What is CrossFit? The definition comes from Greg Glassman, the founder:

CrossFit is constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity.

• Constantly varied means that workouts will change daily, with many variations on exercises to ensure that all muscles get targeted over any reasonable period of time.  More notes to follow
• Functional movements means that workouts would be in a manner similar to that experienced in the real world. This means multiple muscle groups and multiple planes of motion.  This contrasts with isolation exercises (single muscle) and exercise machines (which are all designed to focus on one plane or axis of motion per machine)
• High intensity means that the workouts are designed to increase power, which is Force * Distance/time.  So this means maximizing the combination of weight and distance traveled over the course of a period of time.  This is in contrast to focusing only on force (i.e. powerlifting) or only on distance (which is what endurance or cardio workouts do) 

In their definition of fitness, CrossFit recognizes that there are 10 broad areas of fitness: What is Fitness?. They are cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy.  And the exercises they use to get there are taken from gymnastics, power and olympic lifting, and endurance sports.  

One thing that CrossFit shares with its other weightlifting cousins (powerlifting, bodybuilding, olympic lifting) is the need to collect data on progress.  This is more difficult for CrossFit because of the large number of different workouts.  But there are a number of benchmark workouts, known as The girls (because they are all given girls names) that serve as touchstones.  And every CrossFit program will include them periodically to give their members personal benchmarks of progress over time, and to allow comparisons across programs.

In the week (seven days) of my official CrossFit journey (not counting the sample workouts I tried out), I went going to a fundraising event (22 too many by Active Heroes) at a local CrossFit gym on Sunday, where they essentially did a hero Workout of the Day (WOD).  I did 4 of 5 workouts at Street Parking. Then for my birthday I did a Hero WOD (Saman).  In CrossFit, Hero WOD are named after those who die in service (i.e. military or first responders).  One way I have read it described was that a Hero WOD is supposed to remind you of a young man at the peak of their physical prowess, who died in action.  So these are much harder than the norm. Often, it is a favored workout of that hero. Other times it is designed symbolically (the Saman workout is one of these). But it is not designed for the average person to be able to complete.

Went with A (dd4) to @cfironcity for the #22istoomany veteran suicides WOD fundraiser for @activeheroes. A was a champ. Several new movement for me. Calorie rows, atomic sit-ups, and DB snatches were brand new for me, and I’m still working on getting a good feel for wall balls. This was a very good first visit to a #CrossFit box for me. And A did very well as we figured out a version of each exercise for her. #daddydaughterworkout #firsttimeinabox

A post shared by Louis L (@lluang70) on Aug 19, 2018 at 1:11pm PDT

Some thoughts:

• I definitely get the constantly varied part.  So far, I have been keeping my weights down because every workout has at least one movement that I have not yet gotten into a good rhythm.  
• There is still strength training. I have seen deadlifts, squats, thrusters (variation on presses),  cleans, and snatches.  No bench presses, but that is the only one of the standard powerlifting and olympic lifting moves that I have not seen in only one week.  And I am nowhere near the prescribed weights for any of them (My best deadlift is 150, squat is 135, bench press is 125 using bars) so I have a long way to go.  There are also a mix of reps, sometimes low (4-6), sometimes the high reps that CrossFit is infamous for, but those high rep exercises are also prescribed to lower weights.
• I believe in scaling. Scaling in CrossFit is the practice of doing an exercise at a lower weight so that you can do it correctly over the reps given.  Alternatively, if an exercise is beyond the skill/strength of the athlete, alternative exercises that target the same muscles and motions can be substituted, presumably keeping the athlete on the path towards achieving the correct exercise someday. This should still make the last set very difficult. 
• I still get endurance.  There was a 22 Cal row at the CrossFit gym. The workouts I have done also have included 3 medium distance runs. (1 mile, 400m, 3.2km).  Strength plus cardio in a single workout becomes incredibly efficient use of workout time.
• For conditioning, I am consistently worn out by the end of the workout. More workouts than not include a time where my shirt is off and I am on my back. Funny story.  I lay down in the middle of the 22toomany workout (after exercise #18 or so out of 22, and my 4 year old comes next to me and shakes me saying "exercise, exercise"
• I have done my first benchmark WOD (Fran, but embedded in another workout), and my first hero WOD (Saman)
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@garagexfitshupe did the posted 7.26.18 #streetparking workout on his YouTube channel so I tried too. (6 rounds 12x deadlifts 18x tuck jumps (subs for box jump overs) Just this past May I reached a milestone because I had to go out and buy plates so I could put 2x 46 lbs on my dumbbells for 3x4 deadlifts. Now I can look at a WOD asking for 6 round of 12x and think I can do that. Of course, the deadlifts were not the problem, it was the 18 tuck jumps (sub for box jump overs) mixed in that got me.

A post shared by Louis L (@lluang70) on Aug 17, 2018 at 7:27pm PDT

For my #birthdaywod instead of following #streetparking I did the #samanherowod, created by #crossfitchangmai and named after Saman Kunan, the former Thai Navy SEAL who died while part of the #thamluang cave rescue. 8 rounds, 400 m run, 13 deadlifts (@repfitnessequipment sandbag) 17 wall balls (10#medicine ball) representing 13 rescuees, 17 days trapped, and the 3.2 km of cave. The hard part of the workout was actually the wall balls, because I have not gotten a good rhythm for those. This workout took care of that. By the time I was done, my counting skills were suspect, and form was falling apart. But I think that is not uncommon on a #herowod . This mark the end of one week of #streetparking . Sunday was @cfironcity with my daughter for the #22toomany🇺🇸 workout then 4 Street Parking workouts and today. Many thanks to @thegymlabrat , @myleslifts , @schoes84 @jecker @streetparkingmembers @009julian @fearlessmiranda @ryanpkillacky @trulychiro and @cfironcity for encouragement and companions along the way. #garagegym #homegym #thamluangcave #hillworkout #trainoutside

A post shared by Louis L (@lluang70) on Aug 25, 2018 at 6:16am PDT

Parenting Month 92: camps and martial arts

Now that we are back from travels we are back to the summer. And when kids are involved, this means summer camps. The thing about these summer camps, there are basically half-day camps and full day camps.  And every after school activity under the sun has them. They typically go on for a week at a time.  Because the population changes every week, there really is not an opportunity to go really deep in anything, and get the idea that kids are basically using the summer to get a range of activities in, but not really depth.  And for families like ours that take half the summer to go on vacation, that format works well, take vacation then do camps to fill in the rest of the time.

T had three camps.  Swimming, taekwondo, and robotics.  A now joined in the summer camp fun with swimming, exercise (YMCA), and ballet.  There are some obvious benefits.  For both of them their swimming improved in describable and measurable ways.  The exercise camp seemed fun, but she did not remember much from it. (she thinks that the teachers are using exercise cards like we do at home to create random workouts).  And ballet was fun, but like a typical 4 year old she was sort of doing her own thing.

There is an advantage to socialization, but that will not really be there until we figure out how to be a part of the group negotiating process of kids figuring out what camps they will attend together.  Another advantage is for the longer term relationships.  The TKD camp at his normal TKD school, and the robotics camp where there people who remember T from year to year.

The other bigger event was T joining the Leadership class at his TKD school.  Many martial arts schools have a class where they give additional training. In this school, this includes additional weapons, closer attention to techniques, and closer attention in general.  In addition, this provides the pool for future instructors as well as the training for those who wish to more seriously compete (most of T's competitors in his last tournament were in this program at their schools).

We have been looking at this for some time, but decided to put it off until he finished 2nd grade and had advanced to black belt. Our feelings were that he already is pretty identifiably as the smallest kid in whatever he is in (in his ATA school, there was one smaller around his rank)  We had discussed this with some other parents of kids as they were advancing in rank together to coordinate this decision knowing our kids will want to talk about this at some point.  But what we thought of is that T is the kid who responds well to close attention, and this makes a difference for him. And certainly, his history of placing at both tournaments he has gone to is also a good sign.




Up for August, a visit from a cousin, and one more month before back to school.