I had many successes in my first cycle and learned a lot about myself:
- My 5 rep DL went from 215-240# BUT (there's always a but) I am doing some sort of romanian DL and using ALL hamstrings. Really need to work on form here, I can be SO much stronger!
- My 1 rep clean and jerk went from 155-170#! (Here is my video @ 170#)
- My 1 rep snatch went from 115-130#.
- 5 Min of HSPU went from 32 reps to 50 reps.
- 5 Min of push ups went from 75-98!
- Death by GHD went from 51 reps to 106 reps! That's more than DOUBLE!
- I consistently ran, rowed, or biked 5 times a week! (This was probably my biggest accomplishment)
Some things I learned:
- I really need to work on my OHS.
- I tend to pace - always - when I do burpees. I got the exact same number 5 weeks in a row for my 5 minutes of burpees, why couldn't I do at least 1 more rep each week? On week 6, I got 1 more rep. (Need to push out of my comfort zone.)
- Anything power (clean or snatch) is hard for me, I'd love to SQUAT everything;0)
- Remember that pushing out of my comfort zone? It needs to happen on the bike, row, and run as well!
- At approximately 4 weeks into this cycle, my body crashed hard and I had to adjust my food and supplementation to accommodate for this! I'll give details on that below;0)
During my deload/ rest period I hit some PR's that I have been trying to get FOREVER! I finally got 175# on my jerk and I got 5 reps 180# on my front squat.
As I move into this next phase of training, Nick is working on pushing me out of my comfort zone. Speed, Endurance, Heavy breathing are all in my future!
FOOD IS SO IMPORTANT:
I noticed right away that I needed to up my carbohydrate's on my workout days. Which happened to be every day but Sunday. I added rice, sweet potato, red potato to my meals and tried to get those in at least 2x a day.
My body adjusted well for the first few weeks but in week 4 I literally felt like I was falling apart. I know this was my body adapting to the work load - I had added 8-10 workouts weekly to my already full schedule. At that point I decided to add a post workout protein powder, I had been mixing my own with collagen, chia seeds, maca powder and greens and would eat that with a banana post wod. But here lately I wasn't recovering, always sore, and so so tired.
I added SFH Pure Whey Protein post wod and continued to eat the banana as well. This helped but I still noticed soreness like I've never had before. About a week later, I added a pre-workout of SFH Push, this seemed to make a difference mostly during the workout, I felt like I had an increase of energy mostly during the WOD. I still had unnecessary soreness the last two weeks of this cycle. During my deload weeks I sought out other possible solutions for recovery.
SLEEP IS SO IMPORTANT:
I started going to bed earlier and making sure I got a nap EVERY day. Even on days that I didn't train, I would still follow that same routine. I worked on getting 7-9 hours of sleep at night and at least a 1 hour nap during the day, sometimes 2 hours. This seemed to help a lot!
PROACTIVE STRETCHING, MASSAGE and ART are SO SO IMPORTANT:I added a biweekly massage to my schedule. Weekly yoga sessions usually on my rest day. And started seeing Dr. Leffler for ART on my neck and shoulders (where I was holding ALL of my soreness!) As I move into the next cycle I am focusing strongly on warm-up using the crossover symmetry, flossing exercises for my neck and shoulders, core strength through baby rolls and belly breathing. I will also do these as a cool down. Sticking with the yoga on rest days and getting my bi-weekly massage along with my weekly ART session should help relieve some of this muscle soreness.
So, I am heading strong into my next cycle, I'm excited to see what Nick has put together for me and as I start this first week I get flutters every time I walk into the gym. Good flutters. I love what I do and can't wait to see what the future holds for me as a CrossFit Masters Athlete!!
