90 Day Paleo Challenge

Today is day one of my third attempt at completing a 90 Day Paleo Challenge. Attempt #1 I lasted through 70+ days, my second try only lasted 10 days. This time around I intend to stay strict paleo all the way through.

091003

Rx
For time:
Run 800 meters
15 left-legged pistols
15 right-legged pistols
25 sit-ups
12 left-legged pistols
12 right-legged pistols
25 sit-ups
9 right-legged pistols
9 left legged pistols
25 sit-ups
Run 800 meters

Score: 17:49 Rx

090923

Rx
Five rounds for max reps of:
Body weight bench press
Pull-ups
Body weight back squat

Score: Rx
BP: 18-14-10-9-6 @185#
PU: 13-10-9-7-6
BS: 7-5-6-7-7 @185#
Total Reps: 57+45+32=134

090919

Rx
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 rep rounds of:
Handstand push-ups
L-pull-ups

21-15-9-3 rep rounds of:
Handstand push-ups
L-pull-ups
Time: 19:45

090918

Rx
Five rounds for time of:
30 Glute-ham sit-ups
25 Back extensions

Time: 14:57

090917

Rx
"Daniel"
For time:
50 Pull-ups
400 meter run
95 pound Thruster, 21 reps
800 meter run
95 pound Thruster, 21 reps
400 meter run
50 Pull-ups

35 Pull-ups
400 meter run
95 pound Thruster, 21 reps
800 meter run
95 pound Thruster, 21 reps
400 meter run
35 Pull-ups
Time: 32:00

090915

Rx
Front squat 3-3-3-3-3 reps

Score:
135-155-165-175(f)-165

090913

Rv
"Diane"
21-15-9 reps of:
225 pound Deadlift
Handstand push-ups

15-9-6 reps of:
225 pound Deadlift
Handstand push-ups
Time: 24:57

090911

Rv
"Barbara"
Five rounds, each for time of:
20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats

2 rounds, each for time of:
20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats
Time 24:18

090909

Rv
Four rounds for time of:
100 ft Walking lunge, carrying 30 pound dumbbells
24 inch Box Jump, 30 reps
30 pound Weighted pull-ups, 20 reps

2 rounds for time:
100 ft Walking lunge, carrying 30 pound dumbbells
24 inch Box Jump, 30 reps
30 pound Weighted pull-ups, 20 reps
Time: 24:00

090907

Rx
"CrossFit Total"
Back squat, 1 rep
Shoulder Press, 1 rep
Deadlift, 1 rep

BS: 185-205(f)-205(f)-205x2(3/4 rom)
SP: 135-155(pr)-165(f)-165(f)
DL: 225-265(pr)-275(f)-275(f)
Total: 625 (PR) +50#

Really disappointed in the BS, down 10# from last time. Good overall increase for the CFT but not satisfied. SP +20#, DL +40#

090906

Rx
6 rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
25 Burpees

4 rounds
Run 400m
25 Burpees
Time: 19:47

almost died on the last run

090903

Rx
Run 5 K

Ran 1 mile... 8:30

got a cramp and wussed out man my cardio is sucking without basketball

090902

Rx
"Elizabeth"
21-15-9 reps of:
Clean 135 pounds
Ring dips

21-15-9
Power Clean 95#
42-30-18
Bar Dips
Time: 18:51

Felt strong on the dips. Ate bad again last night and didn't get enough sleep. Time to get back to it. No seriously...

090901

Rx
For time:
Row 1000 meters
95 pound barbell Thruster, 21 reps
21 Pull-ups
Row 750 meters
95 pound barbell Thruster, 15 reps
15 Pull-ups
Row 500 meters
95 pound barbell Thruster, 9 reps
9 Pull-ups

Row 1000 meters
95 pound barbell Thruster, 21 reps
21 Pull-ups
Row 750 meters
95 pound barbell Thruster, 15 reps
15 Pull-ups
Time: 33:36

Cardio was the weakness here after a week and a half of not working out and even longer without basketball. Can't believe it took me so long for 2 rounds. Plus I've been eating like trash and paying for it too. Need to get back to eating right.

090821

Rx
Walking lunge 100 ft.
21 Pull-ups
21 Sit-ups

Walking lunge 100 ft.
18 Pull-ups
18 Sit-ups

Walking lunge 100 ft.
15 Pull-ups
15 Sit-ups

Walking lunge 100 ft.
12 Pull-ups
12 Sit-ups

Walking lunge 100 ft.
9 Pull-ups
9 Sit-ups

Walking Lunge 100 ft.
6 Pull-ups
6 Sit-ups

Time: 24:54 Rx

090820

Rx
"Karen"
For time:150 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball

150 Thrusters 20# DBs
Time: 14:50 Rx

Totally underestimated this workout. It destroyed my shoulders and quads. So sore.

World Record Most Push-ups

So after see this amazing feat of 106 pull-ups by Chris Spealler...

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_ChrisSpealler106Pullups.wmv

I thought to myself I wonder what's the most consecutive push-ups anyone has ever done in the world? I figured it was probably a bit more than pull-ups. Maybe 150? 200? Wrong, try over 10,000! No seriously... 10,000 push-ups in a row...

I found this great story ( http://www.recordholders.org/en/list/ulysses.html ) about Charles Linster and his daily quest for the world record in push-ups. It's very inspiring and shows with the right determination and mind set we can accomplish anything. He ended up holding the world record for several years with a only 6,006 push-ups back in the 1960's.

His record has since been shattered by multiple people including this 6 year old chinese boy who did 10,000+ in 3 hours...

http://blogmuscle.wordpress.com/2006/07/28/chinese-boy-does-10000-push-ups-in-three-hours-and-twenty-minutes/

So this is where my quest begins for 100 pushups. I know it ain't 10,000 or even 1,000 but it's my goal. The most I've done is 54. I am going to try and take Linster's approach by upping that by 1 every few days.

090818

Rx
Push Press 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Score: 115-135-145-155(f)-155(PR)-160(f)-135

My goal was 170. A little disappointed with only a 5# PR. Especially when I've done 150x3 on a strict shoulder press. I need to figure out how to use the squat to my advantage. It seems to make it harder for me. I may be starting to push too soon.

090816

Rx
"Ryan"
Five rounds for time of:
7 Muscle-ups
21 Burpees

Three rounds for time of:
21 Pull-ups
21 Dips
21 Burpees
Time: 26:47

This was a tough one. Spent all weekend doing yard work. Felt pretty weak on the pull-ups mad broken sets. Dips felt good. Eff burpees as usual.

090814

Rx
Front squat 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Score: 95x3-135-155(PR)-165-170-185(f)-185-135x5 Rx

Felt really good on this. My goal was to get 185 (body weight) and I did. Setting a new PR by 50#! Took a little vocalization for me to get the 185 up the 2nd try. Mild grunting is okay for 50# PRs.

Day 12 - Last night's cheat meal

So it was off to Tommy's for our Thursday night sushi extravaganza. Sushi, sake, soy sauce and eel sauce galore. Albacore tataki, cucumber paradise roll, crunch roll w/ spicy tuna, poki bowl no rice extra spicy, saba sushi and rinse it down with a baked soft-shell crab cut roll. It was bomb.

Woke up feeling like I got hit by a mac truck. Congested, aching, sore over an hour late for work and I still feel like I haven't woken up.

Whelp another week of paleo it is, feeling great and appreciating ever more how good, good food makes me feel.

090813

Rx
With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... continuing as long as you are able. Use as many sets each minute as needed

"Death by Pull-ups"
Score: 8+5 Rx

Pretty weaksauce... but it was as expected. Pull-ups are still my weakpoint.

090812

Rx
"Linda"
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of the triplet:
Deadlift: 1 1/2 body weight
Bench press: body weight
Clean: 3/4 body weight
Set up three bars and storm through for time

BW @ 180
10-9-6-4-2-1
DL: 185
BP: 185
CS: 95
Time: 24:43

10: 6.39
9: 6.57
6: 5.07
4: 3.19
2 1.39
1 .59

This was one of the tougher WODs I've done so far. I felt really good on the deadlifts having followed all of the advice I've been watching and reading. This is a really good video explaining proper technique:

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_RipDeadliftSetup.wmv

The one additional thing it doesn't mention which helped me was to make sure I am taking in a full breath and holding it in during the entire lift. This helps keep the core solid.

I'm still not sure how to really accept the bar on the cleans into my shoulders without racking my neck or collar bones. I think I just need to build more confidence. I've only ever done front squats twice, more practice should help with that.

TGIRD

Rest Day couldn't have come at a better time. I decided to double up on the WODs yesterday in order to complete my first Tabata from the previous day. I just can't seem to let a new WOD go by without setting a baseline for next time. So my second attempt at Tabata went much better. The pull-ups didn't get any better (only 33 in 8 intervals) but my overall score of 332 was pretty decent.

After work I had to tackle the 4 rounds of 800m for time. After the squats at lunch this wasn't easy. My entire core was hurting and my back began to tighten up after the first 800. I also ran on the track, which isn't new to me, but was the first time I used the track for time. The track was definitely harder as I am positive I could pull a 3 flat 800 on the mill yet my best on the track was 3.12. That could be partially due to the double WOD. I'll shoot for sub 3 minutes next time.

Ahh Rest Day. Now if I can just force myself to rest ;) ENDORPHINS!

090810

Rx
"Tabata Something Else"
Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest where the first 8 intervals are pull-ups, the second 8 are push-ups, the third 8 intervals are sit-ups, and finally, the last 8 intervals are squats. There is no rest between exercises.
Post total reps from all 32 intervals

Score: 332 Rx
Pull-ups: 8-8-4-2-3-0-6-2 = 33
Push-ups: 24-15-8-8-0-12-6-7 = 80
Sit-ups: 11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11 = 88
Squats: 22-20-16-15-12-16-13-17 = 131


I gave the WOD more thought last night and realized I probably could have done okay with 10s rest on the remaining exercises following pullups as they are my weakpoint by far.

So I attempted again today and actually completed it as Rx semi-successfully. I had 2 intervals with 0 reps where I just had to rest. Once again my pull-ups were the weak point. I managed only 33 pull-ups where as yesterday I got 14 in the first interval alone.

Weekly Weigh-Ins

  8.3.09 8.10.09 8.17.09

Brian
weight:  190 182.4 183.6 
bf%:  8.2 9.7 11.4
tbw%:  63.6 61.7 60.8


Lesley
weight:  134.4 129.8 130.6 
bf%:  29.9 31.2 29.9
tbw%:  ~50 47.4 48.7

Day 8 - One week down

Lesley and I "successfully" put 1 week behind us. The reason I quote is because we ended up having 1 cheat meal for the weak (and boy was it delish). We just can't seem to stay away from Tomm'y Sushi bar for more than a week at a time. Other than that meal we actually really enjoyed ourselves following a strict Paleo diet.

The biggest surprise was that our food which we had planned to last 4 days ended up lasting us 6. We looked forward to creating new meals with an assortment of beautiful fruit and veggies. The best part was we ate as much as we wanted.

I had a realization about how food should make you feel. It really shouldn't make you feel anything. If you are aware of your stomach processing what you've eaten then it's likely struggling to process. When you eat good foods even to the point where you are full an hour later it should feel as if you hadn't even eaten. The process of our internal ograns should be completely transparent to us. That's how I felt this entire last week. No indigestion issues, no bloating, no gas.

The other thing I gained a great appreciation for was balancing the acid levels in my body. I now understand what this means. When I eat too much fruit(sugar) my body tells me right away "hey way too sweet". I can counteract this with a small bit of protein and immediately feel the good effects.

The only bad side effect I had was severe leg cramps everynight (except for the night I had sushi, lots of sodium, and last night day 7). This lends me to believe the low intake of sodium is what caused the cramps. I have read it may be a lack of magnesium, calcium or even potasium. I tried taking some cal/mag tablets with no success. I'll see if potasium helps.

I love eating this way. Lesley has stopped counting the days, she says its just "our new way of eating". I agree there is no better way to eat. I suspect we will have one cheat meal each week for the remainder of the 30 day challenge which isn't bad and in fact didn't make me feel bad either. I also felt really strong on my workouts. I dead-lifted my previous max 5x at the end of a 25rep workout.

Week 1 - 30 Day Paleo Challenge

Brian: -7.6lbs "transparent stomach process"
Lesley: -4.6lbs "new way of eating"

090810

Rx
Four rounds, each for time of:
800 meter run
Rest as needed between efforts

        Time AHR MHR REC
Round1: 3:12 133 167 58
Round2: 3:31 156 168 56
Round3: 3:30 155 169 53
Round4: 3:27 156 169 54

My first daily double. Doing two WODs in one day is no joke. Running on the track is much harder than on the treadmill. I'm sure I could have hit 3 flat on the mill.

090809

My first Tabata...
It sure was something else...Going on my 2nd month of CF now. this was the first time I've walked away from a WOD embarassed, confused and frustrated in my first two months of CF.

I began the workout as Rx'd:

Pullups
Round1 14, great start for me!
Round2 5
Round3 2
Round4 2
Round5 LOL

As you can see 10s rest just wasn't enough for me. I stopped the workout completely confused. I thought I must have been doing something wrong. It just couldn't be this hard.

I thought maybe the workout should have been done as 8 rounds of:

Pullup
Pushup
Situp
Squat

giving myself about 90 seconds until I come back to the same exercise. So I attempted it this way and made it through 2 rounds and found myself gased again, now I was just frustrated. After examining the Rx again I was certain it was supposed to be 8 sets of pullups, followed by 8 sets of pushups, 8 situps, 8 squats.

Now what really surprised me is I didn't read of much warning to scale this WOD. So let this be your warning if you've never done a Tabata.

Tabata means business!

090808

Rx
Deadlift 5-5-5-5-5 reps

Score: 185-195-205-215-225 Rx

Day 5 - "like a million bucks"

It's Friday! Feelin like Snoop this mornin might just throw on my blue chucks. Weighed in at 179! I haven't been this light since I was 16 and I ate a ton yesterday.

Last night was pretty rough mentally. We BBQ'd with the neighbors and you know there's never going to be a shortage of alcohol. I stayed true, we did up some gorgeous fillets of salmon along with a nice salad and bbq'd pineapple. I had cramps for the 3rd night in a row in my calves. I read up on it this morning, initial research seems to be pointing to an electrolyte imbalance most probably because of no salt intake. I also saw mention of possibly needing magnesium/calcium.

Let's see what WebMD has to say...

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/tc/nighttime-leg-cramps-topic-overview

What causes nighttime leg cramps?

• Getting too much exercise or overusing the muscles.

Possible cause, I doubt it though since I'm actually exercising less since I haven't been balling.

• Standing on concrete for a long time, sitting for a long time, or putting your legs in awkward positions while you sleep.

I'm pretty balanced in these areas, and I don't recall any awkward positions (at least while I was asleep).

• Not having enough potassium, calcium, and other minerals in your blood.

Common cause I seem to be reading, hopefully the calcium/magnesium tablets I'm taking today will help.

• Being dehydrated.

Definitely not the the cause. My Total Body Water % (TBW) is very high right now around 63%.

• Taking certain medicines, such as antipsychotics, birth control pills, diuretics, statins, and steroids.

Nope.

• Having flat feet.

That's my brother Fed Flinstone they call him. Mostly because he doesn't wear shoes...

• Having thyroid disease.

Nope.

Anyways I'm not too worried my bods probably just adjusting to it's new pH level.

Had left over salmon, poached eggs, spinach and a bowl of mixed fruits and walnuts for breakfast. Packed my spinach, apple, raisin, strawberry, rasberry, walnut, chicken salad for lunch and grabbed a grapefruit, pluot, white nectarine, hard boiled egg for snacks.

I think I'll actually rest for todays Rest Day.

090806

Rx
Three rounds for time of:
21 L-Pull-ups
15 ft. L-rope climb, 3 ascents

Three rounds for time of:
21 L-Pull-ups
3 Rounds of Towel Pulls, 15 Reps
Time: 22:59
Round 1: 4:33
Round 2: 9:10
Round 3: 9:16

Didn't have a rope. Twisted one of the gym towels around the pull-up bar which wasn't high enough to hold myself on the towel from (not that I could have anyways). I angled my feet out 4' from my body as to let my weight hang but couldn't similate the L. Towel shavings were filling the air, the guys next to me sure seemed happy to breath it in. Workout overall was pretty tough, could have gone faster on the towel pulls.

In Zone(90+% MHR): 2:28
Avg HR: 131
Peak HR: 152
Min HR: 94
Tot Cal: 327
Recover: 47 (143 - 96)

090805

Rx
Three rounds for time of:
Row 500 meters
21 Burpees
Run 400 meters

Time: 22:49 Rx
Round 1: 6:38
Round 2: 8:13
Round 3: 7:58

Wow I seriously underestimated this one. The rowing was pretty easy but the burpee sandwich was killer. This was my first time really rowing. I enjoyed it. I think I'll incorporate this as subs or for cardio workouts more often.

In Zone(90+% MHR): ~20:00
Avg HR: 155
Peak HR: 172
Min HR: N/A
Tot Cal: 440
Recover: 50 (NA)

090804

Rx
"Fight Gone Bad"
Three rounds of:
Wall-ball, 20 pound ball, 10 ft target (Reps)
Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75 pounds (Reps)
Box Jump, 20" box (Reps)
Push-press, 75 pounds (Reps)
Row (Calories)

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute.The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. On call of "rotate", the athletes must move to next station immediately for best score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

Three rounds of:
Burpees (Reps)
Push-press, 75 pounds (Reps)
Burpees (Reps)
Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75 pounds (Reps)
Thrusters, 20# DB (Reps)

Score: 177
Round 1: 66
Round 2: 59
Round 3: 52

090802

Rx
"J.T."
21-15-9 reps of:
Handstand push-ups
Ring dips
Push-ups

21(63)-15(45) reps of:
Handstand push-ups
Dips
Push-ups
Time: 30:20
Round 1: 13:46
Round 2: 16:34
Round 3: LOL