Train Insane

Happy Friday!

This post will contain the following: pictures of socks, pictures of food, pictures of a messy kitchen after making food, beer, bragging, and other things.

So I have to start by saying that I am pumped because tonight gave me a taste of what is to come by way of the PULL UP. As many of you know, I don’t yet have a strict body weight pull up (I mean, did you really know that? I assume a lot). In WODs, I either do jumping pull ups when they are an allowed scale, or I usually just grind through some ring rows. Gotta love a good ring row. Anyway, I’m about 7 months in to Crossfit and am still not really anywhere near having a pull up…until tonight!

I experimented with banded pull ups for the first time and I got them! Tonight’s work out consisted of two parts (as usual) but tonight was extra cool because the first part was weakness training. Athletes choose two weaknesses to work on alternating minutes for 14 minutes. I chose banded pull ups and pistols (really I could have chosen ANYTHING LOL).

So I get myself up onto my box below my bar and I put on the thickest black band that offered the most resistance. Got my foot in, dipped down and really struggled to come back up (like, I didn’t come back up). Instantly, I was discouraged. So I wiggled out of the band, and went and found a skinny black band to supplement the thick black band. Got my foot in, dipped down, and BOOM, powered right back into a pull up, chin over bar. HELL YES. And so begins my quantifiable journey to get a strict body weight pull up, and these are the muscles that will get me there.

I am proud of them. Also worth mentioning that my goal is to have a strict body weight pull up by my one year CF anniversary. So, come at me JUNE!

For the other minute of the 14 minute training session I worked on pistols, which are one legged squats. Usually I practice by squatting down to a low target (like a box) and then powering back up. The point of this is to work on balance with one leg, and coming up out of the bottom successfully without failing. Tonight, my coach Josh encouraged me to practice going down to 100% depth, and balancing by using a band hanging from the pull up bar (like holding onto it and using it to help you out of the bottom). This was infinitely harder to do and makes all the difference in actually simulating a complete pistol. I liked this approach, and plan to practice this more in the future. Ol’ lefty leg is definitely the slacker of the two. Hello hamstrings!

Then, the second part of the work out was to do the following in any rep scheme or order you desired in under 18 minutes: 30 OHS lunges with 55 or 65 pounds for women overhead. 30 ring dips (scaled to bench dips). 30 strict pull ups (banded!). 30 power snatch (same weight as lunges). I Rxed the weight at 55 pounds and scaled to bench dips and banded strict pull ups. This was a great WOD because while it was very difficult, it was manageable and the whole time I felt like I was really dialing in on the training. I focused on my snatch form, my bench dip depth, my balance on the OHS lunges, and for the first time, enjoyed grinding through some banded pull ups! Tonight I really felt like I was getting stronger. And I think it has something to do with…

My Sock Box order came in yesterday!  (please ignore my gross ugly shoes). So I sported my Train Insane socks tonight and I think that was the magic behind the pull up. 🙂 If you haven’t checked out the Sox Box yet, go do it now! Click Me! They really are fun! (I am still wearing them now, with my awesome house shoe moccasins.

I’m hoping the sock magic will help my soul not to die so much when doing burpees or running in the near future. Guess what also came yesterday? MY Pro Source rope! I probably should have done double-unders as a weakness tonight, but like I said, I could have easily chosen anything as a weakness to work on. I think this weekend I will have some DU training on my own in the garage and take the new rope for a spin.

Moving on…to dinner!

It started with this. I mean, it’s Friday after all. This is a damn good Lager. I recommend having your husband go get some and surprise you with it like mine did. (Swoon).

Then I decided to make some burgers inspired by Well Fed 2. Here was the inspiration, and I only made ONE change (I used RED curry pasted instead of green, because that is what I had!)

And as Jules from Pulp Fiction would say, that is one TASTY burger. I made bacon crumbles, grilled onions, and some Asian inspired Zucchini Noodles to go with. Oh! And Garlic Dill Sweet Potato wedges, posted by PaleOMG. Have you been there? Go. Go NOW. Here is a link to the wedges specifically, but check out the rest of her blog. She is a delight. OH! And some more house sauce, using the Whole 30 Mayo, some yellow mustard, Sriracha, and Parsley. Lord. Those sweet potatoes dipped in the house sauce was one of the missing wonders of the world.  (are there missing wonders? Like, are any not accounted for?)

This dinner hit the freaking spot. It was so full of fat and protein and delicious flavors that I nearly fell off the chair at the table and slid down to where the dogs were laying, drooling. It was a wonderful way to end a great day. Eating is fun.

Ughhhhhh, like I said in a previous post, I am FOREVER cleaning up grease from the cook-top! Ahhhhhhh

It was 8:07 during that picture. Thank goodness Rob is a master with a towel and some cleaning spray.

So, that about wraps up the week. Over the weekend, I plan to update again, and entertain you with tales of last night’s dinner fail (complete with beautiful pictures). Also, I’ve added yet ANOTHER cook book to this crazy love affair I have going. Thanks to my friend Felicia who has let me borrow Nom Nom Paleo…but, I am getting ahead of myself. Suffice to say, I have a fun new cookbook to review! So, y’all come back now, ya hear?!