Week 22- Angie just lost 10 minutes!…

“Angie”  (New 29:51 min, previous time 40:24 min)

100 pullups

100 situps

100 pushups

100 Airsquats

TAVIS: Tonight when the temperature had cooled down, Jane told me she wanted to get a workout in before the weekend finished. So I looked through our previous blogs and “Angie” popped up once again. For those who have been following the blog, you might remember we started out doing small versions of of this workout and eventually worked up to the full work out. Doing this workout every few months has been a great way to check Jane’s progress, so today seemed like the right day to try it again. The last time she did the workout she did it in late May and it took her just over 40 mins. Tonight I gave her a little pep talk about not letting this workout beat her or give up, because it does have a way of grinding you down. It’s 100 repetitions of each exercise and that will put you into a mental battle very quickly.

Jane grinded her way through the workout, she did the most of the pullups using the band and the last 30 reps she did jumping pullups. When she moved onto the situps she did around 60 situps completely unassisted which is great progress for her, and the last 40 reps, every few reps she used my hand for assistance. The pushups were really tough for her, she fought her way through the pushups doing them using her knee’s. She can’t do a full range pushups, but she did get through it which was great. I will start programming some lower rep pushup workouts where we really work on her form and full range of motion pushups. Her progress with airsquats has come along way and she did great. She took over 10 mins off of this work out, I’m really proud of her!

JANE: I wanted to make sure I got a work out in this weekend, so asked Tavis to program one for me on Sunday evening. I did the 100 reps of ‘Angie’ with my modifications, and really only wanted to give up twice, and both times that was during the banded pull ups. My modifications were as follows: banded pull ups instead of regular pull ups, sit-ups with Tavis holding my feet and letting me grab onto his hands to sit up, my air squats were fine, but my push ups were pretty pathetic…My arms were already beat from doing the pull ups…I wondered if they were weak due to MS or just because they’re not very strong? Despite working so hard, I didn’t feel super wobbly which was great and managed the squats well. And, the good news for Tavis was I only yelled at him once, which was during the sit ups and he didn’t catch me! I’m really noticing my legs feeling more stable and strong. Despite feeling like I wanted to puke by the end of the workout, I managed to shave off 10 minutes from when I did it in May which felt great!

During the week I went to 38 Degrees North and did a WOD called “Fractured”

Strength:

Power Clean+ split jerk+ Split Jerk x 6  Instead of the split jerk I did a push press. Split jerks aren’t available to me yet. They require a mini jump and a squat with one leg forward and the other behind. This isn’t available to me at the moment, so instead Coach Billy suggested I work on my Push Press (below), which is easier for me as I can keep my feet and legs in one place and don’t risk falling and injuring myself.

“Fractured”

6 Min AMRAP

5 thrusters 155/108 I did 15lb bar

35 Double Unders I did single jumps

2 Min rest

2 Min Max Effort Kettle Swings 53/35 I did 18lb kettle bell

I enjoyed my modified workout. I am still astonished at how strong other people in the box are. I kept up in amount of reps, just about, however, my weights were a lot, a lot, lower. I worked hard though and it was fun. I’m especially pleased with my jump roping. Jumping has been something really impossible for me since I was diagnosed with MS, due to balance problems and spasticity in my hips, so being able to string 20-30 jumps together feels fantastic!

First time in the box!

Welcome to CrossFit 38 Degrees North

Routine Stretching

Warm up-  2 Rounds of 1 min Double Unders, 1 min Row at 75% and 1 min Dumbbell Snatch at 75%.

Strength- 15 minutes to build 1 rep max Clean and Jerk

WOD “Bare Knuckle Boxing”             (5 rounds +8)

7 Min AMRAP

10 Push Press 115/75

15 Box Jumps 24/20

TAVIS- I am really proud of Jane today for getting in there this morning. It was her first class at the gym and I know she was feeling a little hesitant to go but she pushed her fears aside and went for it.

Strength– Jane just tried to work on her technique using the 15lbs bar to get the cleans down. Up to now she has only done the hang clean so doing from the ground up was new. We will start doing more bar work at home to help her along with the movements.

WOD- Jane did great in the workout though I know she doesn’t think she did because she’s comparing herself to others, I think she did great, she kept moving the entire workout and it was the first time she has ever done any Push Press’s in an actual work out and not just for strength. She moved the smaller box near the wall so she would have something to hold on to if she lost her balance and cranked through the work out!!!

JANE- Today was the day of getting my feet wet and going into 38 Degrees North. With a three week business trip coming up, Tavis wanted to make sure I was familiar and comfortable enough at the gym, to go by myself. So, today was the day…

The class was led by the friendliest and nicest coach you could ask for, Krista, who was nothing but encouraging and helpful. The athletes were amazing and blew my socks off lifting gigantic weights and jumping onto mountainous boxes. Everyone was friendly and welcoming. I felt like a goofball and an absolute beginner, but, as Tavis and Krista reminded me, everyone has to start somewhere.

I modified my box jumps by placing the smallest size box by a wall, and did step-ups using the wall as balance and support. That meant Tavis could do his workout instead of helping me, and, get himself a personal record! I didn’t use weight today, but a 15lb bar for the Push Press. During the warm-ups, instead of doing double unders with the jump rope, I did sit-ups instead and got to do some rowing.

All in all, a successful first time in the box. Thanks Krista and everyone there 🙂

Day 52- We just hit 2000+ views!! Thank you!!!

Day 52

Stretch Routine

Warm-up– 3 rounds 10 Flutterkicks, 5 knees2elbows

Strength- Banded pullups 5-5-5-5-5

WOD (3 rounds + 25, original time was 3 rounds + 10)

10 Pushups

10 Box Jumps

10 Pushpress (added 5lbs to the bar, for 20lbs total weight)

TAVIS- Good WOD this morning. This was the WOD Jane did a few weeks back where she decided to try jumping up on to the box for the first time. Only change was that I added 5lbs to the bar for the Push Press movement. Jane grinded through the work out and beat her previous time by 15 reps, great improvement:)

JANE- The WOD went well this morning and I had a couple of mini-breakthroughs. The first is that banded pull-ups are way easier for me. Banded pull-ups are when you are hanging onto a bar, and have one foot pressing onto a giant elastic or rubber band. You press down on the band with one leg/foot and place the other foot on top of it. This then supports your legs, while giving you the ability to work your arms by raising up and going down.

This wasn’t easy in the sense of being a piece of cake, but in the sense that because my legs are supported, I didn’t have to deal with them landing and jumping and getting increasingly wobbly, which leads me to worrying about falling etc. etc. Having them supported, allowed me to focus on my arms, while my legs were happy in the band. I wonder if this is to do with MS or is common for everyone? I only managed 5x reps each time, but it was a lot better than doing jumping pull-ups.

The other thing little breakthrough was one that Tavis noticed: during my box jumps (low box, jump up, step down), when I jump up and land, my legs are straight and knees almost locked. I think this is partly due to spasticity, partly to lack of strength, and also anxiety around jumping. It is also because I have lost my intuition around moving my legs.

Up until very recently I have had to use a cane from time to time, “wall walked” (which is using the wall to hang onto when I walk) and still have a disabled license plate so I don’t have to walk long distances. One thing about MS is that it is an ‘invisible disease’ so there are often times you would never have any idea I live with it, especially if I’m just walking short distances. My experience with the disease, is that I’ve lost the intuitive movement of just getting up and walking. Now, when I walk, I have to focus on the ground, the surface, and literally direct myself to do it. For example, when I’m walking I am engaged in a dialogue with my legs and feet, telling them to step, balance, be strong etc.

Anyway, figuring this out after today’s WOD, means that in the future, I can focus on bending my knees when I’m landing and see if that helps. So, with the jumping, even though it is not intuitive right now, I hope that I can somehow relearn how to do it. I’m excited that Tavis pointed this out and to try and change it.

38 Days closer to 38 Degrees North!

Day 38

Routine Stretch

Warmup- 2 rounds 10 ring rows and 5 Airsquats

Strength- Push Press Revisited

WOD               (6 rounds + 15 = 49 pullups, 62 KB’s, 72 situps)

12 min AMRAP

7 Pullups

9 KB Swings

12 Situps

TAVIS-  This morning I had Jane do her second 12 min AMRAP which is a big deal because most of her workouts have been between 5 to 8 minutes in length. She did this work out a few weeks ago, but I increased the rep count. This was the Daisy WOD she had done, but I changed the rep count from 5-7-9 to 7-9-12.  Jane increased her reps by 15 this time and really grinded through this work out, she did a great job.

In a few weeks I will have her do the original workout at the 5-7-9 rep count so we can get a strong comparison of how she is improving.

Strength– This morning Jane was insistent on tackling the Push Press again so we gave it another shot. She came into it with much more confidence this time and was able to work her way up to 2 reps at 35lbs.

JANE- I was completely determined to work on the push press again today, so we tackled a few again. I lifted with a little more confidence and am dying to learn how to do them!!

I’ve been watching YouTube videos to get a better understanding, and also got some great tips from friends on FB, including this, which I loved: “From a lifters point of view, use the fear to get angry, control the anger and power that weight. I just got back on to using 50kg dumbells, the feeling after you own a weight and get those reps…Awesome!” It’s so interesting to me how much lifting heavy weights brings stuff up, another friend wrote this: “As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been at CrossFit for three years and I love it. Better than crack. Anyhow, I lift weight over my head, and it scares the shit out of me every time. Honestly I think it would be weird to NOT find it a bit scary to put oneself below the barbell.”

The WOD was awesome, and I am really enjoying feeling stronger and seeing myself be able to do more sit-ups unassisted or more pull-ups. An annoying thing that happens during jumping pull-ups is that my legs get wobbly in-between, now I’m wondering if that’s normal or if it’s an MS thing?

After today’s WOD, I needed a nap – one of those, have-to-nap-or-I’ll-pass-out naps, but I felt good after and happy that I’d achieved a good workout at the beginning of the day.

 

Day 37- Facing Fear

Day 37

Stretch Routine

Warmup- 2 rounds, 10 Air squats, 10 Pushups

Strength- Push Press 3-3-3-3

WOD   (5 + 14)

8 min AMRAP

5 Knee’s to Bar

5 Dumbell Pushpress

5 Burpees

TAVIS- Today was a good day though it did come with a few complications or I should say frustrations on Jane’s part. During the strength I had Jane working on the Push Press again. We started off with just the bar and slowly increased weight. We added, 5lbs, 10 lbs and 20lbs. Jane did fine with the 5 and the 10, but once we went up from there I could tell something was wrong. She did one rep with the added 20lbs and sat down to take a break. I could tell from the look on her face that something was up but she wouldn’t say. After a minute or two of me telling her everything was fine and getting only one rep is letting us know what she is capable of. Finally she told me that she gets really nervous with lifting weight over her head because of the numbness in her right arm. Most days her right arm is at about 80 to 90% feeling, so when doing the Push Press she got worried that she might accidentally just drop the bar. I reassured her that we all have that fear of dropping the bar on our heads. That’s completely normal but more importantly we want things to be safe for her so that doesn’t happen. We will stick with a lower weight until she really has confidence in her strength and I have some idea’s we can also use  to adapt the movement a bit.

WOD- I took today’s WOD from Week 3 (Day 19) but increased the rep count from 3 to 5. I also added a minute to the workout making it an 8 min AMRAP. Even though she had some confidence issue’s on the strength portion, she got herself back in the game and pushed through the WOD.

On Week 3 she got 7 rounds 3 reps (59 reps total) and today she got 5 rounds + 14 reps (89 reps total). Basically she was able to do 2 more rounds with that extra minute. Great progress once again!!!

JANE- I love how CrossFit is so much more than just a workout – it is a mental challenge which is bringing tons of stuff up. I know it’s the same for everyone, it’s just that everyone is going through their own stuff.

Today, Tavis had me working with the bar doing Push Presses. On a good day I have between about 80-90% feeling in my right arm, sometimes it feels more and others less (on a hot summer’s day, by the evening the feeling goes down to about 30-40% – this is due to heat playing havoc with the lesions in my brain, neck & spine, which then prevents signals being sent via my Central Nervous System to my arm and hand.) I have mentioned before that doing handstands in yoga has always been out of the question for me, not necessarily because I don’t have the strength, but because of a fear that my arm will go numb at any time and leave me in a tricky situation. It is weird, but it does do that. Sometimes I’ll be standing holding a drink and feel my hand go numb, so quickly need to put the drink down. Once when my daughter was little and still crawling, while hanging out with a bunch of mummies and their babies, I dropped a cup of hot tea for no reason at all, except I lost feeling in my hand for some reason. and though no one was hurt it completely freaked me out and was one of the things that got me to seek medical help, and soon after I received the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.

That said, I came head-to-head with that fear again today, when Tavis asked me to lift 35lbs – I could easily lift (power clean) it up to my chest, but getting it over my head was terrifying. I just shut down and put the bar down! It’s funny to me how the slightly smaller weights felt okay – that is why I know this is a mental challenge rather than a strength challenge. Tavis assures me I’ll get through this, and I am sure I will, just as I’ve already got through so much on this short journey.

The rest of the workout was good. The WOD went well and I like seeing myself improve with repetitions and time like I did today.

Side note: I noticed today, that I’m walking slightly better than I have for ages! I have to walk a few hundred meters from my car into my school. I am usually stiff and have trouble walking. Today I noticed that my right leg (it’s my left leg that I have most trouble with) was moving better than usual and felt more grounded. Awesome feeling 🙂

 

 

Day 29 “Turn the Page”

Day 29

Stretch Routine

Warm up- 2 rounds 10 Ring Rows and 10 Flutterkicks

WOD- “Turn the Page”

For time (4:58)

Rep count of 12, 10, 8, 6

Pull ups

Kettlebell Swings (She used a 15lbs KB for the first 12)

 

 

Warm up– I had Jane do Ring Rows and flutter kicks. I have been doing a lot of reading/research on pullups for women and exercises that will help them gain the upper body strength to be able to do them. Below I posted a link one of our female CrossFit 38 Degrees North athletes posted as well as one the I found earlier in the week with some great advice.

 Good article on improving your pull ups using the Ring Row

Pull up tips from women in the Marine Corps

Strength- Push Press 3-3-3-3

We had done some Push Press work during previous strength training with dumbbells and PVC pipes, so today was Jane’s first day trying it with an actual bar. She is still getting used to a lot of the movements which is challenging for anyone starting out and takes some time to get used to. The big thing is she is eager to learn the movements and technique so that she can do them properly.

TAVIS- Temperature is everything when it comes to dealing with MS and today was a good reminder of that. Many people with MS are very sensitive to heat which brings on their major symptoms and can cause a flair up. Read about it here: MS and Heat Temperature Sensitivity.

Here in Northern California we have been having some beautiful spring days, it’s not real hot yet but the temps are rising. Up until today, all of Jane’s workouts have been in the morning when the temperature is still cool, but today we started around 12pm. Jane had issues right away with her legs being shaky while doing the jumping pullups. This of course made her hesitant to trust her arm strength and she had to stop a few times.

I was there to give her reassurance and she pushed through the workout. She started out with the 15lbs kettlebell and after the first set she switched to the 10 pounder. I commend her for giving the heavier Kettlebell a try for one round and then going with one she felt more confident doing. Again it’s stepping out of your comfort zone a little and seeing how it goes and that’s what she did. Maybe next time she does 2 rounds at a heavier weight or maybe it’s still a few weeks off. More importantly its always testing your own ability levels to see what you can and can’t do.

JANE– As Tavis mentioned, today we began the workout later around noon. My relaxing morning was lovely, but unfortunately working out when the day had warmed-up didn’t turn out that great. I was super wobbly and had a really hard time doing much of the movements in the WOD due to numbness. My legs were very shaky which made landing from the jumping pullups really hard, and also pushing off my legs tricky too. Likewise, my arms and hands were numb, which meant pulling up was really challenging. It’s very disheartening to experience incidents like this, but it was a good reminder to work out earlier in the day, and we are also going to buy some cooling bands and a vest which I haven’t used before, but are supposed to work really well.

Here is one from Rogue Fitness, a well-known CrossFit store, and there are lots of other versions made for MS available on-line.