Training: February 2008 Archives

I was doing my O-lifting workout by myself yesterday at about 3:15 when some guys walked into the gym. They were in town from Texas for a conference. Two of them, Josh and Michael, said they were CrossFitters from Dallas and had never been in a CrossFit gym before--they work out on their own in a mainstream gym. It was fun to see them so excited about being in the gym--"Wow! A real CrossFit gym! This is so great!" They had been working on their kipping pull-ups, so I was able to help a bit with that. The other guys, the non-CrossFitters, watched and critiqued their kips.

We had the very common conversation about why CrossFitters do kipping pull-ups instead of strict ones. My explanation, which I think they already knew but hadn't had the opportunity to talk about with other people, was that kipping is both easier and harder than dead-hang because it requires so much more of the body. You can crank out more pull-ups faster because you're generating more power, but you end up exhausted all over for the same reason! And that's good. We want to work as many systems at one time as we can in the workouts.

I was so glad I was there when the guys came by because who knows if they would have had another chance to stop in.

Tom and I took my kettlebells to Jason's (a friend from my ex-job) kung fu school to show him some kettlebell moves that he was interested in, and to work out, CrossFit style of course.

8 kettlebell snatches per side
8 push-ups
8 kettlebell front squats
8-second handstand

8 rounds for time
Tom: 24-kg kettlebell, 17:06
Fran: 16-kg kettlebell, 15:15
Jason: 12-kg kettlebell, 15:00 (he undoubtedly could have used 16 kg.)

Last Thursday was our second class meeting of the 12 sessions. I have 11 people in the class and all but one are women. At least three class members have done some CrossFit. Our one male has been a CrossFitter for the better part of a year and he wanted to brush up his form on the kettlebell exercises. He gets just as good a workout as the beginners by using heavier kettlebells and moving faster.

Some of the women have said they took the class feeling skeptical that they'd be able to do the exercises. It shows nerve and motivation to show up feeling that way! I should ask them before I make this statement, but I think it's fair to say that in two sessions they have already worked out harder than they thought they could, and learned some new exercises that they might have doubted they could do as beginners. Taking a class is great for both of those elements because (1) most people work harder while being instructed and watched than you might on your own, and (2) the exercises are not technically difficult when taught safely and clearly; what's difficult is doing the workout that is put together with them.

Last Thursday the class finished the workout 15 minutes early, and instead of wanting to leave right away, people wanted to try out the pull-up bars and the rubberbands and rings that are attached to them. They learned how to do three kinds of assisted pull-ups: jumping pull-ups, rubberband pull-ups, and ring-rows. Would you like to learn these along with kettlebell exercises you can do on your own? Email me - fran at fitnotes . net