December is upon us and the Crossfit Games are 3 months away. It is time to reflect on my November and evaluate what I have done during the month.
Lets start with the pull-up rig. I have been kept off/away/discouraged/overruled/told to not do anything with the pull-up rig for at least 3-4 months since my brachial nerve went AWOL in mid-June. I would have to work my way in little steps toward earning the confidence of the coaches/trainers/doctors/spouse to allow me to even attempt anything on the pull-up rig.
After earning that trust, I was permitted to start in November to use the rig for pullups as long as I was using a resistance band to assist me because of the length of time away. I am happy to state that the return was a success and now have set a different goal for December hoping to be ready for the Crossfit Games Open in March 2013. I would like to improve and get in to the top 250 as I was 302nd in 2012. With all the new people joining CF every year my division will also see an increase in the amount of competitors in 2013. That means that 250 will be a significant improvement.
November also saw improvement in some of the benchmark workouts plus other workouts that we have done previously. The workout “Grace” which consists of 30 Clean and Jerks at 135 lbs for men or 95 lbs for women/masters men(55+) which I did previously at 75 pounds in a time of 6:13 I managed to beat using 95 lbs (R’xd at my age) with a time of 5:19. Another one that was improved was “Randy” which is 75 Power Snatches at 75 lbs with a time of 10:19 which was 1 minute longer but this time it was done prescribed (Rx’d). Double unders improved to 4 consecutive ones and beat my 500M row by one second.
My weight during this time came down 3-4 pounds this mostly due the fact that I was eating much better (I made it a larger priority at home) and the BP went down to 115/75 without pills (yippee) I am hoping to get the doctor to not prescribe anything for a period of 3 months and we will review the BP again. My heartbeat has dropped to a consistent 45-50 beats per minute and I changed to a no wheat/gluten-free diet for the month. This has helped with reducing the cravings for junk food immensely.
The verdict for November is a thumbs up and Decembers goal is to work on the unassisted pull-up and the make sure I continue to improve my pullups and core. I have started a daily routine with a small wristband i.e., Livestrong, Breast Cancer or Mental Health to help improve my grip strength so that I can reduce the strain that lifting heavy can take out of you.
December has already tested my shoulder in new ways and I don’t expect it to get any easier.
saintjohnmasterscrossfit 