What I Wore: Box Jumpin’

Lululemon paris perfection bang buster
Lululemon black push your limits tank
Lululemon spring has sprung speed shorts

Thought about just posting the first picture and being like “GUESS”.  For my WOD I did a quick 21-15-9 of deadlifts and box jumps.  I love workouts at the extremes: really short (under 10 min), or insanely long (over 45 min).  I feel like those time domains are when I can best get my head in the game, not sure why.  I was really pleased with my sub 6 minute time.  In general, I’ve been in a good headspace with my workouts the past couple weeks.

Also, small confession: the first pic is totally posed.  For the sake of honesty, this is what the situation ACTUALLY looks like mid-box jump…

CRAZY HAIR.

Lululemon heathered medium grey cool racerback
Lululemon fossil twisted stripe/split pea speed shorts

I was grumpy again, and I love light-hearted self-deprecation, so I decided to mock myself and wear all grey (even my headband is grey, which is out of frame).  You know, grey like the sky and MY DEAD SOUL. #emo

I did my 16-minute pull-up/ring dip volume training work before a 25 minute team WOD.  I made about 4 15 foot rope ascents over the course of the WOD, which is good progress although I still get a little spooked by being all the way up there with my brain screaming WHAT ARE YOU DOING WE COULD DIE YOU KNOW.  Also: this WOD was structured so that 2 people were running 400M while the other 2 worked (rope climbs, thrusters, cleans).  This was probably the first time in my life where running was actually pleasant and felt like a break.

Lululemon brisk bloom push your limits tank
Lululemon flash jacquard speed shorts

Today in “sad-looking weights”: 50 pounds worth of bench press.  I’ve gotten so used to big bumper plates making everything look huge and beastly that this looks like I might as well be benching a broomstick.  I swear it was work.

The WOD was bench interweaved with sets of strict pull-ups.  Since I’m already doing extra work on the PU, I decided to substitute ring rows.  Ring rows are a nice complementary exercise to strict PUs and are very useful for working toward muscle-ups (which is my goal).  After all, the motion of getting yourself up over the bar/rings is arguably closer to a row than a pull-up anyway.  I ended up doing a total of 30 each of the 50# bench and ring rows.

I’d like to try for a 1 rep max of bench press soon–it’s been a long time since I have, and I’ve gotten a lot stronger.  I might be up to a bodyweight bench, which would be super exciting.

Splits59 black devon muscle tee
Lululemon pizazz energy bra
Lululemon fatigue camo speed shorts
Atlas strength wraps for my wrists

The jury is still out on whether the pizazz/fatigue camo combo is a little too redneck/hunter-esque.  I think since they’re both in small doses (and not touching), it’s ok, but…I can’t help but question it.

It’s funny, the weight on the overhead squat is less then the bench pic above (42# vs 50#), but looks so much more legit.  The WOD was a triplet of overhead squats, sit-ups, and kettlebell swings.  The OHS was 15×3 rounds, and I knocked out the first set unbroken.  Heck yes!

For overhead work–particularly in the wide grip like this–my wrist wraps are a lifesaver.  I have the skeletal structure of a half-grown bird, and my wrists are no exception, which makes heavy weights a lot of strain.  I’ve unfortunately lost a little bit of my wrist strength since I haven’t been doing as much overhead work as I used to (and not as much yoga…oops), so wraps are a lifesaver to give me extra support while I try to gain that strength back.  I highly recommend using some to anyone who gets wrist soreness from lifting.

Lululemon black power y tank
Lululemon paris perfection speed shorts
Serious struggling

Ooooops I forgot to do my extra arms work on Friday, so I had to squeeze the gym in on Saturday even though the day was already a bit busy.  No excuses for skipping!  Some days I feel like I’m already getting stronger in my pull-ups and dips, other days I feel like I’m dying.  So, who knows!  Just gotta keep on keepin’ on and we’ll see what happens.