Love your weakness. That's right, love it. Embrace it and nurture it. In both your internal and external dialogue, speak positively about your weakness. Instead of saying "I suck at x" or "I hate to do y", try "x is challenging, but Wow! it's going to be cool when i get it" and "y is uncomfortable and I fail at it sometimes, but I will not give up until I have it mastered!".
I began doing yoga this year and have found it tremendously helpful in gaining balance and flexibility, both inner and physiological. One of my personal mantras has always been, "attitude of gratitude". However, I've never really applied this to my body because I've always been pretty unhappy with it. At the end of every yoga class, we hug our knees to our chest, lie in the fetal position, and thank our bodies for serving us, literally showering our physical container with love, respect, and adoration. This has been a beautiful paradigm shift for me.
I started today with only about 4.5 hrs of sleep and the WOD this morning was centered around my weakness, squats. I was dreading it since the night before when I saw it on the website. I have a history of low back pain and injury. In addition to this, 21 yrs ago I was in a car wreck that crushed my right ankle. I now have some stiffness and pain in that joint. Then, freshman year at college, 18 yrs ago, I blew out my left ACL hiking. So that joint has some issues too. Now, mix in tight, underdeveloped, largely ignored hip flexors and... you get the idea. Squats are challenging to me.
Front squat
3-3-3-3-3 (record 3 highest sets)
then
AMRAP in 15 min:
10 front squats 115lb
15 pull ups
25 double unders
weight-206.3lb (post WOD)
emotional status-anxious today (lack of sleep,WOD, hungry???)
stamina-not great today. I failed at 185lb and I have done this wt before. 135lb and 155lb were manageable, but I couldn't dig to that deeper place. I also gassed out during the workout.
The food part of today was the easy part. I had a great time working out with my friends and got to spend some quality time with my brother. We made a big Costco run and I restocked the fridge with my last cache of fruits and veggies to carry me out to Sun morning. The diet felt easy and natural.
My body continues to recover faster than normal. My soreness is minimal, if at all. I went four rounds deep today and my competitive partner finished fifteen reps ahead of me (~1-2min of work). He has very strong legs and performs 115lb front squats with ease. So, I wasn't terribly disappointed with my output, but I did rest and struggle more than usual. We'll see what tomorrow holds...
favorite juice today: 1 lemon, 1/2 cantaloupe, 3 carrots, 2 cups spinach juice
*I want to add that despite my previous injuries, I have never been stronger or more flexible in my lower body than I am now. More importantly, the low back pain and weakness I once had is almost completely gone after this year of fitness dedication.*
So juice fasting while doing Crossfit. I am debating doing both. I am on day 3 of my juice fast -- I'm not new to fasting. And I want to add a fitness component, thinking Crossfit. Did you find you had enough energy to really do both?
ReplyDeleteMIke,
ReplyDeleteI did fine working out with high intensity and volume. The sugars from the fruits help and I always do a post workout protein shake, along with some almond milk to aid in recovery. Honestly, I'm less sore when I am drinking a lot of fresh veggie & fruit juice. I'm about to start my 3rd experiment with this on Sun. good luck.
Rodney