Any CrossFit peeps?

[noteasierstronger 33]

I love it so, so much. I started about 4 months ago when my BMI was still north of 60 and I've gotten so much stronger since. We just did a workout to find our 5 rep max for back squats, a move that I could barely do with a PVC pipe on the first day. I could lift all the weight I've lost since starting + more, on a real barbell!, but I didn't have time to find my actual max. Never in a million years did I think that I would be an athlete, and yet...

That's awesome!
I never thought I would call myself a runner.... but hey. Life is about change.

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[JAKE H 1,230]

CrossFit is the greatest thing i ever did for myself besides getting the sleeve. It is a community. Not just a gym. Having those like minded people who only want you to be healthy and move correctly, is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself in this process. I encourage anyone to give it a try. ANY AGE, WEIGHT, OR SIZE.

[noteasierstronger 33]

I am loving being lighter at the gym - so many things are just that much easier. On the flip side, I have noticed that I need a mat for things like my knees during burpees or my tailbone during sit-ups. I am hoping it is a change my body will get used to, but if not, that's okay, too.

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[Nepenthe44 188]

14 hours ago, noteasierstronger said:

I am loving being lighter at the gym - so many things are just that much easier. On the flip side, I have noticed that I need a mat for things like my knees during burpees or my tailbone during sit-ups. I am hoping it is a change my body will get used to, but if not, that's okay, too.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using BariatricPal mobile app

Re; being lighter.

I especially love the extra motivation to lose weight that's goal oriented, not about aesthetics or some vague notion of health.

Every pound of fat that I lose is a pound that goes up on the barbell, essentially for free. And that's something to cherish!

[Lipman 47]

A little late to the party. Got to start back up 3 weeks post surgery. Doc just said to take it easy and listen to my body. I have already noticed an improvement in my running, and I am able to get a couple of pull-ups with the heaviest band help (which I wasn't able to do before). The one negative thing so far is that I feel worn out from the starting bell. I told a buddy that it constantly feels like round 5 of a hard 5 round workout all the time. My endurance isn't bad, I just suck wind the entire time (for example, today was a 14m AMRAP, I got 2 rounds in the first 7 minutes, and 2 rounds + 45 reps in the 2nd 7 minutes). So I can still work out for longer periods, but I get winded almost immediately. Hoping that part sorts it self out soon.

However, I am just so excited to get back into the gym and see my peeps again.

Edited June 12, 2023 by Lipman

[Nepenthe44 188]

6 hours ago, Lipman said:

I told a buddy that it constantly feels like round 5 of a hard 5 round workout all the time.

Yes. This exactly. This is exactly how to explain it.

I've been back for a few weeks and I just feel... bad... when I'm moving. I'm not particularly tired afterward, but as soon as I'm moving it feels like I've got a single glycogen molecule to share amongst every muscle in my body... which probably isn't that inaccurate.

I spend a lot more time mid-WOD staring at the barbell and just contemplating my life choices than I used to.

Not that I'm using a barbell, because I've had to take my weight essentially down to zero, less than a third of what I was lifting before. PVC-filled-with-sand, very light dumbbells and the cutest little baby kettlebell are what I'm using.

Are you still working with actual weight @Lipman?

[Lipman 47]

45 minutes ago, Nepenthe44 said:

Are you still working with actual weight @Lipman?

For the most part, just scaled down a bit, but not as much as what you are having to do. For example, we did a workout last week with thrusters and shoulder to overhead with an RX of 95. Those two movements were something I was pretty good at before, so I would have been at 95#, but last week I was at 65#. Today we did a 1 rep ****** EMOM @ 75% of max. I did 105 and that was just right. I probably could have done 135/145 before.

Where I have noticed a huge drop off is dumbell weight, I struggle with some pretty light dumbells nowadays. Hopefully we will both be more back to normal soon.

And finally, FANTASTIC work dropping the 160 so far, how much of that was pre-surgery?

Edited June 13, 2023 by Lipman

[Lipman 47]

By the way, I just googled working out on the Keto diet (essentially what we are doing) and found this:

https://www.everydayhealth.com/fitness/what-keto-diet-will-your-workout/

Talks about how high intensity stuff is very much affected, as burning fat for energy isn't as quick as burning carbs.

[vikingbeast 987]

Part of the dumbbell thing is because your core is not fully healed. You lose a lot of core strength. I would imagine your strict press is also way off. And sit-ups are probably not your friend, nor toes-to-rig.

I’m 1y9m post op and it took probably a year before I started to feel strong again. I may never hit my old PRs, my days of deadlifting 545 for reps are probably gone, but my mile time went from 14:48 to 9:33, I can do rope climbs, I can bust out V-ups and the occasional strict pull-up, and I’m a hell of a lot healthier.

We did strict press for the first time in a while, sets of 2. My previous 1RM was 195 and my previous 2RM was 175. I did 155 today for 2 and that was after a 12-minute AMRAP of double unders (another thing I can do now) and toes to bar (close but no cigar).

I noticed I’m more sore after grueling workouts. (I’m almost 47, so read into that what you will.)

It does come back. I lost a lot of muscle mass (yay for DEXA scans) during my weight loss phase. I’ve put on about 17 lbs since my low and 9 of them were muscle per the latest DEXA.

[BabySpoons 616]

On 11/2/2021 at 7:40 PM, ms.sss said:

I also do a bunch or cardio-based fun stuff - next week im going pole dancing! Lol.

Too funny!!! Does that work your core??? How was it?

[ms.sss 15,580]

14 hours ago, BabySpoons said:

Too funny!!! Does that work your core??? How was it?

it was a while ago, but i do remember having a blast.

i went with a bunch of girlfriends and it was mostly laughs and sad attempts to get up the pole (spoiler alert: none of us had enough upper body strength to get up the pole any significant bit lol).

but i do think if i ever do get up that pole, core strength would definitely help to stay up there.

i haven't gone since but now that u remind me of it, i'll likely set up another go with pals for more laughs.

[Nepenthe44 188]

What kind of sicko programs thrusters and shoulders to overhead in the same WOD!? (I know exactly what kind.) But that's not too bad of a drop-off.

My diet is probably a little aggressive. After a few Very Bad days with poor recovery (a light pushing and pulling workout shouldn't lead to painful T. Rex arms for 5 days), I'm seeing the wisdom of adding a little carb in for recovery. I'm going to try having some bean-based foods or Greek yogurt after my workouts for a while and see if that helps any.

18 hours ago, Lipman said:



And finally, FANTASTIC work dropping the 160 so far, how much of that was pre-surgery?

I lost 130 pre-surgery. My goal was 50% of my excess weight lost pre-surgery, which I didn't quite make due to food funerals. However, I gained an inch of height, which alters the math enough so that I think I'll count it.

16 hours ago, vikingbeast said:

Part of the dumbbell thing is because your core is not fully healed. You lose a lot of core strength. I would imagine your strict press is also way off. And sit-ups are probably not your friend, nor toes-to-rig.

Weirdly, my core strength doesn't seem to have been really affected. Sit-ups are still my friend and planks even more so with less weight hanging off my torso. I can do a real plank now!

My limbs though... they're tired and sad.

[BabySpoons 616]

2 hours ago, ms.sss said:

sad attempts to get up the pole

Maybe now that you are down to 115 it will be easier for you. The only time I remember ever being able to climb anything vertically was the rope in grade school gym class. LOL

2 hours ago, ms.sss said:

if i ever do get up that pole, core strength would definitely help

I am kind of paranoid to work my core since I had a hiatal hernia. Doc has cleared me to lift but reminded me that although repaired, it's no guarantee I can't develop another one. I guess I will have to train myself to not lift max or push myself to muscle failure like I did in the past. I sure hope muscle memory is a real thing. If so, I'm one step ahead of the game.

I'm guessing Crossfit is less weight/high rep sets for cardio endurance?

[ms.sss 15,580]

18 hours ago, BabySpoons said:

Maybe now that you are down to 115 it will be easier for you. The only time I remember ever being able to climb anything vertically was the rope in grade school gym class. LOL

I am kind of paranoid to work my core since I had a hiatal hernia. Doc has cleared me to lift but reminded me that although repaired, it's no guarantee I can't develop another one. I guess I will have to train myself to not lift max or push myself to muscle failure like I did in the past. I sure hope muscle memory is a real thing. If so, I'm one step ahead of the game.

I'm guessing Crossfit is less weight/high rep sets for cardio endurance?

you can totally work core without lifting (well at least not anything more than your own body weight). google body weight core exercises.

i did alot of yoga.

oh, and planks are your friend, lol.

[Nepenthe44 188]

18 hours ago, BabySpoons said:

I'm guessing Crossfit is less weight/high rep sets for cardio endurance?

Usually a Crossfit session combines a weightlifting portion that's high weight/low rep, where lifting heavy is the goal, and a "metabolic conditioning" (metcon) portion that's lower weight and high rep, where doing the most work in the least time is the goal. So it's both.

For example, yesterday, our weightlifting portion was 5x4 of power snatches up to as heavy as possible. Then the metcon was as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of 12 pull-ups, 12 med-ball Russian twists, and 12 wall balls.